Mixed Emotions

Today was a good day of contrasts, emotional highs and lows, and mixed emotions. This morning, I was feeling all happy and grateful and content (that was from 6am - 1pm). I was and am proud of how awesome I'm doing at homemaking and when Corey left to work, he sent me a voice message saying "I’m feeling some enthusiasm and optimism and gratitude that I haven’t felt for a while, I’ve been kinda trudging along for a long time." That made me feel really happy too cause I think the clean house has contributed to that. 

And THEN around 1, I was waiting for Sophi to get home so I could go on a ride, and I saw other kids in carpool walk by the window, but Sophi never came in. My phone was upstairs charging so I went up to call or text her. I saw that she had called me and I had missed it. I also saw that I had missed 4 calls from the elementary school, doh! I called the school right away. Daniel was sick in the office with a fever and she told me to come pick him up. It was 1pm. School got out in 40 minutes, but ok. I said I'd be on my way, and I said that knowing that I did not have a car. I tried to hurry and get ready and I had to get Katharine ready too cause Sophi wasn't home (it's early day) I saw her texts and voice message. She was at her friends house to do her nails. She went without permission, but atleast she tried to let me know... but if she doesn't get permission she shouldn't go! So I was irritated at that, and irritated that I had to take K to school with me now, pulling her in a wagon, cause Sophi wasn't home to watch her, so now I'm slow, and I'm mad cause I don't have my car... feeling irritated at Abi for always wanting to take my car to school for no good reason. I let her do it today cause she took carpool, so I do allow Fridays, but I still decided to be mad at her too. AND I thought while I'm choosing to be in a bad mood now, let's also be mad at Freaking Tanner's Transmissions that STILL has Corey's car and has had it for NINE WEEKS NOW!!! I was just walking fast and huffing and puffing and feeling mad. I called the school to let them know I was coming but I was walking and I'd be there as soon as I could. I then called Sophi to see if she could meet me at the corner and take Katharine so I could run/jog to the school. She said ok, but then I checked with Katharine, just to be safe (I didn't want her to blow her top (think Muffin in the Bluey episode "Charades") cause I could see that happening if I let Sophi take the wagon and I started running away from her) and Katharine said she didn't want to go with Sophi. "I want my mom." Ok, I called Sophi back and said never mind. They had started walking toward me and I could see them coming down the street and I waved to them as I said thanks over the phone. Ok, so got to the school. Buses were there and school was almost out, but I signed out Daniel and he got in the wagon and we walked home. I still wasn't able to go biking... what shall I do for exercise if I can't escape. Owen and Peter get home, I still need an older girl if I'm going to go on a ride. Abi was still in school, and Natalie had walked to Macey's and wouldn't be back until Abi brought her. I figured I'd still be ok to go at 3. THEN when Abi comes home, she is doing her chores and stuff so she can go spend the rest of the evening with her friend Tara, but she didn't bring Natalie. I was irritated at that. I specifically told her this morning that she had to bring Natalie home. "I didn't hear that. I thought Natalie had permission to go to her friends house." Yes, IF you were going to Tara's right after school and then coming home at 6. But I said if you were coming home first cause you wanted to be over there later, then you were to pick up Natalie and bring her with you! Cause Natalie can't be out there until 11 pm, ugh, I was super irritated at them both now too - at Natalie for always asking to go to Macey's, at Abi for not picking her up so now we have to take an extra trip out there. Abi said she could go get Natalie. No, you practice flute and do your chores. Maybe I'll drive out there and go boulder and then pick up Natalie. Abi didn't like that idea cause she wanted to be on her way to Tara's at 4. "How long does it take you to boulder?" About 45 minutes, plus the 15 min each way to drive. So Abi was nagging me to not do that. I left anyway, and decided if I did just come straight home with Natalie, then I'd have my babysitter and it would be 3:30/4 and that is still enough time to go bike. Ok, so I just did that, which made Abi happy. I decided it was too warm to bike though - it was 47 degrees. I thought it would be too slippery. So then I decided I'd have Abi drop me off up the canyon on her way to Tara's and I'd be able to get my mountain time and I'd just walk home. So that's what we did. I sled down to the trail, then hiked up and walked along Techy, then did some sledding on the way down. It wasn't a very good sled though. Really hard to control. But the 5 mile walk/slide did help me calm down. 

