A Table For {Seven}

Flying High In The Sky

2012-02-10T13:36:00.006-05:00

Come on and let's swing! Go ahead, take wing!
High in the sky! Watch the smiles go by!

A Question For You Regarding Baby Blankets

2012-02-07T14:58:00.004-05:00

This is Laylah's beloved baby blanket. It was made by her Grandma Collette with love, and has slept with her nearly every night since she was born. It used to be beautiful and bright, but through so many washings, it has since been left faded, old, worn, ragged, and full of holes. That doesn't in any way diminish Laylah's adoration for it, however. It will be 9 years old come May.

Andy has set a rule that it is not to leave her bedroom (and this is not just a rule for Laylah, but all of our children). He and I have differing opinions on this matter, because I myself had a "lovie" as a kid. I would take it around the house, play with it, wrap up in it to watch TV, and so on. I loved my baby blanket.

I don't mind if the kids have them out and are using them, but I don't want them left out, and I expect them to be put away when the kids are finished using them or playing with them. However, we had a little incident a few weeks ago that has me wondering if Andy has been right all along...

It all started while I was cleaning the kitchen one Saturday afternoon. I heard Magnus upstairs coughing and gagging. I ran up there as fast as I could where I saw Laylah patting him on the back. I did a quick finger sweep of his mouth and came up with nothing. He seemed to be fine, so I went back to what I was doing. All throughout the rest of the day, M would randomly start crying and gag or cough and then seem to be okay. It was really strange.

Later that evening, we were eating dinner and M would continue his strange behavior of eating a few bites and then gag a bit, or cough. I kept checking his mouth but I could never find anything. It was starting to unnerve me and I wondered what could possibly be wrong with him. He finished his dinner and went upstairs to play with the girls. I was still in the kitchen when I heard him gag yet again and then Laylah called down the stairs, "Magnus threw-up on the floor!" Andy was up there, so I waited for him to take care of it (tee hee). A little while later, he came down with a towel and showed me what was inside. It was part of Magnus' dinner (completely undigested, like it had looked on his plate) along with a piece of Laylah's baby blanket!!

It has been slowly falling apart for years, and sometimes thin strips of material will just peel off of the blanket and I will find them around the house on the floor. Apparently, Magnus found a piece too. And he ate it. It must have been lodged in his throat for most of the day, blocking food, or anything else for that matter, from going down. And he finally got it out. Yuck. But at the same time, Phew.

After Andy told his mom about it, she volunteered to make Laylah a new blanket. Andy told her that we'd probably throw her old one away, which made her incredibly sad. She is very attached, and like I said, sleeps with it every night. It made me sad too! I have a lot of memories associated with that old thing and I would hate to see it go. It's still up for debate in our house. Which is where you come in...

Should the blanket be allowed to stay? Or should we get rid of it? Any other ideas on what could be done with it?

Do any of your children have blankets or other lovies they are attached to? How do you handle it? (ie. going out in public with it, making them keep them it in their bed, only allowed to have them around the house, etc)

Happy Weekend To Me

2012-02-06T23:12:00.002-05:00

I went to a flea market on Saturday with some friends. I had never been to a real flea market. I didn't want to leave. Around every corner there were new treasures, oldies but goodies. I found serving bowls that my grandma used to serve up dinner with, a bobble-head china doll that my mom used to have in her curio cabinet, and dozens and dozens of vintage perfume bottles (I love old perfume bottles). I wanted so many things, but each and every time I'd think, "Where am I going to put this? I don't need this." But I really really wanted it. "It" meaning old stuff. Old, cool stuff. We've lost many things as time goes on. What happened to getting dressed up for dinner? What happened to fancy hats and pearls, beautiful dresses and long coats. It took me back, that flea market. Back to a place I'd never even been, but I certainly could imagine. It seemed like a lovely place, those days of old.

I did happen to find something that I felt I couldn't live without. Plus, it's decorative and functional. It's a serving tray. A cute, refinished, vintage serving tray. I love it. Later that day, Andy took me to my favorite Japanese grill in our little town, Sakura. I had sushi, he had steak. We shared grilled mushrooms and veggies, soup and salad. He had a bite (or 7) of my sushi, I had a nibble of his steak. We went shopping at my favorite Target. Just to be there, because it's my home away from home..... away from home. We went to Kohl's next. I got a new watch that I'd had my eye on for quite some time. We went to a movie and shared a box of Whoppers (lately, they're my new favorite. No offense Jr. Mints). We had a fabulous night, just the 2 of us. I woke up a year older and had myself a birthday. The kids sang to me (You've had a birthday, shout Hoo-Ray!...), showered me with gifts and cards, and were more excited than I was. Ohhhh, but they're cute, those kiddos of mine. My honey scored big with an amazing birthday cake, and I was happy.

I am happy. I am a happy, blessed, lucky woman. I am.

Except for the turning29part (!!!) I'm still not quite sure how I feel about being in my 20's for only one more short year. Maybe I'll become super mature this year and get over that. Buuuut.... proabably not.

Plus, the Giants won the superbowl. Woot woot!

Happy Birthday to me :)

Going Under The Knife

2012-02-02T11:23:00.008-05:00

About 4 weeks ago, I took Magnus and Jonah to an ENT because I was tired of Jonah getting strep throat so much (7 cases last year) and tired of Magnus having so many ear infections (8 total in his 14 months of life). Their pediatrician recommended Jonah have his tonsils out and Magnus have tubes put in.

After seeing the ENT, I decided to go ahead and do it. He said that Jonah had large tonsils, and he decided to also remove his adenoids as well. He noticed Magnus had a lot of murky fluid in his ear, and told me that it's genetic to have bad drainage. Jonah had tubes put in at a year old, and he only had a handful of ear infections over the next 5 years. I had many many ear infections as a kid, and Andy is actually partially deaf in one of his ears because of so much scar tissue from so many ear infections. The ENT also asked if Magnus was starting to talk at all. I told him that no, he only said about 3 words and had been for several months. He thought that the fluid might be contributing to his lack of speech. He didn't think he could hear very well, and that when Magnus heard people talking, it's like hearing as if underwater.

So, Monday morning, dark and early, we woke the boys at about 4 AM (they had to be bathed before going to the hospital) and got all ready to go. We had the other 3 kids sleeping over at friend's houses, so we didn't have that to worry about. We left by 5 AM and arrived at the hospital where their surgeries would be performed by 6. We got all checked in and were led back to our conjoined (by a bathroom) rooms. I helped Jonah while Andy struggled with wiggly Magnus.

What is it about kids in a hospital gown? They look so dang cute.

We had a few minutes to kill before the nurse came in to do pre-assesments, so Andy dressed M up in these adult size slippers and cap. I know it's a little silly, but I was so happy that Andy had the day off and we could be doing this together. He works a lot of long hours, and I was just glad to be with him :)

Mag wasn't quite sure what to think about all of the triage stuff.

Killin' some time, watchin' a little TV...

M came to watch Jonah get his pre-assesments done.

After we spoke with the doctor and anesthesiologist, the nurses came to take M away. She tried to lay him on the bed to wheel him away, but he wouldn't sit still.

So one of them picked him up (and of course, exclaimed how big and heavy he was), while the other wheeled his bed away.

He was only gone 10-15 minutes when they brought him back to us, sleepy, confused, and CA-RAZY! His surgery had gone just fine, but this kid does not do well with anesthesia. He was so confused and whacky, and was screaming so loud for a good 45 minutes. He kept trying to slither out of our arms, and we just kept passing him back and forth. We would put him on the bed, and he would writhe around and almost fall on the floor until one of us would catch him. It was awful. Andy left for about 10 minutes, and then I did. It was hard to see him that way.

While Andy was dealing with Crazy Boy, I went and stayed with Jonah until they took him away. Here he is showing the nurse which of his teeth are loose.

And there goes Jo. They moved us into a bigger room so the boys could recover together (and probably so we could shut the door and they wouldn't have to hear M scream his head off)

I went and grabbed soemthing to eat, and came back to this:

Mag had finally calmed down enough to watch some cartoons, eat some crackers, and drink some juice.

After about 45 minutes, Jonah was back, and his surgery had gone as planned also. He was so sad and so confused. It broke my heart.

He could hardly talk, but he agreed to eat a popscicle. After that, he was so cold and couldn't stop shivering. He had about 5 blankets on, but his teeth just kept chattering away.

We turned his bed around so he could watch cartoons for a little bit, but he was just so sad! I felt so bad for the poor kid.

After awhile, the nurse came in to check on him and take his IV out.

By this point, we had a Happy Magnus again, and he kept trying to (dizzily) run around the room. Andy kept trying to help him and hold his hand, but M would shrug him off, and immedietly fall over. They don't put those "fall risk" bracelets on patients for nothin'...

It was finally time to go after the boys were deemed fit to leave, and I actually got a smile out of Jonah when I mentioned that he would get to go home and play video games to his heart's desire.

Off we go!

Since we've been home, Magnus has been perfectly fine. In fact, he has even said about 4 new words in the last few days alone, including "love you!" Ohhh, so sweet. He must be amazed at how well he can hear now! Jonah is finally over the hump and the worst is behind us. The first couple days were really rough and he was pretty miserable. He refused to talk because it hurt so much, and refused to eat anything. Instead he had a liquid diet.

I got him anything he asked for, including jell-o, gatorade, slurpies, milkshakes, popscicles, and ice cream. He ate dinner last night for the first time in 3 days, and this morning, he tells me he feels great. Phew! I sure am glad that is behind us.

Here's to fewer doctor visits and sickness in 2012!

Mermaids Love To Swim And Party

2012-02-02T10:19:00.008-05:00

Everyone thought I was a little crazy for having a swim party in January, the middle of winter. But, you gotta give the birthday girl what she wants.

It all started last July when Jonah was having a swim party for HIS birthday. Daphne was complaining that her birthday was in January and asked why I didn't have her in the summer, and that she would never get to have a swimming party. I told her that if she really wanted a pool party, we would make it happen. Add in the mermaid theme, and you've got Daphne's 6th birthday party. We had a blast.... uh, I mean, a "splash"! Like I said in Daphne's birthday post, she has a lot of friends. She is very outgoing and fun, and a lot of people like her. She had a really hard time choosing people to come to her party. She's got school friends, neighborhood friends, church friends, girl scout friends, and so on. Luckily, the pool we rented allowed up to 20 kids (there were only 2 lifeguards, and they needed to hire more if there were over 20 children), so she was able to invite 12 girls, and there was still room for our 5 kids. I had a lot of fun planning the party around this theme. Since we were swimming for an hour and a half, I didn't have a whole lot left to do, which was nice. I rented a room for after swimming (we used our local YMCA) and it was one of the rooms they use for preschool. It was great because they covered all of the preschool stuff up and moved it to the back of the room. They did all the set-up of tables and chairs and all I had to do was set-up my stuff. I stuck with the basic theme of dark blue, purple, and aqua. It turned out really cute.

Andy is an amazing artist and just whipped this up, freehand, the morning of the party. It was "Pin the Fin on the Mermaid" because she is missing one of her tail fins. So cute. We played this game, and we also decorated crowns.

I had the most fun coming up with the finger foods. We had goldfish, starfish rice krispie treats, two kinds of black pearls (olives and blueberries), sushi sandwiches (white bread, turkey, cream cheese, cucumbers, and shredded cheddar), and clam chips (Tostitos scoops). Daphne loves red velvet cupcakes, so we had those with a swedish fish on top of each one. I was going to do blue gatorade, but she insisted on pink lemonade. I added limes, and it looked pretty.

We used curling ribbon stapled onto the crowns after they were decorated, to tie them onto each girls head. I also made THESE as party favors for each girl. They turned our super cute, and were very easy. Unfortunately, I wasn't good at taking very many pictures, and I never got a great one of the mermaid tails. Also, I got most of my ideas and decor ideas from THIS website. I thought everything turned out pretty cute. And Daphne loved it, which is what matters the most.

I also have to give a shout-out to my dear friend Ira, who helped me with set-up, the making of the mermaid tails, and clean-up. She's such a wonderful friend. Another shout out goes to my fabulous husband, who helps and goes along with all of my crazy ideas (without complaining), even when he doesn't want to.

We waited for all of the girls to show-up and then we got a swimmin' and a splashin'! I had a nightmare that some of the girls drowned at the party (even though there were lifeguards), and so my Andy generously agreed to stay in the water with the kids the whole time. It put my mind at ease.

Mermaid Daphne!

Everyone had a great time swimming, and after we were done, we hopped out and showered and changed. Then, we headed to the party room...

Like I said, I felt really busy at the party and didn't get a whole lot of pictures. But, we played Pin the Fin on the Mermaid, and decorated our crowns. After that, the kids got some snacks and had a fun time chatting about silly girl things.

How ironic that Jonah, 1 of the only 2 boys there, won the Mermaid game. He swears he didn't cheat, but he got the fin right where it was supposed to go.

After we finished eating, we all grabbed a cupcake and sang Happy Birthday to Miss Daphne
And since we weren't allowed to have fire in the Y, she just pretended to blow out a candle, and she actually blew off her swedish fish.

Present time! Daphne got so many fun things: mermaid barbies, video barbie, babydoll clothes, art and play-doh kits, books, make-up and nail polish, and a few clothes. Lucky lucky girl.

Thanks for coming to be a Mermaid for a Day!

It was a fun party, and the Mermaid girl.... I mean, birthday girl, was a happy little lady.

I Always Thought A Week Was Long Enough, But It's Not

2012-02-02T00:00:00.016-05:00

Did you ever read this book as a kid? I did. And, as a child, I had absolutely no idea just how much I would come to appreciate the times when it was just me and her.

My mom came for a week long visit for my birthday (which is actually this weekend.... the timing just worked out that she came a couple weeks early) and I cannot even begin to say just how much I enjoyed having her here. I adore my mom. She is the most wonderful, selfless, giving, helpful, amazing person I know. I am still going through withdrawals.

Anyway, I just wanted to document her fun trip. Well, fun for me. I'm not sure if it was anything but exhausting for her. I kept her up until midnight or later nearly every night just because I wanted to spend every second possible with her. I wanted to have every possible conversation, tell her about every possible thing and ask her every possible question I could.

Okay, I'm really going to get to the point now, I promise.

She got her on a Wednesday evening and I had dinner ready for us to all eat together. The kids were absolutely giddy and all of them were vying for her attention. After we got them off to bed, we chatted and talked and caught up until I couldn't even keep my eyes open anymore.

The next day, after getting the kids off to school, we headed up to the Potomac Mills Outlet Mall with the 2 little boys. We spent most of the morning and part of the afternoon at Ikea, shopping for my birthday present! I needed something for my front room because we had gotten rid of our old, ugly slipcovered couch that was way too big for the room. I needed some chairs or a little loveseat, and as fate would have it, I found just what I wanted. It was perfect for my tiny front room, and I love it! We had lunch, shopped for a bit at some other stores, and got home just in time for the kids to get home from school. Andy put my loveseat together that evening. I was a happy lady.

Don't make fun of my cheap, ghetto blinds. If you have kids, you know why they look like this.
I love this room now. It just needs a few final touches and then it will be perfect. The kids aren't allowed in here, except Laylah when she practices piano. I just go in there and sit sometimes, and tease them that they can't come in (that's a joke, by the way...)

The next morning, the boys had a perfect hideout. The box from my loveseat. Funny stuff. On Friday, we shopped a little more, and ran some errands together. Andy was working from home that day, so we got to go all alone. I cherish the times I have alone with my mom. I sound a little loony, but I seriously think she's the bomb.That evening, Andy had a campout to go to for Young Men's. We had a movie night with treats. it was relaxing and fun.

I can't get over how cute my baby is. He was stuffing his face full of the good stuff. He's knows what's up.

No, I did not adopt another child. That is Laylah's BFF Alex.

The next morning was fun because my mom was able to be here for one of Jonah's basketball games. We watched him play and then we (my mom and I and the girls) headed up near DC to a place called Tyson's Corner where they have a ginormous mall that houses the American Girl store. We thought it would be fun to have a girl's day there and let Daphne pick out her birthday gift from my mom. We spent hours in that store and the girls hemmed and hawed over what they wanted to spend their money on. We took a break to go eat at California Pizza Kitchen. (California Club pizza? Heaven on your plate) We did a little shopping after dinner and then headed back to the American Girl store to make our final selections. The girls found some really cute things (all the while spending a small fortune) and were thrilled with their purchases. We headed up to the bistro for a treat after that. Those cupcakes were simply divine.

We had a low-key day on Sunday, going to church, taking long naps, and making dinner together. We also watched a movie that evening because the kids didn't have school the next day.

The next day was Grandma Day. We went to a place called Kids N Motion. The had tons of huge bouncehouses, and the kids had a blast, running from one thing to the next. My mom and I sat and talked and tried not to fall asleep. We were tiiiiiired from all of our late nights. Can you guess who's missing? I know, there are so many that it's hard to remember ;) Magnus stayed home and napped with Andy (who was sick... luckily, no one else caught it!)

After our fun day of excercising, we had to go get donuts and eat back all of those calories we just burned. You can see who the chocolate lovers of the family are...
What a fun day. Thanks grandma.

On Tuesday, we didn't do much. I did my mom's hair, we lounged around, and my mom kept trying to help me deep clean my kitchen. Normally, I would have loved her help, but I just wanted to sit around that day. So we did. That evening, we took the kids to get some new pictures at a local studio here. The only studio I could find here in the 'Burg (that's what all of the cool kids call Fredericksburg. See, I'm cool.) I'm not going to post those pictures on this post, but you can look to the left on my sidebar, or see a few more HERE.

Wednesday was a bittersweet day. It was my mom's last day here, but I had some friends lined up to watch my children, so we had the day all to ourselves. After a (little bit teary) goodbye to the kids as they left for school, and goodbye to the younger boys that we dropped off to be tended, we headed up toward DC.

We started out the day at the beautiful Washington DC temple. We did initiatories, and I can't think of a better way to start the day. It was fun to show my mom around the temple, because she had never been inside this one. After that, we headed over to Good Stuff Eatery. I've posted about this restaurant's fabulousness many-a-times. We got burgers, fries, and of course, their signature shakes (toasted marshmallow for me, milky way for mom)
After we had finished stuffing ourselves, we were full and happy, and ready to go for a walk. We only had a couple of hours left, so we stayed close to the car. We walked over to the Library of Congress, which was quite boring, but we managed to snag a picture with James Madison.

