Mouthes of Babes--Jan 2012

Sam: "When I say wrong things, my belly button goes all the way up to my heart."

Me: "How was school today, Gus?"

Gus: "Good. We learned a new song. But really it was just another way to count. We count apples, we count bunnies...."

(Secretly, I love that he has the makings of a precocious little cynic--fully recognizing that he's not actually learning anything new, just having the same info presented in a new way. I love how his mind works! He says similar things about school every day.)

Willie: "Dad, What's a liberal?"

Sam: "If I put out my middle finger, is that being like Satan?"

Gus: "I have magic powers that are a 1000 times a 1000 times a 1000...."

Sam: "Well, I have magic power that's more than that!"

Willie: "Yesterday on the way to school we saw a creepy guy just sitting at the park and smoking. Today we saw him AGAIN. Smoking AND drinking....probably Coca-Cola."

Me: "Sam, how was your first day of Sunbeams?"

Sam: "Great, but none of the Sunbeams felt much like singing today."

Reillee: (upon seeing her first snowfall) "Howwwy Tow! Howwwy Tow! Daddy, watch out! Howwwy Tow!"

Sam: (singing loudly during church)

"I am making a wish today.

I am making a wish today.

I am making a wish today.

That I can follow Jeeeeesus."

(sign her up for the gospel choir...she can write the songs)

January has come and gone. The highlight would have to be the "snowpocalypse" or "snowmageddden" or "snowpalooza" or whatever you want to call it, that resulted in a week off of school. I don't know why they enjoyed it so much, though, because mom school is much harder than regular school. We passed the week playing in the snow, sledding, watching movies, drinking lots of hot chocolate, prepping for the school science fair, practicing the piano, and complaining about the amount of chores and homework. Oh, and I deep cleaned the kitchen. Yuck!

Luke and I enjoyed our new Primary class (EmJ's class!). I especially loved being complimented by Luke on my last lesson..."I love how you organized that and pulled out some of those lessons that I wouldn't have even thought of!" Thanks, honey, but I just followed the manual. 'Tis the best kept secret.

Pregnancy continues on...I am not looking forward to the next three months. Good news, though, is that I'm still running. Slowly. Very slowly.

We are transitioning Reillee from a crib to the bottom bunk--and taking away her binky. It's been an interesting month....I have learned that my sleep (at night) and my sanity (at nap time) is worth more than the binky and have given in several times.

The Boss, however, had no problems with the transition, as it meant that she now sleeps on the top bunk!! She is so excited.

Benjamin has been counting down the days until his birthday!

Joshua has been smoking the rest of his class on his timed math tests (because he memorizes the answers in order the night before a test, but hey, do what you've got to do to win, right?!).

EmJ actually took a shot in her last basketball game! Hooray!! Also, she has a love/hate relationship with the new sleeping arrangements. She loves sharing the double bed (bottom bunk) with Reillee....but hates the fact that she now shares a room with TWO sisters!

And Luke has been working from home. As if we needed more excitement around here. We'll see how long it lasts. :)

There you have it! January in a nutshell! Join us in February for some long anticipated birthday celebrations...and hopefully lots of other good stuff!

Snow Day(s)!!

I challenged Luke to a polar dip on Sunday morning, but you all know that he is no fun. Especially on the Sabbath.

So we made missionary snowmen instead. (And joked with the neighbors that we should have built them on THEIR front lawn, then rang the doorbell and disappeared.)

(Cute little side note: One of our neighbors passed out hats, scarfs, coal, buttons, and carrots in a bucket that said "Just Add Snow" as her Christmas gift this year. It was soooo fun to walk the neighborhood yesterday and see all the matching snowmen, courtesy of her awesome, creative gift! If we ever move, I am totally going to copy her.)

Benjamin built his own snowman, and he was so proud. I must have a zillion pictures.

Reillee fought getting into her snowsuit (shocker!), but it was worth it to see her look like little Ralphie...or Ralphie's brother, what's his name...

Home church. The finished product. After this, we had a linger longer with friends in the neighborhood.

And with that, I'm ready for spring!

