Weekend Visitors

Two weekends ago my Mom, my sister Kylee and her husband Eric came for a few days. It was so much fun to have them here! The kids loved all of the attention and fun things they got to do while they visited. On Saturday, the troops went down to Provo to have breakfast with Uncle Topher while Greg and I worked on the house. (Rachel stayed with us.) Then they got to see "Kung-Fu Panda", and they came home quoting it and karate-chopping each other. After that Eric helped Greg in the yard while I chatted with Mom, Kylee and Kristopher. (In all fairness, I had been laying sod with Greg all morning. But being the wimp that I am, needed a break.)

The kids then had a birthday party next door at the Bushman's. It was a Superhero party, and Allison went all out, of course. Even Superman and Spider Man made an appearance! After playing on the slip-n-slide and having a great time, they came home and Nana watched them while Greg and I went to the movies. Keeping with the superhero theme, we finally saw "Iron Man" and LOVED it. So good. I have become so jaded about these big-budget movies. There is so much hype and they rarely live up to it. I don't expect too much anymore. But this one delivered, big time.

Sunday was Father's Day and we made Greg his favorite banana pancakes with real whipped cream. He opened his gifts and loved the homemade cards the kids had made at Grandma's. Kylee and Eric were a great help at church with the kids. They all had to leave that afternoon, and although it was a short trip, we felt like we made the most of our time together. I will get to see them next weekend when I make my weekend trip to California for Ethan's blessing, and then Nana is coming back the first weekend in August for Trent's baptism. It was a great weekend we won't soon forget!

Just Kidding!

Last week I finally posted about our move to Idaho. The next day Greg came home and told me he'd been interviewing for a job with Washington Mutual, to be the Financial Adviser in their Utah County branches. Hello! He didn't want to tell me about it before he was fairly certain that he would be offered the job; and after his meeting Friday, it was pretty much a done deal.

We stewed about it all weekend, weighing the pros and cons of each place. It surprised me that I wasn't ecstatic about staying here in Utah. A few months ago I would have been. But in May I began to realize that my negative attitude wasn't helping me or my family get ready for the move, so I started focusing on the positive. Soon that was all I thought about. So when this new opportunity presented itself, I only saw the nice house and better schools slipping away. But after a lot of prayer and discussion, we realized there are more positives about staying where we are. Everyone is happy here, we've made a lot of improvements to our home in the last month and this new job will be a better fit for Greg. So, Utah is where we will stay.

I am so happy that we don't have to leave friends and family. The kids are almost giddy, they are so excited. Now comes the re-registering for schools and all of the stuff we thought we didn't have to do since we were moving. Half of my house is packed up, so I will be moving stuff back in slowly. It's been good to get rid of a lot of junk we'd accumulated. I think that will make a big difference once everything is moved back in. And did I mention I have new carpet and a kitchen floor? I get to enjoy it for more than a month now! Greg has worked really hard on the yard and it looks ten times better, so that is something we'll enjoy, too.

All in all, it's been a crazy, emotional few days here for the Poulton Gang. We're happy to be staying put and look forward to what the future holds for us here in Utah.

Happy Father's Day, Greg!

My kids are so lucky. They happen to have the best Dad on the planet, in my humble opinion. He is so good to them. He takes an interest in whatever each of them is up to. He listens and helps them solve any issues they have. He is also way too funny. I can't remember a day when he hasn't made us laugh. Life is never dull when he's around!

I am so thankful that my children have his wonderful example to guide them through this life. He loves being their Dad, and they know it. I am also eternally grateful that he married me and that I got to create this beautiful family with him. Thank you for all you do for us, Greg. We love you!

Which Disney Princess Are You?

You Are Belle!

Intelligent and kind. Your beauty goes much further than your apperance. Also, you make judgements of people based on their personality and not their looks. Attaining all the knowledge that you can is one of your major goals in life, but you are also a person who can make things happen.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

I'm so happy, Belle is my favorite Princess!

