The Howell Family

Owen at 15 Months

2012-02-18T16:29:00.007-07:00

I took Owen to his 15 month check up this week. He's a big kid. I just had to share his percentile growth chart. The top line is the 99th percentile. He's above it on all three measurements.

First we have weight (29 pounds 11 ounces), just above the 99th percentile.

Next we have height (34 inches), even more above the 99th percentile.

And last we have head. He's so far above the 99th percentile, I don't even know what to call it (Scott tells me there's no such thing as over 100 percentile). That little boy has a big head.

Owen's latest thing is to climb onto furniture. He loves that he can climb up onto the couch or chair and sit "like a big kid". He practices getting up and down at least 20 times a day. And each time, he just smiles because he's so proud of himself.

Owen's other great love in life is burp rags. He LOVES them. He pulls them out of my cupboard and just lays in them. He has to have one when he sleeps. He loves them. The other night I was getting whites out of the dryer, and he couldn't resist the lure of warm burp rags. He climbed in and out of the laundry basket over and over--he couldn't get enough of the warm burp rags. It was pretty cute, even if he did make all my whites all wrinkly.

My baby is growing up too fast. He is so independent and capable. He learns new things everyday. I wish he would slow down just a little bit. He certainly keeps me on my toes. It's such a fun age, and we all are enjoying this little guy.

Picture Perfect

2012-02-11T23:10:00.003-07:00

After Christmas, Scott was talking with a friend who lives out of state. He told Scott that they had received 50 or 60 Christmas cards, and ours had been their favorite. He said his daughter studied the picture, then announced, "That's it--that's what I want when I grow up. I want that many kids, and they will all be blondies!"

I have to admit, looking from the outside, our family looks picture perfect. We have 6 beautiful kids. Scott has a great paying job. My life is blissfully perfect.

Except I had come to a point, where I couldn't see that anymore. I could see everything behind the picture that no one else sees.

All I could see was the endless work involved with having 6 children. Thankless work. Work that is immediately undone by children who have no idea how long it's taken me to clean. Laundry hampers that fill immediately back up after I've washed and folded the clothes that were in them. Listening to children complain about the food that I've cooked them, ungrateful for the time I've spent trying to come up with something they all will eat.

I have a husband who's great job requires him to travel. Weeks at a time. And when he's not traveling, I have to call him at 6pm to remind him to come home, or he just stays at his office, having lost track of time, working. And when he does come home, he sits on the couch with the laptop working some more. Work is too important to let wait till the morning. Work consumes him.

I have a special needs child. We have to pour tens of thousands of dollars into therapy to help him. He tries my patience constantly, and I have no clue how to help him. I constantly feel judged by other parents because I can't control my child. I try. I can't control my child.

It started with three consecutive months of Alaska travel--being a single parent. It wore me down. Then we had the high of our Disneyland Christmas. That was wonderful, and very much needed. But then we came home to three weeks of the flu. Countless nights of no sleep and cleaning up children's vomit. Three weeks of not leaving the house because I had to care for sick children. Three weeks of exhaustion. Things took a nosedive, and I couldn't pull out of it. I was angry all the time. I lost my temper over the smallest things. I felt trapped and knew there was no way out.

One night, I'd had all I could stand. I found a dark quiet room and sat down against the wall. I fought the urge to run out of the house and never come back. I tried to convince myself that I hadn't completely ruined my life by having all these children. I could hear the kids asking where I had gone, and Scott not seeming too interested in finding me. In my head I was screaming. Screaming for things to change. I needed help.

I gathered my composure, then went to find Scott. I told him I needed help. Seven years ago, I went on medication briefly because of post-partum depression. I knew I hadn't just had a baby to blame this on, but I recognized the same desperation that I had felt clear back then. I knew this wasn't in my control to fix anymore.

And so I went to my doctor, and I got help. I'm on a very low dose of antidepressant, and it has made a world of difference. Shortly after starting the medication, Scott took off for a few hours one day and let me go to lunch with a friend. Getting out allowed me to breath again, and to gain perspective. A week after starting the medication, one night after the kids were in bed, I said to Scott, "I think I'm going to be okay." It was a loaded statement--so much emotion behind it. And Scott knew that. He waited a minute, then agreed, "I think you're going to be okay."

And so life is better. It's not perfect. I still have the work associated with the house and kids. My husband still travels (he's out of town as we speak). But I can see past that. It's not my focus anymore. I have perspective again. I'm happy now (most of the time). And I can look at our family photo and think to myself, "I truly do have it all."

Golf

2012-02-03T09:30:00.002-07:00

This week Scott is in Phoenix for three days watching a PGA golf tournament. The first night he was gone, as I was fixing dinner, Savannah and I had the following conversation:

Savannah: "I wish Dad were here."
Me: "Me too."
Savannah: "Where did he go?"
Me: "Phoenix. He gets to watch a golf tournament."
Savannah: "Seriously? A golf tournament? Couldn't he just watch it on TV?"
Ummm, yeah.

Next week he gets to spend 4 days away in Monterey, California playing golf by day and attending fancy dinner parties at night. Such a life. He invited me to come, but obviously he forgot that we have SIX kids and SOMEONE has to stay home and take care of them. Life really isn't fair.

Fighting the Winter Blahs

2012-02-01T15:11:00.010-07:00

I hate winter. As a thyroid patient, I'm always cold, but especially in winter. I freeze all winter. And with a baby, I'm forced to stay indoors most of the winter. I go stir crazy and dream of seeing the sun again. In an effort to fight the winter blahs, I announced to Scott that we needed to paint. We've had this gorgeous deep brown on our living room walls for 6 years now. I loved it when it was the piano room, because it made it a focal room. The deep color made the room stand out, and we spent very little time in there, so it was ok that it was dark.

But after we moved the piano to the office, and made the living room a tv room, it's become the room that we spend most of our time in. I needed light in there. I needed bright and cheery, not dark and brown. So I painted.

The wall color is a light gray. It makes the black media console that we built really pop out. We are in the process of making matching end tables to match the media console. And I made new curtains.

I really love the way the room turned out. The lighter color makes such a difference in opening up the room. It feels open and airy, and I love it. The only thing I don't like is how my old green couches look now. They really don't go with the new color scheme. But with the added expense of Aaron's therapy, there isn't money in the budget for new furniture. So, I'll live with them a while longer. We've had them since college, and they've held up great, so I'll just have to ignore the color and keep them a while longer.

Snow

2012-02-01T15:04:00.005-07:00

After going this whole winter with no snow (not even in the mountains), last week we finally got a snowstorm. I bundled up the little boys to go out and play, while I shoveled the driveway. Later in the day, the snow turned to rain, and by the next day, all of it had disappeared, so the older kids didn't get a chance to play in it. Hopefully we'll get more snow on a weekend so the older three will get a chance to play in it too.

After we came in from playing, Aaron shed all of his wet snowy clothes, and headed upstairs to change. He came down dressed like this....

Seven shirts all layered on top of each other. He remembered that I had dressed them in layers at Disneyland to stay warm, so he thought it would be a great way to stay warm at home after playing in the snow. I love the way his brain thinks!

Aaron

2012-01-31T19:19:00.002-07:00

I've been putting this off, because I've been struggling to fully grasp this myself. We have a diagnosis for Aaron.

I finally got an appointment with a Pediatric Occupational Therapist, and we took him in for an evaluation three weeks ago, and then immediately started therapy (we've been to three weeks of therapy now). Aaron has Sensory Processing Disorder (also called Sensory Integration Dysfunction). He falls into the "seeking" category.

This is how it was explained in his evaluation:
"Sensory Seeking/Craving: It is normal for all children to seek sensory information as they grow, learn, and try to master new challenges, however when it extends beyond normal motor/movement activity and the child is actively seeking/craving sensations it can be concerning. Examples of this include: being in constant movement, taking excessive risks, i.e. climbing too high or moving too fast without regard for safety, liking to crash/jump or climb on furniture, or rough housing, finding ways to make noise with objects, seeking out vibration, licking or mouthing objects, liking strong flavors and crunchy foods. These children often are labeled as "thrill seekers, risk takers, and sometimes the trouble makers" as it is difficult for them to sit still and attend in a socially appropriate manner which makes outings and school difficult."

Those who know Aaron, know that summary describes him perfectly.

His OT said this is hard-wired into Aaron. A handout she gave me, further explains:
"Dysfunction occurs within the central nervous system...Because a child's central nervous system is still flexible or "plastic", young children respond well to sensory integration therapy. Plasticity means that the brain function is not yet fixed; it can be changed. Sensory processing disorder is very common in children and is often misdiagnosed as a learning disorder, ADD or ADHD. Unfortunately, it is a misunderstood problem which affects a child's behavior, coordination and movement, attention to task and the way they learn, appropriate socialization with peers, and their self-esteem."

In the summary of his evaluation, (after listing out everything that is wrong with him), it says: "The above areas of challenge will in turn, impact his overall organization of behavior and ability to attend to tasks to complete various activities across all settings independently, especially as the demands get increasingly more challenging in higher level grades. In addition, as Aaron ages he will likely start comparing himself more to his peers, thus these areas of weakness will further impact his self-esteem. Occupational therapy is strongly recommended on an individual basis 1-2 hours per week in a clinic based setting."

"Through structured exposure, practice and repetition in these areas, prognosis for overall success will improve. Aaron has excellent potential provided he receives the appropriate therapeutic intervention he needs. Occupational therapy services focusing on the above deficits, while incorporating his areas of strength will allow Aaron to further develop the skills necessary for him to succeed to his optimal potential in all settings."

So, we are scheduled for an hour of therapy every Monday at 2 in the afternoon, and they are hoping to find a second time they can fit him in later in the week (they think he would really benefit from going twice a week). His OT said to plan on a year or two of therapy before he's "cured".

I'm so relieved to know what's wrong, and to know that there is help for him. But, this "help" comes at a pretty steep price. Insurance basically doesn't cover any of it, and his OT charges $150 an hour. Once a week will be a strain on our monthly budget, but when we start going twice a week, it's going to really be challenging. Of course we'll find the money to get him this help, but I think I may end up with an ulcer before too long (money causes me huge stress). And, his appointment time is right during Owen's naptime, and I have to bring both Owen and Nate along with me each time (there is a waiting room upstairs with toys for little kids, so they can play while we are there). It's just one more thing to add to our already busy schedule.

Aaron LOVES his therapy. It's a big gym full of "sensory" activities--ball pit, climbing wall, swing, trapeze bar, mini trampoline, etc. It's basically an hour of play time for him. I worried he would feel self conscious about having to go to "therapy", but he thinks it's only because he has a hard time holding his pencil the "kindergarten way", so he doesn't see that as too big of a deal. And the therapy is so much fun, that he thinks he's pretty special that he gets to do it and the other kids don't.

This week one of my friends watched Owen and Nate for me while I took Aaron to therapy, so I could sit down in the therapy room and observe and take notes. I was able to come up with lots of things that I can do at home, so I'm feeling good about that. I also got some recommendations on books to read to try and understand all this more. Mostly I'm just really overwhelmed by it all.

SICK

2012-01-17T14:42:00.002-07:00

The last two weeks can be described in one word--SICK!

We arrived home on Sunday.

On Monday Nate threw up in my chair (I had to use my Bissell to thoroughly clean my chair).

On Wednesday (the day the kids started back to school) Sara threw up at school and had to come home early.

Saturday night Scott and I put the kids to bed, then put on a movie. Half an hour into the movie, Aaron appeared on the stairs covered in throw up. I cleaned up his bed (he missed the floor). It was the worst smelling throw up that I have ever cleaned up in my 10 years as a mom. We quickly realized that this bug was mutating and gaining momentum as it moved through our family. It hit Aaron hard. He threw up every half hour through the night. He slept all day Sunday, and didn't eat a thing all day. I kept him home from Kindergarten Monday. He slept in late, then got up feeling better and was ready to finally eat something.

Tuesday morning Savannah came downstairs at 5 a.m., stopped long enough at my bedside to tell me she was sick, then continued on to my bathroom to throw up in my toilet. She threw up all day long. She stayed home Wednesday morning from school, then felt well enough to go to school around lunch time.

Thursday morning we woke up to Nate in his bed covered in throw up. He was sick again (he had started it all a week and half earlier). He followed the same pattern as Aaron and Savannah, throwing up every half hour most of the day. Just before noon, Owen threw up. I put him in the tub, got out the Bissell to clean up the carpet, and tried calling Scott for help. Scott wasn't paying attention to his phone, so I tried to manage by myself. Aaron walked in the door from Kindergarten just then, so I had him watch Owen in the tub while I hurried to clean the carpet. Then I got Owen out of the tub, had him throw up on me two more times, then got him to fall asleep on my lap on the couch. I was stuck. I didn't dare put Owen in his crib (afraid he'd throw up all over it), but I couldn't help Nate at all if he got sick again. I tried Scott again and pleaded for him to come home and help me. He was pretty annoyed, because he had a TON of stuff to do at work, but he dropped it all to come home and help me. He came home and got the laundry started, and sat with Nate. I was finally able to put Owen down in his crib, and was able to go back to taking care of Nate, so Scott could go back to work.

Saturday evening I started to not feel great. Savannah had asked earlier in the day if we could go out to dinner as a family. Scott and I had bargained with her, that if she would babysit the kids while we went grocery shopping at Walmart (while Owen napped), we'd take them all to dinner that night. As evening approached and we needed to made do on our promise, we loaded up the kids to head to Red Robin. I told Scott I wasn't feeling well, but hoped it was just exhaustion and lack of real food that day. I ordered my favorite, an apple harvest salad, but could only get through a few bites. By the time we got home, I knew I was going to be sick. I was supposed to substitute in Sunday School the next day, but knew I wasn't going to make it. So Scott stayed up late and prepared the lesson to give for me. That night I was really sick. I threw up everything.

