The Big Night

Bruce had to leave out of town to a Veterinary Continuing Education conference last week. (November 7-12) He was gone saturday-thursday. Poor Bruce. This is what he missed last week:

Saturday- Daddy/Daughter Activity Day Hike for Emma

Sunday- Primary Program Practice (Only the practice, but since I'm Primary President, I wanted him here to help with Sophie for this!!)

Tuesday- Ashlin's highschool dedication that she spoke at and they showed the video her group made.

Thursday- Emma got an award in her "Character Counts" assembly for "Trustworthiness"

Poor Bruce, he was so sad, and said, "Turns out a father of 6 kids can never leave out of town or will be missing something." We managed to make it through though:

-Lucky for Emma, her GRANDPA (my dad) took Bruce's place and took her on the special hike, and Emma was excited for a date with Grandpa! He picked her up in his cool black jeep.

-The primary program practice was stressful, I was wishing I had my husband/Co-primary president!! He is the best and most helpful and supportive husband ever in my calling!!! Oh well.

-Ashlin still had lots of special guests to come see her in her moment of glory. Me, Dallin, Emma, Grandpa, Aunt Chrissy, Vanessa and Rachelle all came!

The night before, I loaded up all the kids and we went to the mall for FHE (don't worry, we had a lesson afterwards at home) and she got a new outfit for the big night!

This is her group standing with the principal. It was real official and a bunch of town people spoke at the meeting, then at the end, the student body president introduced this group, and they each spoke a few lines (that Ashlin wrote) to introduce their video. It was SO neat to see their video on the BIG huge screen in the auditorium, and see all the pictures Ashlin took! Such a neat night for her! She was stressed because she forgot her lines a little, poor Ashlin, but it sounded great! You are always harder on yourself then anybody else is.

We video taped the night for Bruce to see! And he watched it with Ashlin right when he got home.

And I was so proud of Emma at her assembly that Sophie and I went to. Emma always gets so excited to see me at school (more than Ashlin or Dallin ever did). And she sat by me through the whole assembly, with her head on my shoulder or arm around me. I love Emma's school!! They do such a good job trying to reward kids for positive behavior. None of my kids had ever been chosen for this before, just a crazy coincedence that my kids got TWO awards in one week!

Although Dallin didn't get chosen for the assembly, teachers have little pads and they write up little "character counts" slips when they witness a child doing something praise-worthy for the kids to take home. Dallin just got this one. It is amazing how motivating a little positive reward is!
And its a little messed up how, while Bruce was gone, I managed everything pretty well, and never lost it. Then Bruce got home, and since I didn't have to do it all alone anymore, I sorta fell apart then, and he had to see me wiped out, lose my temper, and cry the morning of the program because I was stressed. Then I was just trying to convince him that I really handled it so good while he was gone... funny how I can wait to fall apart until there is someone there to pick up the pieces! I LOVE YOU BRUCE, SO GLAD YOU CAME HOME TO US!!!

Halloween

Halloween Activities:

It is so much neater to experience life as a mom. A dusty hot visit to the farm, which would on its own NOT be that exciting, becomes a darling day, and ONLY because of the cutest little 4 year old I had with me...

Lily's cute little preschool class took a field trip to "Mother Nature's Farm"... yee-haw!
She got to decorate a pumpkin, see the animals, (jump in the very unfarmlike bouncy thing- which was probably her favorite part of the farm-ha ha)... and go on a hay ride with baby Sophie and me!

I was so happy to have a special outing with Lily. It has been so busy lately and Lily is THE BEST little girl! She will just play up on her own for so long, and come as soon as I call her. When we go places, she always stays by my side sweet and happy. (Not all my 4 year olds were like this!!) She deserved a special outing... and I LOVE my special time with Lily!!

But for this outing, little Sophie came too... and if she could talk I bet she would say she also liked the farm! I LOVE this little outfit of hers that my Aunt Amy got her... the little ruffles on her pants are so cute. It's size 0-3 months, but I keep squeazing her in it because I love it so much:

(all the cute little name signs, like above, in my latest posts were made by Ashlin at the cabin, I kept them to scan in my blog posts... LOVE the blog for being able to preserve cute art my kids do)

It wasn't the only trip to the farm, because we went as a whole family to Schnepf Farms also! No pictures though. And my sisters FIANCE Rich flew down, so came with us. He seems like such a nice guy, I am so happy for Chrissy!

We also made Halloween Shape Sugar cookies and frosted them..... this always sounds like it's going to be so fun, and I suppose there are some fun elements to it... but sugar cookies are SO.MUCH.WORK! Then the kids each made halloween cards and we delivered the cookies and cards to some new families in our ward. (Lily's Card)

This year with a new baby, I was forced to let go of some control... and allowed Bruce to take the kids shopping for Halloween costumes! I have always tried to be a little original, and not just store buy, because its fun to create something a little more unique... not this year my friends.

