Fun Stuff

I never got around to posting about Mother's Day, which I've decided is pretty much my favorite day of the year. My family HOOKS ME UP! I don't have to lift a finger. LOVE it! This cute little card is from none other than Lincoln (of course). That boy is hillarious! I think we need to have an FHE on humility.



My little Blake-arella has been dying to make these.







They were yummy. Just a little tip. Bakerella says to use waterballoons, but our waterballoons kept popping in the chocolate. We tried regular balloons, and just barely blew them up. Worked like a charm. We filled them with a couple different kinds of pudding and topped it with homemade whipped cream and strawberries. Yum!


Do you recognize him? This is Glen Lerner. He has those commercials...you all know the song and have the phone number memorized. Well, my kids are obsessed with him. They make up plays about him, and powerpoints. It is so funny. Even Diddy knows the song. Anyway, we have some relatives that are friends with him. They snapped this picture one night and sent it to Jim. The kids thought it was hillarious!

Quick Post

Just a quick post before I go work out. My baby is asleep so I have to hurry. I haven't been posting as often as I like, because Jim has been working from home a lot. It's nice to have him home, but he dominates the computer. I don't have any pics of my kids to give ya, so here are some of Westley that I took at his baseball game...since my sister never posts anything on her blog...








A few things that have been going on here:

Taylor:

Is in the middle of reading "The Hunger Games" series. She can't get enough of it. She has started using my flat iron on her hair, and she just asked me when she can start shaving her legs. Oh, man. I told her the same thing that my mom told me...once you start, you can't EVER stop.
She came home from school nearly in tears yesterday, because her Music teacher told the class who won "Survivor". I was FURIOUS. We wouldn't let her watch the finale, because it was Sunday. I felt so bad for her :(

Blake:

Also started "The Hunger Games", and is also reading the Book of Mormon in 100 days with me. She is all caught up, which is really impressive because it's a lot of reading everyday. She is a good girl. Still wants to go on a mission.

Lincoln:

Kicking butt at baseball. They put him in to "close" (pitching) a couple games ago, and he struck the kid out really fast. The coaches were calling him "K-Rod". You have to know baseball to know what that means. Lincoln kept saying, "I closed it down, mom." He still pitches at a target on the wall in the house everyday (with a nerf ball), and he does 300 arm stretches a day with my pilates bands. He is getting ready for the "big leagues" he says.

Brooklyn:

Is constantly helping me...cleaning up, rubbing my feet & shoulders, calming Levi down. She is a sweetie. All girl. Loves dresses & make-up. I'm scared for when she's a teen-ager.

Dylan:

Is always saying the cutest things. She says "That's inappropriate" a lot. She takes 3-4 baths a day. Not exaggerating. She calls Levi, "Levi Jonas". She is always asking me what day it is, like she's got something on the calendar. She is ALWAYS smiling. I don't think she's ever had a bad day in her little life.

I almost forgot Levi:

He is an angel baby. He is sleeping 8 hours at night, and a ton during the day. We figured out that he LOVES his crib. We can put him down wide awake in his crib and he will fall asleep on his own. He is a lot nicer, now, when he is awake, as long as he has someone visiting with him. He likes to smile. I think his eyes are turning green, and his hair is turning blonde. He is going to look just like Lincoln :)

Brothers

Two posts in one day. What?? This was too cute not to share. Levi mysteriously disappeared from his swing this afternoon. I went to look for him and found this. To me, there is nothing sweeter.

Life

We are starting to settle into a routine now, I guess, if you can call it that. Things are a little crazy. Here's how it is with 6 kids:

Up at 7am, because the baby wants to eat.

7:30am- try to drag the kids out of bed for school. This is no easy task. My kids are not

early risers.

8:15- The 3 oldest leave on their bikes.

8:35- I take Brooklyn to school, because she can't ride a bike yet.

9:00-City Stop for a Pepsi, if I'm lucky enough to have Jim stay home with the 2 little ones.

9:30- Dylan's ride for school is here, and now maybe I can eat something. Oh, wait...nope, the baby is hungry again.

10:00- I get breakfast and hurry and put a load of laundry in and do the dishes. That will leave me just enough time to work-out before I have to go pick up Brooklyn & Dylan from school.

12:00pm- get home from the Kindergarten/Preschool carpool. Lunchtime. Try to do some more laundry, but probably just hold Levi because he's fussy. Try to dust and vacuum and clean up one-handed...sometimes we have piano lessons or errands to run.

3:45- where did the afternoon go? Did I get anything done around the house? The older kids get home from school and the madness really starts.

Everyone's starving. They all need a snack. "What's for dinner?" (I will get asked that question 5 times, at least). Now starts the homework, reading, piano practicing, dinner, showers, scriptures, prayer, bedtime ( by 9pm if we are lucky).

Phew, I get some time to myself. Oh, wait...we have a newborn. I have to hold fussy Levi some more. I really don't mind that much, though, as long as I can just veg on the couch. By this time, I can't move anymore. I try to account for what I ate during the day, because I need to lose the baby weight, but I'm not really sure exactly what I ate. It's all a blur.

Think about the agenda for tomorrow. Try to figure out how I am going to be 3 places at once AGAIN! I need a couple of clones.

10:30-11-Levi finally falls asleep. He will sleep til about 4 or 5am. I know, I'm lucky. Tender mercy. I get in bed and start reading my scriptures, because I am reading the Book of Mormon in 100 days. Why does everything always have to be so rushed and hurried all the time?

Do this all by myself for the next 4 days, because Jim is at Woodbadge again.

Last night, I went up to the mountain and saw my hubby receive his Woodbadge Beads. This is a BIG DEAL for Scout people. Last year, he went up and was trained at Woodbadge. During the year, he "worked his tickets" and earned his beads at the Stake Court of Honor.

Shortly after Woodbadge, last year, they called him and asked him to be on Staff this year. This is a HUGE honor. He was humbled and a little embarrassed, because people wait for YEARS to be on Woodbadge Staff, and he got called right away. He wouldn't even let me tell anyone for a long time. That's my boy! Anyway, they had a special Court of Honor last night for the Staffers and he received his Staff Beads. Yay! I am so proud of him. He is up there training the leaders of our youth, and teaching them how to mold and shape our YM & YW. I love it. He is the troop leader for the Ravens, but he was trained as a Bear, and he will always be a bear. The guy actually said, "Let the BEADING begin!" I had to chuckle to myself, because it sounded like,"Let the BEATING begin." Jim always laughs at my nerdy sense of humor. I think I just may be the funniest person in the world :)

I used to wonder why the Lord only sent us one boy and four girls, when Jim has always been so involved in Scouting and Young Mens. He has impacted so many lives. Why, on earth, do we have so many girls? I'm grateful we have another boy for him, though. I am proud of you, Jimmers, and all your hard work. I support you %100.

PS- that picture was taken with my phone, so don't judge.

Speaking of my husband, who totally ROCKS! My kids have been obsessed with these little "Mighty Beans" lately. If your boys don't have them, you must get some. Jim, being the genius that he is, decided to build the kids a Might Beans Track. Think miniature Pinewood Derby...seriously, they are the cutest little things, though.

This track has occupied my kids for hours lately. How nice to have a husband that can just whip up something like this in, like, 10 minutes. I will never be able to park in my garage because of the tools, but look at the bright side...he is building memories out there, right?