Scott took Savannah, Sara, Aaron and Nate to church with him. Josh was the only child who hadn't been sick yet, and he wasn't feeling too great, so I kept him home with me. Owen had to stay home too since Scott had to teach and wouldn't be able to take care of him. I sat on the couch and watched Josh and Owen play. As soon as Scott got home, I went back to bed. By Sunday night, I was finally able to handle some ice chips.

Sunday night/Monday morning at 3 a.m. Josh showed up at my bedside announcing that he had thrown up. I headed up the stairs to clean up his bedding, while Scott got Josh into a bath. I quickly realized that my stomach wasn't going to handle the smell, and had to return back downstairs to break the news to Scott that he would have to take care of this clean-up.

Josh was sick all day yesterday, and stayed home from school today to rest up. I'm hoping that this is finally the end. Scott is the only one who hasn't had it. Hopefully he's been away at work enough that he hasn't been so exposed to it. I am so sick of cleaning up sick kids. I really need for this to be the end of it. I came home from Disneyland so completely exhausted, and have had way too many sleepless nights since then because of sick kids. I really am nearing my breaking point, so I need for this to be the end of this sickness.

Back Home

2012-01-17T14:23:00.003-07:00

After going to bed at 2:30, I got up New Year's Day at 6:30 a.m. to get everything packed, and ready for our 9:00 pickup to go back to the airport. We made it to the airport in plenty of time, and the morning was rather calm. Aaron insisted that his Buzz jammies could double as clothes, and I was too tired to fight him on it.

We made it back home just before 4 in the afternoon. I hopped out of the suburban in the driveway (even before Scott could pull into the garage), and ran over to our neighbor's to get Owen. I was so happy to see him. He wasn't so happy to see me, though. I was prepared for that. When we went to Florida for 5 days, he forgot me and wanted my mom instead. So I knew that after 8 days, he was going to be pretty attached to Anne. She handed him to me, and he cried and reached back for her. It was pretty tough on me, but I think it was tougher on Anne. I don't think she wanted to give him back. She had e-mailed me updates throughout the week, saying what a good baby he was and how much they enjoyed him. I handed him back to her and he hugged her happily while we talked. When it was time to go, I took him back, and he cried the whole way home.

Once we got home, and things started to look familiar again, Owen was just fine. He was most excited to see his crib again (he'd slept in a port-a-crib during the week). Scott put him in it, and he jumped and laughed and crawled around in it as happy as he could be. After we got things carried in from the car, and things calmed down a bit, we took our thank you souvenirs over to Anne, Dan, Brynne, and Liam. They again told us how much they had enjoyed having Owen be a part of their family that week. And I realized there was no way to thank them enough for their generosity in taking care of him for us.

And then life started again.

I once again had a baby to care for. I had a house that was left in chaos from Christmas. We had opened presents, then packed and left so quickly, so there was still wrapping paper and boxes everywhere. I had all the kids' new toys to find a place for. I had all the unpacking and laundry to do from our trip. And I was doing it all on 4 hours of sleep. The worst part of vacation is having to come home.

A Cruise or Disneyland?

2012-01-17T14:08:00.004-07:00

The question at the back of my mind the whole week was, "I traded a cruise for Disneyland--was it worth it?". At times during the week, I really wished I'd taken the cruise instead. But when all was said and done, I was so glad I chose the vacation I did. It was magical. Despite all the crowds, and all the frustrations, this vacation was magical. It was one week where we were together as a family (minus Owen) without the distractions of our life back home. No house work to worry about, no school or homework, no gymnastics or scouts or achievement days, no little friends constantly ringing our doorbell asking if they can play. It was just us, as a family, enjoying our time together. And as much as we missed Owen, it was wonderful to not even have the distractions of diaper changes, and bottles, and naptimes. We had a whole week free of the everyday grind, and we had an amazing time. It is a vacation we will all remember forever.

New Year's Eve

2012-01-17T11:26:00.006-07:00

We spent New Year's Eve in Disneyland. It's their busiest day of the year. Their very busiest. It was CRAZY! We had gone home for an extra long afternoon rest, so we could have enough energy to make it through all the late night celebrations at Disneyland (they stayed open till 2 am that night). As we walked back that night, and caught a glimpse of the masses of people, we immediately considered turning around and going back home (Disneyland was actually closed to new admissions because they'd hit max capacity, but we were re-entry so we were ok). We still had a few last rides we needed to check off our list, so we braved it anyway.

Soon a fog settled over Disneyland. A cold, dense fog. Around 8:30, we tried to fight the crowds to find a place to stand for fireworks (their nightly show). We hadn't seen fireworks all week. The day before Christmas, they had a firework malfunction, and had cancelled their firework show till they got everything worked out. When we went 4 years ago, we watched the fireworks every night and it was one of my most favorite things. So I was really disappointed that they didn't have fireworks the whole time we were there. But New Year's Eve they had their fireworks back up and running. We weren't sure where to go for the best view, and really didn't have a choice because moving anywhere was nearly impossible, so we ended up just behind Sleeping Beauty's castle. We soon learned that this was not a great place to be. They send off fireworks from the castle and from behind the park, so we were right in the middle of them. We kept having to turn our heads one way then the other, trying to see the fireworks. And it was incredibly loud. Nate hated it. I mean, he really hated it.

The firework show turned out to be not such a great experience. Between our placement, and the thick fog, we really didn't see anything. And it was so cold--the fog was chilling to the bone. We decided we wouldn't try and stay till the midnight festivities, that we would just finish up the last few rides we needed to still do, then go home.

But, those last few rides took us hours to do, and we ended up still being in the park at midnight. We were on the train, planning to ride it back to the beginning of Disneyland, then exit the park (walking anywhere was impossible). When the clock struck midnight, we were on the train at the back of Disneyland, right next to where they set off the fireworks. It was deafening. Nate screamed while I covered his ears as tightly as I could. And instead of being able to see any exploding fireworks, the fog made it so the whole sky just lit up in the color of the firework.

After the midnight fireworks, the train started back up, but only made it to the next stop. And then it just stayed there. They announced that the fog was so bad that they couldn't see the track in front of them, so it wasn't safe to run the train. We had to get off the train and walk out of Disneyland. We made it out of the park just before 1 a.m. (just in time to buy the Buzz jammies that I had promised Aaron at the store in Downtown Disney, that was set to close at 1). We made it back to our condo around 1:30 a.m., and the kids were instantly asleep.

I stayed up till 2:30 trying to get things packed up for the morning. To say the least, I was extremely tired. What a way to ring in the new year!

The Not So Great

2012-01-17T10:11:00.003-07:00

Of course with all the great things, come the not so great things. Luckily, there were only a few on this trip.

Sara really struggled with being grouchy the whole trip. She's going through this whole "middle child" thing these days. I went through that when I was a kid, so I totally understand. She wants so desperately to feel special and important, and is struggling to find her place in this family. At Disneyland she was frustrated that she was too big to sit in the stroller, yet too little to get to push it around (because while Savannah could be trusted to push, Sara had a hard time not running into strangers' heels). She wanted to be big and brave enough to ride all the big rides, but is still young enough to be scared of that stuff still. And so this is what Sara looked like in a lot of our pictures:

The very last day, she was in an especially bad mood and was really picking on Aaron. She had already spent her souvenir money from Grandma Jo on a shirt, but had spotted a Jasmine piggy bank that she really wanted. That morning, I pulled her aside and made a deal with her. If she would try to be her very happiest and enjoy our last day there, I would buy her the piggy bank. It worked. She had a smile on her face the rest of the day, and was thrilled when she got that piggy bank later in the day. I just wish I'd thought of that on day one.

The other "hiccup" in our trip was the day after we rented the car to go to the beach. We rented the car on Thursday, went to the beach that day, then drove to Disneyland the next morning and returned the car. Much later in the day (after the rental car place had closed), Scott realized he had left the garage door opener in the car when we returned it. I immediately started stressing about how we were going to get it back.

Then we returned home that night and Savannah typed the code into the key pad on the door. The door had a locking deadbolt that unlocked with a code from the outside. After a few times of trying, she turned and said, "It's not working". Scott stepped up to give it a try, then turned to me with a serious look on his face and said, "It's locked." I wasn't sure what he meant. He explained that he had been locking the door handle from the inside at nights because it's just habit for him to lock things up as securely as possible at night. It hadn't been a problem before because we always went out the front door and had to unlock the handle to get out. That morning, though, we had gone out through the garage, so the handle hadn't gotten unlocked. And we had returned the garage door opener with the car. So we were locked out. Really locked out. Luckily, I had left the upstairs window open. So Scott climbed on the brick wall surrounding the patio, got onto the roof, pried the screen out of the window, and climbed in. We were saved.

The next morning we woke up early and called the rental car place right as it opened. They hadn't found the garage door opener when they cleaned the car, and it was already rented out again. This was Saturday. We were going home the next morning, so we had to get the garage door opener back that day. I started doing internet searches for how to program a new garage door opener and for hardware stores in the area. I figured we'd have to rent another car to drive to the hardware store, and we'd spend our entire last day trying to replace this garage door opener. Scott called the rental car place back and asked if there was any way to find out if the people who had rented the car were still in the area. The nice guy at the rental car place told Scott to hold on. When he got back on the phone, he said he'd called the people, they had found the opener, and would drop it by the rental car place that day before noon. We were saved--again.

So aside from a lockout, a lost garage door opener, and some grouchies, we had a great trip.

Schedules

2012-01-16T19:40:00.005-07:00

Basically our schedule during our week at Disneyland was very little sleep and a whole lot of playing. We would get up each morning (as early as we could make ourselves) and have breakfast at the condo. Then I would pack the strollers full of fruit bars, granola bars, bottles of water, and capri suns. Then we'd make the mile long walk to Disneyland.

We would ride as many rides as we could, and eat our snacks throughout the day, then go home for a late lunch/early dinner around 4. Nate and Aaron would usually sneak in a nap around this time.

We'd spend a few hours at home getting rested up and eat dinner. Then we'd bundle up to go back for the night. I didn't bring coats, thinking it would be warm. And it was warm during the days--we wore shorts and t-shirts and felt great while the sun was out. But when the sun went down each night, it got pretty chilly. So when we went back in the evenings, we wore layers of clothes. I'd make the kids put on 3 shirts, a jacket, and wrap a blanket around them (which made them complain about so many clothes, but kept them warm). Then we'd make the mile walk for a third time that day back to Disneyland and usually stay till closing time.

The final walk back home at the end of the night was always the longest and most tiring. Most of the time Savannah had to push my stroller so I could give Sara (and one time Josh) a piggy back ride home. I was so thankful we had two strollers so the little boys didn't have to walk. And I was amazed at how well our older kids did toughing out so much walking. I figure we walked at least 8 miles every day (with all the walking in the park too). Next time we go to Disneyland, we'll go when it's not busy, so we will only have to spend half as much time there. Then we can afford to spend twice as much on a hotel and stay in one of the actual Disneyland hotels right next to the park.

Ocean

2012-01-15T18:12:00.003-07:00

Half way through the trip, we took a trip to the ocean. We went to Disneyland early that morning to try and get some rides in while the park was less busy (mornings were a little less occupied than afternoons and evenings). We ended up staying there longer than we planned (we had to fit in a Jedi Training), so once we rented our car and went home for swimsuits, it was later in the day than I would have liked. We had enjoyed mid 70 degree weather all week at Disneyland, so I assumed it would be like that at the coast. We pulled up to the beach just before 4 in the afternoon to 59 degrees and fog.

It was chilly. Really chilly. The kids didn't care, though. They plunged right into the water.

Aaron and Nate started out digging in the sand. They remembered their not so favorable outcome when they tried to take on the Pacific Ocean on the Oregon Coast, and didn't want the "waves to get them".

But after a while, even they couldn't resist getting a little wet. (I edited most of the pictures--played around with highlights and shadows--so you could actually see the kids in the pictures. I left this last one here unedited so you could see what all the pictures originally looked like. There was fog everywhere--cold and foggy.)

The kids had the best time playing in the waves.

Soon sweatshirts came off (too cold and heavy when wet), and all "trying to stay dry" was completely forgotten.

Josh found a sand dollar. Everyone was impressed with it.

Because we had arrived so late in the day, we were there for the sunset. It was amazingly beautiful.

As the sun went down, I gathered my purple cold little kids and we climbed into the rental car to go home. We blasted the heat as high as we could to get everyone warm.

It didn't take long before Nate was fast asleep.

As we got back into town, we stopped to get more groceries (the kids and I stayed in the car while Scott ran in to the store), then went home and collapsed in our warm beds.

World of Color

2012-01-15T18:00:00.004-07:00

We had a lot of people tell us that we couldn't miss "World of Color" while we were there. We tried to see it one night, but there wasn't a good place to stand where the kids could see it (after all, it was Christmas so we were competing with 50,000 other people who also wanted to see it). So we used their "buy food from us and we'll reserve you a seat" option. We looked into a sit down restaurant experience, but I couldn't stomach the $40 a person price tag. So we went with their bargain $16 packaged picnic lunches, and were given entrance into their standing room only section. (We used our free $200 gift card to buy the food, so I made myself feel better telling myself that instead of paying $100+ for pb&j sandwiches, it was really free.)

World of Color was definitely worth it. It was amazing. Sadly, Josh and Aaron slept clear through it and didn't see any of it, but Scott and I LOVED it. It was all done with lights and water--amazing!

Phineas and Ferb Dance Party

2012-01-15T17:52:00.004-07:00

As we were walking through California Adventure one day, we noticed a crowd forming. We stopped to see what they were waiting for. We learned Phineas and Ferb were on their way, so we waited to watch. It turned out to be a street dance party. Our kids were pretty hesitant to join in at first. Nate was the first one to be brave enough to go out and dance.

