Snow

The skies are gray.
The rooftops are gray.
The whole city is gray.

Then... ...one snowflake.

"It's snowing!" said mommy.

"It's only a snowflake," said boy with light saber.

Then two snowflakes.

"It's snowing," said kids riding home on bikes.

"It'll melt," said boy without shoes.

Then three snowflakes.

A few snowflakes float down and melt.

But as soon as one snowflake melts another takes its place.

"No snow," said teacher.

"No snow," said everyone in Texas.

But snowflakes don't listen to teachers, snowflakes don't listen people in Texas.

All snowflakes know is snow, snow and snow.

Snowflakes keep coming and coming, circling an swirling, spinning and twirling, dancing, playing, there, and there, floating, floating through the air, falling, falling everywhere.











.. we never got to the point where the whole city was white.

The boy without shoes was right.

"Goodbye snow."

Story adapted from "Snow" by Uri Shulevitz

I was really surprised to see snow falling this afternoon. The twins were unimpressed. They don't remember snow and fluffy rain didn't really pull their interest. Samantha and Jacob arrived home and were cold but excited. We had hot chocolate to warm them up and watched the snow from the window. Samantha wanted to show Alex but he was still sleeping. Slowly the snow disappeared and was gone by the time he woke up. We were all disappointed, but this is Texas. Yesterday Jacob went to school in shorts with no jacket at least I told him to wear warmer clothes today.

OUCH!

I promise that Alex has never seen this movie, but he has become a master puppeteer. Unfortunately for me, this has become his main form of communication. He knows a few words, and I have taught him a few signs but instead he just grabs my hair/shirt/pants/nose or what ever is closest and pulls and leans in the direction he wants me to go.

Ratatouille

This little boy is becoming quite a toddler with a strong opinions and a strong will. (He no longer likes being buckled in high chairs or in his car seat, but those are non-negotiable.)

Since the twins starts preschool a few weeks ago I have gotten to have a little more one on one time with this little guy, sort of my turn to spoil him. We have read books, sung together, and played blocks. He is now 16 months old the same age that Samantha was when we made our first move to California over 7 years ago. I remember Samantha seeming so much older; she was talking a bit, she could sing some songs, we went camping and hiking with her-- and here I am with a little baby the same age. But as I have spent some more devoted time with this little guy I realize he is just as developed as she was.

His words are coming, but I pass them off as baby babbling or background noise. Yesterday he said something similar to “nana” so I thought I would surprise him and I went to get him a banana. He seemed pleased and we repeated the word a couple of times. Sunday he was in the tub and Samantha was playing with him and the toys. She was trying to get him to say fish and he kept saying “duck.” The more she insisted he try fish, he would laugh and say duck. Then at dinner a few nights ago he started humming to the song Happy Birthday. Scott and I both stopped what we were doing and listened to hear him finish out the first phrase and really look at him. Did he just really try singing Happy Birthday? Since then I have also heard him hum parts to “I am a child of God” and another famous song around our house, the Weird Al “StarWars American Pie” song. I wanted to get a video of him relaxing in his crib just humming but that is impossible because when he is waiting for me to get him up from naps he always jumps and immediately stops singing soon as he hears the door crack open.

I remember when his was 6 months old I just wanted him to stay in that stage forever. He was so happy that he could sit up and play, but wasn’t quite to the crawling phase yet. He is in a fun stage right now, I don’t know if I would freeze him here because he doesn’t qualify for nursery yet; but give him a little more than two months and I am sure I will be ready for a freeze. He is so cuddly and fun and he loves to play. He has a great belly laugh and has found a new love of tickling others. I guess it was only a matter of time since he is constantly being attacked by sibling tickle monsters. Yesterday Scott had his feet propped up and Alex snuck up and wiggled his toes-- all Samantha has to do is lay on the floor and he will attack her tummy.

I tried to get a video of him singing, but all I really got was a little humming through the door and him reading a book to himself. Still cute, enjoy!



Oops, I forgot to do the name thing.

A night on the town!

This past weekend Scott and I celebrated another Anniversary. Conveniently we had a dinner party downtown at a nice hotel. We got a babysitter for the kids and had a nice evening out. We ate, danced, played games, socialized and came home with a few door prizes and this character drawing. Do we really look like that? Since we both have set new goals. Scott has started growing a beard to hide his chin and I am going to looking into getting my buck teeth fixed.

A New Assignment

Sometimes when Samantha gets on the computer she likes to look at our family website or the blogs of our families. After she read my blog about my preschool assignment for the twins she asked where hers was. She has been a little superstar around here lately and I have written a lot in my journal. I will spare you all the details, but here is the condensed version; needless to say this was an easy assignment.

Samantha is always full of surprises; last Saturday she scored her first goal in soccer. Since this is a first in our family we went out to dinner to celebrate. She has worked hard this season.
As a big sister of so many brothers she is my big helper and I am so appreciative of all her help with her baby brother.
“Moooooooo” is her favorite phrase when doesn’t want to do something such as homework or when I have sent her to clean her room. Sometimes she just follows me around when she is bored with this fun (can I say annoying) sound. I am hoping this is a phase that she will grow out of. I should get it on video one of these days, good bribery for the future.
As an avid reader she often stays up late reading. She used to hide in her closet until I unscrewed the light bulb; now I think she just hides flashlights, or just sneaks into the bathroom.
Normally, when Scott reads a book out loud to her she will finish the book without him (see above comment), but she doesn’t want him to know that she reads ahead.
This week she bore her testimony for the first time during sacrament meeting. It took a lot of courage to get up all by herself. She stood there for a moment and then let out a deep breath before she started. Her sweet testimony brought tears to my eyes.
Her face always lights up when daddy comes home. She has a special relationship with him that I know she will always treasure.
Activity Days is every other Tuesday, and she never lets me forget. She loves the things that she is learning and was really sad this summer when she missed the activity when they learned how to knit. She always brings it up, but I don’t know to teach her either.

Every morning Samantha wakes right up. All I have to do is walk by her room and she sits right up in bed, bright and chipper. I have been trying to get up early for some personal study time, but no matter how quiet I am she hears me, so now we read together.
This year for Halloween Samantha was Samantha Parkington from 1904 the American Girl Series. A series we first read to her in the Kindergarten and now three years later she has read all the books and still keep’s checking them out from the library.
Her special teddy bear is named Grandpa and was given to her by her Grandpa that passed away a few years ago. When she is sad Grandpa gives her a lot of comfort.
I love spending time with her, as the only girl in the family she gets exclusive mommy-daughter time. The boys are always jealous when we paint our nails together.
Now that she is older she is learning to cook. She often offers to cook dinner (Mac’n Cheese/Waffles), but her favorite thing to make is desserts. Her latest specialty is cherry cream cheese pie. She is getting ready for Thanksgiving.
Getting emotional is just part of being a girl, but Samantha has a big heart. She gets attached and has a hard time letting go and saying good bye whether it is an old couch or family from Utah. She never likes it when Scott has to go out of town.
This summer I started teaching her the violin. I also teach her the piano, but we are still working consistency. I keep forgetting to give her lessons, and she keeps forgetting to practice.
On her report card she got all A’s and perfect attendance. I am told she is a perfect student and loves school. Today she was playing school with her younger brothers and really enjoyed teaching them real things that they didn’t know.
Now that my little girl keeps getting bigger, I am amazed at how fast the time has gone. I remember when it was just the two of us at home alone during the day and I would get bored when she took naps. I love her so much and am so glad she is part of our family.

