Our Spring Break

FIVE weeks! The countdown is on.  We only have 5 weeks until our school year is over and we get to sleep in, play outside, go fun places, and just enjoy being together.  I can't wait! 

Spring break was a small glimpse of what our summer will be like.  We were able to relax, spend time with friends, and do some crafting.  In fact, after spring break, Bailey said, "Mommy, we haven't done a craft in DAYS. I'm dyin' here!" LOL! That kid.... Normally she's so literal, so her exaggeration cracked me up.  I told her the other day that Yaya (my mom) had to get rid of her wash machine because it was on it's last leg.  She said, "What happened to the other legs?" See? Literal.  :)

Spending time as a family is my favorite thing in the world.  During spring break, we embraced our location and decided to do something we have wanted to do for a loooong time.  We went from the snow to the sand in one week.  It was wonderful!! We were afraid we had missed the snow completely this year but we got an extra dose of cold rain (which equals snow for the mountains) the weekend before our break.  Most of it had melted away by the time we got there, but we did find a few patches left, and it was perfect for sledding.  

The sledding path started out pretty bumpy but we wore it down quickly!

Bailey was so excited to sled with daddy.  We almost had a crisis because we couldn't find the "purple" hat that she got for Christmas.  Thankfully the extra red one I packed worked just fine.  

This face cracked us up.  We thought she was having a blast, but the pictures tell a different story.  

The look of terror says it all. :)

I got all 3 to stop moving for a few seconds to grab this picture.  The rock behind them is the famous Taquitz Rock.  People climb it.  Crazy people.  I'd rather take pictures of it. :)

Bailey decided that sledding with mommy was much more her pace.  She also made snowballs (in the loosest sense of the word) and threw them at her sisters.  

Skylar is our little daredevil and couldn't get enough of the downhill speed.  In fact, I caught a picture of her going down the hill....with just her elbow on the board.  Talk about flying! She also loved sledding with daddy and crashing at the end.  

Love her rosy little cheeks after working hard to get back up the hill!

She's looking more and more like a little girl...and not a toddler.  Bittersweet to say the least.  

Reagan is usually our cautious one so we were thrilled that she went down the hill as many times as she did.  She and Skylar also decided to go without the sled and just slide on her behind at the end.  Thank the Lord for stain remover. :)

After a snack, we found the purple hat in the van! She was a happy kid!!

The girls all slept great and we made some wonderful memories. Success! Four days later we were off to the beach....

It was a little chilly when we got there. 

This kid is impervious to cold.  She didn't even wait to get her bathing suit on before heading into the water.  

She was soaked up to her sweatshirt in about 12 seconds. 

Bailey showing us how big the waves are!

Bailey didn't get to make snow angels up in the mountains, so she decided to make some sand angels.

Brian took Skylar and Bailey out on the surfboard for the first time.  Bailey caught a wave pretty quickly and LOVED it! Skylar (who was the most excited) got knocked off the board pretty quickly and has decided she doesn't like surfing.  But how cool are those birds behind her? :)

We chased a lot of these guys....

Reagan was our sandcastle builder.  I love that her hair starts to curl up as soon as we hit the ocean air.

And just to prove that I was there... :)

We gathered LOTS of shells! (I think that's a rule when you go to the beach as a child).

The girls did a lot of running from the waves. Then they decided to take on the waves together.  

One of my favorite pictures ever...

I don't think I could love these girls any more!

Spring break was great...but bring on the summer!!

Rainbow Brite

We've had a busy few weeks here so I'm trying to catch up! Skylar and Bailey's birthdays are close so we usually do a joint celebration.  I'm trying to get away with that as long as I can until they start requesting separate parties and wanting to invite their own friends (instead of just our family and family friends).

We do something special on their "actual" day with just our family.  This year Skylar requested a princess cake.  With sprinkles.  Lots of sprinkles.  

Bailey requested cupcakes and a movie.  

I love their simple requests.  :) 

For their party, we did a rainbow theme.  What little girl doesn't love rainbows? Remember Rainbow Brite? :) It was a fun theme and the girls LOVED all the color.  

Rainbow fruit kabobs (made by my mom)....

Rainbow bundt cake (with rainbow sprinkles)...

Rainbow partyware (and rainbow snacks of course)

And rainbow tissue pompoms

The girls had a wonderful party! 

Now on to Reagan's birthday.  Whose idea was it to have these birthdays so close?? :)

Best laid plans

"We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps." Proverbs 16: 9

I need to remember that verse more often.  I had the best laid plans.  My plans.  I was going to spend time while Skylar was at school getting stuff ready for her room re-do.  Then, my parents were going to take her for a couple days so we could do the install.  Then, after she got home, she would squeal and shriek and I would write a nice long makeover post! Then we would make lots of homemade goodies for her birthday; have a party at the park with her classmates; I was going to speak at a board meeting for our school; I was going to wrap up my women's book study I was leading; and then I would leave for the weekend so I could bond and learn with my fellow church board members.

