Journaling Every Day Moments

Tonight I was at my book club (yes I have a social life too, surprisingly! It's a rare and elusive creature however) and I was talking about journaling. It struck me how every day little moments pass that I often wish I could capture forever. If I could find a way to print out and publish my facebook comments, then I'm sure I'd nearly capture them all!

When I became pregnant with my first child I kept a detailed journal of my pregnancy with him and most of his first year. I wanted to keep writing in it and give it to him when he turned 18. Then baby two came along, and I started a journal for him too and wrote in for a few months. When number three came a long I only found myself writing a few entries in it. By the time numbers 4 and 5 came along, I barely had time to write their birth story in it after they were born. Abby, number 6, doesn't even have a journal.

I still think that journaling the kids' childhood is a great thing. There are so many things they say and do that I wish I could treasure forever.

So instead of feeling guilty about not writing pages upon pages in each child's journal (that he, or she, may not even want to about all my ramblings some day), I love the idea of just writing little tidbits. One friend even suggested writing one sentence every day - just a sentence to sum up the day or whatever. I think that this is a nice, guilt free, and easy way to remember those special moments or funny stories.

Birthday season 2013 has commenced

 Abby kicked off birthday season with her birthday a couple weeks ago. Now we're on to our second birthday.

Gabe has turned 4!!

Gabe, my "baby" before Abby came is now four. I can hardly believe it.

Flashback photo:



Gabe now, 4 years old:



Today Gabe insisted he be called "Birthday Boy" all day. He also was one spoiled birthday boy. First he got to go pick out his own gifts the night before his birthday. He loved the shopping spree and was trying to grab random items to throw into the car the whole trip - from Angry Bird soap dispensers to various bags of candy. Finally we got him narrowed down to a pirate sword/shield set, a My Little Pony trading card pack and slap bracelet, a bag of his favorite chips, a box of juice boxes,  and a new bike!
Then Gabe got to bring cupcakes to his preschool class today. Next he had special treatment at lunch time including his juice box, a strawberry smoothie, and shells and cheese. He even got to open his pirate sword set early and played a bit of sword fighting with mom. Then his brothers got home from school and he shared his cupcakes and had more sword fights. For dinner he got to pick out his favorite food -which was PIZZA. (Uhh not on our new health eating plan though) We splurged and got him pepperoni pizza complete with cookie dough and cheesy bread. For dessert he got strawberry shortcake. YUMM  However what Gabe REALLY wanted was a Minecraft cake. So I've got a cake being made to be ready at a later date.

I'd say, overall, the birthday boy had a pretty good day! Now mom gets a breather before the Insane Birthday Week begins...one more month.

New Year's Resolution UPDATE

So. Its half-way through January. Amazingly we're still sticking with our New Year's Resolution. Rather then bog down the family blog with healthy eating updates, I updated my See Mommy Run blog (See tab at top of this blog). :) So go there for the skinny on getting skinny (okay, I admit that was cheesy).

I don't think I mentioned our other half of the New Year's Resolution, however. Billy came up with an idea to help our family also. While I'm working on the healthy side of things, he's working on the moral side of things.

Some of our boys have potty mouths. While our version of potty mouths range from "crap", "butt", or "stupid"...the extreme end of this range includes the Big Ones occasionally. You know, the ones they can't even air on TV or the radio. Oh boy.  So, dear husband has come up with a plan to Feed the Pig whenever an unacceptable word is said. While most of us don't have change on hand at all times, we keep a tally system. The boys are given an allowance and have to pay up their tally marks for bad words, as well as pay tithing (10%) before they get the remainder of their allowance. The first week our boys roughly got half of what they were supposed to get...
So said Pig is actually a pig of the ceramic variety. Decorated with festive "Vacation Fund" wording (see photo). Next year, when its family vacation time, we will break open the Pig and take a nice vacation with our potty mouth earnings. Further, if we cheat and go to take-out we have to put the same amount we spent into the Pig. Another stipulation was added as well that if we skip church for no good reason, each person has to put in a small amount in the Pig.

At the rate we're going, we'll be half-way to Hawaii in no time.

Everyone is slowly getting involved and in the game. I can't say "crap" now without little ears somewhere shouting at me "FEED THE PIG!" The boys get great joy from catching each other in the act.  The other day the TV was on, and the 3 yr old was even chastising actors on the TV show to "feed the pig" every few minutes.

Look forward to more updates from us soon, including some blog changes. I am thinking of switching the blog up a bit...any ideas?

First Birthday Photos...

Just a quick, shameless, photo post. I will have more to post later, but for now here are Abby's first birthday photos that I thought I should share!
The cake! An awesome princess cake, chocolate with raspberry filling, made by our cousin Heidi from Heidi's Treats. SO yummy!

