Today went much better. I watch Braxton losing his temper and know that it comes from me and that is a kick in the gut. I recommitted myself to try and keep my cool when life happens and I did better today. It is probably due to Bryce praying for me this morning. I am glad that he thought of it cause I sure didn't! It was nice to get a text message from him wishing me a good day and that he prayed I would have a better day today. I am glad that one of us is in tune to ask for help from the perfect source! It was also nice to relieve a little bit of stress by going out to eat last night and not have that responsibility to worry about. We had fun picking out pumpkins at Lisa's house too. THANKS LISA! Our poor pumpkin plants all died and that was the only thing the kids really cared about growing! They did get excited though when our other stuff started producing though.
Abbey had school pictures today so we took the boys down to the school this afternoon to get theirs done too. Landen was a TOTAL stinker! He couldn't crack a smile to save his life even when we were just sitting on the chairs waiting for our turn. He watched several other kids laughing their heads off at the rubber chicken flying through the air as he kept a stone cold "look at me if you want to die" face the entire time. Then when it was actually HIS turn to sit on the stool he started kicking and screaming for the whole school to hear. I tried sitting next to him. It didn't matter. I calmly explained what she was going to do. He didn't care. I finally threatened him that if he didn't stop screaming and sit up to get his picture taken that he wasn't going to play on the playground outside at the school. Instantly the tears stopped and he sat up quietly with a force smile on his face. I don't think that she ever got a good smile but I guess we will see in a few weeks when we get the pictures back. I don't think that Landen will ever be tagged as a "people pleaser!" He doesn't care what you think... if he doesn't want to do it... he isn't doing it. I can barely get the kid to give me a hug now half the time. And this is coming from the kid that wouldn't let me have my own breathing space for the first year and a half of his life!
Anyway- I made a dent in the clutter of my house and hopefully can get the rest done tomorrow. The kids are in bed, dishes are done and I think that it is time for a hot bath to prepare for tomorrow!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
GRRRRR!!!
Today is just one of those days! But it seems like I am having them more often than not. I think Monday is especially worse though. Sunday takes ALL of my energy to keep up with the kids and my calling. It takes so much that it robs me of feeling good on Monday. I have also set up a bad schedule for myself and Mondays are one of my laundry days... what was I thinking putting it on a Monday?! Oh yeah- I thought if I did laundry on Mondays and Thursdays that would be an even amount of days in between to not think about it and to also get other things done. I am not one of those people who can do a load a day. I actually don't think I have enough laundry to do one full load a day... LUCKY ME!! I know that will quickly change when the baby comes though. I also need to "get it done" and not worry about it again for a few more days. I have enough chores that require my daily attention that laundry would just send me over the edge.
I think that I have also created another monster in my life. I keep busy doing so many things that my boys are left to play and entertain each other. The entertainment that they love the most is fighting. Braxton knows every button to push of Landen's to get him bawling his head off and that drives me NUTS!!! I know that Landen isn't always innocent either cause he has learned a few tricks up his sleeves to use too when Braxton is peacefully doing something on his own.
I always laugh when I see people posting that they have no time for their stuff and yet they are on facebook, blogging or whatever at the time. I think to myself, "If they would just get off the computer and get stuff done they would feel so much better!" Then I have days like today where I needed to sit down and vent to cope with the rest of the day.
I probably should have just taken the kids to the zoo when I was invited to go this morning. I wanted to go REALLY bad but looked around at what I had to do and knew that if I spent all of my energy at the zoo then I would feel even worse tomorrow when our day is already jam packed full of appointments and such. I also didn't want to hurt Abbey's feelings by going without her and wasn't sure that I should justify checking her out of school to go to the zoo. I doubt that she would have really missed a whole lot at school today with it being a short week and an early out day but the responsible side of my overpowered my fun side. (That happens alot.)
I still know that I am VERY blessed and couldn't even finish a list of my blessings before the day is over. I am glad that I have an automatic washer, dryer, dishwasher and all sorts of other things that make my chores a snap. I am now resolving to walk back into my life with a positive attitude and tell myself that I can happily enjoy today. We will survive Bryce being out of town for the next few days. Maybe the kids and I will have to go to KFC for family home evening since Bryce hates that place!! :) Now I am starting to think crazy thoughts so back to work I go!!!
