A Stroll Around the Temple

We realize it is terribly hot, but we needed to expend some time on a Sunday afternoon-thus we decided to go take a stroll around the Temple grounds.  It was absolutely beautiful-the gardnes were in full bloom and we were loving it. What a nice way to spend a Sunday with your family!

 This one was taken with my camera's timer, while balanced on the stroller.  Not too bad!

 Taking a few practice shots for her baptism montage...

 Its a nice feeling, knowing our family is forever. 

Dog Days

 I was super excited this weekend because we finally had enough goghurt boxes to get free tickets to see the newest Diary of the Wimpy Kid movie!  Both Karianna and JD were so excited about this as they love this series and have been dying to see the newest movie.  I was excited for the chance to hang out with these two kiddos for FREE!!! 

So you can imagine my annoyance when I started entering the goghurt codes, only to find out they wouldn't work.  Jared and I tried so many different things to get them to work and at the end of the day, we were at a loss-we had no idea if our computer was malfunctioning or if goghurt is in the business or ripping us off.  I felt so sad for Karianna and JD-how to tell them it wasn't working and we might not go???  As we were breaking the news to them, Jared made a suggestion:  we could still go and catch a matinee, for cheaper ticket prices, but JD and Karianna would need to contribute a few bucks to their ticket prices. They both thought about it, and it was awesome to see them weighing this decision-was it worth it for this movie, or would they prefer to keep saving up their money?

They did decide to chip in for the movie tickets, and we ended up going despite gogurt's attempts to thwart us.  It was a good lesson for the kids in terms of money-figure out what's worth it and how it affects your savings.  I had a fantastic time myself-it was completely worth it for me given the memories it builds with my kids.  The movie was pretty good-once again, I didn't need to see the hint of another strange male's rear end, but otherwise, a funny flick!

**Love Karianna's face!!!!

JDisms: The Funny Ones and the Somewhat Serious Ones

JD:  Its hot in this car!
Mom:  Don't worry, the air will cool it down in just a second.
JD:  Okay. [mumbles something]
Mom:  What was that JD?
JD:  I said, Jesus must be in this car making it so hot!
Mom:  Why do you think that?
JD:  Because Jesus is like the sun-so he must be in the car making it so hot!

A little bit later...

JD:  Mom, I think Dad is going to die first.
Mom:  What?  Why would you think that?
JD:  Because he is older than you, and older people die first.
Mom:  JD, you problaby don't need to worry about that until much later in life.

Still later....

JD:  Mom, as you sure Dad won't die until much later?
Mom:  Well, I'm not all the way sure, but I am pretty sure.
JD:  If Dad does die, how long will it take for him to be resurrected?
Mom:  It might seem like a long time to you, but it won't seem like a long time to Dad at all.  Thats why you don't have to worry about dieing-you'll get to see everyone again after you are resurrected.
JD: That's okay then....I guess.
Mom:  And guess what?  When you are resurrected, your body will be perfect.  Dad won't get migraines anymore.  James won't have heart problems anymore.  And guess what else:  You won't have celiac disease anymore!
JD:  [eyes get wide] Does that mean I'll get to eat graham crackers again?
Mom:  Yes sir!
JD:  Okay then.  How much longer do I have to wait until I get resurrected? 

And on Sunday...

JD:  [whisper] Dad....Dad.....DAD!
Dad:  What JD? 
JD:  How much longer do we have church for?
Dad:  About 10 more minutes and then it will be time for primary.
JD:  No, I mean, how much longer do we have church for?
Dad:  Oh, about 2 more hours and then we'll go home.
JD:  No, I mean, how much longer do we have church for?
Dad:  I don't know what you mean JD.
JD:  I mean, how much longer do I have to go to church in my entire life?
Dad:  [chuckles] You will be going to church every Sunday for the rest of your life buddy.
JD:  [drops his head into his hands]  I can't handle this any longer!!!!!!!

Such are the woes of a 6 year old little boy!

