Spring Break

So this was our book club book last month. I recommend it just for some great thoughts on how to decide what things to keep in your house.  Her main theme is to surround yourself with things that give you joy - so if you have ____ lying around your house and it doesn't spark joy or help make you happy - get rid of it.  There were some funny things in there that seemed a bit extreme but it really has helped me de-clutter a bunch of my stuff.  I'm not done, but I'm working on it.  I wish I could put the rest of my normal life on hold so I could just tackle the whole house, but I guess I'll just have to take it a little at a time.  

SPRING BREAK

So when the kids are home I love that I don't have a time frame to get them out the door and that we can relax a bit and I can make them special breakfasts, however I don't love the noise and constant fighting all the time.  Now my kids are for the most part pretty good, but they are normal siblings with plenty of teasing, shouting, poking, etc.  But for the most part we had a good week.

Monday: We cleaned out the toys!  We brought all of the toys out and sorted them and then the kids helped decide which ones they were done with.  The nicer ones I have posted on FB and have already sold a few of them.  

It was a gorgeous day and the hottest day yet so we broke out the swimsuits and put the sprinkler under the tramp.   

Tuesday was not as warm - cloudy and windy but still warm.  We drove down to Galveston to play at the beach.  The traffic was not ideal.  It took about an hour and 40 minutes to get there and 2 hours back.  The kids had a great time.  I wished we had gotten there sooner so we could have had more time.  We left at 3:00 to try and beat the traffic, I don't know if we succeeded because it was still pretty bad - but it probably would have been worse at 4 or 5.  

The bad part about the day was that I didn't put sunscreen on very well.  I put it on everyone's faces and shoulders.  Tyler and Chris were wearing their t-shirts then, but when they took them off I didn't put any on their backs.  Soooo we all got pretty burned.  Tyler, Chris and I all had very red backs.  The girls were red on their legs a bit, but it wasn't as bad.  Damon kept his swim shirt on their whole time so he was good.  I need to go get some of those for Tyler and Chris.  Anyway I felt like a terrible mom since it was my fault and I hated hearing the boys complain of their backs hurting for the rest of the week.  Lesson learned.  :)  We are all peeling now. 

Jenna learned to ride her big bike without training wheels this week.  Doug decided to give it a try and see how see would do.  It took her two days to get it.  She can almost start on her own, but she is so excited that she can ride "all by myself!"   Kaylee has tried a couple of times now.  She is still pretty nervous (Jenna was too at first), but she will get it. 

 Wednesday we went through clothes.  I did Tyler and Chris's  I still need to do the girls'.  The kids enjoyed having a bit more screen time over the break - the girls are getting into Minecraft which I don't love very much.  But when I watch them play they are just building houses and digging around so I guess that's not too bad.  

Thursday I went visiting teaching and then we went up to the mall.  The kids love looking at the LEGO store.  I let them ride on the carousel for a special treat.  Then in the afternoon Damon and Tyler had their well-child doctor visits.  They are both doing well. Tyler is off the chart on height.  He is the average height of an 11 1/2 year old.  (he is almost 9)

 The boys played with Legos a bunch over the week and came up with some cool space ships.  Last week Doug and I stayed up with the boys and let them watch Episode 3 of Star Wars.  We just skipped a few scenes.  They were quite thrilled to watch it.  Damon wants the new episode 7 Wii game, but I'm pretty sure they only make it for the Wii U and not the regular system.  The boys want an XBox and we have thought about giving them one for their birthday, but I just don't know if this is the right time.  We'll have to keep thinking about it.  

We did some cleaning on Friday and just stayed at home again.  We really didn't do a whole lot over the break, but I think the kids were glad to just take it easy.  

Doug and I were able to go to the temple on Saturday.  It was a great session.  The temple worker saying the prayer was truly inspired and it touched both Doug and I about some things that we had been praying about.  It had been too long since we had be able to go together.  I'm so glad that we went.  We even went out to dinner after with some members of the ward.  I tried a stuffed avacado.  It was good but a little bit too rich/greasy - especially since I had already eaten so much chips and dip.