Back and Forth

Birch has been working in Flagstaff the last six weeks. It was his last rotation of med school and this Friday is the big graduation!!!

I stayed in Tucson with the kids during the week and Birch and I took turns driving back and forth on the weekends. I didn't think it would be too bad being alone since Trevor and Haley are a little older, almost 2 and 4. But it was rough. I am so glad to be back home with our family together.

Dad and Haley enjoying some time together.

Giving mom a few minutes alone: painting the house with water kept them busy!

In Flagstaff we played outside with the kids as much as we could. Here's a little hike we took by Birch's parents' house.

Conference weekend was amazing with four adults and two kids. I was able to listen and learn and understand answers to questions I had.

My sister Becca went to prom one weekend we were in Flag so Haley got to play dress-up. She was so sad when she couldn't go with her to the dance.

Trevor had his 4th birthday and all he wanted was brownies--easy!

These are his huge Superman muscles. :)

Your Least Favorite Topic: Housework

I'm not sure how many comments I'll get on this one, but I've been thinking about it, so we'll see. How do you keep your house clean? I've been in a few houses that always seem to be in order, even when I come over unannounced. Do these people clean all night after their kids are in bed? Does their husband love to help and do chores?

I've gone through different routines with our house. For a while I had a chore for every day: Mondays were laundry, Tuesdays were bathrooms, etc. But if one day got busy I usually didn't make up for it the next, so the chore waited for the next week. Ew. Then I switched and tried to do a big clean once a week, usually on Saturday. But I got burned out on that pretty fast.

Now I clean something every day but there's no schedule. I just look around and see what needs to be done and how much time I have that day. Today was a busy Tuesday so I just vacuumed. Yesterday I did laundry and swept/mopped the floor. What works for you?

And the other part: how do you teach your kids to work? For a while Trevor's job was to wipe off the kitchen table. Now I give him options as long as he does something every day. I probably should have some kind of chart to help me be more consistent but it hasn't happened yet. How do your kids (and husband) help at home?

A Little Home Decor

My sister-in-law Lori just started an amazing new business called Plum Street Prints.

They make art prints for your home that arrive via email in printable (jpeg) format. You can also do customized and personalized prints, or a completely custom order. Check out her site, she's so talented and I know you'll find something you like!

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/plumstreetprints

Blog:
http://www.plumstreetprints.blogspot.com/

Etsy Store:
http://www.blogger.com/www.plumstreetprints.etsy.com

Our Match

We'll be doing residency here in Tucson!!! I won't lie--there's a part of me that really wanted to go somewhere new. But all day I've felt calm and I know that the right thing did happen. The best part is Birch got "transitional year" for the first year, which means that he'll be doing rotations again instead of a year of surgery or internal medicine, which is a lot more hours. A little less stress is always good!

The theme of match day was Disney so we had fun dressing up as Peter Pan characters. Trevor loved it--he's been calling us Peter Pan and Wendy all day.

Not the best picture but it shows what happens at Match Day. Everyone meets in an auditorium to watch a skit by all the different specialties. Then one by one, the students are called up on stage to get their envelope with the residency assignment and open it in front of the crowd.

Luckily, everyone also got an email a few minutes before they started the envelopes so we saw where we matched before Birch went on stage.


After the big ceremony we had a party in the park. Birch was in charge of entertaining the kids so a jumping castle took care of that. Now that we know where everyone is going, it's sad to see friends who will be moving away. Trevor will especially miss one one of his best buds, Nash.

I can't believe four years has gone by. Finishing this process has seemed so far off but we're almost to the end. Just one more big hump to get over.