Mamma's Helper

 We woke to clear skies and a beautiful sun rise! As I tidied the rooms and pulled the curtains to let the sunshine in I made sure to crack all of the windows to freshen the bedrooms. It didn't take long for the house to be filled with smells of Spring and new beginnings. It's one of my favorite smells!

 My second favorite smell might be fresh baked bread! We were running low on white flour so I decided to make a batch of whole wheat to tide us over until grocery day. Finley eagerly scrambled up on the counter to help dump ingredients and push buttons. I was just grateful that Ollie slept through the noisy wheat grinder!

 I tried a new recipe and beat it a little bit extra in the mixer. It looked so perfect after I put it in the bowl to rise!

 While we waited on the bread dough we mixed up a batch of my favorite chocolate chip cookies. The first pan came out just in time for Camilla to sneak a few after she got off the bus!

Little man woke up happy and we hung out in his room while the fresh air poured through his cracked window. The greatest joys of life are sometimes found in the most simple things.

Valentine's Day

Our Valentine's day was low key this year! I woke up cranky and tried to make up for it with pink heart pancakes and heart shaped jello. Mr. Stannix called me on his way to work to thank me for my efforts and remind me that I am a good mom (even though I wasn't feeling like it on this particular morning). The kids were happy and fed and dressed and that was all that mattered! 

Camilla skipped off to the bus with heart shaped sugar cookies for her bus driver, teacher, and classmates. 

Ollie fell asleep on my bed mid morning and had a nice little snooze while I showered and tidied up bedrooms.

Mr. Stannix scared me half to death when he came through the garage door half way through the day and surprised me with flowers in hand. He worked from home all afternoon and I was glad to have him home, even though he was working!

It was hard to get anything done with this sweet boy smiling on my lap all afternoon. While the big boys played I sat and stared at this growing little babe of mine!

I loved the extra love in our home today!!

The afternoon sun called us outside to play. The two littlest have pretty bad coughs still, but I knew that the fresh air would do us all good! It was perfect snowball weather and we made a nice sized fort with some neighbor boys.

It took Joe a while to learn how to start a snowball, but once he got the hang of it there was no stopping him!

This wooden sign arrived in the mail today, just in time for Valentine's! I've always wanted a sign with our wedding year on it and ordered this from Little bit of Everything out of Lacombe. I am so excited to find a place to hang it in our home!

Jolly Jumpin'

Right Here

Most nights I still end up snuggling in the little boy's room until they fall asleep. I squeeze into Joe's bed and nurse Ollie while I rub Joe's back. It doesn't usually take very long for their snoring to interrupt my singing. Tonight as I got up to leave I took a few minutes to admire my sleeping babies. Before scooping Ollie over into his crib I snapped a quick picture. There is no other place I'd rather be in this whole wide world than right here snuggled next to my children at bed time!

In Good Company

This week we got a call from our good friends asking if they could come for a visit! These are the kind of friends who don't even have to ask to come visit. We would take them anytime! We were so excited that they wanted to stop by while they were down this way! 

They stayed for a couple of days and it was so great to catch up with my bestie. The littles had a lot of fun playing outside and in. Finley pushed little Addie around in his little car for most of the morning. It was pretty cute to watch!

Miss Adeline gave me the motivation to finish this bonnet that's been on my hook for a while now. After she modeled it for me I sent it home with her because it was perfect for such a classy little lady. Can't wait to see these guys again!!

Oliver: Five Months

Our little man is five months old! He is such a happy boy and we love his easy going personality. He always wakes up smiling and can brighten any day! I love when he wraps his arms around my neck, tugs my hair and tries to eat my cheeks. His giggle is contagious and he always tries to join in on the laughter around him. 

Most days he is content to play on the floor or in his exersaucer while I get things done and tend to the other children. If he fusses I wrap him on my back and he snuggles in for a snooze. He loves to be carried (especially now that he is teething). He adores it when his siblings play peek-a-boo or jump up and down to make him laugh.

He has become quite the mover! He rolls all over the place now when he's lying down. If he's sitting he kicks his legs and flaps his arms. He has discovered his hands and often holds them in front of his face and babbles away at them. He is grabbing things and putting things in his mouth. He loves to eat and opens his mouth for each spoonful. If we don't feed him fast enough he grabs the spoon and starts shoveling the food in himself. He is in nine month clothing now and keeps growing!!

Sleep has been hit or miss lately. Typically he only wakes once or twice a night but these last few weeks have been rough! He loves to hold a soft blanket while he sleeps or nuzzle his face into a blanket when he's tired. He is slowly learning to fall asleep on his own, but still prefers a cuddle or nursing.

He has bright blue eyes, chunky legs, chubby toes, and kissable cheeks! We adore our little Ollie!

Happy five months big guy!

Puppy Love

The kids sure love having this girl around!! She puts up with a lot from the three littlest boys. We love her spunk and playfulness! We've almost got her potty trained (hooray!) and she fits in well with our crazy crew!

Happiness Is

 Today was our first Tuesday in a long time with no obligations or commitments. I am not one for scheduling a lot of things for the children while they are small. I like our life to be simple with lots of time to just be together. I spent a lot of my time in the kitchen with my little helpers at my feet. They have the whole house to play in, a basement full of toys, but they prefer to be close by and today I wasn't about to complain. While I baked there were children hiding in the pantry smooshing their faces against the glass to make me laugh, a child snuggling the puppy at my feet and the baby squirming on the floor. 

When the first pan of cookies came out of the oven I hardly had time to take a picture of them before they were all gone. While the music played, the toddler danced and the timer counted down until the next pan would be ready I reviewed some reading material with Hyrum at the table. We used flash cards to make funny sentences and laughed together. He has really taken a liking to reading and it makes me so happy to see him learning! Between words he would stuff his warm cookie into his mouth and giggle. It made me wish that I could be a kid again.

