This last week has been rough

My work schedule has been a little wacky and it really has messed me up!  I usually work Thursday and Friday nights and every other Monday night.  For some reason my Friday shift got bumped to a Saturday shift so I worked Thursday, Saturday and Monday night.  That made for 5 days of exhaustion.  Tuesday I only slept for a couple hours when I got home, then I crashed as soon as I put the girls to bed at 8:00 that night. 

Father's Day was really nice, I think.  I felt bad because I was so tired, but I tried to help the girls make it a special day for Aaron.  I made a cake that morning when I got home from work and Maddie helped make the ganache later in the day.  The girls and I brainstormed and made a candy bar poster for him and they also answered a questionnaire about him that they gave to him.  We went to my grandparents' house for dinner and a visit with my family.  When we got home we had the cake - it was so good!  It was a triple chocolate peanut butter cake.  Yum.  Aaron said it's the best dessert I've ever made.

I've been trying to get caught up on housework, again.  It's never-ending.  Maddie is really enjoying piano lessons and her sewing class.  Cami and Brie have several friends on our street that they love to play with.  I took them for their Kindergarten check-up and shots on Wednesday, they did pretty well.  Brie had her shots first and didn't cry, but Cami watched them do it and it made her really anxious.  I had to hold her down and she cried the whole time she was getting hers.  I felt really bad.  We made up for it with ice cream at the new place near our house and a Redbox DVD.

We're headed to Manti for the pageant tonight, the girls don't really know what we're doing.  We're leaving about noon so we spend some time in Ephraim with my cousin and her kids.  We are planning on visiting the farm so that the girls can see the horses and collect eggs from the chickens.  They will love it!  I'm looking forward to it, it's the start of a whole week off of work!

The last couple days...

I worked Thursday night.  Aaron and the other guys in my family had tickets to a private showing of the Green Lantern last night, so I met my mom, grandma and sister for dinner with the girls at Hires.  

This morning Aaron wanted to try the french toast at Kneaders.  We got up and going early (for us) to have breakfast.  We stopped at Costco to look at a watch for Aaron, then went to World Market to look at their tables.  Aaron really wanted to go get this watch he's been wanting since he first saw it in Las Vegas last September, so we made the trip up there for that.  On the way back home we went to Ikea to look at the dining tables there.  I think we found the one we're going to get.  We got home a little after 3, just in time for me to take a quick nap before my shift tonight.  I was amazed at all we got done in the 5 1/2 hours we were gone!  

It's after midnight now so it's Father's Day.  Aaron will take the girls to church in the morning while I sleep for a bit.  I have a project to work on with the girls when they get home (hopefully Aaron can take a nap while we're working on it) and then we're going to my grandpa's house for dinner.  

Mommy/Daughter days

Aaron and I both worked Sunday night so the girls slept at Adam and Jodi's.  I picked them up after sleeping at my mom's for a few hours Monday morning.  I decided to take the girls to a $1 movie since we were close to the theater and we invited Lora to come along.  They all decided on seeing Soul Surfer even though we'd seen it before.  I really love that movie.  I bought everyone a twist cone before we took Lora home.  The girls had all been up late the night before so I had them all in bed by 8:00.

This morning I worked on cleaning out our kitchen drawers.  Maddie had piano at 9 and her sewing class at noon.  We had kids hanging out around the house all afternoon.  Cami for a good chunk of the day and was super funny today, here's a few things that had me laughing:

(a one-sided conversation) Cami: "Maddie is the smartest.  Well, me and Brie are a little smart.  We are getting smarter.  You know those candies called smarties?  They are yummy.  You can eat them, right, Mom?  What's for dinner tonight?  Oh yeah, it's Tuesday.  Tacos!  Yay!  How old was Maddie when she started taking piano lessons, seven or eight?  She got baptized when she was 8.  I'm going to take my ponytail out so I can wear my helmet cuz I'm riding my bike.  I'll be home at 11:30 like you said.  Bye Mama!"

