Saturday/Sunday...

I have been working a lot of Saturdays this year so my family is a little surprised when I don't have to work.

Saturday - left the house a little before 9 to take Allie to the Healeys to work and Caden to his deacon's quorum basketball tournament. I braided my hair in two braids. My goal with growing my hair out is to be able to do this hairstyle. I still have a few more inches before the braids are as long as I want them but today I wore braids in public and they held pretty well.

9:45 - left Caden's basketball game. They were playing a ward that has some very tall Tongan boys. The lost this game, won the second game and then beat the Tongan team in round 3 to go to the finals. They were beat badly by the Keller 2nd ward in the finals (this team had 5 select basketball players on it that play together a lot). Caden had a great time and was one of the top scorers on his team. He's gotten a lot  better this season just practicing at home and with Bob's team. I hope he has a good shot of making the school team next year.

10:00 Came home to get the girls while Bob took Parker to football. 

11:30-1:00 Football game. The girls drove us crazy in the stands. I think Bob and I just wanted to watch the game in peace. They lost 26-0 so it wasn't a great game either. After the game I took the girls to McDonalds for a bathroom break and their 3rd round of cheeseburgers this week. Ugh - it has not been my best week of feeding the children. 

I drop the girls off at home where Bob and Parker are practicing blocking in the backyard. I go back to the stake center to watch the last part of the basketball tournament. The boys were so tired by this point. They had played 3 games in a row. I stop at Wendy's on the way home to get Caden some lunch. 4 for $4 was a hit!

I took a nap after this. Then I got up and started getting ready for the General Women's Meeting. I was pretty worn out and almost didn't put forth the effort to go (shower, hair dry, church clothes) but I was very glad we pushed forward and went. There was a lady in my old ward with 6 kids. She would comment at RS meetings sometimes, "I don't care what we are doing tonight, I just wanted to get OUT of my house." I feel that way sometimes. 

Allie and I went to Mi Pueblo for dinner after the broadcast. We then went to Wal-Mart to do the grocery shopping for the week. (During President Erying's talk, I was jotting down my grocery list on my phone.)

We got home around 10:30, unloaded the groceries, got some things ready for Easter baskets and went to bed.

Sunday -

I really struggled this weekend emotionally. So tired and unmotivated and exhausted. We barely got to church (at 8:30) and I didn't take any pictures of anybody. The girls wore matching dresses with matching hair. We had a really wonderful music filled 90-minute sacrament meeting (Allie and Bob went early and sang in the choir) followed by 1 hour of classes (although the 90 minutes went a little long and our class time was short). 

After church I went to my room to read and rest for several hours but I had a really hard time falling asleep. Bob and Caden put the roast in the crockpot. Caden made bacon. I came out to help Allie make the resurrection rolls for lunch. After my rest, I cut a pineapple and opened a can of corn and made a salad to go with the roast. Our Easter dinner was sort of an after thought. I thought we might make beef tacos with the roast but the part of the family that really likes a good roast voted for that instead - plus it feels more like a special Easter dinner. Bob made some chocolate frosting and they ate that with graham crackers for a yummy treat. 

We read scriptures about the resurrection and got the kids to bed. 

Other happenings...

In the afternoon, I let the kids have their Easter baskets. They just had 1-2 things in there. Caden took the girls outside and did an Easter egg hunt or two for them.

Parker's friend Nolan came over for part of the day. He at resurrection rolls and watched some Easter church videos with the family. They watched Johnny Lingo (Nolan and Parker went back outside for this part) and a Thomas Monson biography.

Allie told me that she is not going to do the secular part of Easter with her kids but encouraged me to do a little something for each of them when we were in Wal-Mart. She got mascara and a bag of Werther's candy.

Allie earned enough money to pay for all of girls' camp this weekend. She was excited about that. Now she wants to earn more for other camps and clothes and other things she wants/needs.

Sage was really excited about the basket the Easter bunny brought her. She and Sydney have been playing with their new stuffed animals since they got them. 

Friday...

7:30AM - Wake up. Some of the kids are already up watching tv.

8:15AM - Finally get out of bed. iPad time while I rest. I read from an uplifting blog I stumbled upon recently called thesmallseed.com. (Their instagram feed is great too.) Bob was around until 8:30. He helped the little girls with breakfast.

