. . . All My Chaosity . . .

But I seem to stay busy.  All day, every day.  Obviously that cannot be true, but it certainly seems that way most of the time.  ABall is still working at Wachter, though only a 2.5% raise this year.  We couldn't really expect a 200% raise like last year, but 2.5% is definitely lackluster.  He would like to stay local, and also make more money.  I've suggested he get a blessing, fast and pray about it, but I'm not sure if he's doing either.  Maybe he can work it out on his own somehow- we will see one way or another I guess. Dball is in 6th grade and trying to find ways to avoid actually homeschooling most of the time.  He seems to have adopted the theory that if he stays quiet and sweet, I might not notice.  Unfortunately, with the busy 2 year old sister around, it works sometimes.  I'm excited about the new Math and Science for this coming semester though- and the Science is on CD as well, so there should be no excuse!  Kupcake doesn't want to wear wet d

So.... I have no idea where to begin. Here's what I've been  thinking about today and this week though: Kupcake is 28# now, and chattering and saying fun things (and ornery things) and I'm really liking her.  Dball is still taking his Future Lego League robotics class, they have a qualifier at Harber High School tomorrow.  He never says much about it, but seems to be participating, and I'm hoping he's enjoyed it and gotten a lot out of it. Aball is still at Wachter, has his annual review and got a raise.  So that's good.  Stable jobs make me happiest. This Spring I started getting steroid shots in my back for pain.  The first was uncomfortable, but worked for over a month.  The second was wicked painful- the Dr said it was "really really inflamed" in my SI joint so it seemed like it would be pretty uncomfortable.  IT HURT.  Bad enough that I was humming.  (if you know m very well, you know what that means).  I don't scream- I hum. So that shot

Both kids seem to be growing in leaps and bounds, Kenzie has all her teeth as near as I can tell, still nursing occasionally throughout the day, still sleeping between us every night until her room is ready I'm thinking. Bryon's still working at Wachter, thankfully, and we're still homeschooling.  D's taking karate every week and seems to enjoy it.  Bryson's currently, pretty much single handedly, taking all the carpet out of the house and replacing with laminate wood flooring.  I saw the pain specialist last month and got a cortisone shot in my SI joint that has helped.  The pool is more blue than green but still not quite right yet- I'm personally not sure why we can't get it cleaned?! Growing tomatoes and hoping they'll produce, the lettuce we got from someone or other already bolted.  Already harvest apricots and made/canned preserves.  Peaches coming up next!  We're thinking of putting a pergola up *maybe* after the floors are all in.  The

Making Them Suffer for What They've Done Weekly Tip from the Love and Logic ® Experts When kids misbehave or make mistakes, do we want them to suffer for what they've done…or do we simply want them to learn responsibility? When we slip into the "making-them-suffer" mentality, the odds of success take a dive...along with our relationship with the child. When we remember that "discipline" simply means "teaching," the odds are much higher that we'll remain empathetic...even loving...as we allow our children to learn from consequences. A parent recently asked: Our twelve-year-old son started to make a habit of lying to us about what was going on at school. We did our best to be empathetic as we described how he would have to do plenty of extra chores to replace the energy he had drained out of us. He had to pull weeds, clean up a bunch of old, rotted firewood, clean out a nasty dusty lawn shed, and a few o

I've been wanting to (buy? get? procure?) subway art for Kupcake's room... I couldn't figure out how all those people were making them, and all I have is 'paint' on my desktop. I've been thinking about it for so long though, I decided I COULD do it in paint, so I sat down during nap time the other day and DID IT. It's all the little phrases I tell her every day- kind of like that Nanny in The Help.  The words aren't the same, but it's the same idea.  I may have to make Dball one soon too. Obviously, it doesn't read "Kupcake Love"- but for privacy purposes I substituted that for her real name  You understand. I'm still lovin' it!

I'm high tech like that. Or.... because tiny naughty G won't let me out of her sight long enough to go to the desktop to post. Seems more likely. Today she's been clingy and whiny all day. Other than teething, I can't figure out the problem. The precious Kupcake at least 2, possibly closer to 3 scrambled eggs for breakfast. I usually make 2 days worth of breakfast at a time for the two of us. Today there is no "leftover" for tomorrow. Maybe a growth spurt is coming? When my delightful visiting teacher came yesterday, she shared with me something I honestly had no idea of prior. Our Bishop has told me that if we purchase a DVD/movie, we can make a copy of it and watch the copy so we maintain a good copy (original) in case something irreparable happens to the copy. Like your kid skates across cobblestones on it, or whatever. Well VT works as a counselor at the school. Apparently a neighboring school district got in serious trouble and ended up paying so