Baby Faces, Squishy Faces

Sunday afternoon is a good time for pictures :)

Awake at 4 a.m.

Yep, Naomi thinks it is time to be awake, awake, awake instead of asleep, so what to do but blog? She seems to like the computer screen, so here we are.

And here is Gwen, curling her hair, with a curler of her own invention on Friday.

Yesterday, we went out as a family for the first time since Naomi was born and consequently, had to take two cars - a milestone of sorts. We headed to the pet store, but Summer saw the music store next door, so we started there. Each of our pianists picked a new book of music to bring home.

The reason we went to the pet store was so that the four oldest girls could each pick a goldfish for a pet as a reward for getting ready for bed on time last week. So they each chose one out of the feeder fish tank and made the poor minimum wage, over wrought employee catch their specific fish.

Michael had fun watching the long, drawn out process.

And if you are wondering why there aren't pictures of Naomi, she was in the baby sling (I love it - New Native) the whole time I had the camera out. The one picture I took was an out of focus blob. Oh well, another time :)

Old Electronics

I gave up on an old portable stereo that just wasn't working right yesterday. The kids and I disassembled it just for fun. Rachel salvaged a speaker and some copper wire and made a bird cage.

Kelly chose some pieces of plastic, a couple of screws, and some wire coating for her art project.

Success!

Both of my nappers down at the same time :)

Introducing...

Here she is in my arms, just moments after she was born. I am so happy to have her here!

Here is the nurse getting her footprints.

Stan brought the kids in to see her at six yesterday evening. Isn't she pretty? She has a little pointy chin, reddish blondish hair and dimples, which you can see if you watch the video.

Here is our little cow holding his newest sister.

Going-To-Bed-Faces

Stan puts Michael in his crib each night. The child fusses less that way, probably because he knows I am the more gullible parent.

Even after six kids, parenting is still full of surprises. A couple of weeks ago, Michael started making the same face each night as Stan took him to his bed. The funny kid came up with it on his own, and it has become part of the routine. Last night, right before Stan was heading off to the shower, I asked him, "Do you think you could get Michael to put on his going to bed face before you showered?" Michael heard me, made the face and went off with his Dad to get into bed without any argument.

Kelly saw me blogging this and wanted to be included, so here is her going to bed face, created on the spot for your viewing pleasure.

Bolleybolleyball

Last night, all of us went to the BYU/CBU volleyball game. We had to drive a ways, but it was worth it because we all had fun. Heather and Gwen got into stomping and chanting with the crowd, Kelly danced in the stands during the band music and Michael is still talking about "watching bolleybolleyball" this morning.

It was great to see, even though our team lost. The last few minutes were especially exciting, with each team taking turns gaining a point at a time. I must be getting responsible (old!?!) because I was torn between winning and the game not going longer so that we could get the kids home to bed.

Here are some links if you want to learn more about it -

Lancers Upset Cougars

and

Lancers stop No. 1

That Stinky Diaper

Boogers, A Birthday and Poetry

Warning - Grossness Alert!!!

If you are feeling nauseated for any reason, do not proceed because this will only make it worse.

The other day, I caught Michael sticking his finger up his nose and then trying to clean it off with his mouth. Hoping to nip a potential bad habit in the bud, I told him, "We don't eat our boogers!! That's gross." Well a couple days after that, I saw that more clarification was necessary. He obviously still thinks there may be nutritional possibilities coming out of his nose.

I was trying to merge onto a busy freeway (always a good time for someone to need help in the back seat) when Michael hollered, "I have hamburgers!"

Me - "What?"

Michael - "I need tissue. Get hamburgers out of my nose."

Me - "Oh, you mean you have BOOGERS. I'll get you a tissue in a minute."

Michael - "Yes, I have bagels."

On another note,

I had a birthday this past week. It was lovely. Here is a picture of the dinner Stan and the girls made - Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo, veggies and Greek Lemon Cake for dessert. It was all delish.

The kids gave me beads, a small blue dish, and more beads. Stan gave me a string of Akoya pearls.

And last, but far from least, is some poetry. We haven't had much rain this winter so everyone was excited when we woke up to the sounds of dripping water this morning. Before she even ate breakfast, Rachel, with a little help from Heather, composed the following -

Pitter, patter everyone,
Pitter, patter to the sun,
And maybe it will rain.

Call the clouds to come o’er here,
‘Cause right now the sky is clear,
And hope that it will rain.

Get galoshes from the garage,
And umbrella, try to dodge,
The maybe coming rain.

Look, behold! It’s dripping now,
Do a dance and then a bow,
We finally have the rain.

Squash Heads & One Cool Dad

Last summer, we grew hubbard squash in our garden (for more info, follow this link and scroll down). Stan cooked one the other night and it was delish, with the added benefit of being so huge, that Rachel was inspired to ask if she could wear part of the rind on her head. Stan is such a cool dad, that he cleaned it up for her and lined it with plastic wrap. He even tried it on after all the girls (who wanted one) had a turn.




More evidence of his greatness as a dad is that when we had concrete poured on the side of the house to park his car on, he had the idea to extend it into the back yard for the kids. Gwen even bought herself a skateboard in honor of the occasion.

