- Everyone was a good sport! No matter how hard it was at times, everyone did SO good!
- Noah came running out of the bathroom with his headbandz game card on his head yelling, "I looked in the mirror and I STILL don't know what I am!"
- Kelly "helping" Noah play It Came To Pass by laying down the reverse card to make it her turn again :).
- Erika announcing what was on everyone's cards the minute we put them in the headbandz.
- Me having to say, "I command you to be silent" anytime someone laughed, while laughing...
- Bradley winning Quelf (AGAIN!)
- Nate finally guessing that he was Cruella DeVille.
- When Nate yelled at Kelly's game piece like he was a drill sargeant.
- Watching Luke try to think of questions to lead him to guess the card that he cheated to look at :) They seriously work harder to make it look like they didn't cheat than they would have to actually guess :) Makes me laugh.
- Pizza, pizza and more pizza!
FAVORITES
Jack- sitting in Bradley's lap, on his team, to play It Came To Pass, and kicking his legs really hard so that Bradley could barely hold on to his cards.
Erika- playing the "Mickey Mouse game".
Noah- "Headbandz"
Luke- "the whole thing was boring"
Bradley- "All of it!"
Kelly- "The little kids cheating"
Charity- Noah's attempt to look at his card in the bathroom mirror.
1-25-13
Friday, January 25, 2013
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Favorite Things
Some of my favorite things lately:
Seeing my sweet little Erika's hand holding the chubby little hand of my baby boy, and her tiny thumb stroking his hand.... sweetest. thing. ever. She loves him. What more can I say.
Watching Bradley giggle as he struggles to wrestle Jack while he's changing his diaper. Jack kicks his legs and flails his arms so much that it's quite a challenge sometimes to change him :). He's of course smiling and having fun and Bradley was too. I love my boys. I love that Bradley is willing to help out with the baby and that he has so much fun with him in the process.
Seeing my sweet little Erika's hand holding the chubby little hand of my baby boy, and her tiny thumb stroking his hand.... sweetest. thing. ever. She loves him. What more can I say.
Watching Bradley giggle as he struggles to wrestle Jack while he's changing his diaper. Jack kicks his legs and flails his arms so much that it's quite a challenge sometimes to change him :). He's of course smiling and having fun and Bradley was too. I love my boys. I love that Bradley is willing to help out with the baby and that he has so much fun with him in the process.
Journaling
- Our big fun weekend was big and fun! I wish I'd kept better track of what we did and documented it all, but clearly we just had too much fun ;).... some of the highlights: The Life of Pi at the movie theater, Texas Roadhouse, Subway, Bowling, lots of rounds of It Came To Pass (our new favorite card game--- new to the kids, Nate and I got it many many years ago... we just dusted it off and taught it to the kids), lots of Beam Me Up, some other board games, friends over, swimming.... it was a good weekend. Time to go back to school. :( 1-22-13
- I took Charity swimming with me this morning!!! And it was a morning that we had to go at 5:00!!! She and I got up and out of bed at a quarter to for Sarah to pick us up. I can't believe she did it!!! (heck, I can't believe I did it after all my mornings of waking up late!) She was so fun to have there! I loved her company and I loved being able to share that time with her. All the big kids want a turn... we'll see how it goes :). She was pretty exhausted toward the end of the day, but she had even gone swimming with her friends in the afternoon, so she really handled her tiredness well. I'm just so proud of her!! 1-22-13
- So Jack slept for 9 hours straight the night before last. It was AMAZING!! And worked out really well, since I was getting up at 4:45 am. He slept through my swim and even let me read my scriptures when I got home. I really thought it was because I had finally gotten him to sleep before 1:00 as has become the habit lately. But last night, when I laid down in my bed at 10:45 for what I hoped was going to be another full night of sleep, much to my surprise, Jack woke right up. He did go right back to sleep, but only for about a half hour. Then it was difficult to get him back to sleep and that only took for a couple hours... anyway, I was up all night with him! It was nuts! Then he threw up all over me and my bed, so we made our way onto the couch. I didn't want to hog Nate's side of the bed because I wanted him to be able to come home from the mid to a nice cozy bed. It was a very long night! And Buddy didn't help with his barking. And it got me thinking- I think that it would have been a perfectly okay night if I had not ben hoping for him to sleep like the night before. It made me think about expectations and how much of a hold they have on me. It is really hard for me to change my plans. It's really hard for me to not get what I think I am getting. I realized how much I have riding on stuff. I think this is evident in my desire to get into a house. If I was never expecting anything, just planning on staying where I am all the time, with no plans to move or be into something different, I think I would enjoy my life a little more. If I could just stop expecting to find a house at a certain time or "before...." I would be able to just relax and enjoy what I have now. Because we all know that I have it pretty good! I have an amazing husband, beautiful, obedient children, and lots of them :). A place to live, steady income, food, clothing, I mean, I don't even know how to explain how good I have it (without sounding like I'm bragging) but for some reason, I still get disappointed about the fact that I don't have the next thing. I'm sure I've come to this conclusion too many times for you all to count... I've lost count myself... but it just helps I think, every once in a while, to realize that what I've got, what I'm doing, is good enough! And it should be appreciated.
