April Fools

 The wind sang and howled all night long blowing in a nice, slushy storm. The snow began around 7:00am and hasn't stopped. I looked out the window this morning and felt bad for this poor robin. It seems Mother Nature frequently likes to make it snow on April Fools. 

We braved the wind and wet snow to make it to and from the grocery store before it got any worse. The children were pretty well behaved. I only had a few people inquire if they were all mine and a sweet elderly gentlemen smile and wave at Joseph while he told me I had my hands full. Camilla was standing on the front of the cart, Hyrum was standing on the back,  Joseph was strapped into the seat, and Finley was sleeping away snuggled next to me in the carrier. I joked that I actually had a cart full and got a good chuckle out of him.

 

Camilla kept Finley happy while I unloaded the groceries. Today has officially been dubbed an inside day. That wind is insane. It's a good day to eat chicken noodle soup for lunch, and bake cookies!

Sunny Spring

 Today was filled with blue sky and sunshine. Finley happily put himself to sleep amidst the chaos of morning chores and family prayers. When he woke up I enjoyed cuddling him in the rocking chair while the morning sun poured through the window and the older kids played downstairs. 

 

The afternoon brought us to a favorite park full of kids. The combination of Spring break and warm weather made it the busiest I've ever seen it. The kids had fun climbing, sliding and rediscovering. It took Joseph a while to build up the courage to go down the slide. The way he fearlessly bombed down it last year used to make me nervous, so it was nice to see him being a little more cautious this year.

 

We finished up the afternoon playing in the backyard until we saw the clouds rolling in. The weatherman was calling for storms. The littles came in just as the wind started picking up and the rain started spitting. The wind has been howling ever since. It makes me think of Frozen, "A real howler in July eh?" Except it's the end of March. T-shirt weather today, winter coats again tomorrow. 

South America

This morning before church the children came up from the basement and informed me they were heading to South America in search of adventure. Oh how I will miss these days filled with imagination and adventure. I am in love with Hyrum's outfit. Its like Peabody and Sherman combined with the old man from Up. Hilarious!

Land Ho!

 It's late, so this will have to be short and sweet. Here are a few things that made me smile today...

Watching these two as they spent the morning creating together.

Watching Hyrum enjoy loves and cuddles from his baby brother.

Watching this guy explore on our walk this afternoon. Pricless.

I only wished I had a pair of splashing boots so I could join them.

 

Listening to them as they turned into pirates and started shouting "Land Ho!" as they explored this massive puddle and discovered an island of ice in the middle.

Watching Joseph as he trudged through the water singing as he went. I had to pull them away from this body of water with promises of warm milk and caramel when we got home.

Finding Peace

After a fun filled morning we decided to take it slow for the afternoon. The older two were playing quite well tucked away in Camilla's room in an imaginary land. I decided since the house was so quiet, it would be a good time to bath the baby. Joseph was my side kick and drove his army car around at one end of the tub while I bathed the baby at the other end. It was a very peaceful bath time smack in the middle of our afternoon. I spent the next little while smooching my chubby baby all over while I dressed him and trimmed his nails. Joseph played quietly at my feet making the perfect car noises. I couldn't help but breath the moment in deeply. It's not often that moments like these come along with four energetic littles. 

Running a Marathon

Since I was fighting off a headache I went to bed early last night. I felt bad ditching out on Mr. Stannix but standing up hurt my head. When I got the chance to sleep I dreamed of training for my upcoming 5K. Too bad dreaming about it isn't enough training to actually do it. I can't wait for the weather to warm up so I can get out running. On a side note, sometimes I am awake so many times at night with my two year old that I feel like I'm running a marathon. Ten times really is too many... I woke up to two hungry boys and a sparkly clean kitchen. Mr. Stannix slaved away in the late hours of the evening to surprise me with clean pots, a fresh garbage bag, and sparkly faucets. I sure love that guy!

Thumb Sucker

When I wake up, the clock reads shortly after 7:00am. A typical day starts much much earlier so I wake up feeling rested and happy. I head downstairs to get the boys breakfast while Camilla and Finley continue to sleep away. It isn't long before everyone is up and we are sending Daddy off to work. After breakfast we head upstairs for morning chores. I lay Finley on the end of Camilla's bed and begin changing him. As I lean over the bed to chat with him my day old curly hair falls around my face. It still holds a faint smell of ginger cookies from baking the previous afternoon with the littles. It isn't long before the rest of the children join me and start talking to Finley too. "I love Finley mom. Even more than I love power rangers." says Hyrum. I chuckle. We then make beds and get dressed. Once rooms are tidied we kneel down together in Camilla's room for morning prayers. Tears fall as I thank my Heavenly Father for each of my children by name and something that is special about them. Camilla then herds her brothers downstairs while I nurse Finley and lay him down for his morning nap. While I nurse I rock in the chair and gaze out the big window at the snowy skies. Downstairs Camilla plunks away on the piano. I smile at the familiar songs and picture the notes in my head. I admire her desire to practise and build her talent.

After Finley's morning nap we go out to take advantage of a great sale at Carters. Finley has a lot of Summer clothes, but not a lot of warmer stuff in his current size. I get 12 or 13 outfits for just $24 and smile about it all the way home. My stash included jammies for the boys in the next size up, fleece outfits for Finley, a few cozy sleepers, new pants, and a sparkly new shirt for Camilla. The children are excited!

