11-9-2008 Week in Review

I know...you're Shocked that this review is actually getting posted on the date it's supposed to be! Can you believe I actually worked on this one day at a time so that today all I had to do was hit POST?! Actually this paragraph meant to sound like I wrote it today (Sunday) was actually typed at about 11:30 pm Thursday night. Talk about being prepared. Go me. Anyway....

Monday - No School Today!! YEAH!! (for me) BOO!! (for kids). Why, you ask? Because mom's on a mission to get this house cleaned out and that means kids with no school must do a never before imagined thorough de-junking of their room! Bonus for them, anything they sell at the yard sale they get the money for. Can you believe they gave away about 80 % of what they own?!! They are even under the understanding that if stuff doesn't sell it can't come back in the house but must go straight to Goodwill. To celebrate such an amazing feat, we played Caboodle for Family Home Evening. It was a fun evening.

Tuesday - Again, No School!! The boys finished up their room and helped me out in a few other areas of the house. It was raining and I had 4 kids in tow but I still headed out mid morning to the polls to make sure my vote was counted. Once home and once the kids were in bed I headed outside for a bit of picture taking in the rain.

My backyard view	Our clover patch
Last of the green leaves	Our colorful ground cover

Before Ryan even got home I headed back out with the kids to our quarterly Family, Home, & Personal Enrichment night at church where I was teaching a class on Journaling. It was a fun night. The focus was on living a balanced life and there were classes on nutrition/fitness, organization, being Spiritually balanced, and journaling. I just love teaching!! Ryan was so wonderful and came and got the kids from the church so I wouldn't have to worry about Ella escaping from the nursery and could just enjoy myself. I'm so thankful!

Wednesday - I accomplished quite a bit today! I cleaned out and sorted the boys closet that was full of craft supplies & toys. I held a meeting for my activities committee for the Ward Christmas party and we were able to get most everything planned! Then, at 8:30 at night my beloved Visiting Teachers showed up at my door and together we cleared out half of my attic and sorted through most of it. I can't tell you how much work that was and how much I appreciate them!!

Thursday - So, it's funny how God works in our lives sometimes. I broke down on the side of the road this morning, but I consider it a HUGE blessing! I know, that sounds weird, but let me explain. My alarm for the last week has been set to go off at 5:30 PM instead of AM...oops. Unfortunately, Dade's hasn't been going off either! So when I woke up at 6:26 am knowing the bus was probably at the bus stop and Dade was in bed, I was a little upset. Luckily, Ryan didn't have to be at work until 8 and since Dade's school doesn't start until 7:15 we still had time to get him there. It's about a 15 minute drive and I got Dade there by 7. Driving back on the highway I turned on the radio since I didn't have any kids with me and could listen as loud as I wanted. That's when the timing belt broke and I had to coast to the side of the road. Luckily, the highway was clear and there was no chance of me hitting anyone. I called Ryan on the cell phone and he gathered the kids and came to get me. I am so thankful that I was driving when and where I was when the car broke down. Had I not been out that morning I would have driven the car to take Corben to school later that day. I would have had a car full of children and Ryan would have already been at work. When the engine cut off I could have been in a place where I could not have safely gotten to the side without being hit or I could have been in an accident. I feel truly blessed to have had things happen the way they did. I was a little bored waiting for Ryan to come so I spent my time making a little documentary of my ordeal:

Me, driving along, minding my own business.... ....then BAM!	What kept me alive....you should always be prepared for such emergencies.
I heard once of a woman who survived a week in a ditch on a pack of Sweet tarts. I figured I better make my two candies last....I only licked it a few times, though, before I succumbed to my desires to gobble the whole thing up....good thing there were two.	The look on my face when the officer checking on the stranded motorist (me) found me nibbling on my candy (I obviously had increased my hopes of a quick rescue) and taking pictures for my documentary.
My Hero!!! He not only rescues stranded princesses but he fixes their pumpkin coaches to practically, almost like kind of sort of new!	My poor car, left alone on the side of the highway. I know she didn't deserve to be left there but even though I'd pushed her off the road into the grass all by myself (energy rush from my pink and yellow meal), I was unable to carry her home on my own. Luckily, Ryan went back for her, too, and by lunch she was safe in the driveway.

Later in the day my wonderful SIL, Jamie, came over to help me with sort and price all of the baby clothes and do a mass cleaning on the house. We accomplished so much! Dade had a basketball game and they won! Which means they get to play again tomorrow.

Friday - First of all, a shout out to Weight Watchers!! I have officially lost 10 lbs!!! I'm finally down to my pre-pregnant-with-Ella self. Now, if only I could get back to that pre-honeymoon weight (Our resort was all inclusive and we stuffed ourselves and our bodies never recovered!).

Sylvie and Ella had yogurt for breakfast. Sylvie REALLY gets into her eating!!

Jamie came over again today and we started in on the other half of the attic. My mom and my visiting teacher came as well and we got almost everything sorted and priced for the Yard Sale. Everyone but mom headed out about midnight (talk about dedication). My mom spent the night and we were out at 2am posting signs. I sure do love her. She really does so much service for me and I am so thankful. By the way, Dade lost his game tonight. Oh well, they tried hard!

Saturday - Ah, Yard Sale day....how did it go?? Well, it rained. It rained for a long time. Luckily, Ryan had some huge tarps and several people still came by. When the sun finally came out we got some traffic and by mid afternoon were ready to truck the rest of it off to charity. I have to say, it was a stressful process (to say the least) but now that it's done I feel some relief. It's nice now to have some extra space and less things to worry about. Besides, we made some money! Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all that came and helped me. I am so blessed to have such great friends and family!!

The girls came out to play for a while. Ella had a lot of fun with the umbrella. It was really, really heavy and it kept dragging her around when the wind blew. She was being so cute though. After the sun came out it was a very nice day to be outside!

After a long day and finally getting most everything cleaned up, Ryan and I settled in and watched a movie. It's so nice to be DONE!!

Sunday - Church was nice today. Ryan was teaching in Elder's quorum and I spent a good deal of time running flyers and signup's around for the upcoming Community Crèche exhibit (I'm the ward rep). I'm hoping to donate another crèche this year. I've donated a chocolate manger scene for several years now and have tried every year to make it more elaborate than the last. Each figure is hand colored and I've added coconut for the hay, etc. I'm looking to make some thing even cooler this year. If any one has any suggestions or thoughts, let me know. I'm sure I'll come up with something but with my brain lately being such a muddled mess, who knows! -- We got back from church in time to visit with our Home Teacher (the Priesthood version of Visiting teacher who visits with the whole family, not just the women). He shared a great message with us about family unity and then everyone headed outside to chat. That's when our dear Ella came across the ant hill. She got bit pretty badly. I'd say at least 30 bites on her left foot alone. She has bites all the way up to her belly. Other than her initial screams, though, not a tear has been shed and she's not even complaining. Her foot looks wet in the pic from all the medicine I put on them. I hope she recovers quickly and painlessly!!

Well, that's it so far this week! I'm so glad I don't have to sort through anything else for a long time!! Now I just have to organize the space that was left behind! I hope you have a great week! Thanks for reading along on our crazy adventures!!