The Missing Tooth

The other day I took all of the kids to the dentist. A couple of years ago when it was just Samantha and Jacob going to the dentist I started to get worried because we were walking away with a couple of hundred dollars worth of dental work for just Samantha. After that I figured out that when I skipped out on the brushing teeth routine at bedtime it was costing us an average of $2 a day. So anytime I wanted to just rush kids off to bed I would just multiply that by four kids, now five and I would consent to an extra 5 minute bedtime delay. Fast-forward to the present and we have been cavity free now for over two years. I will admit that these last six months I have left more of the responsibility up to the kids so I was a little worried for this trip. Jacob was worried because he finally had his first loose tooth and Samantha told him that it hurt when they cleaned a loose tooth, but he said that it wasn’t too bad.

That night we were all brushing and I looked at Jacobs tooth and gave it a good jiggle, but it still seemed like it was going to be awhile. Samantha noticed that Jacob had some tooth paste left on his face and grabbed a towel to help him wipe it. Apparently a loose string wrapped around that little tooth and she unknowingly yanked it out for him. At first he screamed but then the realization that the tooth was gone turned his scream of pain to excitement. We tucked the tooth in our little tooth pillow and sent the kids to bed.

Not too long after they kids had been tucked in they were still noisy, no big surprise around here. We have had bedtime issues for the last few years, it is a chronic problem. I went up to investigate and found that Jacob had literally lost the tooth. We looked everywhere. I pulled the sheets off both bunk beds, and looked under the bed with a flashlight and even pulled up mattresses. Jacob was distraught because he wanted to see his tooth again be fore the tooth fairy took it. We tried but sent kids back to bed.

An hour later, no kidding, I went to check on noises and they were all gathered in Jacob’s room and had set up a resting place for the tooth fairy. It was raining that night and they felt bad that the fairy had to fly through the rain. They had a little cup of water, little pieces of material for blankets and towels, and notes explaining what had happened and requesting the tooth fairy to help find the tooth and then leave it for one more night.

Apparently the tooth fairy couldn’t find the tooth either. She took the notes, dried herself off with the towels, had a sip of water and left an advancement of half price until the tooth is found. Jacob was very excited in the morning when he found the money. Having never lost a tooth, he doesn’t know the going rate, so he was just fine with half price for his missing tooth.

Insomnia

Over the last few mornings I have been waking up at the crack of dawn to a light rain. I used to sleep through rain, but now that I know RAIN=LEAKS I have a hard time ignoring it and just trusting in our $4 tarp fix. This morning once again something woke me up too early. I heard noises downstairs and it seemed like all the lights were on. Due to the previous two morning wakings, I was trying really hard to ignore and go back to sleep. After all noisy and lights are not as threatening as rain dripping through the roof. I succeeded and beat the insomnia. But my dreams evolved to who was really down stairs. All the kids have started complaining that they are hungry right at bedtime. It is usually a ploy to either get a dessert snack or just to stay up a little longer. Whoever it was hungry enough to brave going downstairs in the middle of the night. That eliminated Samantha who won’t go downstairs in broad- day light alone. Joshua is such a heavy sleeper that I couldn’t imagine him venturing downstairs either. I dreamed about the morning when I found Jacob eating ice-cream the day after his birthday when he was four, and I know I heard the refrigerator door, so that was a possibility. Then again, Matthew is pretty self sufficient and is an early riser so he was my main target. Things quieted down and I never heard anyone come back up, so my semi-conscious was able to fully go back to sleep except for every time I turned over I had lights shine in my eyes from the hall.

When it was really time to wake up I found Jacob asleep on the couch and a bowl of cereal on the counter. I was glad to see it wasn’t ice-cream. Apparently he had woken up from a nightmare around 5 am. Tonight he said that he hoped he had that dream again, because he thought it was really cool to be the first one up in the morning. I personally avoided any soft surface this afternoon that may have resulted in a cat nap, I am hoping to sleep past those early dawn hours.

On a different note, this morning I was outside picking weeds and Matthew and Joshua were helping me. Matthew brought over a little weed and said, "This is a kid weed, he’s 6 years old." Then Joshua pointed to a tall flower that we have and said, "That’s a grandpa weed." But then I corrected him that wasn’t a weed, so it is a grandpa flower. Of course I am smiling to my self and then Matthew took the cake with pulling "A daddy weed that was 23 years old." What does that mean? It is funny to see their perception of time and age. Either Scott and I seem really young or it is just the opposite and anyone over 20 is old.

Mommy Homework

I was given an assignment by the twin’s preschool program two months ago to write an essay about them so the student teachers could get to know them better. I had this assignment last year and thought it would be an easy update. As the due date approached I looked back at what I wrote last year. Amazingly a lot of what I wrote before still applied so I put off my assignment a little longer...and then forgot about it. I got a personal call from the teacher last week wondering what had happened and I promised the essays soon. I am glad there was no grade on this because I was 3 weeks late from the original due date, which was graciously post poned due to the hurricane.

Joshua is my little helper. He loves to help at home and likes things in a neat and orderly fashion.
Often he is the last one sleeping in the morning. I think he needs just a little extra sleep than Matthew. I often here Matthew whispering to him, “Wake Up!” when he sleeps in extra late.
Since this summer we have worked on computer skills and now he can use a mouse instead of just watching his brother play the computer games.
He is the middle child of five children. He has an older sister and brother, and then a younger twin and a baby brother.
Upside down is how he thinks best. He loves to balance on his head so I put him in a little sports gymnastics class this fall.
Although his hair doesn’t stick up as much as it use too, it is still the best way to tell him apart from his brother.

Everyday Joshua wants to go wake up his baby brother. He is very caring, and is always willing to help. He is a very good brother.
This year he wants to be Darth Vader for Halloween. I wonder if I should be concerned as a mother that he always wants to be the bad guy.
However, he says that when he grows up he wants to be a police man to put bad guys in jail so maybe that makes me feel better.
In public he may seem shy, but at home we have a problem with his volume and I always ask him to use an inside voice instead of shouting everything he says.
Now that his older siblings have big bikes, Joshua has a bike with training wheels but he still prefers to ride his tricycle without pedaling.
Getting dressed is always a surprise. Usually he picks red shirts because that is his favorite color, but sometimes he wants variety and puts on Matthew’s clothes. That always throws me for a loop.
Today he is wearing his pants inside out and backwards. Once preschool starts I will have to be more careful on how he is dressed before he walks out of the house
Oreos, chips, cookies, brownies, yogurts, and corn dogs are among his favorite foods.
Now that the boys are almost 5 years old, I am so glad that I have one more year with them before they go to kindergarten.


Matthew’s hair is matted. This is an important fact to remember when you are around my boys.
At this moment Matthew just finished his jobs without help and without being asked. It sounds amazing, but I know what he is up too, he wants to play Xbox.
This past summer we worked on reading a little and he has a good memory for the sounds of the letters.
Today he woke up early and got dressed to go on a bike ride and drop his older siblings off at school.
He is very self sufficient and knows how to help himself and to get what he wants/needs.
Every night Matthew asks me to help him brush his teeth. He doesn’t want any cavities when he goes to see the dentist this month.
When playing soccer he likes to be the goalie because then he can use his hands.

