Some of the randomness I like to call "Home"

Just how strong IS Daddy???  

We got him to do push-ups with 3 little boys on his back.  I was going to climb on so that his fourth son wouldn't feel left out, but he wouldn't let me.

He's SO STRONG!!!!  Superhuman we like to call it.

The other day, Kelly got stung by a bee while waiting outside to go home.  She was really good about it all afternoon.  I was surprised.  Luckily she doesn't seem to be allergic.  But I thought what she wrote on the white board later was so adorable.  So Kelly.  If you can't read it with all the other crap on there, it says, "Now I have been stung by a bee I wanted to go my whole life with out beeing (love the spelling) stung! p.s. But no it is not going to happen."

When we got the white board, I had it in my head that nobody was going to write on it, just me, and it was going to be totally organized ALL the time.  Well, of course I didn't factor in how disabled I am when I am pregnant and how all sense of organization would be out the window, so NOW there is usually a large empty space and Kelly and sometimes everyone else, finds it entertaining to write on it.  I have found that seeing what the kids write, and having a little piece of their thoughts and their world every once in a while, is extremely more valuable than any presumed organization could ever be.

This was on it today.  Nice to know that even though I feel like a Zombie and like I couldn't be failing more, someone holds up a little light in the darkness.  I appreciate my kids' forgiving me for my weaknesses.... especially while I have so many!  They really are such blessings.  

Erika asked me, "Are you nice now, Mommy?" tonight as I was helping her open her string cheese.  Apparently I wasn't before.....
4-24-12

Erika came in from playing out in the backyard with Noah saying that she needed to change her pants because they were wet.  I asked her why they were wet and tried to convince her that they would dry and then she informed me that they had pee on them.  I said, "Why do they have pee on them?" And she answered, "Noah said it was okay, go potty outside.  Noah said!!"  She was so distressed I decided not to laugh.  But we had to have a talk about how girls can't really pee outside as easily as boys.  Along with the discussion about how peeing in the backyard is disgusting and Noah needs to give that habit up.

Things were starting to get hectic, bedtime Wednesday night, I was bathing Erika and had just called the rest of the kids in from playing outside.  This is when everyone comes to me with owies and forgotten homework that they HAVE TO DO right away or they will die, or other things that might keep them from getting jammies on and going to bed.  So I was trying to rally and pep myself up for the following half hour to an hour.  I grabbed a carrot from the table and walked back into the bathroom to get Erika and as I was walking, I was saying, "Sprint to the finish, sprint to the finish, I can do this, I can do this." (dorky, I know, but ya do what ya gotta do.... it actually works if I remind myself that the day is almost over) And I guess it looked pretty funny with a baby carrot hanging out of my mouth because when I got to Erika she was giggling.  I didn't know for sure what she was laughing about until she put her finger in her mouth and started quoting me, "I can do this, I can do this." All the while laughing.  She's so funny.  I think she has such a great sense of humor ;).  And she keeps me giggling too when that's the last thing I would normally do.

One night as I was rocking Erika to sleep (we had had a rough evening and she needed the extra attention, it's not something we do every night), I could hear some noise coming from the kitchen.  I knew it was one of the boys, they had been in and out of their room since the minute I tucked them in, and I knew that because I had a clear view of the hallway between their room and the kitchen from the rocking chair.  I had chosen not to get after them because I wanted Erika to go to sleep.  So anyway, I was listening as the sneaky little chip stealer pulled a chair over to the counter, opened the bag of chips, spilled some chips on the counter and floor and THEN I heard a big CRASH!  I listened carefully to tell if it had been serious enough.  Mostly what I heard were chips breaking and falling all over the place.  But I was waiting for a cry...... Nothing.  I was surprised.  Suddenly I see a stuffed-cheek-Noah, with his arms behind his back, chomping as he quickly side-stepped through the hallway, looking directly at me as he went, like he was so stealthy or something, and I would have no idea he was there.... HA!.... and then trotted off to his room.  It was HILARIOUS!!!  I couldn't help but laugh!  He's a funny one.

After everyone had had their shower, except Bradley, I called him in to inform him that it was his turn.  I always dread this, because I know how much Bradley dreads showers.  He came in and I said, "Brad, everyone's done with their showers, you're the last one.... go get in the shower."  And immediately, he had his rebuttle.  Like he'd been planning it for days!  He insisted that since he MIGHT have an accident that night, it would be better for him to shower in the morning.  I got this crazy idea that maybe I should just let him win this one.  Let him off the hook and let him take his shower in the morning.  So I said, "Okay.  You're probably right."  And IMMEDIATELY he came back with a frustrated "BUT..." and he started to argue with me and then I think it occurred to him that I had just given in.  Mid-sentence, he changed his tune and said, "So I don't have to shower?"  LOL!!  "Nope. Not til tomorrow." I said.  And I think he was in shock because then he sweetly asked, "So can I go outside and play then?"  "Yep."  And as he walked out of the room, he had to keep looking back to make sure he wasn't imagining things.... he even bumped into the doorway as he turned around.  But he was cheerful, so that was nice :).  It made me laugh to think that he was so shocked.  I need to let him win more often apparently.

