Our Thanksgiving

We just had one of the best Thanksgivings I can remember. I love getting together with our extended family, but this year we didn't end up doing that. It was just our own little family in our own house having only the Thanksgiving foods we like. I have never been so relaxed on Thanksgiving day. And we had the best turkey ever with this recipe thanks to my good friend Siouxsie. It wasn't hard to make and it had so much more flavor than any turkey I've ever had, so I'll probably always make this one from now on. My kids even wanted seconds, and usually they just want ham instead of the turkey. :) The drippings made great gravy, too.

One of the best things is that I was done cooking, eating and cleaning up before the twins went down for their nap, so I got to spend a couple of hours sewing in the evening. T.'s nightgown is ready for Christmas Eve now, and she is going to be soooo cute in it.

We hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving as much as we enjoyed ours.

Christmas card pictures

Last Sunday we set out to take some pictures to put on our Christmas card. It all starts with Mommy spending hours finding matching shirts for the kids to wear. Then Mommy does everyone's hair to match (except, of course, I.'s). Mommy and the kids troop out to the back yard to take pictures. Kids last about five minutes. Mommy lasts a little longer before sending A. off to get Daddy to come help. Pretty soon Mommy abandons Daddy to play with the kids and take more pictures because she is too frusterated to stand it any more. Daddy takes over 100 pictures and NOT ONE has all five children looking good. Every one has someone missing or looking goofy. Mommy spends quite a while editing and trying to get everyone to agree on one picture--without success. So the top three all made this year's Christmas card and the print order is already on it's way here.

And since this post took me several days to write and it's now Thanksgiving, let me add a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I am so thankful for all the wonderful people in my life.

And I'm thankful that I have five super cute kids to take pictures of and that I have a camera to take pictures with--even if they all look silly. :)

I do it

T.'s new thing is to tell me "I do it," all the time. She's discovered that she's more capable than she thought, but sometimes she expects to do things like roast her own hot dog and marshmallows over the campfire, and that doesn't work so well. But I realized something today. When kids get to this age, everything they do, we praise them. "Oh, you did that all by yourself. What a big girl you are. Good job." Of course they want to do everything themselves when they realize that's the result. :)

I am a Snapdragon What Flower Are You?

"Mischief is your middle name, but your first is friend. You are quite the prankster that loves to make other people laugh."

What is up with this??? Does anyone who knows me think that I am a prankster? I think it's fun to do these little personality quizzes when I come across them, but I don't usually put them on my blog because they never fit me. But this one wins the all-time prize for not fitting me. After I did it, I went back to check over my answers. Surely I must have hit the wrong answer on something. Nope. Well then, which answer got me this mischievous answer? Couldn't tell you. I answered the most boring thing to every question--unless you consider it mischievous to refuse to lie to your best friend's spouse. Or maybe it's the fact that I have too many books. Oh well, at least I like sweet peas. :)

T. has learned to ham it up for the camera. It's a big change from the days when she would cry at the sight of it. I think I like her pictures better this way. :)

A little chocolate on his chin only makes him cuter, right?


In looking for some cute pictures to post, I realized something: I need to get the camera out more often. I've been so crazy busy this summer that I keep forgetting to take some really GOOD pictures instead of just the silly ones. Well, soon the beautiful fall weather will give me the itch to do some cute outdoor pics, so then I'll have something better to show off. :)

Thanks for the encouragement in my comments, Shaunna and Shara. I wasn't really trying to make people leave comments (well, not very much), but it is definitely encouraging to know that there are some people who read what I write here. It feels like such a waste of time sometimes. So now I will renew my efforts to keep this blog updated. It'll probably go about the way my efforts to write in my journal regularly go. That is to say, I'll write a few posts and then leave it for several months and then write a few posts and then leave it for several months and so on and so on and so on.

Have I mentioned lately that the twins are into EVERYTHING? We have this latch on the fridge door that's supposed to keep them out. Ha! Not only can they open the fridge and get out whatever they want (picture eggs on the floor, fortunately not broken; a bottle of ranch, unfortunately completely emptied on the floor; the older girl's water bottles, sometimes emptied all over the twins), but after they're done with getting what they want, they kindly relatch the fridge. What is the point of that?!? Right now, they are dismantling everything in F.'s scripture case. And I'm letting them because it's giving me five minutes of peace to write this. But I'll pay for it tomorrow when she sees what they've done. :) They used to not be able to reach things on the island between our kitchen and family room. It's been the repository for everything that needs to be kept away from them for many months, but slowly they're able to reach more and more of it. Now there's a safe strip in the middle and everything else is fair game. Our kitchen chairs live tipped over under the table so that they can't be used easily for climbing on. Recently we had to add keeping the bar stools tipped over, too because they've learned to use the rungs like a ladder. Good thing they're both so dang cute!

