Painted Desert

What a whirlwind week!  I have been terrible at taking photos the past couple of weeks.  Lets see...Jeff went back to school on Monday which meant I started my school schedule.  I am working 5AM-2PM which means I have to go to bed at 8PM to get up at 4AM.  It's nice and quiet for the first few hours of work, so I get a lot done without being interrupted.  Jeff's schedule isn't too bad.  He's home by four on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

I continued running this week and continue to break my own records.  This week I ran my fastest mile and my fastest 5K.  I actually ran the entire 3.1 miles without any walking and I felt so strong at the end; I probably could have gone further.  Now that I'm starting to get the distance down, I'm working on pace.  I also lost 4 pounds this week and am feeling rather unstoppable!

Arlo has starting pulling up on things.  It's so irritating, I just want him to crawl for awhile, is that too much to ask?  His favorite things, aside from anyone sitting on the floor, to scale is the first two steps onto the landing, and the motor casing for my treadmill.  The other day, he got on top of the casing and then looked around like, what do I do now?

Felicity continues to enjoy school and re-started piano lessons this week.  Helen has enjoyed going to the babysitter's and having a new playmate.

We had a very productive weekend.  It was my Friday off, so after Visting Teaching in the morning Jeff and I drove into Tucson to Civano Nursery and bought two new trees to replace the ones that died a couple of years ago in our front yard.  I'm glad we were on a mission and needed to be back before the bus came, otherwise I may have spent hours out there and spent a lot more money than was intended.  We got a dessert willow and a Chillean Mesquite hybrid (thorn-less).  We planted those when we got home and then had games with the Bryson's after dinner.

Saturday morning we pulled weeds and trimmed in the front yard.  We cleaned the house as a family, which is always more fun than me doing it by myself.  Then we went to Home Despot to get some bolts to fix my bench, and new valve for our drip system.  Then the traditional Saturday trip to Wal-Mart, then grocery shopping.  I cleaned and put the first coat of paint on my new fountain, Jeff hung my new porch swing, and hung a new fan in the girls' room.  I planted some ruella in the front yard and a moss rose in a container in the back.  In the evening we got a weeks worth of lunches prepared (so the kids can pack their own lunches in the morning), and the weeks dinners prepped (to make things easier on this exhausted Mama).  We were pretty tired by the end!

We're having a really restful and enjoyable Sunday before it all starts over again on Monday!

Citrine

I think this will be a pretty short entry for the week as I don't recall anything of significance happening.  I was very busy at work and it was Jeff's last week of summer vacation as he goes back to school tomorrow.

Felicity is enjoying first grade and loves that she has official homework now.  We are reading The Secret Garden together in the evenings and she is really liking that too.  I ask her questions before we start a new chapter, as we are reading, and at the end to gauge her comprehension and she seems to really understand what we're reading.  Helen is loving the play kitchen that she got for her birthday (remember the one I got at the thrift store for $10) along with some other new things.

This was Jeff's last week working Saturdays for the estate sale company and he brought me home a porch swing.  I'm really looking forward to enjoying it when it gets a little cooler.

I've continued running on the treadmill this week and must admit that I am really enjoying it.  I think I'm becoming addicted to that feeling of accomplishment when I'm finished.  I'm using an application on my phone that tracks duration, distance, pace, etc.  It gives me feedback along the way and lets me know when I've beaten a personal best.  To be honest, I didn't know how far a 5K was until I set a personal best for the 5K.  In 10 runs I've run 28 miles and burned 4,528 callories.

Speaking of phones, Jeff and I upgraded our phones this week.  I got an achievement award at work a couple weeks back and we decided to use the bonus on new phones and I couldn't be happier!  Its fun to get a new toy every now and again.

Peridot

Man I felt great this week!  Felicity had her first day of first grade on Monday and had a wonderful time.  We picked out her clothes and laid them out the night before.  I didn’t end up buying her anything new because almost everything from last year still fit, and she is not hard on her things.  We had breakfast and I did her hair.  We drove to the school and she held daddy’s hand as we walked to the playground.  We took some pictures and she was ready for us to go.  It’s a little bittersweet to see my baby really growing up.  We’re proud of how intelligent and compassionate she is, we are amazed at her confidence and courage. We’re also a little sad to realize just how short a time we will have with her as a child.  In only two years she’ll be baptized, double her life so far and she’ll be starting young women’s, in only ten years she’ll be driving.  In as many years as it has been since I graduated high school (which doesn’t feel like it’s been that long), she’ll be graduating from high school.  It really is true that it goes by quickly, but I’m not going to worry about tomorrows, I’m going to enjoy today.

With Felicity back in school we’ve had more structure to our lives.  I am a check list and schedule kind of girl.  I am a thousand times more likely to complete something if it’s on a checklist somewhere.  Schedules make me feel safe and organized.   The structure has afforded me time in the evenings to get my exercise done.  I’m starting to enjoy it more as I’m able to go farther, longer, and faster; there’s something empowering about feeling strong.

