Camilla: Double Digits

As of today I have been a mother for ten years! Camilla has been such a blessing to our family and I am so grateful for her and all that she has taught me. She is smart, organized, funny, caring and thoughtful. She has so many goals and expectations and is always living life to its fullest. I love her sense of adventure and never ending optimism. 

She may be small, but she is mighty and easily guides her brothers in the right direction with her whit and love. She has a desire to do what is right and thinks carefully about her choices and how she treats those around her. We are sure proud of her and who she is becoming!

We went to town today to get our traditional free slurpee. Camilla and 7-11 have the same birthday, so we always celebrate with free slurpee day! She's also been saving up for a budgie bird and somehow convinced us to let her get it today. It's pretty hard to say no when she cleans and sets up the cage all on her own and is one of the most responsible ten year olds I know!

KIWI seems to be adjusting well to life in our busy family and took his first fly around the house already to check things out!

The day ended with a requested angel food cake and marshmallow icing!

Then she took her birthday present for a spin around the neighborhood with her brothers! Happy birthday cami girl! We sure do love you!

Slow Paced

Today was a slow paced and cloud covered. This Summer has been so weird with lots of rain days and mild weather. The children all woke up in pretty great moods though which I counted as a huge blessing!

My heart was filled with gratitude as I watched Hyrum play with Sawyer on the floor this morning. Sawyer is so lucky to have so many older siblings who love and care for him each day!

I spent the morning baking bread and turned some of the dough into Cinnamon buns. They didn't last long once I spread the cream cheese icing on top. Yum!

We went up to the big garden in the afternoon to help Gramma pick Haskaps. It didn't take long to get berry stained fingers and full tummies!

Oliver loves all of the space and freedom that the acreage provides and often wanders around singing to himself. It really is the best!

Mamma's Bed

Today Ollie requested to nap in my bed. I was happy to oblige and tucked him in under the duvet and quilt. It didn't take long for him to doze off, and I came back to the cutest scene! Sometimes I wish I could freeze time and keep them little like this forever. I wish I could capture his little voice, his chubby cheeks, his toddler hands, and those long sleepy lashes.

Beach Day

This afternoon we took the children to Crimson Lake to cool off and swim. They were so happy to be there that they happily dug in the sand and swam to their hearts content. I was able to just sit and enjoy the view with Mr. Stannix, until Sawyer started eating sand. He has figured out that if he's on a blanket, all he has to do is pull the blanket back to get to whatever he wants underneath. I took him to the edge of the lake and he sat and splashed until it was time to leave. There is something about the lake that helps soothe my anxieties. The adversary has been planting thoughts of "You're not good enough" and "You're not teaching them enough" and "So and so must think you're kind of weird" and "You're a lousy housekeeper". These thoughts swirl around in my head all day, breaking me down and making me feel like I'm never enough. On tough days it escalates making tears fall into my sink full of dishes at days end. Sometimes they sneak out during family prayers or while singing lullabies to the children at bedtime. After a rough day today, the older boys wouldn't stop fooling around at bedtime. It got so bad that one of them ended up coming upstairs with gum in their hair. Staying patient wasn't an easy feat, but we eventually got it out, and they eventually did fall asleep!

Made with Love

We woke to more rain today. The littles are going stir crazy (and so is their mamma). The only things that kept me sane today were my baby's sweet morning grins and throwing my to-do list out the window to crochet some new toys for the children. 

I went outside after the littles were in bed to grab the last of the eggs and couldn't help but pause ans marvel at the growth of the garden. The rain has made it impossible to weed, but things are growing!

Snickerdoodle Cake

Camilla and Hyrum wanted to make snickerdoodle cookies today. They followed the recipe all on their own, but the dough ended up looking a little runny. When I saw the glass measuring cup on the counter with a bit of milk in the bottom I asked how much milk they added. Camilla pointed to the line, 1 1/4 cup instead of just 1/4 cup. OOPS! After a few tears we decided that we could fix it. We added baking powder instead of baking soda and omitted the cream of tartar and viola! Snickerdoodle cake! It smelled so yummy and the whole thing got eaten within the hour. I told the kids they had better write down their recipe so that we can make it again! 

