What started as an awful bedtime routine ended so beautiful and sweet!
I am not feeling well at all-I have chills, body aches, headache and a cough. Darin let me rest for a while, then I went down to make dinner, which wasn't served until almost 7:00. There were messes everywhere, as well and the kids were not listening AT ALL!!! The were hyper and didn't want to do anything I asked them to do.
Finally we got teeth brushed, jammies on and struggled through about 10 verses of the Book of Mormon. When I say struggled, I mean it. We are trying so hard to read every night, but haven't figured out what will work yet.
Anyhow I was not happy at all. I told the kids they wouldn't go sledding, they wouldn't have TV all day tomorrow, etc. I said some things that probably weren't nice-like the fact that I know other kids who listen to their mommies, so why don't they? The minute it came out of my mouth, I felt bad. Then Darin talked about a lack of discipline and I just burst into tears. I feel so overwhelmed with life right now, I just lost it. We had a fairly successful family prayer, then gave hugs and tucked kids in. Miraculously, the boys have not wandered out.
So I went and tucked Jordan in. I hugged her and told her I loved very much and was very happy she was my daughter.
I then went into my room and laid down and cried and cried. A few minutes later, Jordan wandered in my room. I invited her up on the bed, and she had a book with her. She told me she was laying in her bed thinking of what she could do to help me. She said "I can read to you." So I turned the TV off and she favored me with a chapter of "Franny K. Stein." It was absolutely precious. Worth ever minute.
I seriously love this little girl and I'm so thankful she's mine.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
A new addiction
We have a new addiction in this house.
My Ipod touch.
The kids LOVE it. The really do. And they picked it up so quickly. They just run their little fingers over it and make it do what they want. It amazes me at how easily they can do it. I uploaded a couple games that they love. One is the most popular game App for iphoes and ipods. It is called Angry Birds and you have to fling birds at pigs who stole the eggs. Spencer calls it "mad" birds. We even watched my friend's 2 year old little boy and he could hold it and do it.
I do love my ipod. I still have to learn about putting music on it, etc, but so far it's pretty fun. The kids get a bit excited about it, so we have to be careful or they are fighting over it. Spencer is the worst. He wants to hold it and it gets all sticky and yucky. I have also used it for a consequence since he loves playing it. It has helped motivate him to make good choices a couple times. And I confess that the couple games I have on it can be addicting. But it's great fun and I LOVE it!
My Ipod touch.
The kids LOVE it. The really do. And they picked it up so quickly. They just run their little fingers over it and make it do what they want. It amazes me at how easily they can do it. I uploaded a couple games that they love. One is the most popular game App for iphoes and ipods. It is called Angry Birds and you have to fling birds at pigs who stole the eggs. Spencer calls it "mad" birds. We even watched my friend's 2 year old little boy and he could hold it and do it.
I do love my ipod. I still have to learn about putting music on it, etc, but so far it's pretty fun. The kids get a bit excited about it, so we have to be careful or they are fighting over it. Spencer is the worst. He wants to hold it and it gets all sticky and yucky. I have also used it for a consequence since he loves playing it. It has helped motivate him to make good choices a couple times. And I confess that the couple games I have on it can be addicting. But it's great fun and I LOVE it!
Moving on into January
I guess I need to get blogging about January, now that it's the 12th and lot has happened.
I don't know if I can really catch up, so here is a rundown of the new year:
~back to school!! Yeah. Vacation was great, but I was ready for the kiddies to get back so I can get going on the house.
~Landon was VIP at school and was so excited to show his pillow pet and zoobles.
~I am still in Primary-this time I'm teaching Jordan's class. She was so excited when she found out. I taught this class the first year I started in Primary, but there are 2 new kids that I didn't have before-Lizzie and a little boy named William. He was in our ward back when I first got married, but then it switched boundaries and he wasn't, now he is back again. We had a meet your teacher breakfast and had a great time.
~We went to a baby shower for one of Jordan's teachers. It was really nice. The house was gigantic-the main level was probably as big our town home.
~Darin made me a list to get started on for our impending move. We have driven by a couple houses and are anxious-me especially-to find a good house for our family.
~We did look at a house on New Year's day. I have been eyeing it for some time. It had been for sale, then rent, now for sale again. I was pretty excited and hopeful-it was in an area we like. But, unfortunately, there were things we did not like. The bedroom was not any bigger than ours is now. And the closet was tiny. Not adequate for the suits that Darin has acquired for his now job. I was really bummed. Everything else was great, or could have been fixed to our liking easily. Ah well, keep looking.
