Things they say

This week started off with an exciting development! Eddi decided he was going to be awake and happy for extended periods of time throughout the day! 

                        

And a little video of him :) 

 After waking up in the middle of the night Sadie asked, "Mommy, why my not sleeping?" She was thirsty and looking for her water. She has the quietest pitter-patter of all our children. If I hadn't been awake with Eddi already I think she may have ended up in the kitchen looking for me. 

Tuesday night Lucy came down with a fever. It was sudden and no fun. This poor girl was ready to sleep at 6 o'clock. 

Of course our thermometer was broken when we needed to check her temperature, so Cole Buddy and I went to walgreens...in the car on the way back a truck with a really loud muffler passed us:

Cole: "Woah, what was that sound?"

Me: "That was a truck driving past"

Cole: "Oh, with a cow in it?"

Me: laughing, "with a cow in it? no, it just had a really loud muffler"

Cole: "Oh, it sounded like a truck with a cow in it!"

  The fever lasted two days and was accompanied by a sore throat and mild difficulty breathing. Thankfully we have a wonderfully understanding Doctor who kindly refilled her inhaler without requiring an office visit. She was distraught that she couldn't go to school and about missing a friends birthday. But she was miraculously better on Friday and back to her normal self.  We are all so grateful the illness didn't get passed around. 

 Wednesday we made apple muffins and while eating one Lucy asked what happened to apples when you bake them.  I told her they get soft, but she wanted to know more so we popped a whole apple in the oven...

 "It's squishy on the outside, and slimy on the inside." It was a fun little experiment.

This is pure Cole.

Thursday we played with vinegar and baking soda. The kids love this activity, but the eye droppers were a new addition. 

 Here is Cole plopping the rest of the goop to make green.

  Sadie enjoyed it so much she sat in this chair long after the other two left. "My not done yet!" "I made a dragon" "I draw a baby horse" "No more rino, I cover him, I shoo him back in he cave". 

 This little kid just wanted to sit and coo at me! It was the sweetest thing. 

"Fe-fi-fo-fum"

 My little cuddle-bug.

Sadie can still fit in a magazine holder. After a diligent effort to push Cole around the house, he decided it would be more fun to just push her. 

"I'm strong enough, Mom"

 Friday night we had our ward christmas party! It was a lot of fun. We sang "Angels we have heard on high" as a family. Then the kids sang "12 days of christmas", but just sang the first 5 versus. Lucy was getting nervous, Cole was taking over the mic and Sadie was discovering how loudly she could stomp her feet on the stage :) I thought it was a good place to end. 

 This is how sadie watched the first 10 minutes of the program.

 Our kids were feeling a little left out that they didn't have antlers, but enjoyed sitting with Santa's reindeer none-the-less. We topped off our night with our crazy little Sadie jumping/falling off the stage and doing this to her eye. 

 She is fearless. And I am convinced has the pain tolerance of a bull. I have seen her take many scrapes/bumps/falls that would have me at least crying out in pain for a moment or two. But she will jump back up again ready to keep going. 

Saturday morning Sadie and Cole were playing on the beds, Cole requested I put Sadie up on the top bunk with him. Usually they come and tell me when she is ready to get down (can you guess where this is going?), about 5 minutes later Sadie and Cole come running into the kitchen. It took me a minute to realize why that should seem odd. Once it hit, I asked how in the world Sadie got off the bed, to which Cole replied, "Sadie climbed over and let herself fall." I had no response... You can bet I will never be putting her back on that bed again.

Po got some long overdue attention yesterday. His pen was moved to a new patch of lawn, and he got walked! Lucy was really happy about it and I'm sure he appreciated the opportunity to explore. 

And to finish off with my very imaginative little boy, this is what he said when he came in from taking care of Po, it had been 5 minutes:

"Whew, that was a long time, I just got chased by a leopard! Its cold out there."

A Thankful Heart

Sunday's have changed a lot for us over the last year and a half. When we lived in Utah, Sunday's were spent at family's houses, we rarely stayed home. Then we moved here and wondered what we were going to do with ourselves all day. I have come to love Sunday's in a different way. It has always been a spiritually uplifting day for me, but I have come to value the special time it is for our family.

I love this picture of Devin. His true smiles are hard to capture, I have Lucy to thank for this one. 

                   

This is the video behind the smile on the picture above.

We have been trying very hard to hold Family Home Evening more consistently this year (the past few months have been better than most of the year). This week we had it on being grateful. We learned a new song, read the story of the ten lepers. We have each child a handicap, blind, dumb, and had them eat their treat.

 It took a few minutes for ten to get the ideA, and then the frustration set in. 

