*Smile*

So...it's now the 3rd week of February and there are only a few days left. Have I even blogged once this month? Nope!! Things here have been a little....crazy. All I can do is smile, because it's either that or cry.

*Jon's job has been a little (or a lot) stressful and that leaks over to the whole family.

*I have been doing a new fitness/health challenge and it's KILLING me!!! You wouldn't think that implementing these things into your life would be that hard and when I talk about it, it seems silly to be so overwhelmed with it all, but to actually do it is TOUGH! Basically, I get to eat 5 meals a day and they are portion controlled. They have to be 2-4 hours apart--no more, no less. There is absolutely NO snacking allowed at all. Even 1/2 a bite of a carrot is a 10 point deduction. The only allowed snacks are celery and cucumbers. No butter; no fried or processed foods; no white flour; NO sugar. I have to drink 2-3 liters of water a day; sleep for 6-9 hours; exercise for at least 20 minutes every day; work on a new habit to develop; work on breaking a bad habit; and work towards either a weight loss or a fitness goal. The things that kill me are occasionally, we have some type of pasta that I can't find whole grain. Or I am starving and having a hypoglycemic attack and I can't eat. Or I am dying for some chocolate and can't have any. I get one free meal a week, where I can eat anything we want, and one free day a week, where anything goes. There are also 100 free calories a day, but try making that stretch into satisfying a craving. I find myself thinking, "WHY am I doing this?!" I really don't need to lose weight, but I would like to become healthier. Just because I weigh a certain amount doesn't mean I eat all that great.

*Kendall has been a typical teen, always pushing limits, yet being such a great kid at the same time. Science Fair was due, along with a couple of other projects and he had the end of his basketball season. It's been a busy time of year for him.

*Kristen had to go over to the middle school this month and we had to get her registered for next year. That's been crazy, trying to decide on electives and mentally preparing ourselves for all this change. She goes to Young Women in 3 weeks and 6 days! No, we're not counting. :)

*Jarren has become a hypochondriac. He's been playing a lot of tetherball. A lot. I'm pretty sure this all stemmed from a pulled or strained muscle. He thought his heart was hurting. He swears he's having a heart attack. Then the pain moves. His lungs are hurting and he can't breathe. Then his heart is burning. His skin might peel off, because he got a blister on his hand. His leg hurts; his foot hurts; his arm hurts; his head hurts; his heart hurts; his stomach hurts; etc etc etc. He's had days where he'll call home 3 or 4 times to tell me he's dying. And now he's obsessed with blood clots. He swears he's developing a blood clot because he got a bruise. He'll start crying and beg us to slap his arm because it might be numb and then he'll constantly compare his arms and legs and swear that one or the other is turning purple or green. He's constantly checking his pulse and then he'll start panicking that it's beating too slow or too fast. He's scared to shower because he might get a blood clot, faint, and die and no one will know. He's scared to sleep because he might die while he's asleep. He's been sleeping in Jenna's room for 10 days now. All the reassurance and patience (or trying to be) is sooooooo wearing!!! Imagine our shock when every day, he manages to wake up! :) Okay, I'll quit being sarcastic.

*Jenna still doesn't like to go to bed, but since Jarren's been in there and he gets so tired and goes to sleep early, she does too. He also gets up early, so she does too. Her reading is still astounding! They have a language immersion program at our school that starts in 1st grade, so I'm going to a meeting about it this week to see about getting her into it.

Sorry for the extremely long post, but that's pretty much our February in a nutshell. I'm really going to try and be better about posting in the future. Wish me luck!!!

Another Year Has Gone By!!

When I was pregnant with Jenna and so very, miserably sick, my mother-in-law gave me a Celine Dion CD as an early Christmas present, since I just knew I'd feel better by Christmas Day (that was my goal). There's a song on there called "Another Year Has Gone By" and I always think of that on monumental days. So...yesterday was my birthday. Yeah, another year flying by right before my eyes. *sigh*

My day started out a little bit stressful. I didn't sleep well the night before because Jon and Kendall had gone on a nature outing Sunday afternoon/evening and when they got home, Kendall couldn't find his iPod. His brand new, just got it for Christmas, iPod. We tore the car apart and just couldn't find it. They'd stopped by this HUGE field and he thought maybe he'd lost it there, because he for sure had it before. They went back with flashlights and looked, but nothing. So...I worried all night about that. I got up and went to do my workout. Then I got ready for the day and spent some time talking to my wonderful friends and family. Then...as planned...I went and checked Kendall out of school (PE and lunch) so we could head for the field and continue the search. We looked and looked and looked. Then he remembered they'd made another stop just down the road, so we climbed the cliff back to the car and headed there. That search also turned up nothing. Back to the field we went. After awhile, Jon texted me and said they did do one more quick stop. We finished our canvasing of the field--we were spreading out a little and going back and forth--and then went to the last spot. My feeling was, it either fell out of his pocket getting in or out of the car or climbing up or down that cliff. We pulled up and I told him to try to remember exactly where they were parked. He walked over to the spot and found it in the weeds. YAY!!! A great present and a prayer answered!