On the Power plant down section, I decided to sled head first on my tummy and I pulled and pushed myself with the snow on either side. I was smiling and hopped up off my sled anytime I saw another biker or hiker (6 bikers and 1 hiker) and then I just had a long walk home after that. A lady named Liz saw me in the neighborhood and offered me a ride, after she said she also saw me on the road 20 min earlier. I was grateful for the ride home. I got pretty wet but wasn't too cold. Then got ready for date night. We went to Beaumont Cafe. I ordered a usual (Veggie sandwich) and then instead of ordering the beet citrus salad, I tried something new - Lemon Mediterranean salad. The salad was a fail. I was feeling like this North Valley Group reel cause it left me unsatisfied. Culinary deception!

So, so highs and lows today mood wise, but I know our life is good. On our date we talked about Trump and the airplane helicopter crash in DC and how Trump is handling it (very poorly, using it to divide people!) He is just really really bad, but what can we do? We will rant about it to each other (Trump is a wicked man) and then I will get to work in my life, repenting of my sins, scrubbing my floors, cleaning my house, controlling things that I can control. I can pray and trust in God. God's aware of all these things and he's got it. My job is to take care of my family and my husband. I was grateful for the voice message Coreoy sent this morning. I'd been feeling happy and content too. The clean house helps with that. I also got this message from my little sis this morning, of a reel of a dad (Captain America) returning home from a day of work (war) only to facing another mess of a battle at home, saying she felt for Corey cause he was prob in this situation. I'd say that is what it has been like for a good chunk of his life, but I'm glad that I've been able to ease up on some of that stress by stepping up my game here at home. He has still be practicing music with Owen and Daniel, and follows up with kids on homework, but I'm glad that he's able to do it in a peaceful environment instead of a warzone. I've been showing up for my family, and that feels good. Today as I cleaned I listened to the Follow Him Podcast with Dr. Robert Eaton and I liked this part in part 1 at minute 42:07

"The Lord is truly there to chastise those whom he loves, including the spiritually preeminent." - Elder Maxwell. Then Professor Eaton: "So when we sense some divine chastisement, we shouldn't think, 'I'm on God's list of spiritual losers.' But instead, "The coach cares enough about me to help me improve my game. Apparently the team needs me.'"

I was chastised a few weeks ago, cause I'd been thinking we really need more money so we can hire some cleaners to come, cause it's just not possible for me to do it all. Then I had the thought and feeling that I CAN DO SOMETHING. I don't need to wait, I can start now. So then I started, just with one magic eraser a day (cleaning grout until the eraser was dead/disappeared). I feel like I'm a team captain and I'm finally leading out. The chore board is WORKING (one day at a time with a few dry erase markers, not dozens of small magnets (SIMPLIFY!!!)). The kids are practicing and we are not cutting corners. 

Thrifting

I went thrift shopping with Katharine today cause she wanted to "go to school". She put her backpack on and told me again "I want to go to school." I figured we could go to the library. I got my Simple Abundance book in my backpack and we got ready to go. But after we got in the car, she asked for a movie. I didn't have a movie in the car... maybe let's go by the DI real quick and see if they have some DVDs for $1 buck I can get (I found Frozen and Cinderella a few weeks ago!) and then thought I'd browse for a few fancy clothing items for our anniversary dinner coming up on Feb 16th, but then I got a little side tracked looking at fun flowery shirts and skirts. K was very patient with me. I have this one pair of pumps that is flowery and K always tells me to wear them. I thought it would be fun to try and play a Traditional Wife role and put on a blouse, skirt, and apron with my pumps. Nicole said something yesterday as we were talking about painting our fingernails, I can't remember if it was her thought or something she read, but that maybe it will help our husbands be more masculine if we are more feminine. My nails are hammered from climbing, but I could try to just put on a shiny top coat of polish? And I'm definitely motivated to do that if it helps Corey with his masculine roles in our family. Anyway, so I grabbed a ton of stuff and K was really good as I tried on like 20+ shirts and skirts. She crawled out under the dressing room door a few times, but she was good and came back. I did not obey the "no more than 6 items" rule. When it was finally time to go, K wanted to button her own jacket. She's so cute. 

My mom and I went to the temple yesterday morning and she mentioned needing new white temple shoes. I saw a pair at the thrift store for $4 that fit me and thought it might fit her, so I got them and we went over to my mom and dad's after I was done splurging on clothes. The shoes were too small. Oh well, I'll see if Mel or Bella might want them, or maybe I can save them for Abi or Lily. I swept their kitchen and then worked in my Simple Abundance book while K played with the Russian stacking dolls. 

I got all caught up on my reading in my book and then I went and shoveled their driveway. I think the "Simple Abundance" has also played a part in helping me keep a clean house. There have been lots of lessons that have let me know I don't need to wait for anything to come into our life or happen for me to be able to be the best I can be. There is enough to do now that I can start and can make my dreams come true. I can work with what I've got!