Then Sara and Josh decided she'd go join Nate.

They all had so much fun dancing. A few days later, we came upon the show again (they did it 3 or 4 times a day), and Sara excitedly asked, "Can I go dance again?!" Sadly, it was just ending that time.

Christmas Touches

2012-01-15T17:14:00.006-07:00

Despite all the crowds, I really am glad we took this trip at Christmas, because we got to experience those Disneyland Christmas touches that we wouldn't get any other time of the year. It truly was magical.

We had to go all the way to California to experience our first snow of the winter (soap bubbles). I may have gotten a bit emotional during this part.

Rides Part II

2012-01-15T16:28:00.014-07:00

Mickey's Fun Wheel (big Ferris Wheel).

Jungle Tours boat ride.

Raft over to Tom Sawyer Island.

Exploring Tom Sawyer Island.

Canoe Boat. This was not a favorite of any of us. The water was cold, and we were sitting behind two boys at the front of the boat who didn't know how to row without throwing water on everyone behind them. The whole ride I had to listen to all the kids crying about how wet they were getting.

Having fun in the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail area.

Visiting Santa (and telling him thanks for the great gifts).

Tea Cups--a family favorite.

Swings--We all loved these and rode several times. Aaron always had a look of pure joy when he was on the swings.

Rides

2012-01-11T14:00:00.003-07:00

When I planned 6 days in Disneyland, I thought it might be a bit overkill. But we ended up needing all 6 days to get in all the rides (because we spent so much of our time standing in line). Here are some of our favorites:
Scott and Karen:
Screamin
Tower of Terror
Soarin Over California
And anything else that went fast and was "rollercoasterish"

Savannah:
Same as Mom and Dad's list
She really loves thrill rides

Josh:
Tried everything, but decided that he really didn't like Tower of Terror as much as he let on.
But he did love Screamin' and all the other "scary" rides.
Still loved Grizzly Rapids the best (it was his favorite 4 years ago)

Sara:
NOT a thrill seeker.
Bawled through Splash Mountain and Indiana Jones
Would not try Screamin' or Tower of Terror
Hated Space Mountain
But surprisingly LOVED Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (which is a roller coaster)

Aaron:
Couldn't get enough of Screamin'
Went on Tower of Terror once, and liked it, but did not want to try it again.
Loved the swings
Loved everything he rode the whole time he was there.
Absolutely loves rollercoasters and other "thrill" rides.

Nate:
Brave enough to try everything once (he was such a great sport about everything), but after a few days, decided he was tired of giving everything a try.
Nate's favorite quote, "I was freaking out, but I loved it!"
Went on Tower of Terror twice, then refused to go any more.
Loved tea cups, swings, and other less scary rides.

Autopia--Everyone LOVED this one, and we drove the cars 4 times while we were there.

Savannah posing with the Matterhorn in the distance. We took everyone on this--and everyone loved it except Nate and Sara. As we were standing in line for it, Nate was really worried because he thought the mountain was going to be MAD (Maderhorn). I explained to him that it was MATT-erhorn, and then he felt a little better about it. After he rode it, I think he decided MADerhorn was a better name.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. This was the only roller coaster that Sara actually liked. I think it ranks up there as her most favorite ride. Nate, on the other hand, wasn't a fan (but we did talk him into going twice with us because everyone else loved it so much).

Waiting for the Muppets 3D movie to start. Everyone loved this show.

Bug's Life 3 D movie. Everyone did not love this one. It was really scary for the kids. In fact, when Savannah asked to go on Tower of Terror again, Scott decided to take her there, and I decided to take those who didn't want to ride Tower of Terror to the Bug's Life movie again (it was cold and dark, so we needed to find something indoors and warm). Nate actually chose Tower of Terror over the Bug's Life movie, because the movie was so "scary".

Finding Nemo Submarine. This was our very first ride there. We all loved it.

The Story Book Land Canal Ride. Nate and Aaron got to sit up on the end of the boat to be the "whale watchers". Nate took that job very seriously.

A couple more rides from A Bug's Island.

Riding the big white Mark Twain boat.

BUSY!!

2012-01-09T16:04:00.008-07:00

When I came up with the idea of doing Disneyland at Christmas, all I could think about was how fun it would be to surprise the kids. I thought about how magical it would be to see Disneyland decorated for Christmas. I thought about how nice it would be to go some place warm in December. But I never thought about how BUSY Disneyland would be during that time. It was crazy. I mean really really crazy. There were people everywhere. Twice that we heard of (it may have happened more that that during that week), they had to close the park gates because they reached maximum capacity. I snapped these pictures as we were walking past Pirates of the Caribbean. Look close, there are people everywhere. It was like this everywhere we went, every single day.

I was so thankful we had two strollers with us, so we could put Nate and Aaron in the strollers (so we wouldn't lose them in the crowds). The older three did a great job of holding on to the stroller handles so they wouldn't get separated from us. And it came in very handy that both Scott and I had our cell phones with us, because quite often, he ended up so far ahead of me that I couldn't see him through all the people.

We found ourselves riding the train to get around. It was so much easier than trying to make our way through the crowds, and the boys really loved going through "the Grand Canyon" on the train. At night, the train goes past It's a Small World, which was all lit up for Christmas (you can see it behind me and Aaron). It was beautiful.

We found ourselves standing in line a LOT. And I mean really really a lot. We got pretty good at using fast passes, but there are only a handful of rides that offer those, so we just resigned ourselves to standing in line. The average line took about an hour.

We got really good at entertaining ourselves while standing in line.

I have to admit that we did lose Aaron a few times. He has a habit of wandering off. But, we found him within minutes each time (he's one lucky kid). And one time while we were in line, we looked down and realized Nate was missing. He had decided he was sick of standing in line, and had made his way up to the front of the line. I went and retrieved him and brought him back to wait with the rest of us. But all in all, we all were able to stick together and survive the madness.

I'm so glad we were able to experience Disneyland at Christmas--it had such wonderful holiday touches that you can't experience any other time of the year. But, next time we go to Disneyland, we will be going at the end of January or the end of September (which we were told were their LEAST busy times).

Jedi Training

2012-01-09T15:15:00.012-07:00

A few months ago, there was a channel having a Star Wars marathon. I recorded all of the movies (the three old ones and the three new ones). Knowing we were going to Disneyland, I wanted to introduce my kids to Star Wars so they would want to do the Jedi Training. So after school got out for Christmas break, I made the kids sit down and watch the oldest Star Wars movie. They complained about having to watch it, but as soon as it got going, they were hooked. We watched a Star Wars movie each night until Christmas (we made it through 4 of them). And after we got to Disneyland, it totally paid off. The kids LOVED the Star Tours ride because they had seen Star Wars. And they were all super excited to do the Jedi Training.

The first time we attended Jedi Training, Savannah got picked. She thinks she's too old for that sort of thing, so she tried to act cool through it all, but I know that secretly she was thrilled to get the opportunity.

Of course, the other 4 kids were totally jealous, so we promised them we would do Jedi Training again. We were a little worried that we'd be stuck attending every Jedi Training the rest of the time we were there so everyone would get the opportunity to participate. But, we lucked out, and the next time we did it, all 4 of the other kids got picked. Scott and I joked that it was a Christmas miracle.

Nate made the cutest little padawan--he was the littlest kid up there. He found it a bit tricky trying to activate his light sabre, but he kept trying.

Aaron was so thrilled to be called up, and he took his responsibility very seriously.

They all fought valiently.

After it was all over, the kids were bubbling over with excitement. Nate announced, "I didn't turn to the dark side. I stayed on the bright side!" Jedi Training really was one of our favorite things at Disneyland.

Characters

2012-01-09T14:13:00.010-07:00

One of my favorite things about Disneyland is the characters that you run into. Some we had to stand in line for longer than others. But I loved how excited my little boys got when they met "the real Pooh" or "the real Buzz Lightyear". It's so magical at that age. My older kids were great about posing for pictures with all the characters without too much complaining, but for Aaron and Nate, the excitement was palpable. My favorite was when we met Woody. As I was taking pictures, Nate turned around to find Woody's hand and held it. Woody is just too good a friend to not hold hands.

There's a story behind Donald's pictures. On our first day as we were walking to Disneyland, I instructed the kids on not fighting or teasing each other so we could have a pleasant time. I also told them that Mom's a bit obsessed with taking pictures (I took 400 pictures while we were there), and they would make me very happy if they would always look and smile when I was trying to take a picture. That afternoon, Scott had to leave before us to go back to the condo to meet the grocery delivery, and the kids and I headed home for lunch at a slower pace. On our way to the front of the park, we saw Donald. We stood in line to get a picture. And when it was our turn, Aaron wouldn't get out of the stroller for the picture. As we walked home, I told Aaron how sad I was that he hadn't gotten out of the stroller to be in my picture. When we got back to the condo, he very apologetically explained that the tea cup ride had spun him so fast that it had spun right out of his head him remembering how important pictures were for me. And he promised that he would remember that from now on and that he'd always jump right up for pictures and smile me. And he did, for the rest of the trip.

Day 1

2012-01-06T16:31:00.009-07:00

I mentioned in my Christmas post, the packing frenzy that went on Christmas morning. Owen knew something was up, and he didn't like it. As I rushed from room to room trying to gather everything, he followed me crying.

(Trying to put on a brave face.)

Just before we were ready to go, we realized that Owen hadn't opened his presents yet (he'd slept up until time for church). So we sat down and let him open his Christmas presents.

At one in the afternoon, we took Owen over to our neighbor's, then loaded into the suburban to drive to the airport. We stopped off at the hospital on our way, and gave Grandma Jo and Grandpa Mike a quick hug as Grandpa Mike was getting discharged (he surprised Jamie and Marc later in the day by being home for Christmas dinner).

The flight was short and uneventful. It was a small plane, just three seats in each row, so Josh sat on one side of the isle, with Sara and Savannah on the other side. The next row had Aaron and then me and Nate. And Scott got to sit back by himself and sleep the whole way (while I entertained the kids).

The flight was just under 2 hours, and the kids were so good the whole time. Savannah brought markers and paper and let everyone use them to color. (I spent the whole time handing markers back and forth from Savannah to Aaron). Don't let Nate's expression fool you, he really did have fun on the plane (till he fell asleep on my lap for the last hour of the flight.

We got to LAX, got our luggage, then met our ride. We didn't have any traffic, and made it to our condo in just over half an hour. We got settled, then walked down to Downtown Disney to look for dinner. It was so crowded. It was our first taste of just how crowded Disneyland would be the entire week. We went in a few stores (the boys loved the Lego store), but realized that if we wanted to eat at any of the Downtown Disney restaurants, we were in for at least a two hour wait.

So we headed back towards our condo, and stopped to eat Christmas dinner at a cute little restaurant not far from our condo, called "Tiffy's". Scott splurged for their prime rib (it was Christmas dinner, after all), but the kids were happy they had mac and cheese on the menu. Then we headed home to collapse. It had been a LONG day. The kids all instantly fell asleep (all except Nate, who had napped on the plane).

(The boys slept in the living room all week--we did move Josh to the bed and Nate slept on the short little couch, a better fit. The girls had their own room with each in their own double bed. This was a real treat for them because they have to share a bed at home.)

I went to bed as soon as the kids were all asleep. Scott stayed up and ordered our groceries online (till like 2 in the morning). It made up for him sleeping on the plane while I entertained the kids.

The Makings of our Disneyland Trip

2012-01-06T16:05:00.003-07:00

I just have to explain how this trip came to be.

Scott works for a great company. They are generous and kind. Scott works extremely hard and spends a lot of time away from us, but his company rewards him generously. Three years ago they sent Scott and me to Hawaii for a week. This year Scott has brought in a lot of new accounts, so this past summer his boss came to him. He thanked Scott for all of his new accounts, and said as a thank-you, he wanted to send Scott and me on a cruise. He told Scott to go home and tell me to plan it.

I was so excited! I've never been on a cruise. We started looking into them and pricing them. The more we talked about it, the more I wished it could be a family vacation instead. So Scott went to his boss and asked if he cared what kind of vacation we took. He gave us a budget and told us to spend it any way we liked.

And so we picked the week of Christmas to spend a week in Disneyland. Scott's boss paid for the condo for the week, our tickets into Disneyland, and 4 airplane tickets (we bought the other three with skymiles). Scott's mom gave each of the kids cash for Christmas to take to Disneyland to buy souvenirs, so we didn't have to spend any money on souvenirs. And I actually paid attention to one of the many credit card offers I receive daily in the mail--for a Disney Visa card. It was free to get (no fees) and it came with a $200 gift card to use at Disneyland. So we had $200 that we spent on food in the park. We were going to rent a van to get from the airport to our condo, but it was going to be $900 for the week (and it would have just sat in the garage all week). So we opted instead for a private shuttle service (a big black suburban) that drove us from the airport to our condo and then back again for $120 each way. And then we rented a car one day while we were there to go to the beach (which was $90 for the day). We took advantage of free home delivery from the local grocery store, and went back to the condo to cook most of our meals.

So, we pulled off an 8 day trip to Disneyland for a family of 7 for a grand total of $750 out of our pocket. Pretty amazing, right? I am so grateful for the generosity of Scott's boss. We never would have been able to do this trip without it.

(I just have to admit that when the kids had grouchy moments on the trip, I didn't hesitate to remind them that I gave up a cruise to take them on this trip, and that snapped them out of it pretty fast. I have them convinced I'm the best mom in the world for taking them on this trip.)

Christmas

2012-01-06T14:40:00.016-07:00

Christmas day is one of my favorite days of the year. I love it. This year will go down as one of my very favorite Christmases.

Santa brought Savannah a helmet, a Kinect dance game, a Minnie Mouse, and some lotion.

