Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Winning

This week has been absolutely insane. I picked up a new job. Our van is in the shop. Ruthie has strep throat. Sterling has a SHELF exam on Friday. Friday is also Will's birthday and he has our first Haws family ever birthday party on Saturday (everyone will get one this year, he just has the first birthday in the year). And then I planned on babysitting for a family one evening so that they'd babysit for us on our anniversary weekend. But then I ended up babysitting another family (well, more like picking them up and taking them to school and picking them up and taking them home, but one hangs out for a while before her sister gets out of school) twice. It's just been...way more hectic than our already hectic schedule.

So today I wanted to journal a little bit about what is going well in our house. How we are winning.

  • We have the most adorable baby boy ever that just gets more and more adorable. He has learned to wave and we are all dying over the cuteness.
  • I checked everything off my list today (this is huge, as my day has been insanely scheduled starting with 630am when I was simultaneously teaching a class and having girls dropped off at my house to watch) except completing the ward bulletin. And lets be real--I probably won't do the ward bulletin until Saturday night--but one can always be hopeful.
  • Yesterday I took the time to take a secondhand pair of jeans and put in tucks/darts so they didn't gap in the back and cut them off into shorts (my two pair I've worn for the past three and a half years here are falling apart) and I EVEN unpicked and re-hemmed to get it just the exact length I wanted. ALSO in huge sewing news (can you tell I am NOT a sewer?) I took in a pencil skirt that has been just a tad baggy so now I feel like I have a whole new skirt and I am so happy! Even if it felt like a super hard task for me!
  • New family system up and going. I've been reading several positive parenting books. To remind myself that if there are systems in place then I don't have to be angry at my children for not listening, a consequence automatically falls into place. We have some repeat offenders we've been struggling with around here: getting out of bed multiple times for nonsense reasons, not listening after multiple times, hitting/pinching, and not putting toys away.  Oh man, parenting is for real. Lets hope the family meeting at dinner tonight and the few new things we have implemented help put some positivity into our home and help our children realize we are all in this together as a family to make our home happy!
  • Will watched a volcano explode in his class today so that meant that Sterling was sending vinegar and baking soda expanding on our kitchen table tonight and the kids were 100% enthralled. Definite win.
  • Molly changes her outfit three times a day into whatever she feels like and comes out strutting like a supermodel and states "I am a superstar!" it is my favorite.
  • Will explained to me today all about dinosaurs and how they were 'un-stinked'. He related a story about one particular dinosaur 'he was un-stinked, I think because he was so slow. Slow dinosaurs are the first un-stinked.' and I was laughing so hard the entire story.
  • Today I told Will that I wanted him to stay little forever, that he needed to stay four. He said "But I don't want to die!" (I don't know why that was connected?) and Molly replied "It's okay Will. You will just come back alive, like Jesus. And then you get to be resurrected." It was the sweetest thing!
  • OH we are winning because I made THE BEST dinner tonight. If you have not had chicken fajitas off of Mels kitchen site--go now. And make it immediately. I seriously ate the rest of the chicken off the skillet before doing the dishes because I just. couldn't. stop.
  • I also made some delicious oatmeal chocolate peanut butter bars off of togetherasfamily.com and will definitely be making again soon. Not too sweet, and maybe not the best dessert ever--but kind of the perfect thing to throw together and please everybody.
  • My Chinese students. I have one repeat student, Victor, who is the cutest little boy in the world and I am loving teaching him. Also--the parents. I've realized that teaching Chinese kids is a family affair--often both parents are sitting on either side of the student as you teach them. It cracks me up.
  • I'm training for a half marathon. I don't know if that counts as winning or not. But yesterday it went like this: Plan to run when the baby is fussy so he falls asleep in the stroller. First, pump up stroller tires. Pump up Will's bike tires. Pump up Ruth's bike tires. Live through Molly's tantrum to let her know she has to sit in the double stroller until workout is complete. Start running. Have to stop to get kids off playground and back onto the track. Start running. Have to stop to fix Ruthie's chain--which takes a good ten minutes. Start running. Have to stop because knee is throbbing in pain. UHHHHH---are we winning with this one? HAAHAHAAAHAA
  • Another funny 3 yr old story. Molly is very emphatic about what she wears, how her hair is done (braids), putting her shoes on the RIGHT feet (she clarifies every time before putting them on), and getting her socks on just so. This morning was chillier than normal (55 degrees) so I had everyone put on a jacket. Molly most emphatically did not want to wear a jacket. As she demonstrated by her jumping and kicking and arm shaking. So I aquiesced. We walked out the door. Suddenly she was screaming and crying and writhing on the floor because she was cold. Next she was on the ground because Will was "winning" at their running race. Then it was because she didn't get to see what Will put in the snack box at his school. It was quite the 3 yr old morning this morning. It's a good thing she is also my Superstar and brings in so much hilarity I just can't help but love her!
  • Every single day when walking Ruthie home from school Will stands in front of the entrance of a fence and asks for a password. We give random words which he judges funny, and allows us passage. Today Molly ran ahead and in eagerness, took up Will's post in front of the fence entrance. She demanded a password. Everyone just walked right past her. HAHAHAHAA! I felt so bad. So bad. But also--the poor thing thought she was SOOOO big and then she was so utterly defeated! I couldn't help but smile as I tried to soothe her outrage. Oh man. She thinks she is so big!
  • Sprinkles on chocolate ice cream tonight for dessert. Huge win.
  • Our van issues are completely covered by warranty. Another huge win.

Alright, I have to go teach two classes. But it does feel good to see how we're winning around here during this crazy-ville week. Wish us luck making it through to Saturday!

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