Wordless Wednesday

...See that little blue dot on Baby Javen's forehead? .....See the marker in Happy Kellan's hands?

'Nough said.

Wordless Wednesday

I've been told (by my husband who can be quite technical about such things) that I it can't be called "Wordless Wednesday" because I use words as a caption at the bottom of the picture. So here is a a "Few Worded Wednesday" picture for you.

Corban: age 1 (a pirate for his second Halloween.)

Take the good.....

Tomorrow we have Halloween parties and parades galore for the kids. ....of course they all start at the same time and I am just one me. Just when you think your children are all growing up, they want Mom to watch them walk the parade in their Halloween costume. Life is good.

Wordless Wednesday

In honor of the snow we got this week.... although this picture was 3 years ago.

(Don't you love Tarryn holding a carrot up to her own nose?)

Lessons

There is a song from the Signing Time series with words that truly capture how I feel about each of my children. "You've taught me in your lifetime, more than I've learned in mine." I'm often amazed at the things I am learning from my children. I'm amazed that in order to do this amount of extensive learning you have to be past "school age" and your teachers are younger than you. Possibly because they don't pretend to know more than you. ...well most of the time anyway.

Sunday as Brandon and I were relaxing on the couch chatting about our weekend, Kellan came to us with (in his mind) an emergency.
"I found da arrow. Now I need da other arrow." Holding a pretend arrow in one hand and pointing at Makade's bow that we keep on top of the entertainment system with the other.
"Why do you need it buddy?" We asked as if we didn't know the answer.
" 'cause I NEED it!" Was the reply.
"Well it needs to stay up there because we can't play with it in the house and it's too cold to go outside."
To which Kellan responded, "Oh. Okay. I get it myself."
Standing on the couch (which is a good 6 feet away from the t.v), he reaches as high as his 3 year old body will stretch and jumps over and over again. "Almost!" "I get it this time." "Reeeeeach!" were just some of the words spoken with each attempt. Brandon and I watched with amusement as the little guy tried and tried. And just when his body language was showing he may be ready to quit by shoulders slumping and head hung down, he stopped determindly; stood tall once again and announced, "I can never give up."

Both Brandon and I looked at each other and shared a moment of awe that our 3 year old son could remind us that even though things may seem hard or even impossible, if it's something we truly desire or believe we need then we should never give up. We should continue on; steadfast, strong, and determined.

...I'd like to say that Kellan reached his goal of retreiving the bow. That we offered to aid him on his quest. Truth be told, as soon as another of his siblings called his name and used the words, "Come play," Kellan lost sight of his goal and jumped off the couch to find something better. But that's okay because our lesson was learned. Now just to apply where it's needed.

Wordless Wednesday

We may want to choke the kids now and then, but at least we can do it with a smile. :)

Wordless Wednesday

Kellan and Dad the Storm Trooper bobble-heads

Copy cat

When your husband has been traveling in and out of the country for the past 3 months there are some things that just don't take precedence in your life while single parenting 5 kids. Watering plants, weeding, changing batteries in smoke detectors.... Somehow these things tend to work their own way of letting you know they are there. Weeds take over, plants die, and the smoke detectors make it known at 3am.

We have had various detectors go off while Brandon has been away on his last trip. Today however, a detector decided to make an appearance during the middle of the day. *gasp* After a good 5 "BEEPS" into our afternoon shout-out, Kellan started asking 30 seconds after the sound, "Mom, when is it going to beep?" and as soon as he'd ask, it would "BEEP". This went on for nearly 15 minutes until Kellan started getting annoyed.

Hearing Kellan marching down the hall, I thought he must be getting frustrated with the noise as the rest of us were. Imagine my surprise when I realize Kellan's frustration wasn't coming from the noise exactly, it was understandably every time he'd say, "Beep." the smoke detector would replicate, "BEEP!" so Kellan would yell, "Stop copying me BEEP!" As if we don't have enough sibling tormenting going on in our household.

