Oh Lily....

Lily laughs pretty much all the time. She wears her heart on her sleeve and is either laughing, or crying. :)  She has really