http://pack171.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/Eagle_Day_camp_2011_Parent_Scout_forms.pdf

So long... farewell...

I've decided I'm going to stop posting here.  I just really don't have that much to blog about and no passion for it.  I know from watching other friends and their blogs that if you don't have passion for it, then it just becomes another thing to weigh you down.

It's been fun getting to know a few new friends who are in the craft world that I rarely delve into.  Thanks for befriending me and letting me feel welcome into your circle. :)

Uplifting Weekend

I've had an uplifting weekend listening to messages from the leaders of my church.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints- Conference Audio

There are so many things I can work on to get better at, and I can- not beat myself up for those things that I am working hard at and just haven't quite accomplished the goal yet.

As always I need to go back and listen to the talks again, and I can't wait till I can read them and ponder them more individually.

But for now my spirit is fed (and my body as well- we have to have our conference snacks all day long!)

Hobbies

We are just back from a fun family trip and yet I am sitting here a week later working on plans for our next family vacation.

Our kids aren't really into a lot of extra-curricular stuff. They just don't have interest in playing sports or taking dance and stuff. But we love to travel. We like the hours in the car chowing down on junk food and watching movie after movie. We enjoy eating out and not having to do dishes afterward and everyone gets to order what they want to eat instead of having to eat whatever mom made.

We even love the hours of research and figuring out the best itinerary and the best deals we can find on attractions and hotels and how to fit the most for our time and money into the trip.

I guess traveling is our hobby. Now I just need to find out how to make some money with this hobby. So we can travel more. :).

Back to basics

We are home from our trip.  The laundry pile has gone from Mount Everest to more Appalacian Mountain size- less overwhelming and almost managable.

The school schedule is back in place- bedtimes are happening closer to when they should happen instead of the kids staying up late every night. 

And I'm getting ready to try and dive into spring cleaning.  Hopefully I won't sink while doing it! :)

Spring Break!

It's spring break for our kids this week and we are headed out of town tomorrow afternoon.  A few short years ago I would be halfway packed by now.  Laundry would be caught up and I would know exactly what was being packed and how it would fit into the car.

Today I have no suitcases out, no laundry completed, and I have no idea what I'm even packing, or who is using what suitcase and how it will all fit in the car when we leave tomorrow afternoon.

Funny thing about that is just last week I was talking with some others and telling them about my great packing and organizational skills when the kids were younger.  I guess now that they are older- I just tell them how many days we'll be gone and hope they pack enough underwear! lol!

Homework, Natural Consequences, and banging your head against the wall...

Our oldest child is in 6th grade.  That means middle school here, and switching classes and multiple teachers, and all of that fun stuff.

He is a good student.  He get's good grades on his tests, but he cannot for the life of him get his homework consistently turned in on time and completed.  I started this post yesterday when I was in the midst of helping him work on a research paper that was past due and he had decided he just wouldn't complete and turn it in "because my grade is a B right now".  We had to literally have him add up the points possible, and points earned and figure out what his best grade he could receive would be without turning in this paper, and what the best grade he could receive if he just turned in the paper and got a barely "pass" grade on it.

Once we had those facts clear with him he agreed to do the paper, but then we still had hours of working with him to get it done.

I wish that I could expect that he will get better with doing homework and turning it in, but I don't have high expectations.  I think this will be a constant battle with us and him.  Sigh...

E-readers? Good Books...

I LOVE to read.  If I could choose anyway to spend my time day in and day out, it would be curled up in a comfy chair with a book.  I know people that read at night before bed to wind down, but I've always known that if I want to go to sleep at all... I can't read a book anytime close to bedtime.  As a teenager, I would stay up till 2 and 3 am finishing a book because I was wide awake and I just didn't want to stop reading the story.  I've done that a few times as an adult as well and got to the point that I just don't try to sit down with a book close to bed time anymore.  When we go on vacation I always have to have space for books on the drive out, and then another set of books for the drive home.  This space issue has lead me to start looking at the possibility of getting an e-reader.  I like the idea of having the one device that I can have multiple books on so when I finish a book on a road trip- I don't have to go and dig the next book out of my suitcase that is under 5 other suitcases when we stop for gas... lol!

Anyone out there have an e-reader?  I'm trying to decide between the nook color, the regular nook and the kindle...

I like the look of the nook color.  I like that I can download library books to it, and I can get my email on it too, but I'm worried I won't be able to take it outside and sit in the summer and read from it while my kids are playing in the pool.

So I'm also looking at the regular nook and the kindle.  The kindle just is the king of the mountain, but I can't download books from the library onto it without doing a conversion and stuff...

