Service and Burnout

We did so much that first week of December. I wanted to get things in before the tradition of being sick during the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. Actually, nobody was sick for that this year. Yay. We did enjoy watching it together.

In Sacrament Meeting that morning, our bishop talked about doing simple acts of service, which as you know I've been thinking about and trying to do lately. He shared an experience where he offered to throw away somebody's trash for them because it looked like they were done eating. Simple acts of service. I offered to take someone's cart back for them in the Costco parking lot. I was already taking mine back and he had one arm already full. Simple acts of service. At church, I complimented a couple men on their ties because the Christmas season brings out some awesome festive ties. Simple acts of service.

I also took some time Sunday afternoon to make paper bag puppets with Jet. He loved it. 

So I tried to do service. I tried celebrating. Then Monday and the burnout came. I had my nice little breakdown, feeling the overwhelm. I managed to clean and vacuum the living room. I did not manage to catch up on dishes. Did you know baking uses a lot of dishes? I still haven't caught up on the dishes. I'll just admit that right now. And I want to do more baking (read that with a whiny voice).

I still managed to do service when a couple people asked me to help with things. I mean, when someone needs a balloon blown up and you have access to balloon pumps... 

Monday evening, I dragged the kids (a couple were grumpy and didn't want to go- everyone's feeling the burnout and overwhelm) over to the mall for something new. 

They had a live nativity. Students from one of the local high schools were the performers. I knelt down with Jet to explain who the different people represented. When we get to the different groups (shepherds, wise men, etc.) in our family scripture study, I'll be able to remind him of what we saw. 

We also got hot chocolate and brownies there which we were excited about because December 8 was National Brownie Day.

Jet wanted to go inside the big Christmas tree while we were there. It is so cool looking inside.

 

We enjoyed the holiday lights (including the lights of the fountain). 

Here's a funny story. We sat down by the fountain to let Jet eat his brownie because he was just carrying it around for a while. While we were sitting there, Lucky handed me his napkin which he had shaped like a flower and said, "Here's a pretty flower for the lady." Awwww. When Jet finished his brownie, he handed me his crumb covered napkin and said, "Here's a napkin for when you finish your brownie." Ha Ha Ha Ha. I think he did it in a similar voice to what Lucky was using which is what made it hilarious. Have I mentioned I love my kids?

 

We got to see live animals as we walked back to our van, including a camel.

The weather was so good that day. We were really fortunate. I think the student performers were also really fortunate because when Nichole went to the mall just a couple days before that, it was so cold.

The grumpy kids didn't stay grumpy very long which I am grateful for and Jet was very well behaved.

We talked about how many years ago (November 2017), most of us got to ride a camel, so when we got home, Jet got on his brother's back and told us, "I'm riding a camel."

Since it was also Pretend to Be a Time Traveler Day, we had "fish fingers and custard" at home.

Huh. I guess going to a live nativity also works for that holiday because we went back more than 2000 years to when Jesus came to Earth as a little baby.

 

Yesterday, December 9, was National Llama Day so my mom said I could share a couple pictures she took of her neighborhood llamas. She shared some llama thoughts with me as well. I love that my mom helps me celebrate. 

Spring Break 2023

We didn't really have Spring for Spring Break. Our Winter went into April this year so we did mostly indoor things during Spring Break.

 

The kids learned how to play Phase 10.

We had some library time.

We did drive around one day and when we got home there was a spotted towhee in our front yard. Nichole got pictures.

Jr. found a recipe in my Shelf Cooking 101 book and wanted to try it out so we used ingredients we found around the house to make it. Yummm. I want them again.

April 3 was Fish Fingers and Custard Day.

April 6 was National Burrito Day and National Carbonara Day.

April 8 was Draw a Picture of a Bird Day. 

General Conference Weekend

General Conference Weekend started with a... SLUMBER PARTY!!! Because it also was the beginning of Spring Break! So Friday for after school snack we had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches because April 2 was National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day. Later we ate nachos while watching the new Croods movie. 

For our slumber party, the kids fought. Eventually Nichole and Jr. went to sleep in their own beds. In the morning, we had family prayer together then Nichole went back to bed and Jr. stayed out to sleep in the living room.

A slumber party was also appropriate because Saturday, April 3, was World Party Day and International Pillow Fight Day. The boys rationalized video games because Wii Party fits in with World Party. Sigh.

It was also Handmade Day which was great because Nichole finished decorating her General Conference Journal which she used to take notes during the first two sessions (and the other sessions on Sunday).

During Conference, Sister Joy D. Jones talked about teaching and nurturing children. And guess what. April 3 is Love Our Children Day. I sure love ours.

Jet was so cute when watching us sustain our leaders. He wanted to be involved with that, too.

 

And as we've celebrated many times, April 3 is Fish Fingers and Custard Day. Yes, I made fish sticks and vanilla pudding for us to eat.

Jr. went solo watching the Priesthood session of Conference. He had to eat popcorn all by himself. Jeremy was on his way home so he listened to the session in the car but got to watch the last talk with Jr. when he got home. They both got "chuckles" then.

