Should I be worried?

I was busy cleaning up the kitchen the other morning when I heard Coleman say, "I need a blanket mom." I looked over at him and this is what I found. Funny boy!

My Home

I recently took an intermediate photography class. One of my many assignments was to take a picture of something that represented my home. I thought of a million things I could do, but nothing really stood out as being spectacular. I had remembered seeing some cool pictures of reflections on bubbles and had always wanted to try it. I thought that my home was kind of like 'my bubble' and it would be pretty cool to capture that. So, for half an hour I blew bubbles and frantically chased them around in my front yard with my camera. (I am sure my neighbors thought I was a little looney.) This picture isn't as cool as some I have seen, but I managed to get a few decent ones after Brandon came out and helped me. I will definitely keep trying to get an awesome bubble picture. Anyway, it got me thinking about what home is for me. Well, this is what home is for me...

Hugs, kisses and I love you's
Fits, tantrums and time-outs
Dirty, sticky fingerprints on doors
Rowdy, loud wrestling boys
Smiley, happy, and giggly Paige
Shutting the fridge and turning out lights
Fevers, coughs and cold cloths
Warm blankets and hot water bottles
Telling childhood stories with snuggles in beds
Dancing, singing and being so silly
Disagreements, investigations, hearings and rulings
Teasing, taunting, and some name calling
Making beds, scrubbing toilets, and vacuuming floors
Giving encouragement, drying tears, calming fears
Clipping nails, brushing teeth, doing hair
Wiping noses, and wiping bums
Playing UNO, Slamwich, Incredible Hulk Smash, and Dominos
Squeezing cute bums (little ones that is)
Squishing cute cheeks, and kissing cute noses
Laundry, laundry and more and more and more laundry
Sleep and lack of sleep
Baths and holding wrinkly kids in towels
Pearler beads, crayons, and paints
Homework-science, math and reading
Bouncing, rocking, and patting backs
Dinners, dinners. The. Same. Old. Dinners.
Little baby snuggles and little baby hugs
Movies, game cube, legos and Wii
Basketball, friends, scouts and soccer
Asking and reminding, and asking and reminding again
Bedtime stories and a Bushel and a Peck
Scriptures and breakfast, FHE and family prayer
A lot of "It's not fair!"
'Ugh's', rolling eyes and throwing up arms
Tag, Leap Frog, and Hide n' Seek
Pushing swings, and sliding down slides
Disappointments and frustrations
Up the stairs and down the stairs and then back up again
Kids slamming doors and yes, some yelling here
Snuggling Brandon on movie nights
Proud moments and happy tears
Me-flushing unflushed toilets again and again
Packing lunches with little notes
Feeding my babe-Again? Didn't I just do that?
Little fingers squeezing my face and pulling my hair
Tucking kids up TIGHT in their beds
Kissing each soft, peaceful, sleeping child
Waking up to start again

Paige: 6 months update

*Loves to giggle to her brothers in the car
*Sleeping better at night (usually only up once)
*Sick for the first time-no fun
*Loves to see her daddy walk through the door
*Getting more unsure of strangers
*Is content to play in her saucer now
*Sitting up really well, and can reach for things
*Snuggles mommy and daddy
*Holds tight around our necks when we hug her
*Likes to rip my hair out, and she does it fast
*Can't sit in bumbo anymore-she can almost get out
*Has a silly, funny personality, she loves to giggle
*Refuses to get up on hands and knees
*Perfected rolling
*Getting longer and leaner
*Acts coy with strangers
*Happy baby
*Loves to splash in the tub
*Snuggles with her favorite stuffed animal giraffe at nap/bedtime
*Can pick up food with two fingers and feed herself

Mr. Distracted

I thought I would continue on with my "Mr." theme. It makes me write down stories that I just don't want to forget, and I think it gives you all a good idea of what my kids are like.

I could have MANY different titles for Nash, like Mr. Active, Mr. Social, Mr. Giver, Mr. Kind, Mr. Thoughtful, Mr. Talk back, Mr. Sass, Mr. Affectionate, and Mr. Messy Face and Shirt. But, the one I chose for this title fits him the best lately.

Nash is easily distracted. He gets distracted when he gets ready in the morning for school. He gets distracted in school, and he gets distracted when I ask him to do things at home. We have been dealing with it for a while, and it is slowly getting better. But, when Nash really focuses-he does a SUPERB job at what ever he does and really goes the extra mile to make us happy. (Which is why he is currently still living.)

