The week from . . .

OK- so it hasn't been a great week. Not like it has been awful but just not very good. On Monday morning I couldn't sleep well because I kept thinking about PTO stuff. Then I went to the school and found that there was stuff going on the same night as my PTO meeting (that has been planned for a month). I was a little frustrated. Then that morning we found out that a guy that has been on KLCE ( a radio show) forever, died this last weekend. It was so sad. It's not like I knew him personally but we would listen to him every morning and then all day they played sad music. It was a downer of a day. Tuesday I just laid in bed all day. I'm not even exaggerating. I felt like the biggest, laziest loser. That night we went to the honey farm with the scouts. That was pretty fun for the kids. Well, they pretty much didn't pay attention until they got honey combs! They thought that was pretty nifty. Today was a crazy day. I went and donated plasma at 6:00 this morning, came home and got the kids off to school, then had to go to a PTO president's meeting with the Superintendent. I came home and got the kids lunch, then had to go to a meeting at Apple. Then I came home and finished my book "The Sea of Monsters" (Percy Jackson). It was good. Then I had to go run the PTO meeting at the school and I feel like everyone must be thinking I'm such an idiot. They are probably all wondering why I'm the president. Anyway, right after that I had to go to ANOTHER meeting at Apple. Poor Jenny had to pick up the slack at home. Bradford and Bailey had to stay home instead of going to the Family Fun Night because they didn't get homework and chores done. How sad! Anyway, Shaun had a meeting that he didn't know about until this afternoon so Jenny had to babysit while we were at meetings. Thank goodness she was here! They were even all in bed when I got home. Well, Shaun and I are watching "Music and Lyrics" now so I'm going to go enjoy that now!

My Week In Review!

Gosh it's amazing how time can really slip away from you! It' been a fairly busy week but mostly I am just a slacker. I have been busy doings scouting stuff an I did a lot of stuff with Bonnie this week to get AR stuff going at our school. I found out even though thought I was a laminating queen- I am not. We wee laminating a bunch of ball die cuts for a bulletin board and I was feeding them into the laminator really fast and laughing because Bonnie could not get the tape off fast enough but then at the end thy were all laminated on top of each other. Oops! Of course then Bonnie made fun of me (which I guess she had every right). It was good times! I had to work at Apple on Thursday and then I started going to Love and Logic classes again that night. My poor kids. Well, I think they are lucky but they might feel like they are picked on- being held responsible for things and all that. On Wednesday morning they missed the bus. It's not like they aren't ready. They just wait until they see the bus coming and then they try to put on their shoes an get their bags and everything. So the bus driver left them. That day the bus driver sent home a paper with policies for the bus with the part hi lighted that says kids should be at the bus stop 5 minutes early. The thing that bothered me the most was that she put at the top "To the parents of Natalia and Bradford." I guess it bugged the love and logic parent in me because I thought- now it isn't MY responsibility to get them to the bus on time- it's their own. They did have to pay me 75 cents each to have me take them to school. It goes up to $1 next time. I wrote a thank you letter to the bus driver for helping me emphasize to the kids how important it is to be on time. Is that snotty? I don't know, but maybe. Friday I ran out of gas. That was a bummer. I knew I needed gas but of course I wasn't thinking about it until I ran out. The bad thing was, I was on my way to a pot luck at Apple and I had just gone to pay a bill for my cell phone because it had been turned off for an amount we owed to Edge Wireless. (It was a confusing mix up with the switch to AT&T.) Anyway, my phone was not turned on so I could not call Shaun and no one was stopping to help me until I got out of the car and started trying to push it myself. Then about 4 people hurried and stopped. Thank goodness! My friend picked me up on her way to Apple and then eventually I got my phones back on (it took way longer than the 10 minutes the guy said it would take!) I had to call AT&T and get it worked out from Apple. I got in touch with Shaun and he came and got me. I mowed the lawn on Friday night and it was a good thing because it rained like crazy today! I had Super Saturday today and made some cute magnet boards and Natalia and Jenny made some stitchery things. The are way cute. Then Bradford and I had to go to Walmart for a Show and Sell for the popcorn fundraiser for his pack. The first 2 hours were fine weather wise, but then it started to pour. It wasn't too much fun. He was so cute though. I don't know how anyone resisted when those cute little tiger cubs said, "Would you like to buy some popcorn?" And if the people said "No thanks" they would say, "OK- have a nice day!" It was so cute and some people came back and bought some because they felt bad for saying no to those cute little boys. It was pretty fun. Anyway, I suppose I should go to bed. Until next time. . .