~I started teaching my classes at the REC Center again. I was so tired the first day. I teach 3 classes then go right to get the kids from school and do Brownies. Mondays for the next 10 weeeks are going to be very exhausting. I tried to get out of teaching the Monday ones, but they really needed someone. So I teach 3 tumbling on Mon, 2 soft play room on Tues, and 2 tumbling on Friday. It will be nice to earn some money to do stuff for the house to get ready to sell, but I'll be worn out. The classes are for 10 weeks, then I'll have a week break before the next session starts. I'm not sure what I'll be teaching then, but it won't be on Mondays, that's for sure!!!
~We are in the full swing of girl scout cookie sales. It is really a pain. It is so cold that I don't really want to walk Jordan around the neighborhood, so I have been driving her around to ward memebers and people we know. I'm not sure if she'll get the same initial sales as last year, but we're hopeful. I'll see how many she has sold, the buy the amount she needs to get to the prize level she wants.
I haven't rally sad down to do some serious goal setting yet-I feel a bit overwhelmed with all I am doing at the moment, I feel like I just have to keep my head above water!! We are trying to figure out if we should do a pod to store our stuff, or get a storage unit. We are going to have to move a lot of stuff out to get the house ready to sell. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but I really want a bigger house, so I'm going to do it.
I don't know if I can really catch up, so here is a rundown of the new year:
~back to school!! Yeah. Vacation was great, but I was ready for the kiddies to get back so I can get going on the house.
~Landon was VIP at school and was so excited to show his pillow pet and zoobles.
~I am still in Primary-this time I'm teaching Jordan's class. She was so excited when she found out. I taught this class the first year I started in Primary, but there are 2 new kids that I didn't have before-Lizzie and a little boy named William. He was in our ward back when I first got married, but then it switched boundaries and he wasn't, now he is back again. We had a meet your teacher breakfast and had a great time.
~We went to a baby shower for one of Jordan's teachers. It was really nice. The house was gigantic-the main level was probably as big our town home.
~Darin made me a list to get started on for our impending move. We have driven by a couple houses and are anxious-me especially-to find a good house for our family.
~We did look at a house on New Year's day. I have been eyeing it for some time. It had been for sale, then rent, now for sale again. I was pretty excited and hopeful-it was in an area we like. But, unfortunately, there were things we did not like. The bedroom was not any bigger than ours is now. And the closet was tiny. Not adequate for the suits that Darin has acquired for his now job. I was really bummed. Everything else was great, or could have been fixed to our liking easily. Ah well, keep looking.
~I started teaching my classes at the REC Center again. I was so tired the first day. I teach 3 classes then go right to get the kids from school and do Brownies. Mondays for the next 10 weeeks are going to be very exhausting. I tried to get out of teaching the Monday ones, but they really needed someone. So I teach 3 tumbling on Mon, 2 soft play room on Tues, and 2 tumbling on Friday. It will be nice to earn some money to do stuff for the house to get ready to sell, but I'll be worn out. The classes are for 10 weeks, then I'll have a week break before the next session starts. I'm not sure what I'll be teaching then, but it won't be on Mondays, that's for sure!!!
~We are in the full swing of girl scout cookie sales. It is really a pain. It is so cold that I don't really want to walk Jordan around the neighborhood, so I have been driving her around to ward memebers and people we know. I'm not sure if she'll get the same initial sales as last year, but we're hopeful. I'll see how many she has sold, the buy the amount she needs to get to the prize level she wants.
I haven't rally sad down to do some serious goal setting yet-I feel a bit overwhelmed with all I am doing at the moment, I feel like I just have to keep my head above water!! We are trying to figure out if we should do a pod to store our stuff, or get a storage unit. We are going to have to move a lot of stuff out to get the house ready to sell. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but I really want a bigger house, so I'm going to do it.
Monday, January 10, 2011
over the bridge and through a blizzard to Ocean City we go!
Yeah, you read that right we drove through a blizzard to get to Ocean City for our traditional after Christmas Trip. We have been going the day after Christmas to Ocean City for the last few years. We really look forward to it and have a great time each year.
We got home from church and changed out clothes and age before we loaded the car to get on the road. Well, by the time we got to the Wilson Bridge, it was snowing. Before we left I asked Darin if we should really go, and we decided to go forward to our plans. We don't always trust the weather man, so we thought we would be ok.
