Derby and Docs

The Derby!

We had two exciting events recently. Last night Nate had his Pinewood Derby for Scouts! He did fantastic. He didn't place, but his car came in either 1st or 2nd every race. Which is a miracle really....considering the events that led up to the Derby. I thought the weigh in was last night and the Derby was tonight, but I was mistaken. We had missed the weigh in and had to weigh before the races. Only problem....Nate's car was wheel-less. So they worked on the car and got everything situated. Well we got there in the nick of time only to find out his car was only 2 oz (it's supposed to be 5 oz spot on) so I was pulling coins and keys out and even with everything I had to put on there, it was still short by a lot. Then a very nice guy saved the day and glued some actual car weights on to the car. It was cleared just in time. And I owe him some cookies. Or banana bread. He saved our day. Nate was very excited that his dad came to watch and we also had my nephew there as part of our cheering squad. Even with the stress, it ended up being a really nice night.
 *I have more pics too, but my phones acting up so follow me on Instagram and you can see more :)

This morning we had to wake up extra early because Ty had his first appointment to get his mouth ready for surgery. This was the x-ray/taking molds/putting in spacers appointment, so nothing major. We start the real work next week. But today was interesting. The poor guy has some seriously weak gag reflexes and when the assistant was putting in the mouth molds he tried hard but couldn't stop gagging. He gagged enough that he ended up puking all over. They finally had to size down to their very smallest molding sets and he still gagged, but at least he didn't puke. Our awesome Orthodontist must have this happen on occasion because shortly after the puking incident, the sweet girls came in with an awesome T-shirt that they let him change into and keep.
He cracks me up too.... They were talking about getting the molds for his appliances, and he got thoroughly confused. He couldn't figure out what kind of appliances they would put in his mouth so we have a running joke going on whether or not its going to be a toaster or a blender. He's hoping for a blender.

Oh we also learned tonight that Ry is not ready for Pictionary. We had game night tonight and he did not get the concept. Needless to say, the other team won because he kept telling them what card he was choosing. Lesson learned, we are playing a more age appropriate game next time.

And...thats about it. This week is slowing down considerably from the last few and it is sure nice. Lets hope for a great remaining week.

Proud Momma

My most handsome Nate

We are going strong on the Play front....4 down and only 2 more to go. Nate is LOVING the experience of being in the play. He's had a bit of a rough go with one of the other kids there who is pretty rambunctious and likes to blame him for things, but he's fairing pretty well. And loves hanging out with BayLee the dog backstage during performances. I cannot say enough how proud I am of him for taking the chance with this play. He's already thinking of auditioning for the upcoming Wizard of Oz play and is participating in the school play again this year as well. I'm sure proud of him.

On the Tyler front, our doc visit went well on Friday. Our Specialist agreed it was time for surgery and agreed to work with our amazing Orthodontist down here. Ty starts his mouth prep on Wednesday. I'm crossing fingers all goes well with that and that the two docs can work out a good plan of attack for us.

Ty is also the only lucky one in our house who hasn't been sick. Nate had it over the weekend last week, Ry had it during the week last week and it hit me hard on Saturday morning, my throat wanted to die a little I think. Today is going better thankfully. I really hope that we are done getting sick for the season, I'm beyond tired of it. I hate having my little guys sick, I feel so hopeless. And I hate being sick. Ugh.

Anyway....on to a new week. Hopefully ya'll have a good week as well!

Bleh Day

I need to preface this post by saying I am fully aware of how amazing my life truly is. I have been absolutely blessed in sooooo many ways that I almost feel silly being whiny. But........ it's happening anyway.

I am a bit frustrated with a few things lately and I think a big part of it is that I feel a little bit out of control. And I am also fully aware that I have all the power in the world to gain that control back, but that is much easier said than done. There are a few areas I'm struggling with in particular and they all seem to intertwine in one way or another.

I am having a really hard time with our lack of family time. It has been especially hard with Nate being gone to play practice every night, I haven't been able to do our nightly family time very well as we are rushing to get everything done every night. However, it's worth it for now because he absolutely loves being involved and I think it's a great confidence booster for him. Plus, it will be done soon. But it's tough none the less. I wish I could find a better way to balance things and be more structured though....structure has never been a strong point for me.

