Rob had Good Friday off, and seemed quite miffed that I didn't. But we still had a great time this weekend. Rob looked around for things to do on Friday, since we knew Saturday was going to be rainy all day. We ended up eating lunch at the Farmer's Market and then heading out to look at the old Yates Mill Park, which had the mill closed for renovations and ended up being rather a short trip. The kids (who had been there with school) insisted that the Oak View Farm was better and suggested we go there too. So we did. It was nice, the kids got to feed the goats and we looked at old buildings and a cotton field.
We had our Easter baskets on Saturday, and the kids got hammocks and candy, which is mostly gone. Yikes! It was a really rainy day. Really rainy, but we did dye eggs and chill. Caleb woke up at 4:00 am, but Beth made him stay in the room with her until it was light out at 6:30. I am so grateful for that! Needless to say , we had some crazy cranky kids around 6:00 pm on Saturday. Cranky!
Eater was nice yesterday. Everyone was pretty mellow and Rob managed to hang the hammocks on the patio. So the kids got a chance to enjoy them. It was nice to have a day that focused more on the spiritual part of Easter.
My favorite quote of the week was from Beth. She told me. "Mom, I'm still a kid inside this body of mine. I like to do kid things." Which made me happy.
This week's a bit crazy. Today is FHE, and is the easiest night of the week. Tomorrow, I've got Running club for the kids, parent teacher's conference for Jacob and a temple trip that are all scheduled for approximately the same time. Wednesday is Pack Meeting, which is stressful more for Rob, but still I have to get the whole family there, plus I have to pick up Beth from her field trip later than normal, which means picking up the boys from school. And then Thursday Beth has a band concert and the boys are headed to a father son camp out. I've been looking at this week for the last several wondering how we are going to survive it, but I think we'll manage.
Have a great week!
Monday, April 21, 2014
Monday, April 14, 2014
April, April, April!
This is a day late because I had one of those really tired days yesterday. I made it to church and a meeting, but sort of dragged the rest of the day. I never sleep very well close to a full moon. It makes me want tin vest in some blackout curtains, but then I know I wouldn't wake up well.
On the news front at home. Not much to report. It's spring and the yellow pollen has covered everything. The cars are tinged yellow, as are the roads. The bees are back, and seem to love hanging around our front door for some reason. The kids all make running dashes in and out of the house going as fast as they can.
Beth is gearing up for her spring concert this next week. She is loving the clarinet, but not her teacher as much. She's made a lot of progress, and I'm really proud of her. She's adjusted to the early mornings for the most part, and seems to be doing well at school. She got new electives this quarter and she's in a class where she's the only sixth grader. She's a bit nervous about it, but seems to be doing okay with it.
Caleb had a castle project that he had to do. He chose the Caldwell Castle and wrote a report on it. Then he built a model and took it to school. He did a great job, but I think he was relieved when everything was finished. He's also really enjoying the clarinet and plans on taking it again next year.
Jacob is his happy self. He will come to me and say that he is bored, but we are working on that. He loves video games, and any games and will spend hours playing. He played Infamous Second Son the past few weeks. (Rob was playing it too separately.) Jacob got ahead of Rob, and didn't have anyone to turn to to find out how to get through the tricky parts. He managed to beat the game and then started telling Rob how to beat things and he's really good at figuring out the puzzles. He's also has the patience to keep going and not throw the controller when he gets frustrated. He also beat Rob when they played chess this week. Rob said that he got trounced and Jacob was working two or three moves ahead of him. Jacob said, "Well Dad, I was looking at the whole board, you weren't."
It's been a great week, with fitting everything in that needed to get done. I'm so grateful for the Lord's hand in my life. I've felt it a lot more lately, and I can tell that the Lord has guided us so that we get the experiences we need as a family.
Have a great week!
On the news front at home. Not much to report. It's spring and the yellow pollen has covered everything. The cars are tinged yellow, as are the roads. The bees are back, and seem to love hanging around our front door for some reason. The kids all make running dashes in and out of the house going as fast as they can.
Beth is gearing up for her spring concert this next week. She is loving the clarinet, but not her teacher as much. She's made a lot of progress, and I'm really proud of her. She's adjusted to the early mornings for the most part, and seems to be doing well at school. She got new electives this quarter and she's in a class where she's the only sixth grader. She's a bit nervous about it, but seems to be doing okay with it.
