NaBloPoMo(or in other words you will get a post from me every day)

This will be the third year I have participated in National Blog Posting Month. The first year I did it, it helped me through the most difficult time of my life. Last year, it helped me remember my goals and the legacy I want to leave. This year, my focus is my family. I am going to spend some time every day working on my digital scrapbook. I will use the blog to document what I have accomplished and to tell stories and share cute pics of my kids! :-)
Last night at midnight, I was supposed to register for a really fun race. It fills up really fast. It is an all women's race. I had asked my sisters and my mom if they would come run it with me. They said yes, so I was in charge of registering everyone. Well, the last thing I remember was seeing the clock at 11:46pm and telling Jeff, "Don't you remember when I fell asleep last year instead of registering?" Luckily, last year, the computers were down, so I was able to register later in the day. This year, I wasn't so lucky. It filled up in an hour. I am so bummed. I do things like this, and I am trying to learn from them and not get so disappointed. Since I woke up at 5am with my contacts still in, I decided to be productive and have something to show for it!

So, here are our Halloween pics! We had a busy weekend, and a great time!

It started off with a hair cut for Emily. She has been begging me to cut it for over a year, but I was nervous to lose the curls. Well, I was wrong. The cut is perfect for her! Some of the Halloween pics will show it off better! The best part is that she loves it! She asks everyone if they noticed her hair!


We went to a Kids' Halloween Party at our local YMCA on Friday. Bryce refused to wear the Pikachu costume I had picked up from a person on Craigs' list at 7:30 that morning! I was a little frustrated but was able to get him in Superman. :-) The kids made cookies, fished for candy, ran through a little maze and tunnel, and played soccer. It was a good way to start the holiday. That night, a good friend of ours was watching our kids and had a darling Halloween party! So, obviously they didn't miss us. We went to a fun adults-only party/scavenger hunt! It was fun to dress up and be with friends.


On Saturday, Dallin had his last soccer game. I was sad to see this season end. It was a great learning experience for all of us. After finding out that I had mistakenly put Dallin on a first grade team instead of the team with all his buddies, he was very disappointed. We were able to get him on a second grade team after all and it ended up being fantastic! He had an awesome coach and he made 10 new friends. :-) I did not get to see either goal that he made, but I was happy for him nonetheless!


Saturday night, we went to the ward trunk or treat and then trick or treated in our own neighborhood. Bryce was so funny. He got very upset if a house didn't have their lights on and as such didn't have candy for him. He sprinted from house to house. He loved his pumpkin bag. (Thanks Mom!) We ended the night with apple cobbler and vanilla ice cream.






I will be adding in updates as I go. I will keep a running tab on the side with my updates. My blog is now my digital scrapbook. I think it is a great way to capture how I am feeling in the moment. Feel free to visit every day this month! I look forward to getting a lot done and remembering great and not so great times. :-)

Just to hold you over...

...mom! I will update soon, I promise. Since I am a little behind, here are some of the pics from our trip to Mexico. We had a fabulous time! We went with our friends and their kids, but we did not bring our kids. Sarah returned the favor from April when I watched her kids for a week, and watched our kids and we enjoyed every minute. We did a lot of crazy things like parasailing, rappelling down waterfalls, and riding zip lines. We also just enjoyed reading at the beach and spending time together. I was sad for it to end, but rejuvenated and ready to be a mom. :-)






Since we got back, we have been finding our school groove again. Dallin is figuring out how to fit in homework with soccer and piano practice, and I am learning how to balance time with the two younger kids. I can honestly say I am thoroughly enjoying being at home. I am glad that Emily missed the cutoff :-) and I was able to have one more year with her.

More details to come... (including Emily's birthday!)

Loving Fridays off already!

Here is Dallin's first day as a second grader. It really does go by too quickly. Summer, that is, oh and their childhood!

After 2 days back in school, I was already excited to have Friday off. One of my favorite things about the Charter School was their 4 day week. The kids go an hour longer during the week, but it is worth it to sleep in on Friday and just chill out. Today was spent finishing last minute packing for our Puerto Vallarta trip- woo hoo!! and then I took the kids swimming. I just love being in the water with them. They all enjoy it so much. We actually had the pool to ourselves today and the lifeguard let us stay 30 minutes longer. I loved it!

So, Jeff and I are headed to Puerto Vallarta for a week. Sarah is taking on the awesome duty of watching my 3 lovely children. I wish her luck and I am ready to go. We are up late because we planned our 3 excursions. I will tell you all about them when I get back.

Thanks to all of you for reading. I look forward to blogging again, but it will be good to feel safe among friends!

Just a thought...

This is what I want...

Time to turn this into a journal....

...that is not open to the world. Please email me if you would like an invite. I haven't wanted to do this, but I feel like I should go private. Comment me if you don't have my email.

Thanks for checking in!

Epiphany

This has been a great week for me to reflect. With my dad's birthday on Tuesday, I was reminded of what is most important- doing my best to be a good person and treat others kindly. Then as I was reading Eat, Pray, Love- I felt like I was hit on the head. Here are some snippets:

"To know God, you need only to renounce one thing- your sense of division from God. Otherwise, just stay as you were made, within your natural character."

She goes on to talk about the things that she wants, that she can't have "thick, dark hair" and makes this observation.