9:30AM - I drove Allie to the Healey's house to help them clean baseboards. She was there working until 4PM.

Morning - I spent the morning helping the kids clean the house. Parker and I deeply cleaned his room and the upstairs bathroom. I cleaned Caden's room. We took a break to play basketball outside for a few minutes. I put clean sheets on my bed (Yes, we slept without sheets last night because Bob got in bed and fell asleep before I put them back on.) Caden and I cleaned the living room and the office. We vacuumed upstairs and downstairs. Parker was very sweet and helpful and got lunch for everyone. The little girls picked up their Easter eggs and wrappers from the family room. We cleaned up the kitchen and got the dishwasher running.

1:00PM Parker was in desperate need of a haircut so he turned on the movie Planes and I cut his hair. The other kids joined in watching the movie. When I was done, Parker took the iPad to play Madden mobile and I went to bed. I could not find my book - I still can't find my book. Luckily I have the Nook version so after some searching for the real book and then searching for my place in the e-book, I got to read and rest.

3:15PM I get up and get some real clothes and make-up on and head out to a counseling session. The traffic was a little hairy getting over there but I made it in time for my 4:30 appointment. I call the kids before I go in and tell them that I was planning on making chicken pesto sandwiches for dinner. I tell them where everything is and what to do. Allie is home and tired after a busy day of cleaning.

4:30-5:30 Counseling with Mark Bird. It was a good session. I decided to stop in Southlake on my way home to work on an assignment he gave me while eating dinner alone. I also stopped for gas as I was almost out. $1.99/gallon seemed high to pay as gas has been such a good low price lately.

6:00-6:30 Dinner at Pei Wei - I love their Mongolian beef with brown rice. They have the best rice. I also typed up some things on my phone for my homework. I call the kids when I leave and they are eating dinner. I wasn't sure Allie would have the energy to make the sandwiches but she did. They are ok if I make a quick stop at Wal-Mart before I come home.

6:40 - Wal-Mart to return some clothes I bought for Sydney that she didn't like and to buy some milk and olive oil. I bought a bag of candy too. I eat way too many Sour Patch watermelons these days.

7:00 Bob is still at work when I get home. He had a late night not coming home until 10. That is unusual at his current job. The kids and I have cake together. Sage is upstairs doing her own thing and she can't have cake because she didn't eat dinner. Sydney wants to play Duck, Duck, Goose before bed. Everyone joins in for a very silly game. I run upstairs when I am the goose and Syd follows. We start getting the girls ready for bed. Sage brings in two pairs of panties that have big purple spots on them. I smell them and she starts telling us that she has been drinking the grape flavored cough medicine. Late last night she was coughing so much that I gave her some Delsym cough syrup. I left the bottle in her room not thinking that she could get into it with the childproof cap. Well, she did get into it, filled up her toy cup with it and drank it. I'm not sure how she spilled it on clean panties but she did. We made a phone call to Poison Control and they thought she would be fine which she has been. That girl is a mess! I don't expect to hear coughing tonight though.

8:00 We get the girls to bed. Allie practices her french horn in my room and works on her recording assignments for school. Parker plays outside with the neighbors for a little bit. Caden and I clean the kitchen a little bit and then play Monopoly Deal. Parker comes in and joins us for one hand.

9:00 I read to both boys and tuck them in. Parker is anxious about reviewing some football plays so he comes downstairs so we can look them up on the computer. I mess around on the computer a bit and then write this blog. Bob comes home. We talk for a few minutes and then he watches some basketball while I finish this post.

I stay up until 12:30 working on a resume and cover letter for a job I found out about last night.

Thursday...

*I apologize for my grammar on these posts. As I write I keep switching from past tense to present tense. I've been trying to fix it to keep it all in past tense, but today I'm just going to write and forget about making it right. : )

I had been planning to take the girls to the Perot Museum in Dallas today. I have never been and wanted to go before all the school field trips and before I'm watching a baby 3 days/week. That didn't work out since Caden was sick and our tile guy Isaac was scheduled to be at the house.

6:30 Woke up but didn't get out of bed. Parker came in to pray with me before he left on the bus at 6:55. Scriptures on the iPad and some good cuddles with Sydney before I got up for real. 

