Catching up.

I haven’t felt much like blogging lately.. Not for a lack of topics.. We’ve been quite busy around here.. Its more a Laziness issue… When I do get a minute to sit down, I have been catching up on my Magazine reading, or just sitting alone enjoying the small windows of silence.
So lets catch up shall we?
Craig is still here. And yes, we are still enjoying his company.
Last week we watched Michie, Emmie, and Olivia while Ang had Orientation. It was pretty crazy at first, but by mid week, we’d gotten everyone into a routine. Things went quite smoothly from there. I have to give Taylor credit for most of that.. He was seriously super dad, keeping the house clean, and taking care of 6 kids! His laid back personality can really be a blessing sometimes.
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Angie Home schools her two older girls, so I picked that up for her the days I was home.. Ali was a fantastic little tutor; I think Michie felt quite privileged to be her little pupil.
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Thursday I took them ALL to the dentist for Ali and Megan’s 6 month check up.. I was quite amazed at how smoothly it went. The girls behaved beautifully, and hooray, No cavities.
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Week in review via picture........................................…. CHAOS!!!!!!!

Friday evening, The North’s (sans Michael) came to town for a visit and for MJ’s 5-month pictures. Coryne and Ali tore the place up and were literally jumping off the furniture until we had to separate them for bed. Megan and Shane weren’t far behind.
Saturday we had a great photo shoot, then ran errands with them before they left for home. Let me just say…. 6 kids running errands… Not so fun. But we made it.
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Sunday........ Ahhhhhhhh quite! LOVED it!

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Monday we started over again with the Cason girls
More ‘home schooling’ and lots of play-doh..

Taylor started his NEW JOB at UPS (YEAH!!!) His last day at Primary Children’s is the 27th. He’s sad to leave After 5 years, but it’s a really good move for our family. I’m really proud of him, and super excited for great benefits. You’d think we had great benefits working for IHC, but they really suck.

Tuesday I had a really nice visit from my visiting teacher (her partner had sick kids). It was really nice to sit and chat and get to know her. Even though I have been in the ward for 5 years, I’m still socially hopeless and don’t know people very well.
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TodayI worked again.. a VERY busy day and finally an early bedtime for the kids which means blogging time for me!
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And just a little something to end with

Matties boots finally fit..........................

A little Hairy

Toady's wrap up
6 kids
2 dogs (one still potty training puppy)
4 haircuts
3 poopie diapers
.5 naps

1 family dinner involving Papa, Grandma, Craig, Merry,and All 6 kids (AND the picnic table brought into the kitchen for more places to sit)
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1 yogurt dumped on the floor (thank you destructo)
1 bag of cheeto's dumped 30 seconds later (thank you destructo)
1/2 the dirt in my plant thrown across the room (thank you destructo)
1 broken pot (thank you destructo)
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6 books read (or at least one book read 6 times) To Oli and Mattie
3 Pacifiers lost
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2 batches of rice krispie treats (Megan licking the pan)
1 homemade loaf of banana bread
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and a partridge in a pear tree!
PHEW!
So we made it through the first of 5 days.. Tomorrow is Taylor's turn as I will be spending 12 gloriously quiet hours at work!
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Thank you Again Merry for spoiling us with your Mad hair cutting skills!!

And Ali for her Mad photo taking skills! gotta love this angle!

Fabulous? Yes!
oh and this is what happens when you put Gel in your babies hair.. He thinks everything needs to be rubbed into it... even the dogs water...

Manic Monday

Craig and Merry are back in town..We love getting to know Merry. The girls were so excited to get home and meet her. So excited in fact that after all the jumping, giggling, and talking, they didn't fall asleep until after ten o'clock last night!

this morning they were equally excited and Its been really fun having them both here.
We've had a great Morning chatting and playing with the kids.
Ang Jumped back into the workforce and has Orientation all week. Taylor and I agreed to watch the girls for her. Including this one..

Ms Distructo (aka Olivia) has already broken one of my planters.... but all she has to do is look at me with those brown eyes and I have to forgive her...
The house is a mess, but we aren't cleaning it till Saturday ..

so the other great thing is Merry does hair! Yeah for me because we are ALL in desperate need of some help in that area!
She so Generously gave Mattie and Me haircuts this morning and is going to hit the girls up tonight...
just look how grown up my baby boy looks!

