William visited for a little while today and he was at first a bit concerned about our lack of flooring and presence of kitchen appliances in the living room. But in the end he really enjoyed all the open space to run and push his lawnmower! The kitchen is so roomy with no island or cabinets!
Today I babysat Dante and spent the majority of the time in my car because Baldr cannot relax in my presence and thinks I should spend all my time playing with him and NEVER show the baby any attention. Luckily Dante enjoyed the car and eventually took a nap in my arms.
He is such a cute kid and I love his guts.
My worst year ever for blogging. I may not remember a darn thing from 2023...
Well, the Michigan folks came for Christmas and we also had Carter's family and Ryan's family here a lot over the break...and we got some new germs. I succumbed to the illness on the 3rd of January and by my birthday I was well and truly sick.
I called out sick to work on Thursday night and spent my birthday in bed/on the couch with tissues and cold medication.
Frank was willing to take me to lunch and/or dinner but I just wasn't up for it. I think he got us take out but I honestly can't remember..it's all a blur.
Frank gave me some new workout clothes which was nice. Ryan stopped by with a card and some mini cinnamon rolls. Austin and Branden both called. And I chatted by text with Carter but he was also sick. Amber sent me some gem art to do for when my house is torn apart and I need a distraction (they worked on one while there were here and it looks pretty fun!)
I was hoping to feel better the day after my birthday and we bought tickets to see the newest Hunger Games movie but I ended up cancelling that because I still felt horrible. We ended up renting it at home though so we still watched it. I had read the book so I knew it wasn't exactly uplifting but, yeah, downer movie when you're already feeling crappy. ha!
I hope and plan to go to lunch with my sisters this week or as soon as I feel better. I've already called out sick to work tomorrow (it's 1/7 as I write this) because I still feel horrid. The worst is that when I'm sick it sometimes triggers other things that make life even worse: cold sores (yep, got several) and the ice pick headaches (so far those have been off and on and not debilitating).
I also plan to make myself a cake at some point! Or make Frank do it. But that get's harder the further away from my birthday we get. I did tell him that I want a birthday do-over when I'm feeling better because this one sucked.
I have a tradition of taking a selfie on my birthday just for fun/show the passage of time. But man, I look bad. I took one but probably deleted it. If it's still there when I have energy to check, I'll upload it here.
I always make sugar cookies to give to neighbors each Christmas. Over the years I've done different designs but I've pretty much settled on wreaths on a round sugar cookie. It's pretty and also easy.
Frank offered to help this year but, in true Frank fashion, it wasn't about making it beautiful or taking your time...it was about making it fast and easy. He set up as many cookies as would fit on a cookie sheet and began squeezing that icing as fast as possible. Not a beautiful wreath exactly but it gave the idea. Then he would sprinkle the jimmies on the whole pan (they don't stick well to icing that's dried out at all so that didn't work all that well).
It made me laugh but he did get way more cookies done than I did in the same amount of time.
Can you tell whose cookies are whose?
I just returned from a short trip to Michigan. I usually go from Thursday to Sunday, it's kind of my normal routine. It's easier for me to get just Friday off of work rather than trying to stay longer. We did stay longer at Christmas but when I go alone, it's usually just 4 days. If it is during the school year, this seems like a pretty decent visit but this visit was the first day of summer break for the girls and it just went by so fast! It really felt too short.
I always take the 6 am flight because it's the only flight that gets me there without wasting a whole day. Down side is that I am always so tired when I arrive, that I need a nap. When the girls are in school, it's works out perfect as I can nap right up until they get home. They were already home from their last day of school this time and I was worried that I wouldn't be much fun being so tired. Branden and Amber must have talked to them because they both commented that they knew I would need a nap and showed me my room right when I arrived. haha. Still, I needed it! So that was awesome.
I have always brought presents when I come and this was my first time not doing so. The girls are getting older and I really just don't know what they are into day to day so picking out a gift is really hard now. I figured I would take them to Target and let them buy something but there's always that moment of telling them I have no gifts in my suitcase. Well, again, sounded like Amber had tried to prepare them for this possibility because as I was bringing in my suitcase, Kaylee asked what I had in there. I replied, Just clothes this time. I was about to explain the plan and she said, "Well, the real gift you bring us is you! So really, you did bring us gifts!" That was so sweet! (I did still take them to Target. haha)
Day 1-Flight went off without a hitch. I had a window seat and tried to sleep but that just never happens for me on airplanes. I got my rental car and drove the 1 hour to their house. I stopped for a burger king chicken sandwich for lunch...the line was SO LONG and incredibly slow and then the sandwich was really bad. I ate it anyway because I was so hungry but it was definitely subpar. No issues getting to the house.
Once I arrived, I unpacked a bit and then napped :-). Isabelle had put a little poster up in my room welcoming me. I can't believe I forgot to get a picture! She also made me cards several times and left them on my bed. She's really creative and thoughtful!
Riley remembered me but was thinking I was the fun person who would play with her. I have played with her but the fun person is Frank...poor Riley. We all pitched in and helped Amber clean. I did dishes and Isabelle dried and put them away. The girls showed me their rooms and some of their favorite things.
I've become pretty bad at taking pictures lately. Once Branden got home from work we went out for dinner to a nice restaurant nearby. After dinner, it was late enough the Isabelle was willing to wake up her hamster so we spent some time playing with it. It is a very cute and fluffy hamster and I have already forgotten its name!
Amber read to the girls (they are in the middle of a chapter book) and we had family prayer and scriptures before the girls went to bed. I watched a show with Branden and Amber and then I was off to bed. Totally exhausted from waking up at 3:15 despite my nap! I found another cute note from Isabelle on my bed.
