Paint Puddles

 I've said it before and I'll say it again, toddlers are curious creatures. The cuter they become, the more trouble they get into! They are so inquisitive about the world around them and sometimes it's hard to take a step back and put yourself in their shoes. Take this afternoon, for instance. I was finishing up the last round on a dishcloth that I was making when Hyrum and Finley ran upstairs to get a quick drink of water. They weren't gone very long when Hyrum called me to "come quick!" In the middle of the hallway I found a freshly squeezed bottle of blue craft paint lying in a puddle of it's entire contents. 

The paint splatters just barely missed my freshly folded (but not quite put away) white towels. Around the corner near my bedroom I found the blonde culprit with a sly smile hiding in the corners of his pink lips. As I took a step forward he ran towards my bathroom with a trail of giggles echoing behind him. I cornered him in the bathroom, knelt down and took his hands, and asked, "Finley,  why did you do that to Mommy's paint?" His sweet little voice melted some of my anger away, "I du-nooooo...." Somehow he managed to come out of this mess with just a few speckles of paint on his clothes. I stripped him down and put him in toddler jail a.k.a the crib that we haven't gotten around to raising up since Ollie came along. 

 He looked more amused with himself that sorry and I listened to him make car noises as he drove around the crib rails and made the best of it. After cleaning up the puddle of blue paint, I made my way to the garbage to dispose of the paper towels and happened upon another, much smaller, puddle of yellow. 

 What fun it must have been to squeeze and squirt those bright, wet paints, all over the hardwood floor!

Cold Snap

 We are still in the middle of a nice little cold snap here in Alberta. It has made me so grateful for our warm home and the people I share it with! On Wednesday morning I fell down the stairs at 6:00am while carrying Finley. In an effort to keep him safe after slipping on the first carpeted step my leg bent back and I went skiing down the whole flight on my shin. My foot is a nice shade of blue and my toes are very colorful, not to mention the awesome rug burn. I have been limping around for a couple of days now and am grateful for helpful littles. 

This morning started early, like it always does. Before I even got a "good morning" out of my preschooler he was at my bedside demanding breakfast. Camilla woke with a fever and sore throat and asked if she could stay home today. She was so sick that she wasn't even sad to miss her school choir concert that afternoon. When it rains it pours around here it seems. I decided we'd have a pyjama day and take advantage of the fact that our doors were froze shut. I didn't think it was possible but the basement got even messier than it was and the dishes were left undone. Half of the kids slept the day away and the other half played and watched cartoons. It was a good day for fleece outfits and plaid!

 While Ollie enjoyed his afternoon nap the boys and I crafted in the kitchen. I saw this cute idea for footprint reindeer on the internet the other day and decided to give it a shot. We mixed some colors to make brown and called that our science experiment for the day. The boys had fun mushing paint between their toes and then soaking their feet in the kitchen sink. We improvised a little bit with the noses and pipe cleaners but I still love the way they turned out! It's always fun to craft with the littles!

The big boys promised me they'd do their chores once we finished. I was met with a lot of resistance though and ended up heading downstairs to switch over the laundry while they whined. I came back up to Joe unloading the cutlery and Hyrum stacking the plates. They decided to make it a team effort and got the dishwasher unloaded and the recycling taken out. It warmed my heart to see them working together!

I hung onto that moment as the chaos of dinner time erupted around me. Daddy informed me that he was going to be late and I was hanging on by a thread. The baby kept screaming every time I put him down, the boys were fighting, Finley was running around turning the lights on and off and making messes in my pantry. It took a lot to ignore the mess of dishes on my counter and the noise of life with four boys and keep cool. After asking Joe to quit begging me for food (because dinner would soon be ready) he shouted "I hate you!" and stomped down stairs. I rolled my eyes and got back to the Naan and five loaves of bread I had on the go.

Dinner made it to the table later then planned and I sat down with a (finally) sleeping baby on my back to eat. Joe took a look at his plate and whined, "This is horrible!" Half way through dinner a very full cup of water dumped into Hyrum's lap. As it splashed on the floor I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I surprised myself when a little laugh escaped my lips, even though it was more out of frustration than anything. I was about ready to give up when I heard the garage door open and Mr. Stannix walked in with flowers. He surveyed the damage, guessed I'd had a hard day, and hugged me tight.

I jammied the little boys while Mr. Stannix ate dinner and chatted with the older two at the table. Finley was overtired and giggly and Joe tried out his new cloth pull-ups for the first time. Sadly, they weren't quite what I was expecting and make him look like he's wearing a tutu under his jammies. Mr. Stannix stifled his laugh and tried not to choke on his dinner when he saw Joe for the first time in his puffy bummed cloth pull-ups. Despite how flustered I was feeling I couldn't help but laugh. We chuckled our way through family prayer and quickly tucked everyone in way later than usual! Joseph was warm to the touch when Daddy pulled up his covers and I fear he will wake up with this silly flu bug next.

