December 16, 2012

Basketball is done for 3 weeks! It'll be a great break from driving to practices and games.

Last night we were given some great tickets to the Las Vegas Legends soccer game.  We took the 3 oldest.  It was great.  It wasn't crowded at all. And our seats were in the VIP area where they had free popcorn.  The kids were in heaven.  And there was a lounge area behind the seats.  So when they got tired of watching the game they went and played in the empty lounge.  It was a great night.

We went to see the lights at the speedway.  Ruby loved it.  Sadly, Seth fell asleep before we got there.  I'm sure he'll love it next year.

Bob and I looked at our budget and made our financial goals for the coming year and things are looking much better than we thought.  We are so blessed.  We've been able to do a lot of the things we've been wanting to in the last few months.  Next month we're going to get a new bed I've been wanting so we can give ours to Danny so his room can also be the guest room and we can shift beds in everyone's rooms so that Ruby will get a big bed.  We also are hoping to put in some more cement in the backyard so the kids can play basketball.  And we made plans for how to save for a new car for Bob when his dies and for a trip to Virginia to visit Bob's grandparents.  We need to be very good with following our budget to make it all happen, but it's very exciting to be able to use our resources efficiently and be blessed for it.

December 9, 2012

The big kids and I started reading "the life and adventures of Santa Claus" at night.  I'm really liking that. I want to read to them more.  They really like it too.  We also made fudge this week.  I love our Christmas traditions.

Seth started a playgroup with a little boy from the other ward.  I didn't realize the other little boy is a whole year younger than Seth. But it'll still be nice for him to play with a boy. I need to figure something out for Seth.  He's always done things his own way and I've been ok with that.  But he's almost four and he'll be going to Sunbeams in a month and preschool in six months and he's not good with listening to other people if it's not what he wants to do.  The other kids might have been like that with me at home, but they would never dream of not being obedient to another adult.  Seth doesn't care.  One of my new year's resolutions will be to be better with preschool at home for him and to get him more structured.  I need to pray about this one.

Aaron's also having a hard time.  His tantrums and quitting and fighting with the other kids is really getting old.  He's the opposite of Seth because I always get glowing reports from school and church about what a great kid he is.  But at home he doesn't play well with the other kids and has a tantrum at least once a day.  That's another one I need to keep praying about.

December 2, 2012

We went to Visalia last week for Thanksgiving.  Everyone was there.  We got there Tuesday night until Sunday afternoon.  Wednesday, Danny Rachel, Aaron and I went shopping and they all got new shoes and Rachel and Aaron got new pants.  Danny didn't need either.  He's quite the shopper and tells me when he needs things and exactly what he wants.  But the other two need to be forced a little.  In the end, they were all happy though. That night we went to see the last Twilight movie. Thursday we had a great Thanksgiving dinner and we all went to see Wreck it Ralph. Friday we went over to Pismo and rented ATVs. This year my dad also got a dune buggy, which was great because then our three oldest could ride that and they were happy.  And it was great weather that day too. Saturday we mostly hung out and went to the park. It was a great trip.

I've been sick all week since we got back.  It's no fun to be sick when you're a mom. Ruby's been sick too.

I'm all done Christmas shopping.  That's nice because it's a lot of work.  I'm so glad for online shopping. I can't imagine if I had to go to all those stores.

November 18, 2012

Last Sunday was Ruby's birthday.  She's 2.  She doesn't even look like a baby anymore.  She's such a fun girl.  She talks so much.  She loves going to gymnastics, playing with the kids, watching movies on my phone, playing babies and dancing.  Some things she says to me that I love are: "Tank you, mommy" she says it all the time. "get me now" She's trying to say "can't get me now" and she wants me to chase her.  "Play me, Mommy". She wants me to play with her.  Usually we're playing princesses or babies.

For her birthday, we had the Deans over for cake and ice cream.  She helped me make her cake.  She picked an orange cake with pink frosting and blue letters.  She was so proud of her cake. She got a little people princess castle and a baby and carseat.  She loved all her presents and had fun playing with everyone. We sure love our little doll!

The kids all started basketball.  They seem to have great coaches and I think I have really good carpools that will make 3 teams at the same time possible. 

11/3/2012

Adult Session of stake conference

Impression: limit screens to weekends

Pres. Jones

• Pray and fast for Aaron's tantrums
• Teach him about Holy Ghost - teach him to access it for help

Elder LeSeur

• The goal is to raise children to be good parents
• Parents' primary role is to introduce our kids to the Holy Ghost. He will introduce them to the Savior.
• We need to make our homes an environment where the Holy Ghost is happy to reside
• Ten times better to look for kids doing good and reward than to look for bad and punish
• when you build self esteem you furnish the finest suit of armor possible.
• make your testimony come alive to children.

10/29

Some things that get me frustrated with the kids are when they don't do things or leave messes. So two ideas came to me to help that.

1. need positive reinforcement-sticker chart/marble jar for all kids
2. Need  to train better. So I'll check each kid out of school and let them stay home after lunch on their own day and we'll fully organize their room and I'll train them better on their jobs.

10/28/2012

I need to be more kind and civil with my kids at all time.

• How do I break bad habits?
• How do I let them know I'm disappointed without getting mad?
• If they aren't doing something right maybe I need to assume it's because I haven't taught them well enough.
• I need to look for more opportunities to praise their good deeds and successes

10/21/2012

Money is tight and frustrating sometimes. I was thinking about it and how I'd felt prompted to pray for some new sidework for Bob to be prepared. At least that's what I think it was-something financial at least-back in August. Soon after that our budget began to feel tight and Bob's work at cc bootcamp has almost stopped. So it makes sense that I was to pray for more work for Bob. But that work hasn't come. As I was thinking about it the phrase "Prove me now herewith' came to my mind.  From 3 Ne 24:10. The rest of it says "if I will not open you the windows of Heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it." So we may not have the blessing I thought we were going to get, but we have been so blessed. So I thought I would keep track of things I notice so I can see how the windows of Heaven have opened to us.

• Bob's grandparents sent us $300 for Halloween out of the blue
• Bob gets his extra paycheck in November this year instead of December like I thought
• I have plenty of website work if I 'll just make time to do it
• I've been learning to be more frugal with grocery shopping and price matching
• I lost my wallet in the doctor's parking lot and before I even knew it was gone, 3 honest people had worked hard to find me and return it
• I lost my keys at the triathlon and someone found them and returned them and just in time so I could still swim in the race.
• my mom bought me lots of new clothes when she visited and gave us some money for staying here
• Bob found out that we can refinance our current house, which should save us $150 per month and we won't have to make a house payment for 2 months.

10/4/2012

Money
We want/need financial blessings. We've been praying about it for months. In August I felt like I should start praying for an opportunity for Bob. I felt like it would happen in Sept or Oct. But that may have been because that's when Bob gets his annual raise.  I increased our fast offering $15. I don't know what a good standard amount is.  But as I was praying about it I thought of Tyler Harris, a teenager convert in our ward. He's getting ready to go on his mission. I think$15 for fast offering will be fine. And we'll also add $15 to the $35 we're putting into the missionary fund and save that $50 every month and give it to Tyler for mission expenses.  3 Ne. 13:32-33

10/3/2012

Brainstorm for things to work on with kids

Danny:

• Goal setting/planning
• media choices
• manners - looking for need and helping others
• hug him - listen to whatever he wants to say

Rachel:

• hug and listen
• look for need and help
• time management

Aaron:

• Talk about negative thoughts at night
• tell him what he does well every day

Seth and Ruby:

• Play more with them

9/30/12

I need to "sit with God" daily. I think Eyring said that.
That makes such a difference in my ability to hear the Holy Ghost.  I want to trust Jesus' example like I learned about at Time out For Women. I have so many things that want my time. I need to follow promptings to know what's most important and get those done.