I really will try to post some pics of them soon.

I have to thank Jessica for leaving her comments on this blog. It's nice to know I have ONE reader. :) She pointed out that I haven't posted pics of the haircuts. The truth is, this summer has been really hard somehow. I think that two full years of total sleep deprivation have finallly caught up with me and I have just been struggling to keep myself going. So the blog went by the wayside. I have no other excuse. Things are gettting better though. It helps that the twins are starting to be able to communicate better. I. has been slow to learn to talk, and at their 15 month check up, his pediatrician was already talking about speech therapy if he wasn't doing better by 18 months. That just really doesn't fit my parenting philosophy very well. Not that I don't think there's a place for speech therapy, but I just think kids need to be allowed to develop in their own time as much as possible. Also, he was showing no other delays in his development, and he understood us very well. We actually haven't been back for a checkup since because the few times I've taken them in because of illness, they have totally freaked out. So I keep thinking they'll outgrow that. In the meantime, I've been second-guessing myself, thinking "what if I. never learns to talk and then when he's three or four I have to take him for therapy and they think I'm a horrible neglecful mother because I didn't bring him in when he was 18 months????" I'm sure I'm not the only mother who does this to herself. Well, at 18 months I think his ped would have referred him out for a speech evaluation. At two years old, I think she still would have. At two years and six weeks, he's fine and meeting the milestones for his age. He's not talking as much as T., but I'm not worried any more. What do you know, I was right to let him learn to talk when he was ready! I love it when I'm right. :)

In other news, A. is now a champion reader. She's been reading Junie B. Jones the last few days, and she loves to read scriptures out loud with the family. I love it when they make the jump from sounding out all the words to being able to read fluently. It's so amazing to watch. F. has a mouth full of hardware. How does she eat? I have no idea. But hopefully it will all pay off in straight teeth some day. Her bottom expander came out yesterday, but I know she's anxiously waiting for the top one to come out because it's the one that really gets in the way. E. is just as sweet as ever, but I think she's starting to hit some of the pre-puberty hormones. She just cries for no reason sometimes. Thankfully, she's now old enough to tell me that she doesn't know why she's crying, so hopefully this won't be like when she was a toddler and cried for no reason (that I could find). :) She and I have been reading Anne of Green Gables aloud recently and that's been fun for her. She likes having a time that is just her and me. We're reading for a mother/daughter book club that I'm starting. All the moms and daughters read the same book and then we'll get together to discuss it. I wanted the books to challenge F., but that means that I need to read them aloud to E. for her to be able to participate.

peaches

We just picked our very first ripe peach from our peach trees. The trees are fairly young, so this is the first year they've produced really good fruit. I had forgotten how much I adore fresh, tree ripened peaches. Everyone got just a couple of bites of it--just enough to make us want more. Once T. got a taste, she took over and refused to allow anyone else a bite. I. continues his boycott on all fruit.

On a completely unrelated topic, the girls and I all had our hair cut today. On Sunday we'll take some pics when everyone's done up nicely and I'll post them. A. only had a trim, but the rest of us had some pretty dramatic cutting done. F. managed enough to send some to Locks of Love. It's the first time in years that her hair hasn't been almost to her waist, so I'm in shock a bit. Not that long ago, she was refusing to even consider cutting it and now it's just below her shoulders. Kids...who could ever understand them?

I was thinking the other day about how much more I learned from my extra-curricular activities in high school than I learned from my actual classes. Lots of people I know feel the same way, so I was trying to figure out why that is. Of course, it's really simple. I learned more from those activities because I loved them, the other kids there loved them, the advisors loved them (well, maybe not so much loved as liked them better than classes). In fact, everyone was there because they wanted to be there. It's amazing what you can learn when you have a passion for the subject. Also, those kinds of activities tend to be more hands-on, active learning than class time. It just goes to show what I already knew: kids learn better when they're interested and involved.

