My blog is suffering... that much is obvious. I am about 11 months behind on posting and as much as I like to hope that life will calm down and I will have the time to devote to catching up, the truth is I have less time than ever, with each passing day. I have debated heavily how I want to continue. Sometimes I contemplate throwing in the towel all together. Turning blogs into books has become really difficult and that is discouraging as my ultimate goal has always been to turn this blog into a printed history of our family.

But when it comes down to it, I can't let go. Between this and the private blog I wrote on from 2006 until 2013, I have over 1000 posts, countless number of photos, and so many recorded memories. I hate the thought of not continuing on. But something has to change. I cannot keep dreading logging in because I know I am so far behind. So, I'm letting myself off the hook. It pains me to not have the past 11 months recorded in great detail, but I want to be able to move forward and blog in the present. Perhaps a day will come when I can go back and fill in the holes. But, if not, I need to be ok with that as well, and I think I am!

So here goes, a brief recap of the past 11 months, in words only, no photos, and from here on out, I am blogging in real time. Hopefully this space can once again be a place I enjoy spending time, rather than one more thing on my to do list that stresses me out.


February- The main highlight of February was our trip to Disneyland. We surprised the kiddos with the trip at Christmas and then anxiously counted down the days until our trip. It was magical. We had a few days to ourselves and a few days with Bruce's brother's family, his dad and aunt. The girls dreams came true when Grandpa gifted them an afternoon at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, where Sunshine was transformed into Jasmine and Beebs was transformed into Anna. The girls also became Jedis and fought Darth Vader and The Seventh Sister. Shark Bait wore a different Disney onesie each day and got stopped everywhere we went so people could oh and ah over him. And Man Cub was just in heaven overall, especially when the night parade opened with his favourite character, Mack from Cars, leading the way.

After Disney, we headed down to San Diego for a few days with our friends from Bruce's academy days. It was wonderful to spend time with them. And after we returned home, the rest of February seemed pretty low key. We did take the kiddos to a Coyotes hockey game which was so much fun. I forgot how much I enjoy watching hockey! And then I turned 31, which was pretty dull... turns out, after all the hoopla of turning 30, it all goes downhill. Ü Especially when you spend your 31st birthday speaking in church. Not cool!

March- In March, we started attending a lot of mission paper parties. Many of the youth we have grown close to through Trek and teaching Sunday School and Bruce's years in Young Mens left on missions this year. We got to attend a lot of gatherings where the boys opened their calls and later in the year, we were able to go through the temple with many of the boys and hear their farewell talks. It was an exciting time! In March, we found out that the trek son we are very close to would be serving in the England Leeds Mission, speaking Slovak. I totally called it... the England part. Not the Slovak part!

Mid-March, we bid farewell to our trusty Blazer. She was 20 years old, we had driven her for 10.5 of those years and she was on the way out. She is the car we brought Sunshine home from the hospital in and it was really sad to say goodbye... but our new fancy pants minivan helped ease the pain. Well, other than the part where we took on a car payment for the first time in our marriage. Luckily, we've almost got that sucker paid off already. We could actually pay it off right now, but were told that it was better for our credit to pay on it for a year? I hope that's actually true or I'll be mad that we keep holding off on making the full and final payment!

April- April was pretty low key... Sunshine took a sewing class and learned to make pillowcases. She's been her own little pillowcase sweat shop ever since. Pretty much everyone who is near and dear to her has a Sunshine-made pillowcase. And if they don't, they are probably getting one for Christmas! My best friend KJ was in town from Hawaii for her brother's wedding. Unfortunately, we didn't get much time together at all and it broke my heart to know she was just an hour away but not able to spend time with me. But she did bring me some POG (passion fruit-orange-guava juice) that eased my pains marginally.

May- May brought the end of a great school year. Sunshine and Beebs both loved their teachers and their classes. Man Cub rocked his first year of preschool, which was technically a one day a week tot class. Kindergarten graduation made me cry and we held our second annual Memorial Day BBQ with our favourite friends from the girls school.

