And Jodie said, "You need to spend this time with your family. Don't waste this time with your family. You should be with your family on this motor home trip.", she told me.
Like I said in my last post, Fred never wasted a minute he could have spent with his family and I can only hope that Greg and I will always live up to his example. My heart is so heavy for Jodie.
On Saturday morning, we were at the school at 7:30 in the morning for Family Fitness Day.
Austin won first place in the 2nd grade race. Not because he ran with anyone in his family, though. All of the kids made it clear they weren't running with me and Greg couldn't run because of his shoulder.
"You're lucky you have a mom!", I told my ungrateful children.
"I am, Mom. But you are really slow and you stink.", Amanda told me.
So the kids ran with everyone but their parents. Austin ran with the principal and won. Gregory ran with the principal and got third place in 3rd grade.
He only got third place because the principal was tired by then and we also have to compete in third grade with the other parents I refer to as The Draggers, who will do whatever it takes, including dragging bloody-kneed children over the finish line.
I secretly laughed when one of The Draggers, who beat Gregory in the Third Grade Race, blew his hamstring out in the Fourth Grade race. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.
Unlike most years, we didn't have the ambulance out to get any parents, so it was a total success.
We had children in and out all day Saturday, and my Newest Son, who is literally at my house every second of every day, stayed until late Saturday night, playing Zombies in the backyard until bedtime. It used to bother Greg that he was at our house every minute, mostly because Greg doesn't want to feed anyone who doesn't share his DNA, but he seems to have finally warmed up to the fact we have five children now. Our Newest Son went with us to the kids' basketball game Friday night. He went with us to Family Fitness Day. He ate dinner with us Saturday night.
On Sunday, we had the pleasure of spending the afternoon at Jerry's parent's 50th wedding anniversary surprise party.
Jerry's sister did such a great job decorating for the Golden anniversary.
Amanda nearly swooned with all that candy in one place.
It was so nice to have some happiness in Jerry's parent's house and be together to celebrate, rather than mourn.
From there, we headed downtown to the Smith Center for the Zion's Youth Symphony. Austin's bestfriend's family invited us.
I actually had to force Greg to go against his will.
We were halfway through the performance before Greg figured out that he wasn't Mormon.
I have never been to the Smith Center and they seated us in the Gallery, which is the scariest thing ever if you afraid of heights. I was literally clutching my chair for the first 20 minutes and when the kids ran to the edge, I had a panic attack.
I'm talking a full blown major panic attack where I felt like I was falling. I cannot explain the feeling of complete fear when you have a true phobia, but heights are it for me. The entire performance, this child in front of us was leaning over the railing, clearly going to die in front of my eyes, and my spidey senses were on full alert.
I literally almost evaporated into a pool of sweat.
I did not go out on the balcony with these daredevils.
After the symphony, we went to dinner at a Chinese Buffet. Not because Greg's mother and I wanted to do that, but because that's where Greg and the children wanted to go and Barb and I will sacrifice our intestines for the good of the family. Barb and I think buffets are gross.
When we walked in, the hostess asked how old the children were because 4-10 ate for a reduced price.
"They are 9, 9, 9, and 7.", I told her.
"NO! How old are they?", she scolded me.
"They're 9,9,9, and 7!"
"What?", she asked.
"They're TRIPLETS!", I said.
She didn't believe me. I have the most unmatching triplets in triplet history. Next time I'm going to bring my Newest Son and tell her I've got quintuplets.
you're going to have to start carrying around copies of their birth certificates, and then when they turn 10, you can photoshop back their age by a year so they can still eat free. :-) just kidding...sorta. LOL
ReplyDelete-Erika
Don't be giving Greg any ideas! *lol*
DeleteLove the new picture!
ReplyDeleteMy boys are three years apart and people ask me if they are twins. Ummmm.....no!! Love your new picture!!
ReplyDeleteI have acrophobia, too, and the terrible part is, you feel something like a magnetic pull, dragging you over the edge! It makes me wonder if I'm secretly suicidal, good grief. I can't even stand those glass elevators. One of my brothers has the same phobia and once had to crawl hands and knees off a bridge. They have proven there's a gene for it, but darned if I can figure out which one of your four might have gotten it. I stayed in the car at Grand Canyon, while Himself took the kids out on a ledge, oMG! Something like 15 people a year fall in that thing.
ReplyDeleteAs for your unbelievable triplets, why don't you print out that "happy babies" photo of your three and carry it with you? That should work.
I was physically ill at the Grand Canyon. Literally.
DeleteI would fight you for most unmatched triplets crown, but that's partly because a girl who won't be named but whose first initial is G gets a surly mad face whenever anyone even suggests she looks like her sister.
ReplyDeleteE used to be a head taller than either of her siblings but she's slowed way down and G's on a growth tear and now they're almost the same height. I didn't even notice until I was looking through photos and then, WHOA. Puberty is bizarre.