2013 Family Photos

On November 2nd, my good friend Christina, from Hands Full Photos, took our family pictures. She did a great job! I love them and Can't wait to get prints.

My Awesome Family 2013

Seriously, I am so blessed. It is easy to be thankful to have all these wonderful people in my life Every.Single.Day

This Week at Our House #44

1. John keeps gaining weight. I am trying to figure out the why. He rarely eats dessert or junk food, so I think it is his favorite sugar cereal eating habit followed by not enough exercise. He eats a giant bowl of cereal for breakfast and before bed. We don't eat a whole lot of processed foods and only the boys in the family are big on the cereals. I mentioned to John that I thought cereal was his weight gaining problem. There is no way, as far as I can tell, that he ever plans to cut down on his cereal. I think I may take his "skinny clothes" to DI.
2. I had a pretty good week. I got in lots of time with the little kids in the mornings. I have finally found a way to discipline Joseph that is both magical and works. Life has been much easier since I employed this little trick. I will have to share the idea on a "Management Monday". Which reminds me. I have had all these great ideas for blog posts and have not gotten to writing them. I will try harder this week.
3. Ruth tells me that she and all of her friends are considered and called, "Molly Mormons". One girl really dislikes them for that. As a mom, I could not be more pleased. Ruth takes the gospel seriously. She keeps the commandments, is kind, and serviceable. If that makes her a molly mormon, I am so glad that is who she has chosen to be.
4. Kate had a debate in school this week. It ended up being between her and this one boy that sounds an awful lot like her. She says she does not like him, though, because too many other girls like him. However, that is the nicest thing Kate has ever said about a guy.
5. Johnny has another big history research paper due on Monday. This time, he finished it before the due date. I am glad that he learns from his mistakes.
6. Adam loves, loves loves soccer. I am always telling him no soccer in the house.
7. Rachel was off track and on vacation. She loved her first two days, and then was sick on Wednesday. Poor girl. She was last to come down with the flu that plagued our house last week. Rachel has two more weeks off.
8. Anya's such a good little beginner reader. She loves to try and read things and write things all the time. It is so much fun when reading comes easily for a child.
9. For several weeks, my laundry room trash can has been disgusting. I've been wondering what the kids were doing. Today, Anya saw the reason and told us. Joseph has been peeing in the trash can when he changes his clothes. Joseph will have a lot of cleaning to do.Yuck! Kids can be so disgusting!
10. Joshua has been lining things up and calling them trains. He has done this with books, chairs, and toys. 
11. Arwen is a climber now. She gets up on the table several times a day. I'm not a big fan of this stage. It is so hard to keep them safely on the floor.

This Week's Pictures

Chair, bench, and stool train

This Week at Our House #43

1. What a crazy week it was!!! Hardly anything happened as planned because we got this slow moving flu. John worked from home a few days this week. We are grateful that his employers allow that. This week he will probably just go into work. But it is nice to have him around when we have a bunch of sick people.
2. We pretty much had to cancel everything this week, so we finally relaxed and got a little more rest. Illness isn't the best rest, but it kept us from running around crazy. I even got sick this time, which is very rare. I usually just take care of everyone and stay healthy. By Friday night I was pretty sick. John and Adam were well enough to do the pinewood derby, so Kate stepped up to the plate, babysat the two youngest and cleaned the house.
3. Ruth came home from school sick on Friday. She was so distressed that her friends would think she abandoned them and she missed her chemistry test. She will probably have a stressful make-up week this week.
4. Kate was sick on Thursday. She missed a math test and will have to make that up asap. I knew she wasn't feeling well when she decided to miss a math test.
5. When Arwen was first ill, I needed to take Adam to the store to get his birthday stuff. Johnny really stepped up to the plate and did something that I am sure is extremely hard for him. Arwen puked twice while I was gone. Johnny cleaned up the puke while Kate cleaned up Arwen. Johnny missed a field trip to the symphony that he had been talking about for a couple of weeks. Poor kid. He never has much homework or make up work. I have no idea how 8th grade has ended up so easy for him.
6. Adam had his birthday on Monday. He is 9 years old, and the sweetest kid. He's a hard worker at home and at school. He is one of the only athletes in our family. Adam was supposed to have a birthday party at the skate rink on Thursday, but he threw up in school on Wednesday and was pretty sick for the next 48 hours. I lost my phone the same day, so it was really hard to cancel the party. I guess we will try and make it up again at some point.
7. Rachel seemed to be the only member of the family that didn't get sick at all. She's been healthy and energetic. She goes off track this week. She has through Thanksgiving off from school. John was saying how great that was for her, and I mentioned how I thought it would be better if they all had the same vacation schedule. Then I explained how it will be nice to have some time off now, but will stink when she has school the whole month of June. John then said, oh yeah, it is like spending all of your Christmas money on candy-- you enjoy it now, and regret it later. I really hate year round school.
8. Anya was sick with a fever and cold on Monday and Tuesday and the stomach flu on Friday. Last night she woke up crying with leg pain. Poor Anya, got it worse than anyone.
9. Joseph hasn't had the stomach flu yet, but he has had a bad cough and a fever. It's been such a weird week.
10. Josh didn't eat for about 4 days but never puked so I think he was sick. By Saturday, he had the fever and the cough.
11. Arwen was the first to get the stomach flu. I think she is the reason so many family members picked it up. Baby's just put their germs on everything. I kind of knew that would be the case and braced myself for a lot of laundry. I just didn't expect to get sick too. We will be happy to leave this week behind us and hopefully do a make-up birthday party for Adam.