Et tu, smoke detector? Et tu?

Wordless Wednesday

Another blast from the past with the kids at a hidden waterfall somewhere in our state.

I adore each one of the children's face in this!
(M=5yrs, C=14mos, T=7yrs)

First Crawling Casualty

Caught red orange handed!

He's Crawling! ....and doesn't sound to happy about it.

Javen has taken that next step in life. He's decided to become mobile! No more sitting around waiting for us to pick him up and move him to our desired designation. No more being left behind waiting for someone to hand him something to slobber or chew on. He wants to get into the mix of things! ....and that means no more delays in baby proofing the house. Where does time go?! Can it really be that he's 8 1/2 months???

On a side note: Apparently taking a few crawling paces makes a person hungry! We met Grandpa for dinner and Javen ate everything (for the record this was watermelon, peas, corn, mashed potatoes, fishy crackers, french fries, and I even gave him 1/2 a rice crispy square to celebrate) on his plate and then when he still wasn't satisfied, he simply ate the plate!

Wordless Wednesday

Once upon a time, Tarryn and Makade were our only world and they had no other sibling to tease or play with but one another. In such cases, it's fun to watch yourself on the camera and make faces while mom snaps some shots.

Wordless Wednesday

Our kids going "batty" while camping last year. (Incase you wanted to know, they are using the sign for bat using ASL.)

Not that I'm complaining.......

But why is it that a baby seems to only use the word "Mama" while crying?!!


Congrats Little Javen, for saying your first word. :)

Touche

I'm starting to see what having a teenager in the home is like. Scratch that. We've already had a teenager in the home. I'll rephrase. I'm starting to see what having Tarryn for a teenager is like. And I'm not sure I'm ready.

After a very. long. day at the hour of lunch time, I'm washing dishes and have realized that my lovely daughter and her oldest and dearest friend have made yet another concoction using and wasting food that could be used in better ways than fake lotions, potions, perfumes, and recipes only brothers are allowed/dared to taste.
The ranting ensues and as I am in full rant (I have after-all been thrown-up on by my 2 year old) I let slip a very colorful 4 letter word that I thought described her mess properly which happens to rhyme with *knit*. I quickly stopped (even acknowledged I made a mistake) and said, "let me change that." and replaced it with a more G rated word and then kept going on with my tirade.
I was on such a roll that I thought so smugly and ended with the statement, "...in fact, I don't want you to see Hope anymore. Not until you can learn to be more responsible by not making messes that I have to clean up and not wasting food."

"Fine." Tarryn says quick as a fox, "Then I don't want you to see Chelsea (one of my dear friends AND Hope's mom) anymore. Not until you can learn to be more responsible by not swearing." And marched off to end the conversation.

I silently whisper through a humbled-me/proud-mom smirk, "Touche Tarryn. Touche."

The day I become Queen

While working on Kumon, Corban accidentally wrote down a 3 instead of a 5 and since his fine motor skills aren't so refined, he asked for help in erasing the mistake. "Mom, will you please erase this for me?
I said, "Sure thing kind Sir." as I started rapidly erasing.
To which he replied, "Why thank you, your majesty." In more than royal tones.
(and all I could think is, Man I love this kid!)

Kids tell it like it is....

This evening after I announced that it was bedtime, Corban started asking if he and Makade could have a sleep-over. While considering whether I wanted to put up with tired boys in the morning I asked, "Are you actually going to sleep or are you going to giggle all night?"
Corban looks at Makade nodding his head encouragingly and asks, "What do you think Kade? Do you want to giggle tonight?"

Name calls

I've been hearing it recently. All. Day. Long. from both Corban and Kellan. The tattle-telling of the name calls. I usually try to tune them out while acting sympathetic but while telling them to solve the problem themselves. Today caught me a bit off guard though, as Kellan ran up to tell on Corban by saying,

"Mo-oooom Corban called me grampa."

