Day 29

Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days:

• I hope my boys will continue to love school!
• I hope Hunter will be self-motivated to be a great cub scout. What kid doesn't love badges?
• I plan to continue being healthy and active. Perhaps another Century ride?
• I plan to run a 10K and not puke afterwards. Not that I've puked yet, but I just don't see it being an easy task for me.
• I hope Shayne will continue to do well in his job and find joy in it.
• I hope and dream my sister will have a baby.
• I plan to be a better mom, cook, cleaner, and wife.
• I hope my boys are polite and appreciative to their peers and family.
• I plan to have more family vacations and family dinners.
• I dream of our family having one more - boy or girl - I know someone is still missing.

Day 28

Sorry - I've been distracted that last few days, so I'm back. I'll try to finish the last 3 days in a timely manner.

What's in your handbag/purse:
I HAVE a purse - it stays in my closet and maybe gets to see daylight 1 time a year. I really want a new purse with lots of color - but I'm too cheap to buy one. My REAL purse right now is my Vera Bradley diaper bag. Love it - and at the same time - it's been a 2 year committment and it's starting to look a bit shabby. I carry diapers, wipes, hand sanitizer, a few pens, and sometimes there's a lingering snack in there that saves the day when a kid starts going nuts. Oh, and it holds my wallet! I think my wallet holds a few treasures itself - whenever I look through the "pocket," I smile to see pictures of Hunter and Cole from 4 years ago and a picture of me and Shayne in Jan of 1996. I also have a more recent picture of the boys - just in case of a desperate emergency. I hope I NEVER have to use them for that reason.

Day 27

Your worst habit:

I have several bad habits!! One of my worst is my nail biting - seriously - it's disgusting and I'm the one doing it! And now Hunter does it too - OH NOOOOOOOOOOO! There was once an elderly, German woman who told me at church, "That is a disgusting habit - you should stop that at once." I was at least 24 years old at the time... it discouraged me for a while. I've tried chewing gum - till my jaw feels broken. I've also done fake nails - I chewed on those too. Sometimes I can get my nails to be semi-long and nice looking - I almost feel like a true lady... :::sigh:::

Day 26

Your week in great detail:

Ummmm, I should have written it down as I went through the week - I can't remember!

Monday:
Slept in till 7:30 (recovering from sleepless night at the family reunion in Idaho)
Drive kids to school
Grocery shopping with Danny and Cole
Go to "Let's Play Music" class with Cole (he loved it!) and neighbor watched Danny for me
Work on a picture book about the Family Reunion - it has to be done by Tuesday to get my "Freebie" Shayne's parents stop on their way home from Idaho to give me more pictures and edit my progress.
Pick up kids from school
Find out that babysitter is sick and frantically call to get another!
Teach lessons till 7pm.
Get kids to bed and I probably finished up the book.

Tuesday:
Ran 4 miles plus two extra laps (1/4 mile) - I want to get up to a 10K by October.
Take kids to school
Run to The Roller Mills - hoping to use a coupon Shayne bought.
Fix lunch for me and a friend - YUMMY chicken shish-ka-bobs with artichoke hearts and lemon wedges. Celebrate our boys going to Kindergarten with cake!
Teach a couple lessons
Pick up kids from school
teach more lessons till 7pm. - once again, babysitter did not show! (a different one) and luckily - Shayne got home after 1/2 hour of chaos.
Run to Cole's Soccer game - late.
Bath time for the kids.
Shayne gives Cole a Father's Blessing - first day of kindergarten tomorrow!

Wednesday:
Swimming Aerobics with the best teacher ever - this is not a class for an "easy day"
Take kids to school - including Cole to Kindergarten. I stay to watch him go into class. I spend the morning trying to remember that it was only a few years ago that I did this with Hunter... will my Cole seriously grow up this fast too?
Danny and I go home and pick rasberries then do laundry.
Pick up Cole - celebrate his first day with an artichoke. YUM!
Spend time reading with Cole then he has a friend come over to play.
I clean more.
Pick up the big kids from school.
Shayne takes Hunter to soccer practice.
We all go to Trafalga for a little family fun. We play miniature golf.
Bedtime

Thursday:
Yoga class at the gym. Why doesn't Yoga ever seem EASIER?
I DO NOT take kids to school today - I'm babysitting my neighbors kids so she can go on a school field trip with her 5th grader. I have a 1 year old and a 5 year old - suddenly Danny has become super stingy about sharing his toys, booster seat, or his mommy. hee hee.
lunchtime - go pick up Cole. Get the other little guy out the door to his carpool to his kindergarten class (Cole is sad that he only had 10 minutes to play with his best friend.)
Put the little ones down for a nap and I clean all the floors - sweep and mop then vaccuum.
Neighbor comes to get her baby and she kindly picks up the big kids too - since Danny slept till 4pm!!! WOW!
Go to Hunter's soccer game
Rehearsal with Wasatch Winds Community Band - I'm soooo out of shape - but glad to be there.