- I took Charity swimming with me this morning!!! And it was a morning that we had to go at 5:00!!! She and I got up and out of bed at a quarter to for Sarah to pick us up. I can't believe she did it!!! (heck, I can't believe I did it after all my mornings of waking up late!) She was so fun to have there! I loved her company and I loved being able to share that time with her. All the big kids want a turn... we'll see how it goes :). She was pretty exhausted toward the end of the day, but she had even gone swimming with her friends in the afternoon, so she really handled her tiredness well. I'm just so proud of her!! 1-22-13
- So Jack slept for 9 hours straight the night before last. It was AMAZING!! And worked out really well, since I was getting up at 4:45 am. He slept through my swim and even let me read my scriptures when I got home. I really thought it was because I had finally gotten him to sleep before 1:00 as has become the habit lately. But last night, when I laid down in my bed at 10:45 for what I hoped was going to be another full night of sleep, much to my surprise, Jack woke right up. He did go right back to sleep, but only for about a half hour. Then it was difficult to get him back to sleep and that only took for a couple hours... anyway, I was up all night with him! It was nuts! Then he threw up all over me and my bed, so we made our way onto the couch. I didn't want to hog Nate's side of the bed because I wanted him to be able to come home from the mid to a nice cozy bed. It was a very long night! And Buddy didn't help with his barking. And it got me thinking- I think that it would have been a perfectly okay night if I had not ben hoping for him to sleep like the night before. It made me think about expectations and how much of a hold they have on me. It is really hard for me to change my plans. It's really hard for me to not get what I think I am getting. I realized how much I have riding on stuff. I think this is evident in my desire to get into a house. If I was never expecting anything, just planning on staying where I am all the time, with no plans to move or be into something different, I think I would enjoy my life a little more. If I could just stop expecting to find a house at a certain time or "before...." I would be able to just relax and enjoy what I have now. Because we all know that I have it pretty good! I have an amazing husband, beautiful, obedient children, and lots of them :). A place to live, steady income, food, clothing, I mean, I don't even know how to explain how good I have it (without sounding like I'm bragging) but for some reason, I still get disappointed about the fact that I don't have the next thing. I'm sure I've come to this conclusion too many times for you all to count... I've lost count myself... but it just helps I think, every once in a while, to realize that what I've got, what I'm doing, is good enough! And it should be appreciated.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Charity's School Spelling Bee
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Noah is FIVE!
Noah is a pretty cool guy. We are so proud of who he is. He's made a lot of changes and grown a lot this last year! He grew up a lot just getting over the finger sucking. I think that was holding him back a little. He learned how to write his name, he's been learning his ABC's a little on his own time of course, he would die if I actually sat down with him and tried to practice, but he enjoys it on his own terms. He has built up a lot of physical strength pretending to be any and every superhero. He can climb up the walls, up in trees, break things, bounce around the Family room furniture. It's amazing how agile he is. He loves to dress up and act out different characters, he totally gets into it. He spends most of his time with his little sister Erika. These two are the best of friends. They get along SO WELL. Noah takes really good care of her and is very sweet and gentle with her. She compromises and plays superheroes or dinosaurs or whatever else a girl wouldn't normally enjoy and I think they enjoy playing those best :). They were at a pretend shooting range today :). Noah is very matter-of-fact. He tells you how it is. Never flowers things up. So you always know where you stand with Noah. I like that about him. He's also very generous with his affection and smiles when he is pleased with you :). It's a great reward. In fact, first thing he does every morning is come and give his Mommy a hug! I love that! Noah would seem quiet to people who don't know him well, but he's actually a very opinionated, outspoken little kid. It's fun to hear what he has to say on a regular basis :). He really is growing up to be a fun little guy. It's a blessing to have him in our family and to be graced by his presence each day!
Monday, January 14, 2013
Noah's 5th Birthday!
Noah's day arrived!
We've all been pretty excited for Noah's birthday this year, and we were so careful to not let him get sick this time :). We're going on 2 years in a row now without being sick... hopefully we can keep that up.
Noah had made a lot of plans for his birthday. I started getting worried because I didn't want him to be disappointed if it wasn't all carried out. This is the age that they start to take their birthdays for granted. He was very particular about everything, and did have a few little tantrums about what didn't go his way, but overall, I think he had a nice day. He seemed to like it :).
He woke up to his sign and streamers, and this year, I surprised him with this balloon curtain. I think he liked it, he kept yelling at everyone for touching HIS balloons. So that was good :) Surprises aren't always the way to go with Noah :)
Jarom and Sam had spent the night, so we had extra fun in the morning! We had Noah's favorite breakfast, Crepes. Everyone just kind of bummed around for a lot of the morning, since school had been cancelled and Nate had taken the day off for the parties.
Bradley insisted that we let Noah open the present from him.
I LOVE that he wrote "from Buba" on the present. That was what we used to call Bradley and actually Noah's "first word" according to little 4 year old Bradley :). I'll never forget that day when Brad came running into the kitchen in our house in Eagle Mountain, all excited, to tell me that Noah had "said my name! He said, 'bubu'!!!!" I loved that, and I LOVE that Bradley has hung onto that.
Noah liked his present :)
During the day, Noah had requested that he have McDonald's for lunch and since we had two extra kids, we couldn't all go together, so Nate loaded up six of the kids and took them all to McDonald's. Some Dad, right! I was kind of glad for the chance to clean up a little, and get more of his cake done (I had procrastinated and run out of black food coloring). We needed to get things ready for the party!
Noah's party was a lot of fun. It was an Avengers Party gone Spiderman/Superhero party. Noah kept changing his mind, even after we'd sent out the invites! Funny kid.