Josh got a BSU football, basketball, soccer ball, and a smurf. Aaron got a Buzz Lightyear that talks and a giant tub of licorice.

Sara got a Barbie, a temple calendar, a Minnie Mouse, and some lotion. Nate got blocks and a Woody. And Owen got a pillow pet and some sippy cups.

Scott and I got a new computer to replace our old one that was coming dangerously close to crashing. There is a really sweet story behind this. Our computer has been needing replaced for a while now. It's 6 years old and is so bogged down that it has a hard time running. This past month, the fan has been failing and it crashes all the time. We really needed a new one. We took the boys with us to Staples one night this December to look at computers (the girls were at gymnastics). We found one that we loved, but we had just had to buy a new fridge and we had Christmas coming up, so Scott and I were talking about whether we could fit it into our budget. Josh came up with a brilliant idea, "You could just ask Santa to bring it to you!". I told him I didn't know if parents got to ask Santa for things, that I thought only kids got to do that.

A few days later, as I was feeding the kids lunch, I was asking the kids what they wanted for Christmas. Sara (in a tattling kind of way) said, "Josh wants a computer!". Josh instantly blushed and tried to deny it. I asked, "Josh, you want a computer?" He shyly replied, "I asked for it for you." The kids had been on a website their teachers had recommended called NorthPole.com, and there was a place to send your wish list to Santa. Josh had asked Santa for a computer for me. I found that so sweet, that it brought tears to my eyes. It worked--Santa brought me a computer.

We started off early--6:30 am. (We let Owen stay asleep, so he missed all the excitement. He didn't wake up till about 8:30.)

And then the fun began....

Santa also brought a trampoline to all of the kids. They had to wait till the sun came up before they got outside to enjoy it.

After discovering everything Santa brought, it was time to open presents. The kids had presents from both sets of grandparents, Savannah had used some of her own money to buy each of her siblings a gift from the dollar store, and then we let the kids draw names and each bought one present for the brother or sister they were assigned. Some of the favorites included: a Roaring Springs family season pass from Grandma and Grandpa Howell, a dart gun for Josh from Aaron, a warming rice bag for Sara that Savannah made for her, a Disney princess art set for Sara from Grandma Sorensen, Nate's very own box of construction trucks from Grandma Sorensen, and Savannah's hat from Grandma Sorensen (which appears on her head in every picture taken from Christmas on out).

Then came time for the gifts from Mom and Dad. Each child just had one present from us. We saved them for the last, then had them all open them at the same time.

The older kids got theirs opened first and started to piece together the phrase. Savannah took control, "Mine says We". Aaron (a little confused) said, "I just have a T and a O". Sara offered up her "going" and Josh showed his "are". Savannah put them together, "We are....We are going...We are going to..." Then she yelled with excitement to Nate (who was still trying to find a place to rip into his wrapping paper), "Nate! Where are we going to?". They all rushed over to Nate and helped him get his box open, and found the word Disneyland.

They started screaming and jumping around, "We are going to Disneyland!" I was filming it all, and from behind the camera I added, "Today. We are going today." They screamed, "Today?!!". Savannah yelled, "I think I'm going to cry!" I called out from behind the camera, "I am crying!" (and yes, as I relive this in writing, I'm crying again). It was wonderful. And then the chaos of packing ensued. I had made packing lists for each of the kids, and gave them the lists and let them pack their own bags (Scott and I helped the little boys).

We paused the packing to go to church (we just had Sacrament meeting), then we came back home and finished up the packing. I was really quite stressed about remembering to pack everything and making it to the airport in plenty of time (our flight was at 3:30 that afternoon), but it all came together.

We had planned this trip months ago, and before making definite plans, we had asked Scott's sister if she would be willing to take care of Owen for us while we were gone. We knew if we took him with us, he would be miserable, and so would we. She was more than happy to help. But as the week approached, Scott's dad was still in the hospital and the stress of that was mounting on everyone. So in an effort to save her a nervous breakdown, we came up with a last minute alternate plan.

I asked my next door neighbor if she would be willing to take Owen for us (just three days before our trip), and she didn't even hesitate to say yes. She has two kids (a girl age 9 and a boy age 6). She would have loved to have more kids, but hasn't been able to have more, so she was actually really excited about getting to have a baby for a week. When we dropped Owen off Christmas afternoon, she said that her kids had asked Santa for a baby. She hadn't told them about watching Owen (our kids play together, and she didn't want them to say something and ruin the surprise), but on Christmas Eve they actually had said, "Maybe Santa will bring us a baby!" So as I said a tearful goodbye to my baby, I knew he was in good hands and would receive plenty of love while I was gone.

And so we set out on our amazing week in Disneyland. It's going to take a lot of posts and lots of pictures to sum up our week, and it's probably going to take at least a week for me to have time to report on it all, but it's something I want thoroughly recorded to help us always remember this Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T22:42:00.008-07:00

We are ready for Santa to come. If only 6 little kids would fall asleep....

Last night we went to the hospital to visit Grandpa Mike and Grandma Jo and give them their Christmas present from us. We planned to be there at the same time as Marc and Kenna, so we were finally able to meet baby Avery, and gave Marc and Kenna their Christmas present from us. This afternoon we made the drive out to Homedale to deliver presents to our Kraupp cousins. We usually have big Howell family get-togethers on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but with Scott's dad in the hospital this year, Christmas just isn't the same.

Since the usual family gatherings were off, we've tried to fill our day with other fun stuff. This morning Scott took the kids out to finish delivering neighbor gifts, while I stayed home with Owen and cleaned. After they got back, we went out to Homedale and the kids had fun playing with their cousins for a few hours. After we got home, Scott ran to his office to get a little work done (he's taken the last few days off and needed to catch up on a few things before more days off for Christmas). While he was there, the kids and I made cookies for Santa. After he got home, we had dinner--homemade pizza. Then we put on Christmas jammies and took our traditional in front of the tree pictures.

This is what our tree looks like every year. But even with all the ornaments out of Owen's reach, they aren't completely safe. Owen grabs on to the bottom branches and shakes the tree till a few ornaments fall to the ground. Then he grabs them and runs away with them as fast as he can.

A bedtime story for all the kids.

The kids are having a sleep-over tonight in the bonus room. It's become our Christmas Eve tradition. We drag all the mattresses off their beds and pile them on the floor for them to sleep on. It's really fun for them to be all together, but with that much combined energy, they don't easily fall asleep. It's almost 11 and they are still going strong. Hopefully they'll fall asleep soon because he have an extremely big day tomorrow. I can't wait to tell all about our Christmas tomorrow!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Haircuts

2011-12-24T18:32:00.006-07:00

I've been thinking about cutting my hair for a long time. I LOVE my long hair, but it's a bit of a pain. Blow drying it takes forever. And it's always getting in the way--it hangs in Owen's face when I'm feeding him a bottle. Such long hair isn't really practical for a mom of 6 kids. But I really loved my hair, and it had become such a part of my identity (or so I thought). After having so many kids and getting older, the rest of my body is showing signs of tiredness, but I felt my hair was something I could be proud of. I kind of felt like my hair was the only thing I had going for me. Silly, right? I mean, it's only hair. And I'm so much more than just my hair. But still, it was so hard to think about cutting it off.

Savannah's hair had also become quite long, and she was ready to chop her's off (and donate it to Locks of Love). I decided that I would join her, and cut mine too. I asked my friends if I should cut it, and I received almost unanimous yesses that I should go through with it and chop off my hair. So I did.

My pile of hair.

Savannah's donated ponytail.

The after pictures.

I love it. It's short and fun and easy. It takes no time at all to dry and style. I feel more free and youthful. I love it....until I look at the before pictures. I loved my long hair, and the pictures make me miss it. But, my new short hair is a fun change, and I can always grow it back out. I think I'm just a little self conscious, because I used to feel like all people saw when they looked at me was my hair, and I could just hide behind it. And now I worry that people will actually focus on what my face looks like. I worry that I won't be "pretty" without my hair. I guess it's time to get past that and just be happy and proud of who I am. But, it's going to take some time to get used to it.

Just because they are cute....

2011-12-20T15:51:00.002-07:00

Ward Christmas Party

2011-12-20T15:42:00.003-07:00

Our ward Christmas party was on Saturday. It was a breakfast, followed by a visit from Santa. And since you can never have enough Santa lap pictures, here you go...

Nate's Preschool Performance

2011-12-20T15:16:00.008-07:00

Last week Nate had his preschool Christmas program. He was a shepherd, and was perhaps the cutest shepherd I've ever seen.

He waited patiently for his turn....

This is the face he made when the angel told him the news. (I was videoing the performance, so these pictures are re-enactments after the play.)

After making his shocked face, he delivered his line perfectly--"Yes! Let's go!".

After the play, Nate was happy to show his baby brother around his preschool room.

His teacher had a cute little table set up with kid-friendly nativities and a tree with family pictures for each of the kids (we are at the top).

I was so proud of Nate. He did such a great job!

Gingerbread Houses

2011-12-20T14:54:00.006-07:00

While Scott was in Alaska on his last trip, I had a friend babysit Owen and Nate so I could go help in Josh's class making gingerbread houses. It was so much fun. Josh got to bring his gingerbread house home this week. We got some pictures of it....

And then everyone had a great time tearing it apart and eating it.

This week was Scott's office Christmas lunch, and he brought home a professionally created gingerbread house. It was beautiful.

After the kids had their way with it....

And because I threatened Scott that these pictures would end up on the blog, and he really didn't believe me, I had to add these. I was trying to get a picture of Josh with his gingerbread house, and Scott decided to give Josh a dose of his own medicine. Josh is famous for sneaking into other people's pictures. He can't help it. If he sees a camera come out, he can't help but lean into the picture. Or give bunny ears. And usually there is food in or on his mouth (we were eating tacos, so Scott intentionally positioned taco meat in the middle of his front teeth--go ahead and look close, it's so attractive).

Emmett Country Christmas

2011-12-20T14:16:00.014-07:00

Two Saturdays ago (I'm a little behind on updating this blog), we made the 45 minute drive out to Emmett to see Santa. Our favorite Little Gym teacher Miss Catti (who recently quit teaching gymnastics to go teach at a preschool) told us about it, and we couldn't pass up an opportunity to go see her. It was so worth the drive. It was held at a ranch, and was very kid friendly and was free! They asked everyone to bring old coats to donate to those in need, so we gathered up our old ones to donate. It was a great community event.

Miss Catti was taking free family pictures for everyone. Here's ours:

The kids got to pet a little horse....

Then goats....

Then the kids got to see Santa. They each got to sit on his lap, and then pick out a stuffed animal from under the tree (donated used and washed stuffed animals). Our little boys were especially thrilled with their new stuffed friends. Aaron has slept with his bear every night since then.

Then the kids got to take little wagon rides....

Last was the big giant horse that all the kids got to sit on. (And while it looks like it was snowing, it really wasn't. It was just really dusty and my flash kept reflecting on the dust.)

After all the kids had taken a turn sitting up on the horse, Aaron realized there was another horse around the corner, and he snuck over on his own to take a turn on it. I was taking Sara's picture and realized that Aaron was right behind her. So then all the kids took a turn on that horse, too.

The kids had such a fun time and behaved so well. On the long drive home, Owen fell asleep. I couldn't resist taking pictures of his red little cheeks.

Sara and Savannah Choir

2011-12-20T13:48:00.005-07:00

The school that my kids go to is an arts magnet school, so they get some fun extra opportunities to participate in the arts. One of those things is choir. Josh chose not to be in choir, but Sara and Savannah have been doing it and love it. A week and a half ago, we got to go to Sara's school music performance. It was all of the 1st and 2nd grade kids.

Last week Savannah went with her honor choir to the capitol building to sing. Scott went to watch and got some pictures for me. While they were singing, a man walked up behind Scott and asked, "Where are these kids from?". Scott turned to see Governor Otter standing there. He told him the kids were from Eagle Elementary, and the Governor stayed and listened for several songs.

This last week, Sara and Savannah's honor choirs had a combined concert. They both did wonderful.

It's been fun attending all these concerts and listening to Christmas music, but I think my three little boys are getting tired having to attend their sister's concerts. Great job Savannah and Sara!

Family Pictures November 2011

2011-12-19T15:14:00.005-07:00

Here are the new family pictures. I love how they turned out. I've promised Scott we don't have to do this again for at least three years. (The picture of all of the kids together was the last one of the day, and all of them wanted to be done. That one may not be perfect, but the kids are forgiven because they did so great with the family shots.)

Aaron

2011-12-07T14:13:00.002-07:00

Today I drove Kindergarten carpool. As I was dropping off the last child, I visited with his mom for a few minutes. When I got back to the suburban, Aaron had buckled the seatbelts to all three empty seats on the back row.

Aaron: "Mom! I buckled up my three imaginary friends!"
Me: "Oh, good job. What are your friends' names?"
Aaron: "Well, they are all girls and they have the same name--KaraElise." Kara Elise is one of his friends from gymnastics last year. He continued, "There's KaraElise #1 that I love, then there's KaraElise #2 that is good at sports, then KaraElise #3 that loves to play computer games!"

Aaron's mind fascinates me. He can think up the most random things on the spur of the moment and he can remember things so well. He is able to explain in detail how something works just because he saw it on a show once. He is creative and has an amazing vocabulary for a 5 year old. He truly is special. But as his mother, I see things in him that make me wonder just how "special" he is. Aaron exhibits certain behaviors that earn him the label of "difficult" from most people. He is a delightful child, but can also be incredibly frustrating and hard to deal with. I've wondered for some time if we were dealing with some sort of spectrum disorder. I've talked to a lot of people about it, and they've all reassured me that he's fine, that he just has a unique personality.

