Cleaning, Grooming, and Catching up

I've closed my etsy shop for a few days and I feel brand new. I didn't realize how much I worked until I stopped working. I still have a few orders to catch up on and honestly dreaded getting another sale. I promised myself that when it got to that point, I'd take a break.

So, I'm taking a little break. A break to renew myself, pay my bills, organize my house, give the boys haircuts, take them to the park, clean the kitchen and just plain pay more attention to my family!

The boys' room. I love it! Especially when it is clean. There's not a lot of room for playing, but all the essentials fit in there. They have really enjoyed falling to sleep together. I remember that being one of my favorite types of memories with my sister. I always loved sharing a room with her!

Here's Tyler's letter R rabbit ears. They must have talked about frogs too, because he hopped around the house with his rabbit ears saying "ribbit, I'm a rabbit, Ribbit, ribbit!" It was so funny! He has had a ton of fun this week at Luke's. On the way home he said, "Mom, I want to do that again." I asked him what he wanted to do again and he said "That. Preschool." :) Thanks Hillary!

Jackson has really funny hair. It is perfectly straight on top, and in the back it is fuzzy and sticks straight out. It has a really thick course texture too-- I call it Katie hair! (Good thing she's a girl and she gets to have it long and pretty!)

So, I decided to trim the back to see if that would calm it down. I think it looks much better.

It was so funny as I was trying to take a picture of the back of him, he just kept turning and turning as I did. But he was looking straight up at me, so he kept falling over. I was laughing so hard, I couldn't even take a good picture!!

I cut Tyler's hair this morning too, so I'll take one when I do the boys hair today for our Target trip today!

How I've Missed You!

Dear Blog,

Sorry I've been away for so long. I have New Year's Resolutions. None of them are to update you because I'm already too good at that. I have been cleaning and organizing, prioritizing my time, and spending one-on-one time with my 3 boys.

Since we've been back, I have:

-Moved Tyler and Jackson in the same room. I needed my sewing room back and a calm master bedroom space. The boys have done pretty well together and I had to massively organize their closet to make all their clothes, toys and furniture fit in one room. But I feel like it is the right thing. I've solidified their nap/sleeping schedule and they are already bonding more.

-Cleaned my bedroom and bathroom. If you've seen my master bed/bath in the last 6 months, I'm so sorry. It contained all of the following: bed, clothes, sewing machine, measuring/cutting area, inventory, play place for the kids to sit while I work, mess! They say don't put work in your bedroom, so true. I could never relax. I moved it all back into the bedroom Jackson used to be in and now it is all under control. I walk into my room and breathe. I love it. If you'd like a tour of my house now, I'm not ashamed anymore, I'll show you!

-Taught preschool twice. We did the letter "p" and square shapes. We had a blast!

(p-post coming soon!)

-Taught a private art lesson. I am going to be teaching art lessons again! I'm so excited. I love all the resources there are online now! I'll show you some great projects when we get to them.

-Worked on orders. It's amazing what a 2 week break can do to your stress level. I left frazzled, overwhelmed, and sick (I think mostly from exhaustion.) I came back with a killer cleaning bug (think nesting hormones- luckily it's not from pregnancy this time), and tons of energy to get it all done.

I am determined to become a better person. My 2010 goals include reading my scriptures daily, saying personal and family prayers daily, spending time with each family member individually, keep my house presentable and allow for the spirit to dwell, and do something nice for someone else daily. It's amazing how when that is what I pray for, Heavenly Father allows for me to be in the path of someone who's in need. I have already had 2 great experiences where I have been in the right place at the right time to help someone who needed it.

When I make time for the important things first, my attitude is better and somehow there is always enough time to get it all done.

I still need to update my blog from our trip: Wolfe Christmas, Clark Christmas, Jackson's Birthday, New Years, so much to do! I'll have to do it slowly so that I can keep doing the important things in the process. Self control is a hard one when it comes to spending time online!!

I have loved reading your blogs and thanks for the updates. I love how close I feel to family members and friends who I haven't seen in so long!

Love,

Kirsti