A Good Kind of Busy

Thursdays are Joyanne's busiest days.  She gets up extra early to go to violin lessons at the school before school time.  Then it's off to PEP, which is an advanced class for the gifted and talented.  After school, Joyanne has one of the main rolls in the play and she stays for play practice.  Today is Joyanne's last day of violin.

This weekend will be busy, but a good kind of busy.  We hope to find a rental house in Utah.  We also get to visit family.  But the best part of the weekend will be getting to see Daddy!!!  It's been 3 weeks since we've seen him.  He passed his physical training test and his defensive tactics test and his written test today.   Glad finals are done for him!  Now he can enjoy the last bit of training left before his graduation, April 9th.  Way to go, Daddy-O!!! 

Books

On my fridge I have a magnet that quotes, "A room without books is like a body without a soul."  I LOVE BOOKS!!!  I love to read and enjoy it immensely. 

My sister taught each of her kids to read when they were young.  She said to me, "If you know how to read, you can teach yourself anything."

So, I have taught each of my kids to read by the time they were 3 years old.  Some learned a little earlier.  James is 4 years old and reading a Clifford book with me now.  The first book my kids have started out reading is the "Dick and Jane and Friends" book.

So it's not an unusual sight for my kids to see me lounging on the couch with a book in hand.  My latest read has been Agenda 21 by Glenn Beck.  Now as I wait for the computer to upload images I am reading, The Woman I was Born to Be: My Story by Susan Boyle.  These have been books from our book club we are reading.

                                      

So once I finished Agenda 21, I had a few days to wait to get the next book, and I was amazed with how much I was able to accomplish.  I cleaned my house and got projects done that were in need of getting done.  I realized that even books can be an addiction and I get very into and addicted to books.

I always used the excuse that I was doing something productive and not wasting time.  We all can see how t.v. or even the internet can suck time away and waste our time, but reading books, as much as I have recently, can do the same thing.  Sure I'm learning a lot of good things, but sometimes I lose touch of the real world and forget kids or my house, which both need attention.

So, to put it shortly, we need a good, firm balance in our lives; balance with our time, our money, our food, and everything!  A lesson I seem to keep learning over and over and over again.  So I think besides looking for the happy moments in life, my mantra is balance . . . . and consistency (but we'll talk more about my views on consistency in another blog post :).

Mess Maker

Some times life gets messy.  The kids make the house a mess or we let life get overwhelming and messy.  Yet when we pick up one thing at a time and clean it up, it helps. 

Grant had oodles of fun pulling blankets off the shelf and sprawling them all over the floor and then rolling in them.  What a silly mess maker!

 I kept singing the tune of "Matchmaker" from "Fiddler on the Roof" to these words:

Mess Maker, Mess Maker make me a mess.

Find a clean room, make it a mess.

Mess Maker, Mess Maker you'll understand

Why I give you the look!

 Jaden was in a creative mood this morning and by himself decided he wanted to make his own flag and tape it to a pencil.  Here's his finished work of art.



Another stressful week for Daddy-O.  He has finals this Thursday.  And on top of that, he has come down with a nasty cold.  We are praying for you Daddy-O!  You'll do great!

Bouncing and Balancing

We went to ijump again tonight.  It was a free night because they are celebrating being open a year.  The kids had fun bouncing around on all their trampolines again for a half hour.  Then they gave us a slice of pizza, water bottle and a bag of chips - all free!  It was a fun family activity.  But everyone missed Daddy-O and asked when we get to see him next.

 Balancing our lives is so important.  I was reminded tonight that our family should come first, and though I'm taking care of these wonderful children by myself and at times strongly crave for a big break or more help, I know I can do this and I need to put my kids first.  They are truly my joy and utter happiness.

So after a few days, I think I am okay with my hair.  I've had to figure out how to style it my way to make it work.  The color is still pretty light for me, but I did use to be a blonde when I was younger.  I still act like a blonde at times. ;)  But I think I've learned my lesson and dying hair is not for me.  Well, at least not until the gray hairs start showing up.

Games

Noah, Joyanne, and I love to play a foot stompin' game.  When in the kitchen we try to stomp on each others feet.  Whoever gets stomped on has the "stomper" and is it.  They try and stomp on someone else's foot.

We love games at our house, especially on Sunday.  We love to play all kinds of games together.  My favorite lately is Rummikub, but my all time favorite is Skip-bo.  The kids like to play Uno, Candyland with real candy, Monopoly, Risk, Yahtzee, Sequence, and many more.

Here's a game for you.  I took a picture of each of our ears.  Can you guess whose ear is who's?

There's me, Joyanne, Noah, HJ, Jaden, James, and Grant.  I, of course, did not put the pictures in that order.  Take a guess and comment.  I will post answers next Sunday.  Have fun with our little game.

#1

#2

#3

#4



#5





#6



#7



Here's precious little Grant sleeping so peacefully. Naptime is nice.

By the way . . . . HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY!!!

 Dinner was dyed green fetticini, green salad, green grapes, and green cake and icecream for dessert.

Sarah and Sam joined us for dinner.  The two lovebirds were kissing any chance they could.  Ah, to be newlyweds!



Prayer

Today was an exhausting, hard day.  I cleaned our 3 bathrooms from top to bottom AND the rest of the house as well.  A realtor brought someone to look at the house and we had to have it ready to show.  This is the 6th showing.

Cleaning the house was tiring.  I had great helpers, but this is still very hard on my own.  I can do it!

Despite the hardships, gathering for prayer each morning and night makes all the difference.  Hearing my sweet children pray for their daddy or like James said, "Bless the fire won't get me."  Those prayers make the difference and help me put one step in front of the other and keep going.  It helps all of us bond together and endure to the end.

Healthy Eating

I have been studying a lot about eating healthy lately.  I learned that fresh fruits and veggies can help fight cancer.  So I prepared a banquet of fresh fruits and veggies.  They really do taste, oh, so good!  I plan on eating lots more of these. 

I also realize and have been struggling with portion sizes.  There is so much yummy food nowadays, and it is so hard to resist when you can get it anywhere.  I try to remember that we "eat to live and not live to eat."  Not sure who said that, but they were right on.  Heavenly Father has sure blessed us with an abundance of food.  Now it's up to us to choose what to eat and how much.

You probably can't quite tell what this is, but it is Joyanne's molar.  She lost it last night and it is the bloodiest tooth I have ever seen.  The tooth hurt and became loose after biting a gum drop the other day.  The last few days it was hurting and becoming looser.  Last night she felt it wiggling a lot and then, blood starting pouring out.  She gave it a little tug and out it came!