Sledding Part Dos

 

I actually felt excited to get up and exercise on Monday...until I got up and went to the gym. Drives me nuts that I feel so blasted tired all the time. Tired when I sleep in, tired when I don't, my curse in life is tiredness. I was happy to shut off the TV for the week! The kids sluggishly finished their schoolwork each day. 

All the kids accompanied me for grocery shopping on Monday. It is not as stressful as it was several years ago. I sent the boys to fetch dog snacks, Mia was off shopping for prize favors, and later the kids all went to check out the toy aisle. Of course they ended up spending allowance money. The boys bought cheap guns to play with. Josie found a llama that walks! Evelyn was insistent she wanted to buy a set of LOL dolls. All the kids had Christmas money so they spent that, Evelyn cleaned out her allowance. The best part was having 10 extra hands to load groceries! Monday night for dinner was a loud affair. We took to talking in "B" replacing all main consonants, even Justin participated in the fun. Ban Bou Bead Bhis Benbence? BOB (aka lol)

I took Josie in to see Dr Aldous about her frequent throwing up issues. He wants to start with a radium drink x-ray to see if her intestines are moving correctly and properly attached. A problem with either of those would be the most serious. Check those off first then investigate at a slower pace. That sounded like a good plan of action. I started her on a good probiotic and doing better at giving her daily vitamins. Josie was quite happy to avoid shots after her most recent Dr visit. 

Tuesday morning the girls all had haircuts at Sister Young's down the street. Mia and I were laughing as Josie raced the Minnie car down the hill with Evelyn grabbing grass and twigs from passing landscapes. Josie skidded to a stop and jumped out of her car yelling, "I'm ready for my haircut!" She got a cute shoulder length a-line! At first she was unsure about it but everyone is raving about her cute hair so she loves it now. Much easier to brush and maintain. Evelyn got a trim of 1.5" off the ends. Amelia got a trim but then asked for some short layers to blend in the bottom. We both gasped when Sister Young started cutting long, deep layers into her hair. Amelia walked out knowing her hair was a disaster. Her bangs were cut at least three inches shorter than the rest of the hair, it is so stacked and strange looking. She tried hard not to cry most of the day. I think her hair looks cute but she wanted her hair back, it will take a year to grow back. It's just hair right? 

The kids nabbed 4 large boxes on Tuesday and made dog kennels. They spent the week hiding out in their boxes stuffed with blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals. Ambree was here for 6 hours as the kids carved, decorated, and played with their boxes. They brought down the nugget couch to use as a corral. My favorite part was the hole on top where the kids could stick their heads out to nab a snack waiting on top of their box. Later that day I picked up over 25 fruit snack bags littered around. Those boxes are going soon, enjoy them while you can! 

Mia and Jocelyn planned the YW activity for Wednesday night. They planned a bake-off event. Each YW brought a main dish or dessert to share, judges decided the best recipes, and three winners chosen. Mia made lemon pudding ice cream! We shopped a couple times (to Walmart and then Dollar Store) for prizes. 

Wednesday I had quite a mind shift, one that has been in the works for months. I've felt the need to delete FB and Instagram for quite a while. Those dang dopamine rushes are addicting. Tuesday and Wednesday I watched the Social Dilemma on Netflix, a documentary about social media. I knew on the surface most of what was said, but the documentary revealed much more than I wanted to admit. A few main ideas prompted me to act: if you're not paying for a platform then you are the product. If you are not using an app as a tool then the app is using you. Social Media is a big part of the miscommunication issues humans are having. I can still access FB for my business needs and for information (like on the homeschool page) but used as a tool. I was at the point where I mindlessly scrolled for 5-10 minutes at a time, adding up to hours in a day especially at night. Another point that sunk deep was if a platform is showing a "different feed" to each individual person than the risk is made that no one has an anchor point. It's like having a personal dictionary entry for each person, no one has the same definitions anymore. I told Amelia I felt like the Heavens were applauding...she clapped for me. Justin also deleted his accounts a couple weeks ago. Next week Brother Wadsworth is coming over to chat with my kids about Social Media and the dangers of pornography. 

I went to bed with a raging headache on Wednesday night. Next day I felt even worse! Took all my will power to get through school, even took a 10 minute nap just to rest my eyes. After lunch I started feeling queasy. I took a garbage bag along just in case it was needed during gymnastics. I barely made it home before I finally succumbed to the tummy flu. Had to cancel Activity Days because I was feeling so awful. Took a 3rd nap instead! Let the kids watch until Justin got home. We enjoyed cold cereal for dinner. I watched Roger and Hammerstein's Cinderella blast from the 1997 past with Josie. That was "nice." 

I felt much better the next day! Took the girls and the Ostlers to swim lessons. Evelyn and Josie are doing well in swim lessons! The girls leveled up last week. This week they learned the backstroke. We stopped at the Lakeshore Store for sight word flashcards and multiplication games. I am determined my boys memorize their tables. Determined!!! Justin took the day off for a much needed rest. His team filed the 2020 report Wednesday night, hooray! 

Saturday we drove up to Steamboat gulch again for sledding. It snowed off an on all week so we were hoping the runs would be more exciting. Nope! Still harder than rocks. Justin said I looked like a blueberry racing down the hill in my puffy coat. Good news I cracked my tail bone in such a way it actually feels better. Nothing like a good bouncy sled ride to adjust one's back. We almost gave up after a hour because our green saucers were not working and the kids were fighting over the 1-2 sleds that worked. Instead we started digging holes into the snowbanks. A 10 minute snow squall sent most families running back to Bosie. We stayed and discovered an isolated icy hill that the kids could slide down sans sled. Later that morphed into using the sleds with caution, then without abandon. So much FUN! Hooray for fresh mountain air, beautiful snow iced trees, and family fun. We're all aching from pulled muscles today! 

Evelynisms: "Mom, can I have a spitachio?" "Mom! You have three new nocifations"