Birthday Party for 4

We had a huge combined birthday party today for Robert, Stephen, Joshua, and Mom (although that last one was a surprise!).  Our large group has just started requiring a larger venue-the church usually fits perfectly, especially when games were involved!  The entire thing went over very well, and we had a blast with family!  A few highlights:

• We played several games, which was great because they didn't involve a ton of prep but were super fun, especially for a family that spent their summers at Arts and Crafts and thus played a lot of Carlot.  ;)  It was fun to teach the younger kids this classic game from my childhood- was ready to do some prison dodgeball, jailball, or hit the duck!
• We did a 3 legged race, and I was very tickled that Karianna and I won it-without cheating as someone pointed out!  I loved that Karianna immediately came and asked me to do the race with her once it was announced.  Sometimes it is hard to get her excited for things like this and silly as it sounds-this was a cute bonding moment for her and I.

•  It was super fun to celebrate Rob and Steve as the newly returned missionaries!  Watching them together, and hanging out with the little kids was a blast!  Our present to them:  a night out with Jared, which was really the most awesome gift anyone could give or receive.  I'm totally serious-I've had 10 years of this, and I am PERFECTLY content!

•  Unbeknownst to mom, we threw her birthday in here as well.  Becca made a yummy angel food cake and hid it from mom in a cabinet in the church kitchen.  We all held cards and little gifts in reserve. When the time was right, we broke the news to mom and burst into a lovely rendition of Happy Birthday.  She seemed surprised, and it was fun to be the cause of that surprise!

•  Sara and Chloe are so cute together!  Sara was having so much fun that she started having a pee accident in the cultural hall.  I scooped her up real quick and hustled her down to the restroom, where she continued to do her business...a lot of business.  :)  So although she didn't catch herself all the way, I am at least glad she was able to "hold it" for the most part! 

Overall, we had a fantastic time and enjoyed celebrating together!

Missionary #2 is Home!

Yup, that's Robert and he's home!  2 years in Uraguay have gone by super fast and Rob is now back!  It has been so awesome to have both Rob and Steve home, I can't believe how fast time has gone.  In some ways Rob and Steve are exactly the same, but in other ways they are so different-they have grown up, and it is obvious how big of an impact their missions have had on them.  We are really looking forward to spending more time with them in the upcoming weeks before real life takes over! 

Karianna and JD couldn't make it to the airport for this homecoming given that it was the 2nd day of school, but the other kids came with me to greet Rob.  Jared couldn't get work off either, but he will get to see Rob after work today.  I will always remember the look on Rob's face when he got close enough to see everyone.  He looked like he was in shock, so overwhelmed  I can only imagine-when he left, Sara was just a baby and Jordan was a little toddler!  James wasn't even a thought on my mind yet!  I am sure walking into the terminal and seeing all these little nieces and nephews running around-and looking so different-must have been so overwehlming, but hopefully exhililarating to some degree!  We took some grand airport pictures, grabbed some suitcases and headed on out of there.  We are hopeful we'll get to go swimming with Rob tonite after he gets released-looking forward to chatting with my little bro again-both of them!  Welcome home Rob, we love you!

The Whole crew at the airport-I outlined that sign.  :)

This became Rob's famous pose. Jordan wanted to copy it, jut to look cool!

The three little boys were getting restless, so they raided every free handout they oculd get their hands on.  This booklet had a picture of spiderman-SCORE!

This is a cool shot:  my four brothers, all returned missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Now that's awesome! 

James: 8 Months

 James is now up to 8 months of age!  We continue to love every second with him, especially given how quick it is going!  A few things of note this month (with some pictures intermixed):

• James is averaging in at just over 15 pounds and 28 inches long.  It was funny, we had a few doctor appointments mid-month and at one of them James was 14 pounds 11 ounces and at the next, he was 14 pounds 2 ounces.  Not a big deal, weight fluctuates, right?  Well, at the first doc appointment, he was 28 inches even, and at the second they claimed he was 26 1/2 inches.  :) LOL, I had to laugh, I didn't say anything because it honestly was not a real doctor and it wasn't an important appointment at all, just funny!  He is growing, growing, growing-still looks like a stick, but I think he looks super big!

