Saturday, November 21, 2015

Family PIctures 2015

So this year, I have ZERO energy…less than ever before, and ailment after ailment…6 week long bronchitis, topped of with a rib that's out (and being worked on daily), complete depression (which is also being worked on daily), crazy eye infection thing, on top of crazy house stuff, a few of the kids getting picked on at school and um, about a dozen other things….so I just made these cute kids throw on some church clothes and go out back for a few pictures…and they nailed it!  I love them all so much!.
Vivian is hilarious.  She loves to dance.  She loves to call things pretty.  She loves to be called princess, even if it's spider girl princess.  She loves gus gus and pursey.  She loves to color…on everything.  And she loves to cuddle.
Kamryn loves being in the peter pan play.  She loves her new friends.  She LOVES Gus!  She's starting to like boys, and of course, boys like her and she loves being in young womens and going to mutual.
Pearce is SO loving school and learning.  He is constantly reading, spelling, adding, and especially coloring.  He loves to color with vivian, play outside with vivian, play "slide across the floor on our knees" with Vivian and Battleship with anyone except Vivian.
I haven't gotten a good shot of Boston yet, but he's just awesome.  He of course, loves school, his new friends, his teacher, and just doing anything that either of his brothers are doing.  He's constantly thinking of ways to make people happy and things he can give people as little gifts.  He's so thoughtful.
I was hoping 2015 was the "magical " year that these two became good friends….here's to 2016!

Ah! And I LOVE this picture.  I made my parents let me take a picture of them after church last week and mom busted up laughing at dad when he kissed her while looing at the camera, then I chewed him out.  It was hilarious!  These two are great!


Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Halloween 2015

So, yea, it's been A LONG time since I posted.  Let me catch you up.  We finally moved out of the city and back to the country.  Sadly, I made a morning sickness decision on the house to move in to.  WE had looked at lots of houses over the few months of the summer and either they were too much, too small, too far out of town or too cookie cutter….so one night in July when my morning sickness was at it's peak, we were told about a cute old adorable house in a beautiful spot. We went, I was sick, and tired, and tired of looking and said, yea, it's great, I love it!  Before really thinking about the size, how many of us live there, life without a dishwasher again, and the fact that I'd be there alone half of the week every week.  So yes, the last 3 months have been full of stress, bedrest (bled for a month due to a severely torn placenta…which is still torn, but I'm off bedrest for now), a house full of mice, leaky faucets, super weird smells, yellow tiled countertops, carpeted kitchen, boys sleeping in a closet room, no room AT ALL for a crib, and it's around 1100 sq ft.   I do have to say, our landlords are amazing.  They do what they can to take care of teverything right away. No one had lived here for years, so these things were bound to happen….I just didn't think it would be so annoying.  And yes, let's top it off with chickens that dont' havve  a coop so I have to catch them all once a week and put them back in, pigs that don't have a pen, and they're getting quite aggressive and loud, and the fact that my 3 oldest kids have all been beaten up in the last week at school.  So bam!  There it is!

Now on to good news.  This guy…so cute!  He's doing so well in school and has made some great friends and, like the rest of us, is LOVING being back in the country (of course, he doesn't mind the mice..he had one go right by him one night and I couldn't get him to care).  And Gus gus, our newest member of our family.  He's turned out to be a completely awesome dog!  He's huge, but docile and happy.

 This last weekend was Halloween.   The kids had a few costumes for the different events.  Pearce's cowboy was my favorite!  I love his cowboy face!  And vivian's first choice was Spiderman girl.

 Then an owl, "whoo whoo"


And mine, Jase's and Jaden's picture will be coming soon….as soon as I can get my dumb phone to email it to my e mail and then download it (taking an hour or so) onto this computer!  I feel like such a pioneer!!! It's kinda driving me insane!.

Thursday, June 4, 2015

He's 13!






So I didn't post much about my new teenager, so I'm interviewing him.  We have so much fun going back and reading his old interviews, that I think we'll have fun reading this one in a few years.

