I'm lovin'........

......how Max says, so cheerfully, "See you in 6 hours!" every morning as he leaves for school.

......that I have older kids that can read to the younger kids.

......dirty, sticky two-year-old hands!

......how our house is a stray animal magnet (new stray cat....no name yet).

.......that I have the best church calling ever!.......Activity Days!!

......that we happen to know a really good Orthodontist.

......how I was so proud of myself for talking most of the kids out of playing soccer this year, then somehow ended up with basketball, football, art classes and soccer!

What the.......

This is what happens when you're 13, and no one will take you to the mall, or the movies, and you already went swimming.

It started with the hair, then my makeup.....

I'm not sure what look they were going for....... 1980's Flintstones maybe???

They were HILARIOUS!!

"I'll Take Jake"

Yay for our new Vice-President!! We are SO PROUD!
It was a tough campaign, but our man worked hard & delivered a great speech & was victorious!!!
So.... now I'm wondering how a kid who can't seem to figure out how to flush a toilet, or get his dirty clothes into the laundry basket is going to function as a school VP.
We'll pray for a miracle.
But I must say, this boy with his big chocolate-brown eyes just melts my heart. He is so sweet & always so sensitive to the needs of others. He's always looking after me , holding the door open for me, asking me how my day was, trying to help me out in any way he can.
Amazing!!!

I VERY reluctantly agreed to let him sign up for drums in Band. How could I say no to those chocolate-brown eyes??

"Don't worry Mom, I'll only practice in the garage", he told me.

Well, I'm happy to report that he hardly ever practices!!

So it's worked out great so far!

We love you Jake & Congrats!!!!

WE {HEART} HALLOWEEN!!!

Brian & I are both HUGE Halloween freaks.
We turn our home into a haunted house for Halloween night, we all wear costumes (& this year I have a dog I can dress up. Yay!), I buy Halloween hand soap, Kleenex boxes & paper towels.
The Halloween decor goes up on September 1st.
I'm burning the pumpkin spice candles.
I almost bought a pumpkin pie at Costco yesterday (but I knew I would eat half of it by dinnertime).
I've even sprinkled store-bought fall leaves on my front yard.
Anything to help along a little autumn feeling here in the desert.
Brian's probably even more psycho about it than I am.
Here he is (right after having Achilles surgery), webbing the haunted house fence that he made from PVC pipe (right before the Achilles surgery).
He so loves his web gun. It shoots melted glue that looks like real spiderweb. None of that cottony crap for us!! But then I get to clean it up afterward. Not so fun.
We almost bought an old grandfather clock on Craigslist to go in the entry for $50, then we came to our senses.
Each year we add a little more. We're going for authentic, not cheesy or gory, & that makes it hard to find good stuff.
The kids like to brag to their friends that we have the scariest house in the neighborhood, so we've got to deliver!




I used to make the kids' costumes, until I had 5 kids, & before they were old enough to have an opinion about what they wore. Those were the days.....
But I love that the kids love that I dress up. At least the younger ones do. I think the older ones are starting to get embarrassed by it.
So I'm having trouble figuring out what to be this year. I know!! It's already mid-September!!
It's tough, because if you've ever looked at adult costumes, it's about 3/4 naughty this & skanky that! Naughty Little Red Riding Hood, Skanky Snow White, Naughty Heidi of the Alps. Brian's all for it, but I don't know how that would fly at the neighborhood Halloween block party.....
Any ideas???
Here's some past costumes...

June Cleaver
Geisha girl (hugely pregnant with Gus)

Snow White & my Prince Charming. (I don't know why we look so tan!)
I've got to get this figured out. I have alot of haunted house preparations to do!

Snow in September

I'm laughing so hard that this post is following one about cherishing each moment & all that garbage (just kidding!).

Yesterday some boxes of Halloween stuff was delivered that was packed in styrofoam. I unfortunately gave Max the job of getting the styrofaom in a trash bag. Of course he couldn't not mess around with it. It got TOTALLY out of hand. That stuff gets magnetized & sticks everywhere! It took me HOURS to get it cleaned up (after I took pictures).

The look on Brian's face when he walked in & saw this was priceless! (he's a total clean freak)

And then, the toilet overflowed, like as in poo water running out into the hallway!

I'm glad these cherished moment are OVER!

"Every moment is a gift....

"Every moment is a gift,
Childhood a time to savor....
These are the days to remember."

I love this quote. We've all heard countless times from moms with grown children to enjoy these years, because you blink, & they're all grown up.

I'm realizing that they're so right.

I can't stop thinking about the Nielsens. Something like that happens & it jolts you from your self-obsessed little world of little everyday gripes & groans, and makes you see the big picture.

