Count Down to Match Day!

So, this week started out pretty busy (and kind of stressful), and ended up really nice. As I mentioned in my earlier post this week, we had to deal with all the financing for getting the new van and we are still trying to tie up things with the insurance company, but we are glad to be in a new van that works well (what a relief to have a car that doesn’t die when we stop at a red light and doesn’t need to be jumped if we leave the doors open (and the lights stay on) long enough to take the groceries into the house). After we got everything worked out with the van, got the house all cleaned up, and got past a few different days of a few of our kids being sick, it turned out to be a pretty good week.

The Egberts came over for dinner last Sunday night, which was fun to get to know them a little better. And I also had fun because we decided to get out the nice tablecloth and the china for dinner (we haven’t used the china for a while, but because Camden is in a high chair and Kolby and Eli are old enough now, and the Egberts’ kids are old enough too, so there weren’t any small babies to pull the dishes on the floor and break them). On Thanksgiving we set the table with the china and nice tablecloth too, and when the boys saw me get them out, they insisted that I get out the fancy candlestick I used at Thanksgiving too, so that was pretty cute. And our kids played great with the Londyn and Dyllin Egbert when they came over too. I think Kolby has a little crush on their daughter, Londyn. Londyn goes to Kolby’s gym class at the YMCA on Wednesdays, and this week I went to pick Kolby and Eli up from class and Kolby ran up to me and the first thing he said was, “Mommy, Londyn’s here!”

On Monday the boys missed preschool because Kolby woke up early in the morning throwing up (some kid at church the day before must have had a little bug or something). I wanted to stay inside that day, especially with Kolby having been sick in the night, but we had a WIC appointment that afternoon (the WIC office is only open two days a month, plus Kolby was acting totally fine during the day). So we went, and it’s probably a good thing that we got that done. And then we went over to the car place and emptied all of our possessions out of our old van. And then Michael was on call that night, but call hasn’t been bad this month at all so far. He is on call overnight, but this is one of the rare months in medical school that he is on home call, so they just call him in if they need him (which is what I assumed that ‘on call’ meant when we came into medical school, not the usual staying at the hospital overnight). Anyways, he hasn’t been called in yet, which has been really nice for us.

On Tuesday Michael got a little time off work in the day between surgeries and we went and signed the loan papers at the bank and then that night when he got home we went and picked up the van. It was great, except the radio needed to be fixed so we took it home without a radio while the dealer ordered a new one. Then that night Kolby and I had our night out, and we decided to go to the mall. I let Kolby pick what he wanted for dinner, and he got a burrito and a treat from Taco Bell (and I got to have Chinese food, which sounds much better to me than Taco Bell anytime). Then we went over to Barnes and Noble and Kolby played with the Thomas the Train set they have there in the bookstore for kids to play with. Then he picked out a few books and we sat together in one of the big comfy chairs and read them. Although it sure makes me smile when I see my little boys all getting along and playing well together or when I see one of the older ones being sweet to the baby, I have to agree with what my mom told me once: that she enjoys her each of her children individually more than all of them together. I think doing these little one-on-one nights with the kids once a week has been a really good idea so far, because we can do such simple activities with them and they still think it is the greatest thing ever to have alone time with Mommy or Daddy.

On Wednesday morning the boys had preschool and then they had swimming lessons that evening. Near the end of each session, the swim teachers hand out notes to the parents saying if the kids should take the same class again or move up a level in the next session. Kolby’s teacher said he is ready to move up, and Eli had a substitute teacher this week so we didn’t get a note for him yet. I had actually already signed the boys up to be in the same swim classes next session because it is so convenient for us to go and have them in their lessons in the same pool at the same time. The problem is that their lessons are from 6:30 to 7:00 now, and I was looking at the program for the spring session, and the class that the teacher recommended for Kolby is only during the middle of the day or right during our dinnertime. We’ll have to see what Eli’s teacher recommends and then decide if we want to change their classes for next session or not.

On Thursday I finished catching up on the housework that had gotten backed up with this busy week, even scrubbing the kitchen floor and getting everything looking nice again. Then we went over to Karissa’s house for Marcela’s baby shower. She is having a little boy, which will be so much fun. That night we had the Kearls over for games, which is always fun (although it might be nice someday to be able to afford a babysitter so that we could do things without our kids sometimes, but I do think that it’s pretty impressive that we can usually get all four of our kids and both of the Kearl’s kids down to sleep at the same time so that we can play games).

