March -- in like a lion, but not out like a lamb

Our March was busy.  Very busy.  And it never stopped.  The phrase "in like a lion out like a lamb" kind of describes our month.  March came in like a lion with all kinds of business and commitments. But it did not go out like a lamb.  We pretty much kept busy all month long.


Eye doctor

A few months ago, Hannah had her 1 year check up with her pediatrician.  They did a quick eye exam and recommend she go see a specialist.

So, we made an appointment and saw an optometrist.

The diagnosis: Hannah's left eye is not focusing as well as it should so she has to wear glasses for 1-2 hours a day with an eye patch on the other eye to help strengthen it.  It's not something she will have to do for the rest of her life, but if we don't take care of it now then she'll have major eye problems later in life.  For a few weeks she kept telling people "I can't see so I need glasses."

So she got to go shopping and pick out some glasses.  When she saw the glasses with Ariel on the side it kind of sealed the deal.

Crazy hair day

In honor of Dr. Seuss, Hannah's school has crazy hair day.

It's kind of hard to do her hair crazy with it so short (and with her not really wanting me to do her hair).  But her teacher had an awesome hair do that was very photo worthy.

Our new (used) vacuum

Our vacuum that we bought when we were first married is officially dying.  It doesn't suck anything up anymore, which is kind of a problem.  So, for a couple months we just stashed some cash in a "vacuum fund" envelope while keeping an eye out on Craigslist for a used vacuum.

I saw this Dyson vacuum and watched it for a few weeks to see if the price went down.  The price or vacuum didn't move so I emailed the lady and offered $150 for the vacuum ($80 off her asking price). To my surprise, she accepted and we are now the proud owners of a Dyson vacuum -- which is AWESOME by the way.  There is a reason why these vacuums are pricey, and now I know why.

St. Patrick's day

Hannah had a St. Patrick's day party at school the day before March 17th, and a leprechaun came to her school (though she didn't see it).  They followed tiny footprints to the library where there were some surprises for the kids, and when they came back to the classroom it was all messed up.

Hannah would not stop talking about the leprechaun footprints for the rest of the day.  So I told her "maybe the leprechaun will come to our house tomorrow."  Sure enough, he did.  Not only were their footprints around the house, but he left a "pot of gold" for her (by the way, Hannah made that little pot at preschool).

Easter

As I said earlier, March was just nuts for us this year.  Nathan and I got asked to speak on Easter Sunday.  I had to spend a lot of time prepping for my talk due to it's unique assignment (I was assigned to talk specifically about Mary Magdalene).  So we were very distracted on painting the house (more on that below), and prepping for our talks that we kind of forgot about the Easter bunny.

Luckily though, the Easter bunny remembered to come at 4:00 am on Easter morning!  Yep, I heard it.  Not only could I hear it stuff the eggs with money and then hide them in the house, I also heard it squeal as it noticed a HUGE spider!

After the Easter bunny left I fell back asleep.  Hannah awoke around 7:00 am and came running into our bedroom saying "IT'S EASTER!  IT'S EASTER!"  It took some extra love for me to get up from a nice sleep and go out to see what the Easter bunny brought.  Hannah on the other hand, was full of energy and excited.

After church, we had dinner at some friends house, and then we came home and crashed from being so tired.


FPU class comes to an end, but brings new beginnings

Our FPU class that we hosted came to an end and it was a bitter sweet experience.  We had such a great group, and the camaraderie was amazing.

We ran some stats for our class:

Of the 8 households that attended, the average household paid off $5,000 in non-mortgage debt and saved $1,900 in the course of 9 weeks!  Oh, and there were 19 credit cards closed and cut up too! How amazing is that?!

Well, it was so inspiring for us that we are actually setting up to host another FPU class.


Painting

Well, this is pretty much the same reason we've been so tired this month.  I have painted 5 rooms in 5 weeks.  I am learning of muscles that I never even knew I had.  I took some after pictures with my phone, but I didn't have much luck with the lighting.  And I can't use my regular camera because it's broken at the moment.  Sigh.  So, these after shots will just have to suffice for the time.

