Family Hand Art

Yesterday Abi went to her bff Brooke's house after church. Which means she wasn't home when Corey took kids over to his parent's house. Which means that when she got home she was moping around and pouting and feeling very sorry for herself. So sad, Abi is stuck home with nothing to do. So she asked if we could paint. And she asked again and again and finally I was ready to have her stop nagging me and got things ready for kids to paint (cause you know if one kid is painting, everyone wants to be painting! But it might work with the little girls gone, so we'll try) So I let her paint. The kids that were home painted clip boards for themselves (for an idea I have) and I got things ready to do a little art project that I've been thinking about for a long time ~ an attempt to put something on these walls. I got the older kids all done when Corey came back with his half of the children. So then it was time to do the little girls. Natalie's turn. They loved getting their hands painted on.

Once I was done with what I wanted I had to guard the art carefully and we had to do it over and over again on cardboard and other paper around. Then everyone was done except for our little almost 3 month old bundle of joy. I knew it would be a challenge to pry open those little baby fists. Joseph held Owen to help me. Okay Owen, open your hand! Trying to open a baby fist that is all slipper and wet with baby blue paint and trying to make one single handprint and not get paint on the rest of the page.... a bit tricky.

(Owen is going to be Superman for Halloween, and Ethan just can't resist not putting him in the outfit, it's just so cute)

Ok! I think that's a success! A few touch ups with white paint, but yeah, looks pretty good. good job everyone! Hands are - in order from left to right - Melodie, Lily, Abi Hyrum, Me, Owen, Corey, Wesley, Joseph, Natalie, Ethan, Sophi.

We did this on the back of our failed family art attempt from almost two years ago - (see last picture here) I called this our crap art, and we laughed at ourselves for how naive we were to think we could just whip out art like Aelita no problem, ha, She really does have talent. Us, not so much...

There is Abi's contemporary art on the left, then Wes, Hryum, Wes, and Mel's. We learned we need to let it dry before we just try and do it all. So I often buy old art with glass and frames at the thrift store and use those for my art experiments. And when the first and second attempts don't work, I try to find a way to keep reusing them - use it up, wear it out, make it do! So that fail from the photo above is visible from the back of our new family painting. 

So this one kinda works. Not sure where I'll put it, but here is a temporary holding place while I think about it. Pretty fun though, I like Owens little hand. Also, on each hand I put their initial and their age, cause I'm sure time will make us forget.

W 10 = Wesley, 10 years old. J 15 = Joseph, 15 years. N2 = Natalie - 2 years old. So that was our little Sabbath day Family History and Memory activity. The kids are pretty excited about, showing it to all their friends that came over today. I already gotta go wipe off the glass again from all their excited fingers pointing at it and putting their hands up to it again. Hope they don't knock it off the wall. If they do, well... that's why I do thrift store art. :)

Empty Milk Jug

I opened the fridge this morning to find someone had left a message for whoever it was that left an empty milk carton: "Ok, who drank the rest of the milk and put the empty jug back in there?"

Cue Darth Sidious~ "IT WAS I!"

(We love Studio C!) At first I thought Melodie wrote that on the milk carton, cause she is usually the creative one around here. I also thought the handwriting was too good to be one of the boys. So I blogged that it was her. Then she read the blog and said she didn't do it, it was Ethan. So I edit. I'm updating this now on Monday where Ethan is home from school and reading the blog and said "I didn't do it, it was Joseph!" They were all being so modest not to take credit. So that made me laugh though, cause now I'm editing it again to record the right kid - we want to keep a true record of our family history. I decided to check with Joseph to make sure I wouldn't have to edit a third time. "Joseph, did you write that funny stuff on the milk jug?" With a tone of isn't-it-obvious he quickly said yes. Then he talked about how he did that cause he didn't want to take the carton out to the recycling. I think writing that out took more time, but whatever makes him happy! So let it be known, Joseph was the creative child today, glad there is plenty of creativity to go around!

The Real "Toy Story"

Joseph got a Woody doll for his 2nd birthday. Our Woody doll has been "an old family toy" (just like Andy's!) for almost 14 years. And now... now his time has come. Stinky Pete was right.

"Idiots!!! Children destroy toys!!!"

Destroy = fingers broken off

"You will be ruined!"

Ruined = cowboy jeans ripped open, back of neck sliced, head almost completely decapitated... 

This permanent marker was the final straw for me. All over Woody's face (artwork by Natalie) ~ I tried to wipe it off with a magic eraser, hoping it was a dry erase marker and not permanent, but when the black rubbed off to reveal a nice purple stain on the plastic, I decided that was it. I just can't keep him and have those poor black glassed over eyes staring at me...