(Oh, and here is Reillee's reaction (reenacted) to seeing snow for the first time. Holy Cow!)

500th Post

I am flirting with the idea of doing mostly video posts for 2012. Birthday interviews, live chaos reports, a live baby birth (hahahahahaha, NOT!) and of course, lots and lots of Reillee as she learns to talk.

So here is the first. Reillee LOVED Christmas and all things Santa. I tried to catch her saying, "Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!!" (Which she usually follows with, "Santa say that!") She was uncooperative, but cute nonetheless.

I wish I had something more visionary ready for my 500th blog post. Sorry about that! I'll try to make 501 more exciting--like maybe a recap of Mitt's 8 vote victory in Iowa?! Politics anyone? Now that's exciting!

Happy 2012!

It's a......

Tiny, nocturnal, thumb-sucking

Girl!!!

(Coming on or before, but absolutely not after, May 9th, 2012)

The Loot

Reillee's coloring book...which she is very serious about. She only colors the eyes of the person/animal on each page. And the boys' Old and New Testament Stories books.

Big Rapunzel Hair!! Told you I could follow a tutorial! I am so proud of this gift, and thrilled that it's been such a hit.

Bey Blades!! I'm not sure what the draw of these toys is, as they are basically just tops, but the boys have been battling their "Beys" since Christmas. And they gave each Bey Blade really cool, masculine names like Mr. Strawberry and Carmel Sauce.

"Remember, as far as anyone can tell, we are a nice, normal family!"

Benjamin, you will recall, takes his gift-giving very seriously. This is the gingerbread man puzzle he made for me. Love that kid!

EmJ gave Willie an FBI kit. He thought that was pretty stylin'!

The loot, before the kids came down.

The girls, with a pink balloon announcing a new baby sister!!

(I made a "Jill-in-the-Box" for Luke to open for the big reveal. Then the kids fought over the balloon all day, then we rewrapped it for each set of grandparents. One set caught on immediately, the other just smiled and looked at us sweetly. "I know you're poor, but...a balloon?" They were excited when we explained the concept, though.)

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas!! Hopefully this blog post will suffice as a Christmas greeting for all those to whom I did not get a card sent...

2011 brought us a 10 year anniversary celebration and photo shoot...

10 years later, still going strong!!

2011 brought us another year of growth for each of the kiddos...aren't they too cute?!

Reillee Anita is 20 months, starting to talk and display her developing personality. She loves milk, Petshops, and cleaning up (really.)!

Joshua is 7 1/2 and is looking forward to getting baptized this year. His reading and writing abilities have soared this year (phew!) and his physical prowess continues to amaze us and all around him. He is going to kill me one day for writing this, but he is also our family's fashion police. :)

This little 3 1/2 year old continues to run the show around here. Often surprising us with her precocity (though by now we should be used to it)! She runs (literally) everywhere and is still ALWAYS, ALWAYS smiling. (Except for the camera, of course!) Samantha began swimming lessons this year and shocked us all by passing her levels while each of the other kids had to repeat.

Ah, Benjamin....Benjamin (5 1/2) started kindergarten in the fall and is thoroughly enjoying academia. Much to Luke's horror, he can't get enough of homework, reading, and extra homework. I love it!

Emmeline is 9 1/2 and has become my little helper this year. I love to have her assistance in the kitchen, changing diapers, and entertaining the kids....a privilege I will enjoy while it lasts. EmJ is doing well in school, as always, and has started playing basketball this year.

This little one will not be the littlest for long, as we look forward to welcoming baby #6 in early May!!

So that's it! We hope you all have a wonderful, amazing, merry Christmas and Happy 2012!!

Crafty

We've been crafty this Christmas season....here are the beginnings of a sunburst mirror for the girls' room. That project was so easy!!

For a family member who is a photographer....some lens pets....photographed here on the end of my blow dryer. Roar!!

Three cheers for people I kind of sort of know whose blogs I stalk every once in a while for these great ideas! On the bed you can kind of see the frog and the fish. There was also a toucan and a devil. Three more cheers for glue guns (and why don't I have my own? Hmmm?)!

Here are the results of one particularly productive day....bread, Christmas cards, and a gingerbread house all assembled and ready to go!