Morning - Cleaned the kitchen that didn't get cleaned last night. Started the dishwasher - we run it once a day and always have some pots, pans and large dishes to hand wash that don't fit in the dishwasher. I also cleaned my room. I finally unpacked from our trip to Pittsburg last week. I also washed the sheets from my bed and the boys' beds. I cleaned off my dresser and hung some pictures on our bedroom wall. I unpacked a plastic tub full of large pictures and a couple of blankets from our Haslet house. I kept a few, hung one, and decided a couple could go to Goodwill. Here's the end product of the picture collage. I had a similar set up in our Haslet house. I LOVE command picture hanging strips for projects like this! They are expensive but SO easy to use.

The girls played first thing in the morning but then ended up watching shows with Caden for a while today. I had a strawberry banana smoothie for breakfast and a bowl of granola for a 2nd breakfast. 

11:00 We rent a Veggie Tales movie from Amazon video. I decide to take a nap upstairs while they watch that. I don't sleep much due to the faint but constant tapping that is going on downstairs with the construction. I read Anne of the Island some more. 

12:30 While lying in bed, I decide I would rather not fix lunch. The kids are happy to get out of the house to drive through McDonalds for hamburgers and return our library books. We get two regular cheeseburgers for Caden, a cheeseburger with only ketchup for Sage and a plain cheeseburger for Sydney. Isaac leaves while we are gone. I am relieved. I feel like watching a show and vegging but feel bad doing it while he is here working so hard. 

This is what our Bathroom looks like this week. 

Afternoon - I spent the afternoon folding some laundry and getting some loads started. I made the boys' beds. I also sat down and watched a recorded episode of Flip or Flop. It's not our favorite reno show but sometimes we watch it anyway. At 3:30 I decided I really did need another nap (embarassing as it is to admit I took two today).

4:30 I woke up to my alarm and Allie coming into her room (where I was sleeping) telling me about her day and the terrible new bus route where they are now THE last stop.

After this, I showered and got ready for a girls' night out. Parker had football practice at 6 about 20 minutes away and there was a parent meeting at 6:10. Parker ended up being sick right before practice so I went to his practice alone for the parent meeting.

6:40 I arrived early to Costa Vida to meet a friend. I was going to stop at JCPenney with a coupon I had during this down time but I forgot the coupon at home. I worked on this blog post instead.

7:00-10 Dinner and great conversation with my good friend Gwyn from our old ward. We both have had a lot happening in our lives over the past few months since we saw each other last. As we get ready to leave, I can not find my keys. I assume I must have locked them in the car. The restaurant was closing and it was chilly outside. We sat in her car while we waited for Bob to come open the van for me. He came, looked for the keys for me and couldn't find them. He even went back in the closed restaurant to look for them. Finally I went to look as well. I finally found them in the trash can of my car which was better than the restaurant trash can where Bob was headed next. Ugh. 

Came home and had a piece of cake with Bob. He made two cakes tonight - one for work and one GF cake for home. I also spent some time oiling up Sage who was coughing a lot. I took her to the bathroom as we usually do around 11. This keeps her dry most nights.

I had a hard time falling asleep last night and don't think I nodded off until after 1. 

Wednesday...

12:30-6:30AM Sleep

6:30-9:00AM I read scriptures on my iPhone in my bed. I have been enjoying reading the book of John in preparation for Easter. Shower (it's pretty standard for me to shower and do my hair every other day - drying my hair takes too long to do it everyday). Cuddles and singing time with the little girls this morning. Grapefruit for breakfast. I was going to eat more but ran out of time. Filling Easter eggs with change for the girls' egg hunt at school. (In the background, Bob is working with the foam insulation guys to get the master bathroom insulated.)

9:15AM I dropped off the girls. We are running later to school than usual this morning. Sage said the prayer in the car this morning with Sydney's help. It was really sweet!

9:30AM I dropped off Caden's band tuxedo shirt at the dry cleaners on my way to work.

9:45AM-1:30PM Work. I am glad to be done with this soon. My boss had me let three calls from the same person go to voicemail because her items still aren't done and he didn't want to talk to her. He said he would call her later but I'm not sure he will. One guy came in and his hats were done wrong. Another guy came in expecting his items and they weren't done yet. Lots of paperwork today is missing important information. I am growing weary of the chaos. While at work, I had a snack of grapes and water.

