Yes, as I’ve mentioned before, Damen is only 1. But don’t let that fool you. This little man is one smart sucker. He talks more than I ever would’ve imagined to be possible for a boy to talk at age 1. He is talking more than Makayla and Kiera were at this age. And he’s right up there with Kaylee’s Einsteinyness. I was told by every living person on the planet that boys develop slower than girls. Well in some cases for this boy, so not true. But sometimes after he does the things that he does I have to wonder if he is partly brain damaged. Then I remember, oh ya, he’s just a male. Weird species that they are. So with all that said, here is my awesome story…..

This morning I got him dressed. Simple task. A cute camo shirt and some brown shorts. After he’s dressed, he looks down at his shirt then looks at me with the most excited face ever and says to me, “I shoot elk!!” And runs out of his room. Holy Moses. Are you kidding me? I guess he’s seen his Dad walk out of the house wearing his camo to go hunting a few times. Probably more than a few times. And I guess it’s stuck with him. Poor kid.

Some other cute things (and embarrasing) things he’s said lately…

He calls his blanket that he sleeps with a “ganeket”. As we were driving through town the other day we passed a flag and he very excitedly pointed his little finger to the window and said, “Mom! A flying ganeket!”

That very same day we passed McDonald’s and he said, “Mommy!! Happy Meal!!” Oh my no he did not. So not proud of that moment. I do have to save my face and say that he’s only had a few Happy Meals in his life. I personally strongly dislike McD’s so we do not eat there frequently, but apparantly it has made an impression on the little man. And gramma and great-gramma LOVE taking the kids to get Happy Meals when we go to Boise. So now that he’s getting older I guess he is getting them a lot more. And I must say, the joy that it brings to the grammas faces when they see the excitement on the kids’ faces when they open their happy meals is worth it. It’ll just take a few years off the kids’ lives right? No big deal.

A funny thing that happens daily is this… When he is done going potty he takes his little finger and taps his little thingy and he then says, “I shake a bubble.” I can’t help but laugh as I type that one. This all came about because I inadvertently taught him how to shake. Another weird thing about males is that they have to shake to get the last drop off. And sure enough, every. single. time. Damen goes potty he has one last drop hanging on. So I took my finger one day and tapped it and said “Shake. Shake.” Then got him off the potty and thought nothing of it. But a few days later, Damen took his finger did the same thing and then he very proudly looked at me and said, “I shake a bubble.” So yes, he did learn how to shake and I guess the last drop looks like a bubble to the little man. Wow.

And the last one happened last night. Well I should back up a few months. Damen LOVES to watch football. During the NFL and college football season, Damen would climb up on Jarom’s lap and watch football forever. I don’t know if you’ve seen a 1 year old watch tv before, but it doesn’t happen for a very long time. They don’t have the attention span that older kids do. So for Damen to sit and watch football, of all things, for a long period of time is amazing. Last night was the start of the NFL draft. Jarom was watching it and when they showed the first clip of the football game from the highlighted player Jarom yelled, ”Damen! Hurry! Football is on!” Damen’s eyes got huge and he sprinted to the couch, climbed up on Jarom’s lap, and was a Very.Happy.Little.Boy. As he was watching the football clip he started yelling “Go Buddy! Go Buddy! Go Buddy!” And then after the touchdown he throws his arms straight up in the air and yells “TOUCHDOWN!!!!” I got him yelling all of that on video and it’s pretty dang cute. The funniest part is that when the clips would go away and the tv would go back to the NFL draft, Damen would get so mad at Jarom and say “Turn on bootball!!!!” And Jarom would try explaining that he couldn’t and that it would come back in a minute and Damen would roll off Jarom’s lap and get so mad. He even tried hitting him at one point. The little man likes his football.

Like I said, the poor guy is brainwashed. Obsessed with hunting and football? Wow.

