Spring Break.

We decided that we were going out of town for spring break this year. Yes, we were the people who used a portion of our tax refund this year for a vacation.

This isn't the first time we have taken a road trip with the four kids. So before the trip I stocked up on things that would keep them busy. We borrowed a DVD player with two screens so all the kids could watch at the same time. We stocked up on movies, music, books, toys, snacks, and food for lunch and dinner so we didn't have to eat out.

Then I packed. I tried to pack light, but four kids certainly require a lot of gear. I was determined to not need the rooftop carrier on our Tahoe this trip. I succeeded, but it was certainly tight. Luckily my kids are used to being packed in tight when we take road trips.

Finally I headed out with the kids with the promise of John meeting up with us later in the week. I was nervous about being the sole driver with 4 kids, and one that has just barely been potty trained in the last month. But as long as we stopped regularly the kids made it through the drive. I can't say they were the best behaved children the whole vacation. They certainly had their moments. But that was to be expected. You take children out of their element, throw them off their schedule, and they aren't exactly the happiest campers in the world! And no, my kids are not immune to meltdowns.

I think every one of my children had a meltdown at one point or another during the entire vacation. However, we made it through. It was impossible to keep them on the same strict schedule we keep at home while on vacation. Meal times, bed time, it was all thrown off kilter. But the memories we made as a family certainly outweigh the meltdowns!

We were able to go the pageant at the Mesa, Arizona temple. It is an amazing pageant about the life of Jesus Christ. I have wanted to attend that pageant for a very long time and I'm so glad I finally had the opportunity. I'm not sure the kids cared for the pageant, they all fell asleep, but that was something I wanted to do for myself! The kids did enjoy walking around the temple grounds the next day while it was light.

Here are some other things we were able to do. We took a driving tour of Phoenix, because Jeff had to show us the sports arenas! Of course that was the first thing he showed us, even before he took us to the temple! We went swimming because it was 90 degrees every day. We went to the Firefighter's museum, and the Arizona museum for youth (AMY). The AMY was fun because there was a fairytale exhibit and a baseball exhibit. There were multiple areas where the kids could dress up. This entertained all of my kids for hours.

There were two areas at the firefighter's museum where the kids could play. The kids loved playing on the fire engine and putting on firefighting coats and hats. Emma was not very happy when I announced it was time to move on to see more things. She wanted to stay and play.

We planned to go to the zoo one of the days, but I'm such a cheapskate that I couldn't swallow the price tag. So we didn't go. I preferred to spend money doing a lot of different things instead of just one thing.

John flew to Phoenix on Thursday. Friday morning we went to the military museum. John fit in well there. They let the kids get into the helicopter and play with all the buttons. Oh my, they could have played there for hours. The kids had a lot of fun, especially when they learned how much their dad knew about all that stuff. John enjoyed talking to them about the military. It was the perfect opportunity to talk to them about some of his experiences in the military. Amber was shocked to find out John had carried a gun. She has seen him in uniform, and she knows he was in Afghanistan, but she had never equated that to carrying a gun. I think it was an eye opener for her. It was cool. Friday afternoon we were able to drive a couple of hours to Tucson to meet up with one of my dear friends. I haven't seen her for many, many years and it was so good to see her. We all went to dinner and had a good time. The only problem is that we had to say goodbye at some point. Then we drove back to Mesa.

Despite our desperate need for sleep, we stayed up enjoying one last night with Jeff and Cori. We are so grateful they opened up their apartment to us despite my 3 yo boy who terrorizes any place he goes to!

We headed for home on Saturday morning. Despite our efforts to get Ellie to come back with us, she ultimately decided she wouldn't be happy in the cold! :) So we let her stay. The drive home was mostly uneventful and we were all ready to get out of the car for good. Timothy only unbuckled his seatbelt about 8 times during the 13 hour drive so I'd call that a success.

We had a good time. And we are glad to be home. Today it is back to the schedule. Regular meal times and bed times. And the kids will adapt once again. They are much more adept at adapting to lots of changes than I am!

I have pictures to post, but I need to load them onto the computer first.

Micah turns 1!

Okay, so I'm just a little late on this post. Micah turned 1 earlier this month. We celebrated with a small family party for those who could make it. This celebration was bittersweet as it is hopefully the last 1 year birthday celebration we will be having.

The whole cake thing was kinda strange this time because Micah had already tasted cake, had already made a mess with cake. He has never been happy watching others eat what I have deemed him not ready for. So judge me how you wish, but my son had cake, cookies, icecream, and (gasp!) peanut butter all before he turned one. Don't misunderstand, that was not his entire diet, but he certainly was not required to sit calmly by while the others had a small treat. So his birthday cake was certainly fun, but it was not a new experience for him. By his first birthday he had learned how to get most of the cake in his mouth. Mess? Very little. Ummmm . . . . maybe a lot, but from the icecream, not the cake!

