October
The week after conference was good. Girls danced, boys played baseball, Curtis ran, everyone got up early for school and seminary (except Brandon) and I went to a Relief Society activity. It was about the love languages, which have been important to me for years, but it actually brought up some emotional stuff I thought I was over and I left pretty upset. I enjoyed talking with Amy and Lori is so sweet; she donated blankets she had made to be prizes for the dessert competition at the Halloween party and she brought them that night to give to me. It is so sweet of her and I think it makes for an awesome prize. She is a wonderful example of generosity.
Josh should have been off Friday but he worked so I went to the gym and called my mom to wish her a happy birthday and that afternoon I got to go to Curtis's XC meet. They are usually on Wednesday when I am teaching but I don't have lessons on Friday and it was a rescheduled meet so Brandon, Josh and I went and it was great. He ran well and we saw some people from church there and it was a fun environment. Then I took him straight to his baseball game, where Josh and the girls met up with us after dance. It was the first time we have all been at a game and so we got Wendy's for dinner and watched Curtis and it was so fun. I love Friday night games and being all together was awesome.
Saturday was nuts. Lily and Emma both have Nutcracker rehearsals from 9-2 every Saturday from now until the show in December. Curtis had practice and Brandon had a game but by some miracle, they were at the same field so that was nice. Our buddy Joel was having a game too so not only did Josh and I get to hang out and watch Brandon's game, we could see Curtis's practice and watch some of Joel's game too and chat with Sam. That afternoon Lily did two of her driving hours with an instructor and then I went to a book basket party at Lana's that was nice. The food was good and I ended up with a book that I really enjoyed. I was nervous to pick a book because I always worry that someone will read something I recommend and be disappointed in my book and in me but I finally picked the book that had easy gifts to go along with it. I did The Good Life and got things that help build relationships with others: massage oil, thank you cards and Five Crowns. Sarah C ended up with it and she seemed excited so I hope she enjoys it. It is always nice to spend time with awesome ladies although I do usually feel self-conscious afterwards and wonder if I talked too much or if I was friendly enough or was I awkward? Hopefully someday I'll grow out of it. It was a fun idea and a lovely evening.
Josh had Monday off so we went for a long walk around Solomon's that was so nice. It is such a beautiful time of year and I enjoyed being outside. It was early dismissal so the kids were home so early but it was nice to have some time for them to get their homework done and do things earlier in the day. I still taught the Wiests piano lessons and then they stayed and we chatted. Leisa came with me to go pick up Curtis from XC and Sam ended up coming over so we grabbed some pizza and ate together before they had to leave for baseball and scouts and soccer and we had to get to dance. It was quick but nice to squeeze in some friend time.
Tuesday I went with Brandon on a field trip to St. Mary's City. My other kids have not made it on this field trip (Lily was sick, Curtis was supposed to go March 24, 2020, Emma's was cancelled because of poor air quality due to Canadian wildfires) so I thought we might be cursed but Brandon broke it and we had a fun day together. He just really loves me and is the sweetest. The field trip was cool and we learned a lot and my only complaint was that our guide wasn't super but luckily a lot of the presenters were so that made up for it. She was also super strict and it seemed a bit much to me but maybe that is how they are trained. When I told Brandon he should go sit with his friends at lunch he said, "I can sit with them every day, I want to sit with you." My heart melted. He's so loving without being clingy and I really appreciate it. It was fun to be together all day and I had fun talking with his teacher too. It did make me a few minutes late to pick up the girls and take them to dance which then made me late for my piano lessons which then made Brandon late to his baseball practice but I decided not to let it bother me, and it almost worked.
Friday I went to spin and then a few people came and helped me decorate the gym for our Halloween party. I had bought stuff online and then I went to the dollar store a few weeks ago and had all this stuff but I had no idea how it was going to all look in the gym. Luckily, it came together really well and looked awesome. It was so great after weeks and weeks of imagining what it would look like in my head to finally see it and it only took us about 2.5 hours to get it all set up. There was a little drama but in the end it all worked out. I went home and showered and drove kids around and then I actually went back to let the Twitchells into the building so they could set up the photo booth spots. Lily went to the homecoming game with friends from dance and Curtis went to Quintin's birthday party that ended up at an ax-throwing bar place, which was interesting. He was too shy to ask Chelsea to order him any food so he didn't have anything to eat or drink all evening since she had to order it at the bar. He had fun though and she very kindly brought him home, which was nice so that we could hang out with Emma and Brandon. We watched the Charlie Brown Halloween movie and the Toy Story one and it was nice. Lily was really into spirit week for Homecoming and thankfully, Michelle took pictures after seminary. There was a Jersey Shore day where she dressed beachy, this was USA day, Juniors were St. Patrick's day so she wore some green one day and then Juniors were supposed to wear Raider Blue on Friday.