Time to say goodbye. He'll be "spending eternity rotting in some landfill!" We're glad Toy Story isn't real, cause if it were, it would be so sad to make Woody's nightmare come true! "I don't want to play with you anymore... (cue creepy voice) Byeeeee Wooooodyyyyy...."

So lesson to all the other toys at our house - break out now if you still can, cause Stinky Pete was right. This is the true story of toys around our house. Woody of the movies was lucky that there was only one younger sister in his wake. It will be a rare thing for any toys to survive for the next generation at our house!

Doll Hair

So as I was saying... Yesterday (before Natalie cut her head open on the bookshelf) the little girls and I had spent a lovely afternoon playing dolls. We brushed out lots of hair with the tip I'd seen on pinterest some time ago, recommending using fabric softener to get out those tangles. Worked like magic for most all of them, but sadly, Elsa and Anna's hair must have been made from a different brand, cause those two still look pretty frazzled. I didn't get them wet or rinse them out though, maybe I'll go back and try again. I think Ariel is the prettiest. Lily thinks so too, that is her doll

I'm excited to have a 5 day weekend! No school today or tomorrow, yippie! The girls played with the dolls all day today, it's nice to have some down time.

ER Trip

Today I was going to record how hard the girls and I worked to brush out the hair on all of their large princess dolls. But it will have to wait for tomorrow cause we had something else happen that needs to be recorded today. After I'd finished the dolls' hair and was getting Tinkerbell dressed, Natalie, who had been playing a game on the arm of the couch, hit her head. Her game was to stand on the ground next to the couch and lean backward on the arm and let herself fall backwards onto the couch cushion. She and Sophi both played this game successfully for a while, but on this turn for Natalie, her feet didn't push her with enough momentum to go over the arm and she came back forward down on the ground, but her feet didn't catch, so she fell forward with no feet to stand on and smacked her head on the side of the bookshelf. It was a loud hit, and I knew she hit it hard, and then she turned to me and I saw the blood going down her face. I picked her up and had her lay in my arms, looked at the wound and... yep, it looked big enough that it was going to need stitches. OK! So... next item, how do I get to the ER... it was 3:30, the older kids should be walking in the door any minute... I call Corey... "Natalie needs stitches..." He recommended I go now and not wait for the older kids. But I didn't want to take Owen and Sophi with me to the ER... but I couldn't think clearly as my brain tried to asses the situation. I was still holding Natalie in my arms as I paced and tried to talk to Corey and think. Then, oh yeah! Next door neighbors! (duh!) I give Lisa a call on her cell. She wasn't home but would be there in 10 minutes and said her college daughter was home and could watch Sophi and Owen while I take Natalie in. Yay ~ Okay, got that part figured out. I'm not looking fancy but have shoes near by, I slip them on. Owen is on the couch starting to fuss, I'm still holding Natalie. She's not crying but just looking up at me with her big beautiful eyes cause she can tell that whatever just happened to her is a big deal and she's awaiting instructions. I didn't want her to follow me over to the neighbors' house... I lay her down and tell her to stay and don't move, stay there, I'll be right back... I run upstairs and get a diaper/bottle/formula for Owen. As I come down the stairs to take them over, Kaile comes in the house to help and picks up Owen. Perfect! Ok! That's everything then, right? Yes ~ So into the car I go. Sophi followed me and wanted to come but I said no and she was sad but NO, you're not coming, I gotta take Natalie to the doctor, I'll be right back. I lay Natalie down on the seat and was going to have her lay down on the drive, but she got up and into her carseat. She still wasn't fussing, but she was tired cause she hadn't had a nap and she fell asleep.

I get to the ER and walk in carrying a sleeping child with blood all over her face, which might have looked like I was carrying a dead child or something really urgent. So it wasn't as bad as it looked. There was no wait, we go into triage, they get her vitals and weight and they give her a little pink teddy bear, and then into room 9 to wait for the doctor. And Natalie is just being so sweet and perfect.

Seriously, this is how she was looking at me the whole time. Just submitting to the situation and waiting for me to tell her what to do, adorable.

She was precious. All the nurses and hospital people kept commenting on how good she was and how sweet and cute. It's all true, she's just an angel. Don't you just want to pinch those cheeks? You're so cute Natalie.

I texted this photo above to Corey and the kids and our parents, giving the play by play. Besides, this is big news, it's not every day you get to go to the ER. The cut looked a lot better after they cleaned her up ~ I took pictures of her and then showed them to her. When she saw this one below, she kissed the phone photo to kiss the owie better.

