The Shields: Last Week of September and a New Goal

A friend of mine is really diligent about documenting their family's adventures every week. Since time does not seem to be slowing down for me, I also want to make this a renewed goal. Therefore, I can remember these days and weeks that seem to be zooming by at an incredible rate.

This week started off great at church. I am Primary Chorister so it was the Sunday before the program. I had the missionaries come into singing time and "catch the singing bug" again this year. The children sang so well. When they sing, they got a sticker to put on the missionaries. As you can see, the missionaries are extremely patient AND the kids loved it!

Bless our missionaries!

Laila now loves getting her nails painted. I love painting her nails so it's a win win! ;) It's become a fun Sunday tradition for us.

On Monday and Tuesdays I babysit for my friend. So we have two babies (7 and 8 months old) and two 3 year olds and a kindergartener joins us after school. It's a lot of fun. Laila and Harrison LOVE having friends over. I love seeing them play together. Doesn't it look like I have two set of twins? Haha!

^The sound of these girls clomping around in my shoes filled the house all morning.

So, Michael had a work trip Monday-Thursday this week. I don't sleep well without him and so I procrastinate my bed time. Monday night was no exception. I enjoyed some Netflix and texting friends and then decided that I had put it off enough and needed sleep. I triple checked that all my doors were locked and turned off the lights and headed upstairs. THANKFULLY, I turned on my phone's flashlight because on my stairs near the top was a SCORPION!!!! I do NOT do well with those creatures. I immediately became super panicked and couldn't decide what to do with it. So I went with the rubber mallet method. I don't feel like shoes squish them enough. They are tough to kill. You need something substantial! Below is photographic evidence of my endeavor to protect my children! (In my defense, I was shaking like a leaf. And I needed to make sure it was completely dead. SO the scuff marks came from me bringing the mallet up. Not me missing the scorpion!)

Blah! I hate them!

Laila has been doing preschool with two other boys in our ward on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Another mom and I switch off teaching each week and it is absolutely a blast. Laila LOVES going to school and learning her letters. She is getting really good! She can write her name (ish) and it's absolutely darling! This week was D and they made some dragons "breathe fire." I love how you can see the excitement in her eyes. She brings so much joy to our lives!

This week I had my first date with myself in a LONG time. (If I have ever had one.) I went to a book signing of my favorite blogging couple, John and Sherry Petersik. Their blog (found HERE) has inspired so many projects of ours around our house. They recently published their second book, Lovable, Livable Home so they were in Tempe to chat and sign books! I just think they are so talented, witty, and genuine! They also have stopped blogging for now so they could take a step back and have more time for their family- just super great people! Needless to say, I was pretty starstruck to get to meet them!

Thursday also marked the return of my brave scorpion slayer! We always love having him home with us. I feel pretty lucky to have this guy by my side for eternity!

Also of note this week, we had our primary program practice which was super stressful and semi-chaotic and always leaves me feeling like Sunday is going to be a big flop (which it never, ever is!) I'm just left exhausted afterwards. We also had our traditional ward fiesta. It's always great to have a reason to get together. Too bad it's still SO hot outside.

Saturday was clothes switch out day for Harrison. He's moving on to to the next size up and I can hardly believe it. Size changing is always bitter sweet. Fun to see new clothes that fit him. Sad to put away the small baby clothes. This hat was no exception. Look how little it is on him!

We were able to be productive around the house on Saturday and I was able to go to the General Women's meeting, which was very inspiring. I love that conference is right around the corner! Today was the primary program. It was absolutely amazing. The children brought the Spirit into the meeting right from the very beginning. I'm grateful to be a part of Primary so that I can listen to their sweet, powerful testimonies every week.

To top it off, Laila wanted her hair like Elsa today. So her Mom did her best with what she had. I do love playing around with Laila's hair. It's more proof that Laila is quickly leaving the toddler phase and becoming quite the darling little girl.