Update on the Family

Can I move HERE? Someone posted this on Facebook with a very clever caption. Something like studying books makes rivers of knowledge that flood the world ...but more eloquent... At any rate, we have been doing lots of reading and studying here! Currently the boys and I are reading Johnny Tremain. We are also still studying ancient history, they are learning to type, write in cursive, and we just started times tables. I am personally studying the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, The Doctrine and Covenants, and I am still reading MindSet. So much to learn, so little time!

Savanna recently made a list of skills that she wants to learn and has been focusing on those skills for the majority of her "school day." Her Adult Skills include sewing, crafts, cooking, baking, childcare, fitness and gymnastics, photography and PhotoShop, bookkeeping and business, Excel, and blogging. She has created bigger lists breaking down each skill into bite-size pieces and is figuring out mentors and/or classes that will help her learn each of the items on her lists. Her next step is funding some of her marvelous ideas. I love that she is ambitious but whenever she gets excited about learning, it seems to involve lots of money. I tell her, "Great. Do it. But you'll have to fund this project yourself." I learned from a very wise mentor years ago NEVER invest money in a Love of Learner. It may sound odd but in the Love of Learning phase the student tends to flutter from subject to subject. One day they want to be an architect, the next a gymnast, the next a make-up artist. It's not bad, in fact it is great that Savanna is finding subjects she loves, but until she settles a bit and gets closer to Scholar phase she can learn some business and budgeting skills by making her own cash!

Bradley practices his typing daily. He is also impressing the socks off of his piano teacher. He pretty much impresses me on a daily basis. This kid is super neat!

James brought some cool items home from the academy like this light box. Benjamin is our artist. He spends HOURS tracing on this thing. And, he's gotten pretty darn good!

Oh and here is our darling Emma Leigh! She has only one volume (LOUD) and one speed (FAST). She runs around everywhere barking orders and telling people how it is! She is talking so much just in the past couple of days. She will repeat pretty much anything you say but she still most often just toddles around saying "hi" to everyone. "Hi Ma, Hi Da, Hi Na Na, Hi Ba (Brad), Hi Ba Ba (Ben), Hi Doddy (doggy)" all day long! And when you ask her something she doesn't like she will emphatically scream "No! No!" and shake her head and run away. The only time she is quiet is when she is sleeping, drinking her milk, or cuddling with her Daddy reading a book. She is still a major Daddy's girl. Since James has been home she follows him around EVERYWHERE. He can't get anything done when she is awake. She wants his full attention, and she usually gets it! We all absolutely adore this girl.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!

 

I have been able to get out with my girlfriends on a fairly regular basis. We hike or go to the movies or rock climb. It's been great! I didn't realize how much I needed to get away with other girls and just chat, giggle, and let off some steam. A couple of hours a week and I am different person! Rock climbing is awesome, by the way. I couldn't believe how hard it was and how many muscles in my fingers and forearms it used! I couldn't use my forearms or fingers for about 2 days afterwards (seriously, I couldn't squeeze the shampoo bottle or the mustard- it was ridiculous)! I was able to climb 35 feet to the top and ring the bell three times! I am going to take James very soon!!

I am at day 30 of my P90X program tomorrow (my big 33rd birthday)! I am finding that I really love this program this time around. It is challenging but not hard like it used to be. I am getting stronger and stronger every day. My diet has not been as pristine with my husband's arrival home but I am tweaking a few things to get it together in that area so I can reap the rewards this program has to offer!

I have finally committed to waking up early! It has been something I have been trying to do for months and months. I found that I was spending all morning trying to do my items of self-care (exercise, prayer, scripture study, bathing, etc.) among four children vying for my time. I often felt stressed out and frustrated and found that I had little time to study myself or with my children. By the time I got all my personal stuff done it was lunch time or later and half the day was gone! I would then spend hours in the evening when the children were asleep planning my menus, blogging, studying, or doing my church work. That would lead to me waking up later and the whole cycle would start again. I have finally been able to let go of my sacred night hours and embrace a daily schedule where I put God and myself FIRST, and then I can be a good wife and mother. This requires me to go to bed by 9:30pm so I can wake at 5:30am well rested. I usually nurse the baby, then pray, study my scriptures and government books, exercise, and then hit the shower- all BEFORE breakfast! It is awesome! The scriptures say, "...cease to sleep longer than is needful. Retire to they bed early that ye may not be weary. Arise early that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated." I can attest to this statement whole-heartedly!

James is absolutely loving his new job. He feels like it was tailor-made for him. He says, "I get to wear a gun. I get to go around being the boss, telling people they are wrong, and telling them what to do. I get to wear a gun. I get to drive fast and get the bad guys. Did I mention I get to wear a gun?" I'm paraphrasing, of course, but in all seriousness he really feels like this is where he is supposed to be and what he is supposed to be doing. He is excited to use his brain and take some initiative in his career. He is three weeks into his field training and he meshes well his training officer; however, he is looking forward to being on his own and having even more opportunities to learn the streets and make more decisions on his own. I am so happy to see him so happy. His hours are long, and honestly it seems like he is back at the academy in some ways because we don't see him for 4 days out of the week. But we are grateful for his willingness to provide for us and even more grateful that it is something he feels passionate about doing!On his days off we have been continuing with our house purge. We have finally completed our garage! Here is the before picture:

And the after pictures:

 
We got rid of so much stuff, reorganized the remainder, and built some shelves. It is an amazing room now! I look forward to spending my mornings working out in there. The kids go out and play and do crafts often. It is safe and clean for the baby to join us. We even hung our electronic dartboard and friends from church gave us a 52" TV! Our next purge project is either going to be our Master Bedroom or the kids' room/closet.

