October 16, 2011

October 16, 2011

Dear Family and Friends,

Monday was Columbus Day.  B-man was out of school, and so we celebrated by meeting a friend and her kids at a children’s museum in Winchester.  It was a beautiful drive and the museum was in a very quaint historic part of the town.  The museum itself was pretty small, but it had things that all ages loved to do.  We stayed for two hours (all that the parking meter would allow) and then headed back to the car for a picnic.  Our picnic was basically on the street.  I sat in the car with the van door open and fed the younger boys in the stroller while B-man paced the sidewalk with his food.  The boys didn’t seem to mind our lack of convention.  The rest of the day was fairly quiet.  That night after dinner I took B-man to soccer.  The practice went well and the two younger boys were happily and easily entertained.  Once home we started getting ready for bed.  We had some friends that were going to stay with us that night, and so I had to do a bit of shuffling as well.  RM ended up back in our closet.  It felt just like the good old days.  Right after everyone was in bed, and I had managed to pick up the house a little the Mannewitz’ arrived.  I showed them their rooms and then they got their kids in bed.  We chatted for a few minutes once everyone was asleep before heading to bed early ourselves.

The next morning it was great to have someone around to chat with.  It was fun to see their new baby and hear about their life since moving a few hours away.  Too soon they had to leave.  I did some grocery shopping that day and we had a quiet night.

Wednesday it was raining which meant no soccer for B-man.  I am not going to lie… it simplified my life quite a bit.  That morning though I took RM to the eye doctor.  They were doing a follow up exam.  I’m not sure it was really necessary, but they said to come back in six months so I did…  RM was an excellent patient and spent most of the time charming the women in the office.  He was doing a pretty good job.  It is strange to think that it was six months ago that we were there getting him checked the first time.  Time really goes by so quickly.   That night I was up late doing a bunch of baking.  I baked a batch of bread and then a pumpkin cake for book club.

Thursday I spent most of the day trying to get the house cleaned and ready for company.  A friend invited me over for dinner which was very helpful because I didn’t have to clean up a dinner mess.  Once everyone was in bed I rushed around getting everything ready.  I made a pumpkin layer cake, and it was the first time I had made the cake, plus I was changing the recipe. (Swapping out cool whip with whipping cream.)  I was a little nervous, but it was easier to assemble than I thought and turned out delicious!  For book club we discussed Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and had a lively discussion.  It was a very interesting book to read.  I highly recommend it to anyone.  M and many of the other husbands also read the book.  After most of the women had left I got to chat with one of my friends for about an hour before we realized that we had to go to bed or we would be toast the next day.

Friday was a good day. I love Fridays.  We ran a few errands in the morning, and again in the afternoon.  We got pizza for dinner, and everyone was excited.  I love pizza night when M is gone, it is so easy.  That night for our family dinner we watched some old school episodes of “The Pink Panther.”  They were a hit with B-man and J.  J currently loves pink so he was very happy with the selection.

Saturday we were all excited that M was coming home.  We all went garage sale hunting in the morning before and after B-man’s soccer games.  He really wanted a nerf gun, and my friend called me during his soccer game to tell me where one was.  We rushed to the house after the game and sure enough they still had one.   We went home for lunch and naps.  After naps we went to pick up M from the airport.  We were all so excited to see him.  We ran a few errands on the way home.  The rest of the day was pretty quiet.

Today was ward conference.  M was also sustained as Young Men’s President.  Church went reasonably well for us, and our new callings.  I really love working in the Primary.   We came home for dinner and our home teachers came over after.

We love you all!

The C Crew