It didn't go that way.

Skylar got Croup two and a half weeks ago.  So she was home from school.  She's now had croup twice in her life.  Both in the last couple months.

Then we all 5 got hit with an intestinal bug.  More missed school.  More time spent NOT preparing items for the room.

Then we were all healthy (yay!), only to have Skylar get the full blown flu the day she was supposed to leave and hang out with my mom for a couple days.  My mom took her anyway (rockstar grandma!!), and they just watched movies.  I worked to get the last few errands in and sewing. The next day Brian cleared her room, we painted, and I tried to finish up some sewing.  Then it hit me.  The flu.  The bad, body aching, high fever, coughin up a lung, can't-stand-upright, flu.

I did my best to help Brian finish up her room, but then I was done.  For the next 5 days.  In that time it also hit Brian, and then Bailey.  Reagan has thus far avoided it (and praying she stays immune!), but she did call my mom at one point and BEG her to come over because there was no one to feed them.  Ha! Rest assured we were feeding the children.  But it was easy stuff like cereal and soup, so we were incredibly grateful that my mom answered the call and came to take care of all of us!!

Skylar loves her new room and it was a great surprise, but it certainly wasn't as I imagined it would be.  I didn't get to finish up my book study. I didn't get to speak at a board meeting for our school.  I didn't get to go away for the weekend with my fellow church board members.  We didn't have a party at the park and I didn't make any homemade goodies.  But life went on.  Other people spoke in my place.  My lovely fellow board members went without me.  My middle baby turned 6.

We're all on the road to recovery but this bug is wretched.  I had the best laid plans.  But the Lord has greater plans.  I'm speaking at church on Monday night so maybe He knew I needed to have some extra time to prepare.  Whatever it is, I need to remember that His plans are best.

In the meantime, here are some snaps from my cell phone.  I would still like to do a whole room re-do post in the future.  For now, this is my best. :)

Our sweet Skylar the morning of her birthday (yesterday).  My mom got her a beautiful princess gown.  It was instant love! 

Skylar's first day back to school after being sick.  How fun that it was her birthday! :) Her class is singing to her while she wears the "birthday hat." 

We were blessed with awesome weather for her birthday, so she played outside with the dogs.  This one is my parents dog.  :) She's the most "willing" to go along for a ride.  Notice the sparkly princess shoes.

A "before" shot of Skylar's room.  We had a beach theme beforehand.  I have other pics before it was cleared, but I'll save those for the longer post.  

And AFTER! We did two colors of pink on the walls; I made a fabric banner, tissue pom poms, a rag quilt for her bed, and a new bedskirt.  This is a shot from standing in her doorway looking in.

Another shot from inside her room. 

Most importantly, she loves it.  She had a good birthday and we're all getting healthier.  Thank the Lord for that!

i

There has been some talk lately about what the next generation will be named.  It seems that there's a "letter" trend since the induction of my own generation: Generation X.  Following us was Generation Y.  So, I guess it seems fitting that some would recommend the title Generation Z for the current generation.  I don't agree.  I've given some thought to it, and I would like to submit my suggestion: The "i" generation.

There's the obvious connotation of the tech gadgets that begin with "i" like the iphone, ipod, ipad, itouch, etc. Kids are familiar with each of them; often owning one themselves (at ages FAR too young in my honest opinion).  It's also slightly morbid, but mostly befitting, that the Apple mogul died during this generation.  He is now idolized (another "i") and revered more than ever before.

There are some words with "i" that we hear frequently now: imagine, ideals, increase, identity, ideology, immersion, immediate, immunizations, IQ, Iditarod (ok, just making sure you're still paying attention).  Any one of these can be spun into a description for the future of our children.  

But it goes much farther than that.  For me, one of the strongest arguments is for the "i" to stand for "ironic." We're getting so advanced in our technology that we can see people across an ocean and speak to them in real time.  We can text and it takes mere seconds to reach someone.  We're more "in touch" than ever before.  Yet, look around.  If you go to a restaurant, people aren't talking to the ones at their own table.  They're texting, or facebooking, or emailing people at a distance.  The "i" can also be for "internet".  Are they still calling it that these days? I can't keep up.  I still say w-w-w dot when giving a web address.  Silly me.  But the older I get, the more pessimistic I get about the direction we are headed.

I've been noticing for a while that parents are giving small children technology to keep them quiet instead of teaching them to be social or occupy themselves without a movie or game.  I'm amazed at the 3 year olds that are allowed to run around with an ipad.  I certainly wouldn't hand my daughter five $100 bills and let her run around with them!  She hid my keys in the toybox once and I couldn't find them for 36 hours.  She's not to be trusted.

