Steph's Stories

Finally some snow!

2012-02-14T14:38:00.004-07:00

Saturday, January 7, 2012

We have had a dry, dry, dry winter so far! We had one or two small snowstorms around Thanksgiving time and then really nothing to speak of after that. We finally got a little bit on January 7th, so the kids took advantage of it and spent some time playing outside in it.

Puzzle problems

2012-02-14T14:35:00.003-07:00

While we were working on the puzzle that DH opened on New Year's Eve, we started noticing that there were puzzle pieces that just didn't seem to be there. Well, we finished the puzzle with all of the pieces that we had and this is what we ended up with:
This was a brand new puzzle that DH just opened that night. It's a little frustrating going to all of that work to do a puzzle and not being able to even finish it!

Happy New Year 2012!!

2012-02-13T16:41:00.006-07:00

Saturday, December 31, 2011

My parents came over to our house for some New Year's Eve fun. We had a couple of tables set up so we could have more than one game going at a time. DH at one point started a puzzle downstairs too. We didn't take a lot of pictures this year. I'm just glad to I was feeling well enough to have some fun with everyone. (And can I just say that it is torture watching Dick Clark every year... Do you really think he enjoys doing the New Year's celebration still???)

Sleeping tight

2012-02-03T10:09:00.002-07:00

December 2011

Sleeping tight in some new Christmas jammies:

Ice cream cone

2012-02-03T10:05:00.002-07:00

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

MJ enjoying an ice cream cone:

Christmas Pictures 2011

2012-02-03T09:45:00.004-07:00

(I had to put both of these pictures of MJ up. I can't resist that cute smile!)

Christmas Morning take 2

2012-01-30T12:44:00.015-07:00

Monday, December 26, 2011
Since I wasn't able to be home for Christmas morning, we discussed with the kids what they would like to do regarding their Christmas presents. We decided as a family that we would wait until I got home from the hospital to open up any Christmas gifts and that DH and I would have Santa leave the gifts in a secret place to put out when we were ready. DH likes the fun of having the kids wake up in the morning to their gifts so we decided to do that the day after Christmas and have that be our Christmas morning. The kids did really good with letting me sleep in a little and entertained themselves in M&M's room until we were ready for them. It was a relatively low key day and I think the kids all enjoyed their gifts. MJ still hasn't figured out the fun of opening presents so I was usually the one opening things for her. (Don't look too closely at the picture above with me in it! I was incredibly swollen still from my surgery and I almost don't even recognize myself in the few pictures that were taken of me during that time.)

Home from the hospital!

2012-01-30T12:32:00.006-07:00

Sunday, December 25, 2011
I was finally given the okay to come home from the hospital Christmas afternoon. Things were a little crazy with it being Christmas, but it was nice to finally be able to go home and be with the family. DH and the kids made a welcome home sign for me that they hung on the garage door and my parents came over to make Christmas dinner. My sister's family also came over to spend Christmas dinner and the rest of the evening with us. We had the kids open their presents from my parents and their Christmas pajamas and then we saved the Santa gifts for the following morning.

Christmas Morning

2012-01-30T12:28:00.007-07:00

Sunday, December 25, 2011
DH and M&M did a good job getting the kids ready for church Christmas morning. Our ward met at 9 a.m. for a one hour Sacrament Meeting. DH made them some cinnamon and orange rolls for breakfast and M&M helped fix all of the girls' hair.

MJ update

2012-01-26T13:40:00.004-07:00

MJ really, really wants to talk and communicate. It's fun watching her learn how to say new things and for us to understand her. Some of her favorite new words lately are:
- breakfast (sounds more like bepfist)
- lunch
- snack (sounds like nack)
- cookie
- bar (for granola bar)

If you can't tell from this list, she loves food! She usually wakes up starving and usually she is dying of hunger while I'm making dinner so she hangs out in the kitchen looking for handouts. Sometimes she will climb into her chair before dinner is ready and start screaming for something to eat.

She gets into everything and leaves messes everywhere she goes! Just today I caught her lifting up the toilet seat cover so she could dunk a toy in it and then she would close the toilet and run around the house with the wet toy... She also loves to draw so be careful leaving any kind of writing or drawing utensil out because she will draw on just about anything - books, papers, walls, dressers, doors...

Her other favorite word is "movie". She will bring me the remote for the T.V. and then say "movie" hoping that I will turn a kid show on for her. She loves watching "Super Why" and loves to dance to the music in it.

She is also very fascinated in the hats that I wear and sometimes likes to put some on herself and then walk around tapping it and saying "hat".

Kay talk

2012-01-26T11:24:00.002-07:00

Kay at lunch one day: "Mom, can I have some warm hot chocolate?"

One day when the kids were coming home from school: "Mom, Blondie's here!" She opened the door and then said, "Welcome!"

I drive a carpool every other week for M&M and some other kids from her school to an orchestra rehearsal. Kay sits in the back of the van with two other girls to the left of her. Kay was trying to hold a conversation with these girls and it was pretty funny to listen to:
Kay: "I got a Rapunzel doll for Christmas."
Girl: "Oh, you did?"
Kay: "Yeah and I got a pony doll too."
Girl: "Oh, what is it's name?"
Kay: "Pinkie-pie."
Girl: "That's a fun name."
Kay: "Do you want to come over to my house and play? We could play Barbies."
Girl: "Maybe we could over sometime."
Kay: "How about tomorrow?"
M&M and I were sitting in the front of the van cracking up at this conversation going on in the back!

Kay talk

2012-01-14T13:40:00.002-07:00

The other day I was playing Polly Pockets with Kay. The girls have a couple of the Disney princess dolls and a few of the princes. I picked up one of the princes and asked her, "Is his name Prince Eric?"

Kay responded, "Yes. Or Prince Stinky-pants!"

Kid talk

2012-01-02T17:16:00.002-07:00

DH was changing a poopy diaper of MJ's today and while he was changing it she said, "Ewww, gross."

It was hilarious because we have never heard her say the word 'gross' berore.

Kay talk

2011-12-31T11:23:00.003-07:00

During one of her visits to the hospital to see me, Kay sat down next to me on the couch and asked, "Mom, can I be your nurse?" When I told her yes, she proceeded to pick up some of my food from off of my tray and feed it to me.

Kay talk

2011-12-30T18:48:00.005-07:00

Today at the dinner table, the discussion of germs came up after DH sneezed. Kay said to him, "What are germs?" So we tried explaining to her that germs are bad things that get passed around and they can make you sick, that's why you need to wash your hands and be careful how you cough and sneeze around other people.

Kay then asked her dad, "But what color are they? Are they purple? Are they Daddy?"

After laughing about that for a few minutes we tried explaining to Kay that germs are too small to see and that you need a microscope to see them. To which she responded, "What's a microspoke?"

A little while later I was in the family room with some of the kids helping M&M with some math homework when Kay found some play soap we have for the girls' dolls. I asked Kay to come over to me and rub it on my head because it would make it feel good. She thought that was a good idea so she came over to me on the couch and started rubbing my head with it and then said, "Here, I'll make your hair grow back."

Kay had the hardest time saying the word "hospital". Usually it came out as "hopsital" or "hopsistol".

Lost and found

2011-12-28T20:26:00.004-07:00

Sunday, December 25, 2011

DH woke M&M up early Sunday morning so she could help him get the younger girls get ready for church. After she was finished getting them ready and went downstairs to get herself ready, DH went down to see what was taking her so long. He found her in her room very upset because she couldn't find her glasses. After helping her look for a minute DH had to go back upstairs to help out the other kids in the kitchen when M&M came upstairs laughing. She had looked at herself in the mirror and realized that her glasses were right there on her face!!

Observant three year old

2011-12-20T19:28:00.002-07:00

Today I dropped M&M off at her piano lesson and then drove the opposite way I usually do leaving the piano teacher's house. As soon as I did that Kay piped up from the back of the minivan, "Hey, you're going the wrong way!"

Overcoming her fear!