1:45PM - Lunch at Chick-fil-A. I drove through and then ate in the car.  I had a coupon for free grilled nuggets so lunch only cost me $1.57.

2:00-4:00PM - I picked up girls from school. Went home. They watched PBS kids and I read Anne of the Island (it's been a long time since I read the Anne of Green Gables series and I'm enjoying it). Snacked on Sour Patch watermelon candy and Cadbury mini eggs and took a short nap. The girls ate their Easter treats from school and left wrappers and eggs all over the living room floor. (Sarah, are you cringing right now???)

4:15-4:45PM We found a new park near the kids' school that we went to for the first time today. I started this post while the girls played. We picked up Caden from track practice.

4:45-5:15PM Outside time with the girls. Parker and the neighbors were playing basketball in our driveway. Sydney wanted to ride her bike to her teacher's house down the street. We did that and visit ed with Laurie and Sean for awhile. It was warm today - 84 degrees.

5:15-5:45PM Quickly started making dinner. Allie is helping a lady in our ward to earn money for girls' camp from 4-6. Caden is feeling sick but finishes dinner while I leave to take Parker to his football weigh-in.

6:05PM - Football weigh-in. This league has weight limits for running, throwing and catching positions. At 140 pounds, Parker is above that limit. Offensive line and defense for him. His coach tells him "Keep eating Parker. Keep eating." We also take his birth certificate to verify his age.

6:20-6:40 - Dinner of smoked turkey sausage, alfredo pasta and salad. Allie practices her french horn while the rest of us eat.

6:50 - I take Allie to church for Mutual and Bob gets started on putting the girls to bed. Caden is resting and feeling bad. Parker remembers that his iStation contest ends tomorrow and he needs to put in another hour on his computer learning program. He thinks he will win the contest for his classroom and get a cookie cake reward.

7-8:20 PM - Caden and I watch the Fixer Upper episode from last night. Bob joins us for part of it and then starts working on a small project he has in the master bathroom. I read to Parker for a few minutes.

8:30PM - I pick up Allie at the church. I comment that God is putting on quite a show tonight. There are amazing flashes of lighting in the northwest sky. Above us you can see the clear sky and the edge of the clouds. I read to Caden when I come home and try to set him up with meds and essential oils to help with his sickness.

9:00PM - The tornado warning sirens went off. We gathered all the kids including Allie who was taking a shower and the little girls who were sleeping into our storage closet to wait out the storm. It was stuffy and dark in there but we had the light of the iPad and iPhone. We read some scriptures about the Last Supper and looked up what Maundy Thursday means.

This is the tornado IN our house when we have to empty out the closet so we can get in.

9:45PM - We deemed our house safe from hail and tornado trouble and started putting everyone back to bed. Sage needed a snack because she didn't eat much dinner. Then she had to have her teeth brushed a second time. Caden was nervous and kept trying to sleep somewhere downstairs. Allie looked at cookie recipes and told us she wanted to make some for school in the morning. I pulled the leftovers I had bought for Sage's class out of her backpack and convinced Allie to take those instead. Sydney worried that Allie's friend Madelyn in Haslet got sucked up by a tornado. Parker insisted that he be tucked in again.

I thought Parker was especially cute sleeping tonight. 

11PM - I finished up my quiet time on the computer before I got ready for bed. My throat hurts and I wonder if I am catching what Caden has... I'm definitely going to hit the oils tonight. Oregano oil is my friend. : )

Notes from today:
I got my check from work and deposited it into my account through my cell phone this afternoon. Mobile bank deposit is one of my favorite technological advances. I also paid my tithing from my home computer. LOVE that I can do that remotely and immediately as well!

I remembered this morning how documenting life like this can help me see the good things that are happening. I rejoiced more than usual in the few minutes I spent this morning snuggling my little girls and singing "Once Upon a Dream" with Sage. The prayer we had in the car before we left for school was precious. Documenting life is also reminding me that my schedule is full. 

Week In the Life - Tuesday...

Tuesday

6:45AM - Wake up. Scriptures on iPad in bed. (My iPad acts as my alarm clock these days. I have a sunrise alarm clock that I love when it works. It doesn't always work properly and it is currently unplugged and sitting on my nightstand.) Distracted by other iPad things. Slow wake-up.

