More Randomness!

More Randomness!

 I took this picture a few days before I had Alice, all the kids were especially klingy that day. I think they knew something was up. :)



Man I love my Man! Doesn't get any sexier than that! 

 Elise was playing with my phone one day while I was doing her hair. Got this beautiful picture. For sure a keeper!

 Sleepy, maybe more groggy. :)

 I was organizing the girls closet one day and laid Alice in Melody's bed while I worked. She looks so tiny in that big bed. Lets keep it that way,

 My husband is AWESOME! I had a rough night with Alice and Brian went to go run a 5k the Stake was putting on. So he put this sign at the top of the stairs. Needless to say, it worked! It's pretty awesome to have kids that can read.

Babies first smile.

Peek-a-boo

 

 Love my baby boy. He's been struggling with pooping in the potty so I bought a bunch of trucks and took his blankie away until he pooped in the potty. He was pretty stoked when he got a NEW truck and his blankie back!

 Grins and giggles

 So my BFF Bethy got me this scarf for my Birthday, but I was too afraid to wear it. I finally overcame my Phobia and wore it the other day. As you can see, Alice was pretty happy for me. :)

 Ice cream date with my little man.

 No nap that day....

 Pumpkin.....

 Patch.....

with....

 

Grandma Nina!

Halloween and October randomness

Isn't childhood great?!

 

Purplie witch and Alice in Wonderland

I made Elise's costume this year, after I bought the stuff she told me, "Mom you can do whatever you want, I don't care. I trust you." Ah, that girl knows me well.

And their mini me's!

 

2nd Grade Halloween Program. So so so freaking cute! Elise talked about it ALL month!

Little lady bug

School Halloween parade. When each of the girls saw us they acted like they didn't know who we were!? I thought we were 10 years away from that!

 

 

3/4 of my kiddos.

The cutest Elephant in the world!



Moosen! Many of them!

 

Hard

It's been one year since our ward was formed. Brian was called as 1st counselor in the Bishopric and I was called as 2nd counselor in the Primary. I knew Brian would be called as a counselor in the bishopric, I was prepared for that. But I was shocked when I was given the call to serve in the Primary presidency. That unwritten rule they have of, "If your spouse is in a more demanding calling the other spouse will be given an easier one." Some how didn't apply to us? So I happily accepted and tried my best. Then I got pregnant about 2 months after I was called. I again tried my best. Sometimes just endured, but still tried my best. Doing my calling, getting my kids up and ready on Sunday's on my own. Arriving at the church by 8:30 a.m. to set up the primary room. Wrangling my kids alone during sacrament meeting. Putting the kids to bed alone 3-4 nights every week. Going on visits every week to visit the new families that moved in. (Which I could not have done with out my sweet teenage neighbor, Kelsie watching my kids for me.) Plus a lot more. I'm not going to lie, it was HARD sometimes. I had day's I wanted to sit in the corner, pull my knees into my chest,  and rock back and forth saying, "I love my life, I love my life, I love my life." Our primary had A LOT of kids. I tried my best to learn names, communicate with Primary workers, and get lost serving in my calling. It was a blast! I loved teaching sharing time, but sometimes I felt like I fell short. My favorite part of my calling was planning the baptisms for the kids turning 8. I loved attending those baptisms and feeling the sweet spirit it brought. Then I had Alice, all I can say is 4 kids is HARD! She is such an easy going baby, but she's still a baby that has needs. I tried my best managing nursing between sharing times, or helping out where I was needed. I tried my best to not give myself a pity party. I had a lot of excuses from the outside looking in to complain about my life. But I had examples in my life that seemed to be having a lot more trials or problems than I was. Like loosing their job, or a loved one. I would find myself complaining to myself that Brian would work a lot, then I'd reprimand myself and be grateful my husband had a job. Or that my kids were driving me crazy, but then I'd be thankful that my kids were healthy enough to drive me crazy. Or my husband has a demanding calling, but then I'd be so thankful that he is a worthy Priesthood holder who is worthy of such a calling. Or that I didn't have enough time or energy to do my callings as a wife, mother, and Primary counselor. But then I'd remember the Lord has asked me to do these things, and obviously has faith in me to do all this. I don't know anyone else that knows me that well to know what I am capable of.  I felt like I was holding things together until about 5 weeks ago. I had a rough day with......well life in general. I was driving home with the kids, Alice was crying in the car and I think someone was whining in the background. All I could think about was my huge list of things to do at home. I then realized I'd never really gone to  Heavenly Father with my pity parties. So as I sat at a red light I told the Lord about my stresses, worries, and that all this is just plain hard. I then heard him whisper to me, "What took you so long to tell me?" I felt his love so strong. He didn't make my life easier, or my children behave, or my calling magically just happen. But I knew he wanted to hear from me about EVERYTHING. Our ward split again this last Sunday, and the Primary president will be in the new ward, and were staying in the old ward. So the presidency has been dissolved, I'm released from this calling. It was fun, with some challenges thrown into the mix. But after this year, I've learned I CAN do hard things. The Lord knew it, I thought I knew it, but not until I actually was put to the test did I really know what I was capable of. I hope reading this it comes off as more positive than negative. I love my Savior, my husband, and my wonderful kids. And I love seeing the positive, rather than the negative in things. It sure helps make life A LOT easier.

My cute kids

		Alice 2 weeks old VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Raymond 2 years old VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Melody 5 years old VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Elise 7 years old VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Too many cute ones to just pick one.

Man I love these kids, they make me crazy and are starting to give me wrinkles but they are so worth it.  It’s nice to document them looking so sweet and cute. On rougher days or days when they look like orphanages I like to look at these pictures to remind me they are beautiful.

 

Sisters

The Basement!

We’ve been working hard for about 7 months finishing the basement. It’s been done before Alice came, I just never got around to posting about it. We finished 1 bedroom (my craft room), and family room . The Yellow room is the girls room and it was finished when we bought the house. We LOVE having a big toy room for the kids to play in. Plus we finished under the stairs, which is a dress up room. We also had our neighbor do a moose mural in their, there is a moose for each member of our family with our handprints for the antlers.  The last 3 pictures need some explanations, the green room that looks unfinished will be the bathroom, we just ran out of money to finish it. We paid cash to finish the basement, and now we have to wait until we have more to finish the bathroom. This is how we roll. The last picture is of the drum sticks that go to Brian’s drum set. That’s where I hide them, above a door frame, out of reach from little hands. We are very thankful to be able to do this. Brian did a lot of the work himself, he learned a lot! Good job Moose! Now we are very done with house projects for a LONG time!