End of School

I thought I published this in June, but apparently not. These are the teachers for 2011-2012 school year.

{K} with his first grade teacher Mrs. O

{A} with his 3rd grade teacher Mrs. C

we have had this trike for a while now, but we recently replaced the tires so the kids all ride together.

back to school

Yesterday was the first day of school for the 2012-2013 school year. {A} started 4th grade in an all day Challenge (Gifted and Talented) Program. {K} started 2nd grade with an awesome teacher that we love! {a} will start preschool next week, also with a teacher we love. The boys were so excited yesterday to start school.

I have the opinion that my children should get to choose what they wear, so I dictate very little what they choose to wear on any given day. (Understanding that I am still the one who BUYS their clothes. :)) This is especially reflective in what {K} chose to wear for the first day of school. Blue and orange stripes with green camo shorts. :)

{K} is 7

just over a month ago, {K} had a birthday and turned 7. crazy!! We had a small family party, and mom and dad came. he got to sleep over for 2 nights with gma and gpa this time and he got to buy a fishtank and 3 fish. since then we have managed to kill 4 goldfish. not a good track record. we plan to do a bit of research and try again soon.

{K} I LOVE YOU!! You are fun and funny. You are crazy and silly. You are sensitive and compassionate. I love all these things about you. Have a fun year being 7!!

{k} turned 2!!

Holy Smokes!! My baby turned 2!! {k} turned 2 last month, and I thought I would give a quick recap.

{k} is an adorable, sneaky little boy. He is really fun, and funny. He is entirely too busy, and gets into everything. He keeps me on my toes and has us laughing regularly. He loves attention, swimming, motorcycles and spending time with his Dad.

{k} got a battery powered atv, motorcycle, bubbles, sandals and a truck/trailer with motorcycles on the back for his birthday.

The Dr. says he is in the 85% for wight and somewhere similar for height.  He had a double ear infection when we went in for his yearly checkup. We really didn't even know! But, we are aware that within the next six months (or so) that he will have his tonsils out. Currently they are huge and know that since all his siblings had their tonsils taken out at about age 2 1/2, that {k} will get his taken out soon, too. LOVE YOU BoBo!!

6 quick things+ 1 funny

1. Last week we went on vacation. Vacation at our home looks like camping. We spent two nights/days riding our four wheelers. Day 3 we went to a hot springs, and day 4 we went to another hot springs. Day five we came home. We had such a fun time. I love my family.
2. I am wondering if we all got a little bug from swimming--we are all itchy, and have headaches.
3.I am horrible at taking pictures. The only pictures DH took were two on his phone.
4. DH is in charge of his family reunion this summer. Translation: I am in charge of DH's family reunion this summer. It's been an adventure to say the least.
5. {k} turned 2 this week. He just isn't a baby anymore. It kinda makes me sad to think he is probably our last, and our last isn't a baby anymore. :(
6. I am still running. I started week 5 yesterday, and haven't had to push a stroller the last two times I ran. It was heaven. :)
1 funny. {K} said something cute the other day. After sneezing, he said, "Oh Great! When I bless you, snot comes out of my nozzle!"

i can do hard things

It's hard.
Really hard.
and yet, I still desire to get out and do it.
whenever I hear my "running songs" I yearn to be out running.
but, it's hard.
like really hard.

i have started Couchto5K over and am on week 4.
only this time i get to run while pushing 95 pounds of wonderful kids.
so, today we needed to return some movies to the library. why not kill two birds with one stone, as they say.

we set out.
i thought, I can do this.
but, it was hard.
really hard.
i didn't quite run all the time i should have, but i did almost all.
and between running and walking, we made it down 1.2 miles to the library, and back 1.2 miles home.

and now, i am exhausted.

here's to tomorrow, because i know i can do hard things!!!

6 quick things+1 funny

1. We went camping over the weekend with family and friends. Despite the cold/raining/snowing weather, we had a wonderful time! We had 3 trailers to use as our shelter, so we really didn't feel like we were stepping all over each other. I can't wait to go again.
2. The tire almost blew up while driving to our destination. We noticed the truck was vibrating really bad. So we went to get the spare off to use instead, and it was burned up from the muffler. Seriously, burned all the way down to the metal. It took us 5 1/2 hours to complete a 2 1/4 hour drive. However, the kids were amazing, and we are so grateful to our friends for being so accommodating to the change of plans since it took us so long to get there.
3. While camping, my BIL set up a "Top Shot" style shooting course for all who wanted to participate. {K} took my spot and had such fun! After, he shot a .22 and hit the target 9 out of 10 times. I couldn't believe it! He was completely unassisted. {A} shot 4 blackbirds with his BB gun. It was so fun to watch them succeed!
4. I shot a pistol this weekend as well. It scared the bejeessers out of me! But, I think I might like to try it again. :)
5. It's the last week of school, so while I was at the school volunteering today, the boys and I gave their teachers their end of year gift. Each of them got an IPOD. We found them used on craigslist and they were both so excited to have an easy way to have kid appropriate music available at the touch of their fingers. It was fun to see them light up at such a cool gift.  The boys were pretty excited about it.
6. I am so grateful to my friend {M} who watched my kids all year so I could volunteer. That is such an important thing to me and I so appreciate her!! (I am super sad she moved, and am praying that she gets to come back, soon!!)
1 Funny:  The other day {K} climbed into the van and noticed the 1st Aid Kit I have in there. He wanted to know if I keep band-aids in it. I told him yes. Then he asked me if there was such thing as a 2nd Aid Kit!! Ha Ha. That kid is hilarious!!