Interestingly enough, the boys were jealous of all the pink and fuss over Abby. Maybe because they have birthdays so close together that its not often they get a whole party to themselves. I insisted to each one that they had a big 1st birthday party fuss as well!

Abby loved the paper, ribbons, and bags the most!

Big brother Brayden holding a smiley Abby.

Cake time...but she's just daintily picking pieces off like a true Princess. She just started picking the pink and purple fondant balls off to eat.

So big brother Alex got in there and showed her how to tear into the cake properly.

"Oh..there's chocolate in here you say?!"

Digging in...

CHOCOLATE!!!!

Finally getting the hang of this cake thing.

"Did I get it all?"

The aftermath...not too bad!

Haaaaaapy New Year! (And Happy Birthday)

 Wow what a year 2012 was...
First of all, biggest news, THE WORLD DIDN'T END! We get to see 2013 (bet the Mayans didn't see that one coming...)

2012 was a happy year for us. We added a new special little member to our family.
She almost came on New Years. We were sort of hoping for it. Rumor had it the first New Years baby got a prize. However, every other mom and baby must have had the same idea. The delivery rooms were full and so we had to wait another day. Oh boy was that tough.

January 2nd celebrates Abby's first birthday!!

Here's a quick look back, just a day old:



And now (well last month):



She's spoiled and loved by all. The boys still fight over who's turn it is to hold her. Now they like to sneak her treats behind mom's back also. She's going to get every little thing she asks for. Oh Boy.

Now...on BIG Family New Year's Resolution.

We are going to attempt to eat healthy, preservative-free, artificial sugar-free, and just as pure and healthy as possible. I think going too extreme our first attempt will burn us out quick. So this will be a learning process. I'm taking it one week at a time with  my meal planning.  We may be having to do this in baby steps. A great tool to start our journey out with is the 100 days of real food website. Recipes, meal plans, lots of tips. Great stuff. http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/
I will be updating our progress here on the blog. By the end of 2013 I hope to be writing a similar post to this telling you of all the great things we've seen by changing our diet. Yay!
I'm not a baker (nor for that matter a butcher nor a candlestick maker)...so I will be limited on what I can do. However it will be interested. I was pretty excited to see a Great Harvest Breads in Wenatchee. I guess I never paid attention before! I hope to buy our whole wheat bread there since I lack a wheat mill as well as the desire and talent to grind my own wheat and bake my own bread every week.
Check back weekly, or maybe monthly, to see how we're doing!

School starts back for me, like now, so I'm back to being a busy full time mom/full time college student again.

Hoping that 2013 will be a fantastic year for all!

Merry Christmas to all!

Well we have had a busy holiday season so far!

Holidays with a big family can be crazy. Organized chaos is the best we can hope for.
Sorry for the lack of witty commentary, but I'm battling a nasty cold that Santa left me. The best you are going to get is the highlight reel. Sorry.

BUT as a fun little shout-out: I wrote an article for a local super-cool magazine. SO check it out! Locals can find it in several businesses around town:
https://www.facebook.com/ncwkidconnect

If you are still here after that exciting intro...here are the highlights of Christmas season 2012!

Brayden was in a school musical. They did the 12 Days of Christmas, but a funkified version. It was very cute. He was one of the 10 lords-a-leaping. 

(Brayden and friend pictured)

Gabe also had a Christmas musical for his preschool class. They did a mix of Christmas songs including the ever-popular hits "Where is Santa", "Little Miss Muffet", and "Jack Be Nimble". 

(Not Christmas related, but Gabe decided to get into my make-up, as usual. I couldn't resist to snap a pic. He was so proud of himself)

Grandma came to visit after her successful surgery. Here she is just a few hours later, already bouncing grandkids on her knee (well maybe more balancing then bouncing going on).

Next we went to the day after the Christmas lighting in Leavenworth, WA. The day of was packed. 

First night of Christmas lighting: 

We went the next day...much better. Its like Santa's village. I love it there!

Next was the church Christmas party. Daddy had to work, so I did it solo. It worked okay with a buddy system, but soon I lost them all in the hallways playing tag. Oops. Thankfully it was soon time to go following the church hallway tag game.

Gabe and Santa!!

Abby, Billy Jr and Santa. Abby's first time with Santa. She didn't care at all. She was more concerned with posing for the camera, as usual.

Then later in December we got to visit Nana and Papa, as well as Auntie and lots of Uncles, also Great Grandpa was there too!  

(Brayden and new sweet baby cousin)

Gabe was in happyland with his Buzz Lightyear costume and My Little Pony.

Abby and Uncle Sam

Okay, now onto Christmas. For the first year we started a new tradition. Tired of the previous Christmas pasts with Christmas morning photos of half-naked kids or ratty pajamas, we decided to buy them all new pajamas to open Christmas Eve and wear Christmas morning. Yay! Each was hand selected, by me, for each child's personality. :)

(Waiting patiently for their gift. They didn't know it was CLOTHES yet)

Abby with her pajamas!

