Bigger

Hannah fell asleep on the living room floor and I just picked her up and carried her to the bed.  What is it about the dead weight of a sleeping child against my chest that is so soothing?  

I hate time.  Can't we just freeze it?  When I walked past the mirror in the girls room I noticed that her toes almost reach my knees.  Pretty soon, she will be too big and heavy for me to carry her to bed.  When in the world did she get so big and how can I stop it?

I Quit!!!

I normally write about stories that are either fun things that we did or funny little things that happen.  But I want to share a crazy day that happened last month that had me in tears at least twice.  Looking back now it is kind of funny though, but the day it happened, I was done, I just wanted to QUIT!!!

It all started when I volunteered to help unload things for the kids Hansel & Gretel performance.  I figured I could give an hour of my time to help unload things from the trailer and put them in the auditorium.  Weelllllll, when I got there at 9:00AM they had everything unloaded already and needed help hanging the houses on the poles that used to raise and lower the set for different scenes, and to hang up the back drop scenery etc.  It ended up taking 4 of us 5 hours - yes FIVE hours.  When I left the house the kids were finishing up their workboxes and I was planning on doing a little History and Science with them when I got back.  I knew it was going to be a busy day so I wasn't too worried about much more than their workboxes.

After working on the houses for about an hour, my friend came into the auditorium and said hi to me and I asked her what she was doing there.  She then backed out of the way and Quinn was standing in the hallway.  Yes, he had walked all the way down to the Jr. High.  I made him sit on a chair on the stage until we finished with the house we were working on, then I took him back home.  When we got home, I checked on everyone and threatened Quinn not to leave the house again.  (This spring he has gotten into the habit of chasing either myself or Bart down the street when we leave - like a dog chasing the car. GGGGRRRRRR!!!!! - Maybe he is having a little separation anxiety or something?????)

Anyway, I went back and finished helping set up.  We finally got done at 2:00PM.  I had to start running everyone to piano lessons at 2:00, 2:30, and 3:00.  We had to be back down to the Jr. High with everyone in their costumes, and hair done etc. by 4:00 for the dress rehearsal.  In the meantime, I was supposed to do dinner, but ended up not making dinner because I had to make treats for pack night (I am now the cubmaster for scouts).  I just had everyone get a snack instead and we ran.

Dress rehearsal was supposed to be from 4:00 - 7:00 and I had pack night at 6:00.  Luckily, we had the fire truck coming for the boys, so I didn't have to do much other than the treat.  So my plan was to go to the dress rehearsal until 5:30, then Quinn, Hannah and I would go set up chairs at the church.  I told Grant, McKinley, Jackie and Luke that if I didn't get back before rehearsal was over, that they were to stay together and walk home.  Well Quinn was having fun running around and playing with Marshall (his friend that was in the performance) and did not want to leave the Jr. High.  But with a little struggle, we got in the car and to the church (I did have to go back in to get toys that he left in the auditorium before we left though - double GGGGGRRRRR!!!!!!).

We love doing performances, even if it is hectic for the rehearsals.

This is a picture with Marshall - our adopted brother.

I was running around and setting up chairs and I told Quinn to stay in the YW room so that I knew where he was.  Well, he and Hannah started playing with some of the kids that were there helping to set up too, but they were together so I didn't worry.  At the last minute I remembered that I needed to get the flags out of the closet.  So I went to get them and remembered that my key didn't open the closet, so I had to run home and get Bart's keys.  As I was running back across the street, the fire truck pulled in.  I set up the flags and immediately started the meeting.  We had a prayer, and then did the flag ceremony, which I had to help with because only myself and Macy (the other leader) had our scout shirts on.  So we did the flags.  After the flags were done, I turned the time over to Ron Winn (the fireman that was talking to us about fire safety).  Then I went to sit by Hannah and Ember and Quinn, but there was no Quinn.

