Goal Achieved

May 11-17, 2014

Saturday night after the little girls were in bed the older three sent me to my room so they could get mother's day preparations ready. I found a movie to watch on the Kindle and let them go to work. Kurt came home around 11 and I could hear him washing dishes and cleaning up for at least 45 minutes before he came into the bedroom. Apparently the house was torn to pieces in the process of their preparation. He knew that the mess would completely eliminate all chances of a happy mother's day for me and took the time to clean up even though he was completely exhausted.

 Austin created this amazing bedroom wake up entrance. 

 These happy faces brought me breakfast in bed. Kurt tried a new baked French Toast recipe that was quite delicious.

The breakfast table that awaited me. My FAVORITE is the cake, un-frosted with chocolate bars lining the edges.

 The bucket load of cards, notes and crafts created by all the kiddos. 

 Flowers from Kurt.

Church was great and after dinner/lunch I made cookies to deliver to some friends who are great mothers. As you can see Lucy was a super great helper.

This is the top and necklace {that I wore later in the week} that the girls picked out for my mother's day present {along with a new skirt for church.} Got lots of compliments on my neon pink. hahaha

Went to the Graham house on Monday to clean and get ready for the new SISTERS who are movin in! Wahoo

Monday evening was the Girl Scout badging ceremony. There wasn't enough time to go home in between so the boys and the little girls and I had a pizza picnic. Emma and Ruth decided going to Angelica's house was more fun.

Emma and Ruth had a great Girl Scout year. I am so grateful for their great leaders. Ruth's Daisy troop sang a song/dance. She earned the "Making Choices" Daisy Leaf, Holiday Fun Patch and Arts & Crafts Patch.

Emma showed the mural she made. She earned the "Give it Back," "GS Way," "Bugs," "Philanthropist," and the Brownie Quest Journey.

Tuesday was field trip day. Kelli invited us to attend their preschool field trip to a sheep farm. We invited Kea to come with us. It was sooo cute and we had such a good time. Lucy loved on the sheep and wasn't afraid to get right in with them {shocker.} They were pretty adorable. I think Emma should take a sheep to the fair next year ;)

                                              ((This picture explains our relationship haha))

These to silly girls are peas in a pod.

We met Kaitlin at Chavelitas for lunch to stay good-bye {she's headed to Wyoming for the summer for work.} After school I had a field trip with the Wolves to the Vet clinic. I set this up for my vet-wanna-be son. It was fun, they were excited to explore.

While we wait ... enjoying the beautifully gorgeous weather. And grass... definitely having some envy.

Pack meeting on Thursday, the closing social for the school year. With lots of pies. Not gonna lie, looking forward to a break.

Friday morning I headed to Boise after dropping off the kids at school. I got my hair cut and then headed to the temple. I am been really preoccupied with the marathon on Saturday. Working my self into a panic, pit of the stomach dread, wanting to puke thinking about it, etc...I told my hair dresser I wanted to change my style a little and before I realized it she cut it all off. Whoah. Obviously I was too preoccupied to communicate correctly I guess! Not ready for that. The worse hair cut of my life. But this I know, its just hair and it'll grow back.

Even sadder still Kurt's part run took longer than he thought and he wasn't able to make the same session as me. That evening was the kid's BBQ and Art Sale. Love this event. Excited for the new masterpieces to grace the walls in my house. I love seeing the kid's excitement and pride in their hard work.

I woke up the next morning after a restless night's sleep to drive to Boise for THE Marathon. I don't know what to say about this experience. Still love the camaraderie among runners. Grateful I had run this half 2 years ago so that I knew how cold it was at the start {at Lucky Peak} and I was prepared. Found a running buddy {also a first time marathoner} and we stuck together equally paced the first 13 miles. Then it was survival mode. Took a potty break at mile 14, picked a flower for my visor mile 17 and hit my wall mile 20. My right knee really started hurting. I knew I needed the fluids and took every water/fuel break. Walking through until I had finished and then running again. The start / stop on my knee got harder and harder. There is a real spiritual connection between the physical body and putting off the natural man. I like making my spirit stronger. I also learned more about grace. I can do nothing without my Savior. I am nothing without him. There were many prayers uttered and moments when I felt the strength of others pushing me along. Moments when I was emotional thinking about all the hard work, effort and support that went into achieving this goal. I did it. It was crazy sauce. I'm not sure I proud or accomplished or even happy. All I know or care is that 

 I T   I S   O V E R ! ! ! I will never have to run that far again in my life. 