He only invited 4 friends. He wanted Charlie and Jarom and Hayden (who is actually a little older than Bradley, yes, that's 4 years older than Noah) from the ward who he likes to goof off with at Scouts. Then I recommended that he invite Jake, his friend from up the street, he liked that idea, and then I suggested a bunch of the kids in his Primary class and he would not have it! He did not want any of those "weirdos" at his party! And especially the girls who could not come to a superhero party. I was shocked and thought about just inviting them knowing that he does like them, he just wasn't in the mood at the time. Unfortunately Noah is the type that would totally call me out on that, in front of them no doubt, and announce that he had not wanted them to come. So I didn't. But I still feel bad. Then, a few days before his party, he played with his little friend from church, Jaylee, and when he came home he had had so much fun with her he wanted to invite her to his party afterall... apparently it was okay to have girls now. SO anyway, it was a small party, minus the extra siblings and cousin :). But a good time nonetheless.
We had the kids make Captain America shields out of paper plates and then hurled them at bad guys across the room. I'm not sure that went as well as I had pictured, I wish I'd had the paper cups... oh well. Then Noah insisted that we do the pinata next. And when I say insisted, I mean, he started to cry when I said we were going to play another game.
Nate painstakingly made this pinata, a brick wall, for the kids to punch with the Hulk fists- cool idea right!? Kelly's. I think the kids liked it!
It was somewhat indestructible with all the duct tape... Noah finished it off and Nate dumped all the candy out...
This was when my cute nephew warmed up... I was relieved :). I didn't want him to be sad the whole time. He was so cute loading up his bag with candy. Never did get his coat off though :).
Then we had a "snowball" battle. This ended up being a lot of fun. I think the kids liked it.
After that we had pizza and then Noah opened his presents.
Some of the kids wanted their picture with the birthday boy when he opened their presents.
He just loves this kid!
adorable.
This was the one present that he acted excited about. He loved all of his presents, but for some reason he was very serious during present opening. It was kind of funny, but I was getting a little frustrated. At both of his parties. I know he's just at that age and it will come to him later, but he was seriously not all that thrilled about even some of the funnest presents! If funnest was a word. This was his beloved Buzz Lightyear on the rocket that he had wanted at the store a few weeks ago. I'm glad he liked it :)
After presents we had cupcakes and the girls did some face painting (which happened to be Luke's favorite part, he decided he wanted to have face painting at his party too!), then we had our treasure hunt for the capes and the party came to an abrupt halt as the parents arrived to pick up their kids. It was pretty chaotic. The whole time. I hope nobody is permanently traumatized from it all. I think they did have some fun though :). I still wish I'd been able to get a picture of all the kids in their capes. I had worked so hard on them the day before the party :) (always procrastinating... mainly because I changed my mind more than once about the idea and settled on "doing them" at the last minute). I thought they turned out pretty good, but Noah informed me that they weren't good enough because they don't stick out in the back when you run. Darn it. Fail. Hopefully the ones I made his friends were good enough for them :)
The cake. I wish it'd turned out better.... oh well.
I was so tired by the time the family party started. I know now I was getting sick, but I was just dragging. We totally spaced the cake and ice cream until the Taylors were getting up to leave... AGAIN. I can't believe that's happened twice now! Makes me mad. I need to pay someone to keep me on top of things!
I think it was a successful day! Happy Birthday, Noah!!
Journaling
- Play Practices, for The Sound of Music started up this week! We're very excited! Kelly and Charity keep reminding me that they will be wearing microphones this time! That's very exciting! Can't wait to see it!
- I'm not sure why I'm choosing to post about this, but I figure it's good to have memory of some of the down times too. Saturday was one of those. The kids and I spent the morning unhappy because of how slowly everyone was getting their jobs done and how frustrated it was making me. I had wanted to get out and do something, but nobody was moving. I got really mad, told the kids that we were going to quit having jobs, quit paying them, quit all helping out around the house because I was done nagging. I realized at the time this was something I was going to have to dig out of, but at the time, it needed to be said. Told them how I would just do everything myself. They could just sit around, watch tv, or do whatever they wanted. I informed them that I would probably be too tired/busy to do much of anything else, but at least I wouldn't be nagging them, or listening to them complain. You wouldn't believe how upsetting this suggestion was to all four of the older kids. It was horrible! Part of me thought they would take advantage of the moment and want in! but I was quickly reminded of what amazing kids I have. They are such good kids, they were sad that they weren't going to be able to help out! They are such good kids, they were sad that their Mom wasn't going to be able to play with them! It meant a lot to me to listen to Charity beg and plead with me and tell me all the reasons why they need to have jobs. And of course why they wanted to earn money. It was really hard to not just cave at that moment, but I needed things to sink in a little. There was an ominous feeling (the Spirit had left) in our house for a little while after this, nobody was happy, people were crying and grumpy and I was mad.... it was not pretty. I'm not proud of it. When Nate got home, he and I discussed things. He lectured the kids a little about how they had "been fired" from their jobs. They weren't meeting expectations and just how it would happen to him if he were not doing his job the right way, he would get fired, they were going to have to look for new jobs. This whole idea got me thinking and after talking with Nate about it, we announced that we had 5 job openings and we would be interviewing for them in about 10 minutes. Each of the four older kids (well, Luke got high-wired by a shoelace that had been stretched across the hallway, so he was asleep from crying so hard... had a pretty bad burn across his neck) made resumes and were interviewed for the open positions. It was actually almost fun at this point. They got to sit and tell us what they were good at, why they would be good at the job they wanted, and we explained to them the expectations. They felt like they were picking their jobs, and I felt like it was a load off me to have to try to guess what jobs they would be okay with. They are all such good, hard workers, it was kind of hard to choose, but we brought them back in individually, offered them their job, explained that if they fail to meet expectations they will be fired, and shook their hands ;) and we were done. It was Saturday night, so we knew we had til Monday before they would even start, but I am really excited about it. I'm hopeful. I know we have been through more gimics than I can count to get our kids to work, and I think that's necessary for most families, but I do think that the family economy system, and this new job system are great ways to keep them working and motivated. I know now how much they appreciate getting paid. They are human, so even though there is a desired reward, they still fail sometimes to complete the task, but I love that they are at least motivated. We'll see how it goes.