While I worked, the kids "decorated" gingerbread men...with raisins...the next day we came down with the stomach flu and I'm thinking there is definitely a connection.

Merry Christmas!!

Crisis

I sat down at the computer today for a few minutes of puke free (all the sickos are finally sleeping) minutes with the intention of getting all caught up on the blog with regards to our Christmas preparations and activities. BUT as it turns out, my memory card is not in my camera. This is a bit of a dilemna, a little crisis....I have 10 days (the kids won't let me forget) to find it before Christmas or I'll only be able to take 10 pictures with the internal memory. How does a memory card disappear out of your camera? With lovely gingerbread house pictures on it? Nevermind, I have five probable answers....

So here are the only photos that had been uploaded prior to my crisis. A few weeks ago, we decided to roast hot dogs over the fire. It was crazy fun, as you can tell by Reillee's disheveled hairbow. The only problem, however, is that when we started the NEXT fire, our entire house immediately started to smell like hot dogs. Lovely.

I love Christmas!! It is really, really hard for me to wait until the day after Thanksgiving to put up decorations and turn on the Christmas carols. But I did wait. As soon as Thanksgiving was over we:

*Put up the decorations!!

*Turned on the carols!!

*Made a Christmas activity advent calendar (the days that had no real "activity" scheduled have become Christmas story or movie nights)

*Started the baking--70 cake balls, 8 loaves of banana bread, 4 loaves of cheese bread (okay, we actually ate all of those ourselves, but we'll make more soon), 2 batches of muddy buddies, and more to come

*Made gingerbread houses and gingerbread men (this was soooo important to Benjamin). Many thanks to my talented sister-in-law for actually doing all the hard work and letting me just decorate....although, if we gave her family the flu, then thanks may not be enough....

*Saw a couple sets of dancing Christmas lights

*Attended the ward, tae kwon do, and little league Christmas parties...ate too much at all of them (a highlight was the little league party in which Reillee parked herself on the owner's dog's bed, and every time the dog tried to walk away started screeching, "DOGGIE!!! C'MON!!! DOGGIE!!!" loud enough for the entire party to stop and stare. Yep, that's my kid!)

*Saw Santa

*Yelled our Christmas lists up the chimney!! (The videos are on the elusive memory card. But EmJ would like Uggs, Joshua--a DS and a hamster, Benjamin--a bag of gummy worms, Sam--big Rapunzel hair, and Luke--flapjacks and lots of dinero.)

*Attended some beautiful firesides and musical performances

*Watched a Christmas Carol (three versions so far) and other Christmas classics

*Started making Christmas cards, gift tags, and thank you cards....although they will never be done!

*Took the kids shopping for our first annual gift exchange (everybody gets a dollar at the dollar store and has just a few minutes to find the perfect gift). Joshua wanted a paddle ball so bad that he convinced himself that's what Sam wanted, too. We're really getting in to the spirit of giving, obviously.

*Put lights on the house!! This was really hard for Scrooge, himself, but with plenty of prodding from the kids he pulled out the ladder and got to work. For my part, I promised that I'd be a penny pincher, too, by waiting until the week before Christmas to turn them on. (For Christmas, I'm getting Luke a half of a candle. So he can read in the dark at night. But only until the candle runs out.)

And that's it!! We are ready for Christmas!! Can't hardly wait!!

*And just a funny that I have to record: Gus, yesterday, was railing on Sam about being to noisy and annoying. He was getting really worked up, nearly into a tantrum (it doesn't take much), when he suddenly got quiet and thoughtful and turned to me and said, "I don't have to live with Sam when I grow up, do I?" It was such a revelation to him! And gave him the patience to listen to her (singing, wildly singing) for a few more minutes.

Beiber, Pet Shops, Basketball, Turkey Bowl

Happy Thanksgiving!! Here's a quick snippet of what we've been up to the past few weeks....

First, the annual Turkey Bowl. Luke's reenactment of the Turkey Bowl usually lasts longer than the game itself. He loved it, and he is still sore (because he's ooooolllldddd.)!

