Bad Behavior

It's been a very interesting week. . . Jon got called back to work full-time again with Union Pacific Railroad, so I took Tuesday off knowing that he would be home and we went to the zoo as a family.  We didn't know what kind of schedule Jon would be on at that point, so we wanted to have a family outing.  It was an overcast, chilly day, which makes for the very best days at the zoo.  The animals aren't hot, so they are out roaming around and playing.  I love what they've done with the new Rocky Shore exhibit.  They've added otters, seals, seal lions, a polar bear and 3 brown bears I believe.  Definitely tons of fun!  I think I enjoyed it more than the kids did!  My favorite parts was the 3 bears. . . one was swimming in the water while another walked along a log that hung out over the water and they played, swatting at each other and trying to bite each other   Very cute. . . not sure you can say cute considering the 3"+ long claws they were swiping at the other with.

 
Jon enjoyed his last days off before going to work playing with the kids in the park again.  Can't get enough of the good weather and the time at home.

On Thursday night, after dinner, we loaded up and went to the Roy Pond to feed the ducks. . . oddest thing though, the ducks weren't hungry.  Every single time we're there, the ducks mob us and attempt to steal bread from your hand and your bag.  That night, they were totally no interested at all. . . not sure if now that it's warmed up they're finding plenty of their own food or if someone had beat us there that night and stuffed them before we could.  

 

On Friday, I decided to seal the tile floors, so we moved everything from the bathrooms, laundry room, entryway and dinning room into the living room and lived out of the living room for 2 days.  It was a lot of hard work, but Noah was very helpful in cleaning the floor and helping keep Tayton and Sony out of the wet seal.  In the middle of all that commotion though, Noah comes in and tells me there is a bead up his nose. . . a what?   He found a yellow, plastic BB outside and decided to shove it up his nose.  I tried everything from blowing his nose over and over again, to a booger sucker, etc., but to no avail.  So off to the Dr. we went.  They tried hard not to laugh at us and hoped that coming to the Dr. with all the commotion would teach him not to do this again.  Finally, they were able to bend a paperclip, have me hold him, the PA hold the light and the Dr do the digging.  She was able to pull it part way out, then urged Noah to blow his nose again. . . out it popped.  This is the 3rd nose incident with Noah. . . first was a craisin that I had no idea was there and he didn't tell me until he sneezed it out, the 2nd was an M&M that half melted and mushed when I tried to push it out and then this.  What is this fascination he has?  I truly hope this taught him a lesson, but only time will tell.

I've also found myself biting my children twice this week.  Tayton bit Noah earlier this week because he was doing something she didn't want him to do.  She she screamed at him, then bit him and left marks.  I did what any good parent would do and bit her back, told her not to bite and put her in timeout.  Probably not my best mommy moment, but then it happened again later in the week when Noah bit Tayton because he didn't want her playing with the dog door.  Once again, I bit him and put him in time out.  The look of shock on both of their faces that I would actually bite them is priceless.  Once again, I hope that lessons were learned, and maybe I've learned my lesson that reciprocating isn't necessarily the best teaching method.

I'm still waiting to hear back on some news at work, so hopefully this week.  I'm ready for some changes!  It's always interesting when Jon goes back to work full-time because we fight to find this balance between work, family, play, etc.  These kids are the greatest, for they are very understanding and forgiving of the crazy life our work schedules put them through.  They've learned to adjust and have taken everything with stride.  They even really proclaim enjoyment in going to daycare's and babysitters.  We've been lucky to have recently found 2 high school girls that the kids love to babysit in the evenings.  We're also very excited that we get to have one of our favorite daycare ladies back coming to the house to watch the kids while we're at work.  We've been very  blessed to have been able to find the day-care situations that will work with our non-routine, on call schedule.  It's hard not to feel guilty about what you could be doing better, but I think these kids are pretty good despite our faults.  Heavenly Father truly blesses us.  Jon's been lucky this week to have had a job in the Ogden rail yard, so he goes to work at 11 p.m. and gets home around 8 a.m., then goes to sleep until about 3 p.m. when we get to spend the evening together as a family.  He also gets weekends off, so it's nice to have all this family time despite his work.

It's conference weekend and I'm reminded again what is important and about all the things I could do better to be a better mom, wife, friend, employee, teacher, daughter, sister.  I'm vowing to take better care of myself and to ensure my time is used wisely with my family.  Speaking of which, Jon and I have started a diet again. . . low carb.  It's going very well and it's nice to have someone to do this with so that we both eat the same kids of food and are motivating to eachother, but I'm also very competitive, so I have a tendency to want to "outdo" him. . . although I know I'll fail with that because he's a man. Wish us luck!

These girls (neighbor) love each other

Playing together

Helping clean off the patio