The definition of discouraging....

Doing 6 loads of laundry, only to have 7 or 8 more left to do, and probably 2 piled in your bedroom waiting to be folded!

I HATE LAUNDRY!!!

Where is my mom when I need her!! She loves to do laundry - really, she does! That is just one of the thousand reasons I wish I lived closer to her. I miss you mama!

No, it's not mine, but isn't this a beautiful laundry room! I don't think doing laundry would be AS bad if you could do it in a lovely room like this...wishful thinking....back to the dungeon I go!

Look out world!

Elise is now mobile. She has been crawling for a few weeks, but this past weekend she learned that she can leave the family room and go into other rooms. She does not like to sit in the play pen now. She knows that she is being confined. Today, she crawled into the kitchen and opened the lid drawer and started playing!! We are in trouble! It was so cute to see her in there. She was so proud of herself!

Bekah's First Concert

Tonight was Bekah's Fall concert for band and choir. Anna and I went. Unfortunately, Neil had class and couldn't attend. We were all disappointed about that. Here are a couple of videos from the band and choir. In the choir video, Bekah is on the right end of the 2nd row from the top. The lighting on that side of the choir isn't great, and it is hard to see her clearly. In the band video, she is the flute player on the right side of the front row. Don't forget to pause the music player at the bottom of the page....

More pictures

Here are some pictures from trick or treating last night and from us hanging out in the back yard today.

More August/September Pictures

Finally!

I know that it is hard to believe, but I finally got the pictures off of my camera onto the computer...about time I know! All is the same here. The kids are doing well in school, Anna is enjoying doing home preschool twice a week, Elise is growing faster than a weed, Neil is busier than ever with church, work and family, and I am busier than ever with the little girls, cleaning, cooking, laundry, and my second job as a Taxi driver after 3:00 each day.

Sarah is doing speech this year at school. They have several competitions between now and December. She and a partner are doing a comical skit. She is also in choir and is really enjoying it. Jake finished baseball in September and has been enjoying the free time he has after school. He has started working on his science fair project - it will take a lot of his time this quarter. Bekah is enjoying playing in the local youth symphony with her violin and in the band at school with her flute. She is also in the choir and is competing with literary. She and her friend Megan are doing a comical skit. They compete November 22. Isaac loves school. He has started cubscouts and LOVES it. He and Neil went today to a fall daycamp where they were able to hike, shoot BB guns and do some archery. Anna loves playing with friends. She would go to friends houses all day every day if I would let her. She asked me the other day why I didn't go to work so that she could go to the babysitter! She really misses the kids when they are at school. Elise is crawling everywhere, and saying a few words. She can say mama, kitty cat, ca-ca (for yucky), hi and bye-bye, and patty cake. I can't believe how fast she is growing up.

Well enough of the novel and on with the pictures...remember, if you want to see one bigger just click on it.

Here is Elise when she was content to stay on her blanket and play! She was almost 5 months.

This summer we went to St. Louis for a couple of days. One of the days Neil, Jake, Bekah and Isaac went to Six Flags, and Sarah, Anna, Elise, and I went to the zoo and shopping at our favorite mall. Here are the girls at the zoo on the carousel.



While we were in St. Louis, we picked Neil's dad up at the airport. He came out for a week and helped us remodel our basement. We are building 3 bedrooms downstairs for the oldest kids. I will be so glad when they are done!! It was a long, hard week, and I am sure Grandpa went home tuckered out! Thanks for all of your help Grandpa!

The basement all framed up...

Poor tuckered out Grandpa!

Pictures are coming soon!

I know I haven't been very good at updating lately. Life is just TOO busy! We recovered most of the pictures that were lost when our computer crashed - thanks to all of our wonderful family and friends.

A quick update...

Sarah is slowly getting used to high school and early morning seminary (luckily, we live 1 minute from the church). She has lots more homework this year, and misses what little free time she had when she was in Jr. High. She is looking forward to her birthday - she will be 15! She starts driver's ed next quarter and is very excited for that.

Jake just fininshed up the fall baseball season for the Jr. High. He really loved playing for the school team. He got to pitch in several games and did really well. He has been playing baseball pretty much every day, except Sunday, since August 18. He is sad the season is over, and I am glad ( I cannot lie)! That game a day was killing me - just keeping his uniform clean and ready was a big job for me!

Bekah is enjoying 5th grade. She is taking advantage of all of the activities that 5th graders in her school can do. She is in chorus, band and literary at school. She is learning the flute in band. She also tried out for the Youth Symphony (with her violin) in our town and made it. Playing with the orchestra is taking some getting used to, but she is adjusting. I am hoping that she will soon love it.

Isaac is loving 2nd grade. He joined cubscouts at school this year, and loves it. When he turns 8, he'll participate in 2 packs - one at school and one at church. He loves to read and play with his friends. I was able to go work at his school this past Friday for Western day. It was lots of fun - we got to have lunch together afterward.

Anna is going to our co-op home preschool twice a week. She wishes that it was every day! She is a very busy little girl. She loves to play pretend and has two "friends" named Jason and Maddy who live in Florida. They are around a lot! She misses her siblings when they are gone to school.

Elise is growing up too quickly! She has 2 teeth and can sit up by herself and feed herself cheerios. She is such a happy, easy baby. We all love her dearly. It is so sweet to have a baby in our home - I love it!

Neil and I are just trying to keep our heads - no, make that our noses - out of the water! We are trying to enjoy our kids, fufill our callings at church, keep our house somewhat presentable, finish our basement, work, see clients a couple of times a week, have a weekly date and cart kids where they need to be and keep sane at the same time! It is hard, but fun. I wouldn't trade places with anyone. I love my family and my life.

I am hoping to be able to get our camera loaded onto our new computer sometime this week. As soon as I do, I'll post some here.

My three least favorite words in the entire world

"What's for dinner?"

New Family Motto

We can do hard things!

Life is a struggle.....but I'm holding on.

Ever have one of "those days"? Not fun. Necessary, but not fun. If we never had "those days", we wouldn't enjoy the others, would we?

Life is still good - good, but hard.