Arlo continues to make us love him more and more.  His babbling now really includes some things that sound like real words.  First thing in the morning over the baby monitor he repeats da-da, da-da, ma, ma, hoping that someone will hear his cries and come get him up.  I’m going to reserve the right to say that he’s not using words yet, mostly because I would have to admit that his first word was officially dad!  He is now completely weaned, only taking a bottle and eating from the table now.  It’s a little sad that I won’t get as much cuddling time, he just wants to be down on the floor exploring, he can take his bottle with him.

On Thursday we went to the parent night at the school and got to know Felicity’s new teacher a little better.  She, Helen, and Arlo went to McDonald's with Nana.  Felicity's teacher seems nice and I think Felicity will have a great year.

Off Friday!  I love being off every other Friday! After I got Felicity off to school Jan and I went into Tucson and had breakfast at the Good Egg (yum!) and then we went to the thrift.  We didn't have a lot of time as I had an appointment to get Arlo's pictures taken at the mall at 11.  But Jan found some things and I bought an awesome play kitchen for Helen's birthday for only $10!  It was in perfect condition too.  We took Arlo to the mall and he was such a shining star at his photo shoot.  We got some really cute pictures of him, this is such a great age for photos!

Friday night, I finished up Helen's cake, a Scooby Doo cake, and we went to Peter Piper Pizza to celebrate.  The kids had a blast.  They really love that dumb place, but I get sick every time I eat there.  I thought it was maybe the grease or the cheese so, and to also appease my new healthy eating lifestyle, Jeff ordered me a medium pizza that was thin crust with veggies, no cheese.  There wasn't a spot of grease.  I had a side salad and a drink with two slices of it, and still ended up sick!  And I mean "pull to the side of the road Jeff, I'm going to hurl" sick.  Maybe we'll do Chuckey Cheese next time, meh.

We're just headed into the home stretch of the year loving life and each other, we hope everyone else is doing the same!

Carnelian

This last week of summer went really quickly.  Jeff was busy with school and I was busy with work and I feel like we only saw each other maybe an hour or two a day.  I’m looking forward to getting back to a better defined schedule, but I can’t believe Felicity will be having her first day of first grade on Monday.  Where has the time gone?

I did get back to exercising consistently this week which felt really good.  The treadmill is my enemy, but if it’s the enemy I have to go through to get the results I want, it’s the enemy I’m willing to face.  I felt a little stronger every day.  The kids are such a great support system too, they’ve been asking for salads at dinner time and enjoy doing aerobics, Pilates, and yoga right along with me.  I’ve been “running” every morning which right now consists of walking for 90 seconds, running for 60 seconds and repeating until I’ve hit the 20 minute mark.  It equates to only 8 minutes of actually running and about 1.25 miles; its small, but it’s something.  Then in the evening I will do some resistance/weight training, and then either Pilates, yoga, or aerobics. .

Little Arlo has felt much better this week and is crawling!  He is very determined and is so pleased with himself; and the mommy stress starts in earnest now.  We pulled out the baby gate because, of course, he makes a bee line for the top of the stairs.  The bathroom and the girl’s room are also on the list of most interesting places to try to get into.  I have a feeling he’ll crawl for quite awhile before he’s ready to pull up on things and begin walking, but we’ll just have to wait and see.  The girls walked at 10 months, but Arlo historically has been just behind them.  He’ll be 8 months old in the coming week and as quickly as it has gone, I feel like he’s always been with us; I can’t imagine our life without him.

Helen "cleaning her room"

I feel bad for Helen.  Felicity is getting ready to go back to school and there are not really any new adventures just on the horizon for Helen.  Because of Jeff’s school schedule and thus our need for child care, the Early Childhood Center was not going to be an economically viable solution for us.  Helen and Arlo will be with Jeff in the morning and then go to a friend’s house until I can get home from work.  We will go out of our way to make sure she does get a pre-school experience in the spring so that she’s ready for kindergarten next fall.  I did make sure to buy her a new lunch box and water bottle so that she didn’t feel so left out.  She will get her moment in the spotlight next weekend as it is her 4^th birthday.

Jeff worked on Saturday and I cleaned the house from top to bottom so that it’s not on the forefront of my mind as I listen to how Felicity’s day at school went and start homework.  We had dinner out and enjoyed some rain.  The garden has finally sprung back from the midsummer slump and we harvested several bell peppers, green chilies (can’t wait to roast them for tamales in September), and cucumbers (which I’ll be making pickles from).

Felicity is the best big sister

We had a very nice Sabbath.  Helen gave the scripture in primary; she needed help as we had not done our job in prepping her.  We had breakfast for dinner and you would have thought the kids had died and gone to Heaven, who knew.  We had pancakes with strawberries and bananas, hash browns, scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, and toast.  Before bed it was time for Felicity’s back-to-school Father’s blessing (click to learn more about a Father's blessing).  I think she’s ready for first grade!

Felicity and Daddy before receiving her back to school blessing