OH Sooo Cute!!

Gavin

Gage

My sweet little Gunnar

Gavins bike he won at school

Major Updates!!!

I am so lame! It's been a LONG while since I've updated my blog! I think that I just forgot really. I am repenting and I've decided that I will update it every Sunday. So, because it would take forever to update you on what's been going on this whole time I'm just going to post pictures of what's been up since June! Highlights: Graci turned 3. She had a bike party, because she got a new bike for her birthday. Speaking of bikes, Gavin and Gage learned how to ride a 2-wheeler! They are getting so big I can't believe it! We had a really great summer together as a family! We just played a lot and it was great. Gavin and Gage started 1st grade. It's been a huge adjustment, but they are doing so well. Gibson, Graci, Gunnar and I do preschool at home. We just do reading lessons, writing, they play computer games, and we do activities together. Its great. Graci started a dance class. She is having a great time doing it! Her teacher is the teacher that I had when I was young, so that's really fun! Gunnar is going to be one tomorrow! This year has gone by so fast!!! He is a doll face and is just as sweet as ever. Now we are just getting ready for the holidays! The kids love this time of year. Gibson came to me today with a really worried look and whispered in my ear; "Mom, is Santa watching us?" I said of course, so you need to be good. He then said, almost with tears; "But I don't want him to see my bum when I go potty!!" It was really hard to comfort him when I was laughing so hard!! There's been more funny things like that, but for now just enjoy the pictures and I'll keep up better!!

Graci"s New Do

I guess this is what I get when I have four boys and only one girl. The older boys decided that they wanted to make Graci look like a boy so they convinced her to play hairshop. They quietly lured her to the basement and told her that they wanted to play with her. Graci being only two went along with it. Gavin got some safety scissors from the cuboard and proceeded to cut off one entire half of my sweet little woman's hair. Graci thought that it was fun of course. Then, instead of coming and telling mom and dad what had happened the other boys helped hide the evidence. Gage gathered up all of the hair and threw it away. Gibson stashed the scissors in the toy room so that we couldn't find them. John and I just put the kids to bed without ever noticing anything. We were tired and couldn't get kids to bed fast enough. We didn't find out about this fun little game until the next morning when I went to comb Graci's hair. I was devastated!! My only little girl, my one bonding partner, my little doll that I play dress up with, was missing half of her beautiful hair!!! I called Margeaux in tears and she came out to finish the job. It was so hard to watch. But, when she was done Graci was happy, and I have to admit, that even though I was still sad, she looked darling! She could have a crew cut and still look like a doll face. So, we had a family meeting about being honest and about choosing the right, and the boys all said that they were sorry. Her hair will grow back, but I'm afraid that this is just the beginning of chilren conspiring against their parents!

From the Mouth of Babes

It's so funny how honest little children can be. John and I try to teach our children manners and how to be polite. They really try, but unlike adults that can be polite on the outside but inside they are thinking what they would really like to say, children just say what they are thinking no matter. Example- We were coming home from Idaho and stopped in Tremonton for lunch at McDonalds. That is always a scary thing for me because I'm afraid that my kids will be mean to other kids and then I get chewed out by the mother. But, we stopped so the kids to get out of the car for a while. We went in and their were a few kids playing and our children just joined in. Well, there were some little girls that thought it would be fun to torment our boys and started to tease them and call them names. I took our kids aside and explained to them that even if the girls are being mean that we always are polite and say nice things about others. The kids went back and played for a few minutes and suddenly Gibson came running to me jumping up and down with excitement. He yelled in his loudest voice "Mom, I said nice things to those girls even though they are knuckle heads!!". I probably should have told him that wasn't nice but I couldn't stop laughing. I think I learned a valuable lesson that day-teaching your kids to be polite is good, but sometimes just telling it like it is might be better, becuase sometimes people really are just a bunch of knuckle heads!!

Tag, You're It!

