At the end of the day

(Lengthy Update:  we're not dead, or even pouting...just more busy that usual.)

Last week I taught Tanner's Joy School class, and I spent most of my evenings getting ready for that...working on various projects for friends (formal alteration, scripture bags for the boys, a never-ending stack of pants to mend, and organizing), and trying to keep order here at home.

Thursday, we up and went to Chesterfield to spend some time with my sisters and brother, as Ryan's been working from 6am till sometimes as late as midnight.  I figured he'd be able to get some sleep if we were gone, and we'd be able to have a break from our teeny-tiny apartment.  It was great to 'get away', especially from all the 'electronics' for those few days.

So how are we?

Ryan is still applying for about 4 jobs a week.  It's pretty draining, and he's burned out from it all...both emotionally and mentally.  Truth is, I'm pretty drained, too.  At least we're getting rejection letters.  Not that it's a good thing, but it's not very encouraging to even apply if you NEVER hear ANYTHING back!

We looked at a loverly house last week that we thought was in our pricerange, and I fell in love with it.  Beautiful crown moldings, tons of space, we wouldn't have to do much to it...maybe paint a room or two....and then we realized that he really does have a crummy paycheck, though we are able to pay our bills and eat food.  *chuckle*  We're not destitute, but tight.  And that's alright.  It isn't the end of the world. We have so many blessings.  A surplus of money is just not one of them.

I have been trying to exercise each day, and some days are more successful than others.  It's frustrating to be doing a kick-boxing routine and whack a three or five year old in the head...Most of the time it's their own fault, though.  This week I started the 'rule' that they can't get out of bed until mommy is done exercising.  I'll let them come out and 'cool-down' with me, and I'm much less likely to jab my shoes into an unsuspecting child.

Tanner has been really excited about writing his letters of the alphabet, practicing the piano, and helping me make our meals.  He has a few 'obsessive' areas, but we're (Me and Tanner) working on 'relaxing' a little bit more and not being so uptight.  He gets pretty agitated if anything is out of place, or his routine is messed with.  He talks with the intensity of a stock-broker, but is pretty loving, understanding, and curious on so many levels.  He's a really good helper, and for the most part, has grown out of his 5 year phase of being a 'hard' kid.  In reflecting back on our parenting, Tanner's behavior was very RARELY the problem; our parenting skills were in survival mode at best, and we've come a long way.  Still room for us to improve, but we are able to parent, instead of just being a warm body in the room.

Taylor is beginning to be a little spit-fire of a boy.  He loves to keep up with Tanner, and enjoys drawing letters, learning from Tanner new parts to songs and being a tease to baby Kort-wen.  He's got potty-training down, which has saved us $$$ on diapers.  However, if he gets ticked off at me, he'll deliberately pee in his pants.  Little turkey!

Kortlen is officially rolling ev.ry.where.  If he sees something he wants (which is everything!) he'll just roll right over to it.  It's exciting, yet slightly dangerous, considering his two older brothers LOVE marbles and LOVE coins.  We have to be on our toes all the time to make sure choking hazards don't make it into his mouth!  He's also figured out how to eat pureed squash, peas, bananas and peaches.  His favorite is sweet potatoes.  He learned how to raspberry/spit out any type of rice cereal...to my frustration.

So all in all, we're doing pretty good.

When I get a camera again, I'll update you with some of the projects I've done.  :)  Hopefully it's sooner than later.

And at the end of the day, I'm ready for bed and a chance to start my routine all over again.