Gymnastics

It's been a fun year for gymnastics. The girls were in 3 competitions thru the year, ending at home in May. They did a good job at the last meet but due to Dad & Mom having to work it as well, more fun was had by all at the Marshalltown meet. The girls were goofy, great and did fabulous on their events. Overall, it has gymnastics has been great for the girls.

 

Bottom to Top: Jayden, Kate, Grace, Audrey, Addy

My Jolley girls with their grandmas.

Photo bomb by Audrey

With JuJu keeping her under control, Audrey, Kate, Grace, Jayden & Addy

JuJu, Grammy & RahRah

Mother's Day

A tradition at Small World is the Mother's Day Tea. They set out all the fancy china, make yummy snacks, teach the kids a mommy song and invite the mothers or grandmas/aunts/friends. I LOVE the Mother's Day Tea, it's one of my favorite things. They also have each child fill out an "About My Mom" page. Its always fun to see what they say...

What's for dinner?

This morning I sent Michael an email with two options for dinner: french toast or tacos. He emailed back saying he always loves breakfast. So french toast it is.

At lunch, he says it would be easier to do tacos and asked if I would prep the meat. No problem I say.

When he gets home, he looks around the kitchen and asked where the meat is. I say, I thought we were having french toast. No, he reminds me, we changed plans at lunch but no big deal he'll make french toast.

I leave and go pick up the girls at gymnastics. Grace is starving so she asks, whats for dinner? Tacos, I tell her, beginning a large discussion (read complaining) on how we always have tacos on gymnastics night.

Guess who was most surprised when we got home to french toast and bacon. Yep, me.

This going to be a very long and confusing pregnancy!

Coming in October!

Day 43, part b

So, Ryan never, ever peed on me as an infant. In all those diaper changes and even potty-training, never once did he pee on me. But as a Preschooler, it finally happened. As I was checking on the boys tonight, I found Ryan curled in a ball on the floor. I picked him up and smelled pee. Now this would only be his 2nd nighttime accident since he trained himself this past fall. So I've got him in the hallway, he's crying but still asleep and I suddenly hear this pinging sound. I look down and he's peeing - all over me, the wall, the girls' door. And he's still asleep. Once he was done peeing and had new pants on, he stopped crying. The kid never once opened his eyes. Truly, all you can do is laugh. :0)

Hippos

One of Ryan's first drawings, done in Sunbeams in January 2014.

Day 43

Okay, so not so great at continuing my gratitude journaling. Today, I'm grateful for beautiful snow but I'm more grateful that school was not delayed or cancelled! Hopefully the same will happen tomorrow and Ryan can go to school too!!

Day 30

As much as I hate them, hate carrying them around, I am grateful for the infant car seat carriers that exist these days. They really are convenient, even when they're breaking my back. Itsy Bits spent most of her day in hers... Busy day with Auntie!!

Day 29

At this time in my life, in our busy schedule, I'm grateful for Wednesdays. Its the only day during the week that we don't have things scheduled. There's no "scheduled" family night, no scheduled meetings. It's relaxed and relaxed. I started reading, "The Wizard of Oz" to the children.

Day 28

I'm grateful to have family and friends who so love me and are grateful I am alive. I'm grateful for a mother-in-law who is so willing to take my sons so that my hubby & I can spend the afternoon together and friends who will pick up my daughters at school, even when theirs aren't there. I'm grateful for good food and manicures. What a special treat!!

Day 27

No school on a Monday during January 2014. With the temperatures below zero again, school was cancelled. Grace has her friend Sarah & the boys have Maddax here while Audrey is at Addy's. Thank goodness they're playing well... (as the boys now start arguing...) I'm glad though that they all have such great friends and that their cousins are also their friends. That is truly a blessing.

Day 26

Blizzard warnings? Whatever. At noon it was sunny, warmer than it had been all week at 32 degrees. Whatever. At 4:00, after church, it had started snowing, the temperature had dropped and the wind had appeared. White out spots on the way home, snow drifted roads. Yep, the mini blizzard actually came.

