Anna Got a Camera for Christmas

I'm so glad she did because she's a much more committed photographer than I am. Here are some good ones that she got.

the xylophone that the kids got, it's seriously been a huge hit

Nate and Rex doing what they do best, all sports all the time

Three goofy girls

my personal favorite picture, Benny with my hair - cracks me up!

"Nacho Libre" inspired wrestling masks aka underwear on their heads

Brett and Jamie (Brennan's brother and mom)

Joshua who just discovered his tongue

Lucy in Abby and Lucy's silly face contest

Abby's silly face

the boys getting serious about a toy Christmas morning

A VERY Merry Christmas!

Can you believe it's already over? Wow, we had such a nice one. I am feeling extremely grateful. Christmas Eve was so nice, Brennan's brother came in from Reno to stay with us for the week. We don't get to see him very often and he's never been to our house so we're loving having him. The kids adore him and he's great with them. I spent most of the day making our special dinner and each of the kids helped with one of our dishes. Abby helped me with her favorite fruit salad, Anna helped with our traditional wassail, Nate helped me with the mashed potatoes (I think he managed to peel one and I did 19 :)) and Ben helped me with the rolls. I have long been really intimidated by anything with yeast (making it that is, I wish I had a fear of eating it). Anyway, I decided it was high time I attempted homemade rolls. They weren't perfect, but they were much better than I expected. Yay for me!


We all enjoyed our feast and then everyone pitched in for the clean-up so we could get on with opening the jammies. After everyone got settled into their pajamas we read Luke 2 and then watched "It's a Wonderful Life" My parents joined us which was a good thing, because me, Nate and they were the only ones that could appreciate that amazing movie. Anna was in tears, Abby was sad and grumpy and Brennan couldn't take it. In his words "it's 99% sad and hard and 1% happy which is too little too late." I know what he means, but totally disagree. Anyway, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to make that a tradition like it was for us growing up. Bummer.

Christmas morning started a little before 7:00 with great enthusiasm. The kids went down and woke Brett up so he could join in all the excitement. They were so rewarding as they reacted to all their gifts. It was a really fun morning. I forced myself to cook breakfast (I was running on pure adrenaline by that point) and told everyone "Merry Christmas" and went off for a long winter's nap. Perfection.


After my nap we headed to my parents' house for more fun and more gifts. My mom ordered 30 foam blocks which she sewed covers for for the kids to play with whenever we're at their house (which is a lot). They were a huge hit. They are a blast. Then she gave all us adults our gifts one of which was this:

It's a painting by my Mom of the house we grew up in, which is the same house me and my family live in now. (Brennan always hates when I say that because he worries that people will think we somehow mooched our house off my parents, so let me clarify that we bought our house from my parents.) Anyway, my Mom painted this and then had 6 copies made. Such an amazing gift. One of the sweetest moments and one of my new all-time favorite Christmas memories is when we opened our painting and I was watching my sister's reaction. I finally turned to get a closer look at ours which Brennan was holding and saw that Brennan was in tears. My sweet, funny husband was so touched and surprised by my parents' gift he literally burst into tears and was using the painting to shield himself from observation. It didn't work, and we (including Brennan) all burst into laughter, but it was sooooooo sweet. I love how tender he is.
We had a great mellow time with our family. The day after Christmas, Brennan's mom, drove up to be with her two boys and the rest of us. We had a great few days with her and Brett. She left New Year's Eve and Brett leaves tomorrow. We loved having them. It's especially been great getting to know Brett better.

The kids spent New Year's Eve with my parents and their cousins. Brennan, Brett, Joshy and me watched a movie. Today we went to my parents' for lunch (and dinner) and played some really fun games. It was the perfect way to end the holidays.

Just What the Doctor Ordered

Today was precisely the day we needed around here. Maybe we won't have to cancel Christmas and maybe I won't be forced into early retirement. As it turns out when my kids get some sleep and actual food (as opposed to subsisting wholly on sugar) they're quite delightful.

I spent the morning walking with a good friend who also happens to be my aunt, and then visited with some other friends. That's always a great way to start things off. Then my sister and her kids came over and I helped Eliza and my girls make these:

I know you can't tell from the photo, but they're actually hairclips, cute huh?

Anna made the ones on the left and Abby's are on the right

It was fun to teach my girls and my 24 year old sister how to thread a needle and do a little hand-stitching. :) We both felt very uncharacteristically crafty.

After Lizey and Abe and Belle left the kids and I settled in and watched Polar Express. Brennan came home a bit early and took and nap with Joshy while I went into Ben's room to help him find the pair of pants he wanted (he decided around 4 pm to change out of his jammies). While I was in there Nate's bed looked so inviting I gave in and took a nap in it.

When I woke up the boys were playing happily, the girls were outside playing barbies in the snow and so I made dinner accompanied by my very favorite Christmas music and assisted by Nate and Ben. Seriously, if you've never heard of Cori Connors, you really should. She has two Christmas albums and I'm completely in love with both of them. There's something kind of melancholy about the first album "Sleepy Little Town", but it's also deliciously cozy and comforting. The new album is called "One Small Boy". LOVE them.

