It is finished

Yes, that is the feeling that I have at the end of this week. It is finished. I am excited to not be so busy this next week. Somehow I need a vacation.

Monday was the great Wart removal day. Wart and Warty did not see even see it coming. Mads was very brave, and has been showing all the boys in her class the blisters that were produced with the freezing. There is a lot of pride in her warts, and we will probably have to go back and get them re-frozen again. It is not a one step process.

Tuesday was the great South Bend Ward Trunk or Treat. It was very fun. Halle who had decided to go back to being her pink cat that morning for her preschool party, was happy to don the Leonardo costume again that night. Mads was a beautiful fairy princess and I even let her wear some make-up. They loved playing with all of their friends and Scored BIG during the trunk or treat. I think that this year was way bigger than last year. Halle even confessed to me that she liked trick or treating.

Wed we had a wonderful Halloween. I got to take Halle to Mad's class for her "Autumn Celebration" her school district made a new rule this year that they are only allowed to have one party. So her teacher decided to "work it" and have a "celebration" instead. There were healthy snacks, sugar cookies to ice, and even some "educational" games.
Trick or treating that night was a blast. Mike and I took the girls out and left our bowl of candy unattended at our front door. (My sisters will all tell you what a good teenager should do if they find things like candy in a bowl unattended. Hence many restaurants have lost many a mint due to unattended bowls). We walked all around the neighborhood. It took Mads a little while to understand that she needed to move it along to make it to the maximum number of houses in the 5-7 allotted time to trick or treat. She did fantastic, and filled her little pumpkin thing so full it was ready to burst. ( between trick or treating and trunk or treating the girls filled two 8 quart bowls full of the candy they scored.) Halle's we had to unload a few times because it was so heavy she could not carry it and trick or treat at the same time. Mads met lots of her little school buddies out and about, and Halle made very funny proud faces every time she got candy.

Sat was another busy day, with lots of funny stories. We went to our friends the Kindreds sealing to the darling little boy that they adopted. Due to some last minute cancellations with babysitters, Mike and a couple of his buddies stayed out of the sealing to watch the kids. They had 9 total, and there were 3 babies in the bunch. Fun for them. I sent Mike into a session afterwards, with a friend's husband, and we decided to take our 4 kids to IKEA. Mine fought the whole way there, and I had forgotten the sensory overstimulation that occurs when you walk into that store. WOW. We made it back to pick up Mike from the Temple, and we did not start for home until about 4 pm. I was supposed to be back in South Bend and at the church ready for my talk by 7pm. (It is 2h 15mins in good traffic home, and 20 to church - I did not have much room to work with). I turned onto the freeway and low and behold it was not really moving. I started praying, and amazing enough even with all the traffic we made it home in record time. (Sandersons, I hope that you guys made it back okay. ) We had enough time to go to the bathroom when we got home, iron my skirt, and rush to the church. We all hopped into the van and Mike started looking for the keys.... We had locked them in the house again. Mike climbed through the window, rescued the keys, and we even made it to church a little early. The talk went okay. I am really glad that it is all done with and now I can focus on things that are really important, like finally reading the 3rd book in the Twilight series. Hurray. This week is a testimony to me that you really can get through challenges and it is worth it.