a party for a princess

Our princess has turned 4.  In our family we do “big birthdays” every four years and so this year she got to have a party and invite all of her friends.  She has been ecstatic for months.

“Happy Birthday to you”!  Not sure why but she looked as if she were about to cry when we sang to her.

Before Sariah I never knew what it meant to have a princess in the house.  This girl defines the word and has from day one.  She loves her dresses and contemplating her outfits, having her nails and hair done so that she can be beautiful, and she has the attitude to go with it.  

A charming and captivating child the  majority of the time, she can switch instantly to demanding what she wants and is not the least bit patient.

She adores all of her siblings but T.J. is her “baby” and she loves to coddle and take care of him whenever he is in the mind to let her.

This child truly broke the mold and taught me that each child is unique and the same things that work for one wont work for another.  We are always saying that she has enough drama and emotion for all the other four put together.

 

I am so grateful for the way she adds spice to our lives though. For her eager smile and for the way she forces me to think outside the box and treat her as an individual and not just “one of the kids”.  These traits will take her far in life and I am eager to watch her grow.

14

Here I sit, trying to figure out how it is possible that I am old enough to have a child that is 14.  I remember being 14. I remember my mother when I was 14. Is it possible that I am actually as old as she was then?

That is a heck of a lot of candles.  After all these birthday cakes how is it that the cakes I make still look pathetic?

But wait, I am avoiding the subject of this post which is not me at all but my beautiful daughter.

The past year and a half have been difficult as she has navigated her way through the early teen years and become more comfortable with her self- identity.  Scares me to think that I have more children who will have to go through this process.

she has emerged from that stage beautifully though and I am so proud of her that it brings tears to my eyes if I allow myself to ponder on the thought.

She is incredibly responsible, has developed great friendships and truly has a comprehension of her self worth.

This year she entered the “high school” era and is taking a full course load. I was concerned about whether or not she would be able to successfully manage it all, I shouldn’t have been…..

She gets herself up for seminary at 4:45 each morning, gets ready for the day, reads her scriptures and studies the scriptures she needs to memorize then proceeds to get her dad up to drive her.  She has already memorized nearly half of the scriptures required and has surpassed everyone, even her teachers in the number of them she has passed off.

For the third year she is taking Shakespeare.  they are required to red 17 plays and in the first month she has done 9.

She is also taking Economics and classical Literature as well as participating on a rifle team.

None of these things require that I check her, remind her, stay on top of her….  She is taking the initiative for her education knowing that she will only get out of it what is equal to the amount of work she puts into it.   Pretty big concept for someone her age to grasp. I know adults who haven’t figured that out yet.

I marvel as I watch her.

Summer was a bust

One of the hardest things about being pregnant in the summer is that mom doesn’t feel like doing anything.  I have been informed by the children that our summer was a bust.  Upon further inquiry this idea seems to have resulted from the fact that we did not go camping.

Wait a minute. Mom camped for a whole week with the Young Women from church and you guys went to the ward campout for a weekend while mom stayed home….  Yes, but since we did not go camping all together none of it counts.  Ah, the logic.

so here are some pics of the one camping trip the kids went on just to prove that this event actually did exist.

Sadly enough this is all the documentation we have. Dad is not as obsessive about pic taking.

Random pics too cute to not post

all tuckered out after a day of swimming.

Sexy hubby trying to get the perfect pic for his facebook profile.  Why do people take pics of themselves in vehicles with the seat belt on? Boredom?

Michael turns 11

Such a character, but he has more compassion and empathy than any other child I know.

He adores his baby siblings, tolerates his younger brother, and worships his older sister.  Although I am sure that will change as they go through their stages.

He is always thinking of others and enjoys serving others and his family.  Always ready for kisses and hugs.  Such a sweet, tender-hearted child.  I love watching him grow into an amazing person and am excited to see the man he will become and all that he will do with his life.

Right now his passion is in Lego’s and Ball room dancing.  He is on a lego robotics team and is always building things with those tiny legos.  He has the mind of an architect or an engineer.  Dancing he wasn’t too sure about, but we encouraged him to try and he loves it!  The ratio of 4 girls to1 guy may help……

He is at the stage where he is trying to find out how independent he wants to be but at the same time he really finds comfort in his large family and siblings. He thinks about going into his own room and bed sometimes, but the times we have tried it he ends up back in a bed with Isaac.

We are so blessed to have been given stewardship over this amazing child. Happy Birthday sweetheart!

Vacation

With a family our size you have to be on the watch for affordable opportunities to go on vacation.

Some friends of ours have a time share they only wanted to use for the weekend but according to rules or whatever they had to book it for a whole week and asked if our family wanted to spend the week there for $200. Heck yeah!!!!

