3•19•2017

Last week was insanely busy. I feel like I need a break from the whole week!.

Of course the week started out with the time change and was full of crying, behavior problems and general grumpiness. I didn't know if we were going to survive it. We forgot to switch the clocks and ended up getting to church an hour late.

Monday was brought to us by tangerine flavored Red Bull. It was a blur of crying children, painful workouts, baseball practice, and going to bed early to try and make up for the lost hour.

I took Amelia to the library on Tuesday for story time. This week there was a new story teller there and it was actually really good! Amelia was so happy to pick up a book that James had on hold that she insisted on taking it to school when we picked him up so that she could give it to him personally.

It was also Pi Day, 3.14. Our church had a potluck pie event and Amelia helped me make Strawberry Chiffon pie with a chocolate crust, and a Lime Chiffon pie with a graham cracker crust. They brought out some kid-sized basketball hoops and a bunch of balls for the kids to play with in the cultural hall.  Amelia spent her time shadowing the missionaries. I'm pretty sure they had no idea that she was just a few steps behind them all night. She was just so excited to see them. She would run back to me and tell me that she "found them again" before running back and following them around.

James had his first baseball game on Wednesday, which I missed due to a pretty horrible low blood sugar episode. I've been restricting calories a bit too much it seems. I spent the rest of the week focusing on being healthy and making good choices rather than trying to stick to a 1,000 calorie diet. It was pretty much the most horrendous experience ever complete with dizzying vision problems, inability to stand, and followed up with crying and bewilderment. Paul picked James up from school before taking James to the game. They played the Red Sox, and the Red Sox won.

James also had a lock-down drill at school on Wednesday. He accidentally walked into a pile of tables that had been tipped over to create a barricade and got a black eye!

The missionaries came to teach James the 4th discussion on Thursday. He was kind of off for this discussion, but given his sleep deprivation, I guess I can't blame him. This week the missionaries challenged him to think of ways to keep the Sabbath Day holy. We printed off a Sabbath bucket list for him to use on Sundays.

Friday was St. Patrick's Day and the leprechauns disappointed everyone by not showing up. But it wasn't a total loss. James had an exciting field trip at Vasona Park where they studied geology. He loved it, but decided that perhaps geology will not be his chosen field of study in college. The boys went to baseball practice while Amelia and I prepared our yearly Irish feast of corned beef and cabbage, Irish soda bread, and lime pie. Paul is primarily of Irish and Scottish descent, so we have a lot of fun with St. Patrick's Day.

On Saturday we all slept in (a true rarity) and then got ready for James' baseball game. His team (the Royals) played against the Reds, and even though they lost, Amelia cheered for her brother every step of the way. It was cold and I found myself wishing I'd brought a blanket. Next time I will be prepared... Amelia's nursery teacher is the team mom for the Reds and begged me constantly to go and see her. I told her that she needed to wait until after the game, so as soon as it was over she ran over and gave her the longest hug ever. I'm so grateful for her nursery leader. Amelia has such a special bond with her. She had a very hard time in nursery until Sister Nehori was called and since that very first day that she started serving in her calling, Amelia never had a problem again.

 We ended up taking much-needed naps before heading out for our weekly errands. I don't think we're quite used to the time change just yet.

This Week's Conversation Highlights:

The ground is covered in blossom petals right now and Amelia is convinced that they are sprinkles. Every time she sees them she giggles with delight and exclaims "there's sprinkles everywhere! They are so beautiful!"

Overheard Amelia in the bathroom "I'm never eating dat again. Never, ever, ever!"

3•12•2017

This week could be summed up with two words: baseball and sunshine. No complaints here.

Monday brought sunshine, a new workout routine for me, and baseball practice for James. Amelia is pretty much the best workout buddy you could ask for. She sits in her stroller and cheers me on while eating a snack. I spent the entire week sore, but made it through my week and met my goals! James also brought home some school awards. He was extremely happy about the In-N-Out certificate. He keeps reminding me that he needs to use it before it expires on December 31st. He makes me laugh.

