Busy Week

This week was very busy, a little stressful and overwhelming at points, but looking at the pictures I caught I realize that many good things really did happen too. The biggest annoyance of the week was that our dryer died on Monday. This meant I had to run loads of wet laundry over to different neighbors' to dry... making laundry much more of an ordeal than normal. I tried to finish the last of my house cleaning catch up from being sick, like scouring the bathrooms and scrubbing the walls (a job that has been added to the list out here thanks to the humidity), which I was thrilled to have done except for the fact that my body suffered for it. Now that I am in the third trimester of this pregnancy, I pretty much have some kind of constant pain... pelvic, lower back, heartburn, or a combination of all three. I definitely found myself frustrated with the fact that my body can't keep up with all I want/need to do. The kids have been more difficult lately as well. Maybrie is very disobedient, stubborn, whiny, and just plain mean a lot and Thomas has discovered how to throw excellent "terrible two" fits. Sometimes I feel like keeping them alive is all I can do, but then you add in the other wife/mother/homemaker/friend duties and life can seem like more than I can handle. It makes me wonder how I am going to juggle another child in a few months. We all have those weeks sometimes I suppose, this week just happened to be one them for me. 

Brian had one of his busy test weeks, which meant we saw him basically just for dinner and prayer at bedtime. 

Maybrie was thrilled to receive a letter in the mail from her cousin Ruby. Maybrie spent a lot of time writing/decorating letters and sending them to most of her cousins over the past month or two, and she was so excited to find a colorful, sticker-covered one for her in our mailbox. Thanks Hill! 

On Tuesday the kids and I met up with Holly, Claire, Andrea, Alisa, and Jens at the Children's Museum to check out the new Playscape that just opened. It is the play area for kid's 5 and under. It was a lot of fun. Thomas was obsessed with "The Creek" where you can play in the water with boats and fish and things. At one point he was so determined to reach a particular toy that he climbed in, soaking a shoe and pant leg. Luckily, he didn't seem to mind and continued to play another hour or two. Maybrie's favorite thing was the climbing area. It's this maze of netted in leaves that lead to two sailboats at the top. She climbed all over and loved it. While I like the new Playscape, I kind of miss Mr. Bear's Playhouse, the temporary area they had set up last year during construction. I miss the train table, car mats, and lawn mowers... probably because they were Thomas's favorite. Oh, well. There is still plenty of fun to be had at museum.

On Wednesday I taught our little co-op preschool for the first time. I taught the letter C and colors. The kids had fun with a color scavenger hunt, froot loop rainbow, painting the color wheel, etc. Kade and Jakoby were great students. Unfortunately, Maybrie is a good student for everyone but mommy. Oh well. She still learned, even if she did have to put up some fight about every activity! It just further confirmed my decision to never home school!

I finally finished my fall wreath that I started weeks ago... getting sick kind of interrupted the project. It was fun to learn how to make some fabric flowers too, one of the many Pinterest ideas I never actually do! I put up our few other fall decor and made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies to take to the sisters I visit teach. It definitely feels like fall around here and I love it! It's my favorite season.

On Friday night we went to the 2nd annual Manchester Outdoor Movie Night. They showed "The Croods" this year. We all pitched in to have hot chocolate, popcorn and treats there. It was nice to have warmer weather this year, where a sweatshirt or blanket would suffice. The kids were very excited and had a lot of fun. Thomas wouldn't stop talking during the movie and got a bit antsy. We had to take him on a few walks throughout. It was a fun family night with neighbors and ward members.

Brian did figure out what was wrong with our dryer, but the part would've cost over $50 and we weren't confident that that was the only problem. We found one on Craigslist for $60, only four years old. The lady simply wanted to upgrade to a nicer, newer front loader. So for the same price as fixing ours we were able to buy a better dryer. I am very grateful to have the situation resolved, definitely a tender mercy from the Lord. 

On Saturday afternoon/evening I was able to attend the Stake Relief Society service activity/dinner/General broadcast. It was nice to take a break and have an uplifting spiritual night. The prophet and our church leaders are truly inspired servants of the Lord. They said exactly what I needed to hear. I felt comforted and renewed. I look forward to hearing General Conference next weekend. We had a nice Sunday with great church meetings, an afternoon nap, family time, and a visit from one set of elders serving in our ward. I love being involved with missionary work. It is amazing to watch the church grow and move forward. I'm grateful for the gospel in my life and the gift of the Holy Ghost that can bring me peace and comfort at the end of a more difficult week. 

 Can you tell which one belongs to the girl? They all followed the directions, it's just funny to see the gender difference here. Maybrie definitely loves art!

Forgot to mention poor Thomas. He took two hits from Maybrie in the same spot yesterday and today. One was a toy truck and the other was a fall down the stairs. Ouch! 

With Elder Diaz and Elder Rider, Maybrie's expression cracks me up!