Sleep

Here are two new pictures. Thanks Becca! Too wore out Easter weekend. We were just about to dye Easter eggs too!
AlyssaBrandon
As I lay in bed last night I started to think (I do my best thinking at night my mind sometimes doesn't stop) of my children's sleep habits. And this morning after thinking about this, it happened.
I don't know if any one else has kids that do this but mine are difficult when it comes sleep. We can put them to bed at 6:30-7:00 pm, and they will wake up right around 6:00-6:30 am. We can put them to bed at 10:00 pm and they will still wake up around 6:30.
Well, Last night Justin put them to bed at 8:00 and they were up at 5:30 AM!!! What is up with that? Not to mention all of the times in the middle of the night to get up to go potty and then wonder into our room and try to snuggle up in bed right next to us. My wonderful husband did get up and get them breakfast, even though it wasn't his happiest moment. I did get to sleep in a little past that and I am thankful for that because It's one of those splitting headache mornings. Thanks Justin.
And then we have moments of crankiness and fighting and crying all day long. Then late in the day when it is past nap times we end up with this....
and this
This is a picture of Hayden in nursery one Sunday when I went to pick him up. he climbed up in that chair himself and fell asleep. At least he went.
and this...

and this....
Hayden is really my best sleeper he always has been. It's just the problem of sharing a room with an older brother who can't sleep and he gets woken up. Poor kid. I am looking forward to the day when they can just entertain themselves in the morning and get there own breakfast. And our Saturday mornings won't have to start before the sun is up.
Until then, I guess we will just be sleep deprived parents. So if I look tired to you, I probably really am.

Random things from this past week

I have three posts because I have slacked off this past week and just haven't been in the mood to post anything. It was kind of a crazy week. Monday night was Brandon's Tball, Tues.- Justin's school, Wed- Lisa has YW's. Thurs- Justin school and Fri a test. Sat_ Lisa was gone all evening til late for a Young Women's meeting. So with all of that and Brandon's school and other misc. activities and appointments we had all week. This week will be nice to be a bit slower.
We did receive our letter of acceptance from preschool for Alyssa this next year. The School district is starting a preschool program. We had a screening done by our Parents as Teachers Rep that comes to our house once a month. And then She was submitted and we got in. There are a lot of people who aren't going to be able to be a part of it. There are just way too many kids and the space is too small. I am excited for her to start that. I really wish I had her in preschool this year. I didn't realize how much she needed it. I just can't keep her busy enough. She has a really creative mind and loves to learn and read and create etc... On another subject... Brandon has a good summer school program. It is only for 3 weeks. It is free. And We pick the fun classes he wants to take. It is only about 4 hours a day. they will learn how to do fun art projects and some other fun classes. So I hope we can get him into that.
One big change this past week... Justin is officially working from home now. He had a moving day last Friday and brought everything home from his office in Lebanon and is set up in a room in the basement. It's a long story of how it all happened so if you ask I will tell you about it if you don't already know. I will miss the mornings of having to go to the window with the kids to wave dad off every morning. And Hayden would have to wait until he is completely out of sight and say "There he goes."

These are some pictures I took the other morning. I wish I had of taken these a half hour earlier because the fog was so thick you really couldn't see very far. We see this often around here, and as soon as the sun comes up it seams to evaporate or something. I don't really know the science of it. I just enjoy the way it looks. I have never been in anything like it before. I love these pictures because you can see the beautiful dogwoods blooming which I did not realize how they are everywhere and the other purple flowered trees. Have I said yet that I love spring?
This first picture I just loved how the sun rays were coming through the fog. It really was much better in person.

Friends

Here are just a few friends in the neighborhood. It was such a nice to day to finally go out and play. Everyone was actually out there but I only managed pictures with three friends and the other 7 are missing. It was great to be out there without the bugs and humidity that will soon be here.

