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.

Slight heart-attack

Last night I was giving Mallory a bath when Jared started yelling hysterically. I had left Sophie with him on the couch. In my mind, for some reason, I immediately thought something was wrong with her. I honestly had an image of her having a seizure or something. So what was he freaking out about? I thought my boys were in the shower, but they had come out, in just their underwear, to ask Jared something. For some reason, Conner's little manhood was sticking up out of his underwear (pretty sure he didn't know it) and I don't know if it was the cold air, or he just needed to go really bad, but he peed. And it went shooting up into the air, hitting the couch, the rug, a couch pillow and the ottoman. I run out of the bathroom, Conner has a look of shock on his face, so does Jared and Ashton. All the sudden, I felt weak in the knees and I was shaking and I felt like I was going to pass-out, my heart was racing so fast! I just stood there, staring for a second taking the situation in. Jared said, "Hello?! What is wrong with you, you are acting like it's not a big deal! He just peed everywhere!" I said, "Compared to what I thought was going on, it's not a big deal. You scared the crap out of me! I feel like I'm going to pass out." Jared noticed how pale I was and told me to sit down. "Great, " he says, "if something bad ever happens you're going to be a lot of help."

Spring cleaning....a little early

We found out today that if you give Conner & Mallory a soapy wet rag, they will get to work! This was this morning after breakfast, about 8:00. I decided to start wiping down the cupboards, and they thought it looked like fun. Soon I got Kelsey, Emma & Ashton helping out too. We got all the walls, doors, cupboards, baseboards, and shutters washed in the house. Spring cleaning a little early, but it was great!

Frosty Morning

It was really foggy around here last night, and when I looked outside this morning all the trees & bushes were covered in the frozen mist. I asked Jared to go out with his camera since it's nicer than mine and get some pictures before the sun melted it away.

Puzzles & Working from home

Conner & Mallory in all their puzzle glory. How many puzzles can they fit on the table? At least this time they weren't on the floor, where they usually put puzzles together.

I was making lunch & Jared was busy working, but stopped to help Conner & Mal get the edges of the puzzle hooked together. One of the many benefits of working from home. He stopped for only a few minutes, but it's moments like this that make me smile. It's the middle of the day, we are all still in pj's, and he gets to stop and spend just a couple minutes with his kids. It's great and we know how blessed we are to have such a great job and great people to work for! He's not home all the time, he is out to meetings and his properties a lot, quite a bit the last 4 weeks especially. But we get more time together than we ever have before and I love it.