As "just" a mom, I have a front row seat to my children's growth and learning, daily little miracles, and the funny things that happen in a marriage. I feel so very blessed to be "just" a mom.
Homeschool went pretty well for us in March. The girls each have their own things that they are working towards. Rylee is learning her letters better and we're starting with the letters in her name. Parker is learning to read and she's been doing really well; she is still working on learning all the letter sounds, but she's been figuring out how to blend the different letter sounds together. Ashtyn has been doing a lot of different things right now. She practices piano, typing, and Esperanto (on Duolingo) each day. She also reads a lot, draws a lot, and loves a science website I have.
I also love to do an activity with the kids each day. I love the quality time it gives me with them and helps us to focus on subjects we don't do everyday. Since Oliver was born, I've been trying a few different plans for fitting in the activity with the girls and it hasn't worked very well. A baby's unpredictable schedule can really make it rough to actually get to them. This month, I'm going to try something new again.
I'm going to put some activities here that I want to get to. I'm not going to put them on any specific date. I'll cycle through them in order as I have time with the kids to do the activity. We don't have cousins visiting this month and I've really cut down on my to-do list, so I'm hoping we'll have more time for some activities together this month! I guess we'll see how it goes :)
Easter activities:
Jelly Bean structures
Dye Easter Eggs
Science experiments:
Dinosaur toothpaste
Balloon bottle
Outside activities:
Outdoor scavenger hunt
Walks and bike rides
Some go to activities that are easy:
Playdoh
Drawing
Board Games
I think we'll have a lot of fun with these activities! I also think we'll be able to do all of these throughout the month and I'm hoping a more laid back system works better.
Recently, a couple of our friends bought houses in Eagle Mountain. We were really excited for them and were excited to see their new houses. We decided to do a quick trip up there to visit them. We drove the girls to my mom's house in West Jordan for the night and (of course) brought Oliver with us.
The drive out to West Jordan was uneventful. We had some snacks and movies for the girls and they were very low maintenance the whole time. Oliver slept for some of the trip and didn't cry for most of it. We stopped at Panda Express for a late lunch (we love stopping there in Heber since Vernal doesn't have a Panda). We got to my mom's around 4:00 pm.
Oliver had fallen asleep, so we unloaded the girls and were just going to head to Jeremy and Katie's house while he was asleep, but when we got back in the car, that woke him up. So I decided to just feed him then. We talked with my parents while I fed him and then drove to Eagle Mountain. Oliver was so mad to be back in the car and cried almost the entire 40 minute drive up, falling asleep about five minutes before we got there.
We let him sleep (for about 30 minutes) while we brought in our stuff and talked with Jeremy and Katie. We also hung out with Daniel (their 3 year old) who is adorable. We had fun talking and they had made us a delicious dinner of lasagna and asparagus. After dinner, we set up an air mattress for us and put Oliver down while they put their boys to bed. We put Oliver in the bathroom next to the office (where we were sleeping) and it worked really well. I was glad, because he doesn't sleep well anywhere but his own bed (the first of our kids to struggle with it so much) and I had been nervous.
After we put the kids down, we played a really fun block game called Azul. We all had a ton of fun with it. It was probably both Ben and my favorite game we've ever played with Jeremy and Katie.
After we played, it was about 11:00, so we got ready for bed. We got talking, though, and ended up staying up until 1:30 in the morning. It was really fun to talk, but we were regretting it the next morning when Oliver woke up at 6:30.
In the morning, we hung out and talked some. Jeremy made us eggs and pancakes for breakfast. I put Oliver down for a nap and we were able to make the room really dark. He actually slept, which surprised me (it's the first time he's napped in a pack and play) and made me really happy. I think making it dark really helped. While he was sleeping, I got ready for the day while Ben and Jeremy played some video games. Then I fed Oliver while Ben showered and got ready.
After we loaded up, we stopped at Six Sisters' to pick up lunch and took it to Quinn and Jo's new house. We ate and talked with them and got a tour of their house. It's always super fun to hang out with them. Both their house and Jeremy and Katie's house are really nice. We're really happy for them.
After feeding Oliver again, we went back to my mom's house. Ben was pretty tired and we were worried about the car ride back, so he took a nap upstairs while I loaded up the car. It gave my mom a chance to hold Oliver too.