M: Jaden, what's your favorite thing to do as a 13 year old?
J: School, Just kidding.   Soccer.
M: Really?  It's not watching pG-13 movies?!
J: Maybe, but I also like soccer.
M:  What is something I always say to you? 
J: GET YOUR CHORES DONE!
M:  Really?!  It's not even chores, it's ZONES SON!  Get it right!
What's something I do that makes you laugh?
J: Dance in front of my friends.
M: I KNEW IT! I knew you loved it!!!! How are you and I different?
J: Gender
M: Ok, Smarty Pants, what else?!
J:  In muscle.  Mine are bigger.
M: Not true.  What's your favorite song right now?
J: Centeries by Fallout Boy and Uptown Funk by Bruno Marz
M: Uh, you didn't get your mom's taste in music.  What do you like to do witih your family?
J: Picnics and family bike rides
M: Who's your favorite person to hang out with?
J: I'm sorry…but it's Grandpa…because he's awesome, and he's active and he lets us do stuff.  He's not like " You can't do that!"  he's like, 'yea, just be safe".

M: Alright, let's wrap it up kid.   What goals do you have for the next year of your life?
J: Read the whole "my weird school" series,  not be a pain in the butt and get stuck in my room all day, get along with my sister,  make an awesome treehouse with Boston, finish the stregnth of the youth,   make a small business, and make Taylor's soccer team.

  
Alright, those are good goals.  You're awesome, and I love you so much and you drive me crazy and I love you so much and you're hilarious and ridiculous and handsome and smart and you drive me CRAZY!!!!!


Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Seriously happy day

This last weekend grandma and grandpa hatch came down for preston and caitee's endowments.  They stayed with us, which is always so much fun for us…might have been a little crazy for them, but we LOVE having them stay.  The kids ask everytime they come down "are they sleeping in our house?!"   We decided to take them out to Schepf farms and pick peaches.  It was a lot of fun to watch. I just wish they could have stayed long enough to enjoy the peach ice cream we made.  Breea helped me put this video together.  I <3 it="" p="">

Friday, May 22, 2015

AHHH, Addictions!

Ok, my first and worst addiciton is sugar.  Since we've moved here, I've become so unhealthy.  We eat healthy meals, but I'm a closet sugaraholic!  BAD!  And I can't stop.  Seriously, I've read so many articles on food and sugar addiction, and i've made charts, set goals, stopped having it in the home, but I ALWAYS GO BACK TO IT!    SO that's my #1 to work on….

But my #2 is social media. I CANNOT believe how adicting it is!  I was off from October until about a week ago, and now I check it everyday!  I deactivated mya ccount again, so hopefully I'll stay off now. It's so dumb. I love this little interview with Jennifer Garner about social media:


HERE


I can't believe how much it's effected my self esteem, and gratitude being on social media more this week.  Instagram is hard for me, so I've gotten rid of anyone not family or very close friend on there.  I know blogs aren't a whole lot different in the aspect of posting the best parts of your life, but I feel like instagram and facebook are more braggy, where blogs are more journaling/keepsakes.  One of my friends has…seirously, THE most beautiful life…in honestly, what I believe after seeing her day to day pictures, the most beautiful location on earth….and she blogs…weekly…and it inspires me rather than makes me feel lame.  I know, to each his own, but for me, social media destroys…blogs uplift.  So addiction #2, nice try this past week, but see ya!


Addiction #3…reading…WHAT?!  Kristal Mulder reads????? Yea, I just started reading about a year ago, and it was a slow go, but now I just want to go lay on my puffy white bed, fan on hight, all windows around my whole room open and read my books if I have a second of free time!  It's so weird to me! Right now I have 3 books going on.  The first one is jumpstarting our boys.  It's an awesome book about how boys are falling behind so rapidly in reading and writing,a nd how it usually happens around 4th grade, and the effects it has on their futures, being non readers.  I'm just getting to the good part about how to get them to love reading (of course, example is one, so yay for this new addiction!).  The other book, makes me so sad…it's the book the Duggars wrote…and I'm so sad about their oldest son's recent alligations.   But from what I've read, he's fully repented, which I know doesn't make it right, but how many amazing men do all of us know that have had HUGE screw ups in their teen/early 20's years?  yea, all of us.   I'm so sad they're taking the show off.  Luckily, I've only watched one season, sO i can go back and find them all and re watch. I'm amazed at how great their kids are, what hard workers they are, how grateful and thoughtful they are…and again, it's like the social media one, I know just the good parts are shown, but most of us, on a daily basis like that, could not get that much great footage…and we don't have 19 kids to manage.  And my 3rd book, I've only read one page of, is about US governmental conspiracies.   I need to learn more about history, so I figured I'd start with the ONE part that I find somewhat intriguing.  