Nate and I both took some time to repent and apologize to the kids. We are not perfect. It's tough being a parent and knowing how to react. Its tough to not just react! I get angry so easily and usually I can contain it better, so hopefully they can forgive me and Heavenly Father can forgive me for lacking self-control and letting things get heated. It wasn't one of my most shining moments. Looking forward though, I hope things will be better and we can benefit from my mistake. 1-5-13
- Erika went to Primary for the first time today! She was actually assigned to say the prayer for her first time in there!! I couldn't believe they would ask a new sunbeam to do that, and I suggested that Luke might be the one that ended up doing it. But Erika was so brave!! She went and sat up in the front next to Noah (he was doing the scripture) and then got up when it was her turn, said the prayer (very quietly :) ) with my prompting and sat down, just like a pro!! I couldn't believe it! It's not everyday you get a sunbeam that willing and able! I was so proud of her, got a little choked up! Then Noah bounced right up to the mic and said his scripture with my prompting, so well! I loved it!! He did too :). All of the kids went to their new classes. Charity is now in Bro. Adams and Bro. Dimond's class. Kelly has the Sims. Bradley moved up to Senior Primary! and is in Sister Ynchausti's class. Luke has Tina and Carrie (my old class :( ). Noah moved up to the Stewart's class. And Erika of course has Sis. Ransom and Sis. Ballantyne. I think we'll have a nice year in Primary this year. We have the year off from baptisms (which I must say is a bit of a bummer to me), but shortly after 2014 starts, we'll have Luke's, so we'll get excited for that :). 1-6-13
- Friday was a SNOW DAY!!! We got dumped on! About 2 feet of snow (maybe exaggerating, but from inside, it looks at least that)! They cancelled school. Noah's birthday too. 1-11-13
- Saturday was kind of a downer... I wasn't feeling real great. I'm not sure why, or what it was, but I was sick to my stomach for most of the day. Nate was working during the first part of the day and then came home and shoveled snow (which is what he has been doing ALL WEEKEND) some more. 1-12-13
- Sunday was an interesting one. I was not feeling real great in the morning, several of the kids didn't look like they were either, but Nate thought we should all go to church. It was hard! I had to totally drag myself around the house getting ready and then out the door, 15 minutes late, to get to church. It was Ward Conference, so the Stake leaders were there, doing the lessons. I really enjoyed it! And by some miracle Jack slept through the first two hours! It wasn't til half way through Sacrament meeting that he needed to eat. So I took him out. I should mention that during RS and then again during Sacrament meeting, they were calling people at random to bear their testimonies. I had felt a little like I was going to be called, during RS, but wasn't and then again, when they started doing it in Sacrament meeting the thought occurred to me. So anyway, I took Jack out to the Mother's Lounge. Fed him. When I got done feeding him, I felt the urgency to hurry back into the chapel. Which NEVER happens, I usually like to just sit there and enjoy the meeting without all the distractions. Well, it occurred to me that they might call my name, so I stayed in there.... I know, bad. After a few minutes of fighting the urge to go back out, I decided I'd better. I started gathering up my things and just then, I heard them call my name. My heart immediately started racing, and coincidentally, Jack pooped right then. I had two choices. I could hurry out and make it into the Chapel just in time to go up there, or I could stay and change Jack (skipping out on the whole bearing testimony thing). I made the choice to stay and change Jack. I still can't believe I did that! But anyway. A friend of mine came in, telling me that they had called my name. I ran the whole thing by her, asking what she would do... she wasn't going to give me anything :). So as soon as I finished changing Jack, I went back into the Chapel. My conscience had gotten to me. I knew everyone would tease me for coming back in, but I did. And I was secretly hoping they would call me up again, just so that I wouldn't have to feel the guilt of skipping out on it earlier. The Bishop got up and said my name again and I got up and rambled off a simple testimony (I have no idea what I said, but I didn't say any of the things I'd thought to say, during my few minutes of preparation). It was interesting. I'm still wondering why Heavenly Father would want me to do that. I'm still disappointed with myself, but glad that I had the chance to make it better. The Bishop and I had an agreement that I wouldn't have to speak for a whole year because I spoke in Stake Conference.... apparently it's been a year.
I decided that that was why Heavenly Father had dragged me out of the house to church that day and I am glad he did. I was blessed.
