General Conference Weekend

Monday, March 27th, Mia had an orthopedic appointment with Dr G down in Denver. I arranged for the boys to play with the Jarreau family after school until Justin picked them up for soccer. The girls drove down to Denver for the day. Mia wanted to stop at her school and get her homework, we did so but ended up having no time to work on it since she gets major motion sickness. Instead she had homework drama the rest of the week as she struggled to catch up. I struggled to keep myself awake and alert. Mornings are ever so difficult for me now, even with a full night of sleep I struggle something fierce to stay awake. Maybe I am turning into a narcoleptic in my older age. The girls were thrilled to stop at a Maverick gas station for treats and a large soda for me. We made good time. I listened to the new Beauty and the Beast soundtrack to keep myself awake, singing loudly helped out a great deal. Mia chose Noodles and Co for lunch. The day was gorgeous so we sat outside for lunch. The girls made quite the stir since they are so cute and friendly. The construction workers and the hospital staff seemed to enjoy watching the girls play hide and seek. Evelyn is hysterical when she plays, her laugh (a maniacal laugh) is so contagious. We arrived in time to catch the craft center before it closed for lunch. The girls scored gift bags with books, color books, and fun activities. We ran upstairs for her appointment. Per x-ray her femur is completely healed! Her femur head looks pretty good, it is still deformed and flattened but the surgery helped her maintain an almost normal range of motion. Dr G was delighted that in some ways her left leg outperformed her right in terms of range of motion, she only lost points while abducting her left leg, she lost about 25% of that motion. Her surgery for hardware removal is 26 May 2017, a year and a day after her first surgery. Poor Everett will celebrate another birthday with surgery fun. After the appointment we spent an hour playing in the recording studio. Amelia and I made parachutes out of hospital supplies like caps, masks, wraps, and bandaids. One of the hospital docents floated the parachutes down from the 4th floor. Amelia's really floated around, catching drafts and moving around. The rest of the parachutes all floated straight down or onto the 2nd floor. Evelyn was thrilled her helicopter chute floated down like a ballet. Evelyn was quite enthralled with the child sized toilet, she and I visited that space 6 times in one hour. Mia got to participate in a live radio broadcast trivia show. So much fun! We drove home afterwards, arriving just in time to catch the last 20 minutes of the boy's soccer games. Dinner was served thanks to Subway. I left my phone in the bathroom while helping Evelyn use the potty. The workers kindly found it and kept it safe.  

Much needed rain stayed around to soak the dry ground for a couple days off and on. The gray morning were pretty nice to nap, work on laundry in PJs, and clean up the house. I made sure to shoo Evelyn out in the rain a couple times each day. She was totally thrilled to dress in rain gear and stomp around. The highlight for her was riding the power wheels through the sidewalk puddles. Tuesday after school the kids donned rain gear and rushed outside manned with umbrellas to play in the gutters. They came back in soaking wet and chilled to the bone. I warmed up their chilled bones with hot black bean soup and scones. I really love watching the kids enjoy the rain, splashing about like ducks.

Thursday both boys had soccer games from 5:30-7:30. Outside was pretty cold and blustery, even bundled up we ended up with purple hands and lips. I am terrible about getting dinner ready on time for soccer nights. Justin took Everett to his game while dinner finished baking. We ate foil dinners at the soccer fields picnic style. I arrived in time to watch the last 10 minutes of Everett's game while the other kids ate dinner. Phillip's game was next, Everett ate his dinner with Josie, Dad, and I. Evelyn found several little girls to play around with, she was easy to spot wearing her zebra coat. Amelia sat in our camp chair working on dress designs. She rediscovered the fashion design "Style me Up" books we've had for a couple years. In the past few weeks she's designed holiday dresses, cute cartoon themed outfits, and of course her favorite unicorns and rainbow motifs. I had to smile at her hunched over her work armed with colored pencils and templates. Everett really loves to stick with the soccer ball. He is quite adept with kicking the ball around with his mates. Everett earned several injuries involving his face or legs and the ball or a foot. He would make a worthy professional player since he is also quite talented with the fake fainting moves professionals are famous for. Phillip mostly hangs back and seems to be in his own world. Justin yelling at him usually helps restore his focus. He made several awesome kicks last game. He loves to think he is a soccer star, but in reality chasing a ball does not make much sense to him. I love that kid, he is so funny.

Amelia got to spend Friday afternoon and evening playing with Katelyn. The rest of us went to Cabela's for a diversion. I stocked up on flip flops for summer and a splatter screen. We picked up Mia on our way home, she was very tired and cranky. She was quite jealous we had dinner at Oya Grill while she had to endure pizza for dinner with Katelyn. She brought home her entire pizza which her brothers ate. I made a large pan of cinnamon rolls using extra scone dough. The boys devoured almost the entire pan. Amelia was quite disappointed to find only one roll left for her.

Saturday dawned rainy and cold, perfect for watching General Conference. We enjoyed lots of amazing talks. Kids played with kinetic sand, perler beads, and lots of coloring. We escaped outside between sessions to get a break from sitting. Mia's hip really started to ache from so much couch sitting. Justin made buffalo wings Saturday night using the deep fryer he got for Christmas. We love wings with carrots, celery, cucumber, and other veggies for a simple dinner. He left to attend the Priesthood session. The kids took quick baths while I ran to get milkshakes for a special treat. The kids and I watched "Sing!" together. Justin whipped up crepes for Sunday, the Conference tradition continues. We got to Skype with Jared and Jana. I cut out a tester dress for Mia's birthday dress, ended up making two Easter dresses for the older girls using 6 yards of fabric I got at a deep discount when the SBluff JoAnn's closed down.

Evelyn continues to make progress with potty training. Most morning she begs for a pull up but decides on undies, she now earns a couple tic-tacs when she goes potty. We are struggling with putting poop in the potty. She tries but rarely makes it in time. I hate the poop transition, it is much harder and messier than the pee.

Josie learned how to climb up and down the basement stairs. Scares me to death to watch her trying to sit on the narrow stairs. It usually takes a tumble down the stairs for the kid to learn that stairs are precarious. I just hope I am there to stop her tumble this time, I missed Evelyn's first roll down the stairs from top to bottom. She is exhibiting her temper lately, if I take away the silverware basket for the dishwasher she cries and jabbers angrily at me. She will also let Evelyn know how angry she is if interrupted or messed with in a way she does not agree with. Still her happy and content disposition usually shine through. She is teething away on those pesky top teeth, her naps and night sleeps are not so peaceful of late.