When Nate got home from work one night, around 10:00, Noah was still awake, but attempting to go to sleep in my bed, in the room next to me.  Nate came in and called down the stairs to me that he was home and was taking Buddy out.  Then I hear this sweet little voice from the bedroom, "What did Daddy say?"  So I took advantage of the moment and said, "He said if Noah's still awake, he's going to get a big spankin'."  Totally kidding of course, but didn't think about it again til a few minutes later.  I was in the bedroom for something and realized Noah had buried himself under the covers and was fake sleeping :).  Funny boy.  I felt a little bad for scaring him like that, but it's still funny that he bought it.

Every time Erika gets mad at me she tells me that she's not going to share her gummi bears with me.  :)

Family scripture study was extreeeemely chaotic the other night.  Nate was working and I had let the kids play a lot longer than I should have.  They were tired.  I could not get Erika to calm down and now that she can open doors, putting her in her room to cool down was not an option.  So we let her cry all through it.  It was ridiculous.  And probably defeated the whole purpose, but I refuse to let the evening go without scriptures.  As we were kneeling down for prayer, she was still at it and I purposely asked Noah to say the prayer (we all do this right?  When we need a quick prayer, we know who to ask?  anyway...) because he is usually not too long winded.  Well he sure proved me wrong that night!  He gave THE longest prayer I have ever heard him give.  He really went on for about 2 minutes and it felt even longer with Erika's whining and crying.  I couldn't believe his stamina ;).  He was not going to back down because of a few tears!  Probably a good thing, and it did make us all smile :).

I told her we needed to go wash the dirt and chocolate off of her face and she says, "Me did it weddy!!" (I did it already)

Doesn't her face look so clean now that she washed it already? HA!  Funny girl.

Pregnancy Journal and finally the ultrasound pics :)

4-21-12

I don't know what took me so long to get these on here (must have forgotten that I have a scanner now ;) ).  I had to crop these really strangely, so it's a little confusing, but the two on the right, that say "13 weeks" are of course from my first ultrasound, back on the 8th of February.  It's a little more difficult to tell what you're looking at in those ones since he's just a little peanut :).  But I love those ones... those are the ones that always bring tears to my eyes.  To see my little one alive and well for the first time... just love it!

Then, the two on the left are from my most recent one at 18 (ish- I'm telling you, I'm really confused about how many weeks I am.... so don't hold me to that) weeks.  The top one is his face (kinda creepy right?) and the one below that, and this top one down here:

are the same one, of his little boy parts.  It's funny to think that there will be yet another little boy to tell me about his penis in this house one day :).  I seriously don't know what my life would be like without those funny conversations.  I sure wish I was more equipped to teach them.  I'm really not very educated in that area.  I usually pass them off to Nate :).

The next one down is his face again, not as clear, but it was so cute because you could totally see his arms and legs just going like crazy during the whole ultrasound.  It was really fun for me to watch.

And that last one is his spine.  That's always an easy shot to see.  

I liked that Dr. Thackeray made it so we could have our kids there for this ultrasound.  I can't wait til the 30th and my "more official" one, to see more.  I hope I can post some of it on here too.

