McKenzie

Happy 6th Birthday!!!!!

Kenzie getting ready to go get a new bike on her birthday:

Back when McKenzie was the Baby:

McKenzie turned 6 last week and I haven't found the time to blog about her. She really is a sweet little girl that has really grown up this past year. When we moved to Utah she was just a newborn and now look at her. She is one of our sensitive children who always thinks of others' feelings. She can come up with some deep thoughts especially when she comes home from church. She got really sad when she watched UP and realized that they couldn't have a baby. I get sad knowing that she will go off to school in the fall. I get even sadder when I think of her losing her cute little baby teeth and getting big, bucky beaver teeth that seem to take a few years to grow into. I think of her getting hurt feelings at school and not having me there to tell her it's ok. Life is still good. She really has been a good little friend to have around while everyone else is at school. She likes to stay up late with me and sleeps in till noon. Some days she misses a lot of action in the morning. She has been on this crazy kick lately that her dentist will love. She brushes her teeth with me and then insists I floss for her. Kind of silly, because no one else flosses very often. She is so helpful with Kodee. When Kodee pulls her hair, she will just cry and yell for me. Some days I want to tell her to do it back, but I don't want to teach her things that will come naturally as she gets older. When I get angry at her she gets very upset and goes to her room to find her 'favorite'. That's what she has always called her blanket. (And then she sucks her thumb and thinks about things until she is calm.) We thought that she was the end, so she did all of the things I always said I would never do again. The 3 things were: suck her thumb, get attached to a blanket and sleep in our bed. We even bought her a brand new crib and she never used it. Thank goodness Kodee came along and got good use out of it.

Mckenzie is our Bashful Dwarf:

Aspen, Kenzie, Emily & Boston:

Thanks Kenzie for sharing your sweet personality with me these past 6 years.

We'd like to take credit, but we can't......

So Gary, Trevor, Niki, and I went out to Tucanos last night for our birthday dinners. It was really yummy. But a funny thing happened. We got our salad bar food and then flipped our thing for the meat servers to start bringing the meat and a guy comes by and stands between Gary and Trevor and serves us. Then Trevor says to him, "Next time will you please serve the ladies first?" We had a good laugh about it, but then I got to thinking about what the server was thinking. He probably thought what a bratty little kid, but then probably got to thinking about it and thought that his parents are probably trying to teach him manners and respect. The funny thing is he did it all on his own. I hope he remains as confident about his manners when he starts to date and with his wife when the time comes. I love this kid!!!!

She cracks me up

This is the bookcase that we bought when Jordan was probably Kodee's age. We used to reward her with books at the store when she was good and had started a great home library. I got tired of finding the books all over the floor and so I stuck them in so tight that they couldn't get them out. I am having the same problem now except I can't tell if the books were taken out first to read or if the girls got this brilliant idea to use it as bunkbeds for their dolls. I was going to pride myself on becoming a better mom over the years, but on Sat. I had picked the books up 3 times and when I went in on Mon. morning and started picking them up again I refrained from bursting into tears. So I shoved the books in the second shelf really tight and left the top one as their reading material. Today the whole top shelf is again on the floor along with the puzzles that were on top of the bookshelf. I told Kodee to go put them away and she told me no, so she officially got a spanking (ok--I just spelled it spanken and spell check showed me that it was wrong so I fixed it, but I don't like calling it a spanking because it was one swat and not so much for not picking up the books as much as for saying no really snotty like.). She can be quite the little stinker!

Ok, Kodee really loves to swim. She thought that I was going to take her swimming this evening(the 13th) and I told her that it was late and time for bed, so she said that Dad was going to take her when he got home. I convinced her to let me change her diaper because she was falling asleep and this is what she slept in. Silly, silly girl.

This is when the Blake and Kenzie play with Little People and don't clean them up. Gary went to put Kodee to bed and said, "I hope she doesn't wake up to get in our bed tonight, because she will probably trip and fall." She didn't. Instead she just slept in the Little People box with them.


