A Fun Filled Day

Yesterday I got to go on a field trip with Abby. Alot of things went wrong in the morning, but they eventually got themselves worked out and we got to go to the science center. I had alot of fun with Abby and she really seemed to like having me there. I have never been able to volunteer at the schools very often because I have always had lots of young children at home, and my girls seem to have a hard time with that. So this year, I decided that I would make sure that I at least went on the field trips with them. I also happen to be the parent classroom volunteer coordinator for Anne's class, so I get to work a bit more with Anne's teacher. I realized that my kids were getting older and one day they won't want me to be as involved in their lives, so I had better do more now. I am so glad that I went with Abby because we did have a lot of fun, and it was so much fun to spend the day with just her. . . well, and 20 other kids that are in her class.
For Family Home Evening last night we carved all 6 of our pumpkins. . . . or rather, I carved them and the kids and Otto emptied them out and chose what they wanted on them. Abby chose a silhouetted cat, Anne chose the words "Trick or Treat" (in the hardest font I have ever carved but it looks awesome!!!), Caroline wanted a moon and stars, Dustin wanted 'Thomas the Tank Engine (I actually pulled it off and it looks soooo cool), I used a drill to make some cute stars and Otto has like a frankenstein looking pumpkin. . . I think he was jealous that I used his drill and so he had to use it too! It was alot of work, but we had fun and the pumpkins look great! I can't wait to see them on Halloween!!
Yesterday was a fun filled day! That's good because today seems to be. . . well . . . Tuesday. . . and I HATE Tuesdays because nothing ever goes right, and today is no exception!! Oh well, only 10 more hours until I get to go to sleep and then it will be HALLOWEEN!!!!

The Farm

This weekend we had a ward temple trip, and so we decided to spend the weekend at the family farm. I always love taking my kids there because they always have so much fun. We went to the temple on Friday night and had fun seeing Otto's brother Jason, his wife Lisa, and their 6 boys. Our kids always love playing with those boys.
On Saturday, we spent the day playing at the farm, petting the horses, playing with the baby kittens and going to the park with the longest slide that I have ever seen. We had a lot of fun and it was nice to spend the day there. At about 4 we went back to Otto's brother's house and Otto's mom and her husband came over and we had a nice family dinner of Costco Pizza. It was fun, and it was great to see Jason and Lisa again. One of the nice things about going there is that our kids each have a cousin to play with. I always feel bad, though, because their oldest son is 11 and he is way older than my kids, so when we go over there, he gets bored because he has no one to play with. Abby LOVES their second son Grant. In fact, when we called everyone up for dessert on Friday night, Abby and Grant were holding hands and arranging places to sit together. . . or rather Abby was organizing that. It was pretty hilarious and I had to make sure that Abby knew that she wasn't allowed to marry her cousin. . . as cool as he may be! There is Ammon who is really close to Anne's age and they play great together. This kid is a riot because he really likes to joke around and tease. That is right up my alley!! Then there is Tyler. We call him and Dustin. . . Double Trouble. Dustin just follows Tyler around and the two of them just get into constant trouble. . . they are going to have so much fun together as they get older. Jason and Lisa then capped off their children with a set of twins! Yep. . . she went from 4 to 6 boys . . . if there is anyone who can do it, she can. Lisa is amazing!
Today we decided that since we were close to it we would take the kids to the Crowsnest Pass and go and visit Otto's Grandmother Pierzchala. We don't often take the time to go and visit her and I was really glad that we did that this time. I don't know how many more times we will be able to see her before she dies. We took a little trip down nostalgia lane for Otto. . . I tried to keep the kids interested, but it only worked for so long! Then we went to Otto's favorite childhood restaurant in the Pass. . . Chris'. Otto loves the food there, and I think that it is mostly because it reminds him of his childhood because the food there is really not that great. On our way out, I told the kids to use the bathroom because we weren't stopping until we got to Calgary. They assured me that they found the bathrooms and that they could go by themselves. Well, I went into the bathrooms a couple of minutes later and the girls were nowhere to be found in the ladies washroom, but I could hear their voices. . . so I went towards the men's bathroom. . . which was labled 'Gents' I figured that the girlies had thought that it said girls so I called for them. As luck would have it, they were in there. I then proceeded to tell them that they were in the boy's bathroom and I have never seen them run so fast. After picking myself off of the floor from laughing so hard I helped them find the girls' bathroom. It was sure fun teasing them about that all the way home. I knew that I had to write it down so that I wouldn't forget it. . . . ahhhh kids. . . without them my life would be soooo boring!

SNOW!!!