We watched "Princess Bride" for the first time with our kids. The girls liked it but I think it was still a little grown up for the boys.

Day 25

Cousins galore! Luke was invited to Christian's but first Niki needed to come to town and work. So Christian came to our house for a bit. Then Darcy & I talked and realized that she was taking Addy to Christian's to play with his sisters. So she took the two boys with them and left Maddax here. It was his first play date with Ryan. They had a blast - playing with trains and trucks, jumping on beds, watching movies. Maddax didn't want to leave, after five hours. That's a good sign!

Day 24

The Library - my kids all love the library, even my Dubs & Lizzie. We have some great children's' librarians and we have some crappy, grumpy ones. Thankfully we landed on a good day. It's always nice to have the librarians talk to and interact with the kids. Its part of what makes them love it.

Date Night - great night out with our friends M&M and C&C. We decided we wanted to be active but I decided that we weren't going to be cold (no sledding), so that left bowling. At first I wasn't really sure about how fun it would be but it really was! I actually bowled 102. That was so cool. It's great to have wonderful friends!!

Day 23

Seriously!! Another cancelled day! What to do, what to do.... Thank goodness for all of our electronics, we all played electronic games all day. Audrey and I got out, to go to gymnastics. So thankful for the chance the girls have to be physically active and learn new skills. Its great to hear someone else telling them things that I also say! And they will listen & do it then.

Day 22

Yeah! It's a school day! Dubs, Ryan, Lizzie & I just hung out at home, made bread and watched cartoons. Normal kinda day. Mrs. D, our piano teacher, came for our lessons. She's a wonderful older woman who gives her lessons for almost nothing! Especially since she's figured out what makes Audrey tick - money! :0)

Day 21

School delayed - that means that the boys don't go to school. :0( Especially since Tuesdays are my kid-less mornings. But Ryan really loves it and Luke loves his friends. Hopefully Wednesday...

Day 20

Family Home Evening with the D.E.Jolleys. Playing scripture bingo. Way to go Darc!

Day 19

 

Ryan fell asleep on the way to our friends' home after church. Don't know how...

Day 18

Took the kids ice skating on Saturday. It was hard work but they loved it! It was the second time for the girls but the first time for the boys. Luke did pretty good by the end. Ryan just wanted the popcorn at the concession stand. 

Day 17

Thankful for good friends who have my back, even in enduring uncomfortable play dates. Thanks Lissa!

Day 16

Visiting teaching gives wonderful opportunities for each of us to grow. Women in our church are assigned into companionships and then assigned 2-4 other adult women to visit, ideally, monthly. I am always thankful for my own visiting teacher - she is very wise (experienced) in many things that I've struggled with. I love going to visit most of the women that I'm assigned. There have been a few over the years that I struggle visiting, only because they are sooo different from me. But I'm grateful for these women and these opportunities that move me out of my bubble. (See Mom, I have to move out of my bubble up here too. (0: )

Day 15

Piano: I take piano lessons. And I love it. I started this last September. It makes me grateful for the 78 year old woman who travels everywhere to teach 9 different families in their homes. She now is teaching 8 of the parents of her students. She has figured out what makes Audrey tick (money) and encourages Grace in her love of the piano and organization. I love using different parts of my brain - and that it is fun!

Day 14

Ryan-ism: "Stick Trees" (trees bare of leaves) He was worried about the stick trees that are waving quite harshly in this blowing wind.

Day 13

FHE is not very fun. Isn't it suppose to be fun? We never have time to play! But on the happy side, I've been singing "Called to Serve" for our songs lately and Ryan is picking up on the words. He even asked for it to be the closing song last night. Score for Mom! (Dad is requesting a different song).

