Growing

It has been FOREVER since I've had a night (or any time at all for that matter) to sit down and blog.  A lot has happened with us lately.  First thing is that I was able to go back to Utah for a quick weekend trip for my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary.  It was AWESOME!  Sophia and I were the only ones to go back and can I just say how little stress I had?  I remember the day I worried about flying with a baby.  This time I was saying, "Wow - I am only flying with a baby!"  Thanks, Mom for making it happen.  I love you.  :)

First we got to go wedding dress shopping with my soon-to-be sister-in-law, Jordyn.  She and my brother will be getting married in January.  We're so excited to welcome her into the family!

This is not the dress she chose.  I won't post that one, yet.  

My grandparents had no idea I was coming, so it was a pretty big surprise for them.  I'm so grateful for everything they've done for me and my family and the example they are to me of service and true conversion to the gospel.  

 Sophia with my dad

Sophia and I with my grandparents

Our next bit of excitement was a field trip we took to a peanut farm with a few families in our ward that also homeschool.  We learned so much!  And then at the end they let everyone climb on a mountain of peanuts.  The kids were still picking peanuts out of their shoes and clothes when we got home.  

  

Then it was our annual trip to the pumpkin patch!

And the carving of the pumpkin!  They all started out really excited, but then after a few scoops of goo they were done.  That's why we only do one.  Because when I say "we" I actually mean "I."

We had quite the Halloween this year.  First was our ward's trunk-or-treat, then we went to our old ward's trunk-or-treat, and finally out trick-or-treating on Halloween night.   

In our study of Greek mythology this year Ali decided she wanted to be Athena, goddess of war.

 It was all I could do to get Eliza to put on a pair of wings.  As you can see, she managed to escape the house without even wearing shoes.  Good thing we're in Georgia where it was still relatively warm.

 Cade also wanted to be a Greek god, choosing Dionysis - god of wine.  I'm not sure why he admired him so much, but he wasn't going to go as anything else.  

Sophia got to wear whatever costume we had for her, so she was a ghost.  The cutest ghost I ever saw.  Did I mention she can walk?  I always thought that when people said their baby could walk at 9 months old they really meant their baby could stumble around for a second at 9 months old.  Nope.  Turns out it can happen. So here is my 9 month old walking baby.  

 Tyler and I went as "American Gothic."

Did you know the man who modeled for this picture is actually the artists' dentist?  And the woman is his sister?  It's supposed to be a portrait of an old farmer and his spinster daughter.  I always thought it was supposed to be his wife.  

This was before actual trick-or-treating on Halloween.  I love all the facial expressions in this picture.  :)

Lastly, Tyler went hunting and got a deer!  What?!  So we should be set with meat this winter!

Oh, yeah.  One more thing.  I got a new calling in my ward as the new Young Women president.  I'm feeling a little overwhelmed, a whole lot of humility, and realizing yet again what it really means to rely on the Lord.  So far I'm really enjoying it and am excited about being there.  If anybody has any advice, I'd love to hear it!

A Little Summer Fun and a New School Year

Is it malnutrition when your baby eats paper? 

I haven't taken as many pictures as I would have liked this summer.  I suppose that's due to keeping my hands so busy with holding a baby, running Eliza to the potty, putting sunscreen on someone, reading books, having "bread making classes" or getting ready for "hard core" school this year AND our foreign exchange student.

We had Samantha come stay with us for a few days while her parents and brother were all at Youth Conference.  It was nice having some extra help around the house and the kids were thoroughly entertained. We also had another friend over from church & they all had a great time on our new tree swing Tyler hung in our perfect tree out front.

One Sunday I was getting dresses out of the closet for the girls and discovered that both Ali and Sophia have dresses that once were mine.  Too bad I don't have one Eliza's size.

Serving as the counselor over activities in our Relief Society presidency, I get to plan activities that sometimes include our whole ward.  Since we hadn't had a single ward activity since we moved in, we wanted to do something for Pioneer Day.  It was simple, but I think we all had a good time.  We used our building's projector and watched "Legacy" outside.  Everyone brought movie snacks to share and we played Pioneer games until it got dark enough to watch.  It was warm and humid (we're in Georgia, after all), but we got to experience our own kind of miracle.  Every night that week around 8:00, a huge storm would roll through.  It had been clear skies until about 7:00 when we started hearing thunder rumble in the distance and saw big, black clouds blowing right for us.  I said a silent prayer that I would know what to do (move the activity inside or keep it outside) and that we could please, please, PLEASE keep it outside.  All I needed was one more failed activity.  We began the activity with an opening prayer which included pleading to hold off the rain.  I thought of how our Savior was able to calm the seas and that the elements know Him.  Surely He could command the clouds away for me.  Miraculously, as we started the movie it was clear skies with a slight breeze to keep the bugs and too much heat away.  I am grateful for a God who hears and answers me in seemingly small circumstances, but that are a big deal to me.

