Blog Catch Up or Not

I'm so far behind I will never catch up on blogging.  Life has been so crazy lately there are just not enough hours in the day to get everything done.  There are a few pictures I hope to find time to backpost in the near future but for now I'm just going to start from today and try to keep up with semi-regular blog posts.

I had a book printed of all the blog posts I did in 2007 & 2008 and just spent some time looking through it.  It made me realize how much I'm forgetting and motivated me to try to start blogging once again.  Since I no longer scrapbook this is the only record I really have and the place I share pictures.

Breed like Rabbits....

Remember out bunnies.
Our MALE bunnies Hershey & Cadbury.
In case you forgot here's a picture.

Either a miracle has occured or one of the bunnies is not a male!

10 Days

Where did the last 10 days go? I'm usually better at posting more often.
I've got some pictures to upload but can find the adapter I need to upload them. Hopefully it will show up in the next day or two so I can upload pictures of Bryce from nerd day and pictures of Kylie from this morning. Kim got her ready for school, so cute!

Our AC was broken for 2 days. I'm grateful it was in September instead of in the middle of July. It was 88 degrees inside and outside when we went to be last night. Thankfully it was only the fan motor and we got it fixed this morning.

Dear Life,

Dear Life,

Thank you for the first semi-calm day I've had in weeks. It was very much needed.

Thank you for the 20 minute nap I snuck in before someone started banging on the piano. I wish you could have been longer but I'll take what I can get.

Thank you that Bryce's migraine finally went away. It's no fun to watch your child in so much pain.

Thank you that we finally caught the bunnies that escaped from their cage. At least I got 20 minutes of exercise in.

Thank you for a family that was ecstatic that they got mac & cheese for dinner. I'm so glad they are so easy to please.

Thank you for the delicious dinner I got at Relief Society tonight that I didn't have to cook. And thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make it such a fun evening.

Thank you to Brett who was willing to drop everything and work in the nursery tonight when he was called at the last minute. I know you were tired and had a lot of homework.

Thank you to my children for doing their chores without complaint for the first time in forever. Miracles to happen.

Thank you that we have a commission check ready to be picked up. Hallelujah!

Thank you for good friends, a hard working husband and great children. I'm truly blessed.

The Best Laid Plans...

Today started off great!

Then the phone rang just moments after I got the younger kids off to school.

"This is the intermediate school we have Bryce in the office with a migraine"

Farewell to my planned "productive day".

Poor kid his migraines are not pleasant. So far he's sleeping. Let's hope we got medication in him soon enough so this one won't be severe.

Week #1 Down

Ok really it was only 3 days - not even a full week. We survived waking up early but boy am I tired tonight. Overall I'd say it was a very successful first few days.

It's most definitely time to get back to Maintain It Monday, Tackle It Tuesday, etc., etc.

Although I'm not sure there is a need to post before & after pictures anymore. I mean really all you have to do is go look at previous Tackle It Tuesday pictures to get a pretty good idea about what certain areas of my house looks like.

The clutter may be picked up and the floors vacuumed throughout most of the house but much of that clutter is sitting in a basket in the corner of the office waiting to be sorted and discarded or put away. The insides of my cupboards are once again disorganized. Why does everything eventually return to a state of chaos?

My house is in need of a good spring cleaning!

Focusing on the positive for a minute my laundry is all clean and folded and my garage is clean. At least 2 areas of my house are in order (at least for the moment).

So for those who find amusement and feel better by seeing the skeletons in my closet check back next week for the before & hopefully fabulous after pictures as I work to recover from a summer of kids home all day everyday.

Juggling

Housework

Meals

Children

Husband

Church Calling

Scriptures

Prayers

Finances

Blogging

Reading

Family Time

Laundry

Errands

Shopping

Temple

Family History

Yard Work

Repairs

Friends

Extended Family

Journal

Email

Paperwork

Etc.

Etc.

Etc.

This lady seems to be juggling everything quite well. This lady does not.

Can you guess which one I'm feeling like.

Priorities, Balance, Moderation...

That is my focus for the coming week.

Back to the basics, a schedule, to do lists, bedtimes....

"The trick to juggling is determining which balls are made of rubber and which ones are made of glass."

It's always fun when grandpa comes!

4 days with no blog post?
Life's been busy!

