My cup is full....

..........actually, it runneth over. Thanks to my sweet husband suggesting that I take 3 whole days to myself to attend BYU Education Week. I declined the offer a few times and then changed my thinking the morning it started and I'm so thankful I did! It was just what I needed, spiritually, physically, & mentally. My back hasn't hurt at all for 2 days and before this I was popping Ibuprofen right and left. My mind is clear and I have a renewed sense of energy to be the kind of mother I know Heavenly Father wants and knows I can be. And my head is full of thoughts, quotes, scriptures, suggestions, etc. that are moving me to action. Not to mention, I was reminded of how wonderful it is to eat a sandwich by MYSELF with no one telling me it looks gross, or on the flip side, just deciding that it's their sandwich. I enjoyed doing my infamous speed walking in between classes with no one telling me to "slow down mommy!" I had time to clear my head while enjoying the silence walking through the Garden's. And, I must mention that above all, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to around 22 hours of lectures w/out having to pass out snacks, shush the loudness, give "the look," and leave the room with fussy babies. Now, I may sound as though I begrudge my life as a mommy of 6, actually, I totally love it, it's just stressful at times and I realized that every mommy needs a break now and BYU Education week just might become my little break. Once again, I've gotta say how much I love my husband for making it possible!! He's a gem!

Kids

I'm completely entertained by my children's antics:

Porter bit Kamryn really hard on her back a few days ago. She was devisated and I was ticked so I bit him back, not as hard but hard enough that he'd know how it felt. Side note: this worked with Kaleb, in fact, he never bit again. Anyway, in the process I broke Morgan's heart, she thought I was being a really mean mom so she started sobbing so I had Kamryn, Porter, and Morgan all bawling. Sometimes you just can't win!

Speaking of Morgan, she's my little tender heart bear. She is a pushover when it comes to the babies and will give them anything they want just to make them smile. She melts when they come and give her spontaneous loves and cries when they want nothing to do with her. As far as the little "biting episode" goes, I asked her how she thought I should have handled it and she proceeded to tell me that I should have just put Porter in his crib for a few minutes as a punishment and then given him a second chance. I told her that I'd try that next time.

From the back seat of the van the other day, Kaleb asked me when he was going to get new eye balls. I asked why he needed new ones and replied, "because I'm growing out of these ones!"

Kamryn is Porter's little protector. Anything that she gets, she always asks for one for "Po-Po." At the family reunion I gave her 4 tootsie rolls, she immediately went and gave Porter 2. So I thought I'd see what she'd do if I gave her 3. She looked at them for a second and then gave one to Porter and then went and found Kaleb to give him the 3rd one. She'll always scoot over to make room for Porter on a chair and when he's hurt, she quickly comes to give him loves. She loves to choose his clothes for him each morning, hates when he gets in trouble, loves to find him his favorite cars in the toy box and surprise him with them, hates when he gets hurt, loves to get him his blanket and toothbrush when it's time for bed, and the list goes on. I can just see it now, Kamryn taking Porter by the hand when they go off to college, registering him for his classes, settling him in his apartment, cooking all of his meals, doing his laundry, and holding his hand leading him to each of his classes!

The kids love to ask the babies, ""who's poopy" because both of them proudly yell, "Me" even if their not guilty!

Last night I was putting the babies to bed and after singing several songs got ready to leave the bedroom. Kamryn kept yelling what sounded like "good, good" but then it dawned on me she was saying "God." I realized that I forgot to sing I am a Child of God to them like I usually do. I love moments like this one.

Porter's favorite words are "Daddy, home." He loves when DJ gets home and is sad on the nights that he comes home and has to leave again.

Last week the kids and I stayed at my sisters house so the kids could attend Music Camp. Lori was gone with all the older kids and I was hanging out in the backyard with the little ones. The babies decided they wanted to feed Lori's cat but I didn't know where the cat food was so I told Kamryn I didn't know where the food was and she got the most excited look on her face, took my hand and led me to the pantry and found the kitty food down in a not so easily noticed place on the floor. I guess she'd helped the kids feed the kitty at the family reunion the week before and had remembered where it went.

