The First Snow

 Today we woke bright and early for Daddy's first day of work at his new job. Daddy was the first one awake and by the time Finley woke up the rest of the children made their way into the baby's room rubbing the sleep from their eyes. Everybody then got themselves ready for the day while I made breakfast. I put out Joseph's clothes for him, and after running out naked three times to wave bye to Daddy he finally got himself dressed. We ate breakfast together, had scriptures and prayers at the table and had some time to spare. We all walked Camilla across to the bus and I listened to the boys' silly fake cries the whole way home as they told me how much they'd miss her today. 

While I was tidying up the bedrooms I happened to glance out the window to see giant flakes slowly drifting to the ground. The first snowfall of the season always gets me excited! I called to the boys and they ran to the window in the kitchen to watch the snow. It seems so magical to me. Perhaps it's the thought of Christmas being right around the corner, or homemade cookies to warm up the kitchen, or cozy evenings in front of the fire crocheting.

 Finley was mesmerized by the giant flakes and kept trying to reach out and grab them. The only thing better than the first snowfall of the season is watching my baby experience the wonder of snow for his first time.

 The boys stood there and watched for a good five minutes as the flakes began covering rooftops. Then they begged me to let them outside to experience it first hand. They headed out into the backyard to catch snowflakes on their tongue and tug the sled across the yard. When their hands were too cold to play any longer they came inside to a warm heatbag and cozied up to a movie while I finished putting away the laundry. I can't wait for Camilla to come home from school and share her excitement of the snow!

Time Change

I'm not sure who's genius idea it was to put the time change the same weekend as Halloween and a full moon. Today was a bit of a gong show. The children woke up at 5:00am (which wouldn't be so bad in normal time) and I was not ready to start my day. Luckily I had anticipated the early morning and glued a smile on my face while we played and got ready for church. The older two sat amazing during sacrament meeting while Finley napped in my arms. Joseph was practically vibrating the whole time (it might have had something to do with the six suckers he tried to eat at once after breakfast). They all enjoyed their classes while I paced the halls with Fin who was far to screechy to attend any classes for any length of time. It's hard to accept that this is how Sundays will roll for a little while, but I know it won't last forever. After church I rounded up the kiddos while Mr. Stannix took care of some duties with the young men. Hyrum ran everywhere despite my pleas for walking feet and his ears tuned out my voice. Camilla chatted my ear off all the way to the doors and Joseph tried desperately to get away from me and run out into the parking lot. I stood at the doors directing the older two with my words while Finley twisted and turned in my arms and Joseph limp noodled and swung around to escape my hold on his hand. If Mr. Stannix hadn't arrived when he did I probably would have burst into tears. 

We made it home and I fed hungry bellies and then cleaned the kitchen to get rid of my angry feelings. Mr. Stannix read stories and kept the kids downstairs so that I could take a breather. Before I knew it dinner time had rolled around. I sliced the roast, Mr. Stannix mashed the potatoes and I drained the carrots in the pot. When we all sat down to eat Finley began screeching impatiently for food and Joseph started crying because he had dumped half of the salt shaker into the mashed potatoes. The noise level was almost unbearable. Mr. Stannix dealt with Joseph, coaxing him to eat and stop crying, while I tried to feed Finley quick enough to suppress his impatient, ear piercing screams. It didn't take long for the tears to fall. Once Finley's bowl was finished, I couldn't take his screeching any longer so off to the bath we went. When Mr. Stannix finished his dinner he watched the baby while I dished up and ate my dinner. 

After Mr. Stannix cleaned the kitchen we declared it an early bed time and began the routine of jammies, teeth, scriptures and prayers. Daddy took up Joe while the older two helped me do a quick tidy in the basement. Finley crawled around in the playroom until it was all clean and then I turned out the lights and turned on the hall light by the bedrooms. After Hyrum's backrub and a quick chat I said goodnight and went to Camilla's room. I then noticed that the playroom light was on again, so I walked around and turned it off. When I got back the hall light was off and I told the kids to quite playing with the lights. I flicked the switch by the bathroom to turn on the hall light and then went in to tuck in Camilla. When I came back out the playroom light was on again, so I walked around to turn it off. When I came back the hall light was off again and I shook my head as I realized that the lightswitch by the bathroom turns on both the hall light AND the playroom light. So when I was walking around to turn out the playroom light I also turned off the hall light without even noticing. I laughed at my stupidity and apologized to the children for scolding them. Luckily they have a sense of humor and also laughed at my mistake. Extra hugs and kisses were given and then I went upstairs to put Finley to bed.

Once the house was all quiet Mr. Stannix lit the fire downstairs, put on his listening ears and helped dry my tears from an overwhelming couple of weeks. He helped quiet my fears and hush the thoughts of inadequacy that had crept into my head over the week. I am super grateful for the priesthood and a loving husband who can give me blessings of comfort from my Father in heaven when I need them most! It was good to end on a positive note.

