Weekly Review December 13 '08

I feel like I am just rushing these days! So many things I want (or need) to get done; not enough time to do them all. I didn’t have to take Tanner shopping, though (see the end of last week’s review) because Frank took him on Saturday evening. We got some snow that evening, and Frank just had to get out in it! The snow didn’t last long—it melted on Sunday—but it was still extremely windy and cold the first part of the week.

We had a Primary presidency meeting on Sunday, followed by visits to Primary children. We had family night after I got home. On Monday Frank got the Christmas tree set up and the lights on, too, but we ran out of time to put the ornaments on. We were so busy in the evenings this week that we didn’t get any ornaments on until Thursday evening. Frank was working on computers at our church and at the stake center on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. We took the boys to do some shopping Tuesday evening also, and the boys had scouts on Wednesday evening as well. While the boys were at scouts, the sister missionaries came by caroling, which was nice. Thursday evening, as I said before, we finally got the ornaments on the tree. Seth promptly started taking them back off! We left the bottom branches fairly bare, so it looks a little strange, but hopefully we will "sacrifice" fewer ornaments! Seth also likes to play with the doorknob decoration, and I noticed today that it has kind of self-destructed--oh, well!

The days were busy, also. Besides all the usual things, my visiting teachers came to see me on Monday, I got some sewing done on Tuesday (thanks for your help, Mom, and for being patient when I called several times!), did a lot of Primary stuff on Thursday, and on Wednesday I went to a doctor appointment.

At the doctor appointment, I got the stint removed that was put in during my eye surgery. It’s nice to have that gone! My eye has not been watering, so it looks like the surgery was successful. I was interested to hear what the doctor had to say about the incision, which mostly looks good but on one end it’s pretty red and there’s a bump that looks like a scab. The doctor said that it’s just one of the internal stitches that is popping through the skin. The bump and redness should go away after the stitches dissolve. He said to call back if it hasn’t disappeared in three months. So unless that happens, I won’t need to go back at all.

My friend Marci came with me to this appointment because she had an appointment with a different doctor in the same building. Her appointment was after mine, but that doctor has a really nice play room, so Seth enjoyed playing while we waited. After our appointments we stopped for a late lunch on the way home. It was rainy that day and there was an accident on the freeway, so traffic was pretty bad going home and we didn’t get home until around 4:00. Fortunately, Frank had been able to leave work early enough that day that he was able to pick up the boys for me. We were gone most of the day, but Marci and I enjoyed the chance to visit so it was a fun way to spend the day.

Although it was raining on Wednesday, it was actually fairly warm, so it was pretty pleasant. The rain came down hard all day on Thursday, but it was colder then so a lot less pleasant! By Friday morning, the Monocacy River, which runs behind our house, was very high. (We weren’t surprised, after all the rain.) Here are some pictures (those trees are usually along the bank):

Frank didn’t have to go anywhere in particular on Friday morning (although he did have some work to do that he could do from home) so when I dropped the boys off that morning, I was able to leave Seth with Frank and go do a few errands. I picked up some costumes from my friend Rebecca that I’m going to use for Sharing Time tomorrow. Then I tried to make some copies at the church, but the toner cartridge needed to be replaced so I couldn’t do that after all—frustrating! After I got home, Frank got calls from a couple of places, so he ended up going to Rockville to fix one problem and he almost had to go to Alexandria, Virginia to fix another. His boss, Frank Lloyd, hurt his back and was down so my Frank had to fill in.

Scott went to a birthday party for a girl in the ward Friday evening. The rest of us watched the movie Dark Knight, which Tanner just purchased this week with some of his birthday money. I was stuffing envelopes the whole time (a Primary project) so actually, I really didn’t pay much attention, so I can’t give a review. Scott got a ride to the party and back, but it went pretty late so we were up late waiting for him. I did more sewing, and got frustrated when I ran into some problems but after talking to Mom again this morning I was able to fix them, so the skirt is almost done—all I have left is the hem.

Frank was gone all day today—he was helping with the cooking for the ward dinner. Scott went with him this morning to help set up tables and chairs, but he got a ride home so Frank could stay. This afternoon I took the boys and two of their friends (the Schlenz boys—some friends who recently moved back into our ward) to “Museums by Candlelight” which is an annual event in Frederick every Christmas where many of the local museums open up free of charge. Most of them have special events such as musical programs, crafts for the kids, and refreshments also. All of the museums put candles outside (and sometimes in) and light them after it gets dark. We have made this an annual tradition, and try to go to one or two different places every year. This year we only made it to one place, since we had to go after Seth’s nap and the older boys had to be at the church at 5:15 to help with the serving for the ward Christmas dinner. We went to a Victorian mansion which is located on the grounds of the Monocacy National Battlefield. It was built after the battle, so it’s not really a part of the national battlefield, and isn’t usually open to the public. The National Park Service’s Department of Historic Preservation has their offices there, so it isn’t really a museum and doesn’t have period furniture or anything like that, but the house has been remarkably well preserved so it is still very interesting just for the architecture. They did have Christmas decorations up, though, and in one big room they had refreshments and several crafts for the kids including making mini gingerbread houses. They were also giving tours of the house, which interested me, so I went on the tour while the kids made gingerbread houses. Jared and his friend Bryson wanted to see the upstairs of the house, so they joined the tour when we got to that point. Unlike many of the older houses around here, they actually let us go through the whole house—even up into the cupola, which can only be accessed by ladder. I didn’t feel comfortable carrying Seth up the ladder, but he really wanted to go up, and to my surprise, he allowed the tour guide to take him up! There was a nice view from up there. Here's some pictures of the house:

The front doors

The front of the house (Seth in front)

Seth liked the trees at the museum as much as he likes ours!

We went straight from there to our ward Christmas dinner, which was very nice. Seth wouldn’t sit on Santa Claus’s lap, but he did accept a candy cane, and he laughed when Santa tickled him. The food was delicious, and there was a nice program, too.

Now, as usual, it’s late, so I’d better get to bed!