Nope. It snowed, and a lot. There were some pretty scary times on our drive. They don't really plow very well in Delaware and Maryland. Plus the GPS was wanting us to turn on small roads which were not plowed. We finally found a "main" road that was being plowed so we got a map out and figured out that we could stay on that road and keep SAFE!
And about 45 minutes before we were to arrive at our hotel, Spencer barfed. He ended up having to sit in his puke for the ride since it was snowing so hard we couldn't stop to clean it up for fear we would get stuck. He ended up falling asleep until we got there.
When we arrived, the hotel parking lot had not been plowed. It was crazy. Darin went in first to check in and then we had to carry each kid in individually and then all our stuff.
And yes, I left all our boots at home. Not such a wise decision on my part.
We had to bring in all the throw up stuff so I spent the better part of the evening washing everything that had throw up in it, since the hotel did not have a washer and dryer for the guests to use. I had to use the bars of soap in the bathroom. Not too fun. I survived and we finally got 3 hyper children to bed.
On Monday we drove up to the outlets,but they were closed. All but 1 shoe store. We did find some cute pink "ugg" type boots for Jordan. She was thrilled. We did some swimming in the hotel as well which the kids loved.
So we tried the outlets again on Tuesday and they were open so we did some shopping. That night we also went to a lights display which we love to go to each year we go. It was pretty cold, but since it was so snowy, there weren't may people there. We walked right in and almost immediately got on the little tram that drove around the lights. It was great-very cold, but still fun. We took our snuggies out of the car to cover with on the ride.
Here are the kids favorite thing about the hotel. We took it up the first night and for some reason Darin didn't think we should take it back down. So of course it was a jumble gym.
When I realized how much snow there was, I know we had to find boots for Spencer as soon as we could. He needed some anyhow since the ones at home were small. At least we don't have to get Landon any-he gets Spencer's old ones. We found a pair at Wal-Mart, so he wore them the rest of the trip. And here are the boots Jordan got.
The day we left was a beautiful day and the roads were cleared. We hit the road for Assateague Island to find some ponies and visit the beach.
We went to the beach we like and played for a while. The kids were funny-they played with the snow and sand and said they were making cinnamon.
Making "cinnamon" balls.
some views of the snow on the island.
And here are some fo the famous residents on the island.
More fun playing in the sand and snow.
I was just so happy we had our beach time! Our family loves the beach so we ended our lackluster trip on a very high note!! And there was no barf on the way home!!
We got home from church and changed out clothes and age before we loaded the car to get on the road. Well, by the time we got to the Wilson Bridge, it was snowing. Before we left I asked Darin if we should really go, and we decided to go forward to our plans. We don't always trust the weather man, so we thought we would be ok.
Nope. It snowed, and a lot. There were some pretty scary times on our drive. They don't really plow very well in Delaware and Maryland. Plus the GPS was wanting us to turn on small roads which were not plowed. We finally found a "main" road that was being plowed so we got a map out and figured out that we could stay on that road and keep SAFE!
And about 45 minutes before we were to arrive at our hotel, Spencer barfed. He ended up having to sit in his puke for the ride since it was snowing so hard we couldn't stop to clean it up for fear we would get stuck. He ended up falling asleep until we got there.
When we arrived, the hotel parking lot had not been plowed. It was crazy. Darin went in first to check in and then we had to carry each kid in individually and then all our stuff.
And yes, I left all our boots at home. Not such a wise decision on my part.
We had to bring in all the throw up stuff so I spent the better part of the evening washing everything that had throw up in it, since the hotel did not have a washer and dryer for the guests to use. I had to use the bars of soap in the bathroom. Not too fun. I survived and we finally got 3 hyper children to bed.
On Monday we drove up to the outlets,but they were closed. All but 1 shoe store. We did find some cute pink "ugg" type boots for Jordan. She was thrilled. We did some swimming in the hotel as well which the kids loved.
So we tried the outlets again on Tuesday and they were open so we did some shopping. That night we also went to a lights display which we love to go to each year we go. It was pretty cold, but since it was so snowy, there weren't may people there. We walked right in and almost immediately got on the little tram that drove around the lights. It was great-very cold, but still fun. We took our snuggies out of the car to cover with on the ride.
Here are the kids favorite thing about the hotel. We took it up the first night and for some reason Darin didn't think we should take it back down. So of course it was a jumble gym.
When I realized how much snow there was, I know we had to find boots for Spencer as soon as we could. He needed some anyhow since the ones at home were small. At least we don't have to get Landon any-he gets Spencer's old ones. We found a pair at Wal-Mart, so he wore them the rest of the trip. And here are the boots Jordan got.
