Miss Emma Turns 9!

Friday was Emma's birthday! I'm still having a hard time processing the fact that the last year has gone by in what seemed like a week. I swear she just turned 8 and had just gotten baptized! Craziness. There are times where I'll catch a glimpse of what she'll look like when she grows up, of how gorgeous she'll be and I can see traits in her that will carry her through the tough times. I'm amazed that Father has trusted me, enough to be her mother. That He feels like I am able to teach and guide her, to learn what she will need to, in order to become a well balanced adult.

One of those glimpses I was talking about (March 2011)

Making an art project with Aunt Kristie (July 2011)

Face paint from Stampede Days (June 2011)

She really enjoyed her birthday, we didn't do anything big, just walked around the county fair, she performed in her performing art class (Tavaci) and pretty much spent the day with her family.

Ryan wasn't able to be here for her birthday for the first time, she was a little sad. He ordered her some flowers, she was so excited when she saw that they were blue, seriously, you should have seen her face. Priceless.

She has grown to be a wonderful young lady, she always aims to do what is right, you can see how much she loves her siblings, in the service she gives them and she loves helping Ryan and I. We're so blessed to have her in our lives and I CAN wait for her to grow to adulthood and become an out-standing woman.

Even More Crunchier

So, Ryan was able to get some extra hours this last week and we decided to put that money to good use. Since he had started working in ND we had become a little lazy with our finances, we weren't as strict with our spending. We recently decided that we needed to get back on the straight and narrow and start (once again) to be much more concience of what we do with our money. One of our overall goals is to be as self sufficiant as possible, we've started taking baby steps to get there and things we've been wanting to do for a while we've been able to realize. Like, making our own yogurt and cheese! I haven't done it yet, mostly cause I want Ryan to be home when I do it, so I won't be alone in bouncing around the house looking like a dumby, while my yogurt thickens. If you want to see how absolutely easy and fun it can be click here!

One of the other things we've wanted to do for a long time is, cloth diapering. No joke, it makes so much sense if you think about it. We figured it would save us at least $2,000 a year, and our baby has about another 2 years to wear diapers. I like having money.

Look at all the cute patterns!! (The one in the lower right corner is a swim cover!)

The liners, I did get one prefold, it just isn't in this pic.


I got several different kinds, so I could find out which kind I like best, so the initial cost for us was about $250, and tht was with buying all the accesories one could want (i.e. a small wet bag a larg wet bag with a dry compartment, we will be using that as our 'pail' and with buying detergent). I was able to buy them locally, from my friend Tonya Taylor, owner of Komfy Kidz and Taylor Made Slings. She's awesome and was great at explaining everything and helping me choose what would work best for us. So, after $250 spent on diapers, I won't be buying any more (since Ryan says Kevlie is our last baby) hopefully, ever! That, makes me happy! I'm so excited to start this!

I'm so crafty, I grow people!

No, I'm not pregnant, I just really love that quote and I was feeling crafty these past few days. So I found something to help with that piticular itch.

It wasn't until today (after like 6 months), that I finally got my curtains for my kitchen hung! I've only done the top half (still need to get a tension rod for the bottom half of the curtains), but I lucked out and discovered that the curtains match the flowers on my flour containers that I've had for a few years that Ive never really used but haven't been willing to part with.

My sister bought me some herbs for my birthday this year and they've sat in their nursery containers while I've put getting them cute herb pots to the bottom of my list.

Then, this idea happened!!

SO easy! And I think it's super cute!

See? Matches!

Fulfillment

Today was such a great day. I kept finding myself awed at the wonderful life I have. I'll try to paint a few pictures to describe the it.

The first today was breakfast, now, breakfast today didn't happen until about 9:30am, but it still happened. And while we were all sitting around the table eating, it was like a part of me took a step back and looked at our family, talking, joking and just spending time and bonding over food. And I was taken back at the... rightness of it. Having my husband home has a lot to do with it, I'm much less stressed and I'm able to have someone to snuggle.

