Another Year Older

Another year has come and gone and I am now one year older and wiser. 31 was a good year. I had a good birthday this year with lots of friends and I was surrounded by my little family. Joel has bought me an ice cream cake (his favorite) for the last five years and when I told him I didn't want one he got mad and told me to buy my own cake. He eventually came around but then I had someone else say something rude to me the night before so on the morning of my birthday I was feeling kind of sad. Annalyn decided to surprise me with a special birthday surprise so she cleaned out and organized the toothpaste drawer in the bathroom for me and then she cleaned the bathtub. She may have left the clothes and towels on the floor but she was so excited to show me all of her hard work and it really touched me and changed my whole outlook on the day. It meant a lot that she did that for me all on her own. 

I spent most of the morning cleaning and taking care of things around the house. I got a few extra phone calls and birthday messages and then around lunchtime my friend Lisa texted me and invited me over for pizza. We walked over and there was a pretty big melt down from Annalyn but we were able to make it there and I had a fun time. It was nice to get out of the house and do something for my birthday. 

Joel brought home dinner and cake and ice cream that night and we had some fun family time together. Brynlee was practicing for a performance so we ate dinner without her and had cake as soon as she got home. This time it wasn't an ice cream cake. Everyone thought it was pretty good. Annalyn gave me a gift of a picture she drew and a giant leaf that she found outside. I bought myself some new clothes and a game a few days before so I guess that was my presents this year. 

This may not be a glamorous life but I love it. I sure am grateful for all of the wonderful people I have in my life. Thanks for making this a pretty great birthday. It may not have been fancy but I felt well loved and appreciated by so many of the people in my life. 

October

The month of October started off on a Sunday. We spent the day watching conference and helping Joel recover from his injury. Joel went to the eye doctor twice in the next few weeks and slowly recovered from his injury. He still has some scars on his face but other than that he is doing great. Brynlee woke up with a fever the first school day of the month but was better by the next day. Summer ended up getting a low grade fever a few days that week but by the end of the week everyone was feeling better and life got back to normal. We were able to get back into our normal routine and enjoy a few walks to the park and trips to the library. 

 

 

Kyla was invited to a birthday party for her friend Eden and it was held at Linder Farms on a day when the kids didn't have school. I wasn't sure how Kyla would do with me just sending her so I decided we could all go there and spend a few hours. The kids had a great time. Kyla got pretty nervous on the hay ride and it took her a while to feel comfortable enough to play in the corn pit so I am glad I went with her. The corn pit was the biggest hit. We spent a lot of time there. Kyla got to leave home with a little white pumpkin that she picked out and she was pretty excited about it.

Annalyn had a class field trip to Linder Farms the next week and I was able to tag along with her class. I got to ride on the bus and hang out with her class. I had a group of a few other girls and we got to pick out a pumpkin, go through a corn maze, play, and go on a hay ride. We had a pretty great time until the end in the corn pit when Annalyn didn't get a shovel. She cried half the way home on the bus because she was so sad that there was no shovel for her to use. It was also a pretty cold day and Annalyn did not bring the jacket I told her to grab. Instead she had one with no arms so she kind of froze. I gave her mine for a while but then it was hard for her to play with my huge jacket on her. I still had a fun time. I am always grateful when I get to do special things like that with my girls.

My friend Lisa made spooky gingerbread houses with her kids and then brought us over an extra one. We made a special trip to Winco to pick up some Halloween candy and we barely made it out of there with some candy. I almost drove my naughty children home with no candy but eventually they were able to fix their attitudes so we could come home and decorate our house. The girls had a blast. They each got their own side to decorate and they all took it very seriously. I love the way they turned out. Summer ate more candy than she put on but she had fun helping while we let her. Then she kept climbing up and eating candy off of that thing all the next weekend. By the end of the next week there was nothing left. Joel and the other girls helped her to eat everything.

We took our rake with us on a walk a few times and had fun playing in the leaves. I surprised the kids one day by waiting for them at the bus stop with a pile of leaves waiting to jump in. I love seeing the joy on their faces as the ran and jumped through the leaves. 

We spent a magical Tuesday night at the Meridian Temple Open House. On the way there we had so much fighting going on that I didn't know if we would make it there. Annalyn was in a bad mood because she couldn't find the temple necklace that her teacher's made for her so she was being mean and picking on everyone and simply determined that we were not going to go. Joel and I already has the reservations to go set so we persevered and made it there. We had to park at a local church and then a shuttle bus met us there and took us to the temple. Riding the bus was magical. The kids were all so excited about it that Annalyn's whole attitude changed and she was in a pretty great mood by the time we got to the temple. The kids loved going to the temple and we had a pretty great tour of that beautiful building. There were lots of murals and pictures to keep the kid's attention. Brynlee was super impressed with all of the stairs and by the end of the tour her and Annalyn were racing with the tour guide to get up and down those stairs. We ended the night with McDonalds. There was a special feeling in that temple and I think the kids felt it because we all left in a good and happy mood. I love going to the temple and I am glad I had a chance to take my kids to see the inside.  

 We watched Remi a couple of times this month. I went and did a few crafts at Super Saturday. We celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving with Joel's family. They ate dinner right after their church but they saved us plenty of good food and pie and we had a good time. Their cat had more kittens so the girls all had fun playing with kittens over there this month. Even Summer held a kitten for a little bit. The girls and I went to a friend's house for a nail party and got our nails looking all pretty. Summer turned 18 months and went to the doctor where she got her check up and shots. Kyla got a flu shot as well. She did great and didn't even cry. She is seriously a real trooper. My sister is getting married on Nov. 11th so we have all been helping to get ready for the wedding. She didn't give us a lot of notice but we are excited for her to start this new phase of life.  

 My days seem to mostly be filled with a whole lot of cooking and cleaning and looking after kids. Joel has been busy with work and scouts. Joel took the scouts to do a service activity at grandma's house where they cleaned up and burned all of her weeds. One of the neighbors called the police on them so a fire truck showed up at the end of the activity when the fire was mostly out. Apparently you are not allowed to have a fire after dark. Luckily they just got a warning. The girls have been busy but they can also be so helpful and loving. Kyla loves to help me make sandwiches for Joel's lunch and is great at spreading the jam. They all love to help me get the mail and take care of Summer. There have been a few days when Brynlee got up with all the kids and fixed everyone breakfast. One Sunday she even got everyone dressed and fixed their hair. I have been getting much better at fixing hair lately. Annalyn often requests me to take a picture of her hair do for the day so she can see what it looks like.  

We made a fort one day this month and the kids actually slept in it for most of the night. we put the tent upstairs and had fun with that. We had a pretty fun month. I am glad everyone is healthy and doing well. life can be crazy sometime but it can also be lots of fun.