Ideas for questions for general conference:

• talents for me and kids - Answered by Perry in Sat PM session: as I pray about preparing FHE lessons I'll know what the kids need to build their talents.
• Patience
• Work on Scripture Study and Finding answers in scriptures

9/23/12

Brainstorm for me:

• Who should I befriend and serve? (Erica, Mindy Kaylyn...)
• work on patience and always speaking kindly to kids
• talents to develop - what talents will help "to further His work"
• What does the Lord expect of me?
• how to be better example to bros and sis? Not judge them!
• Bob and I "work harmoniously". What does that mean? Be a team in all we do?
• Ponder what each child will need to help build the kingdom of God on the Earth
• What assignments do I have to help others?

9/19/12

Aaron-practice positive thinking

• Pray with him in mornings
• Talk over day - prep him for his night prayer

November 4, 2012

The weather has been perfect this week! October and November are so great in Las Vegas. We had a fun Halloween week.  Monday night Rachel had a Halloween piano recital.  She did very well.  We switched her lessons to Claire Laidlaw and she's learning a lot.  Tuesday night was the ward trunk r treat.  Then Wednesday we had our annual potluck with friends in the ward and then trick or treated with all those friends. 

This year Danny was Elmo, which I made.  Rachel was a vampire, Aaron was a lego guy, Seth was Spiderman and Ruby was Cinderella. Ruby and Seth loved the trick or treating.

We also went to the Haunted Harvest at the Springs Preserve last weekend.  Everyone loved that too.

We decided we're going to get rid of Boss.  He's just too much work and the kids don't like to do their jobs.  The kids are so sad about it.  I've fought it for a long time, but I think we just got him too early.  Maybe in a year or two and definitely one that doesn't shed at all if he's in the house, or maybe just an outside dog.

October 28, 2012

Last weekend my mom, dad, grandma Donna, Casey and Kristal came to do the PumpkinMan Triathlon.  We had such a good time.  Kristal did the olympic length and I did her swim part.  Bob and my Dad did their own sprint races.  And Casey and my mom were on a relay team.

Everyone got here Thursday night.  Friday the girls all went shopping and out to lunch.  Then we all picked up our race packets and tried to go to bed early.

Saturday we went down to the lake for the race.  We got there about 20 minutes before Bob's start time.  So when we parked I jumped out and ran to take pictures and help him set up.  But by the time we got to the bike racks I realized I'd lost the car keys along the way.  So I retraced my steps, but they were gone.  I prayed my guts out and talked to all the race volunteers over and over because all my race stuff was still in the van.  I had an hour until my start time.  And it got down to 10 minutes before my race so I decided I'd swim without my wetsuit and they said there were extra caps and I got Bob's goggles from him and we just wouldn't be timed because I didn't have the timing chip either.  So I was walking down to the lake and the girl who picked up my keys turned them in right then.  So my mom and I sprinted to my van and I put my wetsuit on while my mom drove me down to the lake.  I ran into the lake, they pointed out the course and then the gun went off.  We barely made it, but what a blessing. 

My swim was 1500 meters.  It went great.  I did it in 31 minutes. And I did half of it breast stroke because it took me a long time to get my stroke right with being able to look forward so I'd swim straight. But about halfway I got that down and then it went really smoothly. It was fun to swim in open water instead of laps.

Saturday afternoon, my mom and dad went with my family over to a grassy spot on the Aliante trail and took our family pictures with our new fancy camera.  They turned out great and I already have them on the wall.  Then that night we went to Laser Quest for Aaron's birthday.  Everyone had a great time.

Aaron had a good, low-key birthday.  He has happy that so much family was here for him.  He got a couple lego sets and some gummy bears for his birthday.  He decided to keep the rest of the money he was given and save it.  He had over $350 saved up now.

October 14, 2012

We went fake camping Friday night.  It was the best.  We got all the good parts of camping without the horrible sleeping and everyone being grumpy the whole next day because they didn't get enough sleep.  We went and got a campsite and hiked around and we did a fire with hot dogs and smores. And then when everyone was tired we drove home.  Everyone took showers before getting in bed.  It was great weather.  We had a great time. 

We got a nice DSLR camera this week.  We've been thinking about it for years.  But we've always talked ourselves out of it.  But we love how clear their pictures are, even when you just use auto mode, which is all I want to use. I don't have an interest in spending all the time it would take to learn. We're excited for our good pictures.  We're taking family pictures with it this week.  Hopefully they'll turn out good enough to put on the wall.

October 7, 2012

It's conference weekend.  So great. I had two questions going in to conference.  One was to learn the talents and skills my kids need to develop.  Elder Perry answered that  question for me.  I need to plan better FHE lessons - we've been pretty lazy with this lately.  We have it every week, but it's usually thrown together 5 minutes before.  But as I pray and play out FHE lessons, I'll know what things my kids need and be able to teach them. My other question was how to study the scriptures and get answers through the scriptures better.

We signed Danny, Rachel and Aaron up for basketball in the winter. I didn't think Rachel would be interested, but I didn't even have to talk her into it.  I'm excited for her to try it.  And I recruited several other kids for each team, so I should have some good carpools going.

Danny and I had a big talk about whether or not he could read the Hunger Games.  He's asked before and I just said no.  But he came home from school and said almost his whole class has read it and he really wanted to.  So I really thought about it.  I wanted to make sure I wasn't just saying no because it was easier.  But the whole time I could feel the answer would still be no.  I asked several friends with kids Danny's age and my mom, which just solidified my answer. I told him and he was disappointed for about 2 minutes and then he forgot about it. 

We had an experience a couple months ago where he wanted these bucky balls - little super strong magnets you can shape.  I really didn't like it because their so dangerous and we have little ones in our house.  But in the end I justified it and bought them, mostly so I didn't have to hear all of Danny's arguments and complaining.  They came and I warned Danny really strongly about them.  He played with them for a day or two and then came down one night at bed time completely distraught because he was worried he'd swallowed a magnet and didn't know it.  He had Bob give him a blessing.  And we had a good talk about how I had felt it was wrong to buy the magnets, but didn't listen because I wanted to give Danny what he wanted.  It was a good lesson for both of us that sometimes I know or get inspiration for what's better for him and it isn't always what he wants, but we both need to listen and do the right thing.  We returned the magnets.  I think that experience was helpful with the Hunger Games discussion and was probably the main reason his complaint about my answer only lasted two minutes.

September 27, 2012

We realized Bob gave father's blessings to everyone except Ruby when school started.  So he gave her one a few weeks ago.  This is what it said:

• your energy will lift others burdens
• you'll be protected and safe, grow and be strong
• You'll learn and your language will improve
• listen and be obedient
• get the rest and nutrition you need
• share your light-this will help others.

