We have decided to move into Dan's Grandma's basement. (Great-Grandma Carol to our kids.) She needs some help as she is aging. All along we knew this apartment would be a temporary place. We planned on being here for one year and it turned into three. The kids are excited to get a girls room and boys room. Right now we have all three kids in one room.
The kids will be in a new school. I am totally against moving kids during the school year and here I am moving them. They seemed a little sad at first, but then I told them they will ride a bus to their new school. And that changed everything! They can hardly stand their excitement. I hope it turns out to be what they are expecting.
I am busy taking care of the quick move. (Before Christmas!) It feels like moving twice because we have to move stuff out of Grandma's basement then clean it. Then move stuff out of our apartment and then clean it too. I really don't like the work of moving but I love the adventure of making new friends, going new places and new situations. We will share a kitchen with Grandma but since she hasn't cooked in years that shouldn't be too hard.
Today was an adventure! My poor kids have borne the brunt of my bad mood all evening. I love to volunteer at my kids school. Dan wishes I'd just stay home all day. He also says I try to do too much. Well, sometimes he is right. Okay on this one he was totally right! I went to the school to finish a project I started. Then I got Max from Kindergarten and went to the crazy school cafeteria to feed Max and Shauna. All the classes seemed to come at the same time and the line was huge.
After enduring a noisy and not very tasty lunch I went to a friends house to drop off Shauna so I could go on a field trip with the kids. Amelia told me they needed at least three parents to come or they couldn't go. So I felt obligated to go since I don't have to take work off and my friend who has a kid in the same class agreed to babysit so I could go. I got there and found out 5 other parents felt obligated too! With me and the teacher that makes 7 adults!
Max and I could have gone home but he wanted to go with Amelia to the museum and feel like a big second grader. (You really can't have too many adults until you have more than one per kid.) We were walking to the museum. It wasn't too bad but I have a slight cold. Either the bad air, cold, yelling at kids or a combination of all that made my voice almost totally disappear. The kids had a great time and I've always loved the museum. I think I enjoyed the museum more than the kids. That was the highlight of my mostly bad day.
When we were all done with school and we were leaving to get Shauna I started driving and our mini-van felt very different. I drove slow until I was out of the after-school traffic rush and then parked the car. It had a very flat tire. It must have been the huge hole in the gutter that I bounced into when I was parking the car.
So we walked a few blocks to get Shauna. Then my friends husband was kind enough to put on the spare tire for me. To this day I have never fixed a flat by myself. Kind people have always taken pity on me. Even though I am pretty good at fixing things, cars in general baffle me. They are just too large of a project for me to tackle. Even with help I forgot to put the parking brake on and nearly broke our jack.
By this time it was already close to 4pm when Amelia and Max have a library art class. Today was the last day and we missed the last week because of dentist appointments. So I drove slowly to the library. (We were pretty close anyway.)
Shauna was wild and crazy in the library and my hoarse whisper was totally ignored. I think they should build libraries with a separate kids section that has a babysitter and closed doors. Then I could actually take time to look around and check out books I'd like to read. Without a kids climbing on shelves, picking up books and putting them back in totally different places, playing hide-and-seek and then screaming: "FIND ME MAMA!" Loud enough for the whole library to hear. I think our library days are coming to an end. (At least until we get this move done.) Finally we left after Max screamed like he'd been smacked in the nose about his chappy lips. This was the kind of scream that makes all the other parents stop and look. No one else in the library conference room was talking while he was screaming. They were all wondering what was wrong with him or why I couldn't get him to be quiet in the library. I guess I'll never know but the normally talkative group was silenced. Then he screamed some more when my fruity chap stick hurt it worse.
When we finally got home my sweet husband let me lay down and read a book while he "made" dinner. Papa Murphy's take n' bake pizza! What a great guy! Now he is busy delivering some of our stuff that we are giving away before the move. I just tried to answer the phone. It was Dan and he said, "What's wrong with you? You sound like a guy!" I guess my voice is really almost gone by now. Hopefully I'll sound normal tomorrow so I can sing "Happy Birthday" to Shauna.
Shauna is turning two, so no matter what happens, tomorrow will be a special day. We asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday and she said she wanted to go to the temple. So we will take her to temple square. Dan is even taking work off to play with her. He is such a good daddy!
Now the kids are all asleep and the house is messy and quiet. I am going to go cover Max's lips in petroleum jelly while he is asleep. Durring the day he licks everthing off them. Durring dinner Amelia told him to get a milk moustach and let it dry to help his chapped lips. I'm sure that won't help but if anyone has any more ideas to help heal chappy lips on a kid, let me know.
I hope all of you have a great Christmas. I actually thought about sending Christmas card. (I told you Dan was right - I do try to do too much!) But I have admitted that it will not be happening. Maybe Easter cards? We'll see. I will post pictures of our new place (a.k.a. Grandma's basement) when we are all moved in.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!!!
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