a week in the life...

I thought it would be interesting to post "a week in the life" of our family. Not so much for your reading entertainment, but more for our posterity. While it's important to record the major events of our lives, I love reading about the everyday happenings in my ancestor's lives and comparing how life is the same in certain ways and yet so different in others. Plus someday in 5-10 years when we're ridiculously busy I will probably look back at this and laugh about how busy I THINK I am now!

Every weekday morning Kevin & I wake up at 6:20 a.m. and read scriptures together. We were reading at night after the kids went to bed for quite awhile, but that didn't seem to be working well anymore.

I honestly have no idea what time our kids actually wake up. They have always been extremely early risers. They are to be quiet and remain in their rooms until 6:45 a.m. This is what time they come out, almost every day of the year. There is no sleeping in at our house...ever...unfortunately. The good thing is we hardly ever have to drag them out of bed for school!

Breakfast is around 7:00 a.m. - cereal every morning except Saturdays when we do a real breakfast.

On school mornings, the boys get ready for school (dressed, beds made, teeth brushed), we say family prayer and Kevin drives the boys to school, leaving around 7:30 a.m.

Monday mornings I drive preschool carpool (2 other girls + Natalie). Every other Monday I work at the preschool.

Tuesday & Thursday mornings I go to the gym. Our ward has recently started a playgroup on alternating Tuesdays & Thursdays and we try to attend. Tuesday after lunch is Natalie's dance class. Thursdays are laundry day (yes, I do it all in one day, it works best for me this way and then I don't have to think about laundry for a whole week).

Wednesday & Friday mornings during Natalie's preschool time are my errand mornings or volunteering at school. Friday after lunch is my babysitting co-op timeslot when I watch other kids.

We live 6 miles from the school so I leave each day around 2:15 p.m. to pick up the boys (there are no buses to our school). We are home by 3:00 p.m., the kids have a snack, and the boys start their homework. Tyler's homework is fast & easy and we are usually done within about 30 minutes. Brandon's homework is (obviously) much more time consuming. He has to read for 30 minutes and then has about another 45 minutes of work. In addition to that regular homework load, he usually has several at-home long-term assignments (reports, current events, poem memorization, etc.).

After his homework is done, Brandon practices piano for about 20 minutes. Then each of the boys get 30 minutes of Wii video game time.

Monday after school is piano lessons for Brandon (1 hr.) and Family Home Evening. Wednesday after school is running club for both of the boys (1 hr.), PTO meetings, and Kevin does Elders Quorum visits or meetings. Scouts is Thursday evenings (for me & Brandon - 1 hr.).

On Thursdays (laundry day), the kids each have laundry chores to help with: sorting, folding, or putting clothes away.

Dinnertime is around 6:00 pm when Kevin usually arrives home. After dinner they each have chores: Brandon loads & unloads the dishwasher; Tyler is in charge of the table: setting, clearing and wiping; and Natalie vacuums the floor.

The kids have "daddy time" until about 7:15-7:30. Then we clean up the house together (toys, papers, books, etc.). If they are being slow or ornery we set the timer for 5 minutes and whatever is not cleaned up by then goes into toy time out for them to earn back another day. My kids are pretty well trained so we don't usually have many problems (we've been doing the same clean-up and bedtime routine since Brandon was about 1 yr. old).

We usually do baths/showers on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays. Pajamas, scriptures, prayers, brush teeth, and the kids are in bed around 7:45 p.m.

In the evenings, you will usually find me at the computer or doing couponing. I also make the boys lunches before I go to bed. I always read for awhile before I go to sleep - it's the only way my brain can relax. I am usually in bed around 10:00 and try to turn my light out by 10:30.

After the kids are in bed, Kevin is either at the gym, doing Elder's Quorum visits/meetings, or watching TV. After I go to bed, he gets to use the computer! Kevin usually comes to bed between 11:00-12:00.

And in case you're wondering, we've never gone to bed at the same time. Kevin is a night owl and cannot fall asleep early, and he can function on 6 hours of sleep. I do better with the "early to bed, early to rise" mentality and I am extremely grouchy if I don't get at least 7 hours of sleep. It works for us.

On Saturdays, we are still up around 7:00 a.m. and we usually cook a big breakfast. Brandon cleans the kids bathroom and Tyler & Natalie are responsible for cleaning out and organizing the hallway toy/game closet. We keep them in swimming lessons year-round so that is an hour on Saturday. The rest of Saturday somehow always fills itself up with church events, service projects, cleaning, household & yard chores/repairs, a nap (for me!), and occasionally a date night.

I have often been asked why I don't have my boys in sports. First of all, they have never really expressed an interest. Second, the way they arrange the sports teams & leagues here drives me crazy! You sign up and THEN they assign you a team/coach who makes their own schedule for practices. You never know what your practice & game times will be ahead of time. I feel like our lives are pretty busy already and I cannot deal with that extra stress (especially since if one of them does it, the other one will want to and that would mean 2 different teams, many practices, and multiple games each week). Brandon especially has very little time between homework, piano, scouts, running club, and swim lessons. For me, the extra time, money, and stress of sports is not worth it. I admire people that can do it all, but it's not for us. I want my kids to have free time to relax, and I don't feel like spending even more hours in the car or sitting at a ball field each week. I know life is going to get even crazier over the next 10+ years, so I am enjoying having my kids here at home as much as possible and I know the importance of eating dinner together each night.

