Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving was a busy, chaotic, bundle of glorious-ness this year.

My sister from AZ and her family stayed with us for a whole week.

We love these sweet peeps we only get to see twice a year and I was so excited for them to stay at our abode.My sister sacrificed her b-day celebration for a long car ride to ID so the morning after she arrived we busted out the party hats, root beer floats, and key lime pie for a birthday breakfast party! (Little C was in charge of photos. Unfortunately my sister wasn't in them.  Funny guy :)

We also did a little b-day shopping the next day, feasted at Big Bun - where I was tricked into asking what their catch of the day was... never felt smarter (this is a hamburger joint), and went on a double date to see Hunger Games.

Love bonding with these folk.

The next day we took the younger kids to the aquarium which bit the dust mostly. No sting rays or sharks to be had because they'd been confiscated for being purchased illegally. Impressive. The kids still managed to have a good time though.

The Beloved's parents, my sister and her family from WA, and my bro-in-law's family from Rexburg all arrived the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

Some people had hotels so it wasn't crazy all the time but....

most of the time.

Good thing I'm a little in love with crazy.

Everyone helped out so very much -especially The Beloved's parents. We were really missing my Mom and Dad and to have a seasoned matriarch and patriarch in our midst was a blessing.

 Thanksgiving dinner was held at the church where The Beloved's brother Fultray, his wife, our friends the Horton's, and another brother in law's brother and his family were able to join the rest of the party crew aforementioned. 

(Did you know that was one word? I think I should have....)

We feasted, had the best chats, and played a few great rounds of cards.

The Friday after Thanksgiving my other sister from WA arrived and so did The Beloved's sister and her fam from UT. I love all of these people and their willingness to travel and be together.

This was the first time in a looonnnggg time all of my sisters and I have been together. We exchanged Christmas gifts early, Fultray gave us a psycho analysis he learned from his old roommates (definitely entertaining), went to Frozen, attended the baby's blessing, and managed to take the ugliest/funnest sister photo ever.

After everyone departed -

I slept for a week.

Singing Happy B-day to Sister #2

Cousin AV

L-R
Cousin KV, Ruckus, AV, MV, Lou, Moo, and Sister #2.

Front L-R
Moo, and KV
Back L-R
MV, Lou, AV, and Ruckus

Moo and AV

Ruckus and MV

Lou and MV

Ruckus had to share a room with Moo but obviously didn't want to sleep in the baby's crib so The Beloved got out both  mattresses and laid them on the floor.

The baby with Grandma.
The baby is sporting my favorite baby pose.
Legs pulled in tightly with the little bummy poking out.

Thanksgiving spread.

Feasting.
Hurrah!

The sisters.
I have no idea what we're doing but it looks like everyone is having fun except Sister #3 who looks fairly concerned with my hair. :)

Sundays Are My Favorite -

I'm becoming a bit obnoxious in the "dress up the little girl" category.

Sundays mornings hold a whole new meaning in my life -

because I get to dress up this little human.

I dig dress up.

She is quickly growing out of all her 0-3 months dresses so I had to do a little photo shoot.

She wasn't super pleased.

Though I was ecstatic. :)

Rose bud feet accessories.... who knew they made life so much better?

Had to do a wardrobe shoe change.
See... obnoxious. :)

The Beloved went out to run errands one day and came home with this adorable little outfit from the GAP.

She's pleased.

I'm even taking pictures of her cuteness at church.
 This is getting out of hand.

Maybe this is a shoe photo shoot? I love her boots mucho gusto. 

You've seen this before but it's one of my favorites.

So peaceful with that little smile shining through....

mmmmm... love her.

Lou's Birthday!

Lou testing out his new bike from his parentals!

On his actual b-day we went and saw the movie Planes (everyone almost fell asleep) and then we had Cars B-Day cupcakes at home.

Present from Buckabu and Papa
(the little brother is just as excited as the birthday boy)

The creation which resulted from Buckabu and Papa's gift.
He's in Heaven.

Lou requested an "animal" friend b-day party. Here he is blowing out his DQ cake surrounded by his pals.

The Beloved was our animal face painting artist.

Here is the extremely  lovely donkey The Beloved crafted for Pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey.

One little party guest was quite dismayed by the placement of her tail. When we took the blind fold off she exclaimed, "You've got to be kidding me!" Funny.

Prepping to open presents! The popular gift of the year was Hero Factory Legos.
He's set for life.

When Grandma and Grandpa came for Thanksgiving they gave Lou a way cool set of Legos for his b-day  - plus Grandma sat with him for four hours assembling all of the tiny Lego pieces. Now, that is love.
(and look, we kept the donkey up :) She's just too lovely to put away - plus I've always wanted a donkey with a target on its rear to compliment the decor in my kitchen)