Friday:
Spin class. Wait a minute - you already had a run down of this day. I'm not going to say it again.

Saturday:
Get up at 5:15 am to help get the boys out the door with their Papa and Grandpa to go fishing. I go back to bed. :-) And sort of sleep.
Go on a bike ride with my mom and my sister. I pull Danny and little Maiya in the trailer - it was a beautiful ride around Mapleton. So many HUGE BEAUTIFUL HOMES! And it definitely smelled better than my hometown.
Watch the series "Wives and Daughters" with my mom all day - It was such a great lazy day. My kids played (or fought) all day with their cousins and I enjoyed a day of 'do nothing.' We don't go home till after 7pm.
I spend the late hours deciding how I'm going to run Primary Singing Time the next day.

Sunday:
I did my hair today. Yes, that is an occassion - I never, EVER, fix my hair. It takes too much time and I'm reminded that it'll probably be another 5 months before I do it again. (straightening my hair, that is)
Go to church with the family. It was a rough start with some pouting an crying - but we all get there eventually. I even get a hug from Hunter. We're both sorry for losing our tempers.
I do a fun activity with the Primary Kids to help review the song "I Know My Savior Loves Me" - I think they enjoyed it.
Shayne and I make an awesome lunch of Pot-stickers, fresh broccoli, and rice. Put Danny down for a nap and we decide to nap too - 3 hours of BLISS.
Decide to move all our "seasonal" decor to the huge shelf we built in the garage. We have a LOT of Halloween and Christmas stuff..... A LOT.
Have a family Movie Night. Probably wouldn't recommend the movie to other families - wasn't as good as I hoped. Oh well.
Bed time.

Hope you aren't crying from boredom.

Day 25

Your day - in great detail:
(warning - it's boring because it's great detail!)

5:32 alarm goes off, I ignore it for a few minutes
5:44 driving to get Kristy and Heather to go to the gym
6-7am spin class today - first one all summer. It's too dark to ride in the morning now. ::sigh::
7:20 back home, shower, dressed, and ready for the day
8:00 making breakfast for the boys ("make" really means "pour" cereal)
8:20 practicing with Hunter (I get to do the duet part of his concerto now)
somewhere in there, I clean up breakfast, change Danny's diaper and clothes, and get a load of laundry going in the dryer - again - I left them there last night. Remind Hunter to put his homework in his backpack and make sure that Cole has his shoes and backpack.
8:45 driving the carpool to take kids/neighbors to school
9:20 at the ENT with Danny - for his 6 month check-up. He's fine. Kinda of a waste of a co-pay.
9:45 back home, put away the forgotten load of laundry, pick up the house real quick, and do the dishes
10:00 out the door to go to Farm Country with Danny and friends. What a treat to spend the morning with just Danny. He LOVED feeding the animals.
11:55 decide to sit in the school parking lot to wait for Kindergarten to get out at 12:08 since Danny fell asleep after Farm Country.
12:30 make lunch for the boys, clean up and manage to fit all the VERY LARGE dishes in the dishwasher so I avoid hand washing for the day.
1:00 start making banana bread - I've got some lovely soft bananas. Boys are "helping" - Cole promised me that next time he'll tell me if he puts the peel in there. That wasn't cool.
1:30 Danny down for a nap
1:35 Cole and I start to do "reading" time by playing on the computer and doing Starfall.com activities. I highly recommend this site! He's having a blast - my eyelids are getting HEAVIER by the second.
1:45 I insist that I must lay down - for just a few minutes - I really can't keep those eyes open
1:50 BUZZER keeps sounding - time to get the banana bread out. I'm heading out the door to mow the lawn.
1:55 Mow the lawn. I found a dead snake - EWWWWWW - at the very end of the job. I mow around it. I finally had the guts to push it with a stick into the mower bag - and throw it into the garbage. Seriously, snakes are not something I like to deal with - dead or alive, evidently.
(PS there's still a square of grass not mowed on that side of the house)
3:00 SWEATING profusely - ugh - it's HOT!! I take a washcloth to the sweaty brow and arms, and feet - I almost feel a little better. Wish I had a pool to jump into!
3:20 wake up Danny and head out the door to pick up the big kids from school.
3:45 give Hunter his after-school snack and we head to the piano for another run-through.
4:00 packing the car with an overnight bag, pac-n-play, swim stuff, my bike, and trailer to head to my mom's for the night. (the boys have an EARLY date with their Papa, Grandpa, and daddy to go fishing - so we're staying the night to make the early wake-up a little easier)
4:45 in the car heading to the other end of the valley
6:00 go through the Del Taco line to grab a $5 dollar dinner - seriously - have we just watched the whole movie, Aladdin, while driving a 30 minute commute?!?!? TRAFFIC SUCKS.
6:15 finally get my mom's place. eat dinner my sis made and eat cookie dough. Makes my tummy hurt - but it's soooo good!!
7:ish playing outside at the park - enjoying the beautiful evening - till the mosquitoes attack.
8:30 get Danny dressed for bed - he shows me his bed and asks to get in. This is NOT normal. He must be tired.
9:00 play a few hands of "Kings Corner" with Hunter and my mom - but we are constantly distracted by the movie my dad has on TV.
9:30 finally put the big guys to bed. Can you believe my sis, the night owl, had to ask me to get my act together and get them to bed?? Yeah, I was enjoying the movie too much.
10:00 buy Shayne a fishing license online - and decide to do the "daily blog bit"
That's all folks,
and a good night!
PS I'll probably go fix the kids breakfast/lunches now - before going to bed and perhaps even get a few minutes to talk to the hubby -- he finally got here as I started to type. He was helping his cousin move tonight.

