Week In Review-Again

I am sitting here trying to remember what has happened this week and I am having a hard time.  Let's see.....

Monday-Cayden got to go bowling with the 1st grade up in Mesquite because they met their AR goal during Reading Week.  We sent him to school and then picked him up a little early to go to the doctor about his ears AGAIN!!!   That is correct-he has seen a doctor about his ears 9 TIMES!  (Did you get the obscure Ferris Bueller reference?)This is the 4th time to the ENT in Mesquite and this time it was something different than the other 3 times we've seen him.  The doctor asked alot of questions about whether or not Cayden had been swimming or taking baths-to which the answer was no-then he asked repeatedly if Cayden had stuck something in it like a pencil or a Q-tip-to which the answer was no-and he looked in it for a long time.  He seemed less sure of what to do because he said it just did not look right.  He said that it looked mushy and wet but it was outside of the ear drum not inside where a regular ear infection would be. It was not a fungus like he had a month ago either.  He gave us some steroid ear drops and told us to come back AGAIN in 2 weeks which will actually be 3 weeks because of the Fair and blah blah blah-that is just  my life.  After we left the doctor we decided that we needed to get In and Out Burger because we needed some grease and Dr. Pepper therapy.  We had to drive to St. George but we were halfway there anyway so it was no big deal. We had our therapy session along with half of Southern Utah (they were on Spring Break) and then Don took Cayden to get a haircut and I got some retail therapy at Kohl's.  We cooked hot dogs on the grill, ate outside and cleaned up the backyard for FHE pulling weeds and picking up junk.  Our neighbor friend Connor Waite was over for most of the afternoon and he stayed for dinner and then earned his keep by pulling more weeds and being a better worker than the kids that live here.  After it got to cold and dark to do much more outside we went in.  Connor was just dying to play a game that he had learned which is basically Spoons with the Noah's Ark card deck and if you get out then you have to act like the animal on the set of cards.  It was pretty funny.  Cody had his last rehearsal for the play that started Tuesday night and he got home right around prayer time.

Tuesday

The kids did their usual school  day, I helped at Cayden's school, Caleb had piano, the boys had karate and we all went to Cody's play afterward.  The theater kids have been working on this play since before Christmas I think.  It was Woody Allen's "Don't Drink the Water".  It was funny and it kept everyone's attention even the younger kids because Cody always falling down and acting like a total goof.  There was alot of action and noise and even a dynamite explosion and a gunshot or two.  The play was fabulous and Cody was fabulous, the set was fabulous and it all went very well.  Cody was pleased with how it all went and he was getting down to the final stretch.


Wednesday

I think that this was the day that I made banana bread.  This recipe actually turned out right this time.  Cody has eaten all my previous attempts without complaint and this time was no exception.  He mowed through 2 small loaves in one afternoon and basically ate the majority of a large one the next day.  I had to stop him from eating the last loaf because that was for our neighbor who recently had a baby.  I actually liked this recipe and we think it is a keeper.  Connor participated in "Mack Lyon's Got Talent", an assembly they held as part of Reading Week activities.  He had auditioned the week before and was so thrilled to make the cut.  He wore his coon skin cap, held drumsticks and tapped them to the beat of the music while he sang along with the song "The Battle of New Orleans".  A while ago on a drive home from Grandma Penny's or Cali, I can't remember which, we were playing different songs off everyone's Ipods and this one came on and Connor basically knew all the words.  We were quite impressed.  When he came home and told us about the talent show and that he wanted to sing "The Star Spangled Banner", we gently redirected him to this song that we knew he already had memorized and was much more his speed and personality.  He did a great job on stage and he was very pleased with himself.  Cody had the play again and this time I went by myself and Don stayed home with the kids.  Earlier in the day I got a call from Bowler saying that Cayden had a temp of 99.5 and he was complaining of his ear AGAIN.  AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!  We brought him home and he vegetated on the couch until the other boys got home.  He never had fever again even though I tried to get a hold of the ENT and the local doctor but they were both out on Wednesday.  Such is my life.   

