Here And Now

Magnus is a pirate, did you know? He actually found some cones in the car (soccer practice paraphernalia), put them on his foot and told me, "Mama, I a pirate! I have a peg foot!" Oh man, no matter how much trouble that boy gets into, no matter how many messes he makes, no matter how many things he ruins... I wouldn't trade it.

It got me to thinking about life and how much we truly take for granted. An example of this is my life about 7 years ago. Andy and I had just bought our first home. We had 3 little kiddies, ages 3, 2, and nearly 1. Andy had a great job that supported us so that I didn't need to work and could be a mom to our kids. I loved my life. I remember being so happy after we moved into our home... For a few months, that is. And then I wanted more. I wanted to paint and decorate. I wanted a new couch, a new car. I quickly forgot my euphoria and promise to Andy that I would be satisfied once we had our own home, the promise I had made only a few months previous. How could I forget so quickly? 

The thing is, looking back, I really only remember the good stuff. Our minds have a way of helping us do that, you know. Forgetting the hard or bad stuff, remembering the easy times and the good stuff.

That's my point. Even though life can seem so dang hard sometimes, in a few years it might just be harder. And I'll look back at this time in my life and only remember the good stuff, and wonder why I didn't appreciate it. 

Maybe none of this makes sense, but I needed to remember it so that I can always be grateful for the here and now. And I am.

This and That and The Nitty Gritty In Between

This picture has nothing to do with this post. It was just a pretty sunrise after a long bike ride one morning and I like it, so there :)

Also, I hate when people talk about how busy they are, because everyone is busy. This post is just a way for me to vent and release some pent up frustration, so feel free to skip it should you be offended by negativity or people getting compared to Satan's sister. Thank you :)

Today has been a little rough. I am just coming to terms with how difficult and time consuming school is, and it's just one of those days where I want to give up and I feel like there is no way I can continue on in this manner, and I feel like I am just about ready to throw in the towel. My brain, it just doesn't work like it used to... I think? Or maybe I am just a complete moron? Either way, I despise my biology class and I am certain that my teacher is Satan's sister herself (okay, so that's not fair or very nice, but she is truly kind of horrible). I also have two other classes that aren't hard necessarily, but definitely time consuming. I have a second interview on Monday that I'm nervous about, and what makes me even more nervous than that is imagining trying to do everything I'm doing now as well as adding part-time work to my list of "stuff". I'm a little bit of a basket case lately.

I had a girl's night last night with my mom and sisters. We saw Austenland and I have not laughed so hard in I don't know how long. We were almost the only ones in the theater and we could not stop laughing and giggling the entire movie. I also realized that although I may look like my daddy, I most definitely have my mother's cackling laugh. We sounded like hyena's in there. And then we went and gorged ourselves (okay, so I'm probably the only one who actually gorged herself, everyone else had leftovers.... I guess I am an emotional eater sometimes, whoops) on Leatherby's ice cream and cheese fries. Divine. I needed that night out. Laughing is good for my soul.

In other news, school and fall activities are in full swing for the kids and they are all busier than ever. Monday is sewing, soccer, and scouts (hey, they all start with S!), Tuesday is soccer and dance, Wednesday is piano, Thursday is dance and Activity Days (and thank goodness fall rec soccer just ended, because up until today that used to be on Thursday too) and Friday is a free day. Phew! Saturday is full of soccer games and chores and friends and such. Amidst all of this, of course school comes first, so we squeeze homework and reading in there somewhere too. On top of Kid Stuff, I also have my church calling (Young Women's) which is so much fun and I love it dearly, but it is so busy as well. Throw PTA helper and Room Mother into this mix, and then my friends.... you have The Perfect Storm, aka The Perfect Way To Drive A Normally Sane Person Insane, aka A Crazy Mom.

Here's the thing.... I enjoy all of it (except the Biology class from Hell, but I've already been over that) and I feel like I can balance it pretty well. I'm just so tired.... Why can't mom's have some super natural power, or some sort of machine that makes it so they can function perfectly on only 4 or 5 hours of sleep... Or no sleep at all?! How awesome would that be? I'm going to invent that, you know, in all of my spare time.