- I got increasingly sick as the day went on, and it was Nate's first Sunday on his new schedule working from 2-10 so it was just the kids and I. It could have been a really horrible day, but thanks to my little angels, it was one of the best days ever! I spent a lot of the day on the couch, in and out of sleep. I had a screaming headache, and pain in my throat, not to mention all the aches and pains throughout my body. So I was pretty much useless to them. I was able to take a nap because Charity took Jack and bounced him to sleep for me. Then when I woke up and went up to make dinner, Kelly had completely cleaned the kitchen and made it look so nice! It was heavenly. Then sweet little Noah had been working on a surprise for me ALL DAY, and surprised me with a cutely decorated living room- it was seriously adorable, he had torn up the streamers from his party as confetti all over the room, and then tied several pieces of streamer to different parts of the furniture... what a surprise! :) I'll admit, I wasn't completely aware of what the surprise was when I went in there, but what a SWEETHEART!! The other part of his surprise was a "rest station" for me! I got to choose a movie and cuddle up with my Noah on the couch! So cool! Then Kelly proceeded to make dinner. Bradley helped a little, he had been wanting to make dinner all day, so I kind of let him down, but he was super helpful all day too. Especially with Jack in the morning. It was just awesome! I just cried about it--- obviously not feeling well--- and thanked them profusely. I hope they know how much that all meant to me. It was amazing! 1-13-13
- Monday was my other sick day. Nate stayed home for me, my hero. He took Noah to the doctor, went shopping for my meal stuff, then helped with cleaning the house and running a bunch more errands... then delivered my meals for me and picked up the kids. It was awesome. I should really get sick more often. He makes my life look so much more fascinating :). He was fun to listen to about Noah's doctor visit. And I will say that guys get way more special treatment than Moms in those places. Nuf said. Kelly did a really nice FHE about using money wisely. She did a thing similar to their activity at school where we went around and chose what kinds of things we would buy given a certain income based on a certain job. Everyone made really good choices. I loved hearing what Bradley had learned. He took it very seriously and "spent his money wisely". It was a lot of fun. 1-14-13
- I'm not sure why I'm choosing to post about this, but I figure it's good to have memory of some of the down times too. Saturday was one of those. The kids and I spent the morning unhappy because of how slowly everyone was getting their jobs done and how frustrated it was making me. I had wanted to get out and do something, but nobody was moving. I got really mad, told the kids that we were going to quit having jobs, quit paying them, quit all helping out around the house because I was done nagging. I realized at the time this was something I was going to have to dig out of, but at the time, it needed to be said. Told them how I would just do everything myself. They could just sit around, watch tv, or do whatever they wanted. I informed them that I would probably be too tired/busy to do much of anything else, but at least I wouldn't be nagging them, or listening to them complain. You wouldn't believe how upsetting this suggestion was to all four of the older kids. It was horrible! Part of me thought they would take advantage of the moment and want in! but I was quickly reminded of what amazing kids I have. They are such good kids, they were sad that they weren't going to be able to help out! They are such good kids, they were sad that their Mom wasn't going to be able to play with them! It meant a lot to me to listen to Charity beg and plead with me and tell me all the reasons why they need to have jobs. And of course why they wanted to earn money. It was really hard to not just cave at that moment, but I needed things to sink in a little. There was an ominous feeling (the Spirit had left) in our house for a little while after this, nobody was happy, people were crying and grumpy and I was mad.... it was not pretty. I'm not proud of it. When Nate got home, he and I discussed things. He lectured the kids a little about how they had "been fired" from their jobs. They weren't meeting expectations and just how it would happen to him if he were not doing his job the right way, he would get fired, they were going to have to look for new jobs. This whole idea got me thinking and after talking with Nate about it, we announced that we had 5 job openings and we would be interviewing for them in about 10 minutes. Each of the four older kids (well, Luke got high-wired by a shoelace that had been stretched across the hallway, so he was asleep from crying so hard... had a pretty bad burn across his neck) made resumes and were interviewed for the open positions. It was actually almost fun at this point. They got to sit and tell us what they were good at, why they would be good at the job they wanted, and we explained to them the expectations. They felt like they were picking their jobs, and I felt like it was a load off me to have to try to guess what jobs they would be okay with. They are all such good, hard workers, it was kind of hard to choose, but we brought them back in individually, offered them their job, explained that if they fail to meet expectations they will be fired, and shook their hands ;) and we were done. It was Saturday night, so we knew we had til Monday before they would even start, but I am really excited about it. I'm hopeful. I know we have been through more gimics than I can count to get our kids to work, and I think that's necessary for most families, but I do think that the family economy system, and this new job system are great ways to keep them working and motivated. I know now how much they appreciate getting paid. They are human, so even though there is a desired reward, they still fail sometimes to complete the task, but I love that they are at least motivated. We'll see how it goes.