Damen is almost 2 and I can’t believe it. I feel like my blogging has taken a huge dive since he entered into the world. I feel like 4 was the number of kids that did me in. So although I wanted to blog, finding time for it was nearly impossible. And when I did have the time, I chose to go lay down for a few minutes to catch my breath. I have missed blogging. And I keep saying I’ll get better, like I used to be, but no matter how badly I want to, I just can’t seem to find the time or the energy. But here I am today, ready to go!

It’s been almost an entire month since I have wanted to do this blog. It was March 15th 2012 when my baby left our home. On that day, I took down Damen’s crib and packed it away and I also got rid of his highchair. I don’t know how I felt about doing both of them on the same day. It just kind of happened. I had been wanting to put his highchair away for a while since it was such a struggle to get him to sit in it, but I could not find the cushion that went on the chair that his highchair was strapped to. That was a dilemma since we have metal bar chairs. I really needed that cushion. So the day I took down Damen’s crib, I was looking through the closet under the stairs for something and of course, I found the cushion when I wasn’t looking for it. So that’s how both things happened in the same day. And to top it off, at the time, I had been potty training Damen for about a month. So between the potty training (which means he is a big boy wearing undies now), taking down the crib, and putting his highchair out in the garage, I felt that day as though I no longer had a baby.

And I don’t. A piece of me was sad. Very sad. To know that I would never go through the miraculous and spiritual moments of child birth again. Lots of people would say I am crazy, but those are the moments I look forward to and my most special moments that I hold very close to my heart. I love childbirth. I was also very sad to know that I would never hold a brand new baby of my own in my arms ever again. To know that I won’t feel that special bond between mother and child when I am nursing. To just stand there in the middle of the night and just watch my newborn sleep. To get lost in time holding those tiny little toes and those tinier little fingers. Never again. But, not too long after I felt those sad feelings a new kind of excitement took over. I will never have to have the 9 month pregnant lady waddle again. I will never have the pregnant, ‘I can’t breath!’ days again. I will never be able to use my pregnant tummy as a table when I sit on the couch ever again. I will never have the endless nights of tossing and turning because there is no such thing as being comfortable when I am 9 months pregnant. There is a real sized baby in me. I am 5’2″ with a very short body. There is no such thing as comfortable. I will never have to figure out how in the world I am going to get rid of my post baby saggy tummy again. I will never have newborn sleepless nights where I am so tired I can’t function and yet somehow I survive. I will never have the baby blues again. I will never have to deal with diapers or strollers or cribs or pack n’ plays or highchairs or burp rags or baby bathtubs or diaper blowouts or diaper bags or diaper rashes or Gerber puffs or tiny bite sized food or baby spoons or milk let-down or boob wet spots or night sweats or pregnancy mask or stretch marks or boobs that go from a size A to a size DD or flappy skin or baby mental breakdowns or pregnancy psychotic episodes ever…. again. Although I am sad to put the past behind me knowing that I’ll never do any of the happy things again, I am excited to move on to the next stage of life. The kids are getting older and we can do more with them now. We can all walk. That’s a huge plus!! We can now go to the beach without getting a diaper full of sand because the baby just sits there and eats it. When we go on a vacation we can all sleep in a bed. No more, “what should we do with the baby?” There will be no more days where I can’t leave the house for longer than 2 hours because I have to be back to nurse the baby. Getting through 4 babies without using a single bottle was quite an accomplishment. I am proud to give myself a pat on the back, hope it was worth something, and move on. I have changed diapers for 7 1/2 years. I am done. Another pat on the back. I was pregnant or nursing for 8 1/2 consecutive years. There were only about 4 non-consecutive months in that 8 1/2 years that I was not pregnant or nursing. I am done. I am ready for my body to be my own again. I absolutely loved loaning it out to my children. And I would never ever wish I hadn’t. I consider it a blessing and a privelage. Now the next stage of life is beginning. I am excited to see where it will take us and the journey we are beginning. The opportunities and adventures of having an older family are exciting. I am very much looking forward to it. As is Jarom. Well, he has been looking forward to it for about 8 years