The "i" can also be a capital "I."  We're raising a selfish generation, because that's what we're modeling.  I've already read a handful of articles that talk about parents needing to put their phones down and pay attention to their children.  How sad that our children are not a priority! Have we forgotten that "Children are our heritage and a blessing from the Lord"? (Psalm 127:3).

How great would it be if we could flip that "i" into something positive? If this is the generation my children will be part of, I want to show them that their ancestors didn't have it all wrong.
I want them to be part of the "I can still sit and write a letter" generation; or the "I would love to have a conversation with you" generation; or the "I believe that God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow" generation.  Better yet, let's call it the U generation.  I love YOU because Christ loved YOU. How can I serve YOU? What can I do to help YOU? YOU are important! YOU matter.

Imagine that.  

The wheel

I was reading my last post and had to laugh.  SO, now it's FEBRUARY?! Where did January go? I'm sure I'll get to December and be saying the same thing.  :)  I told Brian last week that I feel like I'm on a hamster wheel.  I'm in constant motion.  I can't imagine how it is for families with kids involved in sports and lots of activities.  All we have is piano for Reagan and the rest is just "stuff" that keeps us (me) busy.

I'm leading a book study for the ladies at our church on Thursday nights.  It's been neat to see other married ladies come together and work hard to bless their husbands.  We're also planning a women's retreat, a training weekend, and leadership meetings.  It's fun to work for the Lord, but it certainly is work! The rewards are the best pay there is though. :)

We're still in limbo on our school situation for next year.  I'll just leave it at that.

In the midst of of our busyness, we have a special birthday coming up.  When we moved into our house, Skylar was only 3.  She didn't get to choose what her bedroom looked like.  So a while back she asked if she could ever "re-do" her room.   As a surprise to her, she is getting a room makeover.  I'll be sure to post before and after photos.  I'm so excited for her to see all the fun (PINK!) things for her room!!

We're also getting in to the gardening season around here.  Our yard still needs a lot of work, but we've been adding fruit trees here and there, and we're getting ready to plant our veggies for spring/summer. The girls look forward each year to the planting process.  I look forward to the "fruits" of our labor.

Oh, and I finally downloaded all of our pictures.  Here's a glimpse into our last few weeks.

Field Trip to the LegoLand SeaLife Aquarium

She makes the funniest faces!

My pile of squares for Skylar's quilt

That's Skylar at the top.  She's nearly fearless.

Our tissue paper flowers for Valentine's Day.  Placed in a painted jar, courtesy of pinterest.  

I'm newly addicted.  

Making candles for our "liquids and solids" homeschool project

Our pretty little tangerine tree!

See you in March.  Just kidding.  Kind of.  Back to my wheel. :)

Simply

It's January? Can we just pretend it's still December and I'm better about updating our blog? :)

Actually, I'm ok with being silent around here because it usually means I'm spending some quality time with my family. At least once a day I think "I should blog about that." But at night, the motivation is gone.

We had a great Christmas break with the girls! As the girls get older, the festivities just get more and more fun.  We made lots of Christmas crafts, did lots of Christmas baking, and just enjoyed being together as a family.  The girls have inherited my appreciation of watching Christmas movies in jammies, with a fire in the fireplace, and having just the lights of the tree on. I was going to post pictures from Christmas, thinking it was the least I could do.  But I haven't even downloaded our Christmas pics yet.  So, I guess THIS is the least I can do. :)

After New Year's, we hit the ground running.  Most of the time it feels like a sprint to the end of the day.  I've taken on more leadership roles at church and the school, as well as continuing with homeschool projects, fixing up things around the house, and just doing the day-to-day stuff.

With all the busyness, I crave order and simplicity.  I get into a purging mood at the beginning of each new year.  I'm learning that the purging can also mean activities.  I'm learning to say no.  I have no trouble saying "no" to my children, but I have trouble saying "no" to others.  I want to be involved. I want to be helpful.  Above all though, I need to remember that my priorities should be: God, family, others; in that order.  I'm praying that the Lord continues to show me areas that can be rearranged (or eliminated) to keep my priorities in the right place.  

I suppose you can call that a resolution.  I'm going to call it a goal.  :)  I want to reach the end of 2012 and feel like I did my best to keep things from turning upside down.

Will you help keep me accountable?

As a sidenote: There's a free kindle book on amazon right now that talks about simplifying your life.  It's right here.  And if you don't have a kindle, just download the kindle app to read books on your computer.

Take a hike!

It's good for the soul....
We just took the girls on a hike in the hills behind our house.  The sunshine, fresh air, and family time were just what I needed.

At the entrance to the trail

We found a few sticks....

The girls and Brian looking at animal tracks

Skylar saved a piece of dried mud :)

Then, the sticks turned into baseball bats...

That little tiny person is Skylar

This girl...sometimes it feels like she's turning 15 instead of 9.

A few of the tracks we found....we guessed they were coyote prints

These look much more like mountain lion prints...

Reagan's favorite.

The loves of my life.