10 Things

With the new year, I started a new daily activity. Each day, we choose a slip of paper from our "bucket of joy" and we do that activity at some point during the day. Then I tape up that slip of paper on our calendar for the day, so we can look back and see all the things we've done.

So far, we've done things like: watch sing-a-long Primary videos, draw cartoons, read special books, write a letter to someone, buy a baby outfit for a new baby, etc.

Today's challenge was to blog about 10 things that make me happy. 

1. We recently got a new internet provider. As in, now our internet is hooked up to the school, so it's free! And significantly faster, which means I can upload pictures and videos way faster now! However, our wireless adapter is taking up our only vacant USB port on our computer (aren't we so old school?), so I'd have to juggle some things around to hook up my camera with new pictures.

2. Primary. I love teaching in Primary. I love the Sunbeams. I love the lessons. I love the music. I love the kiddos. I love the sisters I serve with in Primary. Not a week goes by that I don't feel the Spirit in Primary. If Jesus were to come to our ward on Sunday, he'd visit the Primary. 

3.Exercising. Weird, right? I have never considered myself very fit, although I've never been overweight either. The teachers and spouses at Jacob's school are doing a Chubby Challenge fitness challenge from now until Spring Break. There will be cash rewards or other prizes for those who lose the most weight, or the highest percentage of weight, etc. My friend Amber has gotten me more into exercising; I go over to her place on Thursday nights to chat/hangout .. .I mean, really we exercise. So I've been trying to do more lately. This week I exercised every day! Wahoo! Points for me. =)

4. When My Kids Surprise Me: I love it when my kids say or do things that I didn't realize they could do or understand. For example, when Laura is looking/reading a book and says something like, "THE! That says THE! And LOOK!" And she's 100% right. Or when Lucy sings an entire verse of a song that she's only  heard a few times. How do these kids to that? They make me smile. =)

5. Snuggling with my Kiddos. Lucy's a bit confined to the top bunk and can't get out, but Laura can get out of bed, and often Sam cries until he's gotten out of bed (usually just to nurse). So 2 or 3 times a week, there's 4 of us cuddled in Mommy and Daddy's bed. Laura usually uses an excuse to go in there, "I need a bandaid." "I peed." "My tummy hurts (usually  not really, though)" or my most favorite, "Sam is crying--go get him!" (Translation: Yes, Sam is crying, but I'm going to cuddle with you, ok?")

6. Planning Trips: We are going to St George in a couple of weeks for UMEA--our annual visit for professional development and meeting up with former classmates, mentors, teachers and friends in the music teaching profession. We're taking the whole family this year, which means the  kids and I will mostly just be hanging out while Dad's at the conference. =) We're also planning to go up north for Spring Break, and we are excited to meet up with several friends and family members while we're there. 

7. Temple. It's challenging to plan a trip to the temple when you have young kids--it's harder still when you live almost 2 hours away from the closest temple. But, I am so thankful for the blessings of the temple that unite our family for eternity. 

8. When My Kids Play Together Nicely. They are currently doing that right now (which is why I'm typing this blog entry!). It's such a nice relief from the bickering and over-exuberance that often occurs in this house. =)

9. When Jacob Warms Up My Side of the Bed. During the summer, I don't mind climbing in to a chilly bed, but I really don't like climbing into cold sheets during the winter. For some reason, our room always feels like a good 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the house. If Jacob gets into bed before me, he gets on my side while I'm getting ready for bed and warms it all up for me. That's true love, right there, folks. He's a keeper. 

10. Budgeting. I don't stick to my goals 100% of the time, but there's something very satisfactory about reviewing your month's expenses and feeling good about where you've put your money. There's always the inevitable *sigh* when I've exceeded my plans for the month or spend money on things I shouldn't have. However, the organizing, sorting and managing money makes me feel good at bout how we're spending our money. I feel very blessed to have enough money for our needs and some to spare to that we can help others as needed.

There are lots more things that make me happy, but this list is just a small insight. 

So until I get to blogging again . ..peace out. =)

When I Look Back on the Day. . . .

