Lunches with J

J loves to have people come and eat lunch with him.  I have gone nearly every week since he entered Kindergarten.  It is more difficult with two babies, but we have made it work. 

He got to eat lunch with Grandma and Grandpa and A on Tuesday.

A loves going to lunch with J about as much as he loves having A come.

They loved it so much that we did it again.  This is A and J on Friday (Their last day together).

V thinks sitting at the table as a "big girl" is soooooooooooo cool!

Baby C was cranky, so I held him.  Then, V was a little pill, so I held her.  I didn't even know until A took these pictures that baby C had fallen asleep.

I am so grateful for my kids.  I love them so much.  I ended up taking J, C, and K all out early from school on Friday so that they would have some more time with A.  She left to go to her other home on Saturday, but those three went to their dad's on Friday night.  It was worth pulling them out.  The four of them spent about an hour in the rain playing foursquare together.  Memories that would not have been made had they stayed in school.  :)

Life is tough, however.  I didn't realize exactly what I was getting into with these two babies and four older kids.  I knew it would be hard.  I wasn't prepared for exactly how tough it is.  I spend most of my day with our cranky new guy.  What extra time I have away from him, I spend corralling and/or playing with my defiant little toddler.  The remaining moments of my day go to talking to, driving, cooking food for, and loving my older kids.  This leaves almost no time for house cleaning / tidying, or quilting, or anything else that I enjoy and miss.  It even is difficult to spend time with CK.  I know this is but a small moment in our lives.  I also know that I will miss it terribly some day when all six have left home.  But, for now, it is a challenge that I am striving to rise to meet.  President Monson has said that we can choose to be positive in ANY situation.  I know this is true and I am working on this as a personal goal.  I hate piles.  I hate a messy home.  It is easy to notice these and what else DIDN'T get done, instead of all the good that I enjoyed in that day with my kids that I am blessed to have.  Working on it!  :)

My Life

These are my six children. They are my life and are such a joy to me! I am so super blessed!!

A (10), K (14.5), baby C (7 weeks), C (12.5), V (18 months), and J (7.5)

Happy Birthday, A!

A's birthday was back in February. Due to her having two different houses, and the birth of baby C, we haven't been able to celebrate together. We sent her a little package to let her know that we were thinking of her, but the majority of her birthday we wanted to celebrate while she was here.

She began the day by waking up to streamers on her door, which is a tradition at our house. She also got to choose her meals. We ate French toast casserole for breakfast, chicken nugget wraps for lunch, and Hawaii Haystacks for dinner. Since we had just had cupcakes, we had birthday brownies instead.

She got to blow out the candles, eat her brownies, and open presents. The other kids had purchased/made presents for her over a month ago. They were so excited for her to open them. One thing the kids decided to do was to give her experiences instead of objects. The girls are all going on a progressive dinner with her, and the boys are going to take her to play miniature golf together. K spent some of her own money to buy her some special gifts. CK and I also got her some other gifts in addition to what the kids gave her.

I am so glad that A is part of our family! I feel like our family is complete when she is here. I love her just as much as I love any of the other children. I know that we have been so blessed to have our family blend so seamlessly. It is hard for me to describe just how lucky I feel! I do know that I am 100% sure that my feelings for A are just as deep as my feelings for any of the other five children! I'm not sure I would've known that was possible, until it happened to us.

Happy birthday, A! I love you!

My parents

So, on a sidenote, I have been trying to be more diligent in my blogging. It is very important to me, and I don't have a lot of time. I have been trying to use the blogger app everyday while I feed the baby. I like it because things are actually getting done. But, I miss the flexibility of putting pictures in the middle of the words and I write better when I'm typing than on my phone.

That said, I am happy that today's blog post is about my parents. They flew here for my nephew's baptism and baby C's blessing.

We have had such a great time. It was hard to say goodbye to them last night. I was so blessed to be raised by parents who loved me and taught me about Jesus Christ. They taught me to be responsible for my actions and to serve other people. They have raised five wonderful children and have been blessed with 10 grandchildren so far. They may not be successful by the world standards but I must say that their lives have been a great success!