2011-12-15T20:54:00.003-07:00

See these rocks that MJ is holding? Well, they are fairly strong magnets that when you toss them up in the air, make noises as they rub up against each other and they have a fairly strong attraction so when you hold one and put the other close to it, it will move over to it. MJ has been absolutely terrified of these stones. DH would take pleasure in torturing MJ by bringing the stones out and trying to force her to hold one and then have it move her hand over to the other one. She would run to me in fear each time DH got them out and played with them (or any of the kids). Well, tonight Kay was playing with them and I didn't think anything of it until I went to check on the laundry and there was MJ sitting in the middle of the floor playing with them! You could tell she was a little tentative at first and she still blinks her eyes when they touch, but each time she would pull them apart and then put them back together and then she would clap her hands and get a big smile on her face. It was really cute to watch. I told her to go show them to her daddy so she went downstairs where he was and walked in carrying them with a big smile on her face! What a cutie!

Christmas lights

2011-12-15T20:16:00.004-07:00

This year we just haven't had the time or the good weather to get the lights up on the house. DH was content not to do anything, but I wanted at least something up so M&M and I took some time on Saturday to check out the lights and put them up above the front porch, on the bushes and out on one of the trees in the yard. The weather wasn't too bad so the younger kids played out front while we were doing it. (When MJ finally came in her hands were absolutely freezing and it took a while to warm her up and get her to sleep for her nap.) The kids love the lights and I think it's better than nothing!

Kay talk

2011-12-15T20:09:00.003-07:00

MJ has never liked sitting in her high chair. During dinner we are constantly battling with her to try and get her to stay sitting in her seat and actually eating her food. Sometimes when she eats breakfast at a different time than Kay, I will just put MJ in Kay's booster seat and she seems to do much better there. Quite often at lunchtime I will just let her stand on one of the regular chairs and eat there standing up. We have been talking about just buying another booster seat and getting rid of the high chair - especially since it takes up quite a bit of room. I just haven't gotten around to going to a store that carries booster seats.

Today at dinnertime MJ was standing up once again in her high chair and DH made the comment, "I think we just need to buy another booster seat for MJ to sit in. When you buy one though, make sure that it has a good seatbelt so we can strap her in and not let her out."

Kay responded, "Well, that would be mean!"

(The funny part is that she was even paying attention to what we were discussing and made such an appropriate response!)

Gifts

2011-12-15T19:42:00.002-07:00

We've had many neighbors and friends drop by with little gifts for us here and there. One gift we received in the mail was a box of chocolates from a giveaway sponsored by a blog that none of us read. After doing a little bit of detective work we figured out that it was from my sister-in-law who won a giveaway and had the prize sent to us. A few days after that we had some neighbors show up on our doorstep with this gingerbread creation that they said was from someone that wanted to remain anonymous! Thanks everyone for your kind thoughts and gifts!

Thanksgiving Week Pictures 2011

2011-12-15T14:55:00.007-07:00

For Thanksgiving this year we had my oldest brother and his family and then my two younger siblings and their families. I think this was the first time that my girls have been outnumbered by their boy cousins! The three siblings that were visiting each have two boys now and no girls, so we had 5 girls and 7 boys! It was a fun day having us all together!

Decorating for Christmas

2011-12-15T14:45:00.000-07:00

Saturday, November 26, 2011

We usually decorate for Christmas the Friday and/or Saturday following Thanksgiving. This year I was really motivated to get it done because of my chemo treatment coming up the following Wednesday. The girls were helping me take down the fall/Thanksgiving decorations and then they were helping me get out the boxes with the Christmas decorations and the bag with the tree in it. I really wanted to DH participate with us in getting the tree up so I sent a couple of the girls down to his office to ask him. Apparently Blondie asked him if he was going to help and then Kay put her hand on her dad's arm and looked at him and said, "You will put up the Christmas tree." Apparently that did the trick and he came up to help after that!

Dinosaur Museum

2011-12-15T14:22:00.007-07:00

Friday, November 25, 2011

My brother and his family wanted to visit the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point while they were in town. They decided to go in the morning the day after Thanksgiving and I was just going to send a few of my older kids with them and my parents. In the end I decided that since I was feeling fine, I would go with them as well. It was a really fun museum with lots of hands-on exhibits for the kids. They all had a blast! Then I let them each pick out a little something from the Gift Shop afterwards.

Digging for fossils:

Kid talk

2011-12-15T14:19:00.002-07:00

Apparently I use the word "nasty" more than I think I do. The other day MJ was eating something and then proceeded to spit it out so it was all over her mouth and hands. I commented and said, "Nasty", and then she kept repeating the word for the next minute or two. Then the following day I was soaking in the bathtub for a few minutes in the morning and MJ came into the bathroom. She saw the water in the tub and reached her hand in to touch the water. After she pulled her hand out, she looked at her hand and said, "Nasty." Then she put her hand in the water again and pulled it out and said, "Nasty" again. It was pretty funny!

Goofy MJ

2011-12-03T11:55:00.005-07:00

Sunday, November 20

MJ was being goofy and decided to walk around with this Lincoln Log storage container on her head. Luckily she didn't run into anything and hurt herself!

Future piano player?

2011-12-02T19:57:00.003-07:00

MJ is a surprisingly good piano player for her young age. She will sit at the piano and play very gently on the keys - very rarely does she ever pound. With the piano being right in the middle of the house, quite often I am asking whoever is playing to play quieter or wait until a more convenient time. Lately I have called out to see who is playing the piano only to find out that surprisingly it is MJ!

Meeting the new cousin!

2011-12-02T19:31:00.005-07:00

Monday, November 21

I finally was able to take the kids over to my sister's house to meet their new cousin. He is almost 2 weeks old at this point. The kids all enjoyed taking a turn holding him. We got there just after he had woken up and my sister was getting ready to feed him. He was surprisingly alert and calm for the little while we were there. We left just as he was starting to get hungry and fussy. Everyone commented on how light he was except for Kitty who thought he was heavy!Luke with his Utah boy cousins!

Principal's Pride

2011-12-02T18:07:00.004-07:00

Thursday, November 17

Luke and Kitty earned the Principal's Pride award on the same day. DH was kind enough to go and take pictures before he went to work that morning. Luke earned it for scoring above 90% on all three of his math tests so far. Kitty earned it for her insect clay sculpture - she made a butterfly.

Yummy chocolate!

2011-12-02T17:56:00.003-07:00

A couple of weeks ago one of the Activity Day groups in our ward brought by some chocolate turkey cupcakes that they had made. MJ really enjoyed hers!

Arrow of Light

2011-12-02T16:55:00.004-07:00

Tuesday, November 15

Luke earned his Webelos rank advancement as well as his Arrow of Light at Pack Meeting this evening. I wasn't quite feeling 100%, but I was able to make it through the awards ceremony. Good job Luke! We're proud of you and your dedication! I can't believe that he'll be moving up to 11-year old scouts in February!

Newest nephew

2011-12-02T16:07:00.005-07:00

Thursday, November 10
My younger sister who lives near us had her second baby on November 8th - 3 weeks early. It was a little bit of a surprise because her first baby was 2 weeks late! I had my second chemo treatment on the 9th and was feeling well enough on the 10th to make a trip over to the hospital with my husband to visit them. He's a cute, tiny little thing! And DH got some cute pictures of him with his eyes open!Me sporting one of my new hat looks - still have a decent amount of hair in this picture.

