Procrastinating the inevitable

Some days I feel overwhelmed the minute I wake up. This morning was no exception. When I woke up I remembered why I had such trouble getting to sleep last night. Lists and lists of things to do before I go out of town and only a few short hours to accomplish anything. This is why I procrastinate even more. Things just add up and get out of control! But hey, life wouldn't be so much fun if I was always on top of everything.

Yesterday was garbage pickup day. The garbage truck broke down after only emptying two garbage cans on my circle. Another one came a couple of hours later to empty the rest. But, in the seven garbage cans lining the center of the circle, they skipped mine. So I called Salt Lake County Sanitation. I really don't want to leave a garbage can full of ick while I go out of town. Plus I need the room in the can for the next week! They told me they would come pick it up today. So I get a special pickup just for my house since they skipped us on our normal day. If they miss me today, I will be severely disappointed with the services in Salt Lake County.

The kids are all downstairs watching a movie. My goodness, you would think world war 3 started when I didn't get the right one started. Amazingly enough the girls did not want Dora this morning! Yay, I am sick of Dora. I used to think I would never use the TV as a babysitter, but some days it is so useful. Especially on days like today when I need to get some work done before I leave. I have a couple of cases I need to file before I leave, and I need to still pack for my trip. I will do anything right about now to keep the girls from interrupting me. And here I am writing on my blog. Another bout of procrastination hit as soon as I sat down at the computer. At least I am not procrastinating the blog, eh?

Busy day

Yesterday was a busy day, but I still feel as if not much was accomplished. I look at my kitchen and realize the sink is still full of dishes, and there are papers scattered all over the living room, and there are clothes scattered all over downstairs. The clothes are scattered because I'm trying to sort through the girls' clothes so I know what they need for school. I need to know what clothes still fit, and what ones don't. Yikes, it seems like an insurmountable task.

So, instead of working on the clothes, I finally went back to Jazzercise to actually exercise. My goodness, my legs and my arms are killing me today. I feel like I can barely move. I really need to keep up on this exercise thing so I don't get so sluggish. Maybe if I didn't feel so sluggish I would get more accomplished.

When I got home I really didn't feel like sorting clothes. So I decided to put food into buckets for food storage. We had gotten buckets at Macey's for real cheap on their emergency preparedness sale. That was my exciting purchase of the week! I filled the ten buckets we had and realized I was probably about ten buckets short. Wow, I didn't realize we were doing so well with our food storage. Thanks to one of my aunts that helped us out a few months ago. We have wheat, flour, rice, beans, dry milk, almost everything you can imagine, except for water. Hmmm . . . maybe we'll get to that point. It has been a long process getting to the point we are at now. It has been a big help to have the relief society in my ward have a food storage focus each month. It has helped me tons to know how much I need, and somebody even priced a lot of the items and had comparisons each month for us! Whew, it has been quite the journey.

While I was filling the buckets, I decided I didn't want to keep going up and down the stairs, so I asked Amber to help me. She actually stopped to help me the first time I asked her. And I even interrupted Dora. Gasp! She helped bring buckets upstairs, and she counted bags of flour, rice, and sugar so I knew how much I had and could assess how many buckets I needed. Wow, she was such a big help. I was so proud of her. When I told her that I was so happy with her, the smile on her face was so big. I'm not sure it could have gotten any bigger. She felt so good when I praised her for her help. Some days she can be the sweetest girl. Yesterday just happened to be one of those days.

For a few minutes we went to visit with Aunt Andrea. I talked to her about canning as we are getting ready to do more canning this year. Last year we did peaches, salsa, applesauce, and apple pie filling. We want to do more this year. It takes a lot of time, but I think it is a lot of fun to get together and have canning parties. The kids play while a bunch of us adults get together and prepare the jars, etc. I can't wait. When we first got there, I had told the girls they could not get in the little pool in the front yard. Well, when I turned around to leave, there they both were, kneeling in the pool. After about 2 seconds, Emma fell down getting wet from her waist down! I was so mad, but it was so hard not to laugh. It was a funny sight even though I had told them no. So they got in trouble. Fortunately for them I still fed them dinner.

After dinner I went to the Book Review group for Relief Society. I really enjoy talking about the books we read. Plus, it gives me an opportunity to read books that I would usually not think to read. It has been fun to have something to do that doesn't revolve around the kids. This is something for me and it is something that isn't a necessity of life. I love the time I have to rejuvenate. Then I can return home and deal with the chaos that has become part of my home!

