St Patrick's Day, Spring Break, and Succor Creek

 

Spring break was so nice, a lovely break from school and schedules! I taught art the 16th and 17th, another terribly drawn Degas ballerina, although my best try of the three classrooms. The Kinders were very excited about the Escher lesson because they got to do scratch art. Evelyn burned her little finger tips making a Leprechaun trap on Wednesday. At first glance her fingers looked fine, just a wee tinge of red. She moaned and cried for 5 hours with her fingers soaking in a cup of ice water. I thought she was just over-reacting, a ploy to get out of piano lessons. Towards bedtime two of her fingers developed little blisters, she really did burn at least two fingers. I felt bad by then and profusely apologized! I helped her finish the trap, she did a great job covering the box with green paper. We devised a ladder into the box with chopsticks attached to a flap. The flap was easy to push up so we attached a heavy can of beans to the lid that would slam down as the Leprechaun climbed down the ladder. I sacrificed an old gold ring to tempt the booger into our trap. Evelyn woke up at 11 pm, crept downstairs to find Justin and I working on crazy St Patrick's mischief. She noticed the trap was already sprung and the little devil escaped. After we all went to bed the little trickster came back for more mischief. We celebrated a fun St Patrick's Day morning. The kids laughed and laughed over the silliness. I lost my gold ring, boo hoo. He had something sharp to cut a large hole in the box. Next year we might need a metal box. I prepared a St Patrick's dinner the night before due to choir schedules on the actual holiday. Amelia had two friends over to design a logo for this year's Girl's Camp. Evelyn spent a couple hours making a board game! I played it with her a couple times before bed, the game is sort of like Candyland. Excellent imaginative work Miss Evelyn. 

I packed up the van Friday morning for a short trip to Utah. Justin picked up the kids from school after lunch. We left around 1:30 pm once the kids cleaned up the house a little. Our van must be fat and lazy after all the small town driving. It always freaks out when driven highway speeds. Dusty changed the van oil the night before, even polished the headlamps, so the Swagger was looking fine. All the warning lights flashed on about 20 minutes into the no-reception zone between Burley and Snowville. OF COURSE?! I tried to reset the warnings with Justin's help but no luck. I called Kenny and he advised if the van was running smoothly then keep going. About 10 minutes later the tire lights came one (again). I always check the tires the first time just to make sure the pressure is correct, then I ignore future warnings. Gah, those engine lights made my stress levels skyrocket. Once in Bountiful Kenny checked the error messages with his car reader. The pistons misfired which could mean they need replacing or something else in that same system. We made it to the Lances towards 9 pm, a late arrival for so many people. 

Saturday morning I left earlish to drop off my green ring at Shane Co because a stone fell out. I waited for an hour in the van for my appointment slot. The tech who helped me also switched out the mismatched green earrings I somehow ended up with last year. I made sure to closely inspect them this time. The ring will be shipped after repairs. I quite enjoyed an hour at the Quilted Bear, a favorite crafty store in Draper. I listened to a podcast about ADHD during the drive. I have some suspicions that I may deal with Inattentive ADD. That was quite a shock, Justin found the revelation quite hilarious, not a great time to goad me! I was quite tearful, I feel unsure if ADD is part of myself of just some symptoms match. Having 5 kids will cause ADD in most adults. Ha ha.  

Individuals with inattentive ADD do not suffer from hyperactivity, but are easily distracted, sluggish, slow moving, and lack motivation. Because this form of ADD doesn’t cause behavioral problems, it is usually diagnosed later in life. It is also more commonly seen in females. Individuals with inattentive ADD also have reduced blood flow to their prefrontal cortex which causes low levels of dopamine. Thus, their treatment is similar for those with classic ADD and focuses on increasing the levels of dopamine in the brain. Symptoms include:

• Disorganization
• Appearing “scatterbrained”
• Forgetful
• Low tolerance to stress
• Work hard to gain approval
• Overcommitting
• Hypersensitive to stimuli
• Trouble with time management

