w4: Single Parenthood

January 20 - 26, 2013

Monday morning Kurt left for Vegas again for another Valley conference {this time for service.} He enjoys these so much more than the sales meetings {he's a technical guy.} We missed him though.

Tuesday was the Pinewood Derby. The car was done in stages as Kurt was in town in between trips. Cortney actually finished up putting the wheels on as Kurt ran out the door. An hour before the derby started Austin and I haded on the decorative touches with Sharpie paint pens. He was extremely happy with the result so that made it a success in my book.

 

The pinewood derby went really well. Cindy had different stations set up around the gym {Drivers Test, Photo booth, Eye Test, Coloring page and of course Weigh In and Repairs.} I had invited Bill to play the role of grandpa that night since Kurt was gone. He had shipped out a load of cattle that day so it was ify if he would be back in time. I was really proud of Austin. We weighed his car and it was over so he went to the repair station and took out some screws and weighed it again. He kept working at it till it was just right. In the middle of that process I got busy helping other boys with my responsibilities.

We pay for a guy to come set up his track and computer and he handles the entire thing. It is beautiful and completely eliminates over worked up dads getting involved. Austin won his first race! He was overjoyed {and so was I.} He didn't win any other races but it didn't seem to matter. Austin had a genuinely great time that night. When I was talking with him later he told me how fun it was and how he loved seeing all the different cars and how they raced. I was again impressed with his attitude. It didn't matter how well he had done personally but the overall atmosphere of the night. He is a good kid and I'm grateful he had a fun and success night.

 

Happy news is that it warm up this week! YaaaHooo! Its amazing how warm 22 degree feels ;)
As things started to thaw we had some slick mornings and freezing rain. It is so much more enjoyable to feed our animals when its not so blasted cold. I personally think its a miracle that none of them have died. Although the big pig did bite Spencer this week when he went after their water bucket. I don't know how much longer they will be alive...

I taught preschool both Tuesday and Thursday this week {which means I don't have to teach next week when I get back which is super nice.} The preschool/mudroom was still a disaster from the food storage I moved over. It was letter M week so I got creative and left the kids a note on the preschool door saying the room was a MESS and they needed to take a MAP to find where we were MEETING {in my living room!} It worked out well and it was a fun change.

We got all our visiting teaching done this week. We met at Dairy Queen for lunch for one appointment. I had some very happy girls! ;)



This happens almost every day as we get into the car to run errands, pick up kids from school and walk for after school activities to finish. The younger siblings have to be easy going with the ability to sleep anywhere. I'm grateful for my day time buddies.



Friday I was able to go the temple with Shaylona who was receiving her endowments in preparation for her mission next month. I was so excited for her. She was prepared and taught and beautiful. It makes all those lessons, activities and hours of service worth it to see her in the temple. What a blessing.

 

After a small amount of sleep and a lot of work I left Saturday morning at 5:30 am to meet up with Kurt in Palm Springs, CA. He has a conference down here this week and they pay for the wives to come too. It sure takes a lot of work to go on vacation! Many thanks to Shaylona who is watching our kids the 5 days we are gone.

Lastly I want to share some randomly sweet every day moments. Austin and Lucy have a sweet bond. She adores him. Besides mom and dad it was first name she learned to say and she is constantly saying, "Austin. Austin. Austin. Where are you?" Monday night Austin decided to help Lucy put away the clean dishes. It was precious as he taught her and she beamed with pride. Love these moments.

 

w3: Remind me to NEVER move again

January 13-19, 2013

The ridiculous sub zero temp continued this week. It was too cold. I don't EVER remember Vale getting this cold and staying cold for this long. I continue to look at the forecast and there is no relief in sight. Trying to find a positive...grateful our new thermostats work {Kurt replaced them when I was in Seattle. The house actually stays warm now!}

