Wesley's 2 cents on Drying Clothes

So, the washer and dryer were sold yesterday. I thought someone was going to come by at 5, but ended up being 3:30, so I didn't finish drying the last loads of laundry I was trying to hurry and do. After we waved goodbye to our clothes cleaners, and I took a deep breath and told myself "It's okay! You can survive 3 days!" I took the basket of wet clothes into the backyard to see if inspiration came as to what to do. The deck railings looked a little dirty. Hmmm. Wesley followed me out and said "Put them on the trees! That's what Little John does..."
I looked at the low lying branches of aspen trees, looked pretty clean, and Wesley was right, Little John did it - hard to argue with reasoning like that? We draped them up and I got them down this morning. A few got blown off with the canyon winds during the night, but they were all dry. They felt nice and crispy and I had a flash back to washing clothes by hand and clothes-pinning them up in Brazil. That was hard at times, but overall a great experience and I'd do it again, and I guess we kinda are right now. I'm hoping CR won't be as hard as Brazil was. Although Brazil was probably mostly hard cause it was my first time living internationally, so I was having a bit of a greenie on a mission experience. I think I'm better prepared this time. Plus, this place has a washer and dryer it says. Hope there aren't too many rude awakenings when we get there. Oh, have you seen our place? Here's a LINK to it - what do you think? It will be interesting to see it in person and then compare it to how I picture it right now in my mind. Check out the howler monkey picture - I hope they are cute and calm, the one in this picture kinda freaks me out.

I'll let you know!

Chloe is a 21st Century Dog

Yup, this Pup is hip and with the times - she's got to be cause she's got her own blog! (Thanks a million Shon and Ilene!) Take a look at Hello Chloe to see what's going down with our pooch back in the states. You know we'll be checking it a lot from Costa Rica, . We miss you Chloe! It was so fun to play with her last night in a park in Wanship where there was a ward dinner with both of our wards (we just had a ward boundary change in May and switched wards - it was fun to see our friends from both wards)

The "First Day of School" Picture

Here they are. Joe's in 5th grade, Mel's in 4th, Ethan in 3rd, Hyrum in 2nd, and Wesley is starting Kindergarten. the older kids went for 3 weeks, Wesley for two, atleast it will have been 3 and 2 weeks on Friday, which will be their last day, as we are taking of to Costa Rica this weekend. I still don't know what I've gotten myself into. Haven't had time to think about it. I probably will on the plan ride down. Until then, I think I have about 20 more boxes to pack.

Random Gift from Neighbor Containing...

... 2 Dozen Fake Black Mustaches.
We're always on the receiving end of random things that people have kickin' around and want to get rid of. It's fun.

What fun things would YOU do with a sticky fake mustache?

Abi's Cast

The Cast...
The Surgery Tools...

The Doctor...


The Patient...

I took all the kids swimming on July 5th at my friend Katie's pool. Abi couldn't come cause she had a cast on. She was going to get it off in two days, but until then, she'd have to miss out. Well, I was surprised when I came home and saw our new puppy chewing on remnants of a pink cast. Corey's explanation: "I just wanted to know what it feels like to be you" (meaning to be "above the law" which he claims I assert myself to be by not always wanting to take the kids to a doctor when they seem to be sick, or cause I speed when I drive (which I'd say I don't do, except when driving long distance on vacation, like when we drove to Disneyland. I didn't get pulled over this year, I was good) or for any other time that I just do what I want and disregard conventional wisdom.)

Sooo, I thought that was hilarious that Corey took off her cast! I had to take his picture, I told him to say cheese cause I had a great idea for a scrapbook page, and the above photo of the Doctor was the best he could do. Abi was walking great, she was going to be getting her cast off on July 7, and now months later I'm really glad Corey took initiative. When we got our doctor bill for $700+ for them to take less than 5 minutes to wrap her leg, I called the billing dept asked if that was for putting on and taking off the cast? Cause it seemed like a ridiculous amount of money, and she didn't have any "surgery" like the statement said. She just sat there for an x ray and quick wrap up. No, to our disappointment that was just for putting it on. No discount for taking it off ourself. I told Corey - the bad news: we do have to pay that $700. The good news: his taking the law into his own hands and taking off her cast with a garden saw probably saved us the $700+ charge we would have gotten for them to remove it. Way to go sweetie. It's fun to be above the law, huh!

One Week Left

Good bye Crosswood Home!

We were watching a family home video last night - Our puppy Chloe is still a puppy, but boy has she grown. It was fun and interesting to watch what it was like for us living here before, cause we're still here, but it's different and almost over. This has been a fun chapter in our life. We started here with 5 kids and one in the oven. I was 8 month pregnant when we moved in here in 2007. Abi just had her birthday yesterday, 3 years old. I love her little voice.

I painted that picture above the mantel in the photo above. It was fun. I love bright colors. We got family pictures taken today, I'll post them soon, a great neighbor took the pictures for us, we were all in Denim pants and different colored shirts. I hope one of the group shots turns out okay, you never know with 7 kids in the shot. :)

Other random thoughts...

My Stress Levels regarding moving - High
Patience Levels with children - Critically Low
Junk still to be packed - 9% of possessions (by weight, not volume)
Baggage to be packed for Costa Rica - 8 bins, 16 carry on bags
House footage that still needs to be cleared - 1/2
Basement vacancy - 100%
Coats of paint I've put on the Permanent marker on the wall in the boys bedroom so far - 4

Life is good. In case I don't make it back here this week, see you in Costa Rica!

(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.