I've learned a lot this week about perspective and how important it is to have gratitude and count our blessings. Whenever I complain about my rambunctious toddler on the phone to my Dad he reminds me how wonderful it is that I have a healthy, active boy to chase after. As I related to my mom the frustration of meeting head on with a hungry preschooler first thing each morning I found myself tearing up as I said the words, "I don't think I will EVER miss Joseph's 'Mom, get me breakfast!' first thing in the morning". Because the truth is, I will miss those dreaded four words when I no longer have hungry children coming to my bedside depending on me for food and nutrients. I know I will. I will miss all of this when they are all grown and gone and my house is silent. So this week I have chosen to be thankful for the baskets of laundry that I still have to fold, because it means we have clothes to wear. I am happy to endure my noisy boys because it means they are happy and thriving. I am glad for slamming doors, dirty dishes, and late bedtimes. I am maybe even grateful for my busted foot because it has caused me to slow down a little bit and focus on those things that matter most! 

"How much of life do we miss by waiting for the rainbow before thanking God for the rain." 

~Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Slow Mornings

 With the hustle and bustle that usually accompanies the Christmas season, I've been trying extra hard to slow things down around here. We have really been loving our slow mornings. After getting Camilla off to school we snuggle up to cartoons in our jammies or sit and enjoy the Christmas tree. This morning I really enjoyed watching Ollie coo at the lights in his fresh morning diaper. Once we were all finally dressed we bundled up to run some errands. The weather has gotten bitterly cold and sometimes I wonder why we live here! After buckling everyone in my fingers were frozen and we hadn't even made it out of the garage yet. As I backed out I made sure to watch for our empty garbage can. Turns out our super nice garbage man ran it back into our garage (that was accidentally left open) right where it belongs. I was grateful I didn't have to jump out and get it. By the third stop half of my kids were crying of cold and I couldn't feel my fingers as I pulled on the metal door handle to the store. We were all glad to be going home to a cup of hot chocolate and a pile of blankets!

Christmas Baking

 Yesterday morning while the house was quiet, the snow started falling in big, giant flakes. I turned on my oven and pulled out a recipe for whipped shortbread cookies. Camilla was just starting to feel better after a fever that lasted most of the weekend and Finley was home more for convenience than anything else. I was glad for a slow morning to soak in these littles and enjoy some time together. Camilla and I giggled as Finley drove his wooden car through the left over flour on the counter. I cooked six pans of shortbread cookies and froze most of them for later. The Christmas lights, decorations, smell of cookies, and oversized snowflakes sure made for a cozy morning!

Sunday Best

The two big boys went to church with Daddy while I stayed home with the other three battling fevers, coughs and runny noses. Joe looked so handsome after Daddy did his hair that I couldn't help but take a picture and capture his sweet smile and his awesome red suspenders. Happy Sunday!

Trimming the Tree

 Typically we set up Christmas the first Sunday of December along with The First Presidency Christmas Devotional, but this year we broke tradition, or rather started a new tradition of setting it up the Saturday before! We have a few people in our house that are so excited about Christmas that they can hardly wait! Mr. Stannix even let me play Christmas music BEFORE his birthday this year (it's kind of a running joke between us). 

This morning we all pitched in and tidied up the house and bedrooms. Mr. Stannix did my dishes twice today which was such a treat! Once our jobs were all done we ventured out into the cold and picked up some new Christmas decorations for our new tree! After we arrived home we got busy setting up Christmas. Be prepared for a shwack of photos on this post!

 To kick off setting up the tree Joseph hit Finley over the head with the candy cane he was sucking on. It shattered and pieces of wet candy cane stuck in Finley's hair. Joseph started crying, and Mr. Stannix was trying his best to contain his laughter as he watched the whole thing unfold. Finley cried as I pulled pieces of sticky candy cane from his long toddler hair. It was quite the scene!

 This year we had the pleasure of fluffing the branches on our new tree! The kids were pretty good at it! I made this hat for Hyrum when he was a chubby eight month old baby. He excitedly put it on today and exclaimed that it still fit!

 Once it was all set up the littles eagerly grabbed the big Christmas balls and began decorating. For every ball that went on, two fell off. We quickly discovered they weren't glass like we had thought and thanked our lucky stars!

 This girly wasn't feeling too well, but wanted to join in on the fun of course! I can't believe how big she is getting.

 Joe's favorite part was climbing the ladder!

 Mr. Stannix was looking pretty handsome. Man, are we grateful for him! 

 I couldn't get over these chubby toddler toes as he sat and concentrated on getting the decoration on just right.

 Ollie sat beneath the tree mesmerized by the lights and commotion as we danced around to Christmas music.

 I really wish these kids would quite growing up already!

 Hyrum dug the Christmas star out of the box very early on in the decorating. He hugged it and waited so patiently to put it on at the end. He was sick last year when it was his turn and Camilla did it. This year he asked if it could be his turn again and was so excited all day! He LOVES Christmas and kept saying how beautiful everything looked and how good he felt inside. 

 We attempted a few family pictures with the camera timer.

 Mr. Stannix looked at it after and said, "That's one BIG family!"

 We adore every single one of these little blessings!

 This girl is such a helper! Her brothers adore here.

 After peeling Finley away from a tantrum on the floor he managed to show us his teeth for a quick picture!

 Finding this mistletoe to hang was a dream come true for me! 

 We spent the rest of our evening drinking hot chocolate, admiring the lights, and soaking in the magic of the season.

 Joseph was most enthralled with the newly decorated tree and stayed upstairs the longest to enjoy it.

 "Daddy can I please sit on your lap?" These two were so sweet together!

 Inside this house is a whole bunch of people that I love and adore! We are so excited to celebrate the birth of our Savior and spend some extra time together over the Holidays!