Big News

I figure any news written on my blog these days is big news since I haven't written anything at all for 2 1/2 months now.  So to those reading, it may not seem that big, but this little update is big for me!  

Lets start with baby B.  He turned 6 months old yesterday.  He is growing like crazy and behaves fairly well for the most part.  He loves dirty underwear (he will settle for clean ones, but they aren't nearly as enticing) and he loves socks.  He is pretty quiet for the most part and for now his only true flaws are walking on a leash and jumping up on people.  He goes to his first mighty mutts 4-H meeting next week and we are looking forward to continuing to train and mold him into our perfect dog.  He plays well with others, doesn't destroy, or chew anything up and loves to accompany us snowshoeing and snowboarding or anywhere we go for that matter.  The more people and puppies that show up, the better in his little eyes.

Next is Little A.  She is still more entertained with the boxes at Christmas than the gifts inside.  I keep wondering at what age she will grow out of it??  Maybe never, which may not be so bad for those giving...... So this little one's schedule has been quite busy for the past 2 months and I have to say for the most part she handles it well.  Little A starts her day at 5am, attends high school basketball practice with dad, goes to school, comes home, does homework, eats dinner, heads to AAU b-ball practice with dad and Nojah, comes home and goes to bed.  On the nights she isn't doing basketball, life is filled with small animal 4-H, dog 4-H or dreaming of more 4-H and other days are filled with skiing, playing in the snow, socializing with her friends, or just being drug around by mom where ever she needs to go.

Then we have pre-teen N.  This child would be happy if his life consisted only of 80% basketball, 5% eating, 5% TV and Kindal, and 10% sleeping.  He started junior high b-ball in Nov and played well, ending the season with a big smile, just to start AAU basketball practices a week later.  If he had keys to the gym I am fairly certain we would never see him, but I would always know where to find him.  He also won his schools hoop shoot contest for the 5th year in a row with 18/25 shots from the free throw line.  He then went to the county wide shoot to compete last week and won the county wide shoot with 19/25 shots.  Next weekend he is headed to Hermiston to compete with a larger group and if he shoots well will have to choose between going to state or his first AAU tournament.  That would be tough....  I forgot to mention that little A also won in her age group for the hoop shoot contest at school with 5/25 but then didn't fair so well in our county contest.  Back to Pre-teen N he's working hard in school, and has maintained a 3.5 GPA through all of this and we couldn't be prouder of the little "emotional at times" monster.  Currently home for day 3 of influenza at the moment, which isn't fun at the end of a quarter.

On to myself, not so energetic D. is currently down for the count x a week now with Influenza, which is probably why I am taking the time to catch up my blog.  Maybe being sick is a blessing in disguise.  I do know I am not sick enough to be horribly miserable but just enough to know I better take it easy until this comes to an end if I don't want to end up miserable.  Honestly the past couple months has been a whirl wind.  Getting kids to and from basketball, 4-H meetings and activities, school programs and parties, working full time, doctors appt, vet appt, grocery shopping, Christmas shopping, fitting in time to visit with friends and family, studying to keep up on my continuing education and preparing for my Emergency Nursing Certification exam which I will take in March, a few outdoor extra curricular activities (not as many as I would like), while attempting to maintain a semi-functional household.  You know, all those thing all you other mothers are out there doing as well.  Honestly looking back I can't even remember what I have been doing,  why it seems like i haven't had any extra time, and have been pushed to the max, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  

Last but not least lets talk about Big T.  He started the fall with his normal nasty cold, which he refers to as "lung butter" but seems to be on the mend for now.  He and little A have been fortunate enough to escape the grasps of the flu so far.  He was laid off in Early December to find out he would be back to work in January.  The shortest lay off season this guy has had in the past 15 years.  With coaching 3 basketball teams and after a long summer away from home it was a bummer to have to go back so soon but he's a trooper and is taking it well.  Besides basketball and work, Tob loves everything golf.  He saved up and bought himself and the kids an opti-shot for Christmas to practice their swings over the winter while the ground is covered in snow.  So on and off they spend time in the garage swinging golf clubs. While he was laid off we did get to go out x-country skiing one day which was great and then snowboarding and snowshoeing the next.  2 days in a row with him was perfect.  Could use a 2 week Caribbean vacation just the two of us, but that will have to wait for now.

 For now, we will continue on with life and wait patiently for our next family vacation this spring.  We finally got our kids new passports back and booked our tickets to Jordan.  We look forward to experiencing all this small country has to offer and most importantly taking it on as a family!

Happy New Year!!