A New Home

G & I flew to AZ last weekend to find a new rental home. It turned out to be one of the best getaways we've ever had! It was so relaxing and fun! I think the biggest surprise for me was how much greenery there is in Arizona. And also the heat feels completely different than what I'm used to in CA--it is super dry. Seriously....it was 100 degrees and it didn't bother me at all. We stayed at a NICE hotel in Scottsdale and did LOTS of driving all over the valley. We visited with family, an old friend, and Glade's new workplace. We had a total blast!

Within 2 hours of house hunting, I found the one I wanted. It is a little farther than we hoped for (20 minute commute) but it was so much cheaper than everything else. Scottsdale real estate is a little insane (so we opted for North Phoenix to save some $).

Here is the rundown for all who may be interested. It is less than 10 years old. It has 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, and a loft. It is two story (something we wanted to try since we've never lived in a 2 story house). It has a large backyard with desert landscape (rocks, dirt, a tree, and a few bushes) along with a fenced pool. It is 2240 square feet. It is at the end of a cul-de-saq, where there is a path that leads to a park which is one street over. Seriously, it's perfect. The only thing it is lacking is grass, and I can deal with that. I am beside myself with excitement! OH, and my favorite part of the house is something nobody will ever see---my HUGE walk-in closet. :D

My family has been bugging me for pictures. Unfortunately we didn't take very many of the house. Here are a few:

Street view

Formal living/dining area (kind of makes me laugh since we don't have any formal furniture)

Family room

Master bath (and entry to my lovely closet)

Master bedroom (LOVE the french door entry)

Upstairs hallway

Bedroom (this is the smallest one, but they pretty much all look the same)

The park around the corner from us.

Look how green it is:

We are so excited for our new home. We'll miss our CA friends & family, but we're looking forward to a new adventure. :D

A few things we've been doing...

Experimenting with hairstyles...

Playing outdoors....

Lots of reading...

Dressing up (in odd sorts of ways)...

And practicing our writing skills....

I LOVE MY GIRLS!!!!!! :D

Humming

Baby C is 17 months old, and she still won't talk. She can say mama, dada, bath, ta-da, go, dog, and maybe a few others...but she doesn't use them consistently at all. On a good day she will use one word in addition to mama & dada. Her preferred method of talking is to keep her mouth closed and grunt/hum the correct tone of the word. She is excellent at communicating what she needs despite her inability to talk. So for now it works, but I really hope she starts talking more.

She also has this amazing skill (at least it's amazing in my opinion). Since about 14 months of age, she has been able to hum a number of songs (on key). She can hum the following songs:

1. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star/ABC's

2. I Am a Child of God

3. Baby Mine

4. Clean up song

5. Itsy-Bitsy Spider

6. Pat-a-cake

It is not unusual to hear her humming to herself, and you can totally tell what song it it. Seriously, it's crazy! If you sing her a tune, she will imitate it PERFECTLY. She will "sing" along with you. It is so crazy, and very cute.

One Stressed Out Mommy

It seems like every day I am composing a blog post in my head, but when I finally get the chance to sit down and type it up...I'm too tired.

My life is pretty stressful right now. Some people would laugh at that. I mean, I'm pretty lucky that my husband has a good job, and that I get to be at home with my kids, and I love teaching the 4 year olds at church. But the thing is...I have four kids....at home....all day with me. I have no backyard, and with the rain, the park has become impossible. Well, let's be honest---it doesn't have to rain for the park to be impossible. Just taking 4 kids to the park is stressful enough!!!!

Two years ago my husband and I made the decision to homeschool our kids. It was a big leap for us. I was not homeschooled, nor was my husband, so the last 2 years has been a great learning experience for us. The first year I really enjoyed it. It was difficult (I was pregnant for half of the year and had a newborn for the other half), but I found there were lots of things that I loved about it. For example, I loved teaching new concepts to Miss L and watching it "click." I loved re-learning history and science. I loved discovering all of the wonderful teaching resources that are available to families. I loved the flexibility. I loved it.

Then life just sort of went crazy for me. Miss A turned 5 and so I began homeschooling her as well. Teaching 2 kids with 2 different lessons in most subjects became extremely time consuming. And Miss R and Baby C (can I still call her that even though she is 17 months old now?) became completely neglected. For the past year I have spent most nights completely exhausted and feeling like a failure. Afterall, my little ones who need me the most are getting me the least.

And now I feel like homeschooling is sucking the life out of me. Haha. Seriously, though...I do. I used to run out the door as soon as G would come home from work so I could run my errands and have some alone time. But now I am so exhausted by that time, I send him out to do the errands while I do mind-numbing activities (like watch movies). I dread Monday mornings. And I LOVE Fridays (we only do school 4 days/week). And I am counting down the days until summer vacation.