With my other kids I have turned their car seats forward facing at one year. They were all 20 pounds before one. Micah wasn't 20 pounds. He was so close. But the recommendations have also changed. The AAP now recommends they stay rear facing until they are 2. Okay, so Micah will just stay where he's at. I don't feel too sad. My only difficulty with this is alleviated by other children who can help me understand how things are going in the back seat!

And because he has people, aka siblings, who are willing to carry him around everywhere, he has decided to take it slow on the walking thing! He is slowly making progress, but for now he is content to race everywhere on his hands and knees! He has learned to crawl up the stairs so I have to watch him closely when we are in the basement. He is quick. Many times I find him at the top of the stairs before I have realized where he was. And yes, I am a very attentive mother. But there are times when my attention is required elsewhere. He waits until I am focused on somebody or something else, then he darts as fast as he can. Happily playing with a toy? Ha, fooled me! He was just calculating the amount of time it would take him to get somewhere else, and then he sits and waits for his chance.

He now has 6 teeth and two more pushing his gums. His poor mouth. But he doesn't let it slow him down. He is a very happy child and likes to tease. Those experts who say babies don't have a sense of humor have obviously never seen my children. Yesterday at church, we let Micah play on the floor. He looked at me with a devious grin, and bolted for the door. I grabbed his foot as that was all I could get a hold of. He laughed and tried to get away. Yep, we had everyone watching us instead of the sunday school teacher! Oops. Changing his diaper? You guessed it. He loves to tease us. Sitting still? He won't do it! Laughing at us as we try to get him diapered and dressed? Always.

Potty Training

I dreaded the day Timothy wanted to potty train. I admit, part of the reasons for waiting so long was my own unwillingness to deal with accidents, etc.
But I got tired of buying diapers. As long as we had diapers for him, Timothy refused to try to potty train. It was easier to just use those darn diapers.
One day I decided as soon as this last batch of diapers was gone I was not buying any more. Timothy would have to potty train. In ask reality I still wasn't prepared. We ran out of diapers faster than I expected.
But I didn't buy anymore. I told Timothy he had to wear underwear and use the toilet. I was so nervous about the prospect. But he trained so easily. I've been nervous about taking him places for fear of accidents. You see, I couldn't use pull-ups because they're too much like a diaper.
Timothy has been such a trooper. He is potty trained. And it only took a couple of days to get the nighttime thing down! All of my fears seem to have been unfounded. It has been relatively painless and easy.
This is really nothing short of a small miracle. I'm counting my blessings with this one.

Baptism Day

The past eight years have flown. At times the day Amber joined our family and we became three seems just like yesterday. She has been so excited for her baptism day. She has been talking about it for months.

I admit, I am such a proud mama. I am so grateful that Amber made the decision to take this step.

Special occasions require extra special dresses. So I set out a few months before her baptism day to find something extra special. found some really cute dresses, but when it came right down to it, nothing seemed to be right. So I decided I would make her dress. So I found a few patterns and let Amber decide. I didn't have any that were the exact size I needed so I had to make alterations. The prospect was a little daunting because it requird a little creative planning on my part. I hadn't really altered a pattern to this extent before.

Then I started looking for material. I started with the material I already had. I found the perfect material, but Amber had to approve. She was so excited. I had remnants of material from my wedding dress, and I had just enough for Amber's dress. She thought it was pretty cool to have a dress made from the same material as my wedding dress! That is one of the first things she told people. I was a little worried I wouldn't get the dress done. I started the dress about a week before. I almost finished the dress that first day, but something happened, I don't even remember what. So I wasn't able to get back to it until Friday. At about 9:00 p.m. I was still trying to put the zipper in. Ack, I was freaking out by this time. But I had to get it done. As you can see, the dress got finished. Just a small miracle.

Her face was the picture of pure joy! She was so excited. Her eyes were full of light.

 



 
 






























Here she is with her sister. What an awesome example Amber has set. Her sister looks up to her a lot and wants to be just like Amber. She's already asking when it is her turn.


 

Here is Amber with her daddy. John had the wonderful experience of baptizing Amber. Amber doesn't like to get her face wet, but with her daddy right by her side, she knew she could do it. She trusted him to take care of her.

When we talked about the program a few weeks before, Amber had a clear idea of what she wanted. She wanted Great grandma Foster to play the piano, and Great grandma Greenland to lead the music. She wanted to sing "When Jesus Christ was baptized" and "When I am Baptized." Nothing could sway her from that choice.

Then it came time to decide who she wanted to give talks. She wanted Aunt Kay and Aunt Cori to give talks.

So Kay talked about baptism. She reminded us all that baptism is one of the first ordinances of the gospel. She asked Amber if she knew the fourth article of faith and Amber said yes. But in a moment of shyness she couldn't remember, which was okay. She reminded us how important it is to take this first step in returning to our Heavenly Father.

