2 Weeks

1. It's been a while since I wrote last.  (I actually wrote that movie blog post awhile ago, so while I posted it last week, I really didn't write it then.)  And it has been insane.  Well, the week two weeks ago, was insane.  Last week I was just recouping.  I literally broke out in a rash for three days across one side of my face and got a canker sore that week.  Yes, I get canker sores when I'm stressed.  One time in college during finals, I had nine canker sores.  Maybe that was partly poor nutrition too, I don't know.  Anyway, the rash was new, and I know that was just stress.  As soon as Saturday afternoon hit, and all my stuff ended, it went away.

2. Frankly, I don't remember much about that week, I could look at my day planner but I'm too lazy to get up and get it, but I know I was just running the whole week.  And I had about the average of 3-4 hours of sleep every night.  And no, that was not just because I was sewing constantly--I was only sewing when the kids went to bed, that's why I was up late some of the nights. I was doing a bunch of other things too. And some of the nights I was up late working on my Hispanic Family History class.   And there were other things too...it's all kind of a blur.

3. On the 23rd, my cousin Maria stopped in with her family. It was so fun to see her and meet her kids!  And then she was awesome and helped me sew buttons on Isabel's dress.  And then they came to the trunk or treat with us on Friday evening before driving home to El Paso.  These are her pictures from the trunk or treat.

4. I made a ton of White Chili and cornbread that day because I figured with 12 kids and 4 adults I better bring a lot, but then there was tons of food there, and I wish I had only brought the chili I signed up for.  Oh well.

5. Saturday the 24th was the Family History fair, and it went really well except I forgot to calculate in to my presentation time the fact that it would take twice as long because everything had to be said twice, once by me in English, and once by Leo in Spanish.  So I only got half way through.  I did have several people come and ask for a copy of the presentation afterwards, and Leo and I were able to help one guy figure out his circa 1700's records of where he was hitting a wall.  (The town had a long name. i.e. Santé Fe de Bogotá, and sometimes it was referred to as Santé Fe and sometimes as Bogotá. Not Bogotá really, but that's the idea. Anyway, Leo figured it out! I was so proud of him!) I went to two classes as well and I always love learning what's new and happening on FamilySearch.  So interesting. We brought the little kids too for a bit of it and let them do the kids' activities.

6. I volunteered Leo and I to teach at the Family History Fair because A. I know a lot about Hispanic Family History, which is rather rare and B. I don't want other people to have to go through what I did trying to learn how to do family history research in Hispanic countries, and C.  I love to help people and encourage people to do their family history work.  Leo was kind of annoyed at me because he knew how busy I already was, BUT I was more than amply blessed for it because Leo asked me afterwards if there was anything he could do to help do research on his family line.  Like him doing it himself, not me harassing him to call this uncle or that great-grandpa or translate this letter.  He said he felt strongly while there that he should be helping his ancestors not just relying on me. And today, he started entering all this info in my Reunion program that had been erased when our computer crashed over a year ago, and I have only managed to get halfway through my family history files since then.  Happiest day of my life!

7. I slept for 4 hours after getting home from the fair and I literally felt the adrenaline that had been keeping me awake and moving for the week before drain away, and I felt dead tired.  It was a weird feeling.

8.    My Grandma Ruth passed away this last week. I so regret not ever taking my kids up to Canada to meet her.

9.  Halloween was fun! We carved pumpkins and Ana passed out candy while Leo and I took the little kids trick-o-treating. Jubal fell asleep just before we left so we left him home with Ana.

Sebastian's spider.

Ana's grim reaper.

Elena's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle

Isabel's Creepy

Nicolas's two wolves and a cat.  (I forgot part of the one wolf, so it looks not quite right.)  Guess which one's I carved?  Yes, if you guessed all but Ana's you guessed right.  And yes, I do like carving pumpkins.

10.  This Saturday I'm in charge of a 4 hour activity of making Wonder Ovens.  Joy.  I can't wait till it's over.  But in total 66 wonder ovens were ordered.  That's a lot.

11 (a).  I also have to make Elena's baptism dress this week.  It shouldn't be hard.  That's what I keep telling myself anyway.

11(b). I also am in charge of preschool this week and I'm taking the little kids to the Renaissance Faire, and of course the wonder oven fill that I have to go pick up, etc.  It will calm down eventually, right?

12. Leo's end-of-the-year work party is in San Antonio again this year.  We're going to take the kids and go to Sea World again since they pay for the hotel, gas, food, etc.  It's Western themed this year and will be at a ranch.  So Western wear was encouraged if you wanted.  I wanted.  So I went to Once Upon a Child the other day and looked through all the shoe bins for cowboy boots for Isabel, Sebastian and Nicolas (Ana and Elena already have cowboy boots) and I didn't find any. I was so disappointed because I've always seen at least one pair when I was there before.  But then I went to check out with my westernish-looking shirts for them and I saw a pair in a bin behind the counter and I asked about them, and they brought the bin over, and lo and behold it was FULL of cowboy boots.  I ended up with a pair for Isabel and Sebastian.  They were getting ready for a Cowboy display.  Sah-WEET.

13. This is kind-of lame of me, but I always feel a lot of pressure to dress our kids perfectly (well, nothing is perfect, but you get the idea) for Leo's work things.  Just because we have such a large family and I want people to have a good impression of a big family that is well-groomed and cared for so they don't think all big families are chaotic and a mess.   It's not so much about my family in particular, but just for the good name of large families everywhere.  I guess because I think people judge big families a lot.  Does that make sense?

14. My kids are all alive and doing mostly okay.

15. Remember the awful week I had a while ago where I bawled half the day, every day, and  bought a ton of things, including hats?  Well, here's one of the fabulous hats I bought.  I LOVE it!  It's my favorite hat I own now.  I guess the emotional week was worth it.

15. And just for fun: