catching up

I've started and stopped several posts this week.  I don't know why, the time was just never right or I didn't feel like writing.  I go through times like these periodically...I kinda feel like I write about the same things over and over, but then I remember...this blog is for my family who wouldn't normally know every detail of our days, and it's a kind of online journal for my own family.  The ones who actually live under the same roof as me~the ones who I love most to write about.  I love that it's available for them to read anytime they want, and they have in the past.  I enjoy going back and reading about things I had forgotten about.

With all that being said, here's how our week has gone so far.

Monday found us at home, stuck inside.  Well, except for Graham, who was scheduled to work from 11-2 and didn't know it.  They called and twenty minutes later, he clocked in.  I came back home and didn't really do much.

I did pick up Noah's galaxy player and mess around with it.  I might have posted these on his Instagram account.  ;)  Hey, what else are you going to do when it's twelve degrees outside?!

I left a little before two and ran to Kroger to buy the ingredients to make this chicken tortilla soup:

Oh my word.  So yummy and delicious and comforting for this cold night!  If you are interested in the recipe, click here.    I left after dinner for Bible study and left the boys home watching the BCS bowl game.  Todd was out of town Monday night.

On Tuesday, our neighborhood friend Alex stayed with us because school was canceled.  Once again, everyone was stuck indoors.  I spent a ridiculous amount of time in my closet yesterday, cleaning, organizing, weeding through, rearranging...you name it, I did it in my closet yesterday.

While I was standing on a step ladder putting things away on Todd's tallest shelf, he called me and told me that he was going to have to spend one more night out of town.  I kind of had figured that out already, when the parts he needed didn't come in.  We didn't have too much time to be bummed, because right after that phone call happened, we had a little "incident".

I had five bags of shoes and clothes I was getting rid of, so the boys hauled it all out to my car for us to go and donate.  In doing that, while the trunk door was open, Graham told Drew to shut the door, and Jonah thought he meant the garage door.  So while my trunk was still open, he shut the door.  And then it was stuck.

Graham was about to have a panic attack and came running inside to tell me, and I stayed perfectly calm.  I asked him to go check if Mr. Dan across the street was home and if he was, to ask him to come help.  Thank the good Lord for wonderful neighbors!  He got the door and the trunk unstuck, but after he left we realized one of the wheels came off the track in the garage.  Our other awesome neighbor, Travis, came over and righted it again.  (I had called to ask if he could come over when he got home from work, but it turns out he was already home.  Bonus!  We were just going to leave it as is until he could get to it in a couple hours.)

Crisis averted.

All the fun stuff always happens while Dad is away.  Seriously~that is the story of my life!

After all this excitement, I decided that we wanted and needed company (aside from just us) for dinner.  So I asked my in-love's to come join us for dinner.  We had nachos and Graham and Papa started our first fire of the season.  It may be our last, because we no longer have wood to use.

So pretty.  And so cozy and inviting.  I could have sat and just looked at this view all evening, but instead, the boys, Mimi and I played this game:

If you haven't played this, you are doing yourself a huge disservice.  This is one of the most fun games I have ever played, and I laughed so hard that it made my head hurt.  You do all kinds of crazy things, for instance, in one of Mimi's turns, she drew a card that told her that for the remainder of the game, she had to talk in her "angry gnome" voice.  It was hilarious!  Graham had to play an imaginary piano every time someone threw the dice and had it land on one, and I had to wear a purple item of clothing for the entire game.

It was a really fun night, and we were so glad to have the company!  After Papa and Mimi left, the boys headed upstairs and I stayed downstairs to watch The Proposal, which is one of my favorite movies.  Graham had to come put the fire out around midnight and after that was done, we all went to sleep.

I will be very glad to see Toddley when he comes home tonight~we all will.  Today all the public school kids are back in school and we are enjoying a quiet, lazy morning.  I let them sleep in because of our late bedtime last night and I'm thinking we're going to start school tomorrow.  I have a couple projects I'm wanting to try and get done today.  I hope all of you have a wonderful day!  Love to all.