Squeezing In

Before we say farewell to February, here's a few tidbits from the final week. It was warm for two whole days, and by warm I mean -11. We all bundled up and escaped the house to burn some energy and get some fresh air. The first day we just ventured to the mail box and around the block, and the second day the kids wanted to go further. We walked a couple of blocks to the trail system, but as soon as we broke away from the houses, the wind became bitterly cold. It nipped at our cheeks turning them a nice rosy color. By the end of our walk everyone squeezed into the stroller to warm up. It was quite the funny sight. I love that these three are best friends.

Joseph has recently adopted a "play 'till you drop" attitude. He wakes up so early these days that he will usually nap in the morning instead of the afternoon. Since his naps don't last long he can usually be found snoring in his chair part way through his afternoon snack. He has the most adorable squinty-eyed-scrunchy-nosed smile. He has also started being more vocal and pointing at things that he wants to eat or drink. He's so fun lately!

Hyrum is completely potty trained and we've been accident free all week. It's such a relief to only have one bum to change now! He quite enjoys being a big boy. On our walks I will try to hold his hand and he always says, "Don't hold my hand Mommy, I'm a big boy..." He pretty much refuses to sit in the fun shopping carts or stroller at the store and had a nice little scream fest in the produce section almost resulting in an abandoned cart. He's got a good set of lungs! At the checkout he was screaming, "I want a treat!" over and over. The cashier (a young girl) told me, "well why don't you just get him a treat then? They're right over there." I didn't have time to explain that it would be giving in and cause him to scream and get his way in the future... Ah the joys of parenting. Mostly he's a pretty easy going kid who loves playing super heroes.

Camilla has changed so much this week. It's hard to describe how grown up she suddenly seems. She is learning so much. My favorite line from her this week was during night prayers when she said, "Please bless Daddy that he won't have to work anymore so that he can take me to the theaters again..." I love that she calls it "the theaters". It sounds so classy. Her prayers are extra thoughtful lately and include every family member all the way from grandparents down to baby Joe. She's a pretty special girl!

Onward to March!

The Plan

This month for Family Home Evening we have been focusing on The Plan of Salvation with the littles. Daddy did a lesson one Monday where he drew out the whole plan on his iPad while explaining it. Camilla and Hyrum had fun guessing what he was drawing and learning about why we are here, where we came from, and what happens after we leave this life. 

After getting the boys to sleep on a cold Winter's afternoon, Camilla and I spent some special time together snuggled on the couch. We were drawing the alphabet and spelling out words on the iPad when she asked if she could teach me something. She got a fresh page and drew a circle near the middle. As she colored it she asked, "What's this?" I replied, "The earth?" She replied with her funny voice, "Riiiiiiight.... and why did we come to earth?" She then asked me to draw her a star, but made sure I let her draw the sun and the moon. "Where do we go when we make good choices?" she asked me. We talked a little longer about it, and then she drew her and Hyrum at the bottom, being happy because they were choosing the right.

I've always known the importance of Family Home Evening and teaching our children the Gospel at home, but it sure makes me proud to see them soak up so much of what we teach them each week! I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us. I know that we came to earth to receive a body and to be tried and tested, and most importantly, to find joy. I believe in life after death and the beauty of eternal families. I hope that I can instill a testimony of these things into the hearts and minds of each of my children so that they can feel their Saviors love and know that they are not alone.

So Happy Together

 If you will excuse my well-lived-in house, I'll show you a few snippets from today.

For some reason the first step became a good seat for snack time.

Seeing the three of them getting along so well warmed my heart!

Camilla's so excited to start swimming lessons next week

 that she's worn her suit two days in a row!

Joe has been keeping me on my toes all day long getting into this or that.

I can always tell where he's been.

He's such a curious little guy lately!

 

 I slipped down stairs to help Camilla with something and came up a few seconds later to find Joe enjoying some ranch dressing from the comfort of the kitchen chair.

EEK! 

This boy can now climb on couches and chairs, and it scares me a bit!

 I'm so grateful that our home is warm and filled with laughter and love today!

Growing, Growing, Gone

I was recently reminded that Mr. Stannix and I have almost been married for six years! It's hard to believe it's been that long. Time has passed so quickly and we've been blessed with so much! Our kids are growing up so fast and it's hard for me to think that Camilla will be five this Summer. It feels like just yesterday she was toddling around the house and calling her belly button a "bo". Now she speaks very eloquently for a four year old and takes great care of her two younger brothers. Her favorite movie/obsession right now is Frozen. She likes to watch the music video for "Let it Go" and has all the lyrics and actions down pat. She told Hyrum the other day, "Once you see this movie, Hyrum, you'll be BOUNDING to get it!". She loves to dress up, and has danced her way out of a pair of ballet slippers I made her a while ago. She tried to tie the hole in the toe of her slippers back together with string! Today I made her a special Winter head band. Of course I took a picture. As I looked at the picture I couldn't believe how grown up my little girl is! She is beautiful inside and out and I'm so glad she's mine!

