(Fill in Blank) Vs. Hyrum

Tiff vs. Hyrum

On Tuesday, the second day of school, Hyrum did not want to go. He had been in a fine mood at breakfast and was working on his "About me" poster when I told him it was time to go catch the bus. He started to cry, saying his teacher would be sooo mad at him. "I know I'm going to go to the principal's office! I'm NOT going!" I tried to reason with him, I was sure his poster wasn't due yet, but he wouldn't listen. Ok, so if it IS due today, just tell her you didn't finish, I'm sure she'll give you another day. "NO! I'm NOT going to school!" "Yes you are, let's go". The next sequence of events:
I drag him to the bus stop
I try to coax him onto the bus
I carry him onto the bus
I stay with him on the bus
I ride the bus to school
I pull him off the bus
I pull him to his classes' line
I drag him into school
I drag him back out of school cause he threw his backpack off somewhere during the drag in
I drag him into school again
His teacher says it's not due until next week
Hyrum does not acknowledge that I was right nor does he remember what this fit he's throwing is even about, only that he should continue to say "I'm NOT going to School! I'm going HOME!" The other kids in his class are in the room and trying to help him too, but there is no reasoning with him. I give him hugs and try to help him relax and stay. After 10 minutes, I just leave him there with the teacher trying to get him to go in the classroom. I jog back home.

Winner: Tie, just cause he left me totally doubting if I was still a good mom for abandoning him in his moment of need - his teacher called after school to let me know how things went - she said it was a good 45 minutes before he calmed down and was cooperative, and then after that he was fine.

Corey vs. Hyrum
(this one is funny and shows both Corey and Hyrum in their full glory)

Last night around 7, Corey was done with work and decides to take some kids to a dollar movie. Everyone decided to go, I decide I can go run errands with Lily while they are at the movie. Hyrum is downstairs watching Madagascar in Spanish (I told them they can only watch a movie if it's in Spanish, and that's the only one we have, and they all protested - Hyrum didn't want to watch in the first place...) and he said "NO!" about going to the dollar theater cause he was watching Madagascar in Spanish. But since I wanted to run errands, no one would be at home with him, thus: everyone's gotta go. He refuses to get in the car. Corey takes him, put him in, buckles him in, holds the seatbelt so he can't unbuckle it, and says "You think you're stubborn? I'm WAY more stubborn that you! (looking around the car, he says) Children, if I die, I want you all to know that I just did it to save Hyrum's life..." Hyrum is laughing as we start to drive. They both seem to be playful, but Hyrum wants him to let go and starts spitting in Corey's face to get him to leave. Corey reply? He starts a big long hack and gets a good spit with the mucus from the back of this throat and spits back in Hyrum's face. The children, all grossed out and surprised by this, laugh. I groan and laugh. GROSS. Hyrum spits, Corey spits back, repeat - it went on for a good 3 minutes. I was laughing, Hyrum was laughing, all the kids were laughing, Corey wasn't laughing, but had a proud smile that he was in control of the situation and was going to win the battle with this 7 year old. We got to the theater, I passed some baby wipes back to the spit covered males, and Corey says he'll take Lily and run the errands for me. Hyrum now complains that he wanted to run the errands but wants to go with me, not Dad, and cries as they pull away. I buy 6 tickets for the movie. 20 seconds later Corey calls and says Hyrum has relented to see the show and tells me to buy 2 more tickets. So the errands didn't get run, Hyrum willingly walked into the theater, and 2 hours later he admits he liked it.

Winner: I think Corey won.

Later that night - after the movie, Corey and the kids came home wanting to play with Chloe - The black Dragon in the show reminded them of Chloe and they all missed her. They took her on a walk. It was already late and the bedtime routine still hadn't started. I felt my stress rise as the voice in my head said "They have school tomorrow! It's late! Where are they?!" They walked the dog, visited with neighbors who were out in their yards with their dogs, at 10:00 they are home and I start barking orders - Wes! Hyrum! Come floss and Brush! Joe - Mel! Floss and Brush! Ethan! Floss and brush! Ethan walked in for his self performed dental routine and left the bathroom a little too quickly - "Did you floss?" (I know I have to ask him about that specifically) "I couldn't find a floss pick!" Then I'll help you, you have to floss, let's go. He pushed me away and wasn't listening and I didn't have patience for it. I grabbed a floss pick off the counter, he cries "Who used that!?!?" I don't know, it doesn't matter, cause you have to floss. (as past children's dental bills of $500+ each return to haunt my mind again just like everynight) Open up!" He pushed me away, I grab him, he hits me and then I reacted not with a hit cause I was holding his head and the floss pick, but with a kick at his shins. I don't think that is what a good mother or the Savior would do and felt terrible. I don't recall my mother ever kicking me. Now I have guilt and no patience.

A little later, after apologizing to Ethan, I confessed my sin to Corey. He listened, then said "Well, I don't know if you're aware... but I spit in my son's face repeatedly tonight." That made me laugh. "Yes, but you were in control of yourself, and I wasn't!" Then after a deep breath and a sigh, it's okay, I'll try again tomorrow to not lose my cool.