Then, Ryan started mowing the lawn and the kids jumped at the chance to get outside too. It was so fun to watch them playing while Ryan was working. The windows were open and with the smell and sounds, I feel so lucky to have them. Even when Daniel purposely kicked a ball in front of the mower and it was cut to pieces. Still a great time.

The best though, was when the kids got their popsicles. We found some popsicle molds at Winco for about $2 and we got them. It's a great way to have a healthy fruit, yogurt, or a fruit/veggie snack. Anyways, they had gotten all their chores done and school was finished so we broke them out. They were ecstatic and started hunkering down to eat them, when I mentioned sitting out in the sun, they were all for that. It was while I was watching them eating their sicles and talking to one another that I realized how fulfilled I feel. My life, my kids, my husband, are wonderful. I'm so blessed and lucky to have them. And I'm grateful to have the ability to see those moments and appreciate them. I love what I have. Yeah there are things that I would liked changed, but honestly, you might be hard pressed to find someone as happy with their life as I am.

Daniel Ryan Grover (Birthday #3)

Saturday was Daniel-san's 3rd birthday, I can't believe he's gotten so big, so fast! I miss holding my baby boy and making him smile just by him seeing me. He is such a sweet boy to his mama, he loves sitting on my lap and snuggling me. He will say the funniest things and *can be a great help. I'm so blessed and overjoyed to have him in my life.


Now, we weren't planning on really doing anything the day of his birthday cause we will be having a combined birthday party for both him and I. But, when he came into my room that morning and I saw his smiling face I decided that he should get to celebrate both days! We got our chores done and hit the road to gather supplies. It was so much fun to see him laugh and smile when he was able to pick out his present, my excitement probably rubbed off on him more then the actual excitement of having the toy did, but that doesn't matter. I let him pick out a cake and he was just tickled pink with what we found. I love my boy!

Our trip to Salt Lake City... Part Two

Our first night there we stayed at a Crystal Inn, which turned out to be about 4 miles away (we thought it was closer when we booked the room), about 2am we get a call from the PICU, Kevlie had pulled her ET tube out (that's the one that goes down her throat and into her Trachea). Thankfully, the Respiratory Therapist was actually standing right next to her bed, looking at the monitor and was able to get her reintabated right away, with no complications. After that they decided to put her on a paralytic, to prevent her moving too much and pulling it out again.

I don't think I could ever fully describe what seeing her that way is like... every time we walked in and saw her there, not breathing on her own, not moving... I couldn't help but silently cry for my baby. My heart would break and I would feel this fear, that something might go wrong, that she might die and then I would think of my life without her. Half of me was reluctant to stay with her, being close to that pain is hard, it's scary. But, I know how much regret and how much more pain I would have if something did happen and even though it hurt, and was scary, I stayed. I explained it to Ryan one day we were there, I went though seeing my dad get sick, go through unbearable amounts of pain and pass away, but more often then not, I ran from seeing him that way. I went out with friends, I went to every activity I could think of, so I wouldn't have to see him hurting. And now, I regret that with all my heart. Seeing him sick and in pain would be worth those few more moments of spending time with him, because now (at least not for a while) I can't ask his opinion on how to raise my kids, or on Obama, or to see how much he loves smart phones. It would have been so much more worth it.
I think Ryan understood and we were able to better support each other while we waited for her to be well enough to wake up.


One of the scariest times was when she extabated herself while we were there. Again, though, the nurses and RT's who work there are amazing, and luckily she's easy to intabate. Ryan and I held our cool until it was all over, then we cried. And it turned out, Vaseline, which we had been putting on her lips to help them from getting dried out, breaks down the type of tape they use! After we figured that out, she didn't have any problems.


She was sedated for about two and a half days. And in that time we couldn't hold her. She woke up really well and did great while they extabtaed her (on purpose this time). The next day, we were transferred to 'the floor' which is where the non critical patients go. YAY! And later that night, about 7pm, they discharged us. We wanted to be home so badly that we drove home that night, we got in about 12 and were able to sleep with our baby for the first time in months without worrying about her breathing!
We are so lucky to be blessed with wonderful friends and family that care about us and our children. Thank you all, for your prayers, strength and good vibes. I really think they made a huge difference.