In the morning, my boys are expected to get up shower (if necessary), get dressed, make their beds, and have socks on their feet before we go down to read scriptures and eat breakfast. We call these things "automatic" things. Whenever they hear the word "automatic" they know what we are talking about. It's doing those things they are expected to do automatically without having to be asked. Like putting on their seat belts in the car, taking dishes to the sink when they are done eating, and getting ready in the morning. There are some mornings when Nash gets up and does all those "automatic" morning things before I am even out of bed. Those times I usually find him down stairs, ready, and waiting for me. (I love those mornings!). Then there are those mornings where I have to ask him to do EVERYTHING 5 to 6 times. He even gets REALLY frustrated at himself and is constantly saying, "sorry, I got distracted by my legos, or by that book, or by my Star Wars guys". I know he is trying, and he is starting to get better. Then there are those mornings where he gets mad at me because those "automatic" things I am asking him to do are wasting his time. Oh boy, something happens when little boys turn 7. They get an attitude and somehow we are the bad guys. So, I never know what is going to happen on which morning. Although, lately he has been doing it automatically.

How does this affect him at school?-Nash has been missing a few assignments (either lost in his desk, or just not completed). A few weeks ago he kept forgetting to bring his Math book home so that we could finish them. So, one day when he got home from school, I drove him right back and we went into his classroom to get it. The classroom was set-up so that 3 groups of 6 desks together were in the back and 4 desks were up in the front in a row all about 2 ft. apart from each other. Nash showed me where his desk was. He is front and center in that front row which is separated. I asked his teacher if he was up there because he talked a lot. She smiled. "Yes." She said. "Nash is very social, and he gets distracted easily. I would love to have him sit right here up by me against the chalkboard, but I think that would make him feel bad. I think he would probably focus a little better though." Nice. Oh my poor little Nash. That made me feel bad, but frustrated at him at the same time. Despite him getting distracted, he is a good student and likes to participate and he really is doing pretty well in school. He just has to bring a lot of work home because he doesn't finish it. I think that other kids can hurry and finish their work and then have some "free time". But, it takes Nash a little longer and then those having free time are distracting to him. He said he is doing better, and he has brought less work home. He just needs to find ways to keep himself focused. I think I have found that when he talks out loud to himself while doing his school assignments, he can focus better because he is listening to himself and not other noises around him. Anyway, we are working on it.

Nash LOVES to be outside, and I love that! He is either riding his bike, playing soccer, basketball, or exercising (as he calls it). He loves to play with friends and has quite the little social life and social circle. Sometimes I have to remind him that he is only 8 years old. He would love to hang out with friends until late at night, every night. He is a good friend too. A nice one you can always rely on. And he is a FUN friend. He always knows how to make things fun.

He doesn't like people to feel bad. He won't let people make fun of other people. He will say, "hey that's not nice to say that about so and so, that's making fun of them". One time Nash and I were watching American Idol. The episode where the really bad singers are on. I was laughing pretty hard at someone singing. Nash looked at me like 'what are you doing?'. He said, "why are you laughing? Don't laugh mom, he is trying to do his best". Oops, he put me in my place. He is most always concerned about how others are feeling. Isn't that so sweet!! What a great quality to have.

A few summers ago we went to Lava Hot Springs with all of Brandon's family. We took several pennies and put them on the railroad tracks to smash them. When we went back later a lot of them had fallen off without getting smashed. The kids all scrambled to find a smashed penny and there just wasn't enough for everyone. His little cousin Gracie started to cry because she didn't get one. Nash was quiet for a few moments, then he put his penny in her hand and said, "you can have mine". I was so proud of him. I knew Nash really, really didn't want to give up his penny-he had been looking forward to it all afternoon. I could tell that he was trying not to cry. He just knew he should give up what he wanted because he didn't want her to be sad. I love that little man! He's so sweet sometimes.

Last month we had a FHE where we went around and shared what we liked about each family member. Nash had SO many nice things to say about everyone. He went on forever and he really enjoyed expressing his feelings to us, and the spirit was so strong! It was so nice to see that. He really does have a GREAT desire to be good. He's a good boy (most of the time, just like I am a good mother half of the time).

So we will keep working on helping Nash not get distracted. Any other ideas out there that might help with that? I know a few of you are teachers. Anyway, we love Nash and he is a such great older brother to Canyon, Coleman, and Paige!!

Recessionista Party

If you haven't heard about Recessionista Party you really need to check it out! They have some really cute stuff!! And, they are having a giveaway right now.

My sister is co-hosting a Recessionista party on Thursday, November 12th here in Utah. You can read more about that on my sisters blog-The Idea Room. If you want an official invite you can email her and she will send one to you. It sounds like a blast. I will be there for sure!

Happy Halloween

My boys weren't willing to get their costumes on and pose for pictures today. Guess that will have to wait until they are all dressed up tonight. But, I did get my little Paige to pose for me. Doesn't she look so cute in her costume? Can't wait for all the festivities tonight. The kids are so excited!


