Doug's Birthday, Activity Days, RS Activity with Cupcakes and P-6 Farms 10/18 - 10/24/2020

 The week started with Doug's Birthday.  It was a nice day, I spent most of it in the kitchen making yummy food.  Doug asked for pie for his birthday treat.  I made a banana cream and cherry.  The pudding didn't set up so, we had deconstructed banana cream pie pudding instead.  The cherry pie turned out good though.  We had oven chicken, mashed potatoes, rolls, fruit, and broccoli.  Doug bought himself a new light for the garage and I bought him some more protein bars, a dad joke book, a new family game, and a Captain America t-shirt.  I think it was a good day for him.  I'm grateful to celebrate Doug and let him know how special he is to our family.

Our activity for the girls this week was to walk around the neighborhood pond and eat snow cones.  It was an easy and fun activity.  The girls all had a good time and played some games in the cul-de-sac until parents came to pick them up.  

I had a busy week getting ready for RS.  I was asked to demonstrate some cake decorating techniques. I really have a hard time with these activities because there is so much that you can do, so it is hard to focus on just a few things.  I ended up picking out 3 cupcake designs and then teaching those techniques.  I really don't think I actually taught very well.  I was going too fast because I wanted to give them as much time as possible to do their cupcakes.  Anyway, I think the ladies had a good time, but I felt a little hectic.  I also had made a ton of frosting and cake all week  We had some help from the RS committee but I was afraid that we would run out of frosting, so I made another batch.  We probably would have been ok, but the frosting that was given to us was very soft and started to melt - so I was glad that I had made extra.  A friend helped me a bit too and she had brought some frosting as well.  I demoed frosting a cake - so we ate that during the week.  It was a yummy chocolate cake.  

The weather is finally feeling like fall so we decided to go to P-6 farms for a family outing.  We have been once before.  It was a beautiful day, and actually a bit chilly in the morning so we decided to go right after lunch.  I think everyone else had the same idea, it was so crazy crowded.  But we had a good time.  We went through the corn maze first, we only had minor disagreements as to which way we should go. :)  We ended up taking turns of who would be the leader.  We made it through both mazes pretty well.  

I waited in lots of lines while the girls played on slides.  They had a small roller coaster, jumpy thing, fun house, and a spinny-car ride.  We also watched the pig races.  It really is a fun set up, I just wish there were more of the around so that the crowds would be more controlled.  It is also pretty expensive ($20 per person) but I can't imagine how crowded it would be if it was cheaper.  

Back to School 10/11 - 10/17

The girls still love to build forts or sleep somewhere other than their beds.  Over the weekend they set up the little tent in their room and slept in it.  They sure are cuties. 

 So our first 9 weeks of school ended on the 10th, yah! So then we had to decide what to do with the kids again.  Damon and Chris wanted to stay home, but then Damon decided last minute that he would learn better if he went back in person.  The girls were very excited to go back to school, so it will just be Chris staying home for this next term.  

So the busyness of this week was getting the kids ready for school, gathering school supplies and making sure we had everything that they needed.  It was nice to put away the table in the living room and not have to worry about so many zoom calls for the girls.  Chris will have 1 or 2 zooms a day.  He will miss his LA zoom because of going to band in person, but will check in with his teacher twice a week independently for questions or instruction. 

First day of In Person school. October 13th 

Kaylee

Jenna

3rd Grade with Mrs. Whittle and Ms. Silvas

Chris's first day of band in person. Percussion with Mr. Lucas 

I decided to clean out the attic, it's been a long process but good.  Doug went through his boxes this week and had fun looking through his card collection.  The boys were amazed at how many he had. 

This Michael Jordan card is worth a couple hundred dollars right now.  

   

Family Pictures 2020

 We had a friend in the ward take our family pictures.  I stressed over our clothes too much and changed our outfits on the day of the pictures.  I ended up having to run to Walmart for jeans for Damon, and a shirt for me.  I was very grateful to find what I needed.  Earlier in the week I had found shirts for the girls and Tyler and Chris.  It was all a bit crazy trying to find the right colors and the right size for everyone.  I returned a lot of options afterwards.  :)  

I was also really worried about the weather.  It looked like it was going to rain, but it was also soooo hot that day.  We had just had a nice cool front come through but now things were heating up again and I didn't want all the kids sweaty and grumpy from being hot.  We almost rescheduled, but I really just wanted to get it over with so we went ahead with it.  Jenna and Kaylee had piano lessons right after school so they were a bit rushed to get ready when they got back, but it turned out fine.  Thankfully it started to cool down when we got there, as the sun went down and the kids were all in good spirits and it really was a great location.  The kids could play in the sand when it wasn't their turn and that kept them happy.  

Thank you so much Melissa they all really turned out so great!

October 1-10 2020 General Conference, Birthday cakes, Hair cuts, and the Creek

 Our lives for the past 2 weeks have been about getting our school work done.  The first term just ended so the kids had lots of tests and projects to finish up.  They have all been doing pretty well online.  I have to keep reminding Chris to double check things but overall everyone is doing ok.  We decided to send Damon and the girls back to school in person for the rest of the year.  Chris is going to be staying home for now.  He really is just happier and less anxious staying home.  So as long as he is learning well and keeping his grades up we will let him stay home.  He will start going to band in person though.  

Over conference weekend I decorated a cake for a friend.  It was a bit stressful and I have decided that I will not be doing cakes for other people anymore.  It is just too much for me.  I still enjoy doing for my kids or as a surprise for others, but trying to match expectation is too stressful.  

The kids were good during conference.  I didn't listen too well on Saturday while I was making the cake, but Sunday was nice.  The girls made forts to listen to conference in. The kids like to do conference Bingo, and then we do our snack lunch, for the second half of the morning session.  

I wanted to try and new cinnamon roll recipe that was posted in the "Don't Miss This" podcast.  It was yummy but needed more cinnamon.  

We had the missionaries over for dinner after conference and played cornhole in the backyard.  Tyler was doing well and won with Elder Bleak.

I got my hair cut and I colored it again.  I figured out that my friend and I had measured wrong the first time that we did it, so they color wasn't as concentrated.  So it was a lot darker this time, but I like it. :0 

Our spider trap caught a baby snake - welcome to Texas! I'm just glad it got caught and we didn't find it elsewhere in the house.  

Saturday we went to the creek to play.  It was foggy in the morning but by last afternoon it was a beautiful day.  We set up our shad for the first time and it was wonderful.  The kids were so happy playing and just being outside.  We had a nice picnic lunch and enjoyed the sand and water.