After lunch a pair of lemons were sitting on my counter begging to be used. Hyrum mixed together the ingredients for lemon bread while I nursed Ollie to sleep. He was happy to crack all of the eggs and we got to talk a little bit about math. "You've got one egg in there already, and you need four. How many more eggs do you need to crack?" He carefully placed the loaf pans into the oven and I set the timer. I went downstairs and gave the little boys fresh cloth diapers and then Finley crawled up on my lap and let out a sigh of contentment. I snuggled him into my shoulder and brought him up to his bed for naptime. He woke to fresh lemon bread and sunshine.

In the early afternoon the skies cleared and the sun came out. After almost four days of constant snow it was much welcomed! Despite the chilly temperatures Finley came waltzing into the nursery with one snow boot and his diapered bottom begging to go into the yard and play. All of the boys suited up in their snow gear and headed out to enjoy the fresh snow!

As I watched them play the bird house caught my eye. It looked like such a cozy little home with all of the snow on top, and I couldn't help but smile and wish for the same cozy feelings to be present in our own home. The big boys headed off to play on the big snow mountains at the park while Finley and I opted to warm up in front of the fire. He played a game of Tug with Reese before we wandered upstairs for a cup of hot chocolate. Camilla came home just as I was putting the kettle on and opted to stay home and join us for hot chocolate instead of playing with her brothers at the park. She went ahead and changed the music to her favorite songs and gave me a wink while I grabbed her a few cookies from the cookie jar.

The boys came home fighting and then seconds later they were both laughing hysterically over something. Boys are so peculiar sometimes. I opted for roast beef sandwiches for dinner because it was easy and let the children have some extra free time to play since Daddy was heading to young men's early. The boys started talking about how fun it was to play "tackle" with Daddy yesterday and then Joseph begged me to play tackle with them after I finished my sandwich. We all went down to the basement and they cleared a spot to wrestle. It was hardly fair since it was four against one. I was on the floor with Finley kissing me all over my face and the older three tickling me to death! It's been a long time since I've laughed that hard. They thought it was hilarious and I loved every second.

While the boys were bathing a friend stopped by with some delicious pizza buns and cinnamon rolls. It felt so nice to be thought of and helped me feel a little less lonely! It's so nice to know that people care.

After baths and ice cream we finished our evening with family prayers and I tucked them in for the night. I snuggled on Joseph's bed while the little boys fell asleep. Reese cuddled up to my feet as I nursed and before long I had sung them all off to dreamland (including the dog).

And now here I sit with my legs tucked up in my nighty listening to the hum of the dishwasher and the clicking of the keys as I type. I sent our tired Daddy off to bed early after a long day at work and an evening with the youth. I have just finished doing the nightly rounds where I pull the covers back up to the children's chins and give them one last kiss. They have all been asleep for a couple of hours now and are hopefully dreaming good dreams. 

In a few minutes I will be tucking into bed with extra gratitude in my heart. When Mr. Stannix came home he apologized for the hard day that I must have had (with him being so busy and no one else here to help with the children). Usually, days like this are difficult, but today I was able to give a half smile and pull out my camera to show him all of the joy that I tried to capture today with my lens. Life can be hard, but there is always good to find, sometimes it just takes a little extra effort.

Holding On

Today the road report was red all the way into the city, so Mr. Stannix decided to work from home! We all love having Daddy around. He drove his girl to school this morning and took her out for lunch in the afternoon. When he finished his work he helped Hyrum build his log cabin from Christmas and I got lots of extra hugs and smooches throughout the day. It felt good to have most of my family home under one roof on a Monday! The snow hasn't let up much and Mike shoveled twice today! 

I played the piano for a little while after Camilla left for school. Oliver cooed in his seat next to my bench while Finley and Reese fought over a pair of socks behind me. Soon Fin climbed up on the bench where the puppy couldn't reach him and sat so still while my fingers danced across the ivory keys. It felt good to play again, to release emotion into my music, to feel something.

This afternoon Oliver fell asleep in my arms and all I wanted to do was hold him and stare like I used to when he was a newborn. He will be five months old pretty soon and I can't help but wish time would slow down. I admired his long lashes, his button nose, his chubby cheeks and pink lips. While we rocked the snow continued to fall outside. I soaked up the moment as best I could before placing him gently in his crib and quietly closing his door.

The Necessity of Trials

 The children have been working really hard to fill the jar full of chocolate hearts and acts of kindness. The other day I asked Joseph to take out the recycling (since it's on his chore chart) and he very politely replied, "Thanks, but no thanks Mom". As I sat in the mothers lounge today at church I got thinking about that little moment and when Heavenly Father gives us trials I sometimes feel like saying, "Thanks Heavenly Father, but no thanks." 

I know that trials are a necessary part of life and without them there would be no growth. I am grateful for the opportunities that I've had to be stretched and pushed throughout my life. I know that Heavenly Father doesn't give us anything we can't handle with a little bit of faith, perspective, and perseverance.

After learning of the recent passing of a mother of four that we are acquainted with I couldn't help but feel like all of my trials are so insignificant in comparison to what this family is going through right now.  It has caused me to reflect a lot on how precious time is and how I can make every moment count. It has given me a deeper desire to hold my children close and cherish each day with them.

Whenever my children complain about something I've asked them to do that is difficult, I encourage them by saying, "You can do hard things!" I'd like to think that when we are passing through trials of our own, Heavenly Father is close by, cheering us on, and whispering in our ears, "You can do hard things!" How grateful I am for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the knowledge and strength that it gives me to press forward each day with optimism and hope!