Really great lessons in this book. So after we got home I thought I'd paint my nails. Hmm, but I don't want the glittery pink polish that I use for my toes. So I painted K's toes instead. She brushed against her big toes and was sad, so I got some of Corey's ear plugs to keep the big toes separated. She fell asleep as she waited for them to dry. 

Good for her to sleep, we had a busy morning. When Sophi got home from school, I had promised to take her to look for shoes. I said we'd go to one place: Uptown Cheapskate or DSW. She voted for Uptown Cheapskate. After 5 minutes in there, she couldn't find anything she liked. I told her she might be a bit high maintenance. She agreed. Then since I was feeling like a pushover, we went to the mall across the street and found the shoes she wanted at Journey's. I want a pair of shoes like that too (adidas sambas), so I bought them for ME . Both the size 8 and 7.5 fit me, she said 7.5 was a little better, so I got the 7.5 and also got myself some socks. I told her she can borrow the shoes and socks now and then until she's able to buy them off of me. Got home and I changed into one of my new trad wife shirts.

Haha it's fun to play house! I put on an apron too. When my kids saw me, they said "Wow..." I explained myself: "I'm playing house. I'm the mom." 

Yesterday I was able to take a bike ride after kids got home. As I left I said "I finished all my housework so I'm going for a ride." I was glad O didn't have trumpet. I drove to the ski parking lot and made it up to the ruins from there. My toes were freezing! I didn't wear the toe warmers cause I wasn't sure they even worked. My toes never feel "warm" but I guess they have been fighting so much cold that I didn't notice. I've been taking them for granted. I'm sorry toe heaters. You do actually work. I will now give you the proper appreciation you deserve. Here's a pic of the creek at the 1st bridge. So pretty.

Corey worked until past 7:30, had dinner at his dad's, but had some fruit and yogurt after he got home. Katharine always likes to have him share with her. As K sat on the counter, Corey cautioned her "Be careful, don’t fall off." Katharine protested "I’m not Olaf!" Corey: "I know you’re not Olaf, but you’re close to the edge…" Katharine "I’m not close to the edge! I’m Katharine!" 

She's so fun, she's our favorite. She also took my phone recently and took a lot of photos. 

Abi said it was aesthetic! She didn't just take a lot of photos of one thing, she was very particular taking one photo each of different items. 

We loved it. She's so fun

Don't Cut Corners

Sick kids always makes life slow down a little bit. Over the weekend, it felt a little bit like Katharine was draining the life out of me, but she's feeling better and things didn't get derailed around here. The house is still amazing clean and the kids are even doing their part thanks to the chore board where we are taking it one day at a time. There are about 4 or 5 chores listed for each kid, depending on what I see needs to be done. And for most of the kids, one of the chores is cleaning corners or baseboards. It's been amazing, and I'm not sure if it's cause they like doing those little quick jobs, or if it's cause there's such an immediate reward from making a dirty corner clean. It's obvious now which corners have been done and which one still need to be cleaned. I have two little buckets that have magic erasers, sponges, and a tooth brush, and the kids grab that to clean the corner or to work on the grout. The kids have been doing it and are proud to show off how nice the baseboards, grout, or corners look when they are done. After corners are done, we'll move it up to doors and corners of the cabinet and cupboard doors. I have thought to myself that "no cutting corners" could have meant no cleaning the house and having it look pretty clean but not do the corners cause you think no one will notice. Just like the clean grout, I'm noticing which corners are done, and I like seeing them clean and dirt and dust free. One of the origins of the phrase “cutting corners” comes from carriage driving in the 1800s, when horse-drawn vehicles came to a sharp turn in town, instead of going all the way past the curb, some would turn early, and the rear wheel would potentially clip the sidewalk. But I like the idea of a mother teaching her kids to clean, and making sure they do the walls, the floors, and don't forget or "cut" the corners! I guess we've been cutting corners for years, and I'm glad we're not going to let the corners get cut from the to-do list anymore. I'm also glad we've been able to get the house clean with this being a sick month. Honestly I've had a lingering cough this whole month since we got back from Florida, and the kids have taken turns with coughs and now K's fever. I'm glad it didn't derail us. So far the only thing that has changed is that Katharine has not been sleeping with Abi. K has moved into our bedroom for the past few days. We'll see if this is just a temporary move or more permanent. She was in our bed last night cause she's sick.  