Caleb had a castle project that he had to do. He chose the Caldwell Castle and wrote a report on it. Then he built a model and took it to school. He did a great job, but I think he was relieved when everything was finished. He's also really enjoying the clarinet and plans on taking it again next year.
Jacob is his happy self. He will come to me and say that he is bored, but we are working on that. He loves video games, and any games and will spend hours playing. He played Infamous Second Son the past few weeks. (Rob was playing it too separately.) Jacob got ahead of Rob, and didn't have anyone to turn to to find out how to get through the tricky parts. He managed to beat the game and then started telling Rob how to beat things and he's really good at figuring out the puzzles. He's also has the patience to keep going and not throw the controller when he gets frustrated. He also beat Rob when they played chess this week. Rob said that he got trounced and Jacob was working two or three moves ahead of him. Jacob said, "Well Dad, I was looking at the whole board, you weren't."
It's been a great week, with fitting everything in that needed to get done. I'm so grateful for the Lord's hand in my life. I've felt it a lot more lately, and I can tell that the Lord has guided us so that we get the experiences we need as a family.
Have a great week!
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Spring Break!
So, it's occurred tome that if I had a smart phone, I may actually be able to post pictures of the activities we did each week. But at the same time, I shake enough now that I don't know that any of them would actually ever be in focus. I'm glad that Rob's a photographer. It really takes the pressure off me.
On Monday, I took the kids ice skating. It was a lot of fund. They got going like old pros and had a blast the entire time that we there. It was so col in the rink and so warm outside. It was surreal. And we were all bundled up on the way to the rink and got a few strange looks--walking around with mittens and hats on in 70 degree weather.
On Tuesday, we went to Pullen Park, and got to hang out with our friends the Greenwoods. It was fun. Jacob got to practice his parkour. (He wants to take classes.) And Beth loved catching up with Brynn.
On Wednesday, we went to Bond Park, for a short time. The kids had fun, but the park was super crowded with really little kids. I think the park is more crowded because it was the first week all year that's been consistently warm and dry enough to spend some significant time outside.
On Thursday, we took it easy. (Thank Goodness!) And I was able to get some work done. The kids still had a good day. And Friday we went to Hickory for the weekend. The kids have had fun playing with their cousins, taking a quick dip in the lake and hanging out in (and fighting over) the hammock.
Spring break made me realize, I need to get a plan together to get things done over the summer. We will work it out though.
I've really enjoyed conference this weekend. I particularly liked the talk that Elder Oaks gave in the Priesthood session. Some of the talks made me worry for kids. The fact that it is not going to get easier and the chasm is getting wider. But my kids were born with strong personalities, and they have a strong sense of right and wrong. They are much better than I am at explaining our beliefs and standing up for themselves.
On Monday, I took the kids ice skating. It was a lot of fund. They got going like old pros and had a blast the entire time that we there. It was so col in the rink and so warm outside. It was surreal. And we were all bundled up on the way to the rink and got a few strange looks--walking around with mittens and hats on in 70 degree weather.
On Tuesday, we went to Pullen Park, and got to hang out with our friends the Greenwoods. It was fun. Jacob got to practice his parkour. (He wants to take classes.) And Beth loved catching up with Brynn.
On Wednesday, we went to Bond Park, for a short time. The kids had fun, but the park was super crowded with really little kids. I think the park is more crowded because it was the first week all year that's been consistently warm and dry enough to spend some significant time outside.
On Thursday, we took it easy. (Thank Goodness!) And I was able to get some work done. The kids still had a good day. And Friday we went to Hickory for the weekend. The kids have had fun playing with their cousins, taking a quick dip in the lake and hanging out in (and fighting over) the hammock.
Spring break made me realize, I need to get a plan together to get things done over the summer. We will work it out though.
I've really enjoyed conference this weekend. I particularly liked the talk that Elder Oaks gave in the Priesthood session. Some of the talks made me worry for kids. The fact that it is not going to get easier and the chasm is getting wider. But my kids were born with strong personalities, and they have a strong sense of right and wrong. They are much better than I am at explaining our beliefs and standing up for themselves.