It's not a Monday?

Actually, today hasn't been too bad of a day- until right at the end and then everyone starts breaking down. Tonight Bailey wanted to kneel on Shaun's back instead of the floor for family prayer and we told her she had to kneel on the floor or go out of the room. Of course she wasn't listening so I took her out of the room and she started throwing herself around and her head hit my shin and it seriously brought me to the floor it hurt so bad. It is where I always get sore on my shins when I am running (like shin splints). Anyway, it was hard to breathe for a bit. So Bailey was crying uncontrollably and then Isaac started freaking out for who knows what reason and now they are all in bed. Let's hope they stay! Last night was funny. Jenny came grocery shopping with me and when we were leaving she said "can I drive home?" For those of you who don't know- Jenny is an exchange student from Denmark and she does not have a drivers license nor has she EVER driven a real car. So I said we will pull over in the church parking lot and try it out! It was so hilarious. I tried to tell her to only use her right foot to operate he pedals but she kept trying to use her left. She says she is left footed! Anyway, she started riving and



started going faster and faster. I said "brake, brake!" So she used the brake and all the groceries flew forward off the back seat. We were laughing so hard we were crying. You can't see the tears but she is crying (in a good way) in this picture! Bonnie and I went walking this morning. Crazy that just walking can you make you sore, but it does! It was nice and invigorating! Jake and Bailey rode their bikes by us and they were so cute. They crack me up. Well- I guess I will get off to bed. I have started reading a new series- Percy Jackson and the Olympians. It's pretty good so far! I'm going to go continue it.

Twilight hits- Again

I wasn't going to do it. I wasn't going to read the partial portion of "Midnight Sun" that was illegally posted on the internet before the actual book was released, but I couldn't resist. I did it long enough. I justified it because Stephenie Meyer posted a link on her site so people didn't have to feel guilty about searching around for it. Anyway, It was like 264 pages of the book and I couldn't stop reading it. Now I feel like a lazy bum- again. And of course now I'm disappointed that there isn't more to read! I read most of it last night and finished it this morning. I was going to go run this morning with my friend who had to do a 20 miler today. I was only going to go 6 miles or so with her. (She's training for St. George.) But just as I was getting ready to leave, Isaac woke up- of course. It wouldn't have been that big of a deal except that Shaun is in Island Park and Natalia was sleeping over at a friend's house. I didn't want to wake Jenny up just so she could watch Isaac. So I told my friend I might try to find her mid way through her run if Natalia got home soon enough. Of course, I was reading the rest of my addiction- I mean the book and Natalia was going to a friends house. What a bust. Hopefully I can talk Bonnie into going on a walk with me tonight. I need to get something done around here first though. It's a nice day so I should mow my lawn! Yesterday we went and watched Ben, Jordan and Tyler run at the Tiger-Grizz Invitational. It was fun to watch and they all did so well. I envy that kind of energy! Well, speaking of energy- I'm going to try and go muster some up to clean my room!

Yea for the Internet!

Today I am so happy that we got a new internet provider and a new modem. For the last week or so we have been fighting the stinking internet just to get it up and running. We would have to unplug the internet connection then plug it back in and hope that it worked. Finally I called QWest and ordered their internet. I got it hooked up today and it is so much better. I am so excited. The last couple of days I have been fighting of some kind of illness or allergies. I'm not sure what it is. But I have been soooo tired. On Tuesday and today I just laid in bed while my poor kids watched tv. I'm such a crappy mom. They didn't seem to mind too much but I still feel bad. I was suppose to work at Apple last night but when I got there I found out that I didn't need to because she had scheduled too many people! I was so happy! However, when I was at home, my kids started arguing with each other and so I said "Uh Oh" (love and logic), "looks like it's time to put this stuff away because you guys are hassling my ears." Seriously, you would have thought I killed their puppy. Natalia in particular knows how to put on a show. She was screaming soooo loud it was ridiculous. I put her in her room and she kept trying to come out so I had to close the door so she would stay in. She started pounding on the door and kicking it and screaming, "I'm so scared. Seriously mom you don't know how scared I am. There's something in here." But it wasn't like a little scream. You would have thought someone was attacking her because she was screaming bloody murder. I was so mad. It's a good thing there was a door between us. Finally she gave up and fell asleep. Of course, Shaun was gone during the whole fiasco. How does that always happen? Oh well. Natalia has been such a great helper these last few weeks, I couldn't believe she acted like that. She even scared Bailey and Bradford half to death. Anyway, tonight Bradford and his Tiger Cub Den did the flag ceremony at Roundtable. It was so cute. I thought I would post a few pictures. He called for the flag ceremony. You can tell he has seen a few himself! He also received his Bobcat Badge. Pretty exciting stuff! Well, I'm out for tonight.

