Life with the Birts

I haven't just got on here and talked about my thoughts or things going on in the family for I don't know how long. It is so much easier to just post pics. But I'm getting behind so I want to journal this for my own sanity before I forget what's happened as of late and because my kids and I are horrible at keeping up our journals.
School started a month ago and I'm doing well with keeping up with the busy schedule and homework so far.
Monday's are Hudsons only day off from tackle football and so it was wonderful for family night and so relaxing since I also don't have to work (clean) on Monday's. But Parks now has flag football on Mondays and Wednesdays. He wishes he could play tackle but we thought it best to wait one more yr and have him start when he is 8 like Hudson did. Hudson has taught him everything he knows about football positions etc and Parks eats it up!
I had scheduled piano lessons for Hud and Skrap on Monday's but Hudson was mad because that was his only free day so I moved them to Monday mornings. 7:30-8:30am before school! That is not like me at all! I'm not a morning person and feel bad waking my kids up at 6:45. The lessons are in Fruit Heights so it takes us 20 min to get there. But it's been wonderful and not as hard as I thought it would be. Their teacher is a man and he is awesome! My mom comes over to watch Logan and when I get home the kitchen is all cleaned up...bonus!
Yes Parks is taking lessons even tho he can't play with his left hand. He really enjoys it. Hopefully just getting some background in music will help him be able to play some instrument in the future, maybe the drums just like AC/DC's one armed drummer. :)
Tierra is a Junior at Northridge High and her plate is full. She has a lot of homework every night and she is working as a tutor for a family in our ward. They have 3 girls Hudson's age and younger that she helps with their schoolwork etc. She does this twice a week for about an hour and a half, so it gives her a little extra spending money but still leaves her time to do homework and play. She has been driving for a year and has her own car which she now drives everyday to school. I wish she'd ride the bus to save on gas money and keep me from worrying about her safety, but "no one rides the bus this year mom". She started taking Hip Hop Dance at Spotlight this month. She has YW's on Wednesdays and is gone every Friday night to HS football games so her evenings are full.
Tierra is not like any other teenage girl I know. There is no drama, emotional ups and downs, fighting or yelling with her parents, partying, sluffing, staying out past curfew or anything like that. She is a sweetheart. Very mellow and such a good girl. So I can't relate to other moms who hate the teenage years. Thank goodness! And I just pray she stays this way.
So back to Hudson. He practices football 4 days a week for an hour and a half and has a game every Saturday. His team is undefeated. One more win and they will be the Region Champions. We are heading to Vegas over Thanksgiving for the Pigskin tournament.
Hudsons front teeth have not come in so he will be getting braces in October and oral surgery AGAIN to hook on some chains and bring those babies down! $$$
Hudson has Mrs. Malloy for 5th gr and loves her. They have "morning boogie" every day where they dance to music when they arrive to school which is his favorite thing. He is called the "genius" in his class because he finishes all his math timings first and gets 100% everytime which has never been done in her class before. School does come easy for him and that is a blessing for me! His favorite subject is math...art is a whole other story!
Parks has Mrs Gold and she seems to be pushing him academically which I love! He just lost both of his front teeth and so him and Hudson are both toothless together. Parks is receiving physical and occupational therapy at school now so we no longer have to do our own therapy appt at Primary Childrens. We try to schedule Botox shots for him about every 6 months but again...$$$
Our house is getting more crowded the bigger the kids get. I spent 2 weeks cleaning out the boys closet, toy room and one whole Saturday cleaning out the garage to organize the boys clothing and toys etc. All 3 of my boys share a room. Logan has grown out of his toddler bed but we don't have room for another twin bed in their room. I just sold their bunkbeds and they are now sleeping just on their mattresses on the floor right now until we can figure out what to do. They love it! So I'm not in a hurry to find beds. I like them being in the same room, they are best friends. They tell stories, laugh, cuddle, sometimes argue or make someone cry and most of the time stay up too late talking. But I wouldn't have it any other way.
We want to build on the family land just up the street but it isn't moving along as we had hoped! So after being married 11 yrs. here we still sit and wait. We have 3 leaks in our roof so we have no choice but to get a new roof because ours has ceramic tiles which break easily, cannot be repaired, and no one wants to deal with them. $$$ When will we ever see a light at the end of the tunnel???
Logan has one more year at home with me so I cherish every moment. I don't want to do the Joy School preschool this year and don't want to spend the money on a public preschool so Logan and I do preschool activities everyday together and I'm trying out a book that teaches me to teach him how to read in 100 days. I'm not consistent with it so my goal is to have him reading by Easter. We'll see if it works. He is used to having his brothers entertain him all summer so he doesn't know how to entertain himself. The first thing he says in the morning is "Mom what do you want to do?" and I hear it all day long. While I'm doing dishes, vacuuming, laundry, anything, I answer with. " 'This', I'm doing 'this' and that's what I want to do right now. Please go play". But if I'm not doing something with him, he turns on the TV so most of my day is spent playing memory games, board games, reading books or whatever he's in the mood for. I'm just thankful for Larry who lets me be a stay at home mom!!
Lucky for me & him he has play dates with Dawson on Tuesdays and Thursdays again this year. Wednesdays we have been meeting at the new park by our house with other preschool kids until the weather turns bad, then I think we'll start going to the library again for story time. He also has started hanging out with a neighbor girl Allie who is only 3. They are best friends! They play so well and keep busy doing all kinds of funny stuff. They already have a routine. First thing they ask for otterpops and then go outside and feed them to the neighbor dogs. Then they get out all the stuffed animals and play a game with them. He tries to teach her to play board games, hit a baseball, play with 'dudes' all kinds of boy stuff and she is willing to do all of it. Since our trampoline broke this summer they head over to her house to jump, then come back and play some more at our house. This is pretty much a daily thing since they can just walk back and forth to each others house. So nice for both Amy and I. It's nice to have another babysitter besides using my mom all the time.
I also enrolled Logan at Spotlight in an all boy hip hop dance class. He loves 'So You Think You Can Dance' dancers like beadboys who spin on their heads and do handstands etc. He is always asking us to turn up the music in the truck when Larry and I are trying to talk, then bopping his head around to the beat. Last week he learned a "cool move" at dance and came home to show his brothers. Soccer has already begun and we forgot to sign him up but Larry will get him on a team and we'll be adding that to our week. :( We are not soccer fans in our family but he says he wants to play.
Larry is still working 2 jobs, IT Specialist and the rec sports coordinator for our city which keeps him busy every evening and right now all day Saturday running the tackle football games. He has been traveling more and more lately for his day job. He went to Anaheim for a week in September and will be going to DC for another week in October. Wish we had the money so I could join him.
I am still cleaning at 2 different buildings 4 days a week and it takes about an hour. I don't mind it but it sure makes my family night life that much more hectic with getting everybody where they need to go. Tierra being able to drive helps a lot (when she is home!) Lucky for me my mom helps me clean too, that saves me time! She is awesome.
I'm still the Beehive Advisor so I also have activities to attend every Wed. night. I volunteer every Wed. morning in Parks class and every few weeks on Wed. afternoons in Hudsons class. My mom also volunteers with me every other week. I'm also the Party Rep for Parks class so I get to be in there for all the fun!
I have to remember to enjoy these busy years because they will fly by and I'll miss my little family as it is now.