Anyone out there have either of them and any advice?  Hubby has an ipad from work and I like how it is to read on, but we've tried taking it outside and it really isn't that great in the sunlight.  I'm afraid that's what would happen with the color nook.

I just finished reading the series "Hearts of the Children"  I really liked it and the preceeding series "Children of the Promise"  I'm now reading a couple of books by Anita Stansfield.  I need to find something to read for our spring break trip next week.

So what's going on at your house today?  We have new neighbors moving in across the street...

 

And two little my pink stamper boys playing at our house.  We've got toys everywhere!



Organizing, hoarding, sorting, and teaching our kids to?

Growing up my mom kept everything... if she could even fathom a use for it in the future- she kept it.  She would have garage sales, on a monthly basis in the summer and if something hadn't sold all summer long, she would keep it through the winter on the chance that it would sell the next summer at her garage sale.

The pendulum has swung in the opposite direction with me.  I don't want to keep stuff.  I buy stuff, use it and then when I see that I don't have a use for it anymore- I might try to sell it if it's a high $$ item, but if not I just give it away. 

As I get older I'm trying to find the balance between my mom's, and my philosophies of keeping stuff.  We don't have a ton of storage space and so I find myself in a battle with the kids with what to keep (that they haven't touched in a year) and what to give away.  We just rearranged rooms in the house and converted the "office" into a bedroom.  The room is a good size, but there is no closet in it, and the quote for building the closet into the room was too much for hubby and I to agree to.  This weekend we spent all of Saturday putting in a closet system.  It's open shelves so the goal now is to make all the stuff that my 12 year old son can't bear to part with- look semi-organized and neat on the shelves...

I've got a bunch of clear storage containers on it now, but am wondering if I should try and find some more closed storage so we don't see all of the lego's and kinex and bakugan and nerf darts quite as much when we look at the closet wall.  The problem comes in finding covered non-clear bins that can be stacked and are small enough for all the small stuff that has to get organized. 

If you have any great ideas... I'm open to suggestions! :)

He is a 12 year old boy though and I do believe it would take a miracle to keep it as neat as we see in the magazines...  I'm just hoping for semi-neat. lol!

Little kids

I have four kids.  They were all born within 2 and 3 years of each other so I found myself with four kids the oldest 6 and the youngest a newborn- almost six short years ago.  It was hectic and chaotic and many a day when my dear hubby came home from work I was ready to walk out the door for a trip to the store and just a few minutes of quiet to restore my sanity. 

It's amazing how much life changes in those six years.  My oldest is now 12, my youngest is almost 6.  The oldest was at that time just starting 1st grade and I was getting used to having him gone to school all day long.  Now I'm treasuring the last few months I have of my youngest still being home for 1/2 a day while the older kids are at school.  I have much more quiet time to reflect and recharge for the still chaotic and hectic afternoons after the kids come home and the even more crazy push in the morning to get to school on time.

I'm babysitting some friends kids today.  Two sweet little kids- one boy and one girl, and I'm remembering what it was like when my two oldest were that age.  We played trains, and played with the little people and cars.  Had a handful of crackers for a snack that lasted the whole morning (instead of a box that is gone in minutes now).  A train show on the tv brought squeals of laughter and glee and exclamations of surprise and happiness.

I need these days of playing with little ones again to remind me of the happiness of those days, and still remember the craziness and how hard it was.  I don't want to forget how hard it was.  By remembering that I'm much better at stepping in and trying to help out those friends of mine that are in that stage right now.

Snow Day's

We are on our 6th snow day off of school in 2 weeks... tomorrow will most likely be our 7th. 

I'm not "stuck" in the house, the driveway is clear and I have 4 wheel drive, but I am still basically staying home and pretending I'm stuck.  I guess I'm just a homebody and if I have the opportunity to just let the kids watch tv, play games and hang out at the house- I'm happy. 

Now hubby would be even more happy if I could convince myself to get some more housework done while I'm "stuck" at home. lol!

Average-Mom

What does an Average Mom do when it's winter time and she get's the seasonal blues??

She stops posting on her blog and whines to her hubby...

And her not-so-average hubby arranges for her to have this:

It was a very sweet gesture from him and helped pop me out of my rut that I had been in.  We are now digging out of our second of two snow storms in 8 days... I'm so looking forward to the possible 60 degree's we might have next week!  I'm also insanely jealous that two friends of mine are going to HAWAII tomorrow!  Someday I'll get over there and I think I will have to schedule it in January or February... the perfect time of year to escape the cold and bask in the sunshine! :)

For now I'll warm myself up with a cup of hot cocoa, and a blanket and enjoy my book!

No-Snow, Snow day?