I had been so busy setting up the flags and that mess that I forgot to make sure he was there when I got back from getting the flags out of the closet.  So I ran out to the hall and "quietly" hollered for him while I was walking/running through the halls.  Nothing.  I ran to the Nursery room - nothing.  I checked the bathroom - nothing.  I ran home and hollered through the house - nothing.  I ran back to the church and went through the overflow - nothing, the gym - nothing.  I peeked back in the YW room and still no Quinn.  I went to the phone in the hallway and called Bart to see if he was close that he could come and help me.  He was up in Neola still at work.  I hung up the phone and said under my breath, "Heavenly Father, please help me to find him."  I decided to check the house again, on my way I had the thought that he had gone back to the Jr. High.  I checked the house again - again NOTHING.  I had left the expedition at the church, but was tired of running so I grabbed the keys to the truck and sped down to the Jr. High.  I ran into the auditorium, and saw Marshall's mom and asked her if she had seen Quinn and she said he was there.  So after a little more running I found him in the boys bathroom - yes I walked right in and got him. 

We went back to pack night and I tied him to me with the lanyard of the keys.  I told him that his punishment was that he could not co anywhere with me for two weeks and he had to skip his turn to go get groceries with me (which was a big deal to him).

You may think that this is the end of the story but it is not.  I had already cried twice and was soooo done for the day.  As I was cleaning up and putting the flags away, Carol Busk was helping me and her husband Jeb came in and was talking with us.  He had Derek Potter with him and I figured that he was just waiting for her, so I chatted for a second and I don't really remember what was said that made me realize it, but it all of a sudden dawned on me that Brother Busk and Brother Potter were our home teachers.  They said that they had called Bart and he said I was at the church and that he was going to be a few minutes, so they came over to help clean up or something.  I wanted to cry again.  I was so exhausted!!!  They told me that they were wanting to come over and make resurrection rolls with the kids for their lesson.  Didn't they know how scary our house was?  I tried to explain, that it was messy and that I had been running all day, but they didn't understand.  They said, "that's okay, our houses get messy too, we understand".  But I hadn't been there all day, and I had been going in and out and not picked up a single thing.  The kitchen was even worse than the living room!!!!!!!!!  It was completely trashed!!!  I think we still had breakfast dishes on the table and probably dinner dishes from the night before in the sink.  I was horrified.

I tried to argue with them that they were supposed to come on Thursday not Tuesday, but I started feeling guilty that they had left their families to come to visit us and prepared a fun activity. . . . Then I asked if they had been to the house, which they had and no one was there, so I said that I needed to go get the other kids from the Jr. High.  By this time it was 7:45 or so, so rehearsal had gone late and Bart still wasn't home.  So I told them to come back at 8:00 and hopefully we would be ready for them.  I went to the Jr. High and collected everyone and left around 8:10.  So in my mind I was thinking that they probably showed up and left when no one was there.  Nope - they were just getting to the door when we pulled in.  Bart told them to come in and they asked, "are you sure, we can come back, it seems like you have had a busy day".  But Bart said, "no come on in", even though I was giving him threatening looks behind their backs.

So needless to say, they came in and saw the mess.  I told them that they had to sign a waiver that they would never disclose the mess they were seeing.  It took me about 10 minutes to clean off the table so that we could make their resurrection rolls.  While the rolls were baking, they gave us a great lesson and then they left.  At least the day ended on a spiritual note.

Here is a picture of the kiddos the next day at the performance

I am so glad that not every day is as crazy as this day was.  

Sharing = Happiness

Tonight Hannah and I were on baseball duty.  After dropping everyone off where they were supposed to be, we went to catch the end of everyone's games.  We started with Quinn's T-ball game.  After he had his treat bestowed upon him, the three of us walked across the street to watch the end of Luke's game.  Halfway over Quinn asked me to open his treat, which he immediately shared with Hannah. She was only expecting to have one bite and was pleasantly surprised when he gave her the whole cake from the package (there were two in it).  Once we got to Luke's game and set up our blanket, I opened his mini 7-up can for him.  Quinn took the first sip and was "shocked" by the carbonation, he said, "Wow mom, that just electrified my lip."  It made me chuckle.  The two of them then proceeded to take turns having sips from the "soda" (as Hannah kept calling it).  It was like watching a little Chinese tea ceremony because Quinn would hand it to Hannah and she would have to turn it ever so carefully so as not to spill it and get the hole in front of her lips so she could take a drink.  It made my heart happy to watch them share so easily with one another.