First, I have a picture of me with my parents, and then a picture with all 10 of their grandchildren.

Baby C's Namesakes

This picture is with Baby C's grandpas whom he is named after (2 middles names).

This is a cool picture because he is first (C). Grandpa K is next (E). Grandpa L is next (A). CK is next (K). So his initials in picture in his blessing day: Awesome!

A priceless treasure

Yesterday, we recorded a book.

V had been given the book as a gift. It was a high quality version of the frames/books on which you record a voice message so someone can remember you.

I had been saving this book since July. I really wanted to have the grandparents record it since they all live so far away. And, guess what? They are all here in one place!

The book has seven pages and she has four grandparents. She also has four siblings that can read. Hmmm. I decided to have A read one since she isn't here often and CK and I each did one.

It is amazing. Voices of Grandma and Grandpa L, voices of Grandma and Grandpa K, A's voice, and voices of Mom and Dad. I listen to it and recognize such a precious treasure.

A funny story is that I am a little weepy. And hearing these words read by these grandparents was already making me a little bit emotional. When it came my turn to read, I would read just a line or two, and get too choked up to go on and so I would start laughing. I had to rerecord mine half a dozen times. And the only way it worked was to take it into a room by myself so they did not hear me get emotional.

"I love grandma's hugs"

V's shirt said that today (although the word 'Grandma's' is too tiny to really see in the picture). So I took a picture of her with her grandmas. I love it! I love both of my moms and V absolutely loves her grandmas (as well as her grandpas)! We are so lucky to have them visit!

The many faces of V

V turned a year and a half a couple of days ago. I can't believe she's such a big girl! She is so much fun. She talks a lot. She loves to read, to learn, and to dance. She is also very defiant. She knows that if I am feeding the baby, I cannot go and make her do what she is supposed to do. If she is told to do something or not to do something she looks me right in the eye, and then proceeds to do exactly what I told her not to do. She is just too smart for me.

I love her so very much! And I am so glad that she is part of our family.

One Happy Mama!

All six of my children are under one roof for the first time! I am so blessed! I am soooooo happy!

And, as I wrote that, I realized that we have all of our children AND all of our parents in our home tonight. That's cool!

Where oh where has my little boy gone?

I have a couple of posts that I'm excited to post. But, I took this number day picture of C this morning. It is a little bit late, but we still got his number day. He looks like such a young man. I was in shock to look at these pictures and just see how much he has grown. I am proud of him.

After church

So, today I took the Littles home from church by myself. CK had a meeting. The older four were with their other parents.

It was time for lunch. I hurried and made V a quesadilla. I put her in her highchair, and then proceeded to nurse the baby.

All of a sudden, it gets very quiet. I turn around and find this.....

Oh what you do during spring break?

This week has been Spring Break at our house.  It has been a little crazy getting K ready for trek and having all the kids together.  We have had a more relaxing than usual Spring Break and a more crazy than usual Spring Break.  I don't know how we have both, but we do.

This morning, J was banned from electronics.  Every day he maxes out his time by 9 am or so and then feels that he has nothing to do.  -Sigh-  Crazy world we live in.  So, he decided to build a car out of boxes.  The problem was that he needed help from me and I was nursing the baby.  So he instead pushed V around in this box.  They both had so much fun.

It was even fun enough that C got in on the action.  He pushed V in the diaper box and J in his car in "races" around the house....where he was the motor for both.  All three had a lot of fun.  And I, as Mom, had so much fun watching my kids enjoy each other.

On Wednesday morning, we were planning to go Putt-Putting with my sister and her kids.  But, the weather had turned cold with a very frigid wind.  And, K and I still had stuff to prepare for Trek.  It just wasn't going to work, so instead we met at a donut shop and ate breakfast together.

It was so much fun.  The best part was the donut shop employee turned on songs from "Frozen" over the loudspeaker and all the girls, including the ones at the next table just sang at the top of their lungs.  K has such a gorgeous voice.  I loved hearing her sing. 

Finally, K went on Trek this week.  Here she is trying on her pioneer outfits before she goes.  Well, Baby C needs me.  Hopefully I can finish this post later!  :)