I love Saturday

We love Saturdays around here. Right now Jared is gone with the boys doing some grocery shopping, Sophie is asleep, and my 3 other girls are playing Barbie. Kelsey & Emma are such nice sisters to play with Mal.

Sophie & Lucy's Blessing

We had the great opportunity to bless Neil & Amy's daughter, Lucy, with Sophie this last Sunday, March 7th. We were both planning on that day, and instead of having the family commute back & forth from Sandy to Layton, we got permission from our Bishops to bless them both in our ward. It was such a nice meeting and both Neil & Jared gave beautiful blessings. Neil, Jared, Mom, and two of Amy's siblings bore their testimonies. It was really wonderful.

They are both hungry....can you tell?

I love my family and sharing this day together made it even more special.

Beka got this cute picture of Sophie smiling.

I have a lot of other pictures of everyone here at the house visiting. It was packed and I loved it. It was a rare chance to have Jared's side & my side together at our house.

Must have Fox News

We haven't had much snow this winter. We woke up today to probably 4-5 inches. I love it, since we haven't had much, though I am ready for spring! To Jared it just means more work. He's on the phone now with his landscapers making sure they are out pushing snow.

One thing Jared likes: Fox News on every second he's at his desk. This morning his tv wasn't working. We figured the satellite must have too much snow on it. Instead of risking life & limb by climbing on a ladder, we found a long piece of wood leftover from the remodel. While Jared was out whacking away at the satellite dish, I realized that his tv was the only one not working. Hitting the "reset" button on the box to his tv fixed that. Oh well....it was fun to watch him anyway!

Reap what you Sow...

Several times yesterday both Jared & I had to tell Conner to leave Abbie alone. It's a common occurance. He is always asking for it, and last night she finally gave it to him. I got mad at him and Abbie equally. We're lucky she didn't do more damage. After we both scolded him he got a hug, and Abbie spent the rest of the evening in her kennel. Bad dog!

Random recent things....

I found a website that turns blogs into books, so I ordered one for all my 2009 entries. I'm excited to see how it turns out. I decided that if I like it then I can create our own Smart "yearbooks". So I'm going to try and put more random info and pics up so we can have it in our books!

THE LATEST:

Kelsey came home from school the other day with her registration form for Union Middle School. SCARY! She has been placed in Algebra 1 (the highest, with 9th graders mostly!) and in Honors English & Reading. She was able to pick her "electives", and chose art. She'll have the other fun classes like PE and keyboarding, among others. I can't believe she'll be in middle school. I remember very well when I couldn't believe she was starting kindergarten. Time flies! I meant to get a picture of her and I together, to show how she has passed me up vertically (but only by a little). I wonder when she's done growing how much taller than me she will be.

Emma & Ashton are moving right along in school. Ashton is in Cub Scouts, and we had the Blue & Gold Banquet the other night. He really enjoys it and it's fun to see him stick up his two fingers and say the Cub Scout Promise. He can't wait for soccer to start next month, and is looking forward to being on a team with two of his cousins!

Emma is our social one, with friends calling and coming over & sleepovers....always has a birthday party to go to. She is my helper with Sophie, and is really good at getting her calmed down if she is fussy. She has great patience with Conner & Mallory and will be an incredible babysitter. She is also Jared's "sous-chef", and is already quite a little cook. I tell her & Kelsey that one day they will be glad their dad taught them to cook (and me too, a little).

Mallory & Conner love pre-school and have finally figured out who goes when, so there aren't fights anymore about that. Now they just fight about everything else. They used to be such good buddies. Occasionally they will play nicely together, but they do spend an awful amount of time in time out! Conner will be ready for kindergarten in the fall. He can write his name and count better than I remember my other kids being able to when they started.

Mallory has certainly found her voice, and lets us know what she wants to do and when/how she wants to do it. For example: Jamie and her daughter Whitney (who is just 9mos. younger than Mal) were here watching the opening ceremonies with us. Mal started to get moody, then announced to the room that she was tired, she was going to get into pajamas, brush her teeth, and go to bed. Most nights I would have been all for it, but Whitney was here playing, so I felt bad that she was being such a little stinker. It was only 8:30, but to bed she went & didn't get up until 9 the next morning.

Sophie had her 2 month check up yesterday. She is 12 lbs 9 oz and 23 inches long. She smiles a lot and makes all those cute baby noises. She had 3 shots and was NOT happy about that. But she got plenty of sympathy from her older siblings.

I think I post too many pics of my youngest kids, but I had to share this one. It was a picture moment because Sophie is usually in pj's, but we got dressed up to go to dinner for family night & it was our first time out all together.

Thanks for reading my long "journal" entry!

Letting kids be kids

It has been mentioned by some, when at my house, that it is so clean, and how do I keep it clean with kids. I have had a few people say that they have never seen my house messy. These people need to drop by more often! I admit that I like a clean house. I don't really like to clean, but as long as I have a good cd to listen to, with a good beat, I can get it done. My kids have also become incredible helpers. So, for anyone who has never seen my house messy, here are two pictures to prove it happens, a lot! Usually if I walk into their rooms & it looks like this I clean it up right then, even if they are playing, and scold them for making such a mess. We have been trying to teach them to clean up toys they are playing with before getting out another one, obviously that has gone in one ear and out the other. So, as I sit here all I can think about is cleaning their rooms. But I need to let my kids be kids, make a mess, and play.

Yet again...Sophie

Can you tell she is starved? This is bathtime last night. All the kids were in bed, which means for once we didn't have an audience. I finally got a picture of her giving me a smile!

I found these two outfits at Target for only $6. Sophie with Jamie's little boy, Will.

Hanging out in the office again, giving us a little smile.