Things to Remember 6-21-15

TOOTH FAIRY
She came on time!!!  This is the first time in a VERY LONG TIME that the tooth fairy has come the night of the teeth pulling!  She left Bradley with a dollar and Noah with a FIVE DOLLAR BILL!  Seemed kind of unfair, but I guess we all realized how cool it was that Noah had been tough enough to let me yank those out of there.  He was very happy :).  6-21-15

FHE
Kelly had a Personal Progress requirement she wanted filled so she talked Noah into letting her teach the lesson.  She taught us all about prayer.  It was such a good reminder of how and why we pray.  Our A/C had gone out earlier in the day so we were all cooking, so it was nice when Nate suggested that we GO get the treat together.  The car has very good a/c.  We didn't have any luck getting the part Nate needed to fix the a/c, but we did manage to pick up 8 mini blizzards and an Arctic Rush at DQ :).  So all was well.  It was a late night as we watched American Ninja Warrior together for the "activity" (my idea ;) mainly because I love hearing all the kids' comments and stuff and haven't been able to watch any of them with them yet).  Our house was still 84 degrees when we went to bed.  Not my favorite.  Hopefully Nate can fix it soon!  6-22-15

STILL GOT IT!
I wasn't sure I even wanted to attempt it, but finally just gave in and moved the boys' bunk bed myself!!  It took a little bit of finagling, but was mostly pretty simple.  Just had me sweating bullets by the time I was done (still no a/c).  Then I got brave and did the last dresser and lizard tank too!  So now all the big stuff is finally down there and their room is starting to look like a bedroom!  I'm proud of myself :).  6-23-15

30 WEEKS
I'm pretty sure I've missed a few weeks.  Things are pretty much the same lately- this is a good thing- not a lot of change.  I'm getting anxious to get her here!  It was fun to change our countdown from double digit 10 to single digit- nine! when I got home from Girls Camp today.  Pretty crazy to think that it's only 2 more months!  I hope we can get some more of our "nesting" done before then :).  We've been planning and preparing for our trip to Nauvoo the last week or so.  I'm nervous for how this baby is going to do with all the driving.  I hope she and I can do it!  She's such a wiggle worm!  It's been such a blessing really.  I can't remember a time where I worried about whether she was okay or not and then didn't feel her move more than a few minutes later (except maybe after the hot pool during camp).  It's been such a relief and constant reminder of Heavenly Father's love and tender mercy for me.  He knows me so well.  It's so cool.  We had fun talking about names at Girls Camp.  I am still stuck on the one we've chosen though.  It must be her name.  I can't wait to meet her.  6-27-15

Funny Stuff

Jack calls my laptop my "Doplop" it sounds SO CUTE!!! 5-24-15

Jack also does impersonations of Noah with his two fingers in his mouth and patting his nose with the corner of his blanket.  I probably shouldn't support this kind of behavior, but it's just funny that he's noticed it and acknowledges that it's something Noah, only Noah, does.  Kind of insightful if you ask me.  5-24-15

Jack is obsessed with everyone's furry arms.  He laid down on my arm the other day and had to quit right away because my arm was "furfy".  Dad has "BIG furfy".  Jack has "Baby Furfy".  He's such a funny kid.  6-8-15

Jack (after itching his "chichie" eyes and nose came out with a little surprise): "Baby Boogoo!"  6-9-15

Luke to Noah: I'll tell you how to pull your tooth.  Just wrap some floss around your tooth and then go up to mom and tell her to see how loose it is.  Then she'll just yank it out!  6-21-15

Luke: when the new baby is in school then we can have six donuts each when we use our report cards

Happy Father's Day to the Best Dad Ever!

Father's Day was a big success this year!  We did our usual last minute shopping trip the night before since we were camping most of the week.  Most of the kids knew just what they wanted and it was a pretty smooth trip.  It's tradition for each kid to choose a gift and then a shirt as well.  The last couple of years I've convinced one or more of them to get pants or shorts instead, since Nate has LOTS of shirts now :).  Everyone loves this tradition so much I cannot get them to budge on it very easily :).  Here they all are, decked out in Nate's new clothes :).  

