Monday March 31

Elsie was up a little early this morning, not too early, but earlier than her usual.

She seemed fine, until she had a meltdown :(

She was grumpy and whiny and I knew she wouldn't be going to school.

If I couldn't get her to cooperate, they wouldn't be able to do it at school either.

So I kept her home.

I took Cassi to school, and then went to take Porter to speech.

He was excited about going until we got there.

He had a similar kind of meltdown that Cassi used to have last year :(

Not good!!!!!!

I know we are getting over the Spring Break week, but this was ridiculous!!!!

I didn't make him go.

No big deal.

Once we were all home.....oh man!!!!!

They were both so ornery!!!!!

I got nothing done today because I was busy breaking up fights, and trying to make them happy and trying to keep them away from each other so they wouldn't fight.

Elsie ate ALL DAY!!!!!!!

Snacks all day long.

Porter kept getting mad that Elsie was eating, so he tied the fridge handle up.

I had to get into it later on, and man oh man!!!!!!

He was SO MAD that I untied it!

Another big fit ensued.....actually, at the same exact moment of one of Elsie's tantrums.

He was on the floor for a while crying before he jumped back up with a bright red face and tied it all up again.

Oh, fun stuff.

I didn't know what else to do.....well, except for take pictures of course :)

Neither of them had fevers......just in very rare grumpy form!!!!!

When Madi came home, I got a chance to work out.

So glad I did, because I would probably be a crazy lady right now :)

Anyway, things got better a little later on.

After dinner, Elsie worked on the homework packet that Cassi brought home for her.

No problems.

We talked about going tomorrow and Wednesday is class picture day, so she can't miss that!!!!

Lets hope all they need is a good nights sleep.

Cause I can't do this again tomorrow!!!!

 

 

 

Sunday March 30

We had a really nice morning today.

Our church time was moved to the 1:00 while we are at the different building.

I think it will work out good.

We took our time.....everyone got along.

It was wonderful.

A while before we had to leave, I stuck in some old family movies.

When Madi and Cassi were babies.

Oh my goodness!!!!

So much fun!

I wish I was better at organizing the videos back then!

I don't know where the videos are of when Elsie was a baby.

And Port's baby stuff is still on the video camera.

Anyway.....I almost made us late for church because I had everyone ready before I got ready.....and I was glued watching the home videos.

It was great.

But I finally did get in the shower.....

When I got out, I noticed those dang goats had gotten out!!!!!!!

Man, they are so much trouble!

So I sent Madi and Cassi out, all dressed in their Sunday best to guide them back into the old side they were in.

They had pushed themselves through part of our makeshift fence......dumb, smart goats :(

Anyway, we left Dandy there....she wasn't too happy about losing her friends.

Maybe we will try and get her back with the goats tomorrow.

*****

We left for church just after lunch.

It is about a 20 minute drive, and I wanted to get there early enough to make sure we knew where kids classes were going to be and help with the primary stuff I needed to help with.

It all went pretty smooth.

Well, except that both Elsie and Porter wouldn't go to class.

They both sat with their classes at the start of sharing time, and I was in charge of conducting.....

But I noticed Porter and he looked like he was on the verge of crying.

I had him come over to me while we were singing a song and he just said he didn't feel good.

I wonder if he bonked his head or something, because he said he had a headache.

Poor kid.

So I finished up and sat with him during the lesson.

He wouldn't hold still and kept saying he just wanted to go home.

This whole time Elsie was just fine.

When I got up to excuse everyone to go to their classes, Elsie burst out crying.

So I had someone else take over and took her and Porter out.

It took me a while to calm her down and I still don't know what happened.

She was just fine.

Oh I don't know.....

Maybe it was just a crazy over whelming day for them and all the change....

But all the other kids seemed fine.

Hmmm.....hope it goes better in two weeks!

*****

e came home from church and started the home movies again.

So much fun.

We found one with newborn Madi that we hadn't seen, well, ever.

We were so little.

All the video from her being in the hospital, trying to teach her to suck so we could take her home.

Some sweet memories.

Yes, even being in the hospital, they were sweet.

It's funny, I don't remember ever worrying that something would go wrong.

I always knew she would be okay....it was just getting her ready to go home.

Oh and I wanted to cry when I watched video of my Grandma Beardall holding my baby on her blessing day.

What a precious memory that I never want to forget!

She was such an amazing person and I want to be as much like her as I can.

I have a long way to go, but I am so thankful for her example of pure love, service, righteousness and hard work.

She was sure a special woman.

