stuck in a rut

i have been stuck in a rut this past week. just going through the motions.

wake up
dishes
laundry
breakfast/scripture study
get kids dressed and out the door
mop floors
vaccum
laundry
clean bathroom
read
lunch
laundry
pick up dog poop
take out trash
make snacks for kids
laundry
dinner
bootcamp
wrestling
dishes
baths/showers
bedtime
clean up house
laundry

everyday, the same thing. here's where it gets tricky. i can't stop. if i do i will fall behind. i hate being behind. i have to stick to a schedule. if i don't i get very overwhelmed and then depressed. but i am bored with my schedule. everyday is the same list because everyday the same stuff needs to get done. i can't sit still. i just can't. it bothers me, a lot. so in the boredom i am finding more and more things to add to my daily list of chores. and the longer the list gets the more overwhelmed i get because i wonder "when will i ever have free time to just sit?" i feel like one of those mice that are stuck on the wheel while someone else is spinning it. i am just running as fast as i can to keep from getting flipped.

The kids get out of school at 1pm all this week, which is two hours earlier than normal. luckily this week has been very, very nice weather. they play outside from 1-5. all i ask is they clean up before they come in. so they have desided to build a basement to their tree fort. we have four extra boys in the backyard too. so this is good. it keeps them busy, and any mother can tell you a busy boy is a quiet boy.
they are using wood from the woodpile. i am sure i should be concerned but honestly, it is just wood. they can't break it. so what if it is not stacked "just right" it will still burn.

they have added some "barracks" in the tree too. along with a crow's nest. seeing how this a work in progress for them i will keep posting pictures of their fort.

New Kitchen Floor!!

step one: tear up old vinyl tiles. Ike and Daniel took this job.

yucky, nasty, dirty floor.

Fiberglass underlayment stuff. dunno what it was totally made out of i just know is costs alot of $$$ per roll and we needed two to finish our kitchen.

all laid out and ready to grout

a grouted floor.

all sealed up and shiny. i like shiny. =)

well i have learned to do alot of things through trial and error being married to a man who loves to start projects.........just has trouble finishing them. i love, love, love my floor.

Wrestling match at U-High

Ike getting some tips from his coach after his first match.

This week was a knock down drag out fight for each match. i could not control myself and occasionally shouted out. Oops. these were the same three boys he went against last week. they are in the top bracket. the kid in the purple singlet pinned him in 21 seconds last week. this week ike went all three rounds with him.



Ike got a bronze this week. he was not happy about it, but i could not have been prouder. he worked so hard. and his last two matches were back to back. so that was six minutes of wrestling all out. he was so tired. one more match at East Valley next week and then the season comes to a close.

3AM this morning.......

This is Anna (to the left)and Maria. in this picture they are all of four years old. they are now five and have since giving up on painting their walls with their own feces and markers. now they are big girls and share a bed. sure we got them a trundle but knew full well they would share the top bed and the trundle will be used for sleep-overs (if it ever comes to that).

so they cuddle up on the top bed every night. maria sleeps by the wall and anna sleeps on the outside. i pull the trundle out part way in case anna falls off during the night. that has happened a few times because i hear her plop and then scurry back up onto the top bed.

we have a small house. all the bedrooms are in a row and share walls so we can easily hear all the kids in their rooms. especially the girls because our head of the bed in on the wall their bed is against. if that makes any sense. last night at 3am. (weird how the clock is the first thing you look at when you get woken up) dan and i were woken up by those to chippies fighting. conversation goes as follows......

i am a horrible mother as i cannot always tell who is who when it is just their voices and i am half asleep trying very hard to go back to 100% asleep.

girl 1: get off my side!

girl 2: i am not on your side. you are on mine!

daddy: Go to bed!

girl 1; completely ignoring her father's advice. you are on my side and now you have my blanket!!

girl 2: no, you are laying on your blanket and mine too!

girl 1: oh. well your buns are cold. get them off me

girl2: your legs are warm. they make my buns feel good. gimme my blanket back.

dan and i totally see the logic in her argument, which only proves how tired we are at this point.

daddy: knock it off and go to sleep.

girl 1: get your buns off me and i will give you back the blanket.

girl 2: FINE!

girl 1: nite sis.

girl 2: nite sis.

and then they quickly fell back to sleep. i on the other hand had to find my comfy spot again and warm my buns on dan's back. i did not give him the blanket back. thpppt!

they got me!!

we have had "kennel cough" going through our house for about a month. they have finally taken down me. now you think that if they were as smart as their test scores show they would know that if you take down the mama everything else comes to a screeching halt. dinner, laundry, housework (well really they could care less about that) baking, and extra curricular activites. i am going to finish my malt-o-meal and crawl back onto the couch. girls still in jammies, hair not combed, i did switch over laundry and load and start the dishwasher. i dunno if i will get to floors today. sigh..... i don't even want to think about Boot Camp tonight.

Hopscotch in the sunshine

We have had a few days in a row of sunny, warm weather. a very special treat for mid-march. the windowpane pattern on our backdoor of our family room make a perfect hopscotch patten on the floor when the sun shines through it. i caught the girls playing. sadly my camera died a few seconds in but it was still sweet to watch.