Baby A

Joseph will often tell me, "Mom, I love you all the way to Edmonton and back!" And I always reply, "Wow! That's far!" Well, today we drove all the way to Edmonton, and back. It was a long day for the littles but they did pretty good! We stopped at my grandparents and were welcomed by a warm pot of chili. One thing I love about my grandparents is that you're always served food of some sort no matter what time of the day you arrive. We always leave with full bellies, and full hearts. Joseph sat for quite a while with his great-gramma, glancing up every once in a while to say, "Gramma, I love you so much!" 

 

When the children started getting antsy we loaded up again and drove across the city to the Wolsey's! They welcomed a beautiful baby girl over the Christmas holidays and I had been itching to get up there and meet her. 

This was the biggest reason for our long drive. Miss Adeline is so precious and I was glad I got to meet her before she got too much bigger!

This family is one of the things we miss most about good old Edmonton.

In the late afternoon Jessica put some cookies in the oven and we all enjoyed them warm a few minutes later. 

Camilla couldn't wait to hold Clara's baby sister. She's had a lot of practice with three younger brothers! We left just before dinner so that they could have a few minutes before welcoming family. When it was time to put on our boots Clara started to cry. I looked at that cute, curly haired girl and my voice broke, "Clara, you're going to make me cry, too!" Jess and I wiped away tears as we shared a long embrace to fill us up enough until the next time we could see each other. 

We then skipped across the city and stopped in at Mike's mom's for a bit before grabbing dinner. We picked up donairs from our favorite place and drove to Arland and Naomi's to check out their place and eat. When bedtime rolled around we said our good-bye''s and hit the road for the long haul home. It took way longer than we thought it would for everyone to fall asleep, but at least some of our drive was peaceful! The snow blew across the highway and conditions weren't ideal, but Mr. Stannix has some pretty great driving skills and we all made it home safe and sound. We tucked our sleepy kids into bed and then fell fast asleep!

Time to Be

I cherish our simple life. I really do. I love being able to stay at home with the boys and just spend time together. We don't schedule a lot of extra activities and aside from exploring nature whenever we can, we don't go out a whole lot. The kids spend their inside time building lego, racing cars, or playing make-believe with their stuffies. They spend the majority of their days developing and using their imagination and problem solving skills. A lot of the time they are left to their own while I fold laundry, do up the dinner dishes from the day before, or scrub bathrooms. I listen with a smile from wherever I am while they play house, fight bad guys, or build block towers. I love when we're together and the children are forming friendships with one another.

The other day Camilla came home from school and told us about all of the fun things that she did that day. Hyrum piped in, "That sounds like fun! I wish I could go to school." Camilla (wise beyond her years) replied, "Ya know, Hyrum, sometimes you guys do a lot of fun things and I wish I could just stay home all day." It warmed my heart to hear her say that. Sometimes when I look back at what we did over the day I wonder if I did enough. If I gave enough. I sometimes wonder if I should be putting my kids in more extracurricular activities like all of their friends. But I can't stand the thought of running all over the place to make it to dance, hockey, soccer, baseball, swimming, piano lessons, and the like. While these guys are small I am totally cherishing the time we have together. Right now I am loving our slow, easy afternoons full of discovery and delight.

While we were eating our lunch today I glanced out at the sunshine and sparkly snow and decided to take the boys outside for part of the afternoon. The weather was gorgeous and the sun warmed our cheeks as we played. Finley was thrilled to escape the confines of the house and explore!

It wasn't anything special, and we weren't outside for an overly long time, but we enjoyed each others company. I loved listening to them giggle as I pushed them "higher and higher, Mommy!" I loved watching Finley break path in the snow, falling and getting up over and over again. I came back in feeling refreshed and grateful that I tagged along instead of just sending the older boys to the park to play. 

With Hyrum reaching Kindergarten age a lot of people have started asking me if I am going to send him to school. I have a feeling I might keep him home for Kindergarten, just to soak up days like these for a little while longer.

I stumbled across a really great blog post the other day and she totally expressed exactly what I needed to hear. "We don't need to rush from one enrichment activity to the next. We simply need the time to be together...Constant activity without time to recharge is like growing a plant without roots. Children need roots."