Halloweeny

Today was a busy day. We started out with a scrumptious breakfast of homemade waffles topped with ice cream, strawberries, bananas and warm syrup. We organized the garage, cleaned the basement, baked some bread, ate some treats from last night and then carved pumpkins with the kids! It was a busy day, but so fun. I loved watching Finley expreience his first pumpkin carve. It always takes a little bit to get the kids into it and Joseph wasn't really up for touching any pumpkin guts at all. I am glad that my kiddos are okay with simple, because it was a very simple Halloween.  Our poor little pumpkin ended up looking kind of sad. The costumes weren't crazy creative but the kids were excited anyways!

Happy Halloween from our crew to yours!!

Trunk or Treat

My Mamma and my sister both spent the night last night. We had a nice slow morning with the kids as Camilla had a day off school. I slipped out before lunch to run a few errands with Hyrum and my Mom made me take a nap when I got home. I've been pretty exhausted lately and secretly welcomed the opportunity to rest. 

Daddy arrived home in the early afternoon and is back for good! He starts his new job in the City on Monday and I am so looking forward to seeing him before and after work.

Finley had an early dinner but joined us at the table while we ate anyways. He hammed it up the whole time and had us all giggling. Shortly after dinner we got all dressed up and headed out the trunk or treat at the church.

Mr. Stannix dressed up as Jonah in the belly of a whale.  It was pretty awesome!

Camilla decided she just wanted to be Elsa tonight.

Sir Joseph made a pretty awesome knight.

Hyrum and I found this super hero costume on sale today and he begged me with stars in his eyes. He's been wearing his old old 18 month sized superman costume forever insisting it still fits even though it goes up to his knees. He was quite pleased with this one and had a pretty good laughing fit over the "undies".

Elsa took off on her own for the trunk or treat which left me to hang out with these two cuties.

Our last trunk was Daddy and then we went inside to dance and eat treats.

Finley hung out in the carrier snoozing most of the night and I dressed up as a moon. Together we were the cow that jumped over the moon. Not my best idea, but I tried!

These two shook their booties as soon as the music came on. They were adorbs. After a lot of dancing and fun and meeting new people we took off to put our littles to bed.

Kicking off Halloween

Camilla came home yesterday and reminded me that she needed a costume for school today. Luckily Auntie Emma was here for a visit and was able to help us put something fun and simple together. With moving and getting things organized I hadn't thought much about Halloween so I was glad to have the help! Camilla woke up super early today since she was so excited about the Halloween party. We had a nice early breakfast and then snapped a few pictures before I walked her to the bus stop.

When we left the house the sky was still pink and the weather was mild. Hyrum and Camilla walked hand in hand across the street to where we wait, and he made me wait until she sat down and waved before we walked back. Those two are best buds.

My Mom arrived early afternoon with a warm hug and sprinkled sunshine on us all afternoon. My sister and I put together a few batches of cookies with the boys while my mom rolled a couple apple pies. It was great spending the afternoon with these two! 

Auntie Emma's puppy was a huge hit with the littles. Seeing Joseph snuggled up to copper after his bath was pretty darn adorable!

Little Pumpkin

Camilla has only been back in school for a couple of days now, but I have been extra missing her during the day lately. Yesterday morning she woke up and puked all over her bed and I was maybe a little bit happy to declare it a sick day and have all the children home together for the day. The morning was a little rough but after a couple of naps and some TLC she was back to her normal self by dinner. This morning as I waved her off on the bus my mother heart ached for her and worried about her all day long. She came home in good spirits and chatted my ear off about her new reading book, the bus ride, and her cold hands at recess. While I made the after school snack she climbed up on the counter nearby. She is such a treat to be around. She has been wanting to decorate her little pumpkin from her last school teacher and I finally had the perfect thing. She picked the pumpkin eyes with the lashes and giggled with delight after she pulled the paper off. The cute little pumpkin now sits in the middle of the dining table to add some color. I adore this little girl. She is growing into such a wonderful person!

A Personal Welcome

It is late and I should probably be in bed, but the house is far too quiet for me to sleep. As I type the wind is howling outside and I am envisioning a Winters storm blowing in. This morning as we were waiting at Camilla's bus stop the air nipped the children's cheeks turning them a nice rosy red. It won't be long now until we wake up one morning to a blanket of white snow on the ground. 

We have been in our new home a whole week now. Most of the boxes have been unpacked but there is still lots to organize.  I never want to forget our first morning here. I woke up to the boys voices as they clunked around upstairs. I sleepily made my way to the living room to find them dangling from the banister that separates the dining area and the sunken living room. As they moved their hands from one rail to the next their feet would clunk against the wall. It was such a boy thing to do to scale the wall in the dim morning light. It was quite the sight.