Every little moment is so precious. Because life is so precious. And life is so fragile, and not to be taken for granted.

So here's to a brand new day of finding the joy in the everyday moments, and loving every minute of it.

Sundays at the Masons

Unfortunately, Sundays tend to be one of the most chaotic days of the week. By Sunday night, my house looks like a bomb hit it.
I always try to make a big breakfast on Sundays. Pancakes with candy syrup....YUM!
We always play some soothing classical music through the house, trying to invite the spirit (not usually successful).

Things tend to get a little irreverent during those hours before church.

New Saturday haircut.
It just wouldn't be a Sunday without getting into the costumes.

Marlee feeling way uplifted.

Mars got Gus dressed. She put this bowtie on him from a vampire costume, and I actually let him go to church like this.... just for kicks....I hate bowties.

Zane's favorite part of Sunday. It's right up there with getting his belt on.

Max's drawings from sacrament meeting. Way cute.

These two really dig picking flowers & bringing me little bouquets like this. Apparently the serious face goes along with Zane's Clone Trooper costume. Don't mess with him when he's in character. I just got this costume at Target for Halloween & there's NO WAY it's going to make it til then. He's already sleeping in it.

We spent the evening throwing together a campaign for Jake's run for Vice President at school.

So I took this picture for his posters & was up til midnight making posters & working on a speech.

The things we do for our kids!

SO worth it!!

Five is enough??

So this is what's constantly on my mind these days.
This is how it goes:

......should I go for #6? (kids that is)

I would LOVE to have another girl....
It would probably be another boy (out of boy names)

I'm in crazyville most of the time with five...
Then again, what's another one?

I didn't get my body back after the last one...
No one expects you to look good after 6 kids!

I could have Gus in preschool next year...things could get nice!...
I'm just being selfish! Am I not put here on earth to multiply & replenish the earth!!

I'm too old!!....
Celebrities do it all the time.

I'm afraid I'll have twins (it totally runs in my family!)...
I would get alot of attention & I already know what I would name them.

No one would want to hang out with us or invite us over (bumload of kids!)...
We wouldn't need anyone else. We'd be our own party!

We would definitely need 2 hotel rooms on trips...
Mommy & Daddy could have their own room....Hmmmm...

My varicose veins would be a serious nightmare....
I plan on getting them removed when I'm done anyway.

I already gave away most of my baby stuff.....
If it's a girl, I could go CRAZY buying all the darling girly stuff (too poor to buy cute stuff when Mars was little).

I hate being sick & fat!
But I'm soooo baby-hungry!!!!

Now how sweet is that???

My little chef

I've never had a kid SO obsessed with cooking. He insists on being right in the middle of whatever is happening in the kitchen. If I forget to let him dump the cup of sugar or teaspoon of something in the bowl, he lets me have it! He'll pull a chair up to the stove, get a pot & spoon, and start scrounging for ingredients.....fishy crackers, salt, whatever produce is on the counter, random non-food items, & start stirring his "shoop". SO. CUTE.


He recently discovered playfood, AND that he can open our lower oven, so this is what he does for hours! He takes things out of the oven & tells everyone that they're "ott". Love it!
My little boy who was hardly saying "mom" a few months ago, is now jabbering constantly!!
We can't make sense of all of it, but he's definitely coming along. Why was I so worried?

One of my favorites

A photograph never grows old.
You and I change,
People change all through the months and years,
But a photograph always remains the same.
- Albert Einstein

I love this picture. It was taken last summer up by Yellowstone. The light was so beautiful, the kids cooperated, & I got lucky.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE photography......how a single moment is frozen in time, a moment that will never happen again. It's pure magic.

"My mother had a great deal of trouble with me....

.....but I think she enjoyed it." -Mark Twain

My little Zane gave himself a haircut last night.

It's my fault, really. His hair had been in his eyes for weeks & badly needed a trim, but all 4 of my boys needed haircuts so I wanted to take them all at the same time. But it's a bit of an ordeal, so I kept putting it off.....

So this is the aftermath. We got it "fixed" in the morning, but it kinda looks like a reverse Dumb & Dumber now.

I loved his long silky hair.....

Saturday Swim-time

lovin' the knock-knees...........the swim-diaper bum.........


....... the green goggles

Gus could swim ALL DAY. He can't get enough of it.


Daisy, on the other hand, HATES it. Look at her. There's no enjoyment going on there. Poor thing.

My adopted son Davis.

We HAVE to go for a swim on Saturdays. It's pretty much a rule at our house. We also HAVE to get Krazy Sub & blast some Earth Wind & Fire. It just wouldn't be a Saturday without it!

No fear at all!

This is what Gus looks like when it's time to come in. SO. HARD.