Just a few weeks before Amber's baptism we found out that Jeff and Cori would be moving and would not be able to make it to the baptism, despite their best efforts. So Amber said she wanted me to give a talk. I did not want to give a talk because I knew I would be too emotional. Wasn't there a way Cori could still give the talk? I have a video camera! Perfect. We recorded Jeff and Cori giving a talk before they moved. It was a surprise for Amber.

So Jeff and Cori gave a talk about the Holy Ghost. They reminded us that the Holy Ghost is a comforter, just like a blanket. We had a few issues with the video. Everything worked beforehand and it discouraged me a bit when it didn't work the way I had planned. But, the message came across. When we are baptized and confirmed, we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and the Holy Ghost will always be with us.

I am so grateful to all who participated in the program. It made my job easier.

We had a lot of people come show their support for Amber. It was so good to see all those that came. Amber was excited that some of her friends from school came to support her. It really meant a lot to her that her friends Issac and Emily came. She even invited her school teacher! That is how excited she was. She just wanted to share this special day with everyone.

Amber knows that she is following the example of our Savior by being baptized. She made the decision long ago that she would take this step. I am so proud of her. As surreal as it still seems, my little girl is growing up and making her own decisions. I wanted her to make the decision to get baptized. When I asked her why she wanted to be baptized, making me happy was never part of her answer. When it comes right down to it, she knows she is a child of God and she knows that being baptized is an important step in her life that will bring her closer to the goal of eternal life.

Amber is 8!!!

So in all the craziness of the month of February, my dear sweet Amber turned 8.

I thought it would be fun to look backwards and see how much she has grown. So this post is mostly pictures! Enjoy. The pictures are one per year starting just before her birthday this year going backward to the day she was born!

I just can't believe how much she has grown up! 8 years have gone way too fast and I find myself wondering what happened to my little girl.

Enjoy the pictures. I enjoyed finding them. What a blast from the past. Remembering is a good thing for the soul. I smiled as I remembered the events surrounding these pictures!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blanket is finally complete!!!

When I decided to make this blanket a year ago, I didn't realize it would take an entire year to complete. I actually thought it would be a good project to keep me busy until I had the baby. And it sat in my sewing room for awhile, and then I had my baby. Okay, so I could work on it while the baby naps! Ummmm, yeah if only the other kids would cooperate. So this project turned into a Christmas project. I started making headway and then we all got sick around Thanksgiving time and I did not have the get up and go to work on a sewing project. Two nights before Christmas I was hopeful I could finish this project. I had sewn most of the blanket, but I needed to cut it and edge it! So in a fit of exhaustion, I pleaded with John to help me cut. Thanks to John he willingly cut, despite my nervousness. I did not want him to mess it up! I had worked so hard on it up to that point.

Christmas came and went. Still the blanket remained incomplete. We rang in the new year and still no blanket! All I needed was to edge the silly thing. But I wasn't sure how I wanted to edge it. So yet again, the blanket sat incomplete and lonely in my sewing room. Then the Robert's close to me decided to close and they had awesome deals. So I found some ribbon that I thought I could use to edge the blanket. So I brought it home. Still the blanket sat.

So last week I knew I had to buckle down and finish the blanket. So I sat in my sewing room nearly crying because I didn't have enough of the coolest ribbon in the world. Then I saw it. Remnant material from a Halloween costume I made for Amber probably about 6 years ago! The material matched the blanket so perfectly. So I quickly measured and sewed the binding. And I started to bind the edges of the blanket. Then I got interrupted. Things erupted at my house and I had to push the blanket off to the side once again. I now only had one side to bind.

Finally, this past Thursday I found the blanket complete! And despite the lengthy process of completing this blanket, I feel very accomplished. And no, I am not doing another one any time soon.

Here's the front of the blanket.

 

Here's the back of the blanket.

 

And the blanket all tied up with the coolest ribbon in the world! I did find a very good use for the ribbon!

 

Daddy Daughter Dance

Just before Valentine's day, John took the girls to a daddy daughter dance. I got the girls cute dresses and I spent some time trying to make their hair look cute! They were so excited. Their hair didn't turn out like I planned, but their hair wasn't the most important part. They were so excited to do something with daddy. Amber told John that he had to wear his suit with his new tie! Luckily John was willing to oblige. So three of my sweethearts took off for a night of dancing and fun. Forgive the quality of the pictures. I didn't take them. I was actually not home when they finally left the house. I had another obligation to attend to. So I got them all ready and then I left shortly before the babysitter arrived for the other two kids.

Here are the two girls together, all dressed up with somewhere to go!

 

Can you see Amber's attitude in the way she poses?

 

Emma in all the elegance of polka dots!

 

My three sweethearts all ready to go out for a night on the town!