So I've started back on the prenatal vitamins.  I had the feeling I should the other day, when I thought about how my iron usually gets low during the last part of my pregnancies.  I kinda put it off and then I had the thought again a few days ago and thought I should listen.  I've NEVER been able to take prenatals with ANY of my pregnancies.  They just made me too sick.  So this time, I started on them way back when we decided we wanted to try for number seven.  I was so proud of myself because I stuck with them, even though they even made me feel sick back then.  I think I slowly got a little more immune to them.  They didn't completely clean me out every time I took one after a while :).  So anyway, my doctor thought it was funny that I had decided to take them with this pregnancy, and told me I'm okay if I want to stop taking them (this was about a month ago).  They really made me feel like I had a teensy bit more energy, but since I was still so sick (at 16 weeks!) I decided to stop taking them and see if that helped with the nausea.  Well, unfortunately, that wasn't the case, and going without them for a month was just the perfect recipe to make it hard to go back on them now.  Frustrating.  But I really feel strongly about it for some reason.  Who knows what this brain is doing these days, and what I might be misinterpreting as a prompting... really, I feel like a complete lunatic.... but I figure, it can't be bad right?  So anyway!  I've been REALLY sick (more so than before), so it's been a challenge to say the least.  I'm hoping my body can adjust quickly.  I still feel like it's probably better for my little Wormie to have the nutrients since my appetite is less than what it should be.  I couldn't even eat the sugary pretzels in my chex mix the other night because they made me want to throw up.  I had to spit them out.  It was ridiculous.  And that same night, I had spent all this time and energy making these yummy fajitas and then sat down to eat them and couldn't even get it up to my mouth.  The thought of eating it made me sick.  SO ANNOYING!!!  So, it's not like I'm getting a lot of good stuff for the little guy.  I think I ate 3 cobs of corn, and a bowl of pineapple for dinner that night.  Not good.  It's too late in the pregnancy to be doing this, so I get worried (of course).  So anyway- here's to the prenatal vitamins, I hope Wormie needs them more than I need to feel good (not that I would feel a whole lot better without them).

On a much lighter note, Wormie is alive and kicking!  He is so active lately!  It's really fun!  This is the stage when it doesn't hurt to have him move around :).  I can almost feel the movements from the outside (in fact I have a few times at night and been tempted to wake up Nate to feel him), and that's always exciting for Nate and the kids to be able to feel him.  Makes it so much more real to everyone, which I love!!

One thing that stood out to me when I was having a Priesthood Blessing the other day was that I need to just enjoy this pregnancy (the parts that I can) and stop letting the negative, feeling crappy, drag me down.  I really haven't done a lot by way of getting excited, recently.  I guess I think about how far away his arrival is, get all negative, and think it's silly to get too excited.  But really!  WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!  What's more exciting than that!  

So I got out my ultrasounds, scanned them, hung them up on the fridge, put a little thing on the white board about how big he is :)  He is approximately 7 and 3/4 inches long... the kids liked seeing that I think.  And I've been looking at baby names a lot, so that's helped a lot!  I like to write about him in my journal, and talk about him a lot to the kids.  That helps me to focus on the good thing that is happening, and not just the horrible way that I feel.  I am hoping to make a trip out to Babies R Us (this is the tradition I started with Kelly) to pick out a coming home outfit for my little Wormie.  I need to start looking now so that I can get the perfect one ;).  He's going to have cute clothes I decided.  I'm done with the raggedy old stuff and while he will still wear hand-me-downs, hopefully he will have a few new things to add to the wardrobe.  It's only fair :).  I get excited thinking about holding him and the late nights with him.  I can't wait to meet him.

Journaling

- Saturday was a big night for us.  The older three went with Grandma and Simon to see the Chinese Acrobats at Kingsbury Hall, and the little three came with Nate and I to the ward Fund Raiser Activity.  The big kids had a really great time, told us all about it all for days.  And I'm pretty sure Chuck-A-Rama was a big plus as well :).  We all had fun at the ward party.  I wish I hadn't announced the big news right before it though, it came up in too many conversations :).... not really, I guess it was fun to have something to talk about.  My favorite was when Carol Adams informed me that when she first saw our "Congratulations Daddy!!!" sign for Nate, she thought it was a sign to tell him that I am pregnant ;)....  HILARIOUS!!!
After the party, we drove down to the car dealership where Nate had been planning on looking at a 9 seater suburban.  We took turns test-driving it and LOVED it!!  But we weren't about to impulse buy a car.... we needed time to think about it.
We went out for ice cream to re-celebrate Lukey's performance.  And came home to a nice relaxing evening.  Something about only having half of the kids to get in bed at a time made it seem easier ;).

- Wednesday stunk.  I was really sick all day from the prenatal vitamins, and Nate was gone all day for Bradley's class field trip to the Discovery Museum and then to work after that.  So it was a full day for me.  I got SO much done as far as laundry goes.  I seriously folded like 8 loads of laundry, washed and dried and folded about 4 more, and put it all away!!!  HUGE for me.  And emptied out the laundry chute.  Yeah, that's big.  I actually ran out of hangers, so doing more clothing was not an option :)  But I did wash and dry another three loads of towels and blankets.  That was the end of my productivity.  I was so tired.  That night we drove out to Famous Dave's to get the food for Nate and his co-workers.  Nate spoiled them all with yummy food instead of just pizza as his gift for certifying (it's tradition to get pizza, but Nate always goes all out :) ).  I will basically take any excuse to strap the kids into our nice, new vehicle and drive all over the world and back :).  It was a rough evening, with the kids getting up every couple minutes.  didn't love that.