So even though my baby is gone, yes, parts of me are sad, but I am mostly excited for the future. Damen is in my favorite stage right now. I LOVE kids when they are 18 months to about 2 1/2. They are so full of so much joy and Damen definitely brings that into our home. He is awesome. So happy and such a comedian. He brings a whole new life full of zest into our home. It’s awesome. Here are some of my favorite pictures of this silly man being silly. He put this outfit together himself (hat and necklaces) and then when I got the camera out he of course put on a show for me. This was in January when he was 20 months old. This is so him!

So now I can leave my crazy days behind me. And move forward. I know that in some ways the future will be harder, but also much much easier. So I am ready. And looking foward to it.

January 19th, 2012. That marks a significant day for our family. The last day that Kaylee went to 1st grade. It marked the decision we made to home school. After a series of events with her in 1st grade, and also events starting clear back in preschool and kindergarten, with years and years of promptings, Jarom and I decided that homeschooling would be best for our family. I was originally just going to do it for the rest of the school year and then we would re-evaluate for next year. But, the more I home school, the more I am learning about it and the awesomeness of it. So the more I want to do it for longer. And a huge bonus…. the kids LOVE it!! Of course, since we have 4 smalls in the house, it is not possible to just home school 1 of them. So what happened? I now home school 4 smalls. Originally it was just planned to home school Kaylee. I even left Makayla in preschool through the YMCA because I love her teacher and her class and the things they do and learn. But, that’s not ok with the smalls to let Kaylee have all the lessons. So since we have started homeschooling, Makayla is now reading pretty well, Kiera now knows half the alphabet, and Damen has learned several colors and shapes and is pretty close to being potty trained. Not that potty training has anything to do with homeschooling, but it’s pretty amazing how our lives have changed. For one, I am a much happier mom. I hesitated on homeschooling for the longest time because I thought I would end up killing someone if not myself. That is not a very pleasant sentence, but truthful. I didn’t think I could take it. Having 4 smalls in the house means that I am borderline crazy most of the time. So why would I choose to add to that craziness? But the exact opposite happened. We have more productive days. Happier days. We get more done and we somehow, somehow, have more time in the day. I don’t know how and I don’t know why, all I know is that it is AWESOME. Seriously, I am so grateful for the leap of faith I took to do it. It’s not perfect by any means, but it is pretty great. Of course, Kaylee has her grumpy days. She is in a grumpy phase where it seems that that’s her favorite attitude, but once I can convince to start, it goes pretty well. Plus, there is an INCREDIBLE homeschooling group here in town that is so awesome. It’s a bunch of homeschooling families that get together once a month for a field trip and then the moms meet once a month in addition to that to talk about this & that and help & support each other. These veteran moms are full of knowledge and experience.  They have been so incredibly awesome to hear about and learn from. For such a small town, the group is pretty big. And did I mention awesome? So yes, I am happy with our decision. Do I know how long we’ll do it? No. But I do know it’s going to be for longer than what we had originally planned.

So here’s what homeschooling has been like for us so far. And remember, I’m a rookie at this. I’m sure I’ll look back and laugh and gasp and who knows what else as we go further down this road. But for now, it’s a good start….

We start every day with breakfast as a family. I get up and make breakfast… usually pancakes, waffles, or french toast for the family and we all eat together before Dad heads off to work. (This isn’t new, just going through the routine.) Then, after breakfast, I clean up and do dishes while the girls do their Morning Duties. This includes, making their beds and saying their morning prayers, then getting dressed and brushing their teeth. Yes, sometimes it’s pretty amazing how a 5 year old (Makayla) comes down the stairs dressed for the day. But hey, she did it. My 3 year old (Kiera) comes down the stairs in just her jammy shirt and undies and asks me to help her take off her shirt and then put her clothes on. Her bed looks like someone slid off the top end of it while holding onto the sheets, but hey, she made it. Kaylee always does a pretty good job and Damen, well he’s only 1. It’s not happening. After everyone is ready, including myself, we start our day. This usually happens at about 9. We start our school day with reading the scriptures and saying family prayer. Then we say the Pledge of Allegiance.