This girl makes me crazy. It's a good thing she's so cute.

Trevor's 12th

Trevor's birthday was on Wed. and I was not quite ready to say much positive, in fact I got angry that evening because his wax museum project was due today and it was no where close to being done. I am reliving my experiences with Jordan all over again. Their personalities are very similar and all I can tell myself is eventually they will figure things out (just give them 20 years). Trevor has always been my sensitive child. He brought this with him from the preexistence because living in our house you gotta be tough or you will get run over. He has always been very affectionate with me and aware of others' feelings. There was a time we were all at the store and Gary and I decided to split up and look for different things and all the kids wanted to be with him (of course, because Dad is the cool one). Trevor looked at me and said "I'll go with mom, 'cause I don't want her to be lonely." I can still count on an I love you sign when I drop him off at school. It really makes my day. Another quality that he has is gratitude. A couple of years ago he asked me to come and have lunch with him at school and I really didn't want to. Gary said I should go because he is usually the one that does that sort of thing and it would be good for me. I went and he was so thoughtful. After lunch, we walked out to the playground and he just hung out with me. I told him he could go and play with his friends and I would leave but he just stayed with me. When I picked him up after school, he said, "Thank you, mom, for coming and having lunch with me." I didn't regret going. I was so amazed at this new baby in our home when he was born, because not only was he a boy, but he had blonde hair and blue eyes. He felt like an oddball for the first 5 years or so of his life, but I think now he enjoys being different. Trevor is looking forward to holding the Priesthood. Probably 5 yrs. ago, Gary got sick and was resting on the couch and Trevor tried to give him a blessing. He got upset when I let him know that you have to have the Priesthood to give blessings. I know that Heavenly Father understood the sweet intentions of this little boy. Trevor will be more than willing to accept the responsibilities that come with holding the Priesthood. Last week I was so glad that the Primary chose 'Mother, I love you' to sing in Sacrament meeting. When Trevor was not quite 3, the Primary learned this song for Mother's Day and the girls would sing it at home, so Trevor learned it also and he would wrap his arms around my neck and sing it just to me. No other children's voices and no other audience members. Just me. So it was very fitting for his last opportunity to sing in Sacrament meeting was this song. Very emotional for me. Anyway, I am just grateful that Heavenly Father knew I needed this boy in my life he really does make me a better person.

Last week he was in the Hope of America. Only a mom would be able to find their child in the Marriott Center in this group of kids. A nice patriotic performance that I get to attend every 3 years.

And here are the Wax Museum Results:

Mother's Day

I really wanted to write a nice tribute to my awesome mom and the wonderful example that she is, but I just didn't find the time. I guess I was busy being a mom. And I truly do love being a mom. Some might say what can you possibly learn by the time you have your 7th that you don't already know, but I will try to share a few things.

Jordan taught me all about the logistics of the job. They cry and you take care of them. It really is as simple as that. It still happens when they get older, they just cry for different reasons, but Mom can still make them feel better. She also taught me about looking for the good things in life. Stop and smell the roses occasionally and enjoy the ride to the vacation spot!

Brooke continues to remind me I don't know much about parenting! When she was born, I read all the baby books and decided that I knew what I was doing and we were going to be the perfect mom/daughter combo. We were going to follow all of the schedules and life was going to be great. A month after Brooke turned 1, my dad died and I was force to look at life a little more realistically. I realize that I lost a year of my baby's life because I was so busy reading books to tell me how to be a good mom. I got rid of the books and magazine subscriptions and enjoyed my baby. Brooke can make a friend anywhere and kids at the library weren't afraid to start conversations with her. I should make myself more approachable like her.

Sadie, what can I say more. I decided that if I was going to be doing this for a good portion of my life I better learn to enjoy it. And I did! All of it!!

After 3 girls, I just planned on more of them. I did girls and I was getting good at it, why mess up a good thing. Trevor taught me about loving boys and appreciating the differences in life.

