Conversations in My Head: Braces, Temple Trips, Ouchies, and Plays!

The big day for Camille finally arrived! She went from this:

To this:

Yup, she got braces!!! She's actually had upper and lower expanders for quite a while now, and had been waiting on pins and needles until the big day when they'd put the braces on, too. I kept telling her that it wouldn't be a surprise, that we'd need a longer appointment, not just the five-minute check-ins we've been doing every 6 weeks. But I don't think she really believed me. So finally she got so desperate she was actually praying that they would decide it was time. And she was so happy when the orthodontist said she'd get her braces at her next appointment! I've never seen someone so excited for such a thing! Anyway, she's been handling the pain like a champ and is very proud of her braces. (And for those of you keeping track, that's 4 out of 5 kids with braces so far-- I'll be glad when we're finally done paying for that!!!)

That same evening (after much planning and rescheduling), Wendy and I took Kendra and McKinley to the temple! Oddly enough, the day we could finally go was a Tuesday night, because our normal youth group activities were canceled so they could all go to the temple on Friday! This landed on the same week that I was teaching seminary AND working extra hours to fill in for Corinne while she was on vacation. So having a late night was kind of a lot for me. But that didn't stop us from getting ice cream afterwards!

While we were at the temple, Craig somehow got roped into helping out with the Elder's Quorum service project (since the youth activities were canceled, they figured any youth who were bored could come and help? I guess?)-- and then hardly any of the EQ people even showed up, so it was mostly Craig and our kids and a couple other families doing all the work. {Sigh.} But it was nice that they could be stacking firewood and helping people get ready for winter. Unfortunately, Camille got a tiny sliver of wood in her eye and was in so much pain she couldn't sleep that night and we had to take her to the doctor first thing the next morning (when I needed to get to work and Craig was teaching seminary that morning for me, but I was still supposed to be there as the second adult) and it was all extremely busy. So. Busy. Craig ended up working from home while Camille mostly sat around with warm washcloths on her eye so I could go to work. (<--- This is the thing I need to remember if I ever get it into my head that I should be working full time!!!)

The good news is that her eye is fine. But I think she was in more pain from that than from the braces!

And then on Thursday of that week, we headed over to Staunton and got to watch the dress rehearsal for Sarah's Harry Potter-adjacent dinner theater that she wrote and directed for the Mischief and Magic Festival (which was a Harry Potter Festival until they got in trouble for copyright issues). Apparently I didn't take any pictures, but it was super fun to see and I was very impressed with all the work Sarah and her actors put into the show! (Ironically, we'd been planning on watching Deathly Hallows that night since Camille just finished reading the book, and had to postpone for a different Harry Potter activity! So much magic!!!)

Part of the reason we were okay with a late night on Thursday was because there was no school on Friday (I still had to go to work, but at least I didn't need to teach seminary!) and in the evening Camille and I stayed home while Craig took a van full of youth to the temple:

Gideon, Cedric, Ryder, Sawyer, Daniel, Jason, Kendra, Marianne, Colton, Jayden, Alex, and in front, Truman and Topher

Also that Friday, Emmett officially asked Kendra to homecoming. He'd actually already asked if she would be around and willing to go with him since there was talk of us traveling that weekend. But then he also asked if she wanted an official invite with the poster and all the stuff and she'd said Yes, so he very sweetly complied! Apparently this is called a "HoCoProPo"-- HomeComing Proposal Poster?

They'd been taking turns stealing each other's windshield wipers-- so the poster is decorated with extra wipers! How cute are they?

I really enjoyed myself the next week not having to teach or go to work! I got a little solo hike in at the new Biscuit Run Park near my house!

I live in such a pretty place!

And I ended up going to Staunton again, this time to see Two Gentlemen of Verona at Blackfriars with Sarah! She'd gotten free tickets from the library (is this a thing???) and we had so much fun! It's not my favorite play, but the actors did such a great job with it (and getting Tex Mex beforehand was pretty fun, too)!

Unfortunately, I missed dinner and ice cream with Craig's parents to celebrate Tom's birthday. There just isn't time for everything!!! Apparently the Boo Batter was a popular choice-- and it made Ryder look like a Goth!!!

Oh, dear...

(Later on, everyone was troubled to learn that this ice cream turned their poo blue?!?! Is that okay? Maybe I'm glad I missed out after all...!)

And then it was General Conference weekend, and Craig and I were so happy to not have ANY OTHER PLANS. We stayed home watching all the sessions, and making lots of yummy food, the way God intended Conference weekend to be! Kendra and Ryder had a band competition at JMU for most of Saturday and had a good time. One of these days we'll convince Ryder to wear sunscreen at these things...

Also that same weekend, Camille was kicking her stuffed animals down the stairs and accidentally dragged the top of her big toe across the steps-- there was a loud pop, and we figured she had broken it. Kind of a rough month for Camille, now that I'm typing it all up! She was supposed to go to a birthday party Saturday afternoon, but as soon as we walked into the house she burst into tears because her toe was hurting too much, so I just took her right back home. Poor girl!