I'm sick :(

My head is pounding and I'm cold and shaky, I have a fever too. wahhhh

I had my flu shot this year?! Either this is a cold (do colds come with fevers?) or a different strain of flu that my flu shot didn't cover. SO not fun.

I think I'll just lay around today and take it easy. blech

Back to the couch I go....

Sunday Ponderings and new photos

I just love Sundays. They are a great way to "refuel" and recharge from the week. Let me back up a little....it's been four weeks since we've had a normal Sunday at church. We were sick one week, Easter the next week and out of town, General Conference the next week (an annual church service/meeting that is televised in which you can go to your local church and watch it or watch it at home on the BYU channel. MUCH easier to watch at home on TV! lol), then Stake Conference the next week (all the churches branches/wards in the area come together for one big long church service, but no Sunday school or classes held during that), and then finally today we were back to church again - week 4.

Billy stayed up too late last night and had a hard time waking up this morning. We actually got up at 7:30am and we had to be ready to leave by 8:30am. (Church starts at 9am now and the pews fill up fast so we like to get there early) There have been times when we would have just stayed in bed rather then jump up and frantically try to get everyone ready in an hour. It's exhausting. But I was motivated and pumped up this morning. I was excited to get up and going (SOOO not me. I'm NOT a morning person! haha). So I got everyone going, clothes laid out, breakfast cooking (okay, toaster waffles..not really cooking), and drug Billy out of bed. Grudgingly everyone started to slowly get ready.

I'm so glad we did too. It's funny how the message at church really speaks to you in exactly the ways you need it to. Today the theme seemed to be about how important church is and going to church is. Even in our first Sunday school class which the topic was on the Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit) and still the conversation went to how important it is to go to church every Sunday to feel that spirit, to recharge from the week. It's so easy to lose that throughout the business of a week. At church you can feel the Spirit all around you though and it's so uplifting. I wish I could take that feeling with me around all of the time...and I could if I just paid attention more and devoted more time to praying, studying the scripture, being more in tune with our Heavenly Father. However, like the analogy given in our first Sunday school class - it's like a radio. At church you're on the right station and its clear as a bell, but as we go about our week we get stuck between stations and while we still have that station the whole time it's hard to hear it clearly because it cuts in and out and is fuzzy or you pick up several stations at once. The same goes for feeling the Holy Spirit. He's always there with us but sometimes we just aren't as in tune. Life gets in the way. Stress and business and so many other excuses get in the way. I need to do more throughout the week to keep our Heavenly Father in my thoughts first and foremost. I can't put Him on the back burner and let life get in the way, as hard as that is. Sunday can't be the only day of the week that I devote to him. Every day should be Sunday. Every day should be as devoted to Him.

I love Sundays. After Church the boys are a little nicer to each other, and the messes around the house don't seem so bad, and life seems a little easier then it was on Saturday. I just feel so happy and warm and...grateful.

The craziness of this morning, getting all five boys ready in an hour (six if you include Billy!), was all worth it of course. Billy was just as grateful and happy to go to Church once we finally got up and ready and out the door. After we got home from church he came and gave me a hug. Then he said "Thank you." I ask, "thank you for what?". He responds, "for making me get up this morning and go to church."

Okay on to pictures! Nothing really spectacular today. ;) I just had to share how Gabriel is growing! He fits in the exersaucer now and he looks totally cute in it, but I'm a bit biased. haha

Here is checking out the toys. He loves looking at the brightly colored toys:

And here he is looking at me. I don't know why he opens his eyes so wide! I think it's the flash. lol

Apple Blossom 2009

This weekend is the first weekend of Apple Blossom. Yay. (can you hear the sarcasm there? haha)

Billy wanted to surprise the boys with a trip to the carnival tonight. We had taken the boys to the junior high track to run around and have a little fun while Billy and I walked a few laps. That's all they thought we were doing.

They were supposed to have a good day at school today to be able to go to the carnival tonight, but Brayden had bad day. (And I have a meeting with the principal Monday morning *sigh*) However tonight was the best night for going to the carnival as our weekend is pretty busy, and who knows what next weekend holds for us as well.