Our trip to Salt Lake City... Part One

This isn't about the first time we went, THAT was for a family vacation. If I would have known about what was to come, we would have saved some time and money.

It all started three months ago when, after Kevlie got RSV, she was also diagnosed with Croup. She got over both, but her breathing never went back to normal. I figured it was just some residual symptoms of Croup. After about two weeks of nothing changing, we took her in to see the Pediatricians at Seasons Medical. Dr. Gate was the one to see her that day and after asking a few questions he told us it was Tracheomalacia. At the time of the diagnoses, I didn't feel like it was right, I didn't want it to be right. I wanted something that I could help with, that could be fixed and I was almost angry at him for telling us it was that and not something else.And, on top of that, we ask him for a written diagnosis, which he says he will give, then promptly leaves the office without doing.

Playing with her toes

Fast forward two months and many sleepless nights, we have a baby who has NOT started growing out of her diagnoses and who, out of 24 hours in a day, needs help breathing at least 20 of them. Whether that was from me helping or her, putting herself in a cockeyed position so she could breath. One night, she gets a low grade fever and starts acting lethargic, now, having done my research, I know that aspiration is something that can happen easily in babies with Tracheomalacia. Fearing that's what it was, we ended up taking her to the ER. They do all sorts of tests and poking, they take an x-ray for pneumonia and then another to check her airway. They poke her five times (four in her head) trying to get an IV in. And while all of this is happening, the SAME doctor comes in to talk to us and we refresh his memory that HE diagnosed her with Tracheomalacia, at that point he tells us that he doesn't really know if that's whats going on with her... Seriously!? Oh, my hand was itching to smack this man upside his MD head. Why in the world did he not, TWO months before, say 'hey, I think it's this, but because it's her airway, and that's a pretty important part of a body to not be working right, I'll order her a scope by one of the ENTs, just to be sure.'? But, no, he doesn't. He gives us a diagnosis for what he THINKS it is, without double checking, and books it out of his office for the weekend.

The siblings watching TV in her hospital room

At this point in time, I'm so beyond pissed and the mama bear in me is demanding this mans balls served on a plate with a side of rice. Ryan is feeling the same way, but he's showing it more then I was. I, was at least still civil to the douche bag.

A nervous mama and an oblivious baby, right before LifeFlight arrived

We're admitted that night and the option of an ENT coming to see her the next day and from there, possibly going to Primary's Children sometime that next week is presented. We figured we'd have a while to figure out what our options are and what we'll do. The ENT came Thursday evening to take a look at her and he saw that her throat from her vocal cords up, was perfectly fine. He did say however, that she had clusters of veins all the way down her throat and on her vocal cords. He said that he thinks she may have a hemangioma in her throat. They aren't able to get past her voice box with their camera without sedating her and they aren't able to do that at that hospital. So, we're referred to Primary Childrens. We honestly thought we would be taking her down sometime the next week, so we stay another night with the thought of going home and chilling for a day or two, then heading down on our own to have her examined. But oh, no, that wouldn't do. Friday morning, right after we woke up, like, we still had eye boogers, Dr. Lame comes in and tells us LifeFlight will be here in an hour. We were like, 'Wha?!'. So we got ready as fast as we could, they got there, loaded her up (I went with her while Ryan drove down) and we flew to Utah and drove to the hospital.

Noming on her cereal box, waiting for ENT

I waited a few hours for Ryan to get there, all the while, just holding Kevlie so she would sleep. They didn't want her to eat, to make it safer for her while she was intabated. That was hard, having a baby that was hungry and not being able to feed her. Poor thing.

I just think this is a cute picture, so you must look at it.