 No, it's not Easter-Jordan was being funny!

• James has figured out the moving game.  He is not much inclined yet to crawl, but he loves to roll.  He has been able to roll both ways for a long time but only just realized this month that it can get him places...and it can get him things.  In the case below, he decided to roll over into my closet.  Don't know what was so appealing about my closet, but there it is.  He has also started to roll over at night and sleep on his tummy, which always flips me out the first time it happened, but of course, he is okay.  He is never, ever in the same spot anymore when I wake him up in the morning.  He has also rolled off the bed two times because of how roll-y he is.  Not our best parenting moments, but good learning ones-don't leave the baby alone on the bed!

•  Probably the biggest thing about this month is that James inherited his own room FINALLY!  We moved his pack and play into Sara's old room and he now sleeps there through the night.  I am finally at a point where I love James' bedtime routine.  This has a lot to do with switching him to his own room, and I am so happy to be getting some actual sleep. James eats in between 7 and 7:30 and then goes to bed immediately thereafter.  He falls asleep on his own with a blankie, his binkie, and his Scout playing 10 minutes of classical music.  He doesn't wake up until 5:30 when I actually wake him up to nurse before I have to teach.  He goes right back to sleep and gets up for good at 8:30 when I get home from taking the kids to school.  I am in LOVE with this routine.  He has stopped waking up in the middle of the night and doesn't need his carseat anymore to comfort him back to sleep.  It is a long-awaited victory in terms of night times-James is by far the hardest baby I have had in terms of sleeping through the night!
• James loves grabbing things.  That includes skin, which has resulted in many scratches for me-we are working on that!  He loves toys and books and wrappers and teeny tiny chokables and water bottles and the occasional supplementary bottle of formula or water.  He is very adept at this-two handed, one-handed, the drop-and-pick-up....the fine motor skills are coming along nicely.  He is able to pick up his own cheerios or Kix with his pincher fingers now, which is cool, especially in terms of the concentration it takes.

•  James is sitting on his own fairly well these days, he won't tip over backward any more but will tip sideways if he is left too long.  He does baby pushups all the time and when he is on his back, he will try to do a backbend sans the arms.  He doesn't seem to have any inclination to crawl yet, though if I put him on all fours, he can balance there pretty good and will start rocking-I just have to set him up first.  He still loves to stand and swim as frequently as possible!

•  James got to meet Uncle Robert and Uncle Stephen at the tail end of this month.  That was exciting as he got to show off his scars and his smile!  No teeth yet in that mouth-I was sure they were going to pop this month!  But alas, James is still blowing raspberries, drooling over everything and shoving whatever he can in his mouth to gum at all times. 

•  The swing unfortunately is becoming a thing of the past.  :(  Sad day!  James still fits into it given that he is still small, however, he doesn't tolerate it for long-he'd rather be rolling across the floor. Can't blame him for that one I guess!  He does prefer sitting in his little, not-so-high chair to do anything from eating baby food, watching me clean, eating kix, or playing with toys.  He is still nursing every 3 hours during the day, but he is a gold medal nurser-5 minutes and he's done.  Adding food to his repertoire in the last few months has been a great thing and he will eat pretty much any Gerber food now.  I am hoping this month to introduce some more table foods.

• James is preparing for his circumcision surgery on Sept. 4th.  We are super hopeful that will not be a big deal at all.  :)

 We love you James!  Happy 8 month birthday!

Another Year in the Works!

 Ah, my kids are so old! Both Karianna and JD looked so grown up this morning, I can hardly believe it.  Another school year commenced today, and I am so grateful!  The routine has been SO wonderful; my more focused time on Joran and Sara has been SO wonderful, and going back to a normal naptime routine with James has been SO wonderful.  I have a new work schedule that lets me work single hours at different points through the day so as to not take away from my time with the little kids, and I am loving not having huge blocks of time when I have to be online.  Overall, we are only a day into it, and I am just loving being back to this normal routine. 

