Bean's Dancing School: Spring Dance Recital 2014

I feel like with preschool and everything else we had going on this year, Bean's May dance recital kind of snuck up on me!  I loved the dance she did this year.  (She's the one on the far right.)  My goodness, how she's grown in the last year.  Again, I'm excited to see what the next year brings.

Here are all of the dancers waiting to go on stage.  I wasn't a "stage mom" this year and was able to just enjoy the show.  It was kind of nice!

I also loved her costume this year.  My favorite one so far!

Bean was very excited that she got her very own trophy this year (which is probably why it takes precedence in the picture over her face.)

I was so proud of her.  S and I looked at the trophy and said, "And so it begins..."

Welcome Back Summer!

We've been counting down the days all spring until we were able to go up to the cabin for the first time.  With my newly wide open schedule, we have planned several outings up to the cabin this year.  Our first venture was Memorial Day weekend.  

S wasted no time getting the grass cut, trees cut down, and branches trimmed.  Bean and Boy wasted no time finding as many dandelion parachutes as possible.

We headed to the river so that Bean could make some rocks splash.  We were way too far away.  Since they restructured the flow of the river by our cabin, it makes it a little less accessible.  But she had fun so I guess that's all that matters.

Our second day there was actually really chilly.  We walked to the neighbor's swings.  Boy was able to stay on long enough for me to get a picture.  He's still just a little too small for these swings.

I tried to teach them how to play jacks.  Boy was more interested in putting the ball in his mouth.  It was a very short game of jacks.

S burned 3-brush-piles-worth of sticks and timber.  The fire was literally going all day long.  But it being a cool and rainy day made it a perfect day to do it.  (And a perfect day to snuggle up with Boy and watch.)

Also, if you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you know what a big deal Wheeler Farm is to us during the summer.  We headed over for our first outing right before our trip to the cabin.  The weather was perfect.

Bean found her place on the tractor as usual.  (Incidentally, you know how some parents take a picture of their kids in the exact same spot each year to track their growth?  I think I have inadvertently made this our spot.)

It was fun that Boy was able to take a turn on it this year as well.  He was much more interested in the mechanics than he was getting his picture taken.

Baby lambs had just been born prior to our visit.

Oh my goodness, how cute...

Boy was old enough to go play in the playhouse this year too.  It was great just turning the two of them loose.  They had a lot of fun.

My Little Farmer Graduate

If you ever read my family blog (which I haven't posted in for over a year now. Yikes.) then you know that I was a little trepidatious about putting Bean into preschool.  We found Little Farmer's Preschool almost by accident and I am SO GLAD we did!  What an experience Bean would have missed out on if mommy hadn't put her walls down!

Little Farmer's Preschool is a school that operates on a fully functioning farm northeast of where we live.  They have the standard curriculum of any preschool: ABCs 123s and lots and lots of art projects.  But what set this school apart, for us, was that it would be part of the preschooler's responsibility to go and feed and take care of the animals and other 'farmly' duties.  It was such a great opportunity for Bean and, hearing her talk about how much she misses it now, I know she'll never forget it!

Going back to last September, there was a preschool orientation the day before school started.  Bean got a chance to go visit the farm and meet her teachers.

This is a picture of "stinky pig."  They don't actually give him a name because each year they slaughter stinky pig for Christmas dinner.  And what's even better is that they don't sugarcoat what's going to happen to the animal.  They are very honest with the kids.  I think that's awesome!

This is outside the chicken coop.  One of their responsibilities each day is to go gather the eggs from the chickens.  Bean now really, really wants a chicken coop for her backyard.  We are planning on getting one and I'm fairly certain that she will be very good at taking care of the chickens.

This is Bean on her first day of school at our home...

...and here she is at the school.

Now the next 9 months, sadly, are undocumented with photos.  We were literally there for drop-off and pick-up and that's it.  So, really, what happened during school was largely a mystery!  We did get a chance to go on the day Bean was star student and helped with a presentation on why she is the most awesome little 4-year old EVER!

Some of the highlights from her year include (and again most of this was what I gathered from our conversations driving home from school:)

• The pumpkin festival at Halloween and an awesome Halloween party
• Seeing the farm harvest up close
• Christmas.  Oh boy, was a I jealous.  I loved my Christmas parties when I was in elementary school.
• 100 Days Smarter party.  I guess these are a thing now?
• Bean's star-student day
• Easter time at the farm with a bunch of brand new baby animals
• A specialist came to the farm to teach animal husbandry
• Oh, yeah, and Bean learned how to read!  The reading specialist, Miss Sheri, would come every Wednesday and work with each child one-on-one.  Bean caught on really fast and was reading by the end of January.  Amazing!

The last day of school came around and I just remember feeling so sad that this was all over!

She seems like she's grown up so much in the last year.  I can't imagine how much different she'll be at the end of Kindergarten!

Bean's graduation.  And a funny story.  This is the only picture I got because, as I went to sit on a chair with a slightly better view, I didn't realize that it was on wheels and I sailed backwards into the row behind me as I sat down.  I was a little embarrassed and snuck back to my original seat...

They gave them all cowboy hats and gowns and they marched into the auditorium.  It was so cute.  I have to admit that I've rolled my eyes at preschool graduations in the past.  (Really?  Preschool?)  But it was actually really fun to dote on Bean for an evening.  She even had a speaking part which you can watch here.  Bean is such a shy little girl when she's put in a public setting (hmm wonder who she gets that from...) but she nailed her "speech."

It was time to hand out the diplomas and, although I perfectly placed her in a position for that awesome glare on her glasses, I love this sweet picture of her and her teacher, Miss Kristy.

