20090128

Gymnastics

Trevor looks forward to Mondays when he can go to the YMCA for his pre-school Gymnastics class. He has learned how to do a forward roll and is now working on backward rolls and cartwheels. I'm hoping that this class will help him with his listening skills as well. Kindergarten could be very interesting next year.




Bath time fun

I've been waiting for some time to get a picture of Emersynne in the tub. She is just now starting to tolerate the bath and I can get her in and out without her crying (as long as I'm quick)

So, here are some photos of Abigail and Emersynne enjoying their bath. Abigail is loving being a big sister and takes good care of little Emersynne.




Fun with Grandma and Grandpa Jones

Grandma Vicki and Grandpa Wally were brave enough to come visit us during our bleak winter days. Our temperatures were some of the coldest we had seen here in several years but we had a good time and the kids loved all the spoiling that comes with having Grandma and Grandpa around.

Abigail quickly warmed up to "Gamma Vicki" and "Pawka" and loved the stories, games, and fun times.

Grandpa Wally got to meet Emersynne and she had lots of smiles for Grandma and Grandpa. Just not any smiles for the camera.

With the temperatures being so cold we did lots of inside games. Grandma bought a box of jacks and sat down to teach the kids the game of jacks. Anthony really got into the game and had fun playing with Grandma.




Grandma and Grandpa were troopers and braved the cold on several occasions to take the kids sledding. One afternoon we went out to find we had the slopes all to ourselves. Guess nobody was as crazy as us. It sure was fun though.




There is nothing like making cookies on a cold winter day. Abigail had a great time sitting up on the counter and sticking her fingers in everything. I think she discovered that the baking soda does not taste as good as the sugar.



Before heading out to school on Grandma and Grandpa's last day the kids said their goodbyes. When the kids got home from school Grandma and Grandpa were gone but Grandma had left love notes for each of them to find. I think that made the goodbyes a little easier.


The weather may have not cooperated but we had a great visit. Thanks you Mom and Dad for leaving your sunny California weather to come visit us during our harsh New England winter.

Home is where the heart is

It is also where I had six kids running around because of another snow storm. This is getting to be a regular pattern around here. The kids have not had two full weeks of school in a row since the first week in December.

Anthony was excited to have a day at home. I told him to just remember this day when he was still in school all the way to the end of June.

Although it was a crazy day we did manage to get lots done. The kids got chores and piano done in the morning and Michaela made a cake while the other kids helped me make jello. Then it was outside playtime, (which didn't last very long because it was really cold and really snowing) lunchtime, and nap time/movie time.

The kids had a fun day but I'm sure they will be glad to be back at school tomorrow.

20090124

Four Months Old

Our little Emersynne is learning new tricks. She continues to be a very happy baby and makes us all smile.

She recently had her four month check-up and tipped the scales at 16 lbs 4 oz and is 26 inches long. We love her chubby cheeks and all her rolls.



20090123

Decisions decisions

This afternoon I found myself faced with a difficult decision. Emersynne was down for a nap and the other children were bundled up and heading outside to play in the snow. It was time to start making dinner but I decided to go outside and make a snowman with my children. The weather was relatively mild and Natalie and Abigail were great snowman helpers.

Later that evening Natalie said, " That was really fun. We should do it again sometime."

So, dinner was lots later than it should have been and the kids were not in bed when it was time for the babysitter to take over but we had a fun afternoon playing in the snow.



Christmas recap

Well, I never posted about our Christmas and thought I should get a few pictures up of our wonderful day.

It started with Christmas Eve with friends from the ward, the Green family and the Smith family. Rain ruined our plans of caroling (seems like the weather is always ruining things around here) but we still had a great time and ate some yummy food.

With thirteen children running around it was rather wild but we had plenty of children to fill the roles of the nativity. Well, I guess there were only eleven children running around since two were little babies.






It was a late night for us and we didn't get our children into bed until eleven 0' clock. Which of course meant that we were up a few more hours getting ready for Santa's visit.

We had a wonderful morning and the kids had a blast opening presents. It was so fun to see how excited they were to give out the presents they had bought for each other. It made the day so special to see that they were more excited to give than to receive.







20090119

What would you do?

What would you do after endless cold days and no way to release your energy?


Anthony found a very interesting way to play with the blocks. It never ceases to amaze me how my children can come up with some unusual way to play with their toys.







20090118

Sunday madness!

This morning we woke up to more white stuff covering the other white stuff and soon received a call that church was canceled.

In the last six weeks we have been to church twice. This winter sure has been crazy. I'm hoping that we are getting all this bad weather over with and will be blessed with a early and beautiful spring! I can dream right?