I think that I have also created another monster in my life. I keep busy doing so many things that my boys are left to play and entertain each other. The entertainment that they love the most is fighting. Braxton knows every button to push of Landen's to get him bawling his head off and that drives me NUTS!!! I know that Landen isn't always innocent either cause he has learned a few tricks up his sleeves to use too when Braxton is peacefully doing something on his own.
I always laugh when I see people posting that they have no time for their stuff and yet they are on facebook, blogging or whatever at the time. I think to myself, "If they would just get off the computer and get stuff done they would feel so much better!" Then I have days like today where I needed to sit down and vent to cope with the rest of the day.
I probably should have just taken the kids to the zoo when I was invited to go this morning. I wanted to go REALLY bad but looked around at what I had to do and knew that if I spent all of my energy at the zoo then I would feel even worse tomorrow when our day is already jam packed full of appointments and such. I also didn't want to hurt Abbey's feelings by going without her and wasn't sure that I should justify checking her out of school to go to the zoo. I doubt that she would have really missed a whole lot at school today with it being a short week and an early out day but the responsible side of my overpowered my fun side. (That happens alot.)
I still know that I am VERY blessed and couldn't even finish a list of my blessings before the day is over. I am glad that I have an automatic washer, dryer, dishwasher and all sorts of other things that make my chores a snap. I am now resolving to walk back into my life with a positive attitude and tell myself that I can happily enjoy today. We will survive Bryce being out of town for the next few days. Maybe the kids and I will have to go to KFC for family home evening since Bryce hates that place!! :) Now I am starting to think crazy thoughts so back to work I go!!!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Update to Life
I pretty much haven't posted anything that has happened since the middle of July! To say that I am a little bit behind would be quite the understatement!!! There is one MAJOR reason that I fell of the face of the earth at the end of July... WE ARE HAVING A BABY! Most of you know by now since we have run into each other at some time or another but I thought that I should make an official announcement. Life was turned upside down at our house as I was WAY more sick than I have been with ANY of my other pregnancies. On good days the minimum was done and not so much on the not so good days. I tried to stay as busy as possible to help the minutes tick by quicker but it was getting really frustrating to go to bed sick and wake up sick every single morning. Thankfully I am 16 weeks along now and feeling SOOOOO much better!!! The baby's due date is March 22nd and we get to go in for an ultrasound on November 3rd! I am really excited to find out if it is a boy or a girl. The kids want it to be a girl REALLY bad and it would be fun to have an even split of boys and girls in our family but it doesn't really matter to us. We are just really excited that this pregnancy seems to be going well cause we were extremely nervous that it would be another miscarriage. More updates will come as they happen (or within a few months of them happening! ;) )
As for life that still went on when I just wanted to roll over and die...
Abbey played soccer again this year and had a great season! They don't keep score at the games, but the girls do! :) I think that they won one game the whole season but that didn't curb their enthusiasm and sweetness with each other! Our teenage neighbor, Fritz Culp, was her coach and he was really sweet with all of the girls! We wish him the best on his mission in Peru!
Braxton has been riding his little motorcycle up in American Fork Canyon with Bryce and loves it! He is so excited that he can ride on some of the same single track that Bryce does! Landen also loved tagging along on the front of Bryce's bike and can't wait to go again! Abbey doesn't mind going either as long as she can just ride on the back with Bryce and doesn't ever have to drive the little motorcyle herself. (Sounds like me!)
Abbey and Braxton both started school and are LOVING it! Abbey is in the 2nd grade and loves Mrs. Champion. She is doing well in reading, loves math and is so excited that Mrs. Champion can keep things organized and in control in the classroom. I am starting to realize how bad things must have been with the intern she had as a 1st grade teacher since she is getting excited to not be late for lunch and small things like that!
Braxton is enjoying another year of preschool with Miss Heidi. This year though he gets to have his cousin and best friend, Porter, in the same class! It has been fun doing some of his homework games and he loves the individual attention. It does feel like you are taking your life into your own hands trying to play "Red light, Green light" with him though! He gets so excited to be the first one there that he practically punches your lights out to touch the cards! We are working on that one. Braxton does surprise me with the things that he thinks about randomly though. The other day he told me:
Braxton: I don't ever want to be a spider.
