Love Language

I have heard before that everyone has a love language.  My children certainly do.  It doesn't appear to be along the same lines as the 5 love languages.  It seems to be more along the lines of Bongo.  Does anyone else remember that movie as a child?  "A bear likes to say it with a slap!"

This is a fairly regular occurance.  And yes, she really does love him.

Silly Spoon Spinner

So many things I post now a days are about Kelsey.  I feel a little bit guilty about that except A) she is home with me all day and the others aren't, B) she is still baby (ish) so that makes everything she does adorable, and C) I love her more than the other kids.  Not really on that last one.  But I tell my kids that all the time.  "Why does so in so get more chicken nuggets than I do?"  Because I love them more.  I have loved each one more at one point or the other.

Soooooo, back to the post.  Kelsey was doing this the other day and I thought it was super cute. I love that her hand barely reach over her head.  And I love how excited she gets.

Who knew a spoon could be so exciting!

Fine print: I know it sounds like I am leading her to do things, but I wouldn't have gotten the camera out if she wasn't doing something cute to start with.  And usually she stops doing it when she sees the camera, so I sorta help her do it again, but I don't think I have ever just randomly made her do something she hasn't done first.  The end.

Good Bye Mortorcycle

Over the past weekend, we finally succeeded in selling off this old motorcycle.  Oh, don't worry.  We already purchased a new one from Pop, when he got HIS new one.  But we hadn't succeeded in selling this one for some odd reason.  We listed it on CraigsList again, and finally got a hit.  He came to look at it one day, and said he would be back to get it the next.  Done!

So, as a good bye, we took one final good bye picture.  With the kids and everything.  It is fun to look back through my old pictures and see everything from this...

To this...

To this!

My, how the motorcycle has grown...  er, I mean, children. :)

Silly Kelsey Girl

These pictures don't deserve their own post.  They are random and weird.  But they are humorous enough to share.  

I took this picture on my phone.  Kelsey was bored waiting for her older sibling at the dentist, so I told her to strike a pose.  This is what I got.  I have NO IDEA what it is, but I love it :)

This is from quite a while ago.  Fall, maybe even spring (ish).  We were playing outside, and Kelsey came up to me like this...  Again, don't know why, but I love it.

She was wearing her brothers boots and wearing a shirt about giving him away.  Oh, the irony!  (Also, please note the smile.  It is the same in all the pictures ;)

Same shirt.  Different day.  In the middle of a crazy karate move!  Hiiiiiii- Ya!

Watching baby N.  She loves to hold babies.

Can anyone say "Something about Mary"?  I never saw the movie.  But I saw the commercials!

We used to do this as we grew up all the time.  But we did it with olives.  I don't know why we never did it with raspberries...  maybe they just weren't as readily available?

I love my silly girl.  She is the class clown of the family, for sure!

Kari finally turns 10!

For Kari's birthday this year, finally being more aware of other things/national holidays, she asked for a fireworks cake for her birthday...  This seemed quite daunting to me, but she was gracious enough to help with the design, and I think it came out quite nicely!  It was a sprinkle-icious cake!

 See?  She seems happy with it, yes?

 Make a wish!

 Then it was time to open presents!  She got several food/kitchen themed presents.  And, again, since she is starting to insert her independence, I think these were great ideas!

 She also got her very own set of "pants".  Allow me to explain.:  Hubby has carried a pocket knife ever since I can remember.  So often, that we joke that if he has his pants on, he has his knife with him.  So, whenever we need him to open something, or trim something, I just ask if he has his "pants".  Kari was quite happy to get her own.  It has just a few odds and ends, and is her favorite color: green.

Her siblings are always happy to help with the opening.

 She also got her very first caboodle (remember those Piko?) and some new necklaces to wear with her earrings.

 I have said she isn't the most girly of girls, but I may be mistaken.

Happy Birthday Kiddo!  Thanks for making me a mom a decade ago!  It has been quite the adventure!  There are some things I would have preferred to avoid, but I sure am grateful for the outcome!  Thanks for being you!