So Billy decides to take them to the carnival anyway...(no wonder they never learn! lol) And as we're getting closer we can hear frantic whispering back and forth between the boys in the back seat. Billy asks what they're whispering about and Brayden pipes up, "We think we're going to the carnival!" in which Alex quickly says "No Brayden you weren't supposed to say that! You can't keep a secret!". I guess Alex was worried that if they figured it out then they couldn't go.

The boys were SO excited. However since it wasn't a planned trip, I had no camera with me! *gasp* I think Billy planned it that way. He says it was nice this time not having my camera with me and me having to keep snapping pictures. I guess the family is getting tired of all the picture-taking! But hey, we need these memories to look back on!

Anyway, this will probably be our one carnival trip for this year's Apple Blossom so Billy let the kids have fun and ride whatever they wanted to. It was nicer in the evening (it was 8:30pm when we got there!) because there was no lines and not as big of crowds. However it was cold and windy. Brrrr I kept Gabriel in the sling, under my sweater and with a blanket on him as well. He was toasty, almost sweating. And he slept the entire time...another added benefit to going to the carnival at night.

Baby Billy has a phobia, a phobia of loud things. I think it started at the monster truck races at the race track last summer. He was literally shaking when he hear Grandpa Dave's motorcycle start up last weekend. So tonight at the carnival he was pretty scared of the rides, just watching them and hearing them. There was NO way he'd ride any of them. (Besides he was too small for most of the rides). We did get him on the canoe ride, with Alex sitting with him. He started to cry but then seemed to enjoy it...until the water splashed up on him. That was it, he was DONE and screamed until we got him out.

This year it was nice because Brayden was tall enough for the "big kid" rides. I didn't have to ride with Alex this time. Yay! Not that I don't like rides, but these little traveling carnivals scare me. I'd rather ride a permanent theme park ride.

So the first big kid ride that Brayden rode was the Zero Gravity ride. AAACK! I was so nervous. I kept asking Billy if he thought Brayden would be okay. If you don't know what the Zero Gravity ride is...it's like the round-up, or tumbler, or whatever else they call it. It's a giant wheel that spins so fast that you're stuck to the sides and then turns up on its side so that while you're spinning you can look down on the ground. Great fun.
I didn't have my camera with me, but here is a photo I found on the web of the Zero Gravity ride:

Brayden laughed and smiled all the way through it, he's my little daredevil!
Then Alex, who loves all big rides and isn't afraid to try any of them...wouldn't go in the haunted house ride with Brayden. It's literally just a little car that goes through a dark room with little skeletons and "ghosts" that pop out here and there. It's about a 1 minute ride, at the most. But Alex can't even handle the Halloween section at Walmart. haha So Brayden went alone. He admitted that it was a bit scary going alone (no one else rode the ride either) so he kept his eyes closed the entire time!

We ended up leaving at 10pm, when the carnival closed. Geesh! The boys were SO tired that they were asleep before we even got home. I think everyone had fun though and I'm glad our carnival trip for the year is over with. haha

I just wish I had brought my camera! grrr

Great chore idea for kids

While at a mom's Bible study, someone mentioned a great idea that she had heard of and was trying with her children to get the household chores done. (Thanks Jen!) The idea is to have the children rotate chores once a day so that all of the children learn how to do different household chores, AND the chores actually get done which helps mom. ;) The chores may not be done as I would do them, but they get done good enough.

So today is day two of rotating chores. Yesterday Alex had the laundry. I showed him how to sort clothes, put in the soap, etc. Brayden had the sweeping, which he only got about half done before he gave up in frustration from his brother's constantly walking through his dirt piles and making a bigger mess. (Been there done that buddy! haha) Owen was supposed to be picking up the random messes in the living room and dining room. Note I said "supposed to". And ideally I would have even gotten baby Billy in on the action and helped him put away silverware, or helped him wipe down a bathroom sink...but he was happily snacking in his high chair and staying out of trouble so I let him be. ;)

Today we rotate and Alex has floor duty (so that any crumbs or messes that Brayden missed Alex will now hopefully get), Brayden has laundry duty, and Owen has dishes duty (in which I'll show him how to load and unload a dishwasher). The idea is that the older kids should be able to to the chore themselves, but the younger kids are taught how to do it so that they will know how to do the chore themselves eventually.