At the family reunion all the kids loved playing in the pool but Kaleb. He loves the idea of the pool and loves playing around it and on the steps but isn't quite brave enough to venture too far in. Porter is a different story, he loves jumping off the side, loves swimming around with just water wings on, and really doesn't have much fear. I put Porter's water wings on and let him swim around with all of the other kids and next thing I know, Kaleb is beside himself, crying, shaking, yelling at me to help Porter, and visibly scared to death for Porter. He kept saying things like, "please mom, get Porter, he's my buddy, I play with him, what if his head goes under the water." I kept trying to reassure him that Porter would be fine but he was having nothing to do with it. He was scared to death that something bad was going to happen to his buddy. It was so sad and so cute at the same time. It just made me realize how much he loves his brother!

Regan left for girls camp on Tuesday morning! She spent all day Monday packing in her bedroom and kept coming up stairs saying, "mom, this day is going so slow, I can't wait, I'm so excited, I can hardly stand it." She was a bit scared about the possibility of bears coming in to camp and was sure to ask me about every item she put in her suitcase if I thought it would attract the bears. She was making her lunch for the hike and I was surprised that she was picking the most bland items. I asked her why she wasn't bringing anything that exciting and she replied, "mom, I might attract the bears." Poor kid, I guess she was having a bit more anxiety than I had previously thought.

I found Jordyn emptying garbage's, cleaning up clothes and toys, doing laundry, etc. this morning. I told her I was glad that she would help without being asked and she said, "I know mom, I'm just trying to get my jewelry back." (we took her most prized possessions away earlier this week because she was being a real stink and this is how she's planning to get them back) Whatever works, I guess!

See why I'm NEVER bored!

Rose Family Reunion Highlights!

I can't believe these are all the pictures I took of our reunion. I must have been too busy enjoying myself! It really was a great 3 days and the best part was that everyone was able to be there. Some of the highlights of this year's reunion included:

* making washer necklaces together

* talent show- particularly the grand kids cute "Cows" song choreographed by my sister-in-law-Sara

* 5k run- I loved how so many of the kids got involved and completed the run

* all the yummy food (especially the snack corner in Lor's kitchen) Porter enjoyed that the most as shown above in one of the pictures

* the swimming pool in their backyard--endless fun for the kids and adults

* the outdoor shower Brad built a couple of years ago--nothing beats a warm shower in the backyard straight out of a cold pool

* a visit from our my grandparents (Grandma Johnson and Grandma and Grandpa Rose)

* the hours of play in Kate's new attic bedroom built by Brad

* the candy cannon

* the fireworks show

* the visiting and laughing

* decorating the kids' cow shirts for their performance

* the evening movie by the pool on a big screen--especially loved that Todd stayed IN the pool for the entire show!

* The t-shirts mom and dad ordered for each and every family member--the front of the t-shirts say, "Be Strong and of Good Courage" which was our theme for the reunion! Thanks mom and dad!

* The evening spent at Rupert town square eating greasy, yummy, food while being musically entertained!

Sounds like a lot of fun? It was--I'm just sad it's over! But, thankfully, tomorrow we get to have another little "reunion" at Heise. My dad has his annual company picnic there this year and most everyone will be there.

Hershey's State Trackmeet

July 10, 2010- Madison High School

It was a great day!

Morgan- 50 meter dash and 100 meter dash

Regan- 400 meter run and 800 meter run

Both girls were really nervous all morning before their races and joking that they wished they weren't there but after their races they were glad they stuck around. Both girls ran their little hearts out and learned that lots of training in between meets really does pay off.

Morgan took 1st place in both of her events.

Regan took 2nd in each of her events.

Both were thrilled about their ribbons and loved the experience.