After our treat, they wanted to try different handicaps. no hand, hurt legs, etc. it was really fun.

 I hope they understood a little bit about what others have to endure throughout their lives and can be a little more grateful to have bodies that are healthy and work so well. 

Being tied up was so fun they kept the game going until bedtime. 

This week has been so fun and relaxed! Lucy only had school on Monday so I felt like our holiday started tuesday morning. We stayed in our PJ's all morning and played around. 

 Eddi was looking outside with the girls...They thought it was cute and told him all about what they were watching out the window.  That night we had the Scheives over for dinner and fun. Kelsey and I have WAY too much fun trying things on Pinterest. We tried a yummy dessert I found and made a little christmas craft. I loved it, but apparently forgot how old my kids are. They had fun doing it and I need to just relax about getting the right 'end result'.

They are now proudly hanging in the kids room .

 Wednesday we made money bags and played with coins. Cole enjoyed it the most. He filled his bag as full as it could go, all the while repeating, "I need MORE gold!" Then he would heft his bag over his shoulder exclaiming, "I"m mighty strong!"...while this was fun for a while scattering of coins all over the house became way too much for this mama and we put the coins away...I am sad to say the moneybags haven't been played with since then. 

Thanksgiving morning sleeping in. I just love this picture. 

And of course there was dancing :) 

 Eddi was particularly pensive while I made rolls.

 Speaking of rolls--check these out!!!! Aren't they beautiful?? I've finally figured these out. After many, many attempts and lessons from Oma, I think i've got it!! Still working on making them all the same size, but I have no complaints! They were light and fluffy and oh so yummy!

 We ate thanksgiving dinner at our Bishops house, with all the missionaries. It was lovely to be with them for the holiday, the kids had a blast with the Kristen and Bobby (bishop's daughter and son-in-law) and didn't want to leave. The kids all fell asleep in the car. we were successful waking up Sadie and Lucy, but Cole was OUT. Eventually we took him to his bed where he slept all night. 

 Friday the kids went with Devin to see 'Big Hero 6'. And that night we got our first big tree!! We set the tree up that night, the kids were so excited. Here is Cole talking to the camera about his ornament.

 Saturday morning we turned on the lights as the kids were waking up. It was so fun to see the smiles on their faces as they came into the living room! I love the christmas season, all of it, the lights, the tree, the emphasis on the life of Jesus, the music. the giving, and all the joy and happiness that comes with it.

 

The kids wanted pictures taken in front of the tree!  

And last but not least this little guy is ONE MONTH OLD!!! Seriously.

I am so grateful for my growing family! These kiddos have taught me so much about love and patience --through their love and patience with me! I am incredibly grateful for my amazing husband. He is such a loving husband, and great motivator. I learn everyday from his example, he is so good at teaching our children simply.  I couldn't have asked for more. I am especially grateful for my Savior. It is because of Him that I get to be with my family forever. It is because of Him that I have such happiness and joy in my life. I know that He lives and that through Him we gain strength and peace. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I can turn to Him for guidance throughout the day and for help as I raise these kids and try to be a loving and supportive wife. 

Eddi & Cole Comparison

OK, so everyone says Eddi looks just like Cole and I AGREE! 

But just so you can all see the differences, here is the side by side :) 

Cole in Hospital

 Eddi in hospital

Cole one month old

Eddie one month old

They look so much alike. Cole had a lot more hair, and chubbier cheeks, but they have similar eyes and can both furrow their brow pretty good :)

"Real Life"

Real life for us means, me dropping of and picking up Lucy, meal planning, and not having a live-in babysitter :D. We did I ok!! Dropping off and picking up Lucy went MUCH better than I anticipated. And a couple of the mom's of her friends are just the kindest and most thoughtful people. They have picked up Lucy one day and let her sit with them in their car until it was time to go in. I am so thankful for the kindness of others.  We have been so blessed to find these wonderful people.

                     

Morning cuddles

                         

I was determined to be happy and positive, to not let 'to-do's' keep me from giving the kids the time they need. I was really good  at reading my scriptures and conference talks.We've been having a lot more fighting, whining, arguing, and short tempered-ness(mommy)  over the last couple of weeks. I understand there is a transition and adjusting phase to having a new born and another addition to a family, but I'm ready for the negative aspect of that to be over. We did ok this week. Towards the end of the week I didn't do so well and we all struggled a bit more. I always hear and read, "the Mother sets the tone of the house" or "If mom's not happy, no one is" I feel like this week I really experienced that. 

We had a little art lesson (I've really been wanting to do this weekly). We started following THIS SERIES, we began by reading "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak. It was a fun activity and I feel like giving them a direction with their painting was helpful instead of just setting out the paints. 