Guestroom before:

Guestroom after (and we are getting a new bedding set):

Guest bathroom before:

Guest bathroom after:

Master bathroom before:

Master bathroom after (it's a very pale, pastel green that's hard to see in this lighting):

Master bedroom before:

Master bedroom after (I can't get a good picture of my bed on my phone with the lighting):

Kitchen before:

Kitchen after (I'm not putting my decorations on top of my cupboards until the dining room and living room are painted.  Sanding creates too much dust):

Women's broadcast

Every 6 months The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a Women's conference broadcast, and it is truly amazing.  Well this year, my mother-in-law got to sing in the choir.

As the broadcast started we gathered around the computer and told Hannah we were going to look for Grandma.  And we saw her!  Lots of times.  Each time we saw Grandma we pointed her out to Hannah and she would clap.  It was a very precious and tender moment.

Well, that wraps up March.  We've got two rooms left paint in the house, and I will be so grateful for when they are done.  Despite the busy schedules, we have had a very pleasant March.  Spring has definitely come and we are embracing it with open arms.

Fabulous February

February was pretty fabulous this year, except one thing (I've written about that below).


Books

For the year of 2016, I have written down 8 books that I would personally like to read.  I finished one in January but I forgot to blog about that. The book was called Boundaries with Kids by Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend.

The book is about raising kids to take responsibility for their actions, attitudes, and emotions.  The authors give the ins and outs of establishing the kind of character in your children that will help them have well balanced, productive, and fulfilling lives as they head towards adulthood.

It was a great read and I learned a lot about myself as a parent. Some good, and some not so good. Every parent makes mistakes, and it turns out I am one of them.

This month, I finished another book: 10 Habits of Happy Mothers by Dr. Meg Meeker.

Mom's are expected to raise perfect kids, look good while doing it, have a house that is spotless, be the perfect wife, and some have careers that pay good salaries.  Basically, mothers are expected to do it ALL.  I don't know about you, but that can be intimidating.

Dr. Meeker has 25+ years experience as a practicing pediatrician and counselor.  She wrote this book to help mothers learn how to handle all the things they are challenged with by incorporating 10 habits:

1. Understand your value as a mother
2. Maintain key friendships
3. Value and practice faith
4. Say no to competition
5. Create a healthier relationship with money
6. Make time for solitude
7. Give and get love in healthy ways
8. Find ways to live simply
9. Let go of fear
10. Hope is a decision -- so make it!

Working out and dancing

I go to a Zumba class a few times each week and it is a lot of fun.  I have always enjoyed dancing, and it's a great work out too.

One night our instructor wanted me to wear this Zumba belt/skirt during class.  She thought I would enjoy making some noise while we shook and wiggled our hips.

Well, she was right -- I did enjoy it.  In all honesty, wearing that skirt made me work my core more by shaking and wiggling my hips, which gave me a more thorough workout.

Hannah also enjoys doing a few Zumba workouts.  We pull some videos up on youtube and she goes to town.  Maybe one of these days she'll get to come to class with me.  Now that would be fun!

Hannah has still enjoyed doing some ballet with Daddy.  We stumbled across a Snow White ballet on youtube a few weeks ago and this is now the new favorite.  Every time I see them doing ballet together it just melts my heart.

Bout of cold weather

Generally, the weather has been awesome this month and we have had a warm February all in all.  But there was a period in the month where we got a cold batch of weather.  That, we did not enjoy.

Brr.

Chiropractor

This is the main part of February that we did not enjoy: Torticollis (aka -- stiff neck).

I don't know what I did, but on Valentine's Day (Sunday) I strained a muscle in my neck that caused it to pull a disc out of place.  So I walked around with a cocked neck and could barley move it for a few days.  It was terrible and the pain was at times unbearable.  If I could have received an epidural for the neck I would have gladly taken it.

