First Day of School!

This year I made a goal to enjoy the my summer with the kids and not wish the whole time that they were back in school. I feel like I did a pretty good job but I will admit I was not sad to see this day come. Things are just so crazy in the summer and it is so hard to keep things structured for so many different aged kids and without structure they get bored and cranky. Anyway, today was the first day of school. It was Brock's first day of middle school which made me very nervous. I didn't like middle school and have heard horror stories from another mom who took her kids out of school because he was being bullied. Anyway, I am still a bit overprotective and it doesn't help that my oldest is more book smart than social smart. Well he just got home and said that middle school is awesome so one day down a lot to go. This year is also a first for Liam, he is now in first grade and goes to school all day. In his case I am more worried for his teacher than for him but she seems like a very patient woman so here's hoping. Gwen and Maddie are also very excited to go back to school though at back to school night last night Maddie only said one word to her teacher so I guess her shyness didn't disappear over the summer. And Gwen is the leader of the pack, a big fifth grader who loves school and gets along with just about everybody. My one child that I am not worried about right now which probably means that she will give me the most gray hairs as a teenager which she is quickly approaching. Overall I think it will be a good year and it sure was nice and quiet in my house today with only the two little girls.

Oh the Blogs I Could Blog

Oh the blogs I could blog if I just had the time
I could add awesome pictures, I could make my words rhyme

I could tell of our trip to Saint George for Spring Break
I could tell of my son's request to buy him a snake

do you want to know the home improvements I've lately made?
how about my fitness goals and how much I last weighted?

Oh the blogs I could blog if I just had the time
I could add awesome pictures, I could make my words rhyme

If I just had the time I would tell all of you
about soccer and swimming lessons to name just a few

of the many fun things that keep us so busy
if I told you them all you would start to get dizzy

Oh the blogs I could blog if I just had the time
I could add awesome pictures I could make my words rhyme

I love the Spring weather but not all the work
the yardwork is something I wish I could shirk

We've planted 10 trees and chopped down 3 more
my allergies are awful and my back is so sore

Oh the blogs I could blog if I just had the time
I could add awesome pictures I could make my words rhyme

But alas there is so much to do that indeed
I don't have time to write, I don't even have time to read.

Before Pictures

I usually don't put up "before:" pictures until I had "after" pictures to go with them but I am having a hard time getting motivated to get my latest project done. So here are some before pictures of our playroom.

First off you will have to try to ignore the 5 year old who did his very best to get into every pictures I took, as cute as he is the pictures are supposed to be of the playroom, not him.


I kind of cheated in that I left the playroom messy for the picture and didn't fold up the treadmill. When I do those things the room looks a lot better but I figured this way the end result will look even better right?
So the problems with the playroom are: I hate hate hate the rag-roll painted walls, the room is way too crowded, the exercise stuff block the toys and it is hard to watch tv while exercising or sitting on the couch.
My plan is to paint the room, rearrange the furniture and install a wall-mounted tv that we got from Aaron's grandpa for Christmas. It is going to look fabulous if I ever get up the go to get it done.

5 weeks

I have now been exercising regularly (4-5 days per week) and eating healthy for 5 weeks. Now, since it seems like every friend or relative I have has run some kind of half marathon/marathon/triathlon etc. I know that this will not impress any of you but it happens to be a record for me. I hate to exercise. I like to play sports like volleyball and I like to go on walks and such but frequent and strenuous exercise is not my cup of hot chocolate (which I have not indulged in for the said 5 weeks). I also happen to like baked goods and fried food a lot more than I should. Anyway, here are the results of my amazingly long heath stretch:

Weight lost: 5 lbs.

Inches lost: 1

endurance improved: I can now run 3.5 miles without stopping instead of .5 miles. Again, small step for others, large step for me. I happen to hate running and have trained more for the quick (the baby has a steak knife) type sprints.

Healthy recipes found (tasty ones): 6

Recipes (or the foods made from them) I would not feed to my enemies found: 3

Improvement in energy: none

improvment of attitude: none

So some stats are ok, others not so great. I would be happy if the last two listed stats were better but oh well. Now that I have broken my record for longest health kick I think I will go eat some icecream and catch up on all the tv and projects that I haven't had time for (just kidding, I am still plugging along but I can't promise how long before I crash).

Our Beautiful Madeleine

Madeleine Eve Redman is our third child. In fact she is a third child of a third child (me) of a third child (my mom). Does that mean anything? When Maddie was born I had a 2 year old a 1 year old and a newborn so sadly my memories of the time were of incredible stress. However, if I were to do it again I would space them just as I did. Maddie and her sister Gwen are best friends and have a great time together so hopefully that makes up any lack of attention.





Maddie has always been a sweet and happy little girl. When I read back over my journal entries from when she was a baby (there are a couple) I was always commenting about what a cheerful little one she was.Maddie is a very girly girl and has always loved singing, dancing, princesses, dress up, and all those other estrogen associated activities (though I have had a son or two who likes these things as well). She was a cute chubby toddler though she is skinny as anything now.
I mentioned earlier that Maddie and Gwen are the best of friends. I love how well they play together and how kind they are to each other. I hope that Mia and Evie are as good of friends as they are.

You wouldn't think it to look at this picture but Maddie is incredibly, sometimes painfully shy. Her shyness started as a toddler and I remember her sunbeam teacher asking me if she could speak. This was around March so she had been in the class for over 2 months at this time. We worried about her in school because she absolutely will not talk to people she doesn't know well and if she is upset she won't even talk to me and Aaron. She has had a couple rough times in school when she got upset or lost and wouldn't talk to anyone to get help but she has had some good, understanding teachers and she has made it through. Last year when she was in 2nd grade, about half way through the school year the teacher asked her a question during class and she answered the question. A boy in the class yelled "Maddie can talk!" and the whole class cheered for her. The mom of another child told me later that her son came home and the first thing he told his mom was that Maddie could talk.

