I Stink

See, I knew that would get your attention. But while you may be pondering the odor emanating from my corner of the world, I'm actually pondering how terrible I am at this family blog in the form of what's lacking: videos, pictures, and cute stories. So let's hear it: I stink.

All together now, do you want to hear our family update? Yes? Even though the pictures and videos are stuck on the camera for now? Alright, you asked for it.

Bryan: still busy as ever. In fact, he just drove down to the hospital to pick someone up and take them back to the nursing home. It's technically called a "Care Center," and people who live there are "Residents." But let's not be politically correct, because it is a place where people receive "acute nursing care," just one step down (or up?) from the hospital. Even though there are mostly old people, I have seen a few young people there in the last two years; so I think "residents" is a perfectly acceptable term.

Sundays, I have two callings: YW and ward choir director. Mondays I rehearse with the local choir(s) for three hours (come to our concert April 30 and May 2!) Tuesdays and Thursdays Caleb has soccer. Wednesday nights are YW activities. Thursday nights Bryan tries to play basketball, but more often then not stays home to spend time with me and the kids because he has been so busy all week long. Fridays and Saturdays we try to clean and shop and play but almost always fill the days with other things (such as soccer games; voice lessons; and the car breaking down 8 miles from home, filled with groceries and melting ice cream). It seems almost unbelievable that I could keep so busy with three kids when only one has extracurricular activities. Heaven, help me.

Caleb is mischievous. Not all the time, but he finds great amusement in teasing brother and sister. And almost invariably, he will write me a note telling me he's sorry and asking me to forgive him: check yes or no. So far, I haven't had to check 'no.' He also has been questioning everything I ask him with Why?! and WHAT?!, and we've had to have a lot of talks about being respectful and how mommies actually have reasons for everything they say and do.

Savanna has picked up on his attitude. She says things like, "When can I?" and "Fine, whatever!" We have talks about "You can't talk to mommy that way," since she doesn't understand respect. She also changes her clothes five times a day, if I let her.

Joseph. Oh, Joseph. Still happy as ever. Always smiling, always making new friends. Stinker, though. He makes a mess out of whatever he can reach. It's the destructive phase. You don't stack blocks, you knock them down. And everything else you can get your hands on. And even though he was never very cuddly, he pushes me away even more now. He wants to get down and explore all the time. Sacrament meeting is exhausting because it's constantly up, down, twist, over to daddy, back to mommy, smile at the people behind us, play the gravity game with the people behind us, up, down, etc. *SIGH* He's on the verge of walking, but crawling is just so much faster.

Even though they are challenging and exhausting, they are still really good kids, and I wouldn't trade them for anything.

So now you see why I've fallen off the face of the earth with this blog. At the end of the day, when the kids are in bed, I'm usually just not in the mood to wait for videos and pictures to upload.

Okay, bloggy friends, I'm off. And I'm not going to promise that this is going to get any better. Maybe. Sometimes. We'll see. And seriously, if you want a more frequent, personal update, call me!

Cheerio!