Daylight Savings, and a comparison

Samantha told me on Sunday night that she'd really like to ride the bus to school. She asked if I could please, please wake her up that extra half hour early so she could ride, instead of having me take her 45 minutes later. I smiled and agreed, but inside I was groaning. Why? Well, I have two words: daylight savings.

Bleah. I don't mind the longer evenings -- in fact, I really appreciate them, once I get used to the whole change over. But the earlier mornings just about do me in for the first few days of daylight savings. Seriously, I feel like I've really been ROBBED of that extra hour, CHEATED! Like my precious time has just been RIPPED from me -- and more especially, from my little ones. Ug. (The reverse is true when we we switch back to standard time in the fall... I feel as though I've been handed a GIFT of one extra hour. But really, I'm just reclaiming what is taken away from me each spring, you see.)

So, there's my daylight savings rant. But that's not really what I was going to write about, believe it or not. Actually, I was going to say, I woke up a little groggy yesterday morning, but I went through the motions of putting the day together. I got Samantha off to school, got Spencer off to preschool, did some laundry and dishes, read some scriptures, exercised, had the kids do their piano lessons, and we went to an open house for a charter school we're considering sending the kids to next fall. In the evening I got a quick dinner, prepared and executed a great family home evening lesson where we made a new star chart for the kids, all together, and even fixed a fun little dessert treat for the kids. Bedtime came and I stayed calm and patient even though the kids didn't settle until nearly 10 (dumb daylight savings, you know?). By the time I crawled into bed, after more scripture study and facebook time, I was feeling pretty good about my day. It wasn't my best-ever day, but I had a good attitude and things got done like I wanted them. Not bad, Kam. I even wrote in my journal before bed. (It's been awhile, believe me!)

And then...
Three-o'clock in the morning, I came fully awake to the sound of Samantha standing outside our door saying, "Mom! I'm throwing up!" And yes, she did. It was awful. Poor thing. And poor me, for all the yucky clean-up. It took awhile, but we got her settled on the floor in our room with a towel and a bowl close by. Ug. Back to sleep, eventually. Within just a few minutes, there was Spencer at our door. Just scared, had a bad dream, needed a quick cuddle and tuck-in so he could get back to sleep. Then I tried to get back to sleep too, again. Eventually. Less than an hour later, poor Samantha threw up again. Then Spencer came in again. Then well, it was technically morning, because dumb daylight savings said it was 7 something, but it still felt like 6 something, and there was Natalie, up for the day and ready to stomp all over Samantha on our floor before climbing on our bed. And the day officially started.

Can I just tell you...yesterday was definitely better. I slogged through the morning, griping at the kids and taking my time forgiving sweet Nat for waking me up so early after not so much sleep. And Samantha was home and a little stir-crazy all day, which threw off my plans for going shopping. And, I never really got myself ready for the day very good. And I gave up on dinner and got Papa Murphy's. And I only got up enough energy to vacuum and get the house in order after the kids were in bed tonight (and Natalie was screaming, for at least 20 minutes while I vacuumed at 9:30 p.m. dumb daylight savings.) Well, people! Here's what I have to say about all this: sleep makes a big difference in my life. When I get it, life is better. When I don't, I have a harder time with just about everything.

I've known this before. And many of you have known this about me, I know. But really, I was thinking about a bigger picture today, as I compared my efforts of today to my efforts of yesterday... Wow! There are LOTS of little things that contribute to how a day turns out -- sleep being just ONE small factor that makes a BIG difference. And most of the time, those ducks are in a row for me, and I have lots of good days where I don't even realize how good I have it. One little night of sleep deprivation, and I'm reminded that I'm very blessed to take A LOT of things for granted in my life. And I'm trying to stay grateful for those things I don't even KNOW I'm taking for granted, if that makes sense? -- like a good night's sleep. It's really such a blessing!

Anyway, that's as deep as I'm going with this tonight. I've got a bed to get into, and who knows if tonight will be another less-predictable one. Either way, I know daylight savings means morning comes early, yet again. I will not complain about it anymore, kay? ;)

Back-Blogging: She Turned Seven

Happy Birthday, Dear Samantha!
Yes, yes it was clear back in December. I know, I'm so very late getting things posted. But I want to at least get my kids' landmarks on here, so they know how much fun we have, celebrating their birthdays.

 Here's our brand new seven-year-old, parked in front of her stack of birthday presents, first thing in the morning. She was super excited and loved all the attention.

 We brought cupcakes to school for her class, and had a little party with some girls in our neighborhood after school. She called it a "fairies and butterflies" party, so we strung fairy candy necklaces, decorated wooden fairy and butterfly cut-out pieces, and also decorated individual cupcakes (which were GOBBED with candy, as you can imagine!)...

 We had a pinata...

And no one even got hurt, thank goodness! Candy, candy everywhere!