Ryan finally showed up and a couple of hours later the OR came to take her for a Broncoscopy. Letting them take her was one of the hardest things to do. I hated the fact that I couldn't see what they were doing. Or how she was reacting to it. Even worse, was that we couldn't hold her once she was out of the OR and back in the PICU. We left her at the hospital that night (now, before you start thinking we were abandoning her, the nurse to patient ratio in the PICU is wither 1:1 or 1:2, they NEVER give a nurse more the two patients at a time, plus she was sedated) and got a night, not really full of sleep, but more of worry.

Belonging to, do I Dare Say it..... A Clan?

A while ago a friend of mine wrote a blog about her clan, her people, and at the time I thought, 'man, that would rock (having a clan)', and after this past week, I wonder if I've had a breakthrough and might belong to this clan... I guess another way of saying it, is, from what I've gone through, anytime I see a babywearing mama (or papa) I'm going to feel a bond, a connection with them. More so then I did 7 days ago.

Ryan left for work Monday morning, pretty much the whole time he was here he wore Kevlie (he's such a Kevlie hog while he's home!), and once he left, I didn't wear her as much as he did and at night, I wouldn't wear her at all, really. That's mostly cause I would want to be in bed and we would be laying down. But for the past week she would be SO fussy! Like keep me up till midnight screaming, fussy. I've tried feeding, changing, rubbing, patting and bathing her. Nothing helped. I was seriously getting to that place where I just wanted to put her down and leave the room. I almost did a couple of times, but then I would think of her crying and obviously needing SOMETHING. At that time, I would stop, say a little prayer and try once again to help her. Tonight, I despereately needed to do some dishes and she was getting fussy, so I tossed her in a Wrapsody and started washing. She quieted down and fell asleep, WITHOUT crying. I almost cried with relief.
I am so thankful for Kimber Tower, for introducing me to babywearing and Angela, Marie and Natalie for being rad and teaching me more about wearing my baby. And for the babywearing community that has developed in the area, cause if I didn't know these awesome ladies, my baby would still be crying, and probably me along with her.

But, she's sleeping! And I'm a tired, happy mama.

Daniel (aka 'Monster')

So, we have yet another story to add to the growing list of the things Daniel has destroyed...

I'm doing school with Emma and Daniel runs into the bathroom to go potty, I'm stoked he's doing so well with the whole thing! And as I'm in the middle of doing some subtraction with Emma, I hear an odd buzzing noise and Daniel mumbling something about 'Daddy' and being a 'big boy'... I go running in and find him with the middle of his head bald and Ryan's clippers in his hand. The way I figure, he's seen Ryan trimming his facial hair so often that he knows its something boys do and because the only hair on his noggin is on the top of his head, obviously that's what he would trim.

My first response is to groan. My second was to check the dog (you never know with Daniel). He was chill.


I then had to finish the job Daniel started and the whole time, again he said things about daddy and the phrase 'me big boy' kept popping up. The last time he did this, after I finished he freaked and wanted his hair back on. Poor thing was so sad I couldn't do it. :/ THAT was hard to explain. This time he was actually happy about it. Silly boy.

I hate that he cut his hair again, yes, again, he just got it back to a decent length and he goes and buzzes it... Le sigh.

But he's so darn cute, how can I stay upset for long?

The best part about this picture? RIGHT before the camera captured the image he tooted, and it was a good toot, this, is his "Me fart!!" face.

Love this boy child.

Rag Curlers

I've been finding out that I'm kinda spontaneous. I will write out a list of things that I want to accomplish in a day and not have any desire or motivation to get it done but I'll seriously deep clean the laundry room or fridge or I'll wash every piece of clothing in the house. It's odd, and I don't like it much, and I'm working on changing that, cause I'm a big believer that you can change almost anything about yourself you might not like.
Cue Saturday night, the kids have been bathed and are in jamas, ready for bed. I'm sitting on the couch with Ry, thinking about what I'm going to do with the girls' hair in the morning and wishing I could curl they're hair, with something that wouldn't hurt them and actually stay in all night. Then, for some reason I got this mental picture of a little girl in a white, long nightgown, holding a stuffed animal and in rag curlers, I was inspired! I Googled cloth curlers and came up with this site, here. My cousin, Melissa let me know that they're actually called rag curls, which makes much more sense.