...as if even thinking of the age that would involve is a very dirty word. :)

5 months and counting!

Can you believe how time flies?! Our little guy is now 5 months old. Daily, he's showing us more personality and quirks galore. :)

Javen's got the giggles 5mos

Interpreting Lingo

When it comes to electronics, we know our world is changing daily. When it comes to politics, we know our world is changing. But for me, that's where my thinking usually stops. Don't get me wrong, I know it happens in more things than that. I know that kids now days have too much of an opinion compared to the ol' rule of, "children are to be seen not heard." But I don't really stop to think of the little things like our language or "lingo" as changing. I know it transpires. Think of the meaning of wicked or sick used now to describe what I used to say was, "awesome or cool". It probably occurs more often than I realize but last night I got to see it in action and I got a little chuckle out of it.

While driving in the car, Makade in the front seat, we're silently listening to the 1973 Disney movie "Robin Hood" play for the kids in the back.

"Gee whiz mister! That's awful nice of you!" we hear the voice of a young turtle say to our hero. To which Makade gets a cheesy grin on his face and starts chuckling and is nearly in hysterics by the time I ask, "What's so funny?"

Stopping long enough to answer my question Makade replies, "He said whiz!"

Tarryn tries to trump.

I'm thinking somewhere in Tarryn's subconscious mind, she wanted to have a day of firsts too. Why else would she have inadvertantly tried to burn the house down. With a corn dog. In the microwave? (That's got to be a first for anyone.)

Brandon caught it just in time as he turned around thinking, why on earth is the microwave running for so long? he saw black smoke billowing out. Tarryn had set the microwave for 20 minutes since that's how long it takes to cook a corndog in the oven.

Upon examining the charred mess on the cracked plate, we realised the stick in the center of the blackened lump was now ash. I guess it was our own family experiement to see if the microwave really does cook things from the inside-out. This girl keeps us on our toes and will not be trumped without a good show by a sibling. :)

A day of firsts

Woke up early Sunday morning with a happy little baby. Smiling, cooing, and 3 locks of hair that seemed longer than the rest hanging down on his forehead. "Okay kiddo, it's time for your first haircut, and I believe it should be me that gets the good luck, thank you very much." Who knew that this would start events spiraling for Javen to have an entire day of firsts?!

I set Javen in the bouncy seat so I could cut the top of his hair. ...then posed the dilemma of how to get the hair on the back of his head? I quickly came up with the solution of putting him on his tummy on my bed. (Yes, this was a real professional hair cut.) To my surprise, he immediately rolled over! Thinking it was a fluke, I placed him back on his stomach to which he rolled over the other way! Thinking that it must be because he was on the bed, I placed him on the floor and got the astonishing same result. Should we count? This makes 2 firsts in a matter of minutes. First cut, first roll over.

Sunday afternoon, I was sitting on the floor with Brandon and Javen. Javen sitting in front of me propped against my legs. Javen decides to once again amaze us as he leans himself forward just enough to sit unassisted for a nearly good 5 minutes! (Slow down kiddo!!!) -3 firsts. First cut, first roll over, first unassisted sit.

Later in the evening as we're sitting at the dinner table, Javen on my lap, food being passed around, he swipes a chicken off the plate and starts swinging it around as if announcing, "I am ready to eat too!" Tarryn wrestles the chicken from the grip of death, we start to eat. Javen decides that my plate must be his plate and grasps for the mashed potatoes. He acted surprised at first to feel the warm squishiness but decided to give it a try and stuck his fingers in his mouth and announced they were to his liking by making extremely loud sucking noises. His fondness for the mashed goodness grew as he continued to repeat these actions over and over again. Are you kidding me? First food too?!

Javen must know that I'm trying to hold his progress to an unhurried measure since he is my last baby. He must also have other plans for me and himself. This kid is already showing he's unstoppable all at the tender age of 4 months and 3 weeks old. (20 weeks to be exact.)

Top 10.

