Jackie, REVEALED!

Joseph has not given up his friend, Jackie, and has still been making gifts for him and his little baby sibling. Today he wanted me to call Jackie's mother. Just in case I was missing something, I gave one of the Nursery leaders a call this afternoon.

I confirmed that there were no children in the Nursery named Jackie. But when I told her Joseph's description of his friend, we had quite the revelation.

"Jackie" is the jack-in-the-box toy there in the nursery. He is indeed a clown and does wear a blue costume! They call him "Jack" in the nursery, but Joseph went with "Jackie." What a laugh! And what an endearing memory. It makes me want to run out and buy Joseph a jack-in-the-box. (But I won't.)

Shamelessly Spoiled

I fear the worst...we are spoiling Sarah; shamelessly.

The fact is, we LOVE that girl. All of us. We can't get enough of her cuteness and she's well aware of it.

And even though I know we're very likely creating a monster, I still can't help myself! This little girl has us wrapped around her finger and we are enjoying the slavery.

Luckily, hugs and kisses are free. And the high we get from loving Sarah keeps us smiling and giggling and laughing out loud. :)

So I'm going to enjoy spoiling her for now and fix it later by giving her lots of time-outs when the little demon emerges. Hopefully, it won't happen in the middle of public or a prayer at church! And we'll "break even" on the experience if we can avoid therapy over this later.

Jackie

Joseph has a friend. His name is Jackie. He is a blue boy. He is also a clown. Joseph is very serious about him and doesn't like to see you laugh about his clown friend.

He has been folding up paper for the past two days as presents for his friend, Jackie. I think Jackie owes me some paper.

Six kids

At the moment, I am in the library/computer room with all 6 kids. Everyone is in pj's and getting along with each other (for the most part). We are waiting for Chad to come home from EQ visits.

The 3 boys are playing with the GeoTrax, the 2 girls are playing a computer game together and Sarah is on my lap, oh...now she's off, while I stop to share the moment.

I am enjoying the moment and feel so blessed to have 6 wonderful kids!

Sarah has not been feeling well today and has kept me warm (since she's had her head on my shoulder most of the time), so I've enjoyed her sweetness and it's made me thankful for all my little turkeys.

Valentine's Day without candy?!?

I've started mentally preparing for the "14 Days of Valentines" that is fast approaching. (When I did this for the first time, I never thought I'd still be doing it 12 years later!)

Ordinarily, it's hard enough to come up with 14 different ideas, but I have usually been able to rely on at least a few days of candy to take the pressure off my creativity. Thanks to Daniel's no-candy challenge, I can't use candy this year.

This is going to be interesting, to say the least. I hope it turns out well.

Missed the bus

It was a rough morning for Rebekah and she missed the bus.

As it drove away, she started jumping up and down, crying and saying, "I want to go!" over and over. It wasn't pretty. And I was sitting there thinking, "Great, now I have to drive her to school."

I did have the briefest thought that she could miss school and that would show her! But she missed two days last week and it's really not THAT hard or far to drive her.

The biggest complaint that I had was that I wasn't dressed yet and I wasn't ready to get dressed. Not to mention that Sarah and Joseph would need to be dressed and bundled up. And all this because Rebekah just couldn't get up to speed this morning (like most mornings).

So now I've joined the ranks of all those mothers that have driven their kids to school in their pajamas. I guess I held out pretty long. After all, she is my 4th child!

It wasn't so bad, though because it's a BEAUTIFUL morning and I got to enjoy a cold sunrise over the country side.

Incidentally, she didn't get "rescued" from her lack of preparation. It cost Rebekah 5 marbles for the trip to school; it takes 10 marbles to earn a special activity. I think she got to school before her siblings! (I'm STILL in my pajamas.)

I should set a better example

I was just wiping down the china cupboard with a wet rag (I don't know what splatters more than milk, unless it's blood and I -thankfully- don't have much experience with that) when Rebekah came up to me and asked if we were selling it.

Is that the only time she notices me clean something? I think I need to be a better mother or housekeeper or SOMETHING!

Quote of the Day

Rebekah: Mommy, Joseph's putting [Sarah's] smarties in her ears.

Two Many Kids

Joseph was in it first, but some how Sarah squeezed her way in.
This storage ottoman wasn't designed for such a high occupancy!

(The above picture and text were sent from my phone through email. How cool is that? Now I can blog when I'm out and about. Oh, mercy. This opens up a whole new world!)

Deaf Singer

Chad is in Joseph and Sarah's room, putting them to bed. Chad is singing "Our Primary Colors" and Joseph is saying, "Daddy, that's enough singing!"

