Okotoks Erratic

 Today the boys and I drove out to Okotoks to visit my sister and pick up the buckets of honey that I ordered last week. It's a bit of a drive out there, but I hope to do it more often! It was so great to visit with my sister and the boys loved playing with the puppies! We spent a couple of hours hanging out at the Okotoks Erratic (more commonly known as "big rock"). Hyrum and Joe loved exploring, and Finley spent most of his time trying to keep up with them. It was a bit on the chilly side and Ollie wasn't a fan of the wind. He stayed tucked snug and warm inside my wrap while we walked around. I soaked in the view of the snow-capped mountains and wide open spaces. My sister brought her camera along and wanted to grab some portraits of the boys. We had fun doing a casual little photo shoot. I always love it when she asks to practise on my family. All of the pictures she takes are special, and I love the memories she captures for me!

Their personalities to a T!!

My Favorite Time

 My favorite time is nap time. Ollie fell asleep in my arms while we hugged Grampa good-bye, and Finley passed out on the couch ten minutes later. I snuggled them both into their beds, smooched their cheeks, and gazed on their angelic little faces for a few moments before leaving. 

Keeping up with five is so hard some times! I cherish these quiet moments where I am reminded of their sweetness and my love for them grows!

Canadian Attire

This is what you wear when you live in Canada where the seasons change daily and you never know what the weather will be like! We are having our second Fall right now. Finley's covered all his bases though. A toque (that's what we call it here in Canada) for Winter, a Fall sweater, no pants for Summer, and some rubber boots for spring rain. I am pretty sure if you've lived in Alberta long enough you may have even witnessed all of those things in one day.

A Foggy Monday

We woke up to fog today. I opened the blinds to find beautiful frost covered trees glistening in the morning sun. If we have to have an early Winter, at least it's beautiful! Ollie gave me two nice, long stretches of sleep and despite a late bedtime I feel rested. Neither Fin or I got dressed today. Instead I turned on my oven, put Ollie in the wrap and made some chocolate chip cookies. Best comfort food around.

I've been teetering on an edge these last couple of weeks. I've had a few teary and emotional days thanks to lack of sleep and the pure chaos of our days. I'm tired of fighting the kids to get things done, and wondering where they learned to behave certain ways. Sometimes when you're in the thick of it, it's hard to look past the tantrums, the arguing, and the constant mess and see the bigger picture.

By days end I had a dozen cheese knots, bagels and four loaves of bread cooling on the counter. The littles ate the cheese knots when Camilla got home from school. She came up to me a few minutes later, showed me her shirt sleeves and said, "I'm sorry to say, but someone tripped me and I fell and ripped my new shirt today...." Looking at the size of the holes and knowing this was not the truth I started to prod a bit. "Oh, did you rip your coat too?" "Oh, did you get any scratches? Are you okay?" I then went downstairs and let her mull things over. A little while later I found a little note that she sneakily placed beside me with the best confession ever and a picture of a smiley face with tears streaming down. It turns out she cut holes in her shirt sleeve so that she could be like her friend (who has one of those cool sweaters with thumb holes). I thanked her for telling the truth and we talked about it for quite a while. I was feeling quite upset about it because this was a brand new shirt that I actually spent money on!! Over half of her wardrobe is great quality hand-me-downs and she had to choose her brand new shirt to experiment on. Ah! It still eats at me a little. But what's done is done, and she probably won't do it again.

Thankfully, tomorrow is a brand new day with no mistakes in it yet!

Day of "rest"

Whenever I think about the phrases people generally use to describe Sundays, like "a delight" or "a day of rest" I always chuckle to myself because in our home they are anything but (though we try). I was awake until well past 1:00am with a screaming baby. When I became too exhausted to walk the floor any longer I placed him in his bouncer and laid on the couch next to him. He cried and cried until we were both in tears. He finally decided to nurse and we settled in the rocking chair in the wee hours of the morning. After a good half hour of that he finally fell asleep and I placed him in the crib. Half an hour later one of the little boys barged into his room looking for me after a bad dream and woke Ollie. I was frustrated and tired. So tired. While I rocked and nursed I thought about how unfair life is and tallied up the many diaper changes (well over 250) that I've done in his short little life, and then I cried some more. When he fell asleep I placed him in his crib. He placed one hand on his cheek and the other on his chest and I couldn't help but pause at his crib side and admire his long fingers.  

