Has it really been

5 months since my last post? I guess so. I sorta lost my purpose in having this blog. Sure, it helps me connect (a little one-sided) with friends and family from a distance. Sure, it gives me a sense of being by announcing my doings, thoughts, feelings, and life to anyone. Sure, it will make a decent family photo journal if I ever get around to Blurb it.

Although each of those has been a reason and a purpose in the past, I've lost a little of that purpose recently. So until I find it again, I will probably post randomly and sporadically. And those who really care the most to follow my insignificant life will keep reading...I love you and appreciate each of you who takes the time out of your busy lives to reconnect with me and my busy-ness.

There you have it...me being transparent about my blog.

Colden, Dylan, Timmy (cousin), and Evelynn sporting the capes Auntie Sarah made them.
December 31, 2011, in Burney, CA.

Super Spencer!!

And while I'm at it...being honest with myself and others...I'm going to share my goals for 2012. I haven't thought them through yet, so we'll see what I come up with.

1. Be better at following through with things I say I'll do. I'll admit it. Sometimes I'm a flake. It's awful, really, to be a flake. The thing is I'll be really committed and driven to do things that are really important to me. But I'll be a bit flakey about other things. It does bother me, and I'm sure my flakiness has bothered other people...especially those who I've flaked out on. So I'll try to be better about understanding something before I commit and sticking it out to the end once I do commit. And anyone is welcome to call me out on it. I'll appreciate the "reminder."

Colden & Dylan playing with the Bubble Wall at the Exploratorium in San Francisco.
December 28, 2011

2. Be a better leader for the children in my congregation. I've been Primary President for 1 1/2 years...and I totally can provide better leadership, especially to the Cub Scout program (so far, I've been really good at delegating that!). I'm learning A LOT about good, effective leadership. Sometimes, trusting others (delegating) is the best way to go. But other times, it is best to be more involved so the people you lead realize that what they are doing is important to you.

3. Be a better wife and mother. I'm always working on those things. Those are most important to me...but I sure can improve a lot.

The handsomest big guy and little guy in the world. I'm so blessed!
December 25, 2011

4. Be a better person and friend. I'm reading Dale Carnegie's book, "How to Win Friends and Influence People." I hope it will be a life-changing book and help me have better relationships with people. Even though it's not a religious book, it's very Christ-like in that he essentially says that we need to focus on others more instead of ourselves. Dale studied successful people throughout the ages...which helped him come to his conclusions that he wrote about.

5. This is related to #1. Follow through better with the promptings the Spirit gives me. I think the number one person I flake out on is God. I've felt Him encouraging me to grow and stretch myself a lot over the last few years (or shall I say my life?). I'm starting to get complacent with the little bit of growth I've done in the last year...but I know He wants me to go further. The best thing about God is that although He knows our potential and expects so much out of us, He lets us grow at our own pace. I just know that He would like me to pick up the pace a little...but I also feel like He's not going to push me like He has done in the past. He wants me to want to do it. So I need to do the things He has asked me to do and not flake out on Him.

So Much Love

As the 4th kid, Spencer gets all kinds of attention from everyone. Oh, he is adored! So, he doesn't have very many pictures of him and only him. But it sure makes me happy to see all that lovin!

8 days old


4 days old with Nana
Nana also gave him his first bath, and he cried the whole time!

2 weeks old...everyone can't get enough of him!

3 weeks old with Grandma Ruth

First smile caught on camera! One month!

2 months old! So big already!

3 1/2 months old...now he loves his baths!

3 1/2 months old...my buddy and me!

My little royal bunch...July 11. Aren't they so precious?

Time Flies!

Towards the end of our Phoenix Zoo trip on July 22, Spencer wasn't particularly enjoying the heat nor the stroller...but I just love a little crying photo!
Spencer at 3 months:
He weighed about 13 lbs. He's generally a really great baby...he only cries when he's tired or hungry or lonely (aka not being held). He sleeps well and eats well (wakes up about once a night now)...and he's all smiles! He doesn't like to sit much or lay down because he prefers to stand, with help. I just love everything about him! And now that I KNOW how fast the time flies, I just try to scoop up all his baby deliciousness whenever I can. We love to coo at each other and just stare in each others' eyes. He just adores everyone in his family. He's pretty good in his car seat as long as he has his brothers making faces at him from the back seat. If they're not there, he's not so happy. Just last Sunday, he was given a name and a blessing by his incredible daddy. (Pictures and more about that later.)