 The kids were scattered here and there playing this and that! Emmy and Evelyn organized a Pioneer tea party. The boys tried to play some Minecraft together. Josie was glued to Bee-bops back, enjoying numerous rides up and down the stairs. Mia and Lia walked to the grocery store for schnacks. Courtenay treated the kids to an item at the Dollar Store. Josie insisted on a pair of arm floaties. Sunday was relaxing! I enjoyed sitting in Primary just watching all the fun. Charlie came down with a fever and cough, he stayed home with Courtenay. Emmy, Evelyn, and Jacob imagined up a circus complete with 10 different acts and costumes (plus numerous costume changes). Penny and Josie joined in after the circus started with Jump Roping for Penny and Elephant Throwing by Josie. We watched cute acts with songs, dancing, trampoline tricks, pony rides, and even a fearsome lion. Grandma Debbie came for dinner. She entertained us with stories of our time in Italy. We missed Jana, Hannah, and Rachel very much. The girls came down with a nasty viral cough. Monday the kids really wanted to swim. I called an indoor pool asking about their open swim hours and if it would be open. I got a yes so we drove out to the pool, it was closed per lack of staff?! Gah! That was frustrating. Courtenay suggested we try the Lehi pool so we headed there, frustrating to waste an hour of pool time. The kids played and played for a good hour or so. Josie was sad one of her floaties had a hole in the seam, the other was used more as a ball than a floatation device. It was almost dinner so we cut the time short before hangry raised it's ugly head. 

Wednesday the ladies went SHOPPING!!! The kids stayed home and played all the video games and watched all the shows. Jacob was the emergency manager and lunch maker. We shopped at DI in Lehi and then Provo. Amelia scored tons of cute skirts and shirts for summer. I found shorts for Evelyn and men's shirts to rework into trek clothes for Justin and Phillip, plus books, and other odd finds. Lunch was amazing. We stopped at Waffle Love and Lovebirds (in the same building). I ordered a spicy chicken sammie, the others went with waffles. OMG, my sandwich was the ultimate best chicken sandwich ever. It was amazing enough to overlook the cashier's lack of customer service skillz. We then stopped at the mall for the teens to browse Hot Topic and Box Lunch. I need a new swimsuit so we checked out Janela Bay...where Amelia found a suit on the sale rack. I just cried because, well because swimsuits hate my body shape or vice versa. Then Miekka headed towards Seagull Book to shop for an Easter dress for Lia. That girl is slower than molasses! After an hour she left empty handed, Courtenay and I had books we purchased.  Last stop of the frenzy was Costco for pizza...and books. Evelyn was peeved for the rest of the day because we were gone so long. She was bored, hungry, starved for attention, and tired. I was heckled from the moment my foot stepped through the door until she fell asleep. That was hard, hard for her to deal with me shopping and hard for me dealing with her whining. The boys were fighting, the kids short-tempered, the adults needing space. Pizza helped. I helped hide Easter eggs for a fun activity after dinner. Josie and Phillip flew kites before the sun set. The most magical part of the evening was MAKEOVERS! Evelyn gave me a lovely face of makeup complete with golden eyebrows to match my ball gown. Josie then added her flair to my face and nails. She dotted all my "pimples" with blue eyeshadow. Penny got upset over her dark eyebrows but soon reconsidered once she saw how strange we all looked. Emmy exclaimed several times that this was the best time of her life! Things went south again at bedtime because some kids wanted to sleepover again, some didn't, so chaos and tears. We all were feeling a bit down in the dumps. I honestly, cried until 3:30 am. Decisions are not well-made at that time of morning. We woke up feeling much better with a little sleep and space. Our trip ended with the somewhat traditional trip to the gas station. Evelyn was so mad at me for promising a trip to the gas station on Monday, didn't work, then Tuesday, didn't work...we made Wednesday work. I treated the kids to a $2 treat, YAY. 

We spent a few hours with Grandma Jean, Grandma Debbie, and Grandpa Lane. The kids happily sang a few choir songs to Grandma Jean. She is looking better the last few days after coming off chemotherapy. Josie bonded with Grandma Jean who ate a lunch of Lucky Charms, that is love right there. We got the grand tour of the reorganization effort down in the basement. My parents worked really hard to organize their food and sundries for over a month. Dad introduced me to GMRS radios and then showed me his extensive set up. I like the idea of GMRS because it doesn't require a test but rather just a license. The range is line-of-sight unless you invest in the proper antennas and repeaters (?). Uncle Scott came over for a moment, the kids enjoyed hearing him talk about interesting things. Mom listened to my woes, let me cry for a moment. Guess I am having a hard time lately, emotions are taking over. Hannah was feeling better so we got to spend an hour or so playing with the girls. I quite enjoy teasing those cute girls. I introduced the kids to In-and-Out for dinner. Phillip went into a burger coma after eating an animal-style double-double and animal fries. Everett almost finished his food, and decorated the table in the process. We spent the night with Charity and Kenny. Charity got a make-over or two from the little girls. She looked even fancier than I did. Our drive home was thankfully uneventful. We finished listening to the Rise of the Allies, Gryphon Chronicles book 5. The kids banded together and got the van unpacked. We had our bags unpacked and things mostly put away before I left for a maternity photo session. The session was fast and enjoyable. 