Selfie at the start 

Look at all these cuties with their supportive signs.

~~~Romans Reflections~~~
So first my friend Zach made an airplane out of extra tin foil from our art project and flew it across the room. He said it was called a ZAUPlane (a mix of Zach and Austin) and that he wanted me to make some more because of my origami talents. So we were on the 3rd one and when we were testing it's capabilities, along came Joe and wanted to try. Joe had potential with a few of these planes, so we decided to hire him. Now, business is running smoothly and we are on our 7th plane and Jobanny comes up to us with a really cool airplane in his hand and flies it for us. So we decide to hire him, too.
Then Gilzac, Stone, Landon, Caleb, and Edgar come up to us. Gilzac is holding a model of  ZAUPlane Version 7 (because he helped build it) but everybody else's planes are not very original and, well, Stone calls them Kamikazes (Japanese Suicide Planes in WW II) for a reason. So I decided to take pity on them and I went over there and convinced Stone, Landon, and Caleb to be ZAUPlane employees. (and they did get paid, my 5 employees.) So we decide to sell airplanes for $0.50 and Zach goes around asking people do you want a plane, do you want your name on it, what color do you want it, etc. And 17 people wanted airplanes so that night I made 17 different airplanes, mostly blue, and all of them had their name on it. Here is a picture:

  

Everything is Awesome

May 4 - 10, 2014

We had a beautiful fast Sunday as we continue to teach and encourage our kids to fast with a purpose. Its a good and hard lesson that as adults we are still working on.

Church at 11:30 in difficult. We enjoy a slower morning but after church there is not much time between meetings and such. We have finally after all these years worked out a good system that after Kurt gets a nap we make a visit as a family. This is a win-win for everyone!

Emma Lynn worked diligently on an assignment for GS. I love her self motivation to do her best at everything she does.

Frozen corn is a delicious snack while your mom is constantly running on the treadmill.

I continue to perverse through Girl Scouts while my daughters are excelling. Grateful for their good leaders. I have lost the motivation. Ruth made a mini pinata for Cino de Mayo. She was SOOO excited!

Jane loved the gorgeously perfect weather.

Spencer's soccer team was die hard and continued to have practice in the rain. The rest of us took shelter in the car.

I'm grateful for Sheryl. She has been such a great Cub Scout leader. I appreciate her understanding of me and love for the boys.

I experienced a motherhood milestone this week. Extracting an object out of the nose of a child. Yes. Of course it was Lucy. She comes to me saying, "I want to breathe right again. It's not right." She's pointing to her nose. Upon inspection I can see that something is stuck up there. By plugging the other nostril and blowing we got it moved down enough for me to grab it with tweezers.

 A popcorn kernel. And sadly I don't know that she repentant enough that it'll never happen again...

Jane made a new friend at the library. It was really quite tender as they shared books.

That morning I found out there was a New Beginnings in Owyhee that we needed to attend that night. I scrambled to make plans so it could work. Kurt took Jane to mutual with him. Austin went to scouts and Emma babysat Spencer, Ruth and Lucy at home. It is essential that Ruth get to bed on time. When Kurt got home the younger kids were all asleep. {{YAY}} We found Spencer in Ruth's bed with her {he told me the next morning because Emma was mean. And Emma says they never listen to me. Lots of things to work on.}

We had a funly stressful night at New Beginnings. Tiffany and I walked in and one of the counselors said, "I'm so glad you're here. Thanks for speaking tonight." WHAT? I totally thought she was joking. I'd never heard of such an assignment. She showed me the program so I'd believe her. So we went straightway to find Jen and scrambled to put something together. It worked and I could finally breathe after it was over!

Thursday I had my first grand jury duty. Every Thursday during the month of May I have to report for grand jury {I was excused on May 1 was I was out of town for Women's Conference. I also asked to be excused on the 29th since we will be at the coast.} Apparently grand jury happens first to decide if there is enough evidence for the case to even go to trial. The very first case was rape {sex with a minor} and I knew the girl from our stake. So sad. The rest were all drug related. Can we just live in a bubble?!!

Thankfully that evening redeemed all the sadness from that morning. Kea was baptized! It was so sweet and so beautiful. I love seeing how happy she was. She was glowing, radiant with the choice and happiness of the gospel. Hopefully she'll remember that when hard times arise in the future. Kea asked me to give the talk on the Holy Ghost. I'm passionate about it, Heavenly Father could not have given us a more perfect gift. The mutual kids supported her in force, she felt loved.