Chad keeps singing and Joseph keeps protesting. Obviously, Joseph's daddy doesn't hear him! :)

Writing Prompt

Daniel is in 5th grade and in the middle school here. He often has something called a "prompt" where he is supposed to write for some specified amount of time.

I was going through his school papers and thinking, "these grades are not really impressing me, young man!" when I came across one of his prompts. I find these insightful, though probably not as much as his teacher does!

Here is what I found. He wrote it 10 Jan '11.

A time I have helped somone is when my sister went up to her room and saw a spider on the wall above her bed and came running into my room where I was taking a nap and told me that there was a spider on her wall so I went into her room and it was just sitting there so I went back to my room and she came after me. She told me to get it or she would tell. I said ok and went back to her room and it was still sitting there. My brother came in and asked what was wrong. My sister told him. And he said he would do it so he got her teddy bear and threw it at the spider and missed so I said it was my turn so I got the bear and hit it. It fell to the ground and I picked it up and it was already dead.

What a loving brother! I will send him Leah's therapy bill when it comes time.

"Mma"

Sarah has her first word. I don't know if it qualifies as an official word, but I know what it means and she uses it appropriately. That seems like a first word to me!

"Mma" translates as "up" in the English language. Poor Sarah gets the vowel sound mixed up and the /m/ just jumps in there. But she means "up" and she usually ends up "up" and that's all that she's concerned about. And I think it's pretty darn cute!

Last week, the kids were left on their own for a bit while I ran to the church to get Nathan from scouts. When I returned, I found that they'd taught Sarah to meow. It sounds like her regular babble, but it's at a higher pitch. It, too, is pretty darn cute!

But biting? Not so cute. :{

Little Sweeper

Sarah is at the stage of trying to be like everyone around her. She tries to join in the dinner jobs with all of her older siblings. (She's been helping me unload the dishwasher for months.)

The other day, I was trying to sweep the floor and Sarah was right there to participate. As you can see, she wasn't helping much. The darn broom came apart!

No matter, she knows what the most important part is.

I guess she's trying to use the handle like a litter stick. Or maybe she's breaking down the bigger crumbs.

I eventually had to put her broom back together and move her to part I already did, just so I could finish up with the dust pan! Such a cute little helper.

Basket case

We can have a lot of fun in baskets around here (as long as it doesn't include folding the laundry that's usually in them).

Sarah has especially been drawn to them lately. Her older siblings are more than happy to give her rides in them, up and down the hallway. That does come with some risks as she has been dumped more than once, sometimes at high speeds! But she is undaunted and climbs back in after the tears have stopped. I think she'll be in line for the roller coasters when she's old enough!

Yesterday, before the kids left for school, Sarah was enjoying a basket. Then Leah put the kitten (Cleo) in with her. Sarah was quite happy.

Of course, kittens don't sit still for too long.


And when Cleo jumped down to investigate something else, Sarah tried to coax her back.


Then she leaned too far over and tipped the basket onto its side. At this point, Cleo sees Sarah's wispy hair and tries to work it into a new "do". It was funny to watch the cat frantically bat around at Sarah's head. As far as I could tell, no claws were used in the creation of this funny moment.


And then, we have the basket king. Don't forget Nathan's ability to fall asleep with a basket. This one was on top of him, but he was IN this one! He denies that he was ever actually asleep, but we have this picture that is a lot more compelling! This picture was taken two nights ago.

I'm wondering why we spend so much money on toys.

Snowmen

Rebekah directed our FHE activity tonight. She chose to have a coloring contest and the theme was Winter. Everyone drew whatever they wanted that had something to do with Winter.

Chad drew a snowman.



Rebekah knows a good idea when she sees one! Not a bad copy, I'd say. :)

Twinkie Bliss

Sarah got her first taste of Twinkie today. Or should I say Twinkie Heaven? She nearly went into a Twinkie Coma while she was eating her treat. (I only gave her about a half...maybe a little more.)

She had both little chubby hands on the spongy flesh of the snack cake and was forcing it into her mouth. Unfortunately, Twinkie physics teaches us that the structure of the moist, sweet bread, filled with a white, sugary cream will not withstand such pressure and becomes a very sticky, greasy, mushy mess that clings to the skin and clothes of the eater, as well as whomever is holding the eater!

It was about this time that the buzz of the Twinkie was hitting Sarah's brain and she would grunt at me if I tried to hold any of the clumps that were beginning to fall from her fists. It seemed she was just sucking the sugar right from the goo! Occasionally, she would look up at me and give me a white and yellow, gluttonous grin - then go back to her binging.