Amber and Emma were asleep when I got home. Sometimes they will wait for me to get home so they can say goodnight. But they were so tired. I tickled Amber's foot and she didn't budge. She was so far into dreamland that I just let her sleep. It was good to see them asleep.

Crazy day

Today was just one of those strange days. First off, the girls slept in. Amber slept until about 8 and Emma slept until about 8:30. I woke Emma up for breakfast! Crazy! This rarely happens. But this is the last week they get to sleep in.
Amber had Kindergarten assessment testing today. John was able to stay home so he could take her. I had to be in Provo at the same time so it was really helpful for John to have a flexible work schedule. John went in to work after Amber's testing and Kim stayed with my kids. She has been such a help to me. I'm not sure how I would survive without her help.
Another strange thing, Amber took a nap and Emma didn't. Usually it is the opposite. It is no wonder that I found the following situation you see in the pictures here.

At bedtime Emma kept trying to keep herself awake. Next time I checked on her this is what I found, Emma asleep on the floor.

I think Kim must have worn the kids out today while I was in court. Emma was especially tired.




And of course, Amber was still awake. When she saw the camera she insisted I take a picture before I leave her room. This was about 9 p.m. and she had gone to bed about 8 p.m. Maybe a long nap this afternoon wasn't such a good idea! Although it gave Kim a chance to get some zzzzzzzzzzzzz's!

Family, friends, etc.

I always knew there was something good that could come out of living in Magna! Sorry Greg, I had to say it. My brother's stake in Magna does a family fun fair every year. A lot like the Neighborhood Party my stake puts on, but on a much larger scale. There were tons of games for the kids to play, all you can eat hotdogs (Yuck!), snowcones, popcorn, cotton candy (Yum!), and lots of sun!! We used it as a reward for the girl's behavior all week long. As long as they were good, we told them we would go to the family fun fair. They did their best. They had their moments, but I really couldn't expect perfection out of them 24/7. They had so much fun at the fair. Of course, Greg was glad we were there because it gave him an excuse to act like a little kid. It is no wonder he was so excited about taking the girls around to the games! Emma really surprised me on the inflatable toys. There was one that was an obstacle course and I thought she would get scared and not want to go through it. But she jumped right in and made it all the way through. Yay! Of course Amber's favorite part was the cotton candy. That is all she talked about all week long. That was the first place she wanted to go. Much to her dismay we made her wait until she had played a couple of games before she could have cotton candy.
Here's some pictures of the family fun fair.


On Sunday we had the opportunity to visit with the Huddleston's for a while. It was a very good visit. I have never seen Susan outside, but as we were getting ready to leave, she followed us outside! Amber had a good time with Tom. She took a walk, and then he took her out to the backyard to show her the flowers and such. Tom was giving her a flower lesson. It was so cute. I think amber enjoyed the visit. Not to mention that the Huddleston's have a nice stash of toys that the kids, including Timothy, could play with while we were there. I never knew they had such a kid-friendly home!
We left Huddleston's and made our way to the Elgan's home, where we stopped and chatted for a while. The kids got to play and wear themselves out. Oh my were they tired when we got home! But they went to sleep fairly quickly. On the way home I was racing the girls. Almost as if they planned it they both fell down at the same time, one scraping her ankle, the other scraping her knee. Of course, this minor accident called for Band Aid therapy when we got home! We really enjoyed being able to visit with neighbors, friends, etc. It was well worth the exertion of a Sunday evening walk!
So, that was our weekend. We had fun, but most of all, we enjoyed the Family time we had.

Perspective

What do you say to someone you have never met before, you've heard stories about, and is going to be teaching your 5 year old in Kindergarten? That is the dilemma I faced yesterday during Amber's school orientation. Mrs. Partridge had all the information I needed in a packet of papers that I could have picked up on my own. However, I think it was good for Amber to be introduced to her classroom before the first day of school. I still cannot believe she will be in school. Sending her to preschool just wasn't as traumatic for me as sending her to Kindergarten.

On another note, Amber said something really funny the other day. She had said she wanted to go to Grandpa's house for dinner because he has chicken nuggets and fries. She then got all excited because the chicken nuggets are shaped like dinosaurs. So, wanting to know what she would say, I asked her if she was sure it was chicken or dinosaur meat in the nuggets. She looked at me all serious, with a look that said DUH!. Then she proceeded to tell me, "They're not real, it's just food!" I thought that was the cutest response.

Just today, John was telling Amber who he went fishing with. When Amber asked who that was, John told her he is the old bishop. So again, all serious like, she asked, "The old, OLD, bishop?" Okay, so it probably isn't funny to you, but to see her face when she asked the question, I was cracking up.

