2.28.15 Genetics

My dad has a habit of twiddling his socks off while he reads. Sometimes by bouncing his leg sometimes subconsciously with his hand while he reads. Last week my son was reading intently on the couch and I saw this

I couldn't believe my eyes. It looked like my dads reading footwear. I asked Harold to hold up his foot to get better proof that maybe this habit is genetic?

Yep same half on half off sock slouched about the toes. Eventually to be discarded by the couch. Oh man! Yeah! my red headed beauties got some Corn blood after all! Funny how things pass on. I'm almost sure Harold never consciously noticed this habit in my dad. Most people wouldn't unless they lived with him a long time. It makes me smile just to think about him absorbed in the paper or a book. My dad is a smart man who is very busy all the time. HE works hard and is often called on to give advice or expert opinion to some board or person. I loved having such a respected dad. Hopefully my son will also adopt those habits of learning, working hard, and thinning deep that he too can be a well respected man.
And because they are cute and Mark has more Corn genetics than most of my other kids

He really was happy about holding her he just has to keep up his man image and look funny for the picture.

2.27.15 Mornings

Mornings are so relative around here. Some days they start at 2:30 a.m. sometimes 4:30 a.m. sometimes later but they are early and never allow enough time in bed. One morning I got up to this. Alivia got paints for her birthday, it was a spur of the moment request. It turned out good though. She and Reed had a great time and it bought me an hour of sleep.

Another morning it was this. I was snuggling with Afton and was drug into action witnessing this

Yes those are 5 foot dowels and paint sticks. They are sword fighting! These episodes last until somebody gets whopped on the wrist. Livy broke her dowel on Reed and I got up. They were having a ball and I guess it's the beauty of siblings. "Oh what a beautiful morning."

A quick story. The school had a talent show. A first. Each student got to sign up for their talent. Harold and John signed up for sword fighting. Addie signed up for gymnastics. She does not participate in a gym club. She had decided she was going to do a cartwheel. I asked her demonstrate. It was not straight legged, nor did she land standing up. It was a cartwheel of a first grader. I suggested she practice and my stomach sank.
Days passed and I had her practice some more. Same type of cartwheel. I remembered a conversation with m sister in law about her son playing piano. How his performance wasn't spectacular, but he was proud of himself and that was what mattered.
So fast forward to performance day. There was singing, piano playing, art, and pie baking (more on that in a minute) even some really cool hula-hooping.
Then Addie got up and did her cartwheel on the stage. Just one  cartwheel. She went to the judges and claimed her candy prize. We all clapped and that was that. She is a spunky can-do girl. Man I love her outlook on life. She was not to be outdone by her other siblings performing, she did what she could and how she could and I think she inspired her classmates.
See after the gym cleared and there wasn't a big audience her class stayed behind and had an impromptu talent show. I think Addie showed you don't have to be big and accomplished to have talent. She is constantly teaching me to be more than I am.
Harold and John got vetoed by the principal no weapons at school- even wooden ones. And the pie baking well that was Aliza. She was the only girl not singing on stage in her class. She sings really well even on-key.

But I suggested she share her pie baking skills. And she is skilled. However Wednesday night was crazy. Decorating cakes, baking cakes, missing my two big kids to mutual. It was not a great night of mothering. Aliza was wanting help- she had done this projects at least 10 times. She should have had it down. It ended with her in tears and 3 pies where there should have been 2. They were not good pies for our house.
I apologized and hugged her before bed so it wound up okay. But today the judges were most excited to taste her pie and were reluctant to leave their tasting. I think she got a best in show award.
 I love that talents are so multi-faceted. From hula-hoops to art work, to jokes and pie there are many varieties in life. Not to mention those that are kind, smart, thoughtful, encouraging, great at teaching or leading all hard things to show on a stage but are very necessary to life.

2.26.15 Muzzled

It has been a long week of thinking. Believe me I get lots of hours to sit and think about conversations, actions, political thoughts, blog posts, cobwebbed corners and what that mysterious smell is behind the couch.

My most adamant baby holder. The chocolate on her face is from decorating cakes for the upcoming cake auction.