Bed Head

This week I've been trying to nail down Joseph's napping schedule. Since he's started playing through his afternoon naps I thought I'd cut him back to one nap a day. Both Camilla and Mr. H always napped at 1:00PM when they were this age so we tried it out! Adjusting to a new schedule meant a few crazy nights (teeth were a contributing factor). When littles don't get enough rest during the day, they will often have hard nights.

It's was rough for a while.

I kept trying to keep him awake until after lunch, but he would be super whiny, or just fall asleep in the middle of eating. So now he just goes for a nap when I notice that he's getting tired. The last few days he's been wanting to nap around 10:00am and always wakes up happy!

If the house is too quiet in the late afternoon he sometimes has a short snooze in his highchair or on the floor. He's such a funny kid!

Spontaneous Delight

 I was reading ahead in our joyschool curriculum the other day and came across the unit on spontaneous delight. Those two little words have been on my mind a lot lately as I try to help my children delight in the simple joys of life. After lunch today we drove Daddy to the office. On our way home Camilla was begging to do something fun instead of going home. Since Daddy has had the car for work, I think we've all suffered from a bit of cabin fever, most especially my social little Camilla. Last minute, I decided to take a right turn into a favorite park. The weather was nice enough, though I didn't have a diaper bag and there was no near by bathrooms for Hyrum. We stayed, ran, laughed and played until fingers were cold and Hyrum was doing the potty dance. It was nice to just spontaneously do something!

 Camilla delights in the fact that she has finally learned how to blow bubbles with her gum! It's pretty cute. Over the course of the day I think I've seen a hundred little bubbles. 

 We were all delighted when the Canadian Women's Hockey team won Gold against the USA. We all wore red to cheer them on! The game was crazy as we were down 2-0 in the very last period and came back only in the last couple of minutes forcing the game into overtime. It was totally epic! So proud to be Canadian. 

While I began dinner Mr. Joseph decided to spontaneously take a second nap. All of that cheering must have tuckered him out!

Family Day Fun

After a very productive morning, the only thing we had left on our list was tobogganing with the littles! The weather was beautiful and begged to be enjoyed. We drove to a nearby park with a nice hill and went crazy. They were so excited that they cheered when we arrived.

 Hyrum jumped on the saucer first thing and asked for a push! I hesitated since he's never tackled a hill this big before, but I knew he could do it. He screamed all the way down and Mr. Stannix and I weren't sure what would come of it. 

 Once his saucer came to a halt, he popped off and shouted up to us, "That was AWESOME!" 

 Joseph was obsessed with riding down the hill and loved when Daddy went with him. If he wasn't on the sled, he was whining to get on the sled and go again. It was pretty funny!

 The hill was pretty slick and the littles enjoyed rolling and sliding down without anything.

 I was glad to get one picture of Camilla as this was pretty much the one and only time she went down. She kept asking us where the little hill was, or would start half way down.

 She was always close by for pulls up the hill though!

 Joe hasn't experienced too much Winter fun because of the cold, but he sure enjoyed his time!

 He and I had a few good runs on the saucer! I'm sure he could slide all day (my bum however couldn't)!

 We finally convinced Camilla to join the boys for one last go down the hill before she, Joe and I made our way to the car.

The boys weren't far behind though and rode out the last leg to the car. Hopefully the weather stays nice and we can squeeze in a bit more sledding this Winter!

Sunday Dinner

My Gramma and Grampa called us up a few weeks ago to invite us for dinner today. It's always a treat going there for dinner. Camilla told me, "Gramma's are the best cooks!". We enjoyed a delicious meal and homemade cookies for dessert. The best part is, we didn't spill ANY drinks at the table this time! My Uncle and Aunt joined us as well as my big brother, Chris. We managed to snap a busy picture of us all before we left. The older two broke into a giggle fest at the doorway on our way out. It was super hard to peel them away from each other and manage to get everyone to the car. Mr. Stannix and I smiled all the way down the hallway and partly felt bad for the other tenants of the building as we all giggled our way to the door. I sure do love my grandparents and the example of love and patience they are to me! It's so special for our littles to spend time with their great-grandparents!