Thursday

I tried to get Cayden an appointment with either of the docs but one couldn't do it until the late afternoon-right during scouts-and the other could not see him until Friday.  I vacillated back and forth and could not decide what to do because
A. His ears have been really bad but he was not complaining about them like he had before but
B.  What if they were really bad again but he was just not complaining like he had before. AARRRHGGHHH!!!!
I finally scheduled the Friday appointment but ended up canceling it Friday morning when he did not say another word about his ears the rest of Thursday and when I asked him how they were he would just say fine.
After some running around and laundry and dishes and dusting and vacuuming and mopping and towel washing and sheet washing and bed making in anticipation of the arrival of some more guests at the Adams Inn, I put together some science projects for Scouts and went cheerfully off to do my duty.  (SARCASM)  The boys went to karate and then Chris, Anne and sweet baby Lexie came in a day early from the family vacation in Cali because Anne had to work Saturday.  I ordered homemade pizza from a sweet friend who is helping another friend make money in this horrible economy and then Chris and Anne went to the play with me while Don kept our kids and Lexie.  The boys were so excited to play with Lexie and were quite disappointed when they got home from karate and  found that Lexie had been put to bed.  As they hovered over baby monitor, they listened for any teeny tiny peep from her.  They were quite happy to hear her start fussing because that meant that maybe she could get up.  They played with her on the floor with a bunch of her toys until her mommy and daddy got home.  I stayed after the play to wait for Cody and take pictures.  I made him the Candygram in the picture above to give him after the show in lieu of flowers which are traditional.  Flowers for a boy just seem odd so candy is a good substitute.  He was quite happy about it even though I only had 20 minutes to get it together and my literary magic and handwriting was not happening.   The girl in the picture is the girl that he had to kiss.  That was a little hard for me to handle but it was the character kissing the character not Cody kissing Mareesa  (so I was told my a mom who's kids were concerned about it too).  Cody played the main character Axel Magee and Mareesa played Susan, the girl Axel fell in love with.  Cody worked so hard and so many lines to memorize and it was fun to see the show 3 times.  There were a few times that they had to improv each night and since I had seen it so many times I could pick those parts out and it was quite funny.  Those kids have alot of talent and their teacher knows how to get the most out of them.  Cody was quite relieved after that night and came home and crashed for about 12 hours.  He did not go even go to school on Friday partly because of exhaustion and partly because he said since it was the last day before Spring Break noone was going to be there anyway.  Well, whatever excuse you need I guess. 

Friday

Chris and Anne left around 10 and I washed towels and sheets again for the next wave of guests.  The boys had early out Friday and were home around 12.  Connor went down the street and helped our neighbors lay sod.  The kid was in heaven in the dirt.  The super nice people gave him $20 too.  Connor will work for free simply because he loves it but he also loves money so that was really nice of them.  Don and I decided that we needed (I needed) some more retail/Dr. Pepper therapy -have I told you that noone in this Valley can make a decent Dr.Pepper except Sugar's and they want $2.16 for 16 ounces?  So we went to Vegas again and I got to use my 30% coupon at Kohl's that I did not have on Monday.  I got the greatest shoes.  See, look! They are so stinking cute and I felt so much better about our stressful week, and our stressful life after just a bit of shopping.  Ok ok I lied, A LOT of shopping.   Don got some new golf attire because you have to look good on the links and we got some wedding gifts, some flip flops for Cayden and did I mention my shoes?  I LOVE THESE SHOES!   We went to Toys R Us to look for an easy scooter for Cayden to learn to ride and got one for him, one for Caleb and some tennis balls and a new ball for kickball.  We got home around 4 and awaited the arrival of Grandma Penny, Granddaddy Larry, Auntie Calley, Auntie Suzanna, Uncle Ryan and Abby and Owie.  We made pulled pork bbq sandwiches, baked beans, and fruit salad for dinner and then we sat around and chatted and the men watched some of the college basketball tournies on TV.   Connor went to Grandma Dottie's for his weekly sleepover partly because he wanted to and partly because we are very much aware of the potential for disaster because he is overwhelmed with all the noise and people and change in routine.  Wow at the complexities of this child!!!!!  Cody went to work around 3:30 and got back around 9.  He is greatly pleased with the prospect of mucho dinero even if he has to work for it.  Since the play is over now his schedule is freed up immensely and he can work alot more.

