Busy

It's so busy I shouldn't be blogging but Kylee is 11 today! This Sunday she was moody like a teenager. We are on our way to 3 teenagers-EEWwww. We will see if I get a chance to blog until after Sunday. I should have lots of pictures after this week too. Between a hair do for Kylee, Homecoming for Amber, First time marching in uniform this season on Friday, two birthdays, and yeah, we are almost too busy for birthdays. But Kylee is getting a bike. Gotta run and clean and laundry and whatever else shows it's ugly head besides the lawn that hasn't been mowed in 2 weeks.

Poor Hannah

Hannah missed school yesterday. Her throat was really sore. And she was so bummed when she realized she missed getting a 3rd grade buddy. She was so sad all day about it. She went today but her nose was pretty runny and by tonight she is even worse. She may not make it again tomorrow. She loves school. Her teacher really enjoys her. I have to work tomorrow but she may get time with dad. I am in the ERR and I hear there is new girl that is really REALLY difficult. Hopefully I won't have to work with her. I kind of dread days in the ERR. It always depends on the day. Those people don't get paid enough. Most of the kids that were there last year are gone. But they were all kids I liked though.

I may have an update on the teenage soap opera for later but it won't get posted until after the weekend. We have to shop for a homecoming dress this weekend.

I tried to take a power nap at 5 today. Mistake. I went out completely until 6:30 and jumped out of bed thinking the kids weren't up for seminary and school. OOps. They were just not getting dinner. I am surprised I didn't get woke up by someone before that. I guess I needed it but now I should be sleeping so I can get up for school in the morning.

We will see if there is a riot in the house in the morning over the absence of bagels in the house. I have already heard about it before bed. The girls think it is the end of the world because there are no bagels. Apparantly froot loops and waffles are insufficient. Well that is more like snack food not breakfast for me too though. There are no bagels so now they starve I guess.

Save me!

Someone save me from my life!! I read an article about finding joy yesterday I thought it all sounded good and then my day didn't stop at the end of the day I was frustrated. I did something for me again. I had a massage. I have been getting nasty headaches at the back of my neck that painrelievers don't relieve so I was hoping to help that. I visited the tanning salon and had a bad encounter with a different tanning bed I look more like a tomato in places and my behind was in much pain. Kind of funny really, but ouchy. Hannah had her during the day dance class since we are too busy for an evening one right now. Kylee and Autumn started choir so they left for school early and then I had call from Kylee afterschool that basketball was starting. Means trip back to the school in an hour and half. Then I had a call from new visiting teaching companion and we scheduled that. I had been on a note route So now I guess I am not and we sceduled visits-caused me some more anxiety. Then I got a call from my new visiting teachers to schedule appointments in the evenings- I don't like evening appointments because we are too busy! but I scheduled one anyways. We had a lousy dinner so I could leave to Amber's back to school night. I was there awhile with Amber because I couldn't get her home. And then after that I was trying to find lotion to relieve my butt of its flaming on fire feeling. I guess what fueled the frustration was probably the lack of sleep from Hannah waking up at 3:30 with a tummy ache and then throwing up about 5. But she was well enough to go to school when she got up and was fine the rest of the day. She had a bunch of congestion I guess. But she is home today with a sore throat. I have mountains of things to do and I don't like it!! I am blogging in avoidance and the worst thing to have happen right now is my STINKING dishwasher is broken!!! ANd it won't be until this weekend before we get the part! I really hate dishes. I would rather do laundry all day than one load of dishes. But I bought a bunch of paper plates and bowls and cups to buffer the need for dishes.

I forgot to recap the weekend- It was Wade's mission farewell. Darren and Carrie had an Open House on Saturday. We went to that. Just before we got there we found out Grandma Lay was in town. So we saw her and Grandma Leavitt and Kim and Gwen and Andy. Then on Sunday we went to our Sacrament and then their Sacrament to hear Wade speak. He is going to Phoenix Arizona. And then we went to Darren and Carrie's again for dinner and saw Sheila too, and Jared and Michelle and 3 of their 4. I don't know where my camera was so I am sorry-there are no pictures. Grandma Lay stayed with us for the weekend and we did dishes until midnight Saturday.

