Ski Babies

This year, Michael shared his love for playing on the slopes with the children and taught the two oldest how to ski, with the help of some friends. I even made it up there one day and took some pictures of them playing. Ryan did not want to be left out and so he convinced dad to carry him down the hill while snowboarding. The kids love it!

 

I'm Where I'm Suppose to Be

Last night I had the usual nightmares about being back in high school and something embarrassing happening. Well, first one high school and then another, but at least not all four of the high schools I attended. Upon waking I was so confused and befuddled I decided to look up some high school friends on Facebook and see if they were actually as crazy as they had been in my dream. (My dream was a combination of being in high school but dealing with my current life events at the same time. More than a little weird.)

What I discovered is that while a lot of the people I went to high school (not the one I graduated from, but the other ones) are not living the lives I would have expected them to be living after high school. The guys I was interested in do not share the same values (more lifestyle than religious), goals, or achievements I share with my husband and while they are still good people I am so glad I didn't end up with any of them permanently. I do have to admit it was kind of weird to find some people who spouted big dreams in high school still living the same way they did in high school plus a kid or two. Not quite what I expected from such big dreamers. Other friends who share my religious values and did go on to college are living similar lifestyles to my own. I couldn't find some friends on Facebook, and I am still wondering about them.

Overall, I don't think my crazy dream was an accurate or true reflection of reality, but it was good to help me reflect that I am where I am suppose to be, headed in the direction I need to go. A good reminder for those days when I'm frustrated with not having accomplished everything I wanted to for that day, or even at this point in my life. Had I chosen a different path I would not be where I am today and I am grateful be where I am.

The Difference of a Year

Today, we had our annual picture taking session. This time I wasn't as stressed as last time. Still stressed, but not as much. To give you a better idea of my stress level, I spent less than an hour this morning putting together our outfits whereas last year I spent the whole week trying to come up with the "right" combination and went shopping at three different stores. The kids did great and we have some awesome pictures again. I love the place we get our pictures taken at!

 

I uploaded the pictures to my computer and I couldn't help but notice how much we have changed in the last year. I expected it with Ryan seeing how he is only two and still changing a ton every day, but we have all changed and it is fun to see.

 

2013 

2012

It's Snowing and I can Breathe

Outside it is cold and wet, and a little slick, but it is snowing. It hasn't snowed a whole lot for three weeks or so. I mean really snowed more than an inch or so and it has been so hard to breathe. I am so glad it is snowing because I can breathe again and it feels so good.

It Could Be Worse.....

We are having one of those weeks . . . . I mean days . . . . I mean weeks at our house. You know, one where it starts with one kid getting sick, then another one, then the mom, then the last one (well, we aren't quite there yet.) The weather outside is horribly cold and the air quality is so bad it is hard to breathe. And, while I am not feeling well the two year old who is feeling well runs around the house tearing everything I am able to get done apart. Yeah, it has been like that in our family since Sunday (we threw a six hour drive with moaning sick kids and the fire alarms in our house going off while we were out of town into the mix as well.) I'm not complaining, yet, just talking about what is going on to give perspective for the rest of the post.

Today I was reading everyone else's posts about the freezing rain, and slipping and falling on the black ice that is everywhere and I kept having the the thought that some of these posts were coming from a "it could be worse" perspective. Not that they were bemoaning the situation. It was more of a I'm grateful it is not worse positive spin on things. After reading this all day, I decided it is okay for me to talk about how my situation "could be worse" but it is not okay for someone else to point out that to me. Meaning, if I am feeling bad or down about something I don't need another person to tell me why I should be grateful for the situation because "it could be worse" because it is not someone else's place to change my perspective on my current situation. If I can tell myself it is okay to feel frustrated or disheartened when tough things happen, and decide for myself that those things aren't going to last forever I can recover faster than if I am told I cannot feel upset about anything. I'm only human, and to expect otherwise is unrealistic. Something I am still learning.