We decided to head over to the Botanical Gardens after our boring investigation of the Library of Congress. I have always wanted to see them, but whenever we've been in DC, we've always run out of time. I'm so glad we did it. It was so beautiful and it smelled marvelous. They had all different rooms and themes like the Jungle Room, Desert Room, Medicinal Plants Room, Hawaiin Room, etc.
My favorite was the Orchid Room. They were in full bloom, and it was incredibly beautiful.
See for yourself...
I could have stayed and lived there.

Ouch, watch out mom. That looks sharp :)

And this one just looks yucky.

I could have stayed much longer, but we had to leave and unfortunately, I had to take my mom to the airport. We made it there right when she needed to be there, and we said goodbye, until next time. I can't wait to go visit my family this summer.

It's a funny thing, living away from home. I always think I'm doing okay and not feeling homesick, until someone comes to visit me. After they leave to go home, I feel like I'm back to where I was when we first moved here and I miss Utah and my family a lot. We love it here, and if given the choice, I'm not sure if we would choose to go back or stay. I know that I love my family so much, and I love when they come and visit me. We had a fabulous time. Thanks mommy.

Daphne Turns 6!

2012-02-01T11:41:00.006-05:00

My Daphne girl turned 6 several weeks ago, and my oh my was she ever excited. I left a surprise for her by her bedroom door, and it was really fun to hear her squeals of excited delight the next morning when she woke up and opened her door.She chose sugar crepes, hard-boiled eggs, and pears for breakfast (hmmm, sounds familiar... I think she chose that LAST year?)

She also got to open one gift from Andy and I. It was a new outfit for her bitty-baby and also an outfit for her. She was more excited about bitty-baby's outfit, because that is what she had wanted most of all for her birthday.I went and ate lunch with her at school, and she had requested a happy meal. I brought that for her and we had fun chatting while we ate. She's kind of a stinker though, and wouldn't give me a hug or a kiss goodbye. Too cool for mom already? Oh geez, what will it be like in 10 years if it's already this bad in kindergarten?!

We had her favorite dinner of chicken roll-ups with gravy, broccoli, and blackberries, along with raspberry lemonade. After dinner, it was time for presents.
Daphne dressed Bella up in her new clothes and got ready to be surprised. She had asked for several things and I told her we would be able to get her some of them but not all. She was thrilled to be able to get a cradle for Bella.

She had also asked for a pet bed for her dog Pepper. I had found a hamster bed on amazon for super cheap, and she was a little confused when she opened it and saw pictures of hamsters on the tag. Luckily, Pepper fit perfectly, so she was okay with it after that.

She also got a diaper bag with some cloth diapers and wipes in it to change Bella, and also a bottle for her.

I was a little hesitant to buy all of this babydoll stuff after Daphne gave me her birthday list, because I wondered how long she would stay interested in babydolls at her age. And then I remembered that I played with babies until I was 10 or 11 and decided it would be okay. Sure enough, she hasn't stopped playing with it all since.

And here's her cute new jacket.

I found this pin on Pinterest and thought the directions seemed fairly easy, so I thought I would attempt it. Now, mine looks nothing like the original pin, but I was proud of myself just the same. This is a first for me, and I was thrilled that it turned out. And Daphne was SO excited to see it when she came home from school, which is all that really matters anyway.

Make a wish!

After chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and chocolate ice cream (the girl is a choco-holic, what can I say?) we found a few more gifts from aunts and uncles and grandparents that had been received in the mail that day. She got some jewelry, treats, and money. All a girl really needs, right?

Andy put baby Bella's cradle together so that Daphne could put her to bed. And then Daphne went to bed, after a picture with her adoring parents. What a fun birthday for a 6 year old.
And now, we have Daphne at age 6:

Daphne is such a crack-up. She is such a little sassy-pants, and her laugh is contagious. She has pretty much grown out of the tantrum throwing, but when she has had a long day, or is overly-tired.... watch out. She can keep it up for literally hours. And then she'll bring it up over and over about how upset she was, and how it just wasn't fair. Lately I fear she's hitting the "middle child" thing. Everything is unfair, and she doesn't think anyone gets treated like she does. I'm afraid for when she becomes a teenager.

On the other hand, she is SO much fun to be around when she's happy, which thankfully, is most of the time. She is so extremely loving and caring and has to give everyone a hug and a kiss every night before she goes to bed. She adores Magnus and will play with him and entertain him for hours. She is so so sweet. She is very creative and very funny. I love overhearing her imaginative games being played. She never ceases to amaze me.

Daphne loves to ride her bike and jump on the tramp. She enjoys playing with her siblings, but often asks to have a friend over. She has several wonderful little girlfriends at school, in our neighborhood, and in our ward. She gets invited to friend's houses often, and I am always happy to hear that she has wonderful manners and plays so nicely. She still enjoys barbies, and her babydolls. She also loves to draw and color and do crafts. She loves to sing and dance in her room and that can keep her entertained for hours. She also enjoys swimming, and was proud that she learned to do so without any floaties last summer. She loves to play games on the computer, especially PBS kids and Webkinz. She also enjoys helping me in the kitchen and loves to make yummy treats to eat. She has been loving her first year in Girl Scouts and is always asking when her next meeting is. She did cheerleading last fall, and while she enjoyed it, she's not sure if she wants to do it again or not. She wants to start gymnastics, so we'll have to see how that works out.

Daphne is my pickiest eater. Although she really likes a lot of healthy foods, there are a few that she absolutely refuses to eat (like yogurt, which she used to love. Who doesn't like yogurt?! Also, gum. She HATES gum and complains about the smell when anyone else is chewing it). If I make her try something she doesn't like, she coughs and gags and makes a huge deal out of how much she dislikes it. She is pretty good to try anything once. Her favorite foods are berries, pears, peaches, grapefruit, pancakes, crepes, cheerios, peanut butter and honey sandwhiches, string cheese, raisins, crock pot chicken, tacos, mashed potatoes, broccoli, asparagus, carrots, mushrooms, and white chili. She LOVES chocolate, but not really other sweets or candy. She will eat baked goods once in awhile, but they're not her favorite.

Daphne is a smarty-pants. She got 102% on last terms testing. I guess there were 5 bonus questions and she got a couple of those right. Her teacher raves about how smart she is. She is an amazing reader and speller. She is reading 1st and 2nd grade books right now. She is also great with numbers and math. She's very well-rounded. It's surprising to me, because I was always just average in school. She must have gotten Andy's genes because he is super smart too and always excelled in school. I am glad she loves school, and I hope she can go far with the knowledge she is gaining.

Happy Birthday my Daphne Girl. We sure do love you and your spunky personality!

Dear January, Where Have You Gone?

2012-01-28T21:02:00.001-05:00

I know people usually hate January because the holidays are over and all that's left is a whole lot of nothing, except for the yucky cold.

My January has been anything but slow. In fact, I've barely had time to blog, which is why I'm sitting here blogging from my phone while I sit on the toilet.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" you say. Before you picture me doing some private business, I'll let you know that I'm sitting on the toilet with the lid closed while I watch M play in the bath. He's making quite the splashy mess, but don't worry about me. I have a towel over my head.

Anywho. Back to January. It's been busy and it has included the following:

-basketball practices and games for Jonah
-Girl Scout meetings and activities for both of the girls
-Daphne's 6th birthday
-My mom coming to visit (mom, come back!)
-Lots of primary calling stuff (I'm the primary secretary. It's exhausting)
-Doctor appts for sickies (I'm sure everyone's January includes that)
-Daphne's mermaid birthday party (which was today. I am Wiped. Out. Speaking of Wipeout, that show is on right now. I can hear my other kids downstairs laughing hysterically)

And it's not over yet. Monday morning, bright and early, we'll be heading to the hospital for a couple of surgeries. Jonah is getting his tonsils and adenoids taken out, while Magnus is having tubes put in his ears. In fact, I still need to go to the store tonight to stock up on provisions for next week while we're stuck at home. Gatorade, popsicles, jell-o, ice cream, and the like.

Crazy, busy month. I'm glad it's over soon. How's your January been?

Speaking of Magnus, he's eating soap. Silly kid. I better go! Check ya later...

Blue Skies and Windchimes

2012-01-26T14:54:00.002-05:00

Do you ever just pause for a minute and take it all in? Breathe deep, really open your eyes, and take a look around? I try to. I forget sometimes, and then I will have a little moment. A moment where peace envelopes me, and I feel true joy. Happiness, beyond measure.

A couple of weeks ago, it was 65*. In January. It was warm enough to be outside without even a jacket on. Bear asked me to jump on the tramp with him while Magnus was napping. Of course, I have to admit, I didn't want to do that. I almost came up with an excuse of 50 other things I had to do, rather than go jump up and down and try not to pee my pants. But looking at that eager, begging face, I agreed. We headed out in our short sleeve shirts and bare feet. We jumped and jumped and jumped. We played crack the egg, ghost in the graveyard, and jumped over different sizes of bouncy balls. It was really fun. I mean really fun.

After awhile Bear had to run inside to go potty, and so I layed down on the tramp and sat very still.

There was a soft breeze blowing.
The sky was the most beautiful shade of blue, with not even the trace of a cloud in sight.
I heard birds singing softly in the gently swaying trees.
The tinkling of a nearby windchime tickled my inner ear.
The sun bathed my face in a warm, happy light, and it was bright on the inside of my eyelids.
It was the perfect temperature and I felt completely content. Completely happy. I made a mental note to remember this moment.

I am truly blessed. I am truly happy. The earth is the most incredible place, and I am glad to be here.

And I think I need some windchimes of my own.

A Week Gone By

2012-01-25T23:15:00.002-05:00

How is it possible for a week to fly by so fast?! Unfortunately for me, my mom's trip is already over. She came to visit last week and I dropped her off at the airport today. I just can't explain what an amazing mom I have. She is truly a one-of-a-kind, step-above-the-rest. Here's a little sneak peek of her lovely visit. That last one makes me want to cry.... Again.

Come back soon mom! Pretty please :)

There she goes, back to her home...

Room Enough For All

2012-01-16T16:03:00.001-05:00

I just love our couch. I also just love my family. I've had a rotten last few days, and last night we all snuggled up together, turned our fireplace on, and watched a movie. It was marvelous. Simply marvelous!

A Christmas To Remember

2012-01-13T16:45:00.015-05:00

This Christmas will definitely go down as one of the best, as well as the most memorable. This year, Andy and I had a plan to talk with our kids and let them know that Christmas would be a lot of homemade, rather than material, things. It would be small, because of our current financial situation. Even though that is just fine, and I knew our kids might be a little disappointed if they didn't get exactly what they had asked for from Santa, that's not really the way it turned out.

Our kids are allowed to ask for one thing from Santa every year. I have always felt that Christmas is about Christ's birthday, and giving to and helping others. Of course, they get a few things from mom and dad (usually clothes.... boring!), and grandparents and such, but I don't feel like we go overboard for our kids on Christmas. That's what their birthdays are for :) Andy and I spoke to the kids the night they were writing their letters to Santa. We reminded them not to be greedy, and to only ask for the thing they wanted more than anything else. After getting their letters back, we had a little discussion about what we thought we could afford. Laylah wanted a bed for her American Girl doll. Jonah wanted a new game for his DS. Daphne, a bitty-baby doll by American Girl. And Bear.... play-doh. We thought it would be do-able, but the closer Christmas came, our finances just weren't working in our favor. Andy had only been working at his new job for a couple of weeks, and wasn't scheduled for his first paycheck until December 23rd. That means we would go nearly a month without un-employment pay or a paycheck. Yikes. We were a little worried.

And then the blessings started coming, one by one. It started off with a phone call from someone very special to me. She asked what my kids wanted from Santa, and I told her, but I also told her I wasn't sure how it would happen. She told me not to worry about it, not to argue, and that it would be taken care of. I cannot tell you the load that seemed to lift off of my shoulders. Here's the thing. Although I know my kids would be fine with whatever they received for Christmas, you always want to give your kids exactly what they want, right? You want them to be happy, to not ever have to experience any sort of disappointment. This is unrealistic, to think you can always shelter them through life this way, but it doesn't make me feel it any less so. A little later in the month, we received some gift cards from an annonymous giver. A few days after that, a couple of checks came in the mail. And then a large package with gifts for my children, as well as more gift cards. I cannot even explain how grateful and loved we felt. It was like these little miracles all month long, that just kept coming. As I sit here typing this, I can't keep the tears from coming. It just confirms what I know to be true, that our Heavenly Father knows each of us personally, knows our circumstances, knows what we need, loves us beyond measure, and works through others to help us. It was the most amazing Christmas, and I cannot wait until we can be on the other end again, giving, and donating, and helping.

So, that's why this Christmas was just so wonderful. Just about every gift was from someone's heart, and it made my children happy. It made me happy. And if it was anyone reading this, thank you from the bottom of my heart. It meant everything to me, and I thank you.

Now, onto our fun celebrations! We spent Christmas Eve at Andy's cousin's house (his aunt and uncle were visiting as well) who has a tradition of a Christmas Eve Fiesta! The food was incredible. I brought homemade Brazilian lemonade and guacamole and chips. Meghan (mine and Andy's cousin-in-law. Dan, Andy's cousin, is deployed to Afghanistan right now. We missed him a lot!) made homemade Spanish rice, salsa, enchiladas, taquitos, and tamales. It was quite a feast, and we were all stuffed silly. The kids went to watch a Christmas movie afterwards, and the adults just chatted, grazed some more, and cleaned up.

We took the kids home after the movie and did our usual little traditions. We put out Santa's cookies and milk, opened one gift (jammies), and threw reindeer food out on our back lawn. We read Luke 2, checked online to see where Santa was delivering (Central America!), had hugs and kisses, and sent the kids off to bed to dream of sugar plums dancing, and all of that fun stuff.

Magnus didn't make it home awake. But we still made him open his new pj's.

Christmas is just so exciting!! I caught them doing this.... completely un-prompted :)

New jammies!!

We made this reindeer food as one of our advent activities. It was Laylah's idea to write "Do not use until December 24th!" because we sure didn't want those reindeer coming too early!

After the kids were off to bed, Santa came. And he was so good to us. He realized just how much the kids missed their trampoline (do you remember THIS post??) that he had gotten them about 4 or 5 Christmas' before, and had found a really great used one. So, he decided to set it up in our backyard. Only, it's really hard to do in the dark. And he kind of did it wrong, but couldn't figure out how. And it took a long time. And he was really worried the whole time that some neighbor kid would see him. Or, even worse, one of the Collette kids would hear him and peek out their windows and see him. And it ended up being really funny. So, in the end, he was really tired and just left a note saying that he thought that the kids' dad would be able to fix it in the morning. And guess what? He did :)
The kids came barreling into our room and jumped on our bed at about 6:45 AM. They were so excited. It made me so excited. I figured I had better really enjoy this year, because Laylah has been asking some questions lately, and although she still believed this year, I'm not sure how much longer that is going to last. So I took full advantage and made a big production out of everything. It was great.

The stockings were filled to the brim, the gifts from Santa were bright and white, and so pretty with their big red bows. We had explained to the children that they could open their stockings and Santa gifts, and then we would eat our breakfast feast. After that, we would have to get ready for church that started at 11. After we got home from church, we would be able to finish opening gifts.

Opening stockings! Stockings are truly one of my favorite things about Christmas. It's so exciting to see what wonderful treasures are hidden deep down in that sock. My kids' included movies, treats, little toys and games, books, webkinz, art supplies, and a few other odds and ends.

Andy's had this awesome beanie in it. I love a man with facial hair. And since my man refuses to grow any, this is the next best thing...

We had to wake Magnus, who just loved wandering around with his new lion hat, and his candy-filled plastic candy-cane.
Next, it was onto gifts from Santa! M received a fun little Weebles toy. It play music and cranks the Weebles to the top of the treehouse so they can slide down the treehouse slide. It was a huge hit.Bear loves the Imaginext brand. He got this fun castle, and simply loves it. (Oh, and don't worry. He also got the play-doh he had asked for. It came in his stocking :)

Next up, Daphne. She received the gift of her dreams that she's been talking about for 7 months, the bitty-baby doll! When she started opening it, as soon as she saw the American Girl label, she couldn't get that baby out of the box fast enough. She literally has not gone a day since, without playing with Bella Ella (what a name, right?)

Jonah received his beloved DS game, Mario VS. Donkey Kong! And even though it was Sunday, and we don't allow video games on Sunday, it was also Christmas. So he proceeded to play it the rest of the day :)

Laylah didn't quite receive what she had asked for. If you recall, she wanted a bed for her American Girl doll, but I had it on good authority that her great grandmother was getting that for her. So, Santa got her something he knew she'd been wanting for a long time. A real camera. And not just any camera. A real purple camera. She was thrilled. After everyone had opened their gifts from Santa, there was still one white wrapped gift with a red ribbon. Our family gift from Santa. Santa always gives our family a gift that will help bring us together, something we can do together and something that helps us have fun together.

It was a letter, telling us to look outside and also explaining that we needed to be careful with this one so as not to break it like we did our last one. The kids practically leaped off the couch to run onto the deck and see what it was. And I cannot even tell you how excited they were to have a trampoline again. Pure joy.

(This picture is not from Christmas, but the day after when Andy had fixed what silly Santa had done to the tramp. The kids spent all week and hours upon hours jumping outside on their new tramp during their winter break. Good thing the temps were in the 60's!)

After gifts, we had our breakfast feast of baked french toast, bacon, and eggs with sausage and cheese. Along with it, there was orange juice, hot cocoa with whipped cream, anf fresh fruit. Delish.

I allowed the kids to open one more gift before getting ready for church. It was their new Christmas church outfits (dresses for the girls, bowties for the boys), made by hand by the amazing Miranda. We swapped services, and I have to say that I got the better end of the deal, because she is just so incredibly talented. (Pictures of their new clothes are at the bottom of the post)

After we got ready, we headed off to church. Our sacrement service was so wonderful, and the music was so beautiful. I remember just sitting there and feeling so happy. It was such a wonderful day, thinking of the Savior and His birth. I remember thinking over and over again about how very blessed we are. It's so nice to recognize that.

After church, we headed home, and some of us changed our clothes. It was just a nice, lazy, relaxing rest of the day. I made a big turkey dinner with all of the trimmings, and after I got the turkey in the oven, we started opening gifts again. We would let each of the kids open one, and we would let them play with that for awhile, and then they would open another one. It took hours, but it was so relaxing, and enjoyable. I loved that we didn't have anywhere we had to be, we were just there together.

I made Andy a giftbox with my top 50 reasons why I love him. It was really fun to do, and once I got going, I could have gone on forever. Some of them are funny, some of them are physical (he seriously has the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen), and some of them are my favorite memories. He was really surprised, and loved it.

