Weekly Review September 11 '10

Seth thought his old formula dispenser was a flag stand!

Mr. Ham posing for the camera

A "fort" the boys built on Sunday, from the outside

The fort from the inside; Scott resting

This was kind of a strange week because the kids were out of school on Monday and on Thursday. (Thursday was Rosh Hashanah--we get out of school for several of the larger Jewish holidays.) Since last week end, I've been battling a headache / congestion / sore throat off and on. Some days it's worse than others, so I alternate between having productive days and days that I lie around as much as possible. I hope whatever it is, that it goes away soon!

Sunday was really busy. It started out with Frank staying home from church with Seth, because Seth's left leg was hurting again. He started complaining about it on Saturday evening and it still hurt Sunday morning. It didn't seem to be as bad this time, and by Sunday evening he was doing much better, so we didn't go to the doctor again, but we are still wondering what's up. The older three boys and I went to church as usual, but afterwards I had a song practice and then two visits for Primary children, so I didn't get home until after 3:00. (And we have church at 9:00 am now--just started that on Sunday also.) The highlight of the day (for me, anyway) was when Scott got up in testimony meeting and bore a very sweet testimony about the feelings he had at the baptism on Saturday, how he feels about being able to use the priesthood to be a witness for those baptisms and for blessing the sacrament, how he loves how he feels at church, how he is grateful he chose to be baptized at age 8, and how he appreciates the examples set for him by others and how he knows now it is his turn to be a good example to others. It was awesome! As a parent, it doesn't get much better than that. I was just sorry that Frank wasn't there to hear it, too. There was a fireside that evening for the YM and their parents to introduce the new Duty to God program. Frank took the boys to that. In between, we had family night and I talked to a friend on the phone, so that day was pretty full.

Scott and Tanner both spent the night with friends from church Sunday night. On Monday, Frank and the older three boys got a chance to go play paint ball, so they did that and had a lot of fun. By the time they got home, Tanner was very tired and not feeling very well--he was quite congested. I was surprised (but glad) when he still got up and went to Seminary and school on Tuesday. On Wednesday he didn't go to school, though--his stomach was upset.

Anyway, back to Monday--Seth and I enjoyed watching a movie together while everyone else was gone. Then we had a cook out for dinner and actually ate outside--it's been much too hot to do that for most of the summer, but the weather has cooled down this week and been very beautiful for the most part--breezy, sunny, and pleasantly cool.

Tuesday and Wednesday were fairly productive days. I got errands run, chores done, and exercised while Seth was at school. On Wednesday I also got Jared's merit badges attached to his sash (I love that merit badge magic stuff!), made banana bread, and made a Christmas pillow case for Seth. The other three boys still have (and use!) their Christmas pillow cases that Aunt Julia made for them. Last Christmas I realized that by next Christmas Seth would be old enough to notice that he didn't have a special pillow case, so I decided I'd better make him one sometime this year. It turned out really nice and it was super easy to make. I'm really pleased with it! I enjoyed that little project so much that maybe I'll make some more for Frank and I!

On Wednesday I also went to a local used book store in search of a book that I was supposed to get for my birthday (I ordered it online with all the others, but after the place sent me the wrong book 3 times, I gave up and asked for my money back!) I didn't find the book I was looking for, but I found a lot of others for really cheap--between $1 and $3 each. I came home with quite a stash of childhood favorites and Newbery awards winners. (I'm still trying to read all of those.) I knew going to that store would be dangerous! (I've been there before...) It is fun to have a lot of new reading material, though.

Before YM on Wednesday night, I met with one of the boys who has been working on his Personal Management merit badge, so he could pass that off. After YM, Scott went to a movie at the dollar theater with some of his friends. They were supposed to get rides with some of the older kids who can drive, but that fell through so I ended up driving them over and picking them up. (Frank had to get up early for work, so he went to bed.) I didn't get to bed until after midnight, but luckily no one had to get up for school Thursday morning and Seth slept until 7:00, so that wasn't too bad. Thursday was one of the days that I wasn't feeling very well, but I worked all morning to get laundry done, vacuuming, groceries purchased, and also made a trip to the library to pick up my book for book club. After that, I collapsed and tried to relax most of the afternoon (as much as you can with a 3 year old who needs something every couple of minutes!) Seth got books at the library also, and I enjoyed reading them to him. The boys took him to the park for a while in the evening, also. Tanner started feeling better on Thursday, so he was able to go back to school on Friday.

I wasn't feeling too great on Friday, either, so I tried to take it easy. I did get some work done while Seth was at school, but after he got home I did a lot of reading and not much else. Unfortunately, by evening Frank was starting to feel just as bad as I was. Scott went to spend the night with a new friend from church whose name is Seth. His family moved here recently from South Carolina. When I went to pick him up this morning I was chatting with Seth's parents and discovered that they go to Brevard, NC (Frank's hometown) to camp pretty often.

Today I have been feeling better than yesterday (not great, but better) but Frank has been very miserable all day. It's too bad because it was a very beautiful day--sunny and the perfect temperature! I did manage to get my very dirty kitchen floor mopped and Tanner mowed the lawn, but other than that we weren't very productive. We watched some of the 9/11 memorial coverage and it still makes me cry! Partly out of sympathy for all the people who lost someone they loved, and partly for the beauty of all the acts of heroism. It is truly amazing to see how terrible things can bring out the very best in human nature.

Hopefully we'll all be back to being healthy again soon. This coming week we have stake conference, so it's going to be busy!