Nap time

2011-11-28T19:10:00.002-07:00

Probably my biggest side effect from the chemo treatments I am undergoing is that I am definitely more tired throughout the day. So I try and get at least a little bit of a nap in while MJ is sleeping. A little over a week ago I put MJ down for a nap and then laid down in my bed to try and rest. The next thing I know, Kay is climbing into bed with me and then not too long after that, I hear MJ wake up crying. So I went to get her and thought, "I wonder if she would go back to sleep in my bed." I brought her back to my bed and curled up with her and she went back to sleep. Here is a picture of the two girls asleep in my bed:
The next day I was doing some work around the house after lunchtime and MJ came up to me with one of the remotes to the T.V. and she said something that sounded like "movie" to me. So I went up with her to the family room and turned on an episode of Super Why for her. When the show was over, I went to turn the T.V. off and this is what I found in front of it:

Halloween 2011

2011-11-19T16:37:00.010-07:00

Monday, October 31

MJ wore our pumpkin costume. I made this costume for Luke when he was not quite a year old and all the kids since him have worn it when they were one. This is one of my favorite costumes that I have made because it is easy on/off and warm and the kids can move around fine in it. MJ wasn't crazy about the hat, but she was fine walking around as a pumpkin.
Kay had a hard time deciding what she wanted to wear. I pulled out our Halloween costumes the Saturday before Halloween and the kids all had a ton of fun trying the costumes on. Kay went back and forth between Piglet and a Unicorn costume. (I love being able to reuse costumes!!) Finally on Halloween she decided to wear the Piglet costume. This is one that I made for M&M when she was 4 years old.
Kitty & Blondie also had a hard time deciding what to wear. At first they were both going to be Pioneers and wear the costumes they had worn for Faith the Musical, but then when I pulled out the costume box, the both changed their minds. Then they were both fighting over the Witch costume until I found the Poodle skirt that M&M had worn and it fit Blondie so she decided to wear that and Kitty wore the Witch costume. The witch costume is one that I bought for M&M when she was in 2nd grade. The poodle skirt I made for M&M when she was in 6th grade.

Luke wanted to be a Ring Wraith from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but I couldn't find the type of cloak that he wanted and frankly I didn't have a lot of time and energy to do much looking. Luckily we were able to find and piece together a costume from a couple of years ago and it still looked fine on him - a Jedi.
M&M decided a couple of days before Halloween that she wanted to dress up for school. She came up with the idea of Robin Hood and made this hat the Saturday before Halloween. She wore a green shirt and her green soccer socks and tied a brown scrap of fabric around her waist. She went with the kids Trick-or-Treating for the first street or so but then decided to come back home and help give out candy instead.

Kay only stayed out about half of the time and then DH brought her back home and just took Kitty and Blondie. Luke went with a couple of friends around the neighborhood - thankfully we have a safe neighborhood and there are lots of kids and adults around that we trust. It was perfect weather this year!

Earlier in the day my dad came over to watch MJ for me so I could take Kay to the school to see the kids in the school parade. My mom also met us there. Then when the kids came home from school, Kitty wasn't with them. Luke and Blondie both assumed that I had picked her up after the parade. As soon as I heard that she wasn't on the bus, I quickly ran out to the car and drove over to the school - after leaving Luke with instructions to answer the phone in case the school called and tell them I was on my way. When I pulled up to the school I saw Kitty in her witch costume running at full speed for the front door of the school. I started honking my horn and pulled into the pick-up area and got to the door just after she had run inside. The school door was still open so I rolled down the window and yelled her name and she heard me and came out. After taking a few minutes to settle down I figured out that she had gotten out late from her class and the bus had already left. So she went over to the pick-up area and just sat there waiting for me to come pick her up. Finally when the last person other than her was leaving, the parent in the car told her to go into the school and call home and that is when I was driving up and saw her take off running for the school. I was a little disturbed that she is only a first grader and was left out there by herself with no adults/staff around. Thankfully this time turned out just fine... And she now has instructions that if she ever misses the bus again, she needs to go to the front office to ask to call home or go find her teacher to help her out.

Kay talk

2011-11-18T19:38:00.001-07:00

Kay just came up to me as I am sitting at the computer working, gave me a hug and said, "Mom, I love you! And thank you for the dinner!"

Six little pumpkins sitting in a row...

2011-11-18T18:55:00.002-07:00

Monday, October 31We had perfect weather for Halloween this year! MJ and I sat out on the porch for a while waiting for Trick-or-Treaters to come by.

MJ growing up

2011-11-17T17:07:00.009-07:00

MJ has had to do a lot of growing up, very quickly lately. She has adapted much better to everything than we ever thought she would. She still whines quite a bit, but she is learning to talk more and that helps everyone all the way around as she learns to communicate better. Since I had to quickly wean her, she has switched over to solids very well and loves to eat a lot of different foods now. She usually gets the most whiny when she is hungry, which especially seems to happen right around 5:30 every evening. Usually while I am getting dinner ready she is at my feet in the kitchen whining for something to eat. She has loved a lot of the meals that have been brought to us over the last several weeks and quite often will eat more than the older kids. (For some reason she doesn't like jello though!) Unfortunately she has been a little more whiny than usual the last week or so because she is cutting her first set of molars and you can tell that her mouth just hurts...

She's also turned over a sweet side which shows itself more often. She used to not ever hug at all and now she can give good hugs when she is in the mood. Usually when her dad comes home she'll say his name and say hi to him. Sometimes she'll go up to him and throw her arms around his legs, wanting to be picked up. She also has a really cute smile where she scrunches up her nose and grins.

MJ is getting better at taking naps and being put down to sleep for the night. Sometimes after lunch I will try and sit down with the two girls and turn a movie or kids' show on and see if I can get MJ to fall asleep in my arms. Usually if it doesn't work by about 2:00 I'll just go put her in bed and she's usually okay with it. She definitely does not last the day if she doesn't get in a nap though. She does have a mean side about her though and will hit and head butt because she thinks it is funny...

MJ is also a total gadget girl. She throws a fit if she sees my ipad and I don't let her play with it. She also throws a fit if I don't let her sit on my lap and bang on the computer while I am trying to work on it or one of the kids is trying to play a video game and she wants to push the buttons. It makes things quite difficult at times...

MJ has also learned how to climb in the last month or two. She can now climb up on the kitchen chairs and occasionally will try and get from the chair onto the table (and thinks it is funny).

Here are some of the words that she will say now:

pease - for please
pitty - for pretty (she will say this when she puts a necklace on herself or when she brushes her hair)
bup - for up
down
more
hi
ba-bye
buckle - when she gets buckled into her car seat
cheese
fishy - fish crackers
bop - for stop
daddy
mama
shoes
baby - she says it with a really high pitched voice
ank you - thank you
hat
nice
socks
nigh nigh - for good night
nose
eyes
mouth
poopy - she has started saying this lately when I am changing her diaper
beep beep - what she says when she sees someone's belly

She also knows animal sounds for kitty, dog, bunny (she says hop, hop), frog (she sticks out her tongue), sheep, cow.

Dirty or clean?

2011-11-17T17:01:00.002-07:00

Today I was sorting the laundry from the hamper in my room and was kind of puzzled by some of the clothes that I found in there - things from some of the girls that normally aren't put in the hamper in my room because they use the hamper in the hallway. After looking at some things a little bit more closely I realized that half of the clothes in the hamper were clean! I think that MJ has been busy mixing some of the clean clothes with the dirty clothes while I have been taking showers this week! Hopefully I was able to sort out everything correctly, although it took a little more time than usual!

Kay talk

2011-11-03T09:42:00.002-06:00

So when DH came home from work yesterday he asked Kay, "Kay, who's your best friend?" (this is the same day that I wrote about her telling me I was her best friend)

Kay looked puzzled for a minute and then she said, "Oh, Susie and Lucy." (the neighbor kids that live behind our house)

Kay talk

2011-11-02T19:29:00.002-06:00

DH was in the storage room replacing the filter for the furnace. Kay came in to see what he was doing.

Kay: "What are you doing Dad?"

DH: "Replacing the air filter for the furnace."

Kay: "Oh, that should be fun!"

Kay talk

2011-11-02T16:35:00.002-06:00

Kay and I were sitting downstairs watching a movie together today and she says to me, "Mommy, you're my best friend!"

Jack-O-Lanterns 2011

2011-11-02T13:44:00.006-06:00

We carved our pumpkins on Sunday evening this year. The only pumpkin from our garden this year was the little tiny one. That was Kay's pumpkin and she had fun trying to gut it and then drawing all over it with markers. I asked her what kind of a face she wanted on it and she decided on a sad face. So I attempted to carve a sad face for her.