Every day he loves to hide behind the couch and scare people when they come in the room.
This past year he has had two surgeries. His hear murmur was fixed and his tonsils were removed. He was so good, and his health has been much better.
He is only 9 minutes younger than his twin brother. But he has always been a ½ pound lighter and a ½ inch taller.
I have learned to cook around his picky habits. He doesn’t like sauces so he eats his spaghetti plain and really hates it when we have casseroles for dinner.
Now with a little practice the twins can sing some songs, but it has taken a lot of repetition help them learn their ABC’s.
Green is still his favorite color. He has on a green shirt today, he uses the green cups and he has green crocs.
This summer he learned how to swim. He has always loved he water, and now he will be able to go down the waterslides.
On his birthday he has already planned to have a Star Wars Cake and can list all the presents he wants. We have been counting down for his and Joshua’s birthday since day sixty eight.
Normally Matthew has a smile on his face.

The Fence that would not Fall Down-

We have survived! Of course you wouldn’t have expected otherwise -- we are not in a flood zone, and we are far enough from the coast to avoid catastrophic damage. We didn't escape unscathed, however. We have some roof damage and debris to clean up. We were positive that our fence would not survive the night, so we were shocked to wake up and find it standing stubbornly. It's got a good lean to it, and we're trying to figure out if it was leaning into or away from the wind. Here is my report of our dance with Ike:

I laid awake most of Friday night listening to the pounding rain and wind against the windows and roof. We had a few power surges in the early evening, but the power finally went out around 2:45 am with a big blow somewhere close by. Apparently that was one of the moments that I was sleeping, but Scott saw it. I woke up around 3:30 to running water; I got up and checked the windows, but decided it must just be the water running off the house. By 5:30 there was a rhythmic pounding on the roof, and everything was so loud I knew I wasn’t going back to sleep.

From my research it appears that the eye was just east of us and we were experiencing the heavy winds of the western eye wall. Scott and I both got up and checked around the house. We found water leaking in the laundry room, and some water leakage in Alexander’s room. Up in the attic the water was leaking through the seams of the boards. Over the next hour we gathered all our trash cans and empty Rubbermaid bins and strategically placed them under the leaks.

As a side note even though we have roof damage I can’t believe how blessed we are. We got another round of rain Saturday night that woke me up so I went to check things out. Another leak had started in the middle of Alexander’s room so I went up to see if I could get a bucket under it. Up in our attic we have very limited access to just in the middle, however the new leak was inaccessible, and it made me realize how blessed we were to have our roof damage right where we could contain it.

Around 7:00 am Saturday, as it was just starting to get light, we woke the kids up to see the heavy winds. Before we had gone to bed the night before it looked like the eye would pass over around 7, so we thought we would get a little break. However, since the eye passed just to the east of us, instead of a break we stayed in the path of the eastern eye wall for the next few hours. Things didn’t seem to let up all morning and I was wondering why we got the kids up so early.

Everyone took turns outside to felt he gusts of wind. There were shingles all over our yard and tree limbs scattered. We even found a large bush roots and all. Looking at other neighbors roofs it was interesting to see there was no pattern. Some people had a few missing shingles, while others were down to the plywood. It looks like above our bedroom we are missing a good section of shingles, and Above Alexander’s room and the laundry room we are missing a big section of shingles and the plywood is exposed too.

Our water and power were out, and every 15 minutes the kids asked if it was time to open the M&M’s yet. We tried making calls but without power we only had our cell phones, and couldn’t make any outgoing calls. Any incoming calls that we tried to answer were cut off after 10 seconds. We got a few text messages out, but that was all. We passed the morning napping, reading books, playing board games and even watching a movie on the laptop before the battery went out. Around eleven the wind and rain started to let up and it finally stopped around 3:30pm.

We took a drive and assess the neighborhood damage. We found some trees snapped in half, trees on power lines, flooded roads, lots of roofs like ours and amazingly a lot of fences that had blown over. For the last few years we have watched our fence start to lean because of the steep slope behind it. We thought for sure the fence wasn’t going to survive. It is still standing, not straight up but it never completely toppled over either. We are shocked and slightly disappointed; as it desperately needs to be replaced.

We kept a bike lock on the fridge, but around lunch time we set up the stove in the garage and made quesadillas. We planned out how and when to use our food and were ready for a week or two without power. By dinner, we got a break in the rain and set our grill back up on the patio to grill our chicken.

The kids were looking forward to nightfall all day because they had great plans. Luckily our water came back in the afternoon so it wasn’t too hard to clean up dinner. After clean up we started our game of hide and seek. Everyone got their flashlights and we hid in the dark. I got stuck with Alex who almost always gave me away. Once I hid in the pantry and gave him a cookie which bought me a little bit of time, but once he started pounding on the door, Matthew ran down the stairs to find me.

Following our games we ate ice-cream and root beer floats by candlelight (actually it was a lantern but that just didn’t sound right, lantern light?) It was Joshua’s turn for family prayers and he said some interesting things. He asked to bless the storm and that he was thankful for the damage. Apparently we played up the damage thing a little too much on our drive earlier that day when we got excited every time we saw a tree knocked over or fence blown down. I guess once the news turns off, from a kid’s point of view the hurricane was a lot of fun.
Like I mentioned before I was up a lot last night, so when I heard little people walking around this morning I ignored them and tried to sleep a little longer. All of the sudden, all the lights and fans turned on. Our power was back. I am pretty certain that Matthew was up this morning checking all of the lights, so when the power came back everything was turned on. We had some great plans today on how to cook our roast, and wanted to experiment with making a cake on the camp stove. It was nice to just put the roast in the crock pot, but Scott decided to go ahead and make his cake anyway. We are doing great, although we have some work to do today on the roof before any more rain comes through. Thanks to all that were concerned and I hope this update gives you a bit more information. Later I will post more pictures and video on our web page!

yIKEs!

Currently outside it is a little windy. However that is to be expected since a hurricane is about to make landfall in the next few hours. Today was an interesting day because the schools were closed, Scott stayed home form work and most of the stores shut their doors around noon. We spent the morning cleaning up the yard of any possible projectiles and put everything in the garage. It was gorgeous weather today. Breezy and not humid, so I was glad to get out and work in my garden which was overgrown and infested with stink bugs. After the work was done it was time to play, but really we just spent the afternoon watching the news and waiting for the action to start.

We heard from Craig and Cherise around dinnertime, and they had already lost power. They live in Pearland which is about 40 miles north of the coast and said that it was windy but not raining yet. They have boarded up their windows are prepared to wait the storm out.

Because we live over 80 miles inland we haven’t been too worried. We have been calm and what I thought was reassuring to the kids. Around dinner time when the kids were supposed to be cleaning up I was surprised to see Matthew carrying a bunch of blankets downstairs. When I questioned what he was doing he said that it was his stuff for the car for “when our house breaks up.” I guess he had been watching a little too much news. He showed me his pile; he had a pillow a blanket, his Pajamas and a blanket for Joshua too. I thought we had reassured our kids enough that we were safe, but I spent a little extra time with Matthew making sure he was alright when he went to sleep tonight.

