Just so we remember

 Our life as it is...

Boys, boys, boys!

Sometimes I sit here and am faced with the challenge of adding one more thing into our schedule. This is always super fun! (sarcastic wail)
Lets do a small breakdown of our current daily schedules, just for kicks...someday we can look back on this and laugh.
My responsibilities: 
Not only do I have the (what seems like) sole responsibility of cleaning the house, laundry for all five of us, cooking, shopping, paying bills, and tending to my darling offspring, I am also currently in college. I have classes four days out of the week. This term was extremely tricky to schedule due to the science labs I had to juggle around. I live by lists, calendars, and organized schedules. Like giant flow charts I have us pretty much squared away, but somehow these things are in need of constantly tweaking. For it seems I have excuses as to why some things never get done! That is why God gave my Daddy. He keeps me centered and supports my crazy obsessive natures, while reminding me to take  a breath and enjoy the moments.

Brent:
 is generally home four nights and two full days during the week. Brent works anywhere between 50-80 hrs a week. It is one of those situations where even though you are not physically at work, you are working. They call you. You have work at home all the time because somehow even though you are always there it all still does not get done. He is patient and calm with the boys. He has very high standards and expectations and best of all he is able to uphold them. He loves to talk and spend time with his boys. He has the amazing ability to actually focus on just YOU when he is talking. (I am still working on that one) I have never met anyone who works as hard and has real integrity. He truly believes in empowering those around him. He builds people up and develops their weak spots into strengths. I know if he had it his way he would be a stay-at-home dad. I'm working hard to get through school, so he can work less.

Mitchel:
Mitchel, you are surviving middle school. I know it can be tough. Seven classes, five teachers and you are at a new school this year.
Your school has this policy where not only do you get academic grades, you also get "citizenship" grades. Which is a grade determined by class participation, organization, and turning in your work. This year started off bumpy so we had to start a homework template that you carry to each class and write your homework on. You bring it home, I check it and if you filled it out and got all the signatures you should have you get reinforced. Your chores that actually get done regularly are the dishes, taking garbage out, and picking up Cosmo deposits in the yard. Things you are still working on laundry, making bed, putting clothes away nicely, realizing the benefit of showering. You are on the basketball team for your middle school. You have practice everyday after school from 3-5pm. So, pretty much you get home in time to eat, shower, do some homework, have a small amount of R&R, read and go to bed. (Welcome to growing up) Soon you'll be joining the Boy Scout Troop and will have that as well..
Brayden:
Yay for fourth grade. You bring home homework on Tuesdays and Thursday. Other than that, when you come home you get to relax. You are great at doing some of your chores without being asked too many times. Dishes, recycling, checking the mail, and feeding Cosmo. (you get out of cleaning up Cosmo deposits, by extensive negotiations with Mitchel) We are trying to find a sport you actually want to do since you have said no to basketball, football, and wrestling. You'd still love to be taking piano, but your last teacher moved and it has been hard finding one in our budget. Your teacher has just recommended we start reading aloud to you. So we have started our family reading circle. We went to the library and got enough books to all be able to read together. It has been fun and one of my favorite times of the evening (when we actually get to do it).
August:
You go to preschool three days a week right now. You love school. You are a model student and your teachers love you. You are great at doing puzzles. You love to help cook. Right now I would say your favorite foods are pancakes and malt-o-meal. You always ask me to rub your back or to do Eskimo kisses. You own a billion books and choose to pull one out at a time and leave them in heaps in your room. Sometimes, I can even get you to pick them back up and put them back on the shelf. Frankenstein is your flashlight friend, you named him yourself. He is a dinosaur. You say when you grow up you want to be a "real" power ranger. To make sure I get your point you make sure to tell me that you will be a "real" one, not your costume. Okay sweetie!

Overall, being busy isn't so bad. You get to a point that not being busy feels weird. I can remember the feeling of only having Mitchel. Thinking how complete my world seemed back then. After Bray joined our family we felt even more blessed and realized how natural a big family was for us. Now with August and Cosmo we are definitely living the dream! Now that we have a house of our own we are learning all about the maintenance and responsibilities that come with that. Especially with 10 different fruit trees in the yard. I have to remember in all the madness to stop and appreciate it all. My  sarcastic teenager is a gift. Like the natural ebb and flow of relationships there is one constant in our lives, it binds us and keeps us humble. I am so grateful for my family, even if some days I feel our lives are on fast forward.