Goals

Sometimes it takes me a few weeks into the new year to really figure out what I need to change/accomplish.  I love the start of a new year because it is such a clean slate!

There are a few things I am working on.

Here we go:

Do something hard every day.  I have been writing these things down each day. One day I made my bed before we got in it to sleep even though I really, really wanted to just lay down on the bedspread that was on top of the mattress waiting for the sheets to get dry.

One day I took the kids skiing and did that one last run with Jenna.  I couldn't walk up the stairs without wincing for three days but I am going again this Friday!

One day I loaded the dishwasher.  Even though it was 9 o'clock which is in my 'I am off duty after dinner' time.  Who's kidding who though.  Mom's are never off dinner.  But I have had a habit of ignoring those few dishes left in the sink way too often.  

So my hard things aren't really that hard.  But for me they are a huge accomplishment and 'by small and simple things are great things ' accomplished.  Right?!

Do something with the laundry every day.  Socks count.  Five minutes counts.  Organizing one drawer of clothes counts.  I think part of my laundry problem (BIG problem) is that I always think I have to do ALL of the laundry if I start.  The clothing situation is getting better.  A little bit at a time.  And the kids are helping.  Once we get things a bit more organized then they can all do their own.  But that's a whole other goal in and of itself!

Do something with the bills/mail/finances each day.  Again this is going along with my aversion to anything uncomfortable.  I hate facing finances so I put it off which only makes is worse.  It's not so bad in little 5 minute intervals.  I don't have to plan our entire retirement and funding of the three missionaries that we will have in about two seconds every time I sit down.  

Kiss Rustin every day. Sometimes we forget to kiss.  And man, that boy of mine is one heck of a kisser!  What more can I say...  :)

Here we are! 2014 family pictures

We took these at the very end of December so they barely count as 2014 but its all we have!  We will have to make sure to take more in 2015! 

I printed off all our family blog books for Christmas this year.  Well actually I didn't print them all but I printed what I had finished... I'm working on it!  

Any way there are two things I realized.

I need to take more pictures.

I need to take a real camera once in a while!

2014 is going to be remember as the year of the crappy photos!

But as my Aunt Kay always ways--done is better than cute.

I'm going with that philosophy!

Year End Rhyme

Our family keeps growing
They're all getting higher.
It's hard for us all
to fit 'round the fire!

But Christmas was nice--
we sang in the choir.
And with snow and some ice
we all sat round the fire!

Christmas Eve is exhausting
as all parents know,
but a looong winter's nap
our kids did bestow! (so nice!)

Hot chocolate and toast
for breakfast we had.
A big prime rib roast,
for dinner was rad! (do people even say rad anymore?!)


Our family and friends
are the favorite for sure
we love Christmas time
for the love that endures.

Merry Christmas 2014!

20 years ago...

It's been twenty years since a cute pick-up driving boy entered my life. I thought it would be fun to commemorate our first date. 

Rustin and I met on a blind date. Rustin's cousin Leslie was a good friend and we had agreed to set each other up on a date with our cousins while we were all students at Ricks but the dates never happened while we were in Rexburg. I graduated and moved on to Idaho State University where I could work on a nursing degree. 

A few months later Leslie had moved back home to Pocatello. She had received her mission call and was preparing to leave when we ran into each other at the institute at ISU. We set up our dates for the next weekend. My cousin couldn't come until Saturday night but Leslie's cousin needed to come Friday so we found dates for both nights.

 

When Rustin arrived at my door to pick me up I had just barely walked in from a date earlier that day. The first thing I noticed was that he had a black eye (from playing murder in the dark the previous day...). 

We went roller skating. 

We laughed and talked. Rustin grabbed my hand and took off flying around the rink as fast as we could go. Just as we rounded the second or third corner our hands slipped and I went flying across the floor. Very graceful. 

