Let The Madness Begin

With school kickin' in, everything else seems to as well. The kids are all getting back into the activities they enjoy. This is when I turn into the "Taxi Cab Driver" everyday after school, running kids everywhere they need to be. To be honest, it gets so hectic at times without Jed's help that I just can't keep it all straight all the time. I usually end up missing or forgetting to get one of my kids somewhere. Sometimes dinner just ends up being a bowl of cereal or a pizza I've picked up on the way home. And then we've gotta get the homework in there somewhere too. But I give it my best and try to stay really organized.

It makes me think of those single moms out there. How in the heck do they fit it all in without going crazy? I don't know how they do it. It's especially hard when there are two activities going on in two completely different places. It is so much easier when Jed is home, we can just split up and accomplish two things at once. This year is going to be much different. Thankfully, my mom has offered to help me out a little bit, which eases my stress. Oh, I can't forget Aubrey, she is my little apprentice and built-in backup. She is a great asset to me in getting everything accomplished and I rely on her a lot. I appreciate her very much.

For Ronin, we put him into a different karate school this last month. We did this so that he could do something he could call his own, without any of his siblings to compete or compare himself with. He is really flourishing and it does my heart good to watch him put every ounce of effort in class.


He really enjoys his classes. The instructors are competent and know how to run a disciplined class that is still fun for the kids.

Check out the intensity in Ronin's face - he gives it all he's got.

A Little Bit of Background Info on Ronin:
Ronin has struggled in different ways over the last couple of years. He used to be one tough little cookie. He oozed with confidence. He felt like he could do anything. He rarely cried, even if he was hurt.

Over time he's become a completely different person on how he reacts to situations. Somewhere along the line, he has lost some of this confidence. He has become extremely sensitive. He has a melt down over any slightest thing that doesn't go his way. For example, not being able to find his shoes or figure out a problem on his homework. He immediately falls apart and begins to whimper, wine, and ultimately, cry.

We are trying to find ways to build up his confidence again, and karate will be a key factor in this process. I feel like he needs to relearn that he can do anything he sets his mind to. To not give up when things get hard and that he can handle anything that comes his way.

When I watch Ronin in class, I see the old Ronin that I used to know.

Ronin earning a stripe that brings him one step closer to being ready for testing day.

Such a cute, little stud.

So here's to karate, ballroom, piano, flute, football, church youth activities, scouts, homework, Relief Society meetings/visits, and simple dinners! We'll get through it all somehow.

So you may ask, well if it's so busy why don't you just pull your kids out of everything or cut back? My answer is this, with as hard as this year is going to be with their dad being gone, I want to keep my kids productively busy. I don't mind the craziness of it all if I think it will help the time pass more quickly for them. The activities will help keep their minds off of missing him so much.
Besides, each individual child gets to only do a few activities, but when you put them all together I'm the one that gets super busy. For example, Ronin will do karate and football, Connor will do piano, ballroom (Aubrey needs a partner), and scouts. Aubrey is the busiest with ballroom, piano, flute, and mutual. She wants to stay in karate but I don't know how she can fit that in. Ballroom is three nights a week, and she has to play her flute at sports games for school. Then she's also got mutual to go to as well. I feel she's got enough to do at the moment.

So this is my plan: keep the kids busy, but not too busy. Hope it works, I'm crossing my fingers.

New Hairdo

Last night Aubrey suddenly decided that she wanted a new hairdo. She wanted to go short - real short. I told her with such a big change in style that maybe we should wait and go to a real hairstylist. She didn't want to wait, so I pulled out the scissors started chopping away.

I stopped cutting at mid neck length, but no, Aubrey wanted it still shorter. Ok, here we go, shorter it is.

Not too shabby, I think she looks quite sophisticated.
Aubrey's reaction? She loves it!
She says it's so much easier to style and wash.

I think she timed it just right, hardly anyone noticed her new braces today at church. All they saw was the new haircut.

What do you think?

New Set of Hardware

Well today was a special day for Aubrey. I am sure this will not go down on record as being the best day of her life, but it is a definite change for the better. She got her braces today!

We decided to go with my old orthodontist that both Jed and I got our braces from when we were young teenagers, but without the infamous toupee. (Shucks!) Yep, that's right, our old orthodontist is still working after all these years.


We had to put braces on Aubrey now even though she still has several baby teeth that need to come out. The reason being is that her permanent teeth up in the gums have positioned themselves crookedly, hitting the roots of other permanent teeth instead of coming straight down. Since the teeth can't come down on their own, she'll have to have a surgery to expose them, have chains attached, and then forcibly pulled down into the correct space.

If this is not done, the teeth in the gums will disintegrate the roots of the permanent teeth that have already come down. If this were to happen, several of Aubrey's front teeth (top and bottom) would die and she would end up permanently toothless. Many more surgeries and expensive procedures would have to be done in order to fill her mouth back up with false teeth. Not such a good alternative.

Sounds really cheap, huh? Just the braces alone are $4, 500. That's without the surgery and other necessary tooth extractions. Wow, it just seems to get more expensive the older our kids become. And to think I've got three more kids coming up behind her, aaaahhhh! I think I'm gonna have nightmares tonight.

Aubrey's definitely not in the mood for pictures right now.
Because of the extensive work that needs to be done, Aubrey will have to have her braces on 3-4 years instead of the typical 2 years. Man, that's a long time. But it sounds like she'll have them off hopefully in time for her sweet sixteenth birthday. I can't think about that either right now...Aubrey old enough to date - where did all of the time go? That means she'll be driving too.....Aagg! I've gotta stop now. The next few years of Aubrey's life are suddenly hitting me in the face.