I used a few squares of Ryan's old jeans that we were going to use as quilting squares, and cut them into, about, 1 by 5 inches long. After doing a few curls I figured out it was much easier to split the ends and tie those.

We made a video to explain the rolling process, it's a bit complicated in the written word.



This is after all the curlers are in and I think she looked so cute! And, think of the colors of fabric you could use! SO many fun colors!

The after! The curls stayed in for at least 24 hours and would still be going if she hadn't have showered, they slowly relaxed which I thought was super cute, I really liked them. I think it's the way to go, for us at least, where curlers are involved.

Well, there you have it, my spontaneous Saturday night, chuck full of adventure.

Spring Craft

I decided last Summer that I needed some seasonal decorations, I really didn't have any so I got to thinking, I knew I didn't want to spend over $20 on anything so I came up with one for fall, I skipped Winter (couldn't think of one and too busy) and I just made my Spring craft. I really like it. I got the idea from a friend of mine's blog (so cute), you can check it out here.

So I started with some jars, I had a few to chose from and decided to go with bigger ones. I soaked off the stickers. And then had to kinda stuff them into the background while we had a baby and moved. A few months later, I busted them out and painted them. I then found some flowers at Walmart for $2. Booyah!

I only had the vinyl lettering to get to finish the product but wasn't sure what words I wanted on them.


Then I got the idea of ribbon. I got some double sided tape, and taped the ribbon to the jars.

I love them. We had to get a little creative with the last one but it still turned out great!

So there's my seasonal craft, I plan on doing one a season for a couple of years, that way I have something cute for each room!

A Beautiful Day Gone Bad

It started out wonderfully, a healthy breakfast, kids completing chores, and even with me, excited about my rollerblades being delivered. It was the sort of day that I love, that makes me feel accomplished and fulfilled. Emma wasn't even complaining about school (that much) and we all had a blast learning about tints and shades in Art.

It was such a great day



And then it went wrong...


I had no clue that paint could potentially turn out looking like a crime scene.
This is after I cleaned up the floor (Daniel had foot prints EVERYWHERE), counter and toilet. They were all covered in black paint. Sigh.

What the kids learned in Art today, Shades and Tints, what I learned in Art today, follow Daniel to the bathroom.

Feeling Productive

For the past week I've been really working on catching up on the housework that was neglected while the kidos were sick and let me tell you, it actually hasn't been that bad...

I decided I wouldn't do it all in one day and that I would implemant things to do daily. And I am so close to being done!

Thanks to Pam (one of the wonderful ladies in my ward), I am six batches of laundry closer to being caught up! Six batches seems like a lot, and it is, but, unfortunelty, it's only a batch or two more that I would do a week. My mom also came over and washed some dishes for me, bless her heart.


When others do things to help me on my way or to accomplish something, I find myself striving to do that thing even more then I was before, I don't want them putting their time into me and it being wasted.

Something I have found that makes a huge difference in the type of day of have is one of these...


This is obviously one of my fancy ones, I'm not going to show you my mama bras.

I am SO much more productive if I wear a bra, how weird is that? Lol, I think it's kinda funny. But I will use what I can get. I'm glad I found this, and that I can use it to my advantage in bettering my (and my family's) life and in accomplishing my goal this year.

Premises Protected by Mossburg

So here is our dog,

we found him on Craigslist.com from an awesome couple that were moving and couldn't take him with them. They had the CUTEST little girl, but, that's beside the point.
He was originally named Jackson, and that's a great name, but I started having a hard time getting attached to him. After talking to my mom about it, I realized that I had been through some traumatic experiences that had inadvertently been associated with dogs. I'll give you a condensed story...
My dad died of cancer, which was so heartbreaking to go through, a few months later, my dog died, from heat stroke, it was horrible to watch. A few years later, our family dog, who was 13 (?) years old, developed cancer, of all things and had to be put down, that, was heartbreaking as well. It's hard to explain the loss of those you love but, I did love all of them and had a lot of pain from their passing.
So, I found myself actually feeling a little resentful towards him. Silly, I know. He's such a good dog. And after talking to my mom and realizing why, I decided I needed to find a way to break through that wall and one way I thought of, was to rename him so he felt more... mine.

