Friday Almost the 13th Favorites!

1. Last weekend was our church's General Conference. What is normally one of my two most dreaded weekends of the year, wasn't. Why not you ask? Well, because Rophone didn't have to work Conference this time. Instead of having him gone for 35 hours over a two day period with no comp days to make up for it, he was home. Enjoying the weekend with his family. Yessss!

2. Part of what we did over the weekend (besides listen to Conference) was to go to a free scrimmage held by our local NBA team. I'm so glad that Rophone suggested it because we had such a good time. 

3. On Sunday, I printed out some really cool coloring pages for the kids to color while we listened to Conference. It kept them occupied (and quiet!).

4. I took the 3 younger kids to the park on Monday afternoon and Rophone met us there on his way home from work. You can read about it here. It was a lot of fun.

5. Big asked me to buzz his hair for the first time ever on Tuesday. I happily obliged (I mean, free haircuts rock). I think he looks adorable (and I'm just glad he didn't decide he hated it when I was done).

6. Also on Tuesday, I made Big's outfit for his kindergarten Halloween doll. Big wanted me to make an Iron Man or Hulk costume, but I nixed those and came up with the idea of making a basketball uniform. Luckily Big is basketball-obsessed so he happily agreed. As I was making it, I began to realize that it was going to be more time consuming than I had expected. When I commented something about it, Big responded dismissively, "Well, you're the one who came up with the idea." So true. Made me laugh. My favorite part about this whole thing is that I think I kinda rocked it. I say that in a most humble way, of course. Now Big just needs to cut out the doll, add a face and glue the costume on!

7. Edith and I went to the park again on Wednesday morning. I didn't see why not. We didn't have to pick Big up from school because he had a play date (a 4 1/2 hour long play date-- I think I'm in love with the other boy's mother), so we just took our time until lunch. It gave Edith a lot of time to practice on the stairs.

8. We sent Pen off on a trip to San Francisco with her dance team on Wednesday night. I'm just so excited for her! 

9. Fall break started after school on Wednesday. Not much of a break for me, but I enjoy not having to do the routine in the mornings. 

10. I mowed our lawn earlier in the week and then I managed to mow my mom's lawn and trim both lawns yesterday morning while Ginger watched the kids. It's nice to have that done and I enjoyed being out in the fall air getting some exercise. As a reward I took the 3 younger kids on a hike up the canyon in the afternoon (Ginger declined the invitation). The weather was perfect, the scenery was beautiful, and Big is really becoming proud of his climbing skills. He's getting better at keeping up with Bud. It was so nice to do something I love after a long week.

11. Today is blustery and rainy (which I love) so I thought it would be a perfect day to make cookies. Big and Edith are great helpers. 

12. Edith told me she loves me about 50 times today. It makes me feel so good. I especially love it when she's in the other room and hollers, "Mommy! I love you!". I love you, too, Edith.

I think that it has been a pretty good week for everybody. Not too shabby.