I found a set of keys while I was cleaning out the drawers this morning.  I asked Aaron what they were for, he said one of the keys was the old key to his mom's house.

Cami: "We should keep them and give them to Grandma Pam when she comes back to life."

When I put the girls to bed tonight I mentioned that the twins' room was already getting messy again (they had cleaned it up this morning).  Cami said "How rude of our room to get messy again!"

I had an eye exam this afternoon and then we went to Chili's for dinner.  Brie and Cami wanted to watch a movie, but Maddie wanted to play with friends.  I turned on Father of the Bride and snuggled on the couch with the little girls while Maddie went to our neighbor's house to play.  It was a pretty late night for them, but they were being really good (and it's summer time!).  

If you can't see the video, go here.  

First week of summer is over

We didn't do much in the way of activities this week, but the girls have been spending their days playing in the pool and riding their bikes.  They already have sun-bleached blonde hair and summer brown skin.  They come in at the end of the day smelling like a combination of the outside air, sunscreen and sweat.  Usually the smell is not something I enjoy and I send them straight to the tub as soon as they're done for the day, but the other night I took a deep breath in and thought it was a smell I wanted to remember forever.  My little girls are growing up so fast. 

Last Saturday Aaron took the girls to the Pony Express Days parade while I slept after my night shift.  I woke up when they got home and we got ready to go to the carnival.  The girls had a great time on the rides, we shared a big bag of kettle corn and then went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  Aaron had promised ice cream so we grabbed a treat at Artic Circle on the way home. 

Monday Aaron made dinner for our friends/neighbors down the street, Wendy had knee surgery last week.  When I asked her what she wanted for dinner, she jokingly said that they wanted a leg-shaped meatloaf.  Aaron has become famous among friends and family for his holiday shaped meatloafs and he was up for the challenge.  It turned out pretty well! 

Later in the week I was able to sneak a night out for myself with my cousin Jessica.  We went to dinner at Cafe Rio and met up with Julia to see a movie.  We spent the night in my parents' living room (just like old times) and then went to breakfast the next morning with our friend Amy.  It was fun to get away and laugh like you do only with your closest girlfriends.  I loved it! 

Saturday I tackled a major project, cleaning out and organizing the playroom.  The room has been behind lock and key for several months because I was tired of the stuff coming out of there and the messes that kept creeping up in the room.  I made a pretty good dent in it on my own and the girls were so excited about it that they helped me for a little over an hour.  We're just about done. 

Sunday morning I woke up with a headache and I was moving in slow motion.  We missed Sacrament meeting but made it for the last two hours of the block.  I took a nap after lunch and then we got ready for the night, Aaron and I were both scheduled to work and the girls went to Adam and Jodi's for a sleepover with Lora. 

Nothing terribly exciting, but that's what has been going on the last several days.   

What we've been up to

The family went to Disney World in April 2010.  We had tons of fun!  

Cami and Brie turned 4. 

Maddie started (and finished) 3rd grade.

Brie and Cami started preschool.

Maddie turned 8 and got baptized!

Aaron found his alter ego.

We surprised the girls with a Christmas trip to Disneyland thanks to the Give a Day, Get a Day program as well as Aaron winning a Disney ticket on a Facebook contest. 

I have been able to do fun things with my spare time now that I'm done with school.  Crafting, sewing, cricut-ing.   

Aaron and I tagged along as chaperones on Adam's music department tour to Orlando in April 2011.

Easter 2011 - I made their outfits.  (Free time is great!)

Brie and Cami graduated from preschool!

Cami turned 5!

Brie turned 5!

Did you miss me?

I've been absent.  I stopped blogging because I felt like it was all just one big "ME! ME!" And then I realized I've done a not-so-great job at documenting our lives in general...so if you don't want to read my "ME! ME!" you don't have to.  I need to document.  

To be continued....