But now we've come up against a real problem. Fine motor skills. I knew he had a problem, but thought it was just a developmental thing that would just fix itself as he got older. But it's not getting better, and his teacher is concerned. He cannot hold a pencil, which makes it so he isn't learning to write. And he can't use scissors. His teacher had an occupational therapist come in and evaluate Aaron, and she agreed that he has a serious problem. His teacher told me that if it were effecting his school work in other areas, then he would qualify for school aid. But, he's such a smart kid that this is the only area he needs help with, so we need to get him private help outside of school. So, I've called a pediatric occupational therapist and am waiting for her to call me back about scheduling an evaluation for Aaron. My neighbor takes her daughter (who has moderately severe autism) to this OT, and she highly recommends her.

So now we are looking at adding therapy once or twice a week to our schedule, which I'm not looking forward to (since I'll have to drag Owen and Nate along with us, probably during the afternoon when Owen should be napping). I'm very anxious to get Aaron seen and evaluated, so I can find out if there is more that we are dealing with. I'm guessing he's got some sort of Sensory Motor Dysfunction going on (which is on the scale of autism). I really want to find out if Aaron simply needs to train his hand muscles, or if this is just the tip of the iceberg of underlying problems. And I'm really hoping that through Aaron's therapy I'll be able to learn things I can do to help him. I feel like I've come to adapt pretty well to dealing with his difficult behavior, but there are times that even I want to just throw up my arms and give up. If there are more underlying problems, I'm hoping I'll learn coping techniques to help Aaron, that will in turn help our entire family.

Thanksgiving and More

2011-12-06T15:16:00.007-07:00

The day before Thanksgiving, I went out to retrieve milk from our outside fridge, only to find warm milk. Our fridge in the garage was Scott's college fridge, so it's a bit old, and we only use it to house the 8 gallons of milk that we buy at a time. We called a repair place, but they estimated the repair to be anywhere from $300 and up. So, we opted for a new fridge. We took all the kids with us to the mall to shop Sears' appliances. We found a fridge we wanted, but they didn't have it in stock and couldn't get it till after Christmas, so we left without a fridge. We did let the kids all pick out new shoes while we were there, so the trip wasn't wasted. Then that night, we put Owen to bed and put a movie on for the other kids, and let Savannah babysit. And Scott and I went to Winco for last minute Thanksgiving food shopping and to Home Depot for a fridge. They had the same fridge that we'd found at Sears, and had it for $70 cheaper (it was only $400), and it was in stock, so we took it home that night. On Thanksgiving the next day, I was thankful for my new fridge.

Our Thanksgiving was nice and quiet. It was just us, and we only cooked things the kids would eat, so we didn't have to listen to "But I don't like that!". We had orange rolls, plain rolls, jello with cool whip, funeral potatoes, ham (instead of turkey), stuffing, 4 cans of olives, and 3 pies (razzleberry, key lime, a chocolate cream cheese--aka better than Robert Redford pie). We spent the day playing games as a family (the kids love Boggle), eating, and just relaxing. It was very nice.

At 4:30 am Friday morning, Josh came downstairs to tell us that he'd thrown up. I went up to find dark red razzleberry pie all over the carpet. I knew if I let it wait till morning, my carpet would be stained. So, I dug out the Bissell and shampooed my upstairs carpet (the path between Josh's room and the bathroom) from 4:30 till 5:30am. Amazingly, all the other kids stayed asleep even with the lights on and the noisy Bissell. In past years I've been up at that time to do Black Friday shopping. This year, I was shampooing carpets. I think I enjoy shopping more.

That afternoon Scott decided it was warm enough to get up on the roof and put up our Christmas lights. He let the kids join him on the roof (while I nervously watched from below). Aaron was too scared to go up the ladder, so he hung out in the truck.

After putting up lights, Scott and I took Owen out shopping with us (and let Savannah babysit the other kids). We made it a short trip, but we just needed to see what deals were out there and got a few Christmas things.

Sunday morning at 6am Aaron threw up in his bed. Thankfully, it was only in his bed, so I didn't have to shampoo any carpet (I only had to gather up his bedding). That morning Scott flew out for Alaska, so I was on my own with a sick child and couldn't go to church. Sara was supposed to give a talk in Primary, so I sent her with our neighbor. Both Josh and Aaron's sicknesses were very short lived (12 hour bugs), and no one else ended up getting sick during the week.

Scott was in Alaska for a week. It was his third and final yearly trip to Alaska--making 3 1/2 weeks total this fall. In past years, the trips have been back to back. This year they were spread out. Looking back over the last two months, it just seems like he was always gone. And when he wasn't gone, he was either adjusting to being home or getting ready to leave again. He missed the last of Josh's flag football season, missed Owen's 1st birthday, and missed 24 bedtimes . This time of year is really hard on our family.

While Scott was gone, the kids and I stayed very busy. We had dance and gymnastics Monday night. Piano lessons Wednesday morning. I drove Kindergarten carpool on Monday and Wednesday. Wednesday morning while Aaron was at school, I took the two little boys to Walmart. Thursday morning was gymnastics with Owen (while Nate was at preschool), and gymnastics for Savannah after school. Thursday evening I took all 6 kids to pack meeting, where Josh was awarded his Bobcat (his very first scouting award). Friday I signed up to help in Josh's class making gingerbread houses (not realizing that Scott would be gone). I had to have all 6 kids and myself ready before school, I made frosting for the houses, dropped Nate and Owen off at my friends house, then took the other 4 kids to school. I helped in Josh's class for an hour and a half making delicious looking gingerbread houses. Then I picked up the little boys and went straight to visiting teaching. Friday night I took the kids to dinner at Burger King and let them play in the play place. Then we made a late trip to Grandma Jo's house to wish her a happy birthday. Sunday morning while Scott was flying to Alaska, his Dad had to go back in for emergency surgery. Jo has been spending her days at the hospital, and not coming home till 8 or 9 at night. So we waited till she got home at 9 to deliver homemade cards from the kids on her birthday.

Scott sent me flowers while he was gone....

Saturday morning Scott's flight arrived in Boise at 9am. I took the kids to their school's Breakfast with Santa, and Scott met us there . They had pancakes, cookie decorating, pictures with Santa, and a $1 store up in the teacher's lounge that the kids got to go shopping in. It was fun.

Saturday afternoon was spent out in the cold building a shelf in our garage for balls. I'll have to take a picture when it's all done. Owen braved the cold for a bit, then we sent him in for a nap.

Saturday night was family pizza night and then a movie.

Sunday was church (no sick kids to keep any of us home), and then tithing settlement later in the afternoon. And then after dinner we left Savannah in charge of getting everyone's jammies on while Scott and I took Owen and went to visit his dad in the hospital.

Last night we had gymnastics and dance for Savannah, Sara, Aaron, and Nate. We all went and while they were doing their gymnastics, Scott, Josh, Owen and I went next door to look at computers at Staples. Our's is old and slow and I really want a new one. But buying one at Christmas time isn't ideal (especially after just buying a new fridge). Josh had the idea that we should just ask Santa to bring it to us. I think I just might try that.

After gymnastics, we went out for ice cream since it was Monday night and we needed a FHE treat. The kids love this frozen yogurt place here in Eagle, where you pick your flavor of frozen yogurt, then load it up with all sorts of toppings. Aaron always ends up with more than he can eat, and very interesting creations. He got full, so he brought his home to finish later. Doesn't it look so appetizing?

Scott took the day off yesterday, but is back at work today. This morning while Nate was at preschool, I took Owen with me to Costco. I never thought I'd be one of those parents who looks forward to sending their child off to preschool, but I have to admit that the mornings that it's just me and Owen are really really nice. I don't get many quiet moments around here, but when it's just me and him, it's nice and quiet. Tonight is our Relief Society's Christmas dinner. I'm looking forward to getting out by myself and socializing with other women. After a week alone with these kids, I need a night out.

Calm--Sort Of

2011-11-22T11:52:00.003-07:00

This week has seemed pretty calm. No big vacations. No Alaska trips. No huge furniture rearranging. And yet, we've had some things that were pretty notable.

Tuesday evening Scott came home from Alaska. He went to work the next day and to Mutual that night, so we still are missing him. He's so busy with work this time of the year, that even when he's not traveling, we don't really get to see him. He also found out this week that his assistant is quitting (she found a better job), and she gave her two week notice (which consists of one week of her being gone for Thanksgiving, and the next week of Scott being gone to Alaska). So, his stress level has skyrocketed as he is faced with having to hire and train a new assistant, and being without help until that happens. And of course, because his stress level rises, so does mine--no assistant at work, means no husband here at home.

Thursday Aaron had a Thanksgiving Feast at kindergarten. I baked 50 mini cornbread muffins the night before to bring for it. Nate was at preschool, so just Owen got to come with me. Scott went with the kids to "Donuts with Dad" before school that morning, then stayed on to help with the set-up for the feast in the kindergarten room. Aaron loved that his baby brother and BOTH of his parents were there with him at his feast.

Thursday after school Savannah had gymnastics. Then that evening the whole family went grocery shopping at Walmart (we were out of pretty much everything). We also went to Bed Bath and Beyond to get presents for two wedding receptions coming up.

Scott's dad had surgery last week. On Friday night we got a babysitter and left the younger 4 kids at home. We took Savannah and Josh to see Grandpa Mike in the hospital, and then took Grandma Jo to dinner with us.

Saturday morning Scott woke up in intense pain. He rolled around and moaned for an hour or so before he asked me to take him to the doctor. We took Owen with us, and left Savannah home to babysit the other kids. I took Scott to Primary Health, where he was diagnosed with a kidney stone, was prescribed some heavy pain medication, and given a funnel with a screen on the end to pee through (so he'd catch the kidney stone and know when it had passed). Then we went home for him to sleep the day away in a drug induced haze. I had a bunch of errands planned for the day, and since Scott was out of commission, I got to take all the kids with me. I let Josh stay home (in case Scott needed anything), and I took the other 5 kids to Old Navy with me. They were having doorbuster deals, which created a very crowded store (not fun with 5 kids), but I scored 4 long sleeve shirts for the girls at $2.66 a piece, a beautiful $90 black coat for me for only $10, and a new winter coat for Savannah for just $7.50. Then I brought all the kids back home, put Owen down for a nap, sent Nate across the street to a birthday party, put a movie on for Aaron and Josh, and took the girls with me to do some Christmas shopping at a local holiday boutique that some of my friends were participating in. After acquiring some cute knit hats for the girls and a few other fun things, we stopped off at Target to get Savannah some new jeans (her's are too tight, she says). Then it was home to find that Scott was miraculously healed. He had passed his kidney stone and was feeling great (although, we was still a little out of it until the pain medicine fully wore off). So, since he was feeling better, we packed up all the kids and went to two wedding receptions that night.

The kids were out of school on Friday (teacher inservice) and are out of school this whole week for Thanksgiving. As Aaron will readily tell you, they get 11 sleeps till they have to go back to school (well, 6 sleeps now). This house has seen more art projects than ever so far this week, and yet every 10 minutes I still hear "I'm bored!" from someone.

Scott's little brother and his wife had their first baby last week. We still need to go see little Avery Jo. The kids can't wait to meet their cousin. I'm trying to give Kenna as much time as possible before that happens.

And our Thanksgiving plans are up in the air. We were planning on having Thanksgiving with Scott's parents (to celebrate his Dad having his surgery done and on the path of recovery). But, they've decided that he won't be feeling well enough to handle a big crowd yet. So, we've considered going to Aberdeen where all of my family will be getting together. But, traveling with 6 kids is exhausting, and Scott has to fly out for his third Alaska trip Sunday morning. With both of our stress levels already so high, I'm not sure either one of us wants to take on the stress of a trip. The idea of just staying home with my little family sounds like the most appealing to me. No packing, no traveling, no breaking up fights in the car, no laundry to do when we get back--just staying home and enjoying this cute little family that I've created. Then we will have time to get our Christmas tree put up and decorated with Scott before he leaves us again for another week. Have I mentioned how glad I am going to be when all this Alaska travel is finally behind us for one more year?

The Great Room Swap

2011-11-13T21:44:00.011-07:00

If you are wondering why it took me so long to blog about Florida, this is why....

I've been busy. We got most of this built before we left for Florida, and then after Florida, I had to paint and distress it. And it's finally done! I LOVE the way it turned out. And all the rooms are finally all rearranged (and all the carpets got shampooed as we rearranged the rooms, which also kept me busy).

So, here's what started it all. This is what the office used to look like (I took these pictures after we'd already moved the computer--the desk was NEVER that clean while it was actually being used).

We gave the desk to Scott's sister. And we moved the piano into that room. Now instead of the "office", it's the "piano room".

I really want a big stuffed chair to put in this corner--all in good time.

And the best part is that I can shut the door and don't have to listen to the girls practice the same song over and over, or have to tell them to use the quiet pedal because their brother is asleep.

And then we had an empty spot where the piano used to be, so we had to fill it with a TV. So, we built the apothecary "Pottery Barn-ish" media console. And then since we had the beautiful stand for a TV, we had to go buy a cool big TV to put on top of it. That entailed a trip to RC Willey with all 6 kids in tow. They all are so excited about our new TV--it's the biggest one in the house.

And now since we have a TV in the living room, that is the new hang out place instead of my bedroom. Notice the lack of kids lounging about, the lack of sippy cups on the nightstand, and the lack of toys strewn about the floor. My bedroom is actually a bedroom now.

And the final room--the loft. It used to be the playroom. Then last winter we had this desk area built in. We've had the kids' computer up there all along, but now we have our computer up there too. I love that I can be on the computer paying bills, blogging, etc. and the kids are surrounding me playing. I hated before that I had to shut myself off from them anytime I wanted to use the computer.

So there you have it--all our "new" rooms. It's amazing how much more family friendly and functional our house has become with the switching up of the rooms. It's made a huge difference and I really love it. It's been a lot of work getting everything switched over, but now we get to sit back and just enjoy it.

