Saturday

Soccer soccer and more soccer! (Pics later gater!!) We have two soccer games and the real challenge...... HAVING FUN and fitting in some yard work!! (o;

Friday

Finally..... Friday!! I try to schedule at least one day of NOTHING. I prefer two, but we were not so lucky this spring. I usually forget about practicing, game limits etc. The boys need to chill. School is hard and they need a break. I love Fridays!! Yea!!

Thursday

I like Thursdays (but only without the additional practice!!).

Finn has Mother's Day Out from 9:30-1:20. He has such sweet teachers. I love this program.

Gabe has art class from 4:15-5:30. He has the BEST instructor. This is such a fine, quiet and structure program. Perfect for my ADHD darling!

Coleman has tennis from 4:30-6:00.

Sometimes Tate has another 2 hour soccer practice.... Ick!! Once again from 5:30-7:30. This is another hard day to figure out....

Wednesday

Oh Wednesdays...... I would rather forget about hump day.

Finn had a music class that has transitioned into a park play date with other ward kids. Super fun!!

Gabe has tutoring from 4:00-5:00. He gets changed at tutoring, eats dinner in the car and goes to soccer practice from 5:30-6:45.

Tate has scouts from 4:30-5:30 (hence the driving problem....) He still loves cub scouts and is working on many fun projects and badges.

Coleman usually has Young Men's church activity from 7:00-8:00. And finally Wednesday is OVER!!

Tuesday

Tuesday is my day to cook for our group. This day is always bitter sweet. I love dinner group and am ready for a break come summer. This summer I am going to try to mainly cook vegetarian again. I have signed up for my CSA and can hardly wait for my box to arrive!

Tate starts the day at piano from 8:30-9:00am. We love Jeanne!! She is such a wonderful teacher. I can't wait until I can take lessons from her! (O:

Tate has tutoring from 4:00-5:00. He gets changed right after tutoring, eats dinner in the car and is off to a 2 hour soccer practice. So far it has been FREEZING and I am praying for warmer weather. He has a nice team and seems to be enjoying himself. Tate is really maturing, trying hard at sports and making us so proud! Fortunately I am in a carpool so I don't always have to be getting home at 8:00pm, but poor Tate will. Tuesday is Tate's looooong day, but it is only temporary!

Coleman usually has basketball from 7:00-8:00.

This week Eric has Pack Meeting as he is still the PackMaster Extraordinaire!!

Monday

A year or so ago, I posted about our weekly schedule. I did this so that I would have printed proof that my little darlings were involved in many fun and educational activities, but also to show that I (and many other moms') are master of the schedule. I sit down with my calendar and figure out what, when and where as each season begins. I still use a regular book calendar and will probably never change. I have kept a book calendar since I was a Freshman in high school. It makes me have a sense or organization and control over my life and now the lives of my family. I can usually fit in a playdate, doctor appointment or another activity just by turning the pages. My calendar has been a huge blessing and stress saver in my life.

We are very busy this spring. I have yet to figure out Wednesdays... but I will or I might just have to change up our schedule a bit. Tate will be unhappy, but that is the sacrifices that a family must sometimes make for each other. I can only be at one place at a time. I would like to add that my schedule is much much easier now that Coleman is able to stay home and watch Finn for a couple of hours. He is such an awesome helper and this saves me a lot of grief and additional planning. This spring has been very chilly and I have sat out and literally frozen my buns off. It would have been terrible if I would have had to cart Finn and the others around in this unusual cold. Thank goodness for 12 year old babysitters! And... thank you Coleman. I really appreciate you and your willingness to help out in our family! XOXO

So, here is our Monday. Certainly not the busiest day of the week and we actually have this evening set aside for FHE.

Finn has My Gym in the morning. He loves it there and it is a great activity during the winter months. I will keep him in there until summer and then we will just hang out at the pool. Yea!!

Coleman has piano from 4:30-5:00.


Tate has knitting club from 2:45-4:45. He is the only boy in the group and this is his third time in the club. He also learned to crochet. We love that he enjoys this and hope he continues as he gets older. I want scarves etc made from my Tate. Super cute!!