I think the thing that I enjoyed most was watching DJ's excitement with it all. He loves to watch his kids participate and do their best- winning or not- but, of course, it's always more fun if you win:) Anyway, I'm proud of my girls and happy that they stuck out all the little training sessions from DJ and myself w/out too much whining!

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This picture was taken at the area trackmeet (held in May) where they qualified for State. I was too busy taking video of the kids races at the State meet that I completely spaced getting still pics after the races. Anyway, Morgan got a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place for the 50m, 100m, and long jump, and Regan got 1st place in the 800 and 2nd in the 400. The top 3 from each event made it to State.

I'm alarmed!

Yesterday I walked in to the kitchen just in time to catch these little turkey's doing this:

Is that disgustingly adorable, or what?? In all honesty, I've probably only caught my kids doing this once or twice so now I'm wondering where the little twerps learned such a trick, hmmmm....could it be daddy??? (just kidding honey)

Stuntman Porter (try #2)

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Stuntman Porter

He's barely "2"! Pretty good balance, huh? And the cutest thing is the proud look on his face. He knows he's a big stud! I watched this back and got a good laugh at Kaleb trying to show off his "stuntman" skills by riding with no hands on a 3 wheeler:)

Time keeps on tickin'.....

The old saying, "time flies when you're having fun" really is true, at least around our house. Here is a run down of the past 10 days for the record:

*My sister's little boy, Jack, came to visit us for 3 days while Lori attended girls camp in Island Park. He's one of the cutest little boys I've ever seen. He's a little small fry (still wears 2T, 3T clothes), talks like he's around 25, super articulate, smart, hilarious, and just plain adorable) I really wanted to keep the little man but Lor wouldn't here of it.

St. Leon 1st ward camp out at Ririe Reservoir- I'm kicking myself for not bringing my camera because there were some pretty cute moments. I really think every ward should organize an activity like this and I'm hoping our ward will make it an annual activity. We went up Friday evening, played games, ate a yummy supper, played kickball, volleyball & croquet. The kids enjoyed roaming free playing in the trees, dirt, rocks, tents, campers, etc. Kamryn parked herself in a dirt pile and poured handfuls of rocks and dirt in her hair with a big grin pasted on her face. My friend and I thought it was adorable so she ran to grab her camera and caught a little video of her in the action. DJ didn't find it as amusing and kept asking me if I really thought it was cute and funny. I really did, c'mon, we're camping! In his defense, his mom tells me that he's hated to be messy & sticky as a kid so I guess some of that has carried on. Sorry, hon! At dark they started a fire, Kamryn, Porter and Kaleb got to help carry wood from the back of the truck to the fire pit which they thought was awesome. We roasted the yummiest smores, made with Keebler fudge ripple cookies and marshmallows....seriously, why didn't I think of that??? Our ward mission leader shared a spiritual thought while we sat quietly under the stars by the fire, they read the kids a cute book and off we went to bed (approximately 11:00) We all slept great, okay, the kids slept great, which is what counts. Even the babies didn't make a peep. It was so fun to have our big family packed in our 8 man tent and to see the babies curious looks on their faces. They were more than thrilled to sleep right beside us! Most of the kids (not just ours) were up by around 6:30, ready to eat the yummy breakfast and play some more. A few of us took walks down to the reservoir to let the kids play on the dock, some of the older kids headed off to the basketball court for some rounds of "lightning." We packed up around 9:30 and headed for home. I especially loved camping this time around because I didn't have to plan any food preparations. Not that I mind it terribly but it is a ton easier when you don't have to think about feeding 8 ravishing wolves, after all, what's camping w/out lots of delicious food? Thanks to our activities committee for organizing such a fun activity!

* My niece Leona arrived on Monday to stay for a few days. For our FHE activity, we went to the Greenbelt to feed the ducks and see the beautiful waterfalls and of course, roll down the hills. The kids enjoyed donuts and juice boxes in between activities! My nerves were shot after about an hour of chasing the babies around, thank goodness for some helpful older girlies or I would've been sunk.

