The Week in Review

It's been a lovely week 'round these parts. 

Monday was a holiday and though JC did not have the day off, he did have a light schedule and didn't have to be in to work until ten. So, our morning was somewhat leisurely. It made me realize that I am nearly sure that the first couple hours of the day are some of the hardest and if the responsibility of keeping the kids happy and fed, getting them ready for the day, etc. are shared it makes a big difference. Hence, the fact that we look forward to the weekend even though we don't get to sleep in. :)

The kids and I had chiropractor appointments that morning so we did that and it had occurred to me that I may be brave enough to take them to Freestone Park all by myself. It is less than two miles from our house and I am a big girl now. Plus, I was freshly in alignment so nice and clear-headed!  Haha...

We went and enjoyed ourselves. Well, mostly. I probably won't do that again. My venting to my mom later in the day went something like this: "I forgot to think about the fact that there is a lot of room for them to just run. And, of course, they will all run in completely separate directions all at once. One toward a busy road, one toward mud and one toward a big dog."

But, it was lovely to have tried. And we DID find a tree to climb. I grew up climbing trees when we lived in Texas, so I was really excited when the kids took the opportunity...

Well, after Bethany got a back scratch.

And Ben did some exploring.

And played peek-a-boo.

There we go!

Then...we weren't having so much fun anywmore...

...

So we left. We went home and watched a DVD of Fraggle Rock which I found at Target for $5.50.

The rest of the week was less eventful than that morning...unless you count me driving all the way to north-ish, east-ish Mesa to take Bethany to preschool on Tuesday only to discover I had forgotten her shoes at home. I went up to the door of the school to pop my head in and see if they would be playing outside that day or if I could bring her with just her socks to her name...only to THEN discover that there was no preschool that day. I had forgotten. 

Drove back home with confused boys and a disappointed Bethany. Told her we could do whatever she wanted, which ended up being watching two Disney movies in a row, inspiring me to give them LOTS of outside run-around time that afternoon to make up for tv time. I'm not complaining though. 

I live for outside playtime these days. It's fresh and crisp and glorious.

This week we also gave away one of our three rocking chairs. Up until now, we have needed all three. But, babies are growing and only two are in medium-to-high demand nowadays.  That same day we gave Bethany and James a fun change they desired and switched out their baby swings for big kid swings.

The newbies. 

(came with the set, but set them aside and kept using their baby swings)

I didn't give any of the above a second thought until Wednesday when the kids were playing at Grandma Trudie's house for a good portion of the day (clean CLEAN CLEAN! for me! Thank you mom!!!) and I had the thought that we could probably take down the baby gates on the stairs this summer once Ben is around two and completely confident on them (getting there already!)...then a moment later I caught a glimpse of the swingset out the window as I was pushing one of the rocking chairs left down the hallway to James' room to replace the one we'd given away...and all of a sudden, I find myself teary-eyed, realizing that it is actually happening. Our kids are getting older. Nobody is an infant anymore. Nobody lays on the floor and coos. Nobody gets up in the middle of the night to eat. Oh wait, I like that one...Anyway, I think that it was the first time I actually experienced a moment like that where it seemed they were growing up too fast! 

I hear there could be more of those to come...

I also must mention that Tuesday night was a gardening class in my ward.  I wanted to go so badly, so excited because of my avid interest in gardening...but as the day began and I felt myself getting a bit stressed with kind of a lot going on in my head and around the house (just the normal day-in, day-out kind of stuff), I made a decision to cut the class out. Gardening is not something I do right now. If I learn more about it, I will just beat myself up that I am not doing it right now and end up neglecting something more applicable to my daily life now in daydreams about the future when I will have time for it. SO, I didn't go and instead spent time on the house...something basic that affects life in the now. It felt good.

Thursday, Bethany really did have school.

Friday, we took a trip to PetCo with my Mom just for fun. We didn't get to see the adoption center animals but it was still fun.  I think I want a turtle someday.

We gave her pictures colored by the kids to take with her to her Mom and Dad who she is visiting this week. The kids were quite jealous she was going because they had so much fun visiting them this summer!

