Lake Powell & Chores

The girls are in Lake Powell this week. None of them have their phones but the leaders have phones to document the fun. Lily out on the boat today with the yellow life jacket, her friend using her dad's phone in this pic. I also see from this photo that Lily took my sunglasses without permission, tsk tsk.

I'm glad she took them off when she got in the water. Lily ready to try surfing!

Yesterday I looked at what the weather forecast in Lake Powell would be, and in Page it was gonna e in the high 90s everyday. I took one pic after dropping them off at the church yesterday morning at 6am. 

Yesterday I had to get up at 4 am to shape and bake bread for them to have in their lunches on the way down. I made the dough early enough, I thought, that I would be able to bake it Monday night, but then the dough didn't rise fast enough so I had to get up early to make it for them. Turned me into a bit of a zombie, but after they left, I was able to take a nap while the boys kept sleeping. Corey went to the temple but I didn't make it, I'll have to go another day this week. Other than the lunch meal that they were in charge of for themselves yesterday, the ward is taking care of all the food. That is no small task I'm sure! 3 meals a day for 70+ people!! Wow

I'm sure they're going to have a great time and that it will be good for them to get out and recreate and also have a slight detox from their phones for a few days. Lily will be coming back early (tomorrow) cause that's when she could get a ride and she needs to be back to take the ACT on Saturday morning. 

So the house has been much more quiet with all the girls gone. It's also been quite a bit cleaner. We're starting to wonder if it's actually the teenagers that make all the messes, not the little kids!

The little kids were good helpers yesterday, I didn't make them do much today cause the house is pretty much clean. I need to make the lanyard cards for deep cleaning stuff. Daniel yesterday, very excited for his chores (I let them watch Gravity Falls when I went to execise/swimming).

After I got back, we got back to work. Peter worked hard wiping the panels under the island but he was most excited about scrubbing under the island counter, which has never been cleaned and where kids have wiped their sticky gooey fingers for the past 15 years. Yesterday we just did the edges. We'll do that clean project a little bit at a time.

Edmund has been a great helpers, deep cleaning the dining table and sweeping and mopping under the table. 

Katharine has been a cute helper too. Yesterday I had her get of the pencil and marker scribbles that she put all over the coat closet. She has been a good worker for a 4 year old. 

Doesn't entirely finish the job, but she tries, which is enough to get me going and I finished this. Peter got sad cause his lanyard was too long around his neck and got in his water bucket, then the water made the writing on the card bleed and he wasn't able to read it anymore, so he didn't know what to do. I helped him out by wrapping it twice around his neck, and told him not to choke, and I said to just keep doing what you're doing, don't worry about reading the card, I'll fix it later. He looks a little defeated.

They were rewarded yesterday with permission to go play in the neighbor's pool this evening.

So we've just been cleaning and they've been playing wit friends. I was able to sneak away for a quick ride to the ruins tonight. Yesterday my exercise was housecleaning, which was ok, I broke a sweat and I'm sure got in a lot of steps. Almost time to call it a day. I'm in here blogging, and Corey is telling our Katharine a bedtime story. She's so cute. 

He was telling her the Three Little Pigs and then Little Red Riding Hood, and her eyes got real big when Corey told her that the wolf swallowed the grandma! Then she was a little worried when he ate Red Riding Hood too! How will it end??!

Those ones were a bit intense. My turn, I told her the Ugly Duckling and it made her tear up when the ducks weren't nice to the ugly duckling, she's a sensitive soul. I love these kids. I miss the girls cause it's a little trickier getting a break or some free time, but it's good. I thought that this week I could just pretend I'm a mother of 5 young children, 4 boys and one girl, and I waited to have my children until I was 38. :)