Switching it Up

So I got released from my calling in the YW....to tell you the truth I was not horribly upset. I have only been in a couple of months. Not long enough to really get to know everyone as well as I should have. I was a little freaked when the Bishop came and wanted to extend me a new calling. I was flipping out thinking I would be the new YW president since our old one was just released. Well you can imagine my complete surprise when I was asked to be the 2nd councilor in the Relief Society. I have NEVER been in Relief Society due to the fact I am always somewhere else. I was actually a little excited to try something new. I think I really need this to get to know the program better. This also gives me no excuse not to get my Visiting Teaching done each month. I have to set the example now. So this year has already turned out to be interesting.

Walking!!!

I know that everyone thinks that I fell off the face of the earth. I guess in a round about way I did. I somehow got the flu, and because of my symptoms my mom thinks it was probably the H1N1 virus. If you don't know me, I never get sick. I am the fearless mom who when faced with the flu, laughs in the face of danger. Well it hit me hard his time, and the sad part is I was the only one. I am most certain I got it at the gym, where germs thrive. I came down with a fever Wednesday and it stayed and kept me company till Saturday. I was in and out of consciousness basically the whole time. On the couch not moving, except when necessary. My house was a disaster and is still trying to recover from no one doing anything. I am just happy that Hailey survived those days without me basically. I would wake in a panic because she wasn't in the living room, but she was usually just tearing apart a room and I was unable to clean it up. I feel much better today and even my sore throat is almost gone. Just a small amount of muscle soreness still, but I am confident by this weekend I will be whole again....hopefully.

So while this was all going on, we did have some great events happen. Since I was unavailable Lexie did her own hair one day. I was well enough to snap a shot of it.

How cute is that? And it actually didn't look too bad. I was pretty impressed. She seems to want to do everything girly and by herself lately. Like I tell Corey 4 going on 16.


And I have to at least give honorable mention to Gabe in here. He has been really rowdy lately, but hey that is just his personality. But on the way home from church he gave Corey and I a great laugh. He said he learned about the Garden of Eden and that Adam and Eve didn't have to do anything at all. He said they just sat inside all day playing games. I had to try really hard to get this picture in my mind. Then he continues to say that they just had to open their mouths and food would fly right in. This is where I started busting up laughing. He was so serious. We asked who his new teacher was, but he said he had a substitute. That garden of Eden was way more hip than I originally thought.

Logan I am beyond proud of. He can home today with his project folder that contained all his work from the past two weeks or so. Every single paper in there had 100 percent or even better. He got all the extra credit questions correct as well. I was beyond impressed. Plus since he keeps acing his spelling test, his teacher said she wanted to add five more words every week for him. I know everyone says there kids are smart, and I am probably no different. But I honestly feel so proud that he applies himself and does so well. I help not at all with his homework. I make them sit down and do it, but he does everything alone. I am just beaming right now. Because my mom said he was sounding oh so old on the phone, I thought I would post a couple of pictures for her benefit.

And the grand finale of this post, yes Hailey has started to walk. She is all over the place anyways, but it seems she is not happy with crawling to keep up with her siblings. So I got some video of her walking and she stared perfectly for my film. I can't believe she will be one soon. The time has just gone by so fast for me. But she is one happy baby and everyone comments on that at church as she crawls and flirts with everyone on the back row. Of course that is where I sit because Corey teaches Gospel Doctrine and I don't want to interrupt all his effort.

Updating

I know I have been slack lately. I haven't even taken any pictures and I can't even tell you for sure where our camera is located. All I do know is I have been really crazy busy it seems with life. And when you are in the middle of things you the last thing you remember it seems is to take a picture. So maybe I just need to pull it out and set it on the counter for those Kodak moments.

The kids are out of school on Monday and Tuesday so I am going to try and contain my excitement. I just hope that I survive with all four all day long. This past Saturday was a very eventful and fun day for me. I wish that every Saturday would be that exciting. First off, here in MD they assign families Saturdays to clean the church. There is no volunteering here. Which I think is great. Not so great when you forget and they call you the night before to remind you. So we got everyone up and ready to go at 8am. Which is what time you are supposed to be there. The secret is not to get there late or you get stuck with the bathrooms and kitchen. We were there on time and only had to clean some classrooms and the primary rooms. It went quickly and we got home soon after.

I was really excited when the weather was in the 40's and no wind. I was finally able to train outside for the first time this year. I layered and set out for my six mile run. It was perfect. I forget how great it is to run outside and I also forgot how much harder outside is. Plus with all the hills I got more of a workout than usual.

Corey got me 60 minutes of massaging for Christmas so I went and got 30 minutes worth. It was great. I have had one before at Cancun, but I have to say this older gentleman I went to was amazing. He did a lot of pressure points and I felt so much more relaxed. I am even more excited for the fact I have another 30 minutes session in two weeks to enjoy again.