 One of the fabulous youth in our ward that love helping with our kids.

 Stick pull.  Cade won, for sure.  :)

Ali with some of her girls.  I'm telling you, the youth in this ward is amazing.  

Then there's Eliza.  I think she's been ready for a while for potty training, but I wasn't ready to take on that challenge.  Ali was a difficult one, despite what everyone told me about the ease of potty training girls.  But one day we decided to just give it a try.  That afternoon I put her in underwear and - I am not even kidding - in 2 HOURS she had it down.  The next day she even had the poop thing mastered.  She's maybe had 3 accidents total since we started this whole thing.  She's amazing and I'm so grateful for that.  

One night Eliza came out at 9:30 with a skirt on over her pajamas and trying to put on fairy wings.  I sent her back to bed and when I checked on her before I went to bed, I found this:

I guess she just wanted to sleep like a fairy princess.

Finally, we decided to host a foreign exchange student this year.  We have some friends who have done it and talked about the great experiences they've had, so after a lot of talking and thinking and praying we decided to try it.  I think it will be a wonderful experience for our kids to learn about different cultures and people.  So, we welcomed our new "daughter," Raya (rye-uh) on Tuesday.  She is from Ukraine and will be here for the school year.  She fits in with our family perfectly and we are looking forward to all the great experiences this will bring.  She brought some traditional clothes for the kids, so we'll have some pictures up soon of that!  

Eliza insisted on carrying this all through the parking lot.

Monday Raya starts at the local high school, which seems strange sending her off and keeping my own kids home to teach them, but it will be great.  I'm looking forward to starting into our regular routine again.

Bittersweet

A few weeks ago the kids and I were able to have a last minute trip over to Charleston to visit with family.  My Aunt Nicka has been fighting cancer for the last three years or so, and they recently put her on Hospice care.  The next day they said she probably only had a few days left to live.  Fortunately, that very week was a family reunion so she decided to go and see everyone one last time.  My mom, uncle, aunt and grandparents were on the next flight out and called me to see how far we were from there.  Luckily we were able to drive over and spend a couple of days there visiting and saying goodbye to Aunt Nicka.

My mom with the kids when we got there.

My great-grandad, my grandpa and my Sophia

This was Sophia's first trip to the beach.  She LOVED it. 

My grandpa taking Cade and Ali out in the ocean.  It felt like bathwater it was so warm.

Eliza even got a little nap.  We did have an umbrella over her, but the wind was so strong it actually blew it away.  If you look closely you can see the sand piling up on her face and towel.

The kids and I with Aunt Nicka (my grandpa's sister).  The kids really love her.  We were able to go stay with her last year for a couple days.  

I'm so grateful for my knowledge of the plan of Salvation Heavenly Father has for us.  I know who I am, where I came from and where I'm going after this life.  When I told the kids what was happening to her, they said how much they didn't want her to die and why did Heavenly Father want her back right now?  I said, "Well, I guess she did everything she was sent her to do."  As we said our goodbyes, Cade wanted to ask Aunt Nicka if she did everything she was supposed to.  It touched me.  She said, teary eyed, "I did all I can. Sometimes we do things we wish we didn't, and sometimes we wish we did more, but I guess I've done everything I can do."  I'm grateful for her example of kindness and generosity that she's always shown to me.

The most tender moment for me was watching my great grandad share a moment with her.  She reached up and said, "Daddy, everything I am is because of you."  He said, "That is the highest compliment I could ever receive."  I'm glad I was there to capture that moment.

She ended up going back home to Greensboro, NC to say goodbye to more family and passed away July 17.  It was bittersweet getting to see her and so many others including my mom, grandparents, uncle and aunt.  Thanks to my sweet hubby for sending us over there.  I'll never forget it.

Summer So Far

In May I ran the Mud Run with a few ladies from my ward.  It was much better than last year.  I got to know them a little more, plus I wasn't 6 weeks pregnant.

We took out the old, uncared-for trees in the backyard to make room for our new garden.

Then Eliza stood in an ant bed and her feet were attacked.

We went to Grandma & Grandpa Mitchells for some work and some play.

Cade was invited to a birthday party at the skating rink and he surprised me by wanting to go and actually having a really great time!