 I love sitting and holding my sweet baby Afton. However, my little kids have worked out this great plan of getting into off limits things in weak places in our home. Those places that desperately need attention but I've decided it's not the most important thing to be doing right now so I'm ignoring it places. But it's a good plan of action they follow and so I've been getting things done like mopping the floor, cleaning junk tables etc. While my mouth and mind has mostly been just hiding and trying to be quiet.

She's very proud of her ability to take care of Afton. Afton is patient.

These days of not sleeping enough and adjusting hormones are dangerous ones to be talking to anyone but the closest of friends or family or maybe just my husband. Although he takes the brunt of me so I try to get some of the craziness out before he gets home. Sincerely, I don't wish many people harm or malice. A few sure, but in most 99 percent of my conversations I don't mean to smear or degrade or override someone Mrs. Olsen style.

We had cleaned and cleaned all day but after a few minutes of play and the like we're back to needing to clean. I hate cleaning for this reason. But I digress we are watching Little House the first movie here.

Speaking of which, my poor TV deprived children are totally unaware of the Little house TV people. I bought two of the seasons to introduce them to those life shaping characters of Mrs. Olsen, Reverend Alden, Nelly, Laura, Mr. Edwards , Ma & Pa. Etc. After freshly reading the books though they did a poor job with MA and Pa they were so much more refined and great in the books. Love that series both in print and on screen. Many a family night will be spent devouring those. It's hard for me not to just watch them all day while the kids are gone. So I watch youtube Raffi videos- wheel's on the bus, baa-baa black sheep and the like all stimulating you know.

But truly I am loving having a baby, again, and loving how routine things are with her. Loving trying to explain evolution with Anna, the necessity of doing things well with the boys, the Berlin wall, why recipes don't come out, how to play the piano, how to play specific songs, why we don't pretend to be younger and cheat businesses from full pay for our experiences, and the rest of the normal conversations and activities of our family life. 

Listening to general conference talks this morning and Elder Anderson said we only put forth our shiny happy faces on the internet then read about other peoples happy self-aggrandizement and feel bad after. So it motivated me to write that no things are perfect, pretty, or peaceful for more than 15% of the time here.
Afton is perfect, pretty and peaceful most of the time. And I'm glad to have had this experience with her. New babies just smell so good. And the rest of the stuff l it happens, or doesn't, and that's okay. The big kids are learning and doing much, the little kids are learning and doing other kinds of lots and we just keep rolling along.

2.13.15 Valentine's

I love sugar cookies. They are a serious weakness. My friend is one of the best sugar cookie makers I know. Usually we just enjoy her craft at cub scout pack meetings, but her boys have moved on. Additionally it's valentine's week and the blog world is awash with grand cookie events. Not to be outdone I thought it would be "fun" to do a cookie activity with my children.

Royal frosting is fun and cheap to do. Not as delicious as buttercream. but the swirling was fun.

I got her recipe, bought a decorating kit, experimented with new frosting techniques and we accomplished making a sugar cookie for all the kids at the elementary school my 5 kids attend.

Learning to do sugar cookies. They did a good job once we stopped rolling paper and just gently rolled the dough.

There is a reason I say I hate Valentine's day is the 60 + valentines that are required to be part of the class.  This was one major benefit of switching to a dual grade school, several of my kids had the same class so we cut our requisite valentines in half!!! Nonetheless the making of those 60 valentines- while fun- was a lot of time and mess- not that making 60 frosted cookies was less. However, sugar cookies were different from our 'you're super' in cape form on a sucker. Sometimes I just need something different.

Frosting was an exciting challenging task. Addie of course mastered it and Livy was creative with her own cookie space

She was frosted front to back. Can you see it? She loves to sit and read books.. and taste all cooking projects.

Like all grand plans this one was good and bad and ugly and good and most important accomplished. We had moments of frustration like dumping the freshly baked cookies in the hot oven. The licking of fingers that were continuing to frost cookies we intended to give away. The coughing all over the unfrosted cookies. Frosting everywhere!! And the cool designs, the sharing moments with my kids, the accomplishment of learning how to roll and cut out cookies. Cracking the eggs... all skills.

