November to Remember Lizzi

Some kids have personality.  Some kids have a sense of humor.

If you haven't guessed already, Lizzi has plenty of both.

I don't know what I would do without Lizzi's wit and creativity, or her ability to make me smile.  She's awesome!

November to Remember Babies

Most of you will have guessed this already, but I love babies.  I love how tiny and new and old they are at the same time.  Old as in straight from Heavenly Father.  And new that way, too.  :)

I can't believe how much Sam has grown!  And how little bitty he was just a few short months ago.  That was fun.

But now he smiles and laughs and rolls all over the place.  He is such a social little man.  He's happy as long as he's with somebody.  These are good times.

And I'm thankful for Amber for taking such great pictures.  I <3 u.

Never

.

Today's Writing Prompt: Never

Complete this thought:

I would never...

...say never.  Cuz when you do, it almost always comes to pass.  Murphy's Law of Motherhood number 1.

Okay, it really just applies to motherhood, because there are all sorts of things I think I would never do.  But still, that motherhood thing is pretty potent.

November to Remember This Amazing Girl of Mine

Have I mentioned how amazing Hannah is lately?  She is super talented, smart, beautiful, funny, and kind.  She is good-natured and helpful.  She's an awesome big sister, and a wonderful daughter.  She's forgiving and gorgeous, and I could go on and on forever about her general fabulousness.  I'm so thankful for you, Hannah!

Addendum

And by the way, I planned that last post 2 or 3 days ago, not knowing that Sam would sleep through the night.  Wahoo!!!  What a difference a good night's sleep makes, indeed.

Afraid

Today's Writing Prompt: Fear

What do you do when you're afraid?

I fret and then fret some more.  Then I pray and then pray some more.  And then I get busy.  Being proactive is the best cure for me.

November to Remember Sleep

What a difference a good night's sleep can make.

And what a difference a cute little girl can make, too.

We Interrupt Your Programming...

...to give me and Sariah some pats on the back.  We are now 3 consecutive days TV free!!  Not only does Sariah think she is dying, but so does Mommy.  I just keep telling myself that this is in everybody's best interests.  Right?

P.S.  I'll give you a ring when we're candy-free.  ROTFL

Worth It

Today's Writing Prompt: Worth it

Write about something in your life that's worth it.

Easy!  People are always worth it--it being the investment of time, love & energy.  You never know what Heavenly Father intends them to be, but I do know that He intends all of His children to be great.

November to Remember Siblings

Every day is a new adventure when you have siblings. It's not necessarily the adventure you expect to have, but it's always an adventure. I'm so glad that my kids have so many siblings to have so many wonderful memories with. It's awesome being their mom!

November to Remember My Favorite New Cookie Recipe

Mmm...mmm.  White chocolate macadamia nut cranberry cookies.  It's a mouthful, but they sure were yummy!  They made my entire day.  And then some.  And they even make you feel sort of virtuous with all those fruits and nuts in there....


Here's where I found the delicious and simple recipe.

Me

Today's Writing Prompt: Who

Who are you?

I am wife to Bob and mother to Hannah, Elisabeth, Caleb, Rex, Sariah, and Samuel; I am sister to Chad, daughter of Pat & Lyle.  I am a follower of Christ ... or I'm trying to be, anyway.  I have depression but I am conquering that mountain, one pebble at a time.  My most important priorities are family and being kind and compassionate, fostering cooperation among those around me and serving those who stand in need.  I am not perfect; I'm a work in progress.  And it's a lot of work.  I make mistakes, but mistakes are a part of how I learn, and their repair makes the future better.

November to Remember Promises

God keeps His word, and I love His reminders!

(And thanks to Hannah for the great pic!)

Tricky, Tracky

Today's Writing Prompt: Talk show

You're starting your own radio or TV talk show. What will it be called, and what will the theme/topics be?

Hmm.  Tricky.  For someone who can talk as much as I do, this shouldn't be nearly so hard to figure.  LOL!  The title would definitely have to involve "Tracky."  Maybe "Time with Tracky."  What would I talk about?  Kids, books, being kind to others.  I'd definitely want to talk uplifting things.  TV and the radio are filled with depressing stories, but I just don't believe they are the only thing out there.  I think good things happen every day, but we overlook them.  It's time to find them all.

November to Remember Halloween

I am thankful for Halloween!

And for cute little babies wearing carrots at Halloween.

For beautiful girls.

And for my favorite friends.

(And even for girls who avoid pictures.)

For scary costumes.

And for ninja dudes.

I am especially thankful for headless ... somethings.

And for prettified princesses.

I am blessed.

November to Remember

So, I am totally ripping this idea off from a friend of mine. But it's a good idea. And the most sincere form of flattery is imitation. Or something like that, right?