My Valentine

I woke up this morning with an extra little boy in my bed. Hyrum hugged and squeezed me tight and told me "I lub you SOOO much Mommy". Those words are always so special when they come without notice. Last night when I tucked him in he said, "I lub you Mommy, but I just love Camilla the bestest. Actually... I just lub all ub you!" Man, he's cute! Camilla joined us after she woke up and we all had early morning cuddles. I'm always a fan of the extra love around Valentine's Day.

 

My darling Mr. Stannix planned the best Valentines day. He started out by arriving home early from work with a dozen white roses and a four paged love letter for me and a single red rose for Cami girl. It was very sweet, and his note made me cry. We then headed out to dinner at the Cactus Club with our besties up here. We've known them for almost five years. Camilla used to call them "Tay-tay" and "Cha-cha". It's crazy how much time has gone by! We actually got to drive together and talk with out our crazies running around! We visited over dinner about all sorts of things and I enjoyed every bit. I surprised Mr. Stannix by ordering a steak instead of my usual burger. We laughed and ate off each others plates, that's the nice thing about being married. I snuck away to the bathroom, which was the coolest ever. They had TV screens on the back of the doors and "Exotic foot flush" toilets. We laughed about that too. We then shared a slice of white chocolate cheese cake and continued onto the activity portion of our evening. Taylor planned a photo scavenger hunt around the mall. We split into couples to complete our lists and then met up afterwards. It was a lot of fun!

And now a little bit on my Valentine. I am so lucky to call him mine. He has worked hard getting an education to support us, and I admire that. I love his "stick-to-it" attitude and perseverance. He's willing to do anything I ask (I just have to remember to ask). He is loved by the children. I love watching them play and wrestle around together. I also love that he can plan and pull off a successful Gospel lesson very last minute for FHE. The kids learn a lot from him. He is a huge planner and is always scheming and planning for the future. When we go on vacation, he has to have a plan, and I love that about him. He also has many other amazing qualities like loyalty, love, determination, forgiveness, hope and patience. I could go on and on, but I'll save some more of the good stuff for future posts! I love that Mr. Stannix!

Heart Shaped Pizza

We celebrated Valentine's day early with the kiddos by making heart pizza's for dinner tonight! Daddy arrived home from work just in time to help! Hyrum and Camilla love helping mostly because they can eat the toppings while they work. They were pretty excited about the heart shapes.

We also popped some bubbly to enjoy with our pizza to help us celebrate. I think the littles had more bubbly than pizza.

John Janzen

 Today the littles and I ventured out in the cold to hang out with some old friends! Most of these kiddos were born very close together, and haven't seen each other for quite some time since we've all moved to different areas of the city.We used to get together once a week at a park when the kids were small. It was funny seeing them together. It took them a while to remember each other and start playing together.

 The older two took off as soon as we entered the play area, so I stuck with little Joe. He had fun walking on this fun floor! 

 

He was also obsessed with this slide. 

 I managed to sit them all together on a bench for a whole ten seconds, so this is the best we could do. Joseph was distracted by someone walking by, Hyrum is hamming it up, and Miss CJ is just such a big girl...

 I really wanted to gather all of the kiddies together and grab a picture for a then and now comparison, but with over ten of them under five, it was a little hard to get them all together. I did manage to catch Camilla and Kennedy together though!

I mostly hung around with Joseph and chatted with the other Mamma's. It was a crazy fun afternoon! We tried to buddy Hyrum up with one of the other boys there. It worked for a bit, but then he missed his sister too much. I guess I need to let these two be apart a little bit more! It started out with, "He's my best fwend, we're havin' fun Mudder!" and then changed to, "I don't love him, I love my Camilla instead..." I love that they play so well together and really truly are like best friends. I look forward to getting all of us together again soon!

Tuckered Out

Looks like this cutie could have used his morning nap after all!

He couldn't even make it through lunch!

Monday's Musings

Here we are at the start of another week once again. Time sure ticks by when your days are full and busy! The children all seem to be growing and changing so much each day that I can hardly keep up with them. I chatted with my Mum on the phone today and she wisely said, "They grow fast". I've been thinking about that statement a lot today, and how true it is. I spent the better part of my morning clicking through old pictures of the children and letting them hear themselves on video. Camilla was amused by her little voice when she was first learning how to talk. Hyrum laughed at the one of him playing "ha-ee" with a wooden spoon at our old house. They both told me how much they missed our old floral couches and their shared bedroom. Their memories amaze me! My memory however isn't so good. Often the kids will say something funny or do something memorable and when I sit down to write about it at days end, I've forgotten! I always try to take note of things the moment they happen so I can write them in more detail later. Time just goes so quickly and I sure want to hang onto these moments after my children are grown.