                           

 Cole did a really good job at not leaving any white. 

 

 Sadie got frustrated with the water colors and lost interest long before the older two.

                          

Lucy had fun drawing the scenery around her 'wild thing' and didn't want to fill in all the white. I didn't push the issue :)

We had teen an single digit weather so we stayed indoors. Which led to me trying to come up with ways for them to expel their energy...

Thankfully we had friends come play one afternoon, and we were able to make it to Story Time at the library where we came home with a record of 30-yes you read that right- THIRTY books...no worries, they all have been read multiple times already.  

                         

This Little man is 3 weeks old now. 

                         

Cole's counting is going so well! He wanted to do activities one morning but I was trying to console a fussy Eddi so I couldn't sit down with him. I later found him doing his numbers by himself. It can be hard to get Cole to do anything sometimes but when he wants to do something, he can be very determined. 

 Sherry came and watched the kids while so I could get some grocery shopping done! 

Cole really does love his brother...

                           

Sadie thinks these are hats-without fail, everytime.

 And we always LOVE our visit from Jessica on Thursdays. She says it is therapy for her since all her kids are now in school but it does wonders for me to have someone to talk to :). 

 

 We have incredibly thoughtful librarians. They planned a horse story time specifically for Lucy, and we missed it because it was the week after Eddi was born. But they saved us the craft and ordered the books for us! The books all came this week and we were able to do the craft! The kids loved it and the books are hilarious!

For once I was NOT the one to suggest brownies for dessert. Lucy asked and did almost everything to make them!!

 I love the sticking-out-tongue-concentration to get all the batter in :) And she LOVED getting to lick the bowl--or should I say her hand!

We had plans to play with friends and the I see Big Hero 6 on Saturday, but alas it is cold season and we have caught coughs :(. 

Real life with four isn't so bad, not going to lie, I was a little worried about how we'd handle it. 

I know the Lord has strengthened us. Everyday I pray for His strength to help be be the mother he knows I can be. I am so grateful to Him for entrusting is with another special spirit. We are so very blessed to have been given these children to care for. I pray we can be the parents we need to be for them.  

Week One / Week Two

Lately one of our favorite morning activities has been dancing to "daddy's music". Mine just isn't good enough I guess...

Goofy boys! And oh how I love them

 Lucy has been the biggest helper lately! She will read to Sadie, play with everyone and help out around the house. 

 Eddi one week old

We had the Scheives and the missionaries over one night and we had a comical amount of injuries in a VERY short period of time. One of the incidents resulted a fat lip for poor Lucy. She was so upset she said she didn't want to go to church or school because she didn't want her friends to see her face. By the time bedtime rolled around she had changed her mind and wanted a picture to take to school. 

Sunday afternoon quiet time, Lucy playing family. Mrs. Piggy was the mom, Green Lantern was the big brother and Nephi was the little brother... ...I think we need to invest in some people toys. We have every animal under the sun, but very few people. 

 Cole is always watching out for Eddi, he holds him multiple times aa day, sings to him, shows him his toys. He is so excited for Little Man to grow up so they can play.

this is my favorite!!

Devin had a training in Texas for a week, so Oma came back out to help me for the week! It was so nice to have her here. This is the first time we've had a baby and haven't lived with family! While we are doing just fine, it was wonderful to have her here for a while. 

We found a yummy shortbread cookie recipe and tried it out...it was as amazing as it looked!!

Oma brought a couple of french books from home to read to Lucy. (Lucy has been wanting to learn french and I have no idea how to pronounce it)

 

The temperatures dropped to January-esque temps and some snow came....boo!

Sadie decided to potty train for a day. Yeah, that was fun. She never made it once. But we were going through diapers every 30 mins the day before. So we thought we'd give it a try. I'm going to wait a few more weeks at least before we attempt that again :)

 

Lucy dressed up as a cowgirl for school. This is the same SPARKY had Devin wore in high school. If anyone has pictures of him in this hat I'd sure appreciate a copy! Oma kindly walked Lucy to and from school every day. 

                          

The kids built lots of forts. They have gotten pretty creative lately with all the things they add on. 

Sadie reading in her section of the fort. 

One night the kids were being 'captured' in this tote/container (I have no idea what these are really called). Sadie wanted to be captured but something happened that she aparently didn't like...we had no idea what she was crying about and just wanted to be in there crying. So I told Lucy to go take a picture of her. 

We were sad to see Oma go but happy to have Daddy home again. 

next up you get to hear how we're handling 'real life' by ourselves...

Stay tuned!