September 27, 2012

At Primary on Sunday, Aaron's awesome teacher asked him what his talents were and wrote them down.  This is what Aaron said:

1. Super fast at sports; swimming and soccer
2. Says good prayers
3. playing basketball and baseball
4. he wants to get better at tetherball

September 23, 2012

I went to Time Out For Women this weekend.  It was really good. here are some of the things I learned.

• Trust His example
• The Savior did what he could every day. The list of people and things that needed help could have been endless - like mine feels sometimes.
• But He did what was right and followed the spirit and did what He could and even each small thing was amazing.
• I need to be ok with this as He was.
• Sacrifice will bring blessings - with hold nothing from the Lord
• 4 Things to remember:
• Listen carefully
• Look forward
• Laugh often
• Love deeply

Ruby has gotten in a habit of putting her first fingers and thumbs in her mouth (just one at a time).  It happened really fast. I've only noticed she's been doing it for maybe 2 or 3 months, but not that much.  But in the last couple of weeks it's become all the time.  She can't keep them out.  It was starting to worry me and then I remember the Mavala Stop gross fingernail polish we used with Aaron that made him stop sucking his thumb.  So I ordered it on Amazon and we got started.  I thought it would be quick and easy because she hasn't been doing it very long, but that habit was so strong!  She's had a really hard time keeping her fingers out.  And she wakes up crying at night and she's grumpier in the day.  She threw up the first day because she sucked on that gross taste so much.  Then she'd just drool and whine a lot because she'd forget and put her finger in her mouth and get the taste in there.  And that taste doesn't really go away until you eat something.  Today is the third day and she's finally getting a little better at it. Poor little girl.  But I know she'll be sick all winter if we don't get rid of that habit. 

September 16, 2012

Last week was full of YW meetings so I missed writing here.  We're getting into our fall routine.  Soccer started for the boys this week and gymnastics for Seth and Ruby.  Rachel's tennis will start in 2 weeks. 

I've done preschool with Seth four times now.  It's getting better and better.  The first couple of times he had a really hard time following and listening. But he's starting to get the routine better and he's really liking it.  I'm so glad he's home with me and I get to teach him and can tailor it just to his needs.  I think if I'd sent him to preschool he may have been "that kid" who can't sit still and work along with the rest of the class.  I'd hate for him to fail because I started him too early.  He's been doing gymnastics for a while too and still has a hard time remembering to follow directions.  But I think giving him this year at home and with gymnastics and hopefully a playgroup, he should do great at preschool next year.

I found someone at BYU who is donating his time to help with the United Way website. I'm so excited about that.  He's so knowledgeable and will be a great resource even after he's done with the projects he's helping with.  I've gotten so far behind because of big projects and not enough time and summer vacation.  It'll be nice to be able to work an hour a day again and not feel guilty about it.

I've been working on getting us a little healthier. I've been trying to add beans to our meals more.  The kids are taking it pretty well.  We also are making a "Shrek" smoothie every day.  (It's almost all spinach).  It's been fun finding good, healthier recipes.

I'm still struggling with our budget. There just isn't quite enough coming in for our wants.  Like this month, we just bough $100 of plants because our backyard needed it and they were on sale.  And we spent $75 to go to the UNLV football game because it's so fun to go there with our kids.  Both were good things, but they didn't fit in our budget before we did them.  I have such a hard time with those decisions.  I've got to work harder on it. We did have a perfect night watching football and our pool area looks really good now, though :).

Bob and I went to see Wicked last night.  It was incredible.  We had such a great time.  We'd heard such good things about it and we both were very impressed.  It was a fun date.

I had a realization about myself this week. My patriarchal blessing says I have the gift of discernment between good and evil.  So I've had a pretty easy time with a lot of the church's teachings.  Lots of things seem so black and white to me and it's easy to make the good choice.  And I can feel when the spirit is with me or when it leaves.  But I've had a really hard time in my life learning how to hear direction from the spirit.  I thought it was like that for most people, and maybe it is for lots, but I realized it's easy for some people. Which makes sense, I just hadn't thought of it before.  But the good thing is that I feel like I've taken this thing that I didn't have much natural talent in and I've made it a strength.  I definitely can do much better, but I know how to access the guidance I need now.  I love it.  It's still hard sometimes and a lot of work.

Some of the methods I use to find the Spirit's direction are

• brainstorm questions and topics I need help with
• brainstorm answers
• PRAY lots
• narrow down my brainstormed list and try the ones I think I should do. Or sometimes the Spirit just tells me which one first
• Pay attention to my thoughts and notice things that pop in my mind
• The spirit guides me as I show Him I really want an answer and I'm willing to work for it.
• Write down every priesthood blessing
• Really pay attention at conference and stake conference.

September 3, 2012

The first week of school went great.  It was nice kind of know what we were doing this year since we've been at this school before and I don't have a kindergartener.  The kids all know more what to expect and the start of school was so easy.  The kids seem to have good teachers.  Danny has Mrs. Jackson, Rachel has Mrs. Adams and Aaron has Mrs. Mott.  They clustered the GATE kids so I'm thinking that will be great for Danny and Rachel this year. 

Aaron decided not to do swim team during school.  I'm pretty glad.  We had one week of school with swim team every day and that is a lot for a first grader, and for me.  So I lucked out and signed him up for soccer on the last day.  That should start next week and so does Rachel's tennis.

It was nice to have the kids back at school and have more of a schedule now.  I can get the kitchen cleaned up in the morning and it stays that way for several hours.  And I can make a list of things that I need to do and actually get most of them done.  It's great.

I'm starting preschool with Seth tomorrow. I'm excited. I think he'll really like it and it'll be fun to get to focus on him so much.

We went to St. George again with the Deans.  Neither of us had plans for Labor Day weekend so we decided at the last minute to go up Sunday night and stay the day on Monday.  We had a great time.  We went to the St. George Temple with the kids Sunday night.  It was fun to be there with them and go through the visitors' center.  We stayed up late playing games that night.  Then  Monday we went to a fun park, then swimming at their clubhouse, then we had lunch and the big kids all played an exciting game of Monopoly.  We stopped at Iceberg for dinner and then came home.  It was a fun, quick trip with great friends!

8/26/12

I need to organize my time for the school year. Here are some things I want and need to do. Then I'll prioritize and see what will fit.

• Friday lunch dates
• Seth preschool and preschool prep time
• Be present and involved when kids are doing homework and before school
• Scriptures during Ruby's nap 20-30 minutes
• Exercise 4 days a week
• 7-8 hours sleep every night = early bedtime
• Do at least one hour planned activity with Seth and Ruby while big kids at school
• work 1-1.5 hours a day
• stay in budget = plan shopping trips, be frugal
• be involved with teachers = email, call, help in class when possible
• limit my computer time to work and 30 minutes in the morning

8/13/12

Danny-
He has so many bad moods - I need to make sure and not let him push my buttons. I need to stay unemotional when I talk to him. He needs structure and lots of positive attention when he is being good. He needs to know I love him.

8/6/12

Danny & Rachel -
Quarterly at least I need to have a big talk alone with each of them. Like when I had "the talk" with them - it opened communication for a month or 2 after. It will also give me opportunities to talk to them about issues, sex, drugs, puberty, friends - whatever big things I feel they need to hear.

