😂 Brianna’s note to Courtney

I'm dyyyying reading this.

Brianna Van Gogh

Screenshot Brianna

Fancy dinner

My beautiful Christmas baker girl

Never too old for a snuggle

Kindergarteners build a city

Snugglebug

Got the kids to bed at a decent time so I'm up only semi-late working on computer projects (fam calendar time!). And who comes wandering up the stairs?! My half-asleep half-baby. During the day she's a big girl. At night... she turns right back into that tiny little ball of joy I brought home from the hospital in November 2013. I remember so clearly just plopping down in bed and scooping her up next to me. Forget the bassinet. This was baby #4, I knew what worked - cosleeping. She snuggled into me and has been there ever since. Her little body just melds into mine as she sleeps. Even as she's gotten older and moved into her own beds... she often wakes up and wanders into ours. Like a sleepy sneaky little ninja. Luckily brian loves it just as much as I do.
We know she won't do this forever. We've gotta enjoy it while we can. And we do!

Temple date with mom

Loved serving in the temple today with mom💛💛 especially doing the ordinances for a relative!

Bennett’s dentist appt

He looks calm now... but the majority of the time he was freeeeeaking out 😣😑😫

Courtney leading family scripture study

Come Follow Me - studying the book of James

New jammies from nonny

Oh Courtney...

She reads her scriptures using a little flashlight and magnifying glass. It's the cutest thing in the world.

Bennett on my phone...

Brianna LOVES advanced math tutoring 😂

I'm grateful we can get Rachel Stumm over here to help with Brianna's "Math is Cool" homework... cuz she's now at the point where much of it is a little over my head!

Waiting for Nonny

Charity’s art

3 front teeth gone! 🦷

All she wants for Christmas are her THREE front teeth!

Always my baby

She turned 6 today.
That stings a bit.
I asked her if she could just stay 5.
She replied, "that's what you asked me last year - to stay four. But you just get one whole year at every number!"
Oh my little Charity.
You may talk like a big girl and walk like a big girl... but you crawl into our bed every night like the baby you'll always be.

Brianna and Lily PBJ

Soup from Nonny

Gen Conf tally marks ✅

To help our kids pay better attention during General Conference, we invented a fun little system:
They create a list of words they think they might hear. Not simple words like "a" "the", etc. But gospel related words like "Jesus Christ" and "family" and "Heaven."
They make a tally mark for each time they hear the word.
Brianna has learned that this can be a lucrative thing...
From five sessions last weekend (and not even paying attention during a bit of each!) she made 1,250 tally marks! That's $12.50! 💰 Courtney earned about $7 and Bennett $2.76. Perhaps as they get older they'll be more motivated ;)
Hopefully next year Ivan, Ciarra and Charity will be ready to do this too! For this year... we just let them play quietly and have snacks while watching :)💛

Charity’s Shape Monster

I could listen to this cute girl read this cute story alllll day

Another one! 🦷

sweet little chairbear

a blurry picture of her very kissable little face
<3 p="">

brianna in charge of family night

She did such a great job, it was adorable a "proud mom" moment.

How Bennett makes his bed....

Love notes from Bethany 💛

Courtney doing some SERIOUS reading....

Courtney calls me from recess 😆

Makes me melt

Peeking in on Brianna’s hip hop class

Bennett driving the boat!

Charity’s selfies are intense

 

 

Best plums ever!!

Homegrown!!

Bubble bath

She wanted a picture!
Gotta do it while I still can...
she'll be too old for it someday soon 😢
But enjoying it now!!

😴 Charity

My funny little 5yr old loves to sleep with eye cover on her forehead 🤷‍♀️ 😂
Throw pillow instead of her reg one 🤷‍♀️ 😂
On a gymnastics on the ground instead of her bed 🤷‍♀️ 😂
And by morning, she will have wobbled her way into my bed and be snuggling with Brian and I the rest of the night.
I love every inch of her 🥰

Out of my children's mouths lately

I've been meaning to post this for a long time! I love documenting the funny things my kids say.  Here are snippets I've jotted down over the last year or so:

Bennett: "Hey Charity, do you think sin wins? NO!!!! Jesus wins."

