November 2019

The month of November started with Annalyn and Kyla getting a day off of school. Brynlee had to go to school while the rest of us stayed home and did crafts and feasted on Halloween candy.  Joel took Kyla on a date night that weekend and they ended up taking Annalyn and Summer with them on their date to McDonalds and Wahooz. They said they had a super fun time. Brynlee got to go with him to help with Jakes' house that day so she stayed home with me and Miriam. 

We had daylight savings the next week which threw off our whole schedule. I went to the dentist for the first time in about six years. I have had dental insurance for a while so decided I should use it. Luckily I have good teeth. The dentist seemed super surprised that I didn't have any cavities after waiting so long to go in. I also celebrated my 34th birthday. Joel brought home cake and dinner that night and then took me out on a date that weekend. We went to dinner and then did some shopping for some things we needed to get. Most of the kids had coughs and colds for most of the month. While we were on our date, Brynlee kept complaining of a bad sore and she had a fever that night. It was strep throat so I had to take her to the doctor that Sunday before church and she was on antibiotics for the next ten days. Annalyn also had a fever later that week and had to miss one day of school. Luckily she was fine the next day. 

I took Summer to the library for music and art, Joel and I oficially finished our financial planning class, (It was a great class that I recommend for everyone) and I got to go to my RS activity and book group and I took Brynlee to speech. Kyla made up a family night game one night where everyone had to run around in that little tunnel and try to touch people. It was hilarious.  

I went to art night at Kyla and Annalyn's school. They both created some lovely art. I had to go and sit in the church library one night and Brynlee came with me and we spent the evening playing pictionary. I love getting to have one on one time with my girls. 

In other news, Joel helped the girls create a giant blanket fort in our living room. A few of the kids slept in there for a few hours. Kyla had to make a Thanksgiving foat and decorated it almost entirely on her own. Summer and Annalyn both made one too just for fun. I took all the kids to the dollar store so we could buy hot glue sticks for the project and everyone picked a few more things to add to their creation. Summer and Miriam and I went to the school and got to watch Kyla and all the other Kindergartners pull their cute little floats all around the school. Then we went back to the school later that day to help with the Kindergarten Thanksgiving feast. There was lots of food so Summer got to enjoy some of the treats too. 

This year Brynlee, Annalyn, and Kyla all got to try out for the Missoula play. They did Peter and Wendy this year and all three of them got a part. Brynlee was a Neverland creature, a green panda bear, and Anna and Kyla were both cute little clouds. Brynlee had late practices until 8:45 all week and there was a lot of driving kids to make that all work but they had a blast, the play was super cute, and the girls can't wait to do another play again. Brynlee had a few small speaking parts and sang the group songs. Annalyn had one speaking part and she and Kyla sang a danced to a cute little song. Our whole family went and watched them perform on Saturday. Summer and Miriam had a hard time sitting so I ended up sitting out in the hall with them for most of the show and I went with my parents, grandma, and sister Alesha to watch them perform again later that night. They all did great.

The girls all got an entire week off of school for Thanksgiving. Brynlee slept in her bedroom all night for several days and then begged to have a friend spend the night. She got to have her first friend over for a sleepover at the start of the break and she said she had a super fun time. They made slime with all of her sisters, went to the park, watched TV, and barely slept. They stayed up super late and got up super early the next day. Then Bryn went over to play with another friend. Annalyn got to have a play date with her friend Reese later that week and they also did lots of crafts. Reese's little sister came over as well so that Kyla had a friend to play with too. The girls and I all went over and helped grandma cook and get ready for Thanksgiving the next day. My dad and mom then took all the grand kids out to see the movie "Abominable," later that night and they loved that. Summer begged and begged to go and was on her best behavior for the event. Thanksgiving was on Thursday. We feasted on some super yummy food and reflected on all the things we are thankful for. I did all my shopping online this year. My mom took Annalyn to the store and helped her to pick out some new boot and Joel went to Wal Mart and picked up a few little odds and ends but I avoided all stores for that entire week. 

We ended the month of November by decorating for Christmas. The kids are always so excited about getting out the tree and decorating for the holidays. Our cat would not stay out of the tree so between him and Miriam, the tree only stayed decorated for a little bit. On the last day of the month we decorated sugar cookies; which is a highly anticipated and super fun activity for everyone. We decorated a lot of cookies. They didn't last long though, I was amazed at how fast my kids ate all of those cookies.

I truly am grateful for all of these fun moments with this family of mine. Life with kids is crazy, and chaotic, loud, and fast paced, but it is also lots of fun. I am grateful for Thanksgiving where we had to chance to talk about all of our many blessing. We have a lot to be grateful for.

October 2019

The month of October started out with two whole days off of school for Annalyn and Kyla. Brynlee still had school but the rest of us got to enjoy going to the library together. On Friday Annalyn had her best friend Nolah over one last time before she moved to Utah. Nolah's little sister came over too and the kids all had fun playing together. Annalyn was super sad to have to say goodbye to her friend at the end of the day. 