8/5/12

Brainstorm for questions to study:

Danny

• Love him into obedience
• what school will be best for him
• skills he needs, talents to develop

Rachel

• I need to be more loving toward her
• get her to open up to me more
• help her strengthen talents - art, piano, tennis, kindess

Aaron

•  Build self-esteem
• help him avoid negative thoughts
• help him be a better friend

Seth

•  give him more attention - play with him
• teach him preschool
• discipline more consistently

Ruby

•  more play time
• consistent discipline
• start playdates this year

Young Women

• build relationships with each
• pray for guidance every time I see them

Bob

• Things I can do to make him happy
• things we can work on as a team

August 26, 2012

I feel like we've had so much bad luck lately.  Last weekend I was doing some regular updates on my drupal United Way sites and one of the sites crashed. And then all the backups were corrupt. So I worked all weekend to repair it.  I finally got it mostly working Monday around noon.  We were supposed to leave that morning to go stay in St. George with the Deans.  But we had to leave late.  Then we finally got there around dinner time. At bedtime Ruby started really crying and saying her ear hurt.  With no other symptoms but a slightly runny nose.  But all the kids had had a cold the week before.  It was so not like her so I took her to the ER. She had an ear infection. We got her medicine and came home.  When I got home around midnight, I found out Seth had been crying the whole time I was gone about his ears. So I turned around and went back to the ER.  He had an infection in both ears.  Once they had the medicine they got better really fast.  Then we went up to Draper to visit Wendy and get our dog.  We stayed there a day and came back.  It's been much harder than I thought to adjust to a dog.  I really don't like it and the mess and the extra work.  But the kids love him already.  So we'll see.  And then today our water heater broke and leaked through the wall and all over the bathroom. Of course it was on a Sunday.  I just want to go back to regular life and not have all this crazy stuff happen.  A normal amount of crazy is ok, but this is way more that usual.

Last week we went to the Luxor for the reward for the kids doing their summer jobs. We had a great time.  The kids and I checked in and walked around the hotel.  Then Bob brought pizza for dinner and we went swimming.  The kids all had a great time in a the big pools.  Then we went back and watched the Lorax in the room.  The next morning we went swimming again and then we went to the Pawn shop from the tv show Pawn Stars.  The kids watch it a bunch on netflix.  They all thought it was awesome to be where their show takes place.

School starts tomorrow.  We met their teachers on Friday.  They all seemed good. The kids are all excited and a little nervous for tomorrow.  It'll be nice for all of us to get back to a regular schedule.

We had a great summer.  I feel like we probably went on too many trips because we really weren't home much at all in July and August.  But we did a lot of really fun things.

Today Bob gave the kids blessings for going back to school.  We had a testimony meeting first and then the blessings.  It was really nice.  Bob gave me a blessing too.  This is what I can remember:

• I will be able to structure my time
• I will make time to get the rest and exercise I need
• I'll see the benefit of my efforts in my kids' lives, the girls in YW and the women around me as I serve
• Health blessings
• I'll be able to set schedules and patterns from what may seem like chaos
• I'll be able to accomplish what I need to in time.
• I'll be effective with my time.
• The Lord will take my effort and double it. 

August 5, 2012

It was kind of nice to have a normal week.  I went to the gym 3 times. It's good to go back after not exercising for most of July. We swam alot and saw the Deans every day. I'm so thankful for their family and what good friends they are for everyone in our family.

Aaron joined the swim team.  I'm so proud of him.  He picked up the strokes really easily when he learned as swimming lessons.  And I've been thinking it would be really good for him to have a sport that is just his and he doesn't have to compete with anyone in our family.  So he went and tried out for the coach and he made it! I had to swim 50 meters in every stroke.  That is a lot for a little swimmer.  That night he was tired just from the tryout and was a little unsure about joining the team, but by the next morning he was ready to do it and he started practice that day and loved it.  He has practice Monday through Thursday from 4-5 pm.  It's going to be a lot of work for me to to get him there. Usually a sport with that much practice wouldn't make the cut for us, but I think it'll be so worth it for him to have his own thing to excel at. Hopefully he'll keep a positive attitude and keep at it.  The swim team goes year round, but your can join for just a month at a time.  So I'm hoping for him to do it through October and then he can do basketball in the winter.

We've been enjoying watching the olympics every night with the kids.

We got a dog.  We were planning on doing it more in the fall, but Wendy brought her dog to Tahoe and the kids loved him and he was a really good dog.  So Wendy offered to help me find a dog.  And she already found a great one.  He's a three-year old rat terrier.  We'll get him in two weeks probably.  We're going to Ryan's  this weekend so probably the next weekend we'll go up and get the dog or maybe Linda can bring him down. Hopefully it goes well.  The kids are so excited. I'm still a little unsure about how much work it'll be.

July 29, 2012

So much has happened over the last few weeks!  We've been on vacation for the whole month! It was spectacular!

At the beginning of July we left to go to Utah for Grandma Donna's 80th birthday. We all rented a big house to share in Salt Lake.  Then we got together with everyone else at Tanya's house for the birthday part.  We were supposed to go to a fun campground up American Fork Canyon, but there were fires there, so we all went to Tanya's and she rented an inflatable water slide. We also went to a Rodeo, but only stayed for a little while because we got rained out.  And we went to temple square and walked around and went in the church history museum.  We got there Tuesday and then Bob and I left the kids with my mom and Kristal on Friday and we drove back to Las Vegas to catch our flight to Tampa that night.  Everyone else stayed in Utah and then my mom drove them home on Sunday and stayed with them for the week while we were gone.

We flew all night Friday night and got to Tampa Saturday morning.  Bob's aunt and uncle, Judy and Darrell, picked us up from the airport and took us back to their house.  We sat around and chatted with them and we went to Cheddars to eat, it was one of our favorite restaurants in Columbus.  We love their monte cristo sandwiches.  Sunday morning we went to sacrament meeting and then had lunch with Judy and Darrell and then they drove us to the pier to get on the cruise ship. 

We had a great room with a window.  We had great weather everywhere we went.  We heard that the week before there had been a lot of rain, but we hardly had any.  Monday we were at sea all day.  It was nice to just relax and explore the ship.  Bob went to the gym everyday, but I only went twice.  I was more excited to read.  It's been a long time since I read a book for fun and I read seven this month.  We ate so much good food.  Our motto for the week was "let's go, we've got things to eat!" 

Tuesday we stopped at Cozumel.  We got off the boat and walked to town.  It was a 30-40 minute walk just to get there and it was HOT.  But we walked right next to the ocean so that was nice.  Then we did some shopping for the kids and went to their big grocery store.  It was fun to see everything.  Then we dropped our things off at the ship and took a taxi to a beach we were told was where the locals went to snorkel.   And it was great.  It wasn't crowded and it was such good snorkeling.

Wednesday we went to Belize.  We  rode the tour bus for two hours to the Xunantunich Mayan ruins.  It's almost at the border with Guatemala.  The tour guide told us all about the country while we drove.  It was great to see a lot of the country like that.  Then we got to the ruins and they were amazing.  The only downer was that I'd worked it up in my mind that this was going to be a great Book of Mormon experience and it was great to see how the jungles looked and felt, but then our tour guide started showing us the ruins and talking about the gross rituals they did there and I realized that those big buildings and things were mostly from the Lamanites. We climbed to the top of the big ruin.  It was so tall and kind of scary to be up so high without any guard rails or anything, but the views were great.