It was a relief to me when I was finally able to wash her up. I am thankful for soap.

It seemed to be an unusually short sugar high and less than 5 minutes after she finished nearly overdosing on Twinkie, she was crankier than normal and a little bossy.

Keeping Busy

My little Joseph woke up with a fever this morning. :(

While he roller-coasters from perky to sleeping, Sarah is left to her own devices. This is mostly OK. Mostly.

There is wisdom in having playmates!

Who knew you could put a sippy cup of milk in a bowl of dry fruity loops, roll them up in a blanket and unroll them again with all the cereal still in the bowl? And apparently, you can only drink the milk from the sippy cup while it's still in the bowl of dry cereal. That is tricky, indeed!

My "To Do" list

We all have one. Some of us don't admit it, but it's there just the same.

Most of us have one very large list that's actually made up of several smaller categories. I have one of those. My list has categories like these:

Must do: Things I can't put off any longer. These things aren't technically on the list because I have to do them, but it feels better to cross off something (even if it is only mentally) and so I include those. In reality, these are the things that I have to do in order to start on the things I really have on my "to do" list.

Need to do: Things I otherwise call "chores." This is stuff that I'm supposed to do in the course of a day to make me feel like a good housewife and mother. These are things that can be put off (and usually are) until the job becomes so big it gets moved up to the Must Do category.

Should do: Things that are going to make life more pleasant, but if I don't get to them, everything will still be OK...until the job gets moved up a category!

Want to do: Things that I should really call Free Time. Sadly, this is the list that often gets put before Need To Do, which might be why we often find our clothes out of the laundry basket instead of the drawers!

And then, despite our large lists we deal with unexpected disruptions and the sad reality that we often get caught up in the To Do lists of people around us. That just muddles the whole process.

So what's my "To Do" list for today? Though not complete, nor listed by priority, I am hoping to do these things today:
1. Get the Ward Directory ready to print! (I am meeting the librarian at the church tomorrow night, so this is on my MUST DO list!)
2. Fold laundry. This is etched permanently onto my list. :(
3. Sew pants for Leah. They've been cut out for a couple of months now, but Christmas over-rode the importance.
4. Wash fabric for Christmas PJ's. (Check. It's in the washer -13.5 yards- already.) Yep! I am already planning for Christmas next year! Don't be too impressed; I did this last year, too. The fabric sat on my sewing table for 11 months.

And if I can get that done, I'll find some fun stuff to do later today. (Like blogging. Didn't I tell you this category often got in the way of the more important stuff?)

My new toy

I got a fun toy for Christmas. Chad got me a Silhouette SD after I mentioned I was trying to win one online (though I knew my chances were impossible).

It's like a Cricut, but doesn't use cartridges and can use the fonts from my computer. It can cut vinyl, paper, vellum, etc. I can download new designs from their website. I can save the things I want to cut to an SD card and use the cutter without connecting to the computer. It can use pens and draw the designs instead of cutting them. I haven't got those yet. :)

So Joseph and I cut some snowflakes earlier this week

and decorated the kitchen cupboards.

I cut out several hearts in different sizes. (Valentine's Day is coming, you know.)

One of the included designs was a box. I made several tiny ones. Those were fun. :)

The cutter came with a $10 download card. I spent $1 on a temple design. That was a really neat one!

Now I just have to dream up some fun projects!

Spectator Sports

Having kids has really turned me into a spectator because they want me to "look" all the time!

Joseph has turned eating animal crackers into a spectator sport. He first has to ask me what the animal is. I usually answer, "I don't know" because that is something I don't really want to have to answer for the whole handful of crackers! Of course, it doesn't stop there. Joseph makes me look at the cracker after every bite. First the head. Then the tail. Then one leg. Then the other leg. Then into his mouth the torso goes and out comes the next victim.

Another less than enjoyable spectator sport is trying to catch what the kids want me to see on the screen saver on their computer...while I'm on my computer...with my back turned. I usually miss it (because I'm kind of busy here) and they then have to tell me what it was or ask me who is was (which can be hard to do when I didn't see it).

I still don't understand the moments when they want me to "look" and watch them do something that they know they aren't supposed to do...like stand up on the back of the couch.

It's only when they don't want me watching that I'm really interested in following their every move.

And then there is the flip side of all this. Apparently, I am a spectator sport; the kids sure do a lot of watching me...from their comfortable spots on the couch!

