Last week...

So last week was a week of growth, firsts, chaos, mistakes, and craziness...

3/8 Sunday: It was Stake Conference and much to our delight we discovered the nursery room had a TV in it with a feed from the meeting. We thought we had hit the jackpot, and moved our little family into the nursery room to watch the two hours of speakers. BAD IDEA!! Our kids were awful and thought because there was space to run and jump in, and toys to play and throw that it was party time. They were worse and I got less out of the meeting than if we had been sitting on a bench in the chapel. Eventually we turned off the lights, locked the toys away, and put a couple of kids in the corner and only then did we get to actually listen to the speakers. NEVER AGAIN will we take the road of least resistance...because guess what it's a trick!!
3/9 Monday: My sister Allison was in town so we headed in to my mom's house to do a cousins photo shoot so we can create a little cousins photo book. It was totally fun laid back day. That night I whipped up some Hawaiian Haystack makings and we had a family from our church over for dinner and FHE which was a blast! We ended up making a last minute change in plans and ate dinner outside followed by a little marshmallow roast on the open fire, which is one of my favorite things to do. It was a great day!
3/10 Tuesday: My sister Allison, Stacy, and my mom headed over to my place to start our sewing project we started way back at Christmas time. It was crazy with so many little kids, but we managed with only 2 portacribs and 2 regular cribs!! We actually got a lot done...surprise! That evening Scott had a mix and mingle event to kick off their InfusionCon conference so the kids didn't see Scott that entire day which is tough. He finally got home around 10:30 and left the next morning around 5:30...CRAZY!! We ended up getting Panda Express take out after we picked Jarom up from scouts and watched American Idol...I needed some down time. :)
3/11 Wednesday: Alli and my mom came back out for sewing day number 2...and we had a blast! We finished more aprons and just had a great time hanging out. Megan finished her apron (with Nana's help), and Alli and I finished Brea and Becca's aprons. Now all I need to do is start cooking. :) I had all the ingredients to make an Alfredo sauce (which is a first) and was able to make dinner quickly and get the kids in bed by 8. It was a great day!!!
3/12 Thursday: This was the day I'd been dreading all week. For our RS Birthday Party our ward had decided to do a program called the 10 Virgins which is a musical program. They had asked me to be the narrator which meant I had to sing TWO songs solo (yes by myself) and I'd never done anything like that before. I'd been so nervous and worried about this day for weeks, and I was most definitely freaking out all day. In fact that morning I could feel myself getting really frustrated with the kids, but after I stopped myself and took a step back and realized it was the stress of everything that was making me feel frustrated more than I would have been other wise. I took a few breaths said a prayer, practiced my songs, and tried to relax. It had been different kind of week...Scott had been been leaving before the sun rose and getting home after it was dark all week, I'd had two sitters cancel on me to watch the kids during the 10 Virgin program, I was worried I was going to forget the words to the songs, and I almost forgot to paint my lamp for the program. It was STRESSFUL!! Thank goodness the program ended up going great! Now I could start working on the two events we were hosting on Saturday.
3/13 Friday: At 10am we had 16 kids come to our pottery class! The kids had fun, and the mom's enjoyed visiting during the class. It was a win/win. At 11am pottery class was over and as those mom's left my aunts, some cousins, and sisters arrived for a little lunch gathering at my home. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and it was fun to have everyone over! After they all left my mom, Alli, and Dan helped me get all the tables and chairs unloaded and set into place. That was a huge relief to know those were all ready to go for Saturday!!! By 3:15 we all left and I headed off to gymnastics with the kids. My mom took Becca during gym which was a huge blessing!! Thanks mom!! The kids went to co-op at 6 and I had a few hours go to dinner with Alli, Dan, and my parents. Scott finished up just in time and was able to join us at 8 for dinner.
3/14 Saturday: The morning went fast...thank goodness the kids and Scott were so great at helping get everything ready for the youth event at 12:30! Everything went great and Dan was awesome. Once the youth were gone we went into prep mode again and started hanging lights, putting on table cloths, mixing food/punch, etc...for the adult event. I had a vision of being ready 30 minutes early...but that didn't happen. Oh well! The kids got off to co-op at 5 and by 5:45ish (only 15 minutes late) we kicked off the potluck! The rest of the evening went fantastic!!
3/15 Sunday: Darby and Jon blessed their baby today. So we had to get moving a little quicker than usual to get ourselves out the door in time to make it there by 11:15. By Sunday all the crazy, new, stressful things of the previous week were over and I was able to relax during church, enjoy the good food at Darby's, and play an entertaining game with my family knowing that last week I'd learned a lot and done some new things. I had felt so stretched, uncomfortable, and out of my comfort zone all week, and even though it wasn't easy or even fun some of the time it increased my capacity and I've grown. I am 'becoming' the someone I was meant to be, and I am grateful.