We also gave the kids a date coupon. They each got a coupon to go out to dinner and a movie (their choice) with Andy and me. They can use it whenever they want, but only one kid per date. I am really excited to get to spend more one-on-one time with my kids this year.

Here's Sadie sporting some glow-in-the-dark glasses that the kids got from one of their grandma's. She loved it, can't you tell?

And me, sporting my gift from Andy. My new cut and color. I finally cut off all of my post-baby hair after hemming and hawing about it for months. It was nasty. And also, new clothes from my mom. Doesn't she have great taste? She always gives the best gifts. I felt completely spoiled by her, like usual.

And finally, my darlings in their new Christmas church outfits. So adorable and so dapper. I can't even tell you how many compliments they received.

Family of {seven} ready for church

The rest of the day was spent playing, reading, napping, eating and watching movies. We had our yummy Christmas dinner and we were able to skype with both mine and Andy's families. It was wonderful.

And no Christmas would be complete without new pajamma pants from Grandma Collette. It's tradition!

The rest of our Christmas break was spent jumping on the tramp for hours upon hours, and playing. It was a much needed break from real life, and I was sad when it was over and work and school had to resume as normal. December was a month of miracles for our family, and I'm so happy that I had the experience and pleasure of sharing it.

Merry Merry to you!

Thursday Thoughts By Yours Truly (2nd EDN.)

2012-01-12T13:18:00.004-05:00

It's been awhile since we had a Thursday Thoughts post. Lots of thoughts roll around in my head on a daily basis. Shall I share? Here we go...

-Magnus has dual personalities. Sweet Angel Baby and Child of the Devil Baby. Seriously. We've got a lot of crying/shrieking and temper tantrum throwing up in here. It's brutal. Plus, he is into everything. Everything. That picture above is him, with his socked foot in the dog's water dish. You can see by his face what he thought about having his pants and foot all sogged up. Plus, I had literally gotten him dressed 2 minutes before he did it. This kid sure is giving me a run for my money. Good thing he's #5.... and I'm (sort of) patient now.

-Speaking of the dog... I am sick of her. She bugs me. I think ever since I've had Magnus, I've referred to her like this: "It's like having another kid I have to take care of, but one that I don't even like". And I think she can tell I don't really care for her anymore. She gets into my bathroom trash can and makes a mess. Grrrrr...

-Daphne's birthday is tomorrow. She will be 6 years old! I can still remember, 6 years ago on this day, I was working at AA Alpine Storage, running the office. I took the deposit to the bank that night, and the teller working said to me, "Aren't you having that baby soon?" And I was so excited to tell him that, YES! I AM HAVING THE BABY TOMORROW! I AM GETTING INDUCED IN 13 HOURS! (I probably really was shouting, because I was so excited to not be pregnant anymore.) We hadn't found out what sex the baby was, and it was so exciting to have that baby girl placed into my arms. Born on 1/13 at 1:13. Pretty crazy, am I right?

-My mommy is coming to visit in a week! A week I tell you. And I will have her all to myself. Well, I guess I'll have to share her with my kids, but just a little bit. I have big plans for when she's here. Big plans (you know, like having her help me deep clean my kitchen.... aren't you excited Mom??)

-I got a ticket a few days ago. I didn't realize what the speed limit was, and I was going way over (I was alone, FYI. I never speed with my kids in the car. Unless I'm late. So actually, yeah, I pretty much always speed). When I saw the cop, I slammed on my brakes, but yeah right. I was too late, and I knew it. I thought, "Okay, I can get out of this, I'll just flirt a little..." as I switched my wedding ring to my right hand.... (just kidding, I didn't really do that, but it did cross my mind). I glanced in my side mirror, and of course, a woman got out of the cruiser (I don't know if I could have flirted anyway. Those skills are a little rusty...) She was really nice anyway, and only gave me a ticket for "failure to obey a traffic sign." If she had given me the ticket for speeding, I would have also been charged with reckless driving. Yikes.

I think that's enough of my thoughts for one day. Anyone else care to share? A penny for your thoughts (but not really, I'm not going to use a $.48 stamp just to mail you a penny.)

Christmas, Christmas Time Is Here.... Time For Joy and Time For Cheer!

2012-01-09T23:16:00.000-05:00

Our December festivites were so much fun this year. As I look back through the pictures and through my calender, it makes me tired all over again. But I loved it. December always flies by too fast, so this year I tried to be very organzied and really tried to not be my usual procrastinating self. I was pleasantly surprised by how well I did. I can hardly believe all of the fun things we squeezed and squished into December. Our total Christmas party count included:

-my Relief Society Christmas Party
-Andrew's work holiday party
-some friend's Christmas party for couples
-Laylah's Girl Scouts holiday party
-Daphne's Girl Scouts holiday party
-our ward Christmas party
-Laylah's Activity Day's Christmas party
-Laylah, Jonah, Daphne and Baron's school and playgroup holiday parties

Lots and lots of fun parties.

About 2 weeks before Christmas, I felt compeltely ready for Christmas. So, I made a to-do list for the things that I still needed to complete. The list included: divide up toffee (that was my neighbor gift this year. yum yum) and deliver to friends and neighbors, finish up homemade gifts (wrap, package, and mail to family), write Christmas letter and print out photos (mail along with cards), finish wrapping gifts, finish up any last minute shopping, finish putting up decorations.

Um, yes. I completed that list a week before Christmas and I was able to just sit-back, relax, and enjoy the rest of the season. This is definitely the most organized Christmas we've ever had. It was wonderful. I'll have to make it a yearly tradition!

Now, onto some pictures...
I love love my giant cinnamon candle.... sitting next to my potted paper white (that never grew).

My packaged family gifts, ready to be mailed to Utah. Now that Christmas is over, I can brag about how crafty I was! I made 2 scarves and 4 necklaces (well, not the necklaces, but the hand-stamped charms that went onto the necklaces. Okay, honestly? I sat and watched and pretended to help while my crafty sister did it for me). Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of them, but oh well. I remember just how darn cute they are!

Bags and bags and bags of wrapped up, homemade caramels and toffee, ready to be delivered.

These next several pictures are from a super fun activity(s) our family did this season. We have a wooden advent house with little doors that open and we fill it up with treats so that every day in December, the kids get a treat before bedtime. This year, along with the candy, I filled it up with a scripture and an activity we could do together as a family. I found the scripture idea HERE (and I loved being able to read, with my kids, all about Christ's life, and the events leading up to His birth)and I got the activity ideas from my sister (who did this last year with much success) and also, a few ideas HERE. It was fanatastic and it made me happy to hear the kids ask eagerly what our activity would be that evening. Be it simple or more complex, they always responded with excitement. They loved it. I loved it. It was fabulous.

We spent a few quiet eveings at home, creating art projects to put on display...

We had fun making the kids' teacher's gifts (chocolate dipped marshmellows, which we wrapped ever so cutely and tied up with a couple of packets of hot cocoa. So cute... the idea was found HERE)

Another of our activites was to go caroling with some friends, and luckily, we just so happened to be invited to go by some neighbors in our ward. There was a huge group of us, and it was such a blast. I had never been caroling, and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. It was the perfect night to go, not too cold, but just the right amount of Christmas crisp in the air.

We ended the night with hot cocoa (with peppermint marshmellows, yum!), donuts, and great conversation. Such a fun night, I think it will have to become a yearly tradition.

Another of our activities was to head up to the temple to see the lights, see the visitors center, along with all of the wonderful videos, concerts, displays, and music it has to offer. Let's just say that it didn't turn out at ALL as planned. It was quite a nightmare. I won't go into all of the nitty-gritty details. All I will say is that the night involved hour long bathroom waits, keys getting locked into cars, cranky, hungry kids who didn't get dinner until 8:30 (because of the keys being locked in the car), not even being able to walk into the visitors center because there were probably five times as many people in there that could ever fit comfortably, and the list goes on and on. I was nearly in a frustrated rage by the time we left, which doesn't go well with the temple setting. Next time, I will definitely have to remember not to go on a Sunday, a week before Christmas. Serious nightmare. We didn't even get a picture with our group of friends we went with because I just didn't care about anything by the end of the night. I'm glad Andy made me take the few pictures that I did.

Oh well, at least the lights were pretty.

This poor baby boy was SO tired by the time we got home, that when Andy took his clothes and diaper off to change him, he rolled over, curled up, and fell fast asleep on his changing table. This picture is a good representation of the whole night: Exhausting.

Next up: our ward did an incredible job on the First Annual Celebration of Christ for our entire community. They built sets, and basically did 5 live dioramas to depict Christ's birth. There were actors (Andy was a sheperd), live music, and narration. Afterwards, inside the church, there were hundreds of nativity's on display. It was a very wonderful, spiritual night. It was a fabulous success in our little town, and we hope that it continues to grow every year.

So, that was our wonderful Christmas season, in a nutshell. Fun, festive, fabulous, frustrating, and filled with the spirit of Christ. It truly was wonderful, and I'm still sad it's over. My house seems a little bare and empty without all of our cheery Christmas decor...

Oh well, I'm sure next year will come fast enough. It does tend to do that the older I get... :)

Baby Mine

2012-01-04T23:03:00.000-05:00

Well well well. Can you believe it? Another year over with. Another holiday season all wrapped up. All of my Christmas decor is boxed up, and sitting all nice and pretty and stacked waiting patiently to be put back into the attic until the next holiday season. I've been getting the house and my life back in order this week. Laundry caught up, home de-cluttered and cleaned, sent kids packing back to school. And wouldn't you know it, I had such motivation to get on here tonight and CATCH-UP on my cute little bloggy and half of my pictures have disappeared right off of my computer. And you know me, as computer and tech-savvy as I am, I looked around my computer and found them (not really, no...) I'll have to wait until Andy is awake to fix that problem for me. Unfortunately, he came home from work tonight, ate dinner, played with the kids for about 2.5 minutes and then was fast asleep on the couch, bless his heart. He's been a hard working man. He drove to PA today, I don't blame him for being tired...

BUT ANYWHO

LOOK look look what I did find!!

The cutest picture ever that I didn't even know existed! It is from Christmas Day in 2010, me with my new itty-bitty babe.

Andy must have taken it after we opened gifts and M and I were all tuckered out (from nightly feedings, obviously). Even though it's a bit blurry, I love it just the same. Me and my Christmas baby...

So, this little gem will have to tide you over until I can get THIS year's (um, last year's?) Christmas post in the works. It's a fun one, so stay tuned...

A Table For Seven

2012-01-04T23:02:00.002-05:00

Did you notice? I changed my blog design! And my blog name! If you remember last year, I mentioned wanting to change my blog name, and design, and, and, and.... yes, well. That never really happened now, did it? I have started the process. I have much much more that I want to do, but I think it's a good start and pretty much what I was envisioning. I still want to do a few more things, but who knows when that will be. We shall see. I am, afterall, computer illiterate, and anything I can do on my own is a big step for me. So yes, I'm patting myself on the back (I'm sure you're laughing at me by now...)

And yes, as for the name. One day (shortly after I had Magnus) we were going as a family out to eat at a restaraunt and when we walked in, the hostess said, "A table for seven?" and I loved the sound of that. I had a few other ideas rolling around in my head for blog names, but that one stuck more than the others and so yeah, there you go. Welcome to A Table For Seven, the daily ramblings of a mother of 5 who loves to write, live, and love! That's me :)

Pardon my dust while I continue to change and improve my little space in the interweb, and as always, happy reading :)

Don't Let The Door Hit You On Your Way Out, 2011

2012-01-01T21:50:00.007-05:00

Wowee. What a year, am I right? One of the hardest I have endured, to date. For 2012, I wish for myself, a year far better than the last one. I don't care how. I just want it to be....better.

That is not to say that 2011 didn't serve it's purpose. It constantly amazes me how much I continue to change as I grow older (and hopefully wiser too!). I think I have become a much better, more loving, definitely more compassionate, more understanding, kinder person all around. And for that, I am grateful for 2011. Without the many trials I felt we went through during the year, I wouldn't be what I am as I sit here and write this today, at the start of a brand spankin' new year. A clean slate. It's such a great feeling to me.

A lot happened in this last year. If you remember THIS post, I wasn't prepared to share it all, which is unusual for me. I am usually quite the open book, but some things that happened were pretty much the straw that broke the camel's back, and I pulled away from basically everyone and everything. I was in survival mode. I was confused. I asked "why" a lot. I cried a lot. I prayed a lot. And thankfully, through that prayer, I received enlightenment and understanding. I felt a greater love than I had ever known from my Father in Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ. I had prayers answered. I learned more about the gospel, which I believe to be true, with every part of my being. I studied the scriptures. I grew, in many more ways than one. I realized that I CAN do hard things, and that is okay for life to be hard, and also to admit that it isn't perfect.

Which, it isn't. And why are people afraid to admit that? Believe me, I never thought that when I had 5 kids and had been married 9 1/2 years, that my husband and I would be struggling financially. I never thought I would have the health problems that I do. I never thought that other people's choices would have a direct influence on mine and my family's life. And yet, all those have come to be true. Those things have been my struggles, our struggles. My husband lost his job twice last year. Our renter's in Utah stopped paying their rent for months. I had a bunch of medical issues arise and when you don't have health insurance, that amounts to lots and lots of medical bills. It was bleak. I was overwhelmed.

Thankfully, I have amazing people in my life. Positive, uplifting people, through which I believe many prayers were answered. I have my faith. I have the temple. I have the scriptures. I have my God. Without those things, I don't know if I would have wanted to see what 2012 held in store for us. Like trials and hard times always do, with time, they became easier to bear. Some of them were resolved all together, for which I am grateful on a daily basis. My husband found a new job after another 3.5 months of unemployment (6 months altogether last year) and he is absolutely loving his new job. We got some new, really great, renters. I had some good, manageable news with some of my recent medical tests. Life became easier. But, these things only became better after I made a conscience effort to be happy, despite my trials. I had to remind myself of all of the wonderful blessings I do have. I have 5 amazing, terrific, fun, loving children. I have the best family anyone could ask for. I have an amazingly supportive ward. I have incredible friends who were always there with a listening ear. And last of all, I have a husband who is just THAT wonderful that I can't think of words enough to describe him. I have a great and blessed life. It's definitely not perfect, but it surely wonderful.

So, although I am greatly looking forward to what 2012 has in store for me, I can't completely dismiss 2011 as much as I would like to. It helped me become what I am now, which is a better person all around. I chose my word for 2012, which will be "Moderation". Do you remember what last year's was? I think I lived up to my goal, and I'm proud of myself. This year, as we struggle to get back on top, "moderation" is just what I need. Everything in moderation is good, yes? Yes.

And lastly, I have finally decided that for now, I will not be taking my blog private. I greatly considered it, being that my blog is mainly just our family happenings, but I just feel like it's the right thing for now to keep it public. If I can help even 1 person from my ramblings, it would be worth it. So, thanks for reading friends! I'm glad you're here.

Well, enough blabbering! Onto our New Year's Celebration! We rang in 2012 with some great friends. There was lots of good food, fun games, and many many children afoot. We had an amazing end to the year.
And I got a New Year's smooch from this handsome fella. I know. You're jealous.

Daphne couldn't make it to midnight. But, we woke her up. We're mean parents like that. She cried. We laughed.

Down the street from our friend's house, someone was shooting off lots of fireworks. We ran out and yelled and hugged and kissed, kids and adults alike.
It was just what I needed to start the New Year off right.

I just had to add this picture. Daphne and Bear were so tired, and we made them come out to see the fireworks. Hilarious.

Happy New Year to all. I hope it's your best yet!

And To All A Good Night...

2011-12-25T22:26:00.002-05:00

I can hardly believe Christmas will be over in approximately 1.5 hours. My, but this month has been a whirlwind. A good one. My blogging has fallen by the wayside, and I'm excited to have a little more time in the coming weeks to pick it back up again.

I just have to say.... what an amazing, unforgettable Christmas Season this has been. I have learned a lot and I think I have changed in many ways. For the better. An explanation will have to wait for another day, but in the meantime, from our family to yours.... Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Collette Family Christmas Letter (I only sent out a handful of cards this year, for various reasons, so don't feel slighted if you didn't get one! I love you just the same, and you can read it here if you care to!)

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

A home that’s warm and cozy… We are still living in Fredericksburg, VA and loving it!

Two missing teeth… Daphne has lost her first two teeth and we can hardly believe how grown up she’s becoming. She started kindergarten this past fall, experienced her first year cheerleading (she loved it, of course!), and also joined a Girl Scout daisy troop. She loves life and makes everyone around her happy with her bubbly personality.

Three different jobs… This year has been quite a roller coaster ride as Andrew has gone from 1 to 2 to 3 different jobs. He thinks he has finally found one that he loves at AVS (still in the audio/visual industry) and we hope he’s happy and settled there for a long time.

Four weeks in Utah… We were privileged enough to be able to go see family and friends in Salt Lake for 4 weeks this past summer. While we were there, we were able to go from the top of the state to the bottom and back again. We visited St. George, and Bear Lake, and had a great time visiting, playing, and relaxing. It was a wonderful vacation.

Five sizes up and growing… Our little baby Magnus isn’t such a baby anymore. He has grown and grown and is now in size 2T, weighs 30 pounds, and is off of the growth chart for his age of 13 ½ months. He has been crawling for awhile, but has yet to make his walking debut (this has since changed! Yes, the chunkster is finally walking!... most of the time :). We all love and adore him and can’t ever seem to get enough of our chunky little monkey.

Six days in Las Vegas… Sarah was able to go and visit her sister in Las Vegas, NV while Andrew stayed home and played Mr. Mom for a week. She had a blast, but it was a long time coming, as Andrew has gone to visit family in Utah twice, and California once this year, for various reasons. They both enjoyed their time away, but were ecstatic to be back home with the family.

Seven years old and counting… Jonah was thrilled to turn 7 last summer just because then he’d only have one more year until he turned 8! He is really looking forward to Cub Scouts. He started 2nd grade this year, and he also played flag football in the fall. He starts basketball soon, and he cannot get enough of his Nintendo DS (even though mom forces him to put it away once in awhile!) Jonah always has everyone around him laughing with his hilarious jokes and quirky personality.

Eight is special and great… our Laylah girl turned 8 years old in May and was thrilled for 2 things: to get her ears pierced, and to be baptized. We were able to do it while visiting in Utah this past summer, and it was a wonderful occasion with family and friends surrounding us. Laylah started 3rd grade last fall, and loves to stay busy and have fun. Her many activities include piano lessons, Spanish club, Activity Day’s, and Girl Scouts. She was able to do cheerleading during the fall as well and loved every minute. Laylah is such a sweet spirit in our home and we all adore her.

