A Resolution

I have realized that I am terrible about writing on my blog. I was hard enough after I had a second child, but then I went back to work and life only got busier. I kept reading my favorite blogs, but stopped documenting anything about my life. In fact, I have not been journaling at all for a while. I want to be able to have a collection of my thoughts for my children. I know I will forget things that say and do and I want to document that for my own memory sake. It just seems easiest to type it and put it on my little 'ole blog. This way my family can see the information too. So I am hoping to be able to write weekly or biweekly about our adventures and challenges. The growth and changes of my children. This is a lofty goal for me, but if I can make it a habit, I believe the reward will surely outweigh the work!

A few weeks ago we fed the missionaries in our area. I had to bring Jack and Ella to Ninja class and Gymnastics so they met us at Wendys for a meal. I asked Jack what he wanted to order and he said, "a hangelburger." Even though we have tried to correct our children they both say "hangelburger" instead of hamburger. The missionaries were dying. They probably asked him 50 times what he was eating. It made me think about all the silly things that my children say. Right now, they often mispronouce the following words: forehead is forthead, remote is gremote, and like most children they cannot pronouce spaghetti, but say basghetti. I know it is just a little thing, but to hear it makes me laugh.

Life with Ella right now:

• She loves gymnastics and has almost figured out how to do a cartwheel. She does them all the time around here. 
• Every once and a while I get a glimpse into her teenager years. She likes getting her way and definitely has an attitude. I have been trying not to call her "bossy" because one day, I hope she is someone's boss. I just hope I can also teach her kindness and give her a good example as I lead her. 
• She has learned to ride a petal bike. 
• She is like her dad. She thinks she can do anything and often times she can. Her determination and grit will allow her to be amazing at whatever sport she embraces, because she is tough. 
• On the other hand, she is super girly and loves to wear make-up and dress up. She still loves baby dolls. They are by far her favorite toys. And she loves her mama.
• Ella turns 4 next week. Where has the time gone? I cannot believe I have two preschoolers in house house. They will both be in grade school before we even know it.
• She doesn't show much interest in learning numbers yet at school, but she has started to embrace coloring. I have a feeling her interest are going to lie somewhere other than school. She does not sit still long enough to want to learn new things.
• With that being said, she does not sit still. We fight it at the dining room table, at school, at church, basically anywhere we go. It's is too early to tell but sometimes I wonder if she will be ADHD? 
• We learned what works for discipline with Ella. We take baby dolls away. Back in November I had to take them all, because she hit another girl at school. Each week if she was well behaved she would get to earn a doll back. I waited to give her Cherry, which is her favorite doll. I think she learned a valuable lesson. Not everything goes your way and you have to behave. We haven't had any problems since at school. Plus, she says thank you so much more. 
• Ella loves sweets...she will sneak them if we are not careful!

Life with Jack right now;

• A few weeks ago Jack came into our room in the early morning hours. Usually we have to wake him up for school, so this was a rarity. He was snuggling with me in bed and he said, "Mommy, my heart is crying right now." I asked why it was crying and he said, "My heart is so happy that it is crying and after it will be smiling." I just about died. How did I get such a sweet little boy? He surely loves his mama and I love him too.
• I am realizing that Jack has a real interest in science and math. I have been trying to embrace that since it is so different than the way I think. My parents bought us a telescope for Christmas and Santa brought a rocket for him. He has loved that. Listening to him talk about the rocket is awesome. He describes seeing smoke and watching it blast off to mars. What if he decided he wanted to travel to mars? Why wouldn't I help encourage that type of dream. We went to the air and space museum in November. He loved it. 
• Jack has had sleep overs with two friends now. He is doing well and seems to enjoy it! If we could just get the night time potty training dialed we would be set. He is such a heavy sleeper than he doesn't realize he needs to get up. We have motivated him with a bunk bed. So it looks like we might be redecorating in the near future.
• We also introduced Jack to Star Wars. The interest has only just begun.
• He is learning to read. He can sound out most three and four letter words. Sometimes he doesn't want to do it, but the ability is there. I would love to see him continue to build on that in the next year. I mean, he is still just five, there has to be time to play too.
• We have to watch him with technology. He learns fast and could be on his kindle for hours if we let him. I think we do a pretty good job, but I worry about ever having video games in our house. He would never go outside, and I definitely don't want that.
• Pizza and Spanish omelets are his favorite food.

As for Joe and I, we have grown a lot in our 7 1/2 years of marriage. We are learning how to be on a budget together. It is so exciting to me to be on the same page. It isn't easy, but we have figured out a lot about each other just when it comes to money. We also are facing a major obstacle with work right now. We have loved living in West Virginia, but this chapter might be closing soon. The school system here is a hot mess. It doesn't look like it will improve and Joe is burnt out from teaching. He either needs a career change or we need to move. So we are prepping for that change soon. I am sadden that we might have to move farther away from our extended family, but the prospect of something different excites me too. Living in an area with a bigger ward for church, more opportunities, a nicer school, I cannot even imagine how exciting that would be. We are in a limbo right now, since jobs are not posting yet, but I truly hope that the right opportunity opens up for us.