It still feels like Christmas

When most of your life is crazy busy, you have to find joy in the quiet, little things.  This week when I was busy in the kitchen one day I was so very thankful to have a sweet little girl so contentedly painting.  I looked over and this is what I saw. 

It was one of those happy moments.  The kind that I want to record and remember forever.

She still feels like a Christmas present that I get to enjoy every single day.

Life as told by the camera this week

 Tyler and I came back from a weekend trip - great trip, hard to leave the kids again.  We found Hannah's lunch sack out ready to go for the next day with a Camden conversation and I was more glad than before that I was home to be a mom again.

Red ribbon week meant a day for crazy socks and hair.

My two older boys raided their sister's socks to get crazy.  They also decided that they really like fuzzy socks.  For Camden, it was enough to mismatch his own socks.

 Jacob did his own hair and sported the double mohawk.

 Drew was excited to do tiny pigtails all over his head again.  Jacob remembered from last year that it got too painful and wanted nothing to do with it.  Camden's crazy hair looks like how his friends look every day, but he insists - if he has to do his hair at all - on having his hair plastered to the side on "normal" hair days.

Red ribbon week also meant a visit from "Miss America" - I think Jacob meant Miss (insert name of local city or state).  She must have been pretty cute because he kept going back for more pins.  (J/K - I think all the kids in his class donated theirs to him)

 We got to decorate a paper person for Camden's hallway decorations at school.  He did the ninja eyes himself - eyebrows and all "because that's always how ninja's eyes look, Mom."  An observant one, he is.

There was a Preference invite involving candy corn, a pop-top can, and my girl "popping the question".

Our kitchen became a workshop one night and Seth taught us all how to make amazing-looking caramel apples - only most of them were onions.  BSI prank.

 And a couple of days later a group of guys left this on our front porch.  Tyler and the little ones were the only ones home and the boys reported that Dad made the high school guys ring the doorbell THREE times!  I don't know if Callie saw the answer when she got home at 11pm that night, or when she rushed out the door at 7:55am for her 8am ACT test, or ever for that matter, so we took a picture so that she would know she has a date.

Tyler decided we needed a hot dog roast.  You can't tell by the picture but he has fresh green chili gravy on top of his.

I heart Delaware

Tyler and I got to take a quick trip to Delaware for a long weekend.

There was eye candy everywhere I looked.  The older I get, the more I realize what a special place I grew up in.  It was amazing, except when we kept getting lost and were late to places that we were supposed to be.  The pictures never do it justice.

I got to be with my brother and his family that I love.  My nieces and nephew are more beautiful every time I see them.  Here's the only picture I took at their house.

Tyler and the beautiful and talented Jessie eating Turkey Hill ice cream

Tyler got to burn wood on historic property in West Chester, Pennsylvania, while I stayed inside and caught up with a dear friend.

I got to catch up with my very best friend from my young childhood years.  I probably haven't seen her in 26 years.  So sad I didn't get a picture with her - Libbie is beautiful and intelligent and successful and a devoted mother and wife.  It was a treat to have lunch with her.  I have been so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life over the years!

I got to see some dear high school friends for the first time in 19 years.

They were dear friends then, and what was so delightful was to find that our friendship hasn't changed a bit.  These ladies are intelligent, beautiful, successful, and very devoted to their families, but we could still giggle about our "Save the Marshlands" unit in 2nd grade or high school crushes.  Friends for life - I wish we could see each other more often.

We didn't take near enough pictures, but my heart is full from the gift that this weekend was.  Thanks to my sweetheart for coming along, for my 6 mini sweethearts who toughed it out at home, and a sweet niece who kept the home fires burning.  It was an amazing weekend.  When it was time to leave Tyler wanted to know if I was ready to head home.  To be with my family?  Absolutely.  It was hard to go away this time.  To re-enter the chaos of life?  NO.  

(didn't have much of a choice there, though).

At one airport we ran into these huge suckers.  When you've been away from your family for 4 days you start to feel guilty and wonder if you should get them something special...and then you come to your senses - why on earth would I spend $20 for a giant sucker full of sugar and food dye?  A picture will suffice!  We were thinking of you, kids:).

Life Via Text

Aside from the typical blogging and journaling that I do, I think texts sometimes catch what life is really like, especially my texts to Tyler.  Many texts have been deleted but here are enough to prove that life is varied and never stops - but it is also good.

