Playin' Catch Up

I feel like I spend almost every day of my life playing catch up. Catching up on laundry, dishes, and house cleaning. Catching up on homework, lessons, and paying bills. Catching up on reading, sleeping, and writing on my blog. Catching up on PTA responsibilities, church responsibilities, and just plain life! Several months ago, I realized (or more like accepted), the fact that most of these things will never be officially "caught up" on. There will always be more laundry, more dishes, more bills to pay, more homework, etc. So I have been trying to think of all my responsibilities as something that needs to be done on a daily basis. I will NEVER be caught up on my to do list. BUT, the problem comes when I go more than a day or two without working on my to do list. If I miss doing laundry for more than a few days we will be in need of socks or underwear in the morning and I will be frantically looking for a clean pair for my boys to wear to school that day. Or, if I miss doing my dishes at night (which, honestly, that happens pretty much every night) Then I have to wake up to sink full of dirty dishes and that never starts my morning off good. Or, if I slack off on doing my PTA or church responsibilities I will be up late the night before its due getting it done. So, as with everything else in life, it's about finding that wonderful thing we call "balance". In my case, balance between accepting that I will never be caught up on my to do list and actually working on my to do list in a timely manner so that I can function without feeling too much stress. Yes, "balance" could very well be the key to a happy, productive, stress free life. :) Too bad I have such a hard time finding it! So, on with my catch up...err....weekly responsibility....

On August 25th I ran/walked the Top of Utah half marathon. It was a good experience and I am so glad I had two dear friends with me to help push me along. It was really hard! I have never been so sore in my entire life! Thinking about the three or four days after the marathon makes me cringe. I remember slowly and painfully getting out of bed the next morning and staring down at my stairs. I did not know how I would get down them. I finally just had to walk down backwards. Every move I made hurt and yet, I am still putting it in the "good" experience category. It was a beautiful run and I was really proud of myself for finishing. I would have liked to be faster and not pushing myself the last mile to stay ahead of the 70+ year old granny that was keeping pace with me, but I did cross before her...maybe by a minute or two. If you can envision a tanned leathery skinned 70+ year old lady, running in a cute little white jogging skirt with a matching tank top and sun visor and me trying to pass her and stay ahead of her the last mile I am sure you will give yourself a laugh. I make myself laugh thinking of it now. That granny was tough! My hat goes off to her and how in shape she still is. She is amazing. Maybe I said I would run it again next year or maybe I now realize how hard it really was and am not sure if I can do it again. Time will tell. :) I honestly have the greatest family. They treated me like I had just raced and won a full marathon. I got hand made pictures from my boys and nieces when I got home. Ben had picked some vegetables from my sisters garden and they were sitting on a note that said, "you deserve this". It was so sweet! The picture Sam drew for me had me winning the race and my legs were running REALLY  fast.  All their drawings were so sweet. Then they thought I needed a party so we went to my mom's for a BBQ and I was the "guest of honor". My sister had decorated the driveway with chalk saying they were proud of me. They even gave me a little gift. Seriously! They treat me like royalty. I love them so much!

On September 4th school started and I now have three kids in school! Sam is in 4th grade, Ben is in 2nd grade, and Jack is in preschool. Could they be any cuter! Sure do love my boys!