Courtney: "I just can't stand it when the guinea pig gives me that cute look. I have to give her whatever she wants!"

Bennett: "Hey mom, I'm an exotic boy!"
Charity to Meredith: "Heeeey, you look familiar!"

Bennett: "I'm going to be overdramatic!"
Brianna: "ooooo, my hair is so incredibly amazing!!"

Courtney: "Let's have a flumb war with our flumbs!"

Charity: [after I ask her to please pick up something] "UUUGGGHH!!! I have to do eeevvverything!!"

Bennett: "Mommy I'm sad. YOU KNOW WHAT I NEED!! [puts his arms out to hug me].

Charity: "Hey we're passing that new costco, they're doing such gweat pwogwess!" 

"Mommy, I know you'd be so happy if I learned how to write my name and do all my letters, and jump higher than this" [demonstrates her best effort in jumping high]

Charity: "If I say please,  I get whatever I want!"

Courtney : "That cake looks so good! Well, not like good for my body, just like good for my mouth."

Bennett: " it's so cool that when you make mistakes, you learn more! And even when you make mistakes, your brain grows bigger!"

Charity: "I want a sandwich with butter and peanut butter and jam and honey and toast on it."

Bennett: "if a giant swallowed me,  I'd just hang on to his lungs and climb back up!"

Another one from Bennett:

"What if you were born wearing a shirt because as you came down from heaven they gave you a sewing machine so you made one while waiting in mommy's tummy! 

Charity: "Mommy, did you happy cry when I squeezed out of your belly? What was wrong with you, didn't you want it to happen?" 

Bennett: "Dear Heavenly Father, please bless us to get our blessings. And bless all the poor people not to be poor anymore."

Brianna: "I'm thinking I will give all my kids the same first and middle names so that it's easy to remember."

Bennett: (in reference to a guy encouraging us to donate money to a nonprofit organization) "Mom, I don't want to donate any money to them, because they don't believe in Prophets." 

"Courtney, we shouldn't quarrel."

Charity: "If I was a grown-up, I would just go to Chuck E cheese all the time. And if I was a bunny, I would just let everyone pet me all the time."

Courtney: "Wonderland workers shouldn't need to get paid. They should just be happy to work here!"

Church love 💕

Bethany makes signs for Charity then holds them up, points and whispers, "LOOK Charity!!"
😂
So cute! I love how much these cousins love each other 💛💛

Family pictures!

I've been so excited to get these done! Like for the past few years, every time we've had family pictures the thought was always in my head..."well these will be outdated soon..."

And they just felt incomplete.  I felt like my family was...small.  ;)
But NOW - we've got a full family picture!!  Even a full family tower :)
My friend Emily Holmstead took these. She's in my ward and a newlywed with a baby on the way so we wanted to support her photography business.

LOCATION: our future home!!
This is the wheatfield we bought.
Ten acres of beauty.
I've alwaysalways loved this area.
I've run around it on all sides - Bruce, Lowe rd dirt road, MSHS, etc - and it's beautiful year round. Such a perfect spot - right by the high school but not in a neighborhood.
Quick access to Bruce/Argonne to go to the valley to visit Sammy.
Same ward, same schools.
So great.
Got a decent price on it, not a steal, but fair.

House plans... they're all drawn up.
Now - just waiting for this wheat to be harvested so we can dig a well!
But they need the ground to be drier or something like that. blah blah blah.
We'd really love to start building in the Spring but I just don't think that's gonna happen.  Too many things getting in the way - harvest the wheat, dig the well, put in the road, utilities, septic, getting bids back from the contractors who are taking forrreeevvvverrr to get it done...

Anyways. So maybe all we'll ever get to do on our property is take pictures.  And I feel super blessed to be taking pictures with THESE beautiful wonderful humans. 
I love them so much.