For Documentation....

*Yesterday I was talking to Landon about writing his name. He didn't want to write it, he'd rather have me do it for him. I kept pressing. Finally I just said, "then can you spell it for me?"
He replied, "Yes. I-r-o-n-m-a-n". If he knows how to spell it, how can I argue?

*Presley has started to ask us for things. Yesterday she found a clean sippy cup, and carried it through 3 rooms looking for help. She found Shawn. Then she threw the sippy cup at him and said "Mo" (sounds like muh, meaning more). I think we now need to work on polite ways to ask for things.

*Presley has recently discovered the toilet and that splashing is fun. And throwing things in the toilet is even more fun. I have yet to catch her in the act, but I can always tell when she's been "playing". Yesterday I found some of the garbage from my bathroom can in the toilet, with water sprinkles around the seat. I know when I find itty bitty toilet paper remnants on the carpet somewhere that it is a sign of something not pleasant. The kids have been instructed to keep the bathroom doors shut. But with 3 bathrooms, and 6 people using them, it's easy for her to find an opportunity.

*Jackson does not want to go to school. He'd rather stay home and play wii. Last week he refused to get out of the car Friday morning. So. I took him home. I set him on his bed, removed all things of any interest from his bedroom, banned him from TV, wii, Nintendo ds, and even leaving his room. And since it was Friday he would only leave Sunday for church then return promptly to his room. He knew at this point I meant business. After 30 minutes when he heard me getting ready to take Landon to preschool he came out and asked if I could please return him to school. I told him he was lucky this time, but if there was ever a next time he would not get the chance to return but would have to endure his punishment. This week he has happily gotten out of the vehicle as I approached his school. Hopefully he's learned his lesson. (And I learned that I hate being the bad guy, but if you get me mad enough, watch out. I'll follow through.)

*Presley is starting to try to talk. Bo (sounds like buh) is book, and she often throws them at us to get us to read to her. She loves to hear books. She yells "down" after various other attempts to get us to take her out of her high chair. She hates eating in her high chair. She would rather walk around at eat off everyone else's plates. She's obviously too busy to be strapped down. And I love it. I love her curiosity. Her rapid learning curve. And her chubby little thighs. Unless I'm in a place where she needs to be contained. Then I'd rather just leave her at home.

*Ethan got a tooth pulled yesterday. A molar. After some Tylenol with codeine he felt good enough that we went to Costco, Barnes & Noble, and Chick-fil-a together. Just us two. I enjoy my kids when we are one on one. I feel like I get a better grasp of who they are. I've known for awhile that each of our 3 oldest children would much rather be only children. That was just re-iterated to me again yesterday. I tried to convince Ethan that he wouldn't appreciate alone time with me if he was an only child. I think he's bright enough not to be convinced of that fact.

*I don't really have a story about Kennedy to share. She is a ginormous help around the house. Especially with Presley. In fact, Presley cries when she leaves. She has grown so much (in size) this year that we had to buy her all new clothes. I think she is going to be one tall girl. And a beauty for sure.

Experimentation...

I'm going to run another half marathon this year. There is a whole slew of them for me to choose from. Most of my running girls are doing one in Tennessee at the end of April. I don't think I'll be ready (mentally) for one that soon. So. I'm doing one mid-august in South Dakota with another running friend. Who is waaaaay faster than me. But. It's not about the time. Right? Sure. I've been discouraged lately. About my athletic ability. I feel I'm.......lacking. I run and run and run. And where does it get me? I can run short distances. Only I'm slow. I can run long distances. Only I'm really slow. You'd think after all the time I spend with my ipod and running shoes on my feet that there would be some kind of improvement. Somewhere. It's frustrating. Some people are born to run. They come from a long line of runners. Parents once ran in college. They ran cross-country in high school. Me? I couldn't even run a mile until after I birthed my 3rd child. That's third child. I was the one in Jr. High that wasn't able to run the mile required to do well in P.E. I walked it. But. Slowly over time I've been able to train my body to get where it needs to go without having to walk every 2 minutes to catch my breath. And it feels good. Until I try to compare myself to those girls I run with who have managed to improve. So. I thought, for a brief day or two, that maybe this spring I needed to try another route. Like a sprint triathlon. I found one in early May close to home. In order to do this type of race I need to be swimming, biking, and running. Weekly. Good. My body could use the change up. If my running speed isn't going to improve, I'll work the system by being mediocre in all sporting arenas. Yesterday morning at 5:30 I donned my swimming suit, goggles, and headed to the community center in town. Oh. And I took Ethan with me. He recently quit the swim team (long story that probably has to do with his intuitive ability to recognize where his talents truly lie) so he knows the ropes on training to become a swimmer. At 6 am I swam 50 meters. Then another 50. At this point I was exhausted. I couldn't catch my breath. I tried to swim a 25 but because my lungs weren't able to fully expand, I came up choking half-way through. Lovely. I'm sure the lifeguard was enjoying the show. I managed to do a few more 50's with breaks in between. After about 30 minutes Ethan asked if I wanted him to show me how to do the butterfly. I almost drowned just laughing at the thought of attempting such a stroke. I ended the swim session. While I was showering off the chlorine I came to a conclusion. I'm a land mammal for a reason. I'm a horrible swimmer. Yeah, I'm sure I can work at it and become stronger. And because I want Ethan to keep his options open, I'll probably take him at least one morning a week to swim. But. I'm not ever going to excel in this sport. I might not even make mediocre status. And I'm really okay with that. I won't be competing in that triathlon this spring. Not because I don't think I can do it. But because I don't want to. It's not important enough to me. I'm going to keep running. I felt so good this morning when I donned my running shoes and my ipod and hit the treadmill. And my run was awesome today. When I look back at how far I've come, I actually really have improved. I'm not giving myself enough credit. Moral to this long drawn out story? When you feel like you are not improving, or lacking in a specific area, try something else. You just might fail at it so miserably that it makes you feel like mediocre is okay.