I am also having a hard time with my health. I will be the first person to admit that I am not naturally a very disciplined person. I've tried to learn that trait, but it hasn't worked as of yet. By the time I get off work, I am so tired that if a meal has more than a handful of ingredients or takes longer than about 45 minutes from start to finish, it's not happening. And exercise? Ha. Once kids are in bed...all I want to do is sit back and relax. I do have everything I need to workout at home but there are several excuses (yep I know they are excuses) as to why I don't. One of the biggest things I need is a push. I won't push myself. I have been looking into a Tonergy program here that happens 3 nights a week, however my downfall to that is I really hate finding a babysitter during those times and I feel guilty taking the time away from my kids plus invading someone elses' schedule. See? It's 100% in my control, yet I don't take control. Thats my frustration.

And there are many more challenges I face....but I can't help to think that a whole lot of these problems could be remedied by one thing......a spouse. I wouldn't have to work so hard to provide for my family if I was married (in my perfect world, we'd be a dual income family). I would have more time with my kids. We'd have a little more flexibility to sign them up to extracurricular activities. I would have more time to actually make healthy meals and I'd have a babysitter while I went to the gym/worked out/whatever. I could take care of myself better.

But alas...it is what it is and there is no easy button. Just got to throw on my big girl panties and figure out how to fix my current situation because no one is going to fix things but me. But some nights I have a mini pity party and pout for a minute (like tonight) then regroup and move on.

On a side note....we are going to see Tyler's doc tomorrow. Please cross fingers for us that I will FINALLY get some of the answers I've been searching for. I'll keep ya'll in the loop.

Tuesday Instagram and Play Info

Our last few weeks in pictures!

Ry filling his pockets with tools while brothers were gone over the weekend. Just call him Handy Ry.

Our best ever appliance purchase, the hot chocolate maker. The boys have a blast making hot chocolate which is good considering our temps lately. Brrrr.

The city still has the lights up from Christmas. The boys and I found this pathway while we were waiting for Nate at play practice. Very pretty :)

Rivalry Red! SUU Basketball game against Weber State. It was a very intense game and I'm pretty sure the refs were paid off. We had like, 5 players fouled out of the game. I've never seen that happen before. 

My new car! A Pontiac G6 that I love to pieces. No more ghetto Sentra! The boys love the leg room too and so far gas is pretty comparable to the Sentra,,,even a little bit better.

Nate and his friend Luke at their dress rehearsal for Annie. I love that Nate gets to participate but boy I will be glad when these play practices are over. They throw our nights off in a big way.

My birthday was yesterday as well. Ry gave me an awesome gift of being really REALLY sick and causing me to have maybe......2 hrs of sleep the morning of my birthday. But luckily today he is feeling better. The sickness has passed through all the kids now in one form or another, I hope it's gone and I don't get it.

And Nate's play is premiering this week! He is soooo excited and so am I (for more reasons than one). If any of you want to go, he would LOVE the support! He is very excited for this opportunity and wants everyone to come see him.You can buy the tickets online at Cedar Theatre (click the link). Dates and times are below and Nate will be in all performances.

Date	Time	Location	Price
Friday Jan 25, 2013	7:30PM	Heritage Theater Cedar City, UT	$5/$8	ORDER>
Saturday Jan 26, 2013	7:30PM	Heritage Theater Cedar City, UT	$5/$8	ORDER>
Monday Jan 28, 2013	7:30PM	Heritage Theater Cedar City, UT	$5/$8	ORDER>
Friday Feb 1, 2013	7:30PM	Heritage Theater Cedar City, UT	$5/$8	ORDER>
Saturday Feb 2, 2013	7:30PM	Heritage Theater Cedar City, UT	$5/$8	ORDER>

Holy Freezing

Borrowed from my friend Michelle on Facebook....11 degrees at 4 PM...check out the  projected low for tonight.... -23!!