Corey doesn't love them in our bed, so if this is a permanent move by K, we'll have to make her a little place on the floor. Over the years, most of our 2 and 3 year olds have slept on our floor (Two examples of Natalie and Owen). So as I was scrubbing the grout in the kids bathroom upstairs recently, I had the thought that I was getting my physical home ready for a visit from Jesus. It was an exciting thought and made me want to make sure that we get every nook and cranny of our house clean. We have been doing so good! and not by doing it all, but just being diligent every day at doing something to take another step toward that final state. A verse of scripture that I have on the wall by our bedroom door came to mind: 

Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.

- Doctrine and Covenants 88:119 

I'm trying to commit those 7 things to memory: Prayer, fasting, faith, learning, glory, order, God. I like that fasting is on there, not feasting, haha. (I haven't been taking steps in the "nicely set dinner" department at the moment. One thing at a time...)  Also I like the idea of "house" meaning "family" - Joshua 24:15, and also thinking of what is on every LDS Temple: Holiness to the Lord, the House of the Lord! 

I went to the Jordan River Temple at 4:20 this morning for a 5 am initiatories with my mom. She is the only one "crazy" enough to get up that early with me! Then I met Corey at the Ft Union Momentum for a quick bouldering session. I left at 6:50 to get home to take carpool and he stayed and did some cardio. I did 24 total (15 sends and 9 attempts) and then this afternoon I took a winter hike from 3:40- 5:15. I parked on the side of the road at Lisa Falls, where I had parked for my hike with the kids. I didn't listen to anything on my headphones. No music or podcasts, just nature's soundtrack. I walked up to the ruins, then along the river, up techgnar and then up techy, back down to Lisa parking lot. I love  Utah, I love Granite, I the mountains! I enjoyed exploring by the river. 

There was one spot where it looked like the snow and ice had formed a bridge across the river. It looked like people had walked across it. I attempted, but when I felt and heard it crack when I took a step, I immediately stopped and turned around! I don't want to risk falling in. There hasn't been fresh snow for a few days, so the snow had ice crystals on it and it looked really pretty. Looking into a water hole on the river.

STEAM Night

Tonight was STEAM Night over at the school (Science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics). I knew the elementary kids would like to go when I saw the flyer last week. Natalie was in charge of FHE tonight, so I asked her over the weekend what she thought of us doing that. She was ok with it, so that's what we did tonight. They had lost of fun stations and they gave us a paper to get "stamped" at each station, that we could then turn in for a cookie at the end. There was one table with a circuit board, where you had to put the plus and negative pieces together correctly to make a fan go and then fly. Owen really liked it. Daniel came over to try it and I watched him. He was looking at the "solution" on the back of the page. I said "I think you're supposed to figure it out..." Daniel replied "Nah, I like copying instead." 

Haha. Most of the kids liked the playdoh station the best. It wasn't regular playdoh though - it was kinda foamy, not sticky though and very light. It smelled like vinegar. Daniel rolled three colors into a very good sphere and after it dried, he was able to bounce it like a bouncy ball! We were all amazed at that. Anyway, it was a fun night, the kids each got a cookie from the principle after. Lily didn't come to FHE, she said she had homework, but Corey thinks she was just mad at her sisters. He stayed with Lil for a little bit. Katharine seemed to have been feeling better today, but once we got to the school, her eyes looked terrible, like she was dying of hay fever or something. She also got really mad at me, cause she insisted on being held, and as I held her, I slightly crumpled her paper that they gave us at the beginning. Looking at the paper that I set on my leg after she refused to take it cause it was not perfectly unwrinkled.

"Mom! You messed up my paper! Waaaah!" She's utterly disgusted by my lack of care.

I think she was really just tired, so I let her verbally abuse me, and I held her and took her out into the hall, where she fell asleep. Abi stayed and talked with me, and took this pic. 

Then Corey came over a little bit late and stayed for a bit, but then he took Katharine back home. I'm hoping she's over this bug soon. I went and watched Owen play a game called "Face off" with one of the teachers. It's where you roll a pair of dice and then do some math to be able to cross off one of the numbers 1-12, first one to get all of them cleared wins. After Owen won she said she's give him a stamp, he said he already got one for that station, he was just playing for fun, She and I smiled at each other and thought it was so cute. He's a good kid. Peter was at a birthday party tonight so no pics of him playing games. His friend's mom gave him a ride there and back (Airborne in Draper) so that was very helpful and they brought him back at 7:30. 

Sick Sunday

K and I stayed home from church today. She's still sick. Here's cute K sleeping on our floor after coming into our room last night with a fever. She took her 5 ml of tylenol like a champ this morning.  

While everyone else was at church, K wouldn't let me read, sit at the computer, etc, so we laid on the sofa in the music room and wasted time watching North Valley Group reels. I enjoyed it, they are funny, although I know it was not the best sabbath activity. But we're just in survival mode right now. K was draining the life and productivity out of me. 

