Day 4

I thought this pic of Ben expressed him today perfectly!

Couldn't sleep last night. I don't sleep well with Wes gone. I tossed and turned and woke up at 5:30am when I heard Dallin's alarm go off. He didn't get up so I got him up. I read scriptures and ate breakfast and when he left I woke up the other kids. We rushed to get their stuff together for their concerts at school today. I grabbed my shower so I could be ready for Preschool in time. I took the kids and then came home and got Ben and I ready. I took Josh's carpool and went to Preschool. Ben made a reindeer candycane and jingle bell necklace and learned the letter D. He loves school!
After school Ben and I met my friend Kristy and her kids at McDonald's. She just found out she's pregnant and had a rough night so didn't want to chase kids at the park. We had a good time and then Ben and I came home and crashed reading books in his room. I woke up when Wes called for lunch. He said that the schedule for travel has changed and he has to go back to CA on Jan. 2nd. That's a Sunday! He'll be gone on and off through the launch Feb. 5th. We pray it goes well and on time! This was disheartening news. I guess I knew he'd go back out in Jan but he's not even home yet and that seems too soon:)
Brennen had a solo in the concert today and the person over all the Band in Mesa Public Schools was there and told them they did good and were well behaved. Remember that this Band had only half a year with a man last year who is being tried for child molestation so Band took quite a hit. The new Band teacher this year is good and Brennen likes her.

Did I mention our printer broke yesterday and was just clicking and paper was stuck in it? I got the paper out but no ink prints now. We really need this with kids projects and papers due the last weeks of school before break. I can't print the Christmas letter! What a pain! Wes told me to try unplugging the power and now there is faint ink. Who knows? Also this morning the toilet in Brookly's bathroom broke. Nice.
So we got the kids home and they worked on homework and I made beef stroganoff and salad and tried to call them together for dinner. Dallin picked up Josh from Cross Country for me at 5 and then we raced to get Brookly to Orchestra concert and come back for the rest of the kids while Dallin left for his concert with Josh and Brennen to watch him. The orchestra and choir concerts were nice and they finished earlier than we thought so we ran to see the end of Dallin's concert.
Remember that Ben has a little cold and is not quite himself and got up early and had preschool and this was his 3rd concert. He ate the entire roll of lifesavers and half a roll of Mentos during Brookly's concert so I was out of ammo and he was full of sugar. With that in mind he took off his shoes and socks in the back of the auditorium and began to play musical chairs running through the back aisles and rows of chairs without people in them. He wasn't too loud, so I opted for the ignore routine instead of panic and have him sit on my lap screaming which is much more disruptive! The concert was fun and I loved Sleigh Ride. Afterwards Dallin came back and didn't see us apparently because he stopped at a group of people to talk so we came down to him. Ben ran to him and hugged him while jumping on him. When it was time to go I told him to get his shoes on. He continued to run crazy so I asked Josh to just carry him to the car. He carried Ben who wailed the whole way to the car that he wanted Mommy to carry him. It was 76 degreees today so it wasn't freezing or anything, I just didn't want him to walk across the dark parking lot in bare feet and I can't carry him because he's too heavy for my back. If he'd put on his shoes when asked he could have walked with me. By this time Ben was well beyond reason and ran away from the car when I got in and said we were leaving while he threw his fit. Luckily, Brookly was still out of the car and caught him. We got him in the car but the fun was not over yet:) He climbed to the very back of the suburban and when I opened the back he jumped over the seat to the middle. I finally outsmarted him in this when he was climbing and didn't see me sneak back to the front to grab him. So now he is screaming and I'm in the middle of the car trying to buckle him, assuring him we will go back to the baby carseat and no booster if he doesn't stay buckled. He unbuckled and got a swat. I had Josh hop out and child lock the door so he couldn't open it on the way home and Brookly hold the seatbelt to stop him from unbuckling. So 10 minutes later we haven't left the parking lot, He was still screaming and began to say that when we get home he's moving out. I am truly the meanest Mom, you know. We are all mean to Ben. We asked him where he was moving to and he said outside our house by the side. OK, not too far away, tonight I could let him... I sent Dallin for ice cream, ah the joy of another driver, and Ben didn't get any when we got home. He protested he would starve and was hungry so I gave him oatmeal while we had ice cream. A pretty good compromise I decided so he wouldn't scream any more. Jarom fell into bed when we got home before ice cream. Poor kid, he was just exhausted. These late nights are killing us. School tomorrow and then Jon Schmidt concert until 10pm. Stay tuned for another Ben adventure I'm sure. I will restock on treats in my purse.

After the Ben fiasco the kids went to bed pretty good. I kept Dallin up to have a heart to heart talk about his recent poor grades and deceit. We called Wes and talked for a while but he had to get back to his Final paper. Dallin left saying that was the first time he'd talked to Dad all week. This is why it's so difficult when he's gone. Wow, it's been quite the day. Josh is still up doing a book report project. It's 11:24pm and tomorrow is grocery day. Do I dare brave it with Ben?

So I did another load of laundry, locked the house and checked the kids. It's 11:55pm and Josh is still up. I brushed my teeth and realized no one told me I still had stroganoff in my teeth from dinner. Went to all the concerts that way...