SMART Habit Saturday

I've always wanted to be one of those super-organized moms {nobody laugh at me! hee hee}. Maybe I need a little bit of accountability, someone to report to, other than Andy, who will ReAllY laugh at me! I'm going to jump in with The Lazy Organizer, because that's really how I feel most of the time. So, here are some of my goals. I'm going to start small, and add as I get a handle on these ones.

One thing I have TOTALLY slacked on is exercise. Then I wonder why I am gaining weight by leaps and bounds! My goal is 4 days a week of at least 45 minutes of exercise. Probably walking, but I'll go for bike riding or a workout video, also. Strenuous swimming will also count!

Reading the scriptures every day: personal and family study. We are either hot or cold on this it seems. I actually seem to do much better with it when I get up early to go for a walk! I think I feel less rushed, and a little more, well, organized. Most mornings the kids like to read together. In the past we had tried reading the scriptures in the evening before bed, which I thought would be a nice wind-down to the day, but they were just too overtired, and sometimes even downright belligerent. Everything went much better after we switched to mornings before school. Along with reading the scriptures is reading the Relief Society lesson each week, which is a challenge that our ward bishop has given to those of us who are not able to attend class because of our other callings. I've actually been doing great with this, and I am reading back on some of the lessons I've missed.

Chores for the kids every morning. We started this after summer academy, and it was really going well, but we've gotten a little off schedule. What we did was: I looked around the house and decided what chores needed to be done that morning, such as vacuum and dust living room, straighten up bookcase, clean bathroom sink, mirror, and floor, mop kitchen, empty dishwasher, clean out fridge...you get the drift. I then list these individual jobs on a paper under the room name. I've found that the more specific I get, the better, like listing what cleaner to use, the pieces of furniture to dust, etc. The kids pick a paper out of a hat and have to do those chores before they can go outside to play. I think we will do this on weekdays only, and take the weekend off from the thorough cleaning, and just do the surface cleaning on the weekend.

One more thing, PAPERWORK! The dreaded paperwork. I will work on IT 30 minutes a day.

OK, there's the list. I may add some more next Saturday, depending on how these are going!

Summer Fun

So, this is what the kids are UP to today. Which wouldn't be so unusual except for the small fact that it's RAINING...a slow, steady rain. It's 7:00p.m., and they've been out there all day in it, only coming in periodically to fill their empty tummies or change into dry clothes, only to scamper back out once again to soak them back up again.

Mario's all decked out in his brand new "Wightning Mcqueen" helmet and pads. I was standing there with the camera waiting for him to ride up to me, and when I was taking pictures of him he said, "Guess what, Mom. My girlfriend's home." His girlfriend is the new little neighbor girl who moved into my brother's old house. She's 8. When he first met her he told me, "I wuv Courtney!"

Natalia and Joseph joined two of their friends on the neighbors trampoline. If you can't tell from the pic, they look like drowned rats! Natalia wanted to make sure that I got her while she was in the air, which wasn't easy for a terrible photographer like me!

Pre-Independence Day Facts and Figures:

5 Number of U.S. places with "America" in their names, with the most populous being American Fork, Utah, population 22,501.

5 Number of U.S. places that adopted the name "Freedom." Freedom, California, with 6,000 residents, has the largest population among these.

11 Number of U.S. places with "Independence" in their names. The most populous of these is Independence, Missouri, with 113,027 residents.

Andy works in Independence a couple of days a week, so I thought this was kinda fun!

YEAH!!

Thanks to all of you who have pledged money for Operation Sunscreen for Our Troops. So far I have collected enough to send out 18 sunscreens, 18 lip protectors, and 9 after sun gels! I have until the 29th, so if you would still like to help, leave a comment, e-mail, or call me. Thanks so much!

Operation Sunscreen for our Troops

For the month of June, Mary Kay is partnering with Soldiers Angels Network to help protect our troops from the sun. This was done last year, and we got tons of letters of thanks. If you would like to help with a tax deductible donation, please let me know. You can leave a comment at the bottom of this post or e-mail me with questions.

You can see the products here.

For each Sun Protection Care Package (2 SPF 30 Sunscreens, 2 Lip Protector Sunscreen SPF15, and 1 After-Sun Replenishing Gel) purchased, I will match the donation. I think this is an awesome way to show our support for the soldiers who leave their homes and families to protect and serve our country.

xoxo

I'm not into all of these "Talent" type shows,

but when this happens, you can't help but love it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0dzZTPWrSM

The Dog Days of Summer

I think of witty things to put on my blog at least a few times a day, but like everything else, when I sit down to type they've already gone through the holes of this sieve I call my brain. Last things first: Joseph had a couple of baseball games this week. We've found out that he is very intense when he's up to bat. In his uniform he looks like a mini professional player. His buddy Carson's dad always gives him a couple of streaks of eye black. I'll have to get a close-up of it. This is him warming up.