piano recital

Tonight was the piano recital for F. and E. They both did great--much better than I expected. They practice on the keyboard and often have the volume down so low that I can't clearly hear what they're playing. It was great to hear the progress they've made this past year. F. is currently in a phase where she doesn't want to do anything except read, play with her best friend and play on the computer, but I've talked her into continuing with piano. We'll take a couple of months off for summer and then get started with a new teacher since this year's teacher is headed off to college in the fall. He's been really good with the kids, and it's also been great to see his teaching skills grow through the year. I have been really impressed that someone his age could accomplish so much with a bunch of beginning students. It's nice to know there are some good teenagers out there. :)

A. on Easter. She is easy to take pictures with these days because she's in such a cute phase.

E. on Easter. This was just before her 8th birthday. She is such a sweet, happy girl.

F. on Easter. I can't believe how grown up she's getting. I can just rest my chin on top of her head these days. :)

The three musketeers together. Can you tell they like being sisters? One of my favorite things about homeschooling is that my kids seem like they are better friends because of it.

T. on Easter day. I was thrilled to get her smiling!

I. and T. on Easter. This was the only moment we could get I. to sit still long enough to take a picture.

I had to take a picture of him on a different day. I finally put him in the swing just to get him to hold still long enough to take the picture. :)

E. is getting baptized next month, so yesterday we took some pictures in her pretty, white dress. This one is my favorite.

I.'s first haircut

I has really beautiful, blonde, curly hair, so I was determined not to be one of thos moms who lets her son go around looking like a girl cause she can't bear to cut the curls. Yesterday N. commented that I. needed a haircut, so I decided it was time. I just trimmed off the whispy ends, but with it combed nicely, he certainly looks more like a little boy instead of a baby (or a girl). I'm sure that people will still think he's the girl and T. is the boy unless they are dressed very gender specifically becasue T. still has very little hair. It's thick. Just really, really short.

outdoor fun

I'm sitting outside typing this on my laptop while the kids play with the neighbors. I'm not sure I should confess to allowing that on a Sunday evening, but there it is. F. is inside reading, of course. What else would she be doing? But E. and A. and the twins are having a great time. I love, love, love this time of year here in Texas. It's warm tonight, but with a cool breeze, and it's just so peaceful out here after a hectic day at church. I'm working in nursery now, which is great for I. and T., but exhausting for me.

Wednesday we had a huge rainstorm, which led to some fun on Thursday. But I guess the story really begins about a month ago when our septic service company came to empy our septic tank--and their truck ended up stuck in the mud in our backyard. After the guy spent a while spinning wheels, rocking back and forth, etc., he ended up having to call a tow truck. Needless to say, we had a couple of big holes in our back yard. After the rain, we had two little swimming pools in our back yard. Two very muddy little swimming pools. I'm sure you can imagine what happens next...I. and T. are let out to play on Thursday and end up completely saturated in mud, mud and more mud. By the time I had gotten them cleaned up, I thought I would go crazy, but the whole thing was really funny...once. Hopefully never again. Anyway, after I bathed them, I put their clothes and E. and A.'s clothes into the laundry room sink to soak. I turned on the water and went to check on the kids. And forgot about the water. When I remembered it, the water was just beginning to creep under the laundry room door, so it could have been much worse. And hey, at least the laundry room floor is very clean now. :) And my darling husband used the tiller yesterday to turn the two swimming pools into a new garden plot. Now I just need to get some plants. Those of you in Utah can now be jealous that I'm ready to plant my garden already. :)

I'm sure everyone is waiting with baited breath to hear if "helpful day" happened again. The answer is no because we all (including Mommy) forgot about it. But when I remembered in the evening and mentioned it, E was all for having helpful day be a different day this week. Yeah! Maybe my bathrooms will get cleaned after all. :) I have spent my extra time the last two days sewing three night caps for F and E and the other girl in their dance class for the recital. They turned out really cute. When we get the rest of the costume, I'll take some pictures and post them. I was pretty worried because I didn't have a pattern and was just winging it, so I am glad to have it done.

T. and I. have been enjoying the great weather here lately. They are so much happier when they get to go outside. We had a huge rainstorm this evening though, so tomorrow may be to muddy to let them out. I. said "shoe" very clearly a few days ago, which made me happy because he chatters a lot, but I don't understand much. When I do understand something, it's always something that makes me think, "no way did he just say 'I want that.'" I think he tries to say T's name, too, but it's a little hard to tell. T. has reached the point where she tries to copy almost anything we say to her.

who are they and what did they do with my children?