Things here are busy as ever. So busy in fact, that I haven't had time to post thoughts or feelings for a while so I thought I'd write a top 10 list of things that have taken place over the last little bit to cover for lost time. These are not put in any particular order -unless you consider the way my brain works as "order" .....ahem.....never mind.

10. Tarryn and Makade plot now on how to torture their unborn offspring by swearing they will put them in Kumon. Just so they can have the satisfaction of correcting their own kids' packets (which I'm told is the only reason why Brandon and I have them in Kumon).

9. Tarryn, Makade, and Corban have their first sleep-over with their Grandma Herrick. They enjoy watching movies, and getting to eat with "old people", and get to spend some long deserved time with their Grandma. Tarryn ends up having a deeper appreciation of ME as she comes home worn out from having to take care of Corban since Grandma is unable to manage such tasks at this time. I bring the kids home with a tug in my heart for how worn out Tarryn is, and how happy I am the kids got to have Grandma participate a little in their life.

8. Makade makes an impression in our wall that won't be forgotten for a while. *We call it his bum-hole since that is just what it was, as he went down the stairs at such a speed that when his tush met the wall it left a gaping cavity. Talk about 'buns-of-steel'. He was the brunt of many jokes as the repairman fixed the abyss.

7. Javen is bilingual, even if we don't understand what he's saying in either language we know it to be true. Of course we're sure that his first and foremost verbal communication is good ol' baby talk that will undoubtedly turn into English. But there is a distinct noise Javen makes that we're guessing is Dolphinese. What else could the clamor be that resembles the distinct dialect that dolphins speak? ....or should I say shriek?

6. I wake from the land of denial. During the month of May it's like I awoke from a dream of clouded bliss as I realized how truly overwhelmed I am playing the roll of mother of 5, housekeeper, wife, sister, sister-in-law, daughter, daughter-in-law, etc., etc., etc. I find I have to fight to add the title of just-plain-Summer to the mix of the rest of these. But its a contest worth battling as I go from the belief system of "I'm not worth my own time" to "I am of worth to have time to myself." May was definitely a month full of tears, and strength building.

5. Tarryn takes a trip. To D.C. ....without her parents. Don't worry though, she enjoyed the trip with her grandparents and saw all sorts of things that make the USA what we are. or what we should be. Tarryn would call each night exhausted and tell us about her daily events. Always ending in swimming. We're told that her favorite place to visit was the Ford's Theater where Lincoln was shot. Not only did she come home with a lot of souvenirs, she also came home a bit more mature, *sniff* and possibly a bit taller.

4. Potty training goes down the toilet as Kellan gets sick with a fever and a wicked virus. We're having a hard time starting up again after I plunged Kellan and the family in a potty training experience Boot Camp style. We have to work up the will power for such things.

3. Corban was the Captain of the Ship in his school's spring sing as he introduced himself in a booming voice for the entire school to hear, "Ahoy matey! My name is Corban!" then when the crowd chuckled at his enthusiasm he stood there and blinked away tears. He pulled it together though, and put on an a amazing performance that we were all so proud of!

2. Makade basically tells Grandpa Fuller he's old. So the story goes, Makade was giving Grandpa instructions on where to go in Grandpa's own town. Grandpa compliments Makade on his skill of direction by stating he'll do great when he has his own driving licence and can't wait to see when he can drive. Makade responds by saying, "Grandpa, you'll be dead by the time I can drive." (Note: this is only 7 years away!!!!)

1. Kellan is learning how to forgive. ....sort of. Anytime one of the kids (or on rare occasion), Brandon, or I end up hurting Kellan. Be it physical or emotionally, if an "I'm sorry" is said, Kellan will respond with a "That's Okay!" in a screech so loud and fast that you're sure the windows are going to break and car alarms around the block are going to go off. It leaves you feeling more like you were hit by a truck than it does warm and fuzzy. And it makes saying those 2 apologetic words even more difficult to say when you know you've done wrong. :) Good thing Kellan doesn't know how to hold a grudge! I can't imagine what that would sound like!

