Need a little sunshine!

This is a typical spring break in Idaho which is why we're heading out of town!

California, here we come!  (Hopefully we don't take this weather with us.:)

St. Patty's Day Funny

We never get too in to St. Patrick's Day around here except for the kids having to wear green because they don't want to get pinched at school.  But, other than that, I just don't do much of anything so I was laughing when Morgan and Jordyn's Discovery teacher called to tell me a funny thing.  She was talking to the kids about the history of St. Patrick's Day and about the Leprechaun's and she said Jordyn was just sitting there with the funniest look on her face like she didn't know what to think about this whole idea.  One little kid piped up and said that last year on St. Patty's Day he got home from school and his mom was furious because she had gone in to his bedroom after he left for school and found tons of tiny green pieces of paper spread all over the room.  He tried to tell her he didn't do it but she didn't believe him and he got in tons of trouble (those darn Leprechauns.)  Of course their teacher was laughing her head off and still watching Jordyn's funny expressions, so after class Jordyn ran up to the teacher and asked her if there really was such a thing as a Leprechaun, Susie (the teacher) said, "you know Jordyn, I'm really not sure, I've never seen one."  So, after talking to her teacher, I decided I'd play a little trick on she and Morgan and spread little tiny green pieces of paper all over their room just to see what kind of reaction I'd get out of Jordyn.  So, when Morgan and Jordyn got home from school, I was trying to act really mad and told them I was so upset about the mess of tiny green papers they had made in their room.  Morgan quickly figured me out but Jordyn was so bewildered and a little irritated by the whole situation when Kaleb come running in to the room saying, "no mom, their room isn't a mess anymore, I went in and saw the huge mess before preschool and cleaned it all up for them."  hahahah!  Plans foiled!  Jordyn went running downstairs only to find a few remaining papers and is still confused as to who made the mess.  I think I'll let her stew over it for another year. I haven't stopped laughing to myself about Kaleb cleaning up my huge mess, aaaaahh, this obsessive compulsive cleaning thing is making me crazy.:) 

I'd rather....

I'd rather have someone pluck out my arm hairs one by one than help my 7 year old practice the piano.:):):)  Okay, maybe that's a little harsh but when she's in one of her "moods,"  it's not a very pleasant experience.  I wonder how my mom ever had the patience to teach me piano lessons....she's a saint, that's why. 

Responsibility

There is an awesome talk in the March 2011 Ensign by Sister Julie B. Beck, General Relief Society President entitled, Teaching the Doctrine of the Family.  It's well worth your time to read if you haven't already done so.  I don't think there is a day that goes by that I don't think about the huge responsibility I have as a mother to teach my children correct principles so that they can withstand all the raging temptations that are coming at them from every direction.  I know it can be done, I just need to focus on the things that are most important and make every minute count.  Some of my favorite quotes from this talk were:
"Live in your home so that you're brilliant in the basics, so that you're intentional about your roles and responsibilities in the family.  Think in terms of precision not perfection."
"This generation will be called upon to defend the doctrine of the family as never before.  If they don't know it, they can't defend it.  They need to understand temples and priesthood.
"In our day we have the responsibility to send "Isaac" and "Rebekah" forth from our homes and classrooms.  Every young man and young woman should understand his or her role in this great partnership--that they are each an "Isaac" or a "Rebekah."  Then they will know with clarity what they have to do.
"Parents, teachers, and leaders:  live in your homes, in your families, in your marriages so that youth will develop hope for eternal life from watching you.  Live and teach with so much clarity that what you teach will cut through all the noise youth are hearing and so that it will pierce their hearts and touch them.
The last statement was an eye opener for me.  I need to be so much better. I need to be a better example in every aspect of my life.  I'm overwhelmed in a good way, if that's possible.  Heavenly Father blessed D.J. and I with 6 of his beautiful children to take care of and teach them correct principles so we can be an eternal family.  He's given us all of the necessary tools to accomplish this, now it's up to us as parents to make this happen.  
If you don't take the Ensign, go to LDS.org and select menu, study, and then magazines and you'll be able to view the whole talk!

Sneakiness

Here's Mr. Sneaky pants himself making a bed on the floor right outside of his room.  He was so proud of himself, we decided not to move him until he was fast asleep. You've got to give the kid credit for trying to out-smart us.  More often then not, after I put him to bed, I'll be downstairs putting the others to bed when I see him out of the corner of my eye with a blanket pulled over his face tip toeing quietly.  It cracks me up because he seriously thinks we can't see him.  Yesterday he got up from his nap a little too early and was super grumpy.  I gave him a cracker and after a few minutes went by, I found him fast asleep on the computer room floor.  

Kids are always so stinking cute when they're asleep!:) 



In stark contrast, Kamryn stays in her bed almost all the time, even when her sneaky brother keeps going in and out of the room.  She always manages to fall fast asleep through all the noise and generally sleeps all night.  They both wake up for drinks occasionally but they go back to sleep pretty fast.  The same goes for naptime, with the exception of a few weeks ago when they decided to play together instead of sleep so I separated them for about a week until they begged to sleep together again.  We're giving it another try and it's working out pretty well. 

I've learned something about these little people.  They are great friends, when there isn't a 3rd person involved (Kaleb).  Nothing against Kaleb, it's just that the old saying, "3's a crowd" is really true.  It's nice when Kaleb is at preschool because they get a little over an hour before naptime to play together with nobody around.  They play house, cowboys and cowgirls, they ride their motorcycle and tractor around the bar time after time, they play dress-up (well, Porter's definition of dressing up is his swimming suit, while Kami loves anything girly, girl!)  They bring smiles to my face daily, and a few tears.  But, the good definetly out-weighs the bad. 