MPS picked a fine day for the first day of school-stinkin' hot and downright unhealthy to be outside!  The kids and I were on the playground for all of 15 minutes and I felt like I was baking.  When I tried to take a picture of JD and Karianna, this is what they looked like, squinting in the son-Karianna is desperately trying to look normal (didn't work) and JD is using his fingers to keep his eyes open despite the harsh sunlight:

 This shot was a bit better as we headed up the walkway to Bush.

 Being the grown-up kids they are, both JD and Karianna ran off to buddy up with their friends from last year.  This is a new playground for JD, but he didn't seem nervous at all-he immediately threw himself into a group of buds from last year, and I was thus invisible.  :) That's the way to go!

 Karianna's first love-monkey bars.  She looks so graceful too, and thank heavens for the shorts under her skirt!  She wasn't just doing the monkey bars traditionally either-she was twirling herself around them all the way to the end.  It was quite impressive!

 Karianna has been overjoyed to have her best friend Vita in her class.  Karianna is not a touchy-feely person, but as soon as she saw Vita, she ran up to her and gave her a hug.  I love that Vita is such a good friend to her.  I was talking to Vita's mom, who told me that Karianna had given Vita a note last year when there was some girl drama going on with the 2nd-grade girls in their class.  Her mom said the note was so sweet and made Vita feel a lot better about what was going on.  Her mom told Vita that Karianna was the type of friend she needed to stick with-someone who wouldn't make her feel sad, force her to do things, or bargain with their friendship.  It was so nice for me to hear this anecdote-Karianna is a really good friend, and she takes her friendships very seriously.  I told her what Vita's mom had said, and I do believe it made her day.

 Once the bell rang, the kids were off and herded into the school and before I knew it, I was back again to pick them up!  It went by so quick, and I am sure that before I know it, the whole semester will be done and we'll be preparing for AIMS for Karianna and the 1st-grade assessments for JD.  Happy school year guys! 

Meet the Teacher: 2012

We have met the teachers!  Woohoo! 

The kids got to pick some of their new clothes to wear, and we headed off to Barbara Bush Elementary to meet their new teachers.  JD has Mrs. Cawood this year for 1st grade.  He started exploring his classroom the second we walked in-that boy shows no hesitancy at all when it comes to new things, especially school-related things!  I love that about him.  No fear!  I had a good chat with Mrs. Cawood about his celiac disease, and she seemed somewhat familiar with it, which is good.  We also talked to the nurse about it so they are aware.  I have been role-playing cafeteria scenes with JD for the last few days so he knows how to respond if someone tries to share food with him.  That's the only thing I am worried about-someone offers you a cookie or a ding dong, and it sure is hard to turn them down!  JD tends to tell me, during our role playing, that he can't eat bread because he has diseases in his body.  We are just working on clarifying that so students don't get the wrong impression.  :) 

Karianna has Mrs. Simpson this year for 3rd grade.  I can't believe she is in 3rd grade.  I just spent a few years teaching 3rd grade!!!!  I find it so hard to believe that she is going to be learning all those things I just got done teaching.  It just seems so...grown up.  Karianna is so grown up-maybe more than she needs to be.  She is so smart, and I know she will do well.  It is just hard for me to swallow-my kids are growing up.  I am sure every parent in MPS is feeling this way right now!  Karianna is always a bit hesitant in new situations, and I think she tries to play it off as if she is too cool to worry or care-defense mechanism.  She did perk up quite a bit when she saw the many books and magazines that decorated the room.  Karianna is such a reader-she has been keeping track of AR points during the summer-she has a super long list of books she already wants to test on.  I love that about her!  She also started on multiplication this summer, she's got the 1s, 2s, 3s, 5s, most 9s, 10s, and 0s down pretty well, and I was very proud of her for taking the time out of her summer to practice.  I know she will do well this year, she has her best friend Vita in her class, and that made her very excited!