A nice straight cut there. That's good, cause that means they can use the glue instead of stitches. Another short wait (just two plays of the "Let it Go" video on my phone) and they're back with the glue, tape, and DermaBond.

All done Natalie! You are all better! Should we go home?

So she hit her head at 3:30 and by 4:30 she was up and walking out of the Emergency Room. Good job you cute girl. And she had a big bandaid to show off to all her siblings and the neighborhood kids when she got home.

Boys' Bedroom

For most of our time living in this house, we have had the kids split into two rooms: the boys' room and the girls' room. Up until July, the girls outnumbered the boys so they have got the bigger room. It is only slightly larger, but it's closet is a lot bigger. And lately the boys are the ones that are in need of more space for clothing. Hmm, what to do. These boys are getting bigger and things are getting kinda crowded in here.

At first I thought it would make the room seem larger if we swapped out the wood bunk beds for metal ones, but the boys weren't sure they wanted to give up their shelves. What to do...

They definitely need more closet space, and there is no room for a dresser, so I think we will have to split them up. So this weekend we started rearranging things again and the lego room is no more. We got a metal bunkbed to put in there and will figure out what to do with the wood bunks later. 

But usually after we rearrange, I feel bad that I didn't capture a before of "how it was" for them to look back on and remember. This time I did. Boys, this is how your room was in 2015. Joseph on the top bunk there with the big shelf. Wesley below him... (he's got his favorite stuffed animals there, cute. He's in 5th grade, but I don't mind him staying little for a little longer)

Ethan on the other top bunk - here is his space:

And Hyrum is below Ethan. Hyrum's bed is pretty short, he can't sit up straight under there, seems a little tight for this seventh grader.

So, I think I'll let the boys figure out among themselves who gets to go in the Lego room and we'll get a dresser for that room and free up the boys room closet, it will be okay for just two boys. Wesley has been declared the owner of the top bunk, and I think Ethan is getting the bottom bed which has a pro that it's a full size, not just a twin. Maybe we'll get another one of those and have them in both rooms so that there is something positive for the poor boys stuck on bottom. Up til now it's been older boys get top cause they are taller. We have 8 bunk beds now, one loft, a toddler bed, and a pack and play. So I think we're good for life, cause Joseph will be gone and on his mission or in college in another 3 years, and Owen will only be 3 by then, so the toddler bed will work fine. When I was voicing those thoughts as we planned and arranged, the kids were a little shocked to know that things are going to be changing pretty soon around here, and yes, children, 3 years is "soon" - that's going to go by so fast! It already has. We really need to enjoy the rest of this time with all our kids home and under one roof, I know it is fleeting.

Fire Station

We joined some moms from our neighborhood for a little outing to the Fire Station today. It was great. The thing I was most excited about learning was that if you are stuck in a room, you're supposed to but a blanket hanging out the window so they know to go to that room. Had I not learned that I would probably have been waving and screaming for help. Good to know. Natalie and Sophi both got a pink fire hats.

I think Sophi needs more outings like this. It was funny to see my little four year old. While we were in this room, the fireman would ask them questions which usually required a yes or no answer. Sophi would always nod her head. He told them how to stop drop and roll, and all the kids practiced rolling on the ground. Then he told them how to touch a door to see if it was not (use the backside of your hand so if it's hot your reflexes will make you pull away rather than grasp) and he asked for a volunteer to show how it was done... "Who wants to go first?" Sophi raised her hand. Ok - crawl over to the door to see if it's hot... She didn't crawl, she rolled (like we'd just practiced!) and she was wearing her little dress so that was riding up as she rolled and showing her Ariel underwear and I shook my head as she continued to try and roll in a straight line to the door (not easy to roll forward...) Anyway, we made it to the door, she didn't touch it with the back of her hand per instructions, but that is a-ok. We made it out and were standing up again. They told us all the things on the fire engine. Any questions? Sophi nodded. (She didn't really have a question). They showed all the stuff a fire fighter wears. Mom's and a few kids asked questions. Any more questions? Again, Sophi nodded affirmatively like a good little sister that goes along with whatever everyone is doing. So he asked Sophi what her question was and she just smiled at him shyly and then looked at the ground. So that was our outing. And Sophi kept trying to correct Natalie, who was wearing her hat incorrectly...

I thought the backwards hat was cute on you Natalie, you keep it that way. And we'll let Sophi keep raising her hand too.

