Recovery

We spent this week trying to get our life back together after a week away. 

On Monday, we did laundry and I did a bunch of computer work. Paul got home from work at 6:45 with a Little Caesar's pizza. He's a good husband. Grace taught FHE on what to do when you're scared at night. 

On Tuesday, we played out back, then the girls colored. For lunch, we went to the city park with the relief society/kids. We brought our lunch, ate together, and let the kids play. Poor Grace asked a kid to play, and he said no (he was super shy). So she got up the nerve to ask another kid, and had fun with her the rest of the time. Both Alice and Grace are getting braver on the playground equipment. Alice loves slides! In the afternoon, we read books, and made brownies. Grace loves to lick the bowl.

 Alice got the spoon.

 She got pretty messy. Then a girl came to the door with a thick accent and said something about visiting all the moms in the area about their kids. She said it would just take a minute, and it sounded like she was just doing a survey, so I let her in. 20 minutes later, she had given me a long sales pitch in broken English, and Alice was running all over the house with the brownie spoon! Makes you mad. Paul got home at 6, and we all played with puppets after dinner. Then Paul and I played a couple rounds of Scrabble.

 On Wednesday, Alice got me up at 8, but Grace slept until 9:15! Alice was cute and cuddly in the morning. Then I took the girls to music and movement at the library. There were at least 40 kids there! We all really liked it, and it was such a contrast with NM in that only 4 kids weren't blonde. Very interesting. We got books, movies, and played at the park. When we got home, Alice begged to sit on the toilet. I put her on, but she was scared of falling in. I got the potty chair out, and she really liked it (see picture), but she doesn't know what it's for, and we don't think she's ready. In the afternoon, we read books, and played out back with the neighbor boy. When Paul got home, we ate Filipino food. After the girls went to bed, we watched an old movie called "Cottage to Let". Pretty good.
On Thursday, I got a lot done before the girls got up at 8:30. We went to Wal-Mart in the morning. Alice is not good at the grocery store. It's hard. I was sick all afternoon. Paul made dinner when he got home, then we all played in the basement. Paul and I did a bunch of computer work in the evening.

 On Friday, Paul had to leave for work at 6:30. When the girls and I got up, we made a housework list, and worked nonstop until 2:30. We did laundry, cleaned the kitchen, swept, vacuumed, dusted, emptied the trash, cleaned the bathrooms, and even cleaned the basement, which was a huge mess. Grace was a big help. She dusted, put laundry away, emptied the dishwasher, and even wiped up the floors with a rag.

 Paul got his hours in, and came home around 3. We got our new van registered, then got ice cream at Arctic Circle as a reward for all our housework and the end of a long workweek.

 Alice loves ice cream cones!

 Grace and I liked ours too.

 Alice even licked up the "ice cream soup" at the end.

 Then Paul made our Friday night pizza, and Grace made a little one for herself.

 Alice LOVES Dora. She says Dora, Boots, Isa, Benny, Backpack, Map, "Oh, Man", and rocking chair. We watched a painful Disney channel original movie, and put the girls to bed. Then Paul and I had a relaxing date doing pregnancy yoga. Paul started getting sick with a cold/cough.

 On Saturday, Paul helped put up chairs at the church, then he mowed the lawn. We hung out watching Jetsons until lunch, then we napped! In the afternoon, Cheyenne came over so Ashley/Ben could celebrate their anniversary. We took the kids downstairs to the now-clean toyroom/basement. Alice found a hat she liked.

 Grace and Alice: queens!

 I tried to give Cheyenne some hair with a wig, but she just gave me this face.

 Precious.

 Supergirl!

 Then we read books in the piano room. Cheyenne came and plopped down by Alice. They are friends now, and Alice has stopped calling her Shy-Shy. She now calls her "Shan", which sounds a lot more like Cheyenne.

 Paul played puppets and read books with the girls while I made dinner, then we all ate.

After that, we had a dance party. The girls were really cute, and Grace got to dance with her daddy. Ashley/Ben came and got Cheyenne by 6. She was a good girl, and they gave us a nice gift certificate. Thanks! We got ready and went to the adult session of stake conference. We were the ONLY people who brought kids. Tons of people did in NM. So we went straight to the RS room, turned on the sound, and got to enjoy the talks while the girls played. It was perfect. Paul and I talked until late.

Grace playing "Book of Mormon Stories" at the recital in HSB. It starts out rough, but she ended up doing great!

Dance party with Alice, Grace, and Cheyenne.