I tell these stories because these stories are instrumental in my change of perspective. I have struggled more than I expected with staying at home. Some days it is all I can do to keep it all together. But then to have Amber say something I did not expect, or to do something silly, I am reminded why I love my kids and why I chose to stay home while they are little. Amber has allowed me to see little glimpses of the world through her eyes.

More summer fun!

Instead of doing the things that we should have done at home, we went out to have some fun again. We went back to Thanksgiving Point yesterday to visit the farm that we didn't get a chance to see last week when we went to the Dinosaur museum. It was so much fun to watch the girls get excited about the animals. Emma wasn't thrilled with many of the animals until we got to the chickens the second time. I suspect her interest may have been fueled by the announcement I had just made. Time to go.
We left the farm and sat in the shade next to a little playground they have there so we could eat lunch. Yumm . . . PB&J. I don't think we ever eat anything different for lunch. We are a peanut butter family. We ate lunch, rested, played, etc. Then it was time to come home.
My sister in law, Cori, joined us on our adventure. We thought we could oust Jeff from his position as favorite with my kids. But neither of them would admit that they like Cori better. Regardless, we had a blast. Like always, when we are out having fun, the time runs too short and the girls do not want to leave. Timothy couldn't care less what we did at that point.
Emma and Timothy fell asleep in the car on the way home. Amber would have, except she is getting real good at recognizing when she is about to fall asleep. So she jabbered the whole way home, and then refused to take a nap. It's all good because we had a very good day. The kids were so well behaved yesterday, I was so impressed.

Adventures last week

So I haven't figured out how to put a lot of pictures on at the same time, so I'm making a new post so I can post more pics of our adventures last week!

Timothy (carried by Kim) at This is the Place state park.



Emma on the pony ride at This is the Place state park.








Amber on the pony ride.



Emma spent most of her time in the engine of this train at This is the Place state park. It was a lot of fun.






Amber running away from the train.





Timothy intrigued by a touch and feel exhibit at the dinosaur museum.







Amber at the Erosion table in the dinosaur museum. This is their favorite place in the museum.





Emma loved to touch all the touch and feel exhibits. She was glad everything wasn't off limits. She learns best by touching.





The picture isn't very good, but Amber came down the slide with one of her swim teachers on the last day of swim lessons.



Amber and Emma playing in the water at the end of swim lessons. They loved playing in the water.







And because I just figured out how to put a slideshow of pictures on here, I'm adding that, although some pictures are repeats of what I've already put on here.

Week of Fun

I finally found my camera so I can post pictures of the past week. We had cupcakes and icecream, visited "This is the Place state Park", visited the dinosaur museum, and finished Amber's swim lessons. Amazingly enough, we didn't lose any children this time. Emma stayed where I could see her, not to mention I was hyper-vigilant about keeping an eye out for her. I didn't want a repeat of our last visit to the dinosaur museum. Amidst the busy schedule, we had lots of fun. Thanks to Jaime for reminding me that the museum was only $2 admission!


Timothy after finishing a cupcake and enjoying icecream Amber decided to share with him.


Timothy devouring an icecream cone, courtesy of Emma!




Amber enjoyed her icecream, as long as it was stirred into some semblance of chocolate milk.






Amber and Emma at This is the Place State Park. They had tons of fun, and did not want to come home.

Pictures and such

Yum . . . Dirt! Timothy loved this aspect of camping!


















Funny story! The girls had a few friends over and they were being too quiet. So John went to check on them, and this is what he found. All four girls were nursing their babies! Usually it is just one of them, but to see all four of them sitting on the couch like it was Relief Society or something, it was quite a sight to see. These are the times that I enjoy.

Getting ready for school

Amber is so excited to start Kindergarten. It is the only thing she has been talking about all summer, besides the swim lessons, the sports, etc., etc. I have finally perused the back to school ads and found some really good deals on school stuff. I think my best purchase was a backpack for $5.00. I don't think it can get much better than that. I just need to go through her clothes and figure out which ones fit and which ones don't. And then I need to weed out the clothes that are inappropriate for school. I have a fun few weeks ahead of me! Emma will also be starting preschool. I am excited to have just Timothy at home 2 days a week. Maybe I'll be able to get something done. I'm hoping my schedule gets a little easier, but I'm not holding my breath.

Joining the ranks

I have been thinking for a long while now that we need to join the ranks and start a blog. With everything else I just wasn't sure I had the time to keep this up. So I am biting the bullet, jumping in, whatever. We'll try this, if it doesn't work, then so be it. I guess it is always worth a shot though.