My favorite day of the week

You know how you get those email questionarre's that you're supposed to fill out and send to all your friends? I always thought it was weird when it asked what your favorite day of the week was. They all pretty much blend into one another...that is until now. The last few weeks Thursday has become my new favorite day. Zach has preschool and we don't have any other committments. So I have a couple of hours to run errands with only two kids and then they both usually sleep for 2-3 hours at the SAME time!!! (Because it's so quiet) The other thing that is nice is that I have to be super quiet or they'll both wake up (they're both really light sleepers, especially Connor). So I have to just do stuff on the computer or read a book. That is why I love Thursdays.

Santa!

We went to our Ward Christmas Party on Saturday. It was a dinner and then the kids got to see Santa. Jacob and Zach were so excited, but Savannah freaked out. After I held her hand though she calmed down and actually talked to him. Connor just stared and wouldn't look away until we were far away from him.

Jacob's playing basketball

Jacob started basketball on Dec. 6. They have practices this month and start their games in January. He's never played before but he's learning a lot and totally LOVING it. Both times we've left his practice he says "Basketball is the most fun thing in the whole world. Why can't we have practice every night?" I think he mostly likes being part of a team. His coach is in our ward along with two boys on the team.

Decorating the tree

On Dec. 5 we finally got around to decorating the Christmas tree. Zach had been bugging me about every 10 minutes for a week. It took me a while to figure out where to put it where we could block it off the best. Connor is into everything right now! With it in this corner I just slide the playpen in front and it's completely out of reach for him. It's a very traditional (and artificial) tree, with ornaments from when I was growing up and also that I've collected. It has colored lights, but you can't really tell in the picture.

All better!

Well we made it past the flu. Jacob got it Friday evening. Dallin got it Saturday evening. By Sunday morning Zach, Savannah & Connor were pretty much over it. By Sunday afternoon Jacob was fine too. Yeah! Dallin's was short and he felt much better by Sunday evening. I don't know how I got through the week without getting it, but I'm so thankful I didn't...since I was the one taking care of everyone!

Update

Make that 4 kids with the flu.

The Flu (not for the queasy)

What's worse than a sick kid throwing up all night long? Two kids throwing up all night long with a sick baby on top of it. Last night Zach came in about 1:45am having just been sick. So I went to clean up him and his bed (and the wall and the carpet and anything within a few feet). While I was pulling his sheets off I hear Savannah getting sick in the next room. Of course she freaks out and hers hits a much wider diameter. So I get them both cleaned up and clothes changed, etc. I'm starting the washer and it begins all over again. So I clean them both up again and pull off the second pair of sheets, blankets, pajamas, etc. and take them to the family room. I laid blankets and towels all over and made little beds. They each got a nice big bowl next to them. As I'm in the middle of this Connor wakes up screaming. I wake Dallin up and he takes care of Connor's diaper, who is having the "Big D" as my friend Kristi calls it. We finally get Connor calm and back to sleep and Dallin heads back to bed. I finish starting the first of 4 large loads of laundry (all soiled within 30 minutes). I run back to the family room in time to help Savannah. I lay on the couch and help the two of them take turns with their bowls about every 15 minutes until about 5:00am. We finally sleep for an hour until Connor wakes up. He made it through the night without throwing up (he started throwing up Monday night...and has been doing so ever since), so I give him 4 oz. of formula...which he promptly throws up all over one of the floor blankets (load #5). I wake up Jacob to get ready and take to school and then drive to Walgreens where I stock up on Pedialyte, Gatorade, 7-UP, and apple juice. Savannah and Zach try to convince me they want yogurt for breakfast (bright blue Trix yogurt). Yah right. They get 7-UP and 2 ritz crackers each. We've watched cartoons all morning and luckily it all seems to be on hold...for now.

The end of the trip...Friday - Sunday

On Friday we had family pictures with the Strongs at the temple. I actually got a decent shot of all the grandkids...all 13 of them! Afterwards we went back and had a barbeque for Daniel's birthday (Dallin's brother). I got to go to a movie with most of the girls in the afternoon...we saw Enchanted. Saturday morning we left Maricopa around 10:30am and got to El Paso, TX around 5:30pm, where we stayed the night. It was snowing as we got there, which was really fun for all of us. The kids had fun going to Applebee's and it was their first time sleeping in a hotel (that they can remember). The only problem was that we didn't have a pack'n'play, so Connor was rolling all around and trying to crawl off his blanket all through the night. The next morning we loaded up and set off about 8:30am (TX time). We drove through snow for about 5 hours. We let the kids out to play in it once and they loved it. But then pretty much everything in a car was splattered with mud from their shoes. Oh well...how often do they get to play in the snow? We got home about 6:30pm. It was nice to be home again. Dallin had Monday and Tuesday off work so I was able to do laundry and wash the car and stuff. He also went and did all the grocery shopping. Connor's been pretty sick the last couple of days. He was supposed to have his 9-month well-child visit on Tuesday but it turned into a sick visit after he threw up all night and couldn't keep anything down. He's better today but still really tired and fussy. The only good thing is that he just wants to be cuddled, which I love to do. Overall it was a fun trip and we loved seeing family and friends. But it sure is nice to be home!