The first Saturday of the month was the day the girls all had their last soccer game of the season. It was a cold day but the girls all played really well and had a fun season. I enjoyed getting to coach Kyla's team. We had a few family member come out and watch the girls in their last game. They loved having family out in the crowd cheering for them. 

After soccer we went home and watched General conference. Joel worked on and finished up Annalyn's bunk bed during that week and after conference he took down Anna's old bed and set up her new bunk bed. Annalyn loves that bed. She was sad about having to take down her old bed but she loves the new one even more. A few days later she put a hammock under that bed and everyone loves going in there and rocking in her hammock. I went and watched women's conference at the church that evening. 

Sunday was the day we watched conference and found Pete the Cat. He has been a lot of fun. The kids are still loving getting to play with him. He grew a lot over the month. We visited with family and Joel and I went to our self reliance class every Sunday during the month. We were super grateful to our family that stepped in and watched our kids for us so that we could go.

On Monday Kyla and Annalyn went back to school while Brynlee got the entire week off for Fall break. Annalyn also came home with homework all that week and with her friend gone, it was a super hard week. This was the first time she had spelling tests and she brought home books she had to read. She came home super sad and was mean and grouchy to everyone. Brynlee loved having the week off. She watched as much TV as she could get away with. I took her to Target before speech on Monday and she got to spend some birthday money that she had saved on a new toy. She played with her friend Kynlee, and with Summer. I watched Elowyn one day and Brynlee helped to entertain her and Summer and Miriam. She helped me make dad's birthday cake and and was watched by my mom while I went on Kyla's kindergarten field trip. The day before that my brother Brian watched Brynlee and my other kids while I helped my mom with her preschool. Brynlee had a fun week off of school.

Joel turned 34 this year. We made homemade pizzas and had cake and ice cream for dessert to celebrate. It was a simple and perfect way to celebrate. The kids all got along really well and we all enjoyed spending time together. We are sure glad he was born. Later that week my mom watched our kids so that Joel and I could go on a much needed date. We went out to dinner and then went to a movie and saw The Fighting Preacher. We both really liked the movie. We had quite a bit of time before the movie so we went and checked out some thrift stores to look for good deals.

The third week of October brought everyone back to school. It was tricky having kids off at different times but it was also nice to have time with just a few kids at a time. I went to library, parenting class, bookgroup, and a super Saturday activity that week. Annalyn and Kyla did get Thursday and Friday off early that week for parent teacher conferences. We had another one of Anna's friends over to play one of those days and I met with both of their teachers. Both girls are doing well in school. I met with Brynlee's teacher the next week and she got off early from school one day that week. Brynlee is also doing well in school. Joel finished the bunk beds for Kyla and Summer and we put them in their room that week. It was a challenge for them to get that room and keep it clean so that we could move those beds in there.

The older three girls all had a part in their primary program this year and then they were asked if they would sing the song He Sent His Son, with two other girls from our ward. They all agreed they would do it and they sang beautifully for the program. Annalyn was the most nervous and reluctant to do it and in the end she was the one that knew the words and I could hear her the best. She did practice the song the most so I wan't surprised. 

Joel's mom and dad left for Hawaii at the end of the month. The girls sure were sad to see them go. They never did sell their house so we are hoping they will be back again but they don't plan on returning anytime soon. We went and visited with them as much as we could. They also gave us all kinds of wonderful things. They let our kids shop at their yard sell for free and all of them came home with totes full of treasures.

     Right after the primary program on Sunday at the end of the month, Joel and I took the girls to grandma and Grandpa Hirtle's house so the kids could all play and be watched while we went to our class. As soon as we got there Kyla swung on the armrest of their couches. One of the couches moved right out from under her and she landed super hard right on her head. She had an immediate huge knot on her head and she cried and was not acting like her normal self right away. There was so much noise at the house and I was kind of worried that Kyla might have a concussion so we went ahead and brought her with us to our class. Poor girl just sat on my lap and cried. Joel held her and went in the other room with her. Then she threw up so Joel and I decided to skip class and take her back to grandma's house. We waited a few hours and she was still throwing up and was all out miserable so we decided to take her into the ER. Summer begged to go with us to we took her and left all the other kids with grandma. They did a CT scan on Kyla so we were there for a few hours. She had a concussion but luckily no bones were broken and there was no internal bleeding so they sent us home. I made Kyla stay home from school the next day. She was happy to spend the day watching television and was feeling totally better the next day and was ready to go back to school. We were all just glad that she is doing good. We were also super grateful for our family and friends that stepped in and helped. I had a friend find out what happened and she brought us dinner the next day. There are lots of good people out in the world and we are grateful to be surrounded by them.

I got to help with the popcorn sell at Kyla and Anna's school. It was lots of fun to get to see them and all of their friends at school. I also had fun helping my mom teach preschool on the day her co teacher was out of town. She has a cute little class and I had fun. Later that week we decorated pumpkins and celebrated Halloween with candy and trick or treating. It was another fun month.