Uugh- I'm out of shape.

So tonight we went to Freeman Park for family home evening. Shaun and the kids played frisbee golf and I thought it would be a good idea to run while they did that. WRONG! Running at night is not a good idea for me. I had just eaten dinner (not to mention the cookies before that). Plus I have been really tired today. I am just not motivated at night. Also, I was pushing Isaac in the stroller and that is harder than just running with my big fat self to carry around! Anyway, needless to say, I was feeling pretty crappy about myself tonight. Today was just sort of a blah day. Isaac had his therapies today and got his cast back on. I hate that thing. He just sits there and cries and says "pweez mom" because he wants me to feed him. I can't give in because if I do, he will never use his hand. But he is so stinking cute it make it really hard to say no. But- I am strong (most of the time). He is so stubborn. I don't know where he gets that from. Must be a Bawden trait! Hee hee! Well, I guess I had better go shower because I stink from running. My running stinks too but I don't think a shower is going to fix that!

Time flies when you're having fun!

How is it that time goes by so quickly on the weekend? We had a pretty good weekend. We had Steve and Kate here (well, Steve flew out Saturday morning) until Saturday afternoon. I feel bad because I had to work all day on Saturday so I didn't get to see them much! When I got to work on Saturday, the guy I was working with said he had only had one hour of sleep so he was completely useless. I decided to be nice and tell him to go lay down and if I needed him I would page him. I didn't actually think he would stay asleep for 4 hours! HELLO! I would have felt way to guilty to do that. When I did page him up he acted like I was waking him up in the middle of the night to come to work when he wasn't scheduled. I was a little perturbed but I just took a 2 hour lunch instead of letting it get to me. I figured he could handle it if I had done it for 4! I was actually at the club because we had a meeting for the foreign exchange student host families so he could have come and got me if he needed to. At least I clocked out! He never did. Oh well. When I got home, me, Shaun and Natalia cleaned out our van. What a mess! But we seriously did some cleaning! It looks great now. I wonder how long that will last! I helped Jenny do her hair to go to the Homecoming Dance at Bonneville because she was going to meet some friends over there, but then she didn't want to go because she felt to nervous to go in by herself. So we took her over to another friends house where she hung out and watched movies and had a chocolate fountain. Shaun and I tried to watch "Son of Rambo" but I was too tired. I'm just getting too old I guess. Then we had to get up really early to go to Logan to Shaun's sister's (Sharon) baby blessing. The problem was, I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and thought I should cover my cookies so they didn't get dried up. So I came into the kitchen and while I was in here a car was driving by and then stopped in the middle of the road between ours and our neighbors house for a second. I don't know what they were doing but I thought it was strange. Then about 3 minute later it came by again and did the same thing. It just sort of freaked me out and then trying to go back to sleep is ind of a joke. By the time you actually get to sleep, it's time to wake up again and then you're really tired! The blessing was nice and I ate way too much at the luncheon thing. Then we went and hung out at Bawden's house for a while with Sam and Tris and their kids. It was fun and nice to see everyone. The kids (especially Jenny and Natalia) are trying to convince Shaun to let us have one of the puppies that Linda's dog Sasha had. We'll see how that goes! He's kind of a softy. Maybe he'll cave eventually! The puppy is really cute- of course they always are, and then they grow up! Well- I'm off to bed!

Friday is here! (And gone!)

Today was a pretty good day. I woke up early to go get my blood money (he he!) and then came home and got the kids off to school. Actually, Shaun got them all ready and then I was there when they left. Thank goodness for Shaun! Today was Grandparent's day in Bradford's 1st grade class.

It was so cute watching all the kids when their grandparents talked about them! Some were so shy about it. It was even more cute listening to the grandparents. Thank you mom and dad for taking the time to come up. Bradford was so happy. You should have seen him looking around for them before they got there and then his face just lit up when they walked in. It was so cute.