Friday night, JC and I had a date. Woohoo! Unfortunately, some friends of ours we were going to meet up with had a last minute change in plans and we didn't get to hang with them BUT we got to go out still which is always a plus. :) Time alone together...dinner and a movie...classic...

We saw Paul Blart, Mall Cop. I think it's the most I've heard people laugh out loud in a movie in a a really long time.

Saturday, I told JC we were going to be outside as much as possible. (I think it's a borderline addiction for me...) We decided to make it interesting and venture back to Freestone Park but this time with both parental units. Check it out...

They boys loved the swings.

Bethany loved the sand.

This is James' "I'm swinging higher than I am comfortable with but I like it a little bit so I won't ask Daddy to stop me" face.

This is Ben's "Dad keeps tickling me while I swing" face.

Hey, it's a bit of a smile! It creeps back in once the swing slows down a bit.

Onto the play equipment. I love that they have a specific playground for 2-5 yr olds.

They ran up and down the hills...I mostly got video of this and it's really great. I wish I knew how to put that on here...guess I'll have to learn sometime!

We decided to revisit the area with all the trees and try climbing again.

Check out Bethany. It's like the cover of a book or something...

Sharing a laugh as they walk...ohh, cute.

After much struggling, James makes it up the tree.

And after a while we trek back to our van to go buy new toothbrushes at Target. What a morning!

Walking up the hill, I asked James if I could hold his hand. More of an affectionate thing for me, but he took it to mean that I thought he needed help which he adamently refused. He told me he could do it by himself, holding his own hand.

Can't argue with that.

But apparently, after the Target trip, more playtime and lunch, he did need me for something.

Thank heavens for that. :)

Last night JC and I worked on the workout room project. It is getting close to completion and I am ecstatic.

Today, we went to church. With our three kids. Who were all grumpy and needy in their own special way.

Me too, guys. Me too.

Then, I started not feeling too well which has king of lasted throughout the rest of today. Stress of church with little ones? Maybe. But, I have started piecing together the random sneezes, coughing, ear aching, extra tired, stuffy nose, headache moments of the last couple of days and am arriving at a rather unfortunate suspicion. Which I won't say out loud. Or type.

It's been a fantastic week spent loving the weather, enjoying the nothingness of our playtime, cleaning my house for one whole day (and almost finishing!!) :) and just...being. Today was the first day that I felt that chest-pain-I-can't-breathe feeling that means "overwhelmed" in a while. So, I'm just trying to muscle through it and tell myself that tomorrow is a new day, not to mention a new week.

And tonight, we had Grandma Polly over for dinner. Which is always fun.

And I suppose I'll go get to bed at a decent hour so as not to tempt fate too much. After all, I do seem to be getting a cold.

Shoot.

Wasn't going to say that out loud.

How-to of the week: How to Eat Spaghetti Like a Ballard

1. Dish noodles onto plate.

2. If you are one of the three smallest Ballards, your noodles must next be cut into bite-size pieces using kitchen shears. They are called kitchen shears and therefore can be used on food. This is a saving grace when it comes to cutting up food for the kids. It's much easier than that sideways fork maneuver most attempt. 

3. Load on Compromise Sauce. Compromise Sauce is what we have in the Ballard Household instead of spaghetti sauce. Because the two biggest Ballards do not agree on what makes a good spaghetti sauce, every sauce becomes Compromise Sauce and almost every time we have a different version of it. This version brags heavy meat (Dad) but half of the meat is ground turkey to cut back on red meat consumption (Mom), whole wheat noodles (Mom) and a sauce-to-noodle ratio that leans to the sauce (Dad)...though unfortunately, this time around, the amount of meat kind of ate up all that sauce...anyway...

Load it on.

4. Repeat steps 1-3 as many times as needed.

5. Load onto something that resembles a transporting device. Transport to backyard to keep promise of having a picnic for dinner even though you may have forgotten spaghetti was on the menu.

6. Shirts off...um...if you are one of the three littlest Ballards.

Eat to your heart's content!

Then move on to backyard playtime, getting as filthy as you want. After all, you already have sauce all over chest. Um...again, if you are one of the three youngest Ballards.

If you are THE littlest Ballard, continue on to step 7.

