Some Other Things We Did in October

Here are some other things we did in October.

Tried some new recipes using substitutions as needed. And did a little more shelf cooking.

Jr. Jr., Jet, and I dressed up and went to Jr.'s Halloween orchestra concert.

Jr. had another concert where he performed in a "rockestra" with other students from around the school district. They played rock music with their strings. It was conducted by Mark Wood. Jr. got a fun t shirt for participating.

 

Jet, Jeremy, and I went to the "Grand Lunch" at the elementary school with Lucky.

 

Lucky had white ribbon week (internet safety) at school so he got to dress up for Mustache Day and Pajama Day and Crazy Hair Day.

I took a bit more Me Time and went walking in Provo Canyon. There were still some Fall colors. I went to a place where I often see American dippers. I didn't bring binoculars or birding camera so didn't think I would get a good look if there was one. However, I looked down from the bridge I was on and right there up close was a dipper. Ha Ha. So I did get a good look. Nice.

Me Time

I wanted to do something for myself (as much as I love doing things for my family) so the beginning of August, I went to an event at the Provo Library- a panel and book signing with 20 or so clean romance authors. 

I got to chat with some great people, got some books, got some book recommendations, and even got a picture with Josi Kilpack and Nancy Campbell Allen.

It was a nice evening.

Not So Lazy, Am I?

September 2 was National Lazy Mom's Day.

It's also Shelftember and I told my kids I wasn't going to buy bread at the store this month. So I took our crystallized honey and uncrystallized it (decrystallized it?) by putting the honey container in a pot of hot water until it was the consistency I wanted. I then took that honey and used it to make wheat bread (with some help from my baking buddy).

I did a few dishes (Bosch, etc.), only a few, because I burned my hand on the oven door the night before while putting the pizza in and soaking my hand in hot soapy water would not be a good idea.

I did do laundry, though. I fed myself and my two-year old, watered plants, got kids to and from school.

Oh, and I got some grossness off our counter before accidentally spilling oatmeal on it (the counter) while getting it (the oats) out of the cupboard (and I had just refilled the container the other day so it was full). So I cleaned up the oats as well. 

And I cleaned up the flour Jet dumped on the table. That's one of his favorite things to do while being my baking buddy. If there is a measuring cup or other container on the table with flour in it, it must be for dumping out. I mean that's what I do, sprinkle a little on the table to help with kneading, so why not the whole thing?

 

I wasn't so lazy but in the evening I did something for myself. I went to the Provo Library for a launch event for the newest book from Sarah M. Eden. It was so nice and she is so entertaining, both speaking and in her writing. I used some birthday money and got myself that book and got it signed.

I'm glad I took that time for myself.

Eliza Doolittle Day 2020

The 20th of May was Eliza Doolittle Day. I celebrated with "lots of chocolate for me to eat" after the kids went to bed. Bwah ha ha ha.

I tried out "The One" Chocolate Mug Cake recipe from Budget Bites. Mmmm, chocolate and peanut butter... and all for me!

And What About Last Week?

After that wonderful Halloween party we went to that Saturday, we had a week.
Monday, October 17, was Wear Something Gaudy Day.  Jeremy said in Nichole's case it should be Wear Something Gauzy Day.

Smile, Nichole.

Tuesday I got out for some morning me time.  I went to Ashton Gardens at Thanksgiving Point.  I got to do some birding and enjoyed the gardens and since it was during the Scarecrow Festival, I got to see some scarecrows.  It was a very relaxing and well needed break.

In the afternoon, Nichole went to a Halloween party for Activity Days.  One of the things she got to do was paint a pumpkin.  She likes dragons.

Wednesday Jeremy went with Jr. Jr. to his first field trip.  They had a fun time.  Jr. Jr. was very happy to bring home a pumpkin.  We were very happy he let us use his pumpkin for our Primary lesson Sunday. 

Sally the Pumpkin helped us learn about what kinds of things we can do to keep the sabbath day holy.

Thursday and Friday were Fall Break.  I went to Girls' Night Thursday and came down with a cold (separate statements, I didn't catch a cold from Girls' Night).
Nichole and I stayed home Friday while Jeremy took the boys to the Scarecrow Festival.

Nichole did work a bit on sewing a dragon for a school project since October 21 is Reptile Awareness Day.  Did I mention she likes dragons?

Saturday, October 22, to get some fresh air and to celebrate National Color Day, we drove the Nebo Loop to look at Fall colors.  Unfortunately, most of the Fall colors have already disappeared up there.  There's already snow on the ground in some places.  It was fun to see so many aspens sans leaves, though.  It's just a different kind of beauty.

There were still some Fall colors in some places, but not as much as we were originally hoping, like the last time Jeremy, Lucky, and I went out to look at the Fall colors.

We stopped for a picnic lunch and a short hike at Devil's Kitchen which is known as a mini Bryce Canyon.

Hmmm.  Southern Utah in Utah County.  Who knew?  Probably a lot of people, just not us until recently.
There weren't a lot of birds out but we did get to see some wild turkeys toward the bottom of the other side of the loop.

When we got home we had rainbow pizza with different colors of bell peppers and other things.  Yumm.

