A Peek at the Poulsens

BALANCE has been my struggle the past few months. I never feel like I'm getting everything done, or if I do well in one area another area completely goes down the drain. It's been a challenge to manage my calling, my personal health and wellness, the care of my family and home, and personal recreation/entertainment time, all while getting enough sleep and enough Austin time. Adding in Stockton's therapies and various appointments, plus anything that the other children have going on, makes my life logistically exhausting sometimes. huge line at the DMV -_- The past week I've been feeling on the up and up though - I've been spending more dedicated time in scripture study to clear my head and bolster my spirit, and I've noticed a difference in how I feel throughout the day and especially my patience level with my children. It's also helped me have more of a desire to be productive and less of a desire to give up. I'm getting more organized and more fo...

Austin decided he and Natalie needed to go camping in the backyard last month, but there hasn't been a free Friday night until last weekend. They set up the tent, got the sleeping bags/sleeping pads/pillows all ready, and then before they even went into the tent it started POURING rain, like absolute deluge , so Austin ran out and moved the tent into the carport. The boys were already asleep and Natalie was already pretty tired (it was like 8:30) so they decided to do s'mores and "campfire" (aka charcoal grill) in the carport. They invited me out for this part of their campout, which was very kind : ) (although I was inside watching the last season of the West Wing, so I didn't feel too left out!) We had s'mores (two each, obviously, has anyone ever just had one!?) and it was still raining and wet, so they decided to just "camp" in the carport. Not quite as picturesque sleeping under the old, paint-peeling wood instead of the stars, but still.  N...

 Isn't she so pure and lovely and glow-y? These pictures are back from Easter, they've been hiding and are too cute not to share, even though it's so late.  Austin's office put on an awesome easter egg hunt for the kids! (By "kids" I really mean "Natalie," since Stockton picked up the first egg he saw and then laid on the ground admiring it for the rest of the time, and Jack got hold of an egg with coins in it and was content to sit and shake it while Natalie filled two whole baskets by herself. The office they use is in front of a vacant back office, and it was the perfect place for the hunt. That's Stephanie, the fabulous receptionist at the office. She's the best! Also, please notice Natalie's "bunny ears" hairstyle, by yours truly.  Stockton did enjoy the candy-eating part of the hunt, as did we all. Stephanie hid coins in denominations of ten in the eggs since she knew we had just done a family home evening ...

During finals week sophomore year fall semester, Susannah and I relieved our stress by eating out at a new restaurant each night. We had heard from someone that Tico's Mexican Restaurant had amazing chips and salsa, so we made our way down there in mismatched sweats and unwashed hoodies. Classy. We were surprised by the decor - it was fancier than we expected while also looking old and old-fashioned. We about died when we went into the bathroom and found it tiled wall-to-wall in awful brown patterned squares. (Keep in mind we were not fully in our right minds - thanks, finals week.) We felt out of place in our grungy clothes but found the chips/salsa to indeed be delicious, and Susannah got a quesadilla and I got taco salad. We liked our waitress a lot and were being silly and making jokes that we should work there, and waitress Lizz was like, "well actually we are  hiring, so you should totally fill out an application." I did, right then and there! And worked as a host...

 Grandma and Grandpa got the kids this joint birthday present: a trampoline! They love it and get so red-faced and sweaty jumping on that thing. Jack has recently been more and more eager to be involved - for a while he would whine to get on the tramp but immediately reach frantically back for us to take him off. Now he even tries jumping!  One of the best parts of the trampoline was playing in the boxes! The first time they saw them I think the kids played like this for an hour and a half. The boxes are still downstairs, ripe for rocket ships, boats, and so many other adventures!  My pretty Natsby, in her favorite place: OUTSIDE  Jack has recently only wanted to eat if he is the one feeding himself. It kind of drives us a little crazy because he makes a giant mess and doesn't even end up getting that much food in his mouth, so he's hungry sooner than he should be but won't let us feed him so the cycle restarts. Silly Smalls!  I ...