Catching Up

Hmmm. Where to begin? Some highlights from the last couple of weeks...perhaps pictures will come later, if I have time and energy...though having both together is a rare thing these days!

********************
October 13 - 16
I was away on yet another Stampin' Up! trip, this time to the Leadership Summit, a new training event for Senior Executives and above as well as past and present Advisory Board members. Since I promoted to Sr. Exec. last May, I qualified to attend, and I am so glad I did. It was completely worth the investment of time and resources. We did have to do some juggling at home, as Ted had to attend a conference that week at Nellis. Thankfully good friends stepped in to help. Kenna stayed with Debi and her family and did quite well, even taking naps and sleeping pretty well in a strange environment. Charis spent the time with her friend Addie and her family and enjoyed visiting school with Addie on Tuesday. And the boys spent the days with my friend Heather and her kiddos--Ted dropped them off early in the mornings and picked them up in the evenings. I'm grateful for the opportunity to receive some valuable business training as well as the opportunity to give feedback to a company I have grown to appreciate more and more over the years.

********************
October 17
I had stamp club at my house that day after running errands in the morning. More errands in the afternoon, and then prepping for the babysitter and Charis' first play rehearsal (a read-through, actually). We dropped Charis off at the director's house and headed out for a date night. First we had dinner at a fabulous Thai restaurant we discovered with my parents last December. Then we went to the MGM Arena to watch some of America's Got Talent top performers. The show was quite good but very long--we ended up leaving before Neil Boyd had finished his 2nd song.

********************
October 18
Charis and Arden's birthday! Later I will definitely post more details and pictures from Saturday's "Fall Family Fun" party. I can hardly believe Charis is 8 and Arden is 5! We had a great party, and it will be well worth telling about.

********************
October 19
Church and another rehearsal for Charis. I was gone from 7:45 a.m. to about 4:30 p.m. So much for a day of rest!

********************
October 20
An attempt at a normal day of homeschooling, followed by a planning meeting all afternoon for the medieval history party that I headed up for our homeschool co-op.

********************
October 21
I gave up on trying to do school and focused on the medieval party, which was a huge success. We had 8 different stations, including 4 crafts and 4 activity stations, and over 70 kids plus 10 preschoolers were in attendance, along with a plethora of parents. We got some great feedback, and I was very thankful all went well but was more than a little bit tired when we got home that afternoon!

********************
Guess that's the news in a nutshell. And now for some answers to FAQs, in case you were wondering:

1. No, we haven't heard anything else about Ted's application to teach at the Academy.

2. No, we have no idea when we'll know anything about that.

3. No, I haven't had my ultrasound yet. But my next appointment is tomorrow, and they should schedule the ultrasound while I'm at the office, so sometime in the next month it will get done.

4. Yes, we plan to find out the baby's gender, and yes, we will share that information with whoever is interested.

5. Yes, I look pregnant, but no, I haven't started wearing maternity clothes yet...however, I DO need to find the maternity clothes box sooner rather than later...

6. Total weight gain so far is 5 pounds.

7. I'm feeling fine, but exhaustion is pretty much a perpetual state of being. I'm not sure what happened to the "renewed sense of energy" that is supposed to appear in the 2nd trimester. That seems not to have surfaced.

********************
In other news, Kenna can now work door knobs. This is not a good thing. I bought 2 extra packs of door knob covers to keep her out of various places...but the problem is that the kids can only seem to work our old knob covers and not the new ones! I'm forever having to open a door for someone! And we are apparently one cover short...today the challenge has been to keep Kenna OUT of the laundry room cabinets, which house miscellaneous items such as light bulbs, batteries, odd socks, plus a good portion of our games and puzzles. As soon as Ted gets home I will beg him to put up more cabinet latches in there!! I'm not sure why today Kenna has decided that THAT is the room to be in...she hasn't seemed interested in going in there before!

I hear banging around in the kitchen downstairs, so I'd better go see what she's up to. Thus endeth this random post!!