7. Return occassionally to graze. Because you can.

This was a really fun evening. We have started playing outside a lot right before and/or after dinner, so I thought...why not during? :) Besides, all that playtime plus the event that is bathtime and we're all exhausted by the time bedtime rolls around making for a great night's sleep for all!  I am loving this time of year. 

I have a feeling we will discover other picnic worthy foods we never knew about in the next few months... 

What you can get for $3.99

You can get this (brand new) box of cereal. Perfect for breakfast, sacrament meeting, or a great appetizer while Mom makes dinner. 

James: Mom, can I have a snack?

Mom: No, it's almost dinnertime (as she's busy cooking)

James: But I so hungry. Can I have that? (points to cheerios)

Mom: Oh, okay. Just a little bit (lets him grab a handful and puts the box back on the countertop...turns her back and returns to the stovetop while he runs back out to the balcony where the kids are playing 

Soon, if you are the Mom in this story, you may hear a big "whoosh" and a delighted three-year-old squeeling out "Cheerios everywhere!!!"

You will quietly get the camera and realize you're not at all mad but very amused, though realizing you will have to reprimand to some degree...and keep the picture-taking very low-key since turning something they know they're not supposed to do into a photo op might send the wrong message.

You will get to witness pure glee as cheerios are tossed in the air and rained down on their noggins.

Then stomped.

Note the cracks in the floorboards in the above picture. This is our back patio which lies directly underneath the balcony. You will make a mental note to vacuum these up so as to not attract insects (and then you won't, but will instead find your middle child happily munching on them two days later while you play outside downstairs...but that's beside the point)

And although many will be lost, some will be eaten, all will be enjoyed...

And, really, if you ask me, none will be wasted.

Four dollars well spent.

Making up for an Autumn spent indoors . . .

It was one of the first Saturdays in January. Our tree gifted us a blanket of leaves, crunchy and ready for raking and tossing. We had literally spent most of the Autumn cooped up inside battling a lot of sickness, some grumpiness and a little bit of too-wet ground. 

JC wanted to bust out his fancy shmancy leaf-eater-upper-vacuum-thing. Though I usually have no problem with power tools being part of our Saturday mornings, this particular day I opted out with a "please" and a promise of very happy kids. He easily agreed and our kids got to experience their first fall-ish activity of the year...well...of last year...

Anyway, it has taken me forever to get this up because I video taped the whole thing and due to JC's reminder lesson, I was able to get snapshots off that. So, some are blurry but you can definitely still see those smiles!

After a pile was formed, Bethany was first to take advantage.

Then, everyone got into it. Bethany just threw leaves in the air, James spent most of his time showering leaves over his siblings' heads and Ben would put them directly on his own head.

Here, I have a feeling he had just doused somebody in leaves and is trying to escape the wrath that may come.

Nothing is better than watching my little ones running around out in the crisp, fresh air, drinking in the sun, smiling and laughing!

Bethany takes over Dad's duties.

He takes them back...Ben throws some leaves over his head. This is what he did for most of the time we were out there. Squat. Grab. Stand. Arms up. Drop. Squat. Grab. Stand. Arms up. Drop.

But then he also did some of this...

And this...

Bethany and Ben take in a quiet moment, just enjoying their pillow of leaves.

And, true to his brotherly ways, James slides in to make it more interesting.

Sometimes when I'm taping the kids, JC likes to create a little side show usually involving whatever playthings he can find lying around. This one featured a couple of dinosaurs walking across the screen repeatedly and having a bit of conversation.

After that, he got back to business and made the pile more concentrated...around James...who LOVED it.

Then JC turned to showering everyone with leaves (wait...is this post about him or the kids...?) Here are the kids enjoying the leaf confetti.

And here I am (sort of) enjoying the leaf confetti (sort of).

This gave the kids ideas...here, I and the camera are about to get quite the shower o' leaves.

And it was, apparently, really funny.

As the morning was winding down, Ben realized that in all the excitement, we had allowed the sandbox to become cluttered with leaves.

He was not having that and proceeded to clean out a little corner to play in.

It hasn't even been a month since this fun morning and I already am twiddling my thumbs until the next time our tree generously shares its bounty with us. :)

From what I'm told, I may have a while to wait. But, in the meantime, I will enjoy watching her grow those bright baby green leaves that are beginning to light up our backyard.