 The whole gang, eating cake and ice cream...

 Playing a fairy dance game, or something...

That night, Samantha told me, "That was the BEST day of my WHOLE LIFE!" Wow. And it only got BETTER... she got TWO parties this year!

On Sunday, we celebrated with Grandma and Grandpa Bishop, and with Ella, who was turning 11 the following week. Samantha had requested a "doll/dress" cake, so together she and I made one for her family party...

 It turned out pretty cute, if you ask me. It was just a bundt cake, with a doll stuck in a baby bagel, and gobbed up with tons of frosting and sprinkles. And it tasted delicious!!

Opening presents at Grandma and Grandpa's... Natalie loved the super big gift bag ...

The two birthday girls...

We sure love Samantha!

She is a very bright, lively, enthusiastic, sweet girl. She loves to make projects, cards, and crafts of any kind. She almost always has paper, scissors and crayons out, and also gets into markers, tape and glue (which she's supposed to ask for, because of that little Nat who gets into those things and makes messes.) She also loves reading and has torn through several books this winter -- "The Littles Chrismas," "The Amazing Clementine," "Junie B. Jones" (until we got tired of sassy Junie), "Little House on the Prairie," "The Indian in the Cupboard," "High School Musical"... to name a few.

Samantha has a lovely singing voice and had the opportunity to sing for audiences lately, which has been a great way to build her confidence and help her develop this talent. Most recently, she sang a solo at her cousin, Seth's, baptism, "If the Savior Stood Beside Me." It was beautiful.

Samantha really loves to do what is right, and recognizes when she is making right choices. She tells me, "I just get such a good feeling inside when I know I'm doing something right." I love watching her learn and grow. She is great at setting goals, and is such a good helper at home. She likes to make forts and clubhouses for Spencer and Natalie, and loves playing hide-and-seek and riding her bike with friends and with Spencer.

So far, we have love, love, loved having this sweet seven-year-old at our house! Happy Birthday, Samantha! (Even if your blog post is a couple of months late!)

Back-Blogging: Road Trip Finale-- St. George to Idaho

 Hello. I know you thought the day would never come. But here it is. The day I blog about the last our our road trip from last October. Just to remind you, on my last update, we left off watching the sun set over the majestic mountains of Zion National Park...

From there, we started what we like to call our "family time." We stayed the night in St. George, with my Aunt DeeAnn at the Phelps group's vacation house. It was lovely. I'd heard rumors of how nice and relaxing their place is, and all those rumors are true. Sadly, I didn't go around photographing the house, or the pool and hot tub, or the bed linens. But trust me, they were all top notch!

We got to play with my cousin Reni's kids, who were staying with their Grandma Dee... Here's Taylor, who was quite the conversationalist at dinner (just ask Brian, who got an earful!)...

Halle, who really thought there was a competition with Natalie to see who could be the cutest two-year-old redhead...

And Brecken. We've known and loved Brecken since their family lived in Boise back in 2008-09. She and Samantha reconnected as BFFs. :)

And off we rushed the next morning, on our way to Lehi for some Bishop family time. Oh yes we DID see these fun little road signs for a couple hundred miles!

(and guess who decided to STILL go 75? ;)

We had a great little family reunion at Brent and Jenalyn's house that night, with all the siblings and family that lives in Utah. (Brian has four sibs down there now!) A hayride! So much fun!! 

 Ashton and Samantha -- another reconnection as BFFs! They're just four months apart, and, in my opinion they kinda look (and act) like they could be sisters. Cuties...

 Janice bought pumpkins for each of the kids, and provided fun googly eyes and wires to decorate their pumpkins like spiders. It was a hit!

 Here's one of the gals of the house, after dinner...

The hard part about all our time with family was that it just went toooo fast! We were eager to get home, of course, but we wish we could have spent a few more days visiting around with everyone in Utah, instead of having to rush off and stick to our schedule. Oh well... fun memories, for sure!

Next stop, Blackfoot -- home of Idaho's World Famous Potato Expo. I promise, sometime I will post a photo of that special exhibit. But for now, here's my photo of our Blackfoot trip. It's the Hones.... all 26 of us!

It was a fun reunion, let me tell you! Good food, great company, and an awesome new addition to the Honestead -- my parents just finished remodeling, adding a nice master suite and closet, and extending their guestroom by several feet. Very snazzy! This picture was taken in their new bedroom, in front of the fireplace. The little kids were sitting up on the mantle of the fireplace.

And then, the moment we had been waiting for... home again, home again, finally home. We made it! And I can't find the fun pics we took of our "Welcome Home" banner on the garage doors. Hmm... must be on the iPad. Mark and Dalana's family put up signs and came right over to help us unpack. 

And now, here were are, five months later. Phew! I'm glad I finally got this one covered. Now maybe I should resume blogging some more recent stuff, eh?