Crazy Dayz

I have been meaning to update for a while. Of course my perfectionism has been getting the best of me and I've wanted to start at the beginning of the year, and that task is a little daunting at the moment. It's insane I know... if I can't do something "perfect" (at least in my mind) then I don't do it at all. I frustrate myself because I keep getting further and further behind. So I am going to step out of my "perfect" box and give you the low-down on our April.

We've been doing most of the same things we normally do (preschool, church, library) with one huge exception... we've actually been able to play outside a lot! The kids had spring break from the 7th-11th and we were lucky to have great weather. Unfortunately, Brandon didn't have the same break :0( But the kiddos and I have had a lot of park time and we have loved every minute of it. I especially love how all of this hard work (play) makes them crash at night. The first chance we had we went to the toledo zoo and oh boy was that an event! My kids get a little excited at the zoo... it's so much fun. Landon had a rough time at the end of our visit but that is to be expected since it was late in the afternoon and he tends to get too tired some afternoons. My Lando Commando has some interesting sleep habits. Pretty much every night he talks/yells in his sleep... it could go on for minutes or sometimes a couple of hours. It is so strange because sometimes he seems to be asleep when he's talking and other nights he is definitley awake. Those semi-sleepless nights make him have a hard time the next afternoon. But if I let him nap then he will definitely wake up during the night so it's just a vicious cycle. I have to be honest though... most of his episodes are quite funny. He has a conversation with himself and he'll change his voice for each character. At first we thought Levi and Landon were both talking (this has been going on since he was about 18 months), but nope, it's just Landon. The ironic part is that Levi sleeps through it all! I guess he's used to it. When they were infants Levi wouldn't calm down until Landon was right next to him... even if he was screaming in his ear, Levi would fall asleep. I do worry sometimes about Landon though because it's not good for him to have interupted sleep. Maybe we'll need to have him do some sleep tests to see if he is getting the rest he needs. The other night when he was putting on his nightly show, I went in to try to get him to lay down and relax enough to fall back asleep. So I told him that he really needed to get his rest because he had a busy day tomorrow. He instantly grinned and responsed..." because I am going to Costco?" I guess a busy day means we're going to costco, which we weren't. It is not a big secret that I love costco and obviously my kids do too.

I also love IKEA! Especially since the kids can play for an hour while the adults shop alone... just remember to bring socks, we had to make a quick run to the dollar store becasue we forgot them. We went there last Friday and everyone had so much fun. We finally found an affordable easel for painting! One side is a chalkboard but we just tape the paper to that side so the boys can paint at the same time. All of the kids have been painting at least once everyday. They always asked me to paint but I only allowed it about once a week becasue it was so messy at the table and on their clothes. So I LOVE having an easel... they even wear their smocks when they paint at the easel... they don't like to wear them at the table. Needless to say we have more masterpieces then we know what to do with!

I cut everyones hair over the weekend. Isabelle now has a bob again. She looks cute with short hair and we get along better because I don't have to struggle with her to do it. It's so much easier and it suites her. I totally understand why my mom always kept my hair short when I was young... my daughter is too much like me... stubborn! I will post pics tomorrow because it's late and I am tired.

Lastly, I got to go to the temple with our relief society. It was so great. I need to go more often. I can't even put into words how wonderful it was!

Seriously... lastly, Brandon was on a mock jury for a day and got paid for it! Whoo hoo that will help pay for our trip to Colorado! More details later...