Addiction #4…which feeds #1…baking. I LOVE trying out new recipes, I LOVE delivering goodies to all of my friends and family every week, and I LOVE having my house smell like a bakery at all times.  I used to be good at baking all the time and not eating all the time, but not anymore.  Actually, I did ok this week becaue I put them on plates, covered them and made the kids deliver them right away. but I LOVE BAKING!

Addiction #5….toddlers.  Not just any ole toddler….but MY toddlers. I'm freaking out that I only have one more toddler left to raise.  It makes me SO sad.  I LOVE having someone to do grocery shopping with, and to hang out with all day, to help me pick up, and to do their hair and dress them up and to give me hugs and kisses all day. I'm wondering how it's going to go in 2 years when I'm here alone. I hear lots of moms say that they are busier then than ever, but I'll have a driver in 2 years, and I feel like that's my busyness other than toddler messes and dependencies right now.  I'm so sad, but I know it has to end sometime, and I'm too old, and vivian is too old to go again.   So, we've gotta soak up this last year or 2 of toddlerdom.  :(

and I dont' like picturless posts, so here are few random candid shots.  J doing major homework (ONE MORE STINKING WEEK of it)…
 Kamryn cutting quilt squares for her new bedspread….
 This guy, just being sweet and cute….the usual….


 Someone took pictures of me at the computer after I had freshly chopped bangs….


 Uh, and sorry that none of these are edited….no time right now

Friday, May 15, 2015

10 years of wisdom

 Ok, so I know 10 years isn't a whole lotta time to gain wisdom in the whole scheme of things, but when I look back on old journals and old blog entries for a decade ago, I just think, "man, I wish I would have known….".   So this blog post is about the top 10 things I wish I would have known 10 years ago:
1. The moms that say "my kid learned the word hate from your kid and it breaks my heart because we don't talk like that"…..she has deeper issues.   At the time, I remember thinking, "oh my gosh, how did my sweet girl learn that awful word…we don't talk like that either, and now 'blah blah' thinks we're a mean talking family".
The same situation now, "yea, we don't talk like that either, I'll have to talk with her about it, sorry, but your kid would learn that word sometime in his life anyway, so don't blame mine for this moment of learning for us both".


2.  None of it matters.  I put so much time and effort into their adorable outfits, and their huge birthday parties (pre pinterest mind you!), and doing all of their hair, everyday.  And over the years, I look back at blog enteries, and none of it matters.  The things they love are the trips we go on, the games we play, the books we read, the hilarious everyday moments that happen by accident.
Now…I try and spend the time I used to spend on putting together great outfits and parties with them playing games, learning to cook, or even just cuddling and watching TV with my tweens.  I'm sure they'll reember their mom more for that than for the parites and great outfits.

3. It's going to get harder.  I remember when I had 3 under 5 I thought, "this is ridiculous! I can't keep up, Jase is never home (36 credit hours, plus weekend seminars…honestly, NEVER HOME), we're living on food stamps, I can't get back into my pre baby jeans, and these guys go from a mess to a fight, to a mess, to nap….then wake up before I can even get the messes of the day cleaned".
Now…I know I'll never catch up.  When I have 2 clean rooms in the house at a time, It's a success.  And having Jase home…he's never home long enough to talk to me….he's home long enough to eat, get the kids going on chores, take em for a bike ride, put em to bed, then we're both either out, or he has more work to do.  We do however, schedule a date once a week to escape it all and figure thigns out.  And food stamps, oh how I miss the over abundance of food stamps during our school days.  Now I feel like each week, as these boys eat more and more, my food budget gets stretched SO THIN (honestly, our food budget is ridiculous, but that's because I'm married to Mr. Organic)  Pre baby jeans. haha!  They're probably getting moth holes from being in the tupperware bins so long.  As soon as I get 2 days in a row of doing great on my diet, I wake up one day and forget about it because the kids have so much going on that I just eat a couple of peices of honey/butter toast along with a protien shake (a good 600 calories).  Mess to fight to mess to nap….it's still going on…..I just don't stress about it as much anymore.  Don't get me wrong…I still have days of feelign overwhelmed, and would love ot see a completley clean house, but most days, I get excited when I get a whole room organized, picked up and vaccumed.  it's enough for me in this season.

