Little Readers

Tyler and Bryce are turning into quite the little readers. It is exciting to watch the world open up to them as they can recognize words, sound them out, and identify different words as we're out and about. They are currently working towards a reading goal of 600 minutes before April and if they do, the school provides them with tickets to Roaring Springs (a local water park with slides and pools). For the last couple of years, both boys have been begging to go to this waterpark. It's right off the freeway exit we take to Boise, so they see it frequently. This has been a great incentive and we're not too far away from making the goal.

We've been making frequent trips to the Library where they get to pick out their own books. Tyler goes straight for the Airplane books every time. Bryce has really taken to sea animals, particularly whales and sharks. We're reading "Junie B. Jones" books at night. They're short little chapter books about a girl going to Kindergarten. The writing is fun, but I'm struggling with how she loves to call people names, like fat, stupid, dumb, and smelly. Innocent enough, but not exactly what I want my boys calling other people. We're trying "Ramona & Beezus" this time to see how that goes. The chapters are a lot longer with not as many illustrations so we'll see how well it keeps their attention. Lexi loves "Pinkalicious", "Dora", "Curious George" and "Fancy Nancy" books. It's fun to break out into the girly books a little more instead of all the trucks, planes, and trains. I love "experiencing" books with my kids. I love seeing and hearing their excitement and laughing at the silliness.  I'm excited for them to have the independence of being able to read by themselves. Though for now, I will take all the cuddle time I can get while sharing a great book together.

Wrestling

Take last month's schedule and add on wrestling 2 nights a week in Boise, 2 more swimming level classes (1 beginner for kids and 1 private lessons for an adult), teaching Sharing Time, and responsibilities with the Cub Scouts program. I'm stretched a little thin, but feel like I'm managing a lot better.

Tyler & Bryce starting wrestling this month with the Patriot Wrestling Club in Boise. My brother Scott is the head coach, Jason is one of the assistant coaches. We were able to use some scholarship funds from the Club, so the biggest cost for us is the gas used. We had assumed that Tyler would love wrestling and Bryce would hate it. Boy, have we ever been surprised!

After just two days of practice, the kids participated in a "fun match". It was for 1st and 2nd year wrestlers. They weighed each boy before hand, wrote their weight on their hand and then lined them up and sorted them by weight to partner up.

This is the boys practicing before the match started. Tyler is taking Bryce down with a double leg:

 Getting some help from Coach Eric:

 Bryce putting Tyler in the "half-nelson"

 Tyler was the first to wrestle. He had a very tentative little boy who Tyler took down over and over again. Sorry the pictures aren't that great! You get the idea though:

 Since it was a "fun match" they raised both boys' arms at the end and everyone got medals.

Bryce had a more fierce opponent that had a lot more experience than him. He spent most of the time on his back and stomach but fought really hard.

 In Tyler's second match, he got paired up with this little boy. He was quick, super aggressive, and had a lot of experience.

 It was a tough match for Tyler. He was placed in a lot of uncomfortable positions, and cried a good majority of the match. We were proud of him that he kept trying. He fought hard not to be pinned and put up a good effort. Unfortunately, this really turned him off of wrestling and he hasn't had the same gusto or excitement for it that he did before.

 4 "tough guy wrestlers", Tyler and Bryce with their cousins, Nathan & Dallin:

 Bryce watching his cousin wrestle with his Grandpa Rich:

 Bryce has really surprised us with his desire to wrestle. After getting beat pretty bad the first two matches, he wanted to wrestle again for a third time. He held his own during the last match and really started to get more of the hang of it. He's pretty mild and kind of awkward, but we're glad that he's enjoying it so much.

Cabin Getaway

We got a call from Codi (my sister-in-law), inviting us up to her cabin for an extended weekend. After trading around work schedules, Marc was able to make it happen. We left Saturday, January 28th early evening and followed Scott & Codi up to Cascade. Jason & his family came up about 30 min after us, and my parents joined us the next day. We had a fun time Sat night talking, eating, and trying to get the kids to settle down and actually get some sleep.