After dinner the 4 big kids went outside to sled on our driveway. After that Brennan got the boys to bed and I let the girls watch part of White Christmas with me and then sent them to bed and started wrapping gifts while I finished the movie. Lovely day.

Here are some recent photos:

Here's how the kids entertained themselves yesterday, dressing up and posing

Family Christmas party
Molly, my neice, sweetest angel EVER!

Another niece, Belle, the cutest and craziest camel, EVER.

Benny the Shepherd


Abe the star

a photo of Brennan smiling, just look at those blue eyes!

What I Did Today

What a day, what a day. It started with reminding Anna somewhere between 44 and 63 times to grab her teacher gift and card, loading all 5 kids into the car for carpool, realizing I forgot Ben's beep (pacifier, yes he still has it and no he can't drive for 1 1/2 miles without it), coming in to find the beep and seeing Anna's teacher gift and card on the counter. Sigh.

Benny, Joshy and I then enjoyed a few quiet hours where I was going to get all kinds of things done but somehow managed to get almost nothing done besides feeding, bathing, changing, nursing Joshua. Kids get out early on Fridays, so before we knew it it was time to pick them up. We ran to Smith's first to get more eggs so Anna could make cookies for her friend's cookie exchange party. Picked up kids on the way home from grocery store then came home and helped Anna get started on cookie dough. I had to run Abby to her friend's house so I left Anna in charge of Ben and Nate and told her to finish the dough by adding 5 cups of flour. Joshua and I ran Abby to Paige's and came home to find Anna trying to mix dough that was much too thick and flourery. Dumped dough in the garbage and started over. Finally got dough done, and into the cookie press then into the oven. Finished cookies and ran Anna and her friend to their party. Came home to get more done, managed to sort of clean out the car and pack Nate for his overnighter with his cousin.

5:10 Pump. Anna walks in from party, load her, Nate, Ben and Joshua in the car and go pick up Abby. Swing by Arby's for kids' dinner. Drive to our nearby "big" city (while using my double jointed arm to reach back and feed Joshy his bottle) to meet my brother to hand Nate off for Rex's birthday party. Drive to sister's house to drop off girls to watch her kids, drive home.

6:45, get home, greet Brennan, feed Joshua baby food, get him ready for bed, nurse him while Ben sits with us to stroke my hair.

8:00, all is quiet, Brennan laying with Ben, Joshua asleep, Anna and Abby not home yet, Nate at Rex's. I start organizing choir folders for tomorrow's rehearsal.

9:00, girls come home, get ready for bed in a flash, okay that was wishful thinking, really it took 45 minutes.

10:00, finish folders, start cleaning the kitchen.

10:30 sitting at the computer wondering why on earth I felt compelled to write this rather than just going to bed. I guess sometimes I just need to see what I do all day because based on what I have to show for today: a batch of cookie dough in the garbage, laundry still unfolded, messes as far as the eye can see, memories of impatient things I said to the kids all day, and about 4 days' worth of stuff to do tomorrow -- I think I should fire myself or at the very least force myself to resign :).

Update

I'm kind of dying because tonight Brennan said, "Uh, did you know Joshua has been teething?" "No." "He has a tooth." My little 5 month old baby boy totally has a tooth poking out of his gum. I had no idea. I kind of got this rush of sadness and pride. As strange as it sounds I was proud of him because he seems to be just this darling little blob, but he's actually been being productive growing a tooth for who knows how long and hardly even fussy. I felt so sad because I don't want him to grow up so fast. In 2 seconds he'll be moving out and I want to hold on to all my kids! Okay, yes now you know how completely neurotic I am. We love Joshua.

Benjamin very patiently ran a lot of errands with me today. At one point he was ready to be done and wanted some food. I promised him if he could get whatever he wanted to eat if he just let me finish. By the time we were finally checking out Ben told me he was totally out of energy. I bought him some lunch and an Icee. As we sat down to let him eat he took a few sips of his Icee and said (with an enthusiasm in his voice that you just have to hear to believe) "MOM, I'm starting to get more ENERGY!" Today he asked me, "Mom, what's Abe's first name?" I said, "Well it's Abe, or Abraham." "Oh yeah, Abraham, GREAT job, Mom!" We love Ben.





Speaking of teeth, did I mention Nate lost one of his top front teeth? I love how he looks. He wonders why whenever an adult notices his missing tooth they start singing "All I want for Christmas is my one front tooth, my one front tooth." (The other one is loose and I'm really hoping he'll lose it before Christmas so we can sing the song correctly). Nate has been really worried about the fact that there aren't any presents under the tree. He asks me every day if I've bought any yet. I really need to get wrapping so the poor boy can relax. We love Nathan.