This Week's Pictures

This Week at Our House # 42

1. Work went well for John this week. I love saying that. I hope it continues. He works for a start up company that hasn't launched their website and doesn't have customers yet. So every week we are grateful he has a job.
2. I have been so busy lately that the scripture “Do not run faster or labor more than you have strength and means." (D&C 10:4) Because I sure feel like I am doing more than I am able. This coming week promises to be at  least as busy. I am very tired.
3. Ruth had a party on Halloween with all of her friends that aren't allowed to Trick or Treat. She's been pretty busy with friend stuff this year. She has good friends too. Last year her friends were very dramatic and caused her a lot of grief. Ruth started the school year determined to make new, happier friends. She has done so and is much happier.
4. Kate ended the week with less homework than usual. She is getting better at doing her work quickly and getting used to her tough math class. She is getting good grades and is a very conscientious student. Kate had the most Halloween fun when we went to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point. That place is a ton of fun. Next year, we plan to go earlier in October when it is warmer.
5. Johnny trick or treated as Darth Vader. I let Johnny, Adam, and Rachel go for the first time without parents. They got way more candy because they did not have to go at toddler pace. In fact, I think they got double from the little kid group in less time. 
6. Adam had a fun Halloween week. At school for Halloween they did a Roman day. They made and exploded volcanoes and built the Coliseum out of sugar cubes and frosting. Adam had a really fun day.
7. Rachel dressed as a Fairy Witch for Halloween. She had a fun party and Halloween Costume parade at school. 
8. Anya had a Halloween party in her class. She had fun trick or treating and visiting with the neighbors that were serving doughnuts, cookies, and hot chocolate. Anya was a butterfly for Halloween.
9. Joseph was a dinosaur for Halloween. On Halloween morning, Joseph put his costume on and wore it all day. He was crazy excited all day. He has been on a constant candy binge since then. I just let my kids eat at will until it is gone. I like the candy binge and mess to be over as soon as possible. A whatever you want policy seems to accomplish this.
10. Joshua actually did wear a Dragon costume and he went trick or treating and had a fun time. In the beginning of  October, I bought Josh a Thomas the Tank Engine Costume. He was so excited about it until we got it home and I tried to put it on him. He wouldn't wear it and said he hated Trick or Treating. Needless to say, I brought the costume back and we just didn't worry about it. On Halloween, I offered him Johnny's old Dragon costume and he put it on. 
11. We dressed Arwen as a baby hobo with a sign that said "will work for candy". She meant it too. Arwen loves sweets!

Thoughtful Thursday: Happy Halloween

 We love Halloween at our House. We love the candy, the trip to the corn maze (forgot the camera) and the trick or treating.

 Rachel the Fairy Witch

 T-rex Joseph

 Ninja Adam

 Hobo Baby Arwen

 Butterfly Anya

 Dragon Josh-- surprise we actually got him to keep a costume on.

 Cat Woman Kate

 Darth Vader Johnny

 And Clara, Dr. Who's assistant

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Management Monday: Drop the Mop

As a mother of many, mops are a complete waste of my time. They do not clean well or thoroughly enough to make the effort worth the outcome.

Instead, I do two things. Every week, I get down on my hands and knees and scrub the floor. That way I can get the corners and the baseboards with ease. I have a very intimate knowledge of every crack and dent int the floor because I get close and personal with it each week. After, I have finished a hands and knees scrub, the floor shines and feels soft and nice underneath my bare feet. There is no dirt lurking in dark places because my fingers can reach into the corners.

I LOVE a clean floor.

In our house, clean floors do not last. After about two to three days, the floor is beginning to look and feel grimy again. A hands and knees scrub of the floor is a real time commitment, so I limit that to once a week. I have another non-mop method that seems to get the floor cleaner than a mop. I mix my bucket of  soapy water, dump it s around the floor, grab a couple of heavy rags and drag them across the floor with my feet. I am actually able to scrub better and quicker by just moving a rag around with my feet than I am with a mop.

Just a little bit of effort at the end of the day makes a big difference on how clean I can keep our floors. And I LOVE clean floors.