Hyrum puts on his baggy jammies for the day and exclaims, "This is the best day ever!" I smile while I watch him play on his car mat in the mid afternoon. Finley is swinging in his swing, sucking on his thumb and cooing at us all.

I help Camilla with her school while Finley naps in my arms. Sometimes I just can't put him down. I love the feeling of his little body snuggled next to mine. 

I have fallen in love with homeschooling and the way learning happens. We combine Math and Physed by recording the number of skips she can get in a row and then comparing the frequency of numbers, talking about greater than and lesser than values. Science consists of pushing a freshly made snowman off the deck to see what will happen, or watching the yeast foam before I add flour to the bagels. 

We have spaghetti and warm bagels for dinner and wait for Daddy to come home. When Daddy arrives he helps me with the bed time routine and then sits down to eat. And then we get ready to start it all over again tomorrow.

Tres Meses

 Little man is three months old now! He gets squishier and more loveable each day! I love the way he fits into our family with his easy going attitude and endless smiles. He definitely brings a lot of joy to our little home. He has recently become very ticklish and will giggle when I take his arms out of his clothes to change him. It's pretty fun watching him crinkle his nose and let out a giggle or two whenever I put on a new outfit. He loves the interaction and chaos that happens each day. He's become quite the chatterbox and loves to coo and screech at who ever will listen.  I was also excited to see him start rolling from front to back recently.  He still sleeps through anything including his brother's midnight tantrums. If he is fussy it usually means he's tired or hungry. If I wrap him up tight in a blanket he falls asleep almost instantly. He loves soft things and loves to nestle into you when he's falling asleep. Sometimes when Hyrum prays he will say, "Please bless Finley that he will be this little forever because I like him this way..." It's super cute! Camilla always talks about how excited she is to see what he will look like when he's grown up like Joe. Joseph has mastered his "baby voice" and often goes inches from Finley's face and says, "Hi wee-wee, hi bu-dy" in his high pitched voice. He also tells me often that "baby's cute". Thanks to Daddy I was able to grab some smiley pictures! Happy three months Finley!

Jumping for Joy

We have arrived safely at the Acreage. As I type I am listening to the older two tooting and giggling from the spare room as they break in the new twin beds. With Mr. Stannix putting in some long hours over the last few weeks, our weekends being jammed packed, and me having big black circles under my eyes it was time for a visit to the country. We left the same time as Daddy this morning and went to get an oil change at Honda. Joseph found a nice little window and was entertained watching the mechanics working on vehicles. He kept pointing through the window and saying (in a very worried tone), "My caaaaaaar, dats myyyyy car". He was pretty worried about what was going on with his car, I wish I would have recorded his little voice. We survived the wait thanks to complimentary donuts and 25 cent vending machines. 

As I left the city early this morning I took a deep breath and felt all of my worries and stresses begin to melt away. I took the long way and enjoyed the lack of traffic and beautiful scenery. When we were about half way through our drive rain drops began to hit the windshield. The Spring air was so refreshing and Joseph was fascinated by the windshield wipers.  As we drove along the road up and down hills anticipation started to build. The last leg of the drive is my favorite as we come out of the valley and get our first glimpse of the big old Rocky Mountains. Normally I stop at the top of my favorite hill to snap a picture, but with three children sound asleep I didn't dare. Instead I drank it all in and admired the snow capped mountains as we followed the highway. Then Joseph spotted the pump jacks and asked what they were. Every one we spotted after he would exclaim, "Wook! Out you window Mommy! A pump dack!"

They were thrilled to see Gramma and Grampa and spent most of the afternoon playing outside and building lego. I enjoyed the breather and my Mom's yummy cooking. Joseph came in with sand stuck to his boogers and caked under his finger nails so he went for an early bath. While I sat nursing on the couch my freshly bathed boy snuck out the back door and began jumping for joy. "It's am-most wumma time mom! I wee geen gas! Ha-way! Wumma time!" He was quite excited about the green grass and Summer time. I couldn't help but smile. He is so darn cute sometimes!

A Green Party

We often get together with my cousins around this time of year for a St. Pattys party. It's a pretty big deal to some of the littles. Camilla asked Jenny if we were having a green party this year back in January so we figured we'd better uphold tradition for at least one more year. It's crazy how big all of these little second cousins are now! It's fun to see how they all play and interact.

We kicked off the party with some green food for lunch. There was some hesitation over eating the green mac and cheese until a few brave souls tried it and reassured everyone it tasted just like normal.

I couldn't resist a pic of the green gooey goodness.

Hyrum happily polished off two plate fulls.

 

Jenny put together some pretty great projects for the kids! We were all surprised at how little mess there was after our painting and cupcake decorating. A sure sign that the littles are getting older I guess...

Jacey even played hookie to spend the afternoon with us and we loved seeing her sweet smiles.

It was fun to see their creations after.

Cupcake decorating was pretty epic. Joe and Neely went to town on theirs and we got some nice messy pictures!

We snapped a million group shots to try and get a good one and then decided to just take what we could get. There are a few busy little people in the crowd and it was a miracle if they all sat still for more than a few seconds.

Just before we left we finished off with the coin toss.

A lot of fun was had by all. I love getting together with my cousins to talk about mothering and share ideas and struggles. I always leave so uplifted and edified.