Then we go over the calendar. What day of the week it is (sing the Day of the Week song), what the date is, and what month it is. After that, we work on learning the Articles of Faith. It’s quite the process when the kids range from ages 7 to 1. Quite a learning curve going on here. Everything actually has been quite a learning curve. It’s pretty challenging to keep Kaylee focused while keeping the attention of the others. But, I have learned that since Kaylee learns faster, she can help me teach, which she LOVES since she LOVES to be in charge. After that, I get each of the kids started on their day. Sometimes the day goes better when we start with a craft since all of my kids are quite crafty. This day was one of the very first days and it was pretty easy to target all of the ages. We did a craft by gluing beans onto a piece of paper. Kaylee did my phone number, Makayla did her last name, and Kiera did the letter ‘D’. Damen sat in his highchair and ate! He’s loves to eat. Alllll of the time.

What I have learned to love about homeschooling is that learning can be so fun. And children are SO SMART if and when they are applied. Seriously, just teach them…. anything. And they will learn it. I teach them individually and together. One of our very first “together” lessons was on gravity. It was pretty fun to teach them about gravity and to see their little minds learning about the concept. Our first science experiment was to teach them how gravity pulls things down. So after our lesson we got a cookie sheet with baby powder on it and then a glass full of colored water. Then we dropped the water onto the cookie sheet and watched the balls of water roll down. It was pretty neat. And all of the kids were fascinated. And they all totally understood gravity after we were done!

Sometimes I have to put Damen in his highchair to keep him contained, but let me tell you, he has learned SO MUCH by watching his sisters and listening to them learn. He has spent quite a bit of time sitting in his highchair just watching and observing and learning all about what’s going on. He now talks like one of his sisters… nonstop. And he’s a pretty smart little buddy. The changes I’ve already seen have been pretty awesome. In everyone, not just him.

I have learned that learning is not just about sitting at a desk and being taught. In order to really learn, you must be involved. I have come to really understand the Chinese Proverb, “Tell me and I’ll forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I’ll understand.” So true. I love it. I love that I have learned that I love that my kids are really learning.

Then we spent about a week on the Food Pyramid. We learned what it was and about all of the different food groups. Then we learned all about how important it is to take good care of our bodies. Then we made a grocery list with foods from all of the food groups and we went grocery shopping. The girls were in charge of getting the things from the food pyramid into the cart. It was quite the grocery shopping day, but it was fun for them! Then an activity I had Kaylee do was make a TV and do a commercial about the food pyramid. She was so excited about it and of course she loved teaching us.

When she was done she got a round of applause and then everyone else wanted in on the action.

Dad comes home for lunch everyday at noon. So that week we made sure we had a food from every food group on his plate when he came home!

Another lesson we did together was on plants and how they grow. We learned about the different parts of a plant and about seeds and where plants come from. We tied it into our gravity lesson from the previous week by talking about why roots grow down. Then we did an experiment with some seeds. We put some red beans into a bag with a damp paper towl and then taped them up on the wall. In a few days the beans started to sprout roots and they were headed down. Gravity was pulling them down. Then after several days when they were growing pretty good we untaped the bags and turned them upside down to see what would happen to the roots. What happened? Of course they started turning because gravity was pulling them down!! So it was fun to learn about seeds, roots, plants, and gravity all in one activity! The girls loved waking up every morning to check on their seeds. This is what they looked like after a few weeks.

Kiera (3) is working on her alphabet. I move on when she positively knows the letter and can write it. Sometimes it only takes a day, sometimes it takes a week. We are really struggling on the letter L. We are on week 2 with that little buggar. She just can’t get it. It’s either an I or a J. But, hey, perseverance and she’ll get it! Here is her collection of letters she has done so far.