Of course now I need to rethink the pictures hanging on the walls. And I want to repaint and redo the window treatment in the living room. And I'd love to replace the green leather couches in the living room that we bought in college. And I'd really, really love to replace our upright piano with a shiny black baby grand. But all that will have to wait for a while. I'm happy with what I have right now. All in due time.

Another Alaska Trip

2011-11-13T21:02:00.003-07:00

We are at the end of day 5 out of 7 of this Alaska trip, and we seem to be surviving pretty well. After this trip we have one more trip the last week of November, and then we get to keep Scott around for a while. I'll be really glad when all of this Alaska travel is done. It really makes me nervous when he travels to such a snowy place this late in the year. Scott assures me that all of it is very safe (the planes, buses, etc.), but I still sigh a huge breath of relief every time I see him walk in the door after one of these trips.

We've been keeping really busy while Scott's been gone. He flew out early Wednesday morning. That morning the girls had piano lessons before school, then I took the four older kids to school. That was Owen's birthday, and he had his one year check at the doctor's office. He was 90th percentile weight, 93rd percentile height, and still well off the charts for head size. The poor thing had to get lots of shots, and he really was not happy about it. After the doctor's appointment, we had just a little bit of time before it was time to go back to the school at noon, because it was my turn for kindergarten carpool. Then later that day after school the four older kids had a primary activity to practice for the primary program that was today.

Thursday I took the kids to school, then took Nate to preschool, then took Owen to gymnastics. Then it was home from gymnastics, get Nate from preschool, and have Aaron come home from Kindergarten. After school I picked the older three up from school and took Savannah to gymnastics. While she was in gymnastics, I took the other 5 kids over to Target to let Aaron pick out a present for a birthday party he was invited to. Then we picked Savannah back up and headed home for dinner.

Friday was another busy morning. I got up early enough to have everyone ready to go when it was time for school. I dropped the older 4 off at school, then kept the little boys in the car while I ran some errands (returned some books to the library and got gas in the suburban). I just needed to waste a little bit of time before going back to the school for Josh's 3rd grade music program (didn't really have enough time to go home and unload everyone, then load everyone back up and go back, so I just ran errands). It was Veteran's Day, so they sang patriotic songs. Josh did great. He wore his scout uniform and got to help carry the flag (which made him so proud). Nate and Owen didn't behave as great as I would have liked them to, but we survived. After the program, the two little boys and I continued on to Walmart and did grocery shopping (we were down to our last gallon of milk). By the time we got home, Owen was more than ready for a nap. Aaron came home a little bit later, and we had a nice quiet afternoon. That night after we had dinner, our two little neighbors that are Aaron and Savannah's age came over to invite the four older kids over for a movie night. I think their mom was trying to give me a little break because she knew Scott was out of town. I appreciated it. They put on pajamas and went next door for a couple of hours for popcorn and a movie, then came home and went to bed. And while they were gone, I put Owen down for the night and then had time to just sit and snuggle my little Nate while we watched Dora together.

Saturday was the Boise State vs. TCU game. Scott had tickets through work, but since he was gone, I got to use them. The last game he had tickets to, was the day before Savannah's birthday, so he took her. This game was Josh's turn. TCU's mascot is the Horned Frogs, which is what Josh's flag football team was named, so Josh thought that was kind of cool. I got a babysitter and was gone almost all day long. Josh and I left at 12:30 and didn't get home till 6 that evening. We had a great time at the game. We were up in the sky box section and had a great view of the game. Scott's assistant, Harvest, was there with her daughter, so we had someone we knew to sit by and visit with. Sadly, BSU lost by one point, and Josh lamented that fact the whole way home, but he and I had a great time together. And the kids at home had a great time with the babysitter (babysitters always let them do so much more than mom lets them do). While we were at the game, Aaron went to his friend's birthday party (I'd arranged a ride for him), and he had a wonderful time.

Today was our primary program at church. Our church is at 9, so I had to get up extra early to get everyone ready on time by myself. Scott's mom and dad came to Sacrament meeting to watch the kids. The kids did great--they each remembered and said their parts perfectly. I was very proud of them. After church, as I was trying to round all 6 of them up, Nate took off running down the hall. Since I couldn't chase him down holding Owen, I sent Sara after him, and Aaron followed. I decided to take Savannah, Josh and Owen out to the car, then go back in the church to find the other three with my arms free. When I went back in after them, I found Sara walking down the hall with tears running down her cheeks, and one of our friends helping to steer Nate down the hall after her. He told me that Sara had been doing her best, but Nate just wouldn't go where she wanted him to. I thanked him for helping, and took Nate and Sara out to the car. I instructed those 5 to stay put in the car, and went back in to find Aaron. I finally found him on my second sweep of the church, hiding behind a chair in the foyer. I was not happy with him. If I hadn't found him when I did, I was seriously considering just leaving him there--there aren't much more safer places than a church, and I'm sure someone would have eventually figured out who he belonged to and returned him. Just kidding, I wouldn't really leave him--maybe.

Tomorrow evening is gymnastics for Aaron and Nate, and dance for Sara and Savannah. Then we just have to make it through Tuesday, and Scott will be home around dinner time. Just two more days--I can do it!

One Year

2011-11-09T21:01:00.014-07:00

One year ago today we checked into the hospital early in the morning.

And after just 2 hours of labor, we got to meet baby number 6.

Checking in that morning, we had no idea he would be as big as he was--9 pounds 2 ounces (our biggest baby)!

Nor did we have any idea he would have as much hair as he did (our babies are usually born bald).

We didn't even know what we were going to name him. But I instantly fell in love with him when he was placed in my arms.

And as we got to know him that first day, we just knew he was supposed to be Owen Henry.

And here we are one year later.

And what a year it has been. Owen changed our lives. Having 6 kids has pushed me to my limits. I am having to cook, clean, and do laundry constantly. Seriously--constantly. It's exhausting. It is really, really hard to find time for everyone and everything. It has definitely been a challenging year. There was the first 6 months and nursing--it was excruciating every time (we had thrush the entire 6 months). I seriously don't know why I stuck with it for so long. And the strict dairy free diet that I had to follow while nursing--that was miserable. And I've had very little sleep this past year. I think I've had maybe 20 nights total of uninterrupted sleep in the entire year. This little boy still hasn't figured out how to consistently sleep through the night. I am tired all the time. And I'm not talking about a yawn here or there, I'm talking about the kind of tired where you are afraid to close your eyes for more than a second, because you might just fall asleep right where you are standing.

And yet, despite all the challenges and frustrations, having Owen be a part of this family for the last year has brought all of us more joy than we could have ever imagined. He is loved by every single one of us. I know some people would question our decision to have 6 kids, but there is no doubt in my mind that our family has been exponentially blessed because we decided to have Owen. When I look at him, I am overwhelmed with a feeling of "right". It's hard to explain, but it just feel so right to have this little BOY, at this TIME, be a part of this FAMILY. He just is right--from his spiky blond hair down to his chubby little toes. I am so in love with this little man, and can't imagine my life without him.

We saved one present for him to open tonight on his actual birthday--one from Grandma and Grandpa Sorensen. They gave him books, which all the other kids grabbed up for themselves to read as soon as they were opened.

Then it was into cozy new birthday jammies from Grandma Jo (he's got a little bit of room to grow into them). (He was chewing on a Tylenol dropper--with two molars coming in, he wants to chew on everything.)

When I rocked Owen to sleep tonight with his bottle, I held him a little bit longer than usual. I wish he could stay my baby forever. Happy first birthday my little Owen!

Owen's Birthday Celebration

2011-11-09T14:26:00.012-07:00

Scott flew out for Alaska early this morning. He'll be gone for a week. He took the day off yesterday (all except for 2 hours in the afternoon) and helped me get some yard work done. We did one last mowing of the lawn and got 6 giant black garbage bags of leaves cleaned up. I'd love to say it's all done, but there is still a lot of work to be done as the leaves continue to fall off the trees. But, it was really nice having Scott help me get so much done--it's a job that is usually left for me to do by myself while he's in Alaska, and it is a HUGE job.

Today is Owen's first birthday, but since Scott had to leave this morning, we celebrated last night. Scott's parents came over to help us celebrate. Owen got his present from us earlier in the day (he was a huge help as Scott and I tried to put it together with Owen crawling all over it), and he played in it all day long. He loves it so much, that I think it's going to have to stay indoors through the winter so he can play with it.

The kids loved getting to help Owen open his presents from Grandma and Grandpa. He got some cute new clothes (after 4 boys, all the clothes he wears are a bit worn out), and some fun touch and feel books that make noises.

Then it was time for cake. He wasn't too sure about the candle being lit.

Time to eat cake. At first he wasn't too sure about it, but it didn't take long before he was digging in to his piece of cake and loving it.

Every time he'd finish a piece, Savannah would sneak him another one. By the end, he was a very chocolaty mess--but a very happy one.

So then it was off to the tub to get clean.

Sara and Nate joined Owen in the bath to keep him happy.

I can't even begin to express how blessed Scott and I are to be this little guy's parents. Happy Birthday Owen!

Halloween

2011-11-08T21:18:00.007-07:00

Scott came home early on Halloween so he could help the kids get their pumpkins carved after school. Each child got to carve their own pumpkin (except for Nate--he just told us what he wanted and Scott carved it for him). All of them did a great job with their pumpkins.

Scott took the kids trick or treating in our neighborhood.

Owen stayed home with me and helped greet trick or treaters at the door. I'd open the door, he'd crawl into the doorway, and then he'd continuously wave and say "hi" to everyone that came up to the door. It was the cutest thing.

The cutest trick or treaters that I saw all night.

Floriday Day 5

2011-11-08T16:14:00.005-07:00

This was our last day there. I wasn't ready to go home yet--I wanted just one more day. But, since we HAD to go home, I made Scott get up super early so we could enjoy what little time we had left.

We had heard that the best time to look for shells was first thing in the morning as the tide was going out. So, we put on our swimsuits and headed down to the beach. But, we didn't have the beautiful 80 degree weather we'd had the day before. This day was COLD. When I say cold, I should clarify that it wasn't "Idaho cold", but it was "Florida cold" at 67 degrees and windy. We had planned on swimming again in the ocean, but decided to keep our shirts on and only dip our feet in the water so we wouldn't freeze.

I love the following pictures. I was trying to get Scott to pose in front of the waves. Notice the picture where the wave is sneaking up on him (I saw it and didn't warn him), and then notice him running from it. I love it!

When we'd found enough shells to take back to the kids, we left the cold beach and went to the heated swimming pool.

There are 15 different swimming pools on the resort (the resort is 2 miles long), and we'd been to a smaller pool, but we wanted to check out the main pool. It overlooks the ocean. We swam for a little bit in the pool, then headed over to the hot tub because it was just so cold outside. Then we headed back to our room. We showered and got dressed, then packed everything up and checked out.

We still had a couple of hours till our flight, so we decided to window shop at the outlet malls that were on the way back to the airport. When we'd wasted enough time, we headed to the airport, turned in our rental car, and caught our flight (at 5:30pm). We had a really short layover (45 minutes) in Minneapolis, then it was home to Boise. Our flight got in at 11:30 and we arrived home just after midnight. And may I just say, I WAS TIRED. I'd gotten up at 7:30 that morning and midnight here was 2 am Florida time--that's a long day. But, just to make me even more tired, I had to unpack and get laundry started (or I'd never get through it all the next day). I finally crawled into bed at 2am (4am Florida time).

It was a great vacation.

Florida Day 4

2011-11-06T17:06:00.017-07:00

After a rainy Friday, we awoke to a beautiful sunny Saturday.

The convention we were attending had officially ended the day before, so we were free to just play. We threw on our swimsuits and headed down to the beach to swim.

Some of our friends who were attending the convention had also planned to stay an extra day to play, and we saw them down on the beach. They had some extra boogie boards that they offered to us to use. It was so much fun. The beach leading up to Captiva Island is a very gradual drop, so we could go out a long way and still touch. Boogie boarding was a blast. While we were out with the boards, one of our friends shouted at us to look at some dolphins swimming past. Dolphins! Just swimming not very far from us--it was amazing. We watched them for a while, then swam back to the beach and got the camera to take some pictures.

When we decided we'd had as much sun exposure as we dared, we tore ourselves away from the beach and went back to our room to get showered and dressed for the day.

We headed to the other end of the island and got lunch at a fast food pizza place (which actually had really good pizza). Then we did some souvenir shopping at a fun little shop named "She Sells Sea Shells". Then we headed over to the wildlife refuge. We did the tram tour our second day there, and our tour guide told us that if we had time, we should do the boat tour of the back bay waters. We were actually hoping to just rent a canoe and explore ourselves. But we got there too late in the day (they stop renting out canoes at 3 in the afternoon). So we paid a little extra and took a guided boat tour. It was worth it.

A funny little side story--when we were paying for our tour, I said we were there for the 6:00 tour. The lady (who was going to be our tour guide) said, "You mean the 5:00 tour?". I laughed and said that I did mean the 5:00 tour, that it had just been a long day. She said, "That's alright. You've got pregnancy brain, so it's allowed." I was a little taken back and didn't know what to say, so I just didn't say anything. I knew I had been eating a LOT on our vacation, but I didn't realize I'd eaten enough to look like I was pregnant. As we walked away, I asked Scott if I really looked pregnant, and he assured me I didn't, but still I was pretty paranoid. A little later when we saw this lady, she asked if we knew if we were having a boy or a girl. Scott delicately told her that I wasn't pregnant. She turned red and apologized profusely to me. She said, "I thought you said you were--I heard you talking about buying something for the baby..." And then it all made sense. As we were heading over to pay, we walked past a display of really cute onesies and we stopped to look at them and talked about getting one for Owen. Instead of thinking that we already had a baby at home, she assumed we were expecting a baby. She assured me that I didn't look at all like I was pregnant and apologized again. So then I wasn't quite so paranoid about how much I'd eaten while on vacation...but I still was just a little bit.