I love my life with 7 kids. Lots of fun stories. I gotta keep them recorded to tell to them when they're older.

Camping with Cousins at Spruces in Big Cottonwood Canyon

Kelsey, Mel, Ashton and Joe enjoying some s'mores.
Gotta love those new "campfire" marshmallows, have you seen those?
They're HUGE! (That's what Ethan's eyes are saying) ...it takes two whole grahams to hold it!

Lily enjoying her mallow..

And lastly, I love the way kids look in the mornings when camping. Good Morning Abi!


Marshmallow's for breakfast. Mmmm...

My Home is Legoland

The title of this post sums it up - the kids have been playing Legos now for 2 months straight.

Here's a picture of each kid with one of their creations:

Joseph, with Corey's help, is making the Japanese Whaling ship, the Nisshin Maru, from Animal Planet's documentary show "Whale Wars" - (Corey was just trying to find something on the Wii Netflix that was educational and hopefully interesting, the kids have all gotten really into it, it's fun...)

Melodie with her creation of the boat we rented at Jordanelle -

Ethan's Hogwarts Castle

Hyrum with his birthday present - Lego Buzz, Lego Zurg, and Buzz's Spaceship (don't they make just make the coolest legos these days?)

Wesley's "white guy" with the guy's remote control race car and flag

And last but not least, this is how Abi and Lily play Legos

Park City 2010

Abi found a paint brush and spent a good half hour painting the edges of the pool with water, and she loved it!

We go to Park City the first week of August every year with Corey's family. Of course there was lots of swimming...

Joe enjoying his exclusive rights to the coveted nose plug

We spent lots of time in the "Mine Shaft" playroom, which was Lily's favorite place to hang...

Lily and Melodie

And this, for the first time, we bought an all day mountain Pass for the older kids (and me too!) which allowed for lots of rides down the Alpine slide - I'd by the passenger ride and take one of the young kids with me who were to young to ride alone...

Abi and Me on the Alpine Slide, she loved it!

Ethan and Joe got to do the jumping on the trampoline for the first time, they were excited. But Ethan confessed after that it wasn't as fun as it looked.... they kept the bungees so tight that he was just suspended in the air and really could hardly get any weight on the trampoline to get much of a good bounce.

And one of the highlights this year was that Mr. Wride rented a boat at Jordanelle.

They enjoyed the beach too.

Abi sporting her shades

Corey's favorite part - seeing their little heads bobbing with the waves behind the boat...

Bathing Lily

Lilian is our 7th kid. I wouldn't mind at all having a few more. But I don't know if we will, that biological clock is ticking I guess, so we'll see what happens. But if she is the last, one baby thing I will miss and am thus trying to enjoy and capture, is the sweet look and feel of a freshly bathed baby bottom.


I decided not to upload the pictures I took (Actually, I wanted to and tried, but they wouldn't work, what's up with the photo upload these days? Oh, there we go - after the 10th try it worked...) yes, the moment has been captured! and will be scrapbooked for future generations to enjoy.

I love Lily and her cute little bum.

Packing and Moving out - 3 weeks till departure

SO... I'm recommitting myself to blogging. I thought I'd start blogging for you all to know what happens to us in Costa Rica, but I guess I should prep myself a little by warming up my keypad and typing fingers before we go. So here I am, our house is in slight chaos, but better today than it was a week ago. Big THANK YOU to my dear mother and sis who helped me out Saturday - Mom was a good drill sergeant and kept us (me and Beka) working past lunchtime, which was when I thought Mom had to go back to work. No such luck, and after two loads to storage Corey has officially declared my packing "ahead of schedule" since we now have no table for dinner or beds for the kids. But atleast there are mattresses on the floor. And look at how lonely Lily's crib looks in her bedroom, so sad -

I put her in the crib to try and get a picture of her little sad head peeking over the side, but her mourning was too great and she couldn't bring herself to stand so you can barely see her hunched over in there. I might roll her into the big basement room with the rest of the crew but for now it will be quieter for her to be in here alone. So sad.

So we worked until 4 and cleared out almost all of the basement except two couches and the big playhouse thing. Lots of furniture is gone - we're doing what we did last time and selling a lot on craigslist. I like it. It feels good to get rid of stuff, I don't know why. I've taken 8 bins to the DI and got $50+ from my donations to Kid to Kid. My moving goal this week - Get the "Sorting Room" all sorted, packed, and taped up.

The kids have been playing and playing and playing Legos - I think we're on the 6th straight week. I don't think they've played with friends hardly at all. They are building amazing creations...

And since it's Sunday, the "Lego Master" a.k.a. Corey, is joining in the fun. Legos are going to be the last toy packed. They keep the kids occupied, except for the youngest two, which are making my chaos more chaotic.

This week's Exercise goals: Do it everyday in the mornings at 6:30. I'm going to enjoy these last few weeks with wonderful friends and enjoying this beautiful community we live in. I would not at all be against moving back to this area.