Little Budda

So, a few weeks ago I thought Owen was a bit colicky. I now believe that the poor kid was just starving. When he was 6 weeks old I started to supplement with formula (just the free samples they gave me at my OB check up - said it was to help with gas and discomfort so I thought I'd give it a go if that was making him colicky...) and he downed them pretty fast. I bought some more of that kind of formula, and the more he got, the less fussy he was, and the more he poops. (I was also worried he wasn't having enough dirty diapers - yeah, that might be a result of not getting enough food!) So needless to say he's been eating up a ton and is filling out quite nicely - he's becoming quite the little Budda. 

Napping with Ethan after (and a little during) scriptures tonight. (We're headed to bed - it's only 9:30!!!)

So my milk is almost dried up cause now Owen isn't patient enough for my milk. The bottle serves it up without much work on his part. So that makes me a little sad cause I love the bonding time that nursing provides, but with him taking a bottle I have gotten some of my freedom back. So we'll see how it goes. One last thing - today we a good laugh out of him on video.

His best laugh was at the very beginning, and the rest of the time was all the other kids laughing at his big smiles (and I think they surprised/scared him a bit with their loud reactions to his laugh). But the kids were pretty excited, he's a cutie!

No School, Yay!

The elementary kids didn't have school today, so we went to a park. Abi was nice and pushed her little sisters in the swings.

Lily met a dog named Charlotte. Charlotte is having babies soon!

Owen took a nap.

Wesley was able to go on a morning hike with some friends to Timpanogos Cave.

He had fun

(and is quite a character)

I had plans to take the rest of the kids to do something bigger and more fun than just a park, but no such luck. Had to stick around cause the jr. high crowd still had school. Sorry kids, I'm still drowning, give me another week and we'll try again.

Starfall OD

Kinda drowning this week. I've been letting Sophi play on Starfall a bit too much. I don't think it's healthy, but we're just trying to survive another week.

Nap Wish

Here's Mel snuggling with Owen after school today. If I had my way, this is what I'd be doing all day long. Not just because it's heavenly to have a sleeping infant on your chest, but also because I'm getting pretty exhausted. Right now my only wish is to lay down and go to bed and know that I'll be able to have atleast 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Sleep at night doesn't happen mostly because of my angel Owen. During the day, naps don't happen because the phone will ring or Sophi needs help going potty or there are errands to run. But right now I wish I could do this all day. And when I do get 15 minutes of this heaven, I'm cherishing every second. The uninterrupted sleep will come someday, but that will probably mean I don't have a baby roomie to kiss. So I'll live in the now and enjoy these moments and years. I know they will be over too soon.

General Conference Quiz

General Conference this past weekend was wonderful. During the first session I wrote up a quiz - a question for each talk as I listened, then the kids that listened got to earn a treat for answering the questions ~

1) What was the word on the quilt? (Uchtdorf's talk)
2) The church is a _______ to take us on our destination (Ballard's talk)
3) Like clay on the potter's wheel, we need to be ________ as well (Maynes talk)
4) What was the Marriott's family motto that helped them when their daughter Georgia died in a bike accident? (Neill Marriott's talk)
5) What is one of the things the Holy Ghost told people to do who asked "What lack I yet?" (Lawrence's talk)
6) What language did Elder Vinas speak in?
7) Ship Shaped and Bristol Fashion - define it (Elder Cook's talk)

Joseph and Ethan both got 100%, What is your score? Mel would have aced it too, but she was gone - she has orchestra Saturday mornings. Next time we're going to have her miss orchestra though, duh! Where are our priorities?!

For the second session, I had Owen on my lap or in my arms most of the time so I wasn't able to take notes or write up questions. I passed out treats anyway. On Sunday morning, I listened as I cleaned up the kitchen after breakfast, then I went upstairs and watched from up there. Along with many other members, I noticed that President Monson was starting to struggle at the end of his talk and that the microphone was covering his face. I watched him with concern and was praying for him. This story was shared on facebook about some children who were drawing pictures of what they saw (I should have had my kids do that) and they drew angels by President Monson. One of the children said the men had "sprinkles" (aka were sparkling). I loved his message and have recommitted myself to read, study and ponder the scriptures more each day.

I also loved Elder Schwitzer's talk - he was my stake president when I returned home from my mission and who did my interview before Corey and I were married in the temple. Love him. A friend from my church ward has a little business making printables like that one above - here are some Conference freebies, cute stuff! I've already started reviewing the talks, and we're going to "ponderize" too - instead of us all choosing our own though, we're just doing a family one using the scripture mastery in the Old Testament, which is what Joseph and Melodie are studying in seminary this year. This week is Proverbs 3:5-6 - we've all go this on our phones:

I love Conference weekend and setting goals again to become better and strive to improve.