(This picture was taken just after Christmas, but it shows their cute little bond.)  

Little moments

Tonight I had to carry Luke, Quinn and Hannah to bed because they had all fallen asleep on the couches.  I picked Luke up and the dead weight of his body about did me in - I think that is the last time I carry him to bed.  (When did he get to be so BIG?).

Then I carried Quinn, who wrapped his arms and legs around me as soon as I picked him up like he was a little monkey.  When I laid him next to Luke he reached out and put his arm around Luke (aaawww - brotherly love).

Then I toted Hannah, feeling the weight of her tiny little body and realizing how big she is getting too makes me a little sad.  I walked a little slower with each of them to make the moment last a little longer (except Luke - I was about to drop him).

I am grateful that I get the opportunity to call these kiddos mine.  I am lucky to be around them each day and I love them with all of my heart!

 (Except when they sneak creamies out of the freezer  -  -  - and don't shut the door all the way  - - - so things start to thaw  - - - and about a half of a gallon of ice cream melts  - - - and runs down the door of the freezer,  - - - oozing over everything in it's path on the way down - - - filling in any crevices on its journey.)

Teenagers to Toddlers

We are past the stage of babies.  It is sad to think about not holding a new baby and snuggling with the newborn baby smells and noises.  But the stage of life that we are in now is amazing too.  From teenagers to toddlers.  Teenagers are fun and funny!  You get to have deep conversations and still act silly at times.  I love that my kids play so well together.  After we are done with school I often watch Jackie, Luke, Quinn and sometimes Hannah playing picnic or dress up or whatever they can imagine. There are also times when all of them go out on the trampoline and are out there playing who knows what.  I sometimes watch them from the window and it melts my heart to see them getting along together.  Maybe it is because they don't always do it, so when they do it is extra special, but I still love it.  I think homeschooling has kept them close.  There are ups and downs, pros and cons, good and bad things about homeschooling, but the good things seem to make the bad things seem like less. This is one of the good things.

Hannah likes to say, "creepy".  Sometimes if she sees something weird on T.V. she says it a weird sing song voice like, "creeeeppppyyy".  It is funny.  She also keeps coming to ask for a drink when she is tired and instead of saying, "I'm thirsty",  says in a tired whiny voice, "I'm drinky".  It is funny.

2016 Snapshot

A couple of weeks ago, we all sat around the couch as I read the entire blog to the kids. We sat there for about 2 hours reading and we had so much fun listening to our memories. The kids are begging me to start up again. So for now I will try to do our family snapshot for 2016.

In General Conference in October 2010 President Uchtdorf gave a talk called, “Of Things That Matter Most”. I need to do better and follow the counsel he gave to us in it. He said, “We would do well to slow down a little, . . . focus on the significant, lift up our eyes, and truly see the things that matter most. . . . Strength comes not from frantic activity but from being settled on a firm foundation of truth and life. It comes from paying attention to the divine things that matter most. . . . Diligently doing things that matter most will lead us to the Savior of the World.”

With 6 kids I sometimes feel like I am running a million miles an hour (but getting nowhere). So I need to sometimes slow down and focus on the things that matter most. A lot of times I get tunnel vision and can only focus on what is right in front of me and what I am trying to get done at the time. These days it is get up, make breakfast, do school, clean up, do dinner, get everyone to bed, clean up, go to sleep and then start all over again tomorrow. I need to slow down and truly see the wonderful things I have been blessed with. One of my blessings is my, healthy, adorable, happy, energetic, crazy, beautiful, fun, weird, loving, goofy, amazing family. 

