Saturday Fun

Last night R told my Tiff and Allen that we were coming up for an overnight visit. When my sister called to find out what time to have dinner ready I had idea that we were driving up to Logan for the night. Of course the kids were excited to see their favorite cousins so we packed for an overnight visit and drove up. Tiff and I sat up talking until midnight and we didn't even realize it was so late and decided we better get the kids to bed and crash ourselves. Luckily R and A fell asleep on the couch earlier but my other 2 thought it was so cool to up until midnight.

This morning after we got ready we went to Hardware Ranch. We had been a few years ago with Patty and Brian but S didn't even remember it and Tiff and Allen had never been. I had packed all our warm winter stuff because last time we went it was so cold and we froze, but today was nice. We bundled up some, but it wasn't that bad. The kids loved the wagon ride and seeing the elk close up, although the smell wasn't so great and S made sure we all knew it stunk. I got pictures but I'm having problems with my camera connecting to the cord so I'll have to upload them another time.

After the ranch we took the kids to McDonald's which they loved and then the dads and older kids went to the movies while Tiff and I went home with the 2 little ones for naps. It was a fun day and the kids did not want to come home but we have church in the morning and have missed the last 2 week, besides I teach in YW's.

Missing In Action

The last two weeks have kept me busy at work. My mom came up to help with the kids so when I wasn't working I didn't spend a lot of time on the computer. I love having my mom visit. She helps me around the house and I enjoy visiting with her. A really warmed up to her this visit and she loved Grandma. Today she has asked me multiple times where Grandma is.

While Mom was visiting, Tiffany's family came down and we all went to the Draper Temple Open House. It was a great family evening. S told me later that although she thought the temple was pretty she wondered where the games were and was a little bored. Luckily she had her cousins with her. The kids were all well behaved in the temple and reverent. Everyone loved the sealing and celestial rooms. Afterwards we took Tiffany to Texas Roadhouse for her birthday dinner. We had a yummy prime rib dinner and they sang happy birthday to Tiffi while she was sitting on a saddle. Of course all the kids took turns sitting on the saddle and posing for pictures.

Monday afternoon Mom was scheduled to take St. George Shuttle home. We made a mistake on the time she was to meet the shuttle so she missed the shuttle by about 10 minutes. R raced to Provo hoping to catch the shuttle there so Mom could get home but after speeding down to Provo we missed the shuttle again. R was determined to catch up with the shuttle so Mom could still get home that night and due to heavy traffic we did catch the shuttle. But the RUDE driver refused to pull off the next exit and let Mom get on the shuttle. The driver was rude and a jerk, I just couldn't believe he would be do unhelpful. We could have got Mom a Greyhound ticket home but R was wanting to go to St George to pick up some stuff soon so we went home and packed up the kids and drove down for the night. The kids missed school yesterday and we drove home last night. It was a nice family day off and we were able to spend one more day with Mom.

Now we are home and have extra school make up work to do and a busy night tonight with kids activities and I also have a YW activity. I'm looking forward to the weekend and a day of doing nothing and staying in bed.

Weekly Meals

Sunday: Lasagna
Monday: Creamed Turkey
Tuesday: Navajo Tacos
Wednesday: Take my sister out to birthday dinner
Thursay: Leftovers
Friday: Spaghetti
Saturday: Take Out

January 18th Happy Things

• I was able to spend a couple hours with hubby yesterday afternoon.
• Dinner is prepared and just needs to go in the oven later today.
• No school tomorrow and Tuesday so the kids have a few free days.
• My mom is visiting and helping with the kids during the festival and they love spending time with Grandma.
• Mom has been helping me catch up on laundry.
• Coca-Cola Vanilla Zero
• Cream of Tomato Soup for lunch (from the Soup Kitchen and it's yummy).
• Even though I'm working, it's quiet so I'm catching up on lots of stuff.
  

January 11th Happy Things

• Clean laundry.
• Dinner is in the oven cooking and it smells yummy.
• Watching the kids make things with clay.
• Warm brownies
• Reading my book and not feeling guilty.