Nine more months to go… Baron is counting down the days until he gets to go to preschool next fall. He will turn 4 in April and is just a tiny bit bored at home with only his mom and baby brother to keep him company. Luckily, he gets to go to playgroup twice a week, and has lots of friends to keep him busy. Bear continues to dote on his older brother and loves anything that Jonah loves. He likes to pass his days at home by reading books, playing games with mom (Go Fish is his favorite) and playing computer games. We love our big cuddly Bear.

Ten year old cub scouts… Andrew went from being the 10 year old scout leader in our ward to the 1st counselor in the Young Men’s presidency (for the second time since being in this ward!). He has enjoyed his calling there, and he fits right in with all of his 14 and 15 year old Teachers Quorum boys…

Eleven miles of biking… This past April Sarah took part in a sprint triathlon where she swam 1/3 mile, biked 11 miles, and ran a 5k. It was an intense experience, one that she thinks she just might like to have again. On top of enjoying exercising, Sarah has many hair clients that she tends to, and stays very busy with a home, a husband, 5 kids, and a dog to take care of. And of course, there’s the laundry. The never ending laundry…

Twelve months of joy… Even though this year has had many ups and downs, we are very grateful for our many blessings, especially all of the tender mercies our Heavenly Father sends us. Most importantly, we are ever blessed by the atoning sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas! Much Love, The Collette Family
Andrew, Sarah, Laylah, Jonah, Daphne, Baron, and Magnus

Because I Love You

2011-12-12T22:57:00.001-05:00

I've just been thinking about my husband a lot lately, and how great he is. He does so much for me, puts up with so much from me, and makes sure I know that he would do anything for me. He can always make me laugh, and nothing makes me happier than one of his giant bear hugs that completely wrap me up. I just really think he's awesome. He is just fabulous. Really really fabulous. And I sure love that guy more than I can say.

I'm Too Old For This

2011-12-08T00:03:00.003-05:00

So, I know I'm not old or anything. But see, the thing is, I feel older than I am. All of my friends are quite a few years older than me, and when they find out how old I really am, they joke that they can't hang out with me anymore, because I'm just a baby. I think everyone just figures I'm older because I have 5 kids. But see, that's what makes me feel old.

I have 5 kids.

I'm quite an exhausted mama at times. But I still love to have fun. And I've been having lots of it the past few weeks.

Jean is one of my very best friends. She is always up for anything and she has more energy than anyone I've ever met. We went and saw the midnight showing of Breaking Dawn the night it came out. We had SO much fun. It was only a few days after my sleep-deprived trip to Vegas, so I was pretty much a fixture in my bed that weekend catching up on lost sleep.

A couple of weeks ago was Black Friday. I didn't have a lot to get, but I still wanted to go. I just love the excitement, the fun, and the commaraderie. I called up Jean at 9:00 PM and asked her if she wanted to go. She told me she was in jammies and in her bed, but that yes, she would go. See why I love her?
We were lucky enough to get Lauren to come as well (Lauren is the daughter of an old friend of Jean's who is living with her. She is also my main baby-sitter and my kids completely adore her. She's like a little sister to me)
We had SO much fun. We were out all night and could not stop laughing. That's about the only way I burn calories these days, so it's a very good thing that I laugh at anything and everything so easily...Tired of waiting in lines...
We needed to stop for a re-fuel at Ihop where apparently, everyone else in town had the same idea. We had to wait for 20 minutes to get a table. By that point, we were a lost cause. The word "hysterical" comes to mind...Do you see that girl glaring at us?! The one behind us with the long blonde hair? Hilarious.

I'm sure we were annoying everyone else in the restaurant, but you know what? Who cares.

I love life, I love to laugh, and I love to have fun. And you're never too old to have fun.

Think To Thank

2011-12-07T23:09:00.006-05:00

Ahhhh Fall. My favorite season, the best time of the year. It's time to wind down and start to take things slow. Life is coming to an end all around, getting ready to rest for a season before re-appearing and coming back to life in full. I am ready for the rest and will be ready for the new life to begin.

There were approximately 4 leaves left on my tree when this photo was taken. The next day we had a storm, and then it was naked. I love naked trees. It makes me eager and excited to see them in their full bloom and wonderment in only a few months from now. Thanksgiving is one of my most favorite holidays. I love the hustle and bustle of the day, the incredible smells of food roasting and baking. All of this work done for one special day in celebration of Thankfulness.

We had our feast with our dear friends the Sharp's. We dressed up, and went all out on each and every dish. It was such an enjoyable day. It's so nice to sit back and reflect, reflect on the goodness of God and to realize the daily tender mercies He is always sending us. Little things, along with the big things. He gives and gives, even when we aren't paying attention, or are completely oblivious to the special things in our lives. It's nice to celebrate.
Our little indians and pilgrims putting on a show for us, and of course, Thanksgiving football in the background :)

It's nice to celebrate life, love, and happiness. It's even nice to celebrate times of trial, because without those trials, how would we know what true appreciation for the wonderful times is?

I am truly thankful. I am thankful to have a day of Thanksgiving. I am thankful for my God, my life, and my liberty. After all, life is good.

A Day For Parents At SS Elementary

2011-12-07T16:40:00.004-05:00

The day after I got home from Las Vegas was Parent's Day at my children's school. Could the timing have been more perfect? I think not.

I headed over there to spend a half hour in each of their classrooms and then I got to eat lunch with each one of them.

There was a check-in table when I arrived and I got a sticker and location for each of my children I was visiting. I was supposed to wear them the whole time I was there. I got many, many comments because I had (gasp!) THREE stickers on my shirt! I didn't dare tell them that in 2 years on I'll actually have FOUR kids in elementary school. Just call me Mrs. Duggar. I started in kindergarten with Daphne and we were able to work on a little art project together. I met her table friends and then we packed up for lunch.

We ate and then I got her a treat, an ice cream sandwich (seriously, the kids' school has ice cream available for purchase in the lunchroom. Whaaa..? Crazy to me)

I then headed over to 3rd grade to visit Laylah. We played a fun game in her class and all of her friends told her I was a "cool mom" because I actually scored a point for my team as opposed to most of the other parents visiting. Awesome, my life's mission is complete. 3rd graders think I'm cool :)

Ice cream for Layah as well, except not a sandwich. She chose a chocolate ice cream bar.

I headed over to 2nd grade last to meet up with Jonah. We got to play a game in there too, and it was fun to put a face to the name's of the kids he is always talking about.

Jonah and his best friend Jayden

Jonah chose a super sour ice cream treat in a cup. He didn't even have time to finish it (it really was SO sour. And nasty) and I took it home for him and saved it in the freezer.

I love going to my kids' school and being involved and getting to know their teachers and friends. Fun fun stuff.

3 More Days That Flew By

2011-12-07T14:07:00.005-05:00

Wow, I'm doing my vacation in only 2 posts?! That means it was way too short. 8 days isn't long enough. Especially when you spend 2 whole days traveling.

Anyway, back to my play by play.

We got home Saturday night from St. George and had to pick-up Outback because we were ravenous from all of that shopping we'd been doing. We also tried to watch a movie, but I fell asleep after like, 1/2 an hour. Exhaustion and lack of sleep was setting in. Luckily, the next day, Sunday, is a day of rest. Except, it really wasn't, because Rachel and I can never just relax when we're together. We always have big plans, big plans.

After church, we started the first thing on our list of "projects to complete" while I was in town. This has definitely been a rough year, and most of my gift recipients are getting a home-made Christmas from me. The only problem is... I'm not much of the "home-made" type. But I'm learning. Which is where Rachel comes in. She's amazing and can pretty much do anything she puts her mind to. I think that's my problem. I'm lazy? Or scared to fail? Or scared to start? I don't know. All I know is, I couldn't have done any of my little "projects" without her.

We made toffee all afternoon. I have made this delectable treat a couple of other times with my mom, and I use it as teacher gifts, neighbor gifts, visiting teaching gifts, you name it. It always receives rave reviews and requests for the recipe. It isn't complicated, but definitely time consuming.

It usually takes about 1/2 an hour for the candy to turn from this butter yellow color to a light caramel color before it reaches the right temp. And you have to stir it constantly.

Ethan and Ella were enthralled with the whole process, and they were also excellent "tasters".

We made 6 batches and it took a little over 4 hours from start to finish, and that's not counting grinding the nuts and grating the chocolate.
Don made fun of us for listening to Christmas music. We sure didn't care though :)

Monday morning dawned bright and early and we were up, completeing other tasks and projects. I can't name all of the awesome things we did/made because many of my gift recipients read my blog! But, oh man, it's good. We took a break to head to lunch:

Part of this trip was just an excuse for me to get my favorite food fixes in that I cannot otherwise satisy in Virginia. Isn't that what vacation is anyway? Food and fun? It definitely made my tummy happy. We ran a few errands (one of which was to See's candy. Oh See's, how I miss thee) and I did another handful of haircuts. We finished up many of our little projects just in time for FHE on Monday night. To U Swirl we went! Another one of my favorites. It definitely did not disappoint.
Uhhh, blurry much? Rachel was laughing at my happy "yogurt face".

We got home in time to get another project started. Project "Paint The Gigantic Mirror".

We washed, we primed and we painted. From gold to dark grey she went. A masterpiece (except for the part where we got some paint on the actual mirror. Whoops. We're not the pros we thought. Did you ever figure out how to get that off Rach?)

We practically sleep-walked to bed. Definite lack of sleep at this point.

My last day there was pretty easy-going. We just had a few odds and ends to finish up and just enjoyed the day. We stopped by Old Navy and I found a few more thigs that I might (possibly) be able to sqeeze into my already stuffed-to-the-over-flowing-brim suitcase, and then we headed home. It took me almost 2 hours to pack and I ended up having to borrow a suitcase from Rachel. I only had to leave one thing there that my mom will bring out to me in February when she comes to visit me for my birthday (which I'm already super excited about! Yay for visitors!). It was hard to say my goodbyes to everyone because I just love them and miss them all so much.

My flight didn't leave until 10 PM and flew through the night. I can never sleep on planes, no matter how tired I am. So, when we landed at 6 AM in New York, I was like a dead person walking.

My flight home to VA was supposed to leave at 8 AM, but due to a few problems, I didn't end up leaving until 5 PM that night. Another whole day in the airport, just lovely.

This is what kept me busy for the most part. That and snoozing in those seriously crappy airport chairs. When my eyelids would get droopy fom reading, I got really good at cuddling right up and falling asleep for an hour or so at a time. Then I would wake up and feel like I had been put through a torture device.

View of Vegas through my window

I was thrilled to see my kids and husband waiting for me at the curb when I walked out of the airport. It was seriously a fun trip, but I really missed them. And apparently, they all survived without me :) Good to know, maybe in 5 years I'll get the opportunity to travel by myself once again!

Thanks for the absolutely wonderful trip Rach! Love you!

Viva Las Vegas With Some St. George Thrown In

2011-12-05T15:02:00.006-05:00

I arrived in Vegas late Wednesday night. I didn't sleep a wink on the plane and by this point had gone about 40 hours without sleep, minus the few catnaps I had sneaked in. I was so so tired, but completely wired. Rachel is pregnant and just getting over the first trimester yuckiness, so she had sent Don to pick me up since my flight came in around 11 PM. When we got back, I was able to tour their lovely new home that I had yet to see, and then I headed to bed. I didn't sleep well, but it was SO nice to be in a bed instead of a chair!

The next morning was really fun to see my niece and nephews and get to play with and love on them. I had really missed them. Rachel had set up a bunch of hair appointments for me, so I cut hair all morning and then we headed to Cafe Rio and met Don for lunch. It was yumminess in a tin. Love that place. We headed home where I did more hair (I think I ended up doing 8 people that day. Yikes!) and then Rachel and I ran a couple errands, made dinner, and put the kids to bed. We headed out to Claim Jumper, one of my most favorite restaurants ever, and got dessert (which they are well known for. Delish with a capital D). It was great to finally get to sit, relax and chat with my sissy. I sure love her.

The next morning (Friday) we were up early to get ready to head up to St. George for a couple of days. Rachel had gotten a baby-sitter for her kiddos for the day (and then Don would be home, of course) and my parents were driving down from Salt Lake. We were staying in their vacation home, just the four of us. On the way up, we talked about how this might be a once in a lifetime chance and we'd better take advantage (just kidding mom and dad :) But seriously, we were excited to be able to spend some time with our parents without our other siblings or spouses, or grandchildren. It is a rare and cherished opportunity (because there are 6 kids in my family).

We met up with them at my sister-in-law, Jenny's, new sugar cookie shop, The Sugar Cookie. It was the grand opening (the timing of this trip was planned a bit around this particular weekend of her opening, 11-11-11) and I was excited to see my in-laws, all of which had come down to support and help Jeff and Jenny in their new business venture.

I got to see all of my cute nieces and nephews on Andy's side and all of my wonderful sibling and parent in-laws. It was so much fun and so good to see everyone. And the cookies were terrific. Jenny's shop is really great. If you're ever in St. George be sure to stop by, you won't be sorry!

After we were done visiting at The Sugar Cookie, my mom and Rachel and I headed off to start what I like to call Power Shopping. We are very good at it. It's where you just shop and spend and shop and spend as fast as you can. I think we shopped for about 5 or 6 hours and then met my dad at The Olive Garden for dinner. It was really fun to talk, just the 4 of us over soup and salad and pasta. I love when my dad is in a chatty mood, I always learn something new that I didn't know before. Then we headed back out, and shopped for another 3 or 4 hours. Let me tell you, it was fun stuff. I got half of my Christmas shopping done, and I don't know if I've ever laughed so hard. Ahhh, mom and Rachel? I looooove you.

I was making fun of this vest at the time, but now that I look back at it, I think it's kind of cute, and I kind of want it....

After we were finished shopping (let me rephrase that, after all of the stores were closed and no one would let us in anymore...) we finally headed home to the house and watched a movie and talked and Rachel and I slept in the same bed just like the old days. We laughed.... and laughed.... until it turned into cackles and we were practically hysterical and we finally fell asleep.

The next morning, my mom and Rachel and I headed to the temple. It was lovely, as always.

After that we shopped some more (duh, what else?) and then we went to Pizza Factory for lunch.

WHO did we happen to meet there? Why, my best friend Cristan of course, who drove down to St. George from Salina JUST to see me. What a gal.
We laughed some more (seriously, I probably burned a million calories this weekend just from laughing) and recounted the good ol' highschool days and old boyfriends and funny experiences. I think my parents were enlightened to a few things I had done that they were unaware of. Hey, it's been 10 years. That's long enough, right?

We said our goodbyes to Cristan and then Rachel and mom and I headed out to do more.... you guessed it. That naughty little S word. After we were finally finished (but not really, when can you ever be finished shopping?!) we headed back to the house and cleaned up and packed up, said our goodbyes to my lovley parents, and then headed back down to Vegas. It was such a fun and fabulous weekend. Can I go back now?

More trip to come...

Flying Solo + 12 Hours In Boston

2011-12-04T23:04:00.007-05:00

The day after we went to the zoo, I had a trip scheduled to go and visit my sister Rachel in Vegas. My lovely friend Joanie works for JetBlue and had given me a buddy pass. Wasn't that sweet of her? The only catch with those lovely little passes is that you get the privelege of flying standby, so if there's no room, you have to wait for the next available flight. Since it was just me (Andy was home with the kids for a week playing Mr. Mom... sweetheart!) I didn't mind the risk.

I was exhausted from our zoo trip, but I had a lot to do to get ready to leave the next morning (at 4 AM... my flight out of DC left at 6. Uuuuugh) so I hopped to it when we got home. After I got the kids to bed, I decided to help Andy out and write up a schedule, and finish up some laundry, and make sure everything was ready to go. I lost track of the time and all of the sudden it was 3 AM and I hadn't packed yet. I rushed and rushed, and got ready to go really quick. I woke up Andy at 4 and we took off for the airport (oh don't freak out.... yes, we had a babysitter sleep over the night before :)

At this point I hadn't slept in about 22 hours or so and took a little nap in the car. Then we were there and it was time to say goodbye to my Other Half for the week (I'm cheesy like that). I made it onto my first flight easily, which would be stopping for a quick layover in Boston. Can I just tell you.... it was so weird flying alone. I had never had the pleasure. It was lovely not having to be helping a little person every other second!

While I went to wait for my second flight, I snoozed in the uncomfortable airport chairs. The terminal was filling up.... and up.... and up. And I started to worry that I wouldn't make it on the flight. Long story short, I didn't. They told me the next flight left that evening, 12 hours later. Oh my.

I thought about it for awhile and after letting my sister know that she would need to pick me up 12 hours later than planned, I decided to be a little daring and go on an adventure. You see, I had never been to Boston and had heard that it is only one of the most fabulous cities ever, so I decided it would be foolish not to check it out while I had the chance. I quickly e-mailed a blogging friend (what would we do without these fabulous modern-day conveniences like iPhones?!), Elizabeth, who used to live in Boston and asked her where I should go and what I should do. She quickly responded with step by step instructions on which transportation services to use, and where to go, and what to see. It was just so sweet of her. So I did it. Just me, and my purse, and my little carry-on bag.

My first stop was the Harvard campus which was simply lovely. Beautiful old buildings, busy students walking from here to there, and perfectly manicured landscaping to sit and relax upon. So I did. And I people watched.
After awhile I got hungry (my Einstein bagel and shmear from 6 hours ago was a distant memory) and found this food truck on campus. Gourmet grilled cheese sandwich? Hit the spot perfectly.

I sat and dined and watched more people and sipped.

After I finished, I shopped around in some bookstores and boutiques. It was fun to browse, but my lack of sleep already had me waning. I wandered around some more and found some lovely sights to see, like this old cemetary.After I'd had enough of the Harvard campus, I checked my instructions again and headed back to the subway to go over to Beacon Hill.
It was nice to rest for a bit. I headed out once I got there and walked my little heart out, all the while pulling along my red carry-on as it bump-bumped over the cobble-stone sidewalk. Even though I had been going on less than 2 hours of sleep in over 30 hours at this point, I couldn't help but be enthralled at the charm that surrounded me.

I made it to the Public Gardens and they pretty much took my breath away. I don't think I could have chosen a better (or prettier) time of year to get stuck in Boston.

Around 4 PM, I headed back to the subway to go back to the airport. I had a few more hours to kill, but I was just so exhausted, and I couldn't walk anymore.

Once I got back, I slept in an uncomfortable airport chair until my flight left (which I got on! Thank goodness).

Boston was fabulous, but I think it would have been even better had I gotten a proper night's sleep the day before, and also if I'd had some company. Which is why I'll just have to go back again someday! Either way though, I loved it and I'm glad I had the chance to see it.

