Baby & Barnes and Noble

Aud and I spent the day visiting Kellie and Charlotte again. We all ran to Barnes and Noble so she could pick up a book for her book club. They had some great clearance deals, so I got Audrey her birthday present while she was distracted with the lego table. Back at Kellie's, I held and rocked that baby for hours. When we returned home this afternoon it was busy, busy. We had to hustle with dinner, run to Will's Pack Night and Landon and Vince's Young Men Meetings. The kids needed help with all kinds of homework. But it was a great day. Cuddling a new baby and a trip to Barnes and Nobles. It doesn't get much better than that.

Tuesday Morning

Last week, I weighed myself for the first time in months. It was difficult. I knew my weight was up because of the way my clothes fit (or didn't fit). But I decided to weigh once a week on Tuesday Mornings. Today I was pleased to see that I weighed 2.4 pounds less. Off to a good start.

95 Days - Yoga, Phone, & New Shoes

Most of today was spent hanging out with Audrey around the house. We cleaned, did laundry, and played Polly Pockets. I did some yoga this morning. It felt so good to stretch. I need to do it more regularly.

Anyone who has known me a really long time knows that I hate to call people on the phone. Hate it. Today I had to call and set up visiting teaching appointments with people that I have barely met or have never met. I had to take a huge step out of my comfort zone. But I did it and I survived.

After Family Home Evening, I took the boys shopping. William needs new shoes. They didn't have his size in the style that he likes, so they are on hold at a nearby shoe store and we will get them tomorrow. We ran over to Target for some groceries. It was fun to hang out with my boys. They are growing up way too fast.

96 Days, New Temple, & Fall Leaves

A bit tired today. I have been up with poor Sophie and a bloody nose the last two nights. Hopefully tonight will be different.

This morning, Sophie, the boys, and I attended the televised dedication of the Brigham City Temple. It was a nice meeting. We attended the temple open house a few weeks ago. It was beautiful. While in Brigham City, we stopped at Aunt Pennie's house for a visit and had a great time. She and Dennis have collected a lot of interesting things over the years. The kids loved checking things out and eating all of the yummy treats that she offered. We also bought a box of delicious peaches. Here are a couple of pictures in front of the temple.

We drove up to Snow Basin Ski Resort this afternoon to look at the beautiful fall leaves. It was gorgeous. The weather was perfect. We had a little picnic. We took a few pictures. I love this time of year.

97 Days & Back to School

Well, I was not so productive on the 97th day until my 40th birthday. I took William to his soccer game this morning. I wasn't sure if he would be able to play in his walking boot. But he wanted to and they let him. He played three of the four quarters. He can't run as well as usual but he got a few good kicks in. The doctor said he could do whatever he wants, as long as he wears the boot. I will have to get a picture next week. We stopped at the library to return books and checked out a couple of dvds. Then I took Will to where they were taking team pictures. We hung out at home the rest of the afternoon. Vince and I just got back from a faculty dinner party for his department. He works with a lot of nice people. We had a good time. We hadn't been out without the kids for quite a while.

I downloaded some recent pictures from the camera today. Here are the kids on the first day of school. Landon is in eighth grade this year. His public junior high requires uniforms, which explains the polo shirt. He is otherwise strictly a t-shirt guy. William is in fifth grade. And Sophie is in third. Audrey is home with me, so she is wearing her nightgown in these pictures. She did a little pre-school last year but we haven't found one here yet, and so she is just staying home with mom. We put together puzzles, play memory match, read books, build with blocks, and call this our home pre-school. The picture of the four of them is in our front yard. The picture of Landon is on our back patio and shows our lovely view. I will have to take another picture when the light is better. It was the trees and the views that sold us on this house.

98 Days & Baby Charlotte

Counting today, there are only 98 days until I turn 40. Aging has not been a big deal to me in the past. But this looming 40th birthday has been weighing on my mind lately. I feel like I should have things figured out a little better by now. I am still not really sure what I want to do when I grow up, and here I am middle-aged. But you know, those birthdays come, ready or not. So, I have some goals in mind for these next 14 weeks. I want to get in better shape. I gained at least 20 pounds this summer. Moving is stressful! I want to update our new home, that is still sporting 1978 decor. And I want to do this on a very limited budget. Moving is expensive! I want to figure out how to use the nice camera that I bought about five years ago, and take more pictures of my kids that are growing up way too fast. I have a few other goals in mind too. And I plan to blog about them all right here. So maybe when I turn 40, I can look back on the last 98 days and see that I do stuff beyond dishes and laundry.

When I took the time to calculate that there are 98 days until my birthday this morning, I thought that I should have counted them up two days ago. Then I could have set goals for a nice even 100 days. But I didn't. But I will update what the last couple of days have entailed. So I will have a history of the last 100 days of my 30s. Working on my family history and my personal history are on my to-do list as well.

I spent most of Wednesday, the 100th day, with my sister Kellie, her sweet new baby Charlotte, my cute little Audrey, and my mom. It was a good day. We did some shopping. My mom bought me some great smelling soap and some new earrings. She bought Audrey some paper dolls. We shared a yummy lunch. And my favorite part, we snuggled and cuddled this cute new baby. Wednesday evening, we all went to a Boy Scout Court of Honor. Landon conducted and he did a great job. He also received a few merit badges. He has great Scout Leaders.

Thursday, the 99th day, I went up to Weber State for a writing assessment. I applied to the Masters of Education Program there a while back. The next step was this writing assessment and then I'll have an interview with the Education Department in a few weeks. We'll see what happens. I hadn't written an essay in fourteen years. I was pretty nervous but thought that I did OK. Later that day, I took William to the doctor. His foot had been hurting him for a week. They took some x-rays and found that he has a fracture. So, he is in a boot for at least a few weeks. This is a bummer because he has really been enjoying soccer lately, both at recess and the community youth league. But that is how it goes sometimes. Hopefully he will be healed and ready to run again soon.

Today, the 98th day, was pretty relaxed. While the kids were at school, Audrey and I cleaned and ran to Ross. I had bought Landon a dress shirt at Ross last December when we were in town for Christmas. He didn't like it and I didn't have time to return it. So I left it with Kellie to return after we were gone. Well, everyone forgot about it and it just re-surfaced, still in the bag, a few weeks ago. I saw it at Kellie's on Wednesday and thought that I would try to return it now and see what happens. I was surprised and thrilled when they took it back with a receipt that showed it was purchased over nine months ago. Now I have some credit that I get to spend at Ross. Woohoo. I spent the afternoon hurrying to get Landon ready for a Scout Campout. Then the other kids and I went to the bank, picked Vince up from work, got ice-cream cones at Artic Circle, and played at a park in South Weber. We also drove on what I believe is the only toll road in the beautiful state of Utah. It is called Adams Avenue Parkway. It cost us a dollar. It was a nice little road.