Voting Day

This morning we woke to the most beautiful sunrise! 

I love watching the sky change morning and night, I will never get tired of it!

Mike and I went to town early this morning to vote in the federal election. We are hoping for a change, but I guess we will see! This is how Sawyer felt about the whole thing...

This boy plays outside any chance he can get. This afternoon his favorite toy was the mini skate board!

I decided to try something new for the after school snack today. Homemade doughnuts are delicious!

An Afternoon Walk

The little boys and I went for a walk this afternoon. The sky was blue and it was far too nice to stay inside all day. We took the stroller down the lane and up the ditch and explored all of the things there was to see. 

Nature is the best cure for anxious souls and busy boys.

This chub-a-lub finished off the afternoon with an epic nap! Sometimes I wish I could join him.

Sugar Cookies

It seems we've been passing around a little flu bug in the Stannix home. 

One look at Finley's eyes today told me he was coming down with something. He slept away the afternoon in my bed while I baked Sugar cookies.

When the kids got home from school they iced our traditional Halloween sugar cookies (and ate their fair share).

These are the moments!

Autumn Moments

I love this time of year! The temperature is perfect, the air is crisp, the leaves are gorgeous and there's a hum in the air as we hustle about harvesting and preserving. Experiencing this time of year at the acreage for a second time has been perfect! We love being near Gramma and Grampa, the space to play outside, the ever-giving garden, and the colorful eggs.

 

The kids are all growing so fast! Sometimes I wish I could bottle them up and keep them forever. I do enjoy all of the stages and watching them all interact. When the big boys read books to the little boys or I watch Camilla snuggle a sleeping babe and grin as she listens to his sighs and coos, it melts my heart and makes me feel grateful for all of the ages and stages. 

Our afternoons are often spent coloring, playing outside, or biking around the acreage. When we are all together huddled over coloring books and pencil shavings, laughing and talking, my heart is filled to the brim. Sometimes I have to remind myself to slow down, ignore the mess, and soak in the moment.

 

It's really great having extra arms close by to help out! I feel as though my house is in a constant state of neglect. I've gotten really good at moving and stacking dirty dishes to make room for more dirty dishes and making due when there's not many clean things left. We've eaten jello out of cups with giant serving spoons and sipped our soup with straws then no clean spoons could be found. I really do try to keep up with it all, but this is the reality of life with this many kids.

 

At days end Ollie will ask, "Mom?" and I'll smile, "Yeah, bud?" ....."I just love you SO bad!" And these are the lines that make it all worth it. All of the mess and chaos and tantrums and dirty bums are all worth it for the "I love you's" and the hugs and the sneaky smiles. Lately I've been woken by the sound of coughs echoing through the night. We've played a lot of musical beds. After being woken countless times in the night, the comfort of my bed holds me tight.

Needle Craft

The sunrises have been glorious this week! Watching the sky change is one of my favorite things to do in the morning.

The children laugh at me because sometimes, right in the middle of breakfast, I will get up and run to the window and tell them all how beautiful the sunrise is today. I hope they always remember to cherish the little things and relish in the beauty of nature.

We sauced a whole lotta tomatoes this morning. We have crates upon crates ripening faster than we can keep up! We've learned a few new tricks though to speed up the saucing process and are getting a lot of it canned up into spaghetti sauce and salsa! Yum!

Naptime cuddles are still a thing with this sweet boy and I cherish them. I regret all of the reading and worrying I did with the first few babies. I wish I had just sat and enjoyed them more instead of making sure I wasn't going to spoil them with too many cuddles or create bad sleep habits. Holding him in my arms always feels right.

Today I woke up with a desire to knit. It's something that has always intimidated and intrigued me all at the same time. So I dug out Gramma's knitting needles from my Mom's basement, took a peek in an old needle craft book that my Mom handed me and looked up a YouTube tutorial. After the littles fell asleep I went to work feeling like my fingers were all thumbs, tongue stuck out slightly to the side and muttering things out loud when I finally get it like, "Hallelujah!" after one hundred tries on a single stitch. I've dropped my needles one hundred times and the darn stitches don't stay on very well, but I haven't given up! Casting on wasn't so bad, but this knit/purl thing might take me forever! I probably should have started with something like a dishcloth.

Frost

I snuck outside just after the big kids left for school this morning to savor the simple things that the morning had to offer. 