Sunday mornings we have church. Sunday afternoons Kevin often has meetings, we have the kids do "quiet time" for a few hours, and I sometimes have visiting teaching appointments or scout meetings. We do 1-2 hours of family game time, and we have breakfast for dinner. After dinner the kids usually watch a (Sunday-appropriate) movie.

So that's our week in a nutshell. This obviously doesn't account for any of the "occasional" events such as field trips, parties, PTO volunteer work, sickness, blogging, temple visits, etc.

My friend posted this video awhile ago and it made me laugh hard. This is honestly what I feel like most weeks. I'm sure all you other Mormon moms can relate!

natalie's preschool lemonade stand!

One of the things I love most about Packer Preschool is that Mrs. Packer doesn't just talk to the kids about things or have them do worksheets, she really helps them learn and understand concepts through many different mediums such as songs, activities, and field trips.

Last week was "money week" at preschool where the kids learned what money is used for, the value of each piece of money, and the Money Song. So this week the kids got to have their Lemonade Stand where they made & sold lemonade, cookies, and popcorn (and yes, we have our lemonade stands in January when the weather is nice!).

Each child had an assignment to bring an item and each child had a different assignment of something to sell so the kids felt very involved and excited about it. Natalie brought lemons from our tree and she (as well as Carter & Gus) was in charge of selling popcorn.
(They weren't quite ready yet when I took this picture below but I wanted to get a photo before all the parents swarmed).
They earned $59.00 (each item was 50 cents), which is the most ever made by any Packer Preschool class! The kids used to split the money, but I was pleased to hear that the money is now being donated to a local charity (which also teaches the children about charitable giving).
We love Packer Preschool and I am having a hard time believing this is my last semester with a preschooler!

brandon made honor roll!

It's been a fun week for my boys and their school achievements! In addition to Tyler's principal award last week and the science fair, Brandon made Honor Roll last quarter and was given his award at the school assembly this morning! He missed Honor Roll last quarter by only a few points and was determined to get there this semester, so he was very pleased with himself. We, of course, are proud parents as well! He was one of only 4 kids in his class (of 28 kids) that made Honor Roll. In addition to the assembly, he will get to have lunch with the Principal tomorrow along with all the other Honor Roll recipients.
Anyone who knows our school understands that making Honor Roll is no small feat. These kids work HARD! They are doing year-ahead curriculum (5th grade work in 4th grade) and it's not uncommon for Brandon to have 1-2 hours of homework each night. Some days (like last week when we were literally drowning in homework & projects) I wonder if it's worth it. But then when I see how smart and well-behaved these kids are and know that they are getting a great educational foundation, I reassure myself that it's all worth it!
We are so thrilled for you Brandon - keep up the great work! You can accomplish anything you set out to do!

science fair

This was our first year attending the school science fair. For kindergarten and first grade, they do grade-level projects (1 large project for 4 classes). It's basically just a display of their science curriculum for the quarter. This quarter Tyler is learning about penguins so their science experiment was about which type of feet/shoe could carry a ball the furthest - boots, slippers, or swim fins (the answer was swim fins).
For second and third grade, each class does a project. This is why we've never attended the science fair until now. 12 miles is a long way to drive just to look at a board that your teacher put together for your class!

For fourth through sixth grade, a small group of kids each does their own project and report board. For fourth grade, the experiments are already set and each group just picks one and they are done at school during class time. Brandon's experiment was to see if using double or triple the amount of magnets could pick up double or triple the amount of paper clips (the answer was that they don't).
There are awards given at each of the 4th-6th grades, which is the main reason we attended this year - Brandon really wanted to see if his group won an award. Unfortunately they didn't, but I thought their report was very well done.

We all learned a lot by reading some of the other experiment results (like that Pampers is the most absorbent diaper and that seeds can grow in sand). We are very proud of both boys for their hard work and happy that they love school and science!

tyler's principal award

Tyler received a principal's award at school yesterday! He earned it for "always setting a good example by doing his personal best in all areas of school." I cannot think of a better way to describe Tyler's feelings towards school! He loves going to school & doing homework and it shows in his amazing grades.

Here he is receiving his award from his teacher and the principal:I have my kids well-trained with the camera...as soon as he got up on the risers he looked right at me and smiled!
We are so proud of you Tyler - keep up the great work and positive attitude!

carlson family photos

Over Christmas while my family was all together here, we decided to get some updated family photos since it had been 4 years. My friend Liz who is an amateur photographer took the photos and did a great job!

The Carlson family:
Grandma & Grandpa Carlson with the 8 grandkids:
Our family (she also took photos of each of the other families):
And since they were being cooperative, I had her take some updated individual pictures of each of my kids.