Weekly Menu

Sunday: Beef Buns
Monday: Shepherd's Pie
Tuesday: Easy Stuffed Pork Chops
Wednesday: Crock Pot Swiss Steak
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Creamed Turkey
Saturday: Navajo Tacos

My Week

This past week has been a challenging week for me so I am glad it's over. I've had work stress with a lot of extra work along with my regular mom duties. I've been trying really hard not to let work get in the way of the kids and their activities/homework. I've just been getting up extra early and going to bed super late which means I'm more sleep deprived than normal this week. Next week starts the festival which also means it will be busy with work, but I don't think it will be as bad as this past week for me.

As I've been feeling overwhelmed I forget about the blessings in my life so I need to make an effort to remember how blessed I am. I have a wonderful husband who works so hard without complaining and provides for our family and is the best dad to our kids. My kids help ground me and remind me of the simple things in life. A has started thanking me for everything I do for her, what a sweet angel she is and she gives the best hugs and kisses when I need them most. S had been working so hard in school and I love to see her succeed and she gets so excited, she loves to be praised. Z has such a playful spirit and loves to read and spend any time he can with his Dad, he is so helpful with his sisters and will randomly give me a hug and tell me he loves me. My kids are so forgiving of my faults when I make so many Mom mistakes and they remind me of how important forgiveness is in my life, they make it seem easy.

I did get a few hours of free time last night which was a good break for me. I tried to plan a date night with R before we started into a busy few weeks but it didn't work out with work. Since I had the sitter I decided to use the time to see a movie by myself. Then I got the movie times wrong so I didn't get to see Twilight again so instead I saw Marley and Me with was a cute movie that made me laugh and cry.

The good news with Z and S was they had dentist appointments this week and NO CAVITIES!! Six months ago we had so many dental problems so I am so happy that they are cavity free. Let's hope when I go next week I am as well.

Z had his first indoor soccer game today and the team is rusty but they had fun. Z also started with a baseball training this past week and he was so happy because R left work early and took him to the training. He told me he liked it. S has dance and tumbling and they are working on their dance recital for the spring. She has almost reached her AR reading goal for school and hopefully we have one more book to pass off. My mom is coming on Friday and I am looking forward to a visit from my mom and the kids are excited to see her.

End of the Holiday

Well the winter holiday is about over and I'm sad that the kids go back to school on Monday. Although my house is messier and there is more fighting, I've enjoyed having them home. I like not having to worry about homework and bedtime. Our new church time starts tomorrow morning, we now have to be there by 9:00am. Our SM has always been last but that changes tomorrow as well so if we are late, everyone knows. We are on time for school everyday so there's no reason we should be late for church.

This morning the kids had a Primary Activity where they met their new teachers. After the activity R took the kids to Frozen Ropes for Z to have an evaluation by a baseball professional. They recommened a training class for Z to sign up for this next week if he is interested. His coach from last season opened the local Frozen Ropes and Z had so much fun on his team along with learning a ton. Z is still undecided on baseball or soccer and really enjoys both so I think for now I will let him keep doing both and hopefully soon he will pick a favorite.

I am working on my YW lesson for the morning and organizing my week.

Happy New Year

We generally don't do much New Year's Eve. R usually works later that night and/or early in the morning on New Year's Day and until last year I would work in the morning. Last night Patty and Brian came down and we it was fun to visit with them. We ate way to much food and tried to watch a movie but we were talking to much to really watch the movie. We should have played the new game Apples to Apples that they gave R for Christmas becasue I'm sure that would have been fun. We haven't seen each other for a while so we did exchange Christmas gifts and the gifts they brought my kids were a big hit. They gave Z a remote control helicopter that he loves and has been playing with nonstop. I wasn't sure if any of us would make it until midnight and we didn't. S instigated a "Pee-In" with Lilly (they peed on the closet floor in the spare bedroom) and then we wrapped everything up and they went home about 10:00pm. My kids were still wound up but S finally fell asleep around 11:00pm and I couldn't get A to sleep until right before midnight. Z was so excited to stay up till midnight and was wide awake about 12:30am when I finally told him he needed to get some sleep. It was a fun night and I enjoyed my visit with Patty's family since we don't seem to see each other as often anymore.

We slept in until about 8:00am this morning so I'm sure the kids will be wanting naps as the day goes on. We don't have anything exciting planned for today. I am just hoping to catch up on laundry and maybe watch a movie or two.