Another Party and More Projects

Weekend

It feels as though every weekend has been busy the last two months because of projects and parties. I took the girls to a party for a neighbor this Saturday and made sure they did their chores first, since it was scheduled to be longer and was half an hour away. I'm glad they can have fun with this friend because when she moved here last year and started riding the bus with them, they became instant friends, and I like that. Her party was at the family fun zone we have in Boise, next to our waterpark, which has rides, climbing walls, bowling, an arcade, and so much more. Lots of things for kids to do while adults stand around and watch...But I had a little fun when they would use their allotted money on an arcade game that they weren't actually interested in, and walk away, I would finish it for them. Claire had a problem more than Shay about scanning whatever she came across instead of watching to see if she would actually want to do the game. Interestingly enough, it got her a ton more tickets because I played some of her games, and she got a bigger prize than Shay.

Adrian

With the cold weather, I've been distracting Adrian from wanting to go outside in the mornings. He is more interested in the toys if I start playing with some with him, then I can step away to do my own projects or tasks. He gravitates to our car basket in the playroom and brings them all around the downstairs as he plays, but he also plays music often since we have play keyboards that don't fit anywhere and are always around to play. I'd like to use what I figure out about his personality to plan great Christmas and birthday presents in the upcoming months. I want to gush about how adorable his little moments are and his development because he makes me so happy to watch him grow. This coming week will be fun to take him to the Halloween things, and we are hoping the weather will be better next weekend so we can go to a corn maze! Our plans to hit a pumpkin patch yesterday were ruined by the rain and storms.

Projects

I had a busy week working on my Christmas presents for some family members. I've been cross-stitching, painting, planning, and crafting. I feel like I can't share them here because I really don't know how many people actually read all of the blog or just get to the pictures. My mom already knows the painting is her present, but there has to be some kind of reveal, so I can't put a progress picture up. There was a Relief Society activity that had crafting two cute bookmarks for my daughters, and a front porch door mat I made for myself. We've had our old one for a long time, but it is just going to be moved to another of our doors. As a perfectionist, I still want to add something to the empty spaces because the bell I painted disappeared in the color of the door mat, and the words look off-center. I could do 'welcome', 'be our guest', or  'Est. 2015' for when we got married, comes to mind as I'm thinking about it right now, but that will be a project for this next week!

A Party and A Project

 Adrian

There have been several cute things that he has picked up this week that involve him trying to grow up too fast! He helped me put some of the dishes away this week when he opened a drawer and put some plates in it before I let him just hand them to me. It was cute how happy he got when I said 'thank you' so he could go grab another item. He also wants to close doors from both the inside and outside! He even got stuck after the sacrament meeting when we went to the hall because people kept following us out, and he couldn't close the door we left from. One frustrating aspect of this is that he can also turn the lock on doors, so he has locked me out of a room a couple of times and even once in the garage, so I had to go all the way around to the back door because the girls went upstairs and didn't hear me knocking. There have been a few times that he has fought going to take a nap because he wants to be involved in the girls' play time, but for the most part, he still enjoys his sleep. 

Party

The girls had a birthday party at a skating rink this week for a friend. They were so excited that they wore their skates all morning while doing chores and in the car while we drove there. I'm glad they have learned out to skate confidently, and even when they fall, they get right back up and keep going. There was one game played by everyone that Shay almost won! She was pretty bummed when she didn't win, but we had cupcakes right after that got her mind off of it, and there were party favors that were an excuse to not play one of the claw games she was begging for. Next week, we have another destination party at an arcade for a friend who lives down the street, and they ride the bus with everyday. It makes me wonder if they will ask to go somewhere for their next party, and I'll have to look into it for them. 

Project

The two girls that I usually watch during half the week were sick for Monday and Tuesday, and I began a project to fill my time! I sanded our table and stained it darker, and I didn't realize it would take so long because I only finished on Friday. The videos I watched to get tips on how to do it make it seem like the time goes by so fast! It was a learning curve for me, and I think I could have done better if I hadn't wanted it done faster. If the legs didn't have so many small crevices, I would be more satisfied, but who says I can't do it again in a few years when this one gets all scuffed again! My family says it looks good, but they might have just been happy to not eat on a small card table anymore, and they don't notice the small imperfections that I can see. 

Festive Fall

 Adrian

I've gotten so used to starting the blog with Adrian that it is completely a habit. He is the one who is changing so quickly and is with me all day, so I always have so much to say about him. He has become a tornado of destruction sometimes and has an urge to cause chaos that I usually see coming, but I usually have to just clean up after him. When we are downstairs, now that the cabinets are baby locked, he gets into the pantry and steals my canned foods, or brings all the snacks out, or gets into the dog food. If I remember to close the door to the pantry, he spends his time spreading the toys around the house and is now strong enough to pull out the baskets to dump on the ground...yay. He is a little easier to deal with outside because he is now bored with the rocks, but in a new place? Like a decorated library? Yeah, there was no looking for new books when we went yesterday because if he wasn't pretending to be on the computer, he was throwing anything he could get his hands on to the floor. He doesn't sit still for pictures anymore, so expect more blurry pictures in the future. 

School

It was parent-teacher conferences this week, so the girls had Thursday and Friday off from school. On Thursday, they finally had fun with the daycare kids and snuck in some reading and homework, luckily. They came with me to the conferences because Chris was gone for the weekend to hunt with his dad and brother, so they were able to show Adrian the playground, and his destructive tendencies didn't ruin any of the books at the book fair. I knew Shay was great at her school work, even though she doubts herself in her self-assessment, and Claire is confident, even though she needs more help with her reading comprehension. I now have some ideas to help Claire, so I hope I can find the time to squeeze in extra homework! Shay will improve as she controls her temper, and I hope to help her here at home by not feeding the flames when they burst.

Weekend

It felt like a VERY long weekend since the girls had two extra days and Chris was gone until late afternoon on Saturday. I tried to keep the girls busy, and instead of just having reading homework like on school days, we did paper homework every day too, if they wanted to earn things they wanted. Friday felt like it should have been a Saturday, but the girls earned a trip to DI by cleaning their room before lunch. We went to Chick-fil-A as well, and then the afternoon was filled with playing with their new toys. On Saturday, went to clean the church, shopped for next week's birthday presents, sent a package at the post office, and visited the library, all before Adrian's nap! We got some good family time when Daddy came home, and watched a Halloween movie as a family tonight. I've been planning out costumes so I'm not doing anything last-minute, and I even tested out Buttercup's look!