Our house woke early (of course) and the morning routine began with breakfast. Then we moved onto bathing and dressing. The other two are independent and Joseph eventually came up to get dressed with a little help from Daddy. I nursed Ollie and then bathed him because he smelled like baby barf. A freshly bathed baby is always easier to love. In hopes of staving off requests for food in the middle of church I poured the children each a glass of chocolate milk and handed them a pumpkin muffin before we headed out the door. Daddy left a few minutes before us to give someone a ride to church. The big kids managed to get themselves into the car and Camilla agreed to belt Finley in to his seat. I nursed Ollie to make sure he'd last through sacrament meeting while I listened to Finley screaming in protest to his sisters help. Then I belted Oliver into his seat and made one last frazzled pass through the house to turn out lights and grab extra diapers for the diaper bag.  When I got to the van we got through the "he hit me" "she poked me" "Finley wiped his boogers ALL over me!".... and then I turned up the primary songs and drove out of the garage. We arrived with a few minutes to spare and Daddy came out and helped me wrangle everyone into the chapel. 

They all sat well for the first five minutes. Camilla happily held her sleeping baby brother while a wiggly Finley sat on my lap and Joseph squirmed on the bench between Daddy and I. Hyrum held Oliver until he started to stir and then I passed him over to Daddy to put back to sleep. After the bread and water Daddy left to walk the halls with baby and I was left with the rest of our crazy crew. Camilla and Hyrum both jumped up to the front right away, excited to share their testimonies. They did so great. It was Hyrum's first time and I was proud of him. When they joined us back on the bench they were noisier than usual and I rolled up my sleeves and prepared for the worst. Camilla and Hyrum wouldn't stop giggling, Finely kept screaming at Joe and Joe kept pestering everyone around him and was sitting upside down with his feet in the air. I rubbed my tongue across the inside of my lip and it hit the sore I got last Sunday when Joe headbutted me in the face during the opening prayer. A twinge of frustration overcame me.  I gave Camilla and Hyrum a sharp warning before hauling the little boys out, one under each arm, and finding an empty classroom. Joseph sat on a chair and practiced reverence while Fin hung out on my hip. We weren't even there a minute before the two of them started giggling at each other over my shoulder and ignoring my pleas for reverence. An over-tired mommy is not a patient mommy and I was on the brink of losing it when Daddy came to the rescue. We swapped kids. I got the baby and Finley and retreated to the mothers room and he managed the older three in the chapel. 

Mr. Stannix and I met up after the meeting, exchanged tired smiles and headed off to Sunday school together. As we sat there I wondered what we could've done differently to make this morning better. Sundays are tough, and some days it doesn't matter how much preparation goes into it, something always happens. But even though it's hard right now I know it will be worth it later! It will be interesting to look back on our crazy Sundays after our kids have grown and try to remember the happy chaos that made the day special!

Bright Orange

This morning the boys and I ventured into the city for some running around. I hit up Michaels and got some yarn for a few recent orders, we picked up some laundry detergent for the cloth diapers, and then ventured to a clothing store for the boys. Hyrum and Finley were in need of snow suits for Winter. Since we have FOUR boys I don't feel bad spending the extra money for a good quality snow suit (it just means it will last for almost all of the boys). I showed Hyrum a few different snow suits in his size and let him pick. I wanted him to be able to express himself and feel independent. I didn't think he would go for it, but the boy picked the bright orange set! After asking if he was sure at least four times, we brought it up to the counter. He was so happy with the purchase and thanked me a million times on the drive home. The good news is, I won't be losing Hyrum when we go sledding this winter!! 

Oliver: One Month

 Oliver is a whole month old! I feel like I blinked, and here we are. It was probably one of the fastest months of my life. It's still kind of a blur thanks to sleep deprivation and four other littles to feed and take care of. Ollie is a pretty good sleeper most of the time and only wakes twice. He's starting to be alert a little bit more during the day. He's finally making eye contact (we were kind of worried about that one for a little while).  I adore his big blue eyes and the little dimples he has above the corners of his mouth when he smiles. I love his long brown locks of hair that tickle his neck. He is completely bald on top, but has some nice long hair around the back. It makes me chuckle. I like to twirl it around my finger when he lays his head on my shoulder.  He grunts and squeaks a lot and is one of the noisiest babies I've had. He likes to chug his milk and I often find myself laughing while I nurse. He has a nice sized double chin from all of that yummy milk he drinks. 