Alyssa's Haircut

I decided to give it a try at cutting Alyssa's hair. It had always been easy because it was thin and not much there. Since her last cut it has thickened up and grown so much it was a bit of a challenge. I just had to think about how my stylist does my hair when it is cut and tried it on her. It was fun. I gave her a popsicle and a lollipop and it actually was much faster than cutting the boys hair. So here are the pics. There isn't a huge difference in the style, I did cut off just over 2.5 inches. It is amazing how much nicer it looks.
Before

During

After

After

I have all of these crazy animal pictures and not so many of my family! I will hopefully have more up soon. I still have yet to get pictures of my kids in their Easter clothes! If I ever get a good time that we aren't sick and no rain or long crazy Sunday's etc.. It will happen. So I apologize if you were hoping for more pictures of the kids. We really don't have a whole lot going on right now. We have some upcoming events when school gets out which is only a month away! I can't believe it. Hopefully there will be more exciting things to post about soon.

Animals

Racoon's
Saturday night around 11:00 Justin and I were getting ready to get in bed. Then we both heard banging on the window on the deck. We have been waiting to see our furry friends that have been stealing my suet! Well, They weren't interested in the suet tonight. I had just hung the humming bird feeder. This picture is what Justin saw as he opened the curtain. and right in front of him was this raccoon. It could have cared less that we were right there watching it. It wanted that sugar water! It looked right at Justin face to face several times. How crazy is that! this is the only picture I had of it. It was too hard to get a picture in the dark and my camera kept dying. There were actually two but only got this picture of the one. It's never ending with the animals around here. And I am sure it is all just beginning with Spring and summer on it's way.
Frog
One morning Hayden and I were looking out the window. Something on Brandon's bike caught my eye. This little frog. What a weird place for it. It was there all day, until the kids got home from school at 4 and moved the wheel and made it fall off. It had been pouring all night and very strong winds so I guess it felt secure there?
Artica; Justin's new pet Last week sometime Justin took the kids on an outing to Petco as he does quite often. He came home talking about the cutest hamster he has ever seen. It is all white except a little blackish grey line on it's back. and he said it looks like a little snow ball. So, Saturday he gets Hayden in the car and leaves, doesn't say much of where they were going. A short time later he shows up with the little cardboard pet taxi. He said it is his new office pet. Anyway, He thinks it's just the cutest thing. The kids all love it! And the cats are jealous of it because of the attention. It is super soft and cute. But I myself don't think it is the cutest thing.
Hayden thinks it is soooo funny. He laughs at it in the cage when it runs on it's wheel, when it digs, or cleans itself (which it does very often so it is a very clean animal) and the best was when Justin put it in this ball to run around. Hayden was laughing so hard it was cute. Alyssa could just sit and watch it forever but could never be trusted alone with it because she just wants to touch it and hold it. At first she kept asking dad if she could see the Rat. Now she just asks to see the pet.

Growing up

Tonight the boys and I were having our reading time together. I read Brandon some gross book about spiders he checked out at the library. Ew! and then Hayden wanted me to read Goodnight Moon. This was the very first kids book we had. My sister gave this to me as a baby shower present. The one we have is a big board book. It has always been Brandon's favorite and has held up very well the past six years. Before he could crawl we would lay it in front of him and he loved to just look at the pictures.  We would read it to him every night. All of our kids have loved it. And it is a good story to read before bed. Especially compared to Alyssa's new obsession with Cat in The Hat which is 61 pages long! Well, as I started to read Brandon told me to wait and took the book from me and said "I will read it mom." So he started to read it. And not just from memory because he had trouble with some words. He really read it. That just made me start thinking about all the changes they go through so fast. We read this book to him and now he is reading it to us not many years later. It is so fun the first year they are in school to see how much they learn so fast. You realize things that you didn't know also. Like with Brandon. I thought I worked with him really good with the alphabet. And it surprised me when he started school and really didn't know all of his letters. Little kids are amazing how fast they learn and grow. It really is a proud moment hearing your child start reading to you the first times. 

