Growing pains...

I haven't written for a while for a few reasons. First it is hard to find the time. I have seriously been running as fast as I can all day long every day. I like to be busy, but I am busier than ever. It will be nice when I don't have to log in 3-4 hours at work daily. Right now I could use the extra hours.
Second I am kind of going through a hard time right now. I am okay, but my immediate impulse is to withdraw and shut down where I can. It is a private struggle, so I am not going to blog about it. It's very emotionally draining and if I dwell on it it is easy to feel lost. However, I find I need to hold on to the gospel and to the promptings of the Spirit. I am starting to get some promptings that feel right but I think will be hard to follow through on.  Life really isn't very simple right now. I am feeling the growing pains very well. Burying the issues isn't going to help, I need to dig through and work it out. It would be so easy to try to bury it back up and not deal with it.

The days aren't long enough

I have so much to share, the last few days have been so busy! I just have had no time, and I am working as efficiently as possible. After next week I will have more time since I won't be putting in full time hours. I have been putting in very full weekends and then trying for 3 hours a day. That takes a lot of effort. However I am really liking the direction I am taking at work. My focus is student education, both educating the students and coming up with lesson plans, and working as a resource for the Nurse Case Managers. That is right up my alley...I love to work directly with students and it fits what I need. This makes me the Nurse Student Education Specialist...I like the sound of that!!! Hopefully soon I can catch up here. I have been doing so much with the kids and helping Shaun and exploring school possibilities and just life. It's been crazy =)

Reading and writing program

At the soccer game, I met a lady who shared her favorite program for teaching reading and writing. I honestly have no idea where Kaitlyn is. Some days she won't put 2 sounds together, other days she will read half the words in a book. This program is well put together, and simple, funny and free. It is definitely worth a try.There is a little book that she and I read together, and then there are interactive exercises for writing.www.progressivephonics.com is the link for this program! Wish us luck!!!

Project: TV/Wii addict recovery

I've got just a wee (wii) bit of a problem, my son is addicted to tv. It doesn't matter what is on the tv, a show for Kaitlyn, a commercial, the news...whenever it is on, he zones out. When he doesn't know what to do he wants to watch tv, or play wii. He gets mad anytime I say no. I have had enough!  I discussed my problem with Shaun. Shaun is really hesitant to put a restriction on the kids that he wouldn't like for himself. Shaun's only way to wind down is to also watch tv. However, I explained the problem and we talked about a few possible solutions. He didn't like the "no tv for a week,"solution. My next idea was that he can have an hour a day...give or take according to my discression. This does give a little bit of freedom on my part, if we want a family movie, or if I want to reward with it I can. It's time for Kayden to find other ways to entertain himself. We'll see, the next few days might be a little rough.

Soccer!

Shaun and I took the kids to a homeschool soccer group. It was wonderful! The kids had an amazing time...surprisingly Kayden really seemed to enjoy it! He went from never having played to really participating and working with the team.

Kaitlyn was really funny to watch. She ran with her group, but didn't really connect. When she ran she had her airplane arms out. She had fun too, and that was what really mattered to me.

For me what was wonderful was seeing all these normal (I know what is normal?!) people who all homeschool their kids. Whenever I saw homeschoolers up in Oregon, so many of them were social misfits that I had very little in common with. There was none of that here! I have felt so isolated around here, and it turns out that there is a very large homeschool community full of people who are full of passion and who I have so much in common just below the surface. I am pretty excited about this!

Fun at Discovery Park

Confession: I am a park grinch. I really hate going to parks. I have avoided

going to them like the plague. Today however I found a park I was really impressed with, Discovery Park in Pleasant grove. It is huge and made for kids. It is age appropriate for my kids right now. It is almost all made of wood and looks like a pilgrim fortress that has been kidified. I really don't like parks that are all metal and garish colors. Both of my kids loved it too, though Kaitlyn had the most fun. I think we are going back soon!

To act or to be acted upon...there is a difference!

Every once in a while I get one of those A-HA moments where something I have heard or believe becomes something I know or something that hits reality. I learned something about myself last night. I had some time where I was putting recent puzzle pieces together about my recent past and experiences, and suddenly something became very clear to me. I really dislike having choices made or nearly made for me. I get resentful when someone makes decisions for me or corners me into a place where those decisions are practically made. However, if I am given the same (or similar) circumstance, while my choice might be the same, it truly makes a difference for me to make the choice, rather than for someone to choose for me. I have a feeling that this is a strong point in the make-up of my character. I get the impression that I fought very hard in the pre-earth life for this, because it is such an issue for me here. I suddenly can see this very clearly in every aspect in my life right now. I don't know if this makes much sense to anyone, but to me it is revelatory!