J was quite a stinker too. That’s why there are 2 up there. When she gets a new letter, she gets to glue it to card stock, cut it out, color it, then we tape it up and start on writing it. Sometimes I’ll print worksheets off the Internet for her and sometimes she likes to practice writing her letters in a dry erase alphabet book we have. I’m at a loss for the letter L. We’ve tried everything. We’ll just keep learning it over and over.

Damen has found a new passion for Play-Doh. He LOVES it! And I love that he loves it. He is learning while he stays busy so I can focus on the others for a while. He has learned quite a few colors and a few shapes from playing with his beloved Play-Doh. He plays with it everyday. Several times a day. In fact, it’s been played with so much it’s getting dried out. It’s time to buy some more. Or, maybe we’ll make more as a project. I’m sure there is something we can learn from it.

After he rolls out his Play-Doh and gets a shape cut out, he’ll come running into the kitchen yelling the shape to show me. “STAR! STAR! STAR! See?” Then I’ll tell him good job and he’ll run back over to his table to do more. I love love love it!

We even had a lesson on different kinds of organisms. Reptiles, fish, amphibians, mammals, etc. I focused a little more on the fish. Each of the girls drew a picture of the fish and we learned about their scales, gills, and fins. Then I surprised them by telling them we were going to the fish store to buy a fish. So lo and behold, we have a pet fish named Jewels. (Even though it’s a boy.) The kids LOVE our fish. They each take turns feeding her (him) every morning and then the girls rotate cleaning the bowl. We’ve got a very kid proof, fish safe way of doing it! Welcome to our home Jewels.

I try to do a reading lesson everyday with Makayla while Damen and Kiera are napping and Kaylee has reading time. Then I also can work with Makayla and Kaylee on the more advanced lessons and learning. I try to wrap things up no later than 3 so that from from 3-4 I can do what I need to get done. 1 hour is not enough, but my priorities have definitely changed so it seems to somehow work out. Then I try to start dinner by 4 so that it’s ready by 5 when Jarom gets home from work. This is not a perfect life. Keep in mind I am saying, “I  try to… ” That’s all it is. An effort. Not everyday goes as smoothly as I am making it sound. But, it’s worth the effort.

Our dining area has been converted into a school room. Each of the girls has their own drawer to keep their supplies and books in….

Then we had to buy a bigger book shelf to keep Kaylee’s curriculum in, Makayla’s reading books, and a few other books that won’t fit in the girls’ drawers. It works out pretty well….

And that’s the start of our homeschooling adventure! It’s been a crazy ride so far. Some days are so awesome and I am so happy that I love every minute of it! But, I have already had those days where I question the decision we made and I wonder if I am doing my children wrong by keeping them home. It’s definitely worth it though. Of course it’s going to be tough. Everything is. But for now, I think this is the best thing for our family. It’s amazing. I am so grateful for the promptings it took for me to get here. I hope I can continue doing my best and doing the best for the children. I have been more prayerful than I ever have been before asking for guidance in every aspect of my life. All I can do is try. I pray the rest will come. It’s all just about a leap of faith.

I LOVE Christmas. It is absolutely my most favorite time of the year. This year was so awesome because all the kids were SO excited about it. Everyone was in the Spirit of Christmas and even Damen was old enough to catch on to the exitement. It was my most favorite Christmas with my own family by far. It was one of the few Christmases we’ll have where all of the kids are old enough to enjoy it, but not old enough to be over it. (If you know what I mean )

We started off the Christmas season by decorating the tree. I was actually so extremely excited to do it this year so we actually did it on November 28th. So awesome.

The girls and Damen were doing a fantastic job sharing the ornaments with each other and helping one another.

Things were going well still….

