Palmer Break, take 2

Jeremy's Daycare Service
2 weeks (ish) ago, we ended up with an extra little boy for 2 days (his mom was busy producing a little sister for him!), plus that Saturday we offered to watch another friend of Reilly's for the morning while her parents went to the temple, then meet them in Nauvoo with all the kids. I wasn't feeling too hot that day, so Jeremy ended up taking care of all 4 kids (3 and under) all morning, and then driving to Nauvoo with the older 3. (I kept Jaina so she could get a good nap in). He's pretty much amazing, and the kids had a blast! :)

Halloween!

The 30th was Davenport's "trick-or-treat" night, so we dressed the kids up and did about 8 houses. It was FREEZING! They thought it was cool though, and were quite excited about the candy. After 8 we threw in the towel and grabbed some late dinner at the mall...

On actual Halloween night we went to our ward's trunk-or-treat, and had a lot of fun again. Again, it was super cold though, and I was afraid we were going to lose a finger or two to frostbite... The kids were troopers and collected a lot of candy! (thankfully, I gave at least half of it away the next day during Singing Time) Here are pics of us at the Trunk-or-Treat, and with Reilly and Jaina's favorite friends, Chad and Jamie, hanging out at our "trunk."

Troublemakers

I mentioned that our kids had been making a lot of messes lately. One of the more exciting ones involved sidewalk chalk. One evening they found it under the sink (thanks, Aunt Sophie... ;-) and decorated all of our kitchen chairs. I was at a meeting or something, and Jeremy discovered the chalk-escapade when they came into the living room and started writing on his back. Sidewalk chalk doesn't come out of cream-colored fake microsuede (or whatever it is). Jeremy was very upset at them and told them all about it while they sat in time out and watched him attempt to clean it.

It obviously didn't make enough of an impact though, because the next day they found it again (from wherever he had stashed it) and proceeded to color all over our couches, toys, and chair in the living room. They did it all in 5-10 minutes, because that's how long they were alone down there before I came to check on them.

I was extremely angry, especially since they had just gotten in trouble for the same thing the night before, and because I was afraid it wouldn't come off any better than it did in the kitchen. Luckily for them, between the texture and the color of the upholstery, it came off much better, and there isn't really any sign of it. Here are the culprits in time-out as I cleaned.

I was smelling carpet cleaner when I sat down in there for DAYS, and I keep finding surfaces I missed (but they didn't), like the back of the couch next to the wall, for instance...

Jaina has also recently discovered the magical powers of stools (which we have in both bathrooms, to make it easier for Reilly). She's been using them to access all sorts of places that she couldn't before, and Reilly is only too happy to join in if she finds something that makes a mess...

Picture Time

We still love them, of course, and they made sure our break was anything but boring. Here are some pictures we took the Sunday before last, when we were actually ready before we had to rush out the door to be on time. They are getting so big!