Last night Camilla asked me to lay with her for a few minutes before bed. Almost every night I snuggle with her and scratch her back, arms and sometimes legs while she rattles off her days events to me. This time she snuggled her little body in close, positioning her head just below my chin and resting it near my chest. I pulled her in close and ran my fingers through her long damp hair. Her breathing soon became very heavy and her arm twitched letting me know she was asleep. The curtains were pulled open still and the orange streetlights filled the room with a special glow. I wanted to lay there forever with her sweet body nestled into mine. I thought about when she was a baby and remembered special moments we shared. I thought about when her body was small enough that she could sleep on my chest with her legs curled up on my stomach. Tears were shed in our snuggle and more tears come as I write this. Memories from the last four years flooded my memory. But those memories were a little foggy, and suddenly I wished I was better at keeping a journal when she was a baby (or that I had started this blog when she was first born). When I look back on pictures, the details of the moment seem distant, and I can't help but think, "They grow so fast!"

Camilla is such a great girl! The other day when we were driving she was telling me how awesome it was that Santa knew exactly what she wanted and how he "sees everything from the South Pole!" I smiled and listened. Tonight when I tucked her in, she told me all about her day. Then she said, "I'm SO excited for tomorrow because the day after that we get to go see our friends!" The enthusiasm in her voice was so contagious and left me wishing I could capture some of her energy and zest for myself. She will often wake up and tell me, "Today is a special day Mommy because..." and tell me a simple reason why it's special. If only we could all have that same outlook on life each night before bed and each morning when we wake. She teaches me so much this girl of mine.

And while I'm updating, here's a bit on Mr. H. His vocabulary is huge, and it's no wonder with the way his big sister teaches him. He always asks to say the dinner prayer and then gets Camilla to help him. One time this week, in a classic repeat after me prayer, Camilla said "Please bless we will get a new baby, and that it will be a GIRL" and Hyrum repeated, "Please bless a new baby, and that it will be a BOY!". Mike and I cracked up. He is doing awesome in his new undies and staying dry all day. We're still working on the other side of things. Often after I've made him sit on the potty for a few minutes he will tell me, "I'm full of sitting on the potty". He uses this line for other things too. "I'm full of..." whatever we're doing.

Joseph is absolutely hilarious lately and has perhaps changed the most of the three! Today I laughed when I was kneeling down to hug Camilla and he plowed in, climbed on my knee, clung onto my shirt and pasted himself to the front of me. I gave him a hug and he let out a big content sigh and remained snuggled for a few minutes. It seems whenever I try to give affection to anyone else, he will always make his way in there for a bit o' lovin'. He now folds his hands at night prayers and gives us all big hugs before bed. It's crazy how much he understands, and how obedient he is. He likes to walk around scheming with his tongue stuck out and pointing up. He has a love for climbing and will frequently hang from the handle of my oven as he tries to make his way up. He also tries to pull himself onto the counter using the dishwasher and can almost get on the couch all by himself. I dread the day when he's able to climb and jump on the couch with the older kids. They are getting better at watching him and keeping him safe though. Camilla always stands behind him when he goes downstairs to help him. He has developed a fear of the top of the stairs and will always turn around a good couple of feet before the stairs begin and scoot himself backwards. He takes the stairs on his tummy like they are a slide at the park and giggles the whole way down. I love him and the joy he brings to our little family!

Looking Out

I love hanging out with this boy.

We spent a few minutes this morning watching Daddy shovel snow. 

Joe is constantly trying to climb or pull himself up on something.

He is a very busy boy!

Warming Up

I love how in the freezing cold of Winter, the suns rays still feel warm on your face. The other day Joseph and I soaked up some rays. I snapped a picture of him smiling, but caught a sneeze instead! The littles are all anxiously awaiting Summer and all that comes with it!

Good Things to Come

Tonight we had the privilege of feeding the missionaries. The littles provided much of the evening entertainment with Hyrum smooching Camilla and them laughing and giggling up a storm. Sometimes I wish I could record our dinner conversations because they always get me laughing! After dinner each child politely asked to be excused and they made their way downstairs. Before the missionaries left, they shared a message that really hit home for me. It was exactly the message I needed to hear and be reminded of. It gave me both comfort and hope. I cried through the last minute or so of this video, so grab a tissue!

"In that imaginary instant, I couldn’t help calling out to him: “Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead.” Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven. But for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come."

-Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Another Big Kid

I think it's safe to say that Mr. H is officially potty trained.

He now tells me when he needs to go, even though his dance gives it away.

Today was the first day totally accident free.

He's pretty proud of himself.

Though if anyone calls them "underwear" he will quickly tell you they are "undies".

Please tell me I'm not the only one with a toilet paper roll that looks like that?

T-T-Today

 Some little moments from our day today...