Pictures of the week Dec 10-16

Monday:

Laundry is my nemesis.  As soon as I get it all done, it's laundry day again and it just keeps on piling up.  It's terrible, but not uncommon for me to hear, from the bedrooms as the kids are getting dressed in the morning, "Mom!  I'm out of pants!"  Dang. 

Tuesday:

This one is entitled, "I'm renting a house with white carpet.  And I have small boys who like to play in the mud."

Wednesday:

I strongly dislike (I'm trying to cut back on my use of "hate") going to appointments with all five kids.  I feel like a three ring circus wherever I go.  But, when the big kids have dentist appointments, all five must come.  I spent a sweet forever in the waiting room trying to contain the mayhem.  But, the silver lining in all of this is: 1. No cavities!  And 2. as I was driving home I remembered Benjamin had scouts that night, and I wasn't sure when or where.  I was already spent from the circus, and I probably would have skipped scouts, except for right as that thought crossed my mind, my phone rang and my soon to be new neighbor offered to pick up Benjamin and take him along with her son.  It was a wonderful moment.  

 Thursday:

Oh Andrew.  His sleeping habits are killing us.  We've spent the past two months trying to keep him from napping during the day.  If he does nap, he's up till 10 at night bouncing off the walls.  That is not at all fun for anyone.  Well, probably Andrew has fun.  But Adam and I, not so much.  Add to the bouncing off the walls after 8:30, he's super cranky and naughty all afternoon long.  So I'm already spent from trying to manage him, but because he's so tired, bedtimes are a horrendous fight.  I always have visions of people who say their favorite time of the day is bedtime because they snuggle, and read stories and talk about the day with their kids.  Our bedtimes are stressful, and not happy, and there's no chatting about the day.  So in order to save my sanity we've just let him sleep when he wants.  If he falls asleep in the day, I just know he'll be awake later and I can plan on it.  

 Also Thursday:

Adam made the mistake of telling Andrew we were headed to Little America over the weekend to swim.  Andrew changed immediately and spent the rest of the day wandering around wondering when we were going to "tiny America."  

Friday:

There was a skiff of snow so the kids excitedly bundled up and spent a couple of hours outside playing together.  I love it when they voluntarily play together.  I stood at the window and watched all four kids playing in the snow, and felt so lucky that I was able to pick them up from school, like normal, and that nothing in their life had changed since that morning.  

 Saturday:  

We went down to Salt Lake to visit Temple Square, along with 50,000 other people.  Literally.  There was a Jazz game, and The Tabernacle Choir had their Christmas concert.  We met my mom, and Adam's parents and walked around the temple and into the new City Creek Center.  It was cold, but we bundled everyone up very well.  Thomas was so content he fell asleep.

Sunday:

Thomas is starting to spend some time independent from me!  He'll lay on the floor and play with the hanging toys for a couple of minutes at a time.  He's so sedentary, that I don't see much rolling any time soon.  Plus he's really fat.