Here are the rest of the troops...


And, the rest of the troops in action...

Poor Baby

Brandon came down with something icky Saturday night. Paige came down with it two days later. (I guess Daddy gave her too many kisses over the weekend). They thought it might be the Swine Flu, but she tested negative.

I haven't had a sick baby for a while and I forgot how much snuggle time they need. I have loved snuggling my little girl, but I hate seeing her feeling bad. She's such a happy girl, that she still gives us those charming smiles in between her grumpiness. Hope you feel better soon baby. And hope it doesn't spread anymore. I LOVE the fall, but hate the cold and flu season!

California!

So our trip was such a blast, the weather was pretty close to perfect, and it was so fun to be able to surprise the kids. We told them we were going to Disneyland in November, so they were expecting to go there eventually. They were counting down the days. Our flight left at 8:00pm on the 7th of October. So I was able to get all the packing done while they were at school. I left my bag out and told them I was going on a small trip with my mom (cause she was going to take our car home after dropping us off at the airport). They were a little bummed that I was going somewhere and they were staying home.

We picked up my mom and drove to the airport. When we got there we said, "okay, everyone out of the car". They all said "What?" We said, "we are going to Disneyland right now!". They didn't believe us at first, and Nash thought it was a dirty trick to play on him. But, as soon as it sunk in they were all cheering, except for Nash. He looked a little nervous. I asked him what the matter was and he said, "I am going to miss a lot of assignments at school". What?! What eight year old would worry about school when they were going to Disneyland? Anyway, he was done worrying about school as soon as we got on the plane.

So we spent 3 days at Disney. It was so fun to go back and experience it again. Brandon and the kids had never been, so it was fun to show them things I remembered. And it was fun to see all the new things. I talked my kids in to going on all the rides they were tall enough for even though they were a little nervous at times. Coleman and Canyon were both pretty brave boys. They don't share Nash's enthusiasm for adventure parks.

Nash's highlights: The Jedi Training Academy (which was pretty awesome)! As you can see he was pretty into it.


He also loved spending his earned money (probably on the top of his list, ha, ha), the Indiana Jones ride, Jungle Cruise, Splash Mountain and the churros! Here is a picture of all the boys on Splash Mountain. You can really tell that Nash loved it.

Canyon's highlights: Splash Mountain (although it doesn't appear that way in the picture above), Jungle Cruise, and Pirates of the Caribean. Making his double light saber. I am not sure any of them liked the Haunted Mansion although they didn't cry on the ride. (I am not that mean).
Coleman's hightlights: Buzz-Lightyear ride, Jungle Cruise and the Nemo submarine, and being a complete dancing, jumping SPAZ from lack of sleep, but he was SO happy.

Paige's highlights: being entertained by all the comotion, riding in the stroller, taking naps, and snuggling with mom all night because she wasn't a good sleeper at the hotel (yeah, for mom!). And putting on her adorable Mickey Mouse hat.

We were able to see the Halloween firework show which was pretty cool. The boys were all half asleep and they were so tired, but once the show started they thought it was pretty awesome.

The boys made out with Light Sabers that they designed themselves, some lego guys and Mickey Mouse hats.

And you can't go to Disney without a picture of the castle. This was the only place I could get one without a million people around. I seriously just wanted to yell, "okay people, everyone just step back for 5 seconds while I get a picture of the castle, please!!". But, Brandon wouldn't let me.

We hit all of the big rides and most of the little ones. I really felt like 3 days was perfect. We had just enough time to do everything we wanted, and we didn't get too burned out. So then we had to leave Disneyland.


The next day we drove one hour South to Legoland. The kids LOVED this place, Brandon and I thought it was pretty fun (not as clean as Disney). They had a "Brick-or-Treat" trail which was pretty fun for them. They were able to ride some fun rides and build race cars and race them. Nash and Brandon especially enjoyed riding this Bionicle ride.


The last day we went to Huntington beach. I forget how much my kids love the beach. It was the coldest day of our trip (in the low 60's), but that didn't stop them from getting a little wet. Paige enjoyed watching the birds flying, watching her brothers playing in the sand,

hanging with her daddy,

and discovering the ocean with mommy,

She was such a great trooper on our trip (except for her 4-5 nightly feedings)! We thought about leaving her home, but I am so glad we took her with us.
The boys loved playing in the sand,


and being buried in the sand.


Brandon's highlights: Star Tours, the Jedi Show, Matterhorn, and Splash Mountain, and talking to random people in line.
My highlights: spending time with just US, laughing with Brandon, seeing the boys so smiley (with some grumpiness in-between), and getting several big random hugs from Coleman because he was so happy! I can't wait to go back again in a few years!