College, Text Books, and life as "The Not So Single, Single Mom"

Clint has decided that he wants to finish his college education. I am extremely thrilled for him. He started back to school this week. He only has a little over a year left, if he passes everything. I truly am thankful that he is trying to finish this, and we look forward to him graduating in the near future. He will also be able to start applying for Master's programs at the end of the spring. Which is fabulous news. He is taking 4 classes, plus a work study class. The work study class he does at work. He will just write papers, and things about his work experiences. Then 3 classes he takes online. Which still allows him to go to Weber State, even though he is working in Nevada. Those 3 classes are different classes in the Psychology field. I love Psychology, so I always enjoy hearing about what he is learning. Then he has 1 Saturday morning class, on campus. Which is another Psychology class.

As thrilled as I am that he is going back, I am exhausted just thinking about it. Not only do we have the most outrageous lifestyle as it is--we just threw another full time college semester into it. I think my new blog title should be, "4 kids & The Not So Single, Single Mom". I do say that with humor. I know Clint does so much for our family, and I need to just be long suffering. It's just so hard at times. He walked in the door from working 4 1/2 days out of the state. Gave us hugs, and kisses, and went strait to the assignments! Uggh! Then I get grouchy. I guess I need to just remember that this is a blessing. I am grateful for the education opportunities we have. I am also grateful to watch my husband learn, and excel in his career. He truly loves what he does. I think it takes a really special person to work with juveniles that have such SERIOUS issues.

And in other news... the lovely grand total for this semester text books:

$358.00 (Yes, we will gladly except donations.) Totally kidding!

I don't know if I should cry, or throw up! I mean really?! 1 of his books is brand new this semester. There were no used books even available. That 1 book cost $120.00 alone. So depressing. I could think of a million other things I would rather be buying with $358.00!!

~BaCk 2 ScHoOL~

In the famous words of the Verizon wireless commercial,

“It’s not back to school, it’s forward to what’s next.”

Preston started 2nd grade today!! I can’t believe it. He has Mrs. Larsen, and so far he really likes her. He told me all about what they will do each day. He sits next to Madi, a girl from our ward, and he was very happy about that. He is also walking home with a big group of kids from our ward, and he is REALLY excited! He loves walking home.

He filled out a questionnaire about himself for class last night. One question was something along the lines of….What is your favorite thing to do at school? Preston answered-- I just love learning. He is a smarty, and I am thrilled to see how he does this year. I had to take a picture of that rockin’ G.I. Joe back pack. In 30 years, I think that will be fun for him to see!! I am not a big fan of things with characters on it…but the back pack was on clearance for $3.00, and he just HAD to have it. So I gave in, who can pass up a $3.00 back pack?! Good Luck this year, Buddy!!

Crimping My Style!!

I've been wanting to try to style Addy's hair different ways lately. I just don't have time or patience! :P So last night I braided her hair ALL OVER. When she woke up this morning I took it out, and it looked really cute!! All crimped, and cute!!! It was very easy!! Hair Tip: Put Hair gel in it before you braid. It helped hold the wave!! :) She kinda looked like a little Rock-n-Roll Diva!!

August Weekends…

The past 2 weekends have been BUSY!! We actually have spent both weekends in Lehi with family, and doing Family things. So here’s what we were up too! Weekend of August 13th, 14th, 15th:

Clint’s Dad needed to have his roof re-done. So This weekend was a little emotionally draining. We only saw Clint for about 5 hours! Which probably doesn’t seem like that big of a deal, except for the fact that he had been gone all week at work! So I was very worn out. We did have some fun though! We were able to go visit some friends up in Heber, and celebrate their birthdays with them. I had to help with the scavenger hunt. Tyson was being a party pooper, and wouldn’t be the Mummy!  It was fun. I had to steal some pictures from their blog, because I didn’t take a single picture all weekend!! Later that day we went swimming with cousins! That was a blast!! The kids love their cousins. We also had the opportunity to camp out at their house all weekend. Which was sooo nice!! We are very grateful for that!! :) I did get all of our back to school clothes that weekend!! I SCORED on that deal! I shopped at Oshkosh in Draper!! (I love their boys clothes) My total was $220.00 originally. I used a coupon, and got an additional $20.00 off because I spent $200.00. Which brought my total to $144.00!! I got TONS of clothes too!!
So on the weekend of August 20th, 21st, 22nd, we were back to Lehi again! UMF!! It has been very wearing not to be home. I feel like I am playing catch up! We had another fun weekend though! It was Clint’s 33rd birthday!! So on Friday his sister watched our girls, my Dad took our boys, and Clint and I went on a day date!! It was very nice!! We ate at Red Lobster, and I took Clint birthday shopping! He is worse then the kids!! Only kidding! He got new shoes. Then we went to a 2-day Family Reunion thingy. I don’t know what to call it! Sunday, we had a birthday dinner for Clint, and spent all day at my Dad’s! I spent hours this past week making Clint a cake. My cake decorating skills need some improvement, but I was trying! AND guess what I did!!??? I left it at home! So Clint had to settle with this lovely, quick, cheap version of a birthday cake! They’re my favorite. I would show you a picture of my first cake, but that would require taking the picture. I am too tired to get up to do that! LOL!!!      