The other pumpkins we bought at the store this year. We were driving by a grocery store a couple of weeks ago and they were 10 cents a pound! So on our way home we stopped and picked out 4 large pumpkins and paid less than $5 for them! The pumpkin on the far left was Blondie's - she used a pattern we printed out and she did most of the carving herself. Kitty's is the next and her design was from a booklet that came with some of our pumpkin carving tools. It really looked like a ghost peeking his head out from behind the door. She did a lot of it herself and only needed help with some of the more detailed carving. Luke's is next and then M&M's. They both did all of the carving themselves and found the designs online. It is really nice that the kids can do a lot of it on their own as they get older.

When we first started doing the carving, MJ thought it was fun playing with the guts from the pumpkins. She also tried tasting it, although I don't think she liked it too much!I was surprised that Kay enjoyed the gutting as much as she did. Most of our older kids were grossed out by it at her age.Apparently I didn't get any pictures of Luke carving his pumpkin, but he was there too.

Kay talk

2011-10-31T13:20:00.002-06:00

I went upstairs to get something and Kay is sitting in Kitty and Blondie's room playing. She gives me a funny look like she's scared of something so I go in to see what's wrong. She's pointing at something near the bookshelf and I look and there is a snail shell on the floor there. Kay thinks that there is a snail in it which is why she is scared, but it is just an empty shell so I tell her that. Then I go into my room and she follows me and tells me, "Yeah, I just saw that snail shell there and it freaked me out!"

Pinewood Derby 2011

2011-10-31T11:44:00.004-06:00

Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Our last Pinewood Derby!

Luke hasn't been too excited about doing a Pinewood Derby car this year and with everything going on we didn't have a lot of time and energy to spend on one either. We finally got him excited about doing one and he and his dad worked on a design for it. It ended up changing a little bit here and there and in the end he said it was his favorite looking car of the three they have done. It ended up being a shark design and we even found a few stickers that went along with the shark theme. We were lucky to get it finished in time - but unfortunately not without some mess-ups with the paint and then not having time to tweak the wheels for speed at all. Thankfully it was a pretty low-key event this year - only 11 cars in the race. One of the Webelos leaders in the ward has his own race track so he ran the whole thing and did it all at no cost to the pack. Luke's car didn't finish last overall, but it didn't do as well as we would have liked - 9th. And now we are officially finished with Pinewood Derby cars!!

Kay talk

2011-10-30T07:42:00.004-06:00

DH picked out clothes for the two little ones yesterday. He checked with me first to make sure they were alright. He grabbed a pair of jeans and a shirt for Kay. The shirt he picked does have a matching pair of leggings for it, but it would look fine with the jeans so I didn't say anything. He put the jeans on Kay, made sure they felt alright and then he put the shirt on her. As soon as he got it on her she looked down and said, "Uhhh, this doesn't match!"

She then ran to her room and found the matching leggings and had DH put them on her instead!

Kay talk

2011-10-22T21:04:00.002-06:00

DH has a sword that he bought while on his mission in Spain. Just a couple of months ago he hung it up in his office downstairs. This evening Kay was down with him in his offiice and asked, "Dad, why do you have a sword? Who did you have to kill?"

Kay talk

2011-10-20T21:00:00.002-06:00

Kay at the dinner table today after I came home from my first chemo treatment: "Mom, you didn't get bald yet!"

New blog

2011-10-20T15:55:00.003-06:00

I am starting up a new blog for those that are interested in reading updates on me. I still intend on keeping this blog, but it will focus more on the happenings of the family and kids.

My new blog is: Time to make lemonade

Sleeping soundly

2011-10-10T22:01:00.002-06:00

Monday, October 3
MJ has a hard time sleeping in her bed for naptime. About 9 times out of 10 that I try and lay her down in her bed she will wake right up, so sometimes I don't even bother moving her. This time she ended up on the couch in my room, cozying up to a pillow:

Perfect fit

2011-10-10T21:58:00.003-06:00

Monday, October 3
MJ discovered that she just barely fits inside one of our step stools when turned upside down. Here she is all set with Luke's two water bottles!

Rock Canyon

2011-10-10T21:48:00.004-06:00

Monday, October 3
For one of his Webelos Activity pins, Luke needed to go on a Geology field trip. I decided that while the weather was still nice, it would be fun to take the kids down to Rock Canyon in Provo to go for a little hike and look at the rocks up there. Luke's friend is also off-track from school so I let Luke invite him to come along. We took a picnic lunch with us and stopped at a park to eat lunch before we headed off to the canyon. It was a beautiful day!

Yummy, oranges!

2011-10-10T21:45:00.003-06:00

Saturday, September 24
I was cutting up some oranges to take to one of the kids' soccer games for a halftime treat. MJ was wandering hungry so I gave her a slice. She loved it!

Sleeping Kay

2011-10-10T21:40:00.002-06:00

Thursday, September 22
Kay was wearing a dress this day and during the afternoon she kept sticking the end of her dress in her mouth and sucking on it. I kept telling her to stop doing this and finally after telling her over and over again and still seeing her do it, I got mad and took the dress off of her. I threw the dress (which was soaking wet now) in the hamper and then left her for a few minutes (she was not too happy about having her dress taken off of her). When I came back downstairs a few minutes later, this is what I found amongst the mess on the floor:

Fall harvest

2011-10-10T21:34:00.004-06:00

Okay, I totally slacked with our garden this year and it pretty much all turned to weeds... Here are a few things that we miraculously managed to get from it, despite my lack of care: 5 peaches from our tiny peach tree (that we planted last year), one cucumber, a small pumpkin (which I still need to take a picture of) and TONS of tomatoes. We have also gotten several strawberries throughout the season.

Play time

2011-10-10T21:32:00.003-06:00

Thursday, September 22, 2011
I love seeing these two playing together:

Big sister, littlest sister

2011-10-10T21:29:00.002-06:00

Sunday, September 18, 2011
MJ curled up with M&M after church on Sunday:

Utah State Fair

2011-10-10T19:48:00.013-06:00

Saturday, September 17, 2011
There is a summer reading program here in Utah where kids ages 5-12 can earn free tickets to the state fair. This is the second year that I had the kids participate in the program. Last year we ended up not making it to the fair, so this year I was determined to take them and actually use those tickets! DH was out of town so I braved the fair by myself with the 6 kids. Traffic and parking was an absolute nightmare, but we finally made there! My parents met us down there and we first took the kids to see some of the animals. Kay especially loved this part - wanting to pet everything that she saw!Luckily I thought to bring this wrist strap to put on Kay so she couldn't run off!

After the animal exhibits my parents wanted to go to an indoor exhibit that I didn't think the kids would be interested in so we separated and I went to find a ride for the kids to go on. As part of the reading program, the kids also got a free ticket to use on any of the fair rides. M&M, Luke and Blondie used their ticket on Thunder Bolt:Kitty was indecisive on whether she wanted to ride on it or not and at the last minute I pulled her out of the line because she hadn't made it clear if she wanted to or not. Then she stood next to me while the kids were on the ride and sulked and stomped her foot the whole time because she was mad at me! I was just afraid that with me not being able to go on the ride with her she would have freaked out...

After the ride we went to find a restroom and while the kids were in there I got a call from DH in China! We were able to talk for a few minutes and then the kids and I went to buy some cotton candy. Kay wasn't sure if that was something that should really be consumed so it took a little bit of convincing before she finally tried some - and loved it!At this point we met up with my parents again for a few minutes, then we split to get some food at different places and never met up again. (Cell phone reception was poor and it was really loud there as well.)