4.  You don't have to do it all.  For years I was honestly the mom that did it all…and didn't think I was amazing for it…just thought I was normal for it.  Like I said, I did the parties, we did library story time once a week, I belonged a play group that met at a cool church with an awesome play area once a week, I started a bunco group, I read to my kids everyday, we cuddled in the love sac as a family every Sunday, my kids were always baking and cooking with me, we had a healthy meal for all 3 meals a day, I was in my size 8 jeans, I actually did my hair and make up..>EVERDAY, I held Jason's hand and seriously clung to his legs as he tried to go to work because I loved him so much, I remembered everyone's birthdays and sent out at least cards, we were on time to everything we went to, I never forgot an appointment, I never had to reschedule anything, I even pet my dog everyday.
Nowadays, I wake up, usually don't even look in the mirror til about 10 at the earliest, chaos happens as the kids try to find their clothes, I remember my kid's birthdays a few days before, early enough to throw out some invites and get some dollar store decorations, library…haha, we go about once a month…as long as the fines are under $20, we've had 3 books for 6 months now, and I keep pleading with the librarisn to extend my due date…and she does. Play group?  No…they have each other, that's enough right?  I still do like to read to them once a day, but it's usually half the ammount of time, and sometimes I even outsource to an older sibling, bunco group….I tried, people are too busy here, and then I found myself getting caught up in the unnessesary busy, cuddling…..we don't all fit in the love sac, but we do still watch AFV together every Sunday, size 8, I explained that earlier…not part of my life right now.  Jase and I holding hands?  Sometimes by accident oru hands touch as we are passing each other in the hallway, that counts!    Righ tnow in life, I can't do it all….I used to, and maybe someday again I will, but right now, everyone is alive, loved, celebrated, and learning.  That's as much as I can ask for.

5. No one really does do it all.  I feel like this is my latest lesson learned.   When facebook started, I didn't think much of it for a few years, but as the years go on, I feel like there's a crazy epidemic of women in their mid 20's to early 50's that like to "cyber brag".  I understand some people just do have crazy amazing lives…as far as looking great, or as far as trips, or children's accomplishments….rarely do poeple have all 3, and I'm finding that when they do….they usually have marriage issues, credit card issues, or the ever popular, self esteem issues.  It's just been in the last 6 or 7 months that I've realized how sad it is for these moms (usually within 10 years of my age) to be posting so many selflies.  Lots have a hard time just posting a picture of their kid w/o them in it.
A year or so ago, it really made me feel like crap. I felt like so many women did have it all and do it all. I removed my facebook account for 6 months, and removed about 200 people that I followed on Instagram, and within a week, I felt like a fun mom again and less ugly. And I know this is my own "comparison issue", but I feel like there are um, my guess would be NONE that can avoid comparission with social media.  I loved a quote I heard that was, "comparing yourself to social media friends is like comparing their big event with yoru behind the scenes".  And I agree, people post big awesome things in their lives, but we don't knwo their behind the scenes, and they usually don't know our BIG awesome events (unless we have a week or so where we go chatbook crazy, ha)    I miss pre smart phone days so badly.  Hoping I can stick to my goal of getting rid of mine the end of July…for good!

6.  Another thing I wish the mom in me of 10 years ago would have known is why to teach kids obedience. I feel like I used to try to teach them to be obedient with threats, or with rewards, where I should have been teaching them that being obedient to mom and dad is being obedient to God, and that it's part of showing us love, just like we feed them and dress them and play with them to show them we love them.  It shouldn't be done for a reward, or to avoid a bad consequence.  We've really been trying to teach these last ones this way, but it's such a hard habit to break, "aww, I think only the kids that did their zones can go bowling tonight".  UGH!  But I wish I would have known this from the get go.

7. Another lesson I wish I would have been told in parenting.  If you yell, you'll raise a yeller, if you spank, you'll raise a hitter, if you pout, you'll raise a pouter, if you ignore, you'll raise an igorer.  And I know this isn't true in all cases, but boy it sure is pretty close in most. We were yellers for our first 2 kids….and spankers….and its been a hard few years teaching them that it was wrong, and that we shouldn't handle situations that way.  and that TIME OUT really is awesome.  It is…weather it's for the parents or the kids…everyone needs time outs!