But anyway, given how rough the last few days have been I have lived through worse and I can make through this too. It could be worse by

• having a broken elbow and not being able to change diapers
• being pregnant and on mostly bed rest because of chronic pain
• having the stomach flu
• having no heat because the furnace is not working
• being in the hospital because of RSV
• passing a kidney stone
• having to go to work because I have no more sick leave
• the house actual burning down while we were out of town instead of just having a faulty smoke detector going off
• kids throwing up in the car on the way home instead of getting over it before we drove home

....and a number of other things we have lived through. It's rough but it will be over some day soon. After all, "it could worse."

Learning to Sew

Not me, but the cute girl I teach. I found a pattern for this cloak online and we altered it to be a knee length cape instead of elbow length. I started teaching her in July or August and she made this in October so she could be Red Riding Hood for Halloween. She is catching on fast and has been lots of fun to teach!

Foggy

It's foggy outside. I'm not being metaphorical here, it's just foggy outside. The other day I was wondering what the purpose of having fog lights on my car was when I don't use them except for about two days a year, and that is only if I decide to leave the house after seeing it is foggy outside. Well, today I used them and I am sure glad I don't live where there is fog all of the time. Scary!

Driving in the fog today also remind of learning to drive on the freeway. The first time I drove on the freeway (there weren't any within an hour of where we lived when I learned to drive) the weather decided to become very foggy. Not normal for that part of the country at that time of year, but none the less it was foggy. I did not like see all of the cars and semi trucks close together, but I survived and after that driving on the freeway wasn't so bad. Anyway, it's foggy today and I hope it burns off soon.

Crazy Hair Day

The longer my kiddos are in school, the more creative I find myself becoming to help them enjoy school activities. We used water color paint and rubber bands to create these crazy hair-dos for red ribbon week's crazy hair day.

Making Monsters

One of our Family Home Evening activities in October was to make monsters from empty, cleaned, fruit cans. It was fun!

Library Friends

This is Ryan's friend at the school library. Our librarian was so sweet to let him touch Clifford every time we visited the library this summer.

Quiet as a Church Mouse

I don't know why we say that. Mice in churches still make messes and are gross. But anyway, I have laryngitis and one day it was so bad I couldn't do much more than whisper. The children started whispering back and I had to keep telling them it was okay to talk in a normal voice. I was just talking softly because I couldn't talk louder and it hurt to try. Our house was very quiet that day.

Resolutions for 2013

We are going to keep it simple this year.

• Potty train Ryan.
• Help Bekah improve her reading skills and adjust to all day school.
• Find more positive ways for Benjamin to express his abundance of energy.

Yep, that should do it. Along with continuing the positive habits I have developed over the last few years. That should keep me plenty busy.

2012 Resolutions in Review

I posted a set of resolutions here, and I kept another set elsewhere. Some I completed, some I made good progress on. As a result, I will be only making a couple of resolutions this year because I took on too much last year. All were good goals, just a little too much to try to accomplish in one year. But, back to reviewing what I did list here.

• Create 365 posts for this blog.....I made it to 157.
• Index 75,0000 records using Family Search.....I indexed 75,042 records, learned how to arbitrate, and arbitrated 7,889 records.
• Read ... books in my house I haven't read.....We read the first four Harry Potter books as a family, I read all of the book club books for our neighborhood book club, and I spent most of my time read the standard works. Still have more books I need to read in our house.
• Finish projects and don't start new ones.....I didn't start any big projects, and I finished several unfinished ones, but I did do several small projects using supplies I already had on hand.
• Help Ryan learn English......We are still working on this one, but we are making tons of progress in this regard. We have also graduated from grunting to whining, but most of the time he is a good little talker and I can understand him.
• Help Bekah start Kindergarten.....Bekah loves Kindergarten! She has learned how to read lots of words and simple books as well as simple addition and patterns in math.
• Help Benjamin improve his piano skills.....Benjamin switched piano teachers twice this year and adjusted well to both. I purchased a book of Christmas songs on his current level and his piano playing as taken off. I am fairly certain he plays better than I do now.
• I did find time to laugh, smile, and serve others. It helped make this year better in every way, and helped me grow in ways I couldn't have known.
• I also completed a couple of triathlons, and all of the training that went with preparing for those events.
• Lastly, I took on another student and am now teaching sewing lessons in addition to crocheting lessons.