- Thursday was another rough day.  Luckily I had a nice long bawl that night, got it all out, and Nate totally helped me sort some things out that have been really weighing on my mind.  It's funny how it really does help to just get it all out sometimes.  And of course he gave me a blessing.  A must for this pregnant woman.  It was perfect.  I love that Heavenly Father tells me just what I need to hear.  And I love that Nate is the instrument in His hands.  He is very eloquent, and I think that totally helps.  I feel very blessed to be his wife, and have him on my team.  I don't know what I would do without him.  I'm so grateful for the Priesthood as well.

- Friday was so much better.  I felt really strong emotionally and I felt like I had things under control for the first time in a VERY long time.  We were invited to the park by Sarah and her boys, so we spent some time there at Island View Park with them.  Everyone had a lot of fun.  If it hadn't been for lunch and hungry tummies, I think we could have stayed there all day.  Could have done without the loud tractor the whole time :), but I did love being able to witness Charlie's curiosity about the aerating.  He is so inquisitive, I love that!  He's such a cute kid.  He's so smart too.  Glad to have him as my nephew.  That night we went out with Chris and Stephanie, they wanted to treat us to dinner as a Congratulations gift to Nate.  They took us to Katashi so that Nate and Chris could pig out on sushi.  Stephanie and I pigged out on everything else ;).  We had some edamame, tempura veggies, chicken kabob thingys (I have no idea what it was called, but I really liked it), and some steak stacked with tempura green beans to look like a Jenga game ;).  It was really good!  I was so worried when we walked in the restaurant.  Smells can really kill my appetite these days and that smell was a killer.  I got nauseous right away and was completely turned off by the menu.  Thankfully Stephanie just ordered a bunch of food for us to share.  I really hadn't planned on eating anything until I sat there for a while.  I'm glad I did, it was delicious.  We bought Sundae stuff on the way home to share with the kiddos- Charity had been babysitting EVERYONE- so we hurried home with the surprise :).  It was a fun evening, thanks to their company and generosity.  Then Nate helped me get the kids in bed before heading off to work the mid. Boo.

- Saturday was so boring.  I hate to sound so negative, but it just was.  We woke up and went to the church to clean, came home, cleaned our house a little, rested, played outside a little, tried to stay kinda quiet while Nate slept, and then did a Koolaid stand.  There was some more sitting around, Nate grilled up some dinner, and then he and I went to our Ward Party planning meeting.  Got the kids in bed and it was over.  Nothing big.  I hate it when Saturdays are like this.  I'm sure the kids loved it.  They get a kick out of being able to just bounce around the house and do whatever they please, but I was bored.  I did get all caught up on all my games on my Kindle, and frankly, I think my body kind of needed the rest after my week.  I'm finding it takes less and less to "overdo" it these days.  But at least I can recognize when I've overdone it and stop now.  I don't think I've done well at that in the past.

Goodbye Bessy!

Our huge tank of a car, Bessy, has been a decent car.  We bought that car in the middle of sheer chaos after returning from our crazy trip home from Alaska.  NOTHING was in order at that time and all things just had to kind of happen.  It's a wonder we survived.  But we did come out of it alive, and with a vehicle.  I won't say I was ever completely in love with Bessy.  She was a good car.  I loved that it wasn't a minivan, that was for sure.  I like the power, she sounded like a desil engine.  We LOVED the stereo, the DVD players and all the other little "perks" we found.  But I guess, as the perks died, or in some cases, got stolen, Bessy kind of lost her spark.  Over the last few years, things had really gone downhill for her!  Starting with the gear shifter being one off.  So instead of putting her in reverse, you had to put her in neutral to back up.  It was strange, we got used to it.  Then the face on the stereo got lifted.  That was a HUGE bummer!!  For everyone!  No DVD's, CD's, OR radio.  Then the key got stuck in the ignition.  And now I can say, we've had that key stuck in the ignition for almost 3 years, and not once did our car get stolen.  And thanks to that lovely problem, we had to jump start that dead battery probably a hundred times (no exaggeration) always at the most inconvenient times!  And I must give MOST of the credit to my Dad and Steve for that... it was a huge blessing to be living right there with them when this problem started.  They were still so helpful when we moved, but it was way more of an imposition, that's for sure.  All the while, our air conditioning never really did work.  We would roll down the windows and have the wind blowing in our hair, complete silence since you had to scream to be heard, all the way to Daybreak for the family meetings in the Summer, and yet the kids would still end up soaking wet from sweat, and completely knocked out from the heat.  Fun stuff.  Let's see, what else?  OH!  The leaky ceiling.  The drips all night long when we got stuck sleeping in the car up at Bear Lake... that was a classic.  Always having that little wet spot on my pant leg after driving in the rain. The floor vents were not really connected to any kind of heating system as far as I could tell because no matter what the temperature was outside, my legs were always freezing.  Kind of a fun one in the winter.  All of the vent covers were falling from the ceilings, along with the center overhead console to control the heating and cooling in the back seat.  We had to stretch out the fake leather hole to make it hang in the ceiling.  Pretty exciting to have it fall out and be dangling there anytime we went over a bump.  Embarrassing if there were any friends in the car.  The child locks on the back doors were broken, but broken in the on position, so you couldn't open them from the inside.  That was always fun for the kids getting out at school...  I'm pretty sure we looked like a clown car unloading.  

