22 February 2015

I am in love with being outside!  The weather has just been fabulous.  Monday Arlo woke up throwing up and he had a nasty fever.  Helen said she wasn't feeling well and when Felicity heard she was the only one going to school she begged to stay home too.  Well, as it turns out, Arlo was the only one genuinely sick.  I worked from home and in the afternoon we went to the pet store.  We have an 80 gallon fish tank, that for the longest time has only had a very small zebra tetra and a plecostomus.  A couple of weeks ago the plecostomus died and the tank was getting a little green.  I don't want to have to scrub it, so we ventured out to get a replacement algae eater.  We got a new pleco and two small koi to help fill the tank.  The kids were really excited to bring their new pets home.

 I was home with Arlo again on Tuesday and worked from home while he laid on the couch.  He was feeling better by Wednesday and I got to go to work.  However, I left early to take Arlo to his referral appointment with the otorhinolaryngist.  I mentioned to his pediatrician in December that Arlo is a very restless sleeper and gasps multiple times an hour in the night, waking him up.  She suggested seeing the ear nose and throat doctor since Arlo's tonsils seemed very large.  Well, the appointment confirmed that and my concerns over Arlo's quality of sleep were also justified.  He essentially has a form of sleep apnea from his over-sized tonsils and adenoids.  We'll be scheduling an appointment for a tonsillectomy soon.  The doctor also said that we may see an improvement in Arlo's behavior as sleep deprivation in children tends to manifest itself as ADD-type behaviors.  I had to rush back to Sahuarita for activity days when we were done, eating dinner in the car on the way.  For activity days we talked about loving service and I taught the girls how to decorate sugar cookies.  It was a lot of fun.

Helen has been taking an after school cooking class once a week and this week she made fun no-bake peanut butter and jelly cookies.  She seems to be enjoying it and I'm glad its something she can do right after school and as soon as the class is over they walk her to the after school program until I can come pick the girls up.  Later in the week we went visiting teaching.  The message this month continued to expound on the attributes of Jesus Christ.  Friday morning I had Arlo's parent-teacher conference.  I'm frustrated, he's become more aggressive in the last few weeks and has been hitting and pushing.  Academically he's doing really well.  He knows all his shapes and colors and recognizes many letters and numbers and recognizes his name.  She says his memory is excellent and he really enjoys science and being read to.  He asks lots of questions and is very attentive when he has a task to complete.  We just need to work on the behavior side of things. 

I went grocery shopping and got my cleaning done on Friday afternoon.  Then I picked the girls up from school and we went to volleyball practice.  I'm proud that Felicity, even though she's not very consistent, is very determined to improve.  She tries hard and that's all I can ask. I wish she was more open to taking direction from me, but I guess we'll work on that over time.  I think she's so afraid of disappointing me it makes her nervous for me to coach her.  After volleyball we had pizza and watched Alice in Wonderland.

Saturday was busy, but very productive.  We all worked together to get the huge mountain of laundry folded and put away.  Then we picked up my dad and went to Felicity's volleyball game. I was filling in for the coach again this week and we had a lot of fun.  The other team was very well matched with ours so all of the girls seemed to have more fun.  We actually won the game too!  That was exciting for me and especially the girls.  We went to Chipotle for lunch when we were done and then headed home.  I had the kids help me trim and rake and clean up the front yard since spring is right around the corner.  I have all the beds in the back yard weeded and cleaned and ready for planting.  I'm excited for my garden again this year  and getting chicks for the coop ( I wish I could hide a goat and pig back there too).  I think I'll be spending time next weekend planting and I would also like to paint the kids swing set and replace some of the broken boards.  I also might paint the chicken coop, we'll just have to see how much daylight I have!

I struggled with Arlo during Sacrament meeting this morning and at one point we had to step out for an attitude recalibration.  He was much better the second half; it's a learning process...for both of us.  He went into Primary much more willingly this week and I hear he did pretty well.  We'll be going to visit my parents later this afternoon.  I love restful Sundays.  I'm grateful for a day to not worry about how much I can get done.  It's nice to reset and be ready for another busy week. I'm grateful for a lot in my life.  I'm grateful for my children, for our health, for our home, for my job, for our family and friends and all the love and support we get each week.  I'm grateful for opportunities to grow and progress and be better.  I'm especially grateful for the gospel and the direction and peace that it gives me.