I did end up getting some smiles to show off her new set of "train tracks" - but only with bribing, I mean, promising to buy her some ice cream (which is on her "approved list" of foods she can eat.)

One day she'll be glad she did this, not like she had a choice anyway.

Aubrey, welcome to that awkward stage in life - junior high, zits, a maturing body, and braces to top it all off. Gotta love it!

Extreme Makeover Show Comes to Town

There's been a new kind of excitement happening in our area - a special family was picked to have a brand new home built for them by the Extreme Makeover Team! For real! Today was the reveal. I took my toddler and headed to the new home to see if I could get a glimpse of the action. Wow, talk about packed! There were about 4,000 people there!

The host, Ty Pennington, across the street from me trying to get things done. Girls were screaming for him.

The Makeover team's bus - very big and NICE. The celebrity designer, Paul Dimeo (the older guy with glasses on the show), was on the porch directing people at this moment. I couldn't get a good shot of him though.

My uncle Dave's company was also selected to help out - so my uncle has been working some crazy shifts. But what a neat thing to be a part of. I didn't know this, but all materials, construction, and skilled workers are all donations. These houses are completely built for free by people willing to serve without any payment. When the show says that these houses are made of love from a great community - they really mean it.

This was taken probably yesterday because the yard isn't finished - photo from the Extreme Makeover Facebook site.
Check out this crowd!
Lots of areas for the crew where visitors were not allowed to go in.

The family was supposed to come around 12-2 PM. But it actually didn't end up happening until about 4 PM. We didn't stick around for that long - too many people and a hungry toddler don't mix. So we watched the family's reaction live on the internet.

Here the crowd is being cooled off while they wait - it was in the 80's today.

Waiting for our shuttle bus to arrive to take us back to our vehicle.

Getting a little tired now.


Filming a screaming audience for the cameras. They did several takes.

The show for this home makeover is said to be airing on October 6, 2010. We'll be watching for it!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

In reading the title of this post, you might think I am referring to Christmas or the crispy, fall season that is upon our heels. No, the most wonderful time of the year is now in full force - school is back in!

Perhaps I am exaggerating just a little bit, but really, is it wrong to feel this way? I don't think so. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids and enjoy having them around, but now I have a little more time to myself too. I can get so much more done when I don't have four, ok, five (my hubby counts too) distractions around me. Besides, I'm not completely alone, Rigdon is still with me, but hey, I'll take what I can get. Our kids were just as ready to go back to school anyway.

First day of school.

Since Jed had to leave for military training that night for the next three weeks, the kids wanted to get photos taken with their daddy, so I put those in here too.

Connor is now a 5th grader.



Connor trying really hard to do what I have asked him to do when I am taking photos of him, have good posture, but don't look stiff.

Our big 7th grader.

I love the look on Aubrey's face here. If she had her choice, this is where she would constantly be...stuck to her daddy's hip.

The night before school started, Jed gave each child a father's blessing. Rigdon got to go first. He was so cute with his arms folded and sitting so still, even though he had no idea what was going on. Jed then worked his way up through the kids, all the way to me receiving one as well. In my blessing, I was reminded of the things that I needed to do while Jed was away - to love my children and make sure they are being taken care of in a spirit of gentleness and patience (heaven knows I need help with that sometimes.) The blessings were touching and specific. A few tears were shed as well.

Kisses goodbye.

I got a few photos of Ronin when I dropped him off at school. I followed him around a little bit wanting to make sure he found his teacher and got in the correct line. He could probably handle it all by himself by now, but I can't help myself - I had to make sure he was ok.

It took no time at all for some of his friends to find him. So cute to see how happy they were to be with each other.

Ronin also met up with one of his best friends, Easton. It made me smile how they greeted each other - with a handshake. Such a manly thing to do.

Ronin with his buddies.

Bell ringing for everyone to start lining up.

Ronin's teacher, Mrs. Meikle, checking her list and trying to see if she can remember Ronin's name. She couldn't so he gave her a hint that his name started with an "R."

No signs of sadness here...just a whole lot of excitement.

Ronin now getting sick of me taking so many pictures.

He is now reminding me of my promise that I wouldn't take anymore pictures.

Ronin with his new teacher, Mrs. Meikle. This is her third year teaching. She looks like such a nice person, doesn't she?

(Registration Day)


*******

After school, I met up with Ronin to make sure he found the right bus. He looked like he had a good day.

Bus driver checking him off of her list too.

Getting dropped off the bus and running for home.

Ronin sees that I am taking pictures and starts booking it to outrun my camera.

Aha! Got you!
Ronin said that this was his "best year of teachers." He has decided that his teacher, Mrs. Meikle, deserves the #1 ranking for most favorite teacher. His preschool teacher comes in second place.

He also said that some girls were chasing him and his friends at recess...wow, that didn't take very long at all.


I met up with Connor at his school too and took a few pictures.

He said he had a great day too. This year Connor's school changed how subjects and classes are organized and taught. Fifth grade is now like 6th grade - there are 7 teachers, each teaching one subject in different classrooms. Connor said he really liked going from class to class.

As for Aubrey, she is "too old" to be getting her pictures taken at school. After school she reported to me about her day. She already has her favorite teachers picked out: Mr. Dye and Mrs. Barker. They both made her laugh today. She isn't sure how she feels about her band and PE teachers yet.

Aubrey also discovered a new girl in her grade this year. The girl was standing all by herself, so Aubrey and her friend, Duncan, made friends with her and plan on hanging out with her next week. I bet that girl was so glad and relieved to have someone come up and make friends with her.

Aubrey really impresses me sometimes. She is a far better person in so many ways than I ever was at that age. She has the courage to do things that I never had the guts to do. I really admire that.

The kids all had a positive day......and I did too. :)

Our second grader.