Our House

Okay, so here are a few pictures of our new house.  Nary a picture on the wall, a window dressed, or surface adorned.  But there will be time for that later.   I don't know exactly when "later" is, except that it is after "now".  We are happy, yet still feeling the loss of a ward and neighbors (especially the next door ones) that we love and are so comfortable with.  Jody said it best in his last testimony in our ward- we have fasted with you, prayed with you, laughed with you...we know those bonds will be created here too, but man we loved our life over there in Crismon Creek.

p.s. there are curtains on one window, but it was like that when we got here!

This kitchen has plenty of room for all the helpers I usually have.

From the kitchen looking into the Family room.

Family Room

This room is like an extra part of the family room.  Right now it is hosting our year supply until we find a better home for it.  We've discovered that a year supply for ten people takes up a lot of room.

This room is right of the entry way.  It is still a work in progress, as is everything.  This is homework central every afternoon.  

The living room is straight ahead when you walk in the front door. 

One shot of the master bedroom...

These stables are in the back corner of our property, and I believe they helped seal the deal for Jody.  Yes, those are cows- not ours, a neighbors, but Jody has big plans....

This is the view from the back porch.

The laundry room still needs some organization, and these pictures really don't do it justice.  It also didn't help that it had flooded earlier in the afternoon (notice all the cords), but this room makes me HAPPY!  There are so many cabinets, a huge closet, room for a second fridge, definitely a deal clincher for me, as was the huge pantry.  I couldn't get a good picture of the pantry, but it was built with a large family and food storage in mind:)

The master bath was such a bonus.  It was not on my list of necessary things to have an amazing master bathroom, but I sure don't mind it!

I think it is so pretty at night.

I didn't take pictures of the kids bedrooms- they're still a little boring right now.  There are four kids bedroom and two jack and jill bathrooms.  One thing that's kind of unique is that the older kids actually have their vanities in their rooms, and then the bathroom they share just has the shower and toilet.  It works out well for Braelyn- it gives her her very own space for all the getting ready things that teenage girls have...and since she shares it with a two year old, she pretty much has it to herself.  The house has fabulous storage and lots of little things that make it a great fit for our big family.  

Triple Hooray!

Saturday was a "work" day at our house.
Kids don't always like "work" days.
What they don't know is sometimes adults don't like "work" days.
But, we have to pretend we do so that hopefully our good attitudes will be contagious!
We worked long and hard on Saturday.
I thought we were all done.
Then I remembered the state of my car.
DISGUSTING.
So, I rallied the troops and told them to put their swimming suits on and meet me out front.

There was water, bubbles, laughter and fun.

The car got clean-HOORAY!

The kids enjoyed working together-DOUBLE HOORAY!!

We spent good, quality time together on Saturday-

TRIPLE HOORAY!!!

Who said work can't be fun??

The Haircut

It is late and I really should be in bed, but instead I'm sitting here to hopefully give my thoughts an opportunity to escape.  On nights like this I seem to be held prisoner by thoughts that lead to other thoughts...then other thoughts...and so on.  Sleep will come easier when my mind is not so full.

Today I cut Colton's hair.  I know-it really shouldn't be a big deal.  But to me it is.  It's like the final admission that he's not a little baby anymore.  (Now, I didn't say these thoughts would be logical, or reasonable).    I managed to put it off for awhile with the excuse that the hair cutting scissors were lost.   New scissors were purchased several weeks ago.  They taunted me from my bathroom counter.   I put them into the back of a drawer, trying to drown out the irrational arguments they started in my head.  But his hair was getting so long...I know certain family members put great effort into biting their tongues (thank you for bearing with my oddities).  Mentally preparing myself, I've been saying out loud for weeks "we really need to cut your hair!".

This morning I just took a deep breath, walked into the bathroom, and did it.  Cut his beautiful golden red locks right off.  Watched them fall lifeless onto the bathroom counter, saying "I told you so!".  And they were right.  He looks bigger, older, a handsome little boy, only not so little.  

I thought I would shed a few tears, but surprisingly enough, I was okay.  But tonight the emotion comes-- the realization that I won't fight this inner battle many more times.  Maybe only once or twice.  And then the tears do begin to form, because it's all going so fast.  How could my years having babies be that close to an end?  I remember when Braelyn was born laying on the delivery table and saying "I can't wait to do this again".  I love this part of my life. I am grateful everyday to my Father in Heaven for letting me be a mother, letting this dream come true.  I know that I am extremely blessed.  

I will be okay.

I feel a little better already.

He is still beautiful.

And he is still my baby.  