Day 24

Where I live:

We have lived here for 5 1/2 years - can you believe it? We have put a lot of work into this home of ours. Paint, tile, decor, and landscaping seem like such simple things to do - but WOW - there's been a LOT of it! Every little bit has been a slow process, but a steady one. I have a hubby who loves to have a project - as long as it doesn't involve landscaping! There seems to always be something else on our "to do" list. I love our home. Most days I think I'll live here forever.... but I suppose time will tell that one.

PS I considered taking pics of the house today and then posting them - but that was too much effort! Plus you would see our long lawn & messy countertops! This pic was from the start of spring - I love those flowering pear trees!

School Days

School has BEGUN! Hunter started the 2nd grade last week and he's super excited about this year. He's in a new class comprised of 1/2 2nd graders and 1/2 3rd graders. It'll be an interesting year for sure! I started a new tradition this year - well, I suppose if I do it next year, then it's officially a tradition. They got to select a special breafast and a special treat for afterschool.

Hunter

Breakfast: Waffles
Snack: Guacamole

Cole
"I want to wear my fast as lightening shirt so everyone knows I'm as fast as lightening."
Breakfast: Sugar Pancakes

Snack: Artichoke

Yes, you read that right. Cole has been BEGGING and BEGGING for an artichoke. So, I finally said he could have it for his first day of school. He got in the car after school and said, "is my artichoke ready?"

This morning when I took Cole for his first day, he had plenty of time to play on the kindergarten playground. It is a fenced in playground with a small play area. I glanced over and look who was there--Big brother Hunter was looking out for Cole! And as you can see, Danny wanted to be by Hunter!


As for how I feel about having 2 kids in school this year, I think my dear friend Rachael said it best,

"I look forward to this day almost from the first week of summer. I look forward to the blessed few hours of quiet time in my home. Shopping trips become a breeze with fewer distractions. Complex projects and long awaited goals suddenly become a reality. Our bathroom stays clean for hours, the pillows on the couch stay put and you can almost eat off the kitchen floor - it's that clean. Yes, I definitely look forward to the start of the school year.

So why do I feel like part of my soul goes walking out the door when they leave?"

I love you Hunter and Cole! I'm so proud of both of you!

Day 23

A Youtube video:

Click on this link - I put this on YEARS ago - it makes me all teary eyed. Maybe it's because I took Cole to his first day of Kindergarten today - and this makes me think my kids are growing up TOO FAST!

We Mish You a Merry Christmas