7:15AM - Up for the day. Rush to get myself and everyone ready. No shower. Clean clothes. Make-up and a ponytail for me. Caden needs to ride the bus but doesn't get his things together on time. Allie fixes breakfast (bagels with cream cheese - eaten in the car) for the girls who had to be woken up early for this day to go off. I don't have time to eat breakfast.

8:15AM - We leave to take Caden to school and Parker and Allie to the dentist. I am sure we are going to be late but Allie teaches me a shortcut to drop off Caden quicker and we arrive at the dentist office only 2 minutes late.

8:30 AM - Dentist appointment. The little girls and I play video games while the big kids get their teeth cleaned. I'm not sure why I am taking the kids to the dentist in 3 shifts but right now that's how it is. Sydney and Sage went a couple of weeks ago and Caden goes again in June. I think I need to sync this up for the next go round.

9:15AM - Drop off Allie at school.

9:25AM - Drop off Parker at school. Their schools are right next to each other but the intersection is under construction so we had to take a pretty long detour through the neighborhoods to get to Parker's school.

9:30AM - Arrive at home. Tile guy also shows up to continue cement board work. He is walking through the kitchen and office all day as he makes cuts in the garage and takes his pieces to the master bath.

9:45AM - Sage has been trying to eat some large marshmallows that I bought on Monday to make resurrection rolls with on Easter. She got the marshmallows down and was trying to cut the bag open with a very large pair of scissors under the desk with Sydney. She accidentally cut Sydney's finger open and it was bleeding pretty good. I couldn't find any band-aids anywhere so we made one out of a cotton ball and scotch tape. Then we decided to go to the store. I had forgotten meat for chili at the store yesterday and we were out of band-aids and candy.

10:30 AM - Back home after trip to the neighborhood market Wal-Mart down the street.

10:45AM - The girls and I pick 3 rooms to clean before they can watch TV. First we do the kitchen. They helped really well for about 2 minutes. We had set the timer for 10 but they got distracted/bored/tired after helping a little. Pretty soon they are off playing something in the office/living room.

10:45-11:30 - After I finish the kitchen and get the dishwasher started, I get on Angie's list to see if I can get someone over here to finally fix our carpet to wood transitions. I find someone that works by the hour. It will probably cost $150-250 for them to do it. I can't get in touch with the guy who was originally going to do it for me. I start looking up videos to see if I can do it myself. I also spend some time cutting down the carpet and looking things over. I think I/we can do it and avoid the high fee. Sage brings me the hotdogs because she is hungry.

11:30AM - She wants one cold hot dog. I also warm up 2 for her to eat with ketchup. When she is finished with those she gets one more cold one. I finally sit down to eat breakfast. I had a yummy bowl of greek yogurt, strawberries and GF Chex granola. Sydney had bowl of granola with milk and berries with me.

11:45AM -More chores. I do some laundry and vacuum the mudroom. The girls are busy playing under the desks in the office and Isaac keeps going back and forth to work on the bathroom.

1:00-2:00PM - The girls ask for TV so I tell them we have to clean their room. We all go up and clean. Sydney is a pretty good room cleaner but it is hard to get Sage to do much unless it is in the form of play. She helped her baby doll pick up all the food and dishes but didn't do much else. They were thrilled to get their room all cleaned up again. All that empty space with toys put away sparked their creativity and they were busy with play again. I was ready for a nap after starting another load of laundry but they didn't even want to come down to watch a show.

1:45PM - Countertop guy comes to measure for our shower bench seats and knee drawer counter. Isaac leaves. At some point I eat leftover pizza for my lunch.

3:00PM- 4:15PM - Nap time for me. I left the TV on and eventually the girls came down to watch.
When I wake up, they are more interested in watching than going to the park as I thought we would do. I usually check Instagram and read for a few minutes before falling asleep.

4:15-4:45PM - I work on getting Parker's birth certificate scanned for football. I decide to scan the others as well (something I have been meaning to do for years).

5:00PM - Pick up Caden from school. Before I left I asked Allie to brown the meat for chili and get the girls off the TV.

5:15PM-5:30 - Throw together an easy chili for dinner. Side of strawberry and grape fruit salad.

5:45PM - Bob and Parker leave for football practice. The rest of us eat and we send a bowl of chili with Bob to eat. Parker doesn't want to eat much before practice.

