Trying again!

Oh no! I've become that blogger who lets her blog go for months at a time! But, thank goodness, I can just try again. After all, you haven't failed until you've stopped trying. (which, ironically, is also my dieting motto. whole different story there...)

Quick update on all that has been going on here the past few months:

Our big project has been our basement. Yes, I know, we finished it 4 years ago. But Aaron had a bad case of basement envy (so many people have done such cute things with their basements, and every time we went to visit someone else, you could see it in his eyes: "Look, they have an exercise room..." or "Wow, a theater room" or "what a fun game room" or "wouldn't a second kitchen be awesome???"), and so he decided to redo our basement. Luckily, the bedroom/bathroom area has remained untouched. And by untouched, I mean at least the rooms weren't demolished. But they were filled with drywall dust. We've got them mostly cleaned and now they're ready to paint... again... (Jordan wants brown walls and Zach and Caeden want a blue room. We'll see what we get done in the next few weeks.)But the paint project is separate from the whole "remodel" project, which consisted of ripping out our big rectangular family room and making it into 3 separate areas using arches, cabinets, and flooring changes. So of course we had to change around all the electrical wiring and plumbing, too. Anyway, we now have a basement kitchen, a game room, and a tv room with surround sound. I think I may miss my big play room, but it does look pretty good. And Aaron is very happy ~ and because he did the lion's share of the work, that's what is most important. For the past 2 months, he has been working his 10 hour days and then coming home and putting 4-5 hours in on the basement. We are so glad that this project is finished! Now I just need to finish deep cleaning all of the construction dust which has imbedded itself into every corner of the house... Aside from our house projects, life has been going on and the boys continue to grow. (I guess that's what I get from feeding them.)

Let's go through life boy by boy...

Jordan: Just turned 13! Finished first year of middle school. Survived. Ran a 5K with me last month. Smoked his mom by 3 minutes. Got braces.(I think he looks more like a teen, which makes sense because he is!) Has been invited to join the "pre-competition" swim team at the rec center. Thinking he will do it. Did great in the school play, but decided to take ceramics next year instead of theater. Theater teacher was bummed, but she'll get over it. Has decided he wants to be a computer graphics designer - that's why I want him to swim, too. A kid has got to have balance in his life! He was so excited when his piano teacher decided to take June and July off to care for her mother, because it means he's done with piano - although his mean mother is making him learn a hymn a week. He is almost done with eagle required merit badges, and is starting to look for a project. We're thinking he may finish by the end of the year.

Zach: He has decided that he is "Zach," not "Zachary," which I can handle, but I still get to call him Zachary at home. He finished 5th grade. Zach has had a few run ins with regard to bullies (just one example - he kicked a bully who had his friend in a headlock in order to save his friend, and then he and the bully had to sit side by side in the principal's office and received the same punishment! which I thought was terribly unfair. We had the whole "we don't fight at school" and "what to do when a bully is attacking" talk, but Aaron took him out for ice cream afterward for having the guts to stand up for his friend), and a few other issues this past year, and so I have switched him to a charter school, Hawthorne Academy. It will mean he'll be on a traditional schedule like Jordan, and the curriculum is an IB curriculum, which means that they study subjects more deeply and broadly, instead of pushing them up a level when they get bored. It is exactly what he needs. He is smart enough to be in ALPS (Advanced Learning Program for Students - the same program Jordan is in), but he doesn't want to be one of the "nerds", and I am thinking (hoping) a change of pace will do him good. He also has passed off the swim skills to join the pre-comp swim team, and is still in piano lessons - which he enjoys, as long as he doesn't have to admit it. Still doing scouting, and will be playing soccer in the USA league this year. Still has that tender heart, loves the color red, and anything sweet.

Caeden: Turned 8 in March, got baptized, and his mom finally got his baptism blanket finished 2 months after his birthday. (yes, I'm a slacker. deal with it.) He finished 2nd grade, and is doing well, except for his handwriting. What is it with boys and handwriting??!? He is keeping busy with scouting, bike riding, and friends. He is my most social boy. He is taking a lot of teasing because he was caught holding hands with a sweet girl during track. And to be honest, it serves him right. Geesh. But he's not letting the teasing bug him. Is that a good or a bad thing? Caeden is on the waiting list for Hawthorne for next year. I'm not sure how this will pan out, but he likes his class at the neighborhood school and doesn't want to leave, so maybe it won't be such a tragedy if he doesn't get in. Although, he'd be the only boy in our family on year round school. Ugh. He is such a strong kid, and his soccer coach invited him to play goalie on his winter team team, so Caeden played indoor soccer this winter. This fall, he'll play in the USA league, like Zach. The USA league has more structure and learning than the rec league they've been playing on the past few years so we're thinking maybe it will help them step up their skills. He's a sweet little bugger, and still has that teasing streak. Dude, a serious teasing streak. Like, if a child is screaming, it's probably because Caeden is in the same room with him. I love my Caeden.