Nate and I both took some time to repent and apologize to the kids. We are not perfect. It's tough being a parent and knowing how to react. Its tough to not just react! I get angry so easily and usually I can contain it better, so hopefully they can forgive me and Heavenly Father can forgive me for lacking self-control and letting things get heated. It wasn't one of my most shining moments. Looking forward though, I hope things will be better and we can benefit from my mistake. 1-5-13
- Erika went to Primary for the first time today! She was actually assigned to say the prayer for her first time in there!! I couldn't believe they would ask a new sunbeam to do that, and I suggested that Luke might be the one that ended up doing it. But Erika was so brave!! She went and sat up in the front next to Noah (he was doing the scripture) and then got up when it was her turn, said the prayer (very quietly :) ) with my prompting and sat down, just like a pro!! I couldn't believe it! It's not everyday you get a sunbeam that willing and able! I was so proud of her, got a little choked up! Then Noah bounced right up to the mic and said his scripture with my prompting, so well! I loved it!! He did too :). All of the kids went to their new classes. Charity is now in Bro. Adams and Bro. Dimond's class. Kelly has the Sims. Bradley moved up to Senior Primary! and is in Sister Ynchausti's class. Luke has Tina and Carrie (my old class :( ). Noah moved up to the Stewart's class. And Erika of course has Sis. Ransom and Sis. Ballantyne. I think we'll have a nice year in Primary this year. We have the year off from baptisms (which I must say is a bit of a bummer to me), but shortly after 2014 starts, we'll have Luke's, so we'll get excited for that :). 1-6-13
- Friday was a SNOW DAY!!! We got dumped on! About 2 feet of snow (maybe exaggerating, but from inside, it looks at least that)! They cancelled school. Noah's birthday too. 1-11-13
- Saturday was kind of a downer... I wasn't feeling real great. I'm not sure why, or what it was, but I was sick to my stomach for most of the day. Nate was working during the first part of the day and then came home and shoveled snow (which is what he has been doing ALL WEEKEND) some more. 1-12-13
- Sunday was an interesting one. I was not feeling real great in the morning, several of the kids didn't look like they were either, but Nate thought we should all go to church. It was hard! I had to totally drag myself around the house getting ready and then out the door, 15 minutes late, to get to church. It was Ward Conference, so the Stake leaders were there, doing the lessons. I really enjoyed it! And by some miracle Jack slept through the first two hours! It wasn't til half way through Sacrament meeting that he needed to eat. So I took him out. I should mention that during RS and then again during Sacrament meeting, they were calling people at random to bear their testimonies. I had felt a little like I was going to be called, during RS, but wasn't and then again, when they started doing it in Sacrament meeting the thought occurred to me. So anyway, I took Jack out to the Mother's Lounge. Fed him. When I got done feeding him, I felt the urgency to hurry back into the chapel. Which NEVER happens, I usually like to just sit there and enjoy the meeting without all the distractions. Well, it occurred to me that they might call my name, so I stayed in there.... I know, bad. After a few minutes of fighting the urge to go back out, I decided I'd better. I started gathering up my things and just then, I heard them call my name. My heart immediately started racing, and coincidentally, Jack pooped right then. I had two choices. I could hurry out and make it into the Chapel just in time to go up there, or I could stay and change Jack (skipping out on the whole bearing testimony thing). I made the choice to stay and change Jack. I still can't believe I did that! But anyway. A friend of mine came in, telling me that they had called my name. I ran the whole thing by her, asking what she would do... she wasn't going to give me anything :). So as soon as I finished changing Jack, I went back into the Chapel. My conscience had gotten to me. I knew everyone would tease me for coming back in, but I did. And I was secretly hoping they would call me up again, just so that I wouldn't have to feel the guilt of skipping out on it earlier. The Bishop got up and said my name again and I got up and rambled off a simple testimony (I have no idea what I said, but I didn't say any of the things I'd thought to say, during my few minutes of preparation). It was interesting. I'm still wondering why Heavenly Father would want me to do that. I'm still disappointed with myself, but glad that I had the chance to make it better. The Bishop and I had an agreement that I wouldn't have to speak for a whole year because I spoke in Stake Conference.... apparently it's been a year.
I decided that that was why Heavenly Father had dragged me out of the house to church that day and I am glad he did. I was blessed.
- I got increasingly sick as the day went on, and it was Nate's first Sunday on his new schedule working from 2-10 so it was just the kids and I. It could have been a really horrible day, but thanks to my little angels, it was one of the best days ever! I spent a lot of the day on the couch, in and out of sleep. I had a screaming headache, and pain in my throat, not to mention all the aches and pains throughout my body. So I was pretty much useless to them. I was able to take a nap because Charity took Jack and bounced him to sleep for me. Then when I woke up and went up to make dinner, Kelly had completely cleaned the kitchen and made it look so nice! It was heavenly. Then sweet little Noah had been working on a surprise for me ALL DAY, and surprised me with a cutely decorated living room- it was seriously adorable, he had torn up the streamers from his party as confetti all over the room, and then tied several pieces of streamer to different parts of the furniture... what a surprise! :) I'll admit, I wasn't completely aware of what the surprise was when I went in there, but what a SWEETHEART!! The other part of his surprise was a "rest station" for me! I got to choose a movie and cuddle up with my Noah on the couch! So cool! Then Kelly proceeded to make dinner. Bradley helped a little, he had been wanting to make dinner all day, so I kind of let him down, but he was super helpful all day too. Especially with Jack in the morning. It was just awesome! I just cried about it--- obviously not feeling well--- and thanked them profusely. I hope they know how much that all meant to me. It was amazing! 1-13-13
- Monday was my other sick day. Nate stayed home for me, my hero. He took Noah to the doctor, went shopping for my meal stuff, then helped with cleaning the house and running a bunch more errands... then delivered my meals for me and picked up the kids. It was awesome. I should really get sick more often. He makes my life look so much more fascinating :). He was fun to listen to about Noah's doctor visit. And I will say that guys get way more special treatment than Moms in those places. Nuf said. Kelly did a really nice FHE about using money wisely. She did a thing similar to their activity at school where we went around and chose what kinds of things we would buy given a certain income based on a certain job. Everyone made really good choices. I loved hearing what Bradley had learned. He took it very seriously and "spent his money wisely". It was a lot of fun. 1-14-13
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Goodbye 2012!
