They Came. They Cleaned. They Conquered! A visit from the cleaning fairies

Is there anything more therapeutic than a clean home?

Today was a first for me, but before I continue, let me explain my state of being this morning.

-The Build-up-

For the second weekend in a row I took care of some friends kids (4 in addition to my own= 7 kids) all weekend. The previous week it took nearly a full week to clean up from the havoc wrecked. After watching kids on Sunday morning and leaving my house destroyed in order to make it to church on time (all with Rob out of town, by the way)

I returned home from church with enough energy to turn on a movie for the kids and crash on the couch for a nap, still ignoring the mess. With this pregnancy, I've had less energy than ever. Either you forget a lot after 4 years or being 4 years older and being pregnant is a lot harder. Anyways, I managed to whip up a nutritious dinner of apples and caramel dip (hey, apples are healthy) and turned on another movie-this time I watched with the kids. After putting the kids in bed I actually had enough energy to load the dishes in dishwasher and put a load of laundry in washing machine (the kids wore swim suits under their dresses to church because they were out of clean underwear) before I crashed. I completely ignored the rest of the house which looked like a tornado hit, literally.

-The Meltdown-

When I woke up this morning my attitude about service and motherhood was so bad I purposely continued to ignore the house- my way of rebelling. After taking Maycie to preschool and calling a couple friends to cry over the phone about my horrible weekend and destroyed house, I headed to the gym for some child-free exercise solitude.

-The Miracle-

An hour and a half later I walked into my house to the smell of something foreign-cleanliness. That was my first clue. The fact that I could see my floor was the second clue. Not only was the clutter picked up, but my floors were washed and vacuumed, my bathrooms cleaned and fresh flowers on the table, but my fridge was stocked with pregnant lady treats (caffeine free diet coke and chewy chocolate chip cookies).

The three good cleaning fairies had worked their magic. I can honestly say that was one of the nicest things anyone has done for me and after all my whining I felt so unworthy.

Thank you cleaning fairies! You restored my energy and desire to serve with your selfless act of service.

Back to School 2010

Back to School Feast, 2010

"Be the Best You That You Can Be"

I love this tradition already, though it's only our 2nd year doing it. We do our "feast" the night before the first day of school. The kids get to pick the menu. This year it was mini pigs in a blanket. The feast really is more about how the food is presented than what is actually being served.

We also have a theme for the year. This year our theme was "be the best you that you can be". We talked about not worrying about what others are doing or not doing but making sure we're doing the best we can.

This year we had an extra guest, Daphne Thomas. Like last year I made crowns for each child.

This year I did something new. I made schultutes, which is a German back-to-school tradition dating back to the late 1800's. A schultute is a cornucopia style cone made of paper then filled with school supplies or other treats. I put in a fancy new water bottle for the kid's lunch boxes as well as some other school things and some treats. The kids loved them. We'll be continuing this tradition next year.

Addie's first day of 1st grade.

Barnette Elementary

1st grade teacher: Ms. Simone Shields

She was such a pro and getting up so early (6:30) to be ready to get on the bus at 6:56.

Williamsburg Family Vacation

The last week before school started we decided to go on a last minute family vacation to Williamsburg, VA. There was so much to do. We started by spending a day at Busch Gardens theme park.

Addie and Maycie went on the little roller coaster no less than 8 times. Addie would have gone on bigger ones if her height would have allowed her. That girl is a dare devil.

Though the park was fun and the kids enjoyed themselves, I must say it's definitely targeted to the older crowd. The rides were very spread out and between the heat and a new pregnancy, it wasn't my favorite day.

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The following day we spent at Water Country USA. The water factor made this park much more tolerable, though I don't have pictures. My favorite was the 45 minutes we spent as a family floating around the lazy river on tubes. It was especially nice after my 10 mile run that morning.

On our final day we went to Colonial Williamsburg. This was, by far, my favorite place to visit. I love early American (or any country) history. I love imagining what life was like then. Here the kids got to water a colonial style vegetable garden and Rob and I got some ideas of how to improve our vegetable garden for next year.

The kids also got to participate in some colonial children's games. I had fun taking a whack at it myself.