7.08, 7:41am - Okay - I made an essential oils mix for it.  These kids are so cranky and belligerent and the house is a wreck and I am last-minute watching the [insert name] family for 2 hours.  Praying for heavenly strength and help!  Me going to youth conference was hard on these guys.
7.08, 7:47am - We never cleaned up from dinner last night (too tired) and the kitchen was never cleaned up from your Mon night dinner I'm guessing; still have that muffin tin soaking and made a dinner for while we're gone.  I roped J into cleaning the kitchen with me this morning.  He works a bit then balks, repeat.  Finally he said "this is the messiest kitchen I've ever seen!"  Not too far from the truth.  We've just about cleared up enough space to be able to eat breakfast.  Partying hard, we are.
7.08, 9:34am - Looking for the Taboo buzzer.  Any chance you took it away from the kids the last time they got it out?

(Side note:  this was in the middle of having Megan's family stay with us, and the day before Tyler and I left to go on a "just us" trip)

Other texts that same day include grocery shopping lists to Tyler, announcing what time dinner is for company in town and asking when other family in town is coming over to join us, lists of scout awards for Pack Meeting, asking Hannah if she wants to babysit her cousins, asking Camilla what to wear for our trip to Northern California, texts to set up play dates for my kids while Tyler and I were going to be gone, and sending our wireless password to company.