And of course, the week wouldn't be complete without a picture of James hiding out and reading somewhere:

On Thursday we invited the missionaries over for dinner and James had the 3rd discussion. Meanwhile, Amelia tried to distract them to get them to play with her. Elder Smoot and Elder Banks are her favorite missionaries ever. She LOVES them and is always so excited to see them. After the missionaries left, we headed over to some church friends' apartment for dessert. They live in the building next to us. Our windows face each other so we "see" them a lot. Ha ha.  It was fun to socialize with them and the kids enjoyed rough housing in someone else's place.

Friday brought more baseball, and we bought Moana for our weekly movie night. We started movie night years ago when we couldn't afford to go out, but now it's just tradition .Friday nights are movie nights at the Phalen's.

On Saturday we decided to take a trip out to Santa Cruz for the day since all of our Saturdays from here to May will be spent on a baseball field. It was an absolutely beautiful day at the beach. You know how sometimes you go to the beach on a sunny day, but when you get to the actual beach it's all cloudy and cold? It wasn't like that. We had lunch at Betty's Burgers and drove around looking at all the beautiful neighborhoods (one of our favorite things to do) while the kids were sleeping in the car. It was perfect and warm and everyone came back feeling energized and looking a little pink.

 

This week's conversation highlights:

I re-arranged the kids' closet so that Amelia can more easily access all of her clothes. I was going over where everything goes and the rules (only picking out one outfit at a time, not taking everything out etc.) and Amelia said "Okay lady. Whatever you say."

James: Mom, you know what? I got sperm.

Me: WHAT?!

James: Yeah, I'm in the sperm whale group at school. Every group has a different whale to study, and I got sperm.

Crisis averted. This time. Until next week...

3•5•2017

We weren't late to church on Sunday. I can't remember the last time that happened. The missionaries spoke in sacrament meeting and so my kids actually paid attention! The missionaries have been quite the fixture in our home lately since James started taking the discussions. Amelia LOVES Elder Banks. Loves him. She kept whispering in my ear "mommy, I know dat guy, he comes to MY house!"  Amelia has been doing so well in church. When we first moved to this ward, Amelia was going through some pretty severe separation anxiety. It wasn't anything new. She'd been connected to me since she was born and struggled being away from me for any reason, ever. I couldn't go to the gym, or even leave her with Paul without her crying the entire time I was gone. It took us several months of taking turns sitting in nursery with her before she was finally ready. That's the thing about Amelia, you can't push her. She will eventually get there, and when she does she doesn't look back, but it has to be on her terms. After she was finally okay with being left alone in nursery she came to love it. It was all she would talk about all week. She knew all the songs and could tell us what she learned about, but her teachers said that she never said one word. For nine months. Very recently she has become much more comfortable there and is finally on speaking terms with everyone. She knows which kids she doesn't like, and which ones are her friends. She has grown so much socially and I am so happy and pleased with her progress.

On Monday it was back to school as usual. I went for a run and my allergies nearly did me in. It is spring here. Everything is blooming, and while it is beautiful, I have spent every day in misery since the pollen emerged.

I headed to the gym on Tuesday to avoid running in the pollen infested air. My arm injury has really been holding me back and I finally decided to just pick a program and follow it as best as I can with my limitations. Then Amelia and I got ready for story time at the library. It was lackluster at best. They have been really struggling to find a good story teller for story time since losing the really great girl last year. It's been such a bummer! But we go anyway and pick out lots of books. This week we studied the letter M so we got books about monkeys and mice. James had baseball practice after school, and after dinner we headed to the store to pick out a birthday card for Grandpa Willardson.

James' very loose top front tooth made it's exit on Wednesday. He has 4 or 5 loose teeth and this was the 4th to fall out. He says he looks like his Grandpa Willardson now. He totally does. James had baseball practice after school. On practice days he has to rush to get his homework done and get dressed for practice quickly before Paul comes and picks him up.  While he was waiting for Paul to pick him up I caught him reading to Amelia. He loves reading so much.

Thursday was Dr. Seuss's birthday and we celebrated with new books and some games.

We woke up early on Saturday to get over to the Little League opening day at the school across the street from the church. There was a parade of teams followed by food, bouncy houses, and team pictures. James' team wears white pants so we were trying to keep all the kids from getting dirty until after their pictures were taken. After that we headed down to Gilroy for our weekly Costco trip and followed that up with a bunch of food prep.

Until next week...