Blake taught me that Heavenly Father answers our sincere prayers when we are willing to give all we can to Him. I always knew that if we were going to have 1 boy, I really wanted to have 2 so that they would have each other.

McKenzie was the baby girl I craved when I had to sort through the baby clothes to see what I could use with Trevor. Not many pink transfers over, but onsies and burp rags worked well. I knew one day I would be able to use my pink again and I thoroughly enjoyed it when it happened. We thought she was the end, (ok maybe I thought it) and spoiled her rotten. Even the big girls helped enjoy this baby. It is a good thing she is naturally sweet.

My baby Dakota taught me humility. After having a miscarriage after Kenzie, I had to rethink the done part. I had lost weight and was finally feeling good about myself when I found out I was pregnant. Gary had gone to CA and so was completely unaware of my schedule and so I told him the news for Father's Day. The following week I miscarried and had to reevaluate my attitude. Thank you Heavenly Father for giving me a second chance and sending our Kodee. She is fun and silly and has a mind of her own.

So, there are lots of reasons we celebrate Mother's Day and pay tribute to the women out there. And I am glad to be a part of the celebration. I love you, Mom and I love being one also.

Supporting Good Causes

This morning Niki picked me up at 6:10a.m. We have talked about doing this for several years, but were finally able to participate. Niki has a really good friend that continues to struggle with the effects of breast cancer and we have known several friends over the years that have dealt with it as well. I figure even without having a history of it in our family, we do have a history of women and that is enough for me. With 5 daughters and 3 sisters odds are someone will get it. We took Trax up to the Gateway and did the Race for the Cure. Wow!!!! Breast Cancer survivors had dark pink t-shirts and the supporters got the white ones. And then there were teams that had their own shirts that represented who they were there for. We were able to write names of individuals on a paper and on one side it said "In memory" and the other it said "In celebration". It was so touching to see so many come together for this cause. And this is only 1 city and 1 type of cancer. Hard to comprehend how cancer affects so many people. We had a lot of fun and were really absorbing our first 5K and definitely plan on more. Being new to this means that we missed out on all of the freebies that the early birds got, but we'll know for next year!!!! Afterward, we enjoyed going to Einstein's Bagels and finished it off with the Holy Cow. How much better can a Sat. get? Life is good and I am grateful for my health.


The finish line:

Finishing a New Project.....On Time

So I saw a link for the Battlecreek Boutique on Facebook and thought I would check it out. Jordan wanted to get something homemade for the twins she will be nannying and I keep looking around at the car seat tents, but I just couldn't pay $45 each that they were going for at the Quilted Bear. They had a cute one at this boutique and I thought I can make a 2nd one. Jordan wasn't very confident in my abilities to get right on this project because there is a due date (I still had 5 weeks), but she knows how distracted I get with so many other things going on in the house. I went to JoAnn's the next day and picked out material for not 1, but 2. I am trying to think ahead, that if they turn out o.k. I could make more later, but I would need to keep the original as a pattern. I'm pretty sure Jordan will be impressed, actually I kinda impressed myself!!!! This is how they turned out:



P.S. I think I like the Holy Cow a little better, but they had some cute jewelry booths.

Spring????

I wanted to write a post about how much I love spring and the new life that it brings every year, but our poor weather is so confused. This was what we woke up to on Friday morning:


And it is back again this morning. I love the snow, but I want to enjoy my blossoms, the tulips, my bleeding heart and the beginning of life after a long winter. But it does cover up the weeds that we haven't attacked yet and we are grateful to have procrastinated the garden. I love the sound of the neighborhood kids playing outside and knowing that it's not too hot in the afternoon for the kids to stay out there. I hate the question, "Can we play wii? It's too hot outside!!!" So for now I will appreciate whatever comes our way. Life is too short to be waiting for a sunny day to be happy. Let's be happy even when things don't go the way we want.