Hey my six year old Pal,

You're only six but sometimes you seem so much older to me. Your mind is always busy calculating, desiring to learn, and continuously moving forward. You soak it all in. The desire to learn and your recall of information is a gift and will bless you throughout your life.  I know you will seek out good things to study and grow from. - you're just a cool cat like that.
You find joy in kindergarten and love your teacher Miss Coles. She is in our ward as well and is my visiting teacher and it makes you feel extra special when she visits our home.
You made up a list (of your own accord) with different activities you could do with Miss Coles - ex: go swimming, to the movies, the park, aquarium, zoo, church,etc. All you needed me to do was initial my consent next to each individual activity.
I laughed and told you this was a well thought through permission form but the only one that may possibly fly would be a ride to church once in awhile. I told you Miss Coles loves you and adores spending time with you but we can't monopolize all of her time outside the classroom.
Of course when I shared this tale with Miss Coles she said she was more than willing to take you on a few adventures.
We'll see. :)
When you learn things at school you are so anxious to share them with us at home. We love hearing all about your exciting days. One week you learned about needs vs. wants.
Oh my word...adorable at first and then it got a little crazy. I thought your eldest brother may explode when you kept telling him his possessions were wants not needs.
You made sure he knew he didn't need his IPOD.
Nor his headphones, bicycle, scooter, skateboard, books, tv...
basically anything he used to occupy his time was a big fat want.
Although true, it was a little overwhelming for his 11 year old mind to hear over and over and over again.
But fairly entertaining for your parents.
You also learned about starting with the end in mind.
This tool came in handy when I asked you to hang up your shirts. You have no problem putting clothes away in your drawers but typically hanging up clothing means feeling like death is around the corner.
I was surprised when you announced about ten minutes later you were finished with this task. 
I told you how impressed I was and you said -
You know mom, it was easy. I just started with the end in mind and everything else was simpler after that.
Where did you come from kid? I am still trying to nail that one down.
You are a kind boy and have a gentle heart.
You can definitely be head strong but you don't often use that quality to hurt or be unkind to others.
Often when I am being impatient or you can tell I'm having an overwhelming day you take the time to give me a hug and say, I love you Mom.
You are very aware of when I need a hug. A little reminder to calm myself down and stop being a tyrant.
I appreciate your love and patience with me.
You make up your own pronunciation for words once in awhile. For example, the word gave. You give the a, a short O sound so it comes out sounding like G-AH-V. We eat it up and tease you a bit about your secret British royal roots.
Your most favorite thing to do in your spare time still is drawing.
You have me pull up pictures on Google images and you hand copy them quite precisely.
Before school you usually make two or three creations to hand out to different friends or for your brothers to enjoy while your away.
So sweet.
I love and enjoy you significantly.
Thanks for being so dependably good. 
Love,
Mama

Every Moment Is a Photo Moment

Getting warm and bundled in preparation of attending the BSU basketball game.
This is her daddy's FAVORITE attire!

She's not fussy very often but when she is nothing soothes her better than music. The Beloved laid his IPhone on her chest, turned on some tunes, and she was out.

I woke up one morning and she was sporting a breast pad hat. :)

She is the happiest little baby.... when she's awake - which isn't very often.

It's almost as if she wakes up and is filled with so much joy and flirts her little heart out that it exhausts her and she's out.

I totally get it.

Love this girl.

The Hair Experience and the Big Name Reveal

I wish we were talking about The Beloved's hair and his follow through in cutting it. 

We aren't.

He actually now has two small braids, each complimented with a colorful bead hidden beneath his long locks.

Why? Because he likes it.

Plain and Simple.

Weird - but so The Beloved-ish at the same time - which is why I'm fond of him.

This post is about our former "baby" who had a major  haircut recently and also about his new blog name.

It's Moo.

The Mooster -

He's our random wanna-be turrets guy who has an affinity for shouting out Moo regularly throughout the day - happy moos, mad moos - there's usually a moo. :)

Moo in the bath with his brothers. They liked to put his hair into crazy different styles and laugh.

At the salon - taking the plunge.

But the cut ended up not so cute.... more appropriate for a woman in her 50s.  

The Beloved took matters into his own hands.
What the bald boy of cuteness!

Halloween 2013

It was a great idea to have this photo shoot available at the ward Halloween party
 - with the frame and background so cutely decorated - but
my kids didn't get it and then the height issue resulted in my  youngest one being strangled by frame. Ouch.

Our little Frog turned Munchkin.
He really liked to wear his trick or treating basket on his head.

Poor Halloween of 2013 - I don't remember much about you except I was ready to "get 'er done". We made the sweet intros to our newest family member on Nov 1st... so my thoughts were definitely elsewhere. 

Little C dressed up like a crazed escapee from a mental institution.

There are no photos of him because his is BIG now - Boo - and went to a Halloween party at a friend's house. (Boo and Fun at the same time - we missed him but I know at his age I would have been so excited to go to a Halloween party - the freedom of it all. It's a big deal).

Lou was the ever impressive Wolverine and Ruckus was the  (gosh, I have no adjective for this one... sorry bud... Power Rangers are a struggle for me  - let's go with this..) most handsome Red Power Ranger I have ever seen. 

(honest and sincere - go me. My kids are babes.)

Our number four guy was the very happy frog and disgruntled frog shown in the pictures above. :)

The Beloved took them trick-or-treating while I passed out treats, washed walls, organized the garage... mostly doing things that didn't need to be done but were of high importance in my prego nesting mind. 

Have you Ever...

Our sweet baby's poo on my hand - it's light newborn poo so look closely.
Mom you must be so proud.

Been driving in the car and noticed you had poo on your hand?

It's a pretty fulfilling place to be in life. :)

The worst part is - I think I noticed it, thought "gross", and then kept running errands, which lead me to forgetting about the poo until hours later when I finally decided to be proactive in washing my hands.

Needless to say, life is busy but I've determined to blog at least once a week.

The Beloved had the first two years of my blog made into books for me for Christmas and I love them.

It is so fun looking back and being reminded of all the things I've forgotten.

Those memories are precious.

I'm going to do better at recording the new ones.

Even poo memories -