Haircut, Fire Safety, & Ear Piercing

After our bad Friday night we luckily didn't have anymore sickness but it did take us several days to recover as we were all so tired and worn out. Carlyn asked for a blessing since she saw that it helped me feel better and while she was down for a few days, she didn't throw up more.

Sunday morning my mom and I decided to tackle Darren's crazy hair. He freaks out when we cut it but it was driving me nuts hanging in his eyes and being crooked from him fighting during cutting. So we thought it would be quicker to use the clippers. As soon as he heard them he started freaking out. I wanted to take a video, but apparently we left the camera home. You would have thought we were killing the child the way he was freaking out. It wasn't any better when we just used the scissors though and it ended up so crooked (and too short, in my opinion) between him fighting and Rick and I holding his head still. I don't like it because it makes him looks so different but I am happy to get it out of his eyes. I'll have to take an after picture.

On Monday night we decided to do a follow-up fire safety family home evening. We did one maybe 6 months ago and thought a little practical lesson after talking about what to do would be good. So as we talked about getting out of the house and staying out of the house Carlyn started getting really upset after I asked her, "What if you left lamby (her lovey as long as she's been alive) in the house? Would you go back and get her?" I was saying it so that she would know NOTHING was important enough to go back into the house if it was on fire. I didn't think it would be a big deal since she's not as attached to lamby anymore. I was wrong. The poor thing got so upset and was bawling that she wouldn't leave lamby and we couldn't let her die in the fire! Oh it broke my heart. She was getting so upset by the whole talking thing so I suggested that Daddy show us what the smoke detector sounded like and we would pretend to be asleep and practice what we should do if there was a fire in the night. I thought this would be good practice, but also a distraction to Carlyn. Then Anneliese started freaking out. The whole thought of it scared her to death. It took awhile to convince her that it was fine and just a practice and the drill went great. Darren, not to be left out, was put in his crib because that was where he'd be at night and he put up quite a fit. So our fire safety lesson, while I think it went well, was full of drama.

Totally off the point, I'm wondering what suggestions any of you have about where to get the girls ears pierced or any pointers you may have. They did really great earning 100 beans together through minding, not fighting, and not sassing. So its time to get it done soon.

A Quick Little Trip

*I hope this isn't gross. Sorry if it is.



Why is it that things never can go as planned? :) We came to my parent's house Friday night and planned to go back Saturday night. The trip was so that Rick could help my Dad refelt his pool table. Well, I hadn't been feeling well but we attributed that to pregnancy woes. I felt so sick the whole way down and was really upset when I got sick in the car as we pulled in. Ugh. Anyway, we ate dinner and put the kids in bed completely unsuspecting of the night we were about to have. I got really sick at that time, so sick that I asked Rick for a blessing. I did feel better almost immediately which was so nice. Carlyn thought it was so special that Daddy and Grandpa gave me a blessing and the kids quickly fell asleep. I was playing a card game with my Mom while Rick and Dad worked on the pool table. Then I heard a little voice saying, "Mom, I threw up." My least favorite words ever! I was feeling queasy still so I called for Rick. Without going into details I'll just say that Carlyn was sick all night. Darren whined all night until he was sick and didn't sleep well after that, and I was sick myself. We both got up with the kids but then I was so exhausted myself that toward the middle of the night somewhere I couldn't wake up to help anymore. Poor Rick ended up sleeping next to Carlyn on the floor. Lucky Annie seems to have avoided the bug for now and slept surprisingly well considering but still was awake quite a bit in the middle of the night. It was a bummer that this one trip I decided not to pack extra jammies or clothes or anything, only what we needed for one night.

A Sad Little Moment

Okay, this is pretty private for me but I'm sharing because I need support :) I talked to Rick and he understood, but I'm just wondering how anyone else would feel.