He loves the vibration of the bouncy chair and sometimes it's the only thing that soothes him. He sometimes has a hard time working the gas bubbles out of his little tummy which leaves him quite upset.  His favorite place to be is on Mommy's chest and he will snuggle for hours if he could. He is happiest when he's being held and spends a lot of time in the wrap while I get things done around the house. He is a bit on the fussy side when he's awake, but I'm slowly learning what he likes!

He is quite a serious little soul and saves his smiles for when he's sleeping. Overall he's a pretty easy baby (when he doesn't have gas), and we all adore him! Happy one month Ollie boy!

Thanksgiving Feast

 Our family was super excited to host Thanksgiving this year! We woke up to snow gently falling again and I was grateful for our cozy home. We had my whole family here except for my oldest brother and it was so fun to be together! I got the turkey in nice and early and had the dressing simmering when everyone came in. Those who weren't able to stay the weekend arrived early on Monday morning. My Mom got busy in the kitchen peeling potatoes and helping with the meal. She's always so good at seeing a need and filling it. Naomi happily made a couple of pumpkin pies and my mamma brought three apple pies! The kitchen was hot and the house was buzzing with conversation. Hyrum brought up his legos and built with Uncle Ryan and Grampa. They made a pretty awesome little car and made it go over jumps. Auntie Emma crafted up some turkeys with Cami girl at the round table. Oliver got passed around most of the day, and nursed frequently. We squished all of the adults around our dining table and the kids around the little table. Everyone brought a little something to contribute to the meal and we could hardly fit it all on the table. It was a feast. Once dinner was finished the men cleaned up and put everything away. We all enjoyed a few pieces of pie with ice cream and then some of us snuck off to different corners of the house to nap off our turkey comas. Everybody visited as long as they could before taking the long drive to their homes. It's always hard to say good-bye! It was such a fun day! I was glad everyone put in the effort to be together and make memories.

(I snagged most of these pictures from my sister. Thanks Em!)

Feeling Thankful

This Thanksgiving weekend my heart is so full of gratitude! I've spent the last few days looking at our family pictures often and counting our blessings. We really have so much to be thankful for. I am grateful that Mike has an education which has given him a good job that allows me to stay home with our littles. They are growing so fast it seems and I am glad that I get to watch it day in and day out (even though some days are hard). I love the area that we live in and my heart fills with gratitude every afternoon while I watch the children play at the park surrounded by a dozen neighborhood kids around the same ages as they are. Their life is rich and wonderful and I adore their imaginations. But most of all I am grateful for a loving husband and my five healthy littles. I see this little family as one of my greatest accomplishments in life and I am so grateful that I get to share in the joys with my best friend.

Happy Thanksgiving from our crew to yours!!

(And a shout out to my sister-in-law, Naomi for snapping these shots of our wiggly crew!)

Saturday Shenanigans

 We had family roll into town late last night. We were grateful they braved the snow and took their time driving. Today was filled with lots of family fun with Auntie "O-mi", Uncle Arland, and Uncle Chris. The kids always like having their aunts and uncles around! 

Camilla helped me pick out some Thanksgiving flowers at the grocery store yesterday and they looked lovely on our dining room table. Fresh flowers make me happy, especially since it's still snowing!

The rest of the day we all relaxed and visited. The littles played outside a bit and I baked up some artisan bread to go with our chicken and wild rice soup for dinner. The house was warm and smelled delicious the rest of the afternoon.

This little guy hung out with me in the kitchen and I couldn't help but grin at his double chin and how chubby his cheeks are getting! He will be one month old tomorrow and I can hardly handle how fast that went!!

After dinner we used our stack of "buy one get one" coupons and headed to DQ for dessert. The littles love going to a "resternaut" and sitting down. It was especially hilarious seeing the look on the ladies face when we ordered nine blizzards. I'm pretty sure they hated us! Finley sat at the end of the tables captivating our attention with his brain freeze faces and loud bursts of laughter. 

Once the littles were in bed Naomi made us up a pumpkin spice steamer and the grown ups sat down to a show. We stayed up way too late, but I love squeezing in every last ounce of visiting that we can. It was so fun having everyone together!