After dinner our family enjoyed the great weather outside and the beautiful sunset as a result from the outer bands of the hurricane. It was weird to know that a hurricane is coming from the south and all the clouds were moving in the wrong direction.

We expect the eye wall of the storm to hit during the night and pass around 5:30. We are planning to get up for the sunrise so hopefully we will still have power and keep you updated. If not Samantha will be excited to break into the 72 hour kit and open our 3 lb bag of M&M’s.

Thanks Uncle Mikey!

We have decided to let the kids ride bikes to school this year, despite the fact that my new car would help accommodate a carpool. However, a week before school started I was informed that Jacob’s $3 garage sale bike was broken. He has been ready for a new bike since last year, but I thought the little bargain that I got last fall was going to buy us a little more time.

When Samantha was 3 years old we bought her first bike, we bought it a little big at the time but we never expected it to last as long as it did. She obviously got her use out of it. Last summer she started asking for a new bike, so we had her start saving up. With the help of generous gifts around her birthday she put her all her money together and got her bike. With all the work that Samantha put in, it was hard as parents just to go out and buy Jacob a new bike despite the desperate need. Although we give our kids a gracious allowance, that wouldn’t be fast enough, so we started brain storming. Jacob wanted to put up a lemonade stand, but I had a better idea…

Jacob sold CD’s door to door. Of course we only targeted people we knew, but I think it was really good for him to approach people and tell them about the great new CD that his Uncle Mike just produced. Mike has put together a great collection of original piano solo hymn arrangements, and some of his own songs. I would like to thank all of our friends and neighbors that helped contribute to this great cause, and if anyone feels bad that we didn’t knock on your door you can just go straight to the source to buy (and listen to the music) www.michaelethington.com or let me know and I will get some more.

At first Jacob really wanted me to help do the talking, but after awhile he got the hang of it. Since we were subsidizing the bike anyway I just let him put all the money from the CD’s in his savings jar. He thought he was rich and kept talking about all the things that he could buy. We had to keep reminding him how much his bike was going to cost and that he wouldn’t have any money left over. This week he finally got his new bike and he willing turned over his jar full of hard earned money. He has been riding his bike to and from school every day and loves it. Thanks Uncle Mikey!

A few funny stories

Two blog posts in one week? Don’t worry I am just making up for lost time, I wrote the Alexander Post two weeks ago when he turned one but then never posted because I was waiting till I took his official one year old picture. Besides I normally try to sit and write on Thursdays. Once again you may be alarmed because obviously it is not Thursday (at least not while I am writing, but who knows when you are reading this) but it feels like Thursday to me because last night I had my last YW activity with my girls. We went to the bishops Storehouse for some service and since the storehouse is only open on Tuesday we moved our Wednesday activity up a day. I had some bitter sweet feelings on Sunday as I was released from my calling over the 14-16 girls.

I have been working with the Miamaid group since March 2005. This calling confronted two of my biggest fears, teaching and teenagers. I was at first called as a Miamaid advisor. The very first Sunday I was in the hall with the YW Pres. and 1st counselor and they jokingly asked if I had my lesson ready. They laughed at the shocked look at my face and thought they relieved me when they said they were joking and I wouldn’t have to start teaching till the next week. However I stayed in shock because apparently I hadn’t known when I accepted the calling that the advisor’s main responsibility it to teach the lessons each Sunday. My other fear was interacting with teenagers and being reminded of my socially challenged days. Over time some of these girls became my friends and I stopped worrying about what they were thinking of my outfits or if I was cool enough. Then last year I was promoted to the 1st counselor and still stayed over the same girls but I was then in charge of the activities every week. It will be nice to technically have my Wednesday’s free; however Scott was called into the Scouts and will now have Wednesday night activities. I have been working on my Personal Progress over the last few years and my garden completed my third project. This last Sunday (about 3 minutes before I was released) I finally received my medallion.

Didn’t this post say something about funny stories? I guess I got side tracked, that tends to be a bad habit of mine. The other day Scott helped the kids fill the bath tub for a bubble bath. The week before I had banned bubble baths because of the mess and the slashing, but the kids didn’t let him in on their punishment. By the time I walked by the tub was filled and kids were innocently playing and entertained so I didn’t say anything and let things take their course. Technically, Scott consented to the bathtub so in my mind that meant he was responsible and I didn’t pay much attention and got side tracked (actually I think I was downstairs with Scott). Opps! Well later on when I was on my way to tell the boys to get out, Matthew came running (naked of course) down the hall with a big grin on his face and a big (64 oz big) cup full of sudsy water. He then proceeded to dump the water, and said with excitement, “Look it cleans!”

Luckily I was close enough to grab the cup before he emptied the whole thing. When we went into the bathroom the whole tile floor was flooded and water was soaking the carpets. It was so sweet that they thought they were helping me clean, but they still got in trouble. We soaked up all the water with all the available towels in the house and then threw them in the laundry. I guess I did get a nice mopped floor out of it, which was their intention, but it was the exact reason why I had banned bubble baths the week before. When I went looking for Scott he had fallen asleep downstairs.

Another funny thing happened just this morning. I was watching a few kids and I kept trying to follow them. When they were downstairs, I went down and cleaned up the kitchen but then I realized I was alone. So I took my next project upstairs, and the same thing happened, over time I realized the kids had filtered downstairs. I think I should just use the baby gate and coral them all in one place. I decided to stop following and wait till they came back upstairs. After awhile I noticed that it was really quiet downstairs. Normally I would think they slipped outside in the backyard, but it was really wet outside so I doubted that. I tipped toed downstairs to check on the 5 little boys (that sounds like a lot, but remember 3 of them are mine). I found the back door open, all the cushions were off the couch, and there was a trail of almonds on the counter. Then I noticed that all the boys were quietly hiding throughout the room and Jacob was hiding pantry with the fly swatter. Apparently my repeated phrase “Shut the door so the bugs won’t come in” came back to haunt me. They were looking for bugs and they were trying to lure the flies in with their tempting trail of food. I love kids and their wild imaginations. They had found the almonds and saw that there were already some nibbles on them so they knew that flies liked them. I closed the door and thought I put an end to that game, but then the next thing I knew they had moved into the garage and were looking for cockroaches.

Alexander turns One

We celebrated Alexander's birthday in Salt Lake with our families just before we came home from Utah. I can’t believe that it has been a year since Alexander was born. What a trite phase to really express how I feel but it is true. Alex is my happiest baby. He will give a smile to anyone and is always content. He slept the first two months of his life, and the months that followed it was easy to forget that he was around because he was so quiet. Now that he is getting older his personality is coming out, and he makes sure that he is not forgotten.

He loves phones & remotes and any other toy doesn’t make a good substitute. After a month long trip in Utah he adjusted well to the off schedule routine we put him on. Although he doesn’t get super cranky with little sleep, he does find ways to make it up. One day after no naps, he slept in until 11 am in the next morning.

The past month he has had an array of interesting foods. One of the days at the beach he kept trying to eat sand because he thought my reaction was so funny. A few days later I caught he trying a piece of forgotten dog poop. Yuck! That one we got out fast so at least he didn’t swallow. However when it comes to normal foods, he is now refusing pasta, peaches and macaroni and cheese. What a weird sense of taste buds, at least we know that he has a sweet tooth. He will nose dive for ice-cream and he loved his birthday cake.