Thursday we went to Roatan, an island off the coast of Honduras.  We went on a big zipline and then they took us to a pretty beach.  It didn't have good snorkeling though and there were lots of ants on the beach. And Bob was grumpy that day.  It wasn't our best day, but it was still fun.

Friday we went to Grand Cayman.  We loved it there!  We rode a boat a few miles off the coast to a sand bar where we could hold sting rays.  Then they took us to a coral reef to snorkel.  That was amazing snorkeling.  And Bob found a whole conch shell that we got to bring home.  The island was so nice.  Bob mentioned there are GIS jobs there pretty often.  We think it would be awesome to take a furlough from his job for 6-12 months and go live there.  Probably not going to happen, but it's fun to think about.

Saturday we were at sea all day and Sunday we spent at airports with layovers and rain delays until we finally got home at 3:30 in the morning. 

My mom did a great job with the kids.  They had lots of fun and it was so great to know the kids were doing great with my mom.  I think if we'd left the kids with anyone else I'd have worried and missed them more, but it was nice to be able to have a great vacation and be confident the kids were doing great too.

We were home for 4 days and then we left that Friday for Lake Tahoe.  We had another great trip there.  I love Amanda and Wendy. I'm so thankful for their friendship.  They've influenced my life so much.  They've been my best friends for 16 years now.  They're such a blessing.  We went on lots of hikes and played lots of Settlers of Cataan.. The kids rode their bikes on a fun new bmx track, the boys especially loved that.  We had two great days at the beach with lots of jet-skiing, kayaking and playing in the sand.  We left on Thursday and stopped at Carson City again on our way home. 

Today I was called as the Second Counselor in the YW.  I'm really excited.  Here's what I remember from my blessing when I was set apart.

• I should seek inspiration and inspiration will come
• I should think about the girls often and will get direction for how to help them
• I should study and learn how a presidency works and I'll be able to speak my mind with them
• I'll be able to organize my time to fit young women's into my life

July 1, 2012

Yesterday was our 11th anniversary.  Bob got me a "delayed 10th anniversary" gold band.  It was so thoughtful of him.  We had plans to go to a nicer restaurant, but our babysitter forgot.  So we had Danny watch the kids and we stayed close and went to TGIFridays.  And we went swimsuit shopping for Bob.  Mostly we're just getting so excited for our cruise next week.

The kids have been busy with the Deans and swimming.  They're working well on their summer goals.  All the kids took swimming lessons for one week. And then Seth and Aaron continued for another week.  Aaron picked up the strokes really fast.  I almost had him convinced to do the swim team, but he changed his mind.  Maybe next year. I think it might be good for him to have a different sport than Danny.

My eyes have still been dry.  I tried temporary tear duct plugs this week.  They seemed to help.  So I'll get permanent plugs put in after we get back from our cruise.  And I really need to work on getting more sleep.  If I get 8 hours a night, I can tell a big difference in my eyes.  But it's so hard to give up time to relax or get things done after kids are in bed, so I go to bed late. And then I love my exercise schedule I have going right now so I get up early for that.  (Right now I'm going to spin classes on Monday and Friday, swim laps on Wednesday and go to a bootcamp class on Thursdays)

Bob gave me a blessing this week for comfort with my eyes.

• The Lord is pleased with the little things I'm doing and he will bless me as I extend myself. (I can and need to do more to serve)
• I will regain much of my functionality with my eyes. (That's ok because my back only regained some of it's functionality and I'm able to work well with that)
• I'll be able to wait (read ensign article and study that word)
• Talk to doctors about things that can potentially bless me
• Will be guided to know what will help
• Be patient, don't worry
• Read scriptures and study things of eternity--things will be opened up to me.

June 17, 2012

The rest of our time in Visalia was great.  The kids and I went to see a movie, we went swimming at her neighbor's house. We played with more frogs and at more parks.

It turns out Seth had a buckle or green-stick fracture in his wrist. So it'll just heal on it's own.  It sounds like they probably would have cast it if they'd seen it, but that would just have made it so it didn't hurt, not made a big difference in the healing.  So they'll just continue to let it heal on it's own.  He's a tough little boy because he really never complains about it, unless someone grabs and pulls on his wrist.

Bob is such a great husband.  I love him so much.  He is so kind and helpful and he supports me in whatever ways I need. I can't wait to go on our cruise together.  It'll be so nice to have him to myself for a whole week!

June 10, 1012

I'm in Visalia now.  School got out Thursday and we left that afternoon.  I love it! We went to the waterslides in Fresno on Friday.  The kids all loved it. Yesterday we did a little shopping and went out to dinner for an early Father's day.  Kristal is here too this weekend.  There was a little drama because Ryan and Venessa wanted to come too, but I asked that they didn't because I wanted to hang out with my mom and not have it be a big party.  It's nice to just have my mom's attention sometimes and not have to fight for space.  The frogs are out here and we've gone to play with them both mornings so far. Also, I got a gel manicure set before we came so we've been doing manicures and pedicures all over the place.

Rachel ended up having strep throat last week.  But she's doing better now with medicine.  And Seth is still having trouble with his wrist from a month ago when he fell off the bunk bed ladder.  So I took him in to get it re-x-rayed. We're waiting to hear back with the results.

The weather is great here.  We'll probably do a little more shopping.  Maybe go see a movie.  And Rachel is getting her ears pierced.  And then we'll just hang out and go to some parks and things like that.  We'll leave on Wednesday.

June 3, 2012

I'm home from church today with four "sick" kids.  Seth was the reason I stayed home.  Ruby got a stomach bug from nursery last week.  Then passed it to Seth.  He's doing really well today, but yesterday he was pretty down and Ruby got it from someone bringing their kid to nursery who wasn't quite better so we didn't want to do that to anyone else.  And Ruby might as well stay home if I am.  Then Danny and Rachel had a couple late nights and lots of time in the sun this weekend and I think they were just run down so they wanted to stay home too. They have to take it easy and read 5 Friend articles and their scriptures.  So just Bob and Aaron went to church today.

I had my double root canal this week.  It turned out that both my teeth on either side of my bridge have died from the trauma of putting on the bridge.  That dentist was not good for me.  He cracked a tooth's root and had to pull it and killed two other teeth.  I just hope this solves it and I can have a few years off from teeth problems for a while. 

And my eyes still aren't doing very well.  I can't wear my contacts at all still and get such bad headaches.  I've been on restasis almost a month now and the doctor said it should take 4-6 weeks for it to start taking affect. I really hope my health can get back to normal soon.  I'm fasting about it today.

Danny and Rachel had their awards ceremonies this week at school.  Rachel got A honor roll and Danny got A/B honor roll.  I'm proud that they've worked hard this year.

I did a few sewing projects yesterday. It's going to be nice to have more self-sufficient kids. 

May 27, 2012

We only have 2 weeks left of school.  We're all so ready for that.  We're going to Visalia right after school gets out next week.  Bob is going for the weekend and then I'll stay with the kids until Wednesday or Thursday.  Then we'll have a few weeks at home for swimming lessons.  And then we'll be gone almost all of July.  We have a lot of fun things planned this summer.