I had wanted to let Jack sleep in, but they everyone insisted that we get him up.  They took this picture of Jack in the shirt he picked out, minus his head.  He actually did pick it out and knew it was from himself when Nate was wearing it later that day- kinda cute if you ask me :).

Something new happened this year- Bradley grabbed the camera and snapped pictures of each gift, and the whole process of Nate opening presents and hugs and such... kinda fun!  I guess we missed Jack's gift.  He got him a four square ball :).  

Erika picked out the "spicy nuts" that she and Nate enjoy together.  As well as some chex mix.  She knows her Daddy.  

I saw this Avengers shirt that was the silky smooth fabric that Nate likes so much and when Erika heard how much he liked it, she just had to give it to him :).  

Noah was very set on doing something homemade this year.  He knew that Nate would appreciate something made by him more than something that the store made.  He was right :).  He worked very hard on this wall hanging with all the things he loves about his dad.  Very sweet.  Along with the Superman shirt to replace his torn one.

Luke struggled a little with what to get Nate.  He had wanted to do the traditional watch thing, but the last one he got him was a very nice one so replacing it with a junky one seemed like a bad idea.  So I talked him out of that.  I told him to think of things that he likes to do with Nate and get him something he could use while doing that.  He immediately thought of catch!  I thought that was cool.  And it just so happens Nate really needed a new mitt.  Perfect!

The shirt Luke gave him was funny.  It says, "I'm just like you, only smarter and better looking".  Made me laugh and it was also on clearance for $3.00 so it was a must have :).

No pictures of the camera guy's gift I guess.  Bradley gave him a water bottle with some fishing lures inside.  Along with the cargo shorts.  

Kelly is the master of homemade gifts.  She made Nate a quote wallet :).  A cute paper wallet with a bunch of quotes on the backs of fake money- cute idea!  I loved the one on the back "If at first you don't succeed, call Dad!"  She had picked out her shirt while shopping with Grandpa Hatch the night before so she was really excited for everyone to see it- it said, "Metaphors be with you" pretty clever :).

Charity got him a new box for his fishing lures since his is totally falling apart, and filled it with yummy candies that look like fish bait and such :).  Fun idea!  She got very creative this year!

She was also especially proud of the Ninja Turtle shirt.  Nate pointed out that they were the old school Ninja Turtles!  The ones he used to draw when he was little!  Very cool.

The unborn child gave him some Junior Mints, for obvious reasons :).  Then we all raced the clock to get ready for church.  So much for having a peaceful morning getting ready and being prepared to take the sacrament.  I mean the intentions were there... we just failed miserably.  Better luck next week I'm hoping.  

I had been racing to make Nate's breakfast, bacon and pancakes (apparently I was supposed to do eggs too, but I dropped that ball... sorry Luke), and cinnamon rolls for the Dads at church.  The YW organization was in charge of Father's Day gifts this year and we wanted to make up for the NOTHING that they got last year.  So we decided they needed a few minutes to sit and chat like the women get on Mother's Day.  We all made homemade cinnamon rolls and bought some grapes and juice.  It was a big hit!  I think it went really well and I think the men appreciated it!  I was glad Jami had the idea.  We also gave them soda pop as they left the chapel to go home.  Fun stuff.  

We only had four kids up front singing the Father's Day songs this year!  So crazy to think that that's the most we'll probably have up there at once ever again!  My little family is growing up!  Nate loved it I'm sure, the kids sounded great and looked adorable.  Even Erika got up there!  Brave girl.  

When we got home we hurried to have lunch and then Steve, Jauslin and Grandpa Hatch came over for the Kiss Song.  This is a tradition my mom started and Steve and I are set on carrying it out!  Regardless of how much our group seems to be diminishing.  It wasn't the same without the Hatches.  

I had to get a picture of Steve singing.  No matter how much he tries to be an adult, he still can't help but sing the song to my dad :).  And messing up on the words too. :) HA!

And one with Jack.

I'm starting to wonder the motive behind this tradition my mom started :). jk.  Just seems pretty painful.  We opted out of the squirt bottles and silly string this year... maybe next year.

Nate had to leave shortly after the song for work. BIG frowny face.  So sad.  We were bummed.  The kids were all so grumpy and whiny for most of the afternoon.  I'm not sure how my Dad was able to stand it, he stayed for quite a while!  Not too many people would stay around that kind of chaos by choice.  We enjoyed his company though.  I have a great dad.  

