One of those days

or really...one of those weeks

one of those weeks where I work hard to be the mom my kids need me to be

one of those weeks where I find myself falling woefully short on accomplishing that

one of those weeks where there is a headache planted firmly between my eyes

one of those weeks where I have lost track of the number of times I have said "can you just leave each other alone?!?"

one of those weeks where I am desperate for an activity that would get us out of the house, but don't dare leave the house because of how thngs are going this week

one of those weeks where I think "weren't we past all of this?"


one of those weeks where I have gotten to say "because I'm the mom, that's why!" many times. only to be followed by the delightful "I don't want you to be my mom anymore!"

one of those weeks where i have gotten some time for good snuggles and talks about what is making things hard right now

one of those weeks where i am thankful for a patient husband who is a great dad

one of those weeks when i remind myself frequently how blessed i am to be a mom to my kids

one of those weeks where i frequently ask God for patience and wisdom in helping my kids

one of those weeks where i am so thankful that i have a Savior who gives me all i need dor each day

Gone

I have been "gone" for a bit...not necessarily always physically gone from home, although we have done our fair share of that, but just busy with other aspects of life.

Most recently, my "extra" time has been spent working on our "Family Book" as my kids call it for 2011. Yes, I realize that it is now 2012.

Each year we give all our grandmas (regular and great (that was just fun to type...all of our grandmas are "great", but you know what I mean...)) a book summarizing our year. It has become a favorite gift, both to give and to receive (or so I have been told).

Well, this year, I didn't quite meet the Christmas deadline that I usually have for myself (come to think of it, I was really late last year too...hmm, I sense a pattern.), so I am finally getting to the final pages of the book that was started long ago (really).

My goal is then to start our 2012 book so maybe grandmas aren't waiting until over 1/2-way through the next year to get their gift. We'll see.

One of my favorite things about making these books? My kids LOVE them! Like seriously pore over them nearly every WEEK! They laugh over the same pictures every time "Aleah, you look like you only have 1 leg in this one. Ha! Ha! Ha!" for the 200th time in the 3 years since I made THAT book. It is one thing that ALWAYS brings the two of them together without fighting (much).

Ok, I haven't even read over this post to see if there is any correct grammar in it. I just wanted to put a note here to remind myself of what I have been doing (and to let all 7 of you know as well).

I have so many other things that I want to blog about and get caught up on, but my external hard drive with all of my pictures decided it was tired, so it is with some nice computer people seeing if they can resurrect it. The prognosis sounds good, at least for the pictures. Once I am fully back up and running, I hope you will see more of what we have been up to again.

Miley says...

"Sometimes you have to stop and smell the flowers..."

End of the school year (just a bit delayed...having too much fun already this summer!)

Yes, I am finally getting around to doing a post on the last day of school for my kids. Their school does such a great job of celebrating the last day of the school year! (I wonder if the teachers and staff have an ulterior motive??)

The first part of the day consisted of 2 separate "field days". First for the older grades, then later for the younger grades. Since I have a child in each age  bracket, I got to be outside for the ENTIRE time.

Spoon races

Sack races

Tug-of-war

(and yes, the girls won! Dylan wasn't very happy!)

Water balloon toss

(I think he knew he was about to get wet!)

Then it was Aleah's turn.

Tug-of-war

Bean bag toss

Ladder golf

(or Norwegian golf, or whatever your family calls this game)

Bubble blowing

Sack races

and more...but I didn't get pictures of everything, and Aleah vetoed some of the pictures of her.

At the end of the day was their carnival. There was everything from face-painting, to hair coloring, to bouncy castles, to snow cones, to cotton candy, to popcorn, to a dunk tank and whatever else I have forgotten already. It is such a great celebration for the end of the year!

and what school year would be complete without great teachers!

Thanks Mr. K!

and thanks Mrs. P!



So, another school year is in the books.

We now have a 6th grader and a 2nd grader. Crazy!

Flying

Flying...not in the "airborne" sense of the word, although my 11-year-old is obsessed with that aspect.

Flying...as in "the summer is flying by". Already.

Flying...as in "my kids days and months and years are flying past"

Flying...as in "there were lots of flying creatures out to get me as I sat by the bonfire with my husband last night"

Flying...as in "our puppy appears to be literally flying as she chases our kittens across the yard"

Flying...as in "the pollen is flying all over in our yard...and settling on anything it can"

Flying...as in "I think water balloons will be flying later today since it is going to be beastly hot"

Flying...as in "there are tons of moths flying around in our house lately. Different kinds. Really."

Flying...as in "my son's Buzz Lightyear was sent flying off the deck yesterday" and now has some broken pieces. Lesson in gravity and the properties of plastic.

We have been flying lately...how about you?

and something else is now off my "bucket list" (if I had a bucket list, and if that bucket list included things that are extremely pointless and painful)

So, I recently did a walking half-marathon. Not really sure why I agreed to do it. I have very persuasive friends I guess.

If you don't know me, I am NOT an exerciser! I don't enjoy doing anything that requires significant physical effort.

Now, I do like to try and be healthy, so my above-mentioned persuasive friends encouraged me to join their gym last year. I was talked into such tortuous things as "Boot Camp" and "Spinning". Seriously, what were they thinking? What was I thinking? Well, they were thinking that I would ultimately love it. I was thinking...well, I still don't know for sure.

So, the next apparent step to joining a gym is to walk a marathon. I did put my foot down and would only agree to do the half-marathon. I know...really strong statement.

Realize that I had probably never walked more than 4 miles at a time. Also realize that about 2 months ago I developed an "overuse injury" of my hip (not related to training for the walk). Training for a 1/2 marathon doesn't go well when you have a hip that needs to be rested. And when even rest doesn't help said hip, well...any effort at training will have a tendency to go right out the window (at least that is what I have heard).

So, I walked a half-marathon with one of my very dearest friends.

(there were others in our group...some were really crazy and did the full marathon, and others just started at a different time than we did)



Ready to start walking!



With basically no training.

    

                                        

Along the route



With a hip that hurt every time I took a step.

Sculpture garden

One mile left!

And I DID IT! Yep, one more thing off my list. Never need to do that again!
(Seriously, I really did just fine. One blister on my right "index" toe (what else do you call your 2nd toe?), a slightly more sore hip, and some general aches and pains.)

Not too bad for just walking for over 3 1/2 hours!



But still, never NEED to do that again.



Summertime!

Ok, now it feels officially like summer! I have been done teaching for a few weeks now, but I tend to spend a lot of time at work getting my classes ready for Fall until...my kids are done with school. Then we party like it is, well...summertime! Thursday this week was our first day off. We slept in some, did laundry, played, did laundry, ate breakfast, did laundry, picked up a couple friends, went to the library, came home, did laundry and played outside for hours. Ah...summertime! Then after daddy got home, mommy went to the gym in peace, then went out for dinner with friends. Ah...summertime! This weekend we are camping with my in-laws and have had a fantastic time. The weather is warm, but our campsite is in the shade. I will have to do a whole post on camping sometime soon, but don't have the ability to post my pictures from my IPad (I have to suffer with a first generation, so no camera on board ;)) I have tons of posts that I want to get caught up on, so that is one of my goals soon! Welcome to summer with us. I'll try to keep up with our adventures, big and small.