Oh You Know, Just Your Basic INSANE CRAZY Weekend..

....but that doesn't mean it wasn't wonderful.

Isn't it just lovely how sometimes our loads and schedules are busy but manageable with even an occasional breather here and there.  Then we take a moment to look at the calendar and realize that approximately five high stress, large scale and demanding events are coming up...all within about a 36 hour time frame.  And suddenly you need blood pressure medication. Maybe that only happens to me. All the time, it seems.

This weekend was one of those. Of course we had a soccer game and the usual business, but it was also the school Halloween Carnival on Friday night, for which I was the volunteer coordinator, plus my brother and his family came into to town to enjoy the weekend with us. I taught a Relief Society lesson on Sunday that I tried hard to prepare before the storm hit but didn't quite make it. Also there was this little thing...Stomper's birthday, complete with a large party on Saturday for a giant flock of boys followed by a small party the next day for just the family.  My goodness it was quite a weekend.  And yet, miraculously...it all worked out beautifully.  Even Peter and Sheri commented on how nicely everything flowed and how little fighting there was between my kids - a veritable miracle!

The carnival was ....not horrendous.  And the birthday party....also not horrendous!  I guess I have low expectations when encountering birthday parties and carnivals, go figure. There were a few rough spots during the carnival but over all it seemed to go well and I even scheduled a volunteer to take over for me half way through so I could go spend some time with my family instead of relying on Peter and Sheri to take my kids the whole night long.

Cousin Siena as Sally - Sheri made the most fabulous dress for her!

Princess Bundle - Bitty wasn't around for the photo shoot because she went early to the carnival with me. You'll just have to wait to see her as Bellatrix LeStrange.

Captain America! Like the shield?  We made it out of a $.75 pizza tin from the D.I. Oh yeah, and  15 bucks worth of spray paint.

 As far as Stomper's birthday party goes, it was very hard to write up a guest list without overwhelming ourselves.  Stomper has so many adorable friends and it did end up being a pretty huge group.  He had a tough time figuring out what he wanted to do with his big day and we ended up having both a bowling party as well as pizza and a late-over movie at our house.  I totally recommend going bowling at the UofU Union Building - it is so cheap and the kids really had a good time!  Of course, it hurt my back just watching those boys hurl their balls lopsidedly down the lanes, but probably not as much as it hurt the floors. I don't know how they hold up to birthday gangs of 10-year-old boys.

I knew all those boys wouldn't spend a whole lot of time actually sitting and watching a show at our housewhen there were birthday presents and kids and excitement all over the place, even when it was THE Avengers.  (Love those guys.).  But I was surprised that we really didn't have any major meltdowns or wrestling injuries or crying kids. It was exhausting but better than I ever hoped for.

A somewhat sad but very delicious attempt at a bowling ball cake with bowling pin cupcakes

We tried to maintain a strict no-wrestling policy but it wasn't easy

So, there you go.  We made it through one dang long weekend.  I guess I didn't really include pictures of me teaching my church lesson or of the four little girls playing super happily together while they unloaded plastic toys off the shelves by the dozens, so this entry isn't really complete. But I'm gonna call it good.