If the speed at which last year went is any indication, she's going to be graduating from high school before I know it.

A Basement Halfway Done

When I went PRN I think S and I both assumed that finishing our basement would be something that came much, much later.  Luckily circumstances have been such that we've actually come a lot further with it over the last several months than we thought we would be able to!  I know it's hard to tell construction progress from pictures alone, but trust me--it looks awesome!

S was able to hang all of the drywall himself and do some taping and mudding.  He quickly realized he'd had his limit though (have I mentioned how much he hates drywall?!) and hired the guy who did my craft room to come finish the rest.  Having walls and a ceiling really made a difference!

One of my favorite decisions we made was the lighting in the family room.  Basements can be so dismal and, especially with the newly replaced LED can lights, this place really lights up!  We have all of the lights on a dimmer, too (perfect for movie night) and S installed a ceiling fan since this picture was taken.  (The concrete wall on the far end will be covered in flagstone and he's going to custom build a TV cabinet like we have upstairs--just on a smaller scale.)  Also not in the picture is the tile that S finished with our wood stove back in place.

S just finished painting in the last couple of weeks.  For hating the paint color in our house when we first moved in, I laugh now because it's what we wanted to paint our basement with.  I love it now.  And I love basements to be a smooth continuation of the rest of the house, so I'm happy.

The last two doors are my craft room and bathroom (finished in 2012) and then, tucked around the corner, a closet that is temporarily housing our food storage.  The unfinished door is the second bedroom...

...which will either be Bean's bedroom someday or a guest room/office.  Right now it's the holding room.

With the weather being good (finally) we have turned our attention (and resources) to working outside so I don't know how much we will work on the basement the rest of the summer.  But I am happy with how much we've (and by We I mean S) been able to do.  All of the drywall dust is gone and it's starting to really feel like a welcome addition to our home!

Thoughts as a Mom on my 5th Mother's Day

If Mother's Day could be compared to Christmas, then I went into it as Scrooge this year.  My sweet, sweet children had/have been particularly difficult lately and S was working.  I hate to admit it, but I was ready to just wallow in self-pity the whole day.  Luckily my attitude changed and it actually ended up being a pretty good day!  Church was great because I was able to take a break from my nursery class and attend Relief Society with all of the other grown ups.  Plus they served us chocolate cake.  Plus Boy actually decided to cooperate and not break down into tears as soon as I left him in his nursery class.  Then after lunch the kids took their rest time and I got a most awesome nap in.  Follow that up with dinner at S's parents with cousins to entertain my children, it was probably the most rested I've been on a day that S was working.  So thankfully my bad attitude during the days leading up to Mother's Day didn't last or I might have missed out on a pretty great day!

I think being home so much more with my children over the last few months has really caused me to reflect on my role as a mother.  (I'm adding adorable pictures of my adorable children, as well...)  I didn't expect being a stay-home mother to be easy but I had no idea just how DIFFICULT it was going to be!  My friend came up to me at church a few weeks into my new journey and asked how it was going.  I flat out told her I was having a really hard time.  Like, a really hard time.

(Bean on a cold spring day, wondering if she'd ever get to go out and play!)

It's not just that the physical demands are, well, demanding, but emotionally you can't just break down and yell or leave like you would if it were any other situation.  These kids are totally still dependent on me.  There was a time this past winter where I was ready to call my boss and ask for my job back.  Seriously.  But then they will say the sweetest things or make me laugh.  I told S that it's like being in a really bad, one-sided relationship.  Under normal relationship standards I would have been gone a long time ago, yet every day I just keep coming back for more.

(Bean and Boy exploring the chimes at our library.)

I tend to not be the most flexible person.  I love my routines.  I hate change.  Luckily I know this about myself, so instead of royally freaking out (and getting my old job back) I started to develop a new routine and told myself that this is just like going to work every day.  The hours are long and the children are demanding clients whose needs I have to meet.  (The pay is worse.)  I started to give myself time-outs and learned a little more about meditation and breathing.  Suddenly my days started moving a little more quickly and I felt like I was becoming a little more comfortable in my new role.

(Bean and Boy having a picnic while I clean up dinner.)

I think it was sometime this spring that I suddenly realized that I didn't want to go back to my old job anymore.  I suddenly couldn't imagine doing anything else.  I was having fun!  Besides what I just mentioned about making it my new job, I absolutely have made it a rule that I wake up early enough to do my personal scripture study, exercise, and eat breakfast By Myself.  This has helped tremendously.  I also am pretty selfish with my time while the kids are napping.  If at all possible I try to make this 'me time' instead of 'time to catch up on the chores.'

(Boy was absolutely fascinated with the rain spout this day.)

One of our biggest blessings has been that S has been able to devote more time to getting his landscaping side-job going.  It has really taken off!  (Just like I had hoped!)  The downside is that I am home alone a lot with the kids.  It can be really hard and a lot of times I feel like a single parent.  But I try to remind myself daily (sometimes hourly) how fortunate we are and that being a stay-home mom is kind of like being a single parent.  Stay-home moms stay home to run the place while dad is off working.  So I remind myself that I'm not the only on in this boat.  (And I'm more aware of why play-dates and mommy social groups are such an important thing--if only I took more advantage of them!)

(Boy and Bean dancing with Lisa the cabbage patch kid.)

So while I have definitely had mixed emotions to being a 95% of the time Stay at Home Mom, I would ultimately have to say that I am very glad so far about my decision.  There was the possibility of an opportunity to pick up a few more shifts at work and, ultimately, I felt like 'no, I'm good doing what I'm doing.'  Right now I'm where my family needs me to be and, more importantly, where I need me to be!

(Boy loves swings!)