We woke up this morning and checked emails, and sure enough school was cancelled!  Then we went and looked out the window to see the snow and/or ice and

Wait!  We couldn't see any snow, and barely any ice at all!

Some of my friends and I who grew up and went to school in Utah- where we never had snow days unless we had 3+ FEET of snow in one day always shake our heads and laugh at how quickly school is cancelled here for snow and ice.

But we will have a pj day- or at least morning. The thin sheet of ice will probably be melted off after lunch and then we can get some errands done.  I'm fine with my ability to drive in the ice and snow, but will admit to not wanting to be out driving around some of those I've see driving on it...

Too bad we didn't get a good snow fall.  The kids would have loved to have enough to go outside and play in!  Instead we just get the ice and wind...

Oh on the exercise front... I went to the gym yesterday again.  I did a yoga class with my friends and I'm feeling it today!  We'll see if I make it to the gym later today or not.

Workout post

I'm pleased to say I made it to the gym two days in a row... I have to bask in the small victories right?  I was extremely sore from the bike yesterday- who knew that 10 minutes on that would be what is making me sore, when I spent almost an hour on the treadmill and elliptical? 

I kept the workout shorter today- 35 minutes on the elliptical.  I will have mon/wed/fri be my longer workouts, and tues/thur be my shorter workouts for a little while until I build up my abilities.

On the list for the rest of today is
*Cleaning the house- trying to finally get all the tile mopped for the first time since before christmas... yikes!
*Running to the store to pick up a few necessities.
*Picking up the 5 year old and her friends from school and having a playdate here.
*Sending all those kids home and picking up my 12 year old from middle school.
*Making cookies for the middle school dance, and the cubscout pack meeting tomorrow night. (or possibly running to the store and buying them?)
*Having a contactor come quote us for converting the office into a bedroom and building a closet in there.
*Taxi to and from Piano lesson for the 10 year old.
*Homework for the 5 and 7 year olds.
*Dinner
*Meeting tonight to plan some things for the Primary.
*Bedtime routine.

Workout Post

I got to the gym today... :)

I did 25 min on the elliptical
30 min on the treadmill
and 10 min on the bike.

Here's hoping I can get over there again tomorrow! :)

A week later

It's a week later, and let's see how I'm doing...

I haven't done great on the eating and exercising part.  I had a monthly visitor, and then a little stomach bug, and now my little one is down with the bug, so once we all get healthy and well (because really- I'm sure the rest of the family will get it too), then my exercise can get on track and I'll feel better and eat better.

I have been pulling out my scriptures and having quiet time almost every day.  I've had a few days that I just didn't get to it, but I  felt the difference in that and I'm trying harder to not let that be what slides undone to the bottom of my to do list each day.

I have joined and started blogging with a digital scrapbooking designer's blog. Nikki Epperson  I'll challenge myself once a week and post on her blog a page using her designs... I think this will keep me motivated to open up the photoshop program and get stuff worked on, on a regular basis.  30 minutes flies by so fast, and I'm enjoying that time I'm carving away for me to work on it while the kids are all at school.

New Years Goals

I try not to make specific new years resolutions, because that comes with the traditional gung-ho attitude for a month and then it always falls away and I don't accomplish those goals.

I'd love to loose weight again this year, but the most important thing is to be able to keep the weight off that I loose.  I proved to myself last year that I could be diligent and disciplined and loose the weight, but I also proved to myself that after the diet ended- I lost the discipline.

I am 170 pounds now.  I was at 140 last March.  My goal for this year is to get back to around 140 pounds, but then to maintain it after I get down to that weight.

That's 30 pounds to loose.

I'd like to loose some emotional weight as well as the physical weight this year.  I know a lot of my emotional baggage in life is why I have those 30 pounds to loose again, and so my goal is to spend 30 minutes each day feeding myself emotionally.  Reading scriptures, spending time in prayer and meditation, and strengthening my spiritual self.

Along with that I need to develop other habits and hobbies instead of just eating and baking.  I will still bake and enjoy things on occasion, but I need to find other outlets to get that creative joy out of that I normally have baking in the kitchen.

So I'm going to try and devote 30 minutes each day to do something I want to do... read a book (other than scriptures), take photographs, take a walk, do some digital scrapbooking, writing a letter to a friend I've lost touch with.

As I'm loosing weight I will have to exercise more, but for a minimum amount of exercise each day- my number will be 30 minutes.  I can find at least 30 minutes each day to exercise.  I will have days that I exercise much, much more, but on days that are busy, I will make 30 minutes to exercise.

And so 30 is my theme for this year.

30 minutes is something I can carve out of my day in three sections to help me grow emotionally and spiritually, and help me shrink spiritually.

And maybe, I can think of some more things to carry on the 30 theme... Any idea's?