Sunday Night

1. Earlier this week I turned on some music to have in the background while we were cleaning. I was singing along to the song and Brynlee said, "Mom please stop. I know you really want to sing, but they do it better." !! Put me in my place ;)

2. I have been getting hives off and on throughout the day from the time I wake up to going to bed. I can't figure out why they are everywhere, I can't seem to have any consistent triggers. I will wake up and get out of bed and feel them start to flare up! It's really weird and they drive me absolutely crazy sometimes with being so itchy!!

3. Tonight I went to my first choir practice. It's a stake (volunteer) choir, we are performing 8 (I think?) selections from Handel's Messiah, gearing up for an Easter performance. It is fun to be in a choir again, it's been years!! I have a long way to go in learning the music. Big difference from your average hymn at church ;). I'm grateful Kenny is supportive of me participating and takes care of everything at home so I can be a part of it. I do love music so much even though I've never been very talented at it.

4. We borrowed P90X3 from my friend and started it this week. I haven't been able to move any part of my body without pain and discomfort for 3 days. It's that bad. But SO good, too. Hard to swallow how horribly out of shape I am compared to what I used to be able to do. But we're slowly getting back into it and it feels great. Funny when the kids try to copy me or do it alongside me haha.

5. A word about our neighbors. I have felt bad for a long time that we have such poor relationships with all of our neighbors. There's only one family that we've had more than one conversation with. I honestly wouldn't recognize any of them if I saw them out in public. So at Christmas time we went around to 5 or 6 of the homes and tried to deliver a plate of cookies, along with our family's Christmas card so they'd know our names and faces a little better. It wasn't very well received by most, but it helped instigate a relationship with the family next door. They in turn invited us to a surprise party for the dad several weeks ago. And on MLK day this past Monday, their boys were outside playing basketball. They have twin 9 year old boys. For some reason they were NEVER, (and I do mean never) outside during the summer. But we were outside playing and they invited Tyler to play with them. (This was before we got dumped on with snow and were having glorious spring-like weather). Anyway, all of this to say that Tyler had such a good time with them, and they with him. I was feeling so grateful that he finally has some friends close by and I'm sure that was the first of many play-dates, especially once it warms up. There's a big difference between playing ball with your mom and little sisters, and a couple older boys. He learned a lot and is challenged, all while having the time of his life.

6. Last night Kenny and I were commenting on Briggs and how he's been doing, we're trying a different formula again. And I said, "ya know in about 6 or 7 months we're going to be saying 'Remember when Briggs used to spit up ALL the time and it was so hard?' and then we'll laugh about it and it will all be just  a memory." Then this morning I fed him a bottle and we were all dressed and ready to go to church. After the second or third time of him spewing all over himself and me, I cursed out loud. So much for my "positive" thinking.

7. Tyler lost his 4th tooth on Saturday morning. He was pretty pleased. :) I just love how within one or two minutes of losing his tooth he wants to call my mom and tell her all about it. He knows she will be so happy for him and make him feel good. Grandmas are so great.

8. As I mentioned earlier, we were having such unusually warm weather for January. What little snow we had, had melted. And while it was still cold, it was usually above 32 degrees. But this weekend we sure took a turn and got a lot of snow and very freezing temps. I can't complain though, this is what January was supposed to be like the whole time!

9. Last night we broke our financial fast. We totally caved and went to the store. I can't tell you how bad I missed fresh fruit! Oh it was so delicious. We've almost eaten it all, it's obvious we missed it. We learned a lot though, and definitely saved a lot of money. We'll know how to be better prepared and equipped for the next time we do it. Maybe in 5 months or so. I think it's a good exercise. We are much more conscientious about the food we eat and there's a lot less waste, which is always a good thing.

10. Kelsey seems like such a big girl to me all of the sudden. I can see how much she's grown and matured in the last few months. She's able to play much better and for longer with her older sisters, as an active participant. Not only that but I can see when she exercises restraint in her temper, or will start to act up and quickly changes her mind to do what's right. She doesn't overreact nearly so much or so quickly. She can see the benefits of being obedient and kind, and communicates more clearly her needs and wishes. She is such a cute little girl and we just love having her around the house to keep us all laughing.