7.09 Texts to the girls
6:07am - getting ready to take off.  Love each other and thank you!!
10:48am - just parked at Pier 39 SanFran. Going for chowder and crab cakes!
12:38am -saw Alcatraz.  Might visit on our way back.
4:15pm - Drove thru vineyard country, stopped and toured a little family run farm and ate fresh fruit Popsicles, drove along the coast and made it to our little studio safe and sound.  Love you all.
7.11
2:16pm - Just got to Avenue of the Giants.  Dad keeps stopping to pick blackberries off the side of the road.
7.13
8:12 pm - we saw a bunch of seals on the beach!!
8:14pm - Dad's about to eat a javelina burger!
7.14
3:34pm - We are going to cross the Golden Gate Bridge and I'm kinda spooked!
9:01 pm - Oh dear!  Our flight is going to be getting in late - we are scheduled to leave 70 minutes late.  We may be home by 2am - don't wait up anyone! Plz have someone sleep where the littles can be heard. Thx!
10:20pm - just boarded the plan.  Get some sleep for all of us, my dears.
7.15
Texts about park day, play dates, and asking about dollhouses for sale on the classifieds.  Also, texts to Tyler:
3:57pm - Where did all this sand in the laundry come from!!!;)
7.16
9:28am - Hi there!  Can I swap you cars to go down to Spanish today?  And will you need me to swap them back or can I leave you keys to drive the van home?   I will have 2 kids in tow.
9:52am - Thx.  You as sleepy as I am today?
11:21am - I keep dozing during piano lessons.  Nap soon, another early night.  6am walk tomorrow:)
11:22am - Proposition for you: I tuck the little ones tonight after Pack Meeting while you look at J's rock crawler with him.
2:31pm - Tender mercies!!  Every light in Spanish was green and there was a line at the sign-in counter so it masked my late-ness:).
07.20
2:10pm - oh I laughed so hard coming home from the zoo. About at the TG Point exit Camden decided he had to pee.  By the time we hit Ridley's he was WAILING all the way home. So funny!
3:04pm - D just had a private gymnastics lesson.  The other kid didn't come today!
07.21
Texts about play dates for 2 different sons,  a text asking if we should plan on feeding Uncle Mark's family dinner that night (they were just moving into town and were going to stay with us for a bit), texts about ADHD paperwork to run around, texts about when Aunt Camilla was going to come into town in the next few days
11:55am - Great morning but I am bushed.  I did have a rest/nap. How's my love?
Texts about movie tickets and groceries for Tyler to pick up.
2:49pm - I am teaching RS this Sunday and H is speaking in Sacrament Meeting
2:50pm - Hahaha and Callie is doing a musical number!
07.22
1:13pm - FYI, my stress level is very low thanks to our trip and me trying to manage it better.  My body is beat tho.  I am resting often but to help keep my threshold low I think I need some time to sit, snuggle, and visit with you tonight.  Plz? Not with a show, just us:)
Texts about where to hold choir practice - figuring things out as a new choir director
07.23
12:33pm - Temple tomorrow while the girls tend?  Ally and I are planning on it.
07.26
Texts about choir practice, reminders about choir practice, texts about getting Tyler to sub in Primary that day, texts about how much fun Emmie is having with Brad at our house, a text to tell Tyler how to make black bean dip to feed our family and company while I am holding choir practice at church
07.30
1:17pm - We are now down 5 people from yesterday.  Admission: I did cave and let Ethan come in on his second visit to our door.
08.04
3:46pm - thanks for being my therapist.  I need one!  We'll have to be friends and lovers to make it worth your while. I would say that I am PMSing but that was last week;)
08.05
8:33am - good long chat with the lawn guy. Will report later.
1:05 pm - budget info: remember to deposit cash and check(s). New check today but don't take out $$$ for any allowance - the kids have been paying me back. I even have a roll of gold dollars for your lunch money;)
08.07
9:29am - time for a new scripture and it needs to be about love. I found Moroni 7:47-48. Is there a briefer one that focuses on charity or should we do that one?
1:55pm - just checking to see what the boys should pack
5:40 pm - sorry we ran off - shopping is in SLC and I was nervous about traffic and having enough time
5:41pm - love you! I know you aren't feeling well. Thx for making memories with our boys anyway
5:43pm - you should see Emmie the diva at the store. I have lost her twice - she must be in restraints to keep up with her and she wants to buy everything. "Did you bring your money, Mama" was question no.1 when she saw something cute. No worries, I will not cave!
08.10
7:58am - well it is done - you and I are headed to Delaware for another couples retreat. Happy anniversary!
4:08pm - working on a dinner to feed whoever will be here
4:09pm - wishing we could sneak away
4:18pm - I am just focusing on the next hurdle: dinner.  Keeping an open and hopeful mind for the rest.
08.11
9:07am - followed inspiration and made dinner for Mark's family (and ours). My dad will take it up.  Now we can read and nap and swim:).
12:35 - late start on the read-a-thon but OK. D got bored just in time for scouts, E and I read some books and took naps, J's books turned out to be "bad" - he read a spare I got instead and I woke up to him playing on the iPad, C opted out to de-stress, C the younger has an amazing attention span for looking at pictures (but finally left to go play Legos), and H is diehard
2:54 - Oh my funniness!  Remind me to tell you what I almost said to Camden when he showed me hair on his chest - caught myself JUST IN TIME.
08.12
6:30am - I need to know if you are free to meet Camden and I for his ice cream cone - gift from Christmas.  We can meet sometime in the 12:30-1:30 time frame.
8:45am - tomorrow is his birthday party
2:33pm - gonna need you to pick up "mustachio" supplies at Fresh Market.  Shopped for hours with C-man and still didn't get that stuff. List to follow
08.13
8:24am - my Visa debit has been denied for a couple of days - they had an alert and blocked it, FYI.  Going thru the process to get new cards
8:33am - k the cards are to be shredded/trashed. New ones within the week.  Great time to save money and not spend:)
9:34am - did you guys give an invite to Lukey or not? Trying to figure how many party favors to make up
10:55am - so this weekend is the opening of the bow hunt.  Not sure how that will affect our family camping trip
11:58am - what do we hit a piñata with? Plz text back!
12:20pm - thank goodness for Jake. I sent arriving kids in the backyard and he arranged games all on his own. He is one of my angels today.
08.17
10am - we can do lunch tomorrow at noon. Not sure which boy yet so stay tuned on the location
10:29am - finished inventory for school clothing needs for J and D. 7 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of shorts, and 3 pairs of shoes - J measures at 5 1/2 and his dress shoes are 3 sizes smaller!!!
11:32am - need your advice ASAP - it will be fast,  plz call when can.
08.17
2:11pm - got a job subbing, with the expectation that I may take over a class in January
08.19 - I wasn't itching for summer to end.  It almost seemed weird changing schedules last night and this mornings. But I can say that the change of pace has been very nice so far!
08.24
7:55am - Don't know your schedule today, but if you want to come home for lunch you could have green chile and take care of the mouse that the boys say is twitching in the cold storage room
9:25am - I know you have the FHE lesson for tonight,  if it is Jeopardy, Callie will be at work.  Also, [insert name]'s  posted that they need help,  I feel like our day times are needed for other things right now but had the idea that maybe we could turn that into a family night service somehow?  Thoughts?
1:09pm - in the middle of an Uno game, Camden puts his cards down, folds his arms and closes his eyes, and says "Heavenly Father, please help me to win this Uno game."  Now he has planted a plum pit and is sure it is going to grow into a tree, because "remember when I planted that apple seed and it didn't grow? Well that was before I was smart enough to know to say a prayer."
1:10pm - P.S. He did win that Uno game.  Martin prayers + your faith = one strong boy!
3:20pm - I am dropping H off at the library, she'll walk over to you to catch a ride home
08.27 -
7:48 am - Hahaha! I know who is asking C to homecoming. His mom messaged me on FB to plan it out.
12:47pm - reminder: pack mtg tonite - J is getting his Arrow of Light
09.16
9:45am - 10 loaves of bread baked and the entire lawn mowed.  Running to the store for a few ingredients, need to make up a bed, and I am almost ready for the first round of company!
09.25
3:28pm - Out of the mouths of babes...your kids are prophesying today and Emmie is playing with her dollies and putting the Momma doll in different yoga positions - "look Hannah, just like our mom!"
4:14pm - Almost date time!
4:49pm - Your 2 youngest kids want a yard day so badly.  Camden keeps donning gloves, goggles, and telling me that he is working so hard while his brothers are being lazyl. They tell me I need to work, too.
09.26
9:22am - down to about 15 eggs
09.28
9:54am - just updated the budget/receipts. Plz tell me you are waiting for oodles of reimbursements!
9:55am - as in 2,000 dollars worth?
10:03am - would you mind figuring that out?
10.05
3:21pm - Emmie has asked ALL DAY LONG when Daddy is going to be home.  Every knock at the door she is sure is you and she can't wait to go swimming.  She was too excited to nap even!