The rest of this week continues to be busy. I don't like lots of busy. I need to learn how to stop fighting the busy and learn to go with the flow but it hasn't happened yet.
I am still adjusting to the baby being in school and running back and forth all day-this is our week for seminary driving too. Lee Joe is doing that thank goodness. Lee Joe is doing his own business, that is stressful, But he has lots of work right now and we are dealing with our crisis still but that is improving but there are still good days and bad days with that and I plug along and act like all is well to the kids and the rest of the world and that can be tough. But the better days are now outnumbering the bad ones. I suppose that is why the weight of keeping up with the kids, their school and every other distraction is taking its toll. We are working on getting Amber her license and when that happens there will be a little bit of relief but new worries for mom. If it was just a 30 year crisis, I have been going through that since Hannah was 18 months. I have had 2 years of counseling and my big advice from the counselor is to find things that I want to do to take care of me. It is time and has been time for me to take care of me. Now more than ever. I am finally doing things other than going to the store by self. That is about as much me time as I have ever had and I am not a social person to count Relief Society stuff as me time. Doing the stuff I have has taken a lot of courage. I am standing up for my needs and doing some of my wants and finding value in myself and that is probably why the crisis I have been having didn't ruin me completely. Because it could have. So I am going to try find joy like the article said. I will figure it out. I am trying to remind myself how fast this year will fly by. Not that I want it to, but it will. Oh and Kylee's birthday is in a week and mine is in 11 days.

What do you do?

What do you do when you have lost touch with yourself? Try to find out what you have been waiting to do for a long time. I have wanted to try tanning for a long time. And since I didn't spend hardly anytime at the pool this year I don't want to be ghostly white come Christmas. You wouldn't be able to tell me from a snow drift. So I tried it. And my belly got pretty red but the rest of my looks a little the same. But the coolest feeling was when I got done with the 2nd time there I felt I had spolied myself, it was kind of nice to actually feel good about something I did for just me. Plus I am hoping that I get the vitamin D I need to fight off the winter blues this winter. I signed up for an exercise class at the community center. I would have started this week but that class was full so I start in October. I still have a few more ideas to do for me and I am working on fitting them in to my always busy schedule. I have some money from working at the school to invest in it. It is kind of a long slow process trying to figure it out and then having the courage to do something just for you. I guess it would be like that after always sharing your time with somebody as long as I have.

The week got strange with my neighbors father having a heart attack when just their 16 year old son and his grandmother were there. I was at Kelsea's volleyball game so I wasn't there when All the emergency vehicles showed up. Poor Sam gave him CPR but he passed away at the hospital. So we are still trying to help our neighbors.

Kelsea had 2 games and they won both. She played more the 2nd game. I met the "horrible" orchestra teacher. He is a little odd. She is complaining a little less but I am trying to be sure she doesn't wind up being disruptive. Autumn is working at getting her work done faster. With each day she would bring home less and less work. I talked to her teacher and it is Autumn's perfectionism getting in the way. She is working on it. She will spend hours on the homework and not complain and get up early when I tell her it is time for bed and work on it some more.
Kylee is playing violin this year and next year she will be in band. She is enjoying it. Basketball will be starting soon for her.
Amber wasn't asked by her admiring boy to homecoming but we know who he is going to ask and we are both excited for Amber's friend. She is a very sweet friend. Amber may go to the dance with a bunch of her friends and she is happier about that anyway.
Hannah is just lovin school.
The kids were out of school on Friday and that gave us a chance to recover the back yard from all the shed drama and trauma. I found some of my garage floor and the back yard is able to be watered and cared for again. I have a beautiful patio once more. Our Bar-b-q croaked over last weekend though. But anyways things look nice for the moment but the leaves are getting ready to drop so it won't last long.

We broke down and got cell phones for the 2 teenage girls. It has been more and more neccessary with the way things are around here. Kelsea has been begging for one for 2 years now. She is such a kick in the pants. She made her voicemail sound like she is talking to you and then she says leave a message. She got me and she got Amber with it and we had my sister call her and she got her too. The funniest part, and this is so Kelsea-when she called her phone to see if the message worked, she got herself!! I laughed so hard when she told me that! There is never a dull moment with her around.

Here we go!