OK, I'm not very good at this whole blogging thing. I have to figure out how to get the pictures with the words that go with them. Friday in Pictures: Spent yesterday afternoon having a picnic in the backyard with #2 Sis Emily's group. Here's what I could get of the food table before they devoured it, Joseph and Jack with their lunch, and Jerica modeling a small portion of her jewelry collection. She won't leave the house without some jewelry on. Then on to an estate sale where I found these quilt tops made out of flour sacks. So cute! I'm keeping my favorite and "trying" to sell the others in my Etsy shop. Love the old school books, magazines, and couldn't pass up the well-used rooster tray. The colors are lovely!

Wednesday our group and Emily's group went over to Windsor to run some errands, so we had a picnic at the park where Monkey promptly peed his pants. He was a little too busy playing to realize he had to go, I guess. I had to run to the store to get a cheap pair of shorts. Then we headed over to the Amish store. Look at this picture closely...notice anything different than a usual picture of the horizon? I asked the kids while we were driving up, and after I told them they said, "Oh, yeah!" No electric lines or telephone poles! The traditional Amish don't have electricity or telephones. The store doesn't have any lights, just the natural light that comes in through the windows. They have horses and buggies, and huge beautiful gardens, and white homes. Always white. Almost always with small windows, too. I can't remember the reason for that. Anywho-you can also see a cell phone tower in the distance there. We bought some bulk foods, which is mostly what they sell. Raisins, carob chips, ranch dressing mix, and fresh veggies, including some tiny little green beans. I'll post some more about the kids another day, including more pictures! Remember, you can click on a picture to enlarge it.

There is one inconvenience with having a large family. Whenever Emily and I go somewhere with all of the kids, we have to take two vehicles. We each can seat 8 people, but we total 11! (9 kids and 2 moms).

Oh, yeah, Tara, if you've made it this far in reading, I'll be talking about you too soon.

The first day of summer break...

and all is well. Or I guess as well as it can be! Yesterday was the last day of Summer Academy, which is the fun equivalent of Summer School here. Joseph was able to go the last week, which he was SO happy about! When we would go to school to get the other kids, his friends would see him and say,"We're saving a spot for you, Joe!" Natalia was in her multi-age classroom, and Brian had 3 different teachers: Miss Madrid (one of his 6th grade teachers) Mrs. Easter (the counselor) and Mrs. Demand (5th grade teacher). They had a blast yesterday taking the bus to the movie theater in Sedalia to see "Surf's Up". Natalia had a softball game last night. She played 2nd base and caught a pop fly for an out, and tagged the base for another one. She gets a little frustrated, though, because they are one of the youngest teams in their league. Some of the girls they are playing against are 6th graders, 3 years older than her!

This morning we (the kids and I) tried out our new summer schedule. The kids slept in a little since we didn't get home until 11:00p.m. from the game. We had pancakes for breakfast, read a chapter in Mosiah (hoping to finish the Book of Mormon by the end of the year) and then picked chores out of a hat. Joseph was in charge of the hat and took his job VERY seriously. The kids did their chores without too much complaining. After their work was checked they were free to go outside to play. Then lunch at 1:00 served outside. Not because we were having a picnic, because they were soaking wet from playing in the water. Now we're just hanging out doing a little of this and that. We'll try some reading tomorrow, maybe a little more structure. We'll just have to see! Oh, yeah, Grandpa came by for a few minutes.

Where did May go?

I just can't believe we're almost a week into June. I guess time flies...and all of that.

UPDATE ON JOE:

Joseph's now able to go to Summer Academy, and has been since Monday, and can play at his first baseball game tonight! The doctor said that she was amazed at how well his hand has healed. He is using it, and it doesn't look like he'll be needing any physical therapy. Joe and I were discussing his hand, and he wanted to know why it got so much better and why he doesn't need to have a bandage on it. He decided it was because we said lots of prayers to Heavenly Father and asked Him to help his hand heal up and feel better. So sweet!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Today is my baby sister Monie's 19th birthday. Boy, that makes me feel old! We celebrated with lunch at El Tapatio and a visit to Liberty Park to let the kids play.