Working Backwards - Part 1

Life is full and I am behind on blogging, but always starting back a ways means that I am never caught up.  Here's to starting at today and working backwards!

Homecoming for Callie, Round 2:

Callie has a lot of fun with the guys from work.  Michael goes to the rival high school and Callie had an idea that he was going to ask her.  Life got busy and the ask turned out to be a text the week of the dance.  However, when he came to pick her up he made up for it with a fun poster.

Callie had a super fun night, and we were glad that we could be here this time around (for her Homecoming we were at Mandi's wedding reception).

These socks belong to Drew.  I do not know how many days he has worn them in a row.  I do know that several times this week I have noticed the same mismatched pair on his feet and asked him to change into clean ones.

Drew has an aversion to wearing shoes outside, and rarely thinks to remove his socks, so all of these holes could very well have happened in one day.  I have an aversion to buying new socks every couple of months because of such careless behavior, so we have a deal - I buy new socks once a year and he can buy any refills that he needs in the interim.  He has had to do this once already this year, but he seems to think that it's not time to buy new ones yet. Did I mention that he was wearing these as a pair?  Can you tell that they don't exactly match?  They would be because their pairs got holey and the laundress threw them away.

All week long we have been trying to decorate for Halloween.  This is very important to children #5 and #6.  It has come slowly, in stages for the busy mother.  I did find these cute owl ornaments that I thought would be a fun touch since we had most of the supplies.  Yesterday we carved out some time to sit down and make them together, and I'm glad we did.  We wanted it to be one of those accomplish a few things days but not be too rushed.  The owl part may have been the only non-rushed part of the day!  

We also:  sent Tyler to the 6am session of the temple, I woke Jacob up at 7 to go put up flags at his Webelos leader's house (he was killed in a tragic car crash the day before), I did yoga, Jacob and Tyler went to football practice at 9am and picked up Callie's boutinniere on the way home, Callie went to work a little after 9am and got home at 4:30, Hannah and I tried unsuccessfully to get two projects completed and put away, Hannah worked for about 5 hours on a history project and vacuumed out Tyler's car, Tyler rented a chipper and worked for a couple of hours chipping tons of branches in a neighbor's yard, Tyler picked raspberries from the garden, Jacob mowed the lawn, I painted some frames that I got at DI and finished putting up our Halloween pictures, Drew and Camden had two friends who used to be neighbors run around the neighborhood and creek with them (and in and out and in and out and in and out of our house), Tyler took the 4 littles to Chick-Fil-A to let them use coupons from school, I dropped off choir music, Callie got ready for homecoming in record time and I managed to burn dinner twice with valid distractions (quesidillas - and we discovered during our late dinner that I forgot to put cheese in one of them!),  After dinner and tucking, Tyler and I ran out to buy a blouse for my upcoming reunion and snagged some produce on sale at the grocery store at 9:30pm.  But don't worry, I had the kitchen clean by 11:30pm and then I got to sit down and relax until Callie got home from her date.  

Aren't these owls cute?  I will think about the fun I had with my sweet and silly children every time I look at them.  