Let's hope it keeps working! It may be exciting and new for them now, but that newness will wear off and become a dread for them eventually. haha

Waaaah! The baby is crying...again

This is how I see Gabriel 90% of the day. Okay, that may be an over estimate, but its a lot!
I don't remember the other babies being so fussy. Sometimes he cries to eat, because he needs a diaper change, because he's tired, because his brothers are being too loud, or just because.
Yeah, that's "normal" but at three months old I'm still waiting for him to start being happier and less fussy.
He has no sleeping or eating schedule (its not recommended to put a breastfeeding baby on a schedule, they should eat whenever they are hungry and want to eat) and so it makes it that much harder to figure out why he is crying! Is he tired? Is he hungry? Nope and no. So what's wrong? Often all I can do is just rock him and sing "You are my sunshine", while he screams into my ears. haha
He also doesn't let me put him down, which makes housework hard to do. uggh So for those coming to visit-please don't judge me right now on my house! There may be dishes in the sink, unfolded (but clean, yay!) laundry on the kitchen table, and a week's worth or dirt and crumbs on the floor. *sigh*

I love babies and wouldn't trade him for anything...but I sure can't wait for him to grow up just a *little* bit more...enough to be on more of a sleeping and eating schedule.

I'll end this with one of my favorite poems/lullaby, which while looking for it on the Internet I was surprised to read the title. Oh it's all explained now!

Song for a Fifth Child

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.


by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

A late Happy Easter with updates and photos!

Whew! I'm a tad late here, but better late then never! The baby only lets me lay him down, and he'll stay asleep for a good nap, only about twice a week. *sigh* So today is one of those days. YAY! That means I'm frantically running around trying to get caught up on the mountains of laundry and other chores while he's sleeping.
Whoever said that we new mommas should sleep when the baby sleeps must not have had any other kids or responsibilities to take care of! haha

So...Easter updates! :)

First of all, before I get to the Easter photos I just wanted to share how happy I am that we made such an important decision a year ago, a decision that changed our lives and now a year later I'm still just full of joy and warm fuzzy feelings whenever I think about it. In four more days will be the one year anniversary of Billy's and my baptism. We feel so blessed and thank our Heavenly Father every day for answering our prayers.
So with the one year anniversary also comes a very important event. We're so happy to announce that we're in final preparation mode for going to the temple to be sealed as a family. Yay! Generally speaking, it's another marriage ceremony -but this time instead of "till death do us part" it will be for time and all eternity, so that we may be together in heaven as well as a family.
For those anxiously awaiting news on when and where this will be...still unsure! Not what you wanted to hear I'm sure. haha We're just waiting on one more thing, that hopefully won't take much longer. Tentatively we're planning on next month (May), a Saturday but we may not have that thing that we're waiting for by then so it may be pushed out further. We'll let everyone know for sure though when we know anything. We's SO excited though!

Okay so on to Easter stuff...we went to Grandma Beki's and Grandpa John's house for Easter this year. The boys had a lot of fun, and I think that Grandma and Grandpa had just as much fun hiding the eggs for the Easter egg hunt as the boys had finding the eggs!

I have TONS of pictures, so I'll just quickly go through them explaining each one....

The boys waiting to go outside to hunt the eggs. They are SO excited!

Baby Billy is getting the hang of this Easter egg thing..

Alex getting the high, harder to find "big kid" eggs...

Brayden on the hunt for more eggs...

Owen trying to find more eggs. He was kind of at an awkard age. He was too young to get the harder to find "big kid" eggs because his brothers were faster then he was...but he thought he was too big to get the easy to find "baby" eggs. haha

Alex "egg-cited" (haha) about his eggs he's found...

Daddy showing baby Billy which eggs to pick up, although I think he got the hang of it quite well!

I had Alex pose for this picture by putting the egg back and picking it back up again. The kids were just too dang quick for me to catch on camera!

And then the hunt was over, and poor Owen was upset that he didn't find the last egg. Tough age. :(

So next we went inside to look at all of their treasures in the eggs. Owen was happy then. :)

Baby Billy checking out the candy inside his eggs...

Brayden showing one of the cool designs that Grandma and Grandpa decorated the eggs with...

Grandma holding a sweet sleeping Gabriel...

