The week kicked off with the kids and I heading up to Escondido, where I watched my 2 nephews, and my niece while my sister and her hunny were off celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary. The kids and I always enjoy it when we get to baby sit their cousins for an extended period of time. The kids love it because their "playdate" is pretty much never ending...and I love it, because my sister has a wonderfully large home. :0) Now, don't get me wrong....I LOVE our little condo that we live in...especially on cleaning day (little space = smaller amount to maintain)! But occasionally, it's fun to be in a great big house, where everyone can spread out...and with 5 kids, it's nice for the noise (giggles and laughter only, OF COURSE...NOT!) to be dispersed amongst multiple rooms. PLUS they have a backyard...a backyard with grass and a play-structure...KEY component to not losing your mind with that many littles in one house! :0)
Unfortunately though, there was quite a bit of rain on the night we arrived, and the backyard was a mud pit! :0( I had to get creative...what was I going to do with no backyard...and with 5 kids!?
On the first day, we went to The Wild Animal Park...ahem, OK, now it's called, The Safari Park...
And after a LOT of walking, I thought it was GENIUS to take the kids on the 35 minute tram ride...you know!?...they would all be contained! But, my best idea was probably the worst idea! The kids wanted nothing to do with sitting still! The baby was adamant about not sitting still, and the rest of the "monkeys" were whining and wiggling also. I felt so bad for the passengers that were actually WANTING to enjoy the tram ride! If we hadn't been taken out into the middle of AFRICA, I would have totally scrapped the idea...admitted that I made a bad decision, and moved on. But nooooo...I was trapped...WE were trapped!...I had to OWN my decision for thir.ty.five. minutes. Sigh.
After we got off of the tram we headed straight for the play structure...and lunch! You can't go wrong with that combination! We stayed there for the next hour, lol...and then went home.
On the 2nd day...we stayed home. Lol. But, "Fun Auntie" did pack a bag of crafts with her. After I read the kids 2 of the Thanksgiving books I brought, we got BUSY! :0)
We made "What we are thankful for" collages...
And, decorated some Indian...ahem, Native American...head gear...
In addition, we ate meals together (of course!)...
("I can cut my own pancakes Auntie Cheech"...with his fork...)
I discovered my kiddos sleeping together, not once...
But TWICE!...
Some of us still had school to do...
Some of us HAD to be put in timeout...
And ALL of us went out for ice cream!...
Even without the use of the backyard, we managed to have a WONDERFUL (and exhausting) time together! :0)
Because of our time with extended family, we did "required" school work only this week...which meant, no study of the United States, and no organized school for Bea. However, Bea did get put to work! ;0)
She did lots of cooking...
She was Director of "Operation: feed the birds"...
And we had an intense game of "Hello Kitty Memory" (that consisted of mostly crying...on her part, not mine...although, listening to her keep crying over a game that she REFUSED to walk away from, almost brought me to tears also, lol)...
Wyatt was also busy "working" this week. He had chores...
He had his weekly piano lesson...
Puzzles to put together...
And self-portraits to take...
But in all seriousness, he did actually do some "paid" work this week. My previous bosses had asked me if I would package their ornaments that they mail out at Christmas time, and I agreed to do this. While I was working, Wyatt asked if he could help. After thinking about it for a half-second, I said, "Sure!" I wish I would have thought about him helping me a lot sooner! There were about 500 mailers, and he helped me with the last 75. He did an excellent job! I plan to pay him a few dollars once I get paid. :0)
Some highlights for me...
In my MOPS group this week, in honor of Veteran's Day, we all contributed items to box up and mail to our deployed troops. I was astounded by the generosity of our group! We had only planned to mail out 5 boxes, but we collected enough product to double that!
I started and finished one book...
And I am 4 chapters in to a second book!...
In "together time"...we went to church (serious pictures are so hard to come by these days!)...
We planted MINI pots...
We survived 11-11-11 @ 11:11am...and 11:11pm...
And, we witnessed a miracle in our home...a REAL miracle!...at least Rick and I think it was! While it was raining last Sunday, we all kept smelling something burning in our house. We canvased the house a few times, and found nothing out of the ordinary, and so we decided it must be the neighbors having fires in their firplaces or something. But after smelling the smell for over six hours, SIX HOURS I TELL YOU, I went to turn off the light in Beatrice's room, and I found her puppy laying on top of her lamp/light bulb! :-0 I am SHOCKED that this puppy did not catch flame! I am GRATEFUL that this puppy did not catch flame!!! OH MY WORD! The only casualty suffered, was the puppy itself. The kids thought it looked "SCARY!" and it had to be thrown out. :0(
Thank you Lord for the laughter in our hearts...your provision for my family...and your protection for our home.
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