So much....

yeah I swear I have a million blogs I need to do but Im too busy. So I will get to the fun ones as soon as I can, and in the meantime, here is life in a nutshell.

- Mason and Savannah had another ballroom performance of which I have video, as soon as the hubbs rips it off the CD. Mason has a ballroom competition this weekend so you can watch for that one too.

-I am all registered for my first triathlon of the season- Salem Springs, on May 30th. Better get busy.

- Back has healed well and I am once again able to run, and have started running outdoors when I can.

-Loving my ballroom class but I kid not when I say I look like I'm doing the pee pee dance when I do the samba. It's sad really.

- The remodel is moving along. The hardwood has been done for a while. The tile in the entryway and both bathrooms starts on Monday. Savannah's new room had the window cut in and trimmed out, the closet framed, drywalled, taped and textured etc. The trim/wainscoting starts on that today. Carpet can go in as soon as the tile is done. Except that I haven't ordered it yet. And much painting has yet to be done.

-Jaxon is talking up a storm and keeps the whole family laughing. He was making the baby laugh today on purpose, which was endless entertainment for me.

-Jayden is 8 months and trying to crawl, although he moves backwards more than forward. He's getting it. He is growing so much so he's sleeping and eating a ton.

- We did another FHE with a fun project that I need to blog about as well. I'll try, I'll try.

- Kids did another ski lesson and they love it. We've been wanting to take them again but have had other commitments, so maybe next week? maybe? I dunno.

That's about it I think. I'll try to catch up on the other things. I promise.

What have I done?

What too much mom time will do to even the boy-est little boys:

I am taking a ballroom class (that's a whole 'nother blog I tell ya!) and this morning I was googling latin shoes.

Jaxon walks up, looks at the screen and says, "Cooooot soooooos mom! (cute shoes mom!)"

Headline: Sneaking, conniving mother plans FHE with ulterior motives

Okay I admit it. I am always trying to figure out how in the heck to get my kids to do what I want-namely, PICK UP AFTER THEMSELVES! I swear I have tried everything! There are 6 people in this house and 1 who knows that things really do have a home ;)

So I've been stressing it a little. It seems like no matter how hard I work, I'm barely treading water. It gets old. I feel like with as hard as I work, I should be more organized, but things just weren't falling together.

So I picked up a book about organization at Deseret Book the other day. I decided I would go through 1 idea at a time and implement it and see if it could help me figure out how to work smarter since I'm working plenty hard already (not that you would know it).

One of the first ideas was how to help kids get in the habit of picking things up as they walk by them, without being asked. So I took the idea and planned a family home evening around it.

First I went to Broulim's and bought some Mason jars (which Mason thought was awesome). I pulled out scrapbook paper, Elmer's glue, ribbon, scissors etc. I also bought the brightly colored straws from the store. The kids and I cut strips out of the scrapbook papers, glued them around the mason jars, and decorated them up. I made name strips for the jars and tied them around the tops. Then I made a third jar. I took all the straws and cut them off just before the bendy part, and filled the jar with them. After all the deco was done, I explained to the kids what they were for and how it works.

In the middle jar are the straws. On either side is one of the kids jars (empty). Each time they pick up something that is NOT their own, without being asked, they come tell me. I let them pick a straw to take out of the middle jar and put into their jar. We set up a cupboard top in the kitchen where they sit, along with a sign that says Mommy's Helping Hands, some handprints, and the prize list. The kids are able to trade in their straws for prizes off the prize list. For example, 5 straws buys a treat, 50 straws and you can get your nails painted, 100 straws gets you a Webkinz, while 200 straws gets you a night out with mom or dad.

The kids think this is the BEST THING EVER! They are running around my house, still, looking for anything that is out of place and putting it away! We also told them that if I pick up anything of theirs, I get to take a straw away. If Mason picks up something of Savannah's, he can take a straw from her jar and put it in his and vice versa. This helped them to not just leave everything out and let the other person pick it up (since they don't get straws for putting away their own stuff-they should do that anyway!).