Since we have moved to MD Corey and I have not been out alone once. But finally yesterday we met a couple that Corey knew from work at Applebees in Frederick for some well needed dinner and adult conversation. It was great. Before we knew it a whole hour and a half had passed. They came over afterwards to watch the football game. We get along really well with them so I am sure we will be seeing them soon.

Hopefully on my next post I will have at least one picture to add. And since I have been given the go to talk about my sister's pregnancy I am announcing to all "My sister is pregnant!!" I am so excited. She is already about 19 weeks so halfway done. Has not been sick a single day. She looks so cute with her little baby bump. It is a girl and so we are all anxious to hear the name. So CONGRATS Stacey. Love ya.

New Personal Progress Booklet

If you have been absent from the YW program, then you might not be aware that they have a brand new YW booklet and have added Virtue as another value. This is so exciting for many reasons. First off, mothers can now earn the YW award right along with their YW. There is also a new medallion that has a red ruby at the bottom of the temple which represents virtue. And the best part for me, after you finish it you can earn an extra Bee which is another 40 hours of service and another read of the Book of Mormon. I was just as excited as the girls last night to get mine. When I lived in OK I worked and got my medallion for the last program. I now have the option to do it again and earn the new one. I am going to go for it. I am excited to go through this journey again, and I think this will also help me with my New Year goals as well. So for you mother's out there with a YW or almost YW, get excited because now you have an opportunity to earn your own.

Hailey the Menace

So what happened to the terrible two's? Are we not supposed to get a good year or two under our belt before our kids start ransacking the house? I guess Hailey missed that memo. She is not only the fastest speed crawler, but she has grown tall and can reach just about anything now. Nothing is sacred in this house. Everything gets violated. And the worst part is look at this face.....

She just looks and smiles and you can't remember what the problem was just a second before. Her eyes are getting lighter just like Logan's. The real problem is her ability to speed walk around things as well. Her balance is remarkable and I can just plop her down in the middle of the living room standing and she will stay standing forever. Won't take a step yet, but will just stand there. So here is what I found after getting lost on the computer I swore for just 10 minutes.....

I did not open a single thing, she did all that damage. She found mom's pads and thought those were the best thing ever. At least someone is getting some use out of them. And now I will walk into the kitchen to have the Poltergeist visit. I have chairs all over the place. Because instead of her little walker Santa brought her, she likes to use our chairs.

The only time I can relax is nap time....speaking of trouble I better go see if she is into anything.

Follow The River

WOW...that is my main reaction to this book. I had never heard of it, but it was amazing. Even more so is it is based on a true survival story. I still can't believe how this woman survived. I would recommend this to anyone. Some of the battle scenes are intense, but the writing was very good. One of my favorites so far. I also found they made a movie out of this in 1995 and I found it on my instant Netflix. So I am going to cozy down on the couch today and watch it.

New Year Resolutions

Every year we all make resolutions. And I bet most of those revolve around physical appearances. I would be lying if I said none of mine did, so I won't lie. But I find myself wanting to make more important New Year resolutions and I am really excited to do this. I have so much spare time here at the house and I find myself sitting way too much. I want to be more active this year and this can be a challenge when it is freezing cold outside. So here are my resolutions that I want to make this coming year:

Let me just get this PHYSICAL goal out of the way and have it over and done with. I have finally become comfortable with how I look. But I LOVE working out. I am running my first half marathon in May (which I have already paid the nonreturnable fee for) and I am currently training for that. I am also doing this nice 5x5 program for weightlifting that I got into before I got pregnant. I love it. Short and sweet. And you get some major muscle gains from it. I am also trying to cut back on my sugary sweets. I am a sweet-a-holic. Consuming so much more than any one mortal should eat. So I am allowing myself one indulgence a week. This will help me as well as my kids in choosing more healthy options.

The hardest one for us will be SPIRITUAL. This should not be that difficult I know, but for some reason I find this the hardest. Since Corey works really late we have not been doing FHE. But we decided to start doing it on Sunday night instead. That way we can do it as a family. So do our FHE every week. At 7:30 at night we are going to sit down and read our scriptures as a family and say our family prayers before bed. For my personal time I am going to dedicate 30 minutes for personal scripture study everyday. During this time I want to read some scriptures and also the Ensign and maybe some church topic books. I really feel the need to become closer to my Heavenly Father and my Savior. I also want to be a better YW leader. I know that this seems overwhelming, it does even to me. But I know I can do this, and I need to do this.

PERSONAL: Well I am not very artistically gifted. I can't paint or draw or make anything that you would want to keep and use. Most of my stuff would be mistaken for a pre-school art project. But I want to find something that I love to do and I can invest some personal time in. I already read tons, and I won't give that up. But my goal is to find something that I like to do and pursue it to the fullest of my capacity. I am not sure what this will turn up, but we will have to wait and see.

I am hoping that at the end of 2010 it will be a great growing year for our family. 2009 was a good year for us. My little Hailey was born...

and we also moved to Maryland. It has been a roller coaster for our family. But in a lot of ways we have grown together as well. I hope that all of you have a great start to this wonderful new year.