15 Feburary 2015

We have had such beautiful weather this week that I wish I had more time to be outside!  I was glad to have a week that seemed to be void of the usual obligations that spring up mid week.  Monday, I was able to pick the kids up early from piano and we spent some extra time together doing homework and reading.  Felicity and I finished reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and she loved it.  It was so neat to see her reaction to the things I knew would be a surprise, I love that she’s grown so attached to the characters and anxiously wants to read.   I spent the afternoon quizzing her and making sure she was ready to take the AR test.

Arlo has been having behavior problems at school which is very frustrating.  He can be so off the wall with his behavior.  For weeks after the Christmas break we struggled with relapses in potty accidents and bed wetting, now he’s back to no accidents at all during the day and rarely at night, but he’s struggling with being aggressive at school.  I don’t really understand this new development because he’s never been an aggressive boy.  Most of the time he gets in trouble for running or jumping or throwing; just burning extra energy and having trouble listening, but now I’m getting reports that he’s hitting and kicking and throwing sand.  I almost hate to face the afternoon teachers when I pick him up because I don’t want to hear how naughty he has been.  Monday he had to go to bed right after dinner and miss reading time and a treat because of an incident report that came home.  I want to address the issue now before it becomes a bigger problem.  I have also been rewarding good behavior; we went for ice cream last week when he had a particularly good day.

Tuesday was exciting, Arlo came home with no issues at school, Helen really enjoyed the after school cooking class I signed her up for, and Felicity had passed her AR test with a 95%.  We celebrated by skipping homework and having pizza in the family room and watching the 4^th Harry Potter movie together as a family.  Felicity was SO excited!  There were a few scenes we skipped over as they were a little more intense, but the kids really enjoyed it.  It was straight to bed after the movie as it was 30 minutes past bed time.  We are excited to start Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.  Felicity has also read a few books on her own out of the Magical Tree house series and has been enjoying those.

I wish that I had thought about making the kids valentines a couple of weeks ago, but I didn’t, and there was just no extra time this week, so we addressed the store bought kind and attached candies to them. Felicity also wanted to make a little mailbox to collect hers in.  On Wednesday evening we had family home evening.  We missed it on Monday because Arlo had to go to bed early since he misbehaved at school and I didn't want him to miss FHE.  We had our lesson on the steps of repentance and utilizing the atonement when we make a mistake.  The kids really liked the lesson; we had it on the stair case where I had put markers for each of the steps and some pictures along the wall to illustrate the point.  We went through a couple of scenarios, breaking a window, telling a lie, etc.  and the kids stood on each of the "steps" and told me what they thought they should do.  It was fun.  Afterward we had a pudding treat and played "Don't Eat Pete" with marshmallows.  Arlo seemed very intuitive when it came to which monster was Pete and managed to eat all eight marshmallows on all three of his turns! I was very disappointed when I went to pull up the pictures I took of the evening to find them all black.  I must have had a setting off on my camera.

Thursday was a little hectic as I had volunteered to host a craft night.  So after getting home, getting dinner ready, eaten, and cleaned up, the kids got all cleaned up and in their PJs for early scriptures and bedtime reading.  I put Arlo to bed and let the girls stay up a bit longer to play while I had a couple of friends over to make a burlap Valentine's Day wreath.  We had fun and our wreaths turned out beautifully.

I was grateful when Friday rolled around.  After school we had volleyball practice.  Felicity is doing so well and really enjoying it.  I am happy that she is learning so much.  After practice the kids went with their dad for the weekend and I went for a run and then grocery shopping.  Saturday morning I was up at 4:00 AM and drove to the Mesa temple.  It's early to be up, but I was able to be back home by 11AM which left the whole day ahead of me.  Jan and I went to lunch which was really enjoyable and then I cleaned, did laundry, and made meals for the week.  All the chores pretty much encompassed the rest of my day and I went to bed early.

Sunday was restful and quiet.  I enjoyed my meetings and volunteered to teach the Relief Society lesson as the sister who was suppose to teach had an emergency come up.  I didn't have much time and felt my lesson was a little scattered, but I think we all got something out of it.  It was on joyfully living through troubled times.  I had some personal insight to share and really enjoyed the lesson.  The take away for me was that we are here to be happy and have joy, but trials and troubles are part of life too.  So we need to learn to have joy even when things don't go as planned; sometimes you just have to righteously hang on and wait out the troubled times.  My favorite quote from the lesson was: "We have no cause to really worry. Live the gospel, keep the commandments. Attend to your prayers night and morning in your home. Maintain the standards of the Church. Try and live calmly and cheerfully. … Happiness must be earned from day to day. But it is worth the effort."  I know that that is true.

