Saturday morning

I have never been a morning person, but going on a mission taught me many things including how to control my morning grumpiness because not everyone is as understanding as my mom (thank you hermana felix, you really put up with a lot of it).  Now as the mother of 4 little ones, two in school and having to catch the bus, I'm remembering that lesson.  With the boys in school, Austin having to leave early and our schedule changing to early morning church Saturday has become the only day I can look to sleep in.  This past Saturday was a morning disaster.  5:30am the cat ends up on my bed (we couldn't find her to put her out before we went to bed), 6:30am Wesley is awake and going to the bathroom (he LOVES Saturday, at least that's what he's taken to tell us everyday for the past two weeks.  and his excitement has him up) plus the cat starts meowing because in my sleepy state I didn't throw her out an hour earlier, I throw the cat out.  7:30 am Wesley is up again and in the bathroom again.  Sitting on his bed for an hour waiting just isn't his forte and he does LOVE Saturday.  8:30am the girls start 'neighing' at the top of their lungs, horses are meant to be loud.  I finally give up trying to get anymore sleep and go get the girls who I find fully disrobed and yelling at each other (they are sooo loud!  they got the Davis lungs).  I wasn't the happiest camper that morning, but made sure that I controlled my temper.  Austin, being the perfect husband he is, took all the kids on an errand to cash a check.  It gave me time to read scriptures, get in a mini workout and shower.  When they got back, Wesley walks in the door with a caramel apple from the big red barn in santaquin, hands it to me and says, "Mom, I'm sorry I didn't sleep in and that I woke you up early."  Austin is going to teach these guys to be wonderful husbands!  The one thing I am so grateful for this morning is that I feel like I have finally learned that lesson from the mission and have my inner grouch under control.  Letting loose really could have turned a hard situation into a horrible day, but now we can all just laugh about it and warn Wesley that if he gets up too early on Saturday morning than he'll have to go to bed that much earlier Saturday night to be rested for church in the morning. ;-)  I'm still trying to figure out a trick (other than duck tape) that will keep the girls quiet once they wake up.


this is just for kicks, the kids have some new favorite songs including Beat It by Micheal Jackson and We Will Rock You by Queen. I love watching them get into it and thought I'd share the videos of their excitement if you'd like to check them out.

random boring-afternoon thoughts

It's still January...  I always feel like this is one of the longest months of the year.  Now that all the hustle and craziness is over it's nice to settle into routine again, but it also gets dull pretty quick since we can't get outside.
Yesterday we went for a walk and it really gave me a yearning for spring weather.  I want to be outside feeling the sun.
For FHE we've been studying the "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet.  We just recently did gratitude and it was a fun lesson.  We had a fun activity thinking of things we are thankful for that start with the letters T-H-A-N-K  Y-O-U.   This is what we came up with:
Tractors & Trees
Home & Horses
Animals & Apples
Nests
Kindermusic & Knowledge

Yellow & You
Octopus & Our family
Underwear & Umbrellas

The other day we brought out the dress up box to help combat the boredom that is starting to set in around here.  Lydia went straight for the princess stuff and was good enough to pose for a picture.

We've also added a new friend to our chaotic zoo (I'm blaming it on cabin fever).  I brought home a pug named Scooter last week and he has really worked his way into the childrens' hearts.  They've been wanting a puppy for a long time, but I am against the toy chewing and other awful behaviors that puppies have to grow out of.  So a small dog seemed more feasible and Scooter is great.  He's so easy going and just the right size to play with.  He also snores and snorts, it's great.

lucky number 7

it just doesn't seem fair.  when you're holding these precious little bundles of joy, it's hard to imagine them ever getting big then suddenly WHOOOSH! you can't remember what they were like when just a few precious weeks or months old. 
our oldest is now 7! We celebrated at Pirate Island Pizza, we had a great time though I recommend not going Monday Kareoki night (no one would sing any good pirate shanties, just top 40 kind of stuff; it really put a dent on the misty, dangerous, lurking pirate cave aura)

I quickly made the felt pirate hats before we left.  Ian had gotten one for his birthday and they were so fun.

Happy birthday buddy!!

p.s. I also happened to see and very briefly meet nienie of blogging fame.  when i checked her blog today, she was there for a birthday, too.  it's the place to be if you're a little pirate at heart like most boys.

i almost forgot

i had to share these videos of our New Year's celebration
we had a cookie face race (again with the lizzing!)

and the triumphant and chaotic celebration of midnight (okay it was actually only 8pm, but no one felt cheated)

as the holidays come to a close...

Josh & Bobbie (soon to be engaged?  We all hope so ;-)

i thought i'd share some more pics of our fun times. we've been playing a lot these past two weeks and having a lot of fun. monday we went with the cope cousins to see the lights up the canyon. we'd gone before christmas with the davis cousins, but the kids have been asking to go again and it's so much fun to ride in the big hay wagon. josh and his family came, too. we were so glad to have them there, though his skeleton face mask made lydia pretty nervous.

 

wesley giving mom a scare!

we had a New Year's Eve party with the kids. we moved the clocks ahead so that midnight arrived around 8pm. we played silent charades (wes kept yelling out what he was and didn't quite get the game), twister, hide the clock, ate lots of fun food and popped bubble wrap for our fireworks (that is definitely a new favorite tradition). we were fortunate enough to have some friends make it through the snow, the other families couldn't make it because of illness. but we had a great time dressing fancy and celebrating the new year.

This is a family tradition that i've enjoyed with austin ever since we got married.  new years day sledding is so much fun and it's been even better as the kids have joined us.  even though it was colder than freezing this year, that didn't stop us.  you just add more layers.

 austin & dallis are hitting top speeds

and any crash you can walk away from is a good crash

here comes wesley with ian standing by to cheer him on

todd helped ian get going

but ian's sled had a mind of it's own

yep, we start all the way at the top, no wimps allowed

of course we don't hike, we let the 4 wheelers do the work

and when we get tired of all the excitement we can warm up by the fire and eat lots of great food.  the chili and scones are delicious.

tomorrow school and work start anew, but we have made sure that we used our holiday break to the fullest.  We hope that your new year is looking bright and already filled with great memories.