These frosted leaves were so beautiful!

As I've focused on the little moments of joy my heart has been filled with inexpressible gratitude. I loved watching Sawyer drift off to sleep this afternoon in my arms. Seeing his eye lashes resting on his cheeks as his chest rises and falls will always be one of my favorite things. 

After picking the big kids up from piano lessons we had a bit of a bumpy night. I made eggs for dinner and then it was chaos as children shuffled in and out of showers and baths and completed their dinner jobs. We managed scriptures and bedtime prayers (just barely) and then I let out a huge sigh of relief as I snuggled Sawyer to sleep. While I rocked I could hear the two oldest reading books to the little boys and in the background I could hear Joe singing away in the bathroom (he holds the record around here for taking forever in the bathroom). Somehow Sawyer nodded off to sleep while listening to a mishmash of "The Little Blue Truck" and "The Cat in the Hat" being read at the same time. I love when everyone is under the same roof, helping, serving, singing and reading. I went to bed feeling very blessed (and tired).

LEGO

The big boys have been really into their Lego's lately and I love the things that they come up with. Hyrum made transformers today for him and Joe to play with and they are so cool. The knees and arms move and their ninjas can sit inside of them. They played with these for a long time today!

Thankful

I felt pretty blessed this morning as I looked around at our family and all we've been given. We are healthy and happy and enjoying life!

Sawyer and I stayed cozy warm today with our knits.

We had our own little Stannix family Thanksgiving dinner tonight with a homegrown chicken, dressing, potatoes, veggies and warm dinner rolls. 

Together is my favorite place to be.

Garlic Roasted Tomato Sauce

We have been processing tomatoes like crazy around here. I've had fun trying different methods and recipes and am hoping to find a great sauce that our family loves. In the past they have been too watery, so Mom and I are trying to remedy that by reducing them a little bit longer and experimenting with different canning recipes. I found a great recipe for a roasted tomato onion garlic sauce. I spent the entire day washing, slicing, and roasting tomatoes. Mom did up a few batches over at her place and then we spent a morning pressure canning the sauce to store. 

Ollie asked me today, "Are your muscles heavy? 'Cause my muscles are heavy!" After a day of lifting heavy pots of Tomato sauce I think my muscles are pretty heavy. 

I'm slowly learning and enjoy working side by side with my Mom. She is a wealth of knowledge and I hope one day to be as confident as she is with the pressure canner!

The Big Things

This morning didn't quite go as planned. It was the end of the week, the kids were grumpy, and I had been awake for three nights with a sick babe. My patience level was not where it should have been and I got pretty grumpy over silly little things. Just as we were sitting down to read scriptures, one of the kids muttered, "Boooooor-ing." Then a younger sibling decided it would be funny to copy them and I threw up my arms in defeat. The scriptures went away and I started talking to them about the morning and how I expected them to do the little things that I asked without complaining (pack backpacks, practice piano etc.). I told them that if they know how to be obedient when I ask small things of them, then it will be easier to be obedient later when I need to ask a big thing of them. As we were discussing this issue my thoughts were turned to our Heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost touched my heart and reminded me of a great lesson. I immediately quit scolding and once I changed the tone of my voice I was able to teach the children a great principle! 

In the few minutes before we had to rush out the door to catch the bus we talked about how our Heavenly Father expects us to do little things each day like pray to him, study our scriptures, and show Charity and love for others. As we practice obeying these little things each day we are happier and it is easier for us to obey the big things later! Sometimes Heavenly Father asks little things of us, and other times he asks great things of us that can seem impossible to do. But when we are asked to serve in a calling that might be difficult or push us out of our comfort zone, or asked to follow a big commandment that might seem hard, or go through a big trial that will strengthen our faith, it will be easier for us to do if we have already learned to obey the little things. We will be able to trust in our loving Heavenly Father when He asks us to go through those hard things and we will be blessed.

We didn't exactly read any scriptures, but together we were able to learn a great principle that I hope they will always remember. After giving them each a big hug and apologizing, they rushed to catch their bus as it pulled up to the end of the lane.

"When we love the Lord, obedience ceases to be a burden. Obedience becomes a delight. When we love the Lord, we seek less for things that benefit us and turn our hearts toward things that will bless and uplift others."
~Joseph B. Wirthlin