Aaron had his end-of-kindergarten program on Friday. He was so excited about it.  He really wanted Bob to come too so Bob came home early from work to be there.  Aaron did a great job.  I wasn't having any sentimental feelings about anything as we got there.  But as soon as he started singing the first song and he smiled at me, I totally started crying and had to fight it the whole program. He looked like he did when I saw him in the temple when I was pregnant with him. Kind of a happy, goofy, kind smile.  That vision of him has helped me so many times.  I love to get reports of him from his teachers at school and church because they just love him.  They say Aaron is so good and obedient and can answer all the questions and he's so kind to the other kids. I'm so glad he can get control of himself when he needs to.  And if he has to let off some steam regularly I'd rather it be at home.

Baseball is done.  Rachel has one more tennis lesson. There's one more piano lesson. I'm so excited to slow down.

May 13, 2012

Today is Mother's day.  Bob got up early and made me chocolate covered strawberries with white chocolate drizzled on them.  And a big, nice breakfast. The kids made me nice cards and gifts.  Ruby went to nursery and did really well. They said she cried on and off, but she went in just fine and they never had to come get us.  Last night we put the kids to bed early and Bob watched a chick flick with me and we had ice cream.  It's been a nice day.

We've had Maeli and Cannon Dean staying at our house since Wednesday.  The rest of the Deans went to Boston and Washington DC.  It's gone really well. Our kids play together so well. That helps so much.

I started taking Restasis for my dry eyes.  I've been having such problems with my eyes.  Most days I can't even wear my contacts all day. I've been trying other things before this, but they've been bad really since Ruby was born.  But it's gotten unbearable over the last couple of months. I hope this prescription will help!

May 6, 2012

It's stake conference again.  Last night we went to the adult session.  That is my favorite conference! We also went to mexican food with a bunch of other couples for Cinco de Mayo first.  A few things I loved from conference were

• Love your kids into obedience
• See others as the lord sees them through temple worship
• Satan is attacking minds, thoughts and attitudes. We should look to the Savior in every thought
• President Stolworthy shared an amazing talk by F. Enzio Busche at BYU in May 1996
• Avoid negative thoughts: if you don't cut them out they will hurt you.  We need to practice ignoring negative thoughts.  I need to share this with Aaron
• By daily reading of the scriptures, we are protected. I need to share this with Danny

 I had a talk with Danny on Monday about the things I felt when I was praying for him that day.  He took it all in.  He's been reading his scriptures about 5 verses a day and his prayers must be much better.  The change in him has been amazing.  He's so much happier and kinder.  The next morning he got up early to fill water balloons for Seth and Ruby.  He hasn't been so moody and he's quick to apologize when he plays to rough with the other kids.  It's wonderful.  He's such a good kid.

Friday night I took Danny, Rachel and Aaron to the High School musical. It was Charlie Brown.  We had a great time.  We went out to Mcdonalds after and to Old Navy to get new flip flops.  It was fun to be with my big kids.

Bob and I got our cruise plans finalized.  We found this awesome 7 night cruise that goes to Honduras, Belize, Grand Cayman and Cozumel.  It was a little longer than we were planning on, but it's such a better trip than the other ones that just went to a few close islands.  We're usually so frugal with things like this, but we both agreed that this one is worth it and we're so excited.  And we're so grateful that President Jones is letting us use his flight vouchers.  I don't know if we would have gone for it if we had to pay for flights too.

Websites continue to be busy.  I've been working 10 hours a week for the last couple of months. That feels like so much more than my usual 5ish hours. I have such a long list of things that need to be done for the websites with converting them to Drupal and making everything work smoothly. I'm trying to get as much as I can done before school gets out because then it'll be so much harder.  And I don't want to have to work this much when they're home.

April 30, 2012

I've started focusing on praying for each kid on their own day again.  I feel like I can concentrate better and receive more answers for them that way.  So today is Danny's day.  I started praying for him and all that would come out was asking to give him opportunities to rely on the Spirit and recognize what is really important.  I tried a couple of times to back off and rephrase things so I could ask for blessings for him, but not really anything too hard.  But I couldn't. I tried three times and different words came out, but the same meaning.  And I remembered Danny's father's blessing from the start of the school year. It said "You will be able to listen to the Spirit and recognize it. The Spirit will help you when your safety is at risk."  I remember that scaring me last fall.  I need to make sure Danny is ready when he needs the Spirit. I'm going to make sure he's saying meaningful personal prayers and at least reading one verse a day on his own.

April 29, 2012

Bob came home with us today.  And he sat with us in church. It was so nice. And he was just called as the Cub Master.

We went camping this weekend at Valley of Fire--our regular camping trip. We had hot dogs and smores and donuts.  So easy.  The weather was perfect.  I love it because as soon as we get there, the kids are all best friends.  They play and climb and help each other. Dreamy. Ruby didn't love it as much as I thought she would.  Maybe because all the other kids would leave and climb and she was stuck with me and Bob most of the time. We came back Saturday morning in time for tennis and two baseball games.

This week, after finding out last week that we don't need to have more kids, I can barely remember how hard it was when Ruby was a baby.  That was so strong in my mind as I thought about having more kids.  But, now for whatever reason, that's gone.

April 22, 2012

I just took Ruby to the ER this morning during sacrament meeting.  She tripped on the hose in the grass and cut her forehead really bad.  Luckily they could glue it so that should give us the best chance of minimal scarring.  Poor little girl. She also fell down the stairs this week.  She was fine, though.  She's just going through a clumsy stage I guess.

Bob got released from the bishopric today. I missed it because I was at the hospital.  I'm sad I missed his testimony. But it'll be nice to have him with us on Sundays again. 

I sewed a dress for Ruby this week.  It was so much faster than the Easter dresses.  It just took an hour or two.

I started a new class at the gym.  It's a strength training class and I took Ruby and Seth to the gym with me.  They did pretty well there.  Ruby cried a little. Hopefully they'll start liking it more because I'd like to do the class.

I don't think I've been doing my best to serve my family and others. I feel like I've been a little out of control and crazy.  I just can't keep up and instead of stopping and regrouping, I just keep going but not fully succeeding.  So I'm trying to get my feet under myself better.  Our budget has been doing better since our meeting last week.  My perspective on it is better.  I need to do that with my whole life.  So I ready my patriarchal blessing and here are some of the things I came up with.

“The Lord has blessed you with gifts and talents that He expects you to develop and to use in furthering His work. Continue to study and through prayer and through righteous living you will be strengthened where you will be able to fulfill the purpose the Lord has for you. I bless you that you will recognize and know what the Lord expects of you.By following the promptings of the Holy Ghost that will come to you, you will be guided and directed in all things.”

