Sarah's Blessing

It's been almost a week and I haven't even posted about Sarah's blessing yet. Where are my proud mommy manners?


The blessing went really well. I only had a chance to give Sarah half of her 2nd breakfast, but she ended up handling all the loving and the blessing itself without crying.


Chad did a great job with the blessing. Sarah had 2 grandpas in the circle with her daddy and a member of the bishopric. A very nice family in the ward handed us a copy of what they were able to write down of the blessing. The rest of the kids will have to assume that their blessings were similar...no copies of those!


We got some cute pictures of her and some with our family.


Dress and afghan


Looking to the right. Here you can really see her cheeks! :)

Looking to the left and right into the camera. Such a sweet face!

This is when she let us know she was done. Still a sweet face...in a different sort of way!

And here is our family shot. Can't get Chad to keep his eyes open. We took 5 pictures...someone should have pinched him on "3." Rebekah had thrown a fit just before the pictures (of course), so she's looking chipper.
"Are they all yours?" Yes...that's why I'm yelling at them and calling them by name! :) We get that question a lot. I always think of the best lines when it's too late. Still, they are a handsome little bunch of kids. I guess we'll keep them.

Welcome to the family, Sarah. You'll get used to being here. ;)

Sarah's Baby Blessing

For those family members planning on driving out, up or over for Sarah's blessing:

Fast Sunday is 11 October - the week AFTER General Conference. The meeting starts at 9 AM (Sorry. I can do NOTHING about that.). There isn't a lot of room here for sleeping over, but more if you don't mind the floor.

If you still plan to come, and plan to come to the house first, please come early. You're welcome to change clothes here if you need to, use the bathroom, etc. But if you're in the driveway, so are we! We want to get to the church in time to get enough seats. Of course, you can always drive directly to the church. We can give you directions if you need them.

We'll probably have a few crockpots of lunch simmering. If there is anything specific you'd like to bring, go ahead. I'm not going to plan and coordinate food and try to make it through the morning, too. Not that I don't care that you're bringing anything; I just don't want to worry about who and what and when.

Church lasts 3 hours. If you've got other plans and are leaving earlier, you're welcome to stop by the house and help yourself to lunch and the bathroom (just don't steal the valuables - dirty laundry not included).

Count Your Blessings

I was thinking about my 5 kids today and how much I appreciate them. I thought of a few things that make having a lot of kids a blessing.

1. They always have someone to play or fight with. Once they've exhausted one person, they just move on to the next! So if I'm lucky, I only have to be the target every other time.

2. The older ones help feed the baby. Sometimes it's good stuff. Often, it's indirectly through crumbs or actual chunks of meals that have fallen to the floor.

3. I am grateful for painless days. This is in opposition to pain-filled days...legos, K'nex, books, dolls, crayons, pencils, little plastic frogs, etc., can inflict a lot of discomfort when stepped or knelt upon.

4. I don't have to get dressed up for much of anything. People are generally impressed that I've left the house at all. The fact that I'm braving Wal-Mart and having to carry the baby (because he refuses to sit in the cart) while I push a cart and calling the kids to come back, is almost a miracle. I heard someone behind me laugh today when I said, "No, no, no, no, no, NO" to Rebekah as she wrapped her innocent little fingers around the neck of a wine bottle. (Why is the alcohol parallel to the dairy? Kids need the one, but should be no where near the other.)

5. I get a lot of unique pictures and cards left on or under my pillow.

6. I get to drive an 8-passenger mini van.

7. It takes me the entire day to do the laundry on Saturday. I am very grateful for washing machines. And my boys get to look like circus clowns because of a couple large red and blue crayons that someone had in his pocket. I look forward to teaching the kids to wash their own clothes.

8. I have so many pictures of crawling, smiling, crying, naked, performing, walking and sleeping kids that I could scrapbook every day for a year and still not be done.

9. I get lots of chances to be creative in the kitchen. I can make 20 different meals and still not find one that EVERYONE likes.

10. I get to sew patches on Scout shirts and go to pack meeting once a month.

11. I can check out 30 picture books from the library and no one even thinks that they are for me! ;)

12. When I draw or color, I am suddenly the best artist ever to live and everyone wants to be as talented as Mommy.

13. I am getting intense training in negotiating and stress-management. I do worry that I should get some persons' hearing and vision checked.

14. I am getting a thorough education. I am now on my 2nd year of Third Grade and my 3rd year of First. It's definitely working...the homework has been getting easier for me.

15. I get lots of love...from baby hugs to 8-year-old love kicks. (I think they are meant to be loving...except for that one time he was actually mad and had a baseball bat.)

What are some of your blessings?