On the other hand Maddie doesn't seem to have much stage fright at all. Her teachers have told me how surprised they are when they give her a part in a class play or reader's theatre and she will get up there and perform without a problem. She will also sing and dance for others, go figure.

As the picture shows, Maddie definitely has her saucy side as well, at least when she is at home. She was a rockstar (she called herself a cheetah girl because her skirt was cheetah print and she had heard the phrase from friends talking about the real (but not nearly as awesome) cheetah girls). She looks way too old in this picture and it gives me a queezy, I am soon to begin the teenage children years, feeling in my stomach.

Maddie turned 8 on January 21st and on January 30 she was baptized by her dad. This was my third baptism as a Mom and I will just say that it was just as special as the first. The spirit was so strong and I was so happy that Maddie was my daughter and that she was making the choice to be baptized. It was a truly wonderful day. I think the hardest part for Maddie was being the center of attention. We were worried about her Bishop's interview because we knew chances were she wouldn't talk to him but we asked him about it and he said a nod was just fine (thank goodness because that is all she gave him). She did a great job and looked beautiful in her baptism dress.
Happy Birthday Maddie! You are my favorite 8 year old in the world and I love you.

Mia

Ok, it's time to admit that I am terrible at blogging. I really enjoy reading other people's posts but never take the time for my own. Mia turned 3 on Nov. 2 and I was determined to do a post on her on her birthday week but here we are three weeks later. Better late than never. Now on to my favorite 3 year old, Amelia Anne Redman!

20 fun facts about Mia

1. Mia loves sign language, she has watched a lot of signing time videos and knows somewhere between 300 and 500 signs. I don't know exactly how many because she knows way more than me.

2. Mia loves the word "fabulous" and uses it all the time. Usually in reference to her looks. The other day I finished her hair and she said, "I want to go show Dad how fabulous I look".

3. Mia loves to sing. It is a shame she wasn't in the primary program because she knew all the songs they sang.

4. Mia may have had a scary bathroom experience lately that I don't know about. She is potty trained and has graduated from the potty chair to the big toilet but yesterday morning she came out of the bathroom saying, "I use the potty chair. The big potty is too dangerous." No idea why she feels that way. I tried to ask questions but she just kept repeating that phrase. Hmmm.

5. Mia loves shoes. Shoes are fabulous.

6. Mia doesn't like to be called things she isn't. If I call her a turkey, peanut, donut, munchkin, etc. she tells me she isn't a ... she is a toddler. The other day I said "Come here babes" and she said "Mom, I am one babe, not two." so I guess she is ok with being a babe.

7. Mia is a girly girl and loves princesses. She has recently gotten into barbie dolls and loves to brush her Repunzel barbie's hair.


8. Mia changes her clothes way to much. I had to take out her drawers and hide them in a closet to keep her from changing her clothes 12+ times a day. She now has her clothes back but the changing has increased enough that I might have to hide them again.

9. Mia is a great sister.

10. Mia likes to spell things. She knows how to spell her name but a lot of words are spelled l m n o p.

11. Mia doesn't like to take naps, though if she can take a book with her I can sometimes convince her to lay down.

12. Mia loves to draw. She draws on herself, on walls, on the coffee table, on her sister, etc.

13. Mia eats my gum if she finds it.

14. Mia loves her baby doll and plays with it every day. Her doll's name is "water baby".

15. Mia loves watching PBS

16. Mia asks me to do her hair but then pulls it out a couple hours later.

17. Mia has a great imagination.

18. Mia wishes she could go to school like her older brothers and sisters.

19. Mia loves having joint birthday parties with her daddy. Their birthdays are only 2 days apart.

20. Mia is a wonderful, lovable, sweet, beautiful, smart, funny, wise, loving, crazy and adorable little girl. We love you Mia.

I have my costume for Halloween, in fact it's already on.

This is actually a 10 year old picture but I didn't want to take a picture of what I actually look like right now because it might send readers into a panic, worried for my sanity. Last night was one of those nights that serve as excellent birth control. Unfortunately it is too late for that for me. I had been up with the kids a lot the night before and had taken a nap with the two youngest in the afteroon. Well of course this gave me insomnia so I didn't fall asleep till 1:00. Then the fun started. At 2:30 Mia woke up coughing and crying so I went in and comforted her and gave her more tylenol. Then at 4 Liam came up and told me that Brock's foot had fallen asleep. I thought it was morning and he was looking for an excuse to wake me up so I said "sorry, I hope it feels better" and went back to sleep. Then a couple minutes I woke back of and realized that it was still night and I should check on Brock. He was downstairs in their room crying because he had woken up with a horrible headache (I think he got my migraine gene) and couldn't get back to sleep. Don't ask me how Liam translated that to his foot falling asleep. So I took care of him and went back to bed. Sometime between 4:30 and 5 Evie threw up. Even more fun she was in our bed. She had been crying off and on in her bed and I was too tired to deal with it any other way than by putting her in bed with us so I woke up to wretching right next to my face. After we got things cleaned up she didn't want to go back to sleep and a half an hour later, when I got up to take care of a crying Mia again, she followed me around talking and chatting as if it was mid morning. I took her back to bed and was tired enough I have no idea how long it took her to fall back asleep.

Needless to say, I am a zombie right now. I need a super hero like this:
to come save me.