New Couches And Other Random Things

In my scripture study recently I've been studying the scripture mastery verses. It's been a fun experience and has given my study a focus rather than just forcing myself to get through a chapter each day.

I got to pick out my new couches over the weekend and John and my dad got rid of our old ones on Saturday. They were falling apart rapidly and hurt me if I tried to sit on them for longer than 30 minutes. My new ones came on Tuesday and we're all loving them. I think my mum was surprised that I got chocolate brown ones, because I always tell her she uses too much brown in her house. I actually like brown here and there, as long as there's other colours to help brighten things up. So that being said, my mum has ordered me new curtains for my living room that are a nice bright green and white that will look great with the brown and really brighten up the room.

3 of us have had pink eye over the last week (Caleb, Ty and I), but we're all in the clear now, thank goodness. Pink eye is horrible for me because I'm allergic to the drops. I suffered through them for 48 hours though to get rid of the infection.

We got our family photos on Sunday and I've used a few of them to update this site.

Brettley had his last pre-op appointment on Monday. I will be so glad after this surgery is done, and hopefully it'll be the last one. John also shampooed a bunch of my carpets that day since I'm not able to use the machine anymore with my back being so bad. I've been keeping my house really clean and that always makes me feel great.

I have now lost 10 lbs so far and earned $20 in iTunes money. I'm now working on the next 10 lbs to earn a book that's coming out in August that I've really been looking forward to.

Today is Caleb's last day of grade 1. I'm not sure if I'm excited for him to be home for the summer or not, and he told me this morning that he feels the same. He and I both thrive on routine, so Christmas, Spring and Summer break are all really hard for us. Hopefully it'll go well and we'll have a great summer.

Father's Day and Goings On

I don't even remember why I didn't blog last week, I just remember that something was up and I couldn't. I 'think' it's because I spent most of last week being super sick to my stomach for no apparent reason, but don't quote me on that. This week was a lot better health wise. We didn't do anything too big for Father's Day. John got his present early a couple of months ago. He'd REALLY wanted this miniature of a Balrog (fiery demon in the mines in Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring) that he can put together for a very long time, so I finally bought it for him as an early Father's Day and birthday present (it's about $75). We got him some cards, Caleb gave him stuff he made at school and Ty gave him a box for his tie clip that he made out of Popsicle sticks (I may have helped...).

In the way of exciting news, I've recently lost 4.6 lbs and am still going strong. John has offered to bribe me by buying me something every time I lose 10 lbs. My first prize will be an iTunes card, which I'm very excited to get.

Caleb is on his last field trip of the year today, next Thursday is his last day of grade 1. Ty got his preschool immunizations on Tuesday and got a milkshake with Daddy after. Brettley had his pre-op physical yesterday with his pediatrician. She told John that she's confident that Brettley's development will be caught up by the time he starts school, which was AMAZING news to hear.

I think that's about all that is new, though. Enjoy the first day of summer tomorrow!

Change of Plans

Brettley got his surgery date yesterday for his next eye surgery. It is on July 8th, and before then he still needs a physical done as well as a final measurements appointment, not to mention Ty's immunizations in there as well. Needing time off for all of the important appointments means that we won't have enough time to go to Magrath next month like we'd planned. We're a bit bummed about it, but also agree that it will help us in other aspects to not go, so it's pretty easy to accept.

Caleb had his piano recital on Saturday and did well. He really enjoyed it and looked so dapper in his suit and tie.

Ty has finally started being reverent during sharing time. It only took 17 months for that to kick in, ha ha. He's just so excited about everything all of the time and doesn't really know how to contain it, but I'm so happy to hear that he's getting better in sharing time.

Not too much else going on here. My burn is healing well and John's doing good. That's life this week in a nutshell.

Ouch and Ouch and Reading

I really hurt myself this week. On Monday I was making Rice Krispies squares for FHE. I was so proud of myself for actually making something instead of just buying something, because I'm not a "let's bake perfect treats and make perfect handouts every single week" kind of a mom. For me, if we manage to have any kind of lesson that week then it's a win. So I got everything mixed up in my large cooking pot and transferred it to my lasagna pan to cool. There were a couple of things in my right side sink, so I rested the pot between the two sinks while I cleared it out. I moved the pot into the sink and started running hot water into it. As I was adding dish soap to the pot, I made the genius mistake of resting my arm where the pot had just been resting for the past couple of minutes, and proceeded to receive my first 2nd degree burn. It's been a very painful few days. My burn is about 5 cm long and about 1 cm wide and got a really nasty blister. So for the time being, FHE treats will not require a stove, ha ha. It's Caleb's turn to pick the treat for next week anyway, and he picked Brown Cows (root beer and milk), so I'm good to go for that :)

I also read a new book. The Selection by Kiera Cass
I really enjoyed it, enough that I'm anxiously awaiting the sequel from the library. The sequel was just released last month, so once I've read it I'll have to wait quite a while for the next one. Anyway, reading the book I think to myself "I think I've read this story before in a few other books", but it's entertaining enough to keep me highly interested. I'd recommend it for a casual read.

Enjoying The Sun

We had family photos taken last Saturday by one of the young women in our ward. Her mom said she got some really cute ones, so I'm looking forward to seeing them soon and being able to update the pictures on here, since the kids have changed so much in the last year.