As you can see, it was a fun car :).  I think for the most part, we just got used to her quirks.  Things really didn't seem to matter all at once.  And really, if it weren't for the need to have one more seat, we probably would have stuck it out with Bessy a little longer.  We had finally paid her off and not having a car payment was definitely a plus!  But the day came!  

We spent our last couple of hours with Bessy on Monday night , cleaning her out.  We ended up with 2 bags of stuff, and 2 bags of garbage, vacuumed her out, and said our final goodbyes (though we know we'll see plenty of her since she was sold to the guy up the street)

And then we went back into the dealership , Nate signed his life away (and a portion of his paycheck), and we drove home with our new (to us) 2008 Chevy Suburban.  

I can't tell you how wonderful it feels to drive!!!  I know we were pretty easy to sell to, and just about anything that had air conditioning and no clickety-clacking in my ear, would have done the job.  But this car really is a good one!  It's so cozy!  No cracking vinyl, and it's SO CLEAN!!!  We're hoping to keep it as nice as we can for as long as we can!  Hopefully that will be longer than I think :).  The kids were SO excited!!  It was so fun to experience with them.  The look on Erika's face when we put her in the new car, and her little oooooohs and aaaahhhs.  So priceless!  And they are all so anxious to take care of it and be gentle with it.  It really was a lot of fun for all of us.  We have yet to name her, but that won't take long, I'm sure.

After we brought Bessy home, we all went up to Grandpa Hatch's house to show him.  Everyone who knows my Dad knows he's a fun person to show a new car to. He wanted to go for a ride, so we did :).  Then after we got home, we ordered pizza and bummed around his house for a couple hours while Nate watched the Jazz game.  It was a lot of fun.  And Steve came home and let me show off our new car to him too :).  Love that.  The two best people to take for a ride in your new car, and they were right there, ready to have fun with us :).  Love that.

So anyway.  That's our story.  I need to find a picture of Bessy.  Don, the guy that bought it has already done a bunch of work on her, and she's starting to look all pretty again!  It's nice to know she'll be taken care of.  

Time to move on.

Some cute faces

We had Sarah do our "school pictures" this year, back in November, and I was just going to post them back then, so they'd be in the right spot for my book, but I decided they were too cute not to post for you to see now :).  I LOVE how they turned out!

In no particular order: 

Charity 4th Grade

(I love her hair like that!  We need to layer it again...  She's gorgeous!)

Bradley 1st grade

(OH! those dimples!!!)

Luke Kindergarten

(He's getting so grown up!! Doesn't look like my little Lukey anymore!)

Kelly 3rd Grade

(What a cute girl!)

Noah 3 years old

(Such a sweetie!!!  Look at that smile!)

Erika almost 2 years old

(What a fun little girl!!  She's so cute in this one!  So glad we got her to smile)

Thanks again Sarah at Hatch Photography-  I love 'em!