This evening we finished watching an HBO documentary called "Fake Famous". Corey started it for us last night, in an effort to give the girls pause before they ask to check Instagram. It was interesting and we decided we don't want to be famous. So we have that going for us. I was also campaigning for a documentary on the Battle of the Bulge, but I lost. This evening I was able to do some "Unit History" stories for Relief Society. As the secretary, I'm in charge of making a annual history, but they changed it recently that instead of submitting an annual history to the ward historian, now each organization is to document up to the church website via little "stories". I like how they are re-emphasizing that each ward's "History is a spiritual work that brings followers of Jesus Christ closer to Him by helping them see 'What great things the Lord hath done' (title page of the Book of Mormon)." I loved that. That's the why behind my efforts to blog. It's so important. Yes, I record the common and mundane, but ultimately my hope is that this record I've been making will help my children turn to Christ. I want to strengthen their faith as they see how we handled of our mortal experiences. In the Book of Mormon in Alma, it says that while record keeping may seem like a small and simple thing, it enlarges the memory of the people and brings them to the knowledge of their God unto the salvation of their souls (Alma 37:6, 8). A thought that goes along with this quote by Elder Bednar that was in last weeks "Come Follow Me" study material (in a video titled "Youth Responsibility in the Work of Salvation" at this link, about 1/3 of the way down):

I want to summarize something very quickly. If you consider the adjustments that have been made, you now have the operational, the executional responsibility for the work of salvation, under the direction of the bishop, taking place in the elders quorum and in the relief Society. Not just the presidencies, but in the elders quorum and in the relief society! If you pay attention to the recent adjustments, in the young women classes, and in the Aaronic priesthood quorums, they have exactly the same responsibility! All under the direction of the Bishop. The relief Society, elders quorum, young women class presidencies, Aaronic priesthood quorum presidencies, quorums and classes. And they’re not planning activities in Aaronic priesthood, quorum, and in the young women classes to take time, to fill a checkbox because "we’re supposed to do this every week" or because we want to entertain people. You focus on the work of salvation, learning and living the gospel, sharing the gospel, uniting families, and helping the poor and the needy! End of sentence! That’s it. This is really simple! Now all this prepares us to hear what I wanna express now. Can you see? Can you, can we, begin to see what happens, when the elders quorum, the Relief Society, the priesthood quorum and the young women classes are ALL lazer beam singularly focused on the work of salvation. The miracles that will occur, the advancement of this work in the earth, will be astronomical! And I have this one admonition: do not underestimate the capacity of these young men and these young women. They don’t just need to sit and listen to adults tell them how great it is. They don’t need to have adults saying "Well when you get a little older, you’ll have your turn." They need to be anxiously engaged in this work right now. And they will help identify things to do, ways of accomplishing this work, that will majestically move this work all over the earth. Please do not underestimate what those Aaronic priesthood quorum, and those young women classes can accomplish."

I really loved that so much (esp the part I have bolded above)! It was the same message in this PDF Handout from the church on Unit Histories. We want to show how our activities bring us to Christ. Corey and I don't read the scriptures with the kids, or have them do chores, or practice music, etc etc because "we're supposed to do this every week". I do not care about entertaining them, we are focused on them being ready to fulfill their missions on this earth and that they'll be prepared to return to God and receive the salvation He offers. That was awesome, I love it! 

Fever

Well, we've survived the weekend. Things are good with the house. The "mortal experiences" we are having right now are that Corey's car is STILL not back, so freaking stupid. It's been at Tanner's Transmission for EIGHT WEEKS. We're kinda giving up hope that we'll ever get it back, so maybe we're coming to terms with our loss, or just having all of our expectations disappear. Another trial is that K is sick with a fever. She had a fever and wasn't feeling great yesterday and has continued to be clingy and needed extra love today. K has slept with me in our room since she is not feeling well. Her fever went away yesterday after some tylenol, but then was really high again tonight - 103.7. Gave her more tylenol and she's sleeping now. 

Cute little thing. As for the rest of the kids, we're doing good at having them "get to work!" For example, Natalie asked to go to Macey's after school with her friends yesterday, but I was able to say no without guilt because she did had not practiced everyday. HA! They have to do their stuff to have privileges! We are starting to enforce consequences, go team. We have not been enforcing consequences for kids or ourselves for a while. For example, I'll go on a ride even if I haven't earned it (sometimes I do it to help me try to get goin') but yesterday I had done all of MY stuff, so I got to leave and enjoy my privilege, which was to go on a ride. It took me 1 hour 22 min to make it to the ruins, and I collapsed and laid down on the snow once I got there, from feeling sluggish. I didn't collapse from exhaustion, cause I wasn't exhausted, but I did feel heavy. It felt sooo slowww today, but I like being in the mountains. Looking up at the sky as I lay down.