8 February 2015

Another successful week in the books!  I have gotten through the caffeine withdrawal that I put myself through and had a really good week health-wise.  I found time to run on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.  I also did a great yoga routine on Monday.  As a result I was much more in control when it came to eating.  My body very graciously responded positively and I am yet again headed in the right direction.  As frustrating as it is to know that I'll never be "fixed" and I'll always have to be vigilant to keep my weight in check, I am eternally grateful for a healthy body that loves me back when I show it love.

We had a low-key family home evening on Monday, we talked about Entertainment and Media from the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet which is a topic near to my heart.  We had sugar-free pudding as our treat (the kids didn't know the difference).  Wednesday I got to go into work late so that I could go to the Bobcat assembly at the Sahuarita Intermediate School.  Felicity received the Bobcat of the Month award and I am so proud of her.  She was elated as it was one of her two goals for the school year.  I'm so grateful that she is such a studious, loving, and obedient child.  We had activity days in the evening and Felicity was excited to show me her new music conducting skills.

Friday I worked from home and went for a run mid-day.  About a mile away from home I got a call from the Preschool that Arlo was sick and needed to come home.  He has a pretty unpleasant cold and is very congested.  I felt really badly, here he is dropped off at school sick and I am apparently sitting around at home eating bon-bons and taking an afternoon jog.  I explained that I was working and took my lunch break to run when I got there still in my stretch pants all sweaty and out of breath, but it didn't assuage my guilt.  We had volleyball practice in the afternoon which was fun and then we had pizza and played a trivia game together.

I was up at 6:30 on Saturday morning, that's such a crime!  I don't know if it was the loud children playing in the family room or my sub conscience knowing I had a lot to accomplish, but I was up.  We went grocery shopping and started laundry, then we went to the park so Felicity could practice her serving.  After the park, I dropped Helen and Arlo off with my dad and Felicity and I went to her volleyball game.  I filled in for the coach this week and boy it wasn't a fun game (for me anyway).  Felicity, however, played very well.  Her serving was fairly consistent and she had some good shots make it back over the net, I was a proud mama.  They did lose pretty miserably though.  Afterward, she and I had lunch at Chipotle before picking up Helen and Arlo.  We headed home and I spent the entire rest of my night cleaning, doing laundry, and making meals for the week.  Having all of our meals ready to go has been a huge stress relief during the week when I'm trying to make dinner, help with homework, and monitor piano practice.

We had a very nice Sunday.  Arlo sat through Sacrament meeting pretty well, and I got a report that he was good in Primary which was a relief (I had bribed him with chocolate cake and Nana's).  I substituted for Felicity's class and really enjoyed it, they're a great group of bright eight-year-olds.  We came home and enjoyed some peaceful time together.  We went to Nana and Papa's house to have dinner and celebrate Papa's birthday in the evening, although we didn't get to stay very long. 

There was something that was said in Sharing Time in Primary today that caught my attention.  We were talking about the atonement; something so vast and all encompassing, that I don't know that we will ever fully understand it in this life; its something which I am always learning something new about.  The atonement covers my sins, the effects my sins have on others, the way other's sins affect me, and it also covers the injustices in this life.  I, like most moms, have to tell my children from time to time that life isn't always fair, in fact its rarely fair.  And I, like Alice whilst in wonderland, have to come to the conclusion that I give very good advice, but very seldom follow it, because sometimes I'm overtaken by the feelings of the perceived injustices in my life.  I am so lucky to have a knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and words of comfort at my fingertips.  There were three quotes that came to mind as I sat here tonight feeling this weight and its these thoughts that I'll end this weeks post:

"The Lord compensates the faithful for every loss. That which is taken away from those who love the Lord will be added unto them in His own way. While it may not come at the time we desire, the faithful will know that every tear today will eventually be returned a hundredfold with tears of rejoicing and gratitude." Joseph B. Wirthlin Come What May, and Love It

"Often the deep valleys of our present will be understood only by looking back on them from the mountains of our future experience. Often we can’t see the Lord’s hand in our lives until long after trials have passed. Often the most difficult times of our lives are essential building blocks that form the foundation of our character and pave the way to future opportunity, understanding, and happiness." Dieter F. Uchtdorf Continue in Patience