After the kids tried a funnel cake we decided to go look for the horses that we still hadn't been able to see. They were separate from the rest of the animal exhibits so we found a map and figured out where they were supposed to be. On our way over there a fair worker in a golf cart drove up to us and told us that there were no horses there anymore - apparently the horse exhibitions had taken place already and the animals gone home. We were a little bummed and turned around to leave. The worker asked me if we were just going to go home now. I said that we probably would and so he reached into his pocket and pulled out a bunch of ride tickets and handed them to me. "Here," he said, "go have some fun." He ended up giving us 40 free tickets to use on rides at the fair (most rides required at least 2-4 tickets per person). I had looked into buying some tickets so the kids could have a little more fun before we left, but they were more money then I wanted to spend.

We probably ended up spending another 2 hours there at the fair, letting the kids enjoy some rides. Luckily, M&M is tall enough that she was able to take Kay on a few rides as well. (On our way to find the horse stalls we stumbled across the kid section of the fair that had a lot more kid friendly rides than we had seen so far. The kids did some bumper cars, a big slide (which they did more than once), a carousel and bounce house for the younger ones, and a fun speedway car ride for all of them. They ended up having a blast! When we first went to the fair Luke was not excited at all about being there and it showed in his face, but in the end he had a lot of fun and was glad that we had gone!Luke on the left, M&M with Kay in the middleWe got home after 10:00 that night!

Faith, the Musical

2011-09-27T14:16:00.003-06:00

The kids had an enjoyable time performing in Faith, the Musical. It was a big time commitment and we weren't too happy with how some of the time was managed and some of the performance decisions that were made, but I'm glad that the kids were able to participate. They were in one scene where the British Saints were on a ship immigrating over to the United States. They had a song that they sang and did a little dance routine to. I think that they ended up having a lot more kids then they had room for on the stage, but were able to work out a solution. They are supposed to be giving DVDs to each family of the performance so hopefully the kids can see the whole thing from the beginning to the end.There was a man in our stake that had a part in the play and two of his children were in the children's chorus and he actually had room for all 4 of our kids. So he ended up driving them to and from just about every performance for us! What a lifesaver that was! Here is a picture of our kids with the other kids from the car pool:

Tired little girl

2011-09-27T14:05:00.006-06:00

Saturday, August 6
After I got home from Temple Square with Kay and MJ, I went downstairs to feed MJ. After I was finished with that I went to find Kay and this is what I found in MJ's room:
She was super tired and wasn't sure where to lay down. DH's brother and family were using the girls' room while they were staying with us and each morning I folded up the sleeping bags that the kids were sleeping in on the floor so there was room to walk around during the day.

Conference Center & Temple Square

2011-09-27T13:22:00.009-06:00

Saturday, August 6, 2011
Shortly after Blondie's baptism, the four oldest kids had to run off to the Conference Center to perform in Faith, the Musical. DH, his parents and his brother and family went to see the matinee performance at 2:00. I stayed home with Kay and MJ and then met up downtown with everyone after the performance. We were able to take the four oldest with us too because they had about an hour and a half before they had to report for the evening performance. The first thing we did was take a tour of the Conference Center and then we walked around Temple Square a little. A little after 6:00 I took the older kids back to the Conference Center Little Theater for the play and then I took MJ and Kay home again. DH and his family stayed a little bit longer and then came home and brought dinner. DH's brother and family left that evening for Idaho.

Conference Center:

View from the roof of the Conference Center:

This is a mural etched out of stone that is located on the roof of the Conference Center. The black, shiny areas are the polished stone and the varying degrees of gray and white are where the stone was etched away to make a relief mural.

Temple Square:

Tabernacle:
Christus statue in the North Visitor's Center:

Trip to Washington - Vancouver

2011-09-27T13:00:00.000-06:00

Wednesday, June 22 - Saturday, June 25
After the reunion in Mossyrock, we drove back to DH's parents' house and spent a few days there with his youngest brother and their family. We mostly just hung out at the house and talked and recovered from the reunion and let the kids play.

Bouncy House:
(If you look closely, MJ and Blondie's pants are almost an exact match.)

Sidewalk chalk & ring toss:

Eating out on the deck:

Visiting Grandma-Great:
Sharing her M&M's and flowers with the kids.

Trip to Washington - Reunion Fun!

2011-09-26T19:47:00.011-06:00

Sunday, June 19 - Wednesday, June 22
MJ with one of her cousins - he loves babies!
DH has a brother who is currently living overseas with his family. Towards the beginning of the year they announced to all of us that they were going to be coming to the states to visit for about a month in June and they wanted to see all of us if possible. We were able to finally work around everyone's schedule and come up with some dates when we could have a family reunion up in Washington. DH's parents were able to find a really nice vacation rental home in a little town called Mossyrock, WA - about an hour or so from their house. The layout of the place was awesome and great for large family gatherings. It was in a very secluded area so we had plenty of privacy - and no cell phone service! The house had a large kitchen with 2 large tables, a large living room/gathering area with a lookout from the second floor, a large den/playroom area with lots of toys, games and movies for everyone, a huge master bedroom suite, 3 additional bedrooms - 2 with a set of bunk beds and a twin bed + trundle and the third with a queen size bed, and two full size bathrooms (not including the huge bathroom in the master suite). I think the only thing we would have done differently in the design of the place was to add one or two half baths. There was a basketball hoop out front and a fire pit off to the side of the place.

Unfortunately we didn't take a lot of pictures of the downtime that the kids had. And we missed a few of the main activities, i.e. Family Home Evening and the Talent Show. We have some video of some of it, but no pictures. The kids absolutely had a blast and really enjoyed being with their cousins. Each of the married siblings got a bedroom for their family to stay in, but most of the older kids slept each night in the den with all of their cousins.

Nature Walk/Bug Hunt for the kids organized by Aunt V - she also made these cute bags and bought cute bug kits for each of the kids:

Macarena Dance (see, they do learn things at school):

Adult "hike" (really more of a stroll) at Riffe Lake:
MJ loved having free access to my hair...

Campfire with S'mores!!:
Unfortunately it was quite wet where we were staying and so our last night there we were finally able to have a campfire - although the logs were pretty smokey and the ground was pretty wet & muddy.

Target Practice/Unbirthday party activities:

Trip to Washington - Family Pictures

2011-09-26T16:00:00.000-06:00

June 20, 2011
Here are some of the family pictures that we took at DH's family reunion in Mossyrock, WA:DH's parents with all of the grandkids.

Kay talk

2011-09-23T13:16:00.003-06:00

This morning I was trying to do some cleaning in my bathroom when the sink stopper closed all the way and I couldn't get it to work anymore. So I proceeded to clear everything out from under the sink so I could take it apart and try and figure out the problem. When I discovered that a piece had broken so we would need to go to the store to get a replacement, I told Kay to get some shoes on so we could go to the store so I could fix the sink. Kay said that she wanted to see the sink and what was broken so she went into my bathroom to take a look at it.

Kay: "So what's broken?"

Me: "This piece." I point out the piece to her.

Kay: "So you have to fix it?"

Me: "No, it's broken. I need to buy a new part. That's why we need to go to the store."

Kay: "Oh, I understand!"

Dishwasher

2011-09-22T14:28:00.003-06:00

Thursday, September 1

MJ loves to play with the dishwasher whenever it is open. Here she is getting upset because she can't quite climb onto the top rack...
And here she is helping unload it...I'm surprised she hasn't managed to break it yet...

DARE Graduation

2011-09-22T14:22:00.007-06:00

Thursday, September 1

Our school does a DARE program for the 5th grade classes to teach them about drugs and how to avoid them. At the end of the 2 week program they hold a graduation where the kids listen to a couple of speakers and then receive a graduation certificate and a t-shirt. The t-shirts were really cool this year and they even glow in the dark. Parents and family members are invited to come to the graduation. Here is a picture where you can see most of the back of the shirts and then a picture of Luke with the DARE car that the police department takes around to the schools.

This never happens!!