Saturday
 We had a delicious breakfast of pancakes with homemade syrup and bacon and then all the guests checked out around 10:30.  We cleaned up the house and started all the laundry A.G.A.I.N.  Connor and Caleb had a merit badge pow wow at the church where they each earned 2 new merit badges. Cody wanted to go to Vegas and get a new DS game with is giftcard from Christmas.  I went with him.  He drove for the first time  all the way to Vegas.  He was a little nervous and wanted to trade places once we hit the outskirts but I said that he needed to experience traffic, and stoplights and parking lots with actual cars.  He did a good job and only scared the crap out of me once when he about ran into the curb pulling into a parking lot.  We both about wet ourselves-me because of the curb, him because when I "calmly alerted him to the curb's presence" he thought it was a car or a train coming at him.  We both had our nerves on edge after that so I drove the rest of the day.  We got him a "trim" not a haircut but a "trim", had lunch, got his game and went to Target for the 3rd time that week for some bleach.  I can't wash whites without bleach.  Ya ya I know, I'm a Pyscho- OCD bleach addict. Just deal with it!  After Cody and I got home, Don and I went to a wedding reception that was just beautiful and were able to enjoy a free, local date.  We stayed and chatted for a bit with some friends all the while listening for sirens and watching for smoke in the direction of our house. All was well when we got home but then we got a call from Connor who told us that he had rolled the Rhino while out driving around grandma and grandpa's house.  Ok, it did not really roll but it went over on its side.  It's just easier to say rolled even though it is a much scarier thought than just tipped over.  Thankfully Uncle Dave and his friend were close and saw it happen.  They ran over to help Connor and tip the Rhino back over.   Connor was quite shaken up but was no worse for the wear other than a bruise or too and the Rhino was intact. Another Emergency Room trip avoided-Thank Goodness!!!!

Sunday

My nice, calm, peaceful idea of a Sunday morning got off to a good start but went down hill about 15 minutes before we were supposed to leave to get there on time.  Cayden can't/won't get dressed by himself and so in between cleaning up the kitchen from breakfast, getting my bag ready, and hairspraying my hair over and over, I got him dressed, brushed and shoed, helped Caleb glue down his unruly mop and apparently pushed Connor over the edge. He has such a hard time with prodding and correction.  Well he got just that this morning and we found out later-which is always the case-that he was low and he had a headache.  He just could not tell us in words that we could understand that he was having those problems. Oh how I pray for the power of discernment to be able to understand my kids!!!!!  Cody always takes the never ending shower and today was no exception even with the numerous door poundings and "we're gonna be lates" hollered through the door.  I have decided that it is a crack dream for all of us to go to church in the same vehicle. And the crack dream may just expanded to even all of us making it to church on the same day.  It has been weeks and weeks since all of us went to church together.  Someone has been sick, someone has been grumpy, someone has been the Pokey Puppy, and someone has been unable to deal with all the super major crap that we have dealt with in the past few weeks.  Today was no different even though the intention was and the necessary preparations were being made that would imply that we were all going together and on time.  Don had to stay with Connor until he calmed down while waiting for the Pokey Puppy to get out of the shower and get dressed.  Don brought Cody up and brought my slip that I had forgotten to put on and it was greatly needed since I was wearing a white skirt.  Caleb and Cayden went in and got us seats right at 9:00 while I waited in the car for Don to help me avoid a fashion fauxpaw (how is that spelled?) .  Cody and I got in during the middle of the Sacrament and had to wait outside in the foyer for it to be finished before we could go in.  Don came up with Connor after Sacrament Meeting was over in time for classes.  He had settled down and was feeling better after a Tylenol and Don had to teach in Priest's Quorum anyway.  It was a very relaxing Sunday afternoon after the hullabaloo from the morning.  After a tasty lunch of hamburgers and hotdogs and mini cupcakes I settled in for a long spring time nap.  The Netflix dvd came yesterday that allows  us to watch movies instantly on our TV via the Wii so the kids enjoyed that new brain waster all day.  Don made dinner and Cody and Caleb actually did the dishes with very little grumbling while Connor went Home Teaching with Grandpa Don.  The boys wanted to sleep outside to start off the beginning of Spring Break but they decided that it would be too cold so we made a super-great extra-special blanket fort upstairs for them to sleep in.  We are having a staycation during Spring Break this year and plan on having some fun family outings with what the valley and maybe Las Vegas have to offer.   We want to play tennis, ride the new scooters, play kickball at the park, color Easter eggs and have a hunt, play with the new super awesomely cool bubble wands, go hiking at Valley of Fire and maybe go bowling and to the movies.  We will see how much of that happens but atleast we have plan and that does not include sitting around the brain waste box. Hope this is a relatively mild, restful Spring Break because the Fair is next week.