On Friday morning the boys missed preschool again because when I got Camden up in the morning I found that he had thrown up. After he got a good bath and some clean clothes he seemed just fine and didn’t act sick at all. That afternoon I made several cakes and decorated them for the young women’s fundraiser at church (and the next day I was able to ‘fix’ the frosting on two of them so they turned out better than the pictures I had posted earlier). Michael was on home call again on Friday, but didn’t have to go in, so that was nice.

Yesterday we got a lot of little things done in the morning that needed to be done. Michael went to the dealership and got the new radio put in the van, I went grocery shopping, Michael got all the laundry done, we cleaned the kitchen and picked up around the house, and I ‘fixed’ those cakes. On the way to the grocery store, I stopped at Kohls and they happened to be having a sale. I found some cute jewelry (thank you, Grandma Faun – this is what I ended up using the Christmas money for that you gave me and I had been saving up until I found something I really liked) and a shirt on sale, and I got Michael a few shirts on clearance too – I love the Tony Hawk brand of guy’s clothes at Kohls for Michael (especially when we can find them for a few dollars on the clearance rack). That night we went over to the church for our ward’s annual Chili Cook-off and the dessert auction fundraiser. It was fun to see friends at the party, and we were glad for the young women that the fundraiser seemed successful. (My cakes, by the way, did sell, even if they didn’t bring in the most money, but at least they didn’t have to return them to us because no one would bid on them). :) And after Michael came home and helped me get all the kids in bed, he was invited to go and play video games with a few guys from church. He said he wasn’t any good at the game they played, but it was nice to hang out with a few people that he hasn’t had a chance to hang out with in a while.

And today has gone pretty well so far. Michael had one of his home teaching appointments this morning and the boys are all ready to go to church. They have watched the Testaments church movie twice this morning (once in English and a second time in Spanish) while we finished getting everything ready to go. And Michael got the dinner started for tonight while I made bread. We are having corned beef for dinner (it’s my favorite way to have meat prepared).

I made my big batch of bread, and once again it didn’t rise as much as it should have. The bread tastes really good, but it only rises about as high as the edge of the bread pan and won’t go any higher than that. Last time I wrote about having trouble getting the bread to rise, several people gave me suggestions (thank you!), but many of them didn’t apply. I am using a Bosch to mix the bread, so it’s not a problem with the kneading process, and my mom just bought the yeast a few months ago, so the yeast is not too old, and she got me her favorite kind of yeast that she said doesn’t depend on the temperature of the water, so that shouldn’t be an issue either. I have tried letting the bread rise on top of the stove, on the countertop, and inside the oven at it’s lowest setting, and none has worked just right. So, I told Michael this morning that I am hoping the problem is just that our little oven cooks too hot or not hot enough, and maybe when we move we will have an oven that works better and that will resolve this issue. I would appreciate any other suggestions you have for me to try, though.

After church we are staying for choir practice because Michael is going to sing in the Easter program. Then we are having the Maases over for dinner. Marcela’s mom has come to stay with them for the next four months, and she mostly speaks Spanish, so I thought it would be nice for Michael to speak Spanish with her and make her feel welcome. Plus we haven’t been able to get together with the Maases lately, so it will be nice to talk to them again.

This week should be pretty exciting. Tomorrow morning at 11:00 Michael will get an e-mail telling him if he matched or not. Then on Thursday we will all go over to the school in the morning and sit at tables in the alumni center and wait while each student is called to the front of the room one at a time to receive an envelope telling them where they are going for residency. That is at 11 am also, and then there will be a lunch afterwards. And the Hedgecocks are being nice enough to watch our boys for us so that we can go out and celebrate by having a nice dinner out. Michael has been pretty anxious for the match the last week or so. I think he will feel a lot better after tomorrow when he knows that he did match, and is just waiting to find out where (hopefully). I have just been more impatient than nervous lately, since I am such a planner and I want to start researching for houses, school districts, moving plans, and everything else for the place where we will end up. We will be sure to let everyone know how it turns out.

Oh, and I almost forgot the biggest thing of all: Camden gets to start his first day of his nursery class at church today! He has been looking forward to this for weeks – going to the door of the nursery and watching the kids play with toys and sing songs, and then crying when he didn’t get to go in too. He will be in the same class with Eli, so that will be fun for them. I know he will just love it!