Wednesday, June 1, 2016

It's Summer

It's the first week of summer vacation here. The kids got out of school Thursday afternoon, although Friday was supposed to be their last day (just a half day) but it was cancelled due to flooding. Again. Tim surprised me for Mother's Day with a trip to San Antonio with my friend Holly. We stayed in a hotel right on the Riverwalk and got a morning at the spa, too. It was so nice! We had the best time and talked, shopped, and ate delicious food. And walked! We waked so much that we had no regrets about all the chips and salsa we ate. I came home Saturday night feeling so refreshed. And so thankful for such a wonderful husband and such sweet kids.

Tuesday the kids and I were pretty lazy, but had Rose's kindergarten graduation to go to in the evening. Of course it rained as we left and just poured down as I got to the school. (It had already been postponed twice due to rain/severe weather.) As soon as everyone had trudged through the down pour and got sufficiently soaked it stopped and was a pretty nice night. I am so proud Rose. She worked really hard this year and learned so much. It was a difficult beginning with getting her to sit down and read through her readers and practice her memory homework. Man, the beginning of the year was rough on all of us. I'm glad for summertime.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

A Tuesday in May

Today I watched 2 of my Goddaughters for a few hours. They are cute and Sam enjoyed having them here to play with. Tonight we went swimming even though it was after 7 when we left and we usually have a strict 8pm bedtime for the kids. I think we are all just ready for summer. Well, that and we had promised we would go if they finished their homework and ate all of their delicious tilapia dinner I made tonight. I'm in the middle of making more sourdough bread. D has been asking me if he can take a loaf to share with his class and that must mean it's pretty good! It makes me happy that he wants to do that.

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Swimming

We decided that if we could get our workouts done and the kids got all their homework finished before 5pm then we would go swimming at my parents house. They just put in a pool! We ended up having an impromptu pool party. My sister in law was already there with her 2 kids, my brother in law showed up to check on the pool filter and pump and told my sister to come over with their little boy and eventually we got my dad to get in, too. The boys had a great time spraying him with their water guns before he got in. It was a lot of fun and we had a good day. I'm tired now, though, so I'm going to bed.

Monday, May 9, 2016

Keeping Track

I'm sort of hitting the reset button on myself. I've been in a funk lately and after a few good conversations with Tim we realized we were feeling the same about a lot of things. We had just drifted away from some of our beliefs and goals and now it's time to get back to them. We made a list of goals to focus on daily and long term in 5 areas of our life. It's good to have someone hold you accountable and also encourage you to meet your goals.

Other than that today was just a regular Monday. I tried to catch up on laundry that I neglected over the weekend. I met Tim for lunch and we drove around town talking. Those are some of the best lunch dates! Sam was with us, too, but she fell asleep and thankfully took a good nap after we got home. I picked up the kids from school and D had a lot of homework to get done. I helped him with some math and writing while Ry helped Rose with her readers.

D's teacher sent out an email that a lot of the class had not turned in work or half way did it. She also said some of them were not being kind to each other. I emailed her back letting her know we understood and a little while later she sent back the nicest email! She said she wanted us to know that D was not one of the kids she was having a problem with and that he was "the one boy that gets along with everyone diplomatically", "a joy to have in my class" and "a fine young boy". I am so proud of him for that. (We're still working on turning everything in on time and not misplacing homework though!)

Now it's time to go to bed. I should write more tomorrow.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

some nice days

It's March and the weather is very Spring-like here. The trees are putting out leaves and plants are starting to flower and home improvement stores are luring me in with all the beautiful colors and sales. I love Spring. It has rained the past 2 days and I am so glad that I didn't get around to planting any seeds yet. They would have been washed away for sure! Maybe this weekend it will dry out enough to get everything planted.

This week has been busy. More time than usual at the school visiting the kids at lunch and then tomorrow I'm going with them to an all school field trip. And then it's Spring Break! We don't have any plans yet, and probably won't do anything too big. I might take the kids somewhere nearby for a day trip sort of thing.

