I made a promise

Last week I made a promise to the most important man in my life. I was on my knees in prayer when I made it. I was discouraged with my failings, with my weaknesses, with my lack of ability to have anything that resembled patience lately. I was upset and depressed about myself and all the things I LACK.

Then the epiphany came... Nothing good has come to my life for all the time I have spent on FaceBook and watching a particular TV series on NetFlix. I realized this, tried to come up with rules for myself and make excuses why it was "not that bad" and that it wasn't effecting my mood "that much"... Anyway, I lost the silly battle with the man upstairs , and I realized that the only way I was going to defeat my bad attitude/feelings/failings/weaknesses/lack of patience is if I stopped COLD TURKEY. I stopped visiting FaceBook (at all!!), and I have not watched another episode of that show on NetFlix (even though I was right at a BIG reveal, and I will always wonder what happened?!?!) It is not easy. The only thing I check online now is my blog and email. I will still get on NetFlix for the kids to watch their shows, but I really haven't.

The results?? My house is almost always clean again, my mood and focus is on my family again, my laundry is caught up again, dinner is on the table almost every night again.... I haven't felt a HUGE change. But those little things (which really are not that little, huh?) have made all the difference in the world.

Goodbye FaceBook and particular show on NetFlix, I will miss you, but it is WORTH IT.

Big Boy Jay!!

I am so very proud of my last born child! He struggled with getting potty trained (mostly because of a lazy mommy) but has finally made it. He stays dry both day and night, makes it through long times away from home (church on Sunday was the test), and even takes himself to the bathroom! He amazes me with how quickly he jumped on board. My boys have been an absolute CINCH to potty train. My girls all had to much attitude or something, and so they were a TRIAL. Now that I am done changing diapers I have found that there is more money in the bank and more time for me to do things I want to do! It has been nice getting everyone out of diapers, and I am almost completely thrilled that it is done. My only hangup is that my baby is really not a baby now, its bittersweet...

Playing catch-up!

I realize that I have slacked terribly in my blogging lately. I am sorry about that. In an effort to get caught up with the happenings around here, here is a few posts that give a general update. ENJOY!

Road trip! Last week David and Nathan went to Provo, Utah with the majority of the Peterson family. Davids' sister and husband has moved up there and so they pulled trailers with all their stuff in them. Also Davids' brother and his wife recently had an addition to their family. Hannah Mae was blessed while everyone was up there. It was a quick trip up and back and they arrived home safely last night. They both seemed to have a fun time. It is amazing how much I can miss my boys... SO good to have them home!

Parent/teacher conferences have come and gone again. I am pleased to say that each of my children who are in school are doing perfect in school. Each one of their teachers praised them up and down. I am so happy and blessed to have good, smart, happy kids!! Congratulations to my wonderful children!!! I feel like the time will come eventually that I will have to "deal with" a problem from one of my kids, but I haven't yet, in the four years I have been doing this school stuff. And until that time does come I will celebrate the good news it is to have wonderful kids!

Rest in peace Black Chick...

Everyone's favorite chicken was killed a few days ago. There was crying, Aubrey was the pallbearer (we put her in a old light bulb box) and David dug the grave. It was hard watching my kids deal with death again. Nathan made the comment with tears streaming down his face, "it's not fair that everyone has to die." It was a good teaching moment, again, about life and death and the resurrection. Yet the backyard doesn't seem the same without Black Chick wandering around. She was the smallest of the bunch, and laid tiny cute little eggs. She was more of a pet then a chicken...

You know that you are a blog slacker when...

your HUSBAND asks you to update the blog! I didn't even know that he read it! So I have officially been lazy, uninterested and any other lame excuse you can come up with that involves ignoring the computer and all things "Internet". A few weeks ago our monitor on the computer decided to stop working. It was a sad day for me because we wouldn't be able to watch our shows on NetFlix (nope, we don't have one of those fancy gadgets that hook the computer to the TV, although it would be nice). I feared that it would be a super big deal and that the house would go into a tailspin without FaceBook, my blog, my email, NetFlix, games, etc. Then, about a day after the thing stopped working I was over it. I realized how very much time my family is on the computer; how very much time we WASTE.

We went to WalMart about a week later and bought a new monitor. It is big, and nice, and wonderful. It makes for a good sized "TV screen" for our beloved NetFlix. (What on earth did we ever do before we got NetFlix??!!??)

Anyhow, enough about that. Here is what we have been up to lately.

• David has had consistent work for months. And that is quite amazing in a small town in construction. We are counting our blessings daily for that.
  
• I am always keeping busy with all things motherly. Cleaning, cooking, feeding, building potato Leprechauns, potty training a boy, babysitting, singing, cleaning, cooking, feeding, and very little sleeping. I was released from my calling as the 1st councilor in the Young Women presidency last week. It was a hard thing, and many tears came. I love those wonderful girls. I miss it already.
  
• Nathan is working on his Pinewood Derby car with David. He is pretty excited about it. The race is at the end of the month. He is also keeping himself entertained reading. He has always been a reader, but these last few weeks, that is about all he does. I love that he loves to read.
• Aubrey is such a great girl lately. She is all about being the mother, which is helpful. Although sometimes she tries to mother her mother, so that doesn't work out well for her. She went to two birthday parties this weekend, and had a blast a both. She is getting really good at reading, and is still enjoying our relatively new trampoline. Yesterday she took practically all the stuffed animals we own and bounced them around on the trampoline with her. They are still out there actually.
• Emily is in the process of growing out her bangs. I will tell her how pretty she is, and she always replied "Except for my bangs". So, we have abandoned the bangs and are now in the process of pinning them back until they are long enough. She was jealous of the birthday parties Aubrey went to, and just turned in her Potato Leprechaun at school (yes, over a week late). By the way, pipe cleaners do not glue to potatoes. Even with superglue. I was frustrated with the project when Nathan was in this class, and I am still frustrated with Emily having to do it. Although I love the teacher, I hate the Leprechaun project.

• Betsy is happy, go lucky, content and such a peacemaker. Yes, still. She was born that way, and still hasn't changed. She has a smile and energy that is SO contagious. It is hard not to be happy when Betsy is around. Although she is so positive about things, she is no push-over. She has a independence that no one messes with. She is a joy in this house.
• Jay is officially potty trained. FINALLY. I still have to remind and ask him, but he even will go on his own, without my prompting sometimes. He would probably make it alright through church and bedtime, but I don't want to deal with an accident so I am putting him in a Pull Up when we go places for more then about an hour, or when he sleeps. It probably confuses him more then anything. I need to trust him more. I am just being lazy, that is all.