The tour started indoors with information, aquariums and touch tanks.

Then we boarded the boat.

The "sunset cruise" took us out past the Rookery Islands. They weren't so much islands as much as just shallow water where mangrove forests were growing. This is where the birds come home at night to rest. When we were headed out past them, there were only a few birds spotting them.

By the time we came back past them, they were full of beautiful birds seeking refuge for the night.

We saw several dolphins while were out.

We saw lots of birds.

We got some rain, which resulted in a beautiful rainbow.

We got to watch the sun set over the water. It was magnificent.

It was the perfect way to spend our last evening together in Florida.

We ended our night with dinner at the Bayside Restaurant back at our resort (the same place we ate the first night). This time I went for a salad and no dessert (still feeling just a little paranoid about being mistaken for being pregnant). After dinner we stopped by the candy store to get more presents for the kids. Then we went back to our room and I started packing us up to leave the next day.

It really was a perfect day.

Florida Day 3

2011-11-05T19:05:00.003-06:00

This was a day of no pictures because it was a day of staying indoors all day long. A tropical storm moved through, and it rained the entire day. Scott had to get up and go to meetings early (at 8, which was 6am Idaho time), so I slept in. After I got up, I put my swimsuit on and headed over to the pool, hoping to get some sun (I wanted to come back tan). But, 20 minutes into laying out, it started to rain on me, so I went back to the room. Scott didn't get out of meetings till 3:30, and the rain got progressively worse through the day, so I just camped out on the couch with a blanket and relaxed and watched TV (something I never do at home).

After Scott got home from meetings, he joined me relaxing till it was time for dinner. We were supposed to be having a luau on the beach, but the rain forced us indoors. We didn't have an umbrella, so I used a newspaper to keep myself dry (didn't work so well), and we made our way in the rain to the ballroom where they had moved our dinner. Once again, I ate way too much food. After dinner, we checked out the candy store that was right by where we had dinner. They had walls of candy--every child's (or adult's) dream. We stocked up on candy, then went back to our room to watch TV and snack on candy. It was a great lazy day.

Floriday Day 2 (the second half)

2011-11-05T18:18:00.012-06:00

After our stroll along the beach, it was time for our wildlife refuge tram tour. The whole group went. We had an hour and a half long tram tour through the J. N. "Ding" Darling Wildlife Refuge. It was great having a tour guide to pass on his wealth of knowledge about the area and the wildlife.

There were a lot of beautiful birds.

We stopped and walked out by the water.

We got to have a close up look at the mangrove trees. These trees are amazing. They defy the laws of nature by growing in salt water (salt kills plants). They have little orange pores that open to take in oxygen when the tide goes down, and then when the water rises, the pores close to keep the salt out. These mangrove trees were everywhere, and I never got tired of looking at them--they are beautiful trees.

Some horseshoe crabs that got stuck when the tide dropped (which, by the way, aren't in the crab family at all, but an ancient relative of the spider family--I was little creeped out by them once I learned they were a spider).

We were lucky enough to spot an alligator on our tour.

A gopher tortoise.

The point they think Ponce de Leon's ship must have come through.

Some of the scenery from out tour.

It really was a great tour. But, while we were out by the water, we were introduced to the little "no-see-um" bug. It's tiny, but it bites like a mosquito. Except their bit hurts so much worse than a mosquito. You'd feel the bite, look down and only see a tiny black dot--thus the name "no-see-um". And you'd think, that little thing can't be the thing that's causing such a painful bite, but it is--it's vicious. And the bite itches so much worse than a mosquito bite. My bites continued to itch clear through this whole week, and now are all scabs from me itching them raw. Seriously an annoying bug. They were the only part of Florida that I didn't love.

After the tour, we headed into town for our group dinner at a restaurant. It was a buffet, and I ate way too much food (mostly too much desserts from the dessert buffet). But it was very good food. After dinner, we headed back to the other end of the island to our resort. We called the kids to say goodnight and tell them about our adventures. Then we went for a late night swim in the pool that was close to our room (trying to work off some of the desserts we ate). It was an amazing day!

Florida--Day 2 (First Half)

2011-11-02T20:54:00.016-06:00

When we got to the resort the night before, it was dark. So on the morning of our second day, we got to really see where we were staying. I'm not computer savvy enough to figure out how to post pictures from the internet onto here, so I'm posting the link to the resort we stayed in, and you all have to go take a look www.southseas.com.

Captiva is an island off the south western side of Florida, and South Seas Resort is at the very tip of Captiva island. Because it's such a narrow island, you can walk from bay side (where our room was) to beach side in about three minutes. Here's the map we used driving there. You can see the airport in Fort Myers where we flew in. It was about an hour drive, and we got to take a beautiful toll bridge over the bay to Sanibel Island, which then turns into Captiva Island, and then at the end of the island was our resort.

We slept in a bit that first morning because we were so tired from traveling the day before. After we got up, we got ready and headed over to the conference room for lunch and an introduction meeting. We left early so we could look at everything on our walk over. The whole time I was there, I was amazed at all the beautiful birds that were everywhere.

It was another company's retreat, and Scott was just a vendor (presenting insurance options to them), so we didn't need to stay for all their meetings. So after introductions in the meeting, we snuck out and went down to the beach. We only had an hour and a half before we needed to meet back up with the group, so we just walked up the beach for a little bit and got our feet wet.

I was amazed at all the shells that were lying on the beach. Huge piles of shells everywhere. They were so beautiful. I may or may not have gone a bit overboard on collecting shells to bring back to the kids.

The water was so warm and the weather was perfect (a bit hot and humid for Scott, but I thought it felt wonderful). We were wishing we had time to get more than just our feet wet.

Birds everywhere!

A cool caterpillar/grub that we saw walking back from the beach.

The other thing that was everywhere, was lizards. They were little and fast and were everywhere we went. During the day, they would scurry about on the ground.

At night, they liked to hang out on the outside of our hotel. I think they liked the heat that the stucco walls retained at night.

After just a little bit of time out on the beach, it was time to head to the other end of the island for a wildlife refuge tour. But, I'll save that for another post because I have a ton of pictures from that.

Florida--Day 1

2011-11-01T14:56:00.003-06:00

As this summer was drawing to a close, Scott e-mailed me the list of his upcoming trips and asked "Wanna come on any of these?".

First there was California for three days. I really considered going on that one and taking the older three kids to Sea World, but the cost of airplane tickets for all of us was going to be pretty hefty and we'd only end up with about a day and a half to play once you figured in our travel time, so I decided it wasn't worth it.

Then there was Sun Valley for Governor's Cup. I was going to go with him on that one, but my Grandma died and Scott ended up going by himself.

Then there was Sun Valley again. That's when Shauna's mother-in-law died. And once again, Scott went by himself.

Lastly there was Florida. Captiva Island South Seas Resort. Scott needed to go present at a conference there. All I would need to do is pay for my plane ticket, because Scott's work was paying for the rental car and room. It would be easy for me to come along. Except when I looked up the price of the plane ticket, it was $650. I couldn't justify spending that much. But then I remembered that I have a ton of SkyMiles that I've racked up on our credit card. So I used some of those and got the plane ticket for free. So, as all those other trips came and went (and I had to stay home with the kids), I just kept thinking--at least I get to go to Florida.

My parents graciously offered to come stay with the kids as their birthday present to Scott, and they got into town Tuesday afternoon. I was in a bit of a panic in the days leading up to our trip, trying to get everything done and ready to leave. They announced in church on Sunday that a girl in the ward had plums she was trying to give away, so I took a box. So in addition to getting the house clean and the laundry done, I spent all day Tuesday canning plums (jam and syrup). I didn't even get the chance to start packing till about 11 the night before our trip.

Scott and I finished packing around 12:30 Tuesday night. Our flight was scheduled to leave Boise at 5:30, so we needed to be to the airport by 4:30, which meant we needed to leave our house at 4:00am. So, I decided to shower and get dressed and ready BEFORE going to bed, so I could completely finish packing (makeup and everything) before going to sleep. I laid down to sleep at 1:30am and got 2 hours of sleep before we got up at 3:30 and left for the airport by 4:00.

The rest of the day was a blur of plane rides (Boise to Minneapolis then Minneapolis to Fort Myers), lay overs (4 hours in Minneapolis), napping when and where ever we could (airplane seats are so uncomfortable, but my husband has a great shoulder that he let me use, and there's a wonderful lounge upstairs in the Minneapolis airport that wasn't busy and I was able to push together two chairs and lay down and sleep), and finally getting to Florida at 5:30 in the evening. We rented a car, then drove an hour to the resort. It was just before 7pm when we finally got settled into our room. To say the least, we were pretty exhausted.

Our room had a kitchen, but we didn't do any cooking while we were there (I do enough cooking at home, so we ate out the whole time).

Scott on the phone--he's ALWAYS on the phone.

Our bedroom.

The patio. Our room was bayside and this balcony looked out over the water. It was screened in to keep the little lizards out (there were lizard EVERYWHERE).

We called the kids to tell them we'd made it safe, then went out for dinner. We went to the Bayside Restaurant that was part of the resort and had a delightful dinner. As we were walking up to the restaurant, we spotted a manatee swimming in the harbor--our first dose of Floridian wildlife. And let me just say now, I did NOT stick to my diet while we were on vacation--not one little bit. That night Scott had grouper (some kind of fish) and I had a big old hamburger with blue cheese melted on it (although I did ask for a salad instead of fries). And since we were both very full at the end of dinner, we asked for our dessert to go. We got chocolate cake with fresh berries on it, and ate it later back in our room.

The Next Day...

2011-11-01T14:02:00.004-06:00

Ok, so with a little bit of sleep behind me (and when I say little, I mean little--Owen was up a LOT in the night), I'm not quite as irritated by the hair today. And I've come to these conclusions:

--I may have been a little tired and a LOT emotional when I reacted yesterday.
--I still think an apology was in order, but know that I will never get one because of stubbornness.
--I still think that proper etiquette requires a person to ask permission before giving haircuts to minors.

but...

--I realize that there are worse things a person can do than shaving off a little boy's hair.
--Even though I am still mad about the haircut, I am extremely grateful for the 5 days of babysitting that allowed me to go on an amazing vacation.
--Let's be real, I have 6 kids-I'm never going to have the "perfect" family picture.
and
--Nate is still the most handsome 3 year old around, no matter how much hair he has on top of his head.

So, instead of totally cancelling pictures, I've postponed them till Saturday (I can't do them any later, because then Scott is off to Alaska again). That way I have 4 more days to come to grips with Nate's haircut and not be quite so angry by the time we have them taken. Now if only there was some magical potion that I could put on Nate's hair to make it grow.

There Go My Family Pictures

2011-10-31T14:43:00.006-06:00

Ok, so we are back from our trip to Florida, and I'll post all about that later when I have time. I went to bed at 2 am last night, and got up at 8 this morning to get the kids off to school. I've spent my entire day trying to get laundry caught up and clean up the messes that the kids created while I was gone.

I'm just having a really rough day, though. Tomorrow we were going to do family pictures. We had pictures done in the spring (the picture that I have on top of this blog), and they turned out great of everyone. But I didn't like them because of me--I was so fat in them. It was those pictures that prompted me to go on this diet. And I have had unreal self control all summer long, trying to lose weight. And I lost 35 pounds! And I decided to do family pictures again so that I'd actually love the pictures this time. So, just before we left for Florida, I sat all 4 boys down and did haircuts on them so their hair would be perfect in a week when we had family pictures. Josh and Aaron's hair always gets cut pretty short, but Nate's hair I love to leave a little longer on top. Nate's hair is one of my favorite things about him. I love that it's darker than all the other kids'--it sets him apart from the rest, makes him unique. And it's a different texture than the other boys'--it's softer and lays down great when it's long (the other boys' hair just poofs out when it's longer). I love having it longer, so you can really see the color, and so I can actually style it. So even though I had a hundred things that I needed to get done before my trip, I made the time to do the boys' haircuts so they would be perfect. I even took extra time on Nate's and used the trimmers to make sure the line on his neck was just perfect. He looked great (they all did). {I did not take any pictures of this most recent haircut, but it was very similar to the haircut that he had when he started preschool a few months ago.}

And then I came home to this:

My dad decided to shave off all of Nate's hair while I was gone. He didn't even ask me. He didn't pay attention to the fact that Nate's hair was perfectly trimmed around the neck and ears (he definitely didn't look like he NEEDED a haircut). He didn't call me and say "Do you mind if I cut Nate's hair?". He just took him out in the backyard and shaved all his hair off.

And when I called him on it this morning, and told him that he should have asked me, that you don't just cut someone else's kid's hair without asking their parent, he didn't care. I told him that I was going to have to cancel family pictures--not postpone, but cancel (by the time Nate's hair grows back, it will be winter), and he didn't care. And instead of being willing to apologize and admit that he probably should have asked me before he shaved my son's hair off, he decided to pack him and my mom up and go home. They had promised the kids they were going to stay another night so they'd be here on Halloween to see them trick or treating. So now I get to try and explain to the kids when they get home from school, that it was more important to their grandpa to be stubborn and not apologize than it was to keep his promise to them.

