Catch up...

I feel like that's all I've been doing lately...catching up.  It's been a pretty crazy month around here.  It started with Clayton transitioning to his new job at Intel.  He's working Monday-Friday now instead of Thursday-Saturday and every other Wednesday.  It's nice to have him home on Saturdays and to get to do things with other people, but I sure do miss having him home that extra day or two a week.  In fact I haven't been grocery shopping in nearly three weeks because I hate taking the kids alone and our Saturdays have been super busy.

This is the first time since Clayton and I got married that he was able to watch all of General Conference.  It was nice to have him around to help with the kids.  I really enjoyed Conference and downloaded all the talks almost immediately.  So many things that I needed to hear...over and over again.  Easter was a lot of fun.  We had the Easter Bunny come Friday night so that we could spend Sunday focusing on the true meaning of Easter.  He sure left a mess this year.  There were Easter Bunny droppings all over the floor.

Did YOU know that the Easter Bunny poops jelly beans?  That's what all of those little dots are all over the carpet.  They are kind of hard to see.  The kids had a lot of fun with their stuff and it kept them occupied for about the first 15 minutes of the Saturday morning session of Conference.  We also had our own little egg hunt in our backyard.  Andrew was going so fast that Luke didn't stand a chance.  We tried leaving one egg empty and were hoping to explain it to Andrew, but he started opening eggs with my grandma and got the empty one and just tossed it to the side and moved on since I hadn't filled in the grandparents on the plan.  Whoops!

Andrew started soccer and has had a great time.  It's been good for him to learn how to play with others and that winning isn't everything.  He already knew all of the kids on his team except two so he's really had fun with that.

I finally caved in and got Luke's hair cut.  I didn't want to cut off all the curls, but his aunt put his hair in pig tails and I decided it was time.  He's still cute, but I feel like I left my baby in the salon and brought home someone else's little boy.  He did really well.  The only things he didn't like were the squirt bottle and the trimmers.

He's still pretty darn cute, don't you think?

I've been preparing for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life in Florence.  I'm looking forward to the even tomorrow night, but it's been a little stressful.  I thought it was going to be raising a little money and doing my share of the walking.  I had no idea what I was getting myself into.  I'm happy I've done it and next year I'll be better prepared!

And to top it all off, both of the boys have been sick this past week.  Luke still isn't feeling great.  And all three of my boys have been fighting allergies all month.  So we've been pretty busy around here.  Hopefully it won't be another month before I post.

Stalled...

So I thought this early morning thing would be great.  What I didn't count on was the fact that the kids would decide they need to get up early, too.  So instead of getting in exercise, I'm having to get them ready to go for the day.  And for Luke especially, it hasn't been good.  He normally sleeps until 8:30am so waking up at 7am, when he's not going to bed any earlier, has made for a very temperamental little boy.  And Andrew seems to be crankier than usual, too.  Hopefully, in a week or two, we'll all adjust and it will work out the way I want.  I think dad used to leave early enough that they were still in a deep sleep.  Now he's late enough that they are hearing him and deciding it's time to rise and shine.  Oh, well.  At least Clayton's alarm isn't waking me up at 4:30am, and 4:37am, and 4:43am.... 

Engines Revved

So Clayton's schedule changed this week.  Since we got married, he's been working Th, F, S and every other W, 6a-6p.  Yesterday he started M-F, 8a-5p.  I've decided to start getting up when he gets up to exercise and get my day going.  We've been a little later than we planned getting up, but it's been so nice to have some time in the morning before the kids wake up for me.  Today, I got in my exercise, sprayed weeds, did the huge pile of dishes we had in the sink, and cleaned the kitchen all before the kids got up.  And I feel revved up and ready to tear through the rest of the day.  Tomorrow, I'm definitely getting up on time so I can get in my exercise and all again.  I think this may just be a good thing.  Even if I'm not a morning person!

“All children need a laptop.  Not a computer, but a human laptop. Moms, Dads, Grannies and Grandpas, Aunts, Uncles— someone to hold them, read to them, teach them.  Loved ones who will embrace them and pass on the experience, rituals and knowledge of a hundred previous generations.  Loved ones who will pass to the next generation their expectations of them, their hopes, and their dreams.”

General Colin L. Powell

A little behind...

And I'm not talking about what I sit on.  ;o)  The past few weeks have been just crazy, hectic.  Clayton's transitioning into a new position at Intel that will change his schedule to M-F.  We have been trying to take full advantage of his few remaining long weekends to get as much done as possible.   Here is some of the fun we've been having though....

Nothing like a little family time to really make a day better.  We've been enjoying the awesome weather in the evenings and eating on the patio and building a fire in the fire pit to roast marshmallows over.

We've also done the marshmallow roasting in pajamas.  The kids love it and we enjoy the time together.

The kiddos decided to dig in the dirt in my planters.  They made a huge mess, but had so much fun that I couldn't get mad.  Needless to say, they went straight into the bathtub when they were done.

Andrew found a hibernating lizard in the sandbox.  He screamed, jumped, then decided it was pretty cool once Grandpa Max washed it off and set it on the blocks to warm up.  The poor thing couldn't move for hours so it just had to deal with all of us staring and poking at it.

So we've been having fun and we are looking for a lot more fun to happen in the future!  Here's hoping I can stay on top of the posting.