Me: Why not?
Braxton: Spiders get stepped on, squished and die before it is time for them to be dead. I don't want to be a bee either cause I step on those and squish them too.
I just loved that he thought about "dying BEFORE it was their 'time to be dead'". What makes him think about that stuff... who knows.
Landen has discoverd playing with cars. He will play with them all day and loves to bring a few of them anywhere he goes. He prefers matchbox cars and I think it is because he can carry them easily in his little hands and they fit into his pockets. Speaking of pockets... this morning I asked him to put his jacket away in the closet and he told me that he couldn't. He has been saying that "he can't" alot lately and I more sternly told him to do it. He looked up at me and then said, "I can't. My hands are in my pockets." I told him to take his hands out of his pockets and hang up his jacket. He said ok like I had just come up with an amazing idea and then went and did what I asked. I probably would have started laughing if it hadn't been a frustrating morning already. I am excited though that Landen has started going to the bathroom in the toilet a little bit! I can only hope that he will be potty trained before we have the baby! A few other things that come to my mind with Landen is... "I do it MYSELF," "Why?" and "MOM! Watch this!" about a zillion times a day. The joys of a 2 year old! :)
Bryce got a promotion that he wanted at T-Mobile. He will be managing a team of people that are across the nation and deal with the "indirect business sales" side of things. I really don't have any idea of truly what he will do but I know that it will require him to travel at least one day a week to somewhere other than Utah. I am not looking forward to that but he seems to be excited for a new challenge so we are going with it.
Anyway-I am sure that I have forgotten lots of things to say but something is better than nothing! I am lucky to have such a good life and hope it last forever!
As for life that still went on when I just wanted to roll over and die...
Abbey played soccer again this year and had a great season! They don't keep score at the games, but the girls do! :) I think that they won one game the whole season but that didn't curb their enthusiasm and sweetness with each other! Our teenage neighbor, Fritz Culp, was her coach and he was really sweet with all of the girls! We wish him the best on his mission in Peru!
Braxton has been riding his little motorcycle up in American Fork Canyon with Bryce and loves it! He is so excited that he can ride on some of the same single track that Bryce does! Landen also loved tagging along on the front of Bryce's bike and can't wait to go again! Abbey doesn't mind going either as long as she can just ride on the back with Bryce and doesn't ever have to drive the little motorcyle herself. (Sounds like me!)
Abbey and Braxton both started school and are LOVING it! Abbey is in the 2nd grade and loves Mrs. Champion. She is doing well in reading, loves math and is so excited that Mrs. Champion can keep things organized and in control in the classroom. I am starting to realize how bad things must have been with the intern she had as a 1st grade teacher since she is getting excited to not be late for lunch and small things like that!
Braxton is enjoying another year of preschool with Miss Heidi. This year though he gets to have his cousin and best friend, Porter, in the same class! It has been fun doing some of his homework games and he loves the individual attention. It does feel like you are taking your life into your own hands trying to play "Red light, Green light" with him though! He gets so excited to be the first one there that he practically punches your lights out to touch the cards! We are working on that one. Braxton does surprise me with the things that he thinks about randomly though. The other day he told me:
Braxton: I don't ever want to be a spider.
Me: Why not?
Braxton: Spiders get stepped on, squished and die before it is time for them to be dead. I don't want to be a bee either cause I step on those and squish them too.
I just loved that he thought about "dying BEFORE it was their 'time to be dead'". What makes him think about that stuff... who knows.