It was really difficult for me to gear up for my 4th pregnancy. I was finally getting my body in shape and I was happy to have kept a decent figure for about a year. I was enjoying a mind that could actually think straight and a household that was running decently. I still had a lot of marketing to do for Rob's business (still do) and I just had accepted a leadership calling in our ward (still have it, although I keep submitting my own name for other callings...the Bishop just isn't getting the hint). I was gearing up for our first official homeschool year. Life was busy (still is). But I just knew it was time to bring another little spirit into our family.
It took awhile, but I had to turn my thoughts around. Instead of thinking of pregnancy and the "4th trimester" of recovery as a wasted year of my life, I started to look at it as a sacrifice for something more valuable than a year of my life...a child. Also, this is the time of my life when I can bear children. Even if it's not convenient, once I'm older, I just won't have the option anymore. My shape will come and go, Rob's business is only until retirement, but creating another life is everlasting. It's eternal. And being sealed, I pray that our family will always be together. It was thoughts and realizations like those that helped me gear up for being pregnant again.

The pregnancy, like always, was not fun. And not just for me (you know...when momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy). But, and I knew this would happen, once he came into our lives, I couldn't imagine our family without him. We all adore our little Spencer! A little Colden look-alike. I'm excited to be his mom and to take a front seat in watching him grow and--become.

Look who's 3!!

I can't believe how quickly my baby girl is growing up!
Well, having another baby really makes my other babies so much bigger.
{sigh}

For Evelynn's birthday, we made birthday pancakes since our waffle iron broke.
After church, we shared a pizza dinner and birthday cake at her cousins' house.
She wanted a purple guitar cake...and I was able to deliver!
On Monday, she requested that we go bowling.
We got there late and bowled until way-past bedtime, but she had a blast!
I tried to upload a video of her darling dancing, but it didn't work.

My dear Evelynn:
I sure love my little girl! I love your energy, your smile, your spunky choice of style. When you look up at me with your beautiful eyes, my heart just melts.
You're 3! Every day is an adventure! You love Kung Fu, hiking, your brothers, teasing your brothers, but not being teased, your new bike, taking baths at least every day, swimming, doing things all by yourself, setting the table, helping me with my chores (sometimes), Nursery, "school" on the computer, drawing, stickers, shopping (that's my girl), baking, friends, running, jumping, screaming, watering the garden, music, dancing, reading books...anything!
One of my favorite things about you is how much you just love LIFE and how much you love being YOU. Just by being you, you bring so much joy to other people. So many people tell me how much they enjoy being with you. And strangers are always telling me how darling you are. It's in your bright eyes, your ready smile, your little energetic body.
Keep smiling, sweetie. I love you!
Mom

Bliss

Sitting here with my newborn asleep in my arms, listening to I'm Yours.
It's a lovely way to spend an evening.

Randomness of 2011, Thus Far

Isn't it awesome to see those days tick down? I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions a lot lately. Keep working...let's get this baby here soon! I'm so ready to be done! (Well, I guess we still need to pick out a name and I haven't packed my hospital bag yet...) I was just looking at Evelynn's birth pictures and thought that it would have been a great April Fool's joke to post one of her on here...too bad I'm 10 days late on that one! But here is a look back in time...I just love how gentle and full of love Colden and Dylan are with their brand new sister. I can't wait to see that love in my family again! (They've been getting out of control a little lately....)

My Aunt Rae and Uncle Richard visited us in February. It was fun just catching up with them, and it made us feel special that they took a day just to see us! They're great!


Colden lost his first tooth on February 13th. What a happy kid!

The boys made twin snowmen during one of our few snow storms (we just had another snowstorm just yesterday...in April!)

Rob ran the Ragnar Relay in February. It's close to a 200 mile race with 16? people on the team who take turns running legs of the race. As a team, they literally ran around the clock! We met up with him in Phoenix at the start of one of his legs...then we missed him at the finish line! (Ikea shopping just took a little more time than anticipated...like always?) He ran with a group that had a lot of couples in it. It looked like a lot of fun to do, so I'm hoping to get in shape after this baby comes and join him next year! It's a goal!

Colden's new pet..."Beardie"...his bearded dragon. (He bought it at the end of January.)

Now look how big it's getting! He really loves this pet and takes good care of him. Sometimes he tires of the responsibility, but then he'll hold him and play with him and just exclaim with joy how much he loves the little creature. I'll admit, even though it's a lizard, it's really cute. The only downside is having to also keep live crickets for food.

