Grandma turns 92!

Mom and Dad got to take a quick trip down to Bountiful to celebrate his mom's bday. She says it's her last. But she says that every year :) I love that grand lady and miss riding my bike to visit her every Sunday afternoon!!

Playdates with Gretchen

One of her little bffs. Just 2 months older than her. I hope we stick around here long enough that these two get to grow up together!
Her older brother, Thatcher, is Brianna's age, but comes over to play with Bennett mostly. Superhereos, Sonic the hedgehog... Boys!

On Bishop's "farm"....

After church on Sunday, the Primary children went up to Bishop Stumm's home to sing to him. Bishop has been out of commission since an awful ATV accident about a month ago where he fractured his shoulder, got a concussion, and broke the L1 vertebrae in his spine! OUCH! Poor guy. So our ward has been doing what we can - visits, cards, meals, etc.   We're even going to have the youth get a schedule going where we take over his massive garden this Spring/Summer/Fall, since he won't be able to do it.  He's just now starting to walk unassisted.

 

Obviously, the kids love going to visit him... it's a gorgeous small farm up on Greenbluff! Tractors! Animals! Vista!

 

Here is a video of the kids singing to Bishop Stumm. 

Sisters strollin

Ever since Brian started his company's FitBit contest (which he is 100% determined to WIN - on the national level) he and the kids go on a LOT of walks.
Which I love, because I get little breaks, then he brings happier, somewhat worn out kids home to me!
Win win!

Pea plants from papa!

10 days ago at FHE, papa helped the kids plant seeds as part of the lesson on FAITH.
Well folks, faith preceeds the miracle...
They're growing!!
Annnnd the church is true. Amen.

The many hats of Brianna

Upside down hugs

Twin art

Pedi with linds

Cinderella!

Cute movie!! Went w/ Jocelyn, Lucy, Mere (who slept thru most of it, crazy girl), Lily, Mom, Linds (had to leave w/ noisy Savana), Cougar, Brianna, Courtney and Bennett. The last two... we learned are not quite ready to sit thru an entire movie.

CharityWannaCracker?!

Broadway time!

Off to Mamma Mia!


It was really fun!  A little raunchy at times, but amazing dancing, singing, hilarious props....

Great night out w/ these ladies I love!

These two...

Helping set the table

We hosted a Dinner Party here and sent the kids up to Papa and Nonny's - but not before they helped set up the much-fancier-than-usual place settings :)

Bennett's first (pleasant) dental trip!!

He has REFUSED to open his mouth at every checkup previous to today. But we did some practice sessions, had a firm talk about expectations, showed him the treasure chest of prizes....and it worked! Trauma free. Finally.

The girls loved it. They think it's the best outing ever. Well, Courtney and Brianna. Charity just glared at the dentist and hygienist as she sat on my lap in the exam chair.  At least I can say I tried! And I'm happy to let our dentist bill our insurance for her visit - someone might as well benefit from our family premium.

Yay for the whole fam making into into their "Cavity-free Club." and yay for not having to do this again for another 6 months!!

(ps - I love our dentist because they sponsor a free family fun day at Wonderland every year. That's honestly what will keep us loyal patients :)

What will they come up with next...

Never seen this handy little BP/HR tester thingy before!

And I'm quite surprised my numbers are so low, considering how wild my troop is....

NOT baby hungry

I got to tend this little sweetheart today. 

Plus her two older sisters. 

So 7 kids, age 7 and down.
The older kids: piece-a-cake. 

Playplayplay. Toss them a sandwich. Play more. 

Done.
The baby + my toddler: exhausting. 

They both wanted to be held all the time. 

And fed often and changed often. 

And entertained.
I could get nothing accomplished. 

I didn't even feel like we could go do a park outing. 

We were trapped. 

Happy enough at home...but not going ANYWHERE.
I love babies. I really do. 

Especially my own.
But I realized today how zero of a desire I have to add any more permanently!

Our St. Paddy's Party

I absolutely love st. Patrick's Day. 

It's one of the few holidays, or maybe the only holiday, where you can totally get into the secular, fun, frilly stuff, and not feel guilty at all about ignoring the religious significance of the holiday. 

Because unless you are Irish Catholic, there isn't any real significance to it!

 So we just get to wear green, hunt for leprechauns, do crafts, have shamrock smoothies, and turn fruit into rainbows of edible fun :-)
We loved inviting friends over and having a themed playdate!

Morning multitasking

Sometimes I do her hair while she's practicing piano. Or eating breakfast. Or putting on her shoes. Or desperately trying to escape from me....
:)

heart. melting.

This is from back in November....but I just found it. And had to post.

For obvious reasons....

Go daddy!

Stake bball playoffs!
Go Greenbluff ward!!

Bike to the grandparents

The kids have been begging to ride bikes up to Nonny and Papa's house. 

It's about 2.5 miles. 

I've had to say no until now because of the weather. 

But no more excuses, Spring is basically here! 

So I put the twins in the bike trailer, charity in the Weeride seat, and Brianna rode her own bike. 

We made it almost all the way there, then papa came in the 4-wheeler to rescue me before the final steep hill.

 A good workout on a beautiful day!

"Is it ready yet??!!"

Rollinrollinrollin

Co-sleeping at it's best

School concert

 

This is the best photo I managed to get. Actually, the only photo.

I was wrangling the other kids the whole time - trying to stop them from climbing their chairs, bumping into everyone else, talking too loud, etc.

Not exactly relaxing.

But we went, waved at Brianna a lot, and made her smile while singing their silly secular songs.

Mission accomplished.

#Tofwspokane

Time Out For Women!!

 

I love these ladies! What an incredible weekend!

Bennett's selfie attempt...

He loves to steal a cell phone and take pics of the goofy handsome boy in the reverse camera :)

Charity's crazy cheesy smile

In case you were wondering what to do at night....

First use of my immersion blender stick....

And I'm a fan!

 

Mom was right!

 

 Excited to see what else this puppy can do....

Stats

Charity's 15 month report....(using the WHO charts, not the CDC)
23lbs (73rd percentile, down from 80th at 12 mo)
33.5" (over the 100th percentile, same as 12 mo)
We're spreading out/modifying the vax sched, so she got "caught up" at her appt on MMR and DTaP....and of course developed a yucky fever 5 days later. It was miserable. She wouldn't eat and barely wanted to nurse.
I've got a serious love/hate going on with vaccines in general.
And a serious love/love for this big healthy toddler!
(note the black bean brownie in hand. Yum!)

Gooootooosleeeeepp

Brian does a good job getting her down when I'm not around!
I think he secretly likes it :)

He tried to downplay how difficult it was for him the first night I was gone in CA w/ Brianna for our Disney trip.  Charity was NOT happy to sleep w/o her mama.  Like wandered around crying for me during most of the night. So sad. Breaks my heart.  Brian did his best... but I'm glad I'm back and she survived.

Brian's attempt at doing hair....

I have a 7am  "Ward Council" mtg 2 Sundays/mo, so Brian has to get the kids ready and to church by 8:50. 
I lay their outfits out (though they often reject my choices), but their hair has to be up to Brian. It gets pretty interesting - slash - SCARY.... like this one. 

He texted this to me during my mtg.
 I immediately wrote back, "NO! no no no."