And after about 5 minutes of decorating the tree…. Damen grabbed one of the smallest sized balls and popped it in his mouth. I yelled at him to spit it out and he crunched down on it like a cracker and started chewing. I could hear the bits of glass crunching in his teeth as I was running toward him. All this happened in about 3 seconds, but seemed like an eternity. The little stinker. I ran him over to the kitchen sink and his lip was bleeding and I tried to wash his mouth out as good as I could. I was expecting little pieces of glass to come out in his poo, but it never did (as far as I know). Thankfully.

The next part of the Christmas season was to make delicious treats for everyone to enjoy. We did it about a week before Christmas and the girls were huge helpers on this. It was super easy…

All we did was put pretzels on a cookie sheet, put a rolo on top and pop them in the oven for 3 minutes. Then we took them out and squished cashews into the warm rolos. A perfect activity for kids!

Then before we knew it Christmas Eve had arrived. It was so fun! They all were anxiously sitting on the couch waiting for their traditional Christmas Eve present. New jammies!! They aren’t old enough to remember that’s what they are getting though. So it was still a surprise!

The girls also got a new book with their pj’s because they all LOVE books. Damen got some new shoes because he very badly needed new shoes that would actually fit his fat little chubbers. This was a very exciting gift for Damen because he LOVES shoes. He loves shoes more than any of his sisters. It’s quite an obsession for the little man. So he was very very happy!

The kids were most excited to put their jammies on! We also gave the girls glow in the dark wands and Damen got a glow in the dark sword. So after we took pictures we turned out the lights and let them play in the dark. It was pretty fun with lots and lots of giggles!

It didn’t take Damen very long to remember he got some new shoes. So he grabbed them off the couch and said “shoes? shoes? shoes?” (in his cute little lisp) asking me to put them on. Then of course he had to model them and I had to take pictures!

After Damen was put in bed, we got the girls ready for bed and then last, but not least, we went out to put Reindeer Dust on the lawn so Santa’s reindeer would have something to eat while he put our presents in the house!

Then…. twas the night before Christmas… the stockings were stuffed and Santa had eaten all of his cookies. But silly Santa, he left a few crumbs on the plate.

And Santa had everything put out for the kids to wake up to in the morning! So exciting!!!!!

Christmas morning began with me waking up just in the nick of time to grab the video camera and be waiting at the bottom of the stairs before the kids came down. It was so fun to be waiting there (even though I only had to wait for about 1 minute before they woke up) and I could hear all the whispering…”It’s Christmas!” “Santa came!” “Let’s go see!” Then they woke each other up and came down the stairs. They saw all their presents and were so very excited! Then they had to run into our bedroom to tell Dad that Christmas came! Then they ran back out to the tree to take it all in. It was a very exciting and happy moment. I love the pure joy that little children have. Nothing makes my heart happier than to see my children with such happiness on their faces. This was the very first of our Christmas morning…

For Christmas this year, at Kaylee’s request, all the children drew each other’s names and bought a gift for each other. We went to Walmart as a family and the kids picked out the gifts without letting each other see. That was tricky. We put Daddy’s big coat in the cart and put the presents under his coat as they were picked out. (I’m sure that didn’t look suspicious or anything!) Dad took the older girls and I took the younger two since it worked out that that’s how they drew names… Kaylee drew Damen’s name and picked out a dinosaur flashlight. A perfect gift for the little man who is obsessed with daddy’s flashlights.

Makayla picked a Princess Hair Set for Kiera which could not have been any more perfect for our beautician in training. Kiera LOVES to brush your hair, and put chapstick on, and wear fingernail polish, and all things alike! Annnnnnd, she talks. And talks. And talks. And talks. And talks…….. This set came with a hair dryer, brush, flat iron, curling iron, lipstick, rollers, & perfume. Like I said, the perfect gift. The awesome thing is that Makayla really did pick it out for Kiera all by herself. A sister knows best!