Pregnancy Journal

4-13-12
I think I MIGHT be feeling just a teensy bit better.  I don't want to jinx anything, but I do want to recognize, and be grateful for the little bit better that I do feel.  I feel less nauseous and I am not AS grossed out by everything that's set in front of me to eat.  Definitely a plus.
SO Wednesday night, I got a text from a friend in my ward.  She was asking if the rumor she had heard about me was true.  I've been really nervous to tell my ward.  There's just something about having to hear all the negative comments, or "funny jokes" about our big family and then seeing the person every week at church, that makes it unappealing to me.  I really shouldn't be so negative, but I know from experience, in this state of mind, I really don't handle it well.  So I guess I was just trying to avoid it all together.  As if that's possible.  I knew as soon as I told the kids, it would be out.  It always has been that way :).  But I really hoped they would forget to tell everyone at church at least for a couple more weeks :).  Nothing against my sweet baby Wormie, just I like to keep it all happy and positive as much as I can ;).  SO anyway, I tried to pretend I didn't know what she was talking about in the text and asked where she had heard it from.  She then got a little nervous and said that maybe her son who had heard it from Kelly was wrong.  I felt bad and assured her that he was right, we are expecting.  It was a funny conversation.  This particular friend happens to be right in the middle of the biggest clique in our ward, so I knew the word was going to be out (nothing against her, just that they all get together often, and it would come up).  So I did the unthinkable (I'm totally being sarcastic) and posted it on Facebook!!!!  I was so nervous!  I'd known what i wanted to say for a long time now, but I just couldn't get myself to do it for so long, I was nervous.  But not even 5 minutes after I posted it, I already had quite a few sweet comments on the post!  I was so surprised, and so relieved.  I was still just a little skeptical until a little later in the day when I realized there were even MORE.  And NONE of them were rude, or negative, I guess there was one funny one from Dan, Nate's brother, but his doesn't really count (as a rude comment I mean).  It was SO NICE!!!!  I had tears really, several times, because I realized my Heavenly Father had wanted me to do that so that I could feel the love and support from so many people, but had been to scared and reserved to just put it out there.  I feel bad that I think the worst sometimes.  I wish I could be more positive and have more faith in people (especially my friends).  I guess I still wonder what people are REALLY thinking (because I'm a woman and that's what I do :) ).... but because everyone was so sweet, I know have somewhere to go and something to read when I feel like there is less than joy to be had by my news.
I'm really grateful for the love and support of so many family members and friends who give nothing but encouraging words and compliments.... it's so nice.  I really need to hang on to those more than I do the negative.  Because so far, I've had far more positive and need to acknowledge that fact.  This is a first for me.... recognizing that the world isn't out to get me :).  But I'm there, and I'm glad.  Thanks again to those of you who read my blog, make comments all the time, and who are so supportive of me and my family.  It really does mean a lot!!  I depend on it sometimes.  So thank you.

On a much lighter note, I feel Wormie move a LOT more now!!!  I LOVE IT!!!  Erika and I have been talking a lot about the baby in my tummy and how she is going to love him :).  It's so adorable.  She did mention that it would be hard for her to hold two babies at once (meaning her doll and mine) "Can't hold two babies".  So we'll have to figure that one out when he gets here :)  We are SO anxious to meet the little guy!  I have all these ideas of what he might look like.  Wondering if he will be our second true brunette, or if he will follow the set trend ;).  Wondering if he will have the big beautiful Maynes eyes, and what color they'll be!  It's funny to think how many variations we've already received with our set of genes together, so ya never know how it will go!!!  I'm SO excited though!  I just love him so much already.... only 20 (ish) more weeks!!!  We can do it!

HE DID IT!!!

I've put many posts of Congratulations to my Sweetheart, but this is the Congratulations of ALL Congratulations!!!!  This is IT!  

This was the one we've been working toward for over six years now.  I say we, but really, it's Nate.  He's been the driven, committed, sacrificing, and faithful one who pulled it off!!!  He DID IT!!!  

He is now a Certified Professional Controller or CPC as they call it :).  He is done with training and can now control planes all by himself.  With no one looking over his shoulder.  

He is now a guaranteed employee of the FAA and cannot be fired.  That is HUGE!!!! 

I'm just SO proud of him.  He's done what we set out to do!!

I can't make this post without thanking my Heavenly Father the comfort, the love, the blessings, ALL of the MANY miracles along the way.... there is no way we did any of this on our own and I could never dream of taking the credit.  I'm grateful for a husband who relied so heavily on Him and was humble enough to ask for the help regularly.  We knew we had His support the whole way and it was nice to always have that on the top of our minds whenever another problem arose. I love my Heavenly Father.  I love that He loves us and makes our lives so perfect.

Feels so good!

And now it's time to get on with life :)

OH!  To celebrate we all went out to Wingers for dinner.  It was probably bad timing for the kids... they were not on their best behavior.  Too bad kids can't pick up on why we're there and just make it a pleasant, cheerful experience :).  They weren't too bad, and Nate and I were just on a cloud anyway, so no biggie ;)  Good times.