Landen has discoverd playing with cars. He will play with them all day and loves to bring a few of them anywhere he goes. He prefers matchbox cars and I think it is because he can carry them easily in his little hands and they fit into his pockets. Speaking of pockets... this morning I asked him to put his jacket away in the closet and he told me that he couldn't. He has been saying that "he can't" alot lately and I more sternly told him to do it. He looked up at me and then said, "I can't. My hands are in my pockets." I told him to take his hands out of his pockets and hang up his jacket. He said ok like I had just come up with an amazing idea and then went and did what I asked. I probably would have started laughing if it hadn't been a frustrating morning already. I am excited though that Landen has started going to the bathroom in the toilet a little bit! I can only hope that he will be potty trained before we have the baby! A few other things that come to my mind with Landen is... "I do it MYSELF," "Why?" and "MOM! Watch this!" about a zillion times a day. The joys of a 2 year old! :)
Bryce got a promotion that he wanted at T-Mobile. He will be managing a team of people that are across the nation and deal with the "indirect business sales" side of things. I really don't have any idea of truly what he will do but I know that it will require him to travel at least one day a week to somewhere other than Utah. I am not looking forward to that but he seems to be excited for a new challenge so we are going with it.
Anyway-I am sure that I have forgotten lots of things to say but something is better than nothing! I am lucky to have such a good life and hope it last forever!
Monday, August 17, 2009
A few days to ourselves
My mother-in-law offered to take our kids for a few days in July! How sweet is that!?! I had a million ideas run through my head on what I would do when I was by myself and I thought for sure I would take a nap each day... that one didn't happen... it is amazing how much LESS energy/sleep I need when I don't have kids to keep up with (both physically and mentally!)
Bryce and I tried to take full advantage of every moment that we had. We borrowed my dad's street bike and headed up the Provo Canyon for a drive. We ended up at Park City for a little shopping and some dinner. WHAT A BLAST! I LOVE motorcycles and the canyon was gorgeous! My rear end was not appreciating the ride as much as I did though!
Thursday morning we started off bright and early up AF canyon on Kellen's (my brother-in-law) dirtbike for a litle bit of single track. (Bryce was driving and I am on the back.) I have never been on those trails before. After the first half hour and praying to Heavenly Father that he help me live through this experience of creek crossings, steep uphills with HUGE jagged rocks and wicked skinny trails we came to some nice grassy fields and beautiful scenery. That must have made me forget the first part cause I was crazy enough to go back again w/ Bryce on Saturday. More about that in a minute. We ended up having a great time. I did come home and soak in the tub for a while cause my body didn't appreciate getting bumped around so much and again my rear end didn't like the tuff seat on the motorbike. A little bit of lunch with my sister, Karen, and my mom made things a lot better. Then we headed off to get our toes painted! This was a first time for my mom (and a still a special treat for me since I am such a cheapskate). We had lots of fun talking and laughing as I tried not to squirm out of my chair from being so ticklish every time they would touch my feet! The night ended with Blackberry sponsoring dinner and a movie in Salt Lake with Bryce (and about 30 people from T-Mobile!) I love free movies! :)
With all of our running around we spent a relaxing Friday watching a movie on the couch (in the morning!!!), grilling up some steaks for lunch and heading down to Fairview, UT to watch Deric (Karen's husband) drive in the demolition derby! That was a BLAST!!! They had fireworks set to music for the 24th of July celebration and it was a picture perfect night. One like you see in the movies.
Deric is the #8 car. He just hit the gray car and knocked it up on 2 wheels for a bit. What entertainment!!! :)Saturday morning I was wiped out and somehow agreed to go with Bryce one more time on the dirtbike up AF canyon. He took me on the East Ridge Trail (should be named trail of death!) to show me all of the cool things that he has had a chance to see. I was tired, scare to death and we now both agree that it wasn't the best place to take me. I don't like to see my life flash before my eyes every few seconds or to wish that I would just die so my rear end wouldn't hurt any more! It is an experience that I can say that I had and won't ever have to do it again. I can't believe that he likes to ride on those kinds of trails... and he thinks it is fun!!!
We made it home and headed up to Idaho to go get the kiddos. They were having so much fun at grandma's house that they didn't want to leave but vacation was over (for all of us). It was a hard reality on Monday morning when they had to do chores and I didn't have a quiet moment in the house!
THANK YOU to Trish for a wonderful time to myself and for having so much fun with the kids!!! I can't tell you how nice that was!
Happy Birthday Abbey!
Abbey had an idea for her birthday cake in her mind and she was kind enough to draw me a picture and post it on the fridge for me to fret about for weeks! It turned out to be a lot of fun making it with her (minus our struggle with the black frosting for the bees and such that you probably can't even see). Besides the #7 all of the decorations are made out of candy!