A week filled with
Swim lessons
Working out with Brian
And loads of cleaning & laundry

Finally...
The house got cleaned
My dad arrived last night

Today included:
A trip to Costco
A trip to Home Depot
2 electric problems fixed
A trip to Lowes
1 plumbing problem still being worked on
A $1,400 vehicle repair - ouch!
A trip to Maverick for treats
A migraine for Bryce
Tri Tip for dinner - yum!
Redbox movie for Brian & my dad
Another Redbox movie for the kids
Blogging then bedtime for me
Good Night!

A Day At The Habels

Computers

Playing

Studying

More playing

Weekly Wrap Up

Why is it that all to often the areas of my life I plan to focus on and become better at are the areas I end up struggling with the most? I start out strong and doing well and then life falls apart & I too often I end up worse than when I started.
I know one of my problems is I have not been using a planner or a to do list. I can't seem to find a system that works for me. I think I made a mistake a couple years ago when I move my main calendar from my planner to the wall in the kitchen. It's not portable and there is no good way to keep track of a to do list. And going digital doesn't work for me because if I sit down at the computer to check a to do list & calendar online I also check email, blogs, goodreads, facebook, etc., etc., etc.
I have a very obsessive all or nothing type personality. I throw my head and heart into something and then end up out of balance in other areas of my life. Stages of my life can be chronicled by the thing I was obsessed with at the time. Here are a few examples:
Family Home Evening packets: When Brett was just a toddler I started making family home evening packets. I literally had at least 150 FHE lessons in files. Most of them colored, cut out, laminated. I spent forever making packets and enjoyed it. But I RARELY used them. I much prefer opening the Friend magazine and reading from that on Monday nights. With the invention of the internet FHE lessons were available at the click on the mouse so I eventually gave away all but my favorite half dozen lessons.
Scrapbooking: Again when Brett was young I started scrapbooking. I spent endless hours scrapbooking. For years I enjoyed this hobby. At least until I kept having children and I realized what I'd started and would never be able to continue. Brett has 6 full scrapbooks for his first 3 years of life. Bryce & Kim each have 3 or 4. Then came Bradley - poor Bradley is my child that was born and then went to 2nd grade if his scrapbooks are an indication of his life. By the time Kylie came along the world had gone digital and I had no desire to ever scrapbook again. A computer crash means that most of her first 2 years of life are non existent as far as photos go.
And so it goes - one hobby or obsession after another. Blogging, Facebook, Family History, Reading, Twilight, Exercise, Organizing, Couponing, Healthy Eating. etc., etc., etc. Some of the obsession last for mere weeks others for years but ultimately I have burned out, given up, moved on, lost interest or found something else.
Current obsession - Reading but I'm about burned out. 126 books since January 1st. That's a lot of reading. I've always loved to read and read a lot but I've already read more books than I did in all of 2009.
So what is the cure for someone like me? How do I find and keep better balance in my life?
I was listening to Christian music on the radio this afternoon and the chorus to one song said something about today being a new day. It struck me that all I can do is keep plugging away and doing the best I can each day. So I decided to start fresh this week at doing my best to find balance in all areas of my life. I decided to pull out my 2010 goals that I've not really looked at since January. So here we go...

Read Preach My Gospel as a family
Gave up on this and went back to the scriptures. It just wasn't the same as scripture study. And with summer we've not been very structured: up late, sleeping in. Brian suggested today we need some kind of alarm to go off each evening to remind us to start bedtime. The sun going down just doesn't work in the summer because it goes down too late. So this week at least 5 days of scripture study as a family.
Have Family Prayers Together Every Night and Have Prayers with Each Child before they leave for school each morning.
Lack of structure means lack of family prayer.
Have a well planned Family Home Evening each week
We do have FHE every Monday. At least that is a habit we haven't lost.
Family Fun Activity Every Week
We have lots of fun around here but not always as an entire family and too often with friends involved.
Do something active as a family at least once a week
Still haven't done this at all this year and I'm not going to start worrying about it this week!
Eat at least 7 meals Together As A Family each week
Epic fail. I think getting back to meals around the table will really help with things like scriptures and prayers. Brian asked me last night if we could have dinner as a family but I was tired and the kids had been snacking all afternoon so I had no desire to cook a meal that wouldn't be eaten. Meals make such a difference I'm going to go back to Menu-plan Monday and plan out meals for this week.
Get the kids to bed on time on school nights
How about get the kids to bed before midnight? It's summer but we've got to start getting them to bed earlier!
Encourage the kids to limit their Media & Video Gaming time
Bradley, Bryce & Kylie need my attention here. Kim & Brett do well on their own.
Chores – Teach them to work
I need to start inspecting because their version of chores done and my version are not the same.