With that being said, here is us in 2016:

Luke has been learning to read and is doing great at it.

Quinn never stops talking (he only has one setting on his volume – loud).

McKinley is reading better – keep practicing :)

We got chickens last year and they have kept us busy making a chicken coop, frostbite, mice, etc.

Grant loves doing scouts, so far he has earned his 1st and 2nd class.

Jackie HATES math, but she is GOOD at it.

Quinn interrupts school every 98 seconds. Approximately 581 times a day.

Hannah loves to dance whenever she hears music. She has some sweet ballet moves already and dances with her eyes closed when she is really “feeling” it.

Luke won't eat anything if it starts with Dinner.

Jackie likes to cook.

Grant, McKinley, and Jackie are taking piano and are getting better.

McKinley and Jackie have fun at Activity Days.

Luke gets up around 5:30 or 6:00 every day – we try to finish his school before breakfast.

Everyone else gets up around 7:00 or 7:30.

Grant loves chess and he kicks mom's trash every time.

McKinley shares her testimony quite frequently on Fast Sundays.

Bart is the Young Men's President – he is a great example to them.

I am the wolf den leader and I also teach Relief Society once a month.

Bart is still working even though the economy is struggling badly right now – things are slow, but we are thankful for the work.

McKinley and Jackie are working on getting along together.

Hannah steals our hearts with her cute smiles and kisses. Don't take something from her though or you will hear her ear piercing scream.

Hannah calls most everyone “mom”. She calls mom, “mom, mommy and mimi”.  My favorite is "mommy".

Jackie is still and will forever be independent and courageous.

Family scripture study is done at the breakfast table – while everyone's mouths are full and they are somewhat sitting still.

We try to be done with school by lunchtime, but usually go until 1:00 or 2:00 most days (we start around 9:00ish). Sometimes we are lazy and don't finish until 5:00 or 6:00. :(

The kids like to listen to each others read aloud stories even though they have already heard them before. There is nothing like a fun book.

Jackie did my hair while I was doing her school.

Everyone had to get in the picture.

We have cleaning zones, but we need to change them up so we can add Quinn.

The boys room is a challenge to keep clean.

We need to get a bunk bed for the girls so we can kick Hannah out of mom and dad's room.

Hannah falls asleep in weird places.

We take baths/showers once, maybe twice a week (GROSS). One bad habit from homeschooling.

Quinn still likes to rub out ears when he cuddles.

9:00 church is hard when we aren't used to getting everyone up and out the door for school every morning.

We have pajama day at school about 4 out of 5 days a week (at least it starts out that way).

We need to do better at writing.

Hannah is trying to mimic everything we say, it's like having our very own parrot.

Hannah knows most of the animal sounds and loves to be a kitty.

I don't go to bed until 12:00 at the earliest most days and am usually up around 6:00 or 6:30.

Hopefully this shows what we are like in our day-to-day life. President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “It is not so much the major events . . . as the small day-to-day decisions . . . that map the course of our living.” So these are the things that make up our day-to-day in 2016.

For a little bonus, here are some pictures we took last fall:

Quinn was being a pill that night and we only got 1-2 pictures WITHOUT the faces.

Quinn said this was his "fiercest" face.

Meet Hannah

I am so lousy at this.  I haven't updated this thing for TWO years.  I suppose being Young Women's president consumed me for a while.  I was released 6 months ago, but I still miss it.

Anyway, I guess I will catch up on a couple of things - both in the baby department.  First, in July of 2013 we lost a baby boy.  It was a pretty big challenge and something that I NEVER want to wish on anyone.  (I will write about this another time - maybe.)  Second, on August 10, 2014 we had another baby girl - Hannah.  She weighed 8lbs. 14oz., 21 inches.  She was born at 5:35PM.

She is like Quinn in the fact that she is needing to be supplemented with formula.  She just doesn't want to be a chubby baby.

She is skinny like McKinley and looks like both McKinley and Jackie.