Also, this post was going to be another addition of how Andy and I met, but once I started typing and all of these things just started coming out of my brain and onto this here blog page, I was powerless to stop it. So, I suppose I'll have to wait until another time to write about the love of my life (who just so happened to vacuum the house and clean the kitchen today, be still my heart). Truth is, I think I've babbled on long enough and if you actually and miraculously managed to finish reading this rambling drivel, I will bake you a cookie. Just let me know when you'll be over to pick it up ;)

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

I love this guy. I'm glad we're on this crazy ride together!

Why must I hate change? Why can't I just embrace it and love it and welcome it with open arms? 

Because I'm a pessimist, that's why. 

We have had some changes come about recently and there may be more to come. We are re-arranging our family dynamic and it is a whole new world to all of us. I know that everyone knows that I am going to school, but I can't even remember (and I'm to lazy to go back in my archives to check) if I mentioned that my husband started back to school as well. At the beginning of the year, he decided to jump headfirst into a total career change. He has always been interested in the medical field and when Jonah was a baby he thought he might want to be a perfusionist. However, he had been going to school for a business degree, and he just continued down that path because it was easy and it always worked out. He didn't want to start all over with a new degree. 

When we both started back to school in the summer, it was a little crazy. However, we were thrilled to find out that he was only 3 classes away from graduating with his Associate Degree in general studies (Andy has been going to school off and on for our entire marriage, so we love to joke that this Associate's Degree only took him 11 years to earn, haha :). With that degree, he could transfer to BYU and finish with a Bachelor's in Exercise Science. After he finishes there, he has decided he wants to be  Physician's Assistant, so he'll have another 2 years in a Master's Program.... somewhere. Hopefully before he starts his Master's, I will be done with nursing school and be an RN (this is the plan anyway because I am getting an Associate's of Nursing, not a Bachelor's). So, suffice it to say, the next couple years will be busy and crazy and stressful and all of the above.

Because Andy is going to school now (and taking 16 credit hours) we decided (well, Heavenly Father helped us realize after a lot of prayer and fasting) that he shouldn't be working full time, because he needs to get straight A's to be considered for a PA program. He has started working evenings part-time. It is so weird to have him gone at night. He hasn't worked nights since Jonah was a baby. Since Daphne was born he has had a Monday through Friday 9-5 job (besides traveling). It is really different, and the nights he has class as well as work are a little crazy at our house with just me to get homework and dinner done and the kids everywhere they need to be for their various activities. Luckily we have amazing mother's who help us out once a week when we both have class on the same night. 

Another change that could be on the horizon is the possibility of me going back to work part-time. Since we are poor students again (or should I say "still" since let's face it, we've never been rolling in the dough, haha!), we need some extra income. I have an interview this week at a salon. It is very surreal since I haven't technically worked outside of my home since Laylah was born. If all goes well, I will work part-time during the day when the kids are at school and Andy can study (and also take care of Magnus, so I'm not sure how much studying he'll actually get done!) and do his online classes. 

Life sometimes throws you curve balls that you really never anticipated, and even though all I want to do is sit down and cry, I finally realized that wasn't doing anybody any good. Life is hard and requires a lot of hard work. I may as well get it done, because nobody is going to do it for me. It will be a difficult and long few years, and I'm sure other challenges and trials will come amidst the ones we are already facing. But, I hope that I can continue to have faith and be able to rely upon my Heavenly Father and the gospel for the things that I know to be true. This life is really just a small moment in the grand scheme of things. If I can remember that (which, I'm sure I'll forget occasionally), I think I'll be okay. 

I love my family. I love the gospel. I am grateful for my Savior and the fact that He is the only one who really and truly knows how I feel. For that, I will be eternally grateful because I know that someone will be by my side through everything I face, no matter what. Ahhh, life. What a ride, eh?