First Day of Practice

Monday started the T-ball season for Brandon. He was so excited he couldn't stop asking if it was Monday yet. No one on the team has ever played before. Little kids are so cute playing sports and trying to learn. Alyssa had a hard time with it. She wanted so badly to go out and play. She just didn't understand why she couldn't. She walked around and pouted for the longest time, until she found some older girls to play with. After wards she asked to see her picture of her crying. I should have had a pouty face picture of her. 

Brandon got right out there and did what he was told to do. He loves it. He and another boy were practicing catching and I caught him giving the other boy pointers on how they were told how to do it.

Hayden seamed just as excited as Brandon was. He wanted out on that field so bad! He went and sat on the baseball bag with the helmet and ball for awhile watching the boys practice batting.

The games are going to be all about learning and having fun. They don't even keep score. I don't know if they do that everywhere? This is our first sport with him. I guess we need to work on that form a little bit. 

Afterwards we all had ice cream. He loves his chocolate! He was the messiest of the three! Nice face huh? He was wore out. they made them all run the bases at the end. They were all falling down by the time they were done. Too cute. 

Sassy's tender moment

What beautiful weather the past few days has given us. It's just perfect temperatures and little or no wind and all of the trees are starting to bud and all of the birds are singing so loud. I love Spring! Yesterday I was able to go on a walk and enjoy all of this. Alyssa was having one of those days and had to get out of the house. So we went on a walk up the street. We live in such a beautiful area. It is very unlike any place I have ever been. We didn't walk too far but I did end up carrying Alyssa home. Upon returning home we saw a disturbing thing on our porch. Alyssa gasped and ran to the spot under her window where a bird lay motionless. She was devastated. We think it flew into the window and hit too hard and didn't make it. She told me a story of how she was in her room earlier and heard a thump on her window and she looked out but couldn't see anything. I got a box to put it in and started across the driveway when Brandon said "You aren't going to throw it away are you? You can't just do that."  I told him no and went to grab a shovel and took the three kids on the side of the house. I dug a very small hole and explained what had happened and that it's spirit is in heaven now and I had to tell Hayden that it has to go to sleep now and we need to cover it up. He told me okay, but would not let me cover the head. As we went inside I took Alyssa to wash up with me. Tears swelled up in her eyes really big and got bigger as she told me "I'm so sad that the bird is gone to heaven, now I can't see it anymore." just watching her emotions and reactions was so sweet, she was just so sad. She had to go tell Justin the same thing and needed a little comfort for a bit. A little later on she told Becca on the phone that "the bird is in heaven like our old Prophet is in heaven. But we have a new one now." Meaning a new Prophet. It was all pretty dramatic for her. 

What's that noise?

Okay. That title can go for a lot of different things lately around here, but I will start out with the the one I couldn't believe! I had just had a conversation about how some others keep squirrels away from their flowers and gardens etc.... I don't want to kill them or anything. I would love to plant flowers and give a try at a garden. I have just been so discouraged because I just know that I will plant something and it will be gone, dug up or eaten half way, or all the way.  It is frustrating. I wonder if that is why I don't see many flowers around town.  So my other dilemma is the squirrels eating the bird seed. I know It's my fault for scattering seed right on the railing of the deck so they can get it. But it is frustrating when they come and clean us out and make such a mess. I deal with that and just shrug it off most of the time. Well, they have now gone WAY too far! I hadn't put seed out because it was so windy. The bird feeders had some seed so I didn't think much of it. I was in the other room and heard a really loud racket in the kitchen. So my first thought was to the cats, but as I came in and saw right away, it was our mischievous squirrel. This was not his first attempt at this. Justin saw the first attempt but it didn't go anywhere. It saw the birds getting up there and knew somehow it could too.  We always have something going on around our house with some kind of creature around us.      

It did not care that I was standing there. It looked me right in the eyes and kept right on going. It was there for at least 5 minutes until I went out on the deck. I thought that was pretty funny. 