We've also been enjoying using the BBQ now that the weather is warmer out. We had a few days where it was abnormally hot for that time of the year. Days like that make me wish that it was normal for AC in houses here, but it's just not worth it for the small amount of unbearable heat that we get in a year. I am thinking that we might be spending some time in the basement this summer though. Guess I'd better get their little air hockey table set up down there.

Bretts has been absolutely loving the nice weather and would be outside 24/7 if he could. He is walking and running and jumping so well and his speech has improved so much. We are so happy with all of the progress he's made.

Ty is so excited for Kindergarten. We told him that he would start after Auntie Rachel has her baby (she's due near the end of August), so now every morning he asks if Auntie Rachel has had her baby yet. I think school is going to be a great thing for him, and I'm sure he'll be the class clown. He still has me in stitches so often.

Caleb is loving grade 1 and just adores reading. He stops to read signs and other every day things all of the time. Today is his track meet, which he was very excited about. He is also almost done his first year of piano. He has learned so much and is really enjoying it. He has decided that he really wants to take it again next year, which I'm more than happy to do.

Not a lot else going on here at the moment, though. I just made a goal to start blogging once per week again, so I'm hoping Thursdays will be that day for me each week.

A Proper Update

Okay, I hide A LOT from my facebook about what's really going on with me, because not everyone on facebook needs to know everything about me. However, I made myself a promise a few years ago that I would be honest on my blog. Or, at least more honest than I am on facebook. There is a really good reason why I've been all but absent since October. I started seeing a psychologist, who is LDS and the first one that I've been able to easily work with. I started confronting the mental/emotional abuse I went through as a kid and the serious lasting effects it's had on my self-esteem and perception of my self-worth. It's been an incredibly emotional time for me learning just how much this has affected me and realizing just how much work will be involved in trying to fix the damage that it did.

Also, if I'm being truly honest here, I've really been struggling since the calling change. I miss Young Women a lot and it was something that kept me sane when nothing else would, so it was very hard to be released from that during such an emotional time. However, I am (very) slowly working through it. The Cubs are great boys, and that helps so much.

So there you have it, the reason I rarely post on my blog any more. I do have great support from my husband and my friend who first convinced me to go see someone. It's not all been bad, it's just been highly emotional. Mostly, it's just nice to finally feel like I'm dealing with the problem after 20 years. So if you don't hear from me often, it's not because I have nothing to say or I'm not fine, it's because I have a lot that I'm dealing with and the specific details of it aren't something I'm comfortable sharing in this setting.

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That being said, here's some updates for you. Caleb is home for spring break this week. He did quite well on his report card last week. He has been enjoying piano lessons (I think) and his teacher is always impressed with him. I'd love for him to keep it up, but he insists that he'd rather swim or learn guitar next year. Guess it will be swimming, because the deal with guitar was that he had to take 2 years of piano first.

Ty is his usual random self and keeps me quite entertained. We are both looking forward to him starting school in September. He's become quite proficient in using the TV, the computer and my iPhone. Sometimes I think it's bad that he's so good at it, but I think it's mostly a combination of his way of channeling his intelligence and it just being a generational thing. Especially my iPhone, since he normally only gets to use it if we're out at an appointment or something, which is very rare. Next month we get to go to his Kindergarten open house. Should be fun!

Brettley will be having another surgery in the near future for his eyes. The doctor said they could keep doing them until he's 7 as long as they're needed, but I'm pretty sure we'll stop after this one. His eyes improved drastically after the first surgery and he should end up looking pretty normal after this one, so I'd rather not do this to him again after this one if I can help it. He is catching up in his development. He can walk well, run and jump. He has hugely expanded his vocabulary and communicates quite a bit. He is very polite, using please and thank you a lot. It was such a relief to see and hear these changes in him and I'm not nearly as worried about this being a permanent issue anymore.

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Well, that's about it for now. I hope everyone enjoys their Easter this weekend.

When You Look At The Bishopric Member Like He's Crazy

It's been almost 2 months. Do I have an excuse? Not really. I just seem to never have anything to blog about. Except for my calling change. I discovered how much it sucks when you love your calling with an intense passion and then figure out that a release is coming but aren't sure of the when. The when ended up lasting about 3 weeks. I found out the last Sunday in February, and that first week before it was announced in sacrament meeting I was able to conveniently ignore it because I was still going to mutual and still had a Sunday left with the girls. Reality hit on Sunday as I held one of the Beehives while she cried. It was a tough few days for me at the beginning of the week. However, the sister that is now the current 2nd counselor is the exact person that I was hoping would be called to it, so I know that the girls are in great hands and that they'll have a wonderful experience with their new leadership.

I am now the Assistant Cub Leader. When the bishopric member called me to serve as that I kind of dropped my jaw, bugged my eyes out of my head and with an incredulous voice went "Really?!?". I think I was still in shock at that point too, being released was (for the first time) an incredibly emotional experience and I was bawling. I was very happy to find out that they new leader shirts are red now, though, instead of the tan that they used to be. I'm going to pick mine up this Saturday and I get to go to my first Cub meeting on Tuesday. I'm learning to be excited for my calling and the preparation it will give me for when Caleb turns 8 next year (say what?!?).

So yeah, that's what's going down. I lead such a boring life, ha ha.