However, even though I don't gamble, I don't think I've ever been so excited to step off a plane and see this:

Vegas baby. I was thrilled to be back, it had been too long.

More of my trip to come!

Perfectly Fall

2011-12-04T22:28:00.006-05:00

We spent the day at the National Zoo a few weeks ago. School was out (Election Day. A Tuesday. Random.) and we, along with a bunch of our friends decided to head up there. I had been to the zoo one other time when it was approximately 97 degrees and 100% humidity which combined equals out to be about a billion degrees, give or take a few. Factor in that I was about 10 weeks pregnant and feeling rather barfy, and you have quit the volatile combination there. It wasn't fun, and from that point on, I hated the DC Zoo.

Enter our little trip up there a few weeks ago. November 8th. Perfect 70 degrees. Animals out everywhere because of the wonderful weather that doesn't even require a jacket, yet you don't even break a sweat walking up those large hills. A perfectly perfect day to go. Oh wait.... I LOVE the DC Zoo! I just forgot for a minute.

Take a gander at our fabulous day...A pacing tiger.... or tigress? I don't know, I didn't look that close.

A prideful lion, claiming his lady...
These are his cast-offs, taking solace in one another.

Oh my, look at that creature. It's true what they say. Those bright colors sure do attract the ladies.

Hanging out

The orangutans had two homes and this rope system was high in the air between the two. They could climb to their hearts content and go between, from one to the other and back again.

This one decided to stop and play with his ice cubed treat. A zoo worker warned passerby's who might have been walking through the "splash" zone...

A good thing too, because shortly afterwards, he dropped his giant ice cube and it shattered everywhere. Right after that, he decided to relieve himself and peed and pooped. That's right, it dropped 20 feet from the sky above, but thankfully, we were not in the "splash" zone. I'm sure glad we listened to that zoo worker.

Finished with business and moving on to better things.

This wise old tortoise was 75 years old and was about as big as me.

This panda was quite rude and wouldn't even grace us with his face, but only his backside. Hmph.

Jonah and his reptillian obsession continues

Fun, fun day. If you come visit us, this could be you!! Tempting?

Toothless

2011-12-03T12:30:00.003-05:00

We've had a lot of teeth falling out around here lately. Jonah looked like a hillbilly before his 2 top teeth finally came out.
He lost the first one and his second one came out a few days later. Now all he wants for Christmas is his two front teeth! (Har har)

Daphne had this weird thing going on with her first loose tooth. The dentist told us that it had to be pulled. I gave her the option of letting us do it or letting the dentist. She chose me. It was awful and took a good 20 minutes because her baby tooth was barely loose.

She sat and loosened it up. Then I tried everything. Tied it to floss and the other end to the door, and then slammed the door. It didn't come out, but it loosened it a little more. I finally just yanked it super hard and out it came. She was so happy to have her first visit from the Tooth Fairy. Now her other one is ready to come out.

I think we have about 5 loose teeth between the 3 older kids. The Tooth Fairy is going broke.

Besides that though, I absolutely hate loose teeth and teeth falling out and all the yuck that goes along with it. It's nasty. You'd think I'd get used to it. Not the case. Still as disgusting as ever...

The Overpriced Yearly Pictures That I Always Feel Pressured Into Buying

2011-12-03T11:43:00.004-05:00

My kids are growing up. I think this year's school pictures turned out pretty darn cute.

And, like always, I'm just too busy to actually go downstairs and scan the photo into my computer, so it's a picture of a picture :)I can't believe how long her hair has gotten. You can't even see the ends of it in the picture!

Jonah's hair looks really red in this photo. It's not this red. And also, he's lost both top teeth since this was taken.

Cute Daph. She never smiles with her teeth anymore. Oh well, she's still cute. I guess :)

Into The Trash They Went

2011-12-01T10:32:00.002-05:00

These bottles have been gracing the top shelf of about 6 or 7 different sets of kitchen cupboards over the past 8 1/2 years. We purchased two 2-packs of these Avent bottles when Laylah was approximately 2 days old, the day she came home from the hospital. I bought them to go along with my Avent pump (it was THEE brand to have at the time) and they have been absolutely fabulous. We have gone through many, many different bottle nipples (flow strengths 1-4!) as my babies grew and changed.

Last week I was cleaning out my cupboards and saw them sitting up on the top shelf, along with a couple of sample cans of formula (one of which had WEEVILS in it! EW! Shows you how many times Magnus actually used these bottles. My guess would be about 5 times. Spoiled baby). I pulled them down and tossed one to Andrew.

"Think it's time to chuck these bad boys?"

"I guess, we won't be needing them for anything. I can't believe they've lasted this long."

"I know. It kind of makes me just a little sad..."

And it did, as I remembered holding, snuggling, and rocking each one of my babies and feeding them their bottle. Or, as they were older and could crawl, making their bottle and shaking it and having them give me a big grin and crawl as fast as they could towards me, grab that bottle, and flip on their back to start gobbling down that thick, stinky formula.

Then again, I really did hate formula. Natsy stuff, that.

Goodbye Avent bottles! You've served us well, but now it's time to go.

M At 12 Months

2011-11-30T09:04:00.005-05:00

I'm not quite sure where time has been disappearing to lately, but it seems as though it just continues to slip through my fingers at such a rate that I can't keep up. And let's be honest; with anything. Really.
I mean, c'mon. my baby turns 13 months tomorrow (and still not walking, thank you very much) and here I am doing his 12 month post?! At the rate I'm going, we'll celebrate Christmas mid-February. Which is unacceptable, so I better get my booty in gear. Double time. Here we go...

As we all know, the sad day came where my baby became a one-year-old and moved from baby stage to toddler stage. Although, I still call him my baby. Crazily enough, when Laylah was his age, I was 8 months pregnant with Jonah. I'll pause while you gasp.

I know, right?! Crazy to think back on it.

Anyway, isn't this guy just plain cute?

Sadie is not a fan of this behavior. She tolerates him, even when he's quite abusive towards her. And she doesn't quite know what to do when he decides to take over her bed. She sits there and paces around until he decides to crawl out and then she hops in and doesn't leave for fear he might come back. It's really fun to watch.

He's become much more smiley, cheesy and laughy (is that a word? It is now). I'll miss these serious-deep-in-thought-Baby-M-faces. They are few and far between now-a-days.

He still enjoys movies and tv. It's nice when I need a half hour to do something and it keeps him out of trouble. Which, by the way.... he's major trouble. It's funny how quickly you forget what a mess this age can make. I just follow the trail of destruction (everything pulled out of every cupboard/drawer he can reach) and I'll find him at the end of it with a spatula in one hand and a bowl in the other, happily smiling and banging them together.

And boy oh boy, can this kid throw a tantrum. You probably don't remember, but I mentioned in a post way back when he was a bitty newborn about how when he cries, he squels like a pig. And we have called him "piggy" ever since then when he is throwing a tantrum. He still squeals, but it is magnified 100-fold because now he is quite large and quite loud. We are in the middle of teaching him that he just can't do certain things and he can't get into certain things. He doesn't like that "no" word at all. It amazes me how much he understands and how he knows exactly what I'm saying when I talk to him. And he has started testing everything. For example, he loves to play with the blinds. He isn't supposed to (because the blinds in our rental home are cheap and they break when you barely touch them) and he'll stand right by the window, look for me (to make sure I'm watching, no doubt), point his chubby little finger towards those blinds with a silly little grin on his face and move that finger closer and closer until he's nearly touching them. He'll wait for me to say "no Magnus" and then he grabs them as fast as he can with the death-grip because he knows I'll be there to wisk him away and all the while he laughs like it's the funniest game in the world. Babies are really so clever.

Oh, this kid. I want to squish him and kiss him all day long. He is quite a snuggler and he allows it for the most part.He's really hit that independant stage where he wants to start doing everything on his own. He finally learned to hold his own sippy (well, he learned that he has to tip it up to get a drink, he's been holding it for months) and he's starting to use a fork and spoon. But mostly he just makes a mess. I can hardly believe how big he's getting. I really wish he would walk, he is so stubborn and immedietly sits down when you set him on his feet. We have spotted him testing his balance and standing for longer periods of time and also taking a few steps here and there, but for the most part he's still crawling everywhere. I hope it's soon. He weighed 30 pounds at his 12 month appointment, and that is hard for this mama to lug around on a dialy basis. He was 33 inches tall (or 34? I can't remember) and the kid is just a brute. He's in 2T clothing, but he has been for a couple months, so I think his growth just might be slowing down.

I finally weaned him about a week before his birthday and he was just plain mad at me for several days after that. He would throw a fit each and every morning that I got him out of his crib and didn't go directly to our chair to let him nurse. I felt bad, but it was time to be done. I had to get him the shirt he's wearing in the picture above because I joked that he was my little crab. He would sit and pinch me the entire time he would nurse. It didn't hurt exactly, but it was quite annoying. And if I tried to hold his hand or make him stop, he would throw an absolute tantrum, so I just let him be. Oh, the things we do for our kids, right? Good thing they're worth it :)

I can't even describe the joy and happiness this baby brings to me and our family. He is doted upon, adored, and spoiled completely rotten. He will definitely be the bratty baby of the family. And I don't even care. At least right now. I love you my little Magna-Doodle.

The Day I Cried Because My Baby Turned 1.... I Mean, Happy Birthday Magnus!

2011-11-21T09:33:00.009-05:00

Birthday picture with mom and dad, which obviously as not on Magnus' list of favorite things to do

All day on Halloween I kept thinking about the year before, when I was very LARGE with child and how my baby would be a year old the next day. My baby. 1 year old. My baby. You get it? It was sad.

But also happy, because birthdays are fun and I love them! I made waffles for Magnus' birthday breakfast, because that's his favorite. We ran some errands that day, played at the park, snuggled my (giant 1 year old) baby and made a cake.
I had been wanting to try this recipe for awhile. It is a variation on the Lion House Chocolate Cream Cake, which happens to be one of my very favorite things to eat, ever. I knew Magnus would eat whatever I placed in front of him, so this is the cake I made. The kids loved how it looked like a giant oreo cookie before I frosted it.
This has got to be one of the best things I have ever tasted. Divine.

Anyway, since it was just our little family for the birthday party, I decided to not to do the brown and green polka-dot theme I had planned on. Even though I love parties, I've never made a big deal out of my babies 1 year old birthdays for a few reasons. First of all, they don't care. Second of all, they don't remember. Third of all, I was feeling pretty lazy all week and just decided to get a few balloons, a few gifts, make the cake and voila. A birthday party for M.

And see? He loved every minute:

I really thought he would love this balloon. Turns out, he was scared of it and wouldn't take his eyes off of it once I tied it to his highchair. Until the food distracted him, of course :)
We had all of his favorite foods for dinner: (not that he told me this info or anything. I just based it upon what he eats the most of :) grilled burgers, homemade fries with frysauce, deviled eggs, oranges, and broccoli.

I love how much all of my older kids adore their baby brother. Baron really wasn't sad. He just hates pictures lately and refuses to do anything I want him to do. Like smile. Stinker.

I guess he got over his aversion to the Big Scary BalloonI was surprised how much Magnus enjoyed opening gifts. He loved getting the wrapping paper off, and once he realized there was something fun inside of each brightly wrapped package, he would happily open the next one. He received a ramp and car toy from my parents, new jammies and a book from Andy's parents, a baby cell phone from the kids, and walker/ride-on toy that plays music and talks from Andy and I. He also receievd some money from great grandparents and aunts and uncles. He loved it all!

Thanks to the walker toy, he almost has walking down. But not quite.

Cake time!

I gave him a fork and he thought that was just great. Mostly he used his hand to shove the chocolatey, creamy, sugary goodness into his mouth, but he occasionally tried the fork out too.

He just loved it, and wouldn't stop. He had a fit when it was gone and I pulled him out of his highchair to bathe him.

Still got that fork in his hand. There was no way was he letting it go...

Bathtime baby (and you can't see it, but he's got that fork in his right hand still)

Clean and fresh in his new jammies. Still has that fork...
He ended up going to bed with it and was still holding it the next morning. I guess I should let him feed himself more often if he really enjoys it that much :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY M!!

Halloween and Stuff

2011-11-21T08:51:00.003-05:00

I love Halloween. I love this time of year and all the delicious sights, tastes, and smells that come along with it. We had a fun Halloween this year with a ward trunk or treat, Halloween parties and dressing up at school, and of course.... Halloween Day!

We had some Mummy Dogs for dinner. The kids loved them and ate super fast so they could get out and gather up the goods.

Here we have the lovely Taylor Swift:

And a Beautiful Bride:

We have the sherriff around here, Woody:

We forgot his badge in the first picture. Also, his gun, but he cried if I even tried to get the holster around his waist. I take what I can get.

And of course, the Super Mario Brothers, Mario and Luigi:

Funny story: Bear actually wanted to be Luigi, but they didn't have his size at the store. When I brought home Mario for him and Luigi for Jonah, Bear was a little sad. Jonah said, "Bear, it's okay! I'm taller and skinnier, and you're short and you look more like Mario anyway."
So that made Bear happy, because whatever Jonah says to Bear he believes :)

Oh, and of course we can't forget Sadie the Lady in her lovely leaopard print cocktail dress. I know, it's a little short. I need to have a chat with her about using Halloween as an excuse to dress like a hooker:

At this point the kids were like, "Um, enough mom, can we go trick-or-treating yet?!"

They rang out doorbell as soon as I shut the door after they left. You know, to trick-or-treat. I told them to get lost :)

We have the most perfect neighborhood to go trick-or-treating. We are one of the very few neighborhoods in Fredericksburg that has sidewalks. Plus, there are tons of kids in our neighborhood. I love it. It was so fun to have the doorbell ringing all night and see huge groups of kids tromping up and down the streets. The kids joined up with a big group and Andy took them around for a couple hours.

Magnus hung out with me all night and got super excited every time the doorbell rang. He would crawl as fast as he could to the front door and after I would open it, he would sit at the edge of the step and just sit and wave to all of the kids trick-or-treating. It was adorable.

The kids came home and immedietly checked out their loot.

It was a fun night!

Happy Halloween!

So Then, Bear Had To Have His Head Stapled Shut

2011-11-20T21:40:00.004-05:00

Well, hey! I'm back from my trip and already experiencing post-vacation depression. My body seems to be on strike as of late, and although I came home to caught-up laundry and a perfectly clean house (thanks my love, you're a peach!) it certainly isn't in that same state any longer. I haven't been feeling very well, and have also started some new medication that has made me a bit ill. I've mostly been lounging around and catching up on some (much needed) sleep. Tomorrow is a new day though, and I vow to whip my house back into shape!

In that same vein, I thought I should start blogging again. I've missed it! Since I'm pretty far behind, I thought I'd start off with something small and quick and easy to document. It's pretty self-explanatory. Bear split his head open. Fun stuff, huh?!

Actually, the details are a little fuzzy. It was the Friday evening before Halloween, Andy and I had deep-cleaned the house from top to bottom (we were having friends over that night, and sometimes I just invite friends over so I can make myself deep clean my house! Ha) when we heard a LOUD thud in the basement followed by some terrifying shrieks. Andrew ran down to see, and from what we could gather, the boys were wrestling on the couch, Jonah tripped and knocked Bear off backwards. Bear slammed his head into the corner, and voila, had a big-nasty-bleeding profusely-gash. That story came from Jonah. Neither of the girls saw what happened, but Bear claims that Jonah threw something at him. We still don't have the story straight. I'll spare you most of the gory details, but let's just say that there was a LOT of blood. I am well aware that head wounds produce a lot of blood, but I really wasn't prepared. Andrew had to take care of it while I scrubbed the carpet (and continued to calm down a hysterical Jonah, who felt terrible).

Anyway, we called around to some urgent cares ( and also made a quick call to my super smart and talented brother Doug, who is a PA at an urgent care in Utah) who recommended the emergency room just because they could only do stitches, and with the description of his wound, they thought he would definitely need staples.

It just so happened to be our ward's trunk-or-treat that evening, so Andy took off with Bear while I got the other kids ready to go and gather some candy. As the story goes, the emergency room was pretty deserted, so they were in and out. They distracted Bear with the TV and the doctor recommended they just go ahead and do it without any numbing agent or anything. They said they had a topical cream, but it didn't really work on the head. They could also give him a numbing shot but told Andrew that it burned so badly that it hurt worse than the actual staples going in.

So, they just went ahead and did it! I'm so glad I wasn't there, I probably would have lost it. After the first staple, Bear turned around and glared at the nurse and said, "Ow!" He went back to the TV and after the second staple he turned around again and said, "Stop it! That hurts!" so she quickly finished up with 3, 4, and 5 and he had started crying right as soon as she finished up. He earned that Happy Meal that Andy had promised him, and they met us at the trunk-or-treat just in time to get some goodies.

He had them in for 10 days, and our pediatrician took them out. All in all, it wasn't too bad! I don't know, maybe Bear would disagree :)

So Here I Go... All Alone... By Myself

2011-11-09T00:11:00.000-05:00

The kids didn't have school today because of the elections. So, we packed up and headed into DC to visit the National Zoo with some friends. We couldn't have picked a more fabulous day. It was pushing 70*, we didn't even need a jacket, and the animals were all very active because of the perfect weather.

After our "perfect" outing, we headed home in time for dinner, homework, baths, and for me, packing and getting ready to go on my trip (Eeeeee!!!). And let me tell you, this trip cannot come fast enough. After the last couple of weeks, I have just really needed a break. Andy has definitely noticed, because I was planning on taking Magnus with me, and he has insisted that I leave him home so I can go kid-free and completely relax and enjoy myself. It worked out perfectly since Magnus was just weaned a little over a week ago.

I felt kind of guilty and a little sad about leaving Magnus, because I just kept feeling like he was so young and that I would miss him too much. Which got me to thinking... and I realized something. I realized that I had left each and every one of my babies for an extended trip as soon as I had weaned them from breastfeeding. It made me laugh a little, but here's the recap:

Laylah: left her with my mom when she was 9 months old so Andy and I could go on a trip to Las Vegas for the weekend for my 21st birthday.

Jonah: left him with Andy's mom when he was 10 months old so Andy and I could help my sister and her husband move to Vegas. We were gone for about 4 days.

Daphne: left her with my mom when she was a mere 6 months old for 8 days (!!) while Andy and I went to Cancun, Mexico. I actually was in the process of weaning her when the opportunity for this trip came up. I wasn't quit ready to be done, so I brought my pump with me and pumped and dumped the entire trip. When I got back, I don't know if she was mad at me for leaving her or what, but she refused to nurse any longer and stayed on bottles. It made me a little sad. But not that sad :)

Bear: left him with my mom for 5 days while Andy and I went to California/Disneyland for my 26th birthday. He was about 10 months old.