And to help me remember my attitude of gratitude, I acquired this great new decoration today, with the help of another very patient friend.

So, November is the season to remember the many blessings which the Lord has given me and my family.  And we are so very blessed every day!  This is my goal: to daily post something for which I am grateful.  And I'm NOT going to be perfectionistic about it.  I don't need a picture every day.  I just need a grateful heart and 30 seconds to say what's in it.  Don't let me forget.  :)

Um. Wow.

It's a bird, it's a plane.
Nope, it's a construction truck.
No.
It's an explosion.
Nuh-uh.
It's a plane landing on my house.
No way.

It's an earthquake.
What???
My very first one.  That I could detect anyway.  It was exciting.

My dogs were hilarious, running around all over the backyard, trying to figure out what the freak they were barking at anyway.

My kids are quite pleased with themselves.  In the last 12 months or so, we've experienced a blizzard, a tornado, flash flooding, the remnants of a hurricane, extreme heat, and now an earthquake.  I overheard somebody actually asking what was next!  Do we really want to know?  I'm thinking not so much.

Fun with Friends

A few weeks ago, we got to watch one of Sariah's friends, Corban. Unfortunately, we may have taught him some bad habits....

Not Again....

Sigh.

We just put our 4th child in glasses.  It figures.  When we got married, we decided our children needed to inherit Bob's fabulous eye sight and my wonderful lack of (major) allergies.  Ha.  That was a jinx, wasn't it!?

And, to top that off, Caleb looks so much older with his glasses that I don't even know what to do with myself.  Where is my baby going?!

Adventures with a Three-Year-Old

Paint?  Icing?  Markers?  Blueberries?

Patience is a virtue.  Really.
She dresses me up because she loves me!

This is cold and wet!!
Someday I'm gonna get even
with my big sister.

In Case You Were Wondering...

We do indeed have fine dining in our house:

Deep Thoughts on Fish

When it rains, it pours, right?  Now 4 of us--including the baby, who is miserable--have nasty cold type viruses.  Good times.  Not.

(But after this week, I have also learned that it could be much, much worse.)

So a friend suggested I just stop swimming and see what happens (with a smile and a wink).  I told Bob, "Usually when you stop swimming, bad things happen.  Like you drown."  You know.

And Bob said matter-of-factly, "Well, not if you're a fish."  What, does this guy have the answer for everything?

So, what's he saying anyway?  Am I a fish out of water now?  That might be nice.  Then I don't have to keep swimming.  :)  Oh wait!  I'm not a fish any more.  What does that make me (besides muy loca)?

Overwhelmed

Two of my favorite inspirational quotes of all time:

"Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.  Just keep swimming."

~Dory in Finding Nemo

"[B]y small and simple things are great things brought to pass...."

~Alma 37:6 

And now having told you how dear they are to my heart, may I now say that these last few days they just haven't been working for me?  As a mom, I'm feeling like every part of my day is a small thing, and it's just not getting me anywhere.  There are too many small things for me to deal with.  I feel like I'm always swimming, but to where and for what?

So, truly, I know that there are answers to these questions, and in my mind, I know that mothering these children is a great work in and of itself.

But what do I do with a child who is turning into a perpetual liar and a thief?

But what do I do with a kitchen and a living room and a big stack of bills and a bunch of piles of laundry that never seem to shrink?

But what do I do with a toddler who is a TV addict, and who refuses to cooperate, obey, or be peaceful?

But what do I do with the bottomless pit that has become my garage?

But what do I do about the constantly grumpy tween?

And what do I do with the teenager who is very well behaved, and because of that, probably a little ... neglected?

What do I do with the kid with sensory issues whom I feel like I'm always correcting?

And what about the baby who never seems to be fed enough, despite my best attempts to increase milk supply and regulate sleeping and eating?

What do I do when I feel like the small things are drowning me, and "just keep swimming" sounds like the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard?

Capulin

This summer we went on vacation to Colorado, and took a scenic route home.  Sort of.  Southeastern Colorado was a little ... monotonous, but then we made it to New Mexico and visited the famous Mount Capulin.

First, we took a picture.

Then we walked down into the crater.

Then, some of us went on a walk around the crater.Whew!  It was high up there, and some of couldn't breathe.  But we also saw flora

and more flora

and some fauna

and like a zillion million ladybugs.

Oh, and even some wild animals.

And Sariah officially became a Ladybug Explorer.

And don't forget the spectacular views!

From the top, you could see four states at once: Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma.  It was almost like the Four Corners.  Almost.  Okay, not really, but it was still pretty cool.  I have no idea if this is that view, but I like the picture, so there you have it.

