Resolutions, smesolutions

I know that having Christmas over with can be kind of sad and all that, but I actually like this time of year. I even like this sunny weather, though it feels weird to not be able to go sledding yet and I know we need the moisture. Anyway, I don't like February and March that much, but I do like January. We are back into a sort-of-schedule, and I get this burst of organizing energy. Notice I say burst - it usually doesn't last long, but I'm going to enjoy it while it does.

This year I am not calling them New Year's Resolutions - I am calling them long-term goals. Hopefully this will help me make it past the month of January. Also, as a twist, I'm not really setting any new goals for myself, just recommitting myself to some old ones. President Monson said,"Courage is required to make an initial thrust toward one’s coveted goal, but even greater courage is called for when one stumbles and must make a second effort to achieve." So there. The prophet said it was okay. And I am being very courageous, by the way.

For the kids, on the other hand, Jef and I have "helped" them set many new long-term goals. First and foremost: a goal to help keep our house cleaner and to treat each other more nicer. We are doing an excellent job of "supporting" and "supervising" them in their new goals. We even have this fancy little chart and tickets that they're supposed to earn, etc. Honestly, it had better work because I think I've spent longer keeping track of the tickets than it would take me just to clean up their messes myself. I hope I am teaching them how to fish and all that.
We did get a treadmill recently and I have used it 3 times so far. Already exceeding my own expectations. I will not ever tell how long I actually used it, or how much of my time on it involved walking at a very slow speed. I used it, and that is progress. I achieve much more when I spend less time feeling guilty.

Now, somehow my baby has turned 6, almost 7 months old. I do not like that. I usually love to see the kids reach their important milestones, but this is not the case with Grant. I fell so sad every time he learns to do something new. I am sad to be getting rid of our baby stuff. And also, it makes me feel very old to think of not having a little baby around. I have looked forward to this for a long time, but now I am worried I will not know what to do with myself if I am not pregnant or nursing. Now you may say, "If you are so sad, that must mean you want to have another baby." I want to point out that I said sad, not sorry. There is a difference. One can experience many emotions at the same time, and there is a bit of relief in there somewhere, too.

I started taking some pictures of him the other day. I took like over a hundred and he was still smiling for me. But his nose was turning red, so we went in. Here are some:



Hannah's birthday isn't until December, but I get to take her to the "8 is great," tonight. This is a very fun milestone indeed. She has already planned what she will wear - it is so special that she has to wear a different dress than the one she wore to church today. That girl will use any excuse for a wardrobe change.

Stuff that is SO LAST YEAR

If I've said it once, I've now said it twice. Take a long time to update your blog - then when you finally do post it makes it makes your life seem way more exciting because you have lots of news and fun pictures. So here's just a few of out pictures from October to December:

Hannah learned to ride her bike with no training wheels on her first try. (It helps if you wait until you are almost 7 to take your first try.) She is loving the freedom of only 2 wheels.

Halloween. Jono a Power Ranger, Jane a Fairy Princess, Hannah a cat, Taylor a BYU football player. Logan refused to wear a costume, but still enjoyed all of the benefits of free candy. Grant went as the cutest baby in the world and didn't even need a costume. Best of all, we managed to beg and borrow enough that we didn't even have to spend a penny on the awesome ensembles. 

Good times in the basement with me, the three little boys and an entire Geotrax and Cars village.

Hannah and Jono wanted to do a photo shoot of them jumping off furniture and other frivolity. Here are some results.

 

Grant has started solid food and is loving it! He has also learned to get from one side of the room to the other in a steamroller-like fashion.

Decorating our Christmas tree. We did it downstairs for the first time.  We may buy a really nice big tree with fancy ornaments one day, but for now this little guy was just as loved and much more appropriately suited for the affection and decorating and redecorating of our enthusiastic children.   I told Jef that he could put the star on so that the kids would stop fighting over who got to the honor. As you can see, it was a spectacular ceremony.

Hannah turned 7.  She got her ears pierced, had her first friend party, and received a Rapunzel nightgown that has been worn constantly.

Tried to take a family photo for the Christmas card in our backyard using our remote control. Let's just say that family photo shoots are not for the faint of heart. It is a miracle we got at least one with all of the kids in it and no one crying or running away.

For some reason, Jane has dreamed of owning a stuffed snake for ages now, so we decided to be all creative and make one. My first completed project with the sewing machine I bought months ago. Jane helped sew a little too. You can tell the parts she sewed herself - they are much better than the ones I sewed!

 St. Nicholas Day shoes - pre-presents

Beautiful temple square on a freezing cold night.
Taylor getting the old Webelos award. First pack meeting I've actually been able to sit through since Jef was out of school and stayed home with the other kids. Yea for Christmas break.

Jono never leaves Grant's side - they are even starting to look alike.

The Gingerbread house FHE is becoming a tradition. This year we did a train too. Both were completely eaten within a couple of days. Gross.

Taylor showing off a BYU tie on Christmas Eve at my parents. He can now complete his goal of wearing a BYU article of clothing every day of the week.

Some people leave Santa cookies and milk, but not our kids. They made a sort of Santa shrine and left it by the tree. Top right is a box with perfume in it and a note to Mrs. Claus from Hannah. I guessing that is a first for the lady of the North Pole. Very classy, Hannah, very classy indeed.