 Hannah completed her insect collection and turned it in.  I can hardly believe it is over!  All of the cups and glasses are back in our cupboard, there is no longer an insect mortuary in my freezer, and now when we find insects, we don't need to catch them.  Emmie was so good to point out any bugs she saw.  "Let's catch it for Hannah's collection," she'd say.  Hannah is glad that her room no longer stinks, but she says the Honors Bio room smells pretty gross now.  Her preliminary score is 220 out of 200, and that bothers her "because now I'll have over 100 in that class and it won't match with the 100's in my other classes".  OCD problems.  

General Conference.

This was probably the quiestest conference weekend that we've had since Callie was tiny (although if you've seen Tyler's YouTube video of us during the rest song of the final session of conference you may question that analysis).  One reason - there was no company staying with us.  Another and more likely reason is that our children are getting a bit older.  My two older boys have been asking for a puzzle to do so I picked one up from DI and they worked diligently through the first one and a half sessions.  

 I don't know why I took this picture but I like this guy.  I worked on the hand mending during conference to stay awake (it worked!) and he stayed busy next to me looking at buttons.

One day Callie had a spare 20 minutes in between school, teaching piano lessons, and heading off to work for the evening.  She ran to the neighbor's house and picked up the guitar that they offered to give her back in June.  The plan is to learn how to play it so she can play/sing a song for her audition for the Music Therapy program at USU, sometime in January.

P.S. Her t-shirt is from her first concert that she attended the week before with friends - Twenty One Pilots.  She said it was awesome.

Doing the laundry for boys can be a little gross and random.  This stuff (dirt included) came out of the pockets during one sorting session.

First day of school selfie:  Emmie and I after we got home from my second day teaching and her first day of attending preschool.  She has wanted to go back just about every day since then.

Lastly, while we are very thankful that the road in front of our house remains intact, having the rest of our road look like this is starting to get old.  The project was supposed to go through August.  In September we experienced our phone/internet line being cut - twice, the electricity was knocked out once, and this past week at least we had notice that the water was being shut off from 8am-4pm one day.  It will be nice when I can zip down our street again and shave a few minutes off our commute time anywhere.  In the meantime, our kids still love to watch the huge construction equipment that is in front of our house every day, and they love it when Daddy is driving (especially to church) and he braves the crazy road which at times has been impassable and we've had to turn around.  It is also fun to walk over and see the progress - a couple days ago we ran out after dinner as dusk was closing in and tried out the new sidewalk to the east of us.  Access to the park has been super fun, too.

Lettin' it go in October!

Last spring my girls begged me to buy tickets to the Idina Menzel concert.  I finaggled the budget to make it work and hoped I didn't make a mistake.  Turns out I didn't - it was an awesome evening and a great concert - Idina put on a great show, is a fantastic singer, and the audience interaction was filled with fun and energy.

The Will Call line for tickets was SO LONG.  We should have gotten there a bit earlier but we had a lot of fun goofing off together in line.

Hannah was rather put out because she lost the use of her ipod for the day, but then I took it with me to take pictures.  She refused to be IN the pictures unless she got to have her ipod back.  I am not sure how we finally managed to get her in a picture, but when we did the lighting just wasn't as good.  Otherwise it was a delightful time. 

Look who was hanging out by the Will Call line.  Think Kid History.  So cool.  Hannah noticed but was not brave enough to ask for a picture.  "Mom, think how hard it is for famous people - I don't want to bother him."  But he was standing by a truck "meet your favorite on-line stars" - so I think that is what he was there.

The girls let me know that I was super embarrassing because "selfies are supposed to be fast, Mom".  And apparently I do the angles all wrong.  Maybe I need more practice.

Once again, H made no attempt to join us or to smile.  I did warn her that I would be posting this.

I did my best to include her>

We missed some of the opening numbers but I felt like my evening was worth it just when we heard Gentri sing a medley from Les Miserables.  Three tenors singing some of my favorite songs - yes, please!  

It doesn't matter that I have heard the song Let It Go about 1,000 times or that it is really not my favorite.  When Idina sang that to finish up the concert and invited all the small children to come join her, it was just the sweetest thing.  There were several little girls dressed up like Elsa and there was something very tender hearing the sweet little voices of all of those kids sing the refrain.  I thought Idina was genuinely caring and thoughtful and sweet to her little fans (and the big ones, too).  I would totally buy tickets all over again.  Actually, it gave me the concert itch and I am looking into who will be in town next that interests me.