The Storms

Our other noises.... It has been pretty noisy around here with quite a few storms with the pouring rain and Thunder! My kids decided they do not like the thunder at all. So the nights that we have thunder and lightning at 2:30 in the morning, they are all in our bed, including the two cats! So that makes 7 of us. Justin usually makes his way to one of the kids beds because it really is a little TOO cozy.    Today was a nonstop rainy, thundering, lightning, watches and warnings kind of day. This picture is looking over our back yard and into the ravine which is always dry, except when we get rain. I have never seen it this full, and I didn't even get a picture when it was at it's fullest. It was moving really fast. I am grateful we are at the top of a hill and the water has no where to go but down the ravine to the lake. We even had tornado warnings and heard the sirens go off. But nothing happened by us here. A funny story though.... I had been watching the weather closely because a tornado was headed right towards Lebanon where Justin works. Then the warning came and I didn't here anything from Justin. So I text him to make sure he knew what was going on. about 15 minutes later he calls asking how much time he had to get from the gym back to work! Thank goodness the storm shifted by then and was about 5 or so miles north of where he was. Love you babe! 

Catching up

This past weekend I was able to see my amazing friend Sarah and her family. They drove up to Missouri from Texas for the weekend and it was so nice in their short visit to have had time to spend together. It had been two years since we last saw each

 other, but it's a good thing time flies now with our wonderful children.

It was fun to drive to Springfield for a day get away with my two little ones. 

What cute girls!

I got voted off by my own boys!

So as some of you know, my children, mostly the boys, ask me to sing their favorite song to them every night. Well, tonight had to be an exception. I was good all day long up until about 3:30 pm. I remember this because after school at 3:00 I talked to Brandon's teacher just fine. My voice is going! It is still there well, kind of, just very hoarse and just does not sound good. It is really frustrating! It really does take a lot away from you when you can not speak normal. How hard would that be to have to be like that all of the time? I will feel so blessed when I am back to normal.   Back to the songs.  I was asked to sing the two requested nightly songs, and as I start the boys begin to giggle, I kept going a little more, and they giggle even harder. Hayden was even trying to sing along but just couldn't.  So I stopped and said, "I am sorry, I just can't sing tonight boys." Who really wants to hear I am a child of God in all kinds of abnormal off tune noises? So what do they do? Start asking for dad, but dad is at school so Brandon said when he gets home from school he has to go in to sing to him. He always has to have mommy. So that was a big deal to ask for dad. Some other comments were made about me not being able to talk right but I don't really remember it all. It was just funny and cute how they rejected me, all for good reasons though.  Hopefully it won't last long. 

More Easter pictures

Easter Break

Little Bunnies

The kids and Lisa had so much fun in St. Louis with Becca and Matt and the girls. My kids just love being at there house and wouldn't mind if we didn't ever do anything else. One

 morning as the kids got up and looking for breakfast they found the carrots and decided they all had to have one. It was cute to see them all eating them together. Our little bunnies. 

The Robin

We found this little one sitting in the middle of the road about 10 or so feet from what we are guessing it's mate just staring at it's freshly squooshed body. We were able to pull up next to it and Becca picked it up and it just sat on her hand, so calm and unbothered by us. It seamed like it was in shock. It was sad. We moved it across the street by the club house and Becca took it to the bushes by some other Robins. Later it was finally running around some. This was our little bird rescue. 

Bird sanctuary

All of the kids were so excited to be so close to all of the amazing birds. We saw Bald eagles, different types of Falcons, Pelicans, a stork, snowy owls, and the list goes on. We got through half of it and were told we needed to leave because the water was rising from the Meramec River and inching closer to the only road out of there. So it was cut short. Which was fine, I am thankful that we were safe and our homes were safe. 

 Not everyone was so lucky. This is a news clip I found about just some of the flooding.  http://abcnews.go.com/WN/story?id=4502480&page=1

And one time in my life I was glad the forecasted rain did not come our way. 