Boys opening their pajama gifts:

Gabe LOVED his "Wii Mario" pajamas and insisted on a picture in front of the tree. He calls all Mario things "Wii Mario" because he first learned about Mario from Wii Mario Kart.

The whole family, almost, in Christmas PJ's. It went over pretty well. A little fussing that it wasn't toys, but the boys loved their personally picked out pajamas. I wasn't wearing mine in this picture, however, because everyone decided to get dressed right there in the main room. I was busy helping the little boys and before I knew it, it was picture time. The boys don't have much patience for picture time.

Christmas morning I took video. So...no pictures. (Yeah after all that Christmas PJ talk!)

But here is some of the aftermath.

Brayden on his new pogo-stick...

Billy Jr with his "real tool" belt and set. He LOVED it.

And...because I can't resist it. A shameless Abby photo series...

Merry Christmas to all!! I hope your holidays were just as grand. Now I'm looking forward to a fun and exciting new year. Check back soon for our BIG family New Year's Resolution. Yikes!

Talking to your kids about tragedy

Children being taught what to do in case a gunman comes into their school - It just doesn't seem right that we should even have to think of such horrors, much less have them actually happen.

Instead of my usual cheery post I want to just take a little time to recognize those sweet children who were lost in Newtown, Connecticut last week. I look at my own kindergartner and I can't imagine the type of monster it would take to hurt such innocent young children, babies even still.

The shooting was the only thing on my mind last week, so I was surprised when picking up my kids from school that day they had heard nothing about it. The schools here are taking the stance that it should be kept quiet and not openly announced in school, although counselors are standing by for those who need it.  My boys had heard nothing of the school shooting although keep it quiet for too much longer would be impossible.
I discussed it with my older boys who would understand. My 13 year old couldn't even fathom such a think and didn't even know what to say or think about it. Kids shouldn't have to deal with this kind of tragedy. Then with my 10 year old, his first reaction was what he would do in that type of situation. That's the kind of person he is. He says if he was there he would have ran right up to the gunman, karate chopped him, and taken his gun. Or else he would have jumped in front of the other kids so that they wouldn't have gotten hurt.  I told him there is great honor in being a hero, but that sometimes the best way we can help is to stay out of the way and hide.
It felt so wrong as a parent to even have to tell my children about such horrific events. However, I would want my children to know what to do in case it ever happened in their school.

Our school district recently sent out a letter to all parents regarding this horrible tragedy. Here are the safety precautions our schools take:

1. Monthly safety drills consisting of shelter in place, lock downs, and evacuations.
2. Common safety flip charts posted in all classrooms and offices.
3. Use of red and green colored paper indicators in windows or outside doors to indicate all is well (green) or assistance is needed (red).
4. Unannounced safety drills where students and employees are purposefully hidden and staff must work to identify who is missing.
5. Use of the Threat Assessment Process when a threat is identified in an attempt to substantiate, or dismiss a threat.
6. Employee photo identifications have been provided and all employees are asked to wear these during work to assist parents in recognizing staff and identification of employees and non-employees during an emergency or drill.
7. Safety vests have been purchased last month and will be distributed to all employees once they are received. These will be for employees to wear during a drill/emergency to assist parents, emergency, and medical personnel in identification or employees and non-employees.
8. A new administrator supervisor safety flip chart is in draft and has been distributed to all supervisory level employees. The chart provides greater details for responsibility and activities during an evacuation and reunification with parents.

Further, here are links to help with more questions:

1.  A National Tragedy: Helping Children Cope, from the National Association of School Psychologists

      (http://www.nasponline.org/resources/crisis_safety/terror_general.aspx).

 

  2.  Talking to Children About Violence, National Association of School Psychologists    

       (http://www.nasponline.org/resources/handouts/revisedPDFs/talkingviolence.pdf)

 

  3.  Listen, Protect and Connect: Psychological First Aid for Teachers and Schools

       (http://www.ready.gov/sites/default/files/documents/files/PFA_SchoolCrisis.pdf)

In closing I want to just say that we believe, my family and I, that those sweet innocent children went straight up to heaven to wait for their parents to join them someday. They are safe and protected now. My prayers go for the families left behind and the tragedy they are living with.

Here is a sweet poem I found online to end with:

“T’was eleven days before Christmas

Around 9:38,

When twenty beautiful children

Stormed Heaven’s gate

Their smiles were contagious

Their laughter filled the air,
They could hardly believe
All the beauty they saw there!
They were filled with such joy
They didn’t know what to say,
They remembered nothing
Of what had happened earlier that day,
“Where are we?” Asked a little girl,
As quiet as a mouse,
“This is Heaven!” declared a small boy,
“We’re spending Christmas at God’s House!”–Cameo Smith, Mt. Wolf, PA