We did it!! We survived 2012!! I'm still surprised :). Just kidding. Actually, it was a very eventful year!! If I was the Christmas card writing type, I would love to make a list of the big things of the year and send it to everyone, but instead I will just do it in a blog post. What everyone did:
Jack was born! Pretty big for him :) Not much else can compare :). He has lighted our lives, and made the rest of the year so much fun!
Erika potty-trained herself completely at the beginning of the year! We were so lucky to be out of diapers for the first time in 10 years! She actually grew a ton the whole year, hitting all kinds of milestones. She is our little Princess.
Noah made some big moves this year as well. His biggest one was starting Primary! He was so brave and by the end of the year was going all by himself with very little trouble. he also learned to stop sucking his fingers!
Luke finished his first year of school and decided he doesn't love it but constantly gets rave reviews from his teachers! He's a good kid. He was probably the biggest proponent to the new trampoline and spent a lot of the summer on it!
Bradley did the big turning 8 thing and chose to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It's been neat to watch him grow spiritually and practice following the promptings of the Holy Ghost. He also started his first session of basketball and wowed us all with his amazing skills! And not just because he was the tallest one on the team!
Kelly made it the whole year going without candy, sweets and soda. She earned $300 doing it! She got one of the starring roles, the youngest daughter, Gretl, in her school play Sound of Music! She can't wait to start practices. She also won first place in her reflections category for her dance to the song Firework!
Charity got her dog this year! Buddy has been an interesting addition to the family, and Charity has been so good at learning to take care of him! She also started babysitting for us this year! She does a good job and makes some good money while she's at it :). She continues to surprise us with her abilities. She can now type 57 wpm.
Nate CERTIFIED in April!!!! YAY!!!! This was HUGE, and even more exciting than I ever imagined it. He became CPC a Certified Professional Controller! Nate also went on a fishing trip with his Dad and some of his brothers in Flamin Gorge. He also got called to be in the Elder's Quorum Presidency. And finished his second year of no candy and first year of no sweets! He's amazing.
I spent most of the year being pregnant (aka: sick, ornery, tired and moody). Then gave birth to our seventh child. I spent a lot of the year as the First Counselor in the Primary Presidency and as a Ward Organist. I loved my callings, hopefully they will let me back in to a calling soon.
As a family we:
bought a Suburban to fit the growing numbers
went on our own Vegas Vacation
went camping in Payson Lakes
went jet skiing on Grandpa's new jet skis a couple times in Pineview
celebrated 11 years of marriage!
looked for a new house
had lots of movie nights and lots of popcorn!
went on lots of walks around the neighborhood
It was a pretty good year. I don't think we could have asked for a whole lot more! We look forward to 2013 and what it holds!
Jack was born! Pretty big for him :) Not much else can compare :). He has lighted our lives, and made the rest of the year so much fun!
Erika potty-trained herself completely at the beginning of the year! We were so lucky to be out of diapers for the first time in 10 years! She actually grew a ton the whole year, hitting all kinds of milestones. She is our little Princess.
Noah made some big moves this year as well. His biggest one was starting Primary! He was so brave and by the end of the year was going all by himself with very little trouble. he also learned to stop sucking his fingers!
Luke finished his first year of school and decided he doesn't love it but constantly gets rave reviews from his teachers! He's a good kid. He was probably the biggest proponent to the new trampoline and spent a lot of the summer on it!
Bradley did the big turning 8 thing and chose to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It's been neat to watch him grow spiritually and practice following the promptings of the Holy Ghost. He also started his first session of basketball and wowed us all with his amazing skills! And not just because he was the tallest one on the team!
Kelly made it the whole year going without candy, sweets and soda. She earned $300 doing it! She got one of the starring roles, the youngest daughter, Gretl, in her school play Sound of Music! She can't wait to start practices. She also won first place in her reflections category for her dance to the song Firework!
Charity got her dog this year! Buddy has been an interesting addition to the family, and Charity has been so good at learning to take care of him! She also started babysitting for us this year! She does a good job and makes some good money while she's at it :). She continues to surprise us with her abilities. She can now type 57 wpm.
Nate CERTIFIED in April!!!! YAY!!!! This was HUGE, and even more exciting than I ever imagined it. He became CPC a Certified Professional Controller! Nate also went on a fishing trip with his Dad and some of his brothers in Flamin Gorge. He also got called to be in the Elder's Quorum Presidency. And finished his second year of no candy and first year of no sweets! He's amazing.
I spent most of the year being pregnant (aka: sick, ornery, tired and moody). Then gave birth to our seventh child. I spent a lot of the year as the First Counselor in the Primary Presidency and as a Ward Organist. I loved my callings, hopefully they will let me back in to a calling soon.
As a family we:
bought a Suburban to fit the growing numbers
went on our own Vegas Vacation
went camping in Payson Lakes
went jet skiing on Grandpa's new jet skis a couple times in Pineview
celebrated 11 years of marriage!
looked for a new house
had lots of movie nights and lots of popcorn!
went on lots of walks around the neighborhood
It was a pretty good year. I don't think we could have asked for a whole lot more! We look forward to 2013 and what it holds!
The Most Wonderful Day of the Year!!
Christmas Morning came bright and early. There was pitter-pattering of little feet in the living room that woke me up :). I could hear the kids talking a little, and then Bradley came down to wake us up. I LOVE Christmas morning. It is my most favorite day of all. Just the cheerful, loving atmosphere even though we're all so tired. You don't get that just any day. Especially ones where you wake everyone up at 6:00 in the morning.