Pacifiers and Excuses

Brooklyn still has a pacifier.  She loves her pacifier.  We love that she loves her pacifier.  She turned 2 in Feb., which means she is already overdue to be off the pacifier. But you see, I have such good excuses.  The thing of it is, they make really cute girl pacifiers.  You know, they match the outfit and are shiny and pretty.  The mam website itself says "Over 50 different colors and prints to choose from make it fun to coordinate MAM pacifiers with babies’ outfits, wardrobe or daily mood. (Daily mood,seriously?) And it makes it so easy to put her to sleep, quiet her in church, or stop a fit instantly.  If you had eight kids and two babies 15 months apart, would you be anxious to take away the one thing that can accomplish all of that?   I was actually getting ready to take her off of the pacifier as soon as I was done teaching my class last summer, and before the new baby was born. But then the accident happened, and she needed it. She really did. My poor little girl got a new baby brother and a broken mommy at the same time, and my angel needed something to comfort her. Well, the new baby brother came with a pacifier too. And so it came to pass that Brooklyn realized she had access to pacifiers any time she darn well pleased. We have actually watched her walk in to Colton's room and pluck it out of his peaceful, pouty, sleeping mouth.  (She also steals his blanket in the same manner.) We realized that taking her off a pacifier would mean taking it away from the baby, and he was just little.  But now she talks.  And he is almost one.  And it is a little annoying to listen to a toddler talk through a pacifier.  And she wants it allthe time.  She will pitifully cry out "Pa--ci--fi--er" in the middle of a tantrum.  The kicker was when I was at my moms on Sunday night.  I mentioned something about taking the pacifier away from her and my sister in law asked if it was pushing her teeth out.  I of course said "No".  I mean really, what kind of mother would let her baby have a pacifier to the point of deforming her teeth?  "Her teeth came in with a really wide arch" I hear myself saying.  It is true, but I know I sounded pretty lame.  Amy looked in her mouth and said, "Oh, they are out a little".  And then in an even more feeble attempt I say, "They've always been like that".  Even as the words come out of my mouth I realize I have a problem.  I am in denial.  And to Amy's credit, she didn't utter a single word, didn't even smirk.  So Monday morning I looked in her mouth, and sure enough, her two front teeth are being pushed forward a little. And so it begins.  Taking her off the pacifier.  Right now we only use paci's for nighttime.  So far so good.  I'll let you know how STAKE CONFERENCE (read as two whole hours) goes without a paci.  We'll bring a lot of fruit snacks and hope for the best!!  

5 Things

My friend Sara tagged me about 3 weeks ago, and I am just now getting to this.  It seemed like the easiest way to ease back into blogging, because the content and format were already laid out for me, and that's about the level of energy and creativity I can muster right now.  If you've talked to me recently I'm sorry for sounding like a broken record, but I am SO tired.  I'm afraid I might be tired for the next twenty years.  Oh well.  My dad promises me I will miss all of this someday, and I choose to believe him.  It makes it a lot easier to get through the day, the week, the project, whatever, if you enjoy it while you're doing it!

5 Things I was doing 5 years ago:

1. Turning 30

2. Delivering my 6th baby, Cannon James-and little did I know how he would change my life:)

3. Happily watching my sister Amy fall in love and get married to her incredible husband Don

4. Putting my trust in the Lord and my husband Jody as I watched him drive down the street headed for Florida to try and launch a new business-leaving me with six children 9 and under, serving as primary president, teaching 2 children's performing groups and doing pest control scheduling from my home.  Happy to say, it all paid off!

5. Welcoming Jody back home two days before Christmas after two very long months, happy to have my family back under one roof!  

5 Things on my to do list for today:

1. Laundry, what else?

2. Drive for what seems like an eternity-(schools are a lot further away now that we've moved, I've used almost 3/4 a tank of gas since Tuesday morning)

3. Make a really nice dinner

4. Be patient

5. Make sure my kids know they're loved (p.s.- I cleaned the house yesterday, don't think I'm a slacker!)

5 things I would do with a million dollars:

1. Pay off my house

2. Put away enough money for six missions and eight weddings

3. Take all of my kids to go and see Amy and Don in Europe

4. Buy some land in the mountains

5. Help other people ( I know it sounds like the pageant answer, but really, what else would I need?)

5 places I have lived:

1. Provo, Utah

2. Walpole, Massachusetts 

3. Baton Rouge, Louisiana

4. Katy, Texas

5. Laie, Hawaii

5 jobs I have held:

1. Dishroom worker at BYU

2. Phone operator at BYU-Hawaii (best job on campus)

3. Orthodontic Assistant

4. Piano Teacher

5.Teaching childrens Musical Theater groups

5 things I want to be doing in five years:

1. Watching Conner graduate from high school

2. Having my girl back home for the summer after her first year of college and loving every minute of it

3. Be a positive, happy person- despite the demands of teenagers, tweens, young children, and probably a few toddlers to boot!

4. Spend more time with my best friend (Jody), although that's probably a little optimistic. (See #3)

5. Maybe, possibly, working on a degree

5 people I tag:

1. Amy

2. Amy

3. Heidi

4. Jessica

5. Bobbi

Missing my Blog

I have so many things I want to blog about- Brooklyn's birthday, Cooper's birthday, Crew losing his first teeth, the family party with the magician, the new house.....  The problem is the last item. Not really a problem, but a reason.  My days have been filled with packing, packing, more packing, picking paint colors, deciding what little construction projects to do first, buying a new fridge, picking a new table, packing, and CLEANING.  Yikes.  I am bone tired.  Today I was 35 minutes late to pick up Braelyn from school.  I had been at the new house deciding on paint colors.  When I picked her up I told her I was sorry, but it had to be done so that the painters could start tomorrow.  Cooper was in the front seat and with a confused look asked, "So when someone's a painter and they're a girl, they're called a paintress?"  It was a needed laugh.  He had misheard me when I said "painters" (actually I probably had slurred speech brought on by tiredness) and thought he heard paintress.  It probably wasn't that funny, but I was a little punch happy I guess!  I came home and needed to just do something that wasn't packing, so I decided to add my family pictures to the blog.  Way more fun than packing.  Missing my blog...will be back soon.

Stacks of Laundry

Last Friday after school I decided that we should do our Saturday work early because we had family pictures first thing the next morning, and it would just be easier all around.  We all had our different jobs, and as I was in the kitchen Crew and Cannon came in bubbling with excitement.  They wanted to show me a "surprise".  I closed my eyes and they led me by the hand into my bathroom, where they proudly showed off their hard work.  They had decided to clean my bathroom for me!  I shouted my joy and smothered them with hugs and kisses. Then we all went on with our work.  It wasn't until later that night that we realized that we had overlooked this:Apparently when they were trying to clean the shower they realized they couldn't reach the top.  So they found every piece of clothing they could-clean, dirty, whatever-and stacked it up in the shower.  It made for some extra laundry the next day, but it was worth the laugh!