Journaling

- For FHE on Monday, things were a little off since Nate was all doped up on pain killers for his back.  Nate was the lesson, but he was asleep through  most of it ;).  We decided it was the perfect time to make the count down chain for baby Wormie, that Noah has been dying to make for quite some time now.  We all pitched in and did a kind of assembly-line type organization, to get it done.  All 59 links!  Hopefully it's really only 52 days from Monday (I'm still hoping to get him outta here a week earlier, we'll see).  It was fun to hear what the kids were writing on each link.  I don't even think it was my idea to write on them, and they were some of the sweetest things.  Mostly Luke and Charity.  Luke wrote, "I love Wormie" a couple times, Charity wrote, "You gave me a high 5".  There were a lot of "I'm excited for you to get here!"'s, and many more.  It was really fun for me to hear.  I love it when they rally together.  It's AMAZING to me that these kids still get excited for a new baby.  I keep waiting for the Jimmy Flinders moment (from Saturday's Warrior) where they get all bitter about us having "another one".  But I guess that's one of the good things about having them so quickly :)  They're not old enough to be jerks!  Jk.  I hope they don't have any of those negative feelings, but if they do, I hope they feel okay talking about it.  I'm sure there will be moments later on.  It's understandable.  But I would think being an only child could be just as controversial for a teenager.  Who knows.  Anyway, I did take some pictures of the chain, but it's taking me forever to post it, so when I get around to it.  We hung it up on the wall going down the stairs.  The kids are all very excited to be able to remove a link when it's "their day".  Looks long, so hopefully it goes faster than it looks!  6-25-12

- Tuesday we had wanted to do something fun as a family, like all day, we kept thinking of things that probably wouldn't work for Nate's back.  This is common for us.  Everyone played with friends, and the kids had plenty of fun, but it did get to be about dinner time and we still didn't have anything real spectacular planned.  We ended up just getting in the car :).  We really needed to get out!  And on our way to Target to get the clothes the kids are in need of, we decided we were too hungry to shop and thought Chili's was the perfect remedy.  The kids did really well, we had a really great waitress who seemed to understand how important it is that the kids get their refills in a timely fashion.  She really was great.  Nobody ate very much, so we left with 7 styrofoam boxes filled with lunch for the next day :).  It was all good.  I was really relaxed and I think it was nice for Nate and I both that we were out of the house.  We ran to Target and got a few of the things we needed (and of course some cute baby outfits- whether we needed them or not :) ). But I've decided Target is not the place to go for the kids' clothes.  They have a horrible selection.  6-26-12

- Nate's schedule is really strange so far.  He is home every morning and part of the day for almost ALL the week days, and then gone during the daytime for the weekends.  It's really strange.  On the one hand, I LOVE having him home in the mornings and when we're both not exhausted.  But at the same time, he's gone during the times that there are no social outlets.  Wednesdays are the "Field Trip" days with the friends in the ward.  It's not exactly husband-friendly, so we really haven't gone.  I had really wanted the kids to be able to go to the splash park with their friends this week though, so we went.  It was awkward.  I don't think we'll do that again.  But the boys did play in the water a little.  The girls were at my mom's trying to earn some money helping around her house.  I would choose to hang out with Nate over ANYONE ANY day.  So it's all good.  I just wish the kids could get the socializing in as well :).  Good thing we've done nothing but socialize with friends all summer, or I would have to feel really bad.
That night, we had a Barbecue with our new next door neighbors, the Petersons.  IT's been really fun to have them so close for the kids to play with all summer so far.  And the kdis were so thoughtful to plan this BBQ for us ;).  It was very laid back, and we just sat and chatted the whole time, I LOVED it!  Andrea and I seem to have a lot in common and that's been priceless for me lately.  I feel like I don't have much in common with rest of the Moms in the ward, so this is a nice change.  I can't help but feel like this is a little blessing from Heavenly Father to help tide me over until we can get into our own home.  I know that might sounds silly, but He knows me too well!  Knows just what I need to take the edge off.  I love Him for that!  Andrea let Nate try some of her muscle cream, and it seemed to work wonders on his back!!  We bought some today, hopefully it turns out to be really beneficial for Nate's back problem!  At least until we can get a different muscle relaxant for him.  6-27-12

- Thursday night, I'm letting the kids have a movie night.  They are being so cute!  We didn't have a chance to rent a movie, so we were just going to choose one that we have.  Which NEVER goes well.  This time, I had each kid put their choice on a slip of paper and put it in a bowl to be chosen out.  I made them practice with me a few times how we were going to react no matter what the movie was.  This was fun, they got it, and I was getting hopeful :).  I dread the lame tantrums about which movie.  This was the best I could do.  And well, we picked one that nobody really wanted (Kelly's choice- Rigolletto), and Brad started crying, and Charity went up to her room "to read".  Kelly decided it wasn't worth having unhappy siblings so she resigned her choice and said we could pick a different one.  This brought back Charity and Bradley, and then when we read the second choice, Luke's, Brother Bear, we were back in the same place with Bradley.  But I decided to just let it go, they didn't want to change and the rest of the kids were very positive, so it was actually okay.  I felt like it was minimal and that was nice :).  Bradley soon changed his mind, and attitude (I think the sticky popcorn helped) and we're all watching Brother Bear together :).  They've been being pretty sweet to each other the whole time, it's really cute.  Luke and Erika had an adorable conversation:
Luke: You can sit by me Erika!
Erika:  I can! K!  Me wuv you!
Luke: I love you too Erika!
What Mom wouldn't melt!  As short-lived as it might be, and as cheesy as it is :).... I LOVE it!!!  Makes my day.  They all thanked me profusely for the popcorn and were so grateful!  Love that too!  We'll have to see how bedtime goes now ;)
We gave Nate back to the FAA tonight, he's been home almost a week with his back pain, so it was strange to have him go.  They have a policy that you can't control traffic for 8 days after taking the muscle relaxants he's been on, so he's stuck doing the crappy work- aka: ripping strips- for the next week.  That really stinks for him, and hopefully they will be able to keep him on every day.  But I must say, it's good that he's able to go at all.  I wasn't sure how long he would be out.  I've never seen him in so much pain.  I'm glad he's getting a LITTLE better, even if it is slowly.  6-28-12