It is a new year and I had new ideas for my blog and then life (or maybe just traveling or laziness?) got in the way. But, my main new idea was to blog at least once a month and to recap the month as a sort of journal instead of actually keeping a journal. Plus, I would add pictures. Well, you can see how that worked out since it is almost the end of February and I haven't posted anything for January. I have noticed in the past few days I have a really impatient feeling inside my brain (and stomach) that I haven't done anything about this idea so I am starting today.
January:
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| Mom and the five brownies |
What a great month this was! I usually hate the first two months of the year because it is winter with the cold and snow and I sort of get cabin fever. Not this time, however. It started out with our luncheon with the Lunch Bunch group at a new place for me but not them. It was a great soup and sandwich shop nearby and I even splurged and had dessert. I have been trying very hard to not have sweets, starch, etc. since the day before Halloween. Isn't that a good time to turn over a new leaf and start to reform eating habits and lose weight? Well, it is working - slow but sure - but I still splurged at lunch. The rest of the next seven days I spent putting away Christmas decorations, cleaning my house and getting ready for a three week trip (almost 3 weeks since it was really 19 days) to Washington state. I hate to leave a dirty house and love coming home to a clean house.
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| Aaron |
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| Kyle |
On January 10 I flew off to Courtney's to spend a few days with her and the kids until she left for Japan on the 14th to spend time with Brad. Brad is working in Japan again but for two months this time. She left on Monday for the airport but came home again when she found out the flight had been cancelled due to a storm in Japan that had delayed the plane's return to the states. She did get off on Tuesday, though, and I was the caretaker for the five kids (ages 2-13) for 10 days. I was just a little bit concerned I may have forgotten all I ever knew about being in charge of a house full of people.
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| Sarah helping with Emma. |
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| Chloe |
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| Sarah |
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| Me and the five brownies |
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| Aaron and the ipad playing games. |
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| Kyle doing his chore. |
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| Chloe reading. |
It was great! Those five kids were on their best behavior and we had no problems except for Aaron being off food. He would eat a small breakfast and lunch and no dinner. Of course, after Courtney got back we figured it was because he was so tired by dinner he had no energy for food and he took a couple little sleeps during the next few days and was back on dinner food. Luckily he didn't starve. I think the fact that it was me cooking and not his mom had him concerned, because he is a huuuge stickler for things being precisely the way he thinks they should be. I made only things his mom said he liked but that didn't matter. When I bought take out one night he ate pretty good and when I took them all to brunch one morning he did terrific. So no starving on my watch!
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| After Japan the kids all wanted to cuddle with mom! |
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| Our fancy toes. |
After Courtney got back from Japan I stayed a few more days to help with laundry and kids while she napped to get over jet lag and my sleeping in her bed. She brought back a lovely decorative dish hand made in Japan for me, gifts for the kids and fun food treats. Did you ever have strawberry or blueberry cream cheese Twix? They were so good! While I was at their house the kids had fun with my ipad and discovered how to take "funny" pictures. I am going to try to add them to this blog but I may not remember how to correctly. They also enjoyed playing the kid games I have on the ipad. On the last Saturday we had an all girls pedicure time a local spa. It was so fun and we enjoyed being pampered and having pretty feet. All in all, it was a long time to be gone but I think we all had a good time. It would be so much better if I lived in the same area though. I hope I get to move near them in the next 6-18 months.
The day after I got back from Washington I had book group and it took me a couple days to unpack and recover from being so busy while there. Then January was over! I think traveling in January made the month much more fun and quick to pass through. While in Washington the days were not as cold and snowy as in Utah. Utah had terrible weather while I was gone and I am glad I missed it. My life is so low keyed now that getting up at 5:30 each morning to start getting kids off to school and keeping up with their schedule did wear me out a bit. Not as bad as I thought it would though. The worst part was physical problems I had before I left and that continued after I came home. I find the physical part of getting older annoying. I am trying to be more active but physical ailments limit what I can do and I am getting really frustrated. So I guess off to the doctors starting in February to see what can be done before spring and my more active seasons begin.
As you can see, I figured out how to add pictures but I still can't get them exactly where I want them. I came close though, so maybe next time will be better.
It was great having you visit and I really appreciate you taking care of the kids for so long! Those goofy pictures of the kids still crack me up. Did you see the ones Brad took and posted on Facebook after the kids told him about this? I have a love/hate relationship with January. This was a good one though and it flew by!
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