Leah is SEVEN!

Leah turned seven on Sunday. She had been looking forward to her birthday, for a little while.

As most anyone who has spent much time around Leah knows, she loves horses. That made decorating her cake easy. And then the decorations became one last gift. Every little horse collector needs a vet, right?

Leah exclaimed over her customary socks and underwear. I don't know how the girls do it, but they always run out of socks and underwear. It drives me CRAZY!

Leah got a horse puzzle with a horse included (similar in size to the one on her cake). I'm grateful for KINGS and their large selection of Breyer horses.

Daniel was there and as handsome as ever.

Sarah was there, too. She's investigating Leah's b-day presents. (That's Joseph to the left and Nathan was holding the video camera.)

We saved cake and ice cream and invited Leah's best friend over. (Same girl who gave her the hug a few posts back.) This little girl has even more horses than Leah!

Leah caught her hair on fire on her 3rd birthday and was cautious while blowing out these candles. She had a hard time getting the job done.

First attempt:

Second attempt:

Third attempt:

Now we tried making it a combined effort. Even two little girls were no match for these candles!

Fourth attempt:

Fifth attempt:

Eventually, those blasted candles went out. I got tired of taking pictures. I have no idea how many times they blew on that cake before all seven flames were extinguished.

Leah requested a picture with her friend. I think Aryiah was leaning back against the wall...she's not really that short. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LEAH!

Toddler Fights

Sadly, Baby Sarah is gone; Toddler Sarah (16 months already) has replaced her. We love T. Sarah because she is so fun and entertaining. Alas, she is starting to get into anything that interests her...which is everything. And T. Sarah is FAST. She is faster than I am, which is really not a good thing.

Sarah has become aware of her world. She mimics a lot of what is happening around her. She does have a bit of a lag time, though. In Sacrament Meeting, she will raise both hands to sustain someone...well after the appropriate moment to oppose (which I'm sure she doesn't)! In Relief Society Sunday, she laughed a few seconds after everyone else did (she knows how to make the most of it).

If she is doing something she shouldn't, she gives you a big cheesy grin. And it does save her...for now. Once she realizes that she's done something to make you laugh, she tries it a few more times - just for the thrill.

Along with all of this maturity comes the awareness of fairness. If I give it to someone, she wants it, too. If someone takes it from her, she tries to take it back. She's pretty good about it a lot of the time...she keeps a straight face and doesn't say too much.

And then today she and Joseph were fighting over a step stool. While keeping a firm hold of their side of the stool, they both looked up at me with expressive faces which I interpreted this way:

Joseph - What the heck? Is she actually going to challenge me on this? I'm not sure I like T. Sarah!

Sarah - I get everything I want. I want this stool!

Measuring Up

Every January I mark off the kids' height on the laundry room door. My kids are not giants, but it always surprises me to see how low the marks are on the door. They definitely don't seem that low to the ground when I'm looking at them.



Daniel made some nice improvement since last year. THANK GOODNESS! I'm hoping for a few growth spurts for the boys' futures. And this year, Leah passed up Nathan. I'm not sure how Nathan felt about that.


Joseph is still below the door knob. If he has another year like this past one, he'll gain another 3 or 4 inches. :)

What will I do if we move? I'll have to put down some tape and record these markings to transfer to a new door!

Ringing in 2011

I think I've recovered from the celebration enough to relive it now. :)

We started out the evening by passing out the hats and noise makers...which everyone had to try out right away. It's a good thing we got this shot, because Sarah went to bed at 9PM (a late night for her, too) and was only in this picture.


We put together a couple of easy puzzles...Joseph's choice.

Then we played a game of Whoonu? Nathan and Rebekah got into an altercation just before the game started and the punishment was to give the other a hug. Rebekah didn't love it, but she gave a rather cold hug to Nathan. But stubborn runs through Nathan's veins and he wasn't about to give in. He missed the whole game...that we played 3 times.

Then came out The Game of Life. This was enticing enough to Nathan that he gave Rebekah an equally unfriendly hug and joined in the party.

We didn't get much more than halfway through the board before the new year arrived and we had to celebrate. (I never even got to get married as I ran into the tornado that sent me back to start THREE times!)

We threw streamers, spun our little metal noise makers and shot off some party poppers. The poppers were less than stellar. But they made the room nice and smoky-smelling.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! (Rebekah's bouncing streamers caught the attention of the kitten who caught more of Rebekah's skin than Rebekah's streamer. And that is why Rebekah's first moments of the new year were not happy.)

We wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year!