Kiera  bought Kaylee a bag with things you can iron onto it. She was pretty excited about it!

And Damen bought Makayla a spinning art thing. You splat paint onto a piece of paper as it’s turning really fast and it creates cool designs on the paper. She loves it!

Damen is also obsessed, very truly obsessed, with football. He loves all sports, and all balls, but there is just something about football that peaks all of the others. He LOVES football. One of his first words was football. In fact, he taught his little cousin how to say football over Thanksgiving break because he said it so much! He sometimes will come grab my hand and lead me into the tv room and point to the tv and say “football”. He even did that to Grandpa Ivan when we were at Jarom’s parent’s house. He also will find Jarom, grab his hand, lead him into the tv room, and say, “Sit.(patting the couch) Football. (pointing to the tv)” So Jarom will sit down and turn on football and Damen will climb right up onto his lap and watch football with his daddy as happy as can be. He loves it! So for Christmas, of course we had to get him a football! I never would’ve dreamed a 1 yr old could be so obsessed with football! And man, he was one happy little boy!!

Kiera is just as obsessed with Toy Story as Damen is with football. So she was thrilled to get a new Jessie, Woody, and Bullseye!

Damen also got a basketball hoop because it fit right in with his obsession with sports and balls. I love this picture of the pure joy on his face! Does he not look like the happiest little boy in the world?? I love him!

Damen likes putting his football in his basketball hoop more than his basketball. Go figure. And it doesn’t work very well !

Daddy’s Christmas present to everyone was an Xbox with Kinect. (It was my most awesome Black Friday purchase!! I was brave enough to do Black Friday and it was SO worth it! I will definitely shoot for it every year!) The Kinect actually has been an awesome gift for the kids! The Kinect is one of the best things ever!!!

Daddy bought all of the girls a flashlight since they too are constantly trying to steal his! They were pretty excited to get “real” flashlights!

Here are Jarom and Kaylee playing a skiing game on the Kinect…

And a football game…

Then while they were taking a break Kiera got a hold of Daddy to beautify him What a good Daddy!

Then Makayla and Kaylee started playing and here they are doing the skiing game also. They have a lot of fun with the Kinect!

And that concludes my picture blog of The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. I LOVE having little children in our home. It brings such joy to hear their laughter and their giggles and smiles and sillies. It’s not always sugar and spice with them, but I do consider myself one very blessed momma! We had a fantastic Christmas together as a family. I am thankful for Jarom also. For everything that he does to make sure we can do the things we can do. I appreciate more than anything that I get to be a stay at home mom to take care of our angels. I am so grateful for the Christmas that we had.

Until next time… 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Makayla’s birthday was last month in November, but at least I am getting it blogged before the New Year! Makayla had a great birthday this year! She was super excited to be able to celebrate it with all of my family. That meant 13 other little cousins and 12 adults (gramma, grampa, mom, dad, and aunts and uncles.) We were in Boise because it was my family’s year to be together for Thanksgiving and since Makayla’s birthday was just a day before, we were able to be there together as one giant family! It was so awesome!!

Of course, I had decorated the girls’ bedroom with streamers so that when Makayla woke up she would instantly know that, yes indeed, it was her birthday!!

And I had the kitchen table decorated for her sweet little birthday, with streamers and presents ready to go!

She was most excited when she woke up! I made breakfast right away and she had the traditional birthday pancake, but this year instead of a Mickey Mouse pancake she got a ’5′ with whipped cream and pink sprinkles!! She was pretty happy about that! And of course, we put in a candle and sang Happy Birthday to her.

It was super fun to be able to eat her birthday breakfast with all of her little cousins and her sisters!

After breakfast we told all the kids to get dressed and ready for the day and then Makayla could open presents. Only a few of the kids were ready by the time she was so we went ahead and did it!

The first present she opened was a Nintendo DS game! She was super excited!! But, notice how upset Kaylee is. Kaylee was so mad about it because she thought she was going to have to share her DS (since she was the only one in the family who had one.) I did get her saying that on video and me scolding her to be patient. It’s pretty funny.