My hopeful future SIL came to dinner! (I say “ Hopeful”, because I am hoping they get married one day—only time will tell)  That was fun! Tyson adores her! I also helped Clint’s sister with lot’s of Wedding Planning. We are excited for her, and we have been trying to get her more prepared!!

So we’ve been M.I.A. from home, but we have been having a good time! We are grateful for our families, and that we can spend time with them!!

the craft bug bit me…

More of Addyson’s Room

I made these magnets for Addy’s room! I just took a scrapbooking flower, and added a magnet to the back. I think they are really cute and fun. They go well with Addy’s room theme. The flowers were $2.99, and they came with the brad. I already had the magnets. So it was a cheap, easy, and fun project! 

I also made her a little name block. I cut the vinyl with my cricut machine. I found a block of wood in Clint’s wood pile. I sanded it up, and painted it black. I had all of the supplies and embellishments for this project. Except the paper. Which cost me a whopping’ $0.59!! I like the way it turned out!!

Preston & Tyson’s Reward Jars

Oh, MY!! My kids have lost all control!! I don’t know if it’s because  Clint is gone, or if they are bored, but we are SO ready for school to start!! I decided I needed to do another reward system again! So we are doing something called: “3 Strikes, You’re Out”. I heard about this system, and kind of tweaked it to fit our needs. So far, it’s been okay. So we made a list of “not so new—but forgotten” rules. The kids can earn gems, depending on their behavior. If they get a strike they loose a gem. They also have the chance to earn 2 extra gems in a day. 1 for not getting any strikes, and 1 for doing their chores. Once they have filled their jar, they are rewarded with a prize or treat.  I bought these little jars at Hobby Lobby for $0.99. I also bought the little gems, in two different colors. I cut the vinyl with my cricut, and put their names on the jars. I really hope this works!! :)

We ♥ Chex!!

One of our favorite treats is Chex Muddy Buddies! I love making these!! It’s fast, easy, and the kids love eating them. Last week we decided we would make them. I let the kids do most of it this time. So I couldn’t help myself- I had to take pictures.

1- Put 9 cups of corn chex (or your favorite chex) into a large bowl. Set aside.

2- Put 1 cup of chocolate chips into a microwave bowl.

3- Add 1/2 a cup of Peanut Butter.

4- Add in 1/4 cup of butter.

5- Microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir. Then microwave for 30 seconds or until smooth. Then add 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and stir again.

6- Pour the chocolate/peanut butter mix over the chex.

7- Add 1 1/2 cups of powder sugar.

8 & 9- Mix it up. Putting it in a zip lock bag works best.

10- Chill and enjoy!

Fair Fun

We had a lot of fun visiting the Weber County Fair this year! Here were some of our favorite things… They had a show called: “The Amazing Rainforest Experience”…they did tricks with some cool animals!! We really liked it!! :)  

TreeHoUse MuSeuM!!

We love going to the Treehouse Children’s Museum here in Ogden! The R.A.M.P. Program does a free day once a month at the Treehouse-- in the summertime. We hadn’t done it yet, so we thought we would take advantage of this great program! The kids had fun, and wore me out!! Watching 8 kids (we were babysitting & having a play date) in a children’s museum is hard work! We still didn’t make it to all the exhibits! We did have a blast, then ended the fun with Chicken Nuggets at McDonalds! (The new one by 12th is really nice!)

good friends!

 

We are very fortunate to have such AWESOME friends!! So last week we were able to have a get together with some friends we don’t see very often!! The kids played in the Splash Pad, while the Mom’s got to visit! It was lot’s of fun!! We missed Ellie, Dalton, Logan, Bray, and Emery!!! Hopefully we can do this again soon!!

You can DRESS me UP…

Addy’s finally starting to enjoy her dress ups that Santa got her last Christmas!! I love how she puts every necklace on!! I wanted to remember this moment. I can’t believe how fast the time goes—and I know she wont be little for long. I had such a fun time watching her play. She even did my hair!! ;)