He hasn’t had his yearly check up yet but I am guessing that he weighs around 23 pounds. Our drive home from Utah was his last day in the infant car seat. After we came home we cleaned out the car and then set up the forward facing car seat. His seat is in the center and he was just grinning the other day as we drove around. He can see so much and must love sitting up and facing forward.

Now that he is proficient at climbing stairs I let him explore more. He has found the toilet a few times and luckily he has only unrolled the toilet paper once. We are going to have to watch him a little more closely but so far we have been lucky that he hasn’t discovered the joys of cupboards. He still is just fascinated by opening and shutting the doors, I will be said the day that the doors won’t be enough and he will search for what is inside the cupboards.

He says “MaMa” and “DaDa” quiet a bit. I would say his first word was “Hi” although he doesn’t have it down just yet he has been trying to say it for months. Every morning he greets me with his “HAAA” trying to imitate my greeting. I think that he is going to be musical. He loves music. At church it is the most obvious because he will be wiggly and then a musical number will start and he will just stop and stare. He watches me when I sing and then starts singing himself. The problem is to get him to be quiet when the song is over. It is fun to hear him match tones so I have high hopes for him especially with the musical talent in both of our families; it has to get passed down to some of our kids.

The other day we were babysitting and holding another baby. Alex was close-by and took 3 steps to fall into my arms. I guess jealously is a good motivator. The rest of the day we tried to get him to do it again. He did it one more time on video but he hasn’t done it since, that was over 4 days ago. He is refusing to try, I guess that is his personality coming through.

"Reverently, Quietly"

Today at about 1:40 pm I was a nervous and my hands were cold. Samantha was grinning ear to ear and excited. We were on the sacrament meeting program as a piano duet. I have been teaching Samantha piano for over a year now, but we have never been consistent with the practicing, so it was nice to have something to work towards.

I think Samantha really enjoys performing. She loved playing today, and never even mentioned getting nervous. The idea was that we would play as a duet to give her confidence. I think next time I will let her play on her own, because she would have sounded better without my nervous mistakes and random wrong notes.



Click here to hear, "Reverently, Quietly"

The One Minute Mother

Summer has started!

I have been looking forward to summer this year. About 2-3 weeks ago Samantha and Jacob had to come home early from school (they had fevers and stomach aches). I thought it was gong to be a long afternoon, but it was such a relaxing day everyone playing together and as I sat reading a book I remember thinking “this is how our summer will be.” I guess I didn’t take into account the sickness factor.

Life this last week has been anything but peaceful, I would say it was more of a wild ride, but I have survived. Before, my schedule these last few months with the 3 younger boys has been open and flexible. Basically Alex would get a morning nap, we would eat lunch in the middle and then he would get another nap before the older two got home. But I knew that type of routine wouldn’t work for the summer. Specifically Samantha requires a lot more structure. When she gets board I would like to say she follows me like a little lost puppy, but the best animal to describe her as would be a very loud whinny cow. In order to prevent this unpleasant animal from visiting often this summer I set up a fun summer schedule to keep us all busy.

Everyone has adapted well to the new summer schedule except for me. AHHH! The kids are happy, Alex is still napping, everyone is well entertained, we have had lots of friends over, lots of swimming time, the jobs are getting done, Samantha and Jacob are practicing the piano, Samantha is learning the violin, and the twins are trying to read. So what is the problem? Five kids is a lot to juggle. Surprise, surprise, I know. I am just glad Samantha never noticed that we didn’t do the craft time/cooking time that I had penciled in.

In the morning following breakfast we do jobs, then we have what I like to call centers. Jacob has reminded me multiple times that this is not how they did centers in kindergarten, but that is the best name for it. Basically there are 4 different stations, and they are supposed to rotate every 15-20 minutes. Three of the centers are suppose to be independent activities and then one center is a lesson time where I can focus on that child (Jacob piano, Samantha violin, the twins writing/reading). However since some children require a little more attention than others, it hasn’t worked out that way yet.

For example, I put Josh in front of the computer by himself and he just sat there for 15 minutes calling me to come help him. Apparently over the last few months Matthew has dominated the computer when I have let the twins play preschool computer games. Then, I gave Matthew a work page and came back 15 minutes later and he was playing on the floor and only scribbled a little bit on his paper. I was running back and forth and upstairs so much one day that I never found time to spend with Samantha at all, who just did everything independently. Luckily over the week I have worked out the kinks, Josh can at least move the computer mouse now and clicks randomly, I have simplified what is required of the twins, and Jacob gets a little more time at the computer than the others since he thinks he could just stay there all day.

I guess I went a little overboard with the schedule, but most importantly I forgot to schedule in some time for me. I need a good quiet time where I can get things done on the computer, read a book, or just take a nap if I want too. I just assumed I would do all those things during Alexander’s afternoon nap, but I haven’t gotten my stuff done. I went almost three days without checking email, and it was good no bills were due this week. At least there is nothing good on TV so I have used the night time to catch up.
I am always in awe of mom’s who home school, and now that I have tried to implement a curriculum for this summer I have even more respect for moms that make this their job to take on the enormous responsibility of teaching their children exclusively. I haven’t even mentioned my attempts of teaching my kids swimming lessons-- that is another story. I read a book a few months ago called the One-Minute Mother and I took from it that I really need to look into the faces of my children and give them one minute of my time and let them know that I love them and that I want what is best for them.

I know I made this past week sound like chaos and it really was, but I think it was a good. Once things become more routine, it will just flow together. Last summer I was on bed rest before Alex was born, and although I got a lot of scrapbooking done, I wasn’t able to do much for my kids. I still think this is going to be a great summer, even if it hasn’t been as peaceful as what I imagined a few weeks ago. And as a final note, Samantha didn’t say she was bored once this week.

"I want to win!"

Luckily, this was a quote today by Matthew and not Samantha or Jacob. Matthew asked to play a Tonka race car computer game that I had set up for the twins to play together yesterday. He said that he didn't want Josh to play, and then he said something that I thought was very profound.

“I want to play alone because I want to win.”

I had to laugh, especially because of my last post and the slim odds that either Samantha or Jacob had with their election for the school council. Yesterday the school grades had an assembly so the candidates could introduce themselves. My kids said that there were 12 kindergarteners for the 1st grade position and 42 second graders for the 3 3rd grade positions. Good thing we have been talking about how we were just doing this for fun.

As I mentioned before there has really been no information about anything. Samantha is the one who said she might have to go from class to class to introduce her self. But then next day she said their might be an assembly. Samantha was dressing in her best outfits for 3 days and nothing ever happened. Jacob had no clue what he needed to do, so I tried to prepare him. I talked to both kids about good things to say when they got up to the microphone but I never could get either one to commit to a practice session.

Jacob and I had a good 5 minute talk about his good qualities: that he is a good friend, he can serve the school, he is big so the 5th graders might listen to him as he represents the 1st grade, that he wants to help solve problems…

Here is what he said, “My name is Jacob. I am big.” That was it, and he sat down.

Samantha had a cute little dialog planned out, but we made the mistake of not writing it down. So here is what she said:

“Hi, I am Samantha...”