Jordan doesn't start school on Wednesday. He has to wait until Thursday.  However, we still got to go meet his teacher for preschool.  He still has Ms. Cathy, whom he worked with last year-he loves Ms. Cathy, and he loves his classroom, which is also staying the same.  The only thing changing is he will transition to the afternoon preschool class, which is much more geared toward the pre-kindergarten curriculum.  This will be a very easy beginning to his year since he is so familiar with his entire school surroundings.  He was explaining all the activities in his classroom to JD and Sara. He was so proud of this thing that is HIS and his alone.  :)  Ms. Cathy, Ms. Pam, and his speech therapist were very excited to see him as well, I absolutely love how EMECEC works and I love that Jordan is getting the speech therapy he needs now before beginning kindergarten. 

We are excited for the school year to officially start in 2 days!

Small Victories

School is starting this week, and I always find myself wanting to get back to our normal routine that summer so easily eradicates.  Changes in our family have also necessitated changes in the family norm, thus I have spent the last few weeks trying to normalize some things to make life easier.  Here are some small victories:

1. Family Dinners:  We have eaten dinner together-as a family-at the table-for the last 4 days straight.  This might seem odd to you.  Our kitchen is terribly small and we opt to use the formal dining room as a playroom.  Thus, we don't have enough room for the family to all sit at the table together-we can only fit 4 chairs in the space.  Karianna, bless her heart, came up with an idea last week to get more chairs around the table in order to have family dinners. Sure, we are using camping chairs to seat extra people-call us hicks if you want.  But it is working!  This has been so important for our family to reconnect-and it makes adapting to a gluten-free diet easier.  It's so funny, as soon as we sit down, Karianna will encourage the family conversation that must accompany a family dinner by asking a somewhat formal question:  "So mom, what did you do all day?"  "Hey dad, how did work go for you today?"  "So, what did you guys do while we were all taking a nap?" 
2. Gluten-Free!  We have been gluten-free for 2 days now!  Score!  Okay, so really only JD has been gluten-free, but we did all eat our first completely gluten-free meal on Saturday night, and we ate a regular meal, sans the gluten on Sunday night.  Those two things are different, I promise: Saturday was grilled chicken over salad with corn on the cob-all foods that naturally avoid gluten.  Sunday was the gluten-free version of hamburger helper, green beans, and strawberries-a main dish that normally contains gluten but I bought the gluten-free version.  It's not something we will frequently do, as gluten-free foods are more expensive. However, it was nice to all say we were eating some of JD's foods and sharing the process with him.
3. Shopping:  It has been easy over the summer to go to Walmart just to get out of the house.  That, unfortunately, made us spend more on miscellaneous items.  Not necessarily extraneous, but it became too much.  Thus for the last 3 weeks, I have been successful at keeping all my grocery shopping to Saturdays ONLY.  I have told the kids:  We only go to Walmart on Saturdays.  The one day I tried to take the kids out to Walmart to pick up some baby Tylenol, they all told me NO!  It's not Saturday-we can't go to Walmart!  It was an awesome reaction-it made me take a step back, consider if I really needed a new thing of Tylenol, and then made me remember that we had one in our traveling medicine bag.  Problem solved, small expense avoided.  If we run out of something during the week, we are learning to do without and use what we have.  It has been a good learning experience for everyone involved, especially the kids.
4. Naps:  Sara is officially potty trained for naptime-woohoo!  That is a huge accomplishment in and of itself. I just wanted that done before school starts so I can teach during naptime worry-free.  Karianna has been a good helper the past week. If Sara comes out to go potty during naptime, she has been making sure Sara goes right back to bed so I can teach.  This has been a great routine to set up before the kids go to school.
5. Schedules:  I am working this week on setting up a cleaning schedule.  For me.  I don't want to feel like I am cleaning all day.  Thus, there are certain jobs I need to set up as everyday jobs, and others that I want to assign to a specific day of the week. I think writing this down will help me stay more accountable to myself in terms of getting these things done. We'll see how it goes-I'm rereading The Help right now, and I think I got my inspiration from Minny's "clean-those-DARN-sheets" day.  :)
6. Job Lists:  We started it a bit over the summer, but things were so relaxed, that we didn't stick to it.  But when school starts this week, the kids will officially come home to a job list to take care of.  Given that they are all saving up for something, part of the system involves a small amount of allowance, and they are excited about that.  JD found a 10-dollar bill in the parking lot at Walmart the other day.  He has been saving for a Ninjago toy, and he was so excited that he could finally buy it!  As we were looking in the Ninjago aisle, we realized the one he wanted was not in stock.  He considered buying a more expensive one, and I was so proud of him when he told me he wanted to just keep saving his money instead of spending it so he could eventually buy a different one.  It was awesome to see him making such a good financial decision.
7. Labels:  I taught JD this week how to find the word wheat on a label or how to find the "gluten-free" label on foods.  It was a very helpful lesson, and he thought it was awesome to see all the gluten-free foods he has access to. He is starting to show some sadness at not being able to eat certain things anymore, so I am hopeful educating him will help his morale.

