2016 :: week 4

January 17

The "animal book" is one of the ways we bribe motivate the kids to get ready for bed. When time permits, we read about an animal or two from the book Will got for Christmas. We do that last in hopes of speeding up the steps in the bedtime routine. It has been fairly effective, but Anthony dislikes that an additional step has been added to the night. The kids are always looking to prolong bedtime.

January 18

Lauren has an incredible imagination. She loves to play with figures--Little People, My Little Ponies, animals, Polly Pockets, Lego minifigures, etc. She sets up elaborate houses and towns and will play with them for hours. Anthony and I spent a lot of Monday working on wallpaper removal and other household chores and Lauren entertained herself pretty much all day long. I went up to her room to double check on her a few times and each time she was engrossed in her play.

January 19

 On Wednesday of this week I got to read a book to Will's class. On Tuesday afternoon we went to the library to pick out a book for me to read (apparently the books we own weren't good enough). Will picked out a Wild Kratts easy reader. Not exactly the fun storybook I envisioned myself reading to the class, but I was doing it for him so Wild Kratts it was. Turns out several kids in the class are also big fans of the Wild Kratts so it was a better choice than I initially thought.  Both of the kids really love learning about animals. Will is a sponge with all animal related information. Lauren wants to be a zookeeper when she grows up with Will and Elliott serving as her resident biologist and veterinarian.

January 20

Lauren and I had a difficult time getting along on Wednesday. Will did his best to lighten the mood as we were getting ready for bed. Sometimes it's hard to be four. And 32.

January 21

It snowed twice this week. Tuesday it was light and powdery and melted quickly. Thursday it snowed fat, wet flakes most of the day. After we shoveled the driveway we met some friends on the hill by the school for a little sledding. The big kids had a blast (Elliott not so much). We practically had to drag Will and Soren home.

January 22

Friday was our ward's Soup and Bread Night. I had grand plans to make homemade rolls and a white chicken chili, but then late Friday night I got a migraine. It was the first one I've had since Elliott was born. It was strange how fast it came. I felt perfectly fine while I was out sledding with the kids, but within a few hours I felt nauseous every time I stood up. Anthony arrived home from DC in the nick of time and was able to help with the kids while I slept. I felt good enough to go the ward activity (it was a good one--well attended with lots of good food) but only snapped this one picture of Will pretending to be Elliott as we were getting ready to go.



January 23

Saturday was a day of running errands and getting caught up around the house. We went to a baptism for Katie (the girl I used to work with one-on-one in primary) and on the way home put air in our tires. Our mirror is cracked, but not because we ran into something. I am clumsy and knocked it loose,, then dropped it on the ground while I was trying to reattach it.