Tuesday Ruth had her first Kindergarten assessment meeting. These meetings will happen once a month until school starts this fall. As of this year Kindergarten at 4 Rivers is all in Spanish. Research shows that in the long run it will help with better bilingual comprehension and retention. If a child is solid in their native language when they start kindergarten they will quickly and easily retain the second language. And so the reason for the monthly testing. To make sure the kinders are ready when they start this fall. If they are NOT ready in their native language then they will struggle and possibly not get it at all. I have to say that I have a little anxiety over the full Spanish kinder. I get what they are saying and why they are saying it. But I have issues with her leaving already so to add another element just about throws me over. While she is not at the level of readiness that her siblings were at I know she will be ready by the time school starts this fall. She was SO excited for her meeting. That was the first thing she said when she woke up Tuesday, "Is today my kindergarten meeting?" She got a new book, a packet of papers to work on and a brand new just her size school shirt. And of course I should mention that she rocked the test. We will continue to practice and make sure she is ready and successful in kinder. We went out for dinner at Wingers afterwards. Perfect mommy date.

Wednesday Kurt left for Valley conference in Vegas. Wednesday also began my moving madness. Courtney and Brittany are going to move into our Graham house. I don't have an exact date but I some serious work needed to be done to get the rest of our junk out of there. It has been nice to live with the basics which means I need to get RID of the rest! I was trying really hard to get it all moved before Kurt got home. I worked all day Wednesday and Friday. I was one load short by the time he came home at 1 am Saturday morning. But we continued to haul and move additional loads that day. And it is done. Phew! It was terrible. Never drag out your moving. Ask for help and get it done in one weekend. I'm exhausted.

3 full days. 10 loads in the suburban. Plus 1 to the trash and 1 to DI.
Temps from -12 to 11.

 At ward conference last week the Stake President spoke about service and his talk really resonated with me. After listening I decided we would add something new to our dinner discussion each night. We are sharing with each other, "What did you do today to help someone." It has been really fun to listen to the kids share and for myself plan in my day what I'm going to do so that I HAVE something to share. It also provided opportunities for them to feel the spirit which we also shared. I really like this.

Thursday we all went to the hospital together to visit Grandma Romans who recently had hip replacement surgery. Unfortunately she was asleep and they wouldn't let us in to see her. :( A man in the elevator couldn't believe all the kids were siblings. Ya, watch out! The Romans are taking over the world {one act of service at a time.}

In other news we took our favorite car pooler and friend Kerri to dinner at Wingers Thursday night.

Sunday {Jan. 20} came into the kitchen with yet another tooth he had pulled out. {His bottom second right. A total of 5 teeth now.}I didn't even know this tooth was loose!

w2: Meet the Wounded

January 6 -12, 2013

On Monday I FINALLY had my first Dr. appointment. Wahoo. 13 weeks. I have never been that far along at the first appointment. But the holidays made it difficult to schedule. I had an ultrasound and full exam. First of all, I forgot how crazy Dr. Rice is. Haha. Serious. And second I forgot how magical the first ultra sound is. No matter how many times you are pregnant it is still magical to hear {and see} the baby for the first time. I think that I might have gotten excited at that point too. The kids loved looking at the ultrasound pictures, they were quite fascinated. Also worth mentioning is that everything looks good and is healthy at this point.

The weather was wet and snowy and the never let up. Unfortunately I was driving the small car which I don't feel as confident in during the winter weather. It took me 2 hours to get from Boise to Ontario. But at least I arrived safely. The cold and miserable weather continued all week.

Super exciting happenings of the week is that Lucy was showing interest in using the potty. It seems to good to be true. We will see what happens. I'm not going to push it. But she has been telling us consistently for the past couple of days so we will continue to act upon that. Wishin' and Prayin'!

Thursday - Saturday I was gone to Seattle with Jamie to celebrate her 40th birthday. It was a perfect getaway and much needed. Separate post to come.

While I was gone my kids got beat up. Apparently I can't leave. The kids were up at Cindy' while Kurt and Austin were working on his pinewood derby car. Emma was running on the treadmill when Lucy got stuck behind it. Her back, arm and ear are all tore up with treadmill rash. It is not pretty. My stomach went quezy at the sight of it.