Mine looks and feels great but its a little harder to get a picture of........

Bullies! and Snow hats!

I was babysitting today.. I think We need a lesson on Sharing............
I'm just teasing.. She's really a darling litle girl. Just Two years old and thats all the explanation she needs!

This is the darling Snow hat that Jeane made for Mattie.

She made one for him last year too.

when she brought it over we tried it on right away.

when I took it off him, he picked it up and tried to put it back on himself.

The weekend re-cap

This past week has been wonderful. It made going to work today much harder than usual.
Wednesday I was thrilled to take the girls to see Enchanted.
Just the girls and me, no boys allowed. I LOVED having each of them on either side of me with no distractions to ruin the moment. I loved their enthusiasm. I was even happier when the movie was really really good!
Thanksgiving was so laid back. We enjoyed good food and delicious desserts without even lifting a finger.. We spent the evening as a family that night and I thoroughly enjoyed getting the Christmas stuff out, especially listening to Taylor whistling tunes as he strung the lights.
Friday We went to Brunch with My sister and her new boyfriend, whom we hadn’t met yet. My Mom and Brother came too.. It was fun to sit around and get to know him a little. It was even more enjoyable eating yummy IHOP pancakes……..mmmmmmm
the Cason's came over and spent the ENTIRE afternoon and evening with us.. I LOVE it when friends come over and make themselves comfortable. It’s a great feeling. The kids ran amuck as usual while Ang and I sat in the kitchen (as usual) cooking, chatting, and shooing kids away (lovingly ofcourse). We watched a movie on my lap top in the living room so that we were away from the chaos yet still in ear shot of them. We watched “Tuck Everlasting” which I thought was very cute. (Thanks Steph for the Movie)
Megan was relentless and finally convinced us to allow her to spend the night at The Cason’s house. She’s done it a few times before so I wasn’t worried about her plus I knew that it meant they’d have to come back the next day so I was all for it!
Saturday Was another Full day of playing, cooking, and movie watching. We rented The Santa Clause 3 from Redbox and all of us sat around clapping and cheering while we watched it. Even the littles..
And Now, I sit here at work.. a Slow Sunday afternoon listening to the hum of the computer and Nurses rushing by instead of the playing and giggling of my children…….
Oh well…
4 more days………

Photo Shoot, and No TV day 5

Day 5 without TV.. I did so much better today.

Might have to do with the fact that I was pre-occupied doing a sibling photo shoot!

I had SO much fun doing this one. I have wanted to do these specific shots for awhile now, and I think they turned out Fabulous!(click to hear)

Ali and Meg are both at friends houses for the night, (which they are probably filling with as much free TV time as they can).

Here are some pictures from the shoot today.....

Check out my flickr to see more.........

Scrapbooking, Sewing, and just hanging out.

Last night I went scrap booking with some friends. We usually meet up once every 6 weeks or so for the local scrapbook stores “girls’ night out”. It was nice to get out for the night and just unwind without any commitments over my head. ( I never scrapbook at home. It’s too hard to get everything out, and inevitably it turns into an Ali, Megan scrapbook party instead of me getting anything done). We had a really good time. I love the fun conversations, and laughter that goes on when we’re there. I can’t wait for the next one in October. I don’t know that I’m all that productive, but its sure worth the effort.
When I got home about midnight I went to check on the girls downstairs. Megan had fallen asleep on the floor, so I went to pick her up and carry her to bed. When I pulled the blanket off her I saw that she had completely covered herself with Marker. Black and red ‘art’ ALL over her body! Then To make it worse, she’d had an accident on the floor! I didn’t care that it was almost 1 a.m., I took her up and scrubbed her head to toe in the bathtub. Poor baby. She was so tired.

Today Ali got to go hiking up to Timpenogous cave on a Daddy daughter date with our church group. She took Ex, and I was glad for her that he went. She had a great time. It was a good opportunity for them to spend some more time together in a good environment.