What are my gifts and talents:

• fairly good at accomplishing things
• good at talking and listening one on one
• I have a nice home that is great for entertaining/swim parties

Ideas for things to work on/how to serve:

• Hang out with Erica more. Invite her to church things
• Talk to Sandy and May more. Bring up gospel things
• Help Kata more, have kids over
• Start sewing group. Invite lots of ladies. Joan Faircloth, Jan LaVoie

Things I can do for my family:

• Weekly dates with Bob (Quarterly nights out/trade off with Deans?)
• Start back to praying for family member everyday and looking for direction, keep record
• Put more effort into foods in our house and better nutrition/snacks for all of us
• Pray before talking to kids at night

April 18, 2012

Something I relearned in the temple last week was how much of this life is our choice.  I think I get so caught up in wanting to follow his plan for me that I assume it's all laid out just waiting for me to be obedient.  But I remembered it isn't like that.  He knows me well enough that he knows what I'll choose, probably.  And there are times when my choice isn't what's best for me and He'll let me know that.  But I get to choose and He wants me to choose.  The strongest times I've learned that are when I decided to marry Bob and last week, deciding I want to be done having babies. Those were such big choices I didn't want to be wrong so I started out waiting for the Lord to tell me what to do.  But the answer didn't come because I hadn't chosen what I wanted yet. I'm so thankful for that reminder last week.  This is my life and my test.  Heavenly Father will help me make good choices, but they are all my choices to make.

April 15, 2012

Bob and I went to the temple on Thursday.  We fasted that day and going into the temple we both felt like it was ok for us to be done having babies and we should focus on raising and teaching the kids we have.  That was confirmed for us in the temple.  It's a little sad to think about not having babies in the house, but even if we had one more, it would still come to an end at some point.  But I just need to focus on this amazing ride with my kids. It continues to change, but every stage is new and better in some way. And it's kind of exciting to think about not having to take care of a time-intensive baby or to be able to go places and walk in next to my kids instead of carrying my kids.

In preparing to go to the temple I read through my journals from when Bob and I dated.  That helped me a lot.  It helped me remember I need to be better at researching my choice and then making a decision.  I want to do what the Lord wants me to so badly that lots of time I try to just wait for Him to tell me what to do.

We had a good Spring Break.  It wasn't warm enough to swim, but it was nice.  We went to the Springs Preserve, Flip n Out, Ward Easter Party, we made crafts and rented several movies. My parents went to Casey's for Easter, but they stopped quickly at our house on either side of their visit.  It was nice to see them.

I got the girls' easter dresses and my skirt made in time.  I was going to make the boys some ties, but I ran out of time so I just bought them matching ties.  It was so fun to see my girls in the dresses I made.  I was really happy with the way they turned out.

I've still been having a hard time staying on budget.  So Bob and I had a financial meeting for one of our dates this weekend.  It was good to talk over everything with him.  I think one thing that is making it harder for me to save money is that I'm so busy, so rather than spend the time to think about whether or not to buy something, I just buy it.  So Bob and I set the budget and Bob also came up with a great incentive for me to do better.  Every month when I stay at least within 20% of our budget, Bob will stay home on a Friday instead of going to his second job and I get that whole day to do whatever I want.  I think that sounds awesome. I think that will help motivate me a ton!

My mom is going to watch the kids for us for a week in July so we can go on our late 10 year anniversary trip.  We were going to go to New York.  But it's going to be so hot and humid in July and it was going to take so much time to research everything and plan what we wanted to do, that I think we're just going to go on a caribbean cruise instead. I'm really excited about that.

April 1, 2012

Last weekend we went to Ryan and Venessa's for Phebe's blessing.  We left Thursday night.  Friday we went to the beach. It was cold, but the kids still had so much fun. We played basketball at their HOA.  I went to see the Hunger Games movie and went shopping with my mom and Kristal. I got the girls easter dresses done barely in time, so my mom got to see them.

I'm kind of freaking out. I decided this conference I'd be looking for guidance about whether we should have another baby or not.  Both of us would really like to be done, but my concern is mostly the experience I had back in July.  So I was hoping for a talk that said something about children.  But then the entire first session on Saturday was about children and sacrifice and trials.  I talked to Bob about it and he pretty much said no way. but then he agreed that we need to find out what the Lord wants us to do.  I think I'm going to ask him to fast and pray with me this week and go to the temple.  I really hope if we're supposed to have another one that he'll get a strong confirmation of that.  Because I've really been the one making the decision every time we have a baby. And Bob is great to just go along.  But it would be nice if I don't have to do that this time.

 Seth doesn't need to get tubes in his ears.  I got him retested and they said there isn't any fluid.  And his speech has gotten so much better over the last couple of months.  There are a few things he says wrong just because he used to say it that way, but if I reteach him he can say it correctly.  He's mostly just missing the th sound now.  I'm happy he's doing so well.

This week is Spring Break.  I have lots of activities and crafts planned to keep the kids happy and entertained, especially because the Deans are out of town this week.  Hopefully there will be minimal fighting this week.

March 18, 2012

We were so blessed this week.  Bob and I had been talking about our finances and praying about them.  We had a big talk about how we knew things would work out because we are paying our tithing and fast offerings and trying to live within our means. The next day and old website contacted me about starting back up for them, our pool, which we thought was going to be hundreds to fix, was only $50, and our old neighbor, Sandy, called at asked me if I'd like her awesome sewing machine and cabinet. I know we are blessed all the time, but sometimes it is so obvious.  We didn't need so many things, but it felt so good to know we are loved and we are doing the things we should.

Sandy is getting a new sewing machine and she gave me her fancy Babylock sewing and embroidery machine and this perfect armoire/sewing cabinet to put it in.  I feel like it's Christmas. Sandy is going to come over on Tuesday and show me how to use it.  It was so nice of her.

It was Bob's birthday on Tuesday.  Seth and Ruby and I went and had lunch with him at work.  Then he came home a little early and we had pizza and Costco chocolate cake.  He got some fast food gift cards and an air soft gun and mask to play with Danny.  Danny was drooling over it; he doesn't know he's getting one for his birthday.

I've also been blessed with my time.  I still feel super busy, but I'm fitting so much more into my time.  I'm exercising 5 days a week.  I do a spin class on Monday and Friday and swim a mile on Wednesdays and then I do strength exercises at home on Tuesday and Thursday.  I could barely get 3 days usually before the last few weeks. I've also been working 1-2 hours everyday and I've been able to sew a little most days.

March 11, 2012

I'm almost done with Rachel's dress.  And it fits her and looks so cute.  I was getting worried it wasn't going to turn out that great after all the time I was spending.  But I just need to do the cummerbund now. And I think Ruby's should go a lot faster because I've already figured out how to do it on Rachel's. 

Our budget hasn't been working well.  Since a little before Christmas, I haven't been working enough and I've been spending too much.  The budget has been off and we haven't been saving anything.  It's been frustrating.  But I think we are getting a handle on it. I hope.  We're trying harder than we have been.  It feels better to be in control of the money.  And we have some big plans to go to NYC this summer and Washington DC next summer.  And those are going to take a lot of money.  Plus Bob really needs a car that has air conditioning.  He says he doesn't mind, but I'd really love to be able to get him a better car.  So I really want to be better at saving money.  I've been praying that things will keep working out for us and that we'd be able to work better and smarter so we can reach some of our financial goals.