Rick and I have decided that 4 kids is our limit. In pregnancies, c-sections, and our house, and we feel like our family is complete after this. My mom asked if that wouldn't make me a little sad and I said, "Not yet." Well, today I had a little sad hit me. I went to a doctor appointment and we talked about how I would schedule my c-section at my next appointment. Yeah! Then I asked about having my tubes tied while he was already in there. He said he's great with that because 4 c-sections is enough for my body. Then I signed some forms saying I asked for one and went home. I was feeling pretty sick today for some reason and it wasn't until later in the day that my thoughts have been consumed with it. "Charlie" seems to sense something and has been especially active which makes me feel a little sad thinking about this being the last one. I really do feel like I can't handle another pregnancy and that we're a good sized family so why am I sad? Hormones most likely, but also because so much of the last 6 years of my life have been focused on having babies. Actually more than that because I went through fertility stuff before I got pregnant with Carlyn.

Most of my friends who have blogs are still in the baby making years so maybe you can't relate, so if not, how do you think you'll feel when you have decided you're done? I've felt really content until today :)


For a little chuckle after a serious moment, Annie was folding washcloths the other day. She does a good job and loves it. I hadn't even asked her to so I told her I was so proud of her for doing it. She grinned and said, "Yeah. Now I'm a teenager!" What a funny little girl.

A Busy Week Cont.

I forgot to add something. After Carlyn mentioned that she hadn't had a Mommy date in a long time the concert last week came up. She felt so special and Rick and I talked about it and decided that we would rotate through the kids for Daddy or Mommy dates. We plan on most of these being free dates or cheap dates but the cost isn't really the point. So Carlyn got her turn and it was Annie's turn last week. On Friday Rick and I decided it had better be that night so we gave Annie the option of having a date with Mommy or Daddy. She chose Daddy. He took her to the mall to walk around and have an ice cream. She wore a dress and everything and looked so cute. In the van Rick told her they were going to the mall and she said, "You're kidding!" She was also very shy (according to him.) They looked in a few stores and even checked out ear piercing (the girls are earning it.) They got home and she was beaming and said, "Mommy, we had the best time!" I love how special she felt and knew that she was loved. She's been in a much better mood since.

A busy week

We started our week last week with a family home evening flying kites in the park. It was a really windy day so I cajoled Rick into going. He really didn't want to but we had a lot of fun when we got there. We had cheap kites from Wal-mart and they were amazingly good flyers. Carlyn had a lot of interest in flying them but Anneliese lost interest after a few minutes. Darren played with a ball for a few minutes and played on the playground, mostly throwing wood chips, the rest of the time. Carlyn said, "Look. I'm a master at this!" She was great too. She got it really high all by herself.

Darren with his ball.
D on the slide. Probably with wood chips in his hands.

Daddy running after helping Annie get her kite up.

I know its hard to see but Carlyn is there all by herself and the kite is pretty high. She was doing it by herself. I let it go and she did the rest.

St. Patrick's Day was on a Tuesday and didn't turn out as we expected :) My mom couldn't come for our regular Tuesday visits. I had called my grandma to tell her we would eat at home and then head out. As soon as we were ready to leave my friend Denise called and said she was on her way to visit and also had some things to drop off. She had a garbage bag of barbie dolls and brat dolls. It was like Christmas at our house :) I have some extra brat doll bodies if anyone wants them. I don't like to keep the ones that don't have clothes. I never did make it to my grandma's house but we had a great visit with Denise and her two youngest kids. Carlyn must have been excited for St. Patrick's Day because she came up all in green and helped Annie wear green too. She kept asking when I was getting dressed so she could pinch me. :) I told her when I got dressed I would wear green. I made green eggs and ham for breakfast and it grossed me out and I don't think I'll do that again! I forgot what we had for lunch but we had taco salad for dinner and I figured the lettuce was green enough for me.

Annie in her green. She has on one of Carlyn's denim skirts and red tights. I did their hair all fancy too with lots of green bands in it (not in these pictures). They loved that.

Carlyn in her first outfit. The green sweater and tights are so cute, but don't match. She also decided it was too warm to wear the sweater and changed into a cute green top.