The girls had a blast at my mom's. They kept talking about the pancakes and grilled cheese sandwiches she'd made them, and the movies they watched and playing outside in her backyard. They were sad when it was time for us to leave.
I fed Oliver one more time before going. We ended up leaving a little later than I wanted, but not too much later. We stopped in Heber for dinner (we got Panda Express again and got the girls some chicken nuggets from McDonald's). Then we stopped at a rest stop about halfway to use the bathroom. Oliver was struggling, so I decided to feed him again while we were stopped. He fell asleep pretty fast after that for the rest of the trip. The girls watched movies until about 8, and then I turned it off so they would all fall asleep.
We didn't end up getting home until almost 10. We quickly unloaded the girls' sleep stuff and got them settled in bed and then I fed Oliver for bed while Ben unloaded the car. We were late getting to sleep, especially with the time change the next morning, but it was a fun trip. We were really glad we were able to go out!
Last month, Ben and I started talking about some past memories and I ended up going into the basement to find some of my old journals. That sent me on a rabbit hole of going through all our journals and letters. It's been fun.
While doing so, I realized that things like our letters and journals are a pain to look through. I decided to take this month and work on making them easy to access and look through (because then it feels more worth it to keep them).
Here are some of the things I've been working on:
Letters
I've gotten a binder for each person and put our letters in sheet protectors so it's easy to flip through and read the letters. I've also tried to organize and order them (putting Ben's letters from his mission together, the letters to each other together, etc.).
Social Media
I've been working on downloading and saving certain things from social media that we want to keep and remember. It's been a little tricky with some things, but I'm glad to have them saved somewhere besides online.
Pictures
This is one of the biggest projects I've been working on. We have all our pictures organized and backed up well, but because they are all on the computer, they are not easy to access and look through. I've been working on putting them into picture books (I'm using Shutterfly) to help with that. I think the kids will especially love when I'm done with this. I'm keeping all the pictures backed up and organized the way they were before as well.
Home Videos
This is another really big project I've been working on. All our videos are in 5-30 second video clips, making it a pain to actually open them up and watch them. Right now, I'm editing them together into larger videos (5-10 minutes) to make it easy to sit down and watch them. Like with the pictures, I'm keeping all the individual clips as well.
The Girls' Drawings
I've recently gone through and taken pictures of all the drawings the girls have done. I am working on putting them together into picture books on Shutterfly for them. I plan to make one each year for them and give it to them on their birthday. I'll keep the digital copies so if they ever want to get rid of the books when they're older, they'll still have a copy of whatever drawings they want.
Dance Videos
I haven't started this yet, so I don't know if it's even possible, but I have a lot of old dance DVD's that I would love to get out and watch sometimes (especially with the girls), but because they are on a DVD of the entire performance, it doesn't ever feel worth the work. I would love to put the footage on the computer and save just the dances that I was in on the computer to make them easy to access.
It's been really fun to read through journals and see old pictures and videos. I love remembering things. The letters have been my favorite--I appreciate everyone who has taken the time to write down their feelings of love and gratitude for me. I remember how I felt when they first gave me the letter and it still makes me feel loved and appreciated as I look back on them.
I recently read the book The 80/20 Principle. We've all heard the idea of the 80/20 principle--that 80% of results come from 20% of the effort. The book delved deeper into it and asked a lot of great introspective questions.
Since reading it, I have been looking at areas in my life that I would like to improve and trying to find ways to apply the 80/20 principle to that area.
One idea that I've had that I'm vey excited about is health. I feel like I have the knowledge and means to eat healthy, but often I fall short of what I would like to do. Food is complicated and I've been trying to look at the deeper issues (like my relationship with food and my history with it).
One thing that came to mind as I was considering food in regards to the 80/20 rule is candy.
I have a sweet tooth and I love treats. I also am an all-or-nothing person, so it's hard for me to find balance by saying I'll only eat a certain amount of treats. But I'm also not wanting to just never have sugar (and I'm not sure I ever will).
Candy, though, feels like the 80/20 rule to me. It's really easy to eat a lot of candy, and candy has a lot of sugar, a lot of carbs, and sometimes a lot of calories with pretty much no nutritional value. It also doesn't fill me up at all when I eat it. And, most of the time after I eat candy, it wasn't nearly as good as I thought it was going to be. It just doesn't feel worth it to me.