February 26, 2012

Things were crazy again this week.  I just have to find a way to slow things down.  I keep feeling like I'll have more time after I finish this one thing.  But it never happens.  I don't get to play with Seth and Ruby nearly enough and I'm going to miss them being small if I don't make time for it.  So I decided I'm going to drop all tv watching.  And I'm going to clean the house at night with Bob.  Bob is going to take over the pool responsibilities. I'm going to make sure I read my scriptures everyday after I put Ruby down. I'm not going to sit down at the computer except for when I'm doing websites (which I'm going to try to do 1-2 hours a day because our budget has been going crazy lately) or for 30 minutes outside of that to read blogs/email/pinterest. And I probably won't spend much social time with friends since Jamie just moved and Kata had her baby last week. I'm still going to sew our Easter clothes, but I'm not going to start any of the other sewing projects I was thinking of. I think I've found some good ways to carve out some time.  I'm excited to keep my focus on the most important things and get to enjoy them more.

Ruby had her well check and she has lost some weight because she isn't drinking milk, so I'm supposed to feed her five meals a day.  She seems do be doing well with it and is eating much more.  Seth had his checkup and his pediatrician put him on claritin and singulair and nose spray to see if that can clear up his ear fluid problem before surgery.  It would sure be nice if it works.

I'm really enjoying teaching Sunday School to the 12 year olds.  The lessons are basic plan of Salvation lessons and the kid ask great questions and participate.  We have good gospel discussions.

February 19, 2012

I've been putting reading my scriptures as a higher priority this week and I've had more time to get all my things done. I have to learn that lesson over and over. I know it's true, I just get lazy and then have to relearn it. I haven't felt so swamped and I even got some sewing done.

We hung out with the Deans a lot this week. And with my friend Jamie, my swim teacher, she had her baby a couple of weeks ago and she's moving next week, so we've been getting together as much as we can.

Bob and Rachel went to the Goynes Daddy Daughter dance on Friday.  They had a great time. Saturday night  Bob took the three oldest to a hockey game. I stayed home and put the little ones to bed and then I sewed.

February 12, 2012

I went to San Francisco with Amanda and Wendy last weekend.  It was marvelous! Bob watched the kids and I left Friday morning and came back Sunday night. Wendy got us a great hotel in Union Square. We ate and shopped most of the time.  There were lots of shops and fun things to see right around our hotel.  The weather was great. I love those girls.  We can just pick back up like we lived together yesterday.  Saturday we shopped for several hours and then came back and took a nap and then went to a fun Singapore restaurant and then got a movie in our room. It was so great to just do whatever we felt like and not have to take care of anyone else. Sunday we went to Ghiradelli Square and Pier 39. Bob did great with the kids while I was gone.

Tuesday I had a baby shower for Kata at our house.  It was so fun.  We had a great turnout and it was so great to be able to celebrate such a fun friend and her new baby. I'm so thankful for my friendship with Kata.  She's so fun and such an example of a great mom and disciple of Christ.

I've been feeling so swamped lately.  Everyday I work so hard and at the end of the day my "to do" list is longer than it was at the start of the day.  Ugh. I decided I wanted to sew the girls' Easter dresses.  I bought the fabric last week. But I don't know when I'm going to find the time to get them done.  I'll probably have to give up some sleep a few nights.  But I already do that just to get my other stuff done.  What a crazy time of life.

January 22, 2012

We signed the boys up for baseball yesterday.  That'll start in late February.  And Rachel's tennis starts this Saturday.  It's been nice to be relatively un-busy with only Danny's basketball, piano, scouts and activity days.  But soon we'll be back in full swing with busy days every day again.

I'm having fun dressing Ruby. She let me pain her fingernails this week.  Her hair is getting long enough do a couple of different styles.  And I bought her some "ruby slippers" this week.  Really, they are red glitter Toms shoes.  But they are adorable on her.  She seems to like it too when I dress her up.

We play with the Deans a lot when we're not so busy.  I'm so thankful for such good, easy friends for my kids.  And I love getting to hang out with Kata a little.  I'm so thankful for that friendship too.

I took Danny to lunch on Friday.  And I took Rachel and Aaron the last two weeks.  That was one of my New Years Goals, not that I did a lot of formal goal setting, but one of the things I wanted to do better at was going to lunch more regularly.  I really like having that time to spend with them and it's such an easy way to make them feel special.

January 15, 2012

We are finally healthy.  We spent the first 2 weeks of this year sick. We missed the last two Sundays.  So it was nice to be at church today. 

Seth started gymnastics this week.  He loved it.  The class is small so Ruby can even wander around and participate a little. We started the Cox-Dean basketball camp yesterday.  We're going to do our own basketball practice on Saturdays until baseball starts. Just to expose them to basketball and have a little fun.  I tried to put Aaron in a league, but there weren't enough boys his age who signed up so they cancelled it.

I got a few house projects done this week.  We hung more pictures in our front room.  It's feeling pretty close to done.  I want my coffee table refinished--I asked Bob to do it for me for Valentines day.  My mom got me an awesome lazy susan for my kitchen table for Christmas.  I painted it blue to match our kitchen.

I had an amazing experience at sacrament meeting today.  I was in a little bit of a bad mood as I sat down after fighting with kids to get everyone ready and on time to church.  So I sat there and I prayed that I'd see people and things as Heavenly Father does.  That prayer always helps me see needs and feel love.  So I was feeling a little better. Then Tali Tuitama, one of the young women, sat down across the isle from me.  I felt the spirit so strongly.  I could feel how much Heavenly Father loves her and the divine heritage she has. She didn't actually look different, but I could feel a glow coming off her, like I could see or feel the love of Heavenly Father.  I couldn't help the tears. It was that way for the whole meeting. I haven't felt the spirit that strongly in a while.  It's amazing to think of that feeling and know that Heavenly Father loves each of us that much.

January 1, 2012

Christmas break has been great.  We had the first week to ourselves. We made fudge and truffles and delivered them to friends and neighbors.  We slept under the Christmas tree. We watched Christmas movies and the kids played with the Deans a lot. Our favorite thing that week was going to the Springs Preserve for their Christmas party.  They had a train ride and reindeer rides and a big blow-up slide. The weather was great. The kids all loved it.  And we bought year passes so we'll be able to go check out other things there later in the year.

My mom and Grandparents came Thursday night. They helped me get the beds ready and do the grocery shopping. And then everyone got here Friday afternoon.  Saturday we made a candy train and acted out the nativity. And we all opened one present.

Christmas was wonderful.  The kids were all happy with what they got.  Bob was very surprised to get his Ipad and he's loving it.  And he got me a Kindle fire. That's been fun for me too.  It's so handy to be able to read on it; especially if I want to read in bed and Bob is already asleep.

Monday we went to Valley of Fire and the lights at the Speedway.  My mom bought us all matching clothes so we could take a family picture.  So we did a big group shot and we also got our family and individuals of the kids to put on our wall.

We spent lots of time at Cram middle school across the street playing tennis, basketball, kickball, and bikes. The weather was great.  We also went shopping a few times and watched movies at night. And we ate a ton!

Everyone left on Friday this week.  Bob and I both worked for the whole afternoon to get the house cleaned and put back together after having 20 people living in our house for a week.  Saturday we played with a lot of the new toys we got for christmas: tetherball, twister, uno roboto, snap circuits.  We also had sparklers and popits and watched the Smurfs movie as part of our New Years eve festivities.  And we held our first annual Polar Bear club.  Bob, Rachel, Aaron and I all jumped in our 38 degree pool.  It was pretty fun.  Then we all got hot chocolates from Starbucks.