37 Weeks and 4 Days

We're having a quiet night and I'm still pregnant and here, so I figured I could write something.  We had a fun Friday night after I wrote last.  We had our usual Friday pizza for dinner, but picked up some wings from Pizza Hut and Rise of the Guardians from Redbox.  It was actually a good movie.  I didn't think I'd like it much since I'm not into the holiday character myths.  But it was good and Tommy sat through the whole thing transfixed.  Katie was her usual all-over-the-place self,  and that was fun too.  She took turns cuddling with me and Shad.  I love how she asks for "nuggles!"  We were bummed to see a missed text from Paul on Shad's phone asking if we'd be able to babysit for them to go to the movie theater.  It would have been easy to add their kids into the mix with us! We felt awful for not having seen the text earlier.  In our defense, Shad's phone didn't chime when it came in.

We've been going out for walks most evenings without the stroller.  We love how the kids come back with their energy spent, even if they still manage to stay up til 10 or later playing and reading in their room.  On Sunday after walking, Tommy wanted to go to the lake.  We decided it'd be okay to go play at the park by the lake.  When it really warms up, we'll have to get ourselves out for the actual water.  He just can't wait to use the Spiderman swim trunks I bought him!

This week I've been working on food projects.  I dehydrated 3 sleeves of celery and am still just shocked at how much it shunk down.  It can't be more than a cup and a half!  I bought somewhere around 25 lbs of bananas at 38 cents a pound.  I've got some dehydrating in the food dehydrater, others flash freezing for our smoothie freezer bag, and plenty to eat fresh.  And I've made 3 dozen banana muffins.  I made around 2 dozen breakfast burritos (for the freezer).  Started garden seeds indoor.  I still want to make zucchini bread and calzones for the freezer.  I also made yogurt for Elder Painter on Monday.  He and I are both fans of healthy and natural food, so we love talking all about food every time they're over.

The kids were seriously off their rockers today.  They spent most of the day shut in their room because they couldn't figure out how to play nice and not be screaming/crying/squeeling every five minutes, and I wasn't going to tolerate it.  I don't know the last time I had so much time to myself.  I loved it!  After the past two weeks with so much time being the only adult with Tom and Katie, I was glad to have a bit of a break.  Okay, I loved it to the point of tears of joy.  True story.



Here's a few pictures I found on Shad's phone:

 

We stopped at Arby's in Colby on the way home from Colorado.  Tom was so excited that he frolicked through the restaurant like this.



 

Then the kids crashed on the way home from Colby.

 

The kids like to put trash away no matter where we are.  Katie was so determined to throw away our sandwich wrapper at Subway, but was too short.  So we sent Tom to help her.

 

A while ago, I taught Tommy that if he's sad he can sing "I Am a Child of God" to help him feel better.  He has taken that above and beyond in application.  Katie woke up from a nap recently and didn't want to come downstairs, but stood at the top and just cried.  Tommy tried to coax her down the stairs and when that didn't work, he stood at the bottom and sang up the stairs to her.  He told me that he was singing "I'm Child God Song" to Katie so that she can be happy.  Any time she's cranky, he wants to sing that to her.  Any time he's upset, he asks me to sing it for him.  I love that boy.