Rick wanted me to take this picture because Darren never sits still like this. I think he was watching Jungle Book, his new favorite movie.

Our ward had a Primary talent show on Saturday. I'll have to put a little clip on of Carlyn later, but I don't know how to do it from the other camera. Rick used our digital one and took several pictures of Carlyn's dance, but the lighting didn't work well so he took video of Annie's on it. This is part of Carlyn's dance class that are in our ward doing "Happy Working Song" from Enchanted. It was super cute and Carlyn was very enthusiastic. She's on the left and I'm sad I didn't get a better picture of just her. They have aprons on over their leotards and holding scarves.

Annie was in a group with the Sunbeam girls (and a cousin of one girl-she's the tall one) and they did a cute little dance. I chose this one because you can see Annie best. She's in the front right to start with the pink leotard and shoes. She's the smallest I think.

On Sunday the kids went with Aunt Belinda and Josh while Rick and I went to the Draper Temple dedication. They were so excited, even Darren, as they waved goodbye to us from Belinda's truck. Mathew came up last night too and we finished the night with a game of Cities and Nights (Settler's expansion.)

It was such a nice week weather wise. We went for a walk everyday. Yesterday was fairly cold and rainy and this morning we woke up to snow. What a change! I think it was last Thursday we were walking around the block and a neighbor lady came running out and gave us St. Patrick's Day bags of candy. She said she just missed us on St. Patrick's Day. It was so sweet and unexpected. Carlyn now wants to take her something in return. She's so thoughtful. I love it.

Conversations with children

On Sunday we were in the van after visiting Josh for his birthday. I don't remember what Rick did but Annie called him the meanest Dad in the world. Carlyn then asked him for a now and later candy. Annie said, "Me too." Rick said yes to Carlyn but told Annie, "I'm sorry. I'm the meanest Dad in the world. I can't give you candy." He then said if she would be happy and say please that he would give her one. She said no because he was the meanest Dad. I prompted her to say sorry and do what Daddy said. She shook her head and said, "I don't want to. Those candies are too hard anyway." Rick laughed and said, "Well that one just blew up in my face, didn't it." :)

The girls received some "new" barbies and brat dolls from a friend the other day including some male barbies. We didn't have any of those before. I was secretly listening to them playing. They were behind my chair and didn't think I was listening. Annie as the boy: Darling would you like to come with me? Carlyn: No. Say, "Come over here so I can kiss you." :) She's got boys pegged at 5, huh?

Carlyn wants to get her ears pierced has been trying to butter me up. She says, "Mom, you are the prettiest, most beautiful Mom ever. I just love your hair. It just always looks so pretty and I love your clothes too." I do think she's being sincere about her compliments, but I believe them more after I've gotten dressed and done my hair :)

Darren's favorite word is "no." Everything is no. For example, he will bring me his bottle and point to the fridge until I get him a bottle of milk. Then I say, "Darren do you want your bottle." "No!" is the first reply. I say, "Say yes if you want your bottle." "No!" "I'm not giving it to you if you say no. Say yes." "No!" At this point he's getting pretty anxious, but we're sick of him saying no to EVERYTHING. Finally he realizes I'm not giving him the bottle to he signs please. I tell him good job but say yes. He gives me one of his perfected dirty looks and finally he says, "ES." As soon as I give him the bottle he pouts again and says, "No. No. No," in a disapproving way to me. Meaning that I was doing something naughty.

He does say a few other things though. The other day we were at the table for a meal and Rick asked who would like to say prayer. As usual the girls both said loudly, "ME!" What threw us for a loop was Darren piping up with his, "ME!" too. We all busted up. He also did that today at the store when I was bribing them to be good with a sucker. I asked who wanted the sour apple, "ME!" was his response. I asked who wanted the tangerine and got the same response. Both times the girls claimed the sucker and I gave it to them since I figured he was the least picky. He saw me giving them to the girls though and got nervous. So I started to unwrap the 3rd one and he said, "Me!" I guess he didn't want to take his chances that it was for me.