We also kept up the tradition (2 years running!) of having a gratitude wall this year. Everybody who came into our home was asked to write what they were thankful for and post it on our wall. Our personal, non-family, favorite--MONEY. Some favorites from the kids--beans and rice, bacon, ABCs, business, socks, Spotify, Justin Beiber, and "myself".

Carly came over a few weeks ago and prettied the entire family, including giving Willie the Bieber cut. Or at least the start of it, with instructions on how to style it and to let it continue to grow until he has the full Bieber. Willie has taken Carly's advice very seriously!
Reillee has developed the habit of "reading" the Wall Street Journal each morning while Luke fixes his breakfast. When his breakfast is ready, he steals the journal back and shares his breakfast with her. Quality bonding time....plus, it allows me to go on a (wet, soggy, freezing) run each morning.

She has also found that she loves "peshops". We frequently find her sitting by the "hot" painting herself into the corner by lining up the pet shops. She seriously sits there for hours talking to those little animals--"Go in'ere, puppy. Go nigh-night." Oh, and we amuse ourselves by crawling up near her little fort and trying to steal the pet shops. "NO! Mine pesshops! NO! Mine pesshops!" She's really good at saying no, mine, and go away. I think her evolutionary self-preservation skills are being refined.

EmJ started basketball this month. So from now until the end of the baseball season, we have at least three days/week of sports. I actually love this, except that basketball happens in a gymnasium with very little space for spectators, which makes it hard to bring the kids. (I am looking forward to baseball season, with it's rainy and cold, yet OUTDOOR practices. So much easier for subjecting the kids to their siblings' activities.) Practices are also during dinner time. Strike two. But EmJ is dang cute, so we'll stick with it!

The morning of her first game, we did a little photo shoot outside the house. She is loving this new adventure!!

Wish List

My kids are wierd. Benjamin recently wrote his extremely non-specific Christmas "wish-list"....

"Ben Ten stuff and Batman stuff and Toys R Us stuff and Easter stuff and Christmas stuff and Pokemon cards and Valentine stuff."

Got it?

Sam, too, has been telling me what she wants for Christmas. At the top of her list? A flashlight. For real. She also wants 9 babies, a big balloon that can not pop, a big car like you drive at Toys R Us (powerwheels, I think), and big Rapunzel hair.

(She was kind of worried about the big Rapunzel hair because she didn't think Santa could do stuff like that, but I assured her that Santa is very good at following online tutorials.)

Emmeline, my saving grace, would like a bike. Whew! I have one normal kid....who brings plain mustard sandwiches to school....

Fall Back

When I stand before Congress to testify in favor of doing away with Daylight Savings, here is my argument....

1. Three year old wakes up at 5:18 to tell me she is hungry and can she have oatmeal for breakfast?

2. Everybody else wakes up at 6:18 and climbs into bed with me because they are cold. It takes an hour to defrost the baby's sockless feet. I blame daylight savings....or Luke.

3. It. Is. Dark. By. 5:30. So because our kids don't get enough sleep and we have to start school later so that they sleep longer yada, yada, yada, they have 90 minutes or less of daylight (read: outside play time) when they get home from school. This is a problem.

4. At 6 p.m. we chased a possum down the street. The kids thought it was cool....but rodents out before dinner? Gross.

5. Our porchlight begins it's seasonal dance. That is, I turn it ON everytime I walk by and then Scrooge turns it OFF every time he walks by. On. Off. On. Off. On. Off. From 5:30 to 8:30 every single night! You should come watch the show. We may set it to music this year. (And you are welcome to knock on our door anytime, despite the probability that our home may appear dark and uninviting.)

6. At 6:18 p.m. the baby begins singing, "Heeem up! Heeeem up!" Meaning, it's time to clean up because she is ready for bed. Because it's been dark for far too long.

So, you see, Daylight Savings needs to be done away with. We hate it. And yes, Reillee wore footie jammies to bed last night. No frostbite this morning. Although they still woke up unusually early.

