Another week has past.  It was a little slower but not necessarily in a good way.  We stayed inside a little more because some of the kids mentioned their stomachs hurt, and I wonder if we had a mild GI bug go through the house, but if that was the case it was definitely mild which we can be grateful for.

Tim still has one more week before he clinic is fully ready for him to see patients, but he's not complaining. He's been able to help more at home, which really comes in handy because Owen's sleep struggles are our perpetual struggle.  

We are trying to get in as many of our yearly check ups as we can before Tim is fully back at work. He and I made it to the dentist, and the kids will have their appointments in the upcoming week(s).  After his dental appointment Tim took the older 3 kids to the main library here for Lego club.  The kids were excited, especially Hyrum.  The library set out trays of Legos at tables and then had special tray to the side for the kids to get certain kinds of pieces--wheels, people, plants, etc.  Lila made a beautiful flower garden, and Hyrum made a killer scorpion-style robot transformer.

(Lila's not in the pic of her finished creation because she insisted on taking the picture, haha)

When Tim went running last week he was talking with one of the guys from the group and discovered that they homeschooled their kids as well.  It wasn't more than an hour after he got home that I received a text from that person's wife, and we had them over for a playdate on Tuesday.  They are very nice with twins who are a little older than Hyrum and a 5-year-old.  The kids had a lot of fun, and she knows a lot about homeschool groups in the area so it was good to get the scoop.

We did our usual shopping on Wednesday, and in the afternoon Tim went to the library to put together some note templates for work.  He took Hyrum since he doesn't require much supervision at the library, and Tim was able to work all afternoon without any issues from Hyrum.  Hyrum just found the librarians when he needed help finding book.  He just sat for hours reading and didn't even take a break to eat his Oreos that he brought for a snack.

Tim went to choir practice on Thursday. He isn't big into singing but as I mentioned previously Hyrum wanted to sing with the choir so Tim went with him.  Well, Hyrum quickly decided he didn't want to continue with the choir, which was okay because the songs were much to advanced and he was the only Primary-aged kid there, but Tim decided he needed to see it through because the choir is small; this choir was for out stake conference.

On Friday Tim found out he passed his sports medicine boards so we got some ice cream to celebrate.  No more expensive tests for a while!

Saturday was a busy day.  Tim went out with his running group early in the morning, and then he took the older kids to do service.  Last week he took Hyrum and Lila and joined a group from church in repairing the fence of a sister in the ward which had blown down during a recent storm.  Last week they dug out old fence posts and set new ones.  This week the group went back to put up the rest of the fence.  Tim decided Liam could come with Hyrum and Lila this time because Liam loves watching people work with tools so he thought he would have fun just watching even if he couldn't help with much.  The kids helped some with filling a hole with dirt and handing screws to those putting up the fence boards, but Tim said they mainly played.  The sister who owns the home is 95-years-old, and she invited the kids inside for a bit because she wanted to meet them.  Liam and Lila only stayed inside for a minute, but Hyrum didn't come out for 30 minutes or so, and when Tim asked him what they talked about he said school, Legos, video games, and I think Minecraft.  That poor sister.  I'm sure Hyrum talked her ear off.  We often have to remind Hyrum at dinner time that other people need to be allowed to speak as well, haha. 

After their service, we stayed busy due to stake conference.  I had my leadership meeting at 3:30 pm, and then Tim drove the kids to the stake center, and we did a vehicle swap, and I took the kids home for bedtime while Tim stayed for the adult session.  The kids had a fun day because they were at the service project for 4 hours or so and then got to watch Aladdin that afternoon.

This morning we had the main session of stake conference.  We showed up early enough to get "soft seats." We were prepared with an extra snack for the kids because 2 hours is a long time for them to sit still, but unfortunately, they knew they had an extra snack that they normally don't have so they constantly asked for their snack throughout the meeting.  Per the usual, they got progressively more wiggling and loud.  I think I've mentioned before that our kids don't know how to whisper.  Liam got out a Hotwheels and proceeded to drive it around while loudly saying "BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP." That lasted for several minutes but lasted a really long time.  The meeting overall was good, at least the portions in which we were able to pay attention.  

Speaking of Liam. I've mentioned that he's learned to get out of his crib.  This has now added a good 20 minutes to our nighttime routine.  He's never fussy.  He comes out with a premeditated excuse or desperately searches for a worthy excuse, and then we put him back to bed without any fussing, walk out of the room, and then see him again within 30 seconds to a few minutes.  Tonight, he came out and was pleased to see there were a few books on the floor from story time that hadn't yet been put away.  When he thinks he has a good excuse he gets a smile on his face, and tonight he said, "oh no, we need to clean these books up."  He's exceptionally helpful when it postpones his bedtime.  Friday night, he repeatedly came out, and Tim told it was time for bed and started walking out of the room when Liam said, "Wait, one more question." Tim was intrigued and asked Liam what his question was to which Liam responded, "Why did the chicken cross the road?"  Our kids love to tell that joke and make up whatever silly reason they can think of.  In case you were curious, Liam finished his joke by saying, "because he had to lay an egg."

For Owen, we've talked enough about difficulties with his sleep schedule so we won't dwell on that.  He is otherwise full of smiles (especially after a good nap), and this week has been another week on trying more solids.  He really picked up his eating efficiency and volume this week.  He's had carrots, avocados, peas, oatmeal, and bananas and has enjoyed them all!

That's it for this week! Next week we begin school, so it will be an interesting/crazy week.  Take care everyone!