Now for the personal goals
Kneel in prayer each morning and night
Most days but I should change it to meaningful, heartfelt prayer not rushed just pray because you are supposed to pray kind of prayers.
Read my scriptures every day
I've been reading the Conference Ensign the past week as my scriptures but need to get back to the BofM.
Attend the Temple at least once every month
I was going at least 2 or 3 times a month until the start of May and then I haven't been since. I'll get back this week.
Read the Ensign cover to cover each month
Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr & June are done. Almost done with the conference Ensign.
Read at least 100 books
Goal accomplished already which is not necessarily a good thing.
Spend at least 2 days a week at home without leaving to run errands or grocery shop
Need to edit to say stay at home and CLEAN!
Lose the 20 lbs I gained in 2009
I'm finally back on the eating better wagon but that exercise wagon is elusive.
Blog daily and keep in touch with extended family and friends
Blogging sporadically and not keeping in touch much.
Make time to Be Still & Ponder each day
I need to get up earlier than everyone else because otherwise there is no such thing as quiet time around here.
Start doing family history work
This was an obsession for a few months earlier this year but then I ended up with so many names needing work done I need to focus on getting the names I cleared done before submitting anymore.
Weekly date with Brian
We went out on his birthday this past week but I should plan something for this week and surprise him - except that he reads this blog so now there will be no surprise ;-)

Well enough rambling for today. I'm sure there is no one left reading at this point but since this blog is for me that's ok. It was theraputic for me to put a few thoughts down and regroup to tackle this week ahead of me.

A Little Bit of Random

While I was gone to Women's Conference Bradley received the Super Scholar Award at an assembly at school. I don't think I've ever heard such excitement as when he called me to tell me. Seriously I was grinning ear to ear just hearing the excitement in his voice. Way to go Bradley!

Kim had her last soccer game while I was gone. She scored 2 goals during that game. She's becoming a good little soccer player.
I laughed when I looked out the window yesterday and saw Kylie on the trampoline with static in her hair.

Kimberly wasn't feeling well on Sunday so she stayed home from church. I told her to make sure she did something "churchy" while we were gone. She prepared a family home evening lesson and made a new family home evening assignment chart. Since the chart only had 6 flowers she drew another one.

Kylie's assignment for FHE was to do the scripture but we let her tell a story instead. Several months ago for family home evening we had done a lesson on friendship using some visual aids. She pulled out those visual aids and retold the story. It was priceless!

What have I done....

In the last General Conference President Monson gave a talk called What Have I Done For Someone Today? We put a sign on the wall by our kitchen table that asked that question.

This morning at breakfast I looked up to see that our sign had changed:

I burst out laughing as did the rest of the family when I showed them the new sign.
Brett is so funny. He usually doesn't have much to say but he has a great sense of humor and often says and does things that make us laugh.
Now on to Kylie. Lately we've been playing a lot of CandyLand. Since it is Kylie's game we play by her rules. First rule - She get the deck of cards ready and she goes first. Miraculously the first card she draws is always the "Lilypop" (aka Lollipop). We then take turns as normal but if she draws any other picture card such as the gingerbread man which would make her go backwards she declares that she's skipping her turn. And since it's her game it's ok for her to skip her turn. Thus Kylie always wins and usually wins quite quickly.

Can I just tell you that life has been wonderful this week. I think I figured out the reason why: We have been going to bed early every night and thus getting enough sleep. Why the need for change? Brett had not been getting enough sleep lately. He had been staying up late to study and then going to bed way too late and then had to get up early for seminary. He is an incredibly light sleep and wakes up at every little noise. The consequence of this was after weeks of not enough sleep he was a walking zombie. I honestly thought he had mono or something physical causing his extreme fatigue. A trip to the doctor this week and some lab work showed nothing so we were told to give him Benadryl at night to knock him out. We started doing bedtime at 8:00 so everyone was downstairs and settled with lights out by 9:00 thus giving Brett the chance to get enough sleep. What a difference not only in the kids but in me as well. I've been getting 8 hours of sleep each night and the younger kids have actually been waking up on their own fully rested. Yes I know bedtimes are important but I guess I never realized just how important and what a difference it makes when EVERYONE gets enough sleep. Our home is a happier more pleasant place this week with kids that are less ornery and it's actually cleaner because I have the energy to clean and be a good mom.
Last night I guess Bradley said it best. It was his turn for a date this week and I took him to Wal-mart. On the way home he said - I'm glad it was my turn for a date today because you are so happy today. It's amazing what a difference sleep makes!