Required Halloween Post

Here they are: A (male) black widow spider, Justin "Beaver", Margot, Edith, and Agnes (who was pretty mad about wearing too many layers of clothes and not understanding why we were dressing up, taking pictures, and having to carry an empty cauldron).
Don't they look just like Despicable Me? Okay, I know. Not really. But it was fun....Gru, Margot, Edith, and Agnes. Sam has been wearing her "Edith hat" for a couple of weeks. Truly, that role must have been based on her.

So, Joshua really wanted to be a ninja this year. We homemade his costume and when he put it on at school someone asked him if he was a terrorist. Hahahahahaha!!! So, he quickly changed back out of the costume, came home, and googled pictures of Justin "Beaver" for an hour. (Also, the googling helped him to learn the Beaver's real name.) He finally found a photo that he could recreate and his "real" Halloween costume was set. Justin Bieber.

My mom made this spider costume for me when I was 8 or so. Benjamin took his role as a spider very seriously.

Remember how Reillee was pretty miffed about the whole dressing up and carrying a cauldron thing? Well, about three houses in she realized that people kept putting "NAN-DEEEEE!!!!" in her cauldron. For the rest of the 47 houses, she had a vice-grip on that stupid cauldron and quickly learned how to say, "Trick or Treat" and "Happy Halloween". She also said, "Please," at each house. And "Heeeey! Mooooove!" when big kids got in her way. By the end of the night she was dragging her heavy bucket, but stuck with it until the bitter end. Within 2 minutes of being home she had three different kinds of candy in her hands and in her mouth.

Happy Halloween!!

(Glad that's over.)

When I Grow Up

Conversation with the Boss:

"Mom, how come you get ice cream and I don't?"

Because I am the mom. When you are the mom, you can eat all the ice cream you want.

"Well, when I am a princess I will SHARE the ice cream with my babies and sisters."

Crushed

Did you know that Luke is incredibly idealistic? Well, he is.

He was terribly upset when he found out that the Titans weren't really worth remembering, and when he learned that Mandy Moore is nothing like her character in A Walk to Remember.

Then last night his whole world came crashing down when we had the following conversation...starting with him telling me a Zig Ziglar anecdote.

Kirs: I wonder what his real name is.

Luke: It's Zig Ziglar.

Kirs: No, it's not. That's a stage name.

Luke: No way!

Kirs: Yes, parents don't usually give their kids their last name--Tommy Thompson, Eric Ericson--It just doesn't usually happen.

Luke: Chris Christie.

Kirs: You are overgeneralizing. Look it up.

Luke: (fumbles around on the iPad for a minute) "Zig Ziglar was given his nickname, Zig, in elementary school. He was born Hilary Hinton Ziglar...." I. Can't. Believe it!

Wow, what a blow.

I fear for the day that he finds out that there is no Tiny Tim (so let's just keep that between us for now, okay?)!

To Be a Princess

The other day I asked Sam what she was going to be when she grows up.

A princess, of course.

So I asked her what she had to do to be a princess.

"Get lots of princess shoes and princess dresses and DO EVERYTHING THAT MY KING SAYS."

Hahahahahahahaha! Love that girl!

Joshua told me the other day that his hair is "long enough to be Justin Beaver hair."

Cue laughter again!

And speaking of hair, I was meant to be a red-head.

That's it!

Take her to the zoo, Rock!

Guess what? I found my camera. Unfortunately, the pictures on it were pretty boring. BUT, we went to the zoo (thank you to the Boss and her amazing luck) and filled it up with more boring, yet memorable pictures.
How often do you get a sunny beautiful day in October with which to enjoy the zoo? We, of course, had to take a picture by the elephants (Wilson!). Not only is Gus entranced with elephants, but Reillee thinks they are awesome. For some reason, she has decided that an elephant doesn't make a noise, but stomps. When I say, what does an elephant say, she says, "Tom...tom...tom..." while patting her knees.

Found this on the camera. Methinks the kids had a photo shoot while waiting for me at the temple one night.

And I do remember taking this....EmJ's sequined shirt, now renamed the disco-blouse. Thanks, Grandma!!

Oh, and this one. A hearty "Welcome back to Seminary!" for Luke. Don't worry, they left cookies. And as you can see, our yard is not very toilet paper conducive....which is probably why they got the backyard, too.