Busy, busy week

We have had an eventful week, but it has all gone so quickly that it seems hard to believe that it has all happened in just these seven days. Monday was MLK day and so M had the day off. We spent the day working on various projects around the house. The big success was that by the end of the day I had a new light in our master bathroom! It was so nice to have plenty of light to use while getting ready for bed. We also did all of our shopping and enjoyed being together for the day. It feels very good to be able to cross off things from the never-ending "to-do "list. To celebrate our hard work we went to a local restaurant that we really enjoy and had a fun dinner. It was a great way to end such a tiring day.

Tuesday was the Inauguration of President Obama. We decided to forgo the crowds and bitter, bitter cold and so instead we drove to Baltimore to go to the National Aquarium. The drive went very smoothly with no traffic. We parked and then had a cold picnic in our car before heading off to the aquarium. We had originally thought that we would take the whole weekend (since M had two days off) and go somewhere. But instead we thought we would work on the house, and then go do something that we normally wouldn't go. The aquarium was the perfect thing. It was all indoors and there we no crowds to deal with. We had only planned to stay for about three or four hours, but instead we stayed more than five! It was a great place for B-man. He could run and be loud, and we just let him set the pace of what we did. When he wanted to stare at something for a long time we let him, and when he wanted to keep moving we moved with him. We got to see lots of feedings, and B-man made friends with all the divers that go in the water. He also loved the dolphin show. It was probably his favorite part. On the drive home we stopped for some hot chocolate, and made it safely back home.

Wednesday was a quiet day. I can't remember much from the day. That night B-man and I had dinner alone (M had Spanish) and then headed off to the church for basketball. We met Mat the church, and M and I met with the Stake President before heading out to play basketball. It was very nice of the Stake President to take time and visit with us. I know how busy they are, and he was so kind and didn't seem like he was in a rush at all. After the meeting we went to basketball. We only had time for a quick scrimmage before we ended for mutual. Mutual was a combined activity, one of the Laurels was in charge and she organized a Book of Mormon game. Once we gave the kids something to eat they were quiet enough to actually listen… The one thing I have loved about mutual so far is that we end early! It's been wonderful to be able to get home so early on activity nights.

Thursday I had David. It was a busy day. I first took B-man to preschool. Then I was supposed to go visiting teaching, but the sister I visit forgot I was coming and wasn't home. I then went and picked up David and we ran an errand before preschool was out. We then picked up B-man and headed home. We had lunch and had a low key day.

Friday was a very, busy day. It's one of those days that make you tired just thinking about it before hand. It all started with me waking up about 4:30 a.m. getting dressed and then getting B-man up with me and driving to the house of a friend. She had to be at the hospital for a procedure, and needed me to watch her two year old while she and her husband were gone. I had decided that there was more of a chance for B-man to go back to sleep at her house, than her child at mine. We showed up at 4:50 they gave us a few instructions and then they were off. B-man and I went straight up to the bed and lay down. It took us both a while (maybe an hour?) but eventually we both fell back asleep! I was so relieved about that one little detail that it made the rest of the day seem easier. We woke up about 7:45 started breakfast and then their boy woke up. We all had breakfast, cleaned up, and then I took both of the boys back to my house. I needed to be there early because David was being dropped off early. He ended up being late, and I had to leave and take B-man to preschool. They had a princess and pirate party for the letter "P". When I got back to my house David and his mom were waiting for me. I then had two boys playing happily in my house. Of course I had not had time to shower and really get ready yet for the day, and it was slightly horrifying how many people were seeing me with bed head, but I couldn't really think about it. Around 10:00 my friend's husband arrived and picked up their son. From there on out the day was much calmer. M got home at his normal time, and I even got a quick cat nap in. While I was sleeping B-man and M were enjoying the unusually warm weather. (It was fifty degrees!) They had gone to the park near our house and B-man loved watching the big guys play football. He thought he was playing but mostly he was just watching what they did. At one point B-man reported that the big kid hit him with the football "but he was really nice and asked if [he] was okay." When he was taking a bath that night he reported this half an hour as his favorite of the day! After David got picked up M and I got ready for our date night. After dropping off B-man we went to our very favorite restaurant in the area. M periodically will get a gift card there from work when he does something above and beyond what is expected. We really enjoyed our night out. The restaurant never disappoints us! (I am actually a picky restaurant eater…)

Saturday morning M got up very early for a 7:00 a.m. church basketball game. B-man and I met him there for the women's game later. Luckily our team won by forfeit, but we still were able to play a very competitive scrimmage, where our ward got killed. It was still good for us to be able to practice. We then hung out and waited until the girls' game. I was the coach for the girls' game since their regular coach couldn't make it. We had a very slow start, but eventually we got all warmed up and they figured out their positions and they ended up winning. They always get so excited, it is very cute. We had a relaxing afternoon and then we got ready to go to the temple. Our Stake always starts Stake Conference with a temple session. We picked up the babysitter, gave her all the instructions, and then headed off. We carpooled with a friend of ours and made it with plenty of time. The talks were wonderful, and then miraculously M and I made it into the first session afterwards. Unfortunately the Washington D.C. temple does not have very large rooms, so some people had to wait more than an hour! M and I were also able to do work for family names, which made it even more special. When we made it back to the car there were lots of messages from the babysitter and our next door neighbor. That's never a good sign. Turns out that she put the frozen pizza in the oven on top of the plastic cutting board that I had set out for her to cut the pizza on. Within two minutes there were horrible amounts of fumes and smoke coming from the oven. To make a long story short, they all ended up at our neighbor's house. They were SO nice and took them both in for FOUR hours and the husband tried his best to clean out our plastic filled oven and to get all the fumes out of the house. M and I were such a mixture of emotions. We were so horrified that it had all happened, but so grateful for our very kind neighbors. They acted like it was no big deal at all! We really have great neighbors! I took the poor girl home and M got B-man to bed. The whole way home she just kept saying how sorry she was about our house. You could tell she was very embarrassed. The good news was that our bedroom door was closed the whole time so it escaped most of the horrible smell; the bad is that we are still trying to figure out how to rid our house of the smell. We left the kitchen door open and the fans on until we went to bed, and did it all again this morning, but it still smells…

This morning we all had breakfast, and then B-man and I hid in my bedroom while M attacked the oven. He first turned on the oven very low to heat up the rest of the plastic and scraped out as much as he could. We then turned the oven to a self clean cycle. Before he left it to clean on his own there was one point where I looked out my bedroom window and saw a bunch of smoke moving up away from the house. We eventually got dressed and ready and made it to church. The big event for our family during church was that M was sustained as the Elders' Quorum President during Priesthood. He didn't have time to get any counselors called, so he will be flying solo for a few weeks. He is feeling all those normal feelings you have when you have a new calling to figure out. After church we went to the Stake President's office where he was set-apart. After church we had our home teachers come over, and then had a tasty dinner. I am practicing making gravy from pan drippings. It wasn't perfect, but it is getting better! I'm glad I watched my mom make so much gravy through my life! I can't help but think of her when I am working on it. After dinner we put B-man to bed early, and then M went to do some home teaching of his own.

We love you all! Any ideas on how to remove the smell of plastic from a house?

R, M, and B-man