All of a sudden today E. and A. were in the most helpful mood. They declared it "helpful day" and cleaned two bathrooms (actually begged to do it), took out all the garbages, helped me clean the pantry and helped with I. and T. I was in total shock. If I had asked them to do those things, I can only imagine the whining, but since they decided to do it, it was fun. According to them, every Tuesday will now be helpful day. I'm interested to see how next Tuesday goes. Pardon my skepticism. :)

some days twins are the cutest

This morning I. and T. were being soooo sweet together. They both enjoy playing ring around the rosies, but in the past, it required a person between each of them because they would never hold hands together. Or they would just individually twirl around if no one wanted to make a circle with them. Today they figured out holding hands together so that it was just the two of them circling around while the rest of us sang for them. It certainly got my day off to a good start. :)

Later, of course, came the not so cute part of twins when they were playing outside and I ended up circling around the house over and over trying to keep track of them. T. had decided she wanted to go to the far side of the house from where everyone else was so she could eat some dirt in secret. I ran around to find her and by the time I got back to the driveway where the older girls were, I. had wandered off. Repeat the process. Back to find T. had wandered off. Oh well, I got my walk in for the day. :)

Another attempt to keep up with this blg

After learning a little more, I am feeling more comfortable with the question of privacy and blogging, so I am going to give this another go. Even if no one is interested enough in my rather boring life, it will make a good way of journaling for me. That's another thing I'm really, really bad at. :)

In the next couple of days, I plan to add some new pictures. In the meantime, here's a bit about what's going on with the Little Women:

F. is really great, but she's hitting the pre-puberty days, and I'm not looking forward to the full-fledged hormones that are on the horizon. Sometimes it seems like she goes around with a chip on her shoulder about everything, and then other times she reverts to her usual cheerful, helpful self. I think I just need a little more sleep before I really have to face her teenage years. Hopefully the twins will be allowing me that soon.

E. has finally hit something in math that she didn't understand instantly: multiple digit multiplication. Since she's only 7, I figure she can take a break and come back to it later. She'll be getting baptized this year. It feels like a long time since F. was baptized, but I'm not sure I'm ready for my second baby to be that grown up.

A. has hit a really great phase lately where she just wants to help and learn all the time. I'm really enjoying it while it lasts. :) She has been trying to learn to read more and is making fairly good progress despite my inconsistency in working with her.

T. has started doing anything she knows is cute and looking around to see if we notice her being cute. She has a strong sense of the order of things and is the first to fold her arms whenever she knows it's prayer time. That includes having prayers for every snack some days. "Do you want some goldfish crackers?" She folds her arms to pray over them. It's pretty funny sometimes.

I. is little Mr. Adventure. I will probably be insane soon just from trying to keep him from climbing on something that will kill him if he falls. And, of course, whatever he does, T. wants to do, too. Things she would never think of herself are incredibly fun when I. does them. They seem to view the entire world as their personal jungle gym. :)

Ok, I haven't written here for a long, long time, but I recently received an email from a friend saying she misses my blog posts, so I am inspired to begin again. I have some conflicted feelings because it seems a little scary to put too much info out on the internet, but if I just write for family and friends, I feel like no one reads it. My family is slowly getting used to using the internet. I think my parents actually got a cable modem recently--only because my brother insisted when he came home from his mission for the LDS church.

So, the twins are walking now. They're totally into everything, and it is so much harder to keep up with two than one. I am grateful daily that I have older kids around to help. T is really cute and enjoys music a lot. Whenever we are watching anything and the theme music comes on, she starts dancing (mostly just bouncing up and down). Today when we watched General Conference, she was dancing to the Tabernacle Choir. :) I is definitely all boy. He likes throwing a big ball around and is always eager to go outside. It's getting hard to sneak through any door without having him follow me cause he's so dang fast. He also recently discovered how to open all the lever door handles in our house. (What's up with those anyway? They are so much easier for little kids to open than regular door handles.) More baby proofing was happening this week.

The big sisters are all doing great. F continues to love reading. She and E recently started piano lessons and are enjoying that--mostly. Some days they are less than thrilled to practice, but it's going well overall. E is developing a really fun sense of humor. A is cute with a short hair cut this fall. A couple of months ago, she chopped the left side of her hair off--on a Sunday morning! Thankfully, a friend who cuts hair came and fixed it up for me before church. Anyway, it's slowly growing out, but it's still kinda short. It looks a lot like Tinkerbell, so that's what she's going to be for Halloween. This would be her Kindergarten year, so she's doing a bit of schoolwork each day with her big sisters. It's pretty cute, but I honestly can't imagine her going off to school. She still likes to check in with Mommy when she's busy playing.

I is crying, so time for this Mommy to run.