Spencer was jumping on the bed when he fell {or was pushed by a brother..} into the wood frame of the bed. Nice gash right on his eyebrow. It was determined that he didn't need stitches. But he did lose his top left tooth via pliers on Saturday night. That is his preferred pulling method. That kid is a crack up!

w1: Winter Toys

January 1 -5, 2013

I love the fresh feeling of a brand new year. The feeling like anything is achievable. I've been thinking about that a lot this week. And really because of the HOPE that comes through the atonement of Jesus Christ that feeling is possible {all the time.}

We slowly started to get back into the routine after Christmas break. School started again on Tuesday. After taking the kids to school Ruth and I had a mommy date. We did a few errands {took pictures of shoes at the Boise temple and returned some items at Target} we had lunch at Subway {that is about the only thing I don't get sick on currently!} and a movie at the cheap theater. I love me some Rooster girl. She is a good buddy.

The thing that was super nice about this week is that none of the after school activities had started back up so we gradually eased our way into "normal" life. Maybe we have too many things going on after school...but what to cut?

We also got some outside toys this week. Kurt bought a new 4 wheeler on the 31st and then Thursday we came across a deal to help a friend and bought their ranger. So in one week we have a whole bunch of toys for Work and Play! I really like the Ranger because we can all ride together and its super easy to use.

Austin's BF Daniel Machuca came over after school to play. Austin was in heaven. Daniel's dad is the branch president in the Spanish branch in Ontario. I'm grateful that my kids have good friends.

Happy New Year!

Monday, December 31, 2012

We were suppose to have Jamie and Jolene plus their families over for a NYE dinner and party. I learned some bad news about a dear friend and that took over the thoughts and concerns of the day. Plus Jamie's twins were sick so we canceled the party.

Of course we still a very simple version for us. I LOVE this party tradition we started last year: different activity for each hour to count down but as soon as you finish one activity you can start on the next hour {regardless of what time it is!} Our new year came at 10 with hugs and shouts and then off to bed. I hope we can continue this tradition for many more years to come. :)

6 pm - Best memories of 2012 charades

7 pm - Watch fireworks {luckily we could see them well enough from the comfort of my warm bedroom.}

8 pm - 2013 Photo Booth

9 pm -Make a treat together {Root Beer Floats}

10 pm - Year in Review: Blessing each month in 2012

11 pm - Dance Party to Abba's "Happy New Year"

Midnight - Watch a movie together {Despicable Me}

Goals:

Austin
* Practice Articles of Faith
* Finish reading the Book of Mormon
* Start reading the D&C
*Be nicer to siblings
* Make new friends
* Be more athletic
* Eat fast food {mom vetos this}
* Be happy!
* Teach Lucy words

Emma Lynn
* Read the scriptures each day
* Read 20 chapter books or more
* Help out with the new baby
* Practice my Articles of Faith
* Help with chores
* Learn to ride the pony better
* Make better friends
* Teach Lucy to say more stuff
* Try to have FUN!

Spencer
* Land on my feet when I am doing a back flip.
* Don't eat fast food
* Memorize the Articles of Faith
* Make new friends
* Read chapter books
* Help with chores

Ruth
* Be quiet in church and fold my arms.
* Share my toys.
* Get ready for kindergarten

Lucy
* Potty train
* Share
* Use appropriate volume

Romans family Christmas party

Saturday, December 29, 2012

We waited for the Huntsmans to come into town and the Rufs to get back from Utah. It seemed to be good timing for everyone. We had a potluck soup night plus tons of yummy desserts. After all the food was consumed we opened presents. The cousins were very excited for this!

Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Bill gave everyone fleece pull overs, a cute hat and a game. I LOVED the game idea. My kids have been playing the 4 endlessly all week. So great!

The cousins and siblings also exchanged gifts. As always everyone was very thoughtful and generous. We are blessed to have such a wonderful family.

 I LOVE this photo. She loves her grandparents and it warms their hearts. It is really so sweet.

 A bad picture of the cousins with their clothes from grandma. Hoping Traci will have a better one I can steal. ;)

The 3 Nephities

One of those precious moments worth recording:

After a great scripture discussion one evening after reading about the 12 apostles chosen after Christ came to America Spencer excitedly exclaimed,

"I know who the 3 Nephities are!

Austin, Emma and me!"