Darn, I had several more. I'll have to try to remember them.

Skating, Sleeping, Silly Pictures

Darren rarely falls asleep anywhere except his bed and sometimes the car. I had to capture this cute picture when he fell asleep watching tv at my grandma's house. I love it!

Our neighbors let us know about a free skating night last week at the Ice Center in Murray. Darren and I watched while Rick took the girls skating. This is Carlyn and Anneliese with Olivia, our neighbor's daughter. Rick went around a couple times before he dared take the girls on the ice. Then they'd barely started when they had to leave for the Zamboni. That was Darren's favorite part of the night.

This was toward the end and if you can see Carlyn is in the middle with Brian and Will on either side. It was really great of them to help and Will especially was really sweet. Annie's feet were hurting so she was sitting down at this point. Rick was just getting some laps in but is there next to Brian.

This isn't the best picture, but Anneliese was hesitant, understandably for a 3 year old, so she was either hanging on Daddy or the wall the whole time. If you notice the bottom left corner, that's Carlyn. She didn't look like she was having the greatest time. I was chasing Darren all over the bleachers the whole time so I still got my exercise in :)

I was trying to get a picture through the glass of them and Rick asked for the camera. This is how the girls were for a good part of the time and Darren was so excited to see them because we'd been sitting there for a long time according to him.

Not the best picture, but I had to put it in to show how brave Carlyn was getting. I was so proud of her. She did fall several times but she did great. She was grinning the rest of the night and saying that she LOVES ice skating and can she take lessons. We can't right now, but I'd like to keep that enthusiasm up. She asks to go every day now. Rick did really well too and didn't fall once.

Friday night my sister's high school choir and her 4 kids, my Mom and Dad, my brother and his girlfriend all were going to the BYU Men's & Women's Chorus Concert. My sister said they ended up with extra tickets and Carlyn and I got to have a Mommy/Daughter date. She'd specifically asked for one recently and we realized it had been awhile so this was perfect. Even though it was Friday 13th and Rick and I were having an off day, we had a really great time. We even got ice cream at McDonald's afterwards and she felt so special. She told me that she loved it so much that she could just hug me for the rest of my life :) That made it worth it for me! We really loved the concert and had a great talk in the car both ways.

My parents stayed over at my Grandma's house Friday night after the concert. Saturday morning while the men moved a pool table for my Dad, my mom helped me with my house and a few things I had to do. I'm realizing that we just don't have enough room for 6 people in this little house and I'm feeling crowded. So I'm having to get creative with a few things. I'm no good at that. I did set up the toddler bed in Darren's room and that's this picture above. Saturday he was so tired that he didn't even fuss or get up. He just fell right asleep and I had to take a picture. He's taken naps on the bed but won't go to bed at night on it. I'm okay with letting him get used to it first.

While he was napping the girls were playing. I'd done a little rearranging (not done, as obvious in the picture) and they liked the change. Here is Annie folding socks. I hate that chore and I wish she could really mate them because she's always playing with them. Plus, there seem to be a ton of ones without mates. UGH. They had been to a birthday party and then played at McDonald's while my parents, Mathew, grandma and I had lunch. The kids weren't hungry but they ate half of mine :) I should have taken pictures of them after the party with their tutus and hair clips and crowns and decorated goblets. Thanks Jess they had a blast! Also, I got a lot done with my Mom's help and I feel a lot better though I've still got a lot to do.

Then they started taking pictures of everything. They took at least 20 of their play kitchen and several of each other. These were my favorites, but not the funniest. Carlyn took this of Annie.