A Clean House is the Sign of a Broken Computer

Click on this image to make it bigger so you can see it:

A couple years ago my friend Melissa sent me a sign that says A Clean House is the Sign of a Broken Computer. It hangs in my office.
While I was cleaning my bedroom today I found this this paper Kim had made. It didn't scan well but at the top you can see a computer that has broken and then before and after pictures below of a shelf, bed, stairs and table first messy and then cleaned.
Thanks for the laugh Kim! It's good to laugh at myself since there is a little too much truth to this drawing.

The Great Bedroom Debate

Not a whole lot of getting ready for Sunday around here. We started cleaning downstairs and then got sidetracked on the great bedroom debate.

5 kids + 3 bedrooms = LIFE IS NEVER FAIR.

Since life is never fair we seem to end up switching bedrooms about every 6 months in an attempt to make it a little fairer.

Someone always gets there own room, the younger kids make such big messes that the bigger kids don't want to share, the boys are too big to share a room with the girls. Brett refuses to be in any room but the brown room because the others have paint that is too "girlie" (pale green or peach). The whining, complaining and debating starts and of course the tears start flowing.

I refused to move all the beds around today so the options were limited. So today's solution - Brett is sharing the brown room with Bradley, Kim gets the peach room and Bryce gets the green room. Kylie the biggest mess maker of all got kicked out of all the rooms and consigned to the office (her bed currently consisting of a mattress thrown on the floor - and unbelievably she's the most excited of all of them).

Do you think it's time to repaint in some nice neutral colors?

By the time we got it all figured out I was exhausted so the kids stuff is only half put away and the downstairs looks ten times worse than we we started down there this morning.

It's a good thing there is no school on Monday - although I can here the whining and complaining already "It's a Holiday - We Shouldn't have to work!"

Do Over?

Can't we please just start today over again? I'm sure I could have a much more productive day if I was just waking up at 6:15 this morning instead of finally getting a shower at 3:15 after accomplishing nothing today.
So what do you say? Can I have a do over today? I could get up, read my scriptures, workout, get the laundry going, do the dishes, clean the house...all the things that happen on a productive day which is not what today has been.

I guess some days are like this... Even in Australia!

When It Rains It Pours

Bryce called from school saying he was getting another migraine. I ran to school and gave him some ibuprofen and told him to see if he could make it to the end of the day. He made an attempt but 15 minutes later he was back in the office because he couldn't think clearly enough to do his work and his hands were going numb. He knew he was looking at a grid but he said he kept thinking grip and couldn't answer the questions because he couldn't get the words right. So I brought him home and put him to bed. A couple hours later he woke up crying in pain from his headache. I was trying to soothe him when the doctor called back and was asking me questions and giving me advice on what to do. While talking to the doctor Kim called to say Bradley had crashed on his bike on the way home. So the conversation with the doctor had to come to an abrupt end while I raced to pick Bradley up. Thankfully Kim's friend Kylee was walking home and had a cell phone with her and thankfully Bradley was not hurt too badly. Just a little road rash with the worst of it being on his knee.
From the doctor I learned that if the headaches continue to occur as often as they are (4 times in 2 weeks) he'll refer Bryce to a neurologist.
Time for a big deep breath. Now back to life as scheduled: homework, chores and if I'm lucky I may yet make it into the shower before dinnertime. I haven't found time to workout today yet either and it's not looking promising. Perhaps I'll get a walk in tonight with Brian once the kids are in bed.

Grandpa & Grandma Come to Visit

We were thrilled to have Richard & Glenda stop in and stay with us for a couple of nights. We don't see enough of them.
So this is not the best picture of Glenda but it's the only picture we got of her this weekend and it revolves around such a funny story. Glenda did the dishes and accidentally put in dish soap instead of dishwasher soap. We had bubbles all over the kitchen floor. It was quite funny although it took us forever to get all the water & bubbles out of the dishwasher. Kim was so excited to write about it in her journal today at school.

Lots of Rummikub playing took place.

Thanks Tim!

Tim, Kristen & Amelia stopped by on their way to CA. Somehow Tim got roped into cutting my boys hair. Boy did they need it. He did a great job. He'll be coming through town a few times as he heads back and forth while remodeling dad's kitchen. So hopefully in 4-6 weeks when the kids need a cut again he'll be willing to do it again! He even cut Brian's hair too!