This, is the sign we put on our door;

(it says, Premises Protected by Mossburg)

Ryan requested that I get it.

Shortly after we put it on, I told Ryan that I wanted a dog. We looked for a few weeks actually and while we were, Ryan and I talked about a name for him/her. I thought it would be awesome to name a dog Mossburg, That way the sign had two meanings. So, I renamed Jackson, Mossburg! We call him Moss for short.

We have another member of the family and we love him, he's an awesome dog and will be a great companion for years to come!

They Attack While I Sleep...

Something tells me I'm not snuggling with my kids enough, especially when the best time to get quality time in is when I'm sleeping.... I don't waking up being snuggled though.


I've got Kevlie on my arm, Daniel laying on my tummy and Kaylyn laying up my back. I love these kids.

RSV + ER Visit = Stress

Kevlie was diagnosed with RSV on Friday morning. I took her in because the way she was breathing didn't look right to me, she was having a hard time. They did a mucous swab and it came back positive, the poor thing. The Dr suggested they do a breathing treatment right there in the office and if it helped then he wanted to see her before closing that day to make sure shew as still doing well, if the treatment didn't help he was going to recommend we take her up to the hospital. Well, the treatment helped, a lot. I could really see a difference in her breathing and overall well being, so we were sent home with the request that we bring her back in before closing. We did that and she was still doing good. After we got her home the second time she started showing negative side effects from the Albuturol, the ones that are listed under the 'severe' category, she was showing at least four,possibly five, of them so about midnight we took her up to Madison.

Once we were back into a room the Dr. came in to take a look and ordered a CBC, which honestly I don't think was necessary, but it turned out to be a good thing. She had started eating a lot less then she usually does and had become dehydrated so after they had gotten in IV in one of the veins on her head, they pulled some blood and then attached a saline bag. That helped her the most, she started looking so much better!

Kevlie girl after the IV was taken out

The Dr wasn't very worried about the side effects and mostly worried about her oxygen levels. Which, after a treatment,were fine.

They sent us home and we ended up going to bed around 4-5, we had to grab our Bountiful Basket the next morning and Ryan was awesome enough to get up and get it. All in all, we are a little sleep deprived, and stressed.

Kevlie is doing much better, she's our happy girl again and has started eating normally. As long as we keep doing what we're doing she should be fine in a week or two. Until that time, STAY AWAY from our place, while RSV is usually presented as a common cold (runny nose, cough and the like) in toddlers and infants it can turn severe and life threatening. That isn't something I want to give to anyone.

5:20am

I'm up before 5am today. Not because I really want to be, but because the baby was hungry and it's my job to feed her. Yes, I could have gone back to sleep, but if I would have, I know I would have slept until 9 (cause I do it almost everyday!) That is a bad thing because then the whole day seems to fly by and I don't accomplish everything I need to. So here I am, writting a journal entry of sorts.

Things have been really good, and a little crazy. The kids are sick, each in their own stage of sickenss, but all sick. Obviously the main one I'm really worried about it Kevlie, being so young and all. We will be blessing her this Sunday (the 23rd) and will only be staying for sacrament. Which will be sad, I'm sure everyone will want to peek at her and exclaim how freaking adorable she is. Sorry in advance, while I know becoming ill would be worth it, I just can't bring myself to.
Ryan and I finally made it to the temple this week! I'm not saying this in a 'look how rightious we are' sort of thing, I'm saying it cause it's been over 4 years... that's a long time. It was wonderful to go, and amazing that I could go with my husband, I'm so grateful for him. After we got home and got the kids settled back into their daily activities I was pondering on the experience and realized that my spirit felt... full. You know how they'll talk about 'feeding our spirits' and we do that with scripture study and prayer, fasting and service, stuff like and that's how we keep our spirits fed and healthy, well, I felt positively plump. And it was awesome. I love how peaceful and centered I feel. And determined, I know what I need to do and I'm dead set on doing it.