6 quick things (well, ok, only 4)

1. I went running this morning. It's hard. I run with a double stroller and about 55 pounds worth of kiddos strapped in. I decided to restart couchto5k at week 3 with the hopes that I can build up my endurance since I am running with the stroller. It's going ok.
2. We are making plans for a family vacation early June. We don't want to travel more than a few hours from home. We plan to camp. Where should we go?
3. Mother's Day was nice. Two adorable gifts and breakfast in bed. {K} made a mug decorated by him, and {A} painted a really pretty vase with flowers in it. They then had the painting laminated.
4. {a} has one chore. Empty the Dishwasher. She earns $.50 each time. It's a FIGHT nearly every day.
5. guess I only have 4 things to talk about this time...

6 quick things.

Saw the idea of 6 quick things today on another blog, and thought, that is something I could do. Get some thoughts out there, share what's up with us without the pressure of any pictures. We'll see how it goes...

1. DH is out of town for business, again. It feels like a very regular occurrence lately.
2. Next weekend is Scout Overnighter, again. It definitely is a very regular occurrence. (for the past 4 years)
3. {k} is crazy busy. He REALLY wanted to go outside today in the pouring rain, so I let him. I honestly thought he would stay on the covered patio and play on a bike or in a car or something like that. He didn't stay on the patio. He meandered all over the back yard, through the mud, to the rocks, all without socks, shoes, or a jacket. Silly boy was loving life. He told me it was "wet".
4. {a} can't hardly wait for preschool. She knows that it will start after {K}'s birthday. His bday is the middle of July, and preschool starts after Labor Day. It was the closest milestone I could think of.
5. I have been baking up a storm lately, and have really been enjoying it.
6. {A} got some great news recently. It meant some big conversations between DH and I. Not ready to share, but it means a fairly large change for him in the coming months.

{A} turned 9

I just noticed that I haven't posted about {A's} 9th birthday. We had a fun, little family party. He got a bb gun among other things, but that certainly was the highlight.

{A} is a delightful young man. We love having him as a part of our family. He is super smart and motivated at school, which is such a fun thing to watch. It is a delight to watch him learn and grow and be so excited about neat things he learns at school. He just took his ISATS and scored very well. (I am amazed they have those tests on the computer and know their results as soon as they have completed the test. Isn't technology amazing?)

{A} loves scouts and is part of the Bear Den now. He is working hard to earn his bear patch. We signed {A} and {K} up for a short 5-week Chess class, and they are both excited to become better chess players. Love you, {A}!!

{k}'s blanket broke

so {k} has attached himself to one particular blanket, and one particular corner of that blanket. It is really quite gross. He sucks on it, sticks it in his ear, eyes and nose. It was very ratty. So, I cut it off. I sewed up the corner on his blanket, and he really doesn't seem to care. The video is cute.

He says quite a few things now. "oke" broke, "up" cup, "uh-uh" for yes or no(he now will nod his head to agree when he wants something), "nore" more, "ball" ball, "u-key" monkey. eta: "ninner" dinner, "um" some, "um" yum, "eese" cheese.
He received an adorable stuffed monkey for Christmas and has totally attached himself to it. It's really cute how much he loves it.

He is 20 months old now. He loves nursery and being funny. He is silly and loves to laugh. I can already tell he is going to be hilarious and a joker/teaser when he grows up. Much like {K} and his Dad. :)

check in

so it's been 4 weeks since I began the Newlyweds on a Budget weight loss challenge. and since then, I have lost 6 lbs. It's been an up and down battle, but for now, 6 lbs is 6 lbs!! I seem to have lost momentum, but I am hoping to find some more really soon. :)

seeing changes...

This year I am working on being mindful. For the month of January, I am specifically working on saying my morning prayers. I have been HORRIBLE at this the past few years, but I have decided that one main goal for me this year is to get to know my Heavenly Father better. The best way I could think of was to talk to him. So, I am using Sister Beck's advice, and literally rolling out of bed each morning and saying my prayers before my feet even hit the floor.
I am so happy to report that I have seen a noticeable difference since I started doing this. First, I am actually remembering, and then actually taking the time to say my prayers. I have also noticed a change in my days. I feel more relaxed and kind. I am so grateful.

Also, I started using MyFitnessPal.com It is a wonderful calorie counting website. I understand it is similar to the Weight Watchers online program, only this site is free. I have a whole new understanding and appreciation for calories. It tracks my food/water intake and also tracks my exercise. I am seeing numbers change on the scale!! :)

i joined...

I am declaring my commitment to losing 10 pounds in the next 12 weeks. I am excited to see how much I can lose and what changes I can make to make myself healthier. Plus, there is a chance I can win $$$! Who doesn't love an incentive like that? :)