Babysitter

Becca and I had 2 sitters come over so we could have some much needed and over due time alone together. Hayden survived the babysitters! He actually went in to play with them and got them to follow him downstairs to play with him. This is how he was when we got home. Sorry about the doll dad. He just needed comfort, and it was so sweet. No worries. 

Castle Park

Brandon begs to go to this park when we visit. It is a childs dream park. It is Huge and so much to do. So much fun. Mike and I took all five kids while Matt went with Becca for more tests at the hospital. Not fun for her.  

Dyeing Eggs

We did dye Easter eggs. Becca's girls were excited and right there to start. Brandon had fallen asleep and Alyssa was shortly there after him. So, my kids did it one at a time. which was a little fun that I could spend more time with each one individually and not have to share our time.

Becca's kid Spa

The three girls had a blast cleaning up in a HUGE tubby together. Then they were pampered with lotion and hair wraps and bath robes to stay warm and a movie. 

Daddy

Justin did not have the time off from work to go with us. We all missed you so much on our trip. We all wished you were there and could have some time off. The kids asked about you often and wondered what you were doing... Well, besides working, he did spend a lot more time working when he got home. He surprised us with all of the carpets in the house cleaned (which is a big chore). And cleaning other things. Thanks for all you do. We love you! 

P.D. For Me!?

A new adventure could be waiting for me, but will I make or break in my trip to be????? I recently decided I would like to go back to pursuing a career in Law Enforcement. I really enjoyed being a Sargeant of Security at The Gateway Mall, and some even know I was going to be testing with SLC P.D. until my interview for this job I am currently at coincided with them. I decided to take this path thinking it was the best choice for my family at the time, but after recent events and other feelings, I feel it is time to try my luck at passing all of the initial tests, interviews, and background check to try and get on board with the Mesa, AZ police department. It will be an extensive stressful process, but well worth it if I am hired on. Mesa also accomodates out of state applicants by doing everything they can in 3-5 days. As long as I pass one part I move to the next and so on until the background interview. That usually takes about a month and all in all from start of testing to a conditional offer is usually 3 months. I have headed back to the gym more serious than ever, and have high hopes of being in great physical shape come testing time in May. I realize many of you may be thinking it is so dangerous and all of those thoughts, but I trust in the Lord with everything I have been given, and I know I wouldn't do something I felt strongly against. I was carjacked at gunpoint and that is a memory that will last forever, and I want to be someone who can help the victim out, and put the bad away. There is a lot of turmoil and contentions in today's world, and every little bit can help. It is with my greatest wishes at this time that I can make this all come about.

Lisa is somewhat uneasy as most spouses would be. She has a lot of thoughts about moving back to AZ, and I am not one to ignore those. Right now she is supportive of my decision, but has also stated that "if something else comes along"........well you never know. I just might find a winning lottery ticket. The future is unknown, and the Law Enforcement area is a very stable job area, and it offers a lot of incentives and job opportunities. I have a strong desire to do what's best for my family, and all 3 of my kids like the idea of dad being a policeman, and now it is time to show myself that a 31 year old can still run with the young pack!!

Fall leaves in the Spring

It was finally nice enough to play outside. It had been dry for awhile too so I let the kids loose in the back yard. Well, I was hoping they wouldn't touch the leaves, 

 but I should have known better, they went straight for the leaves that should have been cleaned up months ago but weren't.  They really didn't get to play in the leaves much in the fall.  I guess they were making up for what they missed out on. I was kind of grossed out because I know they have sat there for months and didn't want them to get sick from them, but I let them have some fun for a little bit and even shot a few pictures.  Then off to the tubs immediately. There were leaf pieces every where. They were so happy. The next day they really thought they could do it all over again. So, Justin got out there and mowed them all up and they are now gone.  Now the yard is safe until the snakes and spiders and scorpions return.....

Hayden

Not a whole lot has been going on lately. Just the craziness of play groups and other kids coming to play and other normal daily activities. Last night was our Young Women's New Beginnings.  It was really fun. That is not what I am going to talk about though. 