Then she just paused and just stared at everyone. She didn’t know what to say, so she just didn’t say anything at all. After a minute, finally a teacher whispered something in her ear so she just repeated what she said and then sat down.

Back in their class rooms they got to vote. Samantha said that she voted for herself. Jacob voted for one of his other friends. Then today after being home for awhile Samantha casually mentioned that she didn’t make it on the school council. No big surprise, but she didn’t even know who the 3 people were that were picked. As we were talking, Jacob over heard some of our conversation.

He said,”Oh yeah, I was suppose to go to the office…I heard them announce all the Coyote Council to go to the office- but my teacher didn’t tell me to go.”

We had to break the news to him that he didn’t make it on the council either, and it took a minute to sink in, he actually looked confused. Apparently, he thought they were going to tell them next year. At least both kids didn’t take seem to care, so I am glad we were only doing it for fun.

Tomorrow is the last day of school, so we are getting excited for summer! Now that Jacob will be home I guess Matthew is going to have to wait to take his turn on the computer especially if he wants to keep playing by him self. There is no way he will win against Jacob who holds all the high scores.

Watch Out for the Fine Print

Good advice, but in my case there was no fine print. Samantha brought home a form for me to sign last week that would let her apply to be in her elementary school counsel next year. There wasn’t much information on the form, something about voting towards the end of the year and a place to put my signature in consent. Sounded like a good cause so we copied the form and filled out out for Jacob too. An insight into how I think, I figured If I had to pick Samantha up late after school on meeting days, they both might as well stay to save me a trip.

The kids came home Tuesday from school and said people were putting posters up. I remember words on that paper about campaigning, but I guess I disregarded it since we are only in elementary school. Yesterday I called the school to get a little more information. The counselor at the school didn’t really give me much to go on, except that we could put up posters and fliers. There weren’t really any rules except for no passing out stuff like candy (there goes Samantha’s slogan “If you like candy-vote for Sammi).When I asked when this election was, she just said sometime next week, no date was even set.

Since yesterday was my brother’s birthday we headed down there for dinner. On the way I picked up some posters, and glitter glue (Samantha’s request) and started our brain storming. Craig and Cherise helped with the brain storming but I left their house at the kid’s bedtime and I still had empty poster boards. Samantha and Jacob decided on slogans in the car and we got to work as soon as we got home. Matthew let me know this morning that I made him sleep in his clothes because I didn't help him get to bed.

Long story short the kids were still up at 11:00 pm. I didn’t want to just do the posters for them, and I guess since we had such late hours over the weekend camping, I figured we would let it slide. We pasted away late, and then even this morning Samantha was putting glitter on her two smaller posters.

I hope this ends up to be a good experience for them win or loose. There is one position for Jacob’s grade next year, and only 3 positions for Samantha’s grade. Who knows how many kids are running, but I know that there are 2 from Jacob’s class- multiply that by 8 classes and probably there are at least 16 for that one position. I am not even going to guess how many are running against Samantha.

I think this might be the first year they have had the students run for the counsel, and it looks like it is going to be a disaster. Why are they having popularity contests in elementary school? And better yet why are my kids caught up in it?

All this work just because I signed a paper that had about 5 lines of vague information.

News in All Sizes

Well I have been swamped. But I am finally caught up with the laundry, got all the bills paid, the house is temporarily decent so I am ready to start up-dating things. However two months is a lot to catch up on so I will start with the small stuff and move on from there.

The extra-small: For the past year I have had the best alarm clock ever, it was one of Scott’s old cell phones. It was the best because I would have it in vibrate mode and then just put it under my pillow. It wouldn’t wake up Scott or Alex who as I have mentioned before slept in our closet. Well Yesterday I just made a quick casual stop into the Version store to check and see when our Scott’s cell phone contract expired because we were going to switch but I walked out with an new phone number for my alarm clock. Customer Service did their job and got me what I wanted.

The small: Along the lines of things I have always wanted, I have always wanted a garden. So this spring with some help from a friend who go me started I put out my 2 boxes and started my square foot garden. For all the work it really is bigger than small news, but yesterday I got my first tomatoe. Unfortunately, my real first 3 ripe tomatoes went to the birds, so I don’t know how I am going to prevent that from happening in the future. I read a bird bath would help deter them because they are just thirsty, so I put out some water in a dish. I am not sure if I want to commit to a bird bath in the backyard since with the power lines above our yard is already a major bird hang out.

The medium: I mentioned above that “Alex…slept in our closet” --that means past tense because on Saturday we finally pulled the crib out of storage and set up the nursery. I chuckle to myself at people that set up the nursery 4-5 months before their baby is born. I just never thought that I was the opposite extreme but Alex is now 9 months old. Boy does time fly. He has done really well adjusting to his new surroundings. We have had wonderful spring weather, but today is going to get hot and I am so glad that he has his own room with a nice ceiling fan. We have had some noise issues to deal with during nap time since he has some good sound insulation back in the closet. Alex is a good sleeper and usually takes 4-5 hours of naps a day, but it is too hard to label that much time as quiet time.

The Large: You have probably guessed where this is going. If Alex finally has his crib mattress and his own room, that means we have done some rearranging and made a sales rep happy at the furniture store. Saturday, we made the plunge and bought 2 sets of bunk beds and mattresses to go with them.

The details for anyone who wants to know: We have toyed with the idea of bunk beds since the twins were in cribs, but we have just kept putting it off. Two months ago I sold Matthew’s toddler bed in a garage sale and he has been sleeping on the floor ever since. I have been checking Craig list faithfully, but we have gone through so many phases of what we wanted or needed that we couldn’t decide. Saturday I talked Scott into driving to a warehouse over 45 minutes away that online had looked like it had promise to show us a wide variety of affordable beds. This place was a dump; but they did have some affordable beds. The problem was we weren’t looking for a bunch of 2X4’s screwed together; we were looking for a more permanent solution.

On the way home we stopped by Gallery Furniture. Honestly our reason for stopping was because last time we were there we got a free dinner, but since they were a real furniture store with gimmicks like huge play areas, free ice-cream/cookies and a free buffet to serious customers that would mean high mark-ups and no good deals. Well the plan worked we got a sales guy to think we were serious enough that he gave us a voucher for dinner and then we gathered our kids from the play area. We had targeted the least expensive set, close to our price range. Plus the mattresses seemed really good quality and were in the same range as the ones were planning from Big Lots. Honestly after all the work and searching and checking the seller was the delivery and set up. It was late and they promised that our kids would be sleeping in the beds that night. I was ready to just be done with it.

At first I hated the beds; I can say that now because I am satisfied with them. I personally was looking for a nice bed that wouldn’t look like half a bunk bed when it was separated. Scott was looking for durability and that is what we got. I saw a lot of beds like these go through on Craig’s list and I knew if that is what we were looking for we could get a better deal used. But that would mean more waiting, and then finding ways to go pick them up and still then still putting them together. Since the delivery and assembly was a flat fee I decided that was a good deal. The kids were ecstatic, we walked out of the store eating our ice cream smiling and then they topped it all off with giving all the kids their own basketball…including Alex.