Makayla was super super excited to get her own DS!!! And notice how happy Kaylee is too! Hilarious.

After opening presents we packed everyone up and headed out the door to a great jungle gym place for kids. It’s a pretty fun place for kids to be crazy kids. They all had a blast!! Even the adults had a bit of fun too! (Daddy was still working in Baker, but was able to make it later in the afternoon!)

One of the best parts of the jungle gym was the big giant blow up slide they had. We got some great pictures of everyone coming down…. Most of them were pictures of pure fear, but we kept going up for more!!

Makayla was brave enough to try it on her own after a bit of persuasion and watching her sister and cousins go.

Kaylee had a blast!

Makayla, Kaylee, and their cousin Rylie had a blast together — all week!

Kiera wanted to try it out, but she wouldn’t go without me.  And Damen wanted to go, but I wouldn’t let him go without me! So we all went together. I think I may have made it worse! Everyone looks pretty terrified!

Then Makayla wanted to go with me and again, I think I may have made it worse. She did much better without me! It may have had something to do with my King-Fu grip on her crotch!!

She survived, but moved onto other things

After the jungle gym everyone was starving so Gramma wanted to take everyone to McDonald’s. That made for a very happy crew of little ones!

I am not quite sure what Damen is doing in this picture but he is somehow communicating to me how much he loves ketchup! And he LOVES ketchup!!

He will take a fry, dip it in ketchup, suck it off, and repeat. Then repeat, and repeat again.

After McDonald’s we went home and put the little ones down for naps and the bigger kids got to stay up and play. Gramma and I snuck out with Makayla and headed over to a cupcake boutique so she could pick out a very special cupcake for her birthday. Instead of doing a cake this year, I decided to make a bunch of cupcakes since we woud be sharing with so many little ones. So Aunt Mel, Aunt Steph, and gramma and I stayed up late the night before frosting & decorating cupcakes for everyone else.

Shortly after we got home, Daddy showed up!! It was a pleasant surprise to have him show up before we expected him. We had a nice dinner and then it was time for cupcakes and ice cream! I had hidden the cupcakes because I put them on a 3-tier glass platform and I didn’t want any little curious fingers or hands to get a hold of them. So while I am getting them everyone is patiently waiting….

And patiently waiting….

And finally here they come!! Makayla was super excited to see all of the cupcakes and to see her special cupcake on top!

She did a great job blowing out her giant ’5′ candle…

Now she is so proudly showing me her special birthday cupcake!

I am so happy she was able to celebrate her special day with so much family! It was such a fun day running around with all of her cousins! I am sure she felt like quite the little princess that she is! The last picture of the day was taken with her ’5′! It was a great way to finish the day! She looks so happy!

Just so we can remember what a special birthday it was for her, here is a picture of everyone who was there to help her celebrate. This is a picture of my giant family that we took 2 days after her birthday.

And here is a picture of gramma and grampa with “all of their little angels” – as gramma would say.

I am so thankful for each of those little ones! It is so fun to be a part of such a big family and it is so awesome that we all get along so well and love each other so much!

Happy 5th Birthday Makayla!! We love you so much! You are such a sweet spirited little girl. You love to share anything you have with anyone. You love to make others happy and you are very concerned about others when they are sad. You have definitely become more confident and social since you started Preschool! You have burst out of your quiet little bubble and it has been so fun getting to see you grow. You are still daddy’s little cuddle bug. You love to climb up onto his lap when he is watching tv on the couch and you love to climb into bed and snuggle right up next to him. You also love to scratch his back. He absolutely loves your attention and your loves. You love everything pink and you love to wear skirts! One of your favorite things to do is put on dress-up dresses and dance. You also love to color. You can sit and color and color for hours. We love you so so much!! Happy 5th Birthday Sweet Girl!