He persisted in frosting cookies after everyone else had moved on. He did a great job with his psychedelic creations

I've learned in the raising of this family that it's important to count small successes and to give credit for endurance. Life is not so perfect as the blogs I viewed in preparation. My counters are always full of our life. Note the lunchbox lineup- we so "stupidly" refuse the free lunch of school and continue to send homelunch. We share water hence the empty jugs. But we have smiles and accomplishment and so with the bad is the good and it's a choice which we dwell on. I try to forget the bad- I have a bad memory so it's not too hard.  I keep thinking I can do that, or this, because deep down even though it is a tremendous fight to get all 10 kiddos going in one direction (and possibly a bigger fight to hold onto that vision in my mind) it is worth it to see them grow. And I have learned time and again I am blessed beyond my meager abilities to do much more than I should be able. I humbly acknowledge this Heavenly help and am so grateful for that Divine blessing in my crazy life.

John rolled the first batch then disappeared. Hence he got to wash dishes so we could enjoy his company. He's my most stalwart dishwasher. I guess practice makes perfect.

So Happy Valentine's Day! It has come to pass another year in the books and we are preparing now for the cub scout cake auction... big plans. With two cub scouts it should be fun.

2.11.15 More family Fun

We try to have family home evening every Monday night. This is a time where in theory we enjoy being together, we learn about some moral principal, and we strengthen family ties... It is also comicly referred to the only time that we begin and end fighting with a prayer!

Mark is encouraging his brothers participation with a friendly shove

Our family home evenings are sometimes awesome and sometimes tragic... in the amazing amount of chaos and craziness that ensues. Leading the song is a favorite activity that every age can participate in.

 These two girls love to sing. They really get into it and can out sing our entire congregation if they choose to.

Actually we do much better channeling all that energy when we do activities that are more strenuous. Having lots of hands we are really good at projects like moving wood. We make a wood moving chain pretty quickly. You can hold almost any load for a few seconds, or drop it on your siblings foot if they are slow!
On new year's day we bundled up and moved some wood for a neighbor with back problems.

Even our little people and our big pregnant mom came to watch and cheer the crew on. I love that we are able to help others with our many hands. And it was it's always cool to see how much this group can do when focused on a common goal.

They looked like Ralphy in Christmas Story! They did loose footing once or twice and had to have assistance to get up.

2.10.15 Daddy Daughter Dance

A local church puts a lot of effort into a Daddy Daughter dance. The girls have been fortunate to attend the last two years. It is a major event that they were really looking forward to. The idea of the dance is to teach the girls how they should be treated when they start dating and to have a good time with their dads. This year I did not make dresses. I thought about it I realized it was just a bad idea at this time. They still looked beautiful even with their older clothes!

I did put some time into their hair do's. I'm facing the fact that with 6 daughters I'm going to have to get a lot better at fashion and hair styles. Thank goodness for youtube and lots of instructional videos.

Apart from the fuss of getting ready it was truly special to hear their reports and see the huge smiles on their faces about how much fun they had at the dance. They recruited my dad to come help even the numbers. I always loved dancing with my dad. He is funny and strong and it was so safe- no awkward conversations when dancing with him.

Aliza had fun dancing with her friends, Addie had fun dancing with a family friend who had taken his daughters, and Anna had a good time with her dad, and grandpa and friends.

They are growing up. Looking at Afton I try to recall just how small  Anna was when she was born (under 5lbs) and wonder how the time has gone so fast. We talk about college a lot nowadays and the things that have to happen (i.e. good grades, activities, saving money etc) for that to be a reality. It's humbling and gives me lots to think about as I sit and hold our sweet little baby.

I guess that's one of the best parts of a big family is seeing and living the long term. I still get to enjoy our little people, but I'm also pulled into the older kid reality of tough topics like bullying, current events, relationships, and activities. The middle kid stuff of learning self-management, reading, math, and honesty. The little kid tedium of picking up messes, learning to obey, and learning basic self-management like potty training- this is the one area I kind of feel like I know how to do. The older kid stuff often leaves me wondering how do I explain/answer that?  It's honestly nice to dip into each reality and I'm thankful our kids are spaced as they are to be able to enjoy and dread it all at once.

It's good to be the mom, even though it amazes me I am the mom of this big diverse bunch. My grandma always said "Your body ages, your mind doesn't, You still feel 18 even if the mirror says something else."