The EXTRA Large: Scott and I just returned from Hawaii a week ago. We are pretty regular about taking vacations without the kids and this year is no exception. Scott’s mom invited anyone to come stay with her at her timeshare in Kona, so our sleeping arrangements were already taken care of. I found a great deal on plan flights, so we just rented a car and traveled the island. There were seven of us total in the one bedroom condo. (Scott’s mom DeAnn, 2 sister Laura and Audra, and his brother and his wife Mike and Julie plus us.) Housekeeping probably got a little suspicious when we kept asking for more towels and sheets, but everyone seemed comfortable with the arrangement.

Scott bought a great travel book and read it cover to cover and then and went back and tabbed and highlighted. I skimmed through the book, but mostly I just loved looking at the maps and reading the highlights. We went to the Big Island which has so much to do. We were hardly in our condo except to sleep at night, and due to the 5 hour time change we were all ready for bed by 8 pm the first few nights and I was wide awake by 5 or 6 in the morning.

One of the highlights was that we flew over the day before my birthday, so I had a great day in Hawaii. Another day after 4 wheeling we went to a Black Sand Beach where the sand was tiny lava crystals that had broken apart when the lava had hit the water. I insisted on sitting back and relaxing there because I didn’t want to leave. Scott and I finally went scuba diving and loved it just like we knew we would. We saw turtles, sting ray, sharks, eel, an octopus, and some other rare fish that our dive instructor got so excited about that he grabbed my camera to take a picture of it. I have no idea what it was but it was big and rare. Toward the end of the week we went spelunking in a lava cave and then rushing up to the top of Mauna Kea for the sunset. Every day we had wonderful sunset, but it was a difference experience to be above the clouds.

The biggest disappointment was no lava. Everyone else has always come home with cool pictures of bright red flowing lava, but the best we saw was a small glowing cloud as the lava hit the water far off in the distance. We tried to solicited to park rangers to take us past the roped off zones, but it looks like there was no way around it. A couple of years ago we hiked the park for over 6 hours looking for active lava with no luck. At least this time it was only a 10 minute hike and they wouldn’t let us get any closer.

Here is the quick travel log:

Sat: Flights toKona —sunset at Happuna Beach
Sun: My B-Day. We went to the local stake conf.
Mon: City of Refuge, 4 wheeling at South point, & Black Sand Beach
Tues: Wamiea, Polou Valley & some of the north Beaches
Wed: Shopping, scuba lesson, Happunna Beach
Thurs: Scubba Diving, Kiholo Beach
Fri: Traveled to Hilo and Puna to find the Lava
Sat: Volcano Park, hiking, lava tubes, Mauna Kea and star observatory
Sun: Un-named Black Sand Beach, Rainbow Falls, Drive to Kona and flight home

After one week I was ready to come back home to my kids. Alex fared really well while we were gone, and I was never really worried about the others. They loved having sleep- over’s with their friends. I brought home everyone chocolate since that was my favorite. Samantha got some flower clip on earrings, Jacob had requested a buggy board, Josh had only asked for chocolate and Matthew had asked for a hat. (we got Josh a Tee shirt but he switched it for Matthew’s hat). Since the week long diet of Chocolate and Mac nuts showed some signs on the scale I have joined Scott in the realm of low-carb eating. We still have some chocolate hanging around, so I guess I will just have to save it for our next vacation when we go with the family to Lake Powell and then up to Salt Lake.

As a side note: We bought Scott’s plane ticket so it is official that I will be in Salt Lake with the kids while Scott stays returns home to work. We will be planning a big Birthday Bash for Scott and Alex in Salt Lake for Alexander’s 1st Birthday.

I guess I only highlighted the most recent instead of covering the last two months. I will have to start sorting through the pictures and updating the web pages.

It must be hard to be a 5th child

Currently Alex is sleeping peacefully for his nap in his bassinet in our closet. He is almost 7 ½ months old and still he doesn’t have a room or a crib to call his own yet. According to my records Samantha was pulling and standing up by now; but if Alex tires one of those tricks he is going to find himself on the floor.

Alex is one of my happiest babies. He smiles anytime you look and him and everywhere we go we have strangers goggling over him because he always rewards them with the biggest smiles and grins. Being the 5th child in a family can be a little hard, but I am so impressed with how he is coping and making sure he gets his share of attention. For example if he is in the high chair and I am busy doing other stuff I have noticed that he will watch me and the instant I look up and see him he gets super happy and smiley. This trick works and gets him attention because I always pause to stop and talk to him—anything to keep that big grin smiling.

The other day I was putting him down for his nap, a little late due to daylight savings. I was in the middle of his diaper change and Samantha and Jacob started banging on the front door because they were home from school. I finished wiping up and due to the constant banging I decided I could finish the diaper change in a minute. I ran downstairs to open the door and greet my older children home. I talked with my friend who had dropped them off for a few minutes and then sat on the stairs looking though backpacks and papers from school. I remember hearing Alex fuss, but since I had just put him down for his nap I ignored him at first. When he really started to sound mad, I sent Samantha upstairs to help him find his binki to go to sleep, while I finished up with Jacob. I was shocked to hear the report that Alex wasn’t in his bed; because of course I had never put him there. Apparently he had scooted out of my bedroom into the bathroom and was upset about being stuck in a corner naked on cold tile. I’ve seen him trying to scoot for the last week without much success, so I find it very funny that he figured it out while no one was looking.

Luckily I am not the only one guilty of forgetting about him. Last night was one of those crazy nights where I was trying to do too much. I had an activity at the church but agreed to let Samantha go to the school to try out for the talent show. I convinced Scott to meet me at the school to pick the kids up so I could go straight to my activity. He got the kids home and headed straight to the kitchen to get them some dinner. Off in the distance he heard Alex crying and went to go check on him, only to find that he had left him in the car.

So far he doesn’t seem affected by these small accidents, but we need to be more careful or his is going to grow up with serious issues of abandonment. Good thing he is still so young.

As for the bed, we should have that crib up soon. Early last Saturday morning there was a neighborhood garage sale, so while Matthew was still sleeping I stole his bed out from under him to put it sale it off. I pulled the mattress off, so as soon as we replace Matthew's bed, there will be an extra mattress free for Alexander’s crib that is still sitting in a closet.

I want to go to HAWAII...

I just found tickets to Honolulu, Hawaii for $325 plus tax. (Check Travelocity, Delta, or Continental) Of course I booked, but I have 24 hours to find babysitters or change my mind. If anyone in our area is interested in trading a little babysitting, this is a great deal. I'll watch your kids if you watch mine! (Five can be a little overwhelming, so I am willing to split them up.)

UPDATE: Thanks to all the distant family that offered to watch my kids. You're lucky you don't live close or I would hold you to it. Lucky for me I do have one family member who lives in Texas. Craig(my brother) and Cherise are going to take the bulk of the days. When I watched their kids and I went from 5 to 7 kids; so now she is going to give from 2 to 7 kids a try. I am also grateful for all my friends that are going to help out too.

YAY! I AM GOING TO HAWAII!

"It wasn't me!"

The twins have been tricking me. Even though the twins are identical, it is easy to tell them apart. I tell everyone the secret to remember is Matt’s hair is matted; and after that it is easy. However I didn’t realize how reliant I had become on their clothing. Their clothes all hang in the closet and I don’t distinguish between whose clothes are whose. However with Joshua’s strong color preference he usually wears red, and Matthew has picked his favorite stripped shirts too.