Friday was a day of recovery from too much fun. I went grocery shopping. Yay. Josie got a new set of footie PJs Koala style. She immediately wore the PJs for the next few days. Weather was amazing over the weekend. The daffodils and tulips are up, the hyacinths smelling gorgeous. My little seedlings are growing taller, mostly the broccoli/cabbage seeds sprouted. I had the yearly urge for tuna pasta salad, that once a year urge. Kind of like how one craves candy corn (once) or circus peanuts (once). I mixed it up this year by adding roasted veggies like pepper, onion, zucchini, and asparagus. The dressing was an interesting mix of mayo with italian dressing. The salad worked, strangely worked. We met Justin at Cabela's after dinner to find footwear for those going on Trek. Mia and I opted for the same shoes in different sizes, Merrill trail shoes. We're matchey-matchey now. Phillip absolutely LOVES his new shoes. Justin couldn't find any shoes that fit properly. 

Saturday we met up with the Earth Brite Rockhounding group for a morning of agate hunting. The organizer owns a rock store in Caldwell. We grouped at a park in Homedale before heading to Succor Creek at 9:15 am. The site is a mile or two across the Oregon border. Kurt Banham gave us all pointers before we started poking around in the dirt. He taught us to look for agate nodules then dig beneath that spot for larger rocks. His technique is to sit on his upturned bucket and dig in a circle with his massive rock pick. This time we were picky about which rocks ended up in our buckets. We found just a few really cool rocks, a couple geode fragments, two beautiful Jasper chunks, and a ton of Leverite (leave-r-rite there). After pawing around in the dirt for an hour, enjoying lunch in the fresh air, and more digging we drove to the Earth Brite store. Part of the outing included one stone per person cut in halves. I signed up our family for the rock-hounding club. We are excited it includes an hour per month at the cutting and polishing stations. The kids enjoyed taking home their own Thunder Egg (cut in halves) and a bag of discarded semi-precious stones hidden in a large sandbox. At home I cleaned the girls room, Josie stabbed herself with a pencil the day before while searching for a shoe. It was time for a mom clean. Justin and I went to a fun ward adult activity. We all synced our Family Search apps to find our closest relatives. Justin was my closest relative (7th cousin, twice removed) until the Bishop arrived as my 7th cousin. My closest relative is Sister Lynes as a 4th cousin! I was very surprised most of those related to me are through my Baerwaldt line! We shared favorite hobbies and lots of talking. 

Sunday we practiced Risen with the youth and Primary kids. Oh my! They sound amazing! I am very excited for the kids to all sing on the 10th in sacrament meeting. One Sister in RS bashed Seminary teachers (at least the ones in her life) for promoting false doctrine, or at least personal doctrine that lead to years of false beliefs. She gave a very stern warning about gleaning too much information from podcasts. She adamantly said to instead search the scriptures and get personal revelation. I love podcasts! Her opinion was strong but also something I've had on my mind. I quite enjoy chasing the extras, the historical, the unknowns about the scriptures, often missing the lessons. Back to the basics at least in our family devotionals. No more strange movies about animated cows with extended jaws swallowing the healthy real cows (ask me for the video link...it's a strange one). 

My soul feels like the laundry room. There was a tiny pathway winding through the junk everyone leaves on the floors and empty spaces. I cleaned my soul Monday afternoon. It feels better now. The pantry, coat closet, and my clothes closet need particular attention. The need to Spring Clean is powerful right now. I took the kids to Walmart. I walked out with the strawberry plants we went for plus extra things like bras, lunchables (gross), Easter candy, and Easter basket toys. It was expensive...at least the kids are getting things they actually want instead of a couple things they don't want.