After many years of wanting to try to make sourdough breads I am finally brave enough to try it! I ordered a book all about sourdough that has a nice variety of recipes. Unfortunately it has been delayed in getting here by a few days and of course after such a long time of waiting to try my hand at something new now that I've set my mind on it I am impatient to finally begin. I would really like to document the process here. I also need to get my real camera out so I and add pictures to this words. Blogs are always better with pictures.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

a tiny post for Wednesday

So I've been potty training Sam and so far it has only been semi successful. I just thought that'd I'd look through the blog and see if I could find any posts about training Rose, but there's not much there that could help me. I should have talked about it more! We'll just power on and eventually it will happen.
D had his math test today. He met me after school with a piece of notebook paper filled with all the work he did and upset that he hadn't made a 100. I knew he worked really hard by how frustrated he was. No ice cream, but we'll work harder for the next test.
Ry and Rose are doing well in school. Rose is learning to read and getting pretty good at sounding out words. I am really proud of her.
Tim is playing the guitar in the other room. It sounds really good and I think I'll just sit here and listen to him for a little while.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

On a Tuesday

I don't know where the time goes. I had this goal to declutter the kids' rooms this month and unless I get into action real quick like it probably won't happen. It's as simple as this: I dread the process of sorting and organizing. Well, unless I am super motivated and can get it done quickly while the motivation is still there. 

I've been working with D to improve his math grades. Our school started using the "new math" year and it has been tough. We are working on multiplication right now and it just seems so backwards to me. I understand it, but why? Anyhow, he has a math test tomorrow and he's been doing pretty good with his homework the past few days so I promised him if he made a 100 I would take him to get ice cream. He has been struggling and I figured he could use tangible reward. 

This weekend I went and I got my hair trimmed. I am trying, really trying, to grow it out. Out, as in past my shoulders. Usually at this time of year I have it shoulder length and it gets a little scraggly looking and go cut it about 3 inches shorter. I also got a deep conditioning treatment and had a whole 15 minutes of uninterrupted mindless magazine reading. Should there be commas in that sentence? 

Today I went to Ulta to get a new makeup brush and while I was there I did a little tester spray of perfume. I didn't like it. My sister had it on and it smelled good, but I ended up not liking it all (on me, at least). Anyhow, about 8 hours later it was still lingering on the back of my hand and I guess on the edge of my sweater. Tim came home and kept asking what that weird smell was. I thought it was funny. And it's a good thing I didn't like it either, I was definitely going to buy some if I had liked it. 

Well, this seems like enough rambling tonight. 

Monday, February 1, 2016

It's warm and sunny

If I had to guess, I would predict that as an old woman I will enjoy talking about the weather very much. I don't know for sure, but I feel like 90% of my posts mention the weather. Sometimes it's not even worth talking about, however this weekend was like Spring and we enjoyed it as much as we could. Saturday Tim and I took a class and spent most of the day cooped up inside. Sunday we had a picnic (and I wore shorts in January) by the front stock tank. The kids had a great time wandering around and playing in their "house" they made out of fallen tree branches. It was really beautiful. 

Today I spent most of the day catching up on laundry. I was unusually busy away from the house last week and I've definitely realized I am not a great homemaker when I'm not home. Ha. So, I plowed my way through the overflowing baskets and heaps. I cleaned up our bedroom from the big bad paper monster.... So much got thrown away. 

Side note. I read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo last May and it made a big difference for me. I have much less paper clutter and my clothes are more organized than ever before so I can find exactly what I'm looking for. I am on a mission this month to go through the kids' rooms and "tidy" them up, too. I did Marie Kondo their dressers, but I need to go through the toys now. That seems like a daunting task, but I've been reading some other blogs and it can be done, so I just have to get with it. 

It's getting late, so I better get some sleep if I think I'm going to get up at 5am to get my exercise on. Bueno noches or however it's spelled. 