6:00PM - I engage Allie and Caden in a 5 minute kitchen clean-up. We unload the dishwasher, clear the table and load it back up with dirty dishes. Caden puts some things away and Allie hand washes the pots and pans. I take the girls up to have a bath.

6:00-6:20PM - Bathe girls.

6:20-6:40PM - Feed the girls dinner. The didn't eat the chili and now want tortillas with cheese and grapes and milk. The also had greek yogurt right before we ate.

6:45PM - Get the girls ready for bed. Brush their teeth. Take them to the potty. Read them books. Sydney actually read 2 B.O.B. books to me tonight and I read them one book.

7:15PM - I quickly change clothes so Allie and I can go to yoga class at The Keller Pointe.

7:40-8:30 Yoga class with Anita.

8:30-8:45PM - Drive to Southlake. We are not ready to go home to the boys who will still be awake.

8:45-9:15PM - We browse Home Goods. We find some curtains that we think will work in the living room.

9:30PM - Home. Check in with Bob who is working on a few bathroom things before the foam insulation guys come tomorrow.

10-11PM - Blog and eat Cadbury mini eggs. BYU basketball is on in the background.

Week In the Life - Monday...

I'm going to attempt to document my week this week. It's always fun to go back and remember what the days looked like in certain times of my life.

Monday
5:45AM - Up for an early morning grocery trip. I try to go early enough that I can be home before Parker leaves. Sometimes we are out of things he needs to pack his lunch. Wal-Mart is pretty quiet at that hour. The only check-outs open are self-checkout and the line (that is supposed to be short) with tobacco products. I always have a few things to price match so I have to use that line. I feel bad when people with a few items get in line behind me.

7AM - Home. Unload groceries with Allie's help. I didn't see Parker this morning (his bus comes at 6:50).

7:30AM - Shower.

until 9AM - Get ready. Get the girls ready. Pack their lunches. I'm pretty sure I had to pack Caden's lunch as well so he could make the bus on time. Make-up. Dry hair.

9:15AM - Dropped the girls off at school. We were a little late today.

9:30AM - Arrive at work. (I'm going to watch a friend's baby in April and May while she finishes teaching for the year so this part of my schedule is about to change.)

1:55 PM - Leave work. Pick up girls from preschool.

2:15PM - Home for my nap and the girls' TV time.

3:05PM - Parker comes home on the bus.

3:45PM - Load the girls up to get Allie at school. Parker stays home and plays outside with the neighbors.

4:00PM - Drive through McDonalds to get my starving girls a snack/dinner. Cheeseburgers and fries and water.

4:15PM - Drop Allie off at the high school for a theatre thing.

4:20PM- 4:45PM Take the girls to the park to play for a few minutes.

5:00PM - Pick Caden up at the school after track practice.

5:15PM-5:45PM Started an episode of Property Brothers with the kids. I was so tired and unmotivated to make dinner.

6:00 PM - Pick up Allie at the high school and then come home to finish Property Brothers.

6:45PM - Pizza for dinner. Frozen for the kids. Gluten-free Dominos for me (Bob picked it up). The pizza was supposed to be for Friday. Oh, well.

7:30PM - FHE. Quick scripture and then outside for a quick game of basketball. The girls pulled up chairs in the garage to watch and Nolan joined from across the street. It was fun.

8-9PM - Getting the kids to bed. We miss the days when we could have all our kids in bed by 7. I read to both boys while Bob gets the little girls taken care of. I am currently reading From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler with Caden and My Side of the Mountain with Parker.

10PM - Bob to bed.

11PM - Tasha to bed.

We also had the tile guy Isaac here from 9-2 and 5-7 working on the sheetrock and cement board in our master bathroom.

Nebraska vs. BYU

We had a really great Labor Day weekend in Nebraska. It was great to see family and so fun to go to THE GAME!

We had so many comments, questions, and looks about our custom made shirts. We found lots of other Nebraska/BYU fans there as well. Even though it looks like we might like both teams equally, we were hard core cheering for BYU and thrilled with their Hail Mary win! (I promise I'm not pregnant even though it looks like I am in these pics. Boo stress weight gain!)

After the game we got to meet up with Steve and Bronson Kaufusi. Super fun to get to talk to them. Great men!