We had our own little church meeting at home and since Grandma Vicki and Grandpa Wally are visiting they gave the talks.

Dinner is over, the dishes are done, the kitchen is cleaned up, (thank you mom and dad) and now we are getting ready for our movie and popcorn night.

20090113

Book Completed


Anthony did it!

He finished reading The Tale of Despereaux and he really enjoyed it. On a scale of 1 to 10 Anthony said he would give the book a 10!

We've had fun talking about things that happened in the book and Anthony is looking forward to our movie night.

Now I just need to find another book for him to read. Any suggestions?

Tool Man Trevor

Santa brought Trevor a tool set for Christmas. He was so excited because it had a real hammer. Trevor could hardly wait to use his real hammer and hammer a nail into some wood.

Here are some pictures of Trevor and the kids hard at work.









20090111

Gymnastics and Forward Rolls

Trevor recently started taking a Gymnastics class at the YMCA. He was showing the kids his forward rolls and pretty soon all the kids were taking turns doing forward rolls on the living room floor. After a few misses Abigail even was able to get her forward rolls in.

Abigail then turned to me and said "Mommy turn"

I couldn't remember the last time I had done a forward roll but decided to give it a try. It was quite amusing to see how impressed my children were. Mommy can do a forward roll!

The really funny part was that Anthony was in the shower so he missed all the excitement. When he came downstairs the kids told him that mommy can do a forward roll. He didn't believe them so I had do to another one.

When Jeremiah got home later that day the kids said, "Daddy, did you know that mommy can do a forward roll?"

So funny what our kids think we can or cannot do.

20090109

The truth hurts

Before heading out to school Anthony was excited that it was Friday which meant he wouldn't have any homework.

He said, "Mom, since I won't have any homework can you play with me?"

"I don't know Anthony, I'm doing laundry today which means there will be lots of folding to do when you get home."

Anthony said, "It's just that it seems like you don't play with us that much"

I was about to protest his statement when I realized that he was right. I don't take those precious moments often enough to play with my children. My chores will never be done and there will always be some project needing my attention but my children will not always be asking for me to play with them. My goal is to spend more quality time with my children (even if that means I don't get the dishes done!)

Today we played legos and two games of candy land!

20090108

Home again

Yesterday the kids were home from school AGAIN due to ice. This is getting to be a regular pattern! Monday was their first day back in over three weeks and they had a two hour delay because of ice. Tuesday they actually had a normal school day but yesterday we sat at home and watched the rain fall and coat everything in ice.

I tried to keep the kids on a good schedule and made sure they all did their piano practicing, reading, studying, and homework. By the time afternoon rolled around we put it all away and watched High School Musical. That's like being in school right?

It seems that the big debate around here is how and when the kids will make up all these snow days. Yesterday was day nine and winter is just getting going around here! So the question is, do they make them all up at the end of the school year and go until the very end of June or possibly into July if this weather keeps up? Could there be some other possibilities? Some that I have heard of are: extending the school day, going on Saturdays, and canceling February or April vacation. I have not heard anything yet and I am curious to see how it all works out.

20090105

Book Review

I recently finished reading The Tale of Despereaux and really enjoyed it. What made it fun for me was knowing that Anthony would like the book. Michaela loves reading and will read just about anything. For Anthony it has been a bit more difficult to find the books that he is interested in. He often starts a book and then never finishes it.

When I finished reading The Tale of Despereaux I passed it onto Anthony with the incentive that when (notice how I said when and not if) he finished the book I would take him to see the movie. It has been fun to see how excited he is about the story and talk things over with him. He even called me the other night while I was at the grocery store just to tell me about something that had happened in the book.

Looks like I will be going to the movies soon!

No more excuses

I've been putting it off and putting it off but I finally ran out of excuses. I have a baby that sleeps all night long so I guess there is no reason why I can't get up early in the morning to do my workout. I may not have any more excuses but that doesn't make it any easier. I actually made it to the gym three times last week. Now I just have to see if I can keep it up. Maybe one day I won't feel tired when the alarm goes off at 5:15 in the morning. But then again, maybe not.

Back to school

The kids have been out of school for so long that today it felt like the start of a new school year. Everyone got their backpacks ready last night and all were excited to go back to school.

I got up and got everybody started so we could make sure they would be ready when the bus came at 8 am but soon learned that we had a two hour delay because of freezing rain over night. I think the kids were beginning to think that they would never get back to school!

After dropping the school kids off at 10 am the rest of us hurried over to the YMCA in hopes of making it to Trevor's first gymnastics class on time. Lucky for us the class started a bit late so Trevor jumped right in and had a great time.

So now we are trying to get back into the swing of things with piano practicing and homework.