October 21st-27th

(10/21) Work day for Dad and me, and Kathy had the boys.  The bigs had school and the teenager has play rehearsal for three nights after school this week.  It's gonna be a busy one!  We skipped court this morning since we weren't required to be there.  Sounds like we have the teen for another six months, which was a good and a hard thing for her to hear.  Totally understand that.  Now boarding for the emotional roller coaster to come.  Wee. 


(10/22)  I got to meet my brother and SIL (and of course their cute boy!) for coffee today to catch up on all that has been going on with them.  I left the twinsies with Dad, and was not responsible for anyone but myself for a few hours.  After a nice visit, I headed home to collect the littles.  I decided to take them to the children's museum.  I used to take C all the time and they are at the perfect age for it.  I re-upped our membership to make dropping by when we have free time possible.  The boys had a great time!  They were so hyped after the museum that they didn't nap though, and of course were bananas for the rest of the day.  D had just drifted off to sleep when it was time to go grab C, so he was pouty, and J was just screamy, and let me tell you how fun that car ride was.  I got an important phone call on the way home and may have answered it in a car filled with screaming children because I thought it was a telemarketer. OOPS.  I told her I'd call her back in 10, rushed home, put the littles back in bed and called her back. Nanan came a while later so I could go grab the teen from rehearsal and then run her to her appointment.  We grabbed pizza on the way home, fed everyone, and started the assembly line for baths and bedtime.  Exhausting. 

(10/23) Work day for me and Dad had the kiddos.  Dad planned movie night and we watched Rise of the Guardians and Divergent tonight.  Rise of the Guardians was very cute.  I enjoyed Divergent, but this was my third time seeing it, plus I've also read the books, so I played Words with Friends through most of it. We had a lovely evening until we got our communication pathways crossed and everything blew up, and ended on a sour note. 


(10/24) Work day for Dad and me, and Kathy had the boys.  I got to telecommute today and it was awesome!  I got a ton of work done, didn't have to fight traffic, and had a pretty quiet day with the pooches.  There was a school shooting today about 15 miles from my home. I listed to the coverage for an hour or so, but finally had to turn it off.  It was just too hard to listen to.  My thoughts are with all affected. I wasn't sure how much the teen had heard and was prepared to talk about it, but she didn't mention it. She came home with all these plans, but had no idea how she was going to get herself there, or home, what time things started/ended. You know, basically any of the important details.  So after what felt like pulling teeth, we got squared away for the evening.  I had book club, Grandma & Granddad were coming to watch the boys, and I needed to ferry the teenager in the opposite direction from book club to a friend's house so she could later go skating. I was fit to be tied by the time I made it to book club. Thanks ladies for all the laughter and letting me vent!  The wine helped too.


(10/25) C had practice this morning, and the rest of us bummed around in our jammies until he got back.  I had a book on hold and the teenager has been wanting to go to the library, so we trekked over there.  The teen got a pile, C found a fun book, and the littles had a great time yelling that they found Nemo!  (There is a beautiful fish tank in the children's section)  J was a very sad boy when we left and put on his best pouty face, looking very much like his older brother in doing so.  We had just enough time to grab some lunch and go home to fix it before the teen left for her visit.  After lunch, I put the twins down, sat down to read, and promptly fell asleep.  C has been working in the programming section of Khan Academy and entertained himself for a few hours.  The teen returned, we made up dinner, and had a quiet night at home.  It was gross outside, so none of us was very interested in going out.

(10/26) Fun day today! C had hockey this morning.  The teen requested a sleep-in morning, so we headed out and left her at home.  C got one goal and made some nice plays.  After we got home, we packed up to go for pumpkins.  My brother even made it and we joked that we should find Santa while we had everyone!  So what if there are jack-o-lanterns in the picture. They're Christmassy enough, right?  I had forgotten the River Run was this morning so our normal route to Snohomish was blocked off, but we eventually made it to Stocker Farms. Usually we go around the corner and do all the fun things at the farm, but it started to pour so we headed over to Granddad's for pizza and pumpkin carving.  The twins were much more interested this year and made it through about half of the process.  I got them a kit where you hammer in clear plastic golf tees and they shine the light from inside.  The bigs selected a vampire and a skull, and I grumped at C because he quit about a quarter of the way in and I had to finish his pumpkin. And he always picks the hard ones!  Oh well. We had fun. After we got home, I left most of the kids with Dad and the teen, and I went walking to Sbux with Sarah and her kiddos. We finished the night out with a healthy dinner of nachos and called it a day.  The littles didn't get a nap today and were almost completely out by the time C went up.  That never happens, and usually I have to go up there at least fifty times and tell them to simmer down before all is finally quiet.   


(10/27) Monday again, my old friend.  Work day for me, shortened school days for the bigs (conference week), and Dad has the littles.  Granddad and Grandma are going to come hang out later while we go to the teenager's conferences.  Oh boy, oh boy!