Field Day with Phillip and Mother's Day

We love our sweet, happy baby Josie. She is really developing her personality lately. True to last baby status she loves finding leftover treats her siblings neglect to throw away. Oreos are now contraband since the older kids lick out the frosting and leave the chocolate shells around to crumble into pieces. Josie practically crowed in delight after finding an entire pile of discarded shells. She jabbered to herself and ate the tower of treats. I love to hear her jabber, quite possibly the most darling sound ever. She tries so hard to talk, pointing and letting me know what she sees. She is quite fond of driving the van (while parked). She loves escaping outside to run with the big kids. She hates grass, loves rocks, and will find birds and animals faster than I can spot them. Her left front tooth finally cut through last week. Sigh, maybe we can have a short break from the crankies.

Monday evening Phillip taught a lesson on Baptism out of the Nursery Manual. He practiced bearing his testimony at the end. Glory! As usual was a crazy, loud affair. The kids customize the kind of glory we throw at them (car glory, pig glory, shimmer shine glory are all popular). Everett FINALLY had a turn with activity. He was quite intent on playing PieFace. I was out of canned whipped cream, he had a list of other items that would work as substitute: cheese, bread, ice cream, or smashed bananas. Justin made a quick trip to SafeWay for a can of cream. The noise level accompanying the game is impressive. The screaming (laughter) was so rambunctious poor Josie had a nervous breakdown. Amelia and Everett were clear PieFace winners earning the most whipped cream faces.

Justin flew out of town on some business Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday night. Evelyn insisted we get some chicken looloo soup with Dad before he left. She is crazy about looloo soup. My head decided to start a nasty migraine that day as well, it is still plaguing me a week later. The kids and I managed just fine with Justin gone. Bedtime is a bit tricky with how we divide and conquer parental duties between kids. We stayed busy with homework, playing outside, a trip to the library, and some shopping.

Amelia was picking her nose on the way home from dropping off kids to school. She wanted me to make her a pizza for breakfast. As she asked a lovely nooger appeared on her finger. She then said: "Mom?! I not want a nooger pizza, a green nooger pizza, that gross. Just pizza please."

Thursday I finally had a chance to visit Nora in Peetz. Josie's naps often impede morning visits. I brought her a potted lily for Mother's Day and got many mom type hugs during our visit. She is gold! After lunch the 1st graders met at the park for their field day. Evelyn, Josie, and I went to enjoy the afternoon with Phillip. He is so adorably kind with his little sisters. Evelyn rushed right up to him and got a spinning bear hug. He held her hand most of the afternoon, helping her play the games, most often losing just to help her out. Other siblings did not join in like Evelyn did since their siblings pushed them away. He made sure Evelyn had sips of water and pushed Josie's stroller when he could. I loved watching his class perform their square dancing routine. He is quite wiggly but when it came down to dancing he did so with his own little interpretations. He helped Evelyn through the obstacle course, shouting out her name to encourage her and leading the way. Evelyn's eyes about popped when she saw the rainbow parachute station. She got to play a mouse during the cat & mouse game. After school the kids helped me clean the living room. We walked over to the HS for BINGO night and pizza. For $25 we got a large pizza, 4 sodas, 4 desserts, and a handful of BINGO cards. Thankfully, each of the kids won at least one game and earned a prize. All Evelyn wanted was a blue ring pop. They came home with bouncy balls, tattoos, books, and a hated whistle. Justin joined us after work. He chose a homework pass for Phillip's teacher for me as a prize...best gift ever.

Friday while washing up dishes I let Evelyn play with some leftover pudding, using it as finger paint. It started out innocent, quietly painting on the mat I provided. Soon I noticed articles clothing flying through the air as she stepped up the craft Evelyn style. Her goal? Naked pudding painting with her feet, bum, legs, and hair. Since the dishes were done be the time the game devolved I popped her into the kitchen sink for a soak. Justin sent a gorgeous bouquet of roses for Mother's Day. This time he sent colorful roses in a cute vase. Good job sweetheart. We enjoyed a date night while our neighbor's teenaged daughter Setti babysat our kids. Justin and I went to Sam and Louie's then to the theater to watch Guardian's of the Galaxy 2. The night off was completely wonderful. All I can say is: Trash Panda and I am Groot. So funny.

I made a matching dress for Josie using the same fabric and pattern as a dress I made for Amelia. I cut out a coordinating dress for Evelyn but lacked a couple inches of fabric for the sleeves. It is a joke trying to get just a little more fabric out here. I finally found someone going to Scottsbluff, she got the fabric. Phew. Meeting up with her was another story, she finally remembered to drop off the fabric after 4 times of failed meetings. I wanted the girls to wear their new dresses for Mother's Day. Most of the Evelyn's dress was completed so finishing it took no less than 45 minutes. The girls looked darling! Saturday we went to Cabela's for some shopping. Justin wanted a thick camping pad to use over the crappy hospital bed next week. We got sleeping bags for Everett, Evelyn, and Josie. The kids all got fun sunhats as well. Evelyn insisted hers was a cowboy hat. At home she put on her cowboy dress, her cowboy shirt, cowboy boots, and the new hat. She had hair doughnuts (messy buns) that day, so her hat looked a bit wonky. Everett had his shorts on backwards and his hat strap tangled up. He is a walking wardrobe malfunction. We visited with the Haley family out in Dalton for Morley's graduation reception. Alison served cute root beer floats in glass jars and also had a s'mores bar. The kids played and played outside with the other kids in attendance. Josie was enamored with the cute chickens and ducks out back.

Sunday morning Phillip woke up a 6 am, he wanted the iPad. I told him no...go back to sleep. Instead he headed to the kitchen and rustled around for a good 30 minutes. He tottered into my room with a tray holding a water bottle of milk (it had a dollop of strawberry powder in it for a nice shade of pink), the container of brown sugar, package of walnuts, two bowls (one for Evelyn), and a tiny bowl of oatmeal. He smacked a huge kiss on my cheek then wandered away. I am still giggling over the huge thermos of milk and the tiny bowl of oatmeal. What a kid. Matt Haley asked me last Sunday if I wanted a gift. I am leery of his gifts. Hesitantly, I agreed. He asked if I wanted to sit on the stand and watch Justin wrestle the kids during Sacrament meeting. The catch was I had to give a talk on Mother's Day. The gift was well-appreciated! The primary kids sang the intermission song, my kids all gave me hug as they returned to their seats. Everett said quite seriously, "Mom, I hope you give a good talk, we are all counting on it!" That's quite the pressure. I sure appreciated all the extra hugs, kisses, and snuggles on Sunday. Justin made shrimp scampi, well, tried but burned the garlic right off. I made the dish but it did not taste delicious, not enough lemon and soggy noodles. Yuck. I did not have to do dishes so that was a bonus. Monday I paid the price with the extra leftover dishes waiting for me. Guess the bag of white chocolates will console me while I clean up the weekend mess. Ha ha! All in good spirits. I was so glad to chat with my mom and relax more than usual.

PS: Evelyn calls white dandelions blow-ies. Yah, know...you blow them and the seeds poof free?! Cute.