Change!

Goodbye old green house...

I'm finally getting to posting our move! We learned about it and 2 weeks later, we were done. I think we are getting more efficient, but I always think we have too much stuff every time:) Our new home is quite a bit smaller but has some perks (the bathtub!!), walk in closets, a "bumpy" driveway - the kids love that, and a great big yard. The scenery is amazing and the pictures don't do it justice. I'm so grateful for everyone who helped us move, babysit, clean, and pack. I couldn't have done it so fast without all that help.

In other change news, the kids will be going to a different elem. school (I'm really excited, it's smaller and everyone raves about how good it is.) I also

cut my hair shorter than it's ever been - pictures to come - and as you can see Brooklyn decided to try her hand at cutting hair also. Tina had a piano achievement day festival the day that we moved, and did so well she earned a medallion with her name engraved on the back. I was so proud of her accomplishment. She worked very hard and learned all her scales in 2 months!! All thanks to a great piano teacher, Mika Lambert.

Daines family visit.

Sorry I don't have pictures...it's lame because I just need 2 new batteries for the camera...so that's my excuse.
My family came out for my birthday!! It was so fun. We watched conference together on an air mattress. We introduced them to Serious Texas BB-Q, but I don't think anyone will eat that again (except Dave) because we all got sick! We showed them the riverwalk, which is gorgeous! I had to take them to the library to show them the cool self-check out feature, and we went to the Durango Mall, which although very small had everyone's favorite stores: Christopher and Banks for my mom, Claire's for Tina, and Maurices for Joanna, and Vanity for Melissa. I discovered Bealls: found a shirt on sale that I really like!! Best of both worlds.
I just want to tell my family how much I love being with them! It was so good to see my cute sisters, and my niece and brand new nephew. And I think I talk my parent's ears off whenever I get the chance. I learn so much from them, and enjoy telling them everything I am learning. I gave them the Dave Ramsey CD's from the class I took. I hope they enjoy them:)
I'm excited to go there this summer. We are still ironing out the details, but we may be there for 3 weeks depending on the visiting circumstances...In the meantime, we are looking for a new place to rent. The house we are in has sold so we need to be out by June 30th. It gets a little tricky to find a place big enough for the 6 of us, without breaking the bank, but I have faith something great will work out. Maybe this will give me the boost I need to take some pictures!

Dave's Parents Visit

We were lucky that Dave's parents got to stop by on the way home from their mission in Florida. It was so good to see them! We had fun at the children's museum, games of tackle and they joined us for our weekly "family movie night." We watched Alice in Wonderland - the new one. We also had to introduce them to "Serious Texas BB-Q" a restaurant out here we fell in love with. We also got to hear some amazing mission stories. Gary helped us get a budget put together, and to pay him back, we are STICKING TO IT!! They got to see our Sacrament meeting, and then had to take off for UT. Thanks for the visit! Don't they look great? We sure love them:)

Step-by-Step Endeavors

I have been contemplating how to accomplish several things like: reaching a goal weight, becoming financially free, magnifying my mothering skills, and helping with ward goals. It sounds overwhelming, and I am one to get easily overwhelmed, but I have come to realize that if I take it 1 step at a time, it will grow and build!
As Dave Ramsey related in a story " No matter how many times I read 'The Tortoise and The Hare', the tortoise wins EVERY SINGLE TIME!"
So my turtle steps are this week:

Financial: plan our paycheck on Friday - I AM keeping a checkbook for the first time in 8 years!! Also I want to use cash for groceries this paycheck.

Weight: Do not eat after 10pm at night

Mommy: I will pray with each child individually before bed, and Friday will be our "reading hour".

Church: Learn how to index and get my pedigree chart up to date. (I'm already on track to finish the Book of Mormon by the end of March:)

Housekeeping: I will work on 1 target room a day this week, and declutter the computer desk!

I hope this doesn't sound like bragging, because I am just recording my thoughts, and who knows what I will get done?? io'm trying to jumpstart my motivation:) I'd love to hear what y'all are working on. That always inspires me!

Spring Break Adventures

Brooklyn in the playhouse at a childrens museum.
Cole loved the ball tubes.

Tina and a friend playing tic tac toe.

The dinosaur puzzle - you do the bones and then the skin!

The start of the riverwalk.

Sidewalk Chalk fun.

The end of the riverwalk...Aren't my kids silly? I pushed them with about 10 minutes to go:)

We had spring break last week and I wanted to do something fun everyday here to check out the fun things around our residence.

Monday was game day. We made a bingo game together, and played some games Braden got from his birthday.

Tuesday was class day...I go to a cooking class and amoney class. The kids love the child care:) Wednesday was cleaning out the closets day. Tina loves the fashion show part. We also went to the park with some great friends.

Thursday was a trip to Farmington to go to an awesome Children's museum. We also had to browse the Dollar Tree located in the Mall. (there are no dollar stores in Durango which kills me!) The dumb thing happened when I brought 4 kids to the candy store. I have been reading a great book called "The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches" by Jeff Yeager. He has a "what the hell was I thinking" audit at the end of the year where he puts stupid expenses. I think the $11 I spent there would qualify. But it was a fun experience, and I have a weakness for flavored cow tails:)

Friday was exploring the "riverwalk" We absolutely loved that. They have a path that follows the river all through the city. You can bike or walk, so we thought we would explore and we made it to the library and back and one way only took 24 minutes! I was amazed and we definately want to start where we ended last time and try to make it through the rest of the walk.
Saturday was a blast. Dave has built his store up to where he can have Saturdays off - which is huge for us since he works 70 hours a week. So this day we fixed up our bikes and went for a bike ride to the school to play on the playground and came home. I am hoping to get them out more often! Braden felt more comfortable once he rode for awhile and Brooklyn and Cole rode in the trailer. Tina is on 2 wheels. We ended the day with sidewalk chalk (thank you dollar tree!).

I know it sounds like a dull week, but I have the greatest kids who find fun in anything. I'm so grateful that we got to have some fun adventures and spend time together as a family.

Braden's 6!!

Braden wanted a Robot party after seeing the cake picture in the family fun magazine. Dave did a great job decorating, don't you think? It reminds me of the short circuit robot:) He had 2 friends come over and they played: robot dancing, pin the antennae on the robot, and they made robots out of tin cans, magnets and hardware. He said, "I had a fun time doing the party. The cake was so good and everyone chose to eat one with a donut on it." We sure love our Braden-Boy!

February Catch-up

Here are a few highlights...I will post a special Braden party later.

We went to the Anasazi Heritage Center for Valentine's day (school was out). The kids loved it! I've tried several times to post a video, and so this time I'm not going to since it ends up getting deleted and I want to finish this post!

Brooklyn has some weird bumps on her side. I took her to the dr. and found out they are called "mulloscum" It's passed through families, but not contagious. It will go away in a few years as long as they aren't picked at. It's pretty interesting.

I joined flylady.net to help me keep up with all the housework. Here is the shining sink! I love it too. I'm tweaking her system to work for me, and so far so good:)

On the last day of Jan, Braden lost his tooth, and he was so excited because he was only 5! It was loose that morning and fell out while he ate a 3 Musketeers bar:)