The last few weeks have been SOOO cold here. The nights have been averaging between -6 and -18 degrees (and apparently supposed to get to -23 degrees tonight  *see above pic). It's currently -10 degrees. And day times aren't much better....I think the high today was like 15 degrees. Luckily I was able to escape to the warm weather of St George, it was a balmy 24 degrees there today. Break out the swimsuits ya'll. I hate this cold of weather. Our heater is running on overtime just to keep the house in the high 60s. It is COLD.

Another worrisome side effect of the cold....my poor beater car is not liking it one bit. It's been steadily on the decline for a month or two, but this cold weather has really given it a beating. And...my Mom has gotten the fear of breaking down in negative degree weather and freezing to death instilled in me. So tomorrow, I find out if the car I want will work for me....and if it does then it will be mine. Woohoo! Because we all know I go through cars like they are candy. I'm kind of excited for it.
What I am not excited for, however, is cleaning out my current car. I have been delaying it for a week now. One, because it is so dang cold, but also....how on earth do we accumulate so much junk?! I am not a car junk hoarder but I think my boys are. I find the most random stuff in that thing on the floor and under the seats. And gross stuff. Like month old chicken nuggets or taffy stuck to the floor. That happens often. I think there will be a no eating in the car EVER rule with this new car. But it will be good I think.

And to end the post.....3 very amazing people have had birthdays this month so far and I can't do a post without recognizing them! So....

Happy Birthday to my adorable niece Addison!
Happy Birthday to my other adorable niece Katie in Alaska!
Happy birthday to my amazing and wonderful Dad who had his 70th yesterday!

I love you all very much. Each one of you have brightened my days often and I can't even begin to say how happy I am you are in my life. You are all true blessings to me and I love you dearly. I hope your birthdays were absolutely amazing!!

My kids are getting big/I'm getting old

We have been working hard at spending more time as a family. Less TV/Internet/whatever and more actual family time. I'm happy to report that (almost) every meal has been eaten at the table and we have really done well with keeping the TV off. I still need to work on my texting habit though....thats going to be a tough one to break. But my boys remind me constantly that I need to quit.

However.....as we have done this I have noticed a few things about each kid.

Nate- is getting bigger. And older. His feet are officially bigger than mine are (in Mens sizes) and he is nearly as tall. I think I mentioned at one point a long time ago that the kid has grown toe hairs. Toe hairs! And tonight he was checking out a girl. I am so not ready for him to grow up but he is right before my eyes. And the puberty/birds and bees talk? Oy....I think it's going to have to come soon. If he received his mother's genes he will be blooming soon and with the toe hair, I'd dare say thats a safe assumption. However....I am not ready for that. I don't even know what boys go through during puberty. I guess it's time to start Googling.  I'd hate for the kid not to know what to expect. He is also in Annie. He's a pickpocket and a newsboy. And...is super excited. The play is going to be happening in a few weeks and this week has been busy busy with rehearsals, we have them just about every night.

Tyler- has split personalities I think. Or he is just a tad on the emotional side right now. I figure that anyway and can't blame him. He's working on getting his emotions in check though he has said, so I hope that's true. He is antsy to get his surgery done. I think that is some of the stress. But oh he is a funny kid. He has the best laugh. We have had a fun time spending the evenings together while Nate is at his play practice. He is also getting to be a beautiful writer. His handwriting is superb. I'm very impressed. We are also going to start karate soon. I think it's going to help him grow some confidence that is much needed. I'm excited to see him learn and grow from that. He's such a good kid. 

Ryder- is driving me crazy. I was watching him and another 5 yr old and realized he is a little behind in his development. I don't know quite what to do to help him with this. The other two boys were such easy kids to raise, not to mention they had fantastic teachers (thank you Valena and our daycare folks for making my job easy) but Ry is not picking up like they did. So, I'm swallowing my guilt for not seeing it sooner and am trying to get him caught up. He is also into throwing tantrums if he doesn't get his way, which is really annoying. And trying to unlearn that behavior is going rough, but I think it will be worth it. Just have to keep at it. I just wish I would've paid more attention earlier. Then we could've addressed the issues earlier and maybe gotten it handled sooner. I don't know, I guess I'm having one of those epic fail moments. But the plus side, he has the most amazing little spirit and is so fun to be around when he's not being silly, it is all worth it in the end.

