Recent Worries

Football try-outs have been going on this week.  It is very serious stuff.  Turns out, my boys love football so it is worth all the headache, but last night had me wondering about my parenting skills.  They have the boys "try-out" so that they can pretty much group them together according to skill.  The best team is called the "A" team and it goes on down from there.  The coaches carry around clip boards and take notes while the kids are timed, weighed, and put through all kinds of drills.  At the end of the week, they have a draft and the kids get a phone call from their coach and they are on a team!  Football is serious, but the "A" team is even more serious.  Since we are just average, we don't have to worry about the "A" team politics.  But the unexpected happened this year.  I got a phone call earlier this week from the "A" team coach.  He said they were looking at one of my boys and wondered what I thought if he played on that team.  I have 3 boys playing this year and they are all in the same division.  I was shocked.  I told him we did NOT want 3 separate teams, but we expected the boys might be on different teams this year.  So I said that should be fine.  Of course I didn't say anything to the boys, try-outs continued on.  Yesterday, they sort of pulled out the "A" team and had them with the coach doing their own thing.  My son was part of that group as were a lot of the boys he played with last year.  My other son was not a part of that group.  And he fell apart later than night.  I knew this would happen.  But I rationalized in my head that I shouldn't deprive the other of the opportunity.  Last night I really began to doubt myself.  I don't know what is best.  Is it worth the hurt it might inflict to one?  Again I rationalized that such is life, it is going to happen sometime, I can't always be there to intervene, but I wonder if I should have in this case.  My son hasn't made the "A" team just yet, so maybe it will work itself out.  And maybe I made a HUGE mistake.  I wish we could practice with fake kids before we got real ones, being a parent is hard, especially with twins.  

Afternoon Adventures

The kids are off track and we have enjoyed being lazy.  Yesterday we went to visit my grandma.  She insisted on buying the kids a Valentine treat, so we went to the bookstore.  The boys were so excited to get the Fablehaven books.  Tyler even got one and asks me to read to him all the time.  I am glad the boys all enjoy books.  I love the quiet sound of everyone reading:)  My grandma is a sweet lady and I enjoy spending time with her.  She likes to talk and some of the things she says make me laugh.  Cheerioats=Cheerios, I guess it sounds healthier if they are oats.  It makes me laugh inside every time she says this.  Yesterday she was talking about a haircut that one of my cousins got and she referred to the hairdresser as a beauty operator.  That one made me laugh inside too.  Although hairdresser is a funny word as well.  Anyway, she is a neat person and I am glad my kids and I get to see her and spend time with her.  And now we have lots of reading to keep us occupied while we are off track!

On my way home from my grandma's house, my husband called.  He had to go to Dallas on Monday and was on his way home.  He was excited because he ran into my mission president and his wife, they were on his same flight.  He got to visit with them briefly and then I got to hear all about it.  It was a fun little surprise:)  I had a super mission president and his wife is truly the most loving and humble person I know.  I am so glad I got to serve a mission!

Wintery Weekend

We spent the weekend at my brother's cabin.  It snowed a LOT.  It was the perfect backdrop for being in the mountains, at a cabin, with a fire, food, and family.  We had a great time together and we can't wait to do it again!

Although it would be ok if we didn't get stuck again, thank goodness for all the manpower!

  

Sometimes You Are Just Born With It

My kids wake up early every morning, like 6:30 am.  Every single morning.  You would think that with this schedule they would get a lot accomplished before school.  That is not true however because they are all such buddies and goof-offs.  I am constantly reminding them, get some breakfast, get dressed, brush your teeth, get your shoes on, etc.  And I have to do this every single day.  This morning I sent Jacob out to the fridge in the garage to get some more milk.  About a minute later he came out of the bathroom.  "Where's the milk?" I ask.  He had already forgotten.  It is like this all of the time and it drives me nuts!  

Today I was a little late getting out of the shower.  Which meant I hadn't made their lunches yet.  Without me even saying a word, Ethan got everything he needed and made his own lunch.  I just about died of happiness.  He had made a peanut butter and honey sandwich, got a water bottle, chips, and an orange.  He had even peeled the orange.  What a kid.  I love that he can be responsible and do things independently.  I have always liked doing things for myself and have always been independent.  I remember being about 6 years old and insisting on doing my own hair, and I always did.  I thought everyone was that way until I had kids.  The twins are not this way.  Too bad for them they inherited some of my less desirable characteristics.  Lucky for them they were blessed with such goodness from their dad.  I think we would all have more kids if we could pick their habits and characteristics.  

Sunday in church Jacob fell asleep (David and Jacob definitely got their fall asleep anywhere gene from their dad).  It is very common for he and David to fall asleep in church.  Last Sunday was particularly embarrassing because when I looked down the row, he had both of his hands down his pants.  Maybe that just comes with boys...I was wishing I had my camera.

Army Guys

We see a lot of these little green men around our house.  We have definitely gotten our money's worth out of them.