Thumbs up, ready for the decent.

Corey and I went to Aubergine for date night and he had a good work day too. Abi doesn't have GMS on Friday evenings or Saturday mornings anymore. She didn't get good grades and was absent for a lot of her required classes, and after being sick on the plane to Florida, she used that opportunity to get Corey's sympathy and got out of it. She wrote a letter to them and she's done. It's nice having her home in the morning and to not have any run-around to do. With Abi and the older girls at home, Corey and I were able to sneak away to go climbing even thought it was later than I wanted. I told Corey 8, but we didn't get out the door until 10. Climbed from 10-12. I probably shouldn't take a BeReal when I'm belaying... but I did.

This was my 500th Strava activity today, yay for me! I'm in the top 1%! I took a screenshot and texted it to the kids to brag. "I'm an elite athlete!"

Hyrum replied "You're a middle aged woman with 13 children. Looks like I need to start working harder..." haha, that made me laugh. Before we left, I got the chore board set up with chores written out for the kids. Daniel ready to do some amazing ninja style.

Corey was more responsible with his BeReal - took it at home with cute K when she was feeling a little better earlier in the afternoon. Corey's been taking BeReals lately, cause Melodie said she likes it. 

And Corey is interested in posting cause he wants to see what Mel is up to! 

Looks like she's having fun with a certain someone at a BYU basketball game tonight. Go Cougs (We like Christian). 

'Nother Good Day

It's been another good day. Today Katharine's friend Becca came over to play. Her mom is expecting and was just put on bed rest. So Becca was here from when the boys went to school until shortly after lunch time. They BOTH wanted to be carried when it was time to walk her home for her nap, but I didn't want to work that hard and carry them both for that long, so I put them on a sled and took them for a little train ride. 

I have a nice phone visit with Nicole while Katharine and Becca played. I was bragging about my clean grout and she wanted to see, so I took some pictures for her. Doesn't that look nice?!?

And by the garage door. I don't think I've ever cleaned this area this well.

K is so proud of me that she was dancing on the clean kitchen counter.

And without child.

Yeah, I really like having a clean house. There are still areas to work on. The laundry room and basement are still in disorder. And Abi has so many clothes that her closet bar fell down again. 

"Fix closet/clothes" was one of Abi's chores for today. The chore board has been simplified again. We are not worrying about a week anymore, we're just taking a day at a time. AND no more dozens of magnets for Katharine to throw on the floor and lose. Just one dry erase marker (and a few wet erase markers that I keep hidden).

So it was a good work day. After school I took Peter and Daniel and 4 of their friends to a birthday party. 

It was at Classic Skating. Cute Peter.

And then I went straight to the new Ft. Union Momentum to climb some bouldering problems. I would have had Abi the kids to the party and then I could have done a bike ride instead, but it was 29 degrees so I opted for something indoors. I figured I'd like a ride better if I waited until tomorrow when it will be in the mid 30s. I was able to take my time bouldering and did 40 - 18 attempts and 22 sends. This pink below is the first V3 I've been able to do since I did two the first week we went climbing this year. 

I have to write down all this info cause they don't have Kaya there (Kaya is the app that keeps track of all this info for me, so they don't have it so I have type it all down myself in my whatsapp so I can paste it into Strava and send it to myself to use on my laptop and put in my workout log. Plus I'm trying to remember which ones I do and which ones I need to try again. It was fun and my palms are spent! It was a good day in many ways. 

Trumpet Mystery

Owen had his trumpet lesson tonight. The girls were all going to the temple at 5:30, and since Natalie is in that group now, that meant ALSN were gone, and if I was gone with Owen too, that would leave Daniel in charge of Peter and Katharine, which wouldn't fly. So I took them all with us and dropped DPK off with Corey at his dad's house. During Owen's lesson, his teacher noticed there was something sounding off with Owen's trumpet. He could still blow air in it, and she shook it and there wasn't anything rattling around inside, but it sounded muted a bit. I mentioned that I had seen Katharine open Owen's case earlier, and then Owen pointed out that his orange straw was missing. When we got home we were able to solve the mystery!