June- This is when life started to get crazy! June was the month of swimming for us. Both girls were heavily involved in competitive swimming, with an hour long practice for each of them 4-5 mornings a week and swim meets two nights a week. We eventually got into a good routine with it, but it was a hard month! Especially since right after we signed the girls up, Bruce got a promotion at work that changed his schedule, making him unavailable to help with getting the girls to practice and meets. I'm not sure I would've committed to swimming had we known about the job change any sooner, so it is probably good that it worked out as it did. I am glad both girls got to compete all summer, even though it was difficult to spend that much time at the pool with four kiddos. It was amazing to watch them both progress and grow so much in their sport.

We also got ourselves a family pass to our community pool for the summer, so most nights of the week, we would eat dinner, then head over to the pool and swim for a few hours more. There were days when I spent 5-6 hours sitting in or at a pool. But it helped us to stay busy and mostly beat the heat during the first part of the summer.

July- Things really picked up in July. Along with the end of the swim season, we also had Shark Bait's first birthday and our two week road trip to Utah. It was a crazy, hectic month, but oh so fun. We had a blast in Utah. We touched lots of temples, ate lots of donuts, and spent as much time as possible outside enjoying the beautiful cool evenings. We fell in love with Swig cookies and sodas, ran a temple to temple 5k and celebrated Pioneer Day, Utah style. We ended the visit with a day in the mountains with all of my family before heading home to Arizona where Bruce and I had to decide which school our girls would attend... the one they had gone to since Sunshine was in Kindergarten, or a new school that opened in our area that I felt really strongly about...

August- In August, we headed back home to the sweltering heat. Bruce turned 33 and the girls got ready to start school. We debated heavily until the very last moment, at which point it became clear to us that they were suppose to attend the new school in our area. It was scary beyond belief to make the change, but it has been a wonderful experience. We are so happy with their new school. The curriculum is wonderful, the campus is beautiful and both girls are absolutely thriving there. We just really miss our friends from the old school and wish they would have all moved with us Ü Bruce and I hit a relationship high when together, we won the jackpot playing the basketball game at Chuck E Cheese, and we took a quick day trip up to Prescott to visit with some friends and enjoy the cooler mountain air.

September- Always a big month, September brought the beginning of my fourth year of teaching preschool. Bruce and I were given some amazing tickets to a Cardinals pre-season game and took Shark Bait with us. We were also invited to join some friends for a day at Wet N Wild water park. We celebrated Man Cub's 4th birthday by projecting a movie onto the side of our house and inviting all his friends and their families to join us in watching and we did all these things without spending an extra penny outside our regularly scheduled bills and food budget! No Spend September for the win! We saved a bucket load of money by really watching our spending, and were able to pay off a huge chunk of the new car as well as gear up for the expensive and fast approaching holiday season.

October- In October we added a new member to our family- Harvey Bones, the 5 foot tall plastic skeleton. He mostly hung out on our piano bench, but occasionally he could be found in miscellaneous places around the house. He was fun and we look forward to his return next October. The girls got their official Hogwarts acceptance letters and donned their wizard robes to attend Halloween at Hogwarts, presented by the Phoenix Symphony. Bruce and I hosted our first annual adult Halloween Party and it was amazing. Can't wait to do it again next year and we celebrated my nephew's birthday at Touch a Truck... aka, little boy heaven. Though Man Cub did not like all the honking horns at the event, he did love getting to touch and sit in the excavator. We finished off October with family photos at the Phoenix Temple, and for the first time in years someone other than myself took our pictures! It was fun to have someone else be in control and get the kiddos to all look at the camera and we ended up with some beautiful photos where everyone is looking and smiling!

November- November brought about our 5th annual Planksgiving celebration. Crab legs and melt-in-your-mouth ribeye, desserts galore and a trip to the movie theatre to see Moana. It was a spectacular day. I even started the day out by running a 5k with some friends at church. I did the race at a 10:25 mile pace which is huge for me, especially considering I hadn't been running regularly. My typical pace is 11:30-12:00 a mile, and that was when I was running 3 times a week and training for half marathons. It was exciting to see that I am not completely weak and useless when it comes to physical activity. Hopefully soon I can get back into a good running and exercise routine... as soon as I get my health back on track. Post with more info on that, coming soon! November ended with Bruce flying out to Maryland for a week long training at the Emergency Management Institution headquarters. My dad flew out to stay with us and that was such a blessing since it was one of those weeks where lots of little things happened that could have made for a difficult week had I not had some help... everything from Sunshine sewing through her finger while making pillowcases to a backed up toilet and two sick boys. It was nice to have my dad's company and help while Bruce was away.