And while I am on the subject of men, I must say a few things.  First of all I watched a few snippets of the Bachelor the other night.  Disturbing is one word that comes to mind.  These girls are so fake.  The hair is fake, the boobs are fake, their personalities are fake, and their clothing leaves NOTHING to the imagination.  And they give girls around the world a bad name.  I don't know where they find these people, but they are not real.  About the same time I read this blog and this blog.  Both of them were very real to me and made me grateful for my unglamorous, simple, and imperfect life with my own man.  

Kids

*pictures coming soon, is anyone else having problems posting pics?
Tyler learned to ride his bike and literally took off.  I can't believe how quickly he picked it up.  We tried once and before we knew it, he was a pro.  He rides his bike around the block about 50 times a day.  He is rarely home anymore because he is always on his bike.  Since we switched schools this year, the boys can now ride their bikes to school and they have every single day.  I think this helped motivate Tyler.  

David is sick today.  After getting the kids off and drying my hair, I came into the family room to see what he was watching, it was ESPN news.  And he kept watching it for about 15 minutes.  I finally asked him to change the channel.  I don't know if it is totally appropriate for kids.  Isn't he a little young for ESPN?  Whatever the case, he totally gets it from his dad.  

Ethan is very competitive, I may have mentioned this and if you know him, you may have noticed.  Yesterday was a busy day.  I was hosting an etiquette dinner for the young men and we had a bazillion kids at our house right up until the last minute.  The kids were all having fun and being good and I attended to readying the house.  The dinner went great and my kids behaved themselves for the whole thing.  It was late by the time everyone left, so the kids bathed and went to bed.  This morning Ethan was getting ready for school and asked me to sign his planner.  He had written in 20 minutes of reading, only yesterday was so crazy we didn't do reading.  I reminded him of this and he totally lost it.  He cried and was so upset.  He makes it a point to always have above and beyond the required reading minutes and I guess missing one day really upset him.  I dried his tears and told him I would help him read 40 minutes today in order for him to catch up.  He settled down and went to school.  I know this is not normal because my twins could care less about reading minutes.  

Jacob for the most part has been my normal child lately.  He is a happy child who likes to please his friends and mom.  He has recently discovered the benefits of wearing a watch.  Yesterday he wore his watch to the tennis courts so that he could come back at a certain time.  There are a few good things about having them grow up.

Back to School 2009

The boys all started school today, well except Tyler.  He wishes he started kindergarten today, it is going to be a LONG year.  After we dropped off the kids and came home to a quiet house, I said, "Tyler what are we going to do today?" 

"I don't know because you don't play with toys, " was his answer.  Good point.

What A Difference A Year Makes (or a couple of years)

On Saturday I ran the Provo Half Marathon.  It was my second time and it was sooo much better than the first time.  First of all, I was injury free, the course was way better, and the weather was incredible.  All of this resulted in a much better finishing time for me.  It was actually fun and I am looking forward to doing it again.  And it got me thinking, what a difference a year makes.  It feels so good to know that I have improved as a runner.  And it feels even better to be injury free.  It's been a good year.  Our camera battery died, so I am still waiting for someone to email me some of their pics.  

Later that night we went out and bought Guitar Hero.  We stayed up late playing it on Saturday, but man it is fun, I love it.  

Sunday I had promised the kids we would watch some old family movies.  We picked out the ones where each of the kids was born.  We have four boys and there are 4 years between the oldest and the youngest.  First up was the twins.  It wasn't too long before I was teary-eyed.  I had forgotten what their cries sounded like and how beautiful they were.  They quickly filled out into fat little babies, which is great, but they were the most beautiful babies as newborns.  I had forgotten so much.  It was fun to see old surroundings of places we used to live.  I thoroughly enjoyed taking care of those little babies, we were so happy.  

Next up was Ethan.  He came only 15 months after the twins were born.  He was such a good baby.  He came with a head full of black hair, the twins were barely starting to grow hair at this point.  Heavenly Father loves us and I know this because He sent us such a good baby in Ethan.  He had long skinny legs and spent lots of time in his swing as I chased the twins around getting them out of trouble.  It was a difficult transition for the twins and for Kirk and I as parents.  I remember with the twins, there was always one of us for each of them.  When Ethan came along, there were never enough hands.  

Lastly was Tyler and it was so fun to watch this movie.  All of the boys could talk by the time he was born.  The twins were 3 and Ethan was 2.  They each took turns holding their new baby brother and they each sang him a song.  Their little baby voices were so stinkin' cute.  They were all old enough to kind of know what was going on.  And they were all growing up so fast, we had moved the twins into the basement at this point and Ethan was already in a big boy bed.  I can't believe how time flies.  

Looking back, it seems like I was pregnant for about 4 years or I was nursing.  I am grateful that stage is over.  Pregnancies were always so hard for me and so was the delivery for that matter.  Having just ran the half marathon, I gained some new respect for my body.  It has been through a lot in the past 8 years.  It has given us 4 beautiful boys, it has nourished them, been depleted, recovered, and now it is running.  And it shows the battle scars from all of this.  My stomach has been stretched to the point of never being the same, my legs are lined with thick veins, and nothing is as firm as it used to be.  Oh well.  I love my life.  I love my little boys and have vowed to record more home video.  I plan on running some more and who knows what the next couple of years will hold.