Emma crawls in anything that will fit her little bum. Boxes, totes, baskets, large tupperware...little kids love little spaces! 

March 26 - April 15, 2012

February 2012

Forgive this long, mish-mash of a post (is mish-mash even a word??). This month has flown by! We have only 10 days until James' graduation! We are all so excited, we can't stand it. I feel like we are in the last stretch of a very long marathon. We are all tired and worn out, but we can see the finish line and it has given us a little boost to push through to the end!

So here is what our family has been up to these past few weeks:

For those of you who know me well, you know that one of my dreams is to live off my own land...I want lots of it with acres for my boys and dog to run, lots of fruit trees, a huge garden, chickens, maybe a jersey cow... and goats! Yes, I would like a little goat farm. At least enough to milk, and make cheese, and keep my pastures looking nice. In the meantime I will live vicariously through some good friends who are blessed with land (and this cool mountain goat)! These friends board and train horses and have a kid's day once a month where they can ride the horses and run around. It is wonderful!

Emma loves it because they have several dogs and she just chases them around for hours. She isn't too sure about the horses. We got her on the mini pony, but that was about it.

Savanna was recently called to be the Mia Maid president at church. She has had several presidency meetings and is taking her calling very seriously. She also had the opportunity to speak in church again, and blew us away with a beautiful talk on being a shining example to those around her.

Our sweet Emma has had an exciting month. She recently had two more teeth break through (one molar and one lateral tooth), and has FOUR more about to break through (3 of which are molars too)! Needless to say she has not been as happy as usual, but you won't see her grumpiness in any of the pictures here!

However, she has this terrible habit of pulling out her own hair! She mostly does it while sleeping, and I have been finding chunks of hair in her crib in the morning. It got to the point where there was a large bald spot right on the top of her head with longer hair on the sides and back. Mullets are not an attractive hairstyle on most people (I might even venture to say all people), especially baby girls! James offered to buzz her head to which I replied, "NO Way!" So I took her to one of those fancy, kid hair cutting places. The lady informs me the only way to even out her hair and have it not look so mullet-ish is to in fact buzz it! I about died watching her buzz off all the fine, blond, baby hair. She is still cute as ever, but is practically bald. It's a good thing hair grows fast! :(

BEFORE

AFTER

Still beautiful...

We have continued with our weekly family hikes! We headed way up Lopez Road to Hi Mountain Road and found a beautiful trail. The next week we went North to Bishop's Peak in San Luis Obispo. There were some incredible views from the top of the peak! There are so many beautiful areas to explore here, and the weather is perfect for hiking. We are going to take a long family hike every week. We all benefit, especially Marley.

Benjamin finished Basketball season. Overall he had a good time, although there were some punks on the team that weren't very nice to him. He says he still wants to play next year, so I guess it didn't affect him too badly. The coach had a big BBQ at his house and the kids had a blast. They have a huge yard with a dirt bike track, a zip-line, a trampoline, a clubhouse, and lots of animals. Super jealous!

Oh, and here is Emma AGAIN! She is talking up a storm these days, and wants to be outside all of the time! She says, "Desiiiiiigh" every morning after breakfast and takes my hand and walks me to the door.

Emma Leigh's first owie...so sad. :(

Emma is getting so big now that she has no room to stretch out her legs in her car seat! I think it's time to flip her around. I had to dig out all of her 18 months clothes. This pink dress and the Winnie the Pooh tennies were actually Savanna's at that age! I didn't save too much of Savanna's things, but I did save a few- it is so fun to see Emma in them!

We have another Shakeology-lover in the family! I can't drink one without Emma following me around saying, "Mmmm..Mmmmm."

I found her in my room, sitting on one of my pillows, with one of my old dolls in one arm and her big stuffed Elephant in the other reading an electronic book!

I am finally finishing some projects I swore I would get done with ALL the extra evening time I would have while my hubby was gone. I didn't realize that I would be absolutely exhausted most evenings and that the list I created was actually insane!! At any rate, I made these kitchen valances for my windows. It helps tremendously when the sun sets, and I can still see my crazy boys on the trampoline. Aren't I domestic?:)

Book worms. :) Speaking of books, I am half-way through an incredible psychology book called Mindset by Carol Dweck. Absolutely riveting. It's an in-depth study of how mindsets can actually determine your personality, behavior, and ultimate success. She also talks about how to change your mindset if it is not working for you. We've all heard, "Mind Over Matter" and know the value of our thoughts, but her examples and explanations have really enlightened me about HOW much my way of thinking actually affects my perception of myself, others, and my life as a whole. Good stuff. I highly recommend it!

Had to post this cute basket my MIL bought me for my farmer's market purchases! I use it every week!! I have another one that is black and white that is handy for just about anything, but mostly we use it to drag stuff up and down the stairs. :)

The boys doing one of my Turbo Fire "Fire Drills." I have one more week of my 90 days of Turbo Fire. Will post some results and pictures over the weekend!

February 2012