Annie took this of Carlyn. Good pictures. Maybe they'll be photographers :)

Another thing Darren has gotten in the habit of doing is washing his hands in the bathroom sink. Yes our bathroom is that yellow! Short story: our other bathroom has rubber ducks and is so cute. When I was pregnant with Carlyn Rick painted the bathrooms (both of them) to match the ducks on the shower curtain. I love it in the other bathroom. :) Anyway, Darren is standing on a cute stool our neighbor gave us and if I can't find him, this is where he is. He turns it on, tries to get soap, and washes his hands. He usually won't stop on his own so I have to turn it off, dry his hands, and pull him out of there. It really is cute though. You can't see in this picture, but he's standing on his tippy toes. He just wants to do big kid things like the girls. See how proud he is of himself!

Good Example

Carlyn did the cutest thing the other day. We needed to go to Wal-Mart for diapers and a few other small things. Carlyn said, "Mom, can we get a treat at the store to give to someone?" I said, "Sure. Did you have someone in mind?" She said she did and named a neighbor family. I asked her what kind of treat and she said she'd have to see. So we got to Wal-Mart and did our shopping. I had forgotten all about her request but she hadn't. They had packages of cookies along the ends of the rows by the checkstands. She stood there carefully choosing the cookies that she thought our neighbors would like best. She chose the snickerdoodles and put them in the cart. We didn't have time that night to take them to our neighbor, but the next day she insisted on doing it the first chance we got, even though it had started snowing (which was enough to deter me.) She got a baggie from the drawer and put half the cookies into that baggie. She got on her coat and we walked a few houses. As we walked I asked why she wanted to do this for them. She told me that it is because so many people do such nice things for us and she wanted to do something nice for someone else. What a good example to me! Its not that I don't want to be nice, but I get so overwhelmed with myself and my family that when I do think of others, the thought is quickly gone or I never follow through. She also said that she just thought they would like that someone was thinking of them and that they would enjoy the cookies. :) My sweet little girl! Thank goodness that she is giving and thoughtful like her daddy because I need a reminder sometimes. She was so cute giving them to our neighbors and told them it was all her idea. They did actually seem pretty happy too. It really made my day.

A Busy, Crazy Weekend

So we had offered to take Carisa's four girls for the weekend to give her a break. We almost skipped it because my kids had only been on antibiotics for strep 24 hours as of Friday night. But Rick was really great and insisted we take them still but meet Friday night so our kids would be in bed already. It was really important to him that he do this for them and I really appreciated him for that. I love my nieces, but I'm really tired and don't have a lot of patience right now so I didn't know if it was the best timing.

Friday night Rick put the kids to bed and I headed to Provo to meet Carisa and the kids. They were all asleep even though it was only 9:30. I was happy about that because it would mean they'd go to sleep at our house easier. Every child was awake by 8:10 Saturday morning. Didn't anyone teach them to sleep in? My kids usually do but for some reason they didn't. We messed around for a little while then started on a huge breakfast of bacon, sausage, pancakes, and eggs. I should explain that they are 13 (almost 14-very important) , 11, 8, and 5. 4 extra children added quite a bit to the quantities of food we made. We all got ready and made lunches and headed to the Safe Kids Fair. They have booths and activities and I usually go on Friday, but as we were still in the contagious period, decided against it. Plus, it provided a good free activity for all 9 of us.

I knew we were in trouble when we got there and had to circle for 15 minutes to find parking. There were literally thousands of people there. It was insane, especially with 7 kids. We also wondered what people thought of us. 7 kids plus I'm pregnant. :) We got a few funny looks and a few not so nice comment about there being so many of us. I have a lot of respect for anyone with that many kids and I am reminded why 4 is plenty for me. It was crazy because they usually have spinners or games to win a prize and there were huge lines for these and the prizes were sometimes nothing but a pencil or sucker. CRAZY. We tried to skip the busiest things and let the kids take stickers and candy from tables without lines.

We ate lunch after awhile and realized that we were about done. We'd promised that if they were good they could get their faces painted. Well, we found that line and it was terrible! It was longer than any line we stood in at Disneyland. I wish I was exaggerating. We barely moved and it took us an hour and a half to get to the front. We had one adult stand with Darren and the stroller in line and the other would take the kids to different booths. One of their favorites was the company that had the Burmese Pythons. They went nuts petting those. Yes, 6 girls.