We both remember that it was one of the most comfortable first dates we had been on. We laughed and talked. But--we lived in different towns and we were dating different people and Leslie was leaving in less than two weeks.  I didn't expect to see him again. 

Of course I did see him again. That's a story for another day! 

Snug like a bug

Watching these pups makes me want to go curl up with whoever I can coerce into snuggling with me. 

Actually I have pretty snugly kids. 

Jackson is the best. I don't think I can ever get enough of having that boy's little face pressed into my neck...

We had the most beautiful Halloween.  We had a full week of parties this year and the weather was a glorious 70 degrees. 

Then November hit and we slipped right into serious Fall.  I love the gorgeous colors but the cool weather makes me want to hibernate. I'm trying to reprogram my brain this year. I want to get out and embrace the seasons instead of hide under a {very fuzzy} blanket. Skiing? Hiking? We'll see. What do y'all do for fun when it's cold out?

In other news I am pleased to announce that our Halloween costumes took only 30 minutes and $0 to put together. Yes!

VanHelsing, bohemian lifeguard (missing his hair here), Boise State Bronco (pronounced "Stazy bronco"), hobo (first time he hadn't been a variation of a Hobbitt in three years!), cute purple witch and Achilles (two mild high ankle sprains).  

And...my hair can look like this with two minutes notice. I don't even need hairspray...bet you're jealous...

Mamas

We have puppies at our house. They are adorable as always. 

We watched the sweetest thing with this last litter. Sadie had only one puppy for her first litter. Little fudge was four weeks old when Daisy had her pups. 

During Daisy's delivery we got to witness the sweetest thing. After a pup is born the mama is immediately attentive to cleaning the puppy (with some help from me) which helps stimulate breathing and gets blood flowing. The puppy then crawls up to the mom to snuggle and nurse and get warm. 

It's quite a thing to see a little deaf and blind newborn find and bond with her mother!

Once labor/pushing starts with the next pup the mom will stand up and start to pace and turn around so we move the already delivered puppy out of the way to make room for the next baby.

So, during Daisy's delivery we moved the pups into a dog bed just outside the whelping box where they started to whine and cry. 

That's where Sadie came in! 

She trotted over and licked the pups and then laid down in the bed so they could nurse and get warm. She stayed the entire four hours until Daisy was done delivering and we moved all seven puppies into the whelping box with her. So sweet! 

I love to see mothers helping each other. It reinforces my belief that we all need each other in this world.

Words.

Toddlers are funny. They just are. 

The kids are out of school today so we were laying in my bed this morning being entertained by Jackson. 

He was telling us stories about "when I was a little guy..."

Jackson tends to pick up on everything the big kids say. For a while he kept saying "oh my Gosh" which I don't like. So I've been trying to get him to say "oh my goodness" or " holy cow." 

This morning he kept saying 

"Holy Gosh." 

Fail. 

For a while Jack was saying "what the..." Whenever he was mad at something. While he wasn't saying anything bad it sounded very suspicious. So Benson taught him to say 'cheeseball.' 

It has morphed into a weird meaning where if Benson says 'Jack! Cheeseball!' Jackson will cry 'don't say cheeseball.' 

A few other weird ones:

When Jackson thinks it's time to do something he'll grab my face and say "mom, it's 6 o'clock."

Like in church he wants to go to nursery--'it's 6 o'clock.' 

Or he wants to have a snack 'it's 6 o'clock.'

When he wants my attention in general he puts his hands on both of my cheeks and smashes his forehead against my forehead so we can only see each other. 

When he gets super tired he'll say 'mom I'm too wiggly.' You know like those times when your head keeps nodding...

Right now Jack loves all racing. He has all his cars in a bucket and he races them down the slide or any of the ramps he has built. He and Benson also race all over the house--Ben on roller blades, Jack pushing his car. He cries whenever Ben beats him so one of the big boys will swoop in and hold Benson back so Jack can 'win.'  Just one of the many ways we are surely spoiling this boy. 

Man we love this kid!