Got back from our 3-week vacation. It was wonderful. Full of lots of activities and fun (I can’t stand to sit around on vacation. It’s just not me. The closest we have come to that is Hawaii, but even then, we were swimming or playing at the beach the entire time)
Then I’ve spent the last week (we’ve been home a whole week now!) getting all the kids back in school. The oldest started high school and early morning seminary. Second is in middle school. Third is in Elementary school. The fourth just started pre-school today! Leaving me with one at home in the mornings. And yes, that is 4 different schools that we have to deal with!!! YIKES! Technically 5, since #4 has preschool AND speech class in different places…. So many activities, back to school nights, conferences, etc. Not even joking when I tell you it took me an afternoon to put all the activities and appointments on my phone calendar. It’ll be even more surreal when in a few years, we will have 5 kids in 5 different schools (one being college – YIKES! Let’s not talk about that…)
Then I had to make all the phone calls and go through all the mail that stacked up while we were gone. It seriously takes about a week to get caught up. I am still waiting on an early intervention speech teacher to call me back for kid #4. We have been playing phone tag for a week…
Then our credit card number was skimmed at a secure federal building in DC. Ugh! Luckily, our credit card company put a fraud hold on the card after the first charge. It isn’t a card we were using often, so I didn’t even notice (apparently that is a call we missed?!?!) until I tried to use it when we got home and it got declined. What?!?! Never had that happen….. Got home and then had to have my husband call because that card was in his name. Luckily, it was a pretty easy fix. I spent the afternoon checking credit reports though! This is why I always use credit cards (and pay off EVERY month), so I don’t have liability or issues with someone draining my account. (yes, I know there are safeguards on a debit card, but they aren’t as good a credit cards – look it up, I did, and credit gives you more security – and much less of a hassle than someone draining all your cash and having to wait for the bank/credit union to give it back to you…)
I also managed to get 40lbs of pears canned and lots of plum jam made. Not to mention stocking the fridge with chopped fruits and veggies again (man! The house was empty of fresh food when we got home!). I even squeezed in a church presidency meeting and a back to school get together with other moms.
Oh, and don’t leave a banana on the counter when gone for 3 weeks. Trust me….
We also got to attend the temple with kid #1 & #2. It was #2’s first time, since he turned 12 on vacation (he is ALWAYS on vacation during his birthday!), and it was a wonderful time/experience for us 🙂 (we went for kid #1s first time a few years ago as well!)
All of this and a grumpy toddler that seems to only be happy when I am holding him. He was a champ on vacation! He really did well with all the places we dragged him to. He would point and get excited about seeing new things. He LOVED the rides at Hershey Park. He was even good on the plane – which I was worried about! Yet again, we had fellow passengers saying, “Man! Your kids are really good on planes.” Why thank you! I try REALLY REALLY REALLY hard for that one! Seriously, if you see kids being good on a plane, tell the parents they are doing a good job. We try extra hard to be sure our kids are well-behaved, and I appreciate when people notice – because it is a big anxiety for me! Here’s to the same thing happening when we go to Hawaii in a few months (fingers crossed!)… Anyway, there has been lots of crying and grumpiness since we’ve been home. He is happy when we go out – like to the grocery store… Maybe he just likes to be out seeing the world like I do! Or at least that is what I am telling my husband 😉
I have posts planned for all the new and fun places we went and experienced. Hopefully, I find some time soon to write, because I have been missing it! Hopefully, with my mornings down to one kid (if said one child would finally be happy not sitting in my lap 24/7), I can get some writing in! And the treadmill… because he isn’t napping either (oh joy! Refusing naps! at least he’s in bed early… and then I fall asleep early ’cause I am worn out!!!) Hopefully, we’ll get a routine down. Writing and exercise. That is all I ask! 😉
Mmmm…. I can smell my 15 bean soup in my Instant Pot right now… With homemade rolls to go with it! YUM! Is it dinner time yet?!?! I guess I should go and chop this week’s worth of fruits and veggies we bought this morning (while kid #4 was in preschool. #5 loves going to the store, so we had a brief happy time today… in-between the grumpiness and crying 😛 Mommy may have gotten some medicinal diet coke on the way home from picking up #4 from pre-school *sigh*)
Oh and kid #2 is starting a new instrument: Trombone… Pray for us to get through the learning curve (this is instrument #3 for him: Percussion, Piano, and now trombone… Kid #1 plays 3 as well: Flute, Piano, and ukulele. Kid #3 is currently only playing piano… #4 and #5 are slackers and not playing anything yet 😉 😉 )