Bruce came home with coordinating "Super" costumes for him and Sophie.... By the end of Halloween week I was wiped out... after homemade chili and cornbread, costumes, SCHOOL class parties that I volunteered at (MAN it is exhausting to be a teacher), making and frosting 30 cupcakes for Logan's class party, and cutting 130 cheese shapes of bats, pumpkins and ghosts, to have with crackers for Emma's class, and Trunk or Treat... it was finally:

HALLOWEEN NIGHT!

I was busy that night, so Dallin did him and Logan's "zombie" make-up, he did a good job!

For Halloween this year we brought our popcorn popper out front and played our rockin fun Halloween tunes really loud for the street and passed out popcorn all night. I made popcorn straight from 6-9pm. It was so fun... I had invisioned dressing up like a witch for this... but turns out you can't do it all, and that never happend. It was rewarding to make it a fun night for the trick-or-treaters... then at about 8pm Bruce projected the movie "Ghostbusters" out front on our garage wall to watch. Emily, Mckane and Beckam, Chrissy, my dad, Rachelle, DJ, Vanessa, and Macy came for this too. (Macy was here for the whole weekend because her parents were in Hong Kong picking up her brother from his mission!!)

Ashlin and Macy dressed up as "Siamese Twins" in an outfit big enough for 2 people, with their 2 heads sticking out. Turns out, its really hard moving around as Siamese Twins. I kept asking them to help me with things and they could barely walk! Next year I am having my oldest child wear a more "helpful for mom costume"... Ha Ha

Happy Halloween!

(Lily's spider)

Ashlin WON!!

I am SO proud of Ashlin, HOORAY!
My post below about her picture/video project for English was ALSO a contest for her new highschool... and they're showing the winning groups video at the Dedication Ceremony of her highschool!

The principal chose the winner... and Ashlin came home from school SO EXCITED saying the principal came in her classroom and announced that Ashlin's group WON! And her teacher gave their group these cute little trophies. Their video is being shown at the dedication ceremony of their school... and the mayor is going to be there, and all the important school board people... AND they chose Ashlin's group to be a few of the students to give little speeches at the ceremony.
Ashlin has been so excited for the honor.

(NO- I did not help make the video, they had to do it at school, couldn't even work on it at home, they could only take pictures if they wanted, to use. These pictures I took of her on the field they only used 3 of in her video, the rest she took)

Ashlin took all the pictures for her group (she really is a great little photographer) and wrote the lyrics.... YEAH. And Brandon did the computer work. It was worth it that when she told me about the project I told all the kids- GET IN THE CAR- we are driving to the school to take pictures on the football field. The whole family went, they loved running around the field and on the bleachers. I thought it made for a fun family outing.

Congratulations to Ashlins group!

(picture by Ashlin)

Change is gonna come....

For a school English project Ashlin had to write song lyrics about graduation day and do a picture video. We realized that Bruce still had his graduation gown and its the same school colors as Ashlins, so we went down to her football field and took some pictures....

Now Ashlin is just a freshman, just started highschool. But its so bizarre when your children get older, and you realize you are getting older too. I LOVE having children at multiple stages of life, not just because it makes being a mom so enjoyable with so much diversity of needs, but also because it helps me keep in perspective just how fast time goes. I am so much more patient with my younger kids, just knowing pretty soon they will be grown and I will just wish with all my heart that I had been better. I know, because thats what I do now with my older kids.

Being a mother is the most joyful/painful process.... joyful because nothing brings me greater rewards.... but painful because of my constant mistakes, and they grow up... and darn them for growing up before I became as good as I wanted to be!!!

Ashlin is wonderful and it is actually so fun to have a teenager, so neat to have a child grow in to being your friend. But all the boys/texting/facebook/BOYS/grown-up talks are
FREAKING ME OUT!!

The Cabin

I wanted to post the stuff from the rest of our trip to the cabin.

I am so thankful to have grandparents with a cabin. I feel so lucky. It is so refreshing to my soul to go up to the mountains, turn the TV off, and live. I think every time I go there, how mankind makes some nice things, but nothing compares in beauty to what God has made. I think just breathing in the rich pine scent is good for our bodies. I wish we could live there, but the city is where my husband can work... so reluctantly, thats where we live. But I LOVE being outside in nature!!

We started the trip with just my 2 sisters, our kids and my parents.

Ashlin brought her friend Vanessa, but then Vanessa was scared she was sick, so her parents and brother drove up to get her... but then she was feeling better, so they all stayed for a night! Lucky them got to do our annual "Fairy Search Night Walk". I love walking around at night, with the only faint lights coming from within the cabins we pass. So neat. And we sing silly songs as we walk. I am so grateful for those memories, priceless.

My sweet sister always brings glow in the dark bracelets for all the kids, then we arm them with flashlights, and are on our way...