A sneak peak

We love this area and hit the pavement every day we are here. One of MY favorite places is the Botanical Gardens. It is pristine, beautiful, manicured and offers something for everyone. You would think my boys would get sick of looking at flowers and gardens, but it is hard to get them to leave. They have an amazing Children's Garden with all sorts of structures to climb on, hands on learning places, water fun, etc etc ETC..... I am more than impressed by this place. Tate struggled with all the pollen this year so we had to cut our visit a little short, but still four hours in the garden is pretty good. A couple of years ago we stayed for 7 hours. It is possible!!

We are now off to the Magic House so a quick peak will have to do. I am trying to stay off the computer and just hang out with my darlings. I woke up early to severe thunderstorms, LARGE hail and a possibility of a tornado. I forgot how exciting the Midwest can be in the spring. I do hope that the tornado alarms do NOT go off during our stay here. It can be very worrisome and even traumatic. I am sure Coleman would flip too.

I am looking forward to the rest of the week. My parents will be moving in the next year or sooner, so this might be our last time to enjoy and explore this area. We have been so blessed to experience this part of our fine country.

Life is good!!

Wise words

One more word of advice..... go and stay with your mother. She will cook for you and take care of you. And... you might even get to sleep in a few mornings! I love spring break!!

Finally........

Spring break is here!!! Eric is on a work cruise (oh the torture....) and we are on our way to St. Louis and Illinois!! Yea! Spending spring break with Grandma Karen and Grandpa John is going to be AWESOME!!!!! Don't know if I will post much.... not because I don't want to but because my parents have the WORST internet service. So.... have a good week. Be safe. Be kind. Have fun. Make memories. Love your family. Smile.

Life is good.

Wise words

Ironically you have to read this on a computer to get it.... now shut if off, leave and do it! This is OUR challenge... for me and you!

The three P's

Phineas. Puzzles. Pooping.

Phineas takes his bathroom breaks under the table. He also takes whatever else he is working on that he doesn't want touched by others. Sometimes it is the iPhone, a book and a lot of the time, puzzles. I personally don't want to go under the table to complete a puzzle with him, but he has a hard time remembering that. Oh well... I love his passion for puzzles (you should see the basement floor.... it is covered with completed puzzles both big and small!). He is a very bright child and we love him to pieces. Eventually he will come out because no one likes poop in their crack!! Yuck!! Lol!!

A girl named Anjie

I finally did something on my "blog list". I changed my name. 1-800- Dial Crazee Angee is gone baby gone. I am not completely satisfied with my header, but it will do for now. I just wanted the old one gone.... bye bye. Eric chose it for me and it was very cute and sentimental, but I have changed a lot in the last couple of years and needed to de-junk of sorts. I don't wish to have that title or the burdens that go along with it.

I am a researcher. I want to know a little something about everything. The old me then wanted to share it with everyone.... shout it from the mountain tops if you will. The "new" me or rather the more mature me realizes that people have their free agency, needs and desires. It is not my job to try to educate the world on whatever topic I feel passionate about. People will simply do what they want to do and I have little to do about it. It was a good day or rather season of my life when I came to realize this. I still like to rant and rave on my facebook wall sometimes, but now I like to sit back and listen more. It is not that I have less to say, but I feel that keeping my usually strong opinions to myself is better served.

Don't get me wrong, I am not going in a hole. I still like to debate, occasionally gossip (ick) and voice my opinions and research, just not so strongly. I found that when I had the desire to make all my discoveries known, I harshly judged people. It is not pleasant and I wanted out of that scenario. People need to learn lessons, have trials and I need to mind my own business.

I realize this is a very personal post. Why do I choose to expose myself? I want my kids to know that I make mistakes. I have trials and have to learn lessons by exercising my free agency as well. I still want to know a little something about EVERYTHING, but my purpose is different. It is to better myself and my family. I am much happier and more focused on the important pieces of our lives. I still have a lot of work to do especially in the department of bettering myself, but I am slowly working on it and feeling satisfied. This goes for all departments, physically (holy cow do I need to work on that one!!), emotionally, spiritually and mentally. I am ready to push forward and be completely liberated.

So, with that....life is definitely good!! I am truly blessed.