Placing Blame

"Mom, I am so so so so so soooooooo sorry that I pooped in my pants," Corban says as he's sitting in the tub while I clean up the messy pants, "It was my bum's fault."

What a blessing!

This past weekend held such joy for our family as we prepared for Javen's blessing on Sunday. Of course, cleaning for guests is never fun but the feeling of a pristine home feels wonderful after the work is done. Having friends, family, and food all together is never a bad feeling either.

While sitting in church, Javen started getting fussy and I quickly became worried that Javen was going to be one of those babies that screamed through the whole blessing so much so that you can't even hear what is being said by the father. I was trying to get him to calm down with a binky. ....Javen hates binkies. Brandon even ran home to get a different variety of binkies to try. Being stressed that Brandon wasn't going to get back in time, I was shocked that Javen gave in to the binky and fell asleep.
Our angel baby
When the second counselor of the bishopric announced that we had 2 blessings that day, he got a smile on his face as he tried to pronounce Javen's first name and totally messed it up and knew exactly how to pronounce his middle name of Kal-el. (Must be a Superman fan.) :)

Javen in his blessing outfit.

The gentlemen in Javen's blessing circle were Brandon, Bishop Pike, Gil, Roger, Zane (in uniform), Stan, and Mike. Brandon gave Javen a very heart felt and beautiful blessing. Brandon told me that throughout the blessing Javen just sat awake staring at all the gentlemen in the circle. -He didn't make a peep! :D Everyone "awed" as Brandon lifted our handsome little guy for the congregation to see.


We had wonderful food afterward and enjoyed all of our family's company. Brandon's and my family members got to catch up with one another. There was lots of laughter and loads of love that filled our home as we celebrated Javen's special day.

Yummy breakfast food after the blessing

Kellan entertained us with his version of "Pants on the ground" from this season's American Idol.

Again, words taken literally

A couple nights ago as Brandon was tucking Makade in to bed, he had suggested to the young fellow that taking off his socks would be a good idea to let his feet breath a little better.

This evening as Brandon was ritually tucking Makade in; Makade had decided his curiosity had increased enough to ask, "Dad, how exactly do your feet breath?"

Brotherly Update

So you know Corban's realization that he has 3 brothers? Well now each and every day I get to answer "Yes." to various questions such as...

"Mom, is Javen still my brother?"

"Mom, I still have 3 brothers?"

"Mom, am I Javen's brother?"

I wonder how long it will take for Corban to feel secure that Javen is here to stay.

Headed for a New Chapter

This evening I took my baby girl, Tarryn and 2 friends to the store so they could find another friend a birthday gift. Although this may seem like nothing to cry celebrate about, I have to say it took my mind through a whirl wind of things to come.

In the past, taking my children to any given store we always seem to find ourselves in the region I'd like to call, "The Toy Zone." For many places they have their marketing down to sticking toys at the front of the store, or like Justice, all over the entire stinking store! However, today was a quite different experience. We walked in, and spent our entire time looking for presents in the jewelry section and the girls clothing department. Toys weren't even mentioned on this trip!

I find myself constantly being reminded that time is slipping away when it comes to my one and only daughter. I find this a bit disheartening, yet also exciting as I watch Tarryn mature from little girl to young lady. I hope I can enjoy all the moments to come...even the ones I dread like first dates and even the horrible ones like being told that she knows more than me.

Sibling Comprehension

While driving to school today, we had a Signing Time DVD playing that was talking about members of a family. Corban decided to announce what his family consisted of:

Corban: "I have 1 sister and 2 brothers."

Me: "Uh Buddy, you have 1 sister and 3 brothers."

Corban: "I do? Who's the other brother?"

Me: (Thinking who he could be missing as a brother) "There's Makade, Kellan, and Javen."

Corban: "You mean Javen's my brother?!"

...And all this time he's been so accepting of this new little stranger in our home!

