YIP Week 12 and Easter Fun

Monday, April 2nd

I was awake all night last night with little Beth.  She was so sick and throwing up every half hour from about 10:30 pm until 6:00 am.  It made it a very long night, but I survived with a little nap in the morning and she perked right up by later in the afternoon.  Thank goodness!  I just prayed that she would be the only one to get it.  I would hate to have kids throwing up all week long!  

Gabby has been getting headaches and I decided to have her eyes checked to see if that has anything to do with it.  She is right at the point where she could have glasses for reading, but doesn't have to.  I told the doctor we would think about it and talk about it, but that didn't stop Gabby from picking out her favorite glasses just in case.

We had a good Easter Family Home Evening and everyone ate banana splits while they watched an animated Easter story.  I couldn't wait to go to bed!

Tuesday, April 3rd - Thursday, April 5th 

(I can't remember what pictures I took what days)

Everyone was feeling good and the weather decided to cooperate so the kids spent a lot of the day on Tuesday outside.  The older boys took the kids to the park while Beth took a nap and I got some studying done.  While at the park my nephew Conner from the other side of the family met up with the kids and then came home with them.  He ended up hitting things off with the boys and stayed the week with us also.  So, we had 8 kids at our house for the rest of the week.

 Don't let the cool looks fool you.  They had a blast together!  On Wednesday morning Conner W. woke  up at about 6:00 am and started throwing up.  I was kind of at a loss as to what I should do for this big almost 15 year old boy.  I asked if he needed anything and he said no, so I left him alone to get to know our toilet better.  By about 8:30 he went to bed and slept for awhile.  When he woke up he felt fine and other than a headache a little bit later that day he was just fine.  Thank goodness!  No one else ended up getting sick.

 Once in awhile I made them turn off the video games or stop their goofing off to come and help me get  some projects done.  Here they are helping me to redo the chicken pen.  They were really helpful when I asked them to do specific things and I am grateful for that.  Otherwise the week might not have gone so smoothly.

 They even watched the kids for a bit while I had to run to the store.  I spent a bit of extra time away and got a quick pedicure.  I totally deserved it and didn't feel bad at all about doing it without telling anyone.  It was very much needed!

Friday, April 6th

Today the weather turned nasty again and we were stuck in the house all day!  The kids started to get on each others nerves and on mine.  It was nice to send them outside to get some energy out on the nice days.  I saved the Easter egg decorating for today because I knew the weather wouldn't be great.  I spent the morning cooking loads of eggs for the kids to decorate.  They had fun and were very creative.  Then I spent a few more hours making a few batches of potato salad for the Easter party and dinner that night.  

Not only did we have these 8 kids but we had our babysitting co-op at our house tonight.  That was fun!  We ended up having 17 kids at our house and then I was surprised with my niece Sage and her husband Zachary coming by for a visit from Cedar City.  It was a crazy, chaotic, but very fun night with kids running around everywhere.  It's not something that I would want to do often, but it was really fun for the kids.  Even the older boys had fun playing war outside with Uncle Bump and the little boys.

Saturday, April 7th

Today was our Wright Family Easter party.  We took 2 cars and drove Tracy's kids along with our large troop.  The weather cleared up nicely and it ended up being a beautiful day.  You would never know that snow completely covered their yard just the day before.  We kept with our usual tradition of hiding eggs in the front yard for the little guys and out back for the big kids (10 and up).  We had a good turn out.  We had our troop and 2 of Tracy's kids, Jared and his family came, Sage and Zachary came, Tracy's daughter Jessica came with her baby and of course Lee and his family were there.

 After the little kids found all of their treats and went inside to open eggs and chow down on the candy we hid the eggs out back for the older kids.  The only rule is that you have to be able to see it from at least one direction.  Here is Bump giving all the kids a peptalk and letting them know that there are a few money eggs hidden.

Dallin climbed the tree to find a money egg in the bird house.  It took longer for Bump and Zach to get it into the bird house then for Dallin to climb up and get it out. Oh to be a teenager again!

The 2 Conner's were pushing and shoving to get at some hidden eggs.  They ended up smashing one on the ground and just kept on going for more.  The older kids make things a bit more competitive. 

 Gabby ended up under a pile of bouncing kids on the trampoline and got a loose tooth knocked out.  She was all smiles and was so happy that she finally had a tooth that her mom didn't pull out.

 After the party we took JT and Jen's kids home.  The Williams boys had made such good friends with our Wright cousins that they didn't want to stop hanging out.  Dallin and Andrew ended up following us to JT's house to spend the evening with their new friends.  We had worked out with the boys to watch the kids so that Bump and I could go to a movie.  After reminding all these teenage boys that they indeed were babysitting we headed out to finally see the Hunger Games.  It was a great movie and a needed date for us.  All the kids did well and we headed home.  JT and Jen were getting in later that night and I think the kids were happy to be home again and excited to see their parents.  Spring Break is officially over!

 Sunday, April 8th - Easter

Today was a nice relaxing day for everyone.  After church we all took naps to recover after the last few late nights.  When we woke up we decided to hide the colored Easter eggs that we had dyed on Friday.  Bump and I hid them for the kids first and then they hid them for us.  We ended up only missing one of the eggs in the end.  That will be fun to find in the weeks/months ahead!  Overall it was a really fun week.  I was exhausted every night when I went to bed, but I felt good knowing that all of the kids were getting along and having a good time.  I am still trying to catch up with my house this week, but the kids were so good that I can't complain.  Am I glad it's over?  Definitely.  But I'd do it again.