Weekly Review September 25 '10

Our week began with Stake Conference, which was great. Frank and I attended the adult session Saturday evening, which we really enjoyed. Before the meeting we went out to eat. We used the gift card that Frank won from work. The restaurant is one of the nicest (and priciest) restaurants in Frederick; we had a $100 gift card and used almost all of it! That's definitely not something we could afford to do normally, so it was really nice to have that opportunity without worrying about the cost. The food was delicious!


Frank had to be at the Stake Center Sunday morning at 7:00 to help set up all the cameras and televisions, but that meant he was able to save us a seat in the chapel on the soft benches, which was really nice. Our new stake presidency is going to be great! The visiting general authorities gave great talks, also. All the boys (even Seth) behaved quite well. (I'm so glad I finished that quiet book!) After conference was over, we were able to enjoy a quiet afternoon together. Our friends the Koettings, who usually come for dinner afterwards, were not able to come this time. We missed them, but it was nice to relax as a family for the rest of the day.


I have nothing written on the calendar for Monday, so I don't remember what I did. I'm sure I didn't lie in bed eating chocolates, though! I always manage to squeeze a lot of errands or chores into the couple of hours that Seth is at school. For family night we played Apples to Apples, which was fun.


I had book club Tuesday. I was not able to read the new book we switched to, but we did talk a little bit about the book I read also. We always have really interesting discussions and the food is always really good also. There is a new member of our ward attending book club now, and she has a 4 year old boy named Logan; Seth really enjoys playing with him! Jared had soccer practice Tuesday evening, so I took Seth with me to that. Seth had to use the bathroom about an hour into the practice, though, and there are no restrooms at this park (can't figure out why--it's one of the biggest parks in the city) so I had to run home with him. Thankfully, Frank was almost home from work by then, so he was able to pick Jared up on his way home.


Wednesday I had a presidency meeting in the evening. I can't remember what I did during the day other than making a lot of phone calls to set up various appointments. I remember it was a productive day where I got a lot done, but no details (and they'd probably be boring anyway). Frank had an exceptionally busy work week, which explains why he was coming home at 7:00 on Tuesday when Jared's soccer practice was ending. He got home just after dinner on Wednesday, but then he got a phone call and had to go somewhere else, and he didn't get home until after the boys and I got home from scouts at the church (about 9:00). That meant that Seth came to presidency meeting with me, but he behaved really well, so that wasn't a problem.



Thursday was a very busy day. I took the boys to school and then stayed for about 25 minutes to help take two groups of kids in Seth's class to the school library. I will be doing that every other Thursday. When I was done there, I ran home to pick up Snickers in time to drop him off at his grooming appointment. Then I did some shopping since there wasn't really time to go home and get anything accomplished before it would be time to pick up Seth. I got Seth at school and we went straight from there to a visiting teaching appointment. Then we had a few errands to run on the way home, so I didn't get home long before Scott & Tanner got home at 2:30. By then it was time to pick up Snickers--Scott went with me to do that so he could drive. After that I had a few minutes to relax before it was time to start making dinner--the missionaries were coming over that night. In between all that, I also did several loads of laundry! Frank was able to be home for dinner, but then he had to go do some more work for a client here in Frederick, and he didn't get home until after midnight. The boys did not have school Friday, so we stayed up later than usual watching the movie The Prince of Persia. Jared was the only one who had seen it already. It was really good; we enjoyed it. There was a lot of fighting, but they didn't make it too gory, so it was fairly kid friendly. After the boys went to bed, I waited up for Frank--I folded all the laundry and watched some HGTV.


The boys were out of school on Friday for "Fair Day". We opted not to go to the fair, though. Scott had an overnighter at one of his leader's cabins and Tanner had a camp out that night. Jared had a soccer game that evening, as well. During the day I got some work done and took Scott to Wal-Mart in search of a new Sunday suit (he's outgrown his Sunday clothes again); he also wanted to spend some birthday money. He found what he wanted, but we didn't have any luck with the suit. We found pants, but no suit coats. It's really hard to find pants that will fit him, also.

I ended up taking Jared to his soccer game last night while Frank did some work (it was another busy work day for him). Jared had a game today, also. His team won the game last night 3-2. I thought after playing last night that his team might be kind of tired today, but I didn't have to worry. They won their game today 7-0. His team is really looking good this year. They are doing awesome teamwork--making great passes to each other. It is really fun to watch them! Jared scored one goal last night and today he scored one goal and assisted with another. He says he can't really take credit for the goal he scored today because one of his teammates attempted a goal, which the goalie managed to stop by diving for the ball, but then the goalie lost control of the ball and Jared just ran up and tapped it into the goal. On the goal he assisted, he made a beautiful pass to a teammate who made another beautiful pass to another teammate who kicked the goal. After the game they had team photos taken.

Tanner got back from his camp out while I was at Jared's game. (Scott won't be back until late this evening.) Tanner reports that he went rock climbing and it was terrifying, but he did it. (He takes after his mother--he's scared of heights.)

I'm looking forward to going to the General RS meeting tonight. Our stake is having a short meeting with dessert before the broadcast from Salt Lake City starts.


It may have been the first day of fall this week, but the weather has mostly been feeling like summer! It was cooler at the beginning of the week, but by Wednesday we were having temperatures in the 90's. Very unusual for September! I am not complaining, really, but I would prefer the 70's of autumn--much more pleasant! Today we are back down to the 80's, which feels nice.

Seth has been going around singing songs that he is learning at school. They have a song for each letter to help teach them what sounds the letters make. This week he's been singing "Barney Beaver builds his dam. With his tail he says b-bam!" to the tune of the first two lines of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. It's really cute. He is also adding new words to his vocabulary. This week I asked him a question "Do you mean...?" and he answered with a very emphatic "Exactly!" I didn't even know he knew that word.

Our rocking chair, which has been coming apart for weeks, finally self destructed completely this week. That means both the chairs we bought about 18 months ago are gone. We really need to get another couch or some chairs, but haven't had time to go shopping.

At book chat on Tuesday I loaned The Chestry Oak to a friend. She called me Friday afternoon to tell me that she had just finished it, and that it is "one of the most beautiful books I've ever read". I guess she had a bad week and she said she really appreciated me loaning her the book because it was a real bright spot in her week. See mom, you have great taste! I'm so glad she liked it. She thought we should read it for book club, but since it's so hard to find copies of that book, we won't be able to read it together. I'll probably end up loaning my copy to each person, one at a time.

I hope Curtis and Paula both had nice birthdays this week!