and the beat goes on
I also had a goal to do something nice for someone outside of my family every day and that went pretty well. I made bread Tuesday and felt like I should take some to a neighbor who moved in about the same time as us and we've been friendly in the past but I haven't seen her in a long time. So I took a loaf over to her and we talked for about a half hour and turns out they had dropped her daughter off at college that morning and she was sad. I am so amazed sometimes by how well God knows us and it felt good to reconnect with her and hopefully lift her spirits a bit. I'm so grateful for spiritual promptings and answers to prayers. I also tried reaching out to some friends I haven't talked to in a long time and that didn't work out as well, plus I tried being extra friendly out and about on Wednesday and I suppose that was worth it to some degree but who knows. Thursday I spent the morning with three three-year-olds and that was fun. Each mom thanked me for offering to watch her kid and it worked out well. I don't really miss being around little kids anymore but it was fun for a morning to play out on our swing set and read books and do the best parts of little kid life. I always loved having a few hours alone when I had little kids so it felt good to help out those moms too. So of my five days of effort, at least two were meaningful and maybe the last one; I left a positive review about my friend's podcast so hopefully that is helpful.
I had hoped to travel for the long weekend but we decided we had done a lot of traveling in August and we should take it easy on our budget and kids (who were so tired) and just relax. But Saturday we had a practically perfect day. We went to the temple with our ward family and Josh, Lily, Curtis and Emma did baptisms. I sat outside with Brandon for a little while and then left him with a book to go in and watch all of my family baptisms. Then Josh and I went and did sealings, which was wonderful and it has been so long but it was so beautiful, and Brother Robbins took our kids out for ice cream while they waited for us (with everyone else in our ward). Then we all changed and went to downtown D.C. It was the most beautiful day--the weather was absolutely perfect and we spent three hours doing the monument/memorial circle. We started with Washington, then WWII, then Lincoln, Korean, MLK and then the FDR and Jefferson. It was a perfect day for walking around and I tried to teach the kids a little something about each president or war and we had good talks while we walked and it was just lovely to be together. The kids all loved the FDR one with all of the waterfalls and shade and cool rocks. We also had fun just sitting on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial with its view of the White House and Washington Monument and talking. We have some great kids and it is fun to be with them. We drove to Arlington for dinner at our favorite Best Buns and then we drove to the Marine memorial and spent some time there. We also drove by the Pentagon and Air Force Memorial. We could see the Capitol from a distance but next time we do a D.C. day we'll walk down the mall and do a museum or the archives. We got home and watched the first half of National Treasure before bedtime.
Sunday was a nice day too. Church was pretty good; I was really tired so I didn't play the organ super well and then I sat down to play for a special musical number and legit could not read the music. I guess I need to start carrying reading glasses around with me. I have fought this for months but I totally messed up the intro to the song because I couldn't read the notes, which in my defense were very small to begin with but still. It was humbling and I felt badly about it but the song was sweet anyway. We had a relaxing afternoon and then a fun dinner over at the Wiests. We played games and talked and Lily made her first trifle and it was just fun to be with friends and have a new and different dinner.
Monday we let the kids sleep in. It was the last day before seminary started and dance and before Saturdays get busy so we just slept and had a big pancake breakfast and Josh and Curtis did some ministering visits and Curtis had cross country and baseball practice. Lily also worked on her BYU application so I was editing her essays and it was just a nice, chill day at home.
Tuesday Lily drove off to seminary and I'm very proud of my kids being so responsible in getting up early on their own and being on time and taking other people and doing something so hard but worthwhile. It was a busy day and then I picked up Curtis from cross country to take him right to his baseball scrimmage that was 30 minutes from his school only to get up to the park and he realized he didn't have his glove. So I got to drive the 17 minutes home and 19 minutes back (I was going speedy!) to get his glove for him and then Brandon and I watched the scrimmage. Curtis did okay; he had a good play at shortstop and one good hit that he ended up scoring off of. But he also struck out the second time and didn't pitch all that great. But the kid had gotten up at 5:30 am and gone to seminary, then school, then cross country practice and then to his game so it was a long day. Luckily all of his regular games are on Saturday and not after cross country.
Wednesday was a very stressful day. I woke up to finding out that Lily had some car trouble at seminary and thankfully everyone got to where they needed to go but we were worried all day about the car. I went to the bank and the gym and the grocery store and taught piano and took Emma to dance and then picked up Curtis and met Josh so he could take Brandon to baseball and then home to make a quick dinner and get to church for activities. My first night as a leader went well, although I am more strict about how to behave in the church building so I'm not sure the girls are going to like me but we have some good activity ideas and I think it will be a good thing overall. I get to serve with Leisa and Donna who are both awesome so even though it is a bit stressful because of Brandon's baseball practice right now, we'll make it work. After church Josh and I drove over to the Shallington's to pick up the car and it drove just fine home but we dropped it off with a neighbor who is a mechanic and we'll see what he says today. Here's hoping it isn't too pricey of a fix. We took it last week to get looked at because the check engine light came on and we were told it was totally safe to drive and was just an emissions thing but what happened yesterday seems to contradict that assessment. We've spent so much money on cars lately and it is so stressful and I just want my girl to be safe but we can't buy another car right now so we just keep praying the Kia will hang in there for another year or so until we can pay off Josh's car. On that note, I submitted my application to be a substitute teacher yesterday because $$.
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