. .. .and realize I could've exploded or gotten frustrated a million times. .. .

but I didn't!

#mommywin

Today was a looong day. We left the house at 9am to head to Blanding.

Instead of getting frustrated in the one-way traffic by Halchita. . .. we listened to Under the Sea a million times (which is a pretty clever song, actually). Even though we were almost 15 minutes late to Sam's doctor's appointment. . ..they let us in anyway because they knew we traveled so far to come.

The doctor was super friendly and nice, and the nurses and reception ladies were really nice in trying to help entertain the girls and calm down Sam when he had a melt-down. One of them brought out bubbles and crayons for the girls to play with (so they wouldn't play with the stirrups on the check-up table .. .haha), and another lady rocked Sam while I changed the girls' poopy diapers. Another one helped me carry my stuff back to the exam room. I nursed in peace. An older lady came in to pick up some paperwork and offered some garden produce to anybody who wanted it. We went home with a bag of the most delicious tomatoes!

Then we went to the convenience store/bowling alley and had some pizza for lunch. Easy and simple.  .. .except when we're trying to leave and I'm literally chasing the girls around the aisles. Instead of getting frustrated, I pretty much just laughed. Especially when Lucy grabbed a bag of marshmallows and tried to eat one through the bag.

Then we went to the library. Luckily, their shelving system is pretty easy, because my kids pull off a million books at a time. A nice librarian named Nicole helped Laura find the one and only Sofia book on the shelves. That is L's new prized book for the next few days. A few tidied messes and changed diapers later, we went to the store.

Guys, shopping with three kids .. . .that's all I'm going to say.
But, I'm also going to congratulate myself in the fact that the only things that ended up in the cart that I didn't really need (aka, Laura sneaked them in the cart) were chocolate chips and poptarts. She was actually quite helpful in pulling things off of the lower shelves when I couldn't reach them (I was wearing Sam in the carrier). We only had one tiny accident when she got over-excited and plopped a carton of eggs in the cart. Luckily only one broke open, and it fell on the floor instead of in the cart. The nice worker who cleaned it up was also the same guy who helped us load the car (seriously, I LOVE that service! Every store should do that.). Oh! I'm also remembering that one of the workers asked if all these kids were mine, and I said, "Yup!! These are all my beautiful munchkins!" It reminded me of a story I read in a Conference talk this morning about standing up for womanhood and motherhood (here).

Then I left the car running while I stopped at the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. I was in there longer than I'd hoped, but all three kids were asleep by the time I got back to the car. And they all pretty much stayed that way on the drive home. [cue: another dozen listenings of Under the Sea]

We got home just in time to toss the pizzas in the oven for the missionaries for dinner.

Later, Jacob and I did Jillian--level 2 kills, I tell you. It was rough.

Is it okay to feel proud about how you remained calm and non-reactive during the day? Because today would be the day to feel that. =)

Good Things

Short and sweet today, folks.

1) I've been more diligent at working out the last few days. I do Jillian Michael's 30-Day Shred Workout DVD. It's only 20 minutes, which is about the time I can (safely) ignore pressing needs of my children. ;) But, usually the girls watch it with me. LSr just likes to watch anything on a screen, and LJr sometimes tries to get on the floor and do things with me. My hand weights are two giant containers of applesauce. The girls get canned food for their weights.

2)LSr is pretty good at recognizing letters and letter sounds, so I'm trying to do some more math-related (i.e. counting) activities with her. I found an awesome website here for anyone who needs ideas. LSr often skips 14 and 15, and LJr likes to start on 3 and count in order until she gets to 8. Then she just repeats 7-8-7-8-7-8. Although, with prompting, she can get to 12. Mostly because she is a little parrot and repeats everything.

3)And in the #mommyfail department today .. ..pulling out leftover popcorn for a snack .. ..after vacuuming the house. But the girls are having a blast playing in it. Call it sensory play, I guess. ;)

Now I hear some suspicious sounds from the girls playing in the bathroom.

Over and out.

ScreenFree Week 2016 (Aug 22-Aug 28)

I Hope You Like Reading . . .