"But at some point you have to make peace with what you were given and if God wanted me to be a shy girl with thick, dark hair he would have made me that way, but he didn't. Useful, then, might be to accept how I was made and embody myself fully therein."

I love this!! I feel like I need this reminder over and over again. I hope I will always be striving to be a little better, but within my own capabilities and gifts.

So, my quest to be a more "at home" stay at home mom will continue, but only in the ways that work with my personality.

I would love more suggestions, but I have found my peace.

Stay at Home Ideas

Alright, everyone teases me about being busy. Here are my reasons for staying so active:
1. I love being outside. I am sure part of that comes from growing up in the mountains and my love for the beach. (passed on from my dad!) Spending time at the park is very soothing to me.
2. I enjoy watching my kids learn from other people and their reactions- story time, music time.
3. I like my kids having a chance to run around without having a mess to clean up after. (mat time at the YMCA)
4. I love the water. (pool time at the YMCA)
5. I love people. (Meeting up with other friends is a great way to get to chat and get to know others.)
6. When I am at home, I feel like all I am doing is cleaning up messes. If I try to clean around them, another area of the house is being destroyed. Haven't quite figured that out.

Here is where I need your help. I honestly don't know what to do inside the house with the kids. Here are the things we do like doing inside the house:

1. Playing board games
2. Reading books
3. Playing Wii/computer
4. Attempting to get cleaning done (I am trying to get the kids more involved with this process thanks to the Parenting Breakthrough!)
5. I am very left brained/math oriented so the crafty/imaginitive stuff doesn't come as easily.

Since I want to limit #3 as much as possible, and I want to encourage my kids to play, what other ideas do you have? How do you spend your time at home with your little ones? I want to learn how to truly be a "stay at home" mom instead of on the go so much. I just don' t know how to do it. Help!

Be Here Now

Living in the present. That is my goal. The no screen time week went well until Jeff left with Dallin for 2 nights and I went into panic mode being in a home alone. Facebook became my friend and I even had to have suziepetunia come stay with me until my crazy fears went away! I am glad Jeff is back, and even more glad that he doesn't travel very much. :-)

Our summer has been very low key. We are just having fun doing local activities. No big trips for us. I have loved not having commitments before 10am. :-) Here are some things that have kept us busy:

Vacation Bible School- Emily and Dallin were able to go to this together! I loved hearing them come home saying things such as, "God is powerful. Fear not!" They love the music and we are listening to it now. One of their favorite parts was the teeter totters.

Spontaneous Beach Trip- For as much as I love the ocean, I don't really visit it that often here in Oregon. First of all, it is a little different here than in California. The water is COLD. Second of all, I avoid driving at all costs. So, packing my kids in the car for a 3 hour round trip does not appeal to me. So, I was very proud when one of my good friends suggested we go on a hot day and I said yes! We had a very relaxing time and it was beautiful. I will definitely have to do this again.



Wed Park Day at the Fountains- We have truly enjoyed our weekly park dates with friends. This particular day was followed perfectly by slushies at Sonic!

Local Parade- When Jeff was with Dallin, we ventured to the local parade. One of the things I love about our little town is their festivals. This was followed by a rousing night of Family Feud and Karaoke at our next door neighbor and good friends' house. Wish I had pics of this!! Love our neighborhood!!

While Jeff was gone, Emily was invited by her good friends Hannah and Holden to go to gymnastics class with them. She loved it!! I am looking into more classes for her.
Trip to the pool- I finally went to my first outdoor pool in Oregon. I always joke that my life would be too easy in CA because I would live at the pool or the beach. We don't have any local outdoor pools here, so I ventured to one about 15 miles away. It was awesome!! We will definitely be back! There was a lazy river, waterslides for the older kids, little frog waterslide for the little ones, and I enjoyed good friends and sun!! Next time, I will bring Jeff. :-)
Kids Fun Run- Dallin and Emily were able to participate in this fantastic event!! They raced against their own age group and the distance was age based. Dallin ran 600M and Emily ran 200M. Dallin surprised me and came in second. He didn't seem winded at all!! He was pretty proud to pass someone toward the end. Don't know where he gets the competitiveness. :-) Emily was just as excited for her race. Dallin ran with her and it was adorable. She wore her medal the rest of the day. I love encouraging my kids to find joy in exercise. I am in the middle of planning our local family triathlon. It is a great event to be involved with. Email me if you would like more info!

Last and not least- We were able to watch some of our good friends perform in a local production of The Music Man. I was so impressed with their talent. I will link you to Sarah's web page so you can watch her husband, Taylor's performances. So much fun!!! Carrie, are you going to link some of Carey's performances!! I wish I had their talent, but I was grateful I could enjoy it. We brought Dallin and Emily and went with good friends and it was a fun night.

Real Life Angle- So, this is all the fun stuff. In reality, day to day is still not always easy. I am trying to enjoy the moments, but I get caught up in my own frustrations in my weaknesses. Right now, I am still fighting an ulcer that was never healed. I am just grateful for all my blessings. I love this quote from the Music Man,

"You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays. I don't know about you, but I'd like to make today worth remembering. "

Thanks to all my friends and family for their love and support!


I just finished reading "The Anatomy of Peace" and it has changed me forever! I don't think I will look at my relationships the same again. I highly reccommend it. If I do things a little differently than I did in the past, just know I am doing my best.