Jacob is still Jacob. We are discovering he is a brilliant kid. He starts kindergarten in the fall at the charter school with Zach, and is reading almost as well as Caeden. It took about 2 days for him to figure out how to blend the letters' sounds, and then he was off and reading. We've been trying to figure out if Jacob is just Jacob or if there was something a little different that needs a some attention. And after observing him at pre-school and being his primary teacher, we have had some behavioral evaluations done. Officially, they're thinking it's ADHD, with an emphasis on impulse control issues. We tried some medication, but it just brought out obsessive compulsive behavior, so I took him off of it before we even went back to the doctor. We have worked with a behavioral psychologist, but she wanted to pull him out of his academic preschool program and put him into a behavioral therapy program, but Jacob is smart enough to know that he was being "demoted." And besides, his preschool was working so well with him, providing positive reinforcement, and he was academically soaring. And he was surrounded by kids who didn't have problems. The behavioral preschool would have been with half the kids, and twice the teachers, but it just didn't feel right, so I decided to not do what they suggested. So now we're working with a psychologist who is helping us make sure that we have the right diagnosis, and decide what we can do to help. I still have panic attacks now and then about Jacob. My biggest fear is that we will lose him one day. I think it's just residual fear from his (literal) death-defying leap from the window, but I still don't feel fully comfortable leaving him with others watching him. (I still do it, fighting my fear, but can't fully relax until I am almost home and can see that there's no ambulance or police car in my driveway.) He is always on the move, and not always aware of his surroundings. I still don't let him play in the front yard unattended, because he just doesn't get the whole "look before crossing the street" thing. What I love the most about Jacob is how loving he is. I love how he comes up to me and gives me huge full body hugs and tells me how much he loves me. In fact, his biggest complaint about his mom at one of his behavioral therapy sessions was "She just loves me too much." I guess I can live with that.

Levi is 3 now! And for the first time in 13 years, I don't have anyone in diapers. Amazing, isn't it! Levi loves me, and I love him. He usually wants me and only me, and sometimes it gets tiring, but since he's my baby, I put up with it. He is talking and being understood, can tattle on his brothers, and loves to jump and play right along with them. There is definitely a difference between the things that a first child says and a 5th child. Levi makes me laugh with his "Will you just stop talking to me!" or "What the crap?" (yeh, he gets that second one from his dad.) He can identify pokemon, and his favorite show is "Go Diego Go!" He is coming out of the "do everything for me" stage and now it's all about "let me do it!!!" and "My turn!!!" We have to have 2 family prayers every night. One where the person whose turn it is says the prayers, and a second one for Levi to say the prayer. What are we going to do? Tell him "No, you can't pray."? He has to have 3 books read to him every night. Thankfully, Jacob (yes, Jacob) will read at least one of them, then we read the rest. And we can't forget the drink. If he falls asleep before he gets it, he will wake up in the middle of the night and ask for a drink. His schedule is very important to him! Oh, he's a sweet guy! And he makes me laugh!

As for Aaron and I, we are just plugging along. Aaron is busy with work and scouting, and we're still waiting to see if we are going to be transferred to Washington DC. Stupid government. It's ok for them to take 3 months to make a decision, but will only give us 2 weeks to move a whole staff there and start the job. Although, at this point, we're thinking we didn't get the job. If we had, we probably would have some feedback on the bid by now. So we're just moving on as if we're staying, and unless we hear something, I'm just not going to worry about it. As for me, I am tired. I finally decided to get a few tests done to check thyroid and hormone levels. Normally, I get a small measure on energy back after having a baby, but it's been three years since I had Levi and I'm still dog tired half the time. I'm trying to lose weight - in fact, I've been running 3-5 days a week for almost 2 years now, and yet have gained another 20 lbs! So I'm now officially as heavy as what I was 9 months pregnant with Jacob and Levi. So sad! Am I tired because I am fat, or am I fat and tired because of low thyroid? Turns out it's a combination of things, and I'm trying a few medications. So far, I'm feeling a little better, and getting more done. Also started weight watchers again, and I'm hoping the combination of the two will make me feel normal again!

And around us, life is going well. My brother is finally back from Afghanistan! YAY! He had 2 coworkers and friends killed a not too long ago, and one of the reasons it wasn't my brother was because it wasn't his day to travel. He was on the ground and encountered dangerous situations every day. He joked about it (Like when he told us about rocket that flew over the building where he worked, and why we shouldn't worry about it: "You can't expect to get an accurate trajectory when firing from the back of a donkey." Or his theory of why so many terrorists come from Afghanistan: "It's the plumbing. It backs up so often that it makes you want to kill someone."), but I was so stressed about it. It was different having him on the ground working for the "lethal targeting unit," compared to the other times he had been deployed and was mostly in the air. So glad he's home!

So there's the update! I'm going to try to get pictures up and catch up on things that have been going on. I still want to put our pictures up from Nauvoo (last summer's vacation!) plus since then we have had family reunions, camping trips, and generally fun things happening. Life is good, and I want to remember that. Especially when I am swamped with crying boys who are mad because their brothers aren't doing what they want them to do... like right now... guess I need to go and get back to mothering...

I love my boys!