 .. Because our internet is so slow, uploading pictures to the blog is like a day-long ordeal. And it’s already been (quite) a day, so you get to read instead.

I read an article once a year or two ago about a family that had an annual ScreenFree week in their home. They put away tablets, computers, TVs, SmartPhones, etc and focused on spending more time with each other. For some reason that idea stuck with me, so Jacob and I decided to try it out with our family.

Compared to other homes, I’m sure our screen time is limited. We don’t own a TV. The only computer we own is a desktop (actually, neither one of us have ever owned a laptop. . . .how about that?!). Our phones are basic talk-and-text phones. We have one tablet that we got for free and kind of by accident. In regards to social media, we don’t have Twitter, Instagram or Tumblr accounts. We’re not much into news channels or Pinterest (I use that for the occasional Christmas gift and/or recipe ideas), and our YouTube use is to listen to certain songs that we don’t own. (And Studio C sketches.) And actually, our computer pretty much is our main method of listening to music now that I think about it . . .

Buuut . .. I’m sure I’m not the only one gets sucked into the computer. What is it about Facebook in particular that just sucks time and energy away from you? You scroll and scroll the newsfeed and maybe once in a while you actually look up or message something semi-important. My well-deserved mom-guilt kicks in when I realize I’ve been sitting at the computer for too long and (shall I say) ignoring my kids. Granted, maybe I was doing something worthwhile. . .checking my bank account, writing a weekly email to my family, looking for some home-schooling ideas, finding new recipes, etc. But also a good percentage of that time was also probably on Facebook.

Well, this week, I put the mommy guilt on the shelf and I spent some real time with my kids. Of course, this ScreenFree week corresponded with sick kids and rainy weather, the two biggest components that made it a little more challenging. ;)

All in all, this past week was awesome.

We played outside. We went to McDonald’s and played on the play place (for a good two hours!). We went to the school book fair. We read books. We learned about seeds and plants. We learned lots of new songs and song games. We went for a drive to the riverbed to find rocks for the garden bed. We barbecued. We played games. We played the piano more. We played outside some more. We read more books. We played with puzzles. We played with magnets. We did a counting game or two. We visited the library twice. We colored. I did some deep cleaning (which was necessitated by the vomit and diarrhea). We cuddled. We tickled. We laughed. We read some more books. We rocked. And rocked some more. We played with a big tub of recyclables that I’ve been collecting. Jacob and I praised our children more and gave them fewer time-outs. We did laundry. We fed the missionaries. I pulled out my paper copy of the scriptures to read. I handwrote my journal (Heck, I journaled! That’s a biggie!). I used my trusty-dusty cookbooks to find recipes instead of searching online. I called my sister-in-law on the phone to say hi instead of just emailing. Any school work that Jacob needed to do on the computer was done at school instead of at home.

Again, I say. This week was awesome.

We will do this every year. I think my kids are still a little too young to understand all of what’s going on. Every so often Laura would ask for a dancing song or a princess song (AKA a YouTube video), but when I gently reminded her that we were doing ScreenFree week, we were easily able to find another activity to do. But for me as a mom—this was one of the most rewarding weeks I’ve had.

I’m not saying screentime is bad. You can use it for so many good and awesome things. But sometimes . .. you just gotta simplify once in a while. 

Silly things

I love the way Lucy climbs on the playground. She gets onto the lower platform squirming onto her belly, then finally up to her feet. Then she goes up the steps and down the slide. She used to be scared of the slide, but that didn't last long! At the bottom of the slide, she has to turn around on her belly to get off the slide. Then she repeats this process a billion times.

She likes to cover my nose with her palm when we play Peek-a-Boo.

She loves to kiss the end of your nose.

And if you ask her, her name is Ya-ya. For all intents and purposes, it's practically true because she IDOLIZES big sister.

She dances by shaking her hips.

And I'm pretty sure she's starting to sing the tune to Twinkle Twinkle (Larua's favorite song).

If she's walking towards you and looking at you, she often tilts her head to the side as she walks.

Laura does silly things, too. But mostly the things she does are mean touches. Sigh. At least she says really funny things!