Lukey's Kindergarten Performance

Luke had his big Kindergarten performance today!  What a fun thing for him!  For the last week or so he's been singing a lot of the songs, kind of practicing I guess, even at home, which surprised me.  It's so cute to watch Luke get into something like this! We told all the family so that he could have a lot of support out in the audience.  And that he did!  Daddy was not able to come because he was going to get checked out (!!!!!!! that post to come), so that was a total bummer, but we did have our video camera and I got the whole thing on video, so he will at least get to see it.  Plus, we did have quite the crowd out there, cheering for Luke.  I got us seats on the very front row (that's what happens when you get there a half hour early :)) and Aunt Jen, Aunt Sarah and the Hatch boys, Grandpa Hatch and Uncle Steve were there as well!  It was a lot of fun for me ;).  I almost cried a few times.  Could be the hormones, but it's just so crazy to watch my little Luke growing up.  There's just something about how fast they grow that makes it hard.  He looked so adorable up there, he knew most of the songs pretty well, with all the actions, very cute.  We celebrated at Dairy Queen afterward with those who could come.  It was a lot of fun.

Journaling

- We've had a crazy week.  I don't feel like anything was normal, and yet nothing is really standing out to me!  It's this memory I guess.  We did spend a lot of time with Debe and her kids.  Especially Wednesday and Thursday nights.  Those were interesting nights.  I guess I won't say much except that it is difficult to involve yourself with people and try to help them without involving yourself too much.  It becomes much to consuming.  BUT that being said, I hope and pray that all goes well for them.  I hope their kids can recover from it all.

- Thursday, Charity came home with a letter saying that she was one of the top two girls in her grade in the P.E. class and that she will move on to the district Decathalon!!!  I'm so proud of her!  That is just really cool!  4-12-12

Family Night Campfire

Tonight I had planned on cleaning the garage for Family Night.  It didn't really feel like the right night for it though, with the fighting we were hearing from the kids and how hard it was for them to work together on their jobs, so we decided to come up with something else.  Nate was grilling burgers for dinner, and Bradley was wanting to have s'mores for the treat, so it worked out that we ended up having a nice little family campfire night ;).  I was the lesson and I wasn't in the mood to have a fancy lecture, so I decided it would be fun to just go around the circle taking turns to ask a question of everyone.  There were some pretty fun ones!  I loved the answer, "cleaning up my whole room by myself" as the "hardest thing he's ever had to do" that we heard.  The answer Kelly gave for one of her favorite creations of Heavenly Father's being Charity, made me smile!  What a sweet sister!  Also, the question, "Who do you have a crush on?"  :).  Our kids are so funny about crushes.  Sweet little Noah said he has a crush on Kelly still :).  I love that.  Nate asked everyone to share a time when they have felt the Spirit and while it was still a little chaotic, it was a sweet moment for me to hear everyone's experiences.  I wish I had already known some of them, but I was so grateful to know that our kids think about those things and experience them.  It was just such a touching night and I loved hearing everyone open up to each other.  That will have to be a new fun tradition for our family nights.  It felt really good.  Erika was a little nut the whole time, whining for more chips, then a drink, then to go potty, then running out of the house to us, completely naked because she wanted to get her jammies on!!!  She was definitely a "handful" tonight!  But she's a sweetie and we love her.  It was a good night.  I just love my family!

Easter Sunday

Sunday was a very interesting day.  This Easter will go down in the books, I decided.  We got a call the night before from Debe saying that she and her kids needed a ward to go to and that they were coming with us to church.  I ran around the house going through all of our kids' clothes, past and present, for some Sunday clothes for her kids.  It was fun to feel like we could help someone.  That IS why I hang on to things.  I spent the rest of the night before, planning and preparing my Sharing Time lesson.  Then it was time for the Easter Bunny to come.
In the morning, the kids all spent a LOT of time searching for their baskets.  The Easter bunny got REALLY creative this year!  It was fun to see the kids using their baskets I sewed them last year, though Noah had lost his during the week sometime and chose to use the Halloween, pumpkin bucket instead.  It worked.  They got spoiled pretty good!  Kelly was really excited about the "Ice Cubes" gum, rather than a bunch of candy that she can't eat.  They got these really cute "eggs" that were shaped like bugs and turtles, instead of egg shapes :), with candy inside, I thought those were cute.
After the baskets, it was time to hurry and get ready.  Debe and her kids showed up and it all got a little chaotic after that :).  I still feel bad I never did get a picture of Erika or Bradley with their baskets.  I don't know why, I guess I was just too busy.  Bumbs me out.  I never do that!!  Either way though, we had a good time with it all and I can rest at ease knowing that they had fun too.

Church was hectic.  I'm a nervous wreck when I have to teach Sharing Time, and while I think it went okay for Senior primary, I was only left with 5 minutes in Junior Primary and I was so frantic, trying to cram as much as I could into my 5 minutes, I am afraid I missed a bunch.  It was crazy!  But it's done.  I think it went alright overall.