*****

Boy the time flew....before I knew it, it was 7:30!!!!!

So I got the little ones in bed and then I remembered I needed to return the redbox we got yesterday!

When I got back, Madi had cleaned up the kitchen and front room (and it was a mess!!!)

What a great girl she is :)

They are all pretty great kiddos.

I am blessed.

 

Lounging in a nice warm bath.

Yes, the water looks brown.....

Grandma Na made bath bombs, which are so much fun and the kids love them, but they do kinda make the bath water look dirty :)

 

My boy, creating away with his Legos.

 

They were on the computer together in the paint program just drawing together, taking turns.

It was a  beautiful thing :)

 

Saturday March 29

It was a rainy rainy day today.

We did regular Saturday cleaning together.

Port was my window washer.

He left some leaky streaks, but he sure was cute doing it :)

We headed outside when it wasn't too bad got some stuff done out there.

We are going to put a bridge across the canal from the back of our land.

It will be nice to have, but mostly it will be nice for the neighbors (who we share the irrigation pump with us) to use instead of walking through our field to get to it.

Anyway, we didn't get to that today.....we had to burn a pile of junk/wood and cut and move some more dead branches.

We also planted the 25 or so little evergreen starts we have had waiting in the fridge to be planted.

We filled two tubs and we will move them once they get bigger.

After we were drenched with the rain, we decided to head back in.

Well, Elsie was already inside, smart girl :)

But we got some good work done!

Then we and got a redbox and  hung out while it rained.

*****

Tonight was the General Woman's Meeting.

It was for 8 and up, so Cassi Madi and I went.

It was a very great meeting.

I meant to take a notebook to take notes, but forgot.

So we grabbed my daily planner book and we sued that :)

It was fun because we all shared it....passing the planner back and forth writing notes down from the speakers.

It was fun :)

There was such beautiful music, and man, it was so perfect.

I couldn't sing a word.....I was too overcome with the amazing sound and spirit.

The speakers spoke just what I needed to hear, and also what my girls needed to hear.

I am so thankful we were able to go together tonight.

So Thankful for the words that were spoken and the spirit that was felt.

So Thankful that we, as woman, can be a disciple of Christ.

I feel so blessed to have the life I have and I am so Thankful to have the gospel of Jesus Christ as part of that perfect life.

 

Friday March 28

We finished off the side of the fence this morning.

It turned out good, and it has been fun to get out and work next to my man again :)

After lunch, we decided it might be fun to go out to a movie.

I REALLY wanted to do the hike thing, but it was so wet everywhere (because it rained all night), and it probably would have been a bad idea....

So we decided to go and see 'Mr. Peabody and Sherman'.

It was a cute movie, and we all ate WAY TOO MUCH popcorn.

Then afterwards went and got hamburgers.

We also drove by the church we will be going to for a few months.

Our building is being renovated.....and the closest church that could fit our ward in the building is on Curtis and Franklin area.....so quite the drive.

And since dad works this Sunday, I wanted to know where I needed to go.

I am pretty sure that this Sunday is gonna be CRAZY with all the primary kids in a new building!!!!!

We came home and hung the gate on the new fence, then moved the goats over.

Porter had fun riding Thor......pretty awesome :)

Dandy was not happy about being alone.....she was making all kinds of noises...

So Cassi got her to follow her out and led her towards the goats....

Dad had to hold the goats back from the gate to get Dandy in, but she finally went in and they are all happy now :)

And while we were out there, we (dad) cut dead branches off the fruit trees.

All is looking good now :)

 

Thursday March 27

We had a pretty fun day today.

Yes, I made them clean again this morning.

Why can't things just stay clean????

Why why why?????

Oh well, such is my world.

After lunch, we met up with the Young girls, Heather and Pat included, at a pottery place.

For the life of me I can't remember the name of it....something to do with pigs though :)

Anyway!!!!!

It was a fun time.

Each kid picked themselves a little ceramic piece and painted them.

They will fire them there and then call us when they are ready to pick up.

Porter picked a horse mug, which is perfect.

He has his hot chocolate every morning, so it will be fun to have it in his very own mug :)

Elsie picked a cute little flower jewelry box.

Cassi picked a cute little girl figurine, that she made look like a little pioneer

Madi also chose a little doll figurine.

It was hard to choose from all the choices they had....that wasn't too pricey!

It was a fun time.

Elsie had a hard time keeping the art supplies out of her mouth, AS USUAL!!!!

I should have given her some gun to chew on, that is what they do at school.

It's a sensory thing, and gum helps to fill that sensory need.