So, now I don't feel so guilty! I mean, Magnus isn't even months old anymore, he's a whole year old! Easy, right? Except I'll still miss my baby boy like crazy, I'm sure (along with everyone else, of course!). Besides, after this evening, I am ready to get outta here! Spilled milk on the carpet during dinner, tantrums during homework, tears during piano practicing, and messes all around me. Mess after mess after mess.... you get the idea. So really, I'm off!

Andrew, my love... have fun with the kiddos, honey pie... oh yes, and I LOVE YOU!

From Pumpkin to Jack-O-Lantern

2011-11-08T16:30:00.000-05:00

This kid went to bed and missed most of the festivities. He liked smacking the pumpkin though!

That's right, we carved us some pumpkins! We had such a fun night gutting our pumpkins and choosing designs and then carving the tender flesh. It was fabulous. We learned our lesson from last year (carving our pumpkins a week before Halloween and having yucky, moldy, mildew, nasty pumpkins by Halloween... we were still getting used to the humidity, what can I say?) and did it the night before the big day this time.For some reason ,this boy was grossed out by the guts?! I thought every boy loved digging in and getting dirty. Apparently not...

Can you tell who Jonah is impersonating? Hint: It starts with "G" and ends with "rim Reaper" except he kept saying, "I'm the Grim Creeper!" Oh, and also, the answer is no, we don't usually let our kids play with lighters. Just when they're pretending to kill people :)

I love the smell of lit-up jack-o-lanterns. Halloween-y...

Spook-tacular, to be sure.

Snead's Farm

2011-11-07T22:37:00.006-05:00

A few days before Halloween, we finally found a day where we could head on over to the pumpkin patch and pick out a few pumpkins. We went to Snead's Farm with some dear friends, the Fitzgerald's, and I think from our experience, we will choose to procrastinate every year! There were probably only about 10 other people there, and although there were slim pickings in the pumpkin patch, we found that the price had been reduced to only $3 a pumpkin!

Snead's is a lovely working farm, and incredibly picturesque. It was the perfect day to go, a crisp 65* and it felt wonderful to be out in the lovely autumn air.

We first headed over to the patch to pick out our pumpkins, and also.... to chase the chickens around a bit. Bear wasn't too sure about those chickens. Jonah just liked impersonating them. Magnus wasn't sure what to think. He sure kept a close eye on those chickens though.

Bear is trying to make a quick getaway here. He sees that rooster eyeing him.

Most of the pumpkins were starting to rot, but we were able to find a few acceptable ones.

Jean and me

There are lots of animals to feed and pet, ziplines, barn swings, and playgrounds around the farm. We surely took advantage and quite enjoyed ourselves.
Laylah was the first to try the zipline. She looks a little worried there...

There were these tires to stop you at the end of the line, and depending on your speed, you would flip up pretty high. I wish I had a picture, but when Andy tried it, he almost flipped completely around.

I think I'll join Circe de Solei.... I'm sure they would take me in a heartbeat, no?

Oh yeah, Andy too.

Jonah found a rodent hole in the hayloft and decided to climb into it. We barely got him out before he was inducted into the Rat's Nest.

Baby cries. Which means it's time to go.

Until next year...

Forgive Me While I Complain For A Bit

2011-11-01T21:41:00.005-04:00

Wow, I've been busy. And not the good kind of busy. The tired kind. The kind where things I enjoy doing get pushed aside and then I (sometimes) turn into a nasty person because I am taking care of everyone else and not taking care of myself!

Does that sound selfish? I hope not, because I don't feel like I am a selfish person. Sometimes I just need to do things for me so that I am a happier and better-functioning person for everyone else around me, including my family.

Some things I have let go in the past several weeks are: this blog, excercising, having a regular girl's night out with friends, reading, and getting to relax in the evening after the kiddos are in bed.

Why? Because of life. I have been doing SO much hair, the kids have had SO many activites, sports, and just plain STUFF that I have been running (driving rather) around like a chicken with it's head cut-off. I am ready for a break. LUCKILY, a lot of things just ended last week and I am getting my wish. My schedule is all of the sudden clear. Okay, well, not clear, but a lot less busy than it has been.

I hope to catch up on here with lots of fun going-on's in the Collette Household recently.... because we have been having lots of that, busy or not.

ALSO! I get to go visit my sister in Vegas in 1 week! I am beyond excited and ready for a much needed break. I can't wait. Until next time...

Just A Hodge Podge Modge Smodge

2011-10-24T22:38:00.010-04:00

I was going through pictures on mine and Andy's iphones tonight and cleaning them out. There were just so many funny ones that didn't make the "blog" cut. So, without further adieu, I give you our life.... un-edited :)

Magnus is addicted to the TV. He tried to get as close as possible, as shown here in this photo where he tries to use Jonah as a step-stool.

And then we have just your average day.... you know, where your 2 younger siblings gang up on you, bind your hands and feet with the vacuum cord, and then attack you with vacuum cleaner attatchments.

And here we have Miss Kaylah (Laylah's American Girl Doll) riding her horse Blitz and holding her dog Pepper.

Of course, Kaylah got bored riding on a horse that didn't actually move, so Sadie got turned into her horse instead. Can't you just tell how much Sadie is loving it?!

And here we have my man and me on a lovely date night to the temple. We have really been trying to make it once a month, even though it is very difficult (it takes about 7 hours total) to have a babysitter for our 5 children for that long. But, since I have been able to leave M for that long for the last 5 months since he started solids, I am proud to say that I've been every month since June! And I love it. Go me.And yes, on this particular night, we almost ran over a turtle on the way home. It was huge, and we had to turn around and get it out of the street. It jumped and hissed and flipped out when Andy touched it. I was scared. Don't you think I have the right? Its eyes are glowing.
Oh yeah, and I did forget to mention (not really, I just didn't want to for obvious reasons) that I colored my hair again. Except way darker. And it was way ugly. This was the morning after I did it. I was snuggling with my boy.

Lucky for me it has faded quite a bit, but it is still very dark. I'm not quite sure what to do with it now.... I think I'm ready to be blonde again. Anyone care to share their opinion? Anyone...??

Laylah tried to get out of going to church one morning and decided to color a bunch of craft dots pink and stick them all over herself. She must have read THIS book one too many times. She told me she had the chicken pox.

She even remembered her feet!

But really, she wasn't trying to stay home. She actually loves church and learning and reading her scriptures. She's just hilarious, that one.

This boy is always telling me to take pictures of him. He's cute, so I oblige. Most of the time.

This kid is the messiest eater ever. Sometimes I strip him down after lunch and throw him in the sink because it's just so hard for me to carry him upstairs to the bath. Plus, he loves it and throws a fit when I try to take him out.

And of course, he makes a big, splashy, watery mess.

This guy is funny.

Especially at one o'clock in the morning when we really should be in bed, but for some reason we're just.... not?

Oh boy. I tried an experiment on Laylah to make curly hair like Taylor Swift. I really should have taken a picture of what it looked like before I took it out so that you would know what NOT to do. Unless you would like to have a 'fro. Then you should definitely do it.

Basically, I did a bunch of tiny pony-tails and twisted them up really tight so it looked like there were a bunch of corkscrews all over her head.

This is what it looked like after I took it out the next morning. Yeah, we won't be trying that again.

Family scripture study and family prayer. In my bed. I love it.

I love that Magnus adores Laylah and that she loves him like she's his mother. Here she is, trying to do homework, I was looking a recipe up on the computer, and Magnus was sitting at my feet throwing a fit because he wanted me to hold him. Sometimes, especially by the end of the day, I just can't. It hurts my back too much. So, he cries a lot around dinnertime. Anyway, Laylah picked that boy up, sat and held him, AND completed her homework with one hand (AND she was using glue and scissors. Did I mention with one hand?). I love her.

And once again, proof that my kid is a TV-a-holic. We rarely ever have it on, which is why I think he's so drawn to it when it IS on. Oh well, it's a great baby-sitter when I need it ;)

And there you have it. A hodge podge of pictures and regular day-to-day life here in the Collette household. I know, it's all so very exciting, right?!

Well, maybe not. But I love it anyway.

I Got This

2011-10-20T15:38:00.003-04:00

Except, maybe I don't. My baby turns one in a matter of days now people. 11 to be exact. And now, with his stylin' new 'do, doesn't he just ooze "little boy" instead of "baby"? Plus, the kid up and took 3 steps today. I wanted to push him over.

I refrained.

Stop baby! Just stop.

Playgroup Take 2

2011-10-18T13:24:00.004-04:00

Remember Bear's play group from last year? I signed him up again. It's only once a week for 2 hours. I had thought about doing preschool for him, but all of my kids only did one year of preschool, so I decided to wait a year on that. It's just so expensive, and I hate driving there and I figured he would be just fine going out once a week to play with friends, plus he plays with the neighborhood kids sometimes. He has always been really good at entertaining himself and playing with toys quietly. Uhhh, apparently not anymore. I am so wishing we had done preschool. The kid is bored out of his mind and wants me to play with him every second of the day while the 3 oldies are at school. I have played more games of Go Fish, Memory, Checkers, and Break the Ice than I would care to count. I hear this at least 10 times a day:

"I'm bored."

"What can I do?"

"Will you play a game with me?"

"What should we do?"

"What can I eat?" (he only asks to eat when I know he's bored and can't think of anything else to do.)

Lest you think I'm a terrible mother that never wants to play with her child, I have to break in to say that I do! I play with him All. Day. Long. But a lady's gotta clean, cook, and take care of other things too, right?! Namely, a baby. A baby that I'm wishing would hurry and grow up so he can be a playmate for his brother! (that's a lie, I would waaaaay rather him stay a baby :)

What am I going to do in a couple years when Bear goes off to kindergarten all day and M and I are stuck home alone together for hours and hours??

I'm sure I'll get really good at Go Fish.

Come In And Play!

2011-10-15T21:43:00.003-04:00

Okay people. I gotta come clean. I have a confession, if you will.

I secretly play on my kids Webkinz accounts.

source

I hadn't even heard of these silly little creatures until about 3 years ago. Laylah asked for one for Christmas, and she got one. But she was old enough to play it herself, so I never really helped her or saw what it was all about. Then Jonah and eventually Daphne wanted one too. Once in awhile Andy would help them play if they had questions or needed something explained to them, and he started logging into their accounts and playing after they went to bed! I laughed and laughed at him and used to tease him that I was going to get him his very own Webkinz for his birthday.

Well, last Christmas, Bear decided he had to have one too. Now, he was only 2 at the time and definitely needed help playing. Basically, he would sit and watch and tell his "helper" what he would like them to do and what games he wanted them to play. Usually one of the kids would help him, but one day it was just me and him at home. He asked me to help him play his Webkinz. I obliged and oh my goodness. I wasn't prepared for how much fun it was! Andy came home from work that day and caught me playing on Webkinz World. He could not stop laughing at me. I was a little embarrassed. But not really... it is too fun for me to care that much :)

I started logging into my kids accounts at night to play and weren't they pleasantly surprised when the next time they logged in and found all this extra "kinzcash" that they had no idea where it came from?! You see, I was doing them a service. Yes, that's right, a service.

But seriously, it's fun. If you ever have the chance, play Pizza Parlor. That's my favorite.

A Tradition Of Cookies

2011-10-14T23:23:00.005-04:00

When I was a little girl, once a year my mom would make sugar cookies. (I'm sure she probably made them more than that, but I know it wasn't very often. We are a chocolate-chip-cookie-kind-of-family). It was always in October and they were giant, pumpkin shaped, lovely, delicious sugar cookies. I would come home from school on any given day in October, and there they would be sitting, on the counter. I remember the feeling of happiness I felt when she would tell me that I was able to have one of those whole, huge cookies to myself.

Many many years went by and I had children of my own. I remember mentioning to my mom this story and telling her that I would like to get a huge pumpkin cookie cutter just so I could recreate this fanciful memory and carry on the tradition for my children. A few days later my mom showed up at my house with said cookie cutter. A big, silver, pumpkin cookie cutter. I thanked her and put it in my drawer, only to be forgotten. I had 3 tiny kids after all, with a 4th on the way. I didn't have time to make sugar cookies for heaven sake! (I really did.... these are just the silly thoughts that go through my head).

Que to 4 years later, which would be now. Guess what? I finally got around to making those sugar cookies.

My kids were just as thrilled as I remember being. It made me happy :)

Thursday Thoughts By Yours Truly

2011-10-13T21:28:00.004-04:00

This picture has absolutely nothing to do with this post. It's just adorable. Whenever I say "cheese!" Magnus smiles like this. Hilarious.

I have been having quite a boring week. My hubs is out of town. In Utah. Without me. But really, I'm okay with that. He's doing repairs on our house there and giving a good, stern talking to to our renters who need to catch up on their rent. Big time. I hate being a landlord.

Ayway, have a gander at some recent thoughts that have been rolling around inside my head. (That makes it sound like not a whole lot is up there. Which is probably true.)...

~I have to have my blinds pulled up and open during the day. I like my house nice and bright. And if there are two windows next to each other, the blinds have to be exactly even. None of this slanted blinds stuff. Exactly even. Or it will bug me every time I see it, until I fix it.

~I do not like to cook or bake with my kids. I have no patience for it and it pretty much drives me up the wall. I used to feel really guilty about it, but I don't anymore. I just don't like it. Now I tell them that they can help me in the kitchen when they're 10. And when Laylah turns 10, that rule will change to 12. Haha.

~I hate when people use the word "guac" instead of "guacamole". I realize that by revealing this, everyone is going to go around saying guac in front of me all of the time just because they'll think it's funny. But seriously, don't do it. It bugs.

~I love to sing and dance in the car. Especially with my kids. I move the rearview mirror down so I can see them all in the back and we sing to each other and rock out. I love it. And I don't care when people in other cars stare and/or laugh at me. I just smile and wave and keep on singing. This is most fun when all of the windows are down.

~I finally joined Pinterest. Why? I don't know. I'm already regretting it. I told myself I wasn't going to do it, and I caved. Big time. And I love it. Why? I don't know. What is it about it? I hate it. But I don't. I love it. Just like I knew I would. I'm so weak.

Alright, that's it for me.... I'm off to fold a gazillion piles of laundry and watch TV. And dang it, I just realized I missed The Office while I was wasting more time on Pinterest. I knew that place was bad news. I just knew it.

Any random thoughts buzzing around in your head? Do share!

Because There Were 5 Little Blessings

2011-10-12T13:45:00.005-04:00

It's a rainy Wednesday here in these parts. I love the rain. A non-stop pitter patter. It's so soothing and refreshing, and makes me feel so cozy and comfy in my home.

Speaking of my home, I finally checked something off of my (alway-growing-never-finished) to-do list that has been on there for months! My babies blessing pictures are finally hung in my stairway. We've lived here for over a year and a half, and it is finally done. Hooray!

*I apologize for the terrible picture quality. Someday I may be a photographer. But probably not.
I had each of my babies photographed in their blessing outfits when they were a mere 6 weeks old. Only 6 weeks. Tiny, sweet-smelling little babies. After I (okay, not I, Andy did the actual hanging.... I did the begging :) hung them up, I sat and stared at each picture. I remembered each time with each baby, warm and snug and safe in my arms. I remember bathing, feeding, dressing, and rocking each one. I felt a bit of a tug and an ache in my heart; a warmth and feeling of indescribable love for each one of those tiny, precious bodies.

I wish I could physically pull them out of those photographs every once in awhile, just for an afternoon of gazing upon their tiny features and hugging them close, wrapped up in my arms. I guess it's a good thing that I can't actually do that.

I don't think I'd ever be able to put them back.

Squeezing Out The Last Drops Of Summer

2011-10-10T20:57:00.000-04:00

If there is one things I really enjoy about living in Virginia, it's the fall weather. It lasts longer than 2 weeks for starters. In Utah, it goes from 95 degrees to 60 degrees (for about 2 weeks, and all the leaves change color and fall off the trees in that time as well) and then it is 30 degrees and snowing for the next 6 months. Now, don't get me wrong. I love the snow. But, it's nice to get to enjoy the warmer (and not have it be broiling hot!-I hate VA summers) weather for a little bit longer than I'm normally used to!
That's why we decided to take advantage of these last warm days and nights and have ourselves a little campout! It was funny how it came about: Andy had gone on a campout with the Young Men in our ward the weekend before, and he had set-up the tent to dry-out because it had rained on his campout. The kids loved playing in the tent all week, so we just left it up. Come Friday night, they wanted to sleep out in it. I just couldn't say no to those sweet, little begging faces!

It was a funny night. We gathered in the tent, snuggled up all nice and warm. We told scary stories, fairytales, and made up jokes. We had a little dance party, and we teased Sadie, who moved from one kid's sleeping bag to the next and just kept trying to go to sleep.

We had a pretty nifty lantern hanging up, just in case anyone got a little bit scared.

Sadie ended up being the first to fall asleep at our little slumber party, so we put her underwear in the freezer.... or something like that....

I ended up sleeping in my bed and Andy slept on the couch with all of the windows and sliding door open so he would be able to hear the kids on the deck in the tent. I got a good night's sleep, but I can't say the same for Andy.... Bear came in around 2 AM because he was cold, and the rest of the kids and the dog came in around 5 AM because it had started raining. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted!

The best part of the morning was waking up to these beauties. Andy baked! Perfect end to a lovely weekend!

Jail Break

2011-10-07T09:14:00.002-04:00

I heard a noise late in the night. Something that sounded like a cross between a squeal and a shriek. Upon further investigation, I found these hamsters having a party under my couch. The had all gotten loose, out of their cages (toyboxes?) somehow. Curious....

At least they had put their babies to bed before going out for the night... they even got a baby-sittter. Zhu-zhu dog.

I love finding Bear's "imaginary play" all set-up. Hilarious.

'Twas A Blustery Day

2011-10-05T22:07:00.000-04:00

A couple weeks ago it was all of the sudden Fall, my favorite season. Hooray! The air smells amazing, the scenery is spectacular, and my house is comfy and cozy. I sure love it.

Anyway, a few Saturdays ago, it was drizzling and windy all day long. We were all in the mood for some comfort food. A steaming bowl of thick, chunky soup, some piping hot breadsticks, and a sweet treat for afterwards. I've been absolutely LOVING the website Our Best Bites. It has turned my cooking world onto it's head. My family has been raving about my meals since I've started using recipes from the website. I just really really like them. Plus, the girls who write it are hilarious, so, bonus.

