Weekly Update beginning Dec. 12, 2021

Sunday, December 12th

Peter has had a cough for a couple days, so we didn’t take him into nursery at church today. I can see my mistake now was having him come into the room with me and Lily and then leaving Lily in there to have fun. About 5 minutes later my friend came to get me, because she was laying in the corner with her backpack over her face sobbing.

Have no fear though, because Peter went to class with Jacob and Lily got to come with me and both did surprisingly well! Lily was adorable, she took out her scriptures to be like everyone else and also laughed when everyone laughed.

I’m not sure why she cried, she’s never done that before, but I’m guessing because she’s always had either Henry or Peter with her? Or maybe she just was feeling out of sorts today, either way it was cute to have her with me today.

Monday, December 13th

I forget how much harder the afternoon and evenings are in the winter. The weather’s cold and it’s dark a lot easier making it hard to play outside. Without the outdoors as an option, my kids often want to turn to electronics for entertainment. I might need to revisit my thoughts of no screens at night, except occasionally as a family, because 10 kids cooped up in the house can be a bit crazy!

Tonight I stuck to my guns and told them it was good for them to use their imaginations. Thankfully that’s just what they did! The majority of them found how to make a moving picture watch out of paper and started making that. (Yes, they looked it up on the computer, but I’m a ok with that type of screen activity!) And Thomas and William made maps and hid treasure from each other for most the night. Poor Lily and Peter are feeling worse today, so they wanted to be snuggled all night. Correction, Peter was a lot worse and needed snuggles and Lily was jealous and wanted to get in on the action as well.

Tuesday, December 14th

It’s late and I just accidently deleted the long post I wrote. 🤦🏼‍♀️ I don’t have the mental stability to write it out again, but here’s the gist.

I did some good things today and also made some poor choices today.

I’m grateful for the chance to try again and again to be a better version of myself, because Heaven knows I need all the time I can get. Say it with me, progression not perfection!

Wednesday, December 15

We had a snow day!

What a fun filled day of kids going outside then coming back inside dripping snow all over the floor. Where our chromebooks broke as I was trying to orchestrate 8 kids’ school work between the two. (Jacob came to the rescue and braved the snow to buy 2 more)

It was a morning filled with my tears. I lost count how many times I cried from overwhelm and frustration. I did get to the point where I told the kids they needed to help me clean up, while Jacob was getting new computers, or else I would probably lock myself in my room for the rest of the day. There’s something about seeing your mom cry while she’s cleaning that helps get you motivated to clean yourself, well for some kids…🙄

Good news though:
All the school work got done, the house was cleaned, the snow dried, and I calmed down and even played a few games with the kids.

Snow days were so much more fun as a kid!
(But I guess I would’ve enjoyed it, had the kids not needed to do school work online. If we could’ve just played games and watched movies, I would’ve loved that!)

Thursday, December 16th

Yesterday, Jacob and I got the booster shot and kids #2 to #8 got their first dose. (Steven wasn’t eligible for the booster yet and Lily and Peter are too young.)

There may have been some crying and dragging a kid into the car, Spencer really doesn’t like shots, but everyone did a great job, hardly flinched, and we all got ice cream afterwards! 🙌🏼

Most of us have a sore arm, but other than that the kids all feel just fine. Jacob and I felt off all day: tired, some chills, and nausea, but are hoping after a good night’s sleep well feel better. We feel grateful and peaceful that we are able to be one step closer to living a safer and more normal life!

Saturday, December 18th

I’m case you wanted to know what it looks like when our family goes to the store. There were a lot of people there and Jacob and I saw a lot of people’s expressions to our family, some good and some looking like we’re crazy.

Spoiler alert: we are! 😉🥴😄

One Christmas tradition Jacob loved growing up that we know all love now is getting your own box of cereal and your own drink in your stocking on Christmas morning. We added a candy cane filled with candy into the mix, and the kids love going to the store to pick out their own treasures. Can’t believe it’s almost Christmas!