Tuesday, January 27, 2009

confession

Hi friends!

I have had quite the time adjusting to my life here, and to my life with four kids. I feel like a wreck. I never finish things, I don't blog, my house is a mess, I lose my temper with the kids, I just can't seem to stay on top of anything. I am madly treading water just to stay afloat, and don't seem to make progress anywhere. But don't give up on me entirely. One of these days there will be something interesting here, and I've missed being in touch with everyone.

Lately my mom came to visit (too bad she is not still here) and we worked hard and got lots done. We cleaned out my closet and got rid of almost half of what was in there. I took bags and bags to goodwill, it felt so great. Then we (mostly mom) organized my desk area in the kitchen and lots of the cupboards that needed a little help. We painted my very red dining room back to traditional light green with white trim. Gina, I actually used a paint chip you gave me, I think it is the same one you have in your family room. It looks so great! I got new rugs for my kitchen, rewired two lamps that were broken (I'm pretty proud of that one!), and then we moved on to go through all the kids clothes and organize them. Mom eliminated my entire pile of mending, in about an hour, and it had sat there so long that the nightgowns had to be passed down to the next girl in line.

For my birthday she helped me fix up my bed, I have not had bedding since last May. We got a king sized bed and I had one set of sheets and two cotton blankets on there, and Justin and I each had a throw sized fleece blanket because my insulation sucks and it actually gets pretty cold. Mom and I got a comforter at TJ Maxx. Then we went to a FABULOUS store in Dallas that sells decorater fabrics, it was huge, and had great prices. We got this great fabric and mom made me three new pillow cases for my bed, it is so great to have it. It makes me feel like an adult again. My mom has such great taste, she comes and makes everything nicer. I should also comment that Justin is so great for all of this. He comes home and takes extra kid duty so we can finish our paint or sewing projects, and also is so easy to please he admires all improvements without complaints.

Being the incapable person I am, I'll have to post pictures of it all later as well as change my blog background because it is time for bed.

Monday, January 5, 2009

fhe--wii


Ohh good times. Sorry about the camera jiggling, but I couldn't stop laughing! Justin got me wii fit for Christmas, and we sure are enjoying it. Camille rocks the hula hoop. And check out Emma's warrior pose.

Read the previous post first.

I found some more pics I liked. Here is Cam with her buddy in their High School Musical nightgowns. She and Emma both got one of those sleep masks and they actually wear them. Emma had hers on last night. Bella by the way is the most photogenic kid you have ever seen. You point a camera at her and somehow she looks adorable and perfect every time. I wish it was something you could learn! I'd take a class.


This is Mountain View park, it was so beautiful. We took the kids a couple times to get them out of the house. I don't know who had more fun, the kids or the dads playing baseball in the field.


Turns out I did get pictures at Knotts, I forgot. Justin took lots. This is Em with my new nephew Stephen. (Kristin got married)
Never get tired of this kid's face.

I think Brooke and Brittany went on the airplane ride a thousand times. They were loving it.


She is having more fun than it looks like, she has a good poker face.


Nana is the best. She took us all to Knotts and treated everyone to the best fried chicken dinner I've ever had--and I don't even like fried chicken! You just have to go try it.
Ash wasn't feeling well in the afternoon, she had an ear infection and the motrin wore off. So we bundled her up in a stroller and she hung out, but kept begging me to hold her. It was cold the whole day, but well worth it.

Christmas not in a nutshell

Yet another display of my bad parenting--can anyone survive 23 hours in a car strapped in a car seat the whole time? Nate can't. I blame my mother, she encourages me.


This is the fabulous Auntie Court, in her sleepers. She does hair, makes gingerbread houses, loves neices and nephews, and snuggles. She is about to graduate from BYU, and does a mean impression of a terrified child on the smallest rides at Knott's Berry Farm.


One of my favorite parts of the holiday was watching my kids reconnect with their cousins. Camille especially loved having Bella around because in TX there is nobody her age and she is often left out.


We played lots of Wii. Some of the adults stayed up very late trying to beat Super Mario Brothers, which I have not played in 20 years, just like riding a bike folks. (We never did beat it though.)


The little girls spent lots of time huddled around our little dvd player, watching an assortment of princess movies. Carter later took aim at it with a nerf bazooka and blew the cover off it. After which he did a fist pump and said, "Yes!" But don't worry, it still works.


The big cousins, playing soccer in the front yard on Christmas Eve. That was after they abandoned the plan to act out Luke 2. Emma and Kenzie, the directors, could not get the response they wanted out of the little ones and one by one they got fed up and quit. Poppa did a very nice reading anyway.


The babies: Sarah, who loves to smile for the camera.

Ellie (lizard-breath) Braun, I'm pretty sure Tams spent weeks coordinating her vacation wardrobe. She had a different adorable Christmas outfit for every day, I wish I got a picture of the red Santa-like dress with fur trim.

Allegra, who is the sweetest thing you ever saw and once fell asleep in the middle of the living room floor during lunch and a football game, with at least 20 people in the room making noise. Carrie, if you have a secret for getting babies like this let me know and I'll have another one!


And some more Wii. Carter got up at about 5 am everyday to play. He also woke up Brett to play, I think that was a big hit.


The mountain of presents, believe me the picture doesn't do it justice. It took up half the room, I guess that is what happens when you have five different families under one roof for Christmas. Malia on the right is one sassy girl. Sunday morning she was about to waltz out the door to church in tights and I asked, "Malia, where are your shoes?" The reply, "Um, I'm not weh-wing shoes today." I looked at Michelle and she shrugged, so off we went. I think I have a thing or two to learn from Michelle.


The Christmas morning chaos, and I mean complete chaos, was impressive! Stockings all over the place, kids and wrapping paper everywhere, I can't believe we didn't loose anyone. Nana outdid herself as usual and we all had lots of fun watching the kids get excited about their gifts.






Other highlights included trying to get the biggest family picture ever, and going to Knott's Berry Farm, which I have no pictures of because I was too busy enjoying being at an amusement park while NOT pregnant or nursing. It was so fun. We had such a fun Christmas, and especially being with all 8 of Justin's siblings! Just wait until I get those family pictures back, you've never seen such a ginormous photoshoot!