So that is whats going on with us. The boy's are getting big, I'm feeling like an old lady and we are all a big, happy family. Rock on, right? I love my little family. And I'm happy I've started to focus more on them and less on the outside world. They deserve to have my full attention in the little time we spend together. I'm excited to see the changes we will make as a family through spending more time together.  

Mormon Messages Monday

We talked about forgiveness for FHE tonight. Our little family is having a hard time grasping the concept of forgiving others when they are not nice instead of being vengeful. And to end it, we searched Mormon Messages for a vid on forgiveness. Even though this one wasn't as kid oriented as I usually try to show, we needed to watch it. We were all in tears by the end and were a bit more humbled. My boys never cease to amaze me, they really got the point and want to make a concentrated effort to do better. As do I. I don't know that this vid even needs much more of an intro...other than to say it definitely helps me want to make sure my priorities are set and makes me want to be a better person all around.

Oh and you might want a tissue.

Happy 2013

2012 was a crazy year. It was a chaotic year. There were soooo many changes in our life last year. Most were good. Some were scary. But all were learning experiences I am grateful for. 

So now is the time that we reflect on how we want 2013 to be different right? Its a new year....a fresh start... so what do I want to happen? I think its an appropriate time to refresh my goals. 

1. Losing weight (shocker...I know): But for real, it's getting ridiculous. I'm getting sore joints, shooting pains throughout my body more and that scares me. Plus my energy has been lagging quite a bit. So it's time to get serious. No diets, no fads....just straight up clean eating and getting more exercise in. And detoxing my body. I've been watching documentaries about all this processed food (msg mostly which is in 80% of food ya'll) and it causes some seriously horrible side effects to organs....and I want that junk out of my body. So what am I going to do exactly to correct this problem?

   *Cut back processed foods by a lot.

   *Eat more fruits and veggies

   *Take time to make healthy meals (no more Hamburger Helper!)

   *Exercise more (a friend is helping with that....getting an elliptical hopefully tomorrow)

A few of the girls at work are starting up Weight Watchers and I've been thinking of getting back on that again too just so I have an accountable weigh in time. I do better when I have to weigh in. I try harder to be good.

2. Get more financially sound: This is the year to do it too. It's looking promising. My paychecks have been stabilizing out a bit, so I know better what to expect on each check. Which means I can plan better. Going to start stocking away savings for slow months as well. On my to do list....

   *Save up 3 different types of funds.....

    "emergency funds" that will cover 3 months worth of living expenses just in case something happens

    "medical funds" that will help with Tylers surgery 

    "misc funds" for possible move soon, fun money, etc

   *More religiously pay tithing. I truly think it's smart to pay towards helping others. 

   *Get new car that is more reliable and less of a money sucker. Which I'm working on as we speak.

   *Get my butt moving on house buying (get my credit fixed)

3. Improve my family situation: There are a lot of things I want to change about our little family situation. At the present time, I think we spend too much time in front of the TV/Computer and need to focus more on being together as a family. So, I'm working on that.

   *Going to eat dinner every night at the table

   *No TV allowed when we get home

   *Every day we are going to do an activity together as a family. We've stocked up on games, puzzles, artsy stuff, music, etc and will choose and activity to do as a family without electronics interfering (my texting included) every night.

   *Read stories, scriptures and say prayers together every night. we skimp on this more than I'd like to admit if it's a late night or if I'm having a frustrating night with ornery kids. 

  *Be a better example to my kids. Kids lead by example and there are some little ways I need to tweak my actions to be a better example to them)

  *Get the kids involved in the sports/extracurricular activities they want to do. Money and time have prevented this in the past, but I'm going to make time this year, no matter what.

  *Get Ry up to speed on his developmental issues. I think I've been in denial about him but have finally opened my eyes a little to see that he is behind in his cognitive behaviors....so I'm going to spend some extra time with him to see if I can't help speed that up. I think our family activities will help that as well.

Ok ya'll....thats that. My 3 main priorities for this year are improving myself, my family and my finances. These are things I continually work on every year....and I look forward to 2013. I foresee lots of success and opportunity coming my way....and I will take it head on.

Have you thought of your goals yet? Good luck ya'll....I wish you the very best 2013!