Now, if I can just figure out how to do all of the things I need to do on only 5 hours of sleep a night, I will be golden :)

Good Morning To You

This morning was a doozy. Magnus didn't eat dinner last night (note-I prepared a delicious healthy meal and he refused to eat it, therefor he gets nothing) and whenever he does that he wakes up super early because he is starving and he comes and tries to wake me up so I'll get him food and when I won't, he takes matters into his own hands. He decided since I wouldn't get up to feed him, he would bring the food to me so I would open it for him. He kept bringing me all sorts of random things (cream puffs? Whipping cream? a whole gallon of milk?), and I (in my sleepy/half comatose state) kept shooing him away to which a tantrum ensued (by him, not me.... this time).

I finally dragged myself out of bed after glancing at the clock (it was 5:30 AM people, and I had stayed up until 1 AM doing homework) and I went into the kitchen to find a lovely little mess he had made. I quickly cleaned it up, explained to him (in between his shrieks of protest) that we don't get up at 5:30 AM to eat breakfast, and this is why we eat our dinner at night so that our bodies aren't starving at such an unacceptable hour (Are you still with me? Good, because it gets better.) I finally convinced him to lie down with me for a little while. I must have dozed off because I heard him in the kitchen again at 6:30.

I finally relented and figured he must be really hungry, so I went into the kitchen and found him trying to pour himself a sippy of milk. I took over and did it for him and decided to get some laundry going. Our kitchen has stairs that go down into the laundry room, so I walked down and Magnus followed and plunked himself down on the top step while enjoying his sippy and watching me fill the washer with dirty clothes and detergent. After a few minutes he yelled at me that he wanted more milk and I glanced up to see that he had finished off the milk in his cup. I told him to wait a minute, to which another tantrum ensued and all I could do was sigh. I mean, I deal with this child's tantrum's minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day.... you get it. The kid throws more tantrums than all of my other kids ever did combined, and I am just tired. I love him more than I can even express, I do, I am just so very tired.

 I finish what I'm doing and walk over to the bottom of the stair and look up at Magnus and ask him, "So, now that I'm ready to help you, would you like to ask me nicely what you need help with?" Magnus stared at me for a minute with a frown on his face and then, with no warning whatsoever, he proceeded to throw-up milk over and over again. I just stared in horror until he stopped. I mean, it's already on the floor, I'm not going to try and move him and risk getting it everywhere which would just create more mess to clean-up, am I right? Uuuuuuuuggggghhhhhhh. Seriously.

The life of a mother.

One Last Hurrah

 

I know, summer is over. I have talked it to death and reminisced and lamented and whined and complained. But alas, I have one last fun post to share. Because of the weather, we didn't get to do our two last fun things we had planned on before school started. So, we took the first Friday off of school of course! My dad had invited me, my brothers, and our families to go up and ride the Heber Creeper (which is how I will always remember it, but I think it's called the Heber Valley Railroad now). I remember going boating at Deer Creek as a child and listening for the train whistle and watching the Heber Creeper chug along the mountainside. I always wanted to have a ride on the train and I finally did! It was so much fun and I would recommend it to anyone.

The ride was about an hour and a half. It was an old western themed ride and besides the beautiful scenery we were able to enjoy live entertainment (country western songs), roping tricks, refreshments, and a bandit even came on the train looking for gold!

"Put yer hands up, you varmins!"

He found the gold box and made the conductor help him take it off the train. Too bad for him, there was only a rubber chicken inside. Oh my, the kids ate it up. They loved every second of the wild bandit trying to steal the gold.

We arrived at our destination and then turned around to ride back to the train depot.

 It was so much fun. Magnus loved it the most I think and could not stop talking about his ride on a real train.

After we were done on the train ride, my dad took my family boating at Deer Creek since our plans hadn't worked out the week before. I adore boating. It is one of my favorite things to do. We just had fun tubing, swimming, relaxing, eating, jumping off the boat, dancing, singing and chatting. It was such a perfect way to end the summer.

Of course, everyone crashed on the way home. We picked up a pizza for dinner and no one could even keep their eyes open to eat. They all just headed to bed and slept in til 9 the next morning. That is definitely a sign of a fabulous and fun day.