Mason rushes home from school asking if he can earn straws. They count them up and see how many more they need for the prize they want. Yesterday he came home and said, "Mom, I was telling ____ about the straw thing and he said, 'No fair! You have a fun mom!" The kids think I came up with the best game ever, and I get a cleaner house with less effort on my part (read some help for once ;)! It's a win win. I would call this one a success.

Each week, I plan to do some sort of organizational/motivational idea with them at FHE. But for this week at least, there are no longer all sorts of random items laying around my house at any given time.

Ski/Snowboard Lessons

A couple of weeks ago, Daniel and I went skiing with some of his coworkers. It was the first time either of us had been in years, and yes, we do live 20 minutes away from a ski resort. What a shame. Anyhoo...we had so much fun that I decided it was time to sign the kids up for lessons. We are an active family and we love to be outdoors in the summer, but winter comes around and we just don't get out as much as we ought to. You just can't live in Idaho and not learn to enjoy winter. Winter is 9 months long ;)

Mason decided he wanted to snowboard and Savannah wanted to ski. Neither Dan or I had boarded before but Dan decided to rent a board so he could snowboard with Mason and I would ski with Savannah after her lessons.

We all had so much fun! I was slightly worried about Mason because I know snowboarding can be kind of difficult and he tends to get easily discouraged. I stayed with Savannah as she skiied with her instructor and didn't see Mason until after his lesson. He did fantastic! And he loved it!

We spent the rest of the evening there after their lessons ended. Dan and Mason went up and down the mountain all night. Savannah wasn't ready to do the hill without her instructor (although she did go up twice with him) so she and I stayed on the bunny hill where I helped her get used to the tow rope and work on her turns.

The kids fell in love and begged to go back again soon, so we plan to go up again this weekend. It was well worth the cost to put them in lessons rather than trying to teach them ourselves.

And I, for one, am thrilled to have another outdoor activity that we can do together as family.

Aaaaawesome erk- out

You never know what your kids are going to pick up when they are watching you!

It's no secret that we like to live a pretty active lifestyle around here :) This weekend, I wasn't able to make it to the gym, so I got out Jillian Michael's 30 day shred, the hand weights, my pink yoga mat, and got to work. Mason decided to do the workout with me which was fun.

After we finished, my equipment was not yet put away, and Jaxon came downstairs. He laid on his back, picked up the 3 lb hand weights that Mason was using, started to lift them and said, "I erk-out! I erk-out!" It was so cute. And then, as if imitating my complaints as I followed Jillian's commands, Jaxon said, "Oooooouuuuuch!!!! Oooouuuuch!" as he lifted the weights above his head. He did that a few times and then put the weights down and said, 'Awesome erk-out!!!"

Jayden- 7 month pics and stats

Jayden had his 6 months visit a month late :) Here is the rundown.

Jayden weighs 19 lbs 11 oz.
He is 28 3/4 inches long.
His head is 18 1/2 inches

He is in the 61% in weight
He is in the 91% in height (that's a Miller for you)

He had an ear infection, a cold, 2 teeth breaking through and a fever of 101.7 when I took him in. No immunizations for him that day! They called in some antibiotics and I have to take him back in a week to get his shots.

There you have it, Jayden in a nutshell :)

The easiest pop quiz ever

Question #1- Which Miller family member brought home a dog without clearing it with another Miller family member (who will end up being the one that takes care of said dog all the time) beforehand?

Question #2- Which other Miller family member, in typical fashion, just went with it instead of setting a very uncharacteristic boundary?

Question #3- Which family member carries the dog around like a baby, wants to sleep with the dog and won't leave the house without first giving the dog a hug, a kiss, and telling him he is loved? Hint: It's the same family member that wants to take him on a shopping spree.

Question #4- Which Miller family member is currently having a power struggle with the dog because he keeps stealing the dog's toys, and laughing as the dog barks at him. After this, the dog chases this family member around the house for a good 10 minutes or so just barking at him to let him know he's still mad, even though the aforementioned Miller is no longer doing anything (but still finds it funny)? Hint: They also chase each other in circles, over and over again, with one laughing an evil laugh while the other barks up a storm.

Cross your fingers that he is as well behaved as I'm told he is. I swore, never again.....