Well, it finally happened. It finally snowed last night. I was sure glad that I had all of the kids' winter things for them to wear to school today. That stressful day of shopping for everything sure paid off!!!
I guess that some would consider it snow while others of us would call it flying ice. It was REALLY painful to be out in the storm last night! The wind and the ice felt as though it was snowing glass. I was surprised that I didn't have any cuts on me when I got inside. . . but being pregnant, I did still send Otto out for my evening slurpee. . . .for some reason he got himself a hot chocolate. . . .wuss!!
As I was sitting in my Bonus Room watching the ice fly at my windows, I was mentally going through a checklist to make sure I had all of the candles and flashlights where I needed them and to make sure we had lots of extra blankets in case the power went out. I was glad that the kids were asleep because they would have been really freaking out. . . especially if the power went out. You see, last year on the night before Halloween we were supposed to have a couple of families over for a Halloween party. I was also supposed to cater the next day. Well, as luck would have it our power got cut at about 4 pm. Our house went dark and the kids started freaking out. Otto was at work and I couldn't get ahold of him and so I started to freak out myself. I called the power company and they informed me that it had been several months since I had paid my bill and so they had to cut off my power. I then (ummm we'll say politely) told them that I had, in fact, been paying my bill and that I had record of it coming out of my bank account. They said great! Fax it over to them. I then (again we will say politely) informed that that would be quite difficult since the confirmation was on my computer and the fax machine and computer both do not work without power. They said that I would have to figure it out. So I did!! I called my parents (who were also having my grandparents stay with them for a few days), quickly explained the situation and asked them if I could bring the kids over for a sleepover because I didn't have any power and the kids were quite unsettled. My parents said yes (of course) and then I started to leave for their house when Otto showed up. I told him to get into the car and when he protested I just yelled, "GET IN!!" As we drove, I informed Otto about what was happening and then he proceeded to question me about how the electric company wouldn't have received our payments if I had made them. I informed him (ummm. . . politely) that I couldn't really figure it out in the car so it would have to wait until we got to my parent's house. He then asked about the Halloween party and I informed him that I had already called all of the families and canceled the party. . . . I'll bet that you can imagine how well that went over with the kids. They did eventually get excited about sleeping over at Nana's house. They didn't think it was very fun to sit in the dark and be quiet while Mommy made a whole bunch of phone calls and packed up all of their stuff. By the time I got to my parents' house, I was a wreck.
Well, I eventually got everything sorted out with the electric company and my Grandma Bennion helped me cook all of the food for the event that I had to cater for the next day. I had to pull and all-nighter and my sweet grandma stayed up with me until 2 am and then did the dishes for me the next morning (she is a saint!!! What can I say?) and it all got done with 10 minutes to spare. So we got to go home for Halloween and everything turned out fine.
The only problem now is that whenever there is a power outage (it has happened about 2 or 3 times) the kids always freak out and ask me why I didn't pay the electric bill. As much as I love them, I always tell them (well. . . politely) that I had paid the electric bill last time and it wasn't my fault that the electric company cut the power. I sure do love the kids, and I do feel bad that they got so scared, and every time there is bad weather or a power outage, I always think back to that day before Halloween 2006 and think about how grateful I am that we made it through that mess!!

Activity Days

I have the BEST calling in the whole wide world!! I am the Activity Days leader for the older girls in our ward. We have 25 girls in Activity Days and we generally don't seperate them into their age groups. The ladies that I work with in this calling are amazing and I love working with them.
Tonight we are having a Daddy/Daughter Fall Festival for our Halloween party. I am in charge of it and I have had a busy week so I haven't really been able to work on it until last night and this morning. We are having a dinner (we start at 5:30 and so we figure that the dads will be racing to get to the church so we decided to feed them) which will be pumpkin chili in a bread bowl with caesar salad. I know that pumpkin chili sounds weird, but it is my FAVORITE!!! It is also really healthy and a little bit sweet and spicy. . . . a combination which I LOVE! We are then playing the mummy wrap relay race where the dads will have to completely cover their child in toilet paper from head to toe! After that we are having a donut eating contest where everyone will have to eat hanging donuts without the use of their hands. We are finishing off the evening with a cute little halloween riddle game and dessert. By the time everyone goes home they will be full of food and hopefully they will have had fun.
I love working with this age group of girls. I can't wait until my girls are this age so that they can go to Activity Days. Abby will be able to come up in April and I hope that I still have this calling at that time. I remember when my mom was my Merry Miss leader and I have used some of the activities that we did when she was my leader with these girls. The only part that I am not that appreciative of is the fact that right now my house smells like delicious pumpkin chili and I can't eat any of it because it is not done. . . and because I should probably save some for the girls!

