Where we've been

Logan: Moved up to the five-yr old class in Primary in January. He's into Superman, Batman, and superheroes in general. He loves to fight with Madison. He loves to build things with Legos--he stopped asking for my help because he's figured out that he builds better than I do. He loves preschool and is excited for Kindergarten and can't wait to eat lunch at school. He can spell and rhyme... he just needs to work on penmanship. We spend about 30 minutes every morning writing letters. He and Madison are both good helpers--they cook, dust, vacuum, and even pick up a few toys once in a while.

Madison: Moved up to the Sunbeams class in January. I think she likes it, although when she sees me for Singing Time, she almost always starts her "silent cry." It might be fake, but she's very convincing, so I don't know. She loves her teachers and makes up stories that they tell her. (ex. One day she told us Sis. Rowe said she didn't have to eat whatever on the menu that night. I said, " Oh really. I think I'll have to ask Sis. Rowe about that." Madi paused then stated, "If you ask her, she might say 'no.'") She still doesn't care to play dress up, although she has lots of dress-up clothes if any little girls want to come play. She also doesn't really like to play with Barbies or babies or anything girly. She does, however, wear her cape if Logan is wearing his because then she's cool. She can be a picky eater, but the last few days she's been eating marvelously. She carries a purple washcloth around the house to wipe away her tears (which she has a lot of since she is always fighting with Logan). It's no longer worrisome or humorous. Just normal. 

Grant: Is 10 months old. He crawls and stands and cruises on furniture. He's a clown; if we laugh at something he does, he'll do it over and over and over. He just started clapping. He loves to play peek-a-boo. He points to tell us what he wants. He's a very happy, lovable,and sometimes loud baby. He loves to play with his big brother and sister, but gets very upset when they take something away from him. He loves to eat. He still nurses 5 times a day and eats at least 3 meals with the family. Logan, Madison, and I (Jenn) all have low iron levels, so at Grant's last dr. appt. I asked the dr. to test his blood. She was a little reluctant, but I was not surprised to find that Grant, too, had very low iron levels. So we are all taking iron supplements. The dr. is also worried about his weight which surprised me because he eats all day long... I guess he's always hungry! So lucky Grant gets to have cream cheese and butter on his bread!

Joe: Is home a little more because the economy isn't keeping him so busy. So we get to see him a little more, which is nice, but worrisome at the same time. I can't say much on here, so for more info you might just have to ask him. He (and I) decided that it was time to shut off the satellite to save money and promote better usage of time. We also got rid of our home line and are just using our cell numbers now. (We still have our answering machine hooked up to the old line if you need to get a hold of us before you get our cell number.) 

Jenn: loves staying at home with the children... and is thinking about giving up on having a clean house. I think I washed, dried, folded, and put away 10 loads of laundry this week (and no, I didn't miss a week). Whew! I feel like I can't keep up with life. One of my new year's goal was to get up at 6:00 a.m. so I could shower and dress, make a hot breakfast, and do some me things so that we can all eat breakfast together at 7:00. It's been tough, but also very rewarding. I am also taking an online class from BYU because I have to take 6 credits to keep my teaching certificate current. I'm actually really stressed about it because I've got to finish by Sept. 1 and I've procrastinated this for 5 years. I really don't know where the time went, but I have no excuse.  So while Logan is in school, Madison and Grant take naps, and I've got about 2 1/2 hours that I use to exercise and work on this class and get anything else done (meal prep, cleaning, etc). So we're 19 days into the new year and I feel like I've done pretty well, but I'm also exhausted at the end of the day. Sometimes I feel like life is so crazy and I know it's only going to get crazier as the kids have more activities and I just don't know how to keep up. And I know I should  be doing more playing and teaching and loving and somehow it all gets lost in the happenings of the day. So if any of you are up to sharing, I'd love to know how you do it.