Sunday, April 4, was Easter. Lots of Conference talks about the Resurrection. Wonderful. 20 new temples announced including one in Burley, Idaho (personal connection) and one in Eugene, Oregon (personal connection). Wow.

Before Conference and between sessions, Jet and I went for a couple drives. Lucky went with us the first time. We drove in the canyon to see if Bridal Veil Falls was still frozen. Not so much.

 

Conference Bingo (actually called Conference Squares) was fun for the kids again this year. The Primary Presidency dropped off activity pages and smarties that the boys were able to use for their Bingo sheets (and get creative with). Jr. used M&Ms.

Since the Smarties were gone by Saturday afternoon, both Jr. Jr. and Lucky requested jelly beans to be used on Sunday (they both had the same idea at the same time- Lucky mentioned it to me while we were on our drive, Jr. Jr. mentioned it to Jeremy while we were gone). Nichole was taking her own notes so she ate M&Ms while she was at it. Jet was given a Bingo sheet and Cheerios. I would put the Cheerios on his sheet and he would take them off and eat them. I was thinking he might copy his brothers as they were putting jelly beans on their sheets but he wasn't interested in that.

 

We got to video call with my parents and a couple of my brothers for Easter and that was so nice. The younger boys enjoyed showing off (sometimes loudly which wasn't so nice). I love family so it was good to have that "face to face" time.

Catching Up- April

Lots happened in April, too.  Including Spring Break where we were so busy with things around here, we didn't go on any big trips.

We did celebrate April Fool's Day on April 1. I am amazed that no matter how many times I do the jello instead of Kool-aid trick, I still have kids that fall for it. This year, I put the jello in a pitcher so when the boys tried to pour it out, it wouldn't come. I did mugs for Jeremy and me. It's a nice trick because they still get a treat out of it.

In April, Lucky got to go to a friend's birthday party. I love that the friend's older sister (still younger than my oldest) volunteered to run things for the party. What a great sister. So the kids played games, did some face or hand painting, had treats (made by the mom), and enjoyed present opening. Jeremy and I stayed, just in case we were needed for crowd control, but we really just chatted with the mom most of the time since she's our friend. Lucky had a blast.

April 2 was National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day. Guess what we ate.

April 3 was Fish Fingers and Custard Day. Guess what we ate.

We went to visit our friends in Kaysville during Spring Break and took them cookies to say thanks for their kindness to us last Summer.

My ministering sister brought me daffodils to brighten my day.

Jr. and Jeremy went to see the sage grouse displaying. Nichole and I missed it this year.

We watched General Conference at home and had nachos, of course.  Jr. was able to watch his first Priesthood Session with Jeremy. They enjoyed their time like Nichole and I enjoy our time when we watch the Women's Session.

On Sunday, we had friends over to watch Conference with us.

After Spring Break, plenty more happened.

Our upstairs neighbor texted us to say, "There's a turkey in the backyard." Yep, a wild turkey hanging out in the backyard. We get some interesting birds here.

Jeremy did a couple sculptures for the 15th anniversary of the Tulip Festival and got a commemorative pin. It's the year for commemorative pins.  He also got commemorative pins for Orem's Centennial.

One sculpture was in April. The other was in May, so stay tuned for that.

April 18 was National Velociraptor Awareness Day.  We took that opportunity to start Nichole on the Jurassic Park movies. Tee Hee.

Jeremy received VIP tickets to FanX in Salt Lake City. We got pins there, too. Lucky went with us the first day and dressed up.  Just Jeremy and I went the second day and dressed up.
Lucky did pretty well that first day. We figured he is just the right age.  He stayed with us and didn't run off. He did well in the one panel I cared about going to- Warwick Davis. Since we had VIP tickets, we got a nice close seat.  Lucky and I talked about different movies Warwick Davis had been in and he enjoyed it.  I always liked Warwick Davis before but through his panel I came to like him even more.  He's a great guy, funny, nice, and he didn't say anything that made me cringe or need to cover my son's (or my) ears.

After a while, when we couldn't find activities that Lucky wanted to do, we decided to reward him for being so well behaved. So he and I picked Nichole up from the bus after school and we all went to a park so Lucky could play on the playground and Nichole and I could chat.

The second day, Jeremy made a balloon costume of a cyberman to wear. I went easy and borrowed a Harry Potter robe and scarf from Nichole. We made sure to get pictures with the Tardis. At the end of the day, we ran into friends and got pictures with Jeremy and ZZ.

I was done by the end of those two days. I enjoyed it but I was done.

April 21 was Easter. Church was wonderful and dinner was nice.

For FHE the day after, we had an Easter egg hunt with our upstairs neighbors.

April 26 was National Pretzel Day. We had pretzels dipped in cheese sauce.

We got out and did our short-eared owl survey again in April. We didn't see any short-eared owls but Jeremy and I did see some burrowing owls.

Nichole got free tickets to an orchestra concert so she and I took a mother-daughter evening and enjoyed the music together.

Jeremy was asked to teach at a balloon jam in Salt Lake.  His subject- how to break a world record.

So there was plenty we did in April and now I'm done blogging about it.  On to May.