The rest of the trip

I figured I should post and say we got home okay on Monday evening. I'm so glad that we got to spend a week with my family, it was really great. Let's see, on my last post I left off with Friday evening, so I'll hop on with Saturday. We went back to Grandma and Grandpa's house for the second half of the reunion. I ate way too much again, heehee, but this time it was lighter fare like fruit for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch, so I didn't feel as full and kinda sick as I did from overeating on Friday. I haven't weighed myself yet, but I'm sure that I've more than made up for having only gained 1 1/2 pounds in the three months previous to this little visit...

We had a big FHE on Saturday night to finish off the reunion. The activity after the lesson was Family Bingo - my aunt and cousin had put together cards with pictures of all the family members. Then my aunt read off the names of family members one at a time, and we marked them on our cards with elbow macaroni noodles (I think that's the most creative Bingo marker I've ever used). The prizes were these really cute painted wooden magnets, in the shape of butterflies, palm trees, school buses, little kids, all sorts of cute random things. Since there weren't enough cards for everyone, we were put in groups. I was partnered with Owen, and he graciously let me choose and keep a magnet as prize when we got a bingo - I picked a butterfly. When Jeff and Thomas' team got a bingo, Thomas chose a school bus, which Jeff gave to Zaylee to play with; she is fascinated with school buses and had a blast playing with that little magnet!

Sunday was Owen's homecoming talk in church. Janelle and Marie had decided to sing a song together and asked me a couple weeks ago if I would accompany them. When Owen got home, he asked if he could participate too. So the three of them sang while I played. I'm glad that we practiced the song several times before performing it in church - I got all the tears out during practice and didn't end up sobbing while playing in the middle of church! The first time we practiced when Owen started singing his verse we had to stop altogether, because I started crying, then we all started laughing because we were crying - it was so emotional and spiritual to hear him singing about doing the Father's will. So anyway, yay for practicing because all of us made it through the song without getting too misty-eyed.

After church we had a big family get-together at Mom and Dad's house and had barbecue beef sandwiches. Several family members who were in town for the reunion were able to come to hear Owen speak, and stuck around to be fed and to hang out with all of us afterward. Lots of people running around, but it was fun.

Monday morning we got all packed up and hit the road, after lots of hugs and goodbyes. Then it was six hours of sitting in the car wishing that I wasn't going home - after a week in that large, clean house it was hard to come back to a tiny, messy, cluttered apartment. But I was motivated to clean up the kids' room on Monday evening. The room they slept in at Mom's house was empty except for the pack-n-play and the mattress for Zaylee, then the suitcase and whatnot in the corner. It was so clear and nice! So I dug in and cleaned up all the piles of junk all over the kids' floor. Now all the clothes, books, toys, blankets, and random bits of everything are all put away and the room looks great! And I've actually been able to help the kids keep it that way all day! Now I just need to force that cleaning motivation to stay just long enough to fix up the living room... and the kitchen... and our bedroom... and the bathroom... and oh dear, I think I feel the motivation slipping away as I think about all the other messes that have to be cleaned up to get the apartment looking and feeling half as nice as Mom's house. Phooey.

I mentioned in my last post that I bought a vintage maternity pattern at the thrift store, and was excited to make a dress. Well, today when we went shopping I bought some fabric and I spent the afternoon and evening making this dress. Then I went to try it on and realized that I had made a cross between a hospital gown and a tent. Sigh. I guess it really is true that maternity clothes have come a long way since this pattern was made. Now they're made to hug and accentuate the feminine curves of the pregnant body, instead of completely hiding them in billows of extra fabric. Well, at least I can use it as a nightgown or something. And maybe by the time I'm nine months pregnant I'll actually wear it outside of the house - by that time I might not care so much what it looks like as long as it's comfortable.

I still haven't uploaded any pics from my camera. But as soon as I do I'll do a picture post with all the pictures from last week. I'll also make sure to post a picture of my new "dress" for everyone to laugh at. Seriously, it really does look exactly like a hospital gown.