Day 12

We have a new acronym in our household - F.M.T.C. It stands for "Family Member Training Center." (A play off of "MTC" or Missionary Training Center where missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints attend as they begin their missions.) This was the second week we've held FMTC in the morning before church. We read (or look) at the scriptures by ourselves, read together as a family, journal and then watch a video off of www.lds.org. It's been successful so far. The personal time is the hardest for most but the biggest challenge is getting people to stop journaling! Who knew!! I know that as we keep this up, we will have quite a few good experiences together this year!

Day 11

I'm thankful for skills that are useful to other people. A friend called early in the day and asked if I could make her baby a pair of booties, for the next day. Not sure if it was for his blessing or not, I told her I would do my best. Thanks to my understanding husband, my awesome kids, and a lot of movies, I was able to do it. Phew!

Day 10

I'm thankful for little people. The little ones that grow into kids. I had three little ones (Ryan, Dubs & Noelle) here with me on Friday and we baked cookies. They had fun. I taught them counting and taking turns. And how to use our manners when we ate those yummy cookies.

Day 9

I'm thankful for YouTube. I know, that sounds weird but I've been doing a few exercise videos off of youtube, my show "Who Do You Think You Are?" is on there and you can find directions to do just about anything. Now it's time to go try out a 10-min cardio kickboxing... we'll see.

Day 8

Planners. I'm a grateful for planners - they keep me going as straight as possible. :0)

Day 7

I'm thankful for my mother-in-law. With school cancelled yet another day, we needed out. The afternoon was spent at JuJu's, watching cable t.v., making bread and playing with Addison. Phew we made it!

Day 6

Legos are a life saver on tempatures-below-zero-and-wind-chill-makes-it-worse, school-cancelled days.

 

Day 5

I'm grateful for these two fellows. Today marks a new day in our life. We no longer have a child in Nursery (children's class, age 18m to 3y). With the new year, the Primary classes move up, so Ryan moved out of Nursery and is now a Sunbeam. And he did pretty well - he cried when Daddy left him in Sharing Time with all the other children and then found him sleeping against Poppa after church. I'm sure he will adjust well as the year progresses.

The boyos this morning helped each other dress. Luke had on Ryan's orange tie, which Ry did not originally want to wear. After seeing it on his brother though, he changed his mind. Then Luke decided that he had to wear his full suit but wanted Ryan to wear the vest, "To look like a big kid." And look like a big kid he did.

Day 4

I'm grateful for my husband who willingly and without murmuring allows me to go out and do errands, regardless of how long it takes. My hour and half trip took almost twice as long, due to the time & day (Saturday afternoon) and that half of what I needed was out at one store and so I had to go to another as well. But we've got it all and are ready for the Sabbath! (oh yeah, after he had to go back out and get lettuce, then we were ready!)

Day 3

I'm grateful for a friend who is willing to help me learn how to cut my boys' hair in a stylish way (ie not buzz cuts). Lindsay agreed to help, but a school starting delay and babies and preschoolers to feed, our session didn't start until several hours after I arrived. But we had a great day together. I learned a few tips, Luke loves his new big boy style and his new friend. ("What's his name? Wesley's little brother? Oh yeah, Jameson.")

Day 2

I'm grateful that the girls love going to school. They look forward to it and enjoy their teachers and classmates. They love their Specials teachers as well. Early this school year, Grace had an instance when she didn't want to go. She loves her teacher and her friends but come to find out that there was some bullying going on by two other girls in her class. Her teacher was right on it and the issue has been solved.

Day 1

I'm grateful for good friends. We were blessed to spend the first day of the new year with our friends, Morgan & Melissa Lasley and their children. And Ben & Katie H with their 2, Carl & Charity H with their 4, Jeanne St. C and Nick & Stephanie T with their little guy. A total of 19 children. It was loud but the hot dogs were yummy and the games were hilarious. "Telestrations" is a FABULOUS new game!! I want it. :)

New Year, New Goal

New year, new goals. With all the electronics around, I should be better at posting posts or journaling. I'm going to try a new approach, Twitter-style. Each day I'm striving to leave a remark on what I'm grateful for that day.