Greenhouse Update

Summer break hasn't been feeling very "summery" with all of the rain that we have been getting. Rainy days have meant Harry Potter on repeat all morning and afternoons spent playing Monopoly with Grampa. One of the great things about the greenhouse is that you can work in it rain or shine! This afternoon I went out to look around and help Grampa with a few things. While I was out there Camilla and Hyrum decided to make cookies all by themselves. They came out looking odd and after taste testing we realized they forgot half of the butter, a whole cup of brown sugar and a whole cup of oatmeal. They were pretty salty! They tried again with fresh ingredients and the first pan came out paper thin. We added a bit more flour and the second pan didn't spread at all and ended up burning on the bottom. It was an adventure and a great learning experience. I'm half way to having my dream of kids who bake for me!!

A Mothers Prayer

Let there be morning snuggles, quiet sunrises, and watermelon kisses.

Let there be dancing in the kitchen and laughter in the home.

Let there be grace when I fall short, and extra hugs when I'm feeling down.

Let there be stories read & games played.

Let there be faith to push through the hard days in anticipation of better days ahead.

Let there be bed time tickles, endless belly laughs, and "I Love You's" spoken. 

Let there be time to hold onto that sleeping baby for just a little while longer at days end, soaking in his goodness before placing him in his crib.

Let there be evening prayers to express gratitude for the blessings that are mine and to plead for strength to wake tomorrow and do it all again.

Overwhelmed

I have been feeling so behind in everything that I do lately. By the time I get around to publishing this post, I'm sure a month will have gone by. Despite my efforts to clean, things have gotten out of hand. It's so hard to keep things organized with so many people in our family. The bathrooms are a disaster, the floor is unswept, and I still need to vacuum the mud on the stairs. It's so hard to keep up for some reason. As I vacuumed the boot room I couldn't believe the number of shoes and rubber boots and dress shoes scattered all about. Even though I've had many years to practise, I still find it hard to keep calm sometimes. I have to stop and remind myself that I can do it just a little bit at a time and everything will be okay. 

I ended up having to take all six children to the grocery store with me after dinner, but we all survived! It's been a while since I've had to take everyone with me to the store as I usually shop during school hours or post bedtime. I let out a chuckle as I reached the dairy aisle. Sawyer was in the carrier on my back grabbing at my pony tail as it swung back and forth. Everyone was talking at once and hanging all over the cart asking for things. Joe was sticking whatever he pleased in the cart and convincing me why he needed this or that (some hand soap for the boys' bathroom in particular). The looks I was getting from people as I shuffled my crew through the store was priceless. When we got to the van they all fought over who would sit where and my patience was so thin.

And now my sixth child has finally drifted off to sleep for the night. I've been on my feet all day, but if you looked at the state of my house, you wouldn't believe me. Sometimes life can feel so overwhelming. But experience has taught me that when the task seems impossible, start small and work your way through it. Today my sense of accomplishment comes from the line of shoes at my back door and a freshly vacuumed boot room. I'll get to the rest tomorrow.

Canada Day

It has been a pretty chill Canada Day long weekend filled with evening fires, smores, and hiking in the rain! To celebrate this beautiful country that we live in we thought that we would head to the mountains today for a hike! As we drove out West, the clouds started to gather. The temperature was warm and we knew that there was a chance of rain, but decided to press on anyways. The kids were excited to get to the top of mount baldy and check out the view.

Sadly, half way up, our view was disrupted by heavy cloud cover and it started pouring rain in buckets shortly there after. The combination of strong winds and giant rain drops made for a very wet and cold hike. We sought shelter under some trees and debated whether or not to wait it out. We didn't end up making it to the top, and the hike down was difficult due to the rain and wind (even I could have cried). The children had a brief few minutes of whining and then remembered that they could do hard things. We asked them lots of questions to take their minds off how wet they were and soon their frowns turned upside down.

We made it to the vehicles soaking wet with our sense of humors in tact (barely). Camilla joked that every time we bring Reese along on a hike it rains. We ended up eating our lunch on the drive home and were happy to change into dry, warm clothes. I didn't get my picture at the top with the Canada flag like I had hoped and we never did make it out to the fireworks like we usually do, but we had a good time as a family and that's really all that matters! I sure am grateful for this beautiful country that we live in!