Remember When

For the future Blurb book:

These are memories from when I lived in Moab:
I remember when my sister and I were really young, like 3-6, she would have us sing in ward talent shows and one time at the city park. We sang the Rainbow song and Horsey, Horsey. We also sang a couple of years for the 4th of July at the Stake Center.
I remember that our cat had kittens the night I had a sleep over party for my 8th birthday. My friend remembers that when I went to turn on the TV in the morning, my nightgown was caught in my underwear.
I remember playing in our backyard sandbox for hours (it seemed like it) building tunnels and towers.
We also used our grape vine as a club house.
I remember jumping over our neighbor's fence one time and being surprised that I could do it.
I remember climbing the big oak trees in front of our house.
The oak trees also made the side-walk uneven, so that made a great jump for bike riding.
I remember having a pool pass one summer and riding our bikes down to the pool almost every afternoon to go swimming.
My sister's friend, Heather, had an awesome play house in their back yard. Their dad built it and it even had 2 levels. This same friend also had almost every Barbie ever known and her sister had a My Little Ponies collection like you've never seen. We loved playing over there.
Our next-door neighbors had twins (boy/girl) just a year younger than me. We were almost always playing together. Usually we played house. The twin girl and I were the teenage daughters, my sister was the mom, the twin boy was the dad, and my little brother was the son. The twin boy was always a cop...his dad was a Highway Patrol Man and an EMS volunteer.
I remember one time, my neighbor (the cop) was at the scene of a semi truck accident. The truck was hauling wrapping paper and ribbon and gift wrapping. Somehow, my mom ended up with tons of that wrapping paper and ribbon that we used for years.
I remember my mom cutting hot dogs and bologna in half for our sandwiches, adding extra macaroni to the Mac n Cheese, reusing sandwich baggies and tin foil. My dad was without a job for 2 1/2 years, and somehow, my parents made it through that time...thanks to my mom's frugality and my dad getting consulting jobs once in a while. My mom traded babysitting and sewing recital costumes for dance lessons for my sister and me.

My Chore System

I just wrote this in an email for one of Rob's staff who was wondering what I did for the kids' chores. And I figured I would share it with friends. Basically, I've found what works for me, and I would like to hear what you do, too.

My chore system.

It's really quite simple. And it's based on choices. My kids easily get bored with doing the same thing over and over, so I knew from the start that I couldn't just assign them chores. I also can't keep up with chore charts. I'm good about using them for about a week, then I forget to refer to them and, therefore, so do my kids. What I use are chore cards. One chore is written on each card. As I was setting them up, I divided them into different colors that represent what needs to be done daily, weekly (or less than daily but maybe a few times a week, like laundry), monthly, as needed (like wash and vacuum the van), and seasonally (like gardening, shoveling snow, taking out or putting away seasonal decor). I used colored index cards, which I cut in half so they could go farther.

I then thought about my day and the chores that need to be done daily, weekly, monthly, etc and wrote them out on the cards. I also broke them down so they could be handled in portions (including the parts my kids prefer), like a 4 year old could do part of the breakfast cleanup or gather the laundry or sort the laundry. That was based on what I feel like I can delegate (some chores I feel like I should be the one doing them, you know, until my kids are older and responsible enough to handle them).

That's it. And it's really easy to implement...even when I don't feel like doing much. When Rob's home, I can just have the cards sitting on the table and let him know I need help and he can choose what to do, too. In the morning, preferably during breakfast, I go through the stack and decide what needs to be done. I only require my kids to do one job, extra jobs they can earn extra money for (I'm cheap...$.10/job, unless it's a big one, then $.25...they're still young!). On bigger job days, I will require them to do two or three. Often, I find that if I pull out a monthly one, they jump for the chance to do it since it's more fun (like washing/vacuuming the car). They have personal responsibilities that are not included in the chore cards...like making their beds, cleaning up their bowls and plates after meals, picking up their toys and messes, and my 6yo's daily chore is to take care of his lizard.

Also, since they are young, I consider them "in training" for most of the chores. I let my kids clean toilets and wash sinks and lots of other things that they aren't fully capable of, but I'm right there with them and "making sure" it's done right. When they are able to do the chore competently and independently, I let them take over the chore completely. And that's awesome.

On a separate level, I have set up a "Life Skills" notebook for my boys. I got the idea from a book called "The Parenting Breakthrough" (Or Breakthrough Parenting?) where the mom writes about how she implemented a chore and allowance and savings system for her 4 boys while they grew up...to teach them the importance of work and the value of money. She has an age-based break-down of what kinds of chores and skills are good for age groups. And she would go through a process of introducing a chore to the child, training them, then letting them master it. With this in mind, I decided to create a Life Skills notebook that tracks my kids' progress of the things they learn and are able to do. They can also make personal goals and work towards those goals. This goes beyond the chore card system, but it's nice for them and me to see how they are progressing in Life Skills. Also, since I'm pregnant, I haven't been diligent about it. But once about every 3 months, we do pull them out to see what the kids have learned just by living life. And there is always something they can pass off.