So while the kids go check out their stockings as they wake up, Nate starts on the Creamed Eggs on Toast. I usually just sit there and watch everyone :). It's so fun!! This year I got pictures:
One of the cute things this year, was the notes and treats that the kids put in each other's stockings. I loved watching them all read their letters from Charity and enjoy the candy from Bradley. I got several letters in mine. Really sweet, thoughtful kids. Glad they're mine.
Santa even had mercy on Kelly's "no candy" thing and got her Muddy buddy's :)
So once everyone looked through their stockings, we ate our yummy breakfast, the kids and Nate spoiled me with a new Kindle Fire for my Birthday, and then we headed on in to the Living room to open presents!!
We let Jack sleep in. I felt so weird about it, but I think it was the best thing :). Funny to remember that when Kelly was a baby, we woke her up to come open presents with us! Funny us. Anyway-
We always open Santa's gift first, and we go youngest to oldest:
Erika got her pillow! She loved it :)
it passed the swinging it around herself test.
Noah's turn...
he got his Captain America shield and mask. He was thrilled! Wish he would have looked at me with the same smile he gave Charity's camera :)
This kid can make about a million faces a minute! This was my favorite of this moment.
He's thinking, "Well... it's not a scooter...???"
"the Marble Thingy!!" He was happy :)
So exciting!
Seems happy enough :)
Kelly seems to know that she's going to love hers :)
yep, loves it!
Charity's looking at the Intel box....
No way!!! A LAPTOP!
Nate gave me a beautiful snowflake necklace
What's in here??
YAY!! I got Nate the Note phone he's been wanting. I think he likes it :)
After Santa's gift, we open the ones we got each other with our name drawing:
Luke had Erika, he gave her a bouncy ball that lights up. Bought it with his own money and he's not big on spending his own money, he's a saver... so this was big :)
Watching the ball bounce down the hallway.
Nate had Noah. He got him a Spider-man Web shooter. Looks relieved :)
Charity got Luke a bow and arrow. I love watching my kids love each other.
This pictures melts my heart... Erika helping Bradley open the gift she picked out for him. The nerf gun. He is so sweet about it and she's so happy to give it to him! I love it!
Bradley had Kelly. He likes to wrap things in many layers of box and wrapping paper :). Very entertaining to open. You can see how proud he is of it all :).
He got her some furniture to go with her Calico Critters
I had Charity. I got her a cute sweater dress and leggings. Unfortunately buddy made a hole in the sweater before too long. So frustrating.
Jack had me. So I picked out he got me a fun game, Quelf. I wrapped it for him though :)
Kelly got Nate a cool little airplane making kit. Nate loves it :)
This was about the time that Jack decided to grace us with his presence. He's so cute!
He opened his present from Santa, a cute little ball popper.
He's like, "How about I just watch you open it for me?"
Thanks Santa!
Not a lot of control with holding things still :)
I love watching the kids open their presents. Everyone is so happy, so excited, and has so many thank yous and they're all so sweet to each other and excited to see what each other is getting. I just love it! Have I mentioned that?
Kelly loved her Calico Critters! I was so happy because I knew she was going to love the gift that Nate and I had made the girls.
Charity made these cute little symbols drawings. All the things that the Christmas stuff represents :). I loved it! I'm hoping to laminate it to keep for future years.
The moment Nate and I had been waiting for! The unveiling of the dollhouse! They were pretty happy I think :) Didn't even notice that it was their old bookcase til later :). Nate and I had worked our little patooties off to finish this in just the week before Christmas. Nate did it really. I provided some of the vision, and the carpet and wallpaper :) but Nate did the rest. He's so cool. Turned me on just watching him work on it :). I've always wanted one of these.
Time for the boys' gift from Mom and Dad....
Their Motor Scooter!!! Couldn't be happier with that :)
We opened presents for a couple hours, then played with them for the rest of the day :). I had fun putting together Bradley's roller coaster with him. And playing all of our new card games from Mark and Nancy. It was a lot of fun. We're always so exhausted though. You really get almost delirious.
Grandma and Simon stopped by, got to see all the gifts, and gave me a birthday present... new scriptures!
My Aunt Nancy called soon after we finished opening presents, asked if she could come over and brought me a beautiful scarf for my birthday. So thoughtful! She's always so sweet about my birthday. I don't know how she remembers it.
Then my Dad came down, played with all the new toys for a while.
Heidi and John showed up around Lunch time and played a little. Heidi gave everyone a gift, gave me a nice birthday present. Then everyone went downstairs for some Runaway Bride. Not sure why they chose that... but whatever :).
Steve and Jauslin and the Hatches joined us around 6:00. It was a full house! We had a lot of fun I think :) It was all so blurry :). Jauslin was so thoughtful to give me a new basket for my sewing stuff, and Sarah and Brent gave me a Cafe Rio gift card!! Makes my mouth water just thinking about it!
We got started on dinner a little late, and didn't finish it til almost 7:30... oops. And it was yummy, but we were all SO TIRED!!
Nate surprised me with a yummy ice cream cake! Dairy Queen, my favorite! He's always so thoughtful! Everyone is for that matter! I can't believe everyone remembers my birthday on a day like that.
It was a great day! I LOVED it!! It's always hard for it to be over. I am always wishing we could do it again, sooner.
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