Just Living Life

  I like to keep myself busy, and I would rather be outside on an adventure than inside cleaning and cooking.  Our house gets messy very quickly, so I prefer the green grass over crumby floors.  This year has been busy though, and my schedule is a bit more strict than it was last year.  Jason travels a lot, so some days I'm pretty busy from the time I wake my kids for school until I put them to bed. Monday I volunteer at the boy's school every other week.  After school Wesley has violin, then scouts #1, then we rush home, eat dinner, and then I take Chase and Wesley to scouts #2. On Tuesday Blake has speech school in the morning, then I have to pick up Addie (the little girl that I babysit) from her preschool.  After school Wesley has piano at 5:00.  On Wednesday I babysit Addie all day, and Wesley has violin after school at the same time that Chase has piano, so I have to drive back and forth from school and piano for pick ups and drop offs.  Thusrday is my break day - I don't have much going on yet.  Chase will be starting soccer in the spring on Thursdays, but that is a couple months away. On thursday I try to do something fun with Blake, but often use it as a recovery/laundry/cleanup day.  On friday Blake has been going to gymnastics.  He loved it, and was really talented. However,  he recently he has been very opposed to going to his gymnastics class each week so I just canceled his membership.   I will probably sign him up for soccer, or an outdoor sport in the spring. Wesley also was attending ski school on friday which lasted 5 weeks.  This season of life is busy (which I know its just going to get busier the older they get).  We do a lot of waiting in the car, or at a park/school while one brother is in a lesson or activity.  Its so different how busy this time of life is, compared to just a few years ago when I had all my babies at home.   It was a time where I was just trying to keep everyone alive and happy, while trying to keep myself from drowning in the stress of motherhood.  Now, I really have to make sure my children's emotional, physical, intellectual, and spiritual needs are being met. After school is spent trying to make sure homework gets done,  projects get started, piano gets practiced, and reading gets completed.  Plus there are the usual things like parent conferences, doctor/ortho/dentist appointments, school activities, field trips, church callings/actives, concerts/recitals, scout projects, friend birthday parties, and so on. Some things I'm slacking at - I don't work at home with Chase or Blake's speech activities; I usually only make Wesley practice his piano at home, and rarely the violin; I usually make very simple dinners; and the boys take fewer baths then they probably should ha ha ha.  I never wanted to put my boys in a lot of activities, and they really are not in a lot - just scouts and music at the moment, but when each boy is in one or two activities plus school, it feels like our entire evenings are consumed. Luckily though, we still have time for family dinners, and time for fun with friends. I know in a few years it will just get busier, and this year will be very mild in comparison.  Its fun though - I love watching my boys learn and grow and participate in activities that they are passionate about (some more than others).  I need to be kept busy, and this season of life is perfect for that. This life is about growing and experiencing all this world has to offer!

(I have been updating my blog like crazy, so feel free to scroll down to my previous posts.  My goal is to get caught up within the next few weeks). 

Blake has a lot of friends to play with during the day in our neighborhood 

A few weeks after school started, my friend took us to Cowabunga Bay.  I get nervous taking my three kids who don't really know how to swim to these type of places.  However, none of the slides end in a pool, so you don't have to know how to swim to use the slides!  It is very kid friendly (like the entire state of Utah lol), and my boys had a fantastic time.  I was able to put Blake on my lap for some of the bigger slides, so there was a lot of fun for all!

Blake and William at Kangaroo Zoo 

Wesley and Erin having a sleep over 

Sunday afternoon stroll with the neighbor's dog 

Wesley and Chase's non-denominational scout troop is a pretty awesome troop.  They plan really fun activities, and Wesley's den was in charge of planning a carnival for the month's pack meeting.  Wesley helped work the cotton candy machine, and the picture below shows his awesome skills. 

Blake won a game (he cheated a little since he was competing against older kids), and he won a bottle of soda.  This kid was happier than he was on Christmas morning.  He was so proud. To this day, over 7 months later, he still talks about the bottle of soda that he won. 

Wesley's school offers an after school orchestra program, so we bought him an awesome violin (because brown is boring) and signed him up.  It is free, and I am not diligent about practice at all, but its a good introduction to a new instrument, and its a fun experience. 

Blake and Addie having fun at the park when it was nice and warm

 Blake was in love with our neighbor's dog (who has since moved). He would cuddle that dog all day if he could, and sweet little Benson soaked in all of Blake's love.  Blake is my animal lover, and is always "ohhh-ing" and "awwww-ing" over all the animals he sees. 

Watermelon on warm summer afternoons make for some happy little kids! 

Blake at his gymnastic class

exploring a pond on one of our hikes 

 The boys' scout troop helped to set up flags in remembrance of those who died on 9-11.  It was a wonderful and emotional experience.

I love yummy smelling bath bombs

Some days when Jason is away, my sanity depends on sugar, a warm bath, and a good tv show after the boys are in bed

I'm not very good at painting, or furniture remodeling, but I found a hall tree for a really good price, and have always wanted one.  It had really bad damage from the previous owner's dog, but after a few weeks of carefully applying layer after layer of wood putty and many layers of paint, I think it turned out more beautiful than I expected.

My cute little lunch buddy

Blake went through a funny stage where he wanted to smooth out my feet every day.  He was really bothered by my rough feet, and would go upstairs to get the foot smoother, and would carefully get any rough patches off and then put lotion on.  I never told him to do this, but I must admit, I didn't mind one bit! 

Little monkey 

Jason often buys me flowers when he goes shopping at costco, and will have the boys bring them to me.  Its so sweet to see their cute little faces excited to give mommy some flowers