I have been overly concerned about Hayden's attachment to Justin and I. I have really thought a lot about it. I have talked to everyone I come in contact with about it, it seams. I have posted our "story" on a moms web site for advice etc... I just feel that there is something more to his attachment than just separation anxiety.  I have had a lot of good advice from every one from it's just a phase and he'll grow out of it,  to , you should really see a therapist or something of that nature. I feel we have tried almost everything. I still have things I am working on with him to see if there are improvements. We have not seen a therapist, psychologist etc. I don't know if we will or even need to. There really is a lot involved. He absolutely hates nursery. He is completely terrified of it and not just cries but screams and sobs until he's shaking and so hot that he feels like he has a fever and is beet red. He has cried from the beginning but got worse as we moved to missouri. I was even in nursery with him for at least four months. That did not make a difference and it didn't stop the crying. He just does not want to even go down the hall close to that room.   If that's not bad enough, He saw his nursery teacher at a chili cook off and started to cry for home the second she walked towards us. She thinks he hates her too. She is a wonderful women with such patience and is so good with the kids and is so nice to Hayden and has given him extra attention. He can not be in a different room from us if we are the ones that leave him. He will cry. If he leaves the room or walks away from us he is fine. This happens at other places too. At anyone else's house or any place he may think we might leave him. He will cling and cry so hard! I read something about separation anxiety that does make me start to wonder even more..................    

Separation anxiety at the normal age causes no long-term harm to the child. Separation anxiety that lasts beyond age 2 may or may not be a problem depending on the extent to which it interferes with the child's development. It is normal for children to feel some fear when leaving for preschool or kindergarten. This feeling should diminish with time. Rarely, excessive fear of separations inhibits a child from attending childcare or preschool or keeps a child from playing normally with peers. This anxiety is probably abnormal (separation anxiety disorder (see Mental Health Disorders: Separation Anxiety Disorder). In this case, the parents should seek medical attention for the child.    Last full review/revision January 2007 by Elizabeth J. Palumbo, MD It has interfered with his playing normal with peers, because he just doesn't want to play at all. There are exceptions. He loves to be outside. He always has, that is his territory no matter where we are and is happy to do whatever he likes, as long as we are outside. He will be 3 in September and should be going to primary, I just don't know what will happen.   Anyhow, I wanted to put this on here because this is part of my everyday life and has consumed almost every minute of it. It has become overwhelming at times because he is just always beside me and won't go off to play on his own. At least he does sometimes play quietly on his own beside me without his crying, like right now.  I don't know what else we will do besides all that we have. I know we will continually get advice from friends, family and strangers which is good, that we may or may not choose to use. But, the choice is ultimately ours as his parents.  We can just see what time does for us.

Our Blog

I think I have finally figured out most of the ins and outs of making this blog work.  I will try to update it weekly or bi-weekly at least, with actual posts that is. I have changed the look of it several times already so you never know when that will be. It will depend on if I have anything to say I guess.   

February in Utah

We had a wonderful week in Utah last week. Justin got his snow time in with snow boarding and snowmobiling with his buddies. He even tried to take the kids sledding but the snow coming down was so wet it made it miserable and cold. The boys did have a fun time in Grandma and Grandpa Finley's back yard with the snow and playing with the dogs. Lisa got to catch up with friends, some alone time with Heather to shop and spend time with all of the Grandma's and Grandpa's, Aunts, Uncles and cousins with the kids.  The kids all had a blast at the dinosaur museum and Saturday at Chucke cheeses. We have seamed to make it there every year for Brandon's birthday in February and without one close to us in Missouri he was excited to go. Hayden's favorite had to be seeing Remington, He loves that dog! And he loves Buddy! He could stay and throw a ball for him all day. (and buddy wouldn't mind that) Alyssa was so happy just to be with everyone. Everyone is still her "best friend" as she puts it.  We were glad we even got to stop through Cheyenne to see uncle Aaron both ways through. Six days just wasn't enough but we are so glad we had the time we did.