Bradley and Noah worked on some loose teeth, Bradley pulled one, Noah kind of let me pull one of his and then a couple hours later, and after the naps, he let me pull on the other one he'd loosened... so two teeth out for him!  I need to post the pictures of his gaping hole :).  Cool stuff!

A little later though, we all ended up taking a gigantic nap!!  I woke up about two hours after falling asleep with Jack in my arms and the entire house was completely silent!!  Kelly was the only one awake and she had ear buds in and was watching mormon messages on my phone.  Everyone had fallen asleep!!!  Some of them didn't wake up until 8:00 pm.  So kind of a bummer for the whole bedtime thing.  But we managed.  Nate got to hang out with everyone a little when he got home at 10:00 and then we rushed everyone off to bed.  

It had been a big day! 

Smith and Morehouse with the Maughans

This campout was one of the most anticipated events we had planned for this summer.  By all of us!  We were all very excited to go camping and hang out with the Maughans.  Some of our other neighbors had been invited too, but we were most excited for the Maughans.  We even nagged them to change their arrival date to one day sooner because of our selfish desire to hang out with them :).  

So Tuesday, the kids and I started getting the house cleaned up.  I hate coming home to a messy house, so that is a requirement when we go anywhere now.  We did all the packing Wednesday morning while Nate was still working the mid, and got a LOT of it done before Nate even woke up :).  I was proud of that.  Course once he was here, I hit a brick wall and could hardly do a thing.  Surprsingly, somehow, we managed to get everything packed and loaded up and were out of our driveway by 2:00.  We had to make a few stops along the way, so we didn't actually get to our campsite, number 69, until around 5:00, but all was well!  

We LOVED our spot.  It wasn't all that spacious, but it was at the top of the campground, with almost no surrounding campsites.  Pretty awesome.  We set up camp, roasted our hot dogs and then really, just enjoyed being out!  The kids explored a lot, found "the forest", and played in the fire.  We made our s'mores and everyone was so tired, we actually went a bed at what felt like a really early time.  It was still slightly light out.  It was probably only 10:00.  Kinda funny, but we were all very tired so it worked :).  

That first night seemed warm to me.  Our double decker air mattressES worked okay (I couldn't help but laugh when I would wake up with my feet up in the air, above my head, and felt completely comfortable in that position.  Almost more comfortable than I've felt in a very long time.  Must have shifted baby out of my pelvic bones or something), I slept on top of my sleeping bag with just the blanket on top of me all night long.  It was one of the better night sleeps I've had in a long time.  I did feel kind of bad for the kids- they all seemed a little cold, and walking to the potty in the dark is always creepy- had to do that a couple times.  But the stars made that all worth it!  SO BEAUTIFUL up there!  We changed the sleeping arrangement just a little the second night, Jack seemed to do better that way, but none of the other nights seemed to be very good.  I was cold and on the hard ground most of the night, so that was a bummer, but that first night sure was great!

Kelly made this picture :).  Cute stuff.

Day 2:  We got up, made our bacon, sausage and egg breakfast, cleaned up and went down to the reservoir for some fishing/swimming.  Nate took Charity and Bradley off to "the spot" they fished in last year with so much luck.  I took everyone else to find a good swimming spot.  The first spot we found was covered in "uncles" (aka: giant ants), so we moved over by the boat dock.  You should have seen Jack squirm when he finally realized why his skin was crawling... creepy!

showing me her goose bumps!

That spot was not a whole lot better, but we managed to have some fun.  It was really hot, no shade, and the water was REALLY cold, so there wasn't a whole lot of swimming going on either.  Jack was making good use of the rock throwing time, and everyone stayed mostly entertained, but it was less than ideal.  We lost interest quicker than the fishers. 

Playing Cutthroat Kitchen with the weeds, rocks and slime from the reservoir.  Who knew you could turn that show into a fun game :).  Go Kelly.

 We went back to the campsite, had lunch, played around a little, then I went back to the reservoir to pick up Nate and the kids.  They had caught a whole bunch of fish!  