Time to Catch Up

I have been slacking with my blog, my apologies. The kids had a busy month in May, and here are the highlights:

Hailey had her big Spring concert with the Lehi Children's Choir. This year instead of just singing their songs, they put on an entire show called "Lights, Camera, Action!" They had the kids dress up as classic movie stars, saying many famous lines from their movies. Hailey was chosen to be Katherine Hepburn and she got the biggest laugh in the show with her perfect impersonation. She said "Oh Norman, the calalilies are in bloom!" (from On Golden Pond) and she sounded exactly like her! We put her hair in a bun and sprayed it gray. I didn't get a good shot of her delivering her line unfortunately, but you can see that she had fun.

Trent gave his first oral report and he did it on the cheetah. He learned so much about them and did a fantastic job! We, I mean he, got an A! He also had a great time finishing up second grade. He has become such an amazing reader this year, tackling chapter books like they were nothing. We are so proud of how much he has learned.

Elise graduated from preschool, after two fun-filled years at A Leap Ahead Preschool. She adored her teacher, Miss Cathie, and made even more friends this year. It's incredible to see her progress from the beginning of the year until now. She writes her name so well, and her drawing has improved greatly as well. She has loved preschool and is already asking when Kindergarten starts. I am going to have three kids in school this year, that seems very bizarre to me.

Seth and Rachel have continued to grow and make us all laugh with their cuteness. That's a quick recap of the kids' adventures in May.

Sleep, how I miss thee

Before I had children, I didn't believe in sleep-deprivation. Now that I have been walking around with it for over 11 years, I tend to agree that it's real. Why, oh why, is it so hard to get a night of uninterrupted sleep? You'd think that children would be so warn out from playing that they'd pass out and nothing could wake them. And yet, I haven't had a night without being woken up by one of them in....I can't even remember! (Except for my blissful weekend in Vegas, of course. But then I was sleeping on a board instead of my nice pillow top mattress, so it was a trade-off.) It's so sad that as I am making breakfast, I'm trying to figure out when my schedule will let me take a nap that day.
Have you ever seen those Dateline investigations where the kids sleep through the fire alarm? Yeah, that wouldn't be one of my kids. Each night it's one thing or another. One of them needs a drink, or is hungry, or just thinks it's time to be up. And since Hailey is the only one with her own room (and is the only one that doesn't wake me up), I have to shush them up before they wake the sibling in the room. Because then all hell breaks loose. I am not very nice when I'm tired. It's amazing how much anger you can convey in a loud whisper. I'm sure I don't help things when I say "Shhhh!", with all the sympathy of a jail warden. When they have a bad dream or are sick, I couldn't be nicer in getting them what they need or helping them not be scared. It's the waking up and refusing to go back to sleep when there's nothing wrong that I freak out about. Am I alone in this?
As I lay in bed at 4:30 this morning, knowing I only had 70 minutes until the baby would wake up for the day, I longed for the time when I will close my eyes at 11 pm, and don't open them again until 6:30 am. Everyone says I will miss these times, once the kids are older and all in school. I can guarantee that nighttime will not be one of those times.

ETA: I should explain that I don't get mad at the baby when she wakes up. Frustrated, yes, but it's not like I get mad at her. It's the kids in the 7-3 year old range that get to me. :)

Stephenie Meyer

My book group and I all love Stephenie Meyer's books. Her latest book "The Host" debuted at #1 on the NY Times bestseller list last week. She came to Utah last weekend on her book tour and we were lucky enough to get tickets and see her at Thanksgiving Point. She answered preselected audience questions and then signed our books. Unfortunately, none of my photos turned out very well. That weekend our group was also very happy to host the founders of the Twilight Lexicon, Lori (Alphie) and Laura (Pel). We had a big dinner for them and we had a lot of laughs (as always).





I love Stephenie's stories. I would recommend them to any of our female readers, as they are quite romantic, yet clean, which is so hard to find these days. If you haven't read them, and decide to give them a try, avoid reading the back cover of any of them, as it gives away a lot of the plot. I was so surprised that I liked the series (Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse), because it is considered Young Adult fiction, but I shouldn't have been. Didn't I learn from Harry Potter that good storytelling is just that, good storytelling?
Her newest book, The Host, was quite a surprise, too. If you had told me a year ago that I would read a book about aliens and love it, I would have laughed out loud. But this book was amazing. It's not so much about aliens as it is about the power of love and it's ability to change people. I won't say more, just know that if you are looking for a new book to read, I highly recommend it.