A week ago Josh put on a blue stripped shirt, one that Matthew normally wears; and Matthew was wearing red stripped shirt that either will wear. That day we ran a few errands. At the check-out Matthew wanted to buy a Reese’s. However, the week before at the check out he had wanted to buy a M&M trail mix that I had refused to buy. So he opened it, and then I was compelled to buy it. At home he had to pay me for the expensive trail mix—which emptied his cash flow, but I didn’t let him have it. Since I knew that Matthew had no money to buy the Reese’s so I once again refused the purchase. He looked me in the eye, and ripped it open. I was amazed at the defiance. Once again I paid for the candy and didn’t oppose when I saw Josh then hand a package of Skittles to the cashier. At home Matthew was sent to time out which was followed with a long explanation/talk/lecture. Since Joshua was out of money too, I put the candy in what we call the “mommy store”

The next day the boys asked for their candy. Looking at Matthew I tried again to point out his mistake again without going over board on a lecture again. He then said that it was Josh who opened the candy. Now I thought he was lying. Where was my innocent boy? Matthew said that he wanted the Skittles. I asked Josh which candy he bought and he said he bought the Reese’s. Now we go back to the beginning of the story, Josh was wearing a “Matthew” shirt. Twenty four hours later I had no idea who looked me in the eyes and ripped the wrapper just so that I would buy it. Neither twin will claim to rip the candy, but a week later when I let it all pass and they finally had money again—Matthew paid me for the Skittles and Josh paid me for the Reese’s. Yesterday, Matthew put on Joshua’s red pants and a “Joshua” stripped shirt. Maybe they are just getting to an age where they want more variety, but I have come to depend on their clothe habits and they are really starting to mess me up.


Along the twin line, here are some cute Matthew quotes from this past week:

Matthew: Do Samantha and Jacob have the same birthday?
Me: No, Samantha had her birthday last week, and Jacob’s is this week.
Matthew: Then why do me and Josh have the same birthday?

Also he has been using the word TOTALLY if front of every thing such as: "I am totally not going to have a ham sandwich for lunch." I always wonder where kids pick things up, but then when I was talking to Scott the other day I heard myself say totally in a sentence. It was really eye opening; he has totally picked it up from me.

Seven kids--7 and under

Since I survived a whole year of four kids under 4 years old, I thought I would give a week of seven under 7 a try. My brother took his wife on a cruise this week and we have their two kids for the week. After all, seven isn’t that far from our originally five. The energy in the house hold is definitely up and there hasn’t a day gone by that a game of chasing didn’t end in crying. The other bonus is that I watched their kids last month for a couple of days so they know the rules and we have most of the kinks worked out.

We had an interesting start to our week—my car battery died. I missed most of church on Sunday and then was stuck home on Monday. With school out for the day, we had to rely on bikes to get Jacob & Samantha to their friend’s birthday party. It was a squishy few moments when I had four loaded in the bike trailer, one more in a bike seat on my bike and Samantha & Jacob on their own bikes. After dropping them off, I made everyone else walk to the park where we hung out for the next two hours and had a picnic lunch from the Walgreen’s close by.

I am sure I was quite a sight with a sleeping baby in my arms and 4 toddlers walking behind me. At least after the party, we bummed a few rides. I guess I should explain that I could have called for rides in the first place; but everyone had wanted to go to the park and we tried leaving early so that we could stop at Walgreen’s on the way to the party to pick up a candy bar to add to one of the presents—it just took too long to get organized and out the door. However presents were at the end of the party, so I was still able to slip a candy bar on top of Samantha’s present.

The next two days all my kids disappeared and went to school. So the constant party toned down a little bit. Poor Carrie would walk around the house at 9 in the morning asking if it was time for Matthew and Joshua to come home yet.

Before my week started I had made sure I got all my shopping done, but over the week my errands started stacking up. Finally on Thursday with Samantha and Jacob still at school I loaded everyone in the car to make a few quick stops. Everything went so well that as we passed the mall I spontaneously added another stop so they could go in and play. At the store I had five kids piled in the shopping cart and just picked up a few items, at another store everyone was assigned a place to hold onto the stroller, and at the bank we opted for the drive through. (I left the bank for last so that everyone could look forward to a sucker as a treat fro being good.) It was a successful trip, but once again I knew that everyone was looking at me when they passed by.

Anyone who knows Carrie and Jonathan knows how happy and excited they can get. They are bright, loud and chipper at 6:30 in the morning, which doesn’t mix with my preference to sleep-in as late as possible. For anyone that has younger kids and is used to getting up super early you probably don’t have any sympathy, but when kids get older I love that they get more independent. My kids wake up around 7-7:30 and sometimes I can hear them tip toe in my room but then they walk right back out when they see I am still sleeping. School days I have to get up but on weekends Samantha is old enough to pour milk, so she helps get everyone cereal. Then there is Alex who usually doesn’t wake up until 8-8:30; I guess that is a long explanation for 6:30 is too early. Every morning I keep trying to go back to bed, but memories of last month with Jonathan leaving the fridge open and eating all the bananas haunts my dreams. At least they take naps.

My twins stopped taking naps over a year ago, but these early risers are still some what regular in needing extra sleep during the day. The problem, both at nap time and bed time, is just getting everyone to stay put. Luckily I have a good book to read and I have found that the watch dog approach works well. Carrie was adamant this morning that she wouldn’t need a nap today, but after a lot of tears at lunch from everyone they were all put down. Even the twins, but I can hear them playing very quietly in their room.

With two kids at school, two playing in their room and three sleeping even a mother of seven can find a moments peace. Too bad it will only last for the next 26 minuets till school gets out. I did want to take a nap myself but I couldn’t bear to waste this time on sleep.

The Best and Worst of 2007

The results are in, and here is the list!

BEST:
-Samantha’s Birthday (Feb-Samantha)
-Valentine Baby announcement surprise (Feb-Jacob)
-Grandpa Coleby visits and going to IHOP (March)
-Mommy’s camping trip birthday (Apr)
-Mommy and Daddy’s cruise- sleep over with friends(May)
-Bed rest got to help mom (Summer-Samantha)
-Completed 2006 scrapbook (summer-mom)
-Alex joined our family (July)
-Grandma DeAnn comes for Daddy and Alex’s birthday (July)
-Going to Salt Lake alone (Aug-Samantha)
-Staring Kindergarten (Aug-Jacob)
-Scott’s first Solo ride in an airplane (Sept)
-Scott’s Live Strong ride (Oct)
-Starting preschool (Oct-Josh)
-Grandma Coleby visit and beach day (Sept.)
-Thanksgiving with Laura, Brian, and Grandma DeAnn (Nov)
-Mike and Julie visit (Dec)
-Coleby Christmas (Dec)

WORST:
-Everyday was a bad day (Jacob)
-Scott sick with pneumonia (Jan)
-Salty Lasagna (March-Matthew will never eat Lasagna again)
-Matthew had to have his tonsils out (Apr)
-Going to the beach without a swimsuit and sitting in the car for 1 hour till clothes dried (Apr-Samantha)
-Sold our Wave-runners (May)
-Jacob teasing all summer (Samantha)
-Bed rest- family had to stay home all the time (Summer)
-2 hours preceding Alex’s birth (Kim-July)
-TIME OUTS (Jacob-(I think he needs a little more love in his life))