Odds and ends

Since having 2 or more kids I don't think we have had a successful family outing to a restaurant. Period.  We have tried "kid friendly" restaurants, or coupon discounts to make it "worth it" but it always ends in some type of disaster. Take, for instance,the time a few months ago when we were requiring Jonas to take one broccoli bite (which he usually loves begs for 2nds) before he could start on his pizza at Chili's and he kept it in his mouth chewing for so long that he ended up gagging and throwing up all over the booth.  That was fun! Or the time after than when Jared and I took turns alternating between sitting with the three older kids and escorting a screaming writhing Emma outside of the restaurant where she was magically quiet and calm (oh, and this was after she had a temper tantrum and threw herself back and smacked her head really well).  Anyhow, we had a note worthy experience last week going to Chevy's.  Not only did we get TWO free kid dinners per every adult dinner purchased (and y'all know how Jared and I like a good deal) but the kids cooperated, ate the food that was in front of them and didn't have any meltdowns.  It was a Halloween miracle! 

This may increase our efforts of going out as a family to a restaurant from 2 times a year to 4...We'll see :)

The younger two kids and I like to make it to library story time when it works out with our schedule (probably a couple times a month) and on some weeks they even have a craft afterward.  Here is Jonas and his friend at the library craft the day before Halloween.

Jonas and Kyler at Library craft time

Last month I even found (made?) time to sew a wall hanging in the older girl's bedroom to match their room decor.  They had a couple empty walls since moving around kid's bedrooms. It's hard to read with the lighter background flags but it says "sisters" and brings together all the fabrics from their sheets, window treatments, duvet covers, bed skirts, decorative pillows, etc. We also put up a shelf on the other wall so we have one room that is complete with decor.  Baby steps...

Craft for the girl's room

I am also coordinating with another mom from Jocelyn's classroom to teach Art Cart as volunteers for their teacher and we have been doing that once a month.  In September I was in charge of the art and followed a lesson plan where we taught the kids about warm colors/cool colors, resistance (crayons combined with water colors) and reminding them of the color wheel. It went pretty well and I always enjoy volunteering.  I have been volunteering in Lillian's class weekly and usually get to lead the class in some worksheets or "centers" while the teacher pulls kids aside for reading and testing.  I really enjoy getting to know the teachers and other students and having a snap shot of how the girls interact with their classmates.

 This is Lillian and Emma at church last month. They were very excited when they realized they were both wearing pink dresses with hearts on them and had matching hair-dos.  They have a special bond and Emma loves hanging out with her older sister "Yiyee."  I was able to visit my friend Angela in the hospital after she had her baby last week and it was so fun to catch up with her and get some baby snuggles in.  A few days later we took dinner to them when they had made it home. 

Girls with matching hair-dos

Jocelyn and Lillian finished up their MAD Friday round with a performance a couple weeks ago.  They did a great job enjoyed participating with friends.  They are in the front row. Lillian is wearing the purple boots and Jocelyn is on the right of the girl with they yellow shorts.  The girls also had the panther prowl at their school which is the fundraiser run.  Their school earned $25,000 again this year which I always find impressive and although I had to miss cheering them on (since I was teaching preschool that morning), it sounded like they did great, running more than 20 laps each, and had a fun time.

Girls at the MAD friday performance

With Friends after the performance

Lillian after the Panther Prowl fundraiser

 We also recently hosted the babysitting swap with our friends and even added another family in for this round so we watched a total of 14 kids for a few hours one evening, feeding them dinner, etc.  Here are all the kids at the very end when we put on a movie for them so they could calm down.  The kids had a fun time and we all survived so now we earned ourselves 3 dates where the other parents will be babysitting for us. 

Kids galore at the babysitting swap

Last month we also had a quick visit from my friend Tami who used to live by us and be my partner in crime for everything, but has since moved to Utah.  She came back one evening to make an appearance for book club and it was so fun to catch up with her for a minute.  The book club requirement was that you come in costume or have to wear whatever the hostess gives you at the door so we scrounged up some costumes before we left the house. We even talked Maren into coming with us for part of the night.