One Missionary Down!

 Steve is home!

 And we all got to go see him!  And yes, we were in Terminal 4 if you couldn't tell!

 Steve got home from his mission this week, and it was fantastic to see him after a very rewarding 2 years serving the Lord.  We were not always the best letter writers, but we sure did pray for him often and read his emails as soon as they popped into our inboxes.  The kids were always asking us to show them where Steve was on our big map, and it was a pleasure to tell them what he was up to that week in particular.  Missionaries always change somewhat when they come back, but it is always nice to see the things that also remain the same!  We are glad to have Steve home after serving so faithfully.  What other culture in the world asks this of their 19-year-old young men-who serve so willingly?  Amazing! 

Steve got to meet James for the first time....

 And of course, we all went swimming as soon as possible!  Steve never really left the AZ heat, seeing as Texas is frequently just as hot (and more humid), but he wasn't able to jump in a pool...I'm sure it was nice to do so!  The kids sure LOVED it. They spent the whole time clambering for him to play with them, throw them, chase them-anything with them!  I love how much the kids love their uncles!

 Welcome home Steve!  We are so proud of you and can't wait to have Rob come home next week to join you in post-mission bliss!  In true Steve fashion, here he is taking a flying leap into the pool!  :)  And just so you know, I get that much height too....

Finding a Way

We have a small kitchen. It is downright tiny. We have a formal dining room, but we use it as a playroom. 5 kids-you gotta have something like that. As such, we have never been able to fit more than 4 chairs around the kitchen table. In a family of 7, that means we have never been able to have an actual family dinner in this house...for 3 years. That is super sad, and we don't want it to be that way, but we are not sure if there's much we can do about it.

Karianna thought otherwise. 

She has wanted us to have a "real family dinner" for a while. I kept telling her that's a great idea. We just don't have a lot of room to all sit down together! I told her our plan was to save up for a few benches so that we could eventually seat more kids at.....  Eventually was apparently not good enough for this 7-year-old. She took it upon herself to bring in 2 camping chairs from the backyard, move 2 of the regular dining chairs to the opposite side of the table, and move the table so we could all sit. Apparently, when we are done eating, we are supposed to just move the table back against the wall. Sounds crazy, right?

I love it.

Yes, we might appear to be hicks to some degree, using camping chairs at our kitchen table. Yes, it's weird that we need to move our table back and forth to have a simple family dinner. But the thing is we get to have a family dinner. Karianna's innovation is staying, and we are now eating dinner at the same time, as a family. I am so excited-might not seem like a big deal, but I LOVE the idea of finally eating together, talking together, and sharing good gluten-free food together... it's a win-win. And our camping chairs will get more use.

I love that girl!