Miracles...

I was sending a text to a friend tonight and decided I wanted to record my thoughts here as well.

Things are really starting to look up here. Parker started back to public school last week and he had a really hard couple of days. (Refusing to go to school, spending all or part of the day in the counselors office, refusing to do work when he did go to school, being dragged into school by the VP and me one day). Yesterday and today he is doing phenomenally well. He is making his own lunch, playing with kids from school in the afternoon, doing homework, and going to school completely willingly. It honestly feels like a miracle and another inspired step on this crazy journey. I even wonder if we needed to be in this rental house for him to be able to start public school again at this particular school with these kids, teachers and administrators at this particular time. They have been so awesome with him!

We had two really great evenings as well. It feels more like what I envision a full, good life with a handful of kids to feel like.

Photos from Christmas...

Here are a few photos from our Christmas in Pittsburg...

 Baby Emerson was a definitely a highlight! Oldest and youngest grandchildren.

 We all love Grammy!

 Waiting to open presents!

 The whole family was home for Christmas! We tried to get a quick photo after church. Brrr...

Trick-or-Treat

I want to remember a couple of things from tonight.

Sage sat in the wagon the whole time. She went up to a couple of houses and otherwise was very happy to sit, eat some treats and watch the others.

Sydney ran from house to house with the others. She carried her bag the whole time and didn't complain or get tired. We offered to carry it when it got heavy but she wanted to do it herself. She was really sweet to bring candy back to Sage several times. At one point I mentioned that she was the cutest little trick-or-treater I had ever seen to which she replied, "Everybody says that!" I think she was a hit as Thor.

Caden was motivated to get as much candy as possible tonight after realizing he could donate it to servicemen and women overseas and make money too. He wanted to hit houses more than once and go longer and longer.

I kept hearing, "Look! It's Captain America!" I think Bob was the most visible member of our Avengers group.

Real Life 15th Anniversary...

Today was Bob and my 15th wedding anniversary. I wanted to share some real life happenings from today. It is a good and crazy journey we are on together!

- I had to get a grumpy boy off to his first day of school. He had a sunburn and I ended up forgetting ranch dressing and a fork for his salad lunch.

- Took Allie to Dr. for well check up and overdue/needed-for-school shots. Took shot record to school so she can get her schedule on Thursday. Caden babysat the little girls for the first time and did a great job.

- Put Sage down for a nap around noon. She wouldn't stay in her room so I shut the door. She cried and I went to lay down with Syd. Caden couldn't handle her crying so unbeknownst to me, he took her to his room and unsuccessfully tried to get her to nap there. 45 minutes later, I hear her. I read her a book and put her back to bed with the door closed. Miraculously, she doesn't cry. Shortly after, Allie comes up and hears Sage talking in her room. She thinks Sage has already slept and let's her out of her room. No afternoon nap for a kid who still  needs it.

- Bob comes home early so we can go on our anniversary date. I am not ready as soon as he would like and then I want to go to the store to get a couple of things to make dinner time easier on the kids. He thinks it is unnecessary which sets off a flood of all my stressors from the day.

- On our drive to the temple area restaurant (Zizikis), he gets me to share what I am feeling and crying about. He was a good listener today. By the time we get there, I am feeling better and ready to share a nice evening with him.

- I wasn't sure about his choice of a Greek restaurant for dinner but our food ended up being really delicious. Grecian chicken for me and salmon filet for him.

- I thought we should take a picture together before going into the temple. I thought it was pretty funny that our new marriage counselor called to try to change our next appointment while we were taking timer shots and selfies. We are in one of those spots again where we need some outside help to have the kind of marriage we want to have. Grateful for counselors!

- We had 18 couple sealings to do at the temple. We were there with another couple from someplace else that were having their 15th anniversary tomorrow. It was a special time to be in the temple together.

- As we drove home we talked to Allie on the phone to check out how things were going. We found out that Sage had fallen asleep during a movie at about 4 o'clock. She slept until 7:30 and then woke up from her "nap".

- I ended up hanging out with Sage until midnight working on homeschool prep and other computer things while Bob went to sleep at 9:30/10 sharing a bed with Sydney. 

Happy 15th anniversary honey!

Baby Emerson...

