Daddy Daughter Dance

 

Our new elementary school had a DDD.  :)  It was so fun to take the girls out and buy something cute for them to wear at their dance.  The girls were super excited to get to spend a night with Dad.  Nate has not been able to show off his awesome dance moves for a while. The girls loved it.  I was a little jealous that I didn't get to go dance with him too.  :)  These kind of moments as small drops in the bucket of life, but they mean the world.   

Blessed Sunshine

 Sometimes I really wonder how we survive the winter.  The sun came out a bit this week and warmed up the earth.  Everyone of us wanted to get out and enjoy it.  Swinging, climbing, and playing after a winter cooped up in our house was so fun. 

 I love getting these shots of the kids together.   I get teary eyed when I watch my kids nurture and take care of each other.  Ben, Rachel and Emily are truly wonderful when it comes to loving their younger siblings.  I don't know how I would do all that I have to do as a mom without their help.  I feel like Heavenly Father has blessed me with super special kids.  (I know, all mom's think that.)  :)  But I really do.  Thanks to the sun for giving me some great pic opportunities this week.  I needed it.  

My Buddy

 

Dave is getting older and a friendship is starting to bloom between these two.  It is fun to watch.  Sarah is a little unconventional in her friendship making skills.  Sometimes she shuts the door to her room to keep Dave from escaping.  It's a little comical. Occasionally,  I have to jump in and rescue Dave but he is also learning to have fun with Sarah.   Hopefully these are two best buddies in the making. 

How it Really Happens

 Sometimes I just want to document a couple of things about life as it really happens in our home.  Every morning this is what I see.  My four kids lined up, watching a cartoon on the kindle, eating their breakfast.  They are in Zombie like trances and certainly not ready to enjoy the day.  LOL.  They fight over who has to sit on the odd chair unless Sarah is still asleep when the big kids come up.  At some point they do turn on though.  :)

I gave Sarah some water color paints to play with while I taught my class today.  She ate them.  :)  Ah, the life of an almost 3 year old. 

Happy Snow Day. :)

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I don't know why but parent birthdays are kind of glossed over at our house.  We always keep it pretty simple.  Probably because I am not a "party planner" and it's enough stress for me to worry about 5 kids.  Poor Nate.  This year I wanted to try to make Nate's birthday fun for the kids and Nate.  At first it looked like I was going to really tank.  I suggested sledding earlier in the week which he  agreed to but on his birthday I could tell I wasn't really in the mood for all that work.  We tried to come up with something else but finally decided to just go for it.

We drove up South Fork in Provo thinking there would be plenty of snow.  There was snow...but not plenty.  No where near enough for any sledding.  Discouraged we pulled over at the park and got out.  We figured we would just play for a few minutes and call it a day.  At last though, we were smiled upon from above.  We started making snow men and pretty soon we had built our family in snow family form.  We had such a good time and made a sweet memory Nate and I will enjoy when we are super old and grey.  Afterward we ate at Burger Supreme in Provo and then went home.

It turned out to be a great day and just goes to show that things are what you make of them.  I am so thankful to have a good husband who just rolls with the punches and kids willing to make the best of what we've got.

Making it Through the Day

 Being a work at home/stay at home mom can be pretty tricky sometimes.  Especially with a 3 year old who just need to get out of the house and have some mommy time.  Sarah couldn't wait to go out into the snow and play so as soon as I had a break, we ran outside. 

 She is such a doll.  Keeping her little dolly warm and dry and smiling for the camera.  I'm so glad I can be here with her even if I can't always hang out with her.  We had a really good time in the snow.  If it wasn't for my work at home job, I would have missed it.  Someone else would have taken her out into the snow...and I would have no pictures.

Thanks for a great day Sar-bear.  :)

CHRISTMAS 2013

Christmas Day was perfect this year.  The kids all slept until 8am.  In fact, the two babies came to our room before the big kids...though they were close behind.  Here is a picture with some of our favorite presents.  Though, honestly, my favorite present was ....

A real phone.  :)  The Samsung Galaxy 4.  I am surprised how much I love having it and using it.  Though, to be honest, I don't get many phone calls. Haha. 

The aerial view of our super fun Christmas mess...We could do a seek and find out of this one.

This little kitchen was a close second for my favorite present.  I love watching the girls...especially Sarah, play their make believe games. 
I thought that we might get bored sometime by the afternoon...but it just didn't happen.  We stayed in our pajamas all day and went from one thing to another.  The older kids spent hours building Lego set after Lego set.  Nate and I helped a bit with that.  There was no big dinner...just Lasagna..which was perfect after all the parties we had already had anyway.  The day was so relaxing.  I loved every minute of it.  Best Christmas ever.  :)