Sunday morning was a delicious breakfast of scones, and we were able to leisurely hang out and play until church started at 10. We drove into Cascade to attend their branch, stayed for Sacrament meeting, then went back to the cabin. We served Chicken Tortilla Soup for lunch, and then the kids spent the rest of the afternoon playing outside.

The kids enjoyed trying to dig a snow cave:

 Sledding, sledding, and more sledding:

 Lexi was having so much fun until she had a sledding accident. Just as I pushed her off down the hill, Tyler walked in front of her with his sled and she smashed her face into his sled. It cut up her lip pretty bad, but fortunately the worst it did was give her a fat lip and a blood-stained jacket for the rest of the weekend. She enjoyed some pretty intense ping-pong battles with her cousins.

 I just realized I don't have any hot tub pictures on my camera, but these two little girls couldn't get enough of playing in the hot tub. It was their favorite part about the trip up to the cabin:

We stayed up late Saturday night playing games. We were introduced to the European version of Ticket To Ride. And after 9.75 years of marriage, we finally taught Marc how to play "Squeak" which is a family favorite. I tend to be an intense card player....he did a lot better when I wasn't his partner I think :) After sharing lots of childhood memories, mostly of my two oldest brothers battling it out, we called it a night.

Breakfast on Monday was eggs and pancakes:

 We let the kids play outside some more. My mom even got out and did a little sledding with them! After cleaning up the cabin and packing up, we went with Scott's family and my parents to McCall to see the ice sculptures which are part of the annual Winter Carnival up there. The sculptures were incredible. Our favorites were the dinosaurs, the Disney Castle and tea cups, and the Candy Land Themed one. Some of the sculptures had slides built in that the kids could play on.

After spending a little bit longer at a sledding hill in McCall, we packed up the kids and drove back to Caldwell. It was a much needed, relaxing, winter getaway. And probably the last snow we'll see this year! Thanks so much for inviting us Scott & Codi!

Change of Calling

At the end of December, I was stressing about Primary and not having a President and the burden of trying to have everything ready for the new year when everyone changed classes. It was a HUGE relief when I found out right before we left for Cincinnati that a new president had been called (and it wasn't me!!). I'm now the first counselor, we've moved back to a normal schedule (sacrament meeting first, then primary) and to make things even better, we have 9:00 church! Hooray! I don't come home absolutely wasted anymore. The kids are so much happier, we have time for Sunday naps, and can enjoy having the whole rest of the day now. It's been a good change.

We were also thrown a curve ball, when on New Years Day, I thought the Bishop wanted to talk to us about some of the changes I want to make with nursery, and he really wanted to ask Marc to be the Young Men's President. So, our luxurious Sunday afternoons and now filled with back to back meetings for Marc and me feeling like a Sunday Widow. Ok, maybe that's a little dramatic, but his time spent in meetings has probably quadrupled in the last month, not to mention Wednesday night activities, and everything in between that the Young Men do. Marc really enjoys teenagers, so this is a great place for him. We were promised we'd be able to find balance in our lives. We're still trying to find that happy medium place, but as crazy as things are right now, we're holding it together. I guess this is all part of that "endure to the end" part, right?

Music Class

Each Tuesday morning I teach a little Mommy and Me Music class. We sing songs, play with musical instruments, dance, and be silly for about 30-35 minutes. Lexi really enjoys it, it has been a fun, creative outlet for me, I make a tiny bit of spending cash, and as an added bonus, it helps to keep our house clean more regularly which is always a good thing!

When I started in September, I had an overwhelming response. I had 9 kids and their moms enrolled. We lost a few during October to sickness, and then in November, people just stopped coming without telling me they weren't going to come anymore, or any explanation to it. It was the most frustrating feeling. I didn't know if they were leaving because they didn't like my teaching, or if it was a schedule conflict, or what. The last day of November, I had just one little boy and his mom show up. We waited about 10 minutes for any others, and finally I just got through the songs I had planned for the day. It was a struggle....I felt so let down and disappointed. My music class was dieing, and I didn't know what to do about it.