 Later, we had a yummy dinner and opened gifts. The kids were so excited, especially the younger one. I got some protein bars (LOVE those after a hard workout), candy (my favorite licorice pastels/good 'n plenty), iTunes gift card, new headphones (purple skullcandy), and a new TV for our bedroom!! It was a great day, complete with handmade cards from the kids. Now...if only I can reconcile myself to being 37!!!

2/4 or 1/2

So...2 out of 4, or 1/2, of our kids now have glasses. The lucky one this time? Jarren. He will NOT let me get a picture of him, so I'll keep working on that. The pediatrician noticed something was off last June and I took him in and they couldn't figure it out. So...when he failed his school eye test, back in he went and ended up with glasses. He is nearsighted, which means he can't see far away so as long as he's got them for school (and church), he's good without them. I think they look cute on him, but it sure was an ordeal getting them. He tried frames on forever and decided he needed his haircut because he didn't look good in glasses with long hair. Then we had major insurance confusion. Our card said they'd cover a ton of it, but it didn't end up working out that way--we had to pay a ton. Come to find out, they'd messed up so we got a hefty reimbursement. I think it's crazy--neither Jon nor I wear glasses, yet 1/2 of our kids do. Interesting....

Growing Up

Okay....so I feel like I'm now the mother of an adult. Well, not really, but it's going to fly by. I had to meet with Kendall's school counselor yesterday about his school plan from now until he graduates from High School. They wanted to know which classes he's planning on taking and if he's planning on AP or CE classes or classes from the technology center. They also gave him some scholarship information so he can make his plan accordingly. They told him that where he goes to college is dependent on what he takes as well. Crazy!! I thought his GPA didn't count until next year, but they said some colleges will go back as far as they need to in order to see the type of student and the grades, so...start prepping those kindergarteners--their grades apparently could matter! The students took some career tests to see what types of jobs would be best for them and they said he should either work with people or things, but not both. Huh??!! It's so hard to know how his interests will develop in the next few years. This isn't a set in stone plan, but it's kind of stressing me out, so....breathe!! Take one day at a time.

Pinewood Derby/Wolf

Jarren's cub scout group did their Pinewood Derby this month. Jarren had a lot of fun working on the car with Jon and did a great job! He won some races and lost some, but had a good attitude about it all. They did over 100 races, so each boy could race each of the other boys on each of the tracks. It was a little long, but the boys loved it. That same night, Jarren also earned his Wolf!! He's been working hard--good for him.

PS I can't find the pictures on the computer--it's still apparently a work in progress, so I'll get to those when I can. :)

Frodo

Jarren had a school project this month. He had to choose a person to do a biography on (in first person) and then decorate a 2-liter bottle with a Styrofoam ball stuck on top of it (for the head) in a way to represent this person. For example, if one did Sacajawea, then you could decorate it with yarn hair and button eyes and in Native American clothing. Or Neil Armstrong--decorate it like an astronaut. Jarren is obsessed with The Lord of the Rings, so he decided that he wanted to do his report on JRR Tolkien and decorate his bottle like Frodo. I helped him with the clothes, but he did the face (he wanted it painted and that thing soaked the paint up like crazy!) and he wrapped the yarn around for hair and all that. It turned out pretty good.

So much for New Years resolutions!

I decided that this year I was going to be better about blogging and what happens to foil that plan? Our computer died. Jarren has really been into writing stories lately. Kristen was helping him type for a little bit and he wanted to google a picture to add and so she copied and pasted the one he wanted and the computer went crazy! Pop up after pop up after pop up popped up. Then everything, and I mean EVERYTHING disappeared! We weren't sure if it was the age of the computer (almost 6 years old--for a laptop) had anything to do with it, but we were pretty sure it was some kind of virus. Jon just barely managed to get his profile up and working. Things aren't gone, they're just hidden for some reason. So...I can blog again, but none of us (except for Jon) can access our iTunes or our Word documents or anything like that. Phew! I was worried it was all lost. Now...onward and upward on that resolution.