During the week, we also celebrated Jr. Jr.'s birthday.  Jeremy wrapped his present- a big storage box with a lot of little boxes inside.  Each of the little boxes was also wrapped.  Jr. Jr. had fun opening each of them and was very pleased to find each little box held some Pokemon figurines.  Pokemon's getting to be a thing again.

For his cake, Jr. Jr. requested a Halloween cake so Jeremy found pumpkin sprinkles to put on chocolate frosting.  Jr. Jr. was very happy with that.

Yep, we had a week.  Now wish me luck as I try to kick this cold.

Better Late Than Never

We did it!  We survived the day!  We're still dealing with colds but we've been putting off running errands all week.  Today was our last chance to do some things that needed to be done.  It was appropriate, too, since September 5th is Be Late For Something Day.  We were definitely late in running those errands since we meant to get them done earlier in the week.  But we did it.  We got them done.  We're very worn out, but we did them.

This evening, I had a little bit of Me Time (Thanks, Jeremy) and started working on some projects I meant to work on over the summer.  Better late than never, right?

While I was working, I watched the Pompeii episode of Doctor Who, since I didn't watch it on Vesuvius Day, August 24th. 
So there was actually a lot of celebrating of Be Late For Something Day. 
And we still need rest.

A Room of One's Own Day

A Room of One's Own Day, January 25, is a holiday that I'd like to celebrate every year.  To have a day to myself in my room doing what I want to do- reading, watching movies, doing crafts, resting, whatever I want.  It's a good excuse for Me Time since it is a holiday.  But having a room to myself doesn't always work out.
Last year I was able to take some time for myself in my room. 
I didn't blog about it, but the year before last I was able to celebrate the holiday with some relaxing time in my room.  I was reading The Secret Garden and was able to eat snacks and Jeremy even made me a lovely garden salad to fit the theme- a secret garden salad.  I do appreciate him.

This year the time in my room was spent taking care of Lucky.  

The rest of my time was spent catching up on some dishes and laundry and taking care of the kids.  Oh well.  My family's worth it.  Nichole and I had a nice talk this afternoon.  The boys and I had a nice dinner together while Nichole and Jeremy were out this evening. 
I'll try to take some Me Time soon even if it's not for a specific holiday.

Me Time- Me Day

Today I got to take Me Day.  The day started off with a choice.  Did I want to go out for some quiet time to watch the sunrise at a park or did I want to sleep in?  I sort of did both.  I slept in later than I originally planned after pushing the snooze button so many times.  When I finally decided to let myself sleep instead of getting up, I reset the alarm and then noticed it was getting lighter outside, meaning there wasn’t any storm happening this morning.  Oh no.  If I didn’t get out I’d regret it.  So I quickly threw some things together and ran out the door.  It was definitely later than I would have liked, but I knew I’d still enjoy it.  Since it’s still Winter, I wouldn’t be able to spend much time out of the car waiting for the sun to rise anyway.  I drove to a few parks to see the colors in the sky and on the mountains all around.  It’s amazing what different views you get at different places.   

After spending some nice quiet time, I picked up a few things from the store before heading home to be there with Jr. Jr. while Jeremy took the older kids to school.

While the kids were at school, Jr. Jr. and I had some bonding time while Jeremy worked at home.  Jr. Jr. and I went to lap time at the Orem Library, where toddlers can sit on parents’ (or other caregivers’) laps while listening and participating as a story teller tells stories, reads, sings songs, etc.  It was nice.  After the story time, Jr. Jr. and I looked at some board books then ran around in the library for a little while.  I got some good exercise as Jr. Jr. wanted to go up and down the stairs numerous times.  We got home just as Jeremy left to pick up Jr. from school.

After lunch, Jeremy cut my hair.

 Before and Right Before

 

After

Cute, isn’t it?

Then I had fun doing something I haven’t done in years.  I polished my toenails and fingernails.  I started with the toenails and tried out the different nail polishes I have.  Man, it’s been years and those things still work.  They’re not dried out or hardened like I would expect them to be.  I’m happy about that.

The boys were very interested in what I was doing.  I don’t think Jr. Jr.’s ever seen me polish my fingernails before.  After painting my toenails different colors, the boys helped me decide which colors I wanted to put on my fingernails.  I picked two and alternated between nails.  I felt like reddish colors.

Jr. was behaving and got to get his toenails polished, too, then I helped him with some of his homework while Jeremy got Nichole from school.  

Because it was Me Day, while Jeremy was fixing dinner, I treated myself to a little treat (I knew I wouldn't spoil my appetite for dinner) in my room while watching a chick flick.   

And I mean an actual romantic comedy this time (not an action movie).  Nichole and Jr. found the calculators I had bought at the store that morning and kept themselves very content playing with them in the living room so I didn’t have to worry about them interrupting my movie watching… mostly.  Jr. Jr. came in and fell asleep on my bed while the movie was on.

He woke up just as the movie was finishing and a few minutes later it was time for dinner.  Nice timing.

During dinner, the older kids informed us that they both get to go to Dr. Seuss parties in their classes tomorrow.  I informed them that they got to go to a Dr. Seuss party at home on Saturday, too.  Jeremy informed us all that he got to go to another Dr. Seuss party on Saturday for work.

I ended Me Day by reading a Tooth Fairy book to the kids since February 28th is National Tooth Fairy Day.

It was a good Me Day.