Haha, I gotta keep an eye on Katharine! I'm glad we were able to figure that out so quickly and now it sounds back to normal, yay. I simplified the chore board even more tonight. No magnets. Just a dry erase pen on top, and kids write down what they do. Owen and Abi were the only two who played along. Owen wins again. He's a good worker and very obedient, which I appreciate. He is the only one who cleans the boys room 95% of the time and is the most consistent of the kids at helping me with chores, and my heart is grateful when he comes up to me and asks "Can I do anything else for you?" Good kid. Corey and I are going to do a little bit of a "core balance training" before bed. It's a program Corey bought that he likes and has been doing. We're hoping it helps his back, and mine needs help too, so we'll give it a go and hope it helps slow down how old we feel sometimes! That's also part of our motivation behind biking and climbing. It's been very cold, but it was warm enough yesterday that I went on a bike ride. I was able to get up to Techy, and would have gone to the ruins, except I had to hurry back to pick up Abi at the bus stop (on her way home from her flute lesson) and take Owen and Daniel to activity days. Another photo of the lovely snowy mountains. I love it.

I went to the temple this morning for 5am initiatories, and then I went to Ft. Union Momentum after. So even though I'd already gotten in some exercise today, I went on a bike ride too, because it was "warm" enough (above 30 degrees) and because today Owen had trumpet after school, so I knew I couldn't take a bike ride today. So I enjoyed my ride, other than I wasn't able to pause and soak in the scenery because I was on a time crunch. I plan to go again on Thursday and or Friday, it will be in the 30s both of those days too (31 on Thurs and 38 on Friday. Tomorrow will be cutting it close, so maybe I'll just do Friday, we'll see). 

Katharine was super cute this morning. Little sleepy eyes. Corey and I gave her kisses and then she said "I'm so beautiful. But I don't have a cupcake..." and then we talked about cupcakes for a bit. I guess that was what she was dreaming about last night.

Last week she woke up super mad at me and yelled at me for taking her granola bar. It's funny cause she's hasn't figured out what dreams are - that they didn't really happen, so she'll just wake up and be sad cause Mel is gone or cause Natalie didn't wait for her, etc. Sometimes how the morning goes depends on what her dream was. But we visited as she ate her oatmeal with her doggy puppy. Then we danced to music while I cleaned, and watched a bit of Bluey as I scrubbed the floor. I wasn't planning on doing much on the floor today, but when I found a container of spilled salad dressing had run down the inside of the garbage can and gone through a hole and pooled underneath the garbage can, that got me started and I ended cleaning up that and scrubbing other areas. So the floor still looks awesome and I love it. Then K and I went with Kathy to visit a new neighbor. Katharine was happy to play with a new 3 year old friend Aspen!

And then it was home for more cleaning. It's been a good day. 

FHE - My Family Booklet

Last week when K and I were running errands, I went by Deseret Book and picked up 10 copies of a little booklet called "My Family". I wanted to continue with some Family History, even though we did a little family history last week. I had already wanted to do this before that one, so I decided to just keep to the plan. Today I cropped, copied and pasted photos in paint, then sent them to print at Walgreens. I did enough for each kid to have some small pictures of Corey and I and their grandparents and themselves...

I thought Peter would like it if we did one for Wes. I also printed up a pedigree in a fan chart for each kid.

And with that we were ready to go. First we had an activity by Mel. Before I went to Walgreens to pick up the photos, I also went by Walmart, where I picked up two liters of Diet Coke and and a thing of Mentos, per Melodie's request. She wanted to do rockets with the kids. They were not able to do a repeat of their 2020 success (2nd video). These were both duds. I think they were too afraid to shake it up so one time Abi did it, but the lid wasn't on and it just sprayed out. Abi was able to throw it ho. On the second one, a mento fell in early so then they panicked and it tipped over and just made a mess. I guess we need some adult boys like last time - we needed Wes to do the scary part of shaking and throwing. Or it was because we were all freezing and our hands weren't working. It was 17 degrees outside! 

Mel spent the day with us after coming up yesterday with Christian. He came by to pick her up so he was throwing the football with Owen while the girls tried to do the coke rockets. 

Catching a football in that freezing air looked like it hurt. He also saw our little FHE craft. I gave Mel her stack of photos and papers and then she and Christian headed out. 

The kids kept working on their booklets. I was glad that they seemed to be very excited about filling in all the blanks. Maybe a little too excited, cause they didn't seem to like it when I said to just leave that one blank. For instance, Owen asked Corey "Dad, what is your death date?" Corey dryly replied "I haven't died yet..." haha. Hopefully the Spirit of Elijah will help our family out and they'll think doing family history is fun. Lily with a tape mustache.

