Craziness.

Every mom experiences it.  I don't know if our situation is unique...it's probably not, but it felt pretty crazy to me. 
I should start by referring back to the post about Lily's dance recital and her sickness afterward.  It made its way through our family over the next week or so.  Each of the kids had it to varying degrees -- and I did, too.  (And since I'm the one blogging this, you're getting my story).
Wednesday the 25th (of May), I woke up feeling nauseated and it went downhill from there.  Amidst the digestive issues, I had the crazy fatigue that Lily had had.  I found that I just sort of crash landed wherever my body gave out and slept for extended periods of time.
The kids did pretty well in the midst of it.  I got Chloe off to school somehow and Lily, Brigham, and Cannon just made messes around the house whilst entertaining themselves -- I slept from 9 till 11:30.
Lily made sandwiches (Heaven bless that young lady) and then I got her off to school, promising her I'd be at her Kindergarten program right after I was done with Brigham's Preschool graduation.  Right after we got her off to school, I dragged myself, Brigham and Cannon over to preschool for Brigham's program.  I was laying on the grass in a state of semi-consciousness when it dawned on me that there were no chairs set up and no parents around. I knew I wasn't early, so I wondered what was up.  Traci came around the back of the house and asked me what I was doing there.  Turns out I was 24 hours early for the graduation...and Brigham was REALLY overdressed for their Water Day.  We laughed and got him back to the house where he grabbed his swimsuit and we got him back over.  I didn't even sunscreen the poor kid.  Walking back from preschool, I planned to call Lily's class to ask her to tell Lily that I had the wrong date for her program.  I dropped on the front lawn and fell asleep instead...Cannon somehow entertained himself and even got the phone for me...it was a call from Mrs. Ashcroft, Lily's teacher.  Her exact words were, "Julie, this is Pat...Lily is here trying to convince me that our program is today.  It's tomorrow."  Yes, Teach, I know...and I'm sorry!! 
I ended up sleeping on that exact spot of lawn until 5:30 pm.  I vaguely remember the kids coming home from school and even maybe a friend or two being there?  At 5:30 I went inside to survey the damage of a day without any parental supervision.  The house was messy, but we got it a little under control.  After 20 minutes of being up, I was dead again and ended up laying on the couch with Chloe who was starting to feel the same way.  Stanton got home from work about 6 and rounded up some dinner for everyone.  I went into my room right around 6 and turned on the finale of American Idol.  I remember seeing like 2 songs and then waking up right as Scotty was announced as the winner.  I fell asleep again in the middle of his song and slept until 4:30 am when I suddenly woke up feeling fantastic.  It was the weirdest thing.  I went back to sleep and slept until about 7 the next morning.  I figure I slept about 16 hours (almost consecutively), but it seems to have done the trick.  With just a small dose of ibuprofen I was ready to hit the busy day ahead. 
Thank goodness, too, because I didn't just have the unexpected preschool and Kindergarten programs, but Chloe's first grade program as well....all within 1 1/2 hours of each other!  We got Chloe and Lily off to school and Cannon and I went to Brigham's graduation...his REAL graduation.  :)  He did SO well.  Brig isn't particularly musical, which is concerning and entertaining all at once.  I was, however, VERY pleasantly surprised to see his enthusiasm and great stage presence during the songs in the program!  He knew the words as long as the music was playing alongside them and he was really engaging with all the actions.  It was so fun to see.

 His whole class all together.

 Some of Brigham's favorite songs:  Slippery Fish, I Wanna Be a Dog, Searching for Dracula, and Late Last Night While You Were Asleep.

Receiving his diploma.  That's one of his teachers, Miss Traci, next to him.  They really like each other...we are so lucky to have such incredible people influencing our children's lives.


Right after Brigham's program was over, I ran the boys home where Deyette, Stanton's accounts manager and one of our favorite sitters for vacations,  was waiting to help me out.  I figured I could get to the girls' programs more quickly (and maybe enjoy them, too?) without the boys, so she tended while I ran over to the elementary school for Lily's Kindergarten program. 
She was so cute, as usual.  Animated, every song perfectly memorized, just a cutie.

I can't remember the other songs I took pictures of, but my favorite is the Peacemakers Talk About It -- and I love her "fight" stance.


I left her program a few minutes early to get to Chloe's classroom where they were giving us a "Reading Rainbow" program.  Chloe gave her (self-written) review of "The Napping House."  She was so terrific!!  Great enthusiasm and inflection and she remembered every word without a problem.

 After each child gave their book review, they did a cute little poem called "The Lady with the Alligator Purse."  Chloe was the nurse and got to say, "Measles" and "Castor Oil."  She was really cute and full of life. 
The last thing they did was "Miss Mary Mack," a little hand clap rhyme.  Her teacher has been so great with her.  It was really fun to see her perform with such confidence during this program.
Stanton was actually able to slide in for the last little bit of her program, which made her really excited.

It was SO fun to see everyone back to back to back in their school element.  I love these little people so much.
So, Stanton, Lily, and I headed home (Chloe opted to finish out the day with her teacher) where Deyette was playing with the boys and her little baby, Daxton.  I so appreciated her being willing to come help us out.  It made the girls' programs so much more enjoyable.

After we got home, I frantically packed my bag and headed to Park City where I joined Stanton's mom and dad and Jim, Rachel, Shelbi, and Mary.  We had dinner and stayed at a condo.  The next day we started our annual sisters shopping trip (over Memorial Day weekend every year).  Emily and Ann joined us at the outlets by 10:00 and we spent the whole day shopping.  It is so fun every year.  I found some really fun treasures, not the least of which was the kids' clothes for the summer.  That's always a relief.
We headed home on Saturday afternoon and thus ended a pretty insane 4 days!