The day we left was a beautiful day and the roads were cleared. We hit the road for Assateague Island to find some ponies and visit the beach.We went to the beach we like and played for a while. The kids were funny-they played with the snow and sand and said they were making cinnamon.
Making "cinnamon" balls.
some views of the snow on the island.
And here are some fo the famous residents on the island.
More fun playing in the sand and snow.
I was just so happy we had our beach time! Our family loves the beach so we ended our lackluster trip on a very high note!! And there was no barf on the way home!!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Merry Christmas!!
We enjoyed our Christmas day as a family! It did start earlier this year than last year. The boys were up shortly before 7:00, abut we were able to hold them off about a half an hour, then they woke big sis up and ran down. Before they actually got her up, Spencer had been down scouting out the scene.
Here is what the kids would find when they went down. Santa came!!
A close up of all the loot!!
Here they are checking out some things Santa brought them!
New Pillow Pets....Yayyyyy!!! Jordan-bumblebee, Spencer a Pteradactyl, and Landon a T-Rex!
And he also came through on the directions he left the kids. Inside Jordan's shirt was a necklace with CTR on it. Spencer recieved a nice set of markers, and Landon a cute stuffed dog.
Here are a bunch of pictures of the fun we had.
Jordan was super excited to get 2 sets of Littlest Pet shop Triplets-kitties and bunnies.
Landon and Spencer open a present from sissy-a set of Dinosaur Train toys-a train and some dinosaurs. The loved it so much!
Landon opening a present from nana and papa-an awesome race track.
Daddy and his kindle
When we had opened everything, I realized I had left a bag downstairs. Oops....But it was a good thing nothing was from Santa so I was a bit relieved. I had made Jordan a photo book of her fun times of 2010; which she loves.
Spencer playing with his How to Train Your Dragon toys.
Landon playing with his awesome new race track. It is shake and go, so we had tons of fun with it.
Darin surprised me with an Ipod touch. I was sooo excited. I really wanted one, but really did not expect one. (we not have children addicted to it, but that's a whole other post.) We do have one pic of me with it, but it's on my other camera but I don't have the cord near me at the moment.
The children were pretty excited about all their new things. We spent the day playing with new toys, watching new movies-they got Dispicable me, Beauty and the Beast, How to Train your Dragon, and Toy Story 3.
We had planned on dinner a friend's house, but they had sick family members so Darin ran the store and got a small ham and we had the rest of stuff for a small ham dinner. It turned out really nice. We missed seeing our friends, but have since gone over for a New Years dinner, which was great.
Once again, we had a really enjoyable day together and I'm thankful for a day to be able to celebrate and rejoice in the birth of our Savior.
Here is what the kids would find when they went down. Santa came!!
A close up of all the loot!!
Here they are checking out some things Santa brought them!New Pillow Pets....Yayyyyy!!! Jordan-bumblebee, Spencer a Pteradactyl, and Landon a T-Rex!
And he also came through on the directions he left the kids. Inside Jordan's shirt was a necklace with CTR on it. Spencer recieved a nice set of markers, and Landon a cute stuffed dog.
Here are a bunch of pictures of the fun we had.
Jordan was super excited to get 2 sets of Littlest Pet shop Triplets-kitties and bunnies.
Landon and Spencer open a present from sissy-a set of Dinosaur Train toys-a train and some dinosaurs. The loved it so much!
Landon opening a present from nana and papa-an awesome race track.
Daddy and his kindle
When we had opened everything, I realized I had left a bag downstairs. Oops....But it was a good thing nothing was from Santa so I was a bit relieved. I had made Jordan a photo book of her fun times of 2010; which she loves.
Spencer playing with his How to Train Your Dragon toys.
Landon playing with his awesome new race track. It is shake and go, so we had tons of fun with it.
Darin surprised me with an Ipod touch. I was sooo excited. I really wanted one, but really did not expect one. (we not have children addicted to it, but that's a whole other post.) We do have one pic of me with it, but it's on my other camera but I don't have the cord near me at the moment.
The children were pretty excited about all their new things. We spent the day playing with new toys, watching new movies-they got Dispicable me, Beauty and the Beast, How to Train your Dragon, and Toy Story 3.
We had planned on dinner a friend's house, but they had sick family members so Darin ran the store and got a small ham and we had the rest of stuff for a small ham dinner. It turned out really nice. We missed seeing our friends, but have since gone over for a New Years dinner, which was great.