And that leads us to December... the here and now! Blogging in the present for the first time since Shark Bait was born! Woohoo!

Odds & Ends: Wrapping Up January... Finally

The beginning of the end... of January posts anyway. I know half my problem is that I want to record and capture every single moment of life. I promise that I am getting better at taking less pictures and only sharing the most meaningful ones. Now I just need to work on not feeling a need to post all the old photos from when I took hundreds each month. Baby steps!

This photo has no story attached... so logically I shouldn't post it, especially in my efforts to post less photos. But those eyes! And the cheeks! And the fact that he's my last baby... I want to post all the Shark Bait photos!

2016 started out rough with a lot of sickness going around school. In an effort to keep the sickies at bay, I have the kiddos take liquid garlic and vitamin C. Man Cub can be super stubborn and with the yucky taste of the garlic, I figured I would never be able to get him to take it. But he takes it, and does it pretty happily. 

Our kitchen chairs kicked the bucket hard core at Christmas, so when Beebs and I got back from our trip to Utah, we ran into IKEA and picked up these beauties. Probably not the sturdiest or most long lasting chairs, but we love the look of them and for the moment, they are holding up just fine!

Beebs went on a birthday date with Aunt Amy. Starbucks, lunch and some ceramics painting. She loves her pegasus piggy bank and is really hoping that these Aunt Amy birthday dates will become an annual tradition. 

Sink bath! These do not happen nearly enough, especially considering that we've had our awesome new sink for over two years now. 

Beebs had to decorate a shirt with 100 items for 100 day at school. Beebs loves bows, so I tied and sewed 100 bows to a hot pink shirt. The things I do for my kiddos. In hindsight, we probably could have (should have) done something more simple, but she was so excited about her shirt and it was so her! Also, 100 day glasses are my favourite!

Few things make my heart swell as much as seeing my kiddos love for each other in action. Shark Bait was having a rough time with teething and Sunshine held him and rocked him for me so I could get some things done around the house. He fell asleep in her arms and my heart melted! Sunshine is such a great big sister. 

Tulips! Always my favourite part of spring, which happens in January in Phoenix. And anytime I can get them in orange, I am a happy girl!

Beebs made me this necklace on 100 day at school. I love it. So colourful and fun. 

The kiddos and I hosted a Jellycat picnic using American Girl doll food. It was awesome. 

 

And we will end the month with this adorable grin... Now on to February!

Odds & Ends: The First Half of January

Man, I would sure love to be caught up on blogging by the end of this year. What are the chances!? (Slim to none, I know! But I'll try!) Let's finish up the first half of January first and then we will just see what happens!

In January we enjoyed some post-bath Yoda baby.

At church, Man Cub moved from Nursery to Sunbeams.

The boys played some dinosaurs and Man Cub started a gymnastics class with the same teacher that both the girls have gone to.

Shark Bait reached the oh-so exciting milestone of being able to sit up in the shopping cart. I feel like running errands is so much less hassle when babes can finally sit up in the cart. But after sitting up all through Sprouts, Shark Bait crashed and ended up sleeping through Costco. Luckily, those carts are big enough that he could stretch out in the front and sleep, while Man Cub sat in the back. 

Some rainy days made for awesome running weather. 

The boys enjoyed being able to sit at the counter together. Shark Bait enjoyed some real food (mandarin oranges) while Man Cub downed some chocolate milk. Notice Man Cub rubbing Shark Bait's ears? Man Cub went through a phase where to comfort himself, he would tug on his own ears or the ears of anyone sitting nearby. He seems to have stopped this habit for the most part, but every so often I'll catch him rubbing ears when he's really tired or really upset. 

Dad made Man Cub the coolest toy- a battle spear like the one Reptilius Maximus uses in Toy Story That Time Forgot. 

We did some Tim Tam Slams for Family Night. Always a fun treat. 

Man Cub enjoyed some tubby time with his dinos and zoo animals.