I'm in California right now visiting my sister, snuggling on her baby and playing with her girls. It is fun to be out here with them. Here are a few pics from the trip so far...

These girls LOVE baby brother! They are really sweet with him and think he is the cutest thing (which he is!). 

Before church on Sunday we played with paper airplanes. They find so much fun in little things.

Today we made oobleck when Abbie was in school (her first day of kindergarten). Brinlee had so much fun with it and Abbie did too this afternoon. Messy but fun!

It sure is nice to snuggle a little one. Such a good baby too.

A day in the life...

Now that summer is almost over, we've developed a pretty good summer routine. When the kids first wake (usually before 7) they often watch an hour or so of tv. Caden and Sage are always up early and Parker and Sydney usually are. Allie sleeps until 8 or 8:30. Then we have breakfast - sometimes we all have the same thing and sometimes we fend for ourselves. We try to have a little scripture time after breakfast at the table. We have been reading in Luke and talking about the miraculous things that Jesus did.

After that we do a few chores - cleaning the kitchen, unloading or loading the dishwasher, folding some laundry, etc. 

By about 10 or 11 o'clock people are starting to melt down and fight so we pack up and head to the pool. We can walk to the pool now so we do - usually the little girls ride in the wagon.

We really enjoy the pool in our neighborhood. It is never very crowded and has a fun layout. The big kids like to play submarine (with me if I'm willing) in the deeper end of the pool. The girls like to play restaurant in the shallower little pools. They have races and play shark too.

It is nice this year because I don't have to be in the water all the time. The little ones can get around really well with their floaties and so I usually relax or read for a few minutes when we first get to the pool. Then I'll swim some and then rest again. For the most part the kids get along really well at the pool.

I had to take and include this picture because part of our pool adventure always includes taking Sage to go poop in the potty. (This photo was staged.) We are SO glad she tells us now when she needs to go. Our first couple of trips to the pool this summer were interrupted abruptly by her pooping in her diaper or swimsuit.

Sometimes we bring lunch to the pool but mostly we bring snacks and then head home for lunch. I have been having one of the kids help me plan all our meals for the week including breakfast and lunch. The kids like looking at the menu to know what to have for lunch. We've been eating a lot of salads and fresh fruit this summer. The kids have been earning 1 cream puff for every serving (handful) of fruit they eat in the week. We keep track on a chart on the fridge and they indulge in many cream puffs on the weekend. It has been a great motivator for grabbing fruits and veggies when we are hungry.

After lunch we have rest time. Sage takes a nap and usually I do to. Sydney naps occasionally. The big kids go to separate rooms and work on their "chores" - reading, writing, typing, etc. Syd will play in her room and look at books.

There is usually a lull in the afternoons. Sometimes they watch a little tv or play electronics. The boys have been playing a lot of games together - monopoly, stratego and others.

Then we get to work making dinner, cleaning the kitchen again, unloading the dishwasher if needed until bob gets home around 6.

Then it's dinner time and clean up dinner time. We try to have family scriptures and prayer at this point. Then we start working on putting the little girls to bed - Sydney is pretty tired at this point if she hasn't had a nap. They prefer that I read to them and put them to bed whih I usually do. Bob reads to the boys and plays Rook with them a lot - they are learning a lot. Allie and I are reading a book together so most nights I read to her as well. Then I stay up way too late working on family history stuff, try to read for a bit when I get to bed (bob often stirs with the light and voices his displeasure with my late night reading), and then get some sleep.

School starts in 3 weeks and the big kids are in Utah for the next 2. As usual summer is going by way too fast!

Weekend in Nebraska

This weekend we drove to Nebraska to celebrate Easter and my grandpa's 95th birthday. We drove in on Friday arriving in time to play and have pizza dinner. Rook and hiding and finding Easter eggs were the most popular games of the weekend. Saturday we swam at the hotel and had our traditional zemmel, fruit and egg casserole brunch. In the evening was Grandpa's birthday party at Valentinos.

Lots of love between the cousins!

Sunday was Easter service at First Mennonite Church. It was wonderful. Here are the great-grand kids.

We went to Marv and Lisa's for Easter dinner - delicious! My grandma made her AMAZING tarts for Easter dessert.

And these two had a nice Easter nap.

We got to see the Carothers and have zemmels again before the night was over.

It was a wonderful weekend together. I have an amazing family!