Sunday Christmas Program

Do you remember the Sunday before Christmas the ward puts on a great Christmas program?  Our ward has always put on amazing programs.  We have an incredible ward and we have just loved it completely.  Lance sings in our ward choir and he had a solo for O Holy Night and I was to sit with the our kiddos down in the pews.  I thought I had it all under control.  Sunday has always been a hectic day for our family.  We have three very busy boys who find it hard sometimes to sit still for long periods of time.  Today was so acception.  Once the choir sang their first song they were asked to remain seated up on the stand until the program was over. They sang three different songs total so it was obvious they were going to be up there.
We did pretty well for the first 10-15 minutes.  I gave each of my boys some paper and a pencil to draw with.  They were content for a short time.  Then Owen started to get alittle restless.  He wanted to get out and wander around and I kept telling him he couldn't because we were in sacrament. Well being the 20 month old he is, he didn't understand a single word of it nor did he care because he was going to have his way.  Well he started to get loud and really fussy.  So I told all the boys to follow me into the hallway.  Once we were out there they started to run and play with our good friends who were out in the hall. Same situation as ours, dads are in the choir.

Keaton starts to tell me that he needs to go to the restroom.  He was pretty sure he could go into the men's restroom by himself so I let him go in.  I sat on the couch in the foyer and waited for him to come out. Well it took awhile and I finally hear my name being whispered from down the hall.  There was Keaton standing naked with his underwear and pants around his ankles.  Are you serious? He was asking if I could come in and find him some toliet paper.  I couldn't believe that my 5 year old would come out naked to ask me that. So I hurried him into the women's restroom next door so I could help him out.  While I was helping him my friend kept an eye on Andrew out in the foyer.  After our fiasco in the restroom we got all cleaned up and we went out to find Andrew and he was in the little area between the door from the outside and the inside screaming and running around.  I was already livid with frustration. I went in and tried to get him to quite down and then Owen and Keaton joined in.  We were out of control today.  I have never had a Sunday like this and it seemed like forever.  Wanna know why? Because our Christmas program went 25 minutes over.  That is why it felt like forever.  I am glad that Lance got to enjoy the program.  I will have to get the details from him later on.
It doesn't stop there.  So after sacrament we take all our kiddos to their classes.  Keaton and Andrew go to their classes just fine.  It is Owen who is having a tough time adjusting to the nursery.  For some reason all of our children have had a really hard time getting used to that.  After about 15 minutes of being in the nursery I hear Owen screaming in the hallway. So after filling in as a substitute I go out into the hall and find Owen and take him to Relief Society with me to see if he will calm down. I guess another boy in the nursery socked him in the face pretty hard so that set him off.  Relief Society was a no go either. There was a big bowl of chocolate candies for the lesson on the table up front and he was bound and determined to get some.  So I had to take him out into the hall because he was too loud.  They only place that seems to make him happy is the gym and running and playing on the stage and steps. So that is where we went. I just needed him to be quite.  I sat down on a chair feeling very exhausted.  A sweet sister in our ward came in and chatted with me.  By the way, thanks Carol for coming to talk. It was really nice catching up with you.
So church ends and we are scheduled for tithing settlement 40 minutes after.  What is the use going all the way back home just to turn right back around and come back. So we hung out in the church.  They were restless and wired.  Our sweet bishop let them each pick their favorite treat out of his candy bucket in his office and they all choose M&M's and Owen spit them out everywhere leaving trails of chocolate mess everywhere.
We end up at my parents house after all is said and done.  Time to relax.  Kind of.  At least we were out of the church.  Owen didn't have a nap at all and fell fast asleep at 6 p.m. tonight. It was really nice. Let's just cross our fingers that he sleeps all night long.  Keaton is pretty stuffed up. He can't breathe very well and has a constant runny nose. Poor guy.  Hopefully he will sleep better tonight with a humidifier.  Andrew thankfully has caught nothing yet.  He has a birthday coming up this week.
All the children are nestled in their beds and fast asleep. Now why can't I do the same thing?