Brandon (age 9):
Tyler (age 6 1/2):
Natalie (age 4 1/2):
Taking family photos is such a stressful event for me. I'm glad it's done and was successful!

grandpa & grandma park come to visit!

As if a whole week of being spoiled by Grandpa & Grandma Carlson (and the rest of my family) wasn't enough, Kevin's parents came down to visit for the second week of winter break! They got home from their 18-month mission to Kiev Ukraine in November, so it had been almost two years since we have seen them.

Since Kevin's brother & family who lives here had just been up to Washington for Christmas with them, we had them all to ourselves! Kevin had a few leftover paid vacation days that had to be used by December 31, so he traded them out for the first week of January and was able to have the entire time off work. It was a wonderful week of fun & relaxation (especially after we got some antibiotics for Grandma who arrived sick).

Grandpa Park has an obsession with trains & Legos, so that's what we spent most of the week doing. Needless to say, the boys were in heaven! (And don't feel bad for Natalie - she loved having Grandma all to herself!)

One of our favorite train places to go is the McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale, so that's where we headed on Wednesday. There is a train museum inside this train:


We rode on a small train:
The kids rode on the carousel and played at two different playgrounds:
And we discovered a brand new building that just opened a few months ago that has four HUGE model trains set up.
We also stopped by Bass Pro Shop (one of Grandpa's favorite stores) on the way home! Thursday was Grandma's birthday, but Grandpa & Grandma insisted on taking the kids shopping for their belated Christmas presents. The boys of course chose the Lego store:
And not surprisingly Natalie chose the Disney store for more princess stuff:
They also treated us to ice cream!
Our family tradition is that the birthday person picks where we go out to dinner, so Grandma chose Garcia's for Mexican food and then I made her Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Toffee Brownies and we all sang her Happy Birthday! I don't think we've ever been with her on her actual birthday, so it was a fun & special day.
On Friday, Grandpa & Grandma were kind enough to babysit so Kevin & I could do a temple session and go out to lunch. Then we headed over to tour the new Gilbert temple site. They are making good progress and it should be open next year sometime! Not that 30 minutes is so far to drive, but 10 minutes will be wonderful (we can actually see the temple from the closest intersection to our home)! Ironically, the only other people visiting the temple site while we were there happened to be a couple that just got home from a Humanitarian Mission in Russia and had actually visited Walter & Dianne in the mission home in Ukraine once and remembered them! They were from Utah and were down here visiting their kids & grandkids also. It was very fun & coincidental!
Saturday took us to yet another train place (The Arizona Railway Museum), which is just a few miles from our house. We took the kids here a couple years ago, but it is much larger and they have made many improvements since then. The boys wanted their picture with almost every train, but here are just a few:




On the way home from the train museum, we stopped at a local park and played for a few hours. It was perfectly gorgeous weather all week (almost 80 degrees in January!).

Sunday was church and we managed to get a few quick photos before heading out the door:
The rest of Sunday was many hours of game playing and Lego building.
Grandpa & Grandpa left on Monday and sadly it was back to work for Kevin and back to school for all the kids. But it was a wonderful winter break full of family & fun, good food, no major sicknesses, and great weather. We feel so blessed!

2012 plans, predictions, and goals

Each year, I try to make plans, predictions, and goals. Here are my thoughts on 2012. Some are carried over from last year if they did not get done. I've also tried to push myself a bit harder since the second half of the year all my kids will be in school full-time so I really don't have any more excuses!

Family / General:

Job Promotion or New Job for Kevin. I wonder how many years this will be on here?!?

Finish Kevin's parents' mission book.

Either get our family scrapbooks caught up or get my blog books created & printed. Both are MASSIVE projects and I haven't decided which one to tackle first. I will do my blog books only if and when I can find better blog-to-book software.

More date nights for Kevin & I...at least monthly. I know it's supposed to be weekly, but who can afford the babysitters to do that?!?

Personal / Spiritual:

Attend the temple at least 12 times.

Read the Book of Mormon again.

Exercise at least 4 times a week. I've been pretty consistent about 3 times per week. I would like to increase that, but I'm trying to be reasonable. I would also like run a mile by the end of the year. This may sound like a ridiculously easy goal, but I HATE running and it is very painful for me (physically as well as mentally), so this will be actually be quite a challenge.

Take a photography class.

Travel:

Family vacation. Not sure where. It will depend if we still have flight benefits. I'm hoping we can get to Illinois this year since it's been on our list for many years.

Park Family Reunion. Already scheduled for July in Washington.

Get up to Washington to see Great Grandma Park. We haven't been up there 2 1/2 years and she is now 93 years old. Unfortunately, this probably won't be able to be combined with our family reunion trip since it's on the opposite side of the state.

Another no-kids "real" vacation for Kevin & I. It probably won't be as exotic as China or New Zealand the past few years since those two trips spent most of our vacation fund, but we'll see what happens. And I'm really hoping for somewhere warm & sunny this time!

Home Projects / Major Purchases:

New bed for Kevin & Danika.

We will probably need a new computer.

New piano.

New couches for family room.

Shelving for den closet.

Shelving for and organizing the laundry room.