This'll keep you busy

I like to pass along a good book when I read one, so here's the latest. Actually, there are six in this series, The Great and Terrible. It's a very insightful look into the eternal scheme of things. I finished the sixth and final today, and I'm sad.

As for a quick description, well, that's impossible. Government and military intrigue, lots and lots of Satan and good versus evil stuff, all the while being character-driven and an excellent reminder as to the things that really matter. The first book, The Brothers, introduces you to the characters in the series in the pre-existence. It gives a really interesting look into what that may have been like. It's quite fascinating. Try it, you'll like it!

Feeling Better

First off, a couple of things: Sorry about that last post. I was having a crappy day, but I'm feeling better now. Like, really better. The sickness seems to be subsiding for the most part. I'm still a little gaggy. The thought of eating or preparing meat sends me heaving, so I'm a vegetarian until further notice. But, overall I'm feeling much, much better, and so thankful am I. Health is a blessing. Also, our stinky internet has been out all week, which is why I haven't updated until now.

It's been raining for 2 weeks, you know. Fun. Last week, after I went out of my mind a little, we took some field trips. I thought I'd share, just in case you are in need of some field trips. We went to the Bean Museum (I had to convince the kids that it's an animal museum, not literally a "bean" museum), which my kids loved. I was surprised, because I was always really bored there as a kid. Then we ate BYU ice cream.

There's a liger there. That alone should make you want to go.

The next day I dragged them to Hill Air Force Base kicking and screaming and went to the Aerospace Museum. It's really cool, everyone. Airplanes and helicopters from all eras. Anders especially was in heaven. And we ate Baskin Robbins ice cream. Oh, and both of these museums are free.
Did I take pictures? No. No, I didn't. But someone on Google did! Thank you, Google!

Unrelated to anything, on Monday I ate an entire large garlic chicken pizza by my lonesome. Just thought you might enjoy knowing that.

Spilling It.

Today I'm feeling a little blue, so here I am to purge.

School is out, and our schedule is all wacky and non-existent. They say schedules give kids security. Schedules give me security. Keeping the kids busy and happy all day is a challenge indeed. Feeling sick and exhausted is not helping. The other day I was explaining to Anders that I need to have some quiet time during the day or I'm really grouchy. He said, "Yeah. Especially when you're having a baby." That was my queue to perk up.

I hate having a messy kitchen. Honestly, I can let other things go, but the kitchen- can't. Since we spend 80% of our lives in the kitchen, it's a mess 80% of the time. Li'l Aani, mess maker extraordinaire, just might bump that statistic up to 95%. It makes me crazy. I feel strongly that I have a right to not have to clean the kitchen more than once a day. With three small kids, one of them being Aani, this is nonsense. But if I spend all my time cleaning the stinking kitchen, what else is going to get done? I was pondering this dilemma when I had an epiphony: I can't do it all. Um, no duh.

SO. Today, I told A1 and A2 that I needed their help. From now on, with a little consistency on my part, they will have daily chores, besides cleaning their rooms and the normal picking up after themselves. After they did their assigned chores, I told them to look on the floor all around the house and I'd give them a penny for every little piece of trash picked up. It was wonderful. The best $1.10 I ever spent. (That's a lot of trash.)

I'm pretty sure that feeling like total poop for the last 8 weeks has left me a little off. It's improving little by little. I still don't feel well, but I get glimpses of my former self often enough that I'm hopeful. Right now I just long to feel good, have the energy to do creative things with my kids, and not be a grouchy mom. Which leads me to this thought (I welcome your opinions and insight, by the way): I'm so thankful that I can have babies. It's amazing and wonderful and a tremendous blessing. But I don't think I can do this again. It has taken a big toll on all of us. We've always agreed about having 4 kids, so I don't know why it's even an issue for me. I guess the finality of the last pregnancy and last baby is a strange and difficult concept on one hand, but on the other it's incredibly freeing and exciting. I s'pose what I need is to feel peaceful about it.

Last but not least, my "too big" pants are no longer too big. A sign of progress, but aesthetically discouraging as I don't look pregnant. Just thicker. Everywhere.

I think I need to pray.

"Graduations"

Well, we had Anders and Addie's "graduations" the past couple of weeks. The graduation thing cracks me up. Only 12-16 years to go, kids!

We'll start with Addie's preschool graduation. I have to say that I've been more than happy with her preschool experience. Her teacher did a fantastic job, and Addie loved every minute of it. She'll be going back next year.

Aani couldn't handle not being part of the program, so she wormed her way into every song, doing the actions and everything. I thought it was really funny. Not sure if the other parents did. Here's Addie getting her diploma from Mrs. Sallie, and Aani waiting for hers. All in due time, little one. All in due time.

Anders is seriously broken up about having graduated from kindergarten. He's still not over it. Every day he laments that he can't believe he's done with kindergarten and will never be going back. He still hasn't gotten that whole summer's the best time of the year dealio.

Anders and his beloved Mrs. Wengreen.

I've also been very happy with Anders' kindergarten experience. The curriculum that his teacher had for phonics and reading was fantastic. He had homework every day. He's a smart kid and doesn't have to try hard, so I was a little concerned with him being bored. He's right on track with reading and writing, so I think the heavy focus on that was perfect for kindergarten. However, he is a math WHIZ, so he was quite bored with that. I'm hoping that he's challenged more in first grade in the math department. He loves math. In fact, he will soon surpass his parents in math skills, for we are both special (with a backwards S) when it comes to arithmetic.

They're growing up. Sniff.

Click on this!

Sorry Courtney. I want one, too!