Tuesdays

Am I the only one or are Tuesdays the hardest days of the week? I always seem to sleep horribly on Monday nights and so my Tuesdays I am usually groggy and cranky. Today I just seem to feel as though I am not on top of anything. . . . but yesterday I thought that everything was wonderful and great. . . crazy!!!
Today I had another doctor's appointment but this time it was the OBGYN. I am glad that I am in that clinic because they really give you alot of attention. We couldn't hear the baby's heartbeat AGAIN (so far I am 4 for 4) and instead of me having to schedule yet another ultrasound and drive all the way across the city, I was able to sit there as they wheeled in their own ultrasound machine so that we could just take a quick look right there. That machine was a dinosaur. . . I seriously think it was made in the 60's but it worked and it saved me about 2 hours today.
This afternoon Dustin and I went to Costco. There is the CUTEST santa there that climbs up a ladder with christmas lights. I HAD to get it. Every time we go there all the kids want to do is go and see the Santa. I can't get anything done until we see him. I am so excited to try and figure out a spot to put him. Also, I am trying to find some angel ornaments because I want to do an Angel Christmas tree in memory of my little Robin. . . if anyone knows where I can get some, I would really appreciate it!!
Tonight Abby is going to accompany me to a Salt City Candle party. I love that she is old enough to come with me to things like this. It makes it a really nice evening when I can spend time with her and enjoy it without having all of the other crazy monkies around!!! I have to teach piano today so we are going to be going after my last piano lesson, which will keep her up past her bedtime, but I don't think that she will complain much!

The new me!!

On Saturday, I went and chopped off all of my hair and dyed it a totally different color! Yep, I am not even lying!!! I was feeling like a FRUMPY old pregnant woman and I was acting like a FRUMPY old pregnant woman and so I called up my very talented cousin (who I ALWAYS get to do my hair) and she fit me in on Saturday. As the hair came a tumbling down, my self-esteem shot up. Now I feel like the good old Megan that I used to be. I know that my siblings think that I am ancient, but I am only 28, and now I only feel 28.
After getting my hair done, I went shopping at IKEA to continue to get things to organize my house. Several hundred dollars later I had things to organize closets, bedrooms, kitchen cabinets, the laundry room, a new bed for Caroline, and the cool hanging chairs for my big girls. So I have spent today cleaning and organizing the house. It is amazing how rewarding it is to be able to find a spot to put everything and not just have things laying around the house!!! I can't wait until I can get everything I want to get for the house and get this thing set up the way that I want it. I never had the chance to do that in the old house, so I never really made it a home. THAT WILL NOT BE THE CASE WITH THIS HOUSE!!!! I am going to hang pictures and find knick knacks if it kills me!!!!

Me and My BIG Mouth

Okay, so I do Friday Forum at the Institute, and generally speaking, I do love doing it. I get to help out the Institute and I get to see all the University Students and be so grateful that I do not have to be there every day. I love the spirit that is in that building, and seeing all of the guys and girls flirting with each other. I also love getting the gossip on who is dating who and who is engaged. It is kinda fun.
Well, last week it was kind of stressful to get the food there on time, and Dustin was sick and so I was a bit grumpy. I usually know that when I am grumpy to speak as little as possible because I usually end up hurting people's feelings. Well, last week there was this boy and I think that he is a lot of fun, and he is a great kid. I have known 3 of his brothers and they are all fun! Well, he wanted to get his meal for free, so he was told that in order to do that, he would have to help out with the dishes. I was really grateful because there is usually only me and 1 or two other girls doing dishes afterwards. The problem was, he just couldn't stop going on and on about how much hard work it was and how he really didn't want to be there because he wanted to play ping pong with his brother. He also kept on complaining that the dishes were too big and we needed to not have to wash them. I didn't say anything for what seemed like FOREVER. . . and then, I couldn't take it any more and so I finally said,"You know what. . . I am sorry, but I have no sympathy for you. What you don't understand is that I have been up since 7:00 this morning making your lunch with a sick baby. While I was doing that I got to do the dishes twice and then I got to load all of the food into my car by myself. After that, I got to drop off my sick kid at the babysitter's house and then drive to the Institute where I got to unload my car, prep the food, and set out the food. I now get to do the dishes with you and then when I go home, I get to unload everything from my car and clean up my kitchen one more time. . . . so I really don't understand where you are coming from." I KNEW I shouldn't have said it, and I knew that it was mean, but as I said, I always end up hurting someone's feelings when I am grumpy.
Today, after Friday Forum, the Institute director asked why this boy wasn't helping do the dishes and the girl that was with me told him that he decided not to do them today and he paid his $3 instead. I immediately knew why he had done that, and I felt like such a moron. I wanted to apologize to him, but I couldn't find him, so now I am going to feel guilty for another week. To make matters worse, I jokingly said to the girl, "Oh, I scared him off did I?" Well, she turned red, and avoided eye contact and just stood there . . . .AKWARD!!!!! I KNEW I SHOULDN'T HAVE SAID SOMETHING.
I will make him a special treat next week and hopefully we can call a truce . . . . so if I ever tell you that I am grumpy. . . that is code for "I am not responsible for what comes out of my mouth!"