It has been a busy and full year. Now, on to another year of growth and development.

Still Here and Planning to Stay

Google fixed their picture limit thing. I can now upload pictures again, so no new blog address for us.

It's Great to be Two!

We have a two year old at our house. Every day I get to spend about three hours alone with him. Not something I experienced with the other two year olds at my house.

With my first two year old, I had a brand new baby to take care of too. With my second two year old, I was dealing with a four year old who wanted to go to school and was constantly into everything. I don't think I had time to realize the joys of having a two year old when I was overwhelmed with tantrums, screaming, frustrations with wanting to be understood and not having a large vocabulary, and dealing with other challenging developmental stages. Don't get me wrong, there were moments in there that were beautiful but I was so overwhelmed I just remember the time as the "terrible twos" before the "tricky threes." I do have to say, Ryan is more mild about most typical two behavior than the other two. Part of that is his temperament and part of that is my increased awareness of my own challenges and limitations and knowing how to better care from myself.

Now, I get to revel in the great things about being two and remember some of the same joys with the first two when number three has similar experiences or behaviors. Some of the great things about being two are

• learning and saying new words every day
• running faster
• enjoying being teased and teasing Mom and Dad
• knowing what he wants and being determined to ask for it until he is understood
• waking up ready to play
• giving kisses
• displaying a more defined sense of humor
• being able to get things like diapers, shoes, jacket, socks, specific toys
• following directions
• always wanting to help around the house
• wanting to do what Mom, Dad, brother, and sister are doing
• being more content when a routine is maintained
• loving to talk on the phone
• climbing on everything and everyone
• learning what a conk feels like over and over again, but feeling okay after receiving Mommy's kisses
• being most content when the whole family is together
• loving books, libraries, and stories

We still have days filled screaming, tantrums, and trouble, but most of the time I forget he is two because he is such a bright part of our family. Love you, Ryan!

Indexing Goal Done

I finally completed my goal of 75,000 records (names) within one year. Now, I think I am going to take a long break from that and set a more reasonable goal of about 25,000 for the year. Doing that much I burnt myself out a bit. I still have a strong testimony of the importance of indexing, I just need to be a little less intense about doing 100s of names every day.

New Blog

I may have to start a new blog. This one tells me I have no more space for pictures.

What to do? What to do? I will let you know if and when I decide what to do.

The Standard Works, Goal Complete

It's morning time, and while I haven't jumped in the shower yet and I have a long list of To-Dos I still managed to finish a year long goal, among other things.

Last year around Thanksgiving I was thinking about the things I was thankful for and one of those things is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the scriptures. I decided I wanted to make a goal to read my scriptures every day even if it was only a single verse because I have not been able to do this consistent at since I married my sweet husband.

In January, I finished the Doctrine and Covenants and decided to read the entire Bible for the first time. I have read most of the Old Testament and all of the New Testament, but not all of it. When I about halfway through the Old Testament I decided I wanted to read all of the Standard Works (Bible, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, and Book of Mormon) completely before December 1st, the day I started reading my scriptures every day.

Today I finished the Book of Mormon, the last of the Standard Works I was reading, four days ahead of schedule and I only missed two or three days of reading in the last year. I learned a lot this last year, but mostly I learned I want to know more about what each book teaches and why, which will require more in depth reading and less speedy reading. I am grateful for the scriptures and the things I learn from reading them and applying their teachings to my life. It was an amazing experience!

I Know What I Want

We have a two year old at our house who is very determined to get his way. One morning he wanted more cereal, and so he served himself some more. Granted, it was all piled on the kitchen table, but I have to admie his indpendence and determination.

 

Freezing at the Corn Maze