Somewhere about then Evynn, my niece who is 5, had wandered away from her sister who was her "buddy." We aren't even sure exactly where she was because she wouldn't tell us after we found her, but she was missing for about 15 minutes. I think she was in line to see Spiderman. Well, once we realized that she was missing, Rick stayed with the kids in line and I ran around trying to find someone "official" to help me. I mostly got pointed from one person to another and I was getting frantic. Finally I found a very helpful lady who got a description from me and told me to stay put. It felt like forever that I waited there praying that somehow we would find her, but looking around me realized how many people where there. I heard them announce it and burst into tears. The lady came back and told me to stand somewhere else which was where they would bring her. I don't know who found her or anything else, but when I saw that little girl with a look like, "Oh, I'm going to get it now" look on her face and not an ounce of being scared I dropped to my knees and hugged her. I'm sure she thought I was going to yell, but I couldn't. I was so relieved. How scary that was. I would like to thank those people who found her but I don't know who they are. Well, that's when she made a comment about wanting to see Spiderman. Her older sisters had been a upset too and were relieved to see her. The line was getting to everyone, but they all insisted that they didn't care. Darren was going crazy and we tried to sedate him with suckers and his bottle. He finally fell asleep when we were at the end of the line and got a little nap. On the upside, their face painting was awesome. Sharice had half of a rainbow butterfly. Jaycie's whole face was a colorful peace sign. Aili and Evynn had bunny faces. Carlyn had half a pink butterfly and a flower on the other side. Annie had a whole brown butterfly. They were super cute.

When we got home I was totally sore and exhausted. I said I was making spaghetti and everyone complained so we got pizza from Papa Murphy's. We ended up making butter noodles too (long story) and most of them wanted that. UGH. That's why I don't do special orders, but butter noodles tasted better to my picky pregnant tastes so I couldn't be too grumpy. Rick wasn't too pleased though. We rented High School Musical 3 (wow, was that a dumb show!) and the kids all loved it. Rick watched a few minutes with us, but couldn't handle it and left. :) We had ice cream sandwiches and went to bed later than we meant to. I meant to give the kids all baths/showers that night because church was at 9 the next morning.

I woke up really early and had a hard time getting anyone to get in the shower after me. Sharice did the best, but everyone else was sluggish, even Rick. Jaycie complained of being sick and Annie and Carlyn came up with fevers and feeling sick too. For crying out loud, they'd been on antibiotics for days so I really wasn't expecting that. Annie was supposed to have her first talk in Primary that day. I was so sad that she didn't get to. She'd done so well when we'd practiced. Anyway, Jaycie stayed home with my girls and they rest of us made it to church on time! A miracle in itself, I know. Darren was really difficult during Sacrament, probably just tired, but he and Rick (who wasn't feeling too great himself) went home after Sacrament.

We had tons of leftovers in the fridge so we had a leftover lunch and then we played some wii. I don't know if it was just that nobody had enough sleep the night before but they kids were all driving me crazy because they were fighting over everything. Which game to play, who got to play, etc. I really just wanted to put on a movie because I thought it would be more mellow. It really doesn't seem like a lot of time looking back on it and we really did have a fun time, but it was crazy. It was really good for the cousins to bond a little. They've been out of state so long and every time we see them it seems like its always a little hectic. This was a nice way to just have fun and spend some time together and let them know that we love them. I really, really appreciated Rick that he made such efforts to show them he cared and he did a lot of the work. He was great and I love him so much for making the effort with my sister's kids. Rick met my sister late Sunday afternoon in Provo to do the switcheroo. She sounded so happy to have had someone look after her kids while she was working and to have a little time to herself. I'm so glad that it was so good for her, and that is a lot of why we did it. We love you, Carisa, and we love your kids too.