We started out with the Baked Potato Soup. It was incredible, and super easy too.

Along with our soup we had to have some of these super easy made-from-scratch (I know!! ME!! Baking from SCRATCH! Incredible I tell ya!)Breadsticks. Perfect for dipping.

We topped off the night with some homemade donuts (Sinful!). Now, I actually got the idea from here and was planning on making that particular recipe. But when Andy found out my plan, he immediately vetoed that (he has something against a doughnut with fruit in it?) and requested (ever so sweetly) that I call and ask his mother for the recipe she used to use when he was a kid. So I did, and it turns out that the two recipes were nearly identicle (minus the cider). She also gave me different ideas for the toppings. Maple glaze, chocolate frosting, powdered, and cinnamon sugar.

They were super easy to make and soooooo gooooood. We all snuggled up in blankets with our hot cocoa with marshmellows and donuts and watched Free Willy on Netflix.

I think it's safe to say that the evening was perfect.

Oh wait, except for the kitchen after my day of cooking and baking. That was decidedly NOT perfect, but definitely worth it :)

Aaaaaand I'm Back

2011-10-04T21:41:00.003-04:00

Well hello. It's been quite a spell, hasn't it?

I can't begin to tell you how thankful I am for the sweet, kind thoughts sent my way and for wonderful friends. It was really uplifting to read everyone's generous words and advice. Thank you.

And General Conference? It was surely just what I needed. Isn't it amazing how it seems like every talk was written just for you? But also that everyone feels that way? Incredible.

So, life goes on. It hasn't all of the sudden gotten easier, or less challenging. I am still going through several hard, frustrating, and trial-filled things. Definitely one of those "when it rains, it pours" scenarios. I had decided to take a bit of a break from blogging because I was having a really bad attitude about my life, and I didn't want that to come through on my blog. But, then it wouldn't be real, and I decided that life can be hard, but I can still be happy. And I'm really trying to do just that. Of course I forget that sometimes, and I become frustrated with my trials once again, so I'm definitely not perfect, but who is? It's okay to let people know that I'm human.

I love these little people in my life: Our prophet was speaking when this picture was taken, and I love it because they are all listening attentively. No matter that it was only for 3.5 seconds. I'm surprised it lasted that long :) And I'm glad Andy was able to snap this picture when he did!

So, like I said, I am back. And I don't plan on going anywhere for awhile, so you're stuck with me.

Thanks again friends-old, and some new!

Who's There?

2011-09-15T10:21:00.005-04:00

Hi guys.

I know, for someone who posts on a fairly regular basis, it's been awhile. And even my last post was kind of a precursor to this one. I still wish I could get away. Just for awhile.

Here's the thing-I have had a lot going on. I am drained physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually and in any other way that a person can be drained. I don't want to go into a lot of detail, because it's all very personal (and really, it's just depressing), so I'll just say this.... do you believe in prayers? Because I do. I believe prayers are a way for us to stay connected to heaven. Can I request a favor for those of you that read my blog, if it's not too much to ask? Do you mind sending a few prayers heavenward on my behalf? I would appreciate it more than you know, and I thank you.

I know we are put on this earth to learn and grow. I truly believe that. The thing is, I have a really hard time with trials and sometimes I feel like they will never end. I also feel like everything that can go wrong in life usually happens all at the same time. I know life isn't fair and wasn't meant to be perfect, but is it so much to ask to have the stars align and it will all be perfect at the same time, just once in awhile? (okay, so I know this actually is too much to ask :) However, sometimes I feel like I can never catch a break. That's where I am right now. Does that sound familiar to anyone, or is it just me?

I realize this post is a total downer, and I apologize to anyone coming here to look for something funny or enlightening or to see a few cute pictures of my kids (not that I think that I am either of those things, but I do know that my kids are cute :). Not today. Sorry.

P.S. As to the title of this post, I'm curious. I know not a lot of people read blogs very much anymore, or even write on their blogs for that matter. I still enjoy it, it's very therapeutic for me, and I love to write. But, like I said, I am curious as to who reads this blog. My husband has been telling me that I sometimes share a little too much information and that if I want to do that, I should take our blog private and know who is reading. I am seriously considering it, but I am a very open person, and I like my blog being an open and inviting place, even for people who don't know me personally. I am friendly, outgoing and my life is basically an open book. I love making new friends. And, I am a self-proclamined "blogstalker" and quite regulary read other people's blogs whom I don't even know. I do this because I love getting new decorating ideas, fashion ideas, family fun ideas, or I just enjoy a person's writing. Would you please let me know if you read? I'll put annonymous comments on for this post and I'll also make comments private so that only I will see them.

Thank you, and have a lovely day :)

Private Airplane

2011-09-05T14:56:00.003-04:00

I wish I was on one. Flying to some remote location, escaping reality and life. No house to keep clean, no laundry to do, no hot cars to drive around and cart a bunch of kids to various activities. No phones, no church callings, not having to cook meal after meal. Nothing to worry about, not a care in the world... Who's with me?

I would come back..... someday.

Because, as much as I don't want to admit it, I know I would miss it all.

Well, maybe not the laundry.

The First Day Back: A Mother's Account

2011-09-02T09:50:00.006-04:00

We were ready. The first day of school was upon us. The night before, I had all paperwork filled out and placed perfectly in folders, zipped up in backpacks, which were lined up next to the front door. First day of school outfits were ironed and folded up neatly on the end of beds with shoes down on the floor. New lunchboxes and water bottles were ready to go on the counter, lunch requests taken, and just needed to be prepared the next morning. Kids were bathed, lotioned, and smelling fresh and clean. Hair was blowdryed, nails were clipped, and the girls fingers and toes were painted. Kids were up at 6:45 to get ready for school.

So, how come I still manage to be late?!

It's a sad thing, this poor time management problem of mine. It seems like I am always tardy, delayed, unpunctual, behind, or held up. I really have tried to change it. I have. I'd like to think I'm getting better. My husband would beg to differ.

Either way, because of our time crunch that morning, I didn't get quite the photo shoot I was hoping for, so these few, quick snapshots will have to do!

Ahhhh, school time. Such an exciting day. Daphne started kindergarten and I was just a little bit teary. She was so excited and so ready. Jonah and Laylah were excited to see their friends and get back into the normal routine.

There they are.... off to the bus. I waited and waved as the bus drove away, and watched until I couldn't see the it anymore. There go my babies, for another school year. Just me and Bear and M at home now. I'm afraid Bear finds it a bit boring, but I think he'll get used to it quickly. I missed all of the kids, but especially kept thinking about how Daphne was doing all day long. That is a long day for a little 5 year old.

I waited anxiously in the sweltering heat for the bus to drop my kids off that afternoon. As they stepped off, wreathed in red faces and smiles, they ran to me for hugs.

That is happiness.

They all had terrific day's and stories to tell. They told of who they sat by at lunch and what they did at recess; who is in their class and how much they like their teachers.

A new school year, off to a successful start. Now, if I could only get them out the door on time each day, we should be golden.

Happy School Year to you!

"Families Are Eternal"

2011-08-31T21:45:00.002-04:00

We had a little Back to School Feast and special Family Home Evening the night before school was supposed to start. It was also the day of the earthquake, so we later found out that school would be delayed a day and that it wouldn't actually start until Thursday. It turned out fine because we had a few aftershocks that night and it was nice to have the kids home the next day because I was still a bit jumpy.

Anyway, our family theme this year is: Our dinner consisted of crockpot chicken over rice (a family favorite), steamed broccoli, fresh pineapple, buttery bread, and sparkling raspberry lemonade.

During dinner we talked about our theme and what it means. We let the kids know that our home should be a heaven on earth and we should always strive to have the spirit here. It is a safe haven for everyone who enters and no one should have to worry about being sad or unhappy while in our home. We love our family and we have the eternal blessings of the temple to be together forever as an eternal family, and we need to always remember that. We also talked about how our family is the most important thing in this life and we should always treat each other like one of our most prized possesions. We stick up for each other and help each other. Always, no matter what.

I have noticed since this special FHE that the kindness in our home has increased and the bickering has lessened so much. Maybe it has to do with the fact that the kids are back in school, and therefore, don't see each other as much. But whatever the reason, I like it :)

Mini Cinni's served as our dessert.

I made these special back-to-school gifts for each child. During April's General Conference, I remembered hearing a talk about how every child should have a picture of the temple in their room. It's been my goal to make that happen. I've had the supplies for these for awhile, but never made them until now. I think they turned out fabulously!

This is Magnus'. I made them all to match their rooms.

The kids were very excited about their pictures. It made me happy.

Excpet Bear really wanted to take the flower off of his picture, haha. Too bad I totally super-glued it on. Sorry Bear!

After our wonderful FHE, we had Father's Blessing's given by Andrew. They were amazing, and it was mentioned frequently for the kids to be good examples to their friend's and to also be good missionaries. I have really enjoyed living in the mission field. It has taught my kid's so many great lessons.

Treats were served, and everyone was happy :)

The End.

We're Still Kickin'

2011-08-29T16:50:00.004-04:00

We survived Hurricane Irene, and survived it well. It rained a lot and was extremely windy, but we were some of the few who didn't even lose power, or trees, and didn't have any flooding. Even though the storm was an enormous 500 miles wide, and they predicted it to be a direct hit over our little town, it wasn't as bad as they thought.

Lucky for us. We actually had quite a terrific Saturday, cozy inside our home, playing Wii, eating lots of treats, playing games, reading, watching the news (it was a constant noise in the background), and resting. All the while, the wind was howling outside, and rain was pelting our home pretty much the entire day. It was worse through the night, but like I said, we were fine, and thankfully, didn't have to eat chicken noodle soup for a week straight. Those who didn't fare as well are still in our thoughts and prayers.

Good riddance Irene, please do not come back anytime soon.

A Checklist:

2011-08-26T10:51:00.006-04:00

You know, for back to school. I should be doing a checklist on hurricane preparedness, but I don't want to think about that anymore. I am super nervous and trying not to let my kids know just how scared I am. Not for the actual event, but for afterwards. The authorities say we could be without power for up to a week. Yikes. Oh well, I feel like we're as ready as we can be. What a crazy last week it has been. Alright, enough with that.... onto our Back To School Checklist!

-Dental check-ups for everyone. The kids were all awesome, they love the dentist. Sick and twisted, right? It's probably because none of them have ever had a cavity. And the same held true, they all had perfect little clean smiles. Hooray for that. Andy wasn't so lucky. He had a small one, which has already been taken care of. I didn't have any either, but I need to have 2 (my only 2!) fillings replaced because they are old and falling apart. Next week... yuck. I hate that numb feeling all. day. long.

-Physicals! Yay, right? No. The kids were fine and healthy, of course. A few of them needed immunizations and we also found out that Daphne and Jonah had strep (I meant, most of them were healthy :). Ahhh, so that's what those fevers were from...

-Haircuts. We spent the Saturday morning before school started giving everyone a trim-up. And they all look teeee-riffic. Of course they do. I cut their hair. Tee-hee.

-Back to school shopping. My favorite. I just love to shop, no matter what (or whom), it may be for. They have this cool tax-free weekend here in VA for said shopping and we took advantage. We only saved something like 20 bucks, but it was nice to get it all done in one day. Pencils, folders, rulers, notebooks, paper, crayons, pencil boxes, markers, erasers, glue, scissors, kleenex, hand sanitizer, clorox wipes, a couple back-packs, new lunchboxes, and the like. Also, lots of new shoes (we ended up with 10 pair, I believe.... the kids had all grown at the same time. Imagine that?), a first day of school outfit for all (complete with lots of new underwear and socks), and a pizza for dinner at Costco, along with churros for dessert. It was a fun day spent together as a family.

-A week of practicing waking up early for school. A bunch of friends in my ward planned a week of breakfasts, taking turns hosting and preparing breakfast for the lot of us. There ended up being about 50 of us (8 families) and it was so much fun. We would meet at the host's house at 7:30 for breakfast, we would all eat and the kids would play, and we were back home by 9. It was good practice for my kids, even though some mornings I was dragging them out of bed to get to breakfast on time. We only did it for 6 breakfasts, so luckily I was able to pair up with my friend Ira and I didn't have to host one at my house. The menu was fabulous each day:

Tuesday: hard-boiled eggs, muffins, yogurt, sausage, and orange juice
Wednesday: German pancakes with various toppings, including maple syrup, ice cream, fruit, chocolate syrup, yogurt, and whip cream, along with orange juice.
Thursday (Ira's and my day): sugar cereal (such a treat, haha) and milk, fruit/granola yogurt parfaits, and orange juice
Friday: pancakes, bacon, orange and apple juice
Monday: breakfast casseroles (eggs, sausage, cheese), baked french toast, monkey bread ( I have always called these pull-aparts, but everyone else here calls it this..? Not quite sure what monkeys have to do with brown sugar, butter, and biscuits all baked together?), orange and apple juice
Tuesday: french toast topped with fruit compote and whipped cream, watermelon, yogurt and orange juice.

It was a blast, as well as a great idea. I love my ward, I have made such wonderful friends and I love the fun things that are always being planned.

I only brought my camera once and only snapped a few pictures. It must have been Friday because there are pancakes in the pictures :)

I just noticed that all 5 of my kids happened to make it into this picture. Can you spot them all? It's "Where's The Collette Children Game"!

-Summer's Last Hurrah. On the Saturday before school started, there was a Movie/Swim Party at our community pool. It was super fun for the kids since the pool usually closes at 8. They though it was just SO cool getting to swim in the dark with the pool lights on. We also got to watch Rio, which we had yet to see. The movie started and all of us were watching it, chowing down on popcorn. One by one, the kids slipped away from the movie and into the pool, until most of the seats were empty and only adults were left watching the movie.This kid sat and ate popcorn and watched the entire movie.

Daphne found a great spot where she could swim and watch the movie. Smart girl.

Eventually, everyone ended up in a towel and finished watching the end of the movie. It was such a fun night, as well as a final farewell to summer.

-School Open House. Every year the kids get to go to their school, meet their new teacher, see their classroom, and bring all of their spanking new school supplies to their cubby. This year was especially exciting, because Daphne started kindergarten! We went to her orientation and then headed to her classroom.

She got to sit at her desk...

Explore her classroom...

Meet her teacher (who is SO great)...

And check out the school bus that she will be riding. It all made her SO excited for school to start.

We then took Laylah and Jonah to meet their new teachers, who I think will be excellent also.

And afterwards we had to go say hi to all of their old teachers. It was a fun day that made the kids SO excited to start school.

-And last, but not least, on our back to school list is.... our Back to School Feast! Which I will keep you on the edge of your seats for....

I know, I know. It's just almost too much to handle.

And So I Lived To Tell The Tale!

2011-08-24T22:49:00.000-04:00

via

In case you can't tell, I'm being sarcastic with my title :)

I have had a post in the works about getting ready to go back to school, but it will have to wait because, well, if you live under a rock, you didn't hear that we had an earthquake here in good, old Virginia.

Guys.... it was scary.

I've only experienced one other earthquake, when I was a young girl, and I remember thinking it was thunder; that's how small it was. My mom later informed me that it had been an earthquake. I thought it was pretty cool and exciting. Now I know that it isn't. It is incredibly surreal and I could hardly believe the feelings of helplessness that kept sweeping over me.

So, if you're ready, here is my tale...

The girls and I were sitting at the kitchen table, doing a craft. Andy was driving at the time, running some errands. The 2 baby boys were napping, and Jonah was at a friend's house. Laylah had just asked me a question, and I glanced up to answer her. My view was such that I could see out the sliding glass door, and I noticed a rumbling in the distance. It kept getting louder.... and louder. I remember thinking, "Huh, that's funny. The sky is clear. Why is it thundering?... Or is that a plane...?? What the heck is that noise?!"

And then the shaking began. Slowly, at first. I felt my eyes widen and Laylah said, "What is it Mom?" and I exclaimed, "I think it's an earthquake!" and immedietly the girls broke into tears. I ushered them over to the closest doorframe as the shaking got worse and worse. I reassured them , even though inside I kept thinking, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Why won't it stop! How long is this going to last?" It felt like I was standing on a crazy ride in a funhouse or something. Things started falling off the walls, decor started falling off of shelves. Drawers in the kitchen opened and closed, light fixtures were a swingin'. It lasted about a minute, but it felt like much, much longer. I could still see outside and I noticed our barbeque and deck shakin' away. The helpless feeling is almost indescribable. And it was just so LOUD. Not knowing how long, or how bad it would get, it just terrified me. At the moment, all I could think about was my family who weren't around me. I didn't feel comfortable leaving the girls and running to check on the boys. So we waited. It slowed down and eventually the shaking stopped, but the vibrating rumblings continued. I was still comforting the girls, especially Laylah, who was still crying. Sadie had been going crazy, but we finally got her to come over by us and stay.

And then, it stopped. Finally. I ran for my phone to call Andy. No service. I called for Laylah to run down and check on Bear while I sprinted up the stairs to check on Magnus. Sleeping away, through the whole thing. Laylah came back up and said Bear was sleeping still. Phew. And then I went and collapsed on the couch. I still felt wobbly and my heart started pounding every time I thought about it. I was thankful it wasn't bigger, but just the experience was truly terrifying.

I was finally able to get a text through to Andy, who texted back that he was fine. He had thought something was wrong with the car, oblivious to the swaying street and traffic lights around him. He didn't even know it was an earthquake until I texted him. Then the shaking car suddenly made sense!

I got a hold of my friend, who had Jonah at her house. She said he was a bit shaken up (literally, haha ;), but fine. I started researching quickly after that. I found out the epicenter was in Mineral, VA which is in my ward boundaries. So close to us. Crazy. I found out that they were going to postpone the first day of school, which was supposed to be the next day. What a way to end the summer, eh? I just kept feeling so relieved that it happened on Tuesday instead of Wednesday on my kids first day back to school. They had to check out all of the school buildings. Although damages weren't severe, several schools need repairs. A few roofs caved in. My neighbors chimney ended up in their living room. Many old and historic buildings (built in the 1800's) will have to be knocked down because of damages. The east coast is just not equipped or prepared for an earthquake of that size, a 5.9.

We have had several aftershocks, up to a 4.5 magnitude. I realize that when I take a step back and look at it all, it is pretty comical (especially all of those hilarious pictures and jokes flying around the internet... "Virginia Quake of 2011.... We WILL rebuild" captioning a picture of patio furniture with the lawnchair tipped over.... I got a good laugh out of that one :), but I will be the first to admit that it was incredibly scary at the time. I really hope to never experience anything like that again.