Can you believe this baby girl is 10 months old? As soon as I set her down she started waving HI to me. So cute.

Jane loves to clap. She loves music and will instantly start rocking and clapping when ever she hears a song or just a catchy beat. She is easy to smile and laughs for her siblings. She takes a long morning nap {typically 3-4 hours} and a shorter afternoon nap {I think our driving schedule has created this.} She falls asleep easily and does well during the night waking once and awhile for a bottle. She gets around slowly with her sitting scoot. She loves food and has not rejected anything yet! Lots of yogurt and applesauce for breakfast and table food in small bites. Her smiles progress the fuller she gets, "Thanks for feeding me, mom." I can imagine her saying. She is easy going and happy by nature. The only time she gets upset is when Lucy is hugging her too much. She's not a snuggler. We sure do love our Jbug!

Maggie and Kea dropped me off in Ontario that morning and my goal was to run home. A total of 24 miles. Its something I've always wanted to do. About mid-run I realized I hadn't eaten anything that morning. Not the smartest idea. About 3rd Ave I started getting really dizzy and had to resort to walking. I N E V E R walk. You know its bad if I'm walking. By 4th Ave it wasn't getting better so I called Kurt. Like my true knight he came and picked me up. I made it 21 miles. It was really discouraging to have this happen the week before my race. Not the best confidence booster. But it taught me a very important lesson. GRACE. I cannot do this on my own. I need help and strength from the Savior. That is the only way to succeed at ALL things in life.

After school we went to Grandma Romans' house in Ontario to get ready for the spring performance. We had just enough time to get dressed and hair done. Phew!

I'm so proud of these kids. They did a WONDERFUL job. I'm grateful for their hard work all year to be leaders in their classes and perform well.

The ballet classes went first. Ruth was the only kinder in ballet 1 {we got permission for her to join.} She is sooo fun to watch. She is technical about the moves but grins like its the best thing in the world. So adorable.

 Ruth danced to Frozen's "Do you want to build a snowman?" Lucy who was sitting with grandma Cindy comes running up and yells, "MOM this is from FROZEN!!" She's obsessed and can sing all the words.

Emma's class danced to "Let it Go." She continues to be a graceful dancer. It comes naturally and looks peaceful. I've encouraged her to be a leader in the class and I could see improvements since the winter recital. Her goal was to make me cry {like last year} and although I did not shed any tears it was still so beautiful to watch. It makes a momma's heart happy.

And of course my boys were around too. Here they are before it started with friends.

Austin and Zach

Spencer, Aiden and Julian

Ruth's class did the Mexican Hat Dance. Same happy grin.

Spencer did a cowboy version of the May pole. The pole kept bending, I was nervous it wasn't going to survive those excited 2/3 graders!

Emma did the tango. She was VERY happy to have her good friend Yamilex for a partner instead of a boy!

Austin did a traditional Mayan dance. This has long standing been my favorite. I was excited he was in the class that got to do it this year.

Afterwards we all went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant {that's a tradition.} Grandma Cindy came to watch and brought 4 cousins with her plus Maggie and Kea.

Saturday morning we cleaned the church before heading to the LAST soccer games of the season.

Kurt made his annual appearance at the game. Its a crazy time of year, glad he made time to come. Spencer's team won, with only one lost of the season. Both boys really enjoyed playing on Ontario teams this year.

Spencer's coach took the team out for lunch at pizza hut after the game. That was a fun treat!

The girls and I ate at the dinner next door. We wanted to give Spencer some space to enjoy his celebration with his team.

Afterwards we met up with Kurt and Austin and the boys all went to Repticon {a reptile show I had gotten a Groupon for.} The girls and I went shopping for a new mother's day outfit for me for Mother's day. It was amusing to see what things they picked out for me to wear...Ruth kept saying, "Well if you don't like it for you, just save it for me when I get bigger." We managed to find something without losing all our hair or sanity. We picked up the boys and went to "The LEGO movie!" We have been anxiously awaiting for it to come to the dollar theater. It DID not disappoint. The boys were completely glued and you know what, "everything is AWESOME!"

~~~Romans Reflections~~~
- Hey this puppy has a blackish ear. I kinda like these pets.
- Lucy walks in the kitchen wearing Kurt's hat and talking in a deep voice, "Hey I'm dad. Wanna get married? I wanna marry you."