The rest of us spent the entire day with Ang and the girls.
Olivia went out and immediately found herself a pile of dirt.
The girls spent hours playing, bickering, whining, and laughing just as they always do. They are so close, and act just like cousins. I love that.
Angie and I had a great day too.
Ang had brought her sewing machine. We set up hers and mine across from each other at the kitchen table and because I was inspired by Megan I made my first little nightgown. It was SO easy! I had a good time doing it. We sat and sewed for hours. It’s been at least 10 years since I’ve worked on a sewing machine.
I also made Matt a bib. I’ve wanted a great big bib for him so that I don’t have to change his entire outfit every time he eats. So I made an extra large one.. It’s really ugly!

Because the table was a little occupied, we had the kids eat on a picnic blanket on the kitchen floor… Talk about novelty! They loved it!.

CPAP, summer fun and Portrait of a Friend

Angie dared me to post a picture of myself with my new CPAP mask. I just can't do it. I posted it here for a few hours, and when I looked at it again I scared myself! so here it is on my daughters darling cabbage patch.. Its hideous. The doll makes it look so much better than it really is!

I lasted until 3 this morning before I ripped it off my face so that I could sleep. Its definitely going to take some time to get used to..

boy I'm too young for this stuff!

Summer fun Art time .

the Kids had a great time smearing, sloshing, and splattering paint anywhere they could. the best part was turning the bath water blue afterwards as it washed off their bodies!

"Aunt Angie"

She's as beautiful inside as she is out.

Thanksgiving point Gardens

We spent the day at Thanksgiving point in the Children's Garden . The kids loved the Noahs ark water fountain pool, and the fun hedge mazes kept them running around for quite awhile.
We had a nice little picnic on the sly too. (no food allowed in the gardens....)
It was a perfect way to beat the June heat.


Michie Ran in circles with Meg and Ali.
Love the polka dots!

As usual, doing cartwheels everywhere she goes! I was sure she was about to knock someone in the head!

Ali stops for a posed shot. I LOVED that red door!

Pretty little Emmee


Ali walked Mattie up and down in the water. He liked it as long as none of the big kids splashed him. Look at that chubba! And by the way, his hair is NOT red!!!

Meg splish splashing, and going under water. I couldnt get any pictures of her, because she wouldn't slow down long enough for me to get her! She loved it all.

Oli dodging water! She had a blast just dipping her toes in, and hanging off the water fountain. (literally)

Mattie all tuckered out. Thanks Aunt Angie for toting him around!!
She knows my arms need the break!

All in all, a fabulous day. Sunshine, Water, Friends!

My baby, a lion, and a Magic toot....oh my!

Mattie's 8 Months old! I can't believe how fast he's growing out of babyness!

he's not crawling yet, but he pulls himself up on anything he can. He eats like a champ, as long as its not baby food.. (baby food is so beneath him!)...he grabs, pulls, and leans toward everything, and is so observant of things happening around him. What a big boy! I'm scared that if I blink, he'll be a year old already. I know he's my last, and part of me is scared He will grow up before I'm ready.

Linus

When Pre-school started last September , Ms Cherie introduced Linus to the children. A stuffed lion. Linus would spend the school year visiting each child's home with them, and it was documented in Linus's special journal each time.. Linus also collected quite a variety of treasures from each child along the way, which was kept in his bag with him.

Today Megan took Linus back for the last time.

Pre- school Will be over in two weeks, and this was her last time to take him home with her.. She spent the last two days loving and snuggling him and telling him, and all of us, how much she'll miss him.

Before she took him back this morning, she asked me to take a picture of her with him..

Watering cans and Magic Toots

A few Megan stories..

-Megan told me this morning that she did a "magic toot" confused and a little amused I asked her what a magic toot was.. She explained that it was " a divisable one, and you COULDN'T EVEN HEAR IT!!" I couldn't stifle my laugh!

-Yesterday my nieces were over, and my little 20 month old niece came in distraught and wet. We asked her what happened as she pointed to Megan (no surprise) we asked Meg what she'd done, and with all seriousness, she replied.... " I was watering her like a plant!"