just some things

Hello! I am tired right now, but the kids are playing nicely and I had some pictures from my camera to upload to the computer, so I thought I would do a little post while they load.

I cannot tell you how happy I am that school is over!  Life has been busy the last couple of weeks - good, happy, socializing with people busy though!  I love it.  I go through spurts where I feel like I am so disconnected from everyone and then I suddenly do tons of things with people like almost every day and I feel SO energized and I remember how much I need to get out.  This weekend we hosted a bonfire, hung out at the beach on Sunday, Monday night I had a ladies night for Beauty Society, Wednesday I had a new friend and her daughter over for a playdate (her and Hailey play so well together, it is adorable), and today we went to another playdate, hung out at the beach with friends and watched Shea's preschool "rodeo" he has been practicing for all week.

Ah.  Plus, I have finally had the energy to get out in the garden (a little bit - everything is growing so well this year, I LOVE it) keep the house clean, and make something other than tacos for dinner. T-ball will be over in two weeks and we just bought a tent and are taking the kids camping at La Push in a couple of weeks, which will be our first real "rustic" camping trip with them.

I had a kidney infection almost a month ago that knocked me out for over a week.  I received really bad care at the urgent care clinic on Bainbridge Island and ended up in the ER after a weekend of super high fevers that would not go down.  Worse feeling in the world is being a sick mommy and not being able to take care of your kids.  I felt like a brand new person after getting an IV and getting my meds straightened out though.

I don't know what else to share!  I have a bunch of fun little photoshoots coming up that I am doing for some friends for free, just to practice and build up my portfolio some more. I have been running for the past month.  Yesterday I ran 6 miles!  I am totally amazed I can run that far, and even more amazed that I LOVE IT.  I have never really gotten into running in the past, and now I am addicted. Jeremy and I have a deal that if he gets to go disc golfing, once the kids are in bed, I go for a 30-60 minute run.  I think I like it because no little children can interrupt me.  I can just GO.  I am thinking about training for a race, but I don't really need the motivation anymore.  My next goal is 7 miles, and then I want to be able to run to the end of Indianola road and back, which might be around 10 miles round trip, not sure.

The kids have been fighting almost constantly lately and I am feeling the need to figure out what to do in this new stage with changing dynamics between them. 

I made a "cliff" today to hang up in the kitchen and Shea made pictures of each of us (as toy story characters, OF COURSE) and now if he disobeys or acts unkindly, etc. his person gets moved to the edge of the cliff.  Same for Hailey, me, and Jeremy. We talked about how when he is still at the top of the cliff, it is easier for mommy to help him so he can come back away from the edge.  Then there is a branch on the side of the cliff, so if he continues to disobey, he falls and is holding on to it.  This is if he throws an insane screaming tantrum which has been happening a LOT lately.  The idea is that he can always come back, but he may need more help from me the further he falls and it will take more work to get back to the top where it is safe (which is a good reminder for ME to stop and help him, too).  I guess it is kind of like the "doghouse" thing some parents do, but I feel like this shows that it is his actions that causes him to "fall", rather than just being put in a cage for disobeying, if that makes sense. Anyway, I don't know how it will work, but so far it seems to be a good visual, because he can kind of see where he is standing and improve his behavior,and he takes ownership for it since he helped make it.  He basically loses privileges along with how far he is on the cliff and there is possibility for an award if he stays at the very top away from the edge. Ha, that was a long explanation. These are the things I lay awake at night thinking about. 

I wish I could share pictures with you, but we have decided to go a bit media free over the summer.  We packed up the Wii and put away the DVD player, and since I am done with school we even put our internet connection on hold for the summer.  I can make my phone a wifi hotspot when I need to do something quick on the computer, but we don't have a ton of data on our plan at a high speed so I can't upload pictures unless I take the laptop up to the church.

I guess that is it. I made pudding and we are having homemade pizza for dinner.  I also just picked an insane amount of kale from our garden (we have almost 20 plants!) which I am going to turn into kale chips.  Tonight I am going to a DoTerra essentials oils party a mom from Shea's preschool is throwing.  I don't know much about essential oils, but have wanted to learn about it for a while, so I'm looking forward to it (plus, getting out of the house without KIDS makes it even better).  I hope you are all enjoying your spring so far.  Candice, I am amazed every time I see you post a picture of Callum on Facebook - he just looks so different and so much older now!