True confession time: My kids are night owls, and I struggle to get them in bed by 10:00 every night. Caleb hates homework and fights me on it consistently. Jacob has the attitude of just getting it over with and will rush through, and Beth is a procrastinator. She likes to start her homework around 8:30 or 9:00.
Since the boys get to sleep in until 8:00, I'm not overly worried about their bedtime. They still average about ten hours of sleep at night, which is adequate. Beth is getting up at 6:30, so she's pushing the getting enough sleep thing. I am not going to lie, I dread early morning seminary. I am not a morning person.
So in an attempt to deal with the homework fuss, and possibly bedtime, we are establishing a study hall. For at least an hour, it will be time to do homework or read. no TV, no video games, no nothing else distracting. I will report back on our success and (I'm sure) failures as we try this out.
We may have some snow this week, and the kids are super excited. I'm not going to lie, I'm excited too. I'm hoping that it's enough for them to build a real snowman instead of the furry blob that was a result of the snow in the middle of last week, which only warranted a two hour delay. I may update this post with a picture of it. Beth took it, and she will have to email it to me.
The birthdays went well. Jacob celebrated with chocolate cupcakes, orange chicken and loved his new bike. Caleb celebrated with oreo ice cream cake, Taco Bell and loved his new bike. The boys are both growing up so fast. It blows me away with what they can do, and how much fun they are having along the way.
Hope you enjoy the week--and that we get snow!
Monday, January 27, 2014
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Jacob Is Seven! and Caleb Will Be Nine!
Today is Jacob's birthday! I can still remember the day he was born. He is my awesome little guy and so full of life and happiness. He's the one that has taught me about overcoming difficulties through hard work at a very young age. He is also my happiest and most easy going guy. I can't believe how fast he is growing up.
In addition to the trip to Great Wolf Lodge, he got a bike for his birthday. He also got chocolate cupcakes for his treat.
Caleb's birthday is on Friday. He will be nine, and he is another awesome guy. He is someone that is always aware of others and how they are feeling. He doesn't like injustice, and he is very sensitive. He is also very compassionate and will got out of his way to protect someone and to make him feel better.
Caleb decided on a new bike too. I haven't found out what type of cake he wants yet, but I know I will hear something soon.
Overall, the week was pretty quite. The end of the quarter for the kids, and we have two days off of school this next week. Beth and I were both chanting to ourselves Four days! Four Days! Four Days! all week last week. Four days of not getting up at 6:00 is a good thing. It's exhausting. I don't know what we are going to do when early morning seminary rolls around. Truly. I don't think it's healthy to have the kids up that early. If the kids weren't aiming for BYU, I don't know that we'd even do it. But I didn't have that great of an experience with seminary when and I went, and I know that Rob was hit and miss with it too.
This next week is the Pinewood Derby, and Rob is frantically trying to set up track and get everything done. Hope you guys have a great week!
In addition to the trip to Great Wolf Lodge, he got a bike for his birthday. He also got chocolate cupcakes for his treat.
Caleb's birthday is on Friday. He will be nine, and he is another awesome guy. He is someone that is always aware of others and how they are feeling. He doesn't like injustice, and he is very sensitive. He is also very compassionate and will got out of his way to protect someone and to make him feel better.
Caleb decided on a new bike too. I haven't found out what type of cake he wants yet, but I know I will hear something soon.
Overall, the week was pretty quite. The end of the quarter for the kids, and we have two days off of school this next week. Beth and I were both chanting to ourselves Four days! Four Days! Four Days! all week last week. Four days of not getting up at 6:00 is a good thing. It's exhausting. I don't know what we are going to do when early morning seminary rolls around. Truly. I don't think it's healthy to have the kids up that early. If the kids weren't aiming for BYU, I don't know that we'd even do it. But I didn't have that great of an experience with seminary when and I went, and I know that Rob was hit and miss with it too.
This next week is the Pinewood Derby, and Rob is frantically trying to set up track and get everything done. Hope you guys have a great week!
Monday, January 13, 2014
Great Wolf Lodge and Growing Up
As I begin this post, I know I should have pictures, but I don't. Rob's the camera guy, and he said the flash was not working. He snapped a few photos and took some video, and I may just link to that when he edits it together. But I did want to keep writing more this year on the blog. It's one of my goals that I haven't written down, because basically I haven't written any down this year--which is not the norm for me. I've got to get on top of it. Never ming that it's the 12th.
This week we pulled the kids out of school for a few days and hauled them out to Great Wolf Lodge. It was such a blast! The kids voted to do this instead of birthday parties this year, which was nice. It was great to spend some time with the family just us, and then Casey and Chloe hung out with us on Friday.
Caleb and Jacob adored the wave pool. I think Jacob liked it more than the slides. And Caleb was just an inch shy of being tall enough to ride the slides by himself. He still had a lot of fun. Again just as big of a hit was Magiquest. The kids did both Shadowquest and Magiquest this trip. They were EXHAUSTED when we headed to Hickory.
It was interesting at Great Wolf Lodge during school days, it was full of preschoolers and toddlers. It was fun to watch them all, but it also reminded me that we aren't in that stage anymore. Life keeps happening and moving around us, even when we want to freeze time for a bit.
We got to go to church in Hickory, and it was the ward conference there. It was a great meeting. I have been missing Sunday School and Relief Society a lot, since I have been a Primary teacher for more than three years. It was great to go the lessons and to feel the spirit. As I look back at my life, I can see the Lord's hand guiding me through so many decisions. Life hasn't always been easy. We've had some really rough years, but as I look back, I can tell that he has been there for me and my family. I know that He loves me, and that He knows the struggles that I face. I know that he does the same for each of His children no matter where they are or the choices that they have made. He loves each one of us perfectly.
Hope you all have a great week!
This week we pulled the kids out of school for a few days and hauled them out to Great Wolf Lodge. It was such a blast! The kids voted to do this instead of birthday parties this year, which was nice. It was great to spend some time with the family just us, and then Casey and Chloe hung out with us on Friday.
Caleb and Jacob adored the wave pool. I think Jacob liked it more than the slides. And Caleb was just an inch shy of being tall enough to ride the slides by himself. He still had a lot of fun. Again just as big of a hit was Magiquest. The kids did both Shadowquest and Magiquest this trip. They were EXHAUSTED when we headed to Hickory.
It was interesting at Great Wolf Lodge during school days, it was full of preschoolers and toddlers. It was fun to watch them all, but it also reminded me that we aren't in that stage anymore. Life keeps happening and moving around us, even when we want to freeze time for a bit.
We got to go to church in Hickory, and it was the ward conference there. It was a great meeting. I have been missing Sunday School and Relief Society a lot, since I have been a Primary teacher for more than three years. It was great to go the lessons and to feel the spirit. As I look back at my life, I can see the Lord's hand guiding me through so many decisions. Life hasn't always been easy. We've had some really rough years, but as I look back, I can tell that he has been there for me and my family. I know that He loves me, and that He knows the struggles that I face. I know that he does the same for each of His children no matter where they are or the choices that they have made. He loves each one of us perfectly.
Hope you all have a great week!