Seriously, maybe I'm over reacting, but Nate didn't need a hair cut. He had a hair cut one week ago. It wasn't like his hair was hanging over his ears or neck, making my dad think that he'd be doing me a favor by cutting it. He cut it because it wasn't the haircut he would have done on Nate if he had been in charge. So he took the chance while I was gone to shave it off military style the way he likes it. And he wasn't even sorry that he did it. When I told him that I'd just cut Nate's hair one week ago, his comment was, "When did you do it? In the middle of the night when you couldn't see? Because it was a terrible haircut and had a big patch of long hair hanging out the back." I guarantee you that Nate didn't have a patch of long hair in the back--I took extra time making sure his haircut was perfect because we had pictures, and I had Scott looking over my shoulder telling me whether or not it was even. It was a great haircut. It was perfect. And my dad shaved it all off. And even if there was an uneven patch in the back (which there wasn't), it's a long way from just evening it up in the back to shaving off the entire top. I still am just fuming about it.

So now I have to cancel family pictures. These pictures were supposed to be perfect. We already have pictures that are okay--these were supposed to be perfect. These were supposed to be the pictures that I blow up really big and hang in my entry way for the next three years (that replace my all time favorite family picture that has been hanging there for the last three years). I was going to spend hundreds of dollars on these pictures because they were going to be perfect (my dad also told me I was stupid to be spending money on pictures--his exact words were "all you need is a camera"). I cannot spend that kind of money on pictures that I'm not going to love, or that I'm going to look at and zoom in on Nate and get angry over his haircut. We already have great family pictures of the family as a whole, I wanted a picture where we were ALL perfect.

And no apology. Nothing. No concession that maybe he should have asked me first. No inkling of regret that I was so upset over having to cancel my family pictures. No apology for calling the haircut that I had given my son horrible and uneven. Instead of just saying sorry to me, he went home and left me to have to explain to my kids when they get home why grandma and grandpa couldn't stay to trick or treat with them.

So not only am exhausted from no sleep last night, I here working to clean up the disaster that the house became while I was gone, AND I'm doing it with red puffy eyes from crying all day long. My perfect Fall family picture down by the Eagle River, that I've been dreaming about all summer long, will not happen. And instead of getting to go trick or treating with Scott and the kids tonight (we were going to have my parents hand out candy for us here), I'll have to stay home and hand out candy while they go out without me.

It's really kind of a crappy first day back from vacation.

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-23T13:14:00.012-06:00

Friday night we went as a family to the pumpkin patch. The weather was perfect. We couldn't have asked for a better evening.

We rode the hay ride out into the field. All the kids love getting to do the hay ride.

Once we got out to the field, it was time to search for the perfect pumpkin. Nate was especially proud of the pumpkin he found.

Then it was back on the trailer for a hay ride back. I love these pictures of Owen and Scott that I took. I always worry when he travels that the current baby will forget him while he is gone. Owen wasn't too sure about Scott when he first came back from Alaska, but it didn't take long till he was loving his daddy again.

After we got back from the hay ride, the kids played on the old tractors and looked at the animals. Then we posed for our traditional family picture at the pumpkin patch.

After our time at the pumpkin patch, we were all ready for dinner. We went to TGI Fridays for dinner (Josh had received a coupon for a free kids meal there from his teacher at school). The kids did really well behaving at dinner. It was a really nice family evening together. On the drive home, all three little boys fell asleep in the car. When we got home, we carried Nate and Owen in and put them in bed. We woke Aaron up to walk in the house (he's getting too big to carry). He walked into the kitchen, then collapsed on the rug and fell back to sleep. I think that's a sign that he had a good day.

A Couple of Cowboys

2011-10-23T13:09:00.002-06:00

Last Sunday as we were trying to pass the time being stuck indoors on a rainy day, Josh and Nate decided to play dress-up. I thought these pictures were just too cute not to share.

Life After Alaska

2011-10-21T16:11:00.003-06:00

This week Scott took Monday and Tuesday off. I tried to convince him to just not tell his office that he was back in town and just stay with us till Thursday when they expected him back. But after being gone from work for so long, he was itching to get back to his office and get caught up on everything.

Monday night the whole family went to Josh's end of season football awards ceremony. His football league is sponsored by a church, and the awards ceremony turned out to be more of a "convert you to our religion" meeting than an "awards" ceremony. And the kids did not behave at all during it. All I could think was, "I'm so happy I'm not here doing this alone". I'm sure all Scott could think was, "I should have stayed in Alaska".

On Monday we started a project--a big one. Last year we built a desk area into our upstairs. My ultimate goal has been to turn that into a family computer area and turn our office downstairs into a piano room. So on Monday, we moved our computer upstairs (now we have the kids' computer and our computer on the desk). But then we had a whole room full of office furniture that we didn't need anymore. Scott texted his sister to see if they wanted it (it was their mom's old office furniture), and she did! So we loaded it up into Scott's truck and he delivered it to them out in Homedale. While he was gone, I shampooed the carpet in that room. The kids were excited to come home from school to a big empty room.

The next step in this project was to move the piano into that room, but we couldn't do that till the carpet was dry, so we moved on to the next step--a shelf to hold a TV to go where the piano was in the living room.

On Tuesday morning Scott, Owen, and I (Nate had preschool) went on Aaron's school field trip to the pumpkin patch. It was cold, but was fun. (In the picture, Aaron is on the top right.)

After the field trip, Scott and I took the three little boys to Home Depot and bought the wood for our new shelf. And then we spent the evening with a table saw, wood, and lots of sawdust as we started building our new shelf. We found ourselves really surprised at how quickly the project came together. It's not done yet, but it's close. I'll post pictures of it w

Wednesday Scott went back to work. I spent my day cleaning house, catching up on laundry (Scott's suitcase was still sitting in our living room waiting to be unpacked), and shampooing the carpet in my bedroom (I'm tackling one room at a time). After work, Scott and I worked on the shelf again till it was time for him to go to Mutual.

Thursday morning Scott took the morning off and took Owen to gymnastics. Nate was at preschool, so I had the house to myself to speed clean for an hour. Scott went in to work before noon. Thursdays are Savannah's gymnastics day, so I had to drag all the kids along drop her off there after school. But, with Josh's football done for the season, we didn't have to worry about football practice, and Scott just picked up Savannah from gymnastics after work and brought her home. Not having football is going to make our Thursdays a bit more simple.

This morning (Friday), I went and donated blood. Long story short--11 years ago I found my way onto the "do not donate for life" list because of a false-positive Hep C test. Two years ago, I started the process to get off that list. It took a year--a blood test and clearance from the FBI--but I was told I could start donating blood again. So I went in to donate, and was turned away that time because my iron was too low. So I tried again today. My iron was high enough and I was able to donate blood. Now I'm sporting a nice purple bruise on my arm.

Scott took the morning off work so I could donate blood, but had to go in to work at lunch time. Before he went to work, we got the piano moved from the living room into the office (now piano room). After Aaron got home from Kindergarten, I loaded up Owen into the stroller and Aaron and Nate hopped on their bikes, and we walked over to Aaron's friend Wheaton's house. Wheaton's mom had planned a "Fall Fun Day" party and invited the entire AM Kindergarten class, their parents, and any siblings that wanted to come. We packed a lunch for us, and she provided juice and cookies. It was perfect weather, and all the kids played outside while the moms visited with each other. After the party, we came home and I put Owen down for a nap in his crib, and the rest of the afternoon has been spent updating this blog. But, I think I'm finally caught up. Now we are off to the pumpkin patch as a family! It's great having Scott home for all these activities!!

Sunday Surprise

2011-10-21T15:38:00.003-06:00

Sunday morning I intentionally showed up to church an hour late. The week before I had tried to attend all three hours with the kids, and it didn't go so well. I did my best to keep all 6 kids quiet in Sacrament meeting, but apparently failed miserably (we had people actually get up and move away from us). So I decided to spare everyone else and just show up for Primary. It was much less stressful on me.

After church I had hoped to be able to go on a family bike ride (now that our bikes had unflat tires), but the weather took a turn for the worse and was pouring down rain. So we stayed inside and tried to pass the time.

Now, I have to back track just a bit here. In past years, there have been times when Scott finished up at Red Dog Mine early and was able to come home early. There are charter airplanes that fly in and out of the mine twice a week--on Wednesdays and on Saturdays. So, for him to get to come home early, he has to finish half a week ahead of schedule. It doesn't always happen, but a few times it has. I was really hoping this would be one of those times. Earlier in the week, he mentioned in an email that he was seeing people from 7 in the morning till 11:30 at night, and that hopefully it would pay off so he could finish early. I clung to that hope all week.

Also during that week, I'd become familiar with the special telephone ring that meant it was Scott calling. He has no cell phone coverage up where he is in Alaska, so I have no way of calling him. I have to just sit and wait for him to get a chance to call us. Our home phone has a feature on it that doesn't allow blocked phone numbers to call in. So, when he called from the mine, he had to enter his phone number to allow the call to go through. And when he did that, the phone here did two short rings instead of one long ring like it usually does. I don't know why it did that, but it did. And it was nice because as soon as the phone would start ringing, I knew it was him without even checking Caller ID, and we'd all run frantically to find a phone so we could talk to dad. I told him at one point in the week about the funny ring--I didn't think anything of it, I just mentioned it in one of our phone calls.

So, here we were on day 9 of Scott's trip. And we still had 4 more days to go. He was scheduled to be on the charter plane out of Red Dog on Wednesday and then finish the trip home on Thursday. But, on Friday I had started to hope that just maybe he would finish early, be on the charter plane on Saturday and be home on Sunday. But when he called at 10:30 on Saturday night, it was still the two short rings that we'd become familiar with. I cried to him that I had really needed for him to come home early, and told him I didn't know how I was going to make it through the remaining days. He told me how sorry he was, but that there was just still too much work to do up at the mine.

Sunday afternoon we all sat inside the the house, with the rain coming down, and everything looking drearily gray. At 3:30 the phone rang. It was two short rings. I answered it, knowing it was Scott. He sounded tired. I asked him how he was. He said, "What if I told you that I was at the Boise airport and needed you to come pick me up?" I told him that wasn't even funny, that he shouldn't even joke about it. "I know you are still at the mine, because the phone did two short rings." He said, "What if I figured out how to make the phone do that from anywhere, and I really am at the Boise airport?". I started bawling. I made sure he really was telling the truth, then told him I'd be right there to get him.

Still crying uncontrollably, I got off the phone and yelled at all the kids to hop in the car because we were going to go get dad. Owen was asleep in his crib, and I didn't even care that I had to interrupt his nap and wake him up to come. We drove through the rain to the airport, and I tried really hard to control my tears. Savannah commented half way there, "You are really happy that Dad's back, aren't you". We pulled up to the airport and I jumped out and hugged him so tightly. He said, "You aren't mad that I tricked you, are you?". I assured him that this was a great surprise and that I wasn't mad at all.

So, the October Alaska trip ended up being only 9 days. I feel like we got off so light. I mean, 9 days is a long time, but he's usually gone the entire month. I want to just breath a sigh of relief, but I know that we've got to do this again in November, so we really aren't done yet. But for now, I have my husband back and my kids have their dad again, and we are going to enjoy every minute we have with him.

Football

2011-10-21T15:23:00.008-06:00

Last Saturday was Joshua's last flag football game. His team won again--ending the season with only one loss. Josh came very close to getting a touch down. He got the ball at one end of the field and ran clear down to the other side of the field toward his end zone. He was almost to the goal line when a kid caught up to him and pulled his flag. He was so close! It didn't matter to Josh that he didn't actually make a touchdown--he was just so excited to get such a great run in.

Savannah was the score keeper. Scott had volunteered for that job at the beginning of the season, and Savannah was more than excited to fill in for her dad. (Don't let her seriousness in the pictures fool you, she really loved getting to keep score.)

Sara and Owen were fairly good during the game.

Nate and Aaron were not good during the game. Scott's mom came to see the game. I don't think she was a fan of Nate and Aaron's antics. Neither was I.

After the game, I decided I'd had it with trying to be a single mom to 6 kids. This was day 8 of Scott being gone, and we still had 5 more to go. I took the kids home and put them all to bed. Owen had not been sleeping at nights--he woke up in the middle of the night every single night while Scott was gone (sometimes more than once), so I was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to get a nap. So, the kids and I spent the next three hours in our beds. When we all got up, I was a little less mad at them all.

We spent the rest of our afternoon/evening outside enjoying the weather. I had mowed the lawn on Thursday, but still had some tree pruning that needed to get done. I also took my and Sara's bikes in to the bike shop to get new tires (our bikes had very flat tires). I let Savannah be in charge while I took the bikes in and when I went back to pick them up (10 minutes each trip). We ended the night by staying up late waiting for Scott to call. He had warned me earlier in the day that he was scheduled pretty late into the evening and wouldn't be able to call till 9 our time (7 his time). He finally called at 10:30. Every night he was gone, we cherished those bedtime phone calls. It was just really nice to end our day talking to dad, so we stayed up late that night till he called.

The Howell Family

Owen at 15 Months

Picture Perfect

Golf

Fighting the Winter Blahs

Snow

Aaron

SICK

Back Home

A Cruise or Disneyland?

New Year's Eve

The Not So Great

Schedules

Ocean

World of Color

Phineas and Ferb Dance Party

Christmas Touches

Rides Part II

Rides

BUSY!!

Jedi Training

Characters

Day 1

The Makings of our Disneyland Trip

Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Haircuts

Just because they are cute....

Ward Christmas Party

Nate's Preschool Performance

Gingerbread Houses

Emmett Country Christmas

Sara and Savannah Choir

Family Pictures November 2011

Aaron

Thanksgiving and More

Calm--Sort Of

More Aaron Stories

The Great Room Swap

Another Alaska Trip

One Year

Owen's Birthday Celebration

Halloween

Floriday Day 5

Florida Day 4

Florida Day 3

Floriday Day 2 (the second half)

Florida--Day 2 (First Half)

Florida--Day 1

The Next Day...

There Go My Family Pictures

Pumpkin Patch

A Couple of Cowboys

Life After Alaska

Sunday Surprise

Football