A week at Long Beach, a week away from life. I’m game….

The weather was less than stellar but we made the most of it. Spent a day at the beach and got some good sand building and kite flying in.

Went to the Cranberry museum which was OK. Interesting, but not enough that we would want to go again.

 

Also went to the Lewis and Clark museum. Now that place is a treasure!!!  We spent so much time there and were truly interested in everything.

Long beach is one of our favorite places to visit.  they have the cutest little main street and the best ice cream shop.

They also have this very strange statue of a Mermaid, except the face totally looks like a guy. So weird! Next time we go down I’ll have to get a picture of it.

Yes I live in the suburbs, yes we have chickens…

For the past few years I have romanticized the idea of raising and keeping chickens.  The major issue?  We live in a Quadrant home area where the houses are an arms length apart.

Then I discover that there is a new trend (at least in Seattle) of backyard chicken coops.  So started my obsession with the idea of   really owning chickens.

For Mothers Day this year Matt surprised me with the best gift ever, six baby chickens that were born on Mothers Day.

They were so small and cute and cuddly. The children immediately fell in love. Especially Michael. He was forever taking them out and walking around with them.

Even the dog got used to them being in the house and never bothered them.

At about nine weeks we made the discovery that we had been sold a rooster and after debating whether to cook him or not I decided to put him on free cycle and someone picked him up the next day.

Matt and sis got busy building a coop out of an old playground set and now we are officially owners of chickens.  Just waiting for the first eggs to hatch now.

Next year we are moving on to bees, or maybe a pygmy goat…..

5th of May

One of our friends in the ward is amazing. Well alot of them are, but this one…. yeah, she is that good.

Every year she cooks up a ton or two of food invites anyone with a pulse into her home and we all party in true Gringo style.

Honestly I start looking forward to this party about the end of Jan.  and then rave about it until May.

The kids run around like crazy and all of us old people laugh and talk and socialize for hours on end.

T.J. gets a little help and advice from a pinata expert.

This year I think we invented a new term of redneck-gringo.  We had tons of candy but only two pinata’s.  Each time a pinata was declared dead it would be handed off to one of the guys who would fill it, duct tape and declare it ready for another beating.  Fairly soon I am pretty sure it was all just duct tape….

Can’t talk now mom, if I open my mouth I may lose some of my candy….

Thanks Linda! We had a blast and can’t wait for next year.  You know you are going to have to continue to hold these parties forever don’t ya?

Circus

We  took the family to the Shriners circus this year when it came to town.   I was afraid it was just going to be one of those small circuses that doesn’t really do much, but wow was I surprised. It was amazing!

Everyone enjoyed it, but Sariah was especially fun to watch. She sat there the whole time with this look of amazement on her face and was often seen wide eyed with her hands over her mouth.

I may have watched her more than I watched the show….

Notice that she is also sporting a super short haircut thanks to her decision to chop off a chunk of hair at her scalp.

Happy Birthday T.J.

My little man, two already…..

He is just the sweetest thing ever. I am so thankful for his easy going spirit and the way he still snuggles up with me.

I can honestly say I don’t have a favorite child but I do think he has been my favorite baby.

He adores his brothers and sisters and is great friends with Sariah.  They are my two peas in a pod. However, he is also very content to play by himself a good deal of the time. I love watching him as he lays on his stomach with his feet kicking, singing a song to himself and coloring in a book or doing his “math” while the others work on theirs.

Happy Birthday little guy, we love you.

Random Party

A friend of mine from high school was talking about how when she was a teen her family would hold get togethers for all of their friends.  Teens would come over and bring food and they would spend an un-structured night just having fun.

As we have attempted to navigate the teen waters with Seri I really started thinking about this and decided that we needed to have random parties.  I really want her surrounded by the best of friends… Friends that will be examples to her and will appreciate her unconditionally.  Friends that she can confide in.

Until now most of  interactions with these friends were limited to church activities, one of the only down sides to homeschooling that you will ever find me admitting.

So she spread the word, we purchased plenty of food and they came.  It was a little nerve racking for me at first because my controlling side wanted to kick in. I so don’t deal well with un-structured things….  I was afraid to let them just hang out.  I wanted to make sure everyone was happy, everyone was included, everyone was busy.  But, I didn’t and I am so proud of myself.  I stayed out of the way and let them figure it out for themselves which they did rather well.

You know what?  It did my heart and soul good to watch this group of teenagers just hang out and goof off.  Love the sound of their laughing and joking.  Here’s to many more random parties and get togethers and here’s to the great friendships my daughter is privileged to have!

Lesson Learned

Serenitie learned an important lesson.  When mowing the lawn, do not carry things in your pocket…..

so much for the Gameboy!