Sacrament meeting was interesting as well.  I was pleasantly surprised to see Steve and Jauslin show up and they sat behind us.  I think I was extra frazzled because Erika was on one and I didn't want to distract Steve and Jauslin (or anyone else for that matter) with her shenanigans.  But I was also trying to stay in the meeting in case Debe needed to leave with someone, I would be there to watch her kids.  It was just different.  I was reminded why I don't like to have treats there for the kids.  I hate the wrapper noises and the constant asking for them and eating them.  It is not necessary for our kids anymore, so when it's there, it's a distraction. 

When we got home, we threw some stuff in the bread maker for rolls and then sat and visited most of the afternoon.  Nate and Bradley did his remote control car, and the rest of us played and talked.  I loved that Kelly and Ruby put on an egg hunt for all the kids, that was a lot of fun.

My Mom and Simon came for dinner along with Steve and Jauslin.  So it was a full house.  Which I loved!!  I love being able to have people there to celebrate the holidays with.  We were slow with dinner, but it was well worth the wait.  It was a nice time.  We visited a little more and then crashed when it was time for bed.  I couldn't believe how tired I was.  That's the first Sunday in a while that I haven't had a nice long nap.

I love Easter.  Not just for the yummy candy, but for the remembrance of the Savior's Atonement.  I am so grateful for the knowledge of Him and his sacrifice.  I'm so grateful that I feel His love on a regular basis and that I am able to go to Him with anything.  It's nice to feel His presence and to see the little miracles he grants me each day.  I really am blessed.  It's fun to know that those miracles come from Him and that they are witness of his love.  I have a testimony of the miracle of the Atonement and I hope that I am making the most of this life He has given me.

Last Day of Spring Break

Saturday was our official last day of Spring Break.  It was a pretty fun day, if I do say so myself.  Nate had worked the mid, so he got home at about 7:30 in the morning after working and shopping for some Easter eggs for the egg hunt.  He was pretty wiped out, so we tried to let him sleep.  I was surprised at how little he slept, but apparently it was good enough.... We let the kids relax all morning, then quickly did jobs, and morning stuff, so that we could have our Easter Egg Hunt.  We had invited the little neighbor girl down to have some fun with us, and then at the last minute we invited Stephanie and Sophie, and Sarah and her boys.  I thought it turned out pretty fun! Nate had bought over a hundred pre-filled (good one, Nate!) eggs, so there were plenty for the 10 kids participating.  It seemed like everyone had fun.  I was glad we had friends and family to share it with.

I think Bradley or Kelly had the camera... I will have to double check... but we got some fun pictures of everyone there...

Here's Buddy killing the duck...

and here's the duck... dead.

ooooh! A picture of Erika with her Eater basket... I may have to snatch this picture later for my Easter post.... I flaked out and didn't get one of her on Easter morning...

Kelly and Nate hid all the eggs since she couldn't really enjoy the candy... I'd say she did a pretty good job!  The kids were looking for quite a while.

After that, we played around in the yard, talked, it was very relaxing.

Everyone took a turn on the Teeter-Totter of death!  I'm so surprised no one has died from this (or at least had their face disfigured) in the year and a half that we've lived here!  Knock on wood...

We lost track of Alvin for a minute and look where we found him!!!  Crazy kid!  My favorite part was watching him later.  He would pull himself up to the next step and then use his chin to stabilize as he moved his hand up to the next.  Hilarious!

She's such a good dog trainer!!  He's doing really well!

If only I'd focused on his cute face better!

We then headed off to Kangaroo Zoo.  The kids were SO tired!!!  I couldn't believe how many times I saw one of them lay down on the ground, or just all the sweat that was dripping off of them.  It was nuts!  They kept coming over and sitting with Nate and I.  I kind of think they were just coming down from all the sugar.  Either way though, they seemed to have fun, minus the rug burns from the slides.

Nate and I spent most of the time reading through boy names on the internet.  This baby's name is just not jumping out at us.  It's kinda fun to read through all of them though.  Nate and I don't agree on most of the names, but there's got to be one we both like!  We'll find one!

I wish I'd gotten a picture of Noah's cute face when he saw this dragon one!!  He was so cute.  

 
After Kangaroo Zoo we decided we were hungry enough to go to Texas Roadhouse. I L O V E that restaurant!  The food there is so good.  It was a really fun time too, the kids all sat there with their manners showing and we all enjoyed it.  I do look forward to the days when everyone doesn't have to take 2+ trips to the bathroom when we're eating out.  But it was really fun.  We kept joking about telling our waiter it was Nate's birthday so that we could get them to come clap and cheer for him.  The kids get into that.  And we got some extra potato skins because our waiter screwed up on our appetizer :).  So that was nice :).  We left with 4 take home boxes though, so I don't think we were NEEDING the extra food :).  Good times.