Last week was a pretty busy week, with several big events in our family. Because it was so crazy and we were all sick I never got around to posting about any of it. Now that I'm out of that hurricane I think I'll take a moment to summarize.
THURSDAY -- Thanksgiving
Not a very good picture, but when dinner is sitting on the table, we're all grumpy and sick, perfection is not something I'm concerned about. We're all in the picture . . . great . . . done. Yes, we were all sick for Thanksgiving, but Scott and I had the worst of it that day. Kind of made for a miserable day, but we trudged through it. When I sat down to eat I took about 4 bites and I was done. On the bright side, we got to enjoy a few beautiful things -- the table set with china, my apple pie -- things we only treat ourselves to once a year.
FRIDAY -- Conner's 6th birthday
He's a big boy! For weeks, months leading up to his birthday, Conner would make me list (checklists, actually) of all the things that I needed to do to get ready for his party. Things like make the cake, buy balloons, blow up balloons . . . Needless to say, he has been anticipating this birthday for a long time. I think he had a good birthday. His Transformer collection is stocked for quite a while to come. Conner & Payton worked together to frost the chocolate cake -- with chocolate frosting and decorated with M&M's and sprinkles. We had pizza for dinner at his request. I picked up 6 blue and green helium balloons (his favorite colors). And that was about it -- we stayed home the entire day.
SATURDAY -- the birthday party
Conner had his first ever birthday party. We went with a "space" theme and we sent out invitations on postcards that had pictures of astronauts, the space shuttle, etc. It said something like, "Congratulations! You have been selected for a mission to outerspace." When the kids arrived I gave them badges they wore around their neck that said their name, "Astronaut in Training", and had the NASA logo. Then they spent a couple minutes coloring while we talked about all the different planets. For games we played a moon rock relay, comet toss, astronaut & alien chase, and asteroid belt. My favorite part of the party was the cake. I had so much fun making these -- vanilla frosting mixed with crushed oreos so that it looks like the surface of the moon. I was sooo excited when I found these little astronaut dudes online. We moved through all the games, cake, & presents so quick that I was left with time at the end before parents would arrive. Luckily, Conner had received the Backyardigans Mission to Mars DVD the day before so we popped that in. All the kids had a total blast. Conner loved everything -- especially the presents. But I'm making a mental note that in the future 8 little boys might be a bit much for little me to handle all alone!
I also have to give a shout out to my friend Tamra for sharing many of these ideas with me. She also just threw a space-themed party for her little boy. Thanks Tamra!
SUNDAY -- teach in Relief Society
It was my Sunday to teach again. I knew ahead of time that this week was going to be crazy, so I actually put my whole lesson together almost a week in advance. Then on Sunday morning I just had to print it out and go.
The subject came from this general conference talk by Elder Wirthlin: Sunday Will Come
MONDAY -- breathe again. But only through my mouth. My nose was still stuffed up.