On Demand?

We live in a world that is always on the go.  With that has come a set of expectations that many people have.  Whether it be at work, your friends or family, social media, cell phones, you name it, you can get ahold of someone in the blink of an eye.  Why?  That's a good question.  Whatever happened to old fashioned letters and phone calls?  Now, it's texting, texting, texting.  Which, honestly works well in some cases, but I think we need to get back to the basics.  It's all in how you prioritize your life.

Yes, I have a cell phone, and yes, I am involved in social media.  What is important is that you don't let it interfere with your lifestyle.  Meaning, you don't stop everything every time that phone makes a noise.  Case in point, recently I was upstairs putting laundry away when my phone (downstairs) made a noise.  Eryn comes running up to me, "mom, your phone buzzed."  It made me realize that we are teaching our kids that when someone jumps we need to say "how high?"----or not.  These things don't need our immediate attention, unless of course it's an emergency.  I am grateful for cell phones, especially this fall when school was on lockdown, and my kids called me.... So grateful.

But again, we need to decide what priorities we choose in life.  It's not the end of the world if I don't log into Facebook 12 times a day....what's important is that we spend time with the people we love, teach our kids the right morals and values, and be good role models for them.  Our children are our world....and it's up to us to give them the tools that they need to be successful.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.  We are laying low today to recooperate from birthday celebrations yesterday.  Lots of cuddle time on the agenda.  And, laundry of course....

9 Years Old!

As you can see from the pictures we had a busy day yesterday.  Eryn turned 9!!  Hard to believe, but our baby girl is growing up!  We celebrated with a party at the roller rink.  Brings back memories!  The kids had a great time skating, once they got the hang of it!  They were all tired when we got home, Nolan slept for 3 hours!  What a great day! 

Hanging on!

Nolan was excited for video games!

Trying to keep their balance:)

Nolan and Keegan "playing" video games

Dance time!

Happy Birthday Princess!!!

One Proud Mom and Dad!

March 20, 2013 ES   Q3 GPA Grad Cr Report Card Grade:3 0.000 0.000	Q1 Q2 Q3 Tot 0 0 0 0 3 2 0.5 5.5 0 0 0 Advisor:

		Q1	Q2		S1	Q3	Q4		S2			Comment
Handwriting		E	E			E
Lang/WrittenExp		G+	E			E
Art 3		G	G+			E
Music 3		E	E		E	E						DOES EXCELLENT WORK
Phy Ed 3		G	E		E-	G+
Math		G-	E			E-
Soc St/Science		E	E			E
Reading		G	E			E+
Spelling		E	E			E

 

 

 Can you guess who's report card this is??  Same little girl that is soon turning 9!

SO PROUD!!

Got 'Em!

Nolan worked very hard on making a leprechaun trap at school last week.  Friday he brought it home and was still working on it after we brought it home.  After placing some "gold" inside the trap to lure 'em in, sure enough by Sunday morning he caught 'em! Those leprechauns are pretty clever, cuz he got back out, but left a pot of gold in return!!

 

As you can see, we take St. Patrick's day pretty seriously around our house.  And I can...cuz I do have a little Irish in my blood, right dad????  

 

 The kids spent the night with Grandpa and Damma (as Derek says) Carolan.  Randy and I headed to Cresco for the Brew and Stew 5K.  I ran...Randy was my cheerleader.  It was COLD but I had my best time yet, so gives me the drive to keep on training!  Sometime soon Old Man Winter needs to go, and Spring will be here! 

The kids with the Leprechaun trap

Look, he left a pot of gold:)

My littlest leprechaun and I

Eryn and I with our festive headbands

Momma's kitchen helpers

Helping momma make chocolate chip cookies.  Don't mind the messy hair and no shirt:)

Little Dribbler and Taking a Risk

Nolan in action on the court

This month Nolan is participating in Basketball at South Winn on Thursday evenings.  He did this last year too, and I have seen such improvement in his skills!  It's a good chance for him to have some time outside of school with kids his age, especially those that go to different schools.