After that we went to lunch with Steve and Kate and then I had to go to a meeting at the school to talk about some fundraising ideas. I wish a new school didn't need so much money! We do have some good ideas, I just wish it wasn't so much work! Steve was suppose to fly back to Alaska tonight but his flight was delayed like 2 1/2 hours so they got it moved until tomorrow. I guess that beats sleeping in the airport in Boise! The kids had some much fun playing together today. I swear people in my neighborhood probably wonder if I'm paying attention to what is going on in my house. I do love having kids come over and feel comfortable playing at my house. It is what I hope happens when my kids are teenagers. That's what I always loved about my house growing up! All of my friends always felt comfortable there! Anyway, tonight Shaun had to work at the Tiger Ear booth (again). I'm so glad that this is his last night. So is he of course! Tiger Ears use to smell good to me, but when your husband comes home smelling like a giant tiger ear, it's a little nauseating. I finished the second Fablehaven book today. It was really good but really left me wanting more in the third! I can't wait to start t. Unfortunately I have to work all day tomorrow. Uugh. I suppose I should go to bed. Until tomorrow . . .

TGIF- Almost!

Well, we made it through another day! Today was mostly about getting the house ready so my house wasn't a total disaster when Steven and Kate got here. I went and ran about 3 miles this morning at the gym. I chose the "hill" option. Yea- that was stupid of me. First of all,running in Idaho Falls, you just don't get hills. Second- why would I subject myself to that anyway? Oh well. I felt pretty good when I was done so I guess that's good. Then I had to run home and shower so I could go get my hair cut. I got it cut pretty short this time. I was just getting tired of the same old thing. I should say, it's pretty short in the back but about the same length in the front so it's more drastic a-line. I like it. Of course, tomorrow I'll probably hate it because I can never style it the same way she does when she cuts it. Isn't that how it always goes? When I went to pick up my kids from my neighbor that was watching them, Bailey didn't want to go home so she started throwing a fit and kicking and hitting me. Needless to say, instead of going to Walmart (which always brings out the worst in my children) I went home and made both of the kids take a nap. Of course, then I fell asleep too. When I woke up I realized I had been asleep for almost an hour. Ahhh! I had way too much to do to fall asleep for that long! I guess it was nice though. I had to run over to the school and make copies of the newsletter for all the students then run back home and try to quickly get the house clean and dinner made before Steve an Kate got here. I have to say, I didn't do too darn bad. I didn't have all the laundry put away but for the most part my house was presentable. Yea me! We'll see how it looks after Saturday! (Ha ha- that ought to be good!) Well, I suppose I should go be a mom and get my kids to bed!

Not a Great Start!

So- I had every intention of keeping up with this blog and writing every daybut I'm obviously not doing so hot right now. Oh well- I'm going to do better- starting today (just like my diet, as I munch on cookie dough). Really- I am! This is way easier than a diet! So this last couple of days has been busy as usual. We had a great time at mom's house this last weekend. We got to hang out with pretty much the whole family. Darlyn took me on a 7 mile run with her and Sully. Good workout! That Sully can really run. Put me to shame big time! It was really fun. Shaun took Bradford and Natalia frisbee golfing with Allan and his boys. They all seemd pretty happy when they got back, except for the boys that were ready to puke because Allan spun them so fast on the merry-go-round. Then we came home and I tried to clean but wasn't too successful. I was tired. Shaun, however, got the garage to a point that he can pull his car in! Woo hoo! Yesterday seemed crazy to me. I woke up early because my brain won't ever quit. So I got up and did some things for den meeting and then got the kids up and going to school. I got some cleaning and some laundry done and then had to go run some more errands for den meeting stuff. Then I had to go do a training to help with IRI testing in the school. When I got home I made dinner and finished up the Tiger Cub Den Flag (or the beginning of it). Then we went to den meeting and made the flag and Bradford got his Tiger Cub instant recognition badge that he gets to put beads on. He is so excited. When he got home he asked Natalia "Do you notice anything different about my shirt?" He was really cute. Then I had to go work at Apple because they fired someone last night and needed me to cover. (Luckily it wasn't me they were firing!) I was suppose to work until midnight but the kid I was working with said he would stay. Oh happy day! However, on the way home I got pulled over for "rolling through a stop sign". He was nice though and didn't give me a ticket. Phew! Today I got up early again so I could go donate plasma (my other part time job!- I call it my blood money). Then we got the kids off to school and I had to go to the school too so I could help with the IRI testing all day. That was pretty interesting. I actually get paid to do that which is nice! Getting paid to be at the school- what a concept! It was Bailey's first day of pre-school. I have never seen a kid so excited! At 8:10 she was going, "Come on Papi, let's go! I'm going to miss pre-school!" It didn't start until 9:00. She doesn't have a problem with separation anxiety, that's for sure! Anyway, that is my life in a REALLY BIG nutshell for the last couple of days!