"Even if you cannot always see that silver lining on your clouds, God can, for He is the very source of the light you seek. He does love you, and He knows your fears. He hears your prayers. He is your Heavenly Father, and surely He matches with His own the tears His children shed." Jeffrey R. Holland An High Priest of Good Things to Come

1 February 2015

I have been “off” for a few weeks now.  I’ve had a hard time getting motivated in the morning and go to bed exhausted.  I think a big part of it has been tied to my physical well being.  Back toward the beginning of October some girlfriends and I finished up a healthy living challenge; I was down to my lowest weight yet and ran a ½ marathon the weekend that the challenge ended.  The week following the challenge I took the kids on vacation to Disneyland and told myself I could take a week off and eat what I wanted, I was on vacation after all.  Well, that week turned into a couple, then it was “I’ll get back on track after all the Halloween candy is gone”, then it was “with my birthday and thanksgiving coming up, I’ll just get serious in December”, then it was “it’s the holidays, everyone starts over January 1^st”.  When January first came and went and January 2^nd caught me eating whatever and not exercising I realized I had a problem.  I had gained back 20 pounds and felt rather lousy.  Let me caveat by saying I’m a food addict.  That’s the root of my problem.  I eat when I’m stressed, I eat to relax, I eat past being full, I eat things that don’t particularly taste good.  An open bag of chips or cookies is an empty bag.  Case in point, Monday, I bought girl scout cookies for FHE and then had to postpone FHE to Tuesday because I ate the whole box between dinner and Family Home Evening.

This week I’ve been trying to focus on a few healthy habits at a time so as to not become overwhelmed and become frustrated.  My goal is get back on track in the next two weeks and be at my goal weight by May 31^st.  Wish me luck! 

On Monday I went into work late so that I could go for a run after getting the kids off to school.  It set the tone for a fairly good day (with the exception of the Samoa incident).  I had an appointment to donate blood at work around lunchtime.  I figure donating blood is an easy way for me to help someone in need.  I’ve donated blood several times and rarely have any trouble.  The phlebotomist and I both commented on what nice veins I have and then she proceeded to miss said vein.  She had to reposition a bit and then after only a few minutes the donation slowed way down so she readjusted again, and again.  I won’t gross you out with all the details, but after 20 minutes she finally just had to pull the needle out and call it done, even though I hadn’t completed my pint.  I have a very painful bruise to show for my altruism!

Tuesday morning I popped in to see the orthodontist for my six week check up.  While I was there I paid off the remaining balance of my account and was pleasantly surprised to hear him say that I was one or two more visits (6-12 weeks) away from having my braces removed!  Happy day!  In the evening we had FHE and strawberry short cake.  

Wednesday and Thursday were pretty low key, thankfully.  Helen's reading has really improved and Arlo got a treat on Thursday for being good at school all day.  Also by Thursday the fog that I had been living in started to lift and I was feeling positive and more in control.  That's a good feeling.  Friday Helen had crazy hair day at school and Felicity had PJ day.  I braided Helen's hair the night before so that it would be "curly" for school.  After work I picked up the kids and we went to volleyball practice.  Luckily it was inside as it had been raining all day.  Their dad came to pick them up after that and I went grocery shopping and then home to do laundry.

Saturday morning I got up early (4:00 AM) and went to the Gilbert temple.  It's funny that I had described feeling the fog lift earlier in the week because the drive to the temple was VERY foggy, to the point where I could only see 25 yards or so in front of me at a time and had zero visibility of what was off the road.  As I got into Gilbert, however the fog was less dense.  I was done with the temple at 9AM and the drive home was pretty treacherous with the continued rain, saturated roads and shoulders, and low visibility.  I did make it home where I took a 30 minute nap and then tackled the cleaning and prepping the coming week's meals.  I went for a run in rain and then went to the movies in the evening.  I saw The Imitation Game and enjoyed it quite a bit.  

It's been a quiet Sunday.  I miss my kids.  It's hard sometimes not to be discouraged.  I remind myself that we all have challenges and struggles, some seen, many unseen.  That accepting and moving past disappointment is part of the process whereby we grow and progress.  I'm trying to figure out what I can do now that I couldn't do in any other stage of life or situation and do that.  I'm trying to find ways to be an influence for good in the world.  I'm trying to appreciate the rain, and most days I do.