And now Grandma with a fussy Gabriel - in his true form. LOL

Baby Billy one a prize (a 50 cent piece) for having the egg with bees on it.

Owen, being super silly from all the candy I think, won a gold dollar coin for having another specially decorated egg...

And now Alex won a gold coin also for having a specially decorated egg. Brayden got one too. Funny how it worked out that each boy had a specially decorated egg! Good thinking Grandpa and Grandma. :)

Baby Billy can't get enough of the candy!!!

And now, because the cute pictures of Gabriel in an Easter basket at Grandma's didn't turn out on my camera grrr...here is another cute picture taken yesterday of his super cheesy smile. I love it! He's 12 weeks old now. Where does the time go?!

Wall color ideas?

So this summer, hopefully, we plan on finally painting our walls! Most of the house is done in that fake wood paneling (except for the downstairs and the bathrooms). So that means we'll be painting the living room, dining room, laundry room, and both main floor bedrooms which are kids' rooms.

I don't have a fancy cool home designing/decorating program so I used my own Photoshop to just take a picture of the living room and "paint" over the walls with a color. It's very rough - you have to "visualize" what I'm trying to do...

But here is the general idea I'm thinking of: light tan walls with one darker brown accent wall and white trim. (for those that have been inside our house, it's the wall the curves around the left side-if you were standing at the front door, and separates the kitchen from the living room.)





And, this isn't my work but a photo I found on a design website, this is the idea I had for the boys' rooms. White walls with one contrasting color in the open closet (they have large closets, with no doors anymore on the closets. lol) Like the little boys' room could be blue like in this example, and Alex has requested a dark red. I'm not talking about the green storage closet thing, but just the blue background inside the shelving unit with white walls and white shelves. The boys' closets are as long as one entire wall, so it'd be like one contrast wall of another color (blue, or red) but with white shelves.




Any other ideas, thoughts? We also still have to wallpaper the boys' bathroom (which is actually the master bathroom). We already have the wallpaper bought, but we don't know how to start the wallpapering process. uggh!

Another Giveaway that I'd LOVE to win!

Check this site out - it's super cool! Shelf Reliance has a program called The Thrive Q. It's like "netflix for food storage".

So I'm posting about it here on my blog to enter into the giveaway contest for a Thrive Essentials Sample Pack.

Wish me luck!

First baby laughs!

And I got it caught on camera!

Unfortunately my camera doesn't take great videos in low light...so you can barely see him but you can hear him!

Shots are no fun!

Owen had his 5 year appointment today...which much to his dismay included shots.
I was dealing with Billy Jr (who thinks that Dr. offices are like really cool playgrounds...) and I turn back around to find Owen hiding under the chair.
When the nurse came, I had to pull him out but amazingly he didn't cry or fight us during the shots! He almost cried when it was all done, because he was scared from the whole ordeal I think, but then I bribed him with a sucker. haha

Here is Owen hiding. It was taken on my cell phone camera so forgive the poor quality!

Happy Birthday Owen!

Its been a fun-filled five years with Owen! He's our little April Fools Day baby, and what a "prank" he pulled on us when he was born! haha But for those who haven't heard it, that's a story for another time....

Tonight for Owen's birthday we just had him pick out a dinner (white sauce ravioli's, salad and garlic bread) and then had cake for him.
Some friends of ours even surprised us and came to sing happy birthday to Owen, bringing a gift of a potato. haha It was a joke, they also brought cookies too. yumm! I don't think Owen liked all of the singing but he very much appreciated the cookies!
Thanks "S" family!! (didn't want to post your last name on a public blog!)

Then I took a walk down memory lane as I looked through all of my old photos for pictures of Owen the previous years' birthdays. He looked SO much like baby Billy at 2 yrs old!

Okay so here is the last 4 birthdays with Owen...

Birth (the marks on his cheeks were from the tape on the tubing in his nose..the tape tore his poor little cheeks up! That has to do with the "prank" when he was born..not really funny, but now we can laugh haha)

One year old...


Two years old, with Auntie (my sister) and see uncle Scott in the background? hehe


Three years old and ready to go to preschool..

His fourth birthday was spent at the Portland Zoo..

And today, blowing his candles out!!!