Once again, we had a really enjoyable day together and I'm thankful for a day to be able to celebrate and rejoice in the birth of our Savior.
a little tweak in our usual Christmas Eve Tradition
We have done new Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve the last few years....
But this year, I had to tweak our tradition just a bit. The kiddos still got to open something on Christmas Eve, but it was not Christmas Pajamas....for a few reasons. I was a bit too late in my shopping. By the time I tried to find some cute ones, it was pretty slim pickins! I was really bummed. I found a potential set at Carters, but couldn't really justify spending that much money. In addition, the kids have all ended up with tons of pajamas. Landon gets all Spencer's old ones, and Jordan inherited some from friends as well. I couldn't really justify adding another un-needed pair.
Next year I plan to not buy as many pairs at the consignment sale so it will be more practical to buy a new pair for Christmas.
So instead, all the kiddos got new
Snuggies!!!
Jordan and Spencer surprised to see a snuggie instead of pajamas.
Jordan got a nice pretty girly one.
Spencer and Landon got "Mario" ones. These were nice $3.00 Black Friday deals at Wal-Mart that I got after Black Friday77!!!
So they all took them to bed with them on Christmas eve to snuggle and fall asleep so the big guy could come.
But this year, I had to tweak our tradition just a bit. The kiddos still got to open something on Christmas Eve, but it was not Christmas Pajamas....for a few reasons. I was a bit too late in my shopping. By the time I tried to find some cute ones, it was pretty slim pickins! I was really bummed. I found a potential set at Carters, but couldn't really justify spending that much money. In addition, the kids have all ended up with tons of pajamas. Landon gets all Spencer's old ones, and Jordan inherited some from friends as well. I couldn't really justify adding another un-needed pair.
Next year I plan to not buy as many pairs at the consignment sale so it will be more practical to buy a new pair for Christmas.
So instead, all the kiddos got new
Snuggies!!!
Jordan and Spencer surprised to see a snuggie instead of pajamas.
Jordan got a nice pretty girly one.
Spencer and Landon got "Mario" ones. These were nice $3.00 Black Friday deals at Wal-Mart that I got after Black Friday77!!!
So they all took them to bed with them on Christmas eve to snuggle and fall asleep so the big guy could come.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
National Harbor fun
A couple days before Christmas we took our kids and the Price girls to the National Harbor. It was a fun place, and they really do it up well for Christmas. We went to the Gaylord Hotel. It is so beautiful and lots is going on for the holidays.
Last year they had a train set up, but this year it got a bit larger. They had a train you could ride on. Of course the minute the kids saw I know what we would be doing. So I smooshed myself inside the caboose since that is where Landon wanted. Really, he was probably tall enough to go alone. It was a bit anti-climactic since it just went in a circle about 7 or 8 times. But the kids still loved it. My knees didn't.
We loved watching the fountain show and ended up staying long enough to see it twice-from 2 different vantage points.
The colors were really pretty.
Jordan and Sarah
The whole group. Trying to get 5 kids to smile in the pic....yeah.
Getting ready to watch the light show.
The fountain got pretty high in the air. We did feel a bit of a mist being so close to the water.
Spencer loves water in any form. He was thrilled to be so close. He was dancing around and having a blast....all the while getting soaked.
A very wet Spencer. We had to take his sweatshirt off before we left so he wouldn't be freezing cold inside his coat. It was a pretty cold night.
Kaalie and Sarah also had a lot of fun getting wet during the show.
Last year they had a train set up, but this year it got a bit larger. They had a train you could ride on. Of course the minute the kids saw I know what we would be doing. So I smooshed myself inside the caboose since that is where Landon wanted. Really, he was probably tall enough to go alone. It was a bit anti-climactic since it just went in a circle about 7 or 8 times. But the kids still loved it. My knees didn't.
We loved watching the fountain show and ended up staying long enough to see it twice-from 2 different vantage points.
The colors were really pretty.
Jordan and Sarah
The whole group. Trying to get 5 kids to smile in the pic....yeah.
Getting ready to watch the light show.
The fountain got pretty high in the air. We did feel a bit of a mist being so close to the water.
Spencer loves water in any form. He was thrilled to be so close. He was dancing around and having a blast....all the while getting soaked.
A very wet Spencer. We had to take his sweatshirt off before we left so he wouldn't be freezing cold inside his coat. It was a pretty cold night.
Kaalie and Sarah also had a lot of fun getting wet during the show.
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