Our life may not seem overly exciting to some, but we sure love having time to just be together! 

Recent Height Stats

 

These crazy kids are 

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    r

o

  w

       i

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like weeds!!

A Sunbeam

Joseph has been looking forward to joining his older siblings in Primary for the last little while. With the start of the new year he moved up into the Sunbeam class with ten other three year olds from nursery. I team teach this class with another lady in our ward and it's been fun watching Joseph transition and grow. The kids are busy, but we have a lot of laughs (when he's not folded over my lap complaining of hunger).

Keeping Up

 I spent a lot of my afternoon sitting on the playroom floor trying to clean up while the boys ran "Zig-zag fast" from one end to the other and all around. Finley has morphed into a little boy and prefers walking to crawling these days. As the boys zigged this way and that Finley ran in circles trying to keep up! He would become intimidated as they wooshed by and plop on his bottom with a giggle even though he was totally left in the dust. I fell in love with his wobbly little walk and the way his brothers tried to include him in their game. I'm sure most of his life will be spent "keeping up" to those big brothers of his. Love these busy boys!

A Full Time Job

Snow has been gently falling since we arrived home from picking Daddy up late last night. Everyone woke up a little on the tired side due to the late night and cold weather. Hyrum came to my bedside this morning and snuggled in next to me for a few minutes before I decided it was time to wake the rest of the children. We have spent the day cozied up at home drinking hot chocolate, watching cartoons, and crocheting. I completed a cute little hat and bootie set this morning while the boys played nicely together. These last few days have been almost heavenly. Everyone is agreeable and kind once again and there has been minimal fighting and arguing. 

A few of the littles are still getting over colds which makes playtime more quiet and calm. Finley has spent a lot of time walking across the livingroom. Just when he's about to tumble he collides into me with a big excited hug, and then promptly wipes his snotty nose all over the front of my shirt. Those hugs are pretty special, snot and all! Wiping Finley's nose has pretty much become a full time job these days. I can't wait for those four little teeth to come in and his cough to subside! 

Lego Land

 Hyrum got a bunch of lego for Christmas and loves creating! So far he's been enjoying the instruction books included (and online). Today while the little boys were napping the two of us fixed his helicopter and made a castle and a digger. I love how much he soaks up our quality time. "You're the best mom ever!" he told me. I think this will definitely become a new nap time tradition. We had a lot of fun together!

Farm Fresh

This morning we finished off the last of our farm fresh eggs that my Mom lovingly shared with us when we left after Christmas. I loved opening up the second dozen to find a little feather nestled in between a couple of the eggs. There's nothing better than the taste of farm fresh eggs!

Life Lately

It may be a new year, but life is still much the same in the Stannix household. There are piles of laundry, dishes in the sink, and toys scattered all over the basement! But we've had a lot of fun skating, sledding, and relaxing with the children over these past couple of weeks. Today was Camilla's first day back to school, and of course it was the only night that Finley slept through and the children stayed in bed until past 7:00am. I almost laughed out loud at the irony as I quietly crept down the stairs to wake the older two. They quickly dressed and then came up for a warm bowl of cream of wheat. Joseph's almost got cold as he slept another half hour longer nestled in my bed. He likes to keep Daddy's side warm while he's away for a training session.

I've found myself kind of in a funk lately. Although we are making friends here and figuring out our way around, I have found myself missing our "old" life a whole lot lately. I keep thinking about all of the friends I could be serving in our old stomping grounds and how big their kids must be getting now. I miss having weekly visits and sharing mothering woes with good friends who are completely loving and aware. I've spent the last couple of days making slippers to surprise a friend with. They were made with love, and a few tears as I thought back over the journey of our friendship and where we both are now in our lives. I am positive that things will get better here, but every once in a while I sure ache for that best friend of mine. 