Up until this point, I haven't been the type of blogger that writes my opinions in my posts about different topics, but I have been pondering the idea to expand my posts a little and put my thoughts out there.  So here it goes:)

It can be difficult to juggle kids' activities in addition to working, housework, paying bills, laundry, ect.  You moms out there know what I mean.  While kids participating in activities is a great thing and has many benefits, I think that it's also important not to get in over your head, where you, the parent feel overwhelmed.  Take this month, for instance.  Eryn already participates in tumbling and Girl Scouts, which just happen to  meet on the same evening of the week.  So one evening a week down.  Wednesdays are religion and church, so the two older kids and I are busy with that, leaving Randy and Derek to their own routine on those evenings.  This month, Thursdays is basketball for Nolan.  whew....I feel overwhelmed just typing this:) 

Anyway, my point is that we have to weigh our benefits of doing these activities at the sacrifice of family routine and togetherness at home.  I've given a lot of thought to this and while it's great for kids to be involved in activities they have to want to be involved.  That means that just because Mom or Dad wants them to be, they shouldn't be pushed to participate in something.  I truly believe in that. My parents never pushed me to be involved  with sports, it was my choice.  I think these days it is so easy to get caught up in all of these activities and "things" and you lose the true meaning of it all.  So, we don't push our kids to participate in anything they don't want to, and that's that!

I have found that I have to take some shortcuts to make this all work so that it's a win/win for the kids and the parents which was hard for me at first, but I am figuring it out and learning along the way.

 First helpful hint: Carpooling.  This works so well!  Tuesdays another parent takes Eryn to tumbling for me, and we give her daughter a ride on Wednesday to religion.  Awesome!   Thursdays this month I am doing the same with another mom.  Bonus!  One of us doesn't have to worry about getting the boys to and from, and can focus on other things that need to be done at home.

Another hint: Plan ahead.  I use Sundays to plan ahead for the week.  Knowing what's happening in the week ahead, if there is anything out of the ordinary, kids picking out what days they are taking lunch, clothing washed and ready for activities, those sorts of things.  Planning out meals, which I have done for years, is also helpful.  Even better if I can do some of the meal prep on Sunday so that all I have to do is pop something in the crock pot or oven on weeknights.

And, not to forget, but both parents helping out goes a long way as well!  Family is a team effort!  I am very fortunate to have a great husband who is a wonderful help!  Teamwork is how we get things done at this house.  We all help with cleaning, laundry and meal time.  It's also a great way for kids to learn responsibility.

So there's my opinion.....not sure how I feel about this being posted, but it's time to take some risks and expand on my blogging.....

That said, I am off to prepare for the week...which will definitely not be an ordinary week.  We've got a birthday girl in the house coming up next Saturday!!  Lots of things needing to be done in preparation for the big party!  I am off to Des Moines for most of the week for my last work training, so extra planning to make things run smoothly for Randy and the kids:)  To top it all off, snow is in the forecast so I may need to alter my plans and head down early. 

Read, Read, Read

Eryn and Nolan have been working on reading for school and recording the number of minutes read each week.  They both enjoy reading and it's fun to see Nolan start to read well too!  Derek reaps the benefits of both of them being able to read as he loves to be read to!  With the weather outside less than desireable, it allows for lots of reading time!  This week the kids get to dress up as what they want to be when they grow up...stay tuned for more pics later in the week!

Spring Arrival?

I know we live in Iowa, but geesh, can Spring just get here already??  I was glad for the much needed rain yesterday, but with the melting of the snow we now have a lake in the neighbor's backyard, which extends to our backyard.  The sandbox is under water too!

  The forecast doesn't sound good either, meaning another snowstorm is on it's way this afternoon.  You know it's getting old when the kids want to go to school for fear of going all summer, and Derek talks every morning about riding his bike outside and going swimming!

Birthday party road trip

Derek enjoying yummy birthday cake

We had to put our purses in Derek's seat othewise he would have folded right up:)

Yesterday the kids and I ventured down to my sister's to help Keegan celebrate his 9th birthday a few days early.  We had pizza for lunch then headed to the movies.  Taking a 2 year old is definitely eventful, and unlike our movie theatres at home, this one had steps so that is where Derek chose to sit most of the time!  After the movie it was time for cake, then time to head home!  The kids had a good time and look foward to more cousin time in a couple of weeks when we celebrate Eryn's birthday.

I have to note that the other kids were not thrilled that I was taking pictures, and didn't want to take part.  Hence my photogenic Derek didn't seem to mind a bit!

Frequent Visitor

I feel like we have been frequent vistors to the dr office lately.  I really think Spring needs to get here soon, but with a winter storm warning on the horizon, I am surely going to have to wait a little longer for the green grass and mud of the spring season!

Last weekend, to get caught up, I had some girl time with a dear friend.  Always gets me in a great mood!  On Sunday we spend some time with friends taking in one of my favorite things, the Daytona 500!   Derek was not himself, and sure enough came down with a fever, and a rash by morning. After an urgent care visit, he was prescribed antibiotics and ear drops which made a world of difference in a short amount of time!  Thank goodness he is feeling better!