On Monday, since we had school off for Labor Day, we headed to Seven Peaks one last time. It was cloudy and I think that must have scared some people away because there was hardly anyone there and we barely had to wait in line for anything. It was so much fun. We had such a blast together with our little family. I didn't take any photos, but it made me glad that we were able to check every last fun thing off of our summer bucket list. 

Okay, for reals.... this is it. Goodbye summer!

Back To School 2013

 Happy Back to School!! It's that time of year. New crayons, sharp pencils, shiny folders.... it's back to school time. My kids were happy to be going back to school this year. They were so nervous last year because it was a new school, but this year they were ready because they knew their friends would be waiting. Baron would be going to kindergarten and he has been counting down the days, Laylah got the teacher she wanted for 5th grade, Jonah knew what to expect from his teacher (since the gifted program teachers teach split grades he would be keeping the same one), and Daphne's best friends would be in her class again, it was an all around exciting start to the year.

We had our back to school celebration the Sunday before school started. Here is our theme:

 (And that is my pathetic attempt at drawing a bicycle.... sad, I know. I never was an artist, that's for sure.)

I took it from THIS video, which is a new Mormon Message. I saw it a couple weeks before school started and just felt like it would be a great theme for our year since Daphne will be getting baptized in January. It is the cutest little video and I get teary every time I see it. So, go click on that link and watch it. Right now. I'll even wait for you.

Okay, now wasn't that sweet?

I decorated simply with a banner and red streamers. On the menu for the evening was:

barbecue pork ribs

garlic roasted asparagus

mixed berry fruit salad with raspberry whip cream dip

baby red baked poataoes with all the fixings

made from scratch biscuits with butter and jam

creme soda in glass bottles

individual mini chocolate molten cakes with ice cream and caramel for dessert

We ate delicious food and talked about our theme and what it would mean to our family this year. We talked about how Laylah and Jonah are already baptized and how they can use their Gift of the Holy Ghost to guide them and to repent when they've done something wrong. We also talked about how Daphne will be receiving that gift later this year and how she can prepare now to be ready. 

We also made sure our kids knew without a doubt that no matter what they've done, no matter how bad they think it is, that they can always, always, always come and talk to us, their parents, about anything and we will always love them and help them with whatever they need. It was a good discussion and it makes me so proud to see how much my kids are learning and growing. I love to see their testimonies building upon solid foundations. I am one proud mom, that is for certain.

I like to give my kids a little back to school gift at the start of each year, and I like it to go along with our theme. Because of the bike video we watched, I gave them each a bike lock for their bikes. They wanted to ride their bikes to school several times last year, but we never had any bike locks and I never let them because I was worried about their bikes getting stolen. So, now we can. 

I neglected to get something for Magnus and he was quite upset with me. In this picture below he said to me (with a full on pouty face), "But I don't have one to hold for the picture, mom!"  Whoops. Oh well, I knew he'd get over it quickly and he did.

 I simply adore these kids of mine. They are good, good children.

And now we have.... The First Day of School!!

 Magnus was upset that everyone was leaving. Poor kid. He'll be home alone for a long three years before he starts elementary school. I didn't plan that very well...

Jonah

Daphne

Laylah

Baron (who actually didn't start kindergarten yet, but had a meeting with his teacher for an assessment) 

These two enter the school from one side, so they let me snap a quick pic before running off to join their friends.

And then we walked over to the other side of the school where the younger grades enter and Daphne found her bestie, Nicole.

As we were walking back to go meet Baron's teacher, we saw this cutie walking into school and she gave us a little wave good-bye.

Baron met his darling teacher and had his assessment. He has been pouting around all week because he just wants to go to school so much! He has been counting down the days until tomorrow.

I was a tiny bit sad driving home, but was greeted with a happy Magnus. He was so excited that Baron was back to play and not leave him alone all day.  They sat on the porch eating otter pops while I decided to tackle my mess of a house that has been terribly neglected all summer long. 

Happy School Year! I hope it's the best one yet.