Along with a new year comes some new goals for myself and our family. I've been mulling over a lot of things lately trying to compile lists of things that are and are not working for us right now. As we work our way back into routine we've had lots of attitude adjustments and discipline issues. I have a rambunctious preschooler who is very rough and tumble and a four year old who's suddenly developed an attitude the size of Mount Everest. I can't help but stare at him with my mother eyes, mouth gaping open, and wonder to myself where in the world he's learned this stuff! I am pretty much at my wits end with both of these issues as I scower the web for parenting tips and tricks. The other night all three of them were picking on each other and when I'd finally had enough I lined them all up on the couch for a little chat. I sat in front of them and asked them why Heavenly Father put us in families? Was it so that we could beat on each other whenever we were angry? I told them we were put in families to help each other. To learn to love and serve and to become what Heavenly Father wants us to be. As I shared these thoughts with them tears streamed down my cheeks (and a few of them even got watery eyes). We ended our little chat with a group hug and a promise to try better tomorrow, knowing full well some of it will continue the next day and I will find myself saying things like, "Don't throw salt at people, please!" as we eat dinner.

As I've tried to narrow down why the children have suddenly morphed into little monsters I can't help but wonder if it's something I've done wrong. I wonder if I'm giving them enough attention, if they're feeling enough of that love that is deep in my heart for them. I wonder if I'm giving them enough hugs and kisses, or words of encouragement. I'm pretty sure I could ease up on the criticism and remind myself more often that they are just kids. They are going to make mistakes, and messes, and tell me "no" once in a while. It's all part and parcel of the growing and learning process. A few weeks ago in church I heard a quote that was like a light bulb moment for me. It was something along the lines of "If you find yourself losing your patience often then you are probably spending too much time IN the world." It dawned on me that when I find myself scrolling through the news feed on my facebook, or comparing my life to someone elses via a blog, I become very impatient! It also usually means I'm not doing a good job keeping up my relationship with my Father in Heaven. There is so much going on in the world right now and this year I hope to be better at sifting through it and only bringing into our home things that will uplift and edify. Not to mention when I'm scrolling through facebook ten times a day I am totally neglecting my responsibilities as a mother. I could definitely improve in that area, and will be focusing more on it this year.

Another thing I'd like to focus on this year is taking better care of myself. I could definitely use a lot more rest in 2016! We've begun the year with some massive colds and I feel like I spend all day wiping snotty noses and all night listening to children cough. My diet could definitely use some work as it consists mostly of toast, cookies, muffins, crackers and whatever other quick things I can get my hands on during the day. I don't often take time to sit and eat a meal because, well, there's dishes to be done, and floors to be mopped, and snotty noses to be wiped and that kind of stuff. I do know that when I eat properly my mood and energy levels improve drastically!

I don't mean for it to sound like life is all bad, sometimes it's just nice to sneak a little reality in every once in a while. I am so grateful for those little happy moments that get sandwiched in between the hard stuff. I adore listening to Camilla read to her brothers. Hyrum is so cuddly and has such a kind heart (when he's not grumping). Joseph's one liners are pretty humorous and I'm kicking myself for not writing them down. Finley loves when I get on the floor to play with him and his new favorite place to sit when I'm laying down is right on my stomach looking down at me. He will grin and giggle and jump up and down forever. Sometimes I like to sit on the floor while I put the finishing touches on my crochet slippers and he will come and plop down right in my lap with a squeal of delight, overtaking my project with those kissable cheeks of his. He also loves giving hugs to everyone and will lay on their shoulder with a little "aww" and a cuddle.

Each night before bed I like to check on each of them. I gently tug the covers back up to their chins, place the books on the shelves, and lightly kiss their cheeks. It is in these moments that I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the blessing that they are in my life. Mothering is one of the hardest things I've ever done. It requires endless energy, a selfless heart, a deep love, and a relationship with the Savior. But I am grateful for the way my children are molding and shaping me into that woman that I want to become. Slowly, day by day, I am becoming wiser, more patient, and more in tune with their needs. Looking back I'm sure the good will stick out more then the bad. Why else would all of the sweet old ladies I meet in the grocery store tell me that it was the best years of their lives? I'm sure they shared the same struggles I am going through right now. If they can do it, I can do it!

Happy New Year!