We got back and they prepped their fish while we relaxed.  It was a really nice afternoon.  I think everyone was so anxious for the Maughans to get there, it was hard to enjoy doing anything else but wait :).  This was about the time the kids go the boondoggle out though.  They sure loved that this time!

Once the Maughans arrived it was time for the real fun to start :).  They set up their camp.  We did our dinner, shepherds pie, then we all did our tie dye shirts.  That was a little more chaotic than I had anticipated, there was little to no order.  Everyone was scattered around the whole place getting dye everywhere :).  It was a lot of fun though!  You could just hear it!  I enjoy making those so much, I don't know why it's so fun.  The kids love it too.  Once those were all bagged up the men (Nate, Travis, Bradley and Josh) all left to go fishing.  Emily and i got to sit and visit and try to keep everyone under control and in sight.  Nate had taken our car with all of our food in it, so that was a bit of a downer for some of us, but Emily shared their marshmallows and the kids were able to do some roasting again.  Things got a little out of control towards the end of the night.  At one point Will was walking around with a flash light in his mouth, looked really funny, we were all laughing and getting a kick out of it and then out of nowhere he just spit it out, RIGHT INTO THE FIRE!!  It was really funny at first.  My first reaction was to laugh and then the panic set in a little :).  We really needed to get the flash light out of the fire.  Nate says it wouldn't have really done anything, but that's now what I was thinking at the time.  We were able to get it out with a stick pretty easily, no harm done, and then the real trauma occurred.  When I sat back down in my chair, I had adjusted it to be positioned just over Jack's bare foot!!!!!  I actually sat down in it and remained sitting for a good second or two before his reaction triggered me to stand up.  I realized I'd been on his foot!  He was screaming!  It was SO SAD!!!  I hate it when my clumsiness causes my children pain.  You'd think I'd be more used to it now, but I was almost in tears thinking about how bad that must have hurt.  I couldn't help but think of how mad I'd gotten earlier that day when he had stepped on and ground his food into the top of mine.  Like that could even compare pain-wise.  Poor little guy.  We were able to wash it off a tiny bit, but he was so upset he wasn't having it.  I decided to just wrap him up and wait for Nate to come back and help me.  Which he did!  The guys got back soon after that happened and Nate was quick to come to our rescue.  His big toe looked like it'd been pinched pretty bad.  I"m just glad it wasn't worse- it sure could have been!  No broken bones!  He was mostly asleep while we were taking care of him, but he did wake up and make it clear that he was not comfortable with things.  Poor little guy.  The next morning the first thing he said was, "Shoes on!" So I think he learned HIS lesson (not that it was his fault in any way shape or form!!).  We all ooohed and ahhhed over the fish the guys caught and then went to bed.  Everyone was pretty much done.  

Pretty proud of his fish!

DAY 3:  We had our pancakes and sausage that third day- I can't believe how well that worked out!  I was so proud of my cooking abilities on this campout :).  Things always taste better when you're camping anyway.  Once everyone was done with breakfast and clean up, we all headed off on our hike.  This hike was five miles to the nearest destination.  We knew we weren't going to make the entire hike so that put a damper on things for me.  If we're not anticipating some amazing destination I lose all motivation to continue.  But we went.  It was a really pretty hike.  I loved the scenery.  I could have done with more shade and the rocks made it hard to walk.  I realized shortly into it that I had a full bladder which makes for lots of fun contractions and well, it's just uncomfortable.  So I was relieved when Kelly's ankle and back started hurting.  Normally I would have tried to persuade her to continue and tough it out, but I didn't this time for selfish reasons.  I was ready to be done too.  So Kelly and I took the car keys, a water bottle and headed back.  We made our way to the campsite and ended up playing some intense games of Egyptian Slap Rap.  Lots of fun!  It wasn't long before everyone else was back too.  

We all got ready and headed down to the reservoir next.  We found the perfect swimming spot- shade and sun- and spent a couple hours swimming, fishing, playing on the air mattress the Maughans brought, and just had a great time together.  I loved it. Took lots of pictures.  The dads were so fun to go out in the freezing cold water with the kids.  