Ouch!

Kamryn decided to take a dive off the back of the basement couches right on to the tile head first yesterday.  She had a nice big goose egg on her forehead within about 10 seconds.  Thanks to a bag of peas and a few snuggles, she survived the fall, although she looks like she's an abused child.  Thankfully the swelling has gone down quite a bit but the different shades of purple are starting to show.  I was thinking I should take a picture of the damage but I thought it would be so mean so I refrained until a few minutes later when she asked in between sobs, "mommy take a picture to show daddy."  So, I'm not a meany, she asked for these pictures!  Funny, huh?  She was so excited to show DJ her ouchy and kept laughing and saying, "Daddy say, no more monkey's jumping on the bed." 

Fat lips!

If you'd like one, I'm sure we can hook you up.  Just come on over, ask Porter to go and find his Old Navy Bouncy ball (curse that .25 cents I found in my purse to appease a whiny 2 year old)  Stand approximately 2 feet away from him and he'll promptly throw it at a rather high speed at your mouth, AND, what do you end up with?  Free lip Botox!  I gotta say, it doesn't look or feel very good.  My upper lip swelled up pretty quickly making me look like a really bad version of Angelina Jolie and to top it all off, the kids kept looking at me and saying things like, "man mom, your lip is huge, you look awful, what happened, that looks SOOOO bad."  Oh well, I was having a bad hair day anyway so a fat lip was just the icing on the cake:)  Poor Porter, he felt pretty bad and after screaming in the corner for a few minutes came over to apologize and give me a big hug.  Awwww!!  Mom's do take a beating from time to time but we just keep coming back for more!

Excitement!

Only 23 days until Disney!  So much to do.....so little time.  The kids are talking about it non-stop, not sure who's more excited though, me or them.  A little nervous, yes, I mean packing for 8 people to be gone for approximately 9 days.  And, I will be on my own for a few days as DJ will be in a training  (which is why this whole trip is possible) but, hey, I figure I've gotten pretty good at doing things on my own the past 3 years.:) Wish us luck!

It's the little things

One of the things I love about Morgan is her attention to detail, for lack of a better description. She's always asking us about how things work, why things are built a certain way, and she loves checking out informational books at the library and giving me little quizzes on the things she learns.  She's a fun kid and reminds me a lot of her dad.  Last Sunday she was asking me what shape a particular envelope was before it was folded in to an envelope.  Since I really wasn't sure she asked if she could take one apart and then proceeded to make a bunch of tiny envelopes with the cutest messages in them.  These are the ones she made for DJ and me:

The first one says, "Mom, I love you! and inside there was a tiny little paper that said, "mom, sorry about Jordyn"  I think she was referring to all the tummy problems she's had.

The pink one says, "Dad, You are a hard working man!"  

I keep these envelopes out on my counter and they make me smile every time I see them!  

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Speaking of little things that mean a lot, I took a quick day trip on Tuesday to Salt Lake with Jordyn to Primary Childrens Medical Center where she had an appointment with a Pediatric GI specialist.  We spent a couple of hours with the doctor and then quite a while at the lab.  She's being tested for a number of things and hopefully we'll know more by the end of this week and proceed with whatever needs to be done.  Anyway, I never realized how important it is to my kids to have alone time with mom. (and dad) But, Jordyn was 100% thrilled that she would have the whole day to spend with me without any of her siblings around.  I totally enjoyed hanging out with her and getting to know her better as an individual.  Sometimes I'm just so overwhelmed by all of my kids that I see them as one big group of crazy and sometimes naughty kids instead of taking time to see them our Heavenly Father sees them and knows them.  Even though Jordyn had to do some not so fun things at her appointment, she still said to me on the way home, "mom, this is the best day of my life because I get to be by myself with you."  I will be scheduling alone time with all of my kids from now on!

Queen for a day!

DJ's oldest sister, Patty, lives at the nursing home in Montpelier.  Recently they put on the 2nd Annual  Sweetheart Pageant.  Each resident was brought out in their wheelchairs and pushed down the long hall that was decorated in pink and red heart balloons and streamers.  While making their way down the hall, the MC told a little bit about each resident, where they were from, jobs they've had, children, hobbies, etc.  Each one had a banner with a cute name written on it specific to that person (Patty's was "playful Patty")  Boy did they get that one right. Anyway, we happened to be home visiting that weekend so while DJ was skiing with the 4 kids, Porter and Kamryn, and I rode over with mom and dad to attend the pageant.  It was one of the cutest things I've ever seen and the residents seemed genuinely thrilled with everything. After the pageant, we were entertained with music and enjoyed refreshments with our loved ones.  I'm so happy that I got to see Patty and snap a few cute pictures of her.  She is one of my most favorite people, happy and cheerful in spite of all of her trials.  She is full of spunk and personality and she always has a cute comment or "come back" for anything you say.  She's an inspiration to all that are lucky enough to know her!! 

Playful Patty!!  

This picture shows her spunky personality!  

I LOVE this picture with Patty and Mom and Dad Teichert! 

Porter and Kamryn love visiting Patty, though they don't look all that thrilled in this picture. Patty always shares her candy with the kids and they almost always come away with a fun little item to take home.   

We love you, Patty!

branding cows

The boys decided they would go outside and brand cows.  Only problem is, we don't have any cows, so they decided they'd ride bikes instead.  And as a side note, I had to document this cute picture of them together with smiles on their faces because, quite honestly, they do not enjoy one another's company lately. They love to pick at each other from morning until evening and spend much of their time wrestling and fighting.  How my mother-in-law did it with 7 boys, I'll never know.  She deserves a medal!!