So that was a success, Corey said I got an A+. We've assigned each of us a week to do FHE, and tonight was my turn. Lily's plan last week was to go sledding, but the snow at Flat Iron had melted, so that was a bummer and then we did Geneapordy instead. Family History is a good thing and I'd like for us to all do it. The kids worked on their booklets quite a bit this evening after we were "done" with FHE. I warned them that they could never sleep for the rest of their life and just work on family history and STILL never finish it. It's a never ending project. So just do a little bit each day or even if it's just a Sunday thing, that's fine, and then call it good even when you see there is more to do. It's a little bit like how I've been cleaning the grout, which I finished cleaning on the main floor tonight (well almost, except for under the table). I have been scrubbing and scrubbing the floor with magic erasers for the past week. I've been doing one eraser a day, until it's pulverized, and then I call it good for the day. Can you see the difference? WOW!

I've been working hard like Cinderella and singing "Sweet Nightingale" as I work, haha. It looks so nice now - even the kids notice how much better it looks and are able to appreciate it. I'm going to start on the bathroom grout tomorrow. 

Hibbert Game Night

Mel and Christian joined us for lunch today. 

We were excited he and Mel were able to come up. Wayne came over too. I made a thai curry soup and potato salad for lunch, and Abi cooked up some chicken  and rolls. Katharine helped cut up the potatoes (she insisted)...

And she did a very careful job and didn't cut herself either. Cute little thing sticking out her tongue as she concentrated. She changed from her Sunday attire into Belle before we had lunch. She didn't want to go sit at the table, Christian made her a little nervous...

"Who, me??"

Striking a pose for the camera, haha

Deeper, stretch it out more... "I would never be unwelcoming to a guest to our home..."

It's fine, Katharine, we won't hold it against you. But since K insisted upon sitting with her mother and father (she's been calling me "mother" lately, it's really funny) there was not room for Mel and Christian. But that's ok, cause Christian asked if it was ok for him to sit with the little boys anyway! Like he totally went all in and was stuck in the back of the table by the window on the banished little boys bench, reserved for all the noise makers. Christian is not too proud to be with the little boys, and they appreciated his condescension to their level. He's pretty much their favorite. He was sneaking them treats from his pocket too, that I bet he brought for that exact purpose, which helped earn their trust! He's a pro. He's the oldest of 8 kids, so he's probably has as much practice as Mel on how to be the favorite big sibling. So that was fun. Wayne was over here for lunch too. I left around 3 to go to my sister's house. She was having a game night and I wanted to return the favor of her cleaning for me, so I went over there and helped pick up a bit and we put a few pictures on her wall. The game night started was from 4-midnight. Our nephew Graigry was the first one there. He brought a game called Splendor which I really liked!

Ethan and Bella arrived next, and since we had just finished our first game (I won with 68 points haha!) I had them come play it with us. It's a 4 player game. I'm a bit competitive and I won that game too with 44 points. So now I think I want to buy this game. 

By the time we were finished with game 2, Mel and Christian and the other kids had arrived and they were playing a game with Beka and Matt.

Ethan brought Secret Hitler of course, which Matt had not played before, so he joined us for the first game of that. Ethan and Christian were both fascist and Mel was Hitler, I can't remember who else was fascist with them, but they lost. One funny thing in that round, Christian's default was to "nein" every chancellor, and I thought that was a fun strategy, so I joined him on that, haha. Then on round 2 Abi and Lily and I were the fascists and Bella was Hitler and near the end I became President and was able to make Bella my chancellor and we won!! 

One funny thing in that game, was Lily was president and investigated Abi, who she already knew was fascist, and she told everyone that she was fascist, which surprised me. I thought she'd lie about it to protect us. But that strategy probably worked in our favor, cause since they were drawing so much "bad guys" attention to themselves, Bella and I were able to slip under the radar and that's how we won. Neil arrived around this time and joined in on the 3rd game. Abi and Lily were fascists again in the 3rd round with Bella, and Natalie was Hitler, and that one was close but the liberals barely won that round. So I won EVERYTHING tonight, yay for me. Matt ordered some "Big Daddy's" pizza and the kids enjoyed that. Ethan and and Bella had to leave then to go to a friend's cabin, and I headed home to help Corey with the little kids, and the rest of the kids stayed for a bit longer. Close up ~

And wide angle to get everyone in the pic. 

Back at home, K wanted candy and found the last two suckers. Corey asked for a lick and K would not share, even though she had two. Typical toddler.

And now the kids are all back, Mel is spending the night, and she's giving us the details on her date last night. Needless to say our boy crazy teenagers are loving it. Now it's past midnight and we should probably go to bed. I'm glad the kids don't have school tomorrow.