On September 19th my baby boy turned four! He is such a blessing in my life. He makes me smile and laugh every day and I know I could not get through this time in my life without him. The morning of his birthday he said to me in an excited voice, "mom! I had a dream bout daddy!" I asked him what daddy was doing in the dream and Jack said he was just there. Jack then said that his daddy missed him. I said, "he must have come to tell you happy birthday" and Jack said, "marbee" (Jack's word for probably) and then ran off to play. It touched my heart that he was able to remember that dream on such a special day. Jack loves anything his brothers love. He adores Sam and Ben and wants to do everything they do. Jack is already really good at xbox (thanks to Sam) and really good at building legos (thanks to Ben). He loves riding his bike, jumping on the trampoline, playing with his cousins, and drinking milk. Milk is by far his favorite food. (Yes, Jack thinks it qualifies as breakfast, lunch, and dinner). I really do try and limit his intake of milk but it makes him so happy. I had told him when he turns four he couldn't have milk in a sippy cup anymore. Well, since turning four I have yet to enforce the rule, so when he is drinking milk he says, "oops mom, I am four now" and goes back to drinking his milk. When there are many worse things than drinking milk out of a sippy cup I think I will save this fight/struggle for a bit longer. He loves Tom & Jerry, George, Scooby Doo, Mickey Mouse Club House & Little Einsteins. Besides milk, he likes toast, pizza, spaghetti, mac n cheese, and hotdogs. He loves treasure boxes and keys and is really good at coloring and drawing. He has the best facial expressions and brings our family so much joy.

On September 29th we headed to Disneyland! We drove there with my mom and dad. My dad did the driving and I got to hang out in the back with my boys. I spent the first couple of hours reading books to Jack. He LOVES being read to and never seems to tire of it.  When we got to Provo Jack said, "this is taking long". I just continued reading to him and he seemed to forget how long it was taking. We spent the first night in Las Vegas and they were of course really excited to swim. The next day we made it to Anaheim and went to the beach. I love the ocean. It reminds me of Jonas. He would have loved playing with his boys in the ocean. All three of them were loving the waves. Jack would get knocked over by a huge wave and jump up and say, "that was awesome!" Ben and Jack had a great time collecting seashells and Sam pretty much never left the waves. We had a really fun time there.

Papa and Sam

My boys have a very special papa. He loves to play with them!

On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we were in Disneyland and California Adventure. It was a little on the hot side. I'm talking like 97 degrees and very humid! Starting at 9AM I could feel the sweat rolling down my back. Gotta love that California weather. It was also really busy because of the new Cars Land opening (which is absolutely amazing) and Mickey's Halloween Party on Tuesday night. We didn't pick the most ideal week to go, (that rarely happens) but we still had a lot of fun and made some great memories. Jack was my first child to agree to wait in the princess line with me. We waited for 35 minutes for Cinderella, Snow White, and Aurora. When we got through the line three more princesses came out (Tiana, Belle, and Ariel) and Jack ran back in line and said "more princesses mom!" So we waited in line for another 35 minutes. Every princess we went up to Jack pretended to faint and layed down on the ground with his tongue sticking out. He gets very silly and goofy around pretty girls. :) Jonas would be proud! Sam and Ben were so brave this year! They tried so many rides that they were too scared to go on in 2011. It was so much fun going on big rides with them and it really made me miss Jonas. He would have loved to be there with us and experience Sam and Ben being brave.

 My boys are sure lucky to have their Grammie!

This was the last day...they were hot and tired,
 but Jack was still able to pull a goofy face for the picture

 Jack gave a big hug to every character he saw

 My sister in law Melissa and her kids moved to California in July. We were so excited they were able to spend a day with us in Disneyland! We sure miss them!

 Jack being goofy with the pretty princesses

Coming home from vacations always brings a big emotional crash for me. I really hate coming back to reality. Reality is hard. I can totally understand and empathize with those who run from reality. It would be so much easier! So, to put it mildly, I had a melt down late Saturday night and pretty much cried all day Sunday. I still miss Jonas so much and desperately want to touch and hold him again. The more time that passes the more sad I become for my boys. They are missing out on so much by not having their dad here with them. So many special memories were supposed to be made with their dad during their childhood. Let alone those teenage years where they would be so much more comfortable talking to their dad about things. I continue to try and be positive for them though and pray every day that they will be happy and remember the good times they had with their dad. I know he is with them spiritually and I hope and pray they will be able to feel his presence. We miss you Joe!

Love my mom and dad so much!

My three greatest blessings

My Avengers! Go get em' boys!