Saturday I was a bit on edge all day but Brandon and I went to Joel's baseball game at Evergreen since neither Sam or Leisa could be there and then we took him with us to Brandon's game right afterwards. Then Leisa met us there and watched Brandon's game with me for a little while and it was a rough one. They won 15-0 and the other team was just so young and inexperienced; it was painful. Brandon got walked every time and they other kids never hit it so being in the field was kind of boring. I was glad when it was done and we were able to go home and I made a bunch of cornbread and taco soup and Emma made a candy corn cake and we got everything ready to go to the party. We got there at 4pm and I got the music going and all the lights turned on and all the drinks out and then we were good to go. Not as many people came as have in the past but there was plenty of food and enough seating and many people commented on how awesome the decorations were so that was nice. Lily and Emma led the kids in Looking for Dracula and the Pumpkin Patch Polka after dinner and that was super cute. We were going to do freeze dance to Spooky Scary Skeletons but all the kids ran off so we went right into announcing the winners of the dessert contest and then the costume parade and then out for trunk or treating. That's the only thing that bugged me later is since the theme was Haunted Mansion I wanted to play Grim Grinning Ghosts for the costume parade, which I did, but some of my other youtube tabs were playing other music so it got all garbled and I didn't realize at the time what was happening. We also didn't get a family picture. :(
I was finally able to relax then and went outside and talked to people and saw the fun trunks and it was nice. I would say that it was a good activity; I was thrilled we had some inactive people come but nobody brought any friends. I think most of the families in our ward were there and all the kids I asked said they had fun. Clean up went really well too; I had asked a few people to stay and then others just pitched in and then the families who were supposed to clean the building that week stayed and helped too so it went pretty fast. I really do love our ward family and have fun providing opportunities for them to gather and enjoy being together. It was a huge relief to have it done though and I have two months before the Christmas one so that will be a nice break.
Sunday I played the organ but not super well because I hadn't even really had time to run through the songs. Emma gave a talk so we spent all morning making sure she was ready to go and she did a wonderful job. She cried through the whole thing because she was so nervous but she did it and what she said was well thought out. I was proud of her and lots of people said kind things to her afterwards, which I appreciated. Because I was playing the organ, Josh was on the stand, Lily was leading the music, Emma was on the stand to speak and Curtis was sitting next to the bishop to help with the microphone and online broadcast, that left Brandon sitting alone. I was honestly kind of bothered that no one noticed or cared that our whole family was serving our ward family and he was alone, especially when two of his good buddies were sitting right around him and the parents didn't think to ask if he wanted to join them. Maybe they didn't notice; I suppose it doesn't matter but he was crying on the bench and Emma was crying on the stand and it was almost more than my mom heart could take. As soon as the sacrament song was over I went down to sit with Brandon and Lily stayed on the stand with Emma so it all worked out but I was pretty exhausted emotionally when we got home.
But, I got started on making two cakes and dinner for Noreen though because she came over to celebrate her birthday. It was almost a month ago but this was the first Sunday it worked out to have her over. I have been her ministering sister since Emma and Brandon were little and she is an important part of our family. She helps me so much and loves my kids and I'm so grateful for her. Lily and Emma put up the birthday sign and decorated her chair with streamers on their own and we had a lovely dinner with her. Josh went and did temple recommend interviews but it was a slow night so he got back in time for us all do to scripture study together and then Noreen went home.
Josh left for work travel at 3am Monday morning so after I got the kids all off to seminary and school, I gave myself permission to take the morning off. I was pretty lazy and it was wonderful. I taught piano in the afternoon and Brandon auditioned for his school play and then I had to run around and pick everyone up but the kids and I had a nice evening. For family night I read a scripture about cleanliness and then we had a power 20-minute clean. They all cleaned up their rooms and I vacuumed and it was awesome. Then we ate chocolate cake and everyone was in bed on time. Yesterday Brandon wasn't feeling well so he and I stayed home together. I was supposed to take him to the allergist but nobody told me he had to be off his medicine for 5 days so I rescheduled and we read our books on the couch together, sorted through all of his summer and winter clothes, watched Peter Pan and it was all lovely. Curtis went to a pasta party, girls danced but we skipped baseball so it was a pretty chill night. Just 10 more days and then baseball will be done. Curtis is running at the SMAC race today and then regionals is on Halloween and then he's done with cross country. Lily has been studying to take the SATs and that is coming up and then our trips are coming up and I can't wait to have some relaxed family time after a very busy and stressful two months.
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