* Tuesday morning we played a fun game of water kickball at the church with a bunch of the neighborhood/ward kids. We hurried home to meet 2 more of my nieces, Janae and Tana, who also stayed with us until Wednesday afternoon. I thought it would be fun to take all of the kids swimming at my Grandma's condo pool so we all piled in the van (yes all 9 kids, I know, naughty, but they all managed to buckle up....some double buckled) but we made it safe and sound. I'm not sure if I am extremely brave or extremely stupid to take that many kids swimming at once but it's a small pool and I swear I have about 6 sets of eyes. All you mom's know what I'm talking about, right? The babies were a bit timid at first which was kind of nice but then both of them decided that water wasn't so bad so I spent a good 1/2 hour counting 1...2...3... while both of them jumped off the side in to my arms. Fun but seriously crazy and my poor grandma had the pleasure of sitting and watching the whole time and though she seemed relatively calm, I'm sure she was having a mini panick attack wondering if someone was going to drown....what a great sport she is! We ended the evening with dinner and a movie party in the basement complete with popcorn and orange julius. I think it's funny that my kids think they can't watch a movie w/out these two items. I'm happy to oblige. Wednesday morning we hurried off to the bowling alley. I thought it would be chaotic taking that many kids but the babies were pretty well behaved and the cousins chased them around in between their bowling turns. I think my kids are burned out of chasing the babies and were happy that the cousins took over the chasing game. After bowling we ran home to make some a small picnic and headed for the school playground where we spent about an hour and made it home just long enough to wind down before they all headed home. It was a busy couple of days but I was happy that our kids got to play with their Cokeville cousins since we don't make it home very often anymore.

* Wednesday evening about 2 hours after seeing our cousins off, the kids and I loaded the car and left for our Family Reunion in Rupert at my sister, Lori's house. DJ had to work on Thursday so he joined us a day later. Mom and Dad, Matt, Sara, and the kids made it over by 8:30 that evening and it was a sweet reunion! We haven't seen them since Christmas and though 6 months has flown by in some aspects, it seemed like an eternity since we'd seen them. Luke, Emma, and Gavin have changed a lot and Sara looks adorable at nearly 5 months pregnant. She's expecting another girl the first part of November!!! Yeah!! More on our family reunion in a post all by itself! Yep, it's that good!

* Yesterday DJ had the day off work and I had a long "honey-do" list which he started on bright and early. He even offered to give our kitchen tile floor a good scrubbing on his hands and knees and after several hours of scrubbing, our tile looked nearly the color it looked when he first put it down. While I ran kids to and from piano, ran errands, and worked in the garden, he cleaned all of our kitchen cabinets, cleaned out our clogged bathroom drains (while giving the girls a friendly lecture on controlling the amount of hair that goes down the drain), touched up our very beat up banister, vacuumed the living room, and did the dishes. I had to laugh at his comment while I was downstairs changing the kids bedding. He called my name and then said, "you've got an idle man upstairs, what next?" If there is one thing to be said about my husband, it would be that he's always got to be busy. He rarely takes time out to relax and can accomplish anything he puts his mind to. I love him and feel blessed to be married to him. I also feel fortunate to have had him home for a solid day with virtually no interruptions even if he was busy crossing off things on his "honey-do" list!

* Regan and Morgan attended day camp for Activity Days today. They excitedly packed their lunches at 9:30 last night while giggling about all the fun they would be having. It was nice to have only 2 awake and I enjoyed listening to them talk to each other nicely w/out any arguments. It's wierd that Regan has only a month and a half left until she enters Young Women's. She is more than ready and commented that though she had fun at Day camp, she's looking so forward to girls camp in just 2 more weeks.

* The remainder of the week is filled with packing, food preparation, and errands to prepare for the Hershey's State Trackmeet for Reg and Morg's on Saturday, Teichert family reunion on Saturday evening, and music camp all next week.