I had no idea how many people to plan on for December, because people weren't communicating with me.  I finally planned a free open house in December, and I had a pretty good response. But couldn't get any commitment from anyone for the rest of the month, so I cancelled it for December. All month long I went back and forth as to continue in the new year or not. I felt like if I didn't do it anymore, I would feel like such a failure and that was hard for me to accept. I had 2 kids that I knew for sure wanted to come back, but I was torn because its just not as much fun when there is not very many people. Finally, I had one more person express interest, so I made the decision to just hold it.

After the first week of class in January, I was happy with my decision to keep holding class. It's fulfilling to me to watch the kids' excitement for a new song, or learning the words and singing along with me. Getting to experience some of the kids come out of their little shy shells and really shine is rewarding. I love hearing Lexi sing the songs during the week, or pretending to have music class when she's playing. I enjoy teaching. It was a hard lesson for me that I can't stress about the numbers, but to be grateful I can do something I care about and think I have a talent for. This month we're singing songs about Valentines and Food, what can be better than that!

Once there was a snowman

 We've gone all winter with hardly any snow! The kids have been so disappointed. Finally, in January, we had a good couple of inches come down. Marc had timed it perfectly with taking some time off. We helped in Tyler's classroom and drove the boys home with us after school. Everyone made quick work of getting all their snow stuff on and we soon had a little family of snowmen. Unfortunately, in true Boise fashion, it started to rain as we were putting the finishing touches on our snow people. If the boys had ridden the bus home instead of being driven home, they wouldn't have been able to enjoy the snow!

Hooray!

We paid off our credit card this weekend!!! This was our biggest debt by far and has required the most sacrifice and work to bring the balance down to zero. What a feeling of accomplishment! The load that is being lifted off our shoulders makes me feel like I can stand 2 feet taller. We're almost there! Working on the student loan now. I'm hoping we can keep the same momentum going that we've gained with the credit card. Woo hoo!

Working Momma

January kicked off a new session of swimming lessons for me to teach in the form of preschoolers and adults. I feel like I'm constantly being pushed out of my comfort zone with swim lessons, which is good for me, but a little stressful at the same time. I took on an adult swim lesson course, which originally had 3 people signed up, but 2 dropped out at the last minute so I was essentially teaching private lessons (without the benefit of getting paid more).

I worked with a lady who could swim ok, but she'd all of the sudden panic in the water, freeze up, and freak out. She really wanted to swim in the mini-triathlon that they Caldwell Y puts on every January and I had about 2 weeks to try and get her to a point where she would stand a chance of finishing the swim (400 yards). It took me a little while to realize she wasn't exhaling at all, so when we got that figured out she started to show faster progress. We worked on her balance a lot, and some simple drills to help with her comfort and confidence in the water. I put her through obstacle courses, made her swim through a hoop, grab objects from the bottom of the pool, and even jumped off the diving board. I know she felt kind of silly, but it made a big difference in her comfort level when we started swimming. At first, she was going to have someone else swim her leg in the triathlon, but she worked up enough courage to do it herself, and I'm happy to be able to so say she finished her first triathlon! The empowerment that came from finishing it has really driven her and sparked a fire to keep swimming and getting better at it. The confidence that I've been able to gain in helping others to learn to swim has been a big deal too.

I also taught one beginner level swim class on Tues/Thur, and am teaching the preschool kids swim lessons on Wednesdays with my friend Gina. The hardest part of it all is the time that the lessons are at and trying to work dinner into the factor.I had to be at the Y for my beginner lesson at 4:25, and the adult lesson ended at 6:30.

On Tuesdays, I teach the Mommy and Me Music class in the morning, volunteer at the kids' school in the afternoon, take them home, prepare for swim lessons, remember at the last minute that I have to feed the kids before 4:00, and all of us head to the YMCA until we get home at about 7:00 and get the kids in bed. We're still trying to find the balance and adjustment of Mom working a few hours each week. I was not prepared menu wise, which resulted in pizza and fast food a couple of nights after work, which is always frustrating because it feels like money washed down the toilet. This month I'm trying to plan the menu accordingly with some sack dinners and food that is quick and easy to make for the nights that I'm working. I'll probably continue to teach as much as I can through April.