I loved this picture! Somebody is teasing her and she is finally getting old enough to take it a little bit! :)
When Abbey first started blowing out her candles her hair fell right into the flame and singed a good chunk! This is a few attempts after the first initial blow and a little bit of help from Landen.
Abbey was loaded up with presents and she LOVED each and every one! This year I took pictures of each individual family that came and that was too many pics to post. I wished I would have done one huge group shot cause I love to document all of the fabulous family that we have that are so supportive!
As tradition in our house we take the kids out for a birthday lunch and of course they pick CHUCK-E-CHEESE!!! They had such a fun time! Karen's kids came and met up with us and that kept the lunch party alive for a few more hours!
Back: Abbey, Hannah Shelley, Porter ShelleyFront: Braxton & Landen Got to love the chuck-e-cheese cups!
Missing: Mikayla-- I guess she is too old for a chuck-e-cheese cup but she was fantastic at earning lots of tickets!
A few things about Abbey:
A few things about Abbey:
*Very sweet and considerate of other people
*Big helper to all
*Loves to please
*LOVES to do art projects, pretend to be a mom and/or a teacher
*Always wants to be the boss... she must have gotten that from her dad! ;) jk
*She loves to save EVERYTHING -- that one FOR SURE she got from her dad cause I can't stand clutter!
*She is a fabulous sister to her two younger brothers
*She always has a piece of gum in her mouth!
*Is great at saving money... she started her own savings account a few years ago and gets so excited to see when interest is added in from the bank!
*Not a dare devil
*Loves to ride on Bryce's motorcycle but doesn't want to drive her own (just like her mom!)
*Social butterfly (when she is comfortable with her setting) and is quiet as a mouse when she isn't.
*Fantastic baker! She is learning quickly how to make some delicious desserts!
*LOVES to do lemonade stands and would do one every day if I was up to it!
*Started piano this summer and is doing really well
*Started to do her own hair this summer... I am trying to let go of control! It is hard!!! She is doing really well at her ponytails!
We love you Abbey and feel so lucky to have you in our family! You are so sweet and I hope that you keep that kindness with you always!
Love,
Mom
A few fun summer pictures...
During a rain storm this summer I caught Abbey outside having some fun. I love summer rainstorms when you can be outside playing and not freeze to death!
4th of July: Abbey, Landen & Braxton in front of our house
Braxton... a little distracted by something to the side of me :) He is a firecracker for sure though!
This was about as close as I got for Landen laying down in the grass and looking at me. With his lean muscle mass he could have held that position for hours but the ants in his pants distract him!
My sweet Abbey- by far the easiest one to take pictures of! Too bad it was so hot and sunny!
4th of July afternoon-- we had just had a water balloon fight and they were enjoying some popsicles on the driveway while Bryce made a few of his own fireworks! He didn't like the pictures I took of him so I didn't post any.
We ended the evening with a fabulous BBQ at Lisa's house (my sister) and watched the city fireworks in PG. It was a really fun holiday!
T-Ball ... What a FUN season!
Braxton played t-ball for the first time this year and LOVED it! He had such an amazing coach that was incredibly patient with all of the kids! Here are a few pics from one of the games:
I love the medal and the award winning smile for earning it! He was so excited!!!
The most amazing coach (Brent) handing Braxton his medal. Braxton wanted to know though if they could still get a treat too. If he would have had to pick between the medal or a treat... it would have been a hard decision!
Braxton running with all of his might for 3rd base.
This is going to be a home run hit!
No ground ball is going to get past this kid! He is set and ready for some action!
I love the medal and the award winning smile for earning it! He was so excited!!!
The most amazing coach (Brent) handing Braxton his medal. Braxton wanted to know though if they could still get a treat too. If he would have had to pick between the medal or a treat... it would have been a hard decision!
Braxton running with all of his might for 3rd base.
This is going to be a home run hit!
No ground ball is going to get past this kid! He is set and ready for some action!
I love baseball and it was so much fun helping and watching Braxton's little team! Some times your gut would hurt so bad from laughing as they would do circles in the outfield to try and figure out the bases. It was a fantastic season and I can't wait till next year!
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