Grant opening his first-ever Christmas present on Christmas morning.

The ladies in their matching pjs and all of the kids minus Logan Christmas morning. He doesn't like being in group pictures.

Logan chilling on his new couch Christmas day at Jef's parents. (Make note of his hair length.)

So, so so cute. Can you believe he's 1/2 a year old now?

We usually go sledding at the park over Christmas break, but I'm not complaining too much.  We had some really beautiful sunny days. 

This is how Jane and her siblings pose nicely for a picture before she opens her birthday presents.

This year after Jane's parties with family, we had some of the girl cousins stay for a sleepover.  Grandma even had one for the boys at her house so they wouldn't feel left out.  It was quite the New Years Eve celebration.  (A night early, but who cares, we didn't stay up till midnight anyway - thank heavens.)

Last but not least, Logan with his new haircut.  He tried to cut his own hair and so we had to even it out.  (Even meaning nonexistent)  If you ask him where his hair is now, he says "all gone."

Free Bunk Bed*

Anybody need/want a free bunk bed?  Bottom bunk is a full and the top bunk is a twin.  Very sturdy.  A few scratches here and there.  I am at a loss for the manufacturer name and date of manufacture.  However, for you bed-make-and-model sleuths out there, I did find a half-torn sticker on the bottom rail.  Though it was difficult to read the print on the sticker, I believe it said "made in China."   Hope that helps.

If you would like the bed, post a comment or send us an email.

*As-is, no warranty.  Mattresses not included.  Instructions for set-up not included.  Delivery not included.  Pick up times are very flexible.  You will need a truck or trailer to haul the bed -- the bed pieces are quite large.

Once you name it, you start getting attached to it.

Things happening with us lately (may or may not be exciting to you as well - read at your own risk of boredom)

We have a new pretend pet. Well, it's a real animal, but we're just pretending it's ours. "Pumpkin" the cat showed up around our yard several days ago, and is the case with all animals who come near to our children, pumpkin was mobbed. As it not usually the case, she seemed to enjoy it (as opposed to running away in terror.) We think pumpkin is probably being missed by some family somewhere as she appears to love our kids and our home. In a shocking turn of events, my husband the alleged cat-hater has taken a liking to her and went and bought her cat food and made her a little cat house. We can't find out who she belongs too, and supposedly, we are going to take her to the animal shelter as soon as we get the chance. Supposedly.
We are growing quite attached to another little creature as well. We started calling him Grant, and feeding him and he's been hanging around for almost 4 months now. We decided to make it more official a couple of weeks ago by giving him a blessing. It was a special day in our house with much family around. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that we like Grant infinitely more than we do the cat, which is saying a lot. He is such a good and happy baby and continues to sleep well. A miracle, to say the least.One of all of us on the big day. Thanks, Mom for taking the picture - someday we'll get one where we're all looking at the camera. And here are a bunch of pictures of Grant too, just in case you didn't believe me when I said how much we like him.
In his own eloquent words, Taylor "got a rock chucked at his head" on the way home from school a few weeks ago. A worried mom walking her kids home called to tell me that my son was gushing blood all over the place. It wasn't too bad once we got it all cleaned up, but I did take him to the dr. and they did give him a staple. In piecing together the various accounts from friends, little sisters, and the school we have determined that there was no fighting involved, just a little boy who likes to chuck rocks. Boys just like to do that I guess. I don't know. Anyway, Taylor was too excited to be mad. He loved his attention and has saved the staple in a nice ziploc bag to go in his journal.

Logan got his tonsils out and another set of tubes in his ear. After two weeks of healing and a lot of codeine and gatorade, he seems to be doing well. He sleeps so soundly now that we are tempted to check if he's even breathing or not. He has been talking a lot these days, so we are hoping that his hearing is doing better as well. He was a very good little trooper and we are thankful to have it done with and that all went good.

Soccer is mostly done, except a couple of make-up games, and there is only one football game left, as well. It has been fun, but it will be nice to have things quiet down a bit. (relatively speaking, we don't actually know what it's like to experience quiet!) Hannah is in the above picture and Taylor in the below one. A big thank you to Jef's mom Sandy for all her work throwing me an awesome party last weekend. Since we weren't really in need of any baby stuff at this point, she threw me a "Pamper the Mommy" shower. A great idea, and one I highly advocate. We had bracelet-making, mini-massages, and nail painting (yea for Holly!) and lots of girly fun. I will not deny, I enjoyed being spoiled, and it was a truly nice break.

Oh, and last, but definitely not least...We have officially moved our oldest 3 children into the basement! The inspector came Thursday and gave all our work the okay, and now we have 8 people in 6 rooms instead of 8 people in 3 rooms. If you don't think that makes a big difference, try it for a while and you'll understand how great it feels. We still have a lot of odds and ends to finish up (like the entire bathroom) but we'll take what we got and are very grateful for it. We spent a very long and back-hurting day moving stuff down yesterday and the first night was a success. (No walls fell down, no beds collapsed, no children were eaten by basement monsters, etc.) Thank you again to all of the people who helped make this moment possible. We appreciate you.