Another week

First off, our second storm was a non-storm.  We were supposed to get 1-3 inches and then they raised the inches to 5 with a possibility of high winds.  We were all excited and ready to hunker down.  We got a full day of rain and then maybe an inch of snow.  It was so disappointing.  

I took Will in to the doctor about his finger.  It was pretty swollen and bruised.  The doctor said she wasn't sure if it was broken or not.  She said it was probably a bad sprain but if it didn't stop hurting by the following Monday than it was probably broken.  It's been over a week and the bruise is gone now but his finger still hurts when he moves it.  I'm not going to take him back in to get an x-ray or anything because I'm fairly certain they will just do the same thing we are already doing if it is broken but I do feel bad for him that he can't play basketball yet.  

This week has been pretty typical.  Monday the older boys had basketball practice (Isaac played, Will watched).  We had FHE and then Mike took them to practice.  Their practice starts at 7:30 and goes until about 9. While they were gone, I put Piper to bed and then Eli and I colored together and then played Plants vs. Zombies on the xbox.  We beat our record and made it to round 15. Tuesday is usually our one free night but Mike had a church meeting that lasted about three hours.  Wednesday I had visiting teaching and then ran home so that Mike and the boys could go to scouts.  While the boys were gone, Piper and I played Just Dance.  Tonight I had to get Eli to basketball practice and then Mike was going to do visits with the Bishop but that got canceled last minute.  Tomorrow the boys have another basketball practice and then Saturday we have three games.  We thankfully, only have a few more weeks of this craziness and then we will just be busy on Wednesday and Thursday nights.  Hopefully.  

Piper convinced Mike to paint her nails.  It was pretty adorable to turn the corner and see the two of them at the table with their heads together while he painted her nails.  He even did her toe nails too.    

 It has been cold, foggy, rainy, and cloudy lately.  I feel like since we aren't going to get snow I wish everything would just hurry and warm up already.  I finally dug out my sun lamp and use it first thing in the mornings.  I just have such a hard time feeling motivated and interested in much when it is cloudy for too long.

We all need a break from Math.  I decided we would try out our new game Swish.  It is for executive functioning and spatial awareness.  It was a super fun game and the boys played it for quite awhile.  I think it might become a favorite.  It will be a nice break from Monopoly.  The boys got that from Laila for Christmas and I have been forced to play it a billion times.

Homeschool is going ok.  This week we have been working harder on checking the boy's work each day.  My email has been sending me a reminder every day at 2 and I make the boys pull out their planners and we go through all their work one by one so I can make sure they did everything.  They usually do all their work but sometimes they will try and skip a workbook page or not write their work down in their planners and I feel like it's an important skill for them to have and making them responsible to report back on their work is good.  I talk about executive skills functioning on here all the time and the truth is, I am stink at it myself.  I am not good at keeping up systems or being super detailed and I am learning along with the boys.  It's hard for me to teach them skills I don't have myself but hopefully I can teach them to be detailed and organized.  Twice this week I have been busy and forgotten to go check their planners and books and then Mike gets his own reminder email at 4 and checks it for me.

Mike is not taking any classes at school this semester.  He has a class that he was supposed to attend but there were not enough students to take the class so they made it an online course.  He wakes up and gets ready for the day (and eats breakfast with us) and then he locks himself in the guest room and we don't see him until lunch where he will come out long enough to eat and then locks himself in the room again until dinner.  He eats dinner and then either goes and does church stuff, takes boys to practice, or he is back in the room again.

It's not that bad.  He doesn't interact much with us but it is nice to have him home.  Today I needed groceries and the boys had done the work that they needed my attention for and Piper went down for a nap so I left the boys to finish up their piano and Spanish and went to the store.  Mike stayed hidden in the room but because he was here I didn't have to take the kids with me.  It is great.  This week I was also able to go to lunch with a friend for her birthday and it was a nice break for me.

He is actually pretty stressed about his research right now and then on Sunday he also has to give a talk and be responsible for the 5th Sunday discussion at church so he has a lot on his mind.  His birthday is Sunday but because of basketball and his research, we won't get a chance to celebrate for a few weeks.

 Finally, Piper is adorable.  She is doing well in Sunbeams.  She is not excited to go each Sunday but once she is there she does fine.  She is regressing a little in the potty training area and hasn't shown a lot of interest in the potty this week.  I had to change a poopy diaper today and I realized that I can't remember the last time I changed a poopy diaper.  She usually manages to do that in the toilet but pees in her diaper once or twice a day.  We tired panties (or baby-butts as she calls them) this week but she peed through them twice so I put diapers back on her.  We are making progress and I just need to be patient and let her go at her pace.  She is still so little.

Today I made wheat bread and I left the room briefly only to hear Isaac yell, "Oh no!  Piper!"  Then I heard, "No, Isaac, don't tell Mom!  Please!"  I came down to find powered milk all over floor and Piper covered in the white powder.  She said she was "making something."

She is sleeping better for the most part.  She still wakes up once or twice a night but we just walk her back to her bed and cover her and she goes right back to sleep.  She seems over her fear of being in the room alone and doesn't insist on us sitting outside her door until she falls asleep.

That pretty much sums up my week so far.  I've got dishes to do and scriptures to read so I better end this.