I hate being sick!

Yeh, what a downer I am. Last post was about me being tired. Now, I'm sick. I have some form of the flu, I think. Though I've been doing a detox, so part of it could be that as well. I guess we'll just wait and see.

The kids got to play outside in the snow yesterday. That was nice for them. Personally, I'm not a fan of snow. Though it is my maiden name. There is so much preparation to get the kids out in it. Then, when they come back in...just a mess. Boy, I'm cranky today.

But, they did have fun and most of them slept well last night. Ok, only Lucy. But, she's my best sleeper anyway.

Ramble ramble...I'm done.

Tired

I'm just tired. I'm weary. So much to do and it never seems to get done.

The kids actually did pretty good today. Not nearly as much complaining and hollering. I told them that if they got all their housework and schoolwork done by noon, then we'd make Rice Krispies' treats for Valentine's Day. So, Lucy and Joey got their stuff done. Robbie just really struggles with his work. Not because he can't do it, but because he doesn't want to do it.

I actually got Leah to go for a nap today. She won't sleep in her little toddler bed, only in Lucy's bed. That's another story for another day.

I helped Robbie with his schoolwork. I was upstairs by 2pm making treats.

I made 3 extra large batches. I got 70 smallish hearts out of them to make 10 plates for friends to tomorrow. There was probably 70 leftover in scraps that my children ate. ALL of it.

So, now it's nearly 5pm. I need to start dinner and bathe the kids. I'm going to a real estate investors meeting tonight. Yay for me!

Take a deep breath!

How many balls can a snowball snow, if a snowball could snow balls? Robbie with quite an armful.

Joey's in heaven. Outside in the country.
Snowball fight with Uncle Tim.
Lucy and Joey with their cousins Wiley and Wyatt. Looks like they're ganging up on Tim.
Lucy, Wiley and Joey work on a HUGE snowman. That ball is nearly bigger than they are.

Thanks to my sister Holly for taking these pics of this great day!

My Successes

So, I've been making strides in creating more clarity in my life. I'm determined to document my successes as close to every day as possible. I'll write some of them here but most will go in my personal journal.

Today's successes:

1. Cleaned out the truck--super yuck. I haven't really cleaned it out since the kids started homeschooling. I used to go every couple of weeks when it was just me and Leah.
2. Couple loads of laundry--including folding and putting away.
3. Schooled the kids--they're doing really well.
4. Completed a bunch of Robbie's achievements for his Wolf award in Cub Scouts. He'll be nine in just a couple of weeks. I'm really proud of him and his desire to excel in scouting. I'm also very grateful for his scout leaders. They are really concerned about all of the boys and making sure they progress.
5. Worked with Robbie on his Faith in God award. Robbie and I had some really great conversation today. We felt the influence and power of the Holy Ghost. It really really nice to have a gospel discussion with my son.
6. Put the trash out. I'm glad I did. Sam came home so tired today. He's been working so hard.
7. Read my scriptures. Yay for me! I've signed up for the "Hinckley Challenge" which is to read the Book of Mormon in 97 days. Each day represents one year of President Hinckley's life. Over 20,000 people have signed up to complete the challenge. I have to read about 6 pages a day to complete it by May 11.

There ya go. I did pretty darn good today. I feel more energetic and motivated because I feel that I really accomplished something.

Our Trip to Florida

Sam and I went to a real estate investors seminar in Florida this past week. The weather was lovely. Sure beats below zero degree weather.

I learned something more important than real estate investing. The last day of the training a fellow by the name of Richard Flint was brought in as a type of motivational speaking. Now, I like this kinda stuff anyway, but he really blew me away.

He shared with us his life's story. Very sad. He was born to a New Orleans prostitute. No name on the birth certificate for the father. Richard was adopted when he was 2 months old. The father had wanted a son. The mother didn't want anything to do with him. The short story is that she kicked him out of the house when he was 16 years old.

He's incredibly successful and a very genuine person. You can go to http://www.richardflint.com/ to check out his website.

Anyway, what I learned from him is to ask the questions: Will this bring clarity or add to my confusion? Whatever it is that is being asked of me or other responsibilities that I may have.

I've been practicing it now for 3 whole days. I'm happy to say that my confusion is lifting and my head is clearing.

Mr. Flint also makes a big deal of procrastination. He explains that fatigue comes through procrastination. I had never really thought about that before. But its true. Every times we put something off, we have to use energy to revisit it. No matter how unpleasant a task, we really should just get to it.

So, it was really nice to get away for a few days. We met some nice people. Sam and I hadn't been on a trip without the kids for over 6 years. It was lovely. I didn't have to change a diaper for nearly a week.

Gotta Love Global Warming!

Well, you'd think these pics were taken in the summer or early fall, you'd be wrong. January 8th actually. It was wonderful for the kids to get out and play for a while. They had a lot of fun.

Impromtu Homeschooling Trip

So, Friday I needed to go run a bunch of errands. Mostly picking up stuff from Freecycle. At one of the stops, the lady noticed I had a bunch of children in my car on a school day. I told her that I homeschooled. She mentioned that there was a pen just up the road with recued deer in it. She said that would be a fun thing to do with the kids.

I started down the road looking for the pen. It's large. So, large that I thought it was part of the peach orchard. I slammed on my brakes and parked right beside it.

There are four deer: 1 buck and 3 does. (Is that supposed to be plural?) and 1 rooster.

That was our fun, impromtu homeschooling trip for the day. Yay!!! We're told that you can bring treats for the animals to feed them. The deer didn't seem to be too interested in us. The kids pretty much chased them from one side of the pen to the other. The rooster, however, was very friendly, inasmuch as he wanted some food.

The pen is located on Richwood Road in Mullica Hill. It's just off of Rt 322.