Recycling

I am a big recycler. I make sure all paper, plastics etc. gets into the proper containers so that it is recycled and we can be a "greener" family. Let me toot my horn for a minute, I have recycled for many, many years. I pretty much got the bug from my parents and Grandma Baker who would go out of there way to "reduce, reuse and recycle", especially when it wasn't so easy to do...... My Grandmother would have to put all recyclables in her truck, drive to a collection site and literally chuck stacks of newspaper, glass, cans etc into very tall recycle containers. We are a short-ish family so this was no easy task.

My paper recycling container is in the pantry and rarely stays full for long. Not because I empty it daily, but because my darlings make art project after art project from the recycle bin. I swear, (which I really do... but not in this context) everything turns into a treasure. As I type, Gabe is cutting all the pictures from a Deseret Book catalog and making a pleasant, picturesque collage. I leave the projects around for a while, but eventually I put them out to the corner with all the other junk mail. Hopefully they really are making new stuff from old stuff. I am such an optimist.

So, here is Tate.... a recycled soldier of sorts. Gabe made himself some pretty cool paper armor too, but I forgot to get a pic. Oh well.... There will be more I am sure. I think it is cute and I hope they continue to use this creative outlet frequently.

Life is good!!

Wise words

Everybody gets their hair cut.

Eric has been cutting Coleman's hair since he was about 18 months. It was impossible to have his hair cut. He would scream, cry, wiggle and sweat so much that the little guy would have lost a pound or two during the cut alone. It was too traumatic for ALL of us.... so Eric started cutting his hair. Eric cut hair in college, but I don't think he was a fan of cutting a toddler's hair. It is difficult and when Tate was a toddler he actually snipped off part of his ear. (That is another day, another post and perhaps another picture of the scarred ear.... Yuck!!!)

Anyway, Coleman STILL hates to get his hair cut. He complains, frowns and asks when will Eric be finished a hundred times. Some things never change. Eric cuts all of the boys' hair and does a great job. Saves us time and money. I like that.

Finn does not like to get his hair cut either. During one of the last two cuts, Finn was fussing and someone (I wish I could remember who) told him, "Finn, EVERYONE gets their hair cut." Eric and I laughed and restate that every time one of our boys complain about getting their hair cut.

Tate has graduated to Jessica, but the rest are stuck with the best barber in the house! Thanks Eric! You sure are dandy and handy! XOXO

Spring has sprung!!

Between the sessions of General Conference, we went for a 3 mile hike above the Potomac River. It was a nice day and signs of spring are everywhere. Frogs and fish were in the stream and forest flowers are popping their heads out of the ground. It was a nice sight as it has been very cold and Mother Nature just a spring tease!!

It was good to be out, together, enjoying fresh air and beautiful scenery. There are lots of trails close to our house that we rarely utilize. This is going to change. Finn was able to keep up for the most part and we can all use more exercise and time celebrating the great outdoors.

We made it home in time to watch the last session of conference and then had Kolette, Matt, and darlings over for dinner and games. It was an awesome and uplifting day for sure!!

My Tate, always easy going and content.

Looking for nature's treasures

A sure sign of spring.... Do you see the bumblebee trying to climb on the flower?

Really.... do you need to be such a TWEEN! Honestly, he is still sweet as pie, he just doesn't want to cooperate with taking pictures....I will always win, even if I have to take a pic with a frown... ):

This is the view at the end of our particular trail. It is high above the Potomac. We are actually on a rocky cliff which as a mom, made me quite nervous. As I tried to help Gabe see the view, his soccer ball rolled off the cliff... never to be seen again. We were all a little sad as it was a brand new Umbro soccer ball. But.... life is full of surprises when you have all BRAVE and STRONG boys!!


I reluctantly let the boys hike down in a different, less dangerous area and they acutually found and retrieved the ball!!! I couldn't believe it!! I thought when it rolled off the cliff, it was never to be seen again! Makes me so proud!!

Buddies!!

Finn was telling me that he could no longer walk. How could I ever turn that face down?!? Up he went!! I sure love all my boys!!

Boys + Sticks = Love.
You can ever have too many sticks in your life and they ALWAYS turn into a sword....

Heading home and happy.....

Life is good!!