Resolutions Update

We had Spring Break last week, but with Gwen being sick for most of it, we really didn't do much. Well, we did take an epic trip to Aldi where I buried June with groceries.

But I guess when you hear that all of your friends were being buried in the sand at the beach for their Spring Break, it just doesn't quite compare.

I don't have much to say this week, so I thought it'd be a good time to report back on how my resolutions are going this year. 

I'm actually still thinking about them and even doing some of them, and it's the first time in my whole life I can say that in April.

1. No Yelling. Aiyaiyaiiiiii. I'm trying. I'm honestly trying. I'm still overall better but with tons of mistakes. 

Grade--C+

2. Preschool Gwen. I have actually been doing this (except today and yesterday when life happened)!!! So far, she knows all of her letters, uppercase and lowercase, from A through O. She puts alphabet magnets in order for me almost every day. We also trace numbers and shapes. It's all really chill and usually lasts about 30-45 minutes. 

Grade--A+

3. No Zillow. My eighth grade social studies teacher used to say, "Excuses are like armpits. Everyone has two, and they both stink." Well. Here are my two stinky zillow addiction excuses. 

I actually was doing REALLY well all through March, and then it snowed THREE times in April, and I had to think about living somewhere else so that I wouldn't yell at my children out of weather-driven angst (See Resolution #1). If I don't want to yell, I at least need to think that one day I won't be living in an ultra expensive place where you pay more in taxes so that you can get shovel your walk more often. That don't make no sense.

Also, I really like looking at houses on zillow. That's my other excuse. 

I'm back on the horse though and have not been looking the past several days. Days. Yes, I'm awesome.

Grade--B-

4. Pay Half of Our Student Debt. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. What a joke. We are actually going to save for a house instead, but it's killing me looking at that interest climb every month. Bleah.

5. Read Aloud. Yes! Doing it! Not an hour, but a lot! And we are enjoying it. I get my best book recommendations from Read Aloud Revival. Seriously, every book Sarah Mackenzie recommends my kids LOVE, and I love them too. We have even read some poetry, and it's gone over great. And I don't have to read some dumb Paw Patrol book. 

Grade--A+

6. Blog once a week. I don't know that I have technically blogged every single week, but I have as many posts as there have been weeks this year, so I'm calling it a win.

Grade--A

7. Podcasts. I still listen to a fair amount of podcasts, but my children have really developed their musical tastes lately and only want their favorite songs in the car. Gwen's favorite song is "Africa" by Toto, and there's nothing cuter than hearing her sing:

It's gonna take a lot to take me away from you
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had

It's just darling, and I encourage it. June's favorite is "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen and "Edge of Seventeen" by Stevie Nicks, which is probably a weird pick for a 6 year old girl but it talks about doves and "who who who". It's great.

Grade--C

8. Scriptures. I have started reading the Book of Mormon in Romanian. I haven't done that in years, and I am just loving it a lot.

Grade--B

A couple of stories this week--

Took Gwen to story time, as per usual. For the craft this week, I followed Miss Melissa's directions and made a rain cloud mobile. Gwen absolutely refused and made a bridge instead. Even when Dan got home from work, Gwen said, "Look, Dad. Mom made this for you."

And her bridge:

Also, Dan confessed a deep, dark secret to me this morning. He pulled me aside and said, "Heather, there's something I haven't been telling you."

He proceeded to say, "I saw some Easter candy on sale the other day when I was at the store . . . "

at which point I cut him off and started screaming, "CADBURY MINIS! CADBURY MINIS!"

And he said, "No. Starburst jelly beans."

"Oh," I replied. "Still good, but not the best."

To which he responded, "Well, I bought a bag but I've been hiding them in my car from you."

I ask you, my blog audience--is this what the modern marriage is made up of? Such disloyalty? Secrecy? Hiding candy from each other?

Yes, yes it absolutely is.

So he went and got the beans, and then we decided to see who could throw the most into their own mouths, and that was fun until it got boring, at which point, we started throwing multiples and seeing if we could catch them. We couldn't, and as they rolled all over the floor, Dan yelled out, "Don't worry--I'll eat the floor ones!" because he's the best and which is what redeemed him from the previous disloyalty. I then got really ridiculous and threw ten at Dan at the same time, and two bounced off his teeth and the rest hit him all over his face and none made it in his mouth. At which point we had to stop because there were thirty-four jelly beans all over the floor, and we are responsible adults who don't want anyone to trip and die on our kitchen floor.

We also don't want to explain to an ER doctor why a kid tripped over a bunch of jelly beans in our kitchen.

Church last Sunday. Two kids in spring wear and one in winter. Because we live in New Jersey, and you just never know.

And I'm on my last set of aligners! I'll do a before and after picture post in two weeks when I'm all done. I'm very pleased.

Now Dan has just left to go out of town for a week with work. Next week's post might just be a single picture of my girls eating jelly beans in their cereal bowls. Because that's how we roll when Dad's outta town.