Me: Are you wet?

L: Yes. Because I am pee-pee.

"Take off your boobies and put them in the bathroom!" (Side note: Yes, she sees me feed Sam all the time, but she gets this particular phrase from a YouTube video linked here)

She has a friend named Carrie. And Laura loves to ask to play board games. Her favorite to ask for is "Carrie-um" (Cranium)

Our local grocery store is called Gouldings. Last time we went to Blanding, we ate at a burger place that had a small bowling alley. She asked what they were doing, so we said it's a game called bowling, to which she exclaims, "I want to play Gouldings!"

"Oh my Josh!"

"Can I watch Ger-jus George?"

"What?"

"I wanna watch Jer-chus George!"

. . .she says it differently every time! =)

She loves to play in blankets and call herself "Mary." Because Mary, the mother of Jesus, has a covering over her head. She does this little skip-in-place thing with a blanket over her head. That's her form of dancing. 

She LOVES her monkey book and her Beauty and the Beast book. Which means that Lucy loves them too and takes them when Laura is otherwise occupied. 

Both girls love to play on the piano keyboard we have

Between the two of them every single book is pulled off the shelf. Every. Single. Day. 

Both love eating Ramen with frozen peas. And eggs and toast. 

And they both have a propensity to bonk their heads on stuff. Yesterday, Laura bonked her head probably four times on the bed frame (Daddy was putting it back together after we got the railing welded back on). Lucy bonks on chairs or furniture.

Both sing, rock, and "read" books constantly. 

Cleaning

I love it when I finally get around to cleaning. Not so much because I enjoy cleaning, but because I like having my kids help me. 

She kept asking, "When's it my turn? I want a turn!"

Laura hijacked some sponges from under the sink.
So they naturally wanted to clean the floor. 

It's payback time, Laura! --With aggressive love, Lucy

Nursery

Our Primary is very short-staffed right now, so in the meanwhile before we get callings, we've been filling in for Nursery--I think almost every week since we've been here. Except maybe one week.

Normally, it's our whole family, plus another girl Laura's age and a little boy Lucy's age. Now there's another boy a couple months older than Lucy.

Yesterday we spoke in church. Which means that one of us was left to herd the children while we sat in the congregation. Luckily we had some help; some women helped to hold Sam or take a girl out in the foyer as needed, but it was still pretty crazy. (Translation: girls running in the hallway, Sam having projectile spit-up ALL over, and Laura having poop leak out of her diaper)

Oh, and then we had Nursery! Another two hours with our own kids! I mean, not that I terribly mind, but it was pretty rough for a while. Between just our three kids, we had 3 poopy diapers, 2 changes of clothes, at least 2 time outs (with some scratching and biting involved .. .guess which kid!), and Sam was nursing during some of that time. And we had another boy in Nursery who is a few months shy of 18 months. We gave him a try in there with us, but being the little guy that he is, he was crying non-stop until we decided a few minutes later to take him to his mom. The other 3 yo had to be taken to her mom twice for help going potty, and one of the new little boys is a bit like Laura in the aggression factor.

Whew. It was rough.

Finally, after clean-up, we had snacks. The 15 mo old boy was with his mom, as well as the other 3 yo who needed her mom for the potty. Sam was asleep on Jacob's shoulder (and Jacob was dozing, too). It's amazing how calm it can get when all the toys are put away and you pull out the fruit snacks and crackers. We had a short little lesson on temples, then some coloring and some songs to wrap up the time. Those last 15 minutes were so precious with those kiddos.

I'm just hoping that maybe we don't get called to Nursery .. .especially since our kids comprise of half of the nursery. Then again, whoever does get called to Nursery will probably be needing us every 15 minutes or so for a diaper change or to solve some behavioral issue . .. .=)

After church, we had nice long naps. Then we had our neighbors Cindy and Stephen over for ice cream. Though they are not LDS, they are good people and it was really awesome to get to know them a little better. Then we had a fire pit at the compound with some other families who stuck it out. Great time visiting, roasting marshmallows and getting all smelled up like smoke.