We headed back to camp and were exhausted :).  Nate and I could hardly move.  It was almost funny how tired we were.  We nixed half of our dinner and just did the sausage and peppers tin foil dinners with all the fish Nate and Noah and Bradley had caught, and the fruit and veggies we still had leftover, we had plenty to eat.  

After dinner we washed out our tie dye shirts.  I think this was my favorite part of the trip- listening to the oooohs and aaaahhs as each shirt was revealed!  So fun :).  There were some really cool ones this time!  

Time for the guys to go fishing again, they headed out and Emily and I kept down the fort.  This evening wasn't any less eventful than the one before.  It's funny what things happen while the men are gone.  We had a pretty thrilling time of it when a mommy moose and her baby made their way through the campground.  Charity saw them first and made the announcement.  We could see them up above the campsite, and they looked great from far away, but then they started coming toward us.  It was a little crazy to think about how much of a threat a bunch of little kids could seem to be to a mommy moose.  Who knows how she'd react to whatever their reactions would be.  So Emily and I piled them all in our car :).  We stayed outside, monitoring the moose.  I still can't believe the noise that came from them rolling in the weeds behind our tent.  It sounded just like a tarp being ripped to shreds or possibly a tent.  I imagined some pretty awful scenes involving the other side of our tent.  It had me a little worried.  They walked down through the trees to the road and across to Emily's campsite, just as she had announced that she was going to sneak down there to get the lantern- nope, not going to do that!  We were a little worried about things, tried to get a few pictures, that didn't work, laughed a lot about Emily's flash light and the whole situation, so it was almost fun/funny, but we were so relieved when the guys pulled up.  Relieved and then worried for the safety of the boys in the bed of the truck who might be unloaded right into the moose :).  We all stood around trying to figure out where the moose were and where they were headed next, but in the end, they were gone and all was well.  No harm done.  To people or tents :).  It was a pretty thrilling event.  We had to get a picture of Bradley's amazing fish.  Then we all sat around the fire for a while, telling stories and talking.  It was so fun.  This is what we had been so excited for :). Then it was time for bed.

DAY 4:  We warmed ourselves by the fire for a while.  I was loving that the sun wasn't so noticeable until well into the morning.  Sometimes when you're camping it wakes you up too soon, but not here.  It still hadn't peeked over the mountain and it was almost 8:00.  Pretty awesome :).  Took some pictures of our last campfire.

an early morning marshmallow roasting :).

I was amazed at how beautiful her hair looked the whole time we were there!  This is untouched, straight from the hard ground in a sleeping bag and blanket!

Time to take down camp and load up the car.  Sad times.  

We did squeeze in a little game of Rollick with the Maughans which involved a human pyramid, but mostly just packed up all morning.  While eating our oatmeal.  It was a nice morning, but it's never fun to have to be done.  The kids all helped a lot and we were out of there by 12:30 ish.  

We went up to the reservoir for one last attempt at catching fish and to dip our toes in the water, the Maughans joined us.  

Luke finally got to fish

Ya gotta love the hands on the hips :)

Jack had really wanted to fish with Daddy, the main reason we stopped at the reservoir, and then once we got out of the car, he had lost interest.  I made him do it just so we didn't have to hear about it later :).  He looked so cute, had to snap a picture.

And then it was time to go.  What a fun trip though!  We felt bad that the Clarks had not been able to make it.  We all hoped it was something simple like Corbin getting in trouble and his punishment being no campout, but instead Bea had been so sick she was admitted to the hospital!  So sad.  Better luck next year.  

I absolutely love to camp.  It's such a good way to get back to basics.  Mostly mentally for me, but also physically.  We take our nine person family away from all the comforts of home, put us and a car load of stuff in a tiny little campsite to live for three days and it works!  We live!  And we have fun actually!!  I was so happy with how little fighting there was.  I mean, there could have been less, but really everyone did great!  I loved watching everyone's camping strengths come out.  Especially the boys.  Bradley with the fire starting and even Luke when Bradley was gone, stepped up to the man role.  It was so cool.  I loved watching Jack explore and enjoy getting dirty without any reprimand.  Erika had so much fun playing and imagining in "the forest".  The big girls were so helpful and so involved in all the planning and preparing of meals and carrying them out.  I love that they are willing to help and can have fun in the process.  I appreciate them.  I really enjoyed this campout.