Poor Lily, you will see above she is wearing some pink slippers... in my 1 hour haste packing the family, TOTALLY forgot shoes for Lily. She packed herself slippers. We called them her "hiking boots", and thats what she wore!

(After a few days of ONLY slippers, we did finally break down and buy her some tennis shoes up there!)

Then sunday my parents, Chrissy, and the Herrera's left, but DJ wanted to stay... so that left my sister Carrie and I with TWELVE children.... my 6, her 4, and Dj and Vanessa (Dallin and Ashlins best buddies who live on our street)

It was fun, but exhausting. And mostly because after we get the kids in bed LATE, my sister Carrie and I stay up even LATER because we finally can just sit by ourselves and talk. I love my sister. She is so neat. I am so thankful for her and her example to me. She is always doing kind things for others and such creative neat things for her kids. She is so selfless. She always listens to me talk and talk. And I always feel bad that I didn't listen to her as much as she listened to me... she is so humble, I always leave wanting to be more humble and a better listener.

My sister and I thought, if you have 12 kids, you've GOT to go out to eat one day... just to say you did... so we went on a fieldtrip to EL RANCHO for some mexican food... and the kids were actually so good!

Here's cute Lily entertaining Sophie at the restaraunt...

And here's cute Calvin and Logan, well, entertaining themselves!

THE MUSEUM:
So, every year the kids spend DAYS making a "museum" up there. They rake out a pathway and search for all kind of interesting artifacts/creatures to display for us!

This is the entrance, they made tickets, collected money and even had a ribbon cutting ceremony. SO cute, you can see Dallin in the back getting stuff ready!

Here is Dallin showing off some of the collectibles:

They had a HUGE slug, a wolf spider, a crawdad, some kind of wormy thing and more...

It was the cutest. They had a hands on section with pinecones, acorns, and leaves with insect eggs on them.

WAY TO GO kids, I was SO impressed with the museum this year. Dallin is lucky to have such a sweet cousin Lexi to explore with!

Now, sleeping arrangements with lots of people in a tiny cabin are fairly crazy. I shared my bed with some child every night, and a few others on the floor by my bed... but this was the CUTEST:

I took the bottom drawer out of this dresser

And put it on the night stand by my bed... what cute thing do you suppose is inside??




...........




This was seriously baby Sophie's bed ALL week!
I actually brought a portable crib, but it was so big, and she is so little, that I made a bed out of a drawer instead!

How PRECIOUS is she??!!!

I am so thankful my kids can have such similar memories as me and my childhood days at the cabin, playing games, going on walks, making crafts. This year they spent HOURS one night, all 11 of them COLORING NAPKINS!!??? Who would have thought? Seriously, with markers, they colored like 200 napkins between them all, and were laughing laughing...

Above are just a few of the napkins... they TRIED to keep them all (like my house needs more stuff)... instead I uploaded a few here so I could throw them away!! I love the one Ashlin made of her and I, with my trademark BIG HAIR!

Dirt and Mud

So, the day after Lily's birthday party, we left for the cabin for fall break... it ended up being such a busy couple days, that I didn't have time to do laundry... so I seriously packed each of my kids their suitcase with whatever clean clothes they had, and packed a BIG black garbage bag with the dirty clothes we needed from each persons dirty laundry basket (lovely) to wash up at the cabin (never done that kind of packing before) and we were on our way, packed the whole family in an hour to leave for a week.... wow! I am getting creative with how to manage all the busy-ness! And NOPE, didn't leave a clean house either.

Logan's birthday is 3 days after Lily's, sooooo, his party was UP AT THE CABIN:

HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY!!! I asked if he wanted a party with his friends BEFORE we went to the cabin and he said right away NO and that he was so lucky he got to have his birthday while up at the cabin, so we had his party there. He chose the PERFECT birthday treat for being up at the cabin....

DIRT AND MUD cups with worms!My sister and her kids were there, plus DJ and Vanessa... so don't you worry, he still had LOTS of kids with him to celebrate! His other request was to have a Pinata. I was LOVING his easy requests this birthday! So we went to Williams Creek, our new favorite place, and had a little party.

Logan's grandpa worked the rope... Wow... check out that great action shot above... the candy flying, and the kids a runnin!
Logan LOVED spending hours on his birthday exploring around Williams Creek with his cousin and best buddy Calvin!

LOVING Logan's "explorer hat" he wore most the day. He brought it from our dress up box at home, its his "Indiana Jones top hat"... you need THAT for some serious adventure!

What a great birthday location for the WHOLE family...
(Ashlin brought her friend Vanessa to Pinetop with us)

All the cousins (minus baby Sophie) with Aunt Chrissy........................ WHO JUST GOT ENGAGED... YEAH!!
Logan's birthday was:

OUT OF THIS WORLD! (picture by Logan, and requested to be on my blog)

Happy Birthday my handsome man!!!