Derby Delight

Once upon a time in a kingdom not so far away. There was a town full of small warriors who would spend hour after hour with their Father warriors planning, and cutting, sanding, and painting, weighing, and using powdered graphite. All to get ready for the big race called The Pinewood Derby.

This really was a great bonding experience for Brandon and Makade. ....and a little of Tarryn on the side who really wanted her own car as well. I'm still surprised at all the tricks it takes to get a box containing a block of wood and 4 wheels ready to race. I would say what they are, but I've been sworn to secrecy. *wink wink*

I was certain all the hard work in our household would be in vain, since it only took them 4 days to complete Makade's tank. (Having a baby tends to put things like blocks of pine on the back burner.) Because they hadn't spent weeks upon weeks gearing up for the Derby, I had planned a wonderful speech for Makade using sentences like, "It's okay you didn't win. The fun part was building the car with Dad." "Think of the hard work you did in 4 days, others have been working on theirs for weeks." Even a, "We'll get 'em next time buddy." was planned for the evening so imagine my surprise when Makade's tank came in first or second with every race

As Makade raced his car in the finals, it became quite apparent that he was going to win this thing! .....apparent to all of the crowd; not so apparent to Makade. When the track director asked the winner to come up, he had Makade come find me to give me a hug Tarryn came running over and asked, "Did Makade win?!" We confirmed he did. "Makade! You won!!!", Tarryn shouted as she jumped up and down. "I did?" Makade looked surprised and then, comprehension dawning, "I did!!!" and he started jumping for joy as well. ...... ah well, my speech can wait till next year. :)

Stunting Growth

While driving to Kumon, Makade asked me what type of drink I had. When I told him it was Diet Coke, Tarryn quickly reminded Makade that, "That's one of the kinds of drinks Dad doesn't want us to have." She also told him it's because it makes you stop growing.

The conversation continued as we talked about caffeine stunting your growth and naming various drinks that carried the evil stuff. Tarryn found it important to mention to Makade that "Mom probably drank a lot of caffeine when she was little and that's why she's so small." To which I replied, "I'll have you know that my favorite soda was Sprite when I was young, and have you ever checked out the height of MY parents?!"

After explaining that you get your height from both of your parents Makade found it important to ask the question, "Does that mean I'm gonna have one short leg and one really long leg?!" He was worried he would have to hop around everywhere!

A new year, a new life, a new beginning.

Wow! I can't believe 2009 has come and gone. I have not been very dedicated to any of my blogs this past year and I miss it! I can really see where my writing has gotten rusty as ideas and words don't pop into my head as quickly as they used to.

I think what bothers me the most about this past year that hasn't even been mentioned in this blog is our joy of expecting a new family member to add to the fun. There have been so many wonderful moments regarding this such as my telling Corban I had a secret:

Me: (In a whisper even though no one else is around) Corban, I have a secret.

Corban: Okay, what is it?

Me: Mommy has a baby in her tummy.

Corban: (Looking petrified) What?! You ATE Kellan?!

Or The day we decided to tell all of the kids at dinner and Makade found it important to help me with all my food and any other needs he thought I might have. The look he had for me that day was amazing.

There is the moment we found out that this baby was indeed, another boy and I cried and was so worried about how upset my sweet Tarryn was going to be when she found out she wasn't going to get that baby sister she longed for. My heart truly ached for her! Then as we told the family, she was still willing to welcome her new baby brother.

All those beautiful moments, and more didn't get written down and put into the timeline and I'm very sad about that! Shame on me for not *finding* the time. I'd like to promise that I will be better at blogging but I refuse to make promises that I am not positive I will keep. So I will state that I am going to try to keep this form of family logging up to date so that someday when I want to go back and have these memories, they are written with all the heart felt words that came with the moment.

This will be a task as our soon-to-be family of 7 gets more and more busy, but it's needed on many levels and I am up for the challenge. No promises, but I hope to be writing really soon.