Unsettled....

I woke up today tired. Not a good sign. I laid in bed an extra 30 minutes before heading downstairs to the treadmill. 20 minutes into my running routine I wondered why I'd even gotten out of bed in the first place. My workout wasn't exerting more calories than I knew I would consume today. I could tell by the way I was feeling that I would probably over-eat. I've accomplished nothing really all day. Except laundry. Which I guess is something when you are doing it for 7 people. I made a rule that if it came out of the dryer it needed to be folded immediately. I'm guessing the towels will rot in the washing machine before I get the whites out of the dryer to fold. I loathe whites. Folding all those socks. I just feel......bleh. I'm overwhelmed. And I think that is what makes me tired. And gives me the inability to accomplish anything I set out to accomplish. I don't know why I'm overwhelmed really. We made the decision to close on our house on February 10th so we will be moving in around 3 weeks. Movers are coming in to pack and move us, so I don't need to stress about that. Only. I think I do. I obsess about timing when it comes to transferring electricity. Gas. Phone. Satellite dishes. And it keeps me awake at night. Hence the tired morning. And. I hate change. I don't think I realized how hard change is on me until this morning. C'mon. I'm moving into a brand new house. That I love. And I helped choose. It's beautiful. And going to be so much better for us. But it's still change. Change in carpools. Routes to the grocery store. Timing in getting to and from places that I've already timed to the second. Like church. Or school pick-ups. All of these things take a place in my thought process and just won't let go. They spread like a fungus and overwhelm me to the point of exhaustion. I hate that about myself. Why can't I just be happy and excited and let everything flow naturally? Life would be so much better. And I'd get the sleep I need to function. And my pants would continue to fit.

Nothing Noteworthy....

I don't really have anything to write about. But I'm trying to keep busy so I don't eat. Yep. New Year's goals again. To lose the 6 pounds I gained over my vacation. Only day 3. Boring. Especially because it is so cold outside they've cancelled school the last 2 days. Tomorrow is already cancelled, so I'm just assuming Friday will be too. And when it's cold, I love to bake. It's my comfort on blustery snow filled days. Because I have no restraint when it comes to eating what I bake, I'm trying to avoid the kitchen altogether. Bleh.
Having the kids out of school an extra week hasn't bothered me this time around. Wierd. I think it's because Presley is easily entertained following them around. When they are gone, she follows me. And I don't think I'm that fun to follow. It's actually easier when they are home. Sometimes. Not enough to pull them out of school easy. But nice enough that I'm not dreading the next 2 days. It also helps that Shawn has been getting his post call days off. He was off yesterday, and he'll be off tomorrow too. He's worked it out with his partner so they can do that sometimes. They have to stick around town in case something comes in that they need an extra hand, but usually after lunch time he's free to go as he pleases. Nice. All our hard work is finally paying off. I know I say that a lot. But. When you've been where I've been, it's really hard not to appreciate all the little things. Like actually seeing your husbands face around. Monday Jack came in my bedroom and said "Where's Dad?" When I told him he was at work he just kind of looked at me funny. It used to be Shawn would get a funny look when he was home. Because it was such a rare occurance. It's just nice to be where I'm at.
On a totally different note. We might be moving into our house early February as opposed to May 1st. Shawn is checking out different lenders and trying to get us the best deal. If it all comes together soon, then we'll close early. If the best deal for us isn't available until later, we'll wait. Because moving early was just sprung on us recently, we are good either way. It would be fun to be all unpacked and completely organized while the kids are in school and before summer comes though. We'll probably know by tomorrow.
I'm ending this boring post. Even I'm bored by it. I guess I'll go fold the laundry. Maybe if I pretend there is chocolate hidden at the bottom of the pile I'll get it done faster.....