Speaking of which, I've been trying to work on my goal this year, and I've been making progress, in most areas. I don't know if it's cause Ryan's home or if it's cause the kids have been feeling ucky (probably the ucky part the most) but this week hasnt been too great, there have been days where all I do is snuggle sick kids (alternating between rubbing or patting them, per demand). And I can tell you, my house is looking oh so very sad. There has been at least one day that we skipped school and I'm starting to feel like I'm rather burried and can't dig myself out. Ryan has been awesome and will do anything he can to help me, including cheering me on or calming me down with reasurance, I'm sure the calming me down is in hopes to avoid an emotional breakdown on my part, lol, poor guy.

In my efforts to bettter mine and my families home life I've been reading a lot of General Conference talks. This morning I found and read this one, I don't have teenagers, yet, but I think the things that are addressed here can be applied to my life. Most of all the five things to do that will strengthen familes. We do about one of those, the family dinner. We have seriously slacked on the rest and it's killing me. I feel like I need to redirect my family and that we should be centered around Christ and the Gospel. ]

Wish us luck in our adventures!!

Homeschooling, the First Week

Our first week of homeschooling has gone wonderfully. I can already see a difference in Emma and how she acts. She's kinder to her siblings, more thougtful and has a much better attitude toward Ryan and I. It's funny, someone once told Emma that since she had started going to public school they had seen 'a big improvement' in her... When honestly, doing homework with her at night was a struggle, her attitude was horrible and she was a bully most of the time toward her sister and brother. Since she has been home, she WANTS to learn. The other night, she got a book and on her way into her room said to herself, 'I want to read tonight'... gah! She's never said that. I was stoked. Every morning first thing she wants is to do school, I love this, and I love this girl.

Emma found the magnifying glass and put it good use

And maybe the best thing, is that I get to set the schedule, it's awesome, I don't have to have school her the same time other schools are in session. Usually we're waking up around 8am, awesoome, I know, then it's breakfast, and then mama gets ready for the day and chores are done (I hate doing school with her when my hosue is a mess), lunch, game time and school for the day, the day usually ends with a dinner, a movie and if they've been super good, some popcorn.

My days are completely simple, I have very few things to do and that means the majority of my time can be spent on the most important thing. My family.

New Year's Resolution

It's a new year and I've seen a lot of my friends post or blog about their goals for this year. I've loved seeing all of them, they inspire and motivate me. But, I've always sucked at my new year goals, and they're generally the same every year. Like such...

1. Be more spiritual
2. Loose weight
3. Be a better wife/mother
4. Become more organized

And I fail every year.
This year I was reading a friend of mine's blog and I noticed that she only picks ONE goal a year and does her best to fulfill it. She does so many awesome things, and amazes me (and every one else) with her ability to accomplish about 587.19 things a day without breaking a sweat (Kimber, if you're reading this, I'm talking about you!). Her goal this year is to love. Just that, improve on loving. And I think it's something we could all work on, I do want to work on this, but I wanted to work on so many other things too and after giving it a ton of thought I realized what my goal this year will be...

HOME

That covers a lot though, huh? Not really, just my home and those in it. I have decided that when I'm here and any of my loved ones are too, they will be in a home they love. I want it to be a place of wonderful memories and them knowing that I love them and care about their thoughts and everyday adventures. I want this place to be their safe haven.
I will be organizing a whole lot more. Which will be easy, along with a new year, we are also renting a new house! So most things are still in boxes.
This year will be a good one, I can feel it. That's odd to say, but, I really do. When I think of the things I will be doing and where I see them going, it feels... great. There will be more baking, more playing, more movie watching in the dark with homemade popcorn, more forts made out of anything we can get our hands on in the living room, more porch swings while I hold my husband's hand and more snuggling 4 kids and reading books.
I will be making that old adage come true, I will be making my house, a home.