Monday, January 25, 2016

Weekend and a Monday

Over the weekend we went to Bass Pro Shop (we were going to go to Ikea, but the parking lot was full so we just kept driving) and had some pizza from a little joint we hadn't been to in oh, maybe 7 years. The kids loved Bass Pro and even Sam was pointing out the tracks on the floor and following them. I thought it was pretty cool, too. We managed to get out only buying 2 things (a pair of shorts and a shirt for me that I can't wait to wear when the weather is warmer!). We also watched the NFL games on Sunday. D is a big Broncos fan (he really likes Peyton Manning) so it was a big deal. Tim's dad came over and brought D a Broncos hat, socks and tumbler. He also brought Ry and Rose tumblers showing their support for their favorite baseball teams. D was so excited about the Broncos winning! He's so excited to watch the Super Bowl. 

As far as Mondays go this was a good one. Tim and I got up at 5am and did T-25. We decided over the weekend to start it again. I haven't run in about 3 months so it was a nice workout. When I got back home from taking the kids to school I cleaned up from breakfast and did a couple loads of laundry before heading to Hobby Lobby and the grocery store. I probably wandered through Hobby Lobby entirely too long, but I did end up buying a few things to hang on the walls. I don't have a strong decorating desire so I don't really hang pictures or anything until after living in a place for a couple of years. I finally hung up some pictures last year (2 years after moving in) and it still seems a little lacking. I want this house to feel homey and inviting and warm... so I have to start somewhere! Now if only I can figure out where I want to put them. Pinterest should be able to help with this, right? Ha.

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Snippet from my day

And now for today's little journal entry...

I took the kids to school this morning and stayed for chapel since Rose's class was singing. It was nice and I should do it more often. A few months ago I started volunteering in Ry's class in the afternoons. I help the kids while they're at centers and his teacher does reading tests with individual kids. It's only for about an hour and just once a week, but I've found it to be really rewarding. And from being there that small amount of time I have a new found appreciation for those that are called to be teachers. The patience I've witnessed is outstanding! 

Well, I'm not feeling great due to the lovely cedar pollen in the air so I'm calling it a night. 


Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Tonsillitis Tuesday

I just put the kids to bed (except for D since he is finishing some homework). It is so quiet in the house right now. Ry was sick last week with tonsillitis and stayed home three days from school. Over the weekend the other three kiddos started showing some signs they might be getting sick, too.  So... I took them to the doctor this morning even though they seemed perfectly normal and just had swollen tonsils. D and Rose tested positive for it so it was no school for them. We came home and they did some reading and any school stuff we could do here. 

Sometimes the girls get along really well and sometimes they do not. Sam was really picky about where or how close Rose could be next to her and what toys she could play with (as if she has the sole authority over where people can go or what they can do). So there was a bit of 3 year old yelling and frustration today.  Bedtime was a little earlier tonight, thankfully, because by 6:30 those girls had had enough. 

Well it looks like D is almost done with his homework and Chef's Table is queued up on Netflix for me so I'm going to go zone out for a little while. Oh, look at that.... Sam has come out of her room completely undressed and very sleepy eyed. She is a strange and adorable little creature. Hasta maƱana. 

Monday, January 18, 2016

Hello 2016!

I finally got a new laptop! This weekend started out with a "Mommy and Rose date". We went to town and did a few errands. I tried to make it special just chatting with her and stopped at Starbucks and got her a steamed milk with vanilla, some vanilla scones and piece of their banana bread. We talked about using our manners and speaking nicely and mainly acting ladylike, because she has been a little lacking in those departments over the past month or so. We had a really nice morning together.  I'd like to start having a "date" with each of kids. When we got home I was craving something chocolate and wanted to make brownies, but the girls and T have a little sensitivity to chocolate, so I made blondies instead. To make them extra special I used coconut oil and shredded coconut.... I could've eaten the whole pan myself!

Sunday I finally decided which laptop to get and went to town to pick it up. I love it. Yesterday was such a good day! We did a lot of relaxing and watched the NFL playoff games. I made pizza and it was so delicious. I started using fresh mozzarella again and it's so much better than the pre-shredded kind. Well, of course as I'm reflecting on such a nice weekend the kids start fighting over something. Life, huh? I guess I better go deal with it. Happy Monday!