The "routine" is in full swing. Friday was the first pep band football game. We saw Amber be Drum major for the first time. She likes being bossy! She did good. So cool! We heard a rumor yesterday she may get asked to the homecoming dance by her longtime admiring boy. Here we go! She kind of got a job this weekend. She worked for an ice cream place by us at the park for a thing that was going on there. I don't know if she is going to keep working or not.

All of us have wicked allergies tuning into sinus infections or colds. There is a fire not to far and the smoke is bad.

Lee Joe's shed is in place. The yard is still trying to recover. There are still tree branches everywhere. The girls made a fort out of them and slept in it over the weekend. I need to take more pictures.

Kelsea had her first volleyball game yesterday. They won. She was a little confused when she was first put out but she got to play the last half of the 2nd game and most of the 3rd and she did fine. She is still complaining about the orchestra teacher a little but not so bad. I will get to meet him tonight at the back to school night.

Autumn is bringing homes tons of homework everynight. Kylee had the same teacher last year and that is not typical. She is taking way to much time getting stuff done. She is just slow with her perfectionism.

Off to collect a kindergartner.

SO SAD!!!

There has been a big shed on our back patio where our gazebo has been. Lee Joe had a crane to put in the back yard and that was the only place it could drop it. So there it has sat all summer. It got moved last night. I was sad about the branch it broke on my lilac tree when it got put in the yard. Last night one of the neighbors almost cut the entire tree! It was my most favorite tree in the back yard. But I told Lee Joe he is trying to build a village in the back yard. It is called Recycleville. I will have to take a better picture of the tree later when the sun is shining on that side of the yard. I mourn the loss of most of my lilac tree. And I almost lost the grassy patch next to the sand box because the gazebo has shaded it all summer and it has been impossible to mow and water.

First day of kindergarten

Amber being the in charge drum major.

She gets a podium-wow

What's that noise?

It is almost 10pm and only one child is left still awake. 4 were in bed before 9:30. What a miracle. The youngest LOVES school. The 4th is starting to feel the pressure of 4th grade-she is just slow getting her work done. The 3rd came home sick today-2 calls in two weeks with 2 sick kids already. And she got her violin today. She is taking a year of orchestra and next year she will take band. The 2nd hates her orchestra teacher and wants to quit. She may have to endure a semester at least. No real complaints from seminary like I expected. Orchestra is overriding that one I guess. This is the part where I hate being a parent of teenagers. It is be the bad guy time. And the oldest is exhausted and hates school because of the homework load. But loves being drum major. They have their first football game this weekend.

Lee Joe had all the girls cleaning house on Monday. It soo needed it. It isn't quite there yet but a huge improvement. I was home sick on Sunday some sort of sinus infection/cold /allergy thing. Saturday was a slow day but fine. I finally got the freezer we have been needing. I am trying to stock it up. The lawn got mowed finally.

Has it been a week already?

The week sure ran away with me. Hannah absolutely loves kindergarten. She wishes it was all day long. I only got to feel what it was like at home without her on Friday. I had so much to do on Tues and Weds. Thursday I had an appointment and already got a request to come in and sub. So I did and Hannah got her wish to stay at school all day. But it was so hot outside it was miserable for us both. And during last recess after we sent about 3 or 4 kids in to the nurse, I stepped on a bee and had to go in as well. How silly is that. Thank goodness I am not allergic to that but it still hurt like crazy for awhile. Kelsea missed a half day of school that day. Half the volleyball team caught a cold or something. She wants to quit orchestra because of the new teacher. Ugh. Several 9th graders already have.

Friday I had a terrible time trying to figure out what I needed to do and did not get far at anything. My house is a disaster. And my crisis does continue but I should say it is a big couple issue and not just me.

Saturday Lee Joe finally got around to repairing all the bikes. Amber got 2 flats on Friday. I think we maybe had two bikes that had air in their tires and my bike broke. We must have something like 12 bikes around here in various sizes. Now there are enough bikes for everyone to ride and Hannah has moved up to a larger bike already.

We watched Akeelah and the Bee. It is a very good movie. It has a few 4 letter words in it but it was soo good.

One guppy died today, I think that is the only fish death to report since my last report. Our injured Gourami is doing well.

Sorry Devanie about the weekend. We will have to make it up to you. Thanks for all the love my way. I think I need it right now.