"5" Tag...

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago:

*Dancing on the folk dance team at Weber State
*Preparing to go to the temple (no mission or marriage, just going)
*Dating up a storm and becoming "the last girl quite a few guys dated before they met their wife"
*Having a blast with my roommates and sorority sisters. I loved college!
*working at Coldwell Banker


5 Things I have to do today:

*Drive home from Oregon
*Unpack
*A bit of cleaning
*Go to choir practice
*Get to bed!


5 Snacks I love:

*UMMMM CHOCOLATE!
*Fruit
*Nuts
*Popcorn
*ice-cream


5 Things I would do if I were a Millionaire:

*Pay off my debts
*Help my family
*Secretly leave envelopes with $100 on the windows of random people at the store who look like they need a boost and hide and watch them find it.
*Create savings for my kids' futures
*TRAVEL with my hubby!


5 Places I have lived:

*Ridgewood, NJ
*Sandy, UT
*Ogden, UT
*Powell and Columbus, OH
*Idaho


5 Jobs I have had:

*Accounts receivable at a horrible telemarketing place (creepy boss)
*Baker
*Sales at Taylor Made Beauty Supply
*Receptionist/Listing Coordinator at Coldwell Banker
*Manager at photography studio


5 People I tag:

*Erin
*Kierste
*Marie
*Laurie
*Amy E.

Have fun!

Boys will be boys

Kyle and Dallin LOVE to wrestle with Drostan. I just had to get a video of it. They were having so much fun!

The sweet prayer of a 3 year old

Drostan is starting to feel pretty sick tonight so I was putting the kids to bed alone and after I had put the baby in his crib and tucked Dallin in, I went into Megan's room to tuck her in and I found her on her knees and she was already saying her prayers. This is what she said, totally non- prompted from me.

"Heavenly Father,
Thank you for my family. Thank you for my babies and my doggies and my toys. Please bless my Daddy to feel better. Please bless Nana and her knee to feel better. Bless us to stay in bed and not be scared and no monsters and we get a stuffed animal to sleep with and we won't be scared. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

I need some of your ideas!

That's right, I want lots of comments on this one. I know there are some great ideas out there and we could all benefit from them.

I'm struggling with my home right now. I feel like a Maid and I'm spending so much time picking up after everyone that the good deep cleaning is just not happening. There are NOT enough hours in the day. So, help me out, what do you do to motivate your family to pick up after themselves? I'm not perfect at it either, but if I wasn't doing it for all 6 of us, I know I could be better with my own stuff.

Here is what I've done lately: I bought these from Target (blue for the boys) to organize the kids' clothes for the week. It lasted about 2 weeks and they have been empty since. If I could keep up on the laundry, we could fill them on Sat nights like I had planned. I also build these shelves in the laundry/mud room to contain the shoes/backpacks/coats. That is helping... when they use them.
I've had a friend suggest a "toy time out box" where if I find a toy where it's not supposed to be, I put it in the box and then they have to do an extra chore to get it out again. I think I'll also implement a "fine" for certain things. I'll give them each the chance to earn $2 a week allowance but if I find their bedroom lights left on or beds not made or dishes not cleared from the table, then I'll start taking 10 cents from that $2.

So, what are some other ideas? What has worked for you? What have you seen that has worked for others? Help a tired mom out here!!!

:-D

Track star in the making...

Last Saturday, I was going out for a run and Kyle said he wanted to go with me. We did a loop around our neighborhood that is 1/2 mile and I thought he'd want to go in after that. He decided he'd try to keep going. I told him i was going to go far and he said he was ok so we pressed on. I kept giving him options to turn down different streets to walk home but he wanted to go where I went. After a while, he did decide to turn and head home and I finished my run. When I got home, we got in the car and clocked where he went. He ran 1.9 miles! I was so proud of him. He wasn't complaining or lagging behind, he really wanted to keep up with me. I was very impressed and we decided we are going to try to see if he can train to do a 5K with me this Spring.

The next day he must have told me at least 5 times that his thighs were hurting him. I told him that was great! That meant his muscles were growing. He liked that. :-)

Megan Strikes Again

So this is what happens when Mom gets to go to the adult session of Stake Conference and Dad is home with the 4 kids.

In Drostan's defense, he said he was having fun wrestling with the boys when they realized they weren't sure where Megan and Jaron were. Yeah, you can't take your eyes off that girl for a SECOND! :-S