When Monday morning came I went and saw my chiropractor.  In fact, I saw him 5 times in a 5 day window.  He adjusted my neck and by day five I was back at 95% mobility.  Thank you Tony for giving me my life back!

During that same week of me having a stiff neck, Nathan fell and slipped on some ice (ouch!). It knocked the wind out of him so much that it made him a little disoriented.  So, back to the chiropractor we went.  We are pleased to report that there is no damage done there.  Again, thank you Tony!

Valentine's Day

Despite having cold weather, and me dealing with Torticollis, Valentine's Day was fun this year with Hannah.

She helped make Valentine's for her preschool friends.

Nathan and I exchanged gifts as well.  Nathan found out he was able to donate plasma again (after being deferred for 8 weeks) so he went and did that to help bring in some extra income for us.  It was a thoughtful gift and I appreciate his willingness and sacrifice.

I made Nathan a "paying off student loans" progress chart for his office at work.  He mentioned to me the other day that he would like something to put in his office so he can look at it daily (we have another type of progress chart in our home).

He was very happy and surprised.

We also made some sugar cookies too, and Hannah helped put sprinkles on them.

Nathan did a fun Valentine's Day gift for Hannah.  He checked out from the library a day pass to the Discovery Science Center here in town.  Hannah has been into science and space lately, so this was a perfect gift for her.

Nathan had some fun with it though and made a scavenger hunt for Hannah to find the pass.  She loved it, but was very unhappy when the clues ended.

But she became happy again when we got to the science center.

Hannah had a lot of fun.  Great Valentine's Day gift daddy!  Her favorite thing was to jump on an electronic pad that calculated how high you jumped on the planets:

Painting

We have started painting our house -- by ourselves.  Yes, it is a big project!  We started a few days after Valentine's Day, and thus far we have painted 3 rooms: Hannah's room, the laundry room, and the entry way.  The sister missionaries have helped us out a lot by taping and prepping the rooms, and they have done an excellent job.  We could not have done this without their help.  Here are a few pictures of the rooms.

Hannah's room before:

Hannah's room after (the pictures don't do it justice):

Laundry room before:

Laundry room after:

Entry way before:

Entry way after (it look way better in person):

3 rooms down, and a whole lot more to go.  Next room to be painted: the guest bedroom/office

Miscellaneous stuff

Nathan and Hannah have had some fun together this month in the kitchen.  She really enjoys making pancakes with Daddy.  In fact, she will often tell me that she thinks our pancakes are the best.

When I buy cheese at Sam's Club (cheddar, mozzarella, etc.), I buy it in the solid blocks which means we always need to shred the cheese when we get home.  Well Hannah will often say in the store (quite loudly may I add) "Mommy, when Daddy gets home we can cut the cheese!"  I smirk every time, as do many other shoppers in the store.  It will be a sad day when she understands the meaning of that phrase and stops uttering it.

So, here they are cutting the cheese:

Hannah went to a birthday party for a friend and had the time of her life.  There were slides, things to climb on, video games, a jump house, etc.  We stayed for 2 hours and there was never a dull moment for her.

One evening, while Hannah was getting ready for bed, I noticed she was taking longer than usual.  I went to check on her to see what the hold up was and I found that she did her hair in clips:

One morning, I arrived at my Institute of Religion class early.  Hannah decided to help the teacher set up the chairs in the room.  It took her about 10 minutes to get 4 chairs up, but she did it!  She is always wanting to help out and it's very sweet.

Hannah has really enjoyed having sister missionaries serving in our ward.  She really enjoys the Plan of Salvation lessons that the missionaries do as well.  So they made a "life size" lesson just for her.  We are so lucky to have great missionaries in our area.

That folks, was our fantastic month of February.

10 Habits of Happy Mothers picture courtesy of megmeekermd.com

Boundaries with Kids picture courtesy of boundariesbooks.com