8.  Sometimes youe at cereal for dinner!  YOU DO!

9. Simplify.  I've learned this now, and I dont' think it was important in the beginning because there are less kids, and more time.  But a few years ago, I decided to put all 3 of my older kids in sports, one was in soccer, oen ewas in dance and 2 were in piano….I felt like things were busy, but they were ok, then another one got activity days thrown in there, and another started scouts, and one had to start doing tutoring that I had to go pick him up for.  My days became SO overwhelming.  SO overwhelming. I couldn't function, let alone enjoy my life as a mom and play with these cute kids.  So as seasons ended, I vowed to not pick up on another one. I know they need to stay busy, and I'm so tired of hearing moms say, "if I don't keep my kid signed up in something he'll end up getting in trouble"…because seriously, that's anyone, but be a mom and keep them busy at home, play ball with them at home, teach him some life skills at home.  I have one friend right now who's kid is going to serve the president and his wife at the white house because he was chosen as the Az rep for this kid's cooking contest.  Come on, who's going to be the more amazing husband, the kid that learned how to cook well or the all start goalie?    I'm WAY more proud of my 13 year old when I see him singing to his baby sister and brother out back while he pushes them on the swings for half an hour than I am when he makes an awesome soccer move.  And I know he loves soccer, so he'll keep playing, but we'll never be so involved in a sport that they miss out on church activities, friends birthday's, or most importantly family get togethers.  I follow a lady named Joy Prouty, and I am amazed DAILY at the simplicity and beauty in her life with all of her babies.  Her life is a dream (not comparring, just admiring and aspiring).  I feel like she has what we were on our way to in our JC life. Learning how to grow food, both plant based and animal, learning art, learning kitchen skills, learning organizing/cleaning, learning love, and most importantly, she teaches service…DAILY!

10.  ENJOY THEM!  oh my gosh! I feel like I used to be so worried about teaching them educational stuff, and church songs, then I felt like the concern of manner and music kicked in….but this whole time, if I were just chilling, and playing along with them, they would be learning it all through actions and words.  I really just hug and play and laugh with these babies.   I can't get enough of them.  I had so much fun with my first 3 babies too, but I always felt pressure with them at such a young age rather thn just enjoying every single moment of every day with them…and of course, there are non enjoyable moments, but I've learned to take them MUCH more lightly, and realize they don't matter, and it WILL be a learning moment….weather I treat it with impatience and harsh words, of if I treat it with a smile and a loving consequence.  

Alright, so mom of these kids…..This one is for you….

With love, from the mom of these kids, who is still learning…EVERY SINGLE DAY, and loving more and more everyday….

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Mother's Day 2015

This mother's day, I requested that we go out to Fountain Hills with my favorite beautiful chocolate cake from costco, my 2nd favorite vanilla ice cream, and my favorite family.   So Saturday morning, we packed up the bikes, blankets, scooters, extra clothes, journals and headed out.  A few of the kids got into trouble on our way there, so J had them stay in the car while we enjoyed our bookeneds for the first 30 minutes….which is rare that it's not one of them in trouble.  So we busted out the ole cake!

Then Jaden quickly started climbing trees and jumping out of them, and V was just all over the place.



And THEN she spotted these ducks…poor innocent, sleeping ducks….not for long!




Then she needed to replenish her energy, but she got cold. It was so much fun to watch her stay bundled and warm and shove as much cake down as she could.
Then dad tried to help her and the ducks flew off, never to be seen again.
She she decided it was time to scooter around.   This is her Braveheart face…she was probably yelling something less inspiring though, like, "MOVVVVE!"
I don't know why….
because he's handsome….
because he's adorable, and sweet, and was just sitting by his sister with his arm wrapped around her….
And of course, this happened….

This happens anywhere we are except not always at church.
Then I got my mother's day wish and had my older 3 and myself write in our journals.  My BFF from college and I used to go out to Fountain Hills every few Sundays to write in our journals, and going back, those are some of my best entries.   I've realized the only time my older 2 write in their journals is when theya re in their rooms, usually in trouble, so they probably aren't the best records of their real life…just great records of how mean of a mom I am, so I figured I'd take em toa  great place, and give them delicious chocolate cake and lots of hugs and then have them write. :)
Then we went on a walk around the lake to get to the opposite side, which is where the playgrounds and splash pads are. Here's a creepy statue on our way around…



The kids all 5, got soaking wet….
Then decided to lay on the wall and dry off….
Then go get soaking wet again…..




This time to dry off we played on the play ground.  All 5 in the tire swing….going HIGH…and no complaints.  They're seriously such freaking awesome kids!




And our usual Fountain Hills tree picture.  I hope this branch never dies, but…..


It probably will…..