Girl Power

We interrupt your regular scheduled programming on this blog (i.e. nothing) to bring you an important message from this beautiful girl:

She tells us, "When I grow up to be a weather-storm-chaser, I'm going to be a girl weather-storm-chaser!  Because that's important."

And Meanwhile...

Nothing soothes me and makes me smile again like my beautiful kiddos.

Answer

It's enough.

From Rascal Flatts:

You feel like a candle in a hurricane
Just like a picture with a broken frame
Alone and helpless
Like you've lost your fight
But you'll be alright, you'll be alright

[Chorus:]
Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you're made of
You might bend, till you break
Cause its all you can take
On your knees you look up
Decide you've had enough
You get mad you get strong
Wipe your hands shake it off
Then you Stand, Then you stand
 
Life's like a novel
With the end ripped out
The edge of a canyon
With only one way down
Take what you're given before its gone
Start holding on, keep holding on

[Repeat Chorus]

Everytime you get up
And get back in the race
One more small piece of you
Starts to fall into place
Oh

[Repeat Chorus]

Question

When is enough enough?

Home Again

We are back home sweet home after a somewhat of a whirlwind vacation.  Spent 2 nights in Denver visiting friends and family, 2 nights up in the mountains for more family fun, and a scenic route back home with nights in New Mexico and Amarillo.

It's flippin' hot here!  I'd just as soon go back to the 70-degree mountain days.

But now we are back into the home-whirlwind mode, getting ready for school to start for the big kids and working on sleep training for the littles.  Oh so much fun!

As I always promise, pictures should be forthcoming.  Hugs to all!

Life in the Haynes Lane

I'm too lazy to go through my pictures right now to find some to post. We've been busy, busy, busy. But I'm not sure doing what. Life, I guess.

Sariah has been on her bedtime routine for 2 weeks now. She's improving slowly but steadily. She is still waking up at night, but now she will stay in her own bed and go back to sleep on her own. Keep your fingers crossed, because last Friday night was a disastrous, demon-possessed child night, and it came sorta outta the blue, and I've no interest in doing it over again.


Meanwhile, I've been working on a routine to get Samuel down at nights. I'm not ready to let him cry it out yet (largely because Sariah is a big enough job right now), but we are working on reading a story and singing a song and laying down not-quite-asleep in the hopes that we can prevent our current toddler sleep issues for the future.

Caleb started football again this week. I know, ALREADY!! So far he's been practicing to play QB and he looks good out there. He's having a lot more fun this year, too, so I'm really excited for him. Plus, he offered me the indescribable opportunity of feeling his sweat-drenched shirt yesterday. What more can a mother ask for?

Rex is growing up on me. Every time he smiles his permanent teeth grin, I can't believe how time flies. He had a first sleepover last weekend, which likely won't be repeated anytime soon, given that Zach's mom reported they talk more than any girls she ever knew.

Lizzi's home, Lizzi's home, Lizzi's home! I'm so glad my girl is home again. But she starts middle school in a few weeks. How can this be?

And speaking of how things can be ... we discovered today that Hannah has apparently shot up in growth. We knew Caleb was growing, and Elisabeth has kept pace with him, but all of a sudden Elisabeth and Hannah don't have to stand back-to-back to prove who's taller. No doubt about it--Hannah is the tallest by several inches. Who knew?

As for me, besides mothering these teaming hordes, I've been on vacation, been to PTA convention, am planning another short vacation, am PTAing like crazy, and just the general hubbub of activity around here. I think I need to take a deep breath ... and keep on truckin.'

Hugs to all!

Good News, Not-So-Good News

This little monkey slept through the night in her very own bed. Woohoo!!!

And this little monkey did not.

Good times.  :)

It's Hard Work Growing Up...

...especially when your mom is making you do so against your will.  Sariah is learning to sleep through the night without joining us in bed.  It's only taken me 3+ years but I've finally had to draw the line.  I'm flippin' exhausted (which is a very bad thing for my depression, incidentally).

Translation: last night was a reeeeeaaaalllllly long night.  But we did it.  I made her cry in her room on the other side of the gate until she fell back to sleep.  It was about an hour.  It was a long hour.  But I'm hoping that a few more nights of endless agony for us both will reward me (and her, too!!) with a full night's sleep in the very near future.  It's all about the sacrifice, right?

But in the category of tender mercies, Samuel slept from 8:30 to 5:30--he even slept through the hour long joy ride.  Woohoo!

Baseball!

It's time for a massive blogging catch up. We just have to take it one post at a time. :) Caleb had a really great season with an awesome coach. Got lots of hits, stole a bunch of bases, and played almost all of the positions. Cool!