Maui

Scott and I just returned from a dream vacation to Hawaii. Get ready for a post with a nauseating amount of adjectives like wonderful, awesome, unbelievable, amazing, and fantastic.
This is a trip Scott has been dreaming about for as long as we've been together, but it has just never been the right time for it. When he had sky miles and an airline voucher that would cover both of our flights, we knew it was time to make it happen. Truthfully I dragged my feet more than any sane person should have, but leaving behind 4 kids for a week is not easy to do and requires a lot of favors and sacrifice by other people. It's hard for me to ask that of others so I can go on a relaxing vacation. Thankfully I have a very unselfish mother who believes strongly that it is important for couples to have some time away together to reconnect and so she insisted on watching our kids all week. Without her, this trip would not have been possible.
While I took care of all the planning and preparation for us to leave the kids and our lives for a week, Scott took care of all the planning and preparation for the trip's itinerary. The minute we sat down on the plane I signed off as mother and signed on as full time wife. Truthfully the greatest part of the whole vacation was the fact that I just showed up. It was a vacation from the mental load I carry as a mother. I never had to worry about where we needed to be or what needed to be done. Scott took care of it all. He spent countless hours reviewing and researching places to stay and things to do and he managed to plan the perfect vacation! I love being married to this man.
It came up in conversation with Steve and Jenna that we were planning a trip to Hawaii and it turns out they had some Sky Miles and were hoping to go on a big trip this year, too. There aren't a lot of people we would want to take a trip like this with, but we are so comfortable and get along so well with Steve and Jenna that we felt like they would be the perfect couple to go with. We asked if they would like to join us in Hawaii and we were so glad when they said yes.
We decided to go the end of September when crowds are low and prices cheapest. We crossed our fingers that the weather would be okay.

Summer Jobs

At the beginning of every summer I try to establish a daily routine of responsibilities to keep us (yes, me included) on track during the summer months. Over the years I have taken different approaches to this and some have worked better than others. This year's system was a huge success! My main goal for the summer was to teach the kids how to work hard and carry more of the daily responsibilities of keeping the house in order. Partly for my sanity, but mostly to help them on their way to being positive contributors in life.
I started by making this magnet board and magnets with all of the kids' responsibilities written on them. Each morning I would put their daily responsibilities on their to do side. Every day they were responsible for making their bed, cleaning their room, practicing the piano, and doing 'homework' (a math, reading, or typing activity I assigned them). Then each day two other jobs would be assigned such as dishes, garbages, clean out car, empty shoe basket, windows, clean bathroom, yard work (weeding or mowing lawn), vacuum, dust, laundry, or watch Ryan. Once a job was completed they would move the magnet over to the done side. The rule was that until all their jobs were done they weren't allowed to play with friends or have any electronic time. This has always been the rule, but having the visual of the magnets made it so they wouldn't even ask until all their magnets were moved over because they knew I would look to the magnet board before giving them an answer.
Along with the increased responsibility came a reward. Upon completing their jobs each day I would give them a blank magnet to put on their name and at the end of the week they would get a dollar for each magnet. Upon getting their allowance they would first pay 10% to tithing and 10% to their mission fund and then they got to keep 80% in their fun money. Our hope is to help our kids learn how to save and budget their money. Because they are receiving what we consider to be a very generous allowance, the kids are expected to pay for most of their wants. For example when we are in the checkout line of the grocery store and they ask for a treat my response is, "if you want to use your money to buy it you can." At first the kids would usually burn through their money as soon as they got it. As time has gone on they are learning the value of saving their money so when something bigger comes along that they want they have enough rather than spending a dollar here and a dollar there on meaningless things. I have watched them spend their money only to experience buyers remorse over a foolish purchase and then seeing how the next time they are a little bit slower and more thoughtful before spending their money.
As always, we still have room for improvement, but all in all I feel like I accomplished everything I had hoped to with our Summer Jobs chart.

Back to School - again

Here we go with yet another school year. We had a fabulous summer, but all of the kids are ready and excited for school to start again. Secretly, I am just as ready and excited to have a house that stays quiet and clean for more than 5 minutes during the day. As hard as it was switching schools in the middle of the year last year, I am glad we bit the bullet and did it because the kids now know the school, teachers, and friends and are ready to jump into a new school year without any hesitation. 

Mason is heading into 5th grade in Mr. Perry's class. This is Mason's dream come true since Mr. Perry is one of the coaches for the AF High school football team. While Mason may be excited because Mr. Perry is the cool and popular teacher I am just as excited because I have heard nothing but great things about him as a teacher and what a positive role model he is for these young boys. After the first week of school Mason is the happiest I have seen him in years. He pops out of bed in the morning, excited to get to school and comes home smiling and happy about the great day he's had. It does this momma's heart good to see this complete 180 from the last few years.

Brynn is starting 3rd grade in Miss Raddatz's class. Brynn was a little disappointed not to be in her best friends Kristi and McKella's class. As soon as she met Miss Raddatz at back to school night she was completely sold and was thrilled to be in her class. She is such a kind, fun, and enthusiastic teacher - the perfect fit for Brynn. Brynn has picked right back up with the many friends she made last year and is already making new friends. I have no doubt this will be a great year for her.

In Utah, kindergarten starts a week after the rest of the school to allow the teachers to do individual assessments with each student. Whoever came up with this plan obviously doesn't have an excited kindergartener they have to keep happy at home for an extra week while their brother and sister start school. It was the longest week of Miles life waiting for his turn to start. He did enjoy going to his assessment with his teacher, Mrs. Park. He was very proud of the fact that when she asked him to count as high as he could she had to stop him when he flew past 100 with no signs of stopping and told him that was the highest anybody counted for her. When the first day FINALLY arrived Miles was grinning from ear to ear. He was excited to have his friends Ronan and Lincoln in his class and I think that made him feel a lot more comfortable going in on his first day. After the first week kindergarten is living up to all his expectations. His only disappointment was the kindergarten playground doesn't have monkey bars and is "actually kind of boring". So Miles decided to orchestrate a game of football with some of the other boys each day instead. I hope that his excitement and enthusiasm for learning never fades.

To sum things up - it looks like it will be a pretty awesome year. I feel a sense of optimism and excitement that I haven't felt in a long time - 3 years to be exact - and it absolutely terrifies me! I have learned that when life seems too good to be true it often is and something horrible is lurking around the corner waiting to crush me. The anxiety sits like a rock in my stomach all day and keeps me awake at night wondering what terrible thing is going to happen. The whole back to school season always stirs up a lot of emotions surrounding Ellie's death and I know that is a big contributor to my anxiety, but the struggle inside me is very real. I am trying to embrace this new found optimism and be grateful for all the good in my life, but it's hard when it makes me feel so vulnerable to disappointment and pain. I hope that in May, as we are concluding a wonderful school year, I will look back on this post and laugh at myself for being so silly. I hope.