We have had a lot of yucky coughs and sickness lately, but home-body that I am, I don't mind :). Yesterday, Q-dawg stayed home with Hava, Papaya and Spooner who still had residual coughs so I could go to church--my one time this month at our ward :S. I do love our ward and the wonderful people that are there. Most of all, I miss the Spirit of it when we are not there.
Lek and I both had presidency meetings after church but we still got home much earlier than usual, in time for some good nappage for the older kids! It is funny how much one loves naps when you don't get a chance to do it every day :). When I walked in the door, Q-dawg was trying to sleep upstairs with Papaya and Hava. I think Spooner was supposed to be asleep as well, but he was running around in a poopy diaper, excited to see us.
He joined in the feeding frenzy that happens after church on Sundays and did not join the others in napping...ever. Makes it exciting! He still isn't talking very well and we daily encourage him to repeat sounds back to us and try to communicate. If he is not doing well by the time he turns 4, we will probably look into something to help him.
I tried to enter some scouting records after cleaning up most of the wreck that was lunch while Zsa-man pretended to sleep. Okay...he napped a bit but then was just plain grumpy. Enter Super-Dad who swooped down and took all the little ones on a walk with Avot while I took a short nap. Heaven!
It was Palm Sunday, so I wanted to honor it with a special dinner involving fish. Liliputian was not enthusiastic and Chugger-dude was not in favor of the rice, so it was not a huge success, but the others enjoyed it. Spooner loved to heap toppings on his salad and ignore the salad. Zsa-man tried some fish and rice and then decided mother's milk was better, crazy guy.
Daddy led his "Sunday Discussion" where everyone takes turns sharing what they learned that day at church or elsewhere: a little goofy-ness, a lot of distraction and a little bit of heaven all rolled into one activity. By the end of it, the little ones are normally wandering but I really enjoy it :). We then had our "classic" dinner help quiz: Q-dawg fires away questions and whoever answers them first gets to pick which dinner help they will get to do that night. I love it! He has some great questions from which princess sneezes snowmen (Elsa) to what is the last name of the blind and deaf girl named "Helen." Sometimes, just to make sure they don't just throw their hands up to beat their siblings. Lots of laughter. Lots of intensity. Lots of Singing Bee-ness. :)
Family Home Evening! Hava did a sweet lesson on keeping the Sabbath Day Holy, including videos with Christ Cleansing the Temple, Sunday Sounds and Sunday Shoes (all on lds.org). One of my favorite that she found was this cute little song, called "Build An Ark":
It was cute to see her up in front of everyone sharing her toothless smile as she taught and bore her pure testimony. Other highlights were Lek's leading of "Saturday" with Avot playing, the Goob's "prayer at the speed of light," Liliputian and Chugger-dude's piano showcasing for sharing time--duets I have been practicing with them, and then Pipalicious's sweet testimony. Treat was Q-dawg's department, a huge chocolate cake someone had given us, topped with ice cream. All this amazingness was culminated with "Hide and Go Seek" upstairs, per Papaya's choice. It always amazes me how much fun something like that can be with so many people and such a limited hiding area! The little ones love the element of suspense and the older ones love terrifying each other. So much fun! I actually made it to the "second-to-last" person found the last round! Go figure. Big woman hiding in the dark behind the rocking chair. Spooner found me within one minute and it took a lot of convincing to get him to go and find Daddy. Pipalicious just didn't check my spot for some reason and was actually puzzled that she couldn't find me. I felt so cool.
Scriptures and family reading rounded out the evening and I was ready for bed, despite my 20 minute nap. Good times ahead!
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Funny from the Goob: "My belly button can eat the dime." Spoken as we were doing Seminary together this last week. Distracted? Naw.
Lek and I both had presidency meetings after church but we still got home much earlier than usual, in time for some good nappage for the older kids! It is funny how much one loves naps when you don't get a chance to do it every day :). When I walked in the door, Q-dawg was trying to sleep upstairs with Papaya and Hava. I think Spooner was supposed to be asleep as well, but he was running around in a poopy diaper, excited to see us.
He joined in the feeding frenzy that happens after church on Sundays and did not join the others in napping...ever. Makes it exciting! He still isn't talking very well and we daily encourage him to repeat sounds back to us and try to communicate. If he is not doing well by the time he turns 4, we will probably look into something to help him.
I tried to enter some scouting records after cleaning up most of the wreck that was lunch while Zsa-man pretended to sleep. Okay...he napped a bit but then was just plain grumpy. Enter Super-Dad who swooped down and took all the little ones on a walk with Avot while I took a short nap. Heaven!
It was Palm Sunday, so I wanted to honor it with a special dinner involving fish. Liliputian was not enthusiastic and Chugger-dude was not in favor of the rice, so it was not a huge success, but the others enjoyed it. Spooner loved to heap toppings on his salad and ignore the salad. Zsa-man tried some fish and rice and then decided mother's milk was better, crazy guy.
Daddy led his "Sunday Discussion" where everyone takes turns sharing what they learned that day at church or elsewhere: a little goofy-ness, a lot of distraction and a little bit of heaven all rolled into one activity. By the end of it, the little ones are normally wandering but I really enjoy it :). We then had our "classic" dinner help quiz: Q-dawg fires away questions and whoever answers them first gets to pick which dinner help they will get to do that night. I love it! He has some great questions from which princess sneezes snowmen (Elsa) to what is the last name of the blind and deaf girl named "Helen." Sometimes, just to make sure they don't just throw their hands up to beat their siblings. Lots of laughter. Lots of intensity. Lots of Singing Bee-ness. :)
Family Home Evening! Hava did a sweet lesson on keeping the Sabbath Day Holy, including videos with Christ Cleansing the Temple, Sunday Sounds and Sunday Shoes (all on lds.org). One of my favorite that she found was this cute little song, called "Build An Ark":
Scriptures and family reading rounded out the evening and I was ready for bed, despite my 20 minute nap. Good times ahead!
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Funny from the Goob: "My belly button can eat the dime." Spoken as we were doing Seminary together this last week. Distracted? Naw.