ANYWAY....

Once the little ones were done painting, I took them out into the hallway are to run around while the big kids finished up.

After wards I took most of the Young girls....all except Brae, back home with us.

Braelyn wasn't feeling well....poor girl.

Brent went in today for an overtime shift, but forgot his pillows, so before going home, we ran him some pillows for tonight :)

Then we got home and the kids had a fun time playing....

Madi and Kara made a spiderweb/laser string thing for the kids to go through.

The other kids made up little plays to perform.

Such great kids, this group :)

We invited Cannon over for Porter to play with, you know, cause he was the only boy....

Fun day.

Oh, it rained all day, so not much was done outside (that's why dad called in for overtime!)

I hope there is a break tomorrow!

I really wanted to take the kids for a hike, but that might not happen I guess :(

 



Wednesday March 26

We got the posts set for the fence that we hadn't planned on putting in yet :)

It looks nice and we will get the wire up soon.

Guess what I found out today (with the help of sending pictures to my mom :).....

WE HAVE 3 APRICOT TREES!!!!

Fun!!!

I hope we don't have a late front this year so we can actually get some fruit!!!!

I saw all the 'popcorn' blossoms and got so happy to have our very own Apricot trees!!!!

*****

After lunch I took Elsie and Cassi over to Jenni's house to play with Alex and Ayden.

They haven't played in a while, so it was good to get them together.

We made a stop at Sister Rolls house before going to Jenni's.

It was so good to see her.

Elsie has been so very excited :)

So glad that we stay in touch with her.

*****

Back at home there was a lot of working going on.

Madi took care of and played with Porter, Max and Graham.

Dad and I pulled out a few trees we didn't want and also planted our Christmas tree.

Dad loaded him dump truck with dirt from the pasture and we dumped it into the raspberry spot, thank goodness for that dump truck ;)

****

I went and picked up the girls later on, and picked up pizza too, for dinner.

Then we all relaxed together as a family.

It was a pretty good day.

*****

Oh, and Cassi painted a beautiful picture of Christ this morning.

I wish I would have given her some watercolor paper to paint on, but it was on a matte board.

She went in after it had dried and used colored pencils to fill in some spots.

It turned out awesome!

I LOVE it!!!!!

 

 

Tuesday March 25

So I didn't push the kids to do anything this morning.

I just cleaned the kitchen, swept and mopped, cleaned the front room good.....

And the kids all played really nice downstairs together.

After lunch we headed outside to get some outdoor work done.

The big girls cleaned out the bunny cages and the chicken coop too.

They stuck the bunnies inside the "spin cycle" tub on it's side.

It worked out great.

I worked on my rock 'wall' to go around the raspberries.

It doesn't look super great right now....but it will be really nice.

We will fill it with some good dirt and plant some more raspberries.

I think it will be great :)

Then we picked up more fruit tree branches.....and trimmed more.

I sure hope we get some fruit this year!!!!!

 

Monday March 24

Well......I had planned to get a lot done today.

Planned for the kids to be really helpful.....

But really, they fought pretty much all day.

They, as in Madi and Cassi :(

Maybe tomorrow will be better......

Maybe.....

*****

I did get to go for a run and then while the kids played outside I started putting rocks around the raspberries.......it's gonna take a lot more time, but I think it will work out good.

Elsie had PT today at 2.

She worked really hard for Katie, but she did have a few stubborn moments....

That's about the time of day she is stubborn at school too.

I wonder if it has something to do with the time of day, just after she ate, maybe a little extra tired.

I don't know.

But she did work hard.

We worked on a lot of squatting today, and I see a lot of progress in that area that I haven't seen for a while.

So that is really cool.

She still needs help and support, but she is willing to keep working on it (usually) and that is a good thing.

She makes me proud.

*****

The rest of the day was kind of a bust......

More fighting.

I promised them fun stuff if they would just get along and help me.

And it's not like I am asking much....laundry and make beds, that kind of stuff.

I love them, but man they are driving me crazy.

I do have fun things planned for them to do, but we aren't gonna do them if they can't be nice!

Right?

Or am I the mean one for asking them to get some stuff done during Spring Break??????

*****

Avery came over late this afternoon, just before dinner time.

Cassi had worked on cleaning her room so I let her play for a little bit.

Porter also went over to Cannon's house to play while Avery was over here.

Cass and Avery painted some rocks and then hid them and made a scavenger hunt for Elsie to find the rocks.

It was pretty cute, and Elsie was super excited about it.

So that's a good thing from today.....

They even found a heart rock for me :)