I got sick of seeing this every time I opened the linen closet.  Here's the result when you try and teach your children to put things back that they get out.

 So I reorganized it.  Much better.

 I bought the baskets at Dollar Tree, printed out some labels and attached them with clothespins.  Everything is rolled instead of folded.  It fits better and the kids can actually do this.

We went to Grandma's Camp!

We did "bleach painting" on our shirts,

made paracord bracelets,

and even had a little dance party.

Eliza was trying her best to keep up with everyone.  She loves to dance.

We ended that week at the lake.

And when we came home, Sophia could suddenly sit up all by herself.  She can also get on her knees and has 2 teeth.  All before 6 months old.  Why is my baby so eager not to be my baby?

The newest update to the house is our tree swing out front.  The one we pictured since the first day we saw that tree.  It's so picturesque and the kids absolutely love it.

Whew.

Milestones

It seems like it's been a while since I've updated.  Have I mentioned having 4 kids is a little busy?  They are all growing so fast I feel like I can't keep up.

First, we took Sophia to get her ears pierced.  We've done it with all our girls and we've heard all the passionate speeches about how wrong that is.  Everyone has their own opinion on it.  We did it.  What's done is done.

Our newest little angel is also rolling over.  She's quite fast and squirms and scoots all over the floor.  She is beautiful and happy all the time.  Everywhere we go, people say, "She is so pretty.  People say that, but she really is a beautiful baby!"  Thanks.  I think so!

Cade had a birthday.  How is it possible he is seven already?  Next year he'll be getting baptized and that freaks me out a little.  I do not feel old enough to have a child that old.

For his birthday we went to the zoo so he could spend the day with animals.  He loves nothing more than animals and I am convinced he will grow up to be a zookeeper, a vet, or go in to some other animal-related field for his occupation.

 Cade with a lemur stuffed animal he got for his birthday.  It is currently his favorite animal.

 Watching the monkey.

Ali, cute as ever.  She has shown an interest in wanting to learn to read, so we've been working on that.  Most days she just wants to play with Eliza or hold Sophia and that's ok, too.  She has me fix her hair 12 times a day in different styles depending on who she's pretending to be for that moment.  

Eliza's passion is art.  

We can't leave any kind of marking tool out or she picks it up and colors on anything that is near.  This includes walls, furniture, her skin and/or her baby sister.

She is very detail oriented.  She points out to me what she is drawing when she draws people - including eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, ears and cheeks.  And they must be happy.

I was so proud of Cade - while he is still fearfully shy, he did the rock climbing wall at the zoo.  Yay!

Then, that next Saturday morning we had a kid born!

 This was going to be the kid that our kids raised and then hopefully sold to earn some of their own money and learn responsibility and all that.  His mama's name is Starlight and they quickly agreed on naming him Midnight since he was black.

Unfortunately, he only lived a few days.  We're not sure what happened, but they went out one morning to feed the animals and found him in the little shelter.  They were sad, but thankfully not devastated.

One last picture of how I've been finding Cade lately when I check on him before I go to bed.

He barely has room in his bed to sleep because it is full of stuffed animals and piles of books.  He reads out loud to his animals before he goes to bed.  Usually they are informational books about animals.  If he's read some during the day and doesn't want to start over, he'll give them a summary of what they missed.  

Today we had a neighbor stop by and introduce herself (to apologize for her dog trying to get in our yard the other day).  She came right as we were cleaning up dinner and as we stood there talking, the kids came out.  I watched her eyes get big and then she counted, "One, two, three, four?!  Wow - you all must not have figured out what causes that!"  By the tone in her voice, it seemed like she was only half-joking.  After a little bit she told me about a church down the street that does a bible study class in the morning and how I should do that because then I could "dump my kids" for a while.  Something inside me wanted to turn around and shut the door in her face.  Instead, I just said, "I actually like my kids.  We like being together.  In fact, I homeschool and we enjoy it."  She was floored and continued to insult me (I don't think on purpose, she just obviously didn't know how anyone could enjoy having so many children) until she finally left.  She only has one child (who is now 24) and is going through a divorce.  

It was a great opportunity for me to realize how lucky I am.  I have four wonderful, beautiful children.  I love them and know how blessed I am that we have been able to have so many little miracles come into our lives.  How sad it is to think that so many see children as a burden to be endured until they are finally grown and gone.  I didn't say it was easy or always a joy.  We have our rough days.  A lot of them.  But, all in all, I like being a mother.  In fact, I love it.  And I love my kids.  All four of them and wouldn't want it any other way.