Whoosh...he's off!

Michael LOVES his nursery leader, which is understandable. She is very nice. He asks about her all week, "I go class with my teacher?" I like when Sunday comes around and I can answer in the affirmative, "Yes. Today you get to go to class with your teacher!"

I gave him the good news this morning at breakfast and he asked about her at least three times during sacrament meeting, so when I saw her go up onto the stand to give the closing prayer, I pointed her out to Michael. My mistake was not getting a good grip on the waistband of his pants before I did.

He was gone so fast, that I would have had to go up the steps to the podium to catch him. I decided that Michael, without his mother waddling after him (believe you me, I waddle these days) was enough of a spectacle, so I let him go. He pulled on her skirt halfway through the prayer, got a big hug from his teacher and a big smile from the bishop when it was over. Life is sweet when you're fast enough to get away and cute enough to charm everyone when you misbehave.

Every now and then...

...Michael makes us smile. Like today after snack, when he was practicing his burping noises. Since he is such a polite young man, he made sure that he said, "Sorry" after each burp.

URP, sorry...URP, sorry...URP, sorry...

Too Long!

Michael was hungry for his "ball-y cereal" this morning and I guess he thought I was praying for too long. During our morning family prayer, I was about a third of the way through when I heard a voice from the cheap seats saying, "The end."

Speaking of breakfast, when Michael woke up, he asked for "oatmeal with a bowl on it" and "milk with a cup on it." I guess we need to work on the spatial reasoning :)

Summer's Growing Up

We have evidence that the inevitable is happening - she is rocketing through teenagehood with adulthood on the horizon.

Clue #1 - She has big plans. Today in the car, she informed us all the when she grows up, she will own, "a mint green convertible Volkswagen Bug, a pink Motorola RAZR, a white iPod, a cello, and a little fluffy white dog." I guess the dog is supposed to match the iPod.

Clue #2 - She shows signs of hormones wreaking havoc on her reason. She admitted with a slight smile (wondering at her own insanity) that she had a sudden urge to throw her, worn for a week, stinky to the hilt, PE clothes at people (strangers that she admitted to having nothing against) while we were in the parking lot at Sears.

While the years ahead are looking like they will be full of surprises, we are confident that most of them will be pleasant ones. Summer is a great girl and we are glad it is her breaking us into parenting a teenager.

We are trying something new.

Inspired by the cousins, I found myself this morning with an urge to put videos of Michael on the blog. I put him back to bed and proceeded with the first of three interviews, all before breakfast. He developed a case of camera shyness, so I had to bribe him to talk about the stuff in his crib with the promise of candy, which led to the second video. Finally, we went to get him dressed and filmed the last one. Enjoy :)

In Bed

Michael Interview # 1

Eating Candy

Michael Interview # 2

Getting Dressed

Michael Interview # 3

Our Weekend

Before we get into the weekend, we all want to say, Happy Birthday Aunt Sara!

I started off Saturday by making pumpkin muffins for breakfast. Michael wanted to be with me, so I hefted him up onto the counter and let him watch the birds eat their breakfast outside while I made ours.
We like to do something physical together as a family Saturday mornings. Sometimes we play soccer, sometimes badminton, but today we decided to go for a walk. I wanted new scenery, so we drove a few minutes to the riverbed. The kids had fun collecting sticks...


...which they used to play in the sand in the riverbed.

I had Stan take a belly picture which we were there - 6 and 1/2 weeks to go!
Rachel and I went out to get my hair trimmed and then to lunch. She is a fun lunch date. When we got home, we were in the mood for more dessert than fortune cookies, so we all had ice cream cones. What a weird way to eat a cone...

Saturday night after baths, I got ambitious and put foam curlers in Rachel's, Heather's, Gwen's and Kelly's hair. Summer was too busy catching up on homework she missed while she was sick last week and Michael was jealous. He gets left out of things around here. Last night, while Stan and I were on the phone with his parents, the girls were playing dress-up and Summer was putting lip gloss and mascara on Rachel , Heather, Kelly, and herself. Gwen was pretending to be George Washington, her new hero, and we could hear Michael in the background yelling, "I want makeup!! I want MAKEUP!!"

Rachel's hair is too thick and straight to have held the curl all the way through church, but her three younger sisters still looked like Shirley Temple when we got home, only cuter. And I'm not biased as their mother at all.

Pretty, Pretty Please?

The other day, Heather, Gwen and Kelly were trying to get Summer to pretend she was a robot. They each begged her, "Pretty, pretty please? I'm kneeling on my knees." It inspired poetry in Heather (age 8), who wrote the following:

Pretty, pretty please?
I'm kneeling on my knees,
The opposite of ease.
Pretty, pretty please?
My knees are getting sore,
Hard, hard on the floor.
Pretty, pretty please?
You are such a tease.
Will you just stop,
Or else I will pop.

I wish I could guess
That you would say yes,
And be as right
As the sun is light.
I wish you would see
And respect me,
In all of my wishes
From horses to dishes.
Pretty, pretty please?
I'm kneeling on my knees.