2011-09-21T16:06:00.002-06:00

So I had to take a couple of pictures to document it:

I took these pictures on Wednesday, August 31st. I was feeding the little girls lunch while I was busy doing some other things when I realized that MJ was quieter than usual so I looked over and found her falling asleep in her high chair! (And in case you're wondering, she is sitting on a seat cushion. I have recently made a new cushion for the chair because the old plastic one was falling apart and getting gross and I still need to attach some elastic to the top of it so I can keep it in place. Now without any way to hook it, the back keeps falling down when we put MJ in the seat. One more item on my to-do list!)

Whoops!

2011-09-21T13:15:00.002-06:00

This morning M&M was able to ride the bus for the first time in the morning. With the bus and carpooling she had to leave at about the same time everyday - around 7:20 a.m. This morning I was lying in bed kind of half awake and I heard the front door open and close around that time so I assumed it was M&M leaving for the bus stop. Then I heard Luke and Kitty downstairs eating breakfast and I went to get Blondie up to make sure she was feeling fine and able to go to school. So I was in my bedroom with MJ a few minutes later when M&M comes into my room in her pajamas and hysterical because she had just gotten up! (She claimed that her alarm didn't go off, but there have been many times when I have been downstairs and heard her alarm going off for a long time before I finally called down to her to get up and turn her alarm off!) It was around 7:45 and school starts at 7:50. I told her to stop being hysterical and to quickly get herself ready for school and I would drive her as soon as she was ready.

M&M was quite upset on the drive to school because she was late to 1st period and she wasn't sure what to do. I told her to go to the attendance office first and tell them that she slept in and missed the bus and see if there was any kind of checking in that she needed to do before she headed off to class. Hopefully M&M was able to calm down and get control of herself quickly. I keep trying to teach my kids that crying will not help you solve any of your problems. Once something has happened that you can't change, you just need to pull yourself together and carry on as best you can from that point forward. It's okay to cry every now and then, but once you're finished crying, those problems will still be there - they won't just disappear.

Hopefully in a few days M&M will be able to talk about this day and laugh about it! Our mistakes can help us if we choose to learn from them and not repeat them!

Busing woes come to an end

2011-09-20T23:25:00.003-06:00

M&M got a bus pass today from school! She was able to ride the bus home today and will be able to ride from here on out. No more having to drive her to school and carpool! (Apparently the kids' 7th period teachers were supposed to give them out yesterday, but M&M's teacher didn't so I had to drive her this morning for the last time. We didn't know that the bus passes were given out yesterday so I drove by to pick up the kids for the carpool and none of them were there - because they were all riding the bus this morning...). It was amazing how much less traffic there was this morning with so many more kids riding the bus. It's too bad they didn't do this 3 weeks sooner.

Weekend sports addition

2011-09-20T21:52:00.004-06:00

I just need to add that even though M&M's soccer team lost their game on Saturday, M&M scored a goal in the very last few seconds of the game. Her team was bringing the ball down the field and her teammate crossed the ball from the right side of the field into the middle in front of the goal. It passed by a few people and then M&M ran up to the ball just in time to kick it with her left foot right past the goalie and into the goal. It was a nice way to end the game!

There's nothing like...

2011-09-20T14:56:00.001-06:00

... having a sick kid to force you to change your plans for the day...

At about 2:00 this morning I work up to the sound of someone crying/screaming hysterically. As soon as it registered in my brain that it was one of the kids making that noise I stumbled out of bed and opened the door to the hallway just in time to see Blondie there throwing up all over the carpet! I told her to get into the bathroom (which she was standing right next to) and throw up in the toilet. So she went into the bathroom and proceeded to throw up some more in the toilet. In the meantime all of the commotion woke up MJ, so I went to get her and then I tried to head downstairs to get a bowl for Blondie and encountered some more throw-up on the stairs. I asked her if she threw up on the stairs too and she said, "No, I don't think so." So I'm not sure how awake Blondie was while all of this was happening, but there was a mess everywhere and all MJ wanted was for me to feed her and then go back to bed. So I handed Blondie the bowl and asked her how she was feeling. She responded that she felt better so I sent her back to bed. After I got MJ back to bed I was finally able to start cleaning up the carpet and thought I did a pretty decent job before I headed back to bed myself.Then when I saw the carpet in the morning, it didn't look like I had cleaned anything up! I kept Blondie home from school as a precaution - even though she looks and acts fine and has been able to eat breakfast and lunch today without any problems. I was hoping to get to the grocery store today, but that will have to wait. I have had to spend the whole morning cleaning the carpet in the hallway and on the stairs (all 7 of them were hit). I also found that it was all on the wall too so I had Blondie grab a sponge and clean that up for me. Right now I have fans trying to dry the carpet before the rest of the kids get home, but it still doesn't look quite right in a couple of places so I might have to have at it again...

Now I'm just hoping that it doesn't spread to anyone else in the family...

Bust of a weekend...

2011-09-19T22:34:00.002-06:00

...for sports in our household!!

All three kids lost their soccer games, BYU got creamed by Utah, and both of our fantasy football teams lost! Oh well, there's always next week...

M&M's first day of 8th grade

2011-09-16T13:30:00.002-06:00

Monday, August 29th, 2011

M&M had a whole month after the other kids had started school before she had to head back. It was nice having her around to help out with the two little girls at home. The day that the class schedules were available online, M&M and her friends were calling each other to find out what classes they have together. Luckily M&M has quite a few classes with several of her friends so she was excited to find that out. We went to school a couple of days ahead of time so that she could find her classes and find and try out her locker. This year she is taking Spanish 1, Keyboarding, Honors U.S. History, Honors Language Arts, Honors Earth Science, Honors Algebra and Advanced Band. Keyboarding is the only 1/2 year class and she will have Gym the second 1/2 of the year. I think this year will definitely be a test on how well she is able to manage her time! We'll also have to see if she can maintain her 4.0 GPA from last year.

The one unfortunate thing about this year so far is that as of right now M&M is not able to ride the bus to and from school. We are technically about 3 houses from the cutoff for busing. Last year they gave out bus passes to those within the busing area and then they gave out bus passes to those that live closest to the cutoff until the bus was full. They decided this year that they would make the students who want bus passes to fill out an application for one because there were many last year that were given out to students that never used them. They also decided that they would give students the first 3 weeks of school to apply for a bus pass and then they will go through the applications and give out bus passes to those that applied, starting with those that live the farthest from the school. We are pretty confident that M&M will be given a bus pass since we are so close to the cutoff and one of the moms of a student that rides the bus said that there are about 15 kids riding the bus so far. Luckily we were able to work out a carpool with some neighbors that only has us driving the kids to school 2 times a week and never having to pickup! And so far DH has been able to drop the kids off on his way to work so it has been very nice for us! Hopefully we will find out in the next week if M&M will be able to ride the bus or not for the rest of the school year. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

One last summer swim

2011-09-16T13:26:00.006-06:00

Saturday, August 20, 2011

We were able to get in one more family swim this summer before M&M started school and soccer games started. And this time DH was able to come with us! The weather was a little overcast when we got to the pool and around the time we left to head to my parents' house for dinner it started raining with some thunder and lightning. I wasn't able to take a lot of pictures because MJ fell asleep while we were there so I was sitting out away from the pool with her asleep in my arms.

Quite the feat!

2011-09-15T14:22:00.004-06:00

A week or so ago I was in the living room when I heard MJ coming up the stairs rather slowly and she was kind of whining. I went to the top to see what was going on and there she was trying to carry a soccer ball up the stairs! I really wanted to take a picture of it but she actually made it all the way up with the soccer ball before I had the camera out and ready to go! I was pretty impressed!

Kay talk

2011-09-15T14:09:00.003-06:00

* Kay and MJ love to come into my bathroom whenever I am in there and today MJ was getting into some things that I didn't want her getting into. So I firmly told her "no" and grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away. After I did that Kay came up to me and said, "I'm so sorry! Can you forgive me?"

* The other day I was out running errands in the morning with the little girls. When we were through and getting back in the car I mentioned to Kay that we needed to hurry home because Baka was going to be coming over soon to watch them. If you remember, Kay calls my dad Baka (or at least she used to). After I told her that, she said to me, "Don't call him that! His name's Grandpa, not Baka! Grandpa. Say that, Grand-pa."

