Is That How It Works?

Last night the weirdest thing happened. I woke up at 3 am and heard Desmond talking in his crib. First of all, he is my first child EVER to actually sleep in his crib! He loves it, and even takes naps in it. But this is the really weird part...I went into his room, and didn't say a word, but picked up his binky and put it in his mouth, AND LEFT! I have always always always in the past, picked up my babies, taken them to bed with me to feed them, where they spend the rest of the night. So after I left, I stopped in the hallway, waiting for him to start crying or something, but he DIDN'T! I paused again just outside my bedroom door, but heard nothing. Once I was in bed, I started freaking out that perhaps I just couldn't hear him, so I went to check again. He was asleep. And he stayed asleep until about 7:30 this morning. Why has it taken me 5 children to learn this!? I guess that some of us are just slow learners.

Check, Check, Check

Mom's are busy people (as if y'all didn't already know that!). I'm not claiming to be any busier than anyone else. Sometimes it's just comical to think about how much we try to cram into a day! So here's my day in a nut shell.

• Get the kids out the door....CHECK.
• Eat a healthy breakfast....CHECK.
• Breakfast cleanup...CHECK.
• Babysit for a friend...CHECK.
• Send Myah to preschool...CHECK.
• Laundry...CHECK (some of it, at least)
• Desmond down for nap...CHECK.
• Retrieve Myah from preschool...CHECK.
• Killer Workout...CHECK. (Now I'm too tired to stand up straight.)
• Lunch...I like making lunch. Myah likes 'healthy food' so we quite often just have veggies.
• Shower....probably ought to, due to the killer workout.
• Family prayer and scripture study...hopefully.
• Put makeup on...maybe....maybe not.
• Clean house....only the minimum.
• Play taxi driver after school...not optional.
• Fix dinner...it's overrated anyways.
• Biggest Loser....absolutely!
• American Idol...maybe.
• Read...yep, every day. Trying to read scriptures. Loving reading 'Dracula'.
• Make my bed...ya, of course. Can't stand to get into an un-made bed, but I'll probably make it right before I crawl into it!

Did I mention that we're trying to get the house ready to sell (just in case), which means painting, scrubbing, dejunking, fixing, organizing, etc. etc. As if I'm EVER going to get around to those things! Oh well. Maybe tomorrow.

My New Leaf

This morning, I was feeling rather frustrated with the school system (2 teachers in particular). So after sending a somewhat 'to the point' email to one of the teachers, I decided that she probably, most likely doesn't know how to use email (and yes, I was right). So I skipped my morning workout to go down to the school and observe exactly what (if anything) my child is being taught. I found an overwhelmed teacher (still email illiterate), with too many children in a much too small classroom, just trying to do her job. She was so thankful to have a little help, and I was able to help Tannon get on top of things. I felt kinda sorry for her. We're not planning on doing lunch together any time soon, but maybe it's me who needs to do better at keeping up with the happenings of school, and being a bit more proactive. And maybe I can even help the teacher figure out email.

When the kids came home from school, I had cookies made, and actually had the laundry removed from the kitchen table where it usually sits for at least half of the week. The kids actually walked in the door and sat down to do their homework without an argument. Tannon even asked if he could forgo (is that a real word?) playing with friends to work on his math facts with me. It's not like I feel like a genius for figuring this parenting strategy out. I'm just usually too lazy or too consumed with my own projects to actually pull it off! But today I turned a new leaf. I sure hope I can keep my leaf turned!

Now, Derrick is out building a bon-fire for the kiddies to make family night s'mores. Traditionally, I stay inside with Des and they bring me one, since I really hate smelling like campfire. I think I'll continue the tradition. After all, I've already done my share of good parenting for the day!

6 Months Old, and Sweet as Ever

Ok, so I'll admit it. I really am one of those crazy mom's who thinks that they have the most adorable baby on the planet! And I'm right. Every mom is right. We all love our babies so much that to us, they are the sweetest, most beautiful baby ever!

Desmond (aka...the most adorable baby on the planet), turned 6 months old yesterday. Time sure flies (when I'm NOT pregnant). And since I'm much too lazy to actually get him dressed, and go get pictures taken...and since my only option here in Poky that requires no appointment is Walmart, we opted to shoot a few pics here at home on the kitchen floor.