Can I tell you how nice it is to have a child that reminds me about the things she has going on. So often as a mom you have to just sort of be the brain for everyone in your family and keep track of where 7 different people are supposed to be and bring and do and eat at all times. Actually I only have to do that for 6 people because Abby is on it. She's also such a little nurturer and LOVES it when I ask her to get Joshua dressed or hold him when he's drinking a bottle. We love Abigail.

Anna and Chloe had their class here yesterday and our cute little neighbor girl (she's 4) got to stay after a little bit so her Mom could finish some errands. Both Anna and Abby were playing "doggy" with her. I was heating up leftovers for dinner and Diana didn't want any. I knew her Mom would be here to get her soon so I didn't worry too much about the fact she wasn't eating, but Anna wouldn't rest until Diana finally ate a bowl of cereal. I love how much she loves little ones. We love Anna.

Update

I know I say this all the time, but Anna is our festivity queen. She gets so into each and every holiday and is way better than me at making them special. She'll be such a good mom. Anyway, she and Abby basically single-handedly decorated for Christmas this last weekend. I refused to pull one Christmas decoration out until we did some serious cleaning, so Anna really pitched in and then carefully and lovingly went about the house decorating. She's also always on the hunt for things she can talk me into letting her have for her room. I love how child-like she is that way and hope she always will be. We love Anna.


Abigail went to the grocery store with me the other afternoon. When we walked out she noticed a man ringing a bell and asked me why he was doing that. "Well, he's trying to collect money for..." before I could finish she blurted out, "WHAT?! You mean he's wants people to give him money just for ringing a bell?" I quickly explained it wasn't for him, he was doing it for other people. Anna walked into Josh's room the other day to find Abby having a tea party with her dolls. She grabbed the camera and took the following pictures. We love Abigail.

Every day Nate asks me if I've bought him any presents yet. He is so excited for Christmas and all the parties and festivities. He was also so excited to decorate the tree. This time of year is truly so much more magical with children. The highlight of his life though is a Christmas chocolate advent calender I bought for each of them and our upcoming Christmas tree party when they get to sleep under the tree. We love Nathan.

My sister watched my little boys yesterday so I could do some shopping. Ben gave Eliza instructions on how to make a bottle for Joshy. He's just so dialed in and takes himself so seriously I can't get enough of it. A few nights Nate came in to tell us he was scared. Ben followed him in and after he heard Nate he looked at him and said, "Nate, Jesus is with us." Oh, so sweet. We love Ben.

Joshua is beyond words. Honestly, I feel so lucky to have him at this age this time of year. I got the big kids off to school, Ben was playing happily and I fed Joshy his baby food while we listened to one of my favorite Christmas albums. There's just nothing that makes me feel the Spirit more than an innocent smiling child and music. Heaven truly can exist in our homes, maybe for just seconds at a time (at least here) but I'll take it. Here's a sampling of the joy Joshua brings.

Joshua Laughing from Andrea W. on Vimeo.

We love Joshua.

Thanksgiving Weekend

First of all, if you haven't already, be sure to check out a new blog 3 of my brothers just launched. They're not good for much, but they're always good for a laugh :)

Wow, what a great Thanksgiving weekend we had. I kept meaning to post a grateful post, but never got to it. I am so grateful though, for so many things. It seems almost everyday I hear about someone, usually a friend or neighbor or family member who is going through something really hard. I then usually regret that I can't do something more than pray for them and then I realize that's the best thing I can do. I'm so grateful that I know about and believe in the power of prayer.

I'm also so grateful for my sweet family. To have 5 children can have its challenges, but it's far more rewarding than hard. I love my children and husband so very much. Having a baby around is a particular blessing, there's just something about babies that is irreplaceable.

three 3 year olds "helping" my saintly mother make muffins

We celebrated Thanksgiving with my Dad's family. It was a smaller group than usual, but so nice. It was festive and fun. After the big feast and some socializing we headed to my parents' home for some schmoozing with my parents and siblings and families (Christian, Rebecca, Oliver and Amelia were in town).

Friday we met my family at a forest park nearby for a fire and roasted hotdogs and s'mores. The guys and the kids played a fun football game and the rest of us sat around the fire. That night the adults went out to eat at a yummy Mexican restaurant.

Ryan's coon-skin cap that his wife loves so much

Brennan always looks unamused in photos, but he loved it, I promise

Saturday we got the house clean and hosted a football party to watch our local rivalry game with my family. It was a fantastic game and great company. Towards the end we girls got a little chattier than our husbands would have liked, and many a kid was told to get out from in front of the tv and lovingly invited to go downstairs. But all in all, definitely a great time.

Sunday I went to church early to rehearse with our choir who sang our Thanksgiving song for Sacrament meeting. It went really well, I'm so grateful for such good supportive choir members. It still is really hard and scary for me, but I also genuinely love being part of it too.

That evening we met at my sisters' neighborhood clubhouse for my niece, Belle's, 2nd birthday party. I love this quirky little imp of a girl. Eliza had some darling games for all the kids and lots of treats. The adults sat around chatting and laughing with Josh's family. We left happy and tired.

the birthday girl