 I'm thankful to be more at peace and confident than I was at 18 but I marvel that I'm supposed to know the answers and have the ideas to get this crew through. Thank goodness for prayer, good examples and family, and trusted resources like apostles, prophets, my husband, and good books.

2.9.15 Afton Update

It's fun to watch the kids accept a new person into our home.

Our very alert baby. She's a good sleeper and calm when awake. Thank Goodness!!

It's interesting to see who needs the baby time and who is just a casual observer. Mark has shown quite an interest in Afton.

 He is very good and patient with her. In fact he gives me a break when I'm around. I love to hold her but realize I have to do some other things and he is more than happy to hold her while I go pursue other responsibilities.

Anna is also a big help. Everyday when I hear the bus pull in to bring her home I sigh a huge sigh of relief. I survived another day with the littles and am so ready for her happy enthusiastic diversion to their attention.

She is such a help. It has been awesome to watch her blossom. She has so many talents. She is kind and loving to the little's and is becoming an accomplished cook. Her biscuits are pretty good! It's also been good to teach her how to care for a newborn. She's kind and gaining confidence with our little baby.

I really did not pose this photo. It was happening so fast I barely caught it. I was touched by their gentleness with this sweet little sister. These girls are lucky to have such nice brothers.

Best to you this great day!

2.8.15 Saturday Fun

One of the best parts of January/February is that Greg is able to be home a little more. We make the most of this with lots of activity on Saturdays. We happened upon a new fun activity push the mower! We were trying to get rid of some of the accumulated junk and decided it was time for the broken mower to go.

Aliza volunteered to drive it to the farm, Mark and Addie were the muscle behind the drive. They had a great time driving, I'm thinking this should now be saved as a fun activity when cousins visit. Oh it is hard to part with junk!

Anna and Millie came later with dad to help them on the trek to the farm. Millie of course has her finger in her comfort spot. Her belly button. She has had fun poking me now that my belly button depresses again. She is a funny duck who loves to be part of the fun.

Back at home Harold and John were raking leaves Livy was the most enthusiastic picker upper. Saturdays have been beautiful and sunny.

Must admit although we are still needing rain the brilliant sunshine is very soothing to the starved soul. I'm always amazed at how bright it is again.

Things are going well with baby Afton we are working through learning to nurse and adjusting to lots of sitting. It is so nice to sit and hold our baby. She is calm and a delight. The kids have been pretty good helpers and I'm thankful and proud of how competent they have become. It was pretty scary to send them to school as I was wondering how I would manage without them. We survived and it was okay.

2.2.15 Our Baby

We had our baby late Monday/early Tues morning last week. She was fast in coming and we are grateful for that. She has the most hair of any of our babies. Is back in the mid 7 lb range which really does make a difference in delivery and she is perfect. We named her Afton. I liked Aften- little play on letters there as she is our #10,  but Greg prevailed pointing out we don't want her thought of as an after thought. She was most definitely wanted and is very welcome even if she is a girl! Our slightly disappointed boys are quickly getting over the inequality of numbers that are the new reality at our house.

I love to hold my babies they are just so calming. She radiates peace like a nice heater. She is a very normal newborn. Loves to be held, detests being alone and not being held and is different from day to day on her ability and desire to nurse.

The kids are loving her lots and are adjusting to things like her crying and mom sitting around a lot. Overall we are just glad she is here and so thankful to be a family.

 My two little helpers Alivia tells me she is my Best Livy! I agree she is.

Sometimes though my best Livy likes to be three and shows me that I am indeed just sitting wrestling wit a newborn trying to get her to nurse and will not stop things like this. No wonder all the keys don't work. But it is so handy to see into the kitchen if you have a higher vantage point.

My Grandma Lasley came to visit while I was recouping at my parents house. We have talked on the phone all my life. I remember calling her when I was little and asking her what she had for breakfast it always made me feel so big to talk on the phone. Afton was impressed too.

My niece is 2 months older. She is not a big baby but she looked quite mature compared to our new little one. Funny how different all the babies look. Each definitely favors their family. Ours of course mostly come in reds her mom and dad are darker- she has pretty olive skin and lots of dark hair. But I'm sure that these two will have fun being friends as they grow up. So neat to have cousins to share life with. And fun for me to watch my siblings become parents.