New Calling

2011-09-12T16:15:00.005-06:00

Sunday, July 31

And my new calling is...

First Counselor in our Ward Primary Presidency!

The story behind the calling for those that are interested:
The Sunday before Blondie's baptism we got a phone call at about 7:30 in the morning. I was just getting up to jump in the shower (9 a.m. church) and I knew that a phone call at that time of the morning was either something church related or an emergency so I hurried downstairs to answer it. It was the ward assistant executive secretary asking if DH and I could come in to meet with one of the bishopric counselors before church at about 8:45. I said "yes" and then went and told DH about the phone call so we could both be ready in time. We guessed that it was most likely a new calling for me because DH's current calling would require a release from the Stake Presidency. I also have been a den leader for the Bears for almost 3 years now so we thought it was about time for a change (although DH was put into his calling about the same time I was almost 3 years ago). So we went in before the church and met with the bishopric counselor and he extended the call to me to be the first counselor in the primary presidency. I of course accepted and DH agreed to support me in the calling.

The interesting thing is that I had had a feeling for a while that I was going to be put into the primary presidency. The whole presidency (except the secretary) were just put in last December, shortly after our ward primary sacrament meeting program. Then about 5 months after that the second counselor announced that her family was going to moving down to St. George around the first part of June. At that time I thought that I was going to be put into the presidency to replace her. Well, when it came time for her to move, someone else was called to her position. I was a little bit surprised about that and wondered why I had had that feeling. Then just 2 short months later, the first counselor was called into the Stake Primary Presidency. I was definitely surprised by that (and so was the ward primary president) and then just a week later I received that early morning phone call to meet with the bishopric member!

As first counselor, the president has me in charge of the primary sacrament meeting program and then cub scouts (and I think music as well). The previous counselor had already written the program so we just revised it a little and moved a few parts around here and there. The presidency decided at the beginning of the year that they wanted to have the program earlier in the year than our ward has done in the past, so it is scheduled for September 25th - less than two weeks away now! Cub Scouts is in a state of flux right now because both the new second counselor and I were den leaders so we have had to find replacements for us, another den leader recently moved and then another one was just put into our new Relief Society Presidency. We have just called 3 new den leaders in the past 3 weeks - it's been crazy! I'm looking forward to serving though and I have some neat, fun, strong sisters that I am serving with.

Kay talk

2011-09-11T08:15:00.002-06:00

Kay is downstairs yelling, "Where are you?"

I called to her, "Who are you looking for?"

Kay responds, "My brown sandals. I can't find them anywhere!"

Webelos Camp

2011-09-10T14:41:00.003-06:00

July 13-14
There was some discussion this year as to whether to send the cub scouts and Webelos scouts to the formal cub camp held by the Great Salt Lake Council or whether to try just doing our own this year. It went back and forth quite a bit and the decision was finally made to attend the cub camp in Millcreek Canyon like we have in the past. Luke was quite upset when he heard that we might not go back to that camp because he has loved it every year and he was excited to be able to attend the Webelos Camp since that is a one time thing. Luke had a lot of fun attending with his Webelos den and he enjoyed the archery and row boating the most. He also spent some money at the trading post on a light-up sword and two slingshots - one for him and one for his sisters. DH was hoping that he might be able to attend with Luke this year but things didn't work out for that and then he ended up being asked to go to YW camp which took place over the same dates.

Stake YW Camp

2011-09-08T11:05:00.009-06:00

July 13-16This year the YW camp for our ward was held at the stake level. About a week before camp DH was asked if he could go for one day as one of the priesthood representatives from our ward. They had someone else scheduled to go but that person had something come up last minute and had to back out. DH went up on Wednesday after work, spent the night in our small tent and then came home Thursday evening. I think that M&M really enjoyed having him there. This will probably be the first of hopefully many opportunities that DH will have to attend YW camp with his girls - since we have about 17 more years of it to come! :)
DH was able to be there for the hike and was asked to help bring up the rear so no one was left behind.M&M with the other Beehives in the ward and one of their advisors.
Each ward was given a different color shirt for their girls. M&M was so excited to see that our ward was given hot pink. (Just kidding, it is probably her least favorite color and she may never wear the shirt again!)

Blondie's Baptism Day

2011-09-07T20:07:00.010-06:00

Saturday, August 6, 2011We're so proud of Blondie that she chose to be baptized. She loves it when she is the star of the day and she loves receiving presents! Thanks to all the family that came and helped make it a special day for her! The baptism was held at the ward level and there were three kids baptized that day from our ward! It was a little crazy, but fun. (The dress that Blondie is wearing is the one that I made for M&M for her baptism. Blondie tried it on a couple of weeks before her baptism and absolutely loved it so we used it again.)It was a totally crazy hair/windy/super bright day after the baptism and these are the best pictures that we got of the family!
Blondie with her new green scriptures (which she almost didn't get because they are not making that color anymore) and a bag for her scriptures from DH's parents which she loves. Blondie also received a pretty necklace from my parents (which you can see in the pictures) and a bracelet from DH's brother and family (which you can't see in the pictures). Blondie was super excited about the jewelry because she loves jewelry and was upset that she hadn't received any for her birthday!

Oakcrest Girl's Camp

2011-09-07T19:44:00.006-06:00

June 27-July 1

Here in the Salt Lake Valley, Young Women that have completed their 7th and 8th grade school years are able to attend a special girl's camp run by the church called Oakcrest. Girls from about 8-10 stakes attend each week and they are grouped in cabins with girls from throughout the valley. This was M&M's first year attending and she had a blast. I dropped her off at the departure point on Monday morning and then another mom from our ward brought her home in the early afternoon on Friday. She said that it rained several times while at camp - a couple of nights they were woken up because it was raining so hard. She was able to do a zip line, do some hiking, do a few crafts and do lots of fun activities with her cabin. I know that she is already looking forward to attending next year!
The girls in M&M's cabin on the first day of camp.
The last day of camp.
M&M with her counselor.

Kay talk

2011-09-06T12:54:00.001-06:00

This is a conversation I had with Kay as we were pulling into the garage after going to a couple of stores this morning:

Kay: "I think we're home."
Me: "Yep, I love home."
Kay: "Yeah, it's for living."

Pretty sky

2011-09-03T17:28:00.002-06:00

July 10, 2011 about 9 p.m. looking East

Spy in training

2011-09-03T17:21:00.004-06:00

Shoe phone:

Master of Disguise:

Two girls, one dress

2011-09-03T17:07:00.004-06:00

Kay and MJ both at 12 months old:

Church History Museum

2011-09-02T10:08:00.009-06:00

** Note: I will be posting some entries out of order while I wait to get access to some pictures.

Saturday, August 13, 2011
The kids had two Saturdays in a row where they had two performances of the musical. The first show started at 2:00 and then the second show was at 7:30. The kids had about 1 1/2 hours between the end of the first show and the call time for the second show. On the first Saturday, DH and his family attended the matinee performance and then the younger kids and I met up with them afterwards to tour the Conference Center and walk around Temple Square. On August 13th, DH and the younger kids and I met up with them between shows and took a walk over to the church's history museum. The kids had a blast in the children's exhibit. Everything is hands on there and they loved it. The theme had something to do with Mexican/South American culture plus some stories and activities from the Book of Mormon.

Fishing from a boat
And when you can't catch anything from the boat, just jump in the water and catch those fish by hand! (The "line" on the fishing poles were pretty short and Kay couldn't reach the fish with it from the boat.)
The girls doing some Mexican dancing. This was a really cute exhibit that had two demonstration dancers on T.V. screens and you would put on a costume and follow their dance steps while the music played. They also had big mirrors so you could watch yourself while you were dancing. They had some vests for the boys but not too many boys were interested in trying it out.