Oh wait.... Hurricane Irene is headed our way in a few days. Here we go again...

via

Baby M: 9 Months

2011-08-20T14:24:00.006-04:00

Baby boy is 9 months. Technically, he is 10 months, in a little over a week. He is such a joy. We can't get enough of him and we all get such a thrill out of every cute, little thing he does. As usual, he is growing like a weed (but, a darling weed :) and he is still completely off the charts at 27.5 pounds and 30.5 inches long. Big boy. Don't worry, his crib is now on the lowest setting. I have to say that this is one my of absolute favorite ages. It's so fun to see him learn so much and really starting to grasp the world around him. He has learned a lot of new tricks, including:

-clapping (especially when we say "Yay!")
-waving
-giving 5
-sipping through a straw
-shakes head "no" when he doesn't want something
-pats his chest when we say "Where's Magnus?"
-peek-a-boo
-and da da da-duh!.... Crawling!

Life has changed quite a bit since M started scooting around (about a month ago) and it's funny how much you forget they can reach and get into. Thankfully, he can only pull up to his knees still and he's not on his feet yet.

I can still trap him in his excer-saucer, and he loves to jump up and down in it. It keeps him busy for awhile before he's protesting to be taken out.

Cute little crawler. He's getting much quicker these days, especially when he sees something he wants. It's hilarious when his legs start going too fast for his arms and he ends up doing a faceplant on the floor. Unfortunately, he's already taken a spill down the stairs and I am constantly telling the kids to shut the basement door.

He loves suckers and will stay quite content in his highchair sucking on one happily while I do dishes or sweep the floor. (PS Look at those arms! Love me some squishy-squish)

I still bring him in with me to nurse when he wakes up in the morning. This is one of my favorite times of the day. We just sit and play afterwards, until he's trying to crawl off the bed, that is...

If you've noticed a pattern, it's true. I never get my child dressed. He wears onesies and pajammas every day. He's just SO snuggable.

Sadie likes to hangout with M because she can get the occasional lick in and he doesn't protest like the rest of us. He thinks she's funny and likes to "pat" (ie "hit") her.

M has had 8 teeth for a couple months now, but there is no sign of more anytime soon. He eats anything he is given. Anything. I have yet to find a food he doesn't like. And he also never stops opening his mouth for food. He cries nearly every time I stop feeding him and tell him the food is "all gone!" at the end of a meal. He loves to eat.

It has been quite a different experience having a baby in VA. Babies are more of a rarity here and I can't believe how much attention he gets. People are always stopping us to see him or going out of their way to come up to us and talk about him. I think part of it is his size. I have yet to be out running errands and not have someone comment on how big he is. He has always been shy and will duck his head with a little smile when a stranger talks to him. If I am holding him, he turns into my shoulder and hides.

Magnus loves his dad. He saves his biggest and best smiles for Andy. He reaches for him whenever Andy passes by. He is definitely a daddy's boy. He also says "Dada" on a regular basis and has been for a couple months. However, sometimes, a boy just wants his mom :) His first word was "Momma" right around 6 months old. Sometimes I am the only one who can calm him or make him happy. He also loves his siblings and they all love making him giggle, laugh, and smile. Daphne is especially good at this and she loves to play with him in his room. Laylah is still the best helper with him and lugs him around, gets him dressed, feeds him, and buckles him in his carseat. Both Jonah and Baron alike can always get a smile out of M when he is cranky or sad. They are all just so sweet with him.

M makes some funny noises with his tongue. He clicks, as well as makes a "tsss" sound, all day long. He also says "nana" over and over, which means he sees food, and wants some, of course :). He is still an excellent sleeper, going 12 hours at night (7-7) and taking two 2-hour naps during the day. He is a dream baby. We all just love our big ball of squish named Magnus :)

I Know It's A Little Early For Halloween, But...

2011-08-18T21:24:00.003-04:00

Seriously. I almost wet my pants when I went out to check the mailbox, opened it up, saw this giant web completely covering the opening, peeked inside and saw a HUGE black widow right in my face. I screamed so loud that my boys heard me from inside and came running out to check on me.

I ran in and found a can of RAID (for ants), but it did the trick. I sprayed and sprayed that sucker until it dropped to the ground and was writhing around in circles. Then Bear stepped on it and now it's a black smear in the gutter. I hate spiders. Like hate hate.

Can you even imagine if the mailman just happened to come a little earlier that day, and put the mail in there, and one of my dear, sweet children ran out (just like they so often do) and reached in to retrieve it (reached into a deathtrap!!), and what if that ugly, black creature just happened to decide to sink its fangs into their chubby little hand?

Holy. Moly.

And Then There Was The Day I Decided It Was Okay To Have Brown Hair...

2011-08-16T19:29:00.002-04:00

Okay, so listen up. I used to think that I was a blonde and that was that. Like, forever and for always. I have had blonde hair my entire life except for about 6 months after I graduated highschool and I went super dark brown/red, and I liked it for about 2 days and then I hated it. I slowly went back to the blonde. I actually met Andy when I was still semi-dark/halfway back to blonde and he really liked my hair that color. But, I told him I was a blonde and I would never go dark again (he's always been attracted to girls with long, dark, wavy hair.... and I forgot to mention that at the time my hair was suuuuper short. How we ended up together is still a mystery :)

Que to last summer. Since moving to VA, I have hated my hair. The humidity kills me. My hair is frizzy and ugly and gross, and if I spend a half hour doing it, it is ugly again in about .5 seconds. The bleaching every couple months just wasn't doing anything for it. Not to mention that I still haven't found a stylist that I love here. And if I were to go to a high-end salon, it would run me about $300. Every 8 weeks. Not going to happen.

I finally talked myself into trying out the brown again. Believe me, I did not do this lightly. It took months of thinking about it and changing my mind back and forth about 50 times (rememebr me? Sarah Collette? The Girl Who Hates Change? Yeah, that's me :)

I finally decided on a color and did it myself last Friday night. Andy hasn't stopped telling me how much he loves it. I guess that's good.... excpet, what about while I was blonde the last 10 years? Haha, just kidding.

It's growing on me and I've stopped doing a double take every time I walk past a mirror. I don't know still. It's just so different. I've even had people tell me that I look like a totally different person. Kinda weird. But, like I said.... I'll get there!

P.S. Thanks for all of your sweet comments on facebook. It really meant a lot :)

Water, Water... and Some More Water

2011-08-13T09:33:00.011-04:00

Since getting back from Utah, we have been busy getting WET! It is quite a difference from last summer where I was 7 months pregnant and miserable and H-O-T, and I did indoor activities as much as possible. However, this summer I have noticed that the heat doesn't bother me quite as much as it did last summer (although I don't think I will ever get used to the random trickle of sweat going down my back, due to high humidity), and we've been having a blast!

One night the kids were swimming in their little blow-up pool and running through the sprinklers. Dad decided he was hot and got in on the action...

Another day we decided to try out a little pond at Alum Springs Park, along with some of our friends. We saw lots of fish, frogs, lizards, and snakes. And plenty of bugs. It was muddy and yucky. Not my favorite place. Although the kids have been asking to go back, I'm not sure I'll be taking them anytime soon.Jonah was pretending to be a river monster. I wouldn't have been very surprised if one actually did come out of this yucky little pond/river.

Magnus was busy finding anything and everything he could to sample in his mouth. The list includes, but is not limited to: giant handfuls of sand, little rocks, big rocks, sticks, leaves, and dead bugs. Pretty dang gross.
Oh well, whatever makes 'em happy, right? And stop screaming at me when I try to take something away.

Heading down the river to explore.

I finally relented and let this kid scoot down to the water. We decided to call it a day when M kept trying to crawl in over his head. And throwing a tantrum when I decided that it probably wasn't a good idea. But what do I know? I'm only his mother. Ahhh, babies. Fun stuff, right? Not.

The highlight of the day was definitely leaving to go and get slurpees.

Later that week, we decided to see what all the hype was about down at "The River". I hear kids and adults alike always talking about "going down to the river" and I finally asked one of my friends what that was all about. She said that there is a big beachy area down by the Rappahannock River where people go play, camp, barbeque, tube, and swim. We decided to go together so our family could check it out. It was a lot of fun. Even though I was grossed out by the actual river :)

We brought umbrellas and beach blankets so the babies could play comfortably. It was a super hot day and we spent most of it lounging in the shallow part. We took turns getting up to go and drag back stray kids who were unaware they had started going along with the flow of the river and had gotten too far away. We had a lovely picnic and enjoyed good company.

There are lots of fish and they aren't scared of people. They would swim right up and nibble on your toes. The kids caught a few little ones in their buckets.

The dads took the bigger kids on a hike up the river where they found a small waterfall and they were able to fish for a bit. Jonah caught a huge catfish and he was so excited to tell me about it.

While they were gone, Magnus decided he was ready to be done, and cried for an hour until the dads got back. It was hot and he was tired. Again, with the "not fun" stuff. Babies just aren't fun at this age for doing recreational activity type things. (PS I remember thinking last summer, while I was pregnant, that this summer just wouldn't be very enjoyable to do outdoor type stuff with an infant. And I was right. It's not :)

As soon as those Baby Blues spotted daddy from afar, a huge smile plastered his face and his little arms were going crazy waving to his daddy. He loves Andy, more than anyone. He practically leapt into Andy's arms. Hilarious :)

These two (2.5 months apart) are so funny together. Magnus is always making Aiden cry. A second after this picture was taken, those keys were in Magnus' hand and that frown on Aiden's face turned into a full-on cry. Poor Aiden. He has no chance against The Giant Baby, even if he is older.

Just last week we decided to try the beach at Lake Anna with a bunch of friends. It is so beautiful and the water is always warm (due to the nuclear power plant in the center of the lake. The lake is actually man-made, specifically for the purpose of cooling the plant down. That's right, we live within 25 miles of a power plant. So, if you ever see me glowing, let me know... ;)

They have a little man-made beach area with lifeguards and roped off areas where it's safe to swim. They have a little playground in the grassy area and even a concession stand. We had SUCH a blast. It was even fun for me because Andy had a sinus infection and was home from work, so I was able to leave Magnus with him and really enjoy myself! Marvelous.

There weren't any boys Jonah's age (which ususally seems to be the case, poor kid), so he made up a game where he would bury his goggles, spin around in circles with his eyes closed, and then try to find where he had buried them. It was really funny until.... he couldn't find where he had buried them last. He spent about an hour digging 10 different holes trying to find them. He is really bummed that his new goggles he receieved for his birthday were lost. Oh well, live and learn :)

Daphne finally learned to swim without floaties. So proud :)

We have had such a wonderfully fun summer. Only 1 week and 3 days to go until school starts! I'm not ready (back to a schedule, alarm clock, missing my kiddos during the day), but at the same time, I am (no more fighting! Yay!). Bring on the pencils, books, and homework! (wait, not the last one...) because summer has come to an end...

Happy 7th Jo-Jo!!

2011-08-12T09:15:00.001-04:00

Jonah had a birthday!... almost a month ago :) I mentioned that we were supposed to get home from our trip on July 18th, but instead we ended up getting home the morning of the 19th, which was Jo's birthday. We sang him Happy Birthday in the airport while we were waiting for the luggage. He was pretty stoked to have it be his day!

Sleepy boy, just off of the airplane at 6 AM!

We stopped at Krispy Kreme for donuts and the grocery store for milk on the way home from the airport since I was aware that our fridge was completely empty, and even if there was something in it, it would be rotten. Everyone went back to bed for awhile and watched movies after they woke up (Jonah's choice, of course :) while I went to the store to do a little last minute birthday shopping, pick up balloons and cupcakes, and do a bit of grocery shopping.

Since it was Jonah's turn for a family party this year, we picked up pizza and headed to the pool for some birthday F-U-N!
He wanted a Pokemon Party, and that's what he got! By the way, it's so funny to me that Jonah is all of the sudden into Pokemon because my little sister Suzanne loved it and was practically obsessed for many years. She and Jonah talked Pokemon many times when she came to visit last April :)

Pizza and cupcakes. Yummy yum.

I brought one gift for Jonah to open at the pool.

New goggles. Just what he needed!

Time to head back to the pool! Haha. Funny Bear.

Here is Jonah being a shark.

After the pool closed, we headed back home for birthday gifts!A new swimsuit, some clothes, an umbrella, a couple toys...

... and the gift he's been asking (okay, begging) for for months.... his nintendo DS! Can you tell that he was a bit excited?

Along with a Pokemon game, of course! He couldn't have been happier.

I had to get a picture of mom with the birthday boy! Happy 7th birthday Jonah Boy. We love you SO much!!

Jonah at 7:

Wow, where do I start? This kid is rad. He is so dang funny and always has us laughing. He is SUCH a great big brother, and he always includes Baron in everything he does. They are the best of buds. He is turning into a great helper, and although I used to call him lazy (not to his face, in my head) all the time, he is making me eat my words. It was hard for me to realize, and accept, that boys and girls really are different. It has taken him much longer to mature than it did his sisters. But he is to the point where I can ask him to do something and he is dependable and usually pretty happy to do it.

This kid L-O-V-E-S video games. Like, more than anything. When I tell him it's time to turn them off, he almost always says, "But mom, I'm just such a video game fan!" Makes me laugh. I have to put a time limit on the Wii and his DS, and also the computer. He would play all-day-long-non-stop if I let him. I have even found him hiding under his covers on his bed playing his DS after I told him it was enough for the day (and yes, I took it from him for the next 2 days. I know, I'm so mean :). Luckily, he also loves to play outside. He can entertain himself for hours. He plays spy, adventure, and what-have-you. I don't even know sometimes. I will sit and watch him from inside, looking out the window, and he's just running around playing whatever. He also loves to throw the football around with anyone who will play with him. He loves playing with friends, riding bikes, trading Pokemon cards, and swimming. He also loves movies and asks to watch Netflix almost daily.

Jonah is a great friend. He is kind and sweet. He has a tender heart and will tell me about when kids at school get teased or made fun of and how he will go and sit by them, or try to be their friend. He makes me proud. He is starting to enjoy school more and tells me he is really excited to start 2nd grade in a couple weeks. He is a great reader and started reading chapter books a few months ago. He is also really good at math. He loves food, and must be going through a growth spurt because he eats more than I do. He is not picky, but he doesn't like potatoes. His favorite food is crepes.

Jonah can be a huge tease and likes to be tricky. He is always saying, "But, I was just kidding!" and his famous line when I ask him why he did something he shouldn't have is, "I don't know." It drives me crazy. Luckily, he is doing much better at making good choices as he is growing up and maturing. Jonah also loves all-things-yucky. Bugs, lizards, sharks, and the like. He loves to fish whenever he gets the chance, he catches bugs on a daily basis, and he has been begging for a lizard for years. Maybe next year... maybe not.

No matter what though,I love this boy so much, I can't even describe it. He has such a sweet heart. I love you my Jonah.

It Was a Beautiful Day For a Baptism

2011-08-11T12:14:00.010-04:00

Laylah had a very special day. She was baptized a member of our church on Saturday July 16th. It was a marvelous day.

We had to get up super early because her baptism was at 9 and we had to be there at 8:30. Luckily, I was responsible (truly, a miracle) and had everything ready to go (ie. clothes ironed, kids showered, food prepped and ready, etc) the night before. Andy and I got up and ready, got the kids up and ready, and we were off to the chapel (and actually a bit early, another miracle). We decided to do it at Andy's parents stake center because his dad is a bishop and he was able to preside over the meeting.

The cute older couple in charge of baptisms for the stake were so sweet and went over everything with us and were so patient with all of our questions, as we had never done this before! Laylah and Andy changed into their white clothing and we had time to snap a few picturs and set up our table.

My sweet hubby spent a long time perfecting and printing these programs for me. He rocks :)

When all of our guests arrived (totaling around 60-70! We have big families :), the program began. Andy's sister Breanna was our chorister and my sister Rachel accompanied. My sister Kaylie said the opening prayer, and then my mom gave a wonderful talk on baptism. After that, it was time. I could hardly keep the tears from running down my cheeks as all of the little children gathered up front to watch Laylah be baptized. Andy reached his hand out for her and brought her down into the warm water. With the priesthood that he worthily holds, he baptized her a memeber of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, with Andy's dad and my dad as witnesses. When she came out of that water, dripping and wet, she couldn't stop smiling. She looked radiant.

Andy had made Laylah and me a bet that we wouldn't be able to beat him out of the changing room, so we were set and ready to go. Laylah dried off, changed back into her dress quickly, and I had done her hair as such that I would just have to twist it into a bun. We put her jewelry back on, and we were out. We beat Andy by about 8 minutes. We rock :)

After that, we finished up the program with a beautiful musical number by my brothers, Doug and Nate. They sang Baptism (Laylah's request and one of my very favorite's). It was beautiful and, of course, I cried some more. Andy's mother gave a talk on receiving the Holy Ghost, which was wonderful as well. Afterwards, Laylah was surrounded by all of the worthy men in her life, priesthood holders who love her, and recieved the gift of the Holy Ghost from Andrew. The blessing that followed was wonderful and just thinking about how special it was still brings tears to my eyes. I have always known Laylah is a special spirit in our home and in many people's life. She is an amazing little girl. The program was closed with a prayer by Andy's brother, David. Then, of course, a lot of pictures followed :)

Grandparents and mom and dad

Great-grandmothers, Darlene (my dad's mom) and Marge (my mom's mom)

Laylah and her best friend in Utah, Kajia

As soon as we got home to my parents house, I had to grab a few quick pictures while everyone still looked decent in their church clothing

We had to do a little bit of quick food prep and then our delicious brunch was served: Spinach, mushroom, and sausage quiche with salsa, bagels and cream cheese, croissants with honey butter or jam, fresh fruit and fruit dip, orange juice and lemon water, and lastly, mini cinnamon rolls and brownie cookies for dessert. It was pretty fantastic, and I think everyone was sufficiently stuffed.

We were so thankful for all of our wonderful family and friends who were able to join us in celebrating. We love them all SO much.

Oh, my Cristan, I love ya :)

Andy and his brothers and father-silly boys

Great-grandmother Roth (Andy's mom's mother)

Laylah with my brothers

Aunt Annette and Laylah breaking in her new scriptures

Laylah was SO thrilled to finally receive her first set of scriptures along with a scripture case. She's been asking for some for over a year. Besides this gift (from Andy and I) she received many kind and thoughtful gifts from family and friends. Everyone was so generous on her special day. She was so happy and Andy and I are so grateful and proud that she made the right decision to be baptized. We love Laylah so much and truly cannot imagine our family or our lives without this sweet girl. We love you Laylah!

It truly was a beautiful day.