Pa's House

My parents left on Friday afternoon, and we headed down to Pa's house any way.  Nana and Pop, K & J, D & C and M & S were all going to be there for a day or two, so we thought it would be fun to join them.  We met M & S on the way down in Montgomery, and stopped at Panera for dinner.  I thought this was slightly unfair, as I was still sick, and not eating solid food particularly well.  So, I went to Panera bread and got half a plain bagel.  Talk about fun and exciting!  Then, we headed down to Pa's.  It was late when we got there, but never too late to open presents!  As I have mentioned before, going down and opening family presents turns out to be a sort of chaos.

 The kids all got alligator pillows from D & C.  The slept on them all weekend.

 Cousins K & K got a drum set, and were nice enough to share it with our budding rock star.

 There was lots of visiting to be done....

 And fun to be had.

During the weekend, we spent as much time outside as possible.

And even though it was technically early, Kari got yet another birthday present: a sling shot!

So, she had to practice of course!

 Again, by this time, Kelsey was a bit on the tired and grumpy side.  And I didn't exactly feel like holding her.  I love this picture though.  The expression, the change of focus.  Its pretty awesome :)

 And, as happens most of the time when all the cousins get together and spend most of the time running and playing, there is many much sleepiness going on at the end of the day.

Maybe not during nap time so much....  :p

Christmas Books

Unbeknownst to my parents, we had been working on a special Christmas present for them most of the year.  Actually, they were both supposed to be birthday presents, but...  Well, that just didn't happen.  But, we did (barely) get them done in time for Christmas, and since I had the honor of hosting Mom and Dad for Christmas, I also had the honor of being there when they opened the presents.  

 We actually skyped with my siblings, so they could "be there" as well.

 Mom got a book about our week(s) together in Chile this past summer.  It included a lot of the pictures and stories that I posted on the blog, as well as a few other ones: embarrassing stories, family jokes, and other random tid bits of information.

 Dad's present was originally for his 60th birthday.  He is pretty big on infographics, so we decided to make him a timeline sort of thing and present it in book format.  There was national/church history, his personal history, and over 500 pictures.  

Both were quite the labor of love.  Both took quite a bit of time to gather all the info, to put together, and to then quite a bit of time to physically organize and finalize into the digital format.

 But I think it is safe to say that they enjoyed the information, format, and thought that went into the books.

It was very nice to not be the one skyped in (sorry sibs!) for once!  We hope they get lots of views and lots of shares!  MerryBirthChristHappyMas Mom and Dad!  We love you guys!

Bob

After playing outside all day, and having new toys and doing all kinds of fun things, there was one more surprise.  Grandpa had one of his own toys shipped to our house, and decided to break it out once everything had been cleaned up.  The kids had so much fun chasing it around, even though they had no idea what it was, or where it came from.

 They eventually turned around enough to notice Grandpa, over on the couch.  And they eventually figured out that he was the one controlling it.  But it took a minute or two.  It is a Sphero smart toy, and Grandpa decided to name him Bob.

I suppose even grown ups need a toy every once in a while too :)

Christmas Afternoon

 As I mentioned before, it was a Christmas miracle!  The children played all day long Christmas day, with hardly any bickering.  There were epic battles between dinosaurs and monster trucks to be had.

 And many beedos to be done.

 Why, Santa even came to visit dear old Mollie.

 Kaitlyn even tried on the nails that came in her stocking.  She said it made her feel more like Elsa.  Though, she quickly took them off to play with other things.

After a while, we adjourned outside.  Kaitlyn got some good use out of her new bike.

Kelsey really enjoyed her pet bird that Santa brought too.  If I am being honest, it was kinda a last minute, numbers kind of gift (if you know what I mean).  But it turned out to be her favorite gift, so...  Yay!

And the stomp rocket was a favorite of everyone.  Even Grandpa got in on it!

Which lead to our next Christmas adventure:  Climbing on the roof to get the rockets.

 Because, isn't this the way everyone should spend Christmas day?  Sick (that was me...  blah)...

Or in short sleeves sitting on the roof?

2014 Wrap Up/Non-Existent Christmas Card

I don't send out Christmas cards.  Mostly because I suspect that I am too lazy to bother.  But I do a round up on the blog, so that counts, right?