Do you remember as a kid playing tag? It was so fun! I always wanted to be "it". As an adult, however, the game tag takes on an entirely new meaning. I was just telling John a few days ago how lucky we have been this winter. We got through all of the holidays without anyone being sick. I was hoping that we would just get through the end of March with no illness. But, karma kicked in and suddenly everyone in our house got sick. It started with just Gavin. He had the stomach flu for a couple of days. I can handle that, then it snowballed! By Saturday night ourhouse was just one giant toilet bowl! Everyone was puking everywhere. John and I felt okay, which was really lucky becuase boy did we have our work cut out for us! All night we were tagging each other, saying it was your turn to go and clean up yet another bed. We changed the kids sheets about 3 times each through the night. By about 6 am we were lying in our bed, delirious from exhaustion, telling the other that we would pay a million dollars if they would just take another turn. We bartered with money, doing dishes, changing diapers, you name it! All Sunday we just walked around like zombies! The good thing is that stomach flu doesn't last verylong. However, that karma came back, and now Doc has crupe and I'm home while John works! I guess he'd better start paying up!!

Home Alone

You know how after a few years of having kids you really miss having time as just a couple. You always say how great it would be to just have one night away. You count down the days when your kids are off to college. You're sure that if you could just have one night alone that it would just make your whole family happier. Well, I'm here to tell you not to give in to all the hype! Don't listen, it's all a big fat lie! John and I let the 4 older kids go and stay over at my sister and brother-in-law's apartment for the night. The kids were so excited, they packed their bags, got out the sleeping bags, and made sure that they brought movies to watch. John and I were probably more excited than the kids. We had a countdown going to when they would be picked up. It was just going to be us and the baby (who mostly sleeps). We couldn't believe it. Our dream of one night was finally coming true!. Then they came and picked up the kids. We hugged them and waved as they drove away, and then the tears began. John kept reminding me how unsafe cars are and that it is almost inevitable that you will get in an accident one day. I had every worst case scenerio running through my mind. I was sure that in an hour my precious babies would be calling me in tears that they missed me and wanted me to come home. We both said a prayer together and tried to relax and take advantage of our newfound freedom. We put in a movie and tried to enjoy. The minutes couldn't have gone any slower. I think I called over there about 8 times in 2 hours, just to make sure that they were breathing. John and I went to bed, but of course couldn't sleep. It had to have been the longest night of our lives!!! We woke up exhausted. When the kids finally came home they just went on and on about how much fun they had. They said that sleepovers are the best and that they wanted to have one everynight! I didn't want to ruin their fun, so I played along and told them that I was happy that they had such a great time and that John and I were just fine at home. However, I'm pretty sure that the next time someone wants my kids to sleep over, one of them will get some strange illness that doesn't make them feel sick, but that is highly contagious, so they can't go. And, the next time someone tries to sell me that line that it's so great when your kids are gone, you just need one night alone, will have an earfull on how preaching propaganda is just wrong!

Family Home Evening (or lack thereof)

It's so funny that when you become a mother you are just sure that you are going to be great at it. You make all of these plans; you are going to only feed your children organic, homegrown food; you will teach them to read by the time they are 2; they will never miss church, and they will be the only toddlers in sacrament that are taking notes. Then the day comes when you realize how completly wrong you were! 6 years into motherhood and I'm pretty sure that my kids think that potatoes come out of the ground as french fries; they are in school but say that their favorite subject is recess; I'm almost positive that the bishop is going to lovingly ask us not to attend until our children are grown. Nothing works out like you plan. Tonight was family home evening. I spent all day making plans, looking for the perfect story out of past issues of the friend. I made an activity that I was sure was going to wow my family. Then comes time for FHE. It was Graci's turn to pick the song-she picked High School Musical; it was Gibson's turn to say the prayer-he blessed the treat and his toys. Then it was time for the lesson and activity. About halfway through my story on how families are eternally linked I look up and notice that my perfect little family wasn't really paying attention. Gavin and Gage were making faces at Gunnar, trying to make him laugh. Gibson was pretending that he was a jedi and was waving his light sabre around (a red straw). Graci was quietly singing to her Dear Darla. And John, the patriarch of our home, was fast asleep. I was going to stop, but I then the stubborness came out in me and I had to finish. I spent all day on this and I didn't care if I was talking to myself, we were going to have a spiritual experience! I got through the lesson and did the activity by myself. Gavin said the closing prayer and the children quickly ran to the kitchen for their cookie. Needless to say, it was not as successful as I had hoped. The rest of the night I beat myself up, wondering where I went wrong as a mother. John went to work and I got the kids teeth brushed and I put them to bed. A few minutes later I went to check on the boys. All three of them had their arms and legs hooked together and they were laughing. I asked them what they were doing and Gage said, so matter of factly, "Mom, we're a forever family so we are linking together."