Unfortunately, after about an hour the kids were hot and ornery from our previous days adventures. We ended the day much earlier than I would have wish, but Rob and I vowed to return soon sans children and really enjoy the place.

Addie's 7th Birthday

August 10th, 2010

Addie's 7th Birthday!

The "sugar cereal breakfast in bed" tradition.

Addie, so caring as usual, shares her breakfast with her brother.

Littlest Pet Shop from Grandma Mann.

And a webkinz, too!

A doll from mom and dad. I just love it when they ask for dolls. So much fun!

This year for the birthday day party, we braved a sleepover with a few friends. I must say that an overnighter with 3 friends is easier than a 2 hour party with 6 friends.

Friends: Tori Bergstrom, Kate and Emma Worth.

Still on a horse kick, Addie requested a horse cake.

And of course, the traditional party pinata.

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Happy Birthday to my sweet Addie. I can't believe you're seven already.

Girl's Camp

Gastonia Stake Girls Camp 2010

at Camp Wayfayer in Hendersonville, NC.

Theme: Follow the Yellow Brick Road

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When my dear friend, Sandy, returned from Girls Camp 2009 as the Stake camp director, I immediately began "campaigning" for Ward Camp Leader. Since only two leaders from each ward get to go (the other being the YW president), I knew that was my only chance. It may sound crazy that I wanted to go to "camp" with 200 teenage girls. Not at this camp. We slept in cabins with bunks, had delicious meals prepared for us by our fantastic kitchen crew, swam in the lake and pool and danced the night away in the huge outdoor covered gym. This was NOT roughing it. You may think that those luxurious defeat the purpose of Girl's Camp. However, all of our girls have a wonderfully uplifting experience while still completing the requirements for camp certification.

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With Sandy once again in charge the whole thing was a huge success with every person contributing. All the adult leaders and youth leaders had multiple jobs to keep the camp running smoothly. I was put as the 1st level leader meaning I slept and tried to keep track of nearly thirty 12-13 year old girls. Needless to say there was some drama, but still a blast.

Here we are in the covered gym doing one of our many line dances. I don't remember the last time I danced that much. It was a good thing to considering how much delicious food we were being fed.

For one night we gave the kitchen crew the night off and the girls cooked the dinner with their wards in the great outdoors. Our girls made fajitas, which may not be a traditional camp food, but it turned out fantastic and we actually ended up feeding a couple wards that has less success cooking their dinners than we did.

Victoria Durant, Shaylene Perez and Camille Baldwin looking good while waiting for dinner.

One of the best parts of camp was "the blob". We each took turns jumping off the platform and catapulting the each other into the water. Our fabulous priesthood leaders were always the best at catapulting the girls the highest.

This fun night was entitled "Games in Oz". Lots of different games-this one being about trust- called the tornado drop.

This game was called "Ruby Slipper Hopscotch".

Here's all the first level girls.

Silly version of first level girls.

Listening to the morning announcements while eating our delicious breakfast in the dining hall.

Tri Two

On July 24th I took part in my second triathlon at YMCA Camp Thunderbird at Lake Wylie. It was my first lake swim and the choppy waves proved to be a challenge. I think I preferred it to the pool swim, however.

Kathryn Hall and Alison Bergstrom.

My fellow triathletes.
Heather Woolley, Kathryn Hall, Cami Slaughter, Alison Bergstrom, Me.

This time around I finished 2nd in my category and my good friend Alison finished 3rd.

Here are the breakdown of the distances and my times.

700 meter swim: 19:41

10 mile bike: 33:42

5K run: 30:16

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This course was more difficult than my first triathlon. The run was a total roller coaster of hills. I'm actually surprised it only took me 30 minutes considering I walked a lot of it, but so did most the other racers-the hills were that bad.

Butterfly Menagerie - JULY

One of the kids favorite summer activities is climbing the fence to reach the butterfly bush in our neighbor's yard. They only have to sit still a moment before one comes within reach. They created a butterfly habitat in their bedroom complete with fresh flowers and sugar water for food. Unfortunately, the kids weren't gentle enough to turn the creatures free unscathed.

Addie created a bracelet from one of the butterfly bush flowers.