A couple weeks ago, our brand new external hard drive crashed, and I lost a whole bunch of pictures, and I'm sure glad that I've blogged a lot of those pictures. So that is what I'm doing now. I don't expect all of you to sit and 'ooohhhh and aahhhhh' over every detail of these pics (like I do). I just need to back them up, just in case. But still, I'm sure you'll agree...he's pretty dang cute!

Spokane....Is That You??

We went on a little road trip this week up to Spokane. Derrick's contract with the hospital here in Pocatello is coming to an end next month, so we're currently in search of our next great adventure. We're still hopeful that the great adventure we're seeking will keep us right here in Pocatello (I never thought I'd say that!), but in these crazy times, we just can't be too prepared, and we can't have too many options!

So I've always heard that Spokane is such a beautiful place with so much to do. And I was actually somewhat looking forward to visiting. I mean, it's a total hiker's paradise, right? And judging by the pictures that I googled, the city was going to be pretty cool too.

Not bad, right? And just a hop, skip, and a jump away (that equates to about 25 minutes), is beautiful Lake Couer d' Alene'. Who wouldn't love this?

Unfortunately, we didn't love it at all. The Spokane we saw looked nothing like the pictures above. There are some nice surrounding areas, but I'm not confident that we could afford to live in any of them. But we do have friends that really loved it there, so there must be more to it than we gathered in our short visit. We were really tired, and perhaps we didn't give Spokane a fare shake, and just maybe we'll need to reconsider (hopefully WITHOUT the kids next time)!
Gotta keep ALL options open!

The Best Day EVER!

Really, it was an AWESOME day! Like, complete BLISS! We decided to let the kids ditch school today and went skiing. First, we stopped in at Barrie's (one of the local ski shops), and the owner was able to melt and custom fit my ski boots (that have always hurt my feet sooooo badly), until they were nice and comfy. How come I never knew they could do that? They also gave us a great deal on seasonal ski rentals for the kids, so they can keep them until the end of the season. It got us all started off on the right foot.

Anyways...we headed up to Pebble, and it wasn't until we got there, that I started to second guess myself and my level of patience and ability to teach Tannon and Myah at the same time. Derrick couldn't help because he was holding Des. Sooooo, I first took Tannon down the hill and left Myah. And yes, I actually turned into one of 'those parents' that have no business teaching their kids to ski because they are totally freaking out at their kids while the kid cries and says, 'I'm trying!'. Ya, I was that parent. Finally, I told him that if he didn't stop crying, and TRY, then I would take away all of his video games for the rest of the winter. Maybe skiing is an acquired love, but he needed a little extra incentive. Of course, I tried to get him on skis last year, and he was a total punk about it, and went and sat in the lodge. BUT....after the video game threat, Tannon decided he would ski! And he did great! I took him down the hill once, and then the second time, he took off by himself. I was preoccupied with Myah, and looked up to see Tannon on the lift BY HIMSELF! Funny boy. I'm not sure if he really likes skiing, or just video games. Whatever it takes!

Then there was Myah. I brought her down the hill one time...you know, me skiing backwards the whole way holding her up. She just wanted to get to the bottom so she could ride the lift. Who needs Disneyland when we can ride a ski lift??? By the second time down, she was on her own. And she was pretty fast. She wasn't interested in taking the 'easiest way' down. She just went for it. I was absolutely giddy!

And then there was Desmond, who sat in the truck with Derrick all day long. I only stopped to nurse him once, and he was so totally cooperative.

And Derrick....was so awesome to sit with Desmond all day long. He parked right at the side of the hill so he could take pictures and help out with the kids. How cool is that?

Yep, it was a great day! To make it even better, it only cost us 27 dollars to take the whole family skiing! I think my kids might be racking up the absences this winter!

Tomorrow

I must be crazy. Tomorrow I'm letting the kids skip school and we're going skiing. That's not the crazy part. I'm planning to teach Tannon and Myah tomorrow. And Derrick is going to have Desmond there so I can take a break to feed him every once in a while. I may be off my rocker, but we're doing it this way because it saves a bunch of money. Mondays at Pebble Creek are buy one get one free, and the little hill is only 12 bucks. So, I figure that since we're going to be teaching the little peeps, we'll be staying on the bunny hill anyways. That's the plan! I'm feeling tired already!