I tried to get into a good habit of exercising, with Shark Bait as my audience. He laughed at me every time I did a lateral step up. Can't really blame him... I hate those things and I'm sure I look ridiculous doing them!

Bruce had another celebrity sighting at work... He worked an Eric Church concert and got to chat with Eric for a few moments and take a picture. 

When Shark Bait wasn't sleeping, he worked on perfecting the art of sitting up. 

And to wrap up the first half of January, we enjoyed a picnic at the park with cousin Asa. 

December in Three Parts | Part Three

And now, the grand finale of December, and the year 2015!

Our Christmas morning was wonderful! I think I even managed to sleep in. Or at least that's the story I'm telling! Bruce says he thinks I woke everyone up around 6. In his exact words "I don't feel like it was so early that I wanted to hit you." The girls were really excited to give us the gifts they had made, complete with adorable wrapping. Man Cub hadn't been able to wait... he gave us his gifts the day he made them in preschool. I love that our kiddos are always more excited about the gifts they are giving than those they receive. I hope that never changes!

After our present opening, there were lots of toys to be played with. Man Cub's favourite was his Radiator Springs car table from Grandpa. To be completely honest, that was my favourite too! And it wasn't even mine. I am a huge Cars fan and the Radiator Springs car table is seriously like walking into Cars Land in California Adventure. It makes me happy every time I see him or Shark Bait playing with it.

Anytime Beebs was asked what she wanted for Christmas, her answer was "puzzles". And that's what she got! Lots and lots of puzzles. Some simpler ones that she can do on her own, but several of the puzzles she received are large puzzles with small pieces. We do those ones as a family. Beebs is pretty incredible when it comes to putting together the large puzzles. We all pitch in and help, but she really is very skilled at them. She takes after her dad in that way. 

Shark Bait couldn't really pin point a favourite gift... he seemed to really like snuggling up for a nap in his new blanket. And his nautical themed teething toys were a hit too. He got new clothes for Sunshine and a police rocker from Bruce's brother and sister in law. (First Christmas for Shark Bait means lots and lots of pictures of him Ü)

Sunshine's favourite gift was her American Girl store gift card. Both she and Beebs received one from my father in law and they had a blast shopping and picking out new American Girl treasures. We stupidly, yet wisely, went to the store just a few days after Christmas. It was packed, but they happened to have a lot of items marked down 50% as part of their post-holiday clearance. Sunshine was in the market for a new doll (one with short hair that wouldn't get matted and destroyed easily) so she didn't really shop the sales, but Beebs made out like a bandit. She got clothes for her, clothes for her doll, accessories and an AG dog for herself, and one for Sunshine. Such a sweet girl! She insisted on spending part of her gift card on a dog for Sunshine so both of their dolls would have pets. 

My favourite gift to give was for Bruce's grandma. I took a photo of her great grandchildren from our part of the family and turned it into a peg frame. It came out beautifully. Probably my most favourite peg project to date. The photo is from an evening of swimming at her pool. Since Shark Bait was too small to swim, I also included a photo of him and Gigi together, then painted a peg to resemble each of the kiddos. Gigi has it hanging on the wall in her kitchen area and I love seeing it there any time we go over. 

Christmas dinner was our traditional roast beef and Yorkshire puddings, with trifle for dessert. We broke open Christmas Crackers and Shark Bait participated in the meal by wearing his crown and grinning at us all as we ate. He's in for a real treat this year, when he too can eat all the delicious Christmas dinner foods. 

Our final days of 2015 were spent lounging around the house, enjoying all our new toys and trinkets and spending time with my brother, T, who came down to visit for the week between Christmas and New Years. He and I watched a lot of iZombie. He built and played Legos with Man Cub and taught the girls how to build elaborate marble tracks with the Hape Marble Run he bought them for Christmas. We went to Culvers for hamburgers and ice cream and to watch MSU play Alabama in the Cotton Bowl. Had MSU won, they would've come here for the National Championship game and I so would've made Bruce buy me tickets. Lucky for our bank account, they didn't win. But it was fun to get decked out in our green and white and watch them play. Bruce worked New Year's Eve, so I spent my evening with T and his pup, Horatio. We rang in 2016 together and just like that, I'm officially blogging in the current year... and still 8 months behind!