We finally picked up a new dining table and chairs on the weekend since our last one sold with the house. We had my brother and his wife here as well as my sister over the weekend which was a huge help! Mike and I were able to escape into the city for a morning and Mike made a great pick.  I hope it's one we will hang onto forever. Even though he was tired from a long week of work he spent his Saturday afternoon assembling the table and chairs with a smile. I am one lucky lady. I got to help him a little bit between handing out snacks, changing loads of laundry and tidying the kitchen. Finley somehow managed to swipe my cell phone and make a call. I didn't realize he had done it until a lady from 911 dispatch called me back to ask if everything was okay. She took down my name, address and date of birth and passed the information along to the Strathmore dispatch service. Five minutes later the constable called to follow up and make sure everything was indeed okay. I explained that we had just moved and were putting together our dining set when our baby got a hold of the phone and accidentally hit the emergency dialer. Turns out 934 (the first digits of my phone number) is actually the prefix for the area so he dialed the 403 area code because he figured that 780 was a mistake and ended up waking somebody up. He also took down my name, address and date of birth for the record and personally welcomed me to the town before hanging up. I've only been here a week and I already have a record! I felt totally sick the rest of the day. I also laughed at how much commotion a ten month old sucking on a phone can cause. 

The kids are settling in nicely. Camilla has enjoyed a couple of days at school and is set up to take the bus (which stops two doors down) to and from each day. She is loving her class and making new friends. I am loving that the school supply list is 1/4 of the size it was in the city, bussing is free, and I don't have to pay a monthly "lunch supervision" fee. The kids all seem really great and welcoming and she even ended up with a few member boys in her class from church. Today was her first day riding the bus, so naturally I hopped in the van after she got on to meet her at the school just in case. She walked right off the bus and skipped to the school yard like it was nothing. She spotted me peeking over the fence and waved with an accomplished grin on her face. "How was it?" I asked. "Good!" she replied, hardly missing a beat as she continued on her way to the doors. I smiled as I made my way back to the van. She enjoyed her first try at choir and her physed class today. She sure is growing up!

Hyrum is really enjoying having his own bedroom in the basement next to his sister's room. He has grown up a lot in the past week and become very mature. He still gets on his one track tantrum kicks every now and then, but for the most part he is really great! Joe and him get along awesome during the day and the backyard has already had some good use. We have a nice cement pad outside our backdoor that Hyrum and Joe use to play street hockey. When they are finished they hop on their car or trike and pretend to be Zamboni drivers and clear the ice. I adore their imaginations and the things they come up with! I thought the kids might be shy attending a new primary class on Sunday but he and Camilla skipped off hand in hand to find the primary room before Daddy could follow them. I checked in on my way by to find them seated together in a random row holding hands just as a teacher walked up to guide them to their separate classes. It was the cutest.

Joseph is also growing and changing. His vocabulary gets better each day and his pronunciation is coming along nicely. I love the sentences he comes up with and the way he expresses himself. He will often glance out the window and if the sun is shining he will say, "Wet's go outside! It's a beautiful day!" I also love when I'm playing with him on the floor and he will say, "I sure love you, mom". This afternoon he helped me load the dishwasher. I rinsed and he stacked. He was eager to put the soap in and push the "on" button. Once it was running I gave him a big high five and thanked him for helping me with such a big job. He ran downstairs shouting, "Kids! Guess what? I did a BIG job for mommy!" It totally melted my heart. He is so well behaved as long as I keep him busy. 

Finley loves to be on his feet and walking is definitely on the horizon. I am exhausted and have resorted to letting him cry a little more at night. I can't wait for him to sleep through the night so that I can actually wake up feeling rested. He is still as happy-go-lucky as ever and always wears a smile. He's starting to get into things a little bit more and can crawl at mach speed if he really wants to get somewhere. 

I am looking forward to finishing all of the unpacking and organizing so that I can get back to really enjoying my kids. I can tell when I've neglected them for a few minutes too many because they get a little loopy which makes me totally frazzled. Usually a quick snack or meal can solve most problems and then we get back on track, but there have definitely been some tears this weekend. Sitting in church without our friends sharing the bench was a hard thing to do. With the stress of moving my patience has been thin and there are some hard mommy moments that have made me cry late into the night. I also miss having Mr. Stannix around as he finishes up his last week of work at his old job. 

I have never been so grateful for the church and the support system that it is. We have had people come by to introduce themselves with plates of cookies or brownies and even got "booed" with some treats anonymously left on our doorstep the other day. The entire Mia Maid Class came by to introduce themselves with a plate of goodies (I now know who to call for babysitting), and our neighbors have been great. Overall it's been a wonderful week! This weeks projects include figuring out Halloween costumes, pumpkin carving, and getting rid of the last of the boxes. I'm sure I will feel loads better when I'm not home alone at night and my house is organized (or at least as organized as it can be with four little kids)! We really do love it here. It's such a great little community. It's not everyday the constable calls to check up on you... Am I right?

Starbucks Date

Whew! I survived the week thanks to my sister and my mamma who unpacked at lightning speed and helped with the kiddos. I also couldn't have made it without the texts and check-ups from a dear friend. We had a girls night last weekend at Starbucks to say good-bye. We laughed, we cried. We've shared a lot over these last six years and it's been so wonderful to have such a good friend close by. I will miss her and my kids will miss her. She's such a great person and it's been a blessing to know her!

Open for Business

 Thanks to a whole lot of help from my sister and my mom, the kitchen is now open for business and my house smells like home!

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