Lists

I love making lists. I make a list for everything. So I find myself making a lot of "lists" on this blog-I think it is how my brain works. Anyway-this is what we have been up to lately. I have to charge our camera battery so-sorry no pictures!

-media fast. Our stake asked us to fast from "unnecessary" media the week prior to our ward conference. This was a few weeks ago, but I learned a lot. I learned that I depend (probably too much) on the media (mostly music) to calm down when I am stressed. I really didn't miss watching TV shows as much as I thought. I missed music way more than I thought-it was no longer fun for Clifton to let me run errands alone. It made me realize I do not have to be at the computer as often as I am. It was a good experience.

-We have been trying to fit in our little apartment better. So we boxed up some of the girls toys. We also got rid of our bed frame and put our bed on food storage boxes-it is really high, but we can fit more stuff underneath so we are happy with it. We have plans to install more shelves in our bedroom and bathroom. We have been eliminating-if you have any ideas on how to squish two adults and three kids in 600 square feet, let me know! :)

-Managing is getting exciting again. We are entering the crazy summertime. This one is going to be exciting with more kids and someone always seems to knock on my door when I am nursing Tyler.

-Casey can write her name. I cannot believe it. We have vinyl in her room that is right next to her now that she is on the top bunk. She just sits up at night and traces the letters with her finger. So she just wrote her name the other day out of nowhere. I still have to help her with her s's and she prefers to write a capital A instead of lowercase, but it is crazy that she can do so much. She is growing up and it scares me.

-Katelyn also scares me, but for a different reason. I have never seen someone so accident prone. It would be impossible to tell you all her accidents. She is a tornado going from one disaster to another. Some of them included: pushing her chair out from the table and falling on the back of her head, banging her forehead on her bed when she is bowing her head to pray, and running into the piano, wall, and door. The list goes on. She just makes me nervous.

-Tyler is a squeaker. So cute and his stubbornness is just starting to show through. He is still a easy going baby. He is a drool monster.

-I threw my sister-in-law a cowboy shower. It was so fun to plan. I thought I was being original, but it is a very common theme! I had lots of help-it was so nice. Sadly, I think it makes it more fun the more money you spend. So I think I am done with shower-throwing for a while. :)

-Clifton and I went on a fun date. We didn't do anything exciting. We took Subway to the park (we have Tyler with us so we are limited!) and just got to talk and have fun together. We went to Target (we buy way too many diapers) then we went to Dairy Queen and got a blizzard. It was so simple, but so nice. I love being married to someone that I can just be with and have so much fun.

-We went to Thatcher to go the Gila Valley Temple open house. I feel like a big part of our history is there. I was surprised how much I missed it. Everybody drove so slow-it was great! It made me miss the feeling of living in a small town. The open house was interesting. Katelyn would not put on the bootie things so she and Casey just wore socks. I am sure the people standing outside the port-a-potty thought Casey was dying the way she was screaming when I told her she had to go potty in there-I am so glad there were no flies in there. She is so afraid of flies and bees. Tyler cried the first half of the tour. He hardly ever does that. I am so glad that they have a temple there.

-Clifton has been playing the organ for our ward for the month of May-our regular organ player has been out of town. That means that I sit alone with the three kids. The first week was easy. Clifton's family was down here for my nephew Henry's blessing. So we sat with them and did not have a problem. The next week was a little trickier, but we did it. This last Sunday was a disaster. Tyler was cranky during the first part and during the sacrament. Clifton took him out during the first talk and he fell asleep. Clifton got up to play the organ for the intermediate hymn and Katelyn ran after him yelling "Daddy" I didn't catch her so she went all the way up front. So I had to walk up to the organ and take her screaming out in the hall while holding a sleeping Tyler. Casey came out too and we just sat on the couches for the rest of the meeting. Katelyn threw fits the whole time so I don't think I heard any of the second talk. The bishop told me later that it made him want to cry to see Katelyn go up there-it was so cute. I told him I wanted to cry too, but maybe for a different reason.