Cascade Springs

2011-09-01T17:18:00.007-06:00

Friday, August 5, 2011
This was a mostly paved/boardwalk little hike. There were three "loops" that went different distances taking you around the springs. I think we managed to hike around the whole thing, but we kept coming to forks in the path and sometimes got confused on which path to take (and the signs along the path were not very helpful).Trying to help each other get a drink of water after the hike!

Family time!

2011-09-01T16:35:00.008-06:00

Since Blondie turned 8 in July, that meant that her baptism was scheduled for the first Saturday in August. DH's brother was able to take some time off of work that same week so he and his family joined us the Wednesday before and then left Saturday evening. They drove down from the Spokane, Washington area and we really appreciate them driving down here with their four kids (and our sister-in-law pregnant with baby #5). DH's parents also joined us and flew in Thursday morning and then left Monday evening. It was definitely crazy around our house with 8 extra people sleeping in our house and the middle kids being back in school and rehearsals and performances for the musical going on. It was just bad timing because the cousins weren't able to spend a lot of time together. We ended up taking them out of school on Friday (since it is a short day anyways) and we also had them miss the performance Friday night so they could have a little bit of time together.

We drove down to American Fork Canyon and had a picnic lunch and then went on a short hike at a place called Cascade Springs. DH, his brother and their father and the older kids tried going on a hike up to the Timpanogos Caves that morning but the timing was bad and they weren't able to get tickets for a good time so we ended up just doing the lunch and short hike. They were all a little bummed about that...

(Friday, August 5, 2011)
The place where we picnicked was right near this river. The kids had a blast playing along riverbank and throwing rocks into the river!

This picture cracks me up because all of the kids are in a line along the bank, busy doing their own thing!

Officially a Teenager!

2011-09-01T09:40:00.006-06:00

Saturday, July 30, 2011
M&M is officially a teenager now! (I can't believe that I'm old enough to be the mom of a teenager!) M&M's birthday was pretty low-key this year because it took place right in the middle of rehearsals for Faith the Musical. In fact, the kids had a long rehearsal downtown at the Conference Center on her birthday. After the rehearsal we had Papa John's pizza for dinner and brownies and ice cream for M&M's birthday "cake". I also promised her that after all of the chaos with the musical was over we would go swimming with the family as a late birthday celebration.We're lucky to have M&M in our family. She is very responsible and is usually a very pleasant person to be around. (We just have to work on her being a little nicer and more patient with her siblings sometimes.)

First Day for Kitty

2011-08-31T15:42:00.004-06:00

Wednesday, July 26, 2011
This year they had the first graders start a day after the older grades. The day before they started the first graders went in to meet their teacher and to be assessed and find out where their classroom is and where to lineup in the mornings for school. Things will definitely be different at home with Kitty gone all day. She was excited to go full-day and be able to eat lunch at school and ride the bus both ways. I think some mornings may be rough though because some days she has a hard time staying on task and hurrying if she's short on time. Hopefully she will have a fun year and be able to make lots of friends!

First Day of School

2011-08-31T15:36:00.005-06:00

Luke and Blondie started school on Tuesday, July 26, 2011. They are in 5th and 3rd grade this year. I can't believe the summer went by so quickly! It's crazy with kids in year-round school. (There is a rumor going around that our school might switch to traditional in the next year or two...)
Blondie's class is in a portable this year (trailer on the school blacktop).

Pizza on the grill!

2011-08-31T15:24:00.004-06:00

Monday, July 25, 2011

I found a recipe and instructions for cooking pizza on the grill so I had to try it. It was nice because I made smaller pizzas and individualized them for our family's tastes. It was AWESOME!! Definitely a new family favorite! If you would like the recipe that I used, here is a link: How to Grill Pizza

The crust and sauce from this website were awesome too!

Swimming... finally!

2011-08-30T20:14:00.012-06:00

Saturday, July 23, 2011

My oldest brother and his family came to Utah for a visit and we were able to get together to take the kids swimming. Yea!! The kids had a lot of fun and my sister-in-law was a great help with the kids, especially Kay. And my mom helped out with MJ.

Float Preview

2011-08-30T19:50:00.009-06:00

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Later that same day DH met up with us at my parents' house for dinner and then we drove over to the South Towne Expo Center to see the floats that were going to be in the Days of '47 Parade the following Monday for Pioneer Day. My brother-in-law was in charge of building a float for their stake this year and apparently the parade organizers have been holding a float preview party for the last couple of years where all of the floats are on display for the public to come and look at. We were truly amazed at how intricate the detail was on these floats! They were so amazing to look at and you could definitely appreciate them more close-up than you could seeing them in the parade. Here are a few of our favorites:

My brother-in-law's float:

Change of plans

2011-08-29T11:04:00.013-06:00

Thursday, July 21, 2011

I have been trying all summer to take the kids swimming at the pool near my parents' house and we just could not seem to get ourselves over there. Finally on a Thursday I managed to get the kids all packed up in the car in their swimsuits and we were planning on meeting up with my parents and then heading over to the pool. At this time my dad was still not 100% because of a kidney stone but he agreed to come with us anyways. Once we got to the pool we found out that they had just barely closed it because someone had thrown up in the pool and it would be closed for about an hour. Unfortunately that put a wrench in our plans because my mom was scheduled to work at the temple in a little over an hour and there was no way that my dad and I were going to be able to manage the six kids on our own (especially with my dad not feeling well). So we ended up setting up my parents' slip-n-slide and the kids played out back for a while. After the hour was up my dad took M&M and Luke to the pool while I hung out with the little ones at my parents' house. Blondie and Kitty were especially bummed that they weren't able to go to the pool. :(Crawling through the slip-n-slide
MJ was not too crazy about the freezing cold water!
Much better approaching the water from the side!
Hey! This is actually kind of fun!
Notice the crossed ankles. She loves to cross her ankles, even when she's sleeping.

Kay talk

2011-08-22T14:12:00.002-06:00

Last week I got out the hair clippers to cut Luke's hair. After I was finished with him all of the girls piped up that they each wanted their hair cut too. (This is for all of you that have watched the movie Tangled.)

Kay: "I need my hair cut so it can turn brown."

Me: "What color is your hair now?"

Kay: "Umm, it's brown."

Kay talk

2011-08-15T16:20:00.003-06:00

July 20, 2011

I came downstairs and found Kay doing this:

Me: "What are you doing Kay?"

Kay: "I'm crowning."
I had to think about this for a few seconds to try and translate what this meant. I then realized that she meant crayoning.

Me: "Oh, you're coloring with crayons."

Kay: "Yeah, I'm coloring with crayons."

Guess who turned one!

2011-08-15T14:29:00.018-06:00

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

I can't believe that my baby is one already!!
So close to walking on her own!At the time of her birthday she was taking a couple of steps here and there, but she didn't quite have the confidence and the balance to just take off on her own yet. She could say ma-ma, da-da, hi and uh-oh. She had learned a couple of baby signs for soft, more, and hi or bye (waving). She loves looking at herself in the mirror or seeing pictures of herself. Loves to pull hair and poke and scratch - hence trying to teach her to be nice (baby sign that DH taught her).MJ had absolutely no interest in opening any of her presents. She was interested in the bows on a couple of them for about 10 seconds. Her sisters were all ready and willing to jump in and help her though!!Checking out her new sandals.
A new shape-sorting toy since M&M and Luke broke the old one beyond repair. Lucky for them I found this one in really good condition at a consignment store for only a couple of dollars (since they don't make this toy anymore for some reason).
Trying out a new hairbow. I'm not sure what was so funny - I think they may have been playing with Photo Booth on my ipad. The kids (even MJ) think it's hilarious.Looking a little concerned about that candle...Hmmm, this looks interesting...
Finger-licking good!
Total annihilation!
Mission accomplished!
Bath time!
Happy 1st Birthday MJ!

Giddyup car seat!

2011-08-15T14:23:00.003-06:00

Saturday, July 16, 2011MJ trying out her car seat from a different angle. I decided to just switch her to the convertible car seat once we bought our new van so this infant carrier was sitting in the living room for a few days until I took it down to the storage room.