In 2014:

Hubby had a job in Orlando, FL.  It was riddled with personnel issues and bad plans, but he made progress with it.  We were able to accompany him down during the summer and play.  He also, unfortunately, got rear ended again (second time in 18 months) and is dealing with back issues because of it.  

I was a stay at home mom during the year.  I occasionally watched a few extra kiddos, and did a pretty decent job of working out when I had a regular schedule to follow.  My callings at church were a little slow, but that isn't always a bad thing.  I also sang with a small group of ladies at church, and that was fun.  Hubby and I also took a trip to another continent during the summer, and had lots of fun hanging with family and doing fun, new things.

Kari began 4th grade in the fall.  This is the first year that she hasn't LOVED her teachers, and that is ok.  She also has a decent amount of work to do, but she is handling it nicely.  She is grasping for independence and doing well with what she gets.  She got her ears pierced for her birthday and had a few teeth pulled.  She has been the Accelerated Reader with the most points in her class for two 9 weeks in a row.  She is a smart girl with lots of friends.

Kaitlyn started 2nd grade.  She does well, and while she has over 100 AR points, she isn't the highest in her class.  She has really enjoyed doing gymnastics this school year, and gets better every day.  She loves to wear boots with heels to school, and has her own sense of fashion, that seems to be toning down a bit (thank heavens!).  She swears she will never get her ears pierced, but I think at some point she will reconsider it.  She loves to wear her hair down, and wants it to grow back out again.

Dylan started kindergarten this year.  He has the same teacher the girls did, and we all love her.  He isn't quite as good at listening, and has gotten a few warning colors, but...  we are still working on it.  Mommy needs to make some more time reading with him, because whenever I do, he does well.  He adjusted to the school schedule ok, but is still always the last one up in the morning.  He has grown up before my eyes, both in size (love the flooded pants look) and in knowledge.  It is great to see him grow.

Kelsey has stayed home with mommy. We have had some great alone time, and it is amazing how much easier it is to run errands with only one child.  She counts to ten and sings songs.  She is a cute dancer and loves to hang out with her sisters.  She has one more year in nursery and we are thinking about potty training.  She got a big girl bed this year and is working hard at being 35.  She is also the "class clown" of the group and loves to get attention by being silly.

We had a fun year, with trips around the world, and milestones galore!  In 2015, we hope to do better at spending time with the kids, and being more intentional with some of the decisions we make, instead of just letting them happen.  We also hope to get some exercising started again, and fit into our clothes better.  Oh yeah, and we hope to finish the little projects we have left 95% finished around the house this year too.  

So, Merry (Late) Christmas and Happy (Late) New Year.  Thanks for reading, and hopefully, my children will do enough interesting things for me to continue into 2015!

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning, we told the kids they couldn't get up early.  We were mostly joking, but really wouldn't have minded the sleep in a little bit.  The rule around our house has always been "Do not get out of bed before 7am".  So at 7:01am, 4 children come stomping down the stairs.  All 4 adults groaned a bit, but rolled out of bed to put our best foot forward.

 The gifts were assorted in size and how they were received.

 Some things were almost overlooked (we had to point out the coat).

Some things were excitedly anticipated.

This is the first year we had our new stockings too.  I tried to get some cheap ones and sew names on them in the past, but they always looked, well...  like I had done them.  So this year, hubby and I invested in new stockings for the whole family, and I am pretty thrilled about them.

 The kids had lots of fun digging.

 And playing.

 And, I am pretty sure it was a Christmas miracle, but they played All.  Day.  Long.  Mostly nicely.  Never once saying they were bored, or fighting over whose toy it was. 

 And even though they all got a movie and xbox kinect game for Christmas, we never even turned the tv on!

 We also opened one or two other presents from family that morning.  Mostly because they got buried under the tree.  This is a movie from Aunt Pickle, and I love Kelsey's face! 

From another angle/camera (Grandpa's).  I have no idea what is up with Kelsey.

It was really an unexpectedly pleasant surprise to spend Christmas at home!  We'll have to see what next year brings.