But not only am I going nuts with homeschooling...my kids are as well. They have TOO MUCH time together in my opinion. They have lots of friends and have regular play dates, multiple days a week, but they still have a lot of down time which always leads to one thing...FIGHTING! I cannot stand the fighting!!! I know it sounds terrible, but when my older kids are gone, my house is so peaceful and innocent. I can play blocks with the little ones and I talk so sweetly to them. But then the older girls come home, start fighting about something, and I lose it. I suddenly have four kids bickering and begging for my attention, and I feel like I'm losing my mind.

I love babies. I mean...I LOVE babies. And I LOVE toddlers. They are so much fun. And I love preschoolers. But I'm learning that I'm not so in love with school aged children. Once my kids turned 5 yrs old, my role as a mother completely changed. I am now the referee battling very strong willed children who want to have things their way. The sassiness, the hitting & pushing, the rudeness....I just wasn't prepared for all of this. I don't mean to make my kids sound like terrors. They are REALLY GREAT kids! They are normal kids. It's just when you have normal sibling rivalry with four kids so close in age, it becomes a little nightmarish. I seriously don't know how other moms do it.

I'm sorry for sounding so negative. With each addition to our family, life becomes more and more complicated, and I'm just trying to figure it all out. I cannot wait for August, when I put my older girls in school. I'm trying to imagine what life will be like with just 2 kids again, FOR SIX HOURS a day. Sounds like heaven! :D And then, after enjoying their absence, I'll be happy to see them at 3:00.

Afterall, absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? :D

Reality

Some of you may be wondering how my 30 day exercise challenge is going (I flatter myself, I know). Well, how is it going?

It's not going.

At all.

I was doing great for about a week, and then I got sick, and then I just got busier and busier....

And now I have officially entered a health rut.

All last year I worried about how much weight I would gain on my cruise, but I should have been worried about what would happen when I came home. I have had such a hard time getting back on track. After eating such yummy food on the ship, I've just continued in that pattern....and my pants are starting to feel the difference. Ugh.

The goal that I set 6 months ago is far from being reached. And even though I have another 6 months to work at it, I've been starting to think about babies again (which means pregnancy will most likely come sooner than I anticipated---and NO, I'm not pregnant YET). As I've been thinking (dwelling day and night) about this, I've decided to admit defeat and adjust my goals to reality. I need smaller steps to help me feel like I'm actually accomplishing something.

So starting today I am on a new track---my goal is to lose 10 pounds in 8 weeks (April 9th). And then I'll lose another 10, and then another, until...I get pregnant (which could be 2 months from now or 2 years from now, depending on how much my 4 children continue to fight day in and day out). :D

Anyway, sorry to disappoint all of those who were "holding me" to my original goal. It's just time to adjust to reality.

Some Birthday Fun

Miss L celebrated her 7th birthday last month. She had a dog themed party. Miss L was insistent that only kids 6 and older were invited. Haha. I guess she's getting older. :D

The kids had quite a fun time. Everyone brought their favorite stuffed dog. First we made dog collars, then decorated dog bowls. Then we had a Dog Show. Each of the girls had a chance to show off their dog, followed by a dog parade. Then awards were given (each dog received a different award). After that we had paw print cupcakes, played "Doggie, doggie, where's your bone?" and "Pin the pawprint on the puppy." We finished with opening presents. I think overall the party was lots of fun.

Next came my birthday. Since my birthday weekend was filled with stuff that had to be done, I didn't get too much of a celebration. But I did have homemade calzones, which is the birthday meal I used to request when I was a kid. The girls had a blast making their own, and they were DELICIOUS!

Since I didn't get to do anything real fun, I came up with a mini-getaway for us last weekend. We finally decided to go to a beach near Sacramento---Stinson beach. I don't know why we haven't gone before now. We had a total blast. It was 70 degrees, and the beach wasn't crowded at all. I love that the parking lot is right next to the water, so you don't have to hike carrying your kids and gear. And the bathrooms were close by as well, which is essential when you have 4 girls. Haha! Overall, we had an awesome trip to the beach. Man---I hope one day I own a home on the ocean! A girl can dream, right? :D

Miss A, the crocodile

Miss L getting eaten by a shark

Baby C wanted nothing to do with the sand.

And this picture, I just had to throw in. One morning, while I was on the phone, the girls made their own fort under the bunk bed.

30 Day Challenge

For the next 30 days I am going to exercise daily (excluding Sundays). I will be using this video. I've done this work-out before, and it's awesome. My sister and I call this woman Killian, because her workouts are pure torture. But they provide results, and I like that. :D

Anyone want to join me in this challenge?