There have been times in Ben's life when he wasn't eating candy. I went to him and asked if he would want to do go off candy with me and he was fine with that. The one exception we have (because this is totally worth it to me) is when our friend Liselotte sends us Norwegian chocolate for Christmas--we will totally eat that 😆
I'm really excited because it feels like a big step forward for me, one that feels very sustainable. It's a small change that will bring a lot of great results to my life.
February was a really fun month for our family. We love celebrating Valentine's in a simple way with the kids. We also had cousins surprise everyone by coming to stay in Vernal all month and the kids had a blast together (especially as the weather started getting warmer).
Oliver is getting so big! Last month, we pulled out and cleaned the exercauser.
He likes it sometimes, though he doesn't usually want to spend very much time in it.
Oliver loves to grab stuff now.
Every time we put him in his carseat, he grabs the cover.
When you leave the baby with Dad ... 😂
He's getting so big!
Funny face!
I just love his cute smile!
I had put him on his tummy in front of his mirror and turned around to find him like this.
Apparently he really wanted to hold onto the chair.
Playing Pokemon with Dad.
All ready for church!
I love his little hands.
Picked on ...
He's started fighting his last catnap of the day, but still really needs it, so some nights he's been a little grumpy.
This onsie is very true.
Is there anything cuter than a sleeping baby?
Oliver loves hanging out with Dad in his office.
Also, his hands are so cute. I love watching him grab things.
This is Thomas' Huggy-Wuggy mask.
Thomas thought it was the most hilarious thing that Oliver would grab it and try to put it in his mouth.
We spent so much time with cousins this month, but we were having so much fun that we didn't take a lot of pictures.
Putting Huggy-Wuggy and Kissy-Missy to sleep.
The three baby boys 💓
Getting some Jonathan snuggles 💓
She wanted a picture of herself eating pizza with cousins 😂
The three little girls running around together!
Enjoying our backyard in 40 degree weather (that feels like Heaven!)
Ashtyn "nursing" Rylee.
Sister snuggles 💓
As a mom, these are my favorite moments 💓
Ashtyn came out of a blanket fort and wanted to see her hair.
Rylee loves to get into pretty much everything.
Ashtyn has been writing a story on the computer. Her goal is 1000 words and she passed 500 words this month.
Pizza day! Ashtyn was extra excited because she has been making dinner on Thursdays and got to make the pizza herself.
Another activity we did was a "heart search".
Making heart crayons out of our broken crayon pieces.
One of our homeschool days this month focused on China and Chinese culture. We had a lot of fun learning about China, making a little paper book about it, and listening to Chinese music. We also got some Chinese food for dinner and I was pleasantly surprised at how much the girls tried it and liked it.
We also made these cute little books about colors and God making the world. They turned out super cute and the girls and I had fun making them.
Rylee falls asleep almost every night before I leave the room (after reading to the girls) and I think she is the cutest thing when she sleeps.
We didn't get sick nearly as much this month, but Rylee did get sick a couple times. :(
This was her worst day. She felt pretty yucky, so we put her in the tub to help. The second picture is her attempt at a smile since she saw I was taking a picture.
She doesn't nap most days anymore, but when she's sick, her little body still needs it.
Ben has been writing a book for his business right now and we're pretty excited about it.
This is a mock up of what the cover might look like.
Ben and I have been taking a cha-cha class together, so Ben taught Ashtyn and Ashtyn taught Rylee 😍
Ashtyn practices the cha-cha almost constantly now.
Ashtyn and Ben dancing together 💓
I went to find something from my box of stuff and found all my old journals.
I hadn't realized how many I have, but I have a ton. It was a lot of fun and also a little bit of a rabbit hole to read through a lot of them.
Ashtyn did my hair and then wanted to take a picture of how beautiful it was.
Ben and I have really gotten into Wordle, so of course, Ashtyn wants to play it too. This is a list she started of words she could use.
Rylee called this her "underwear head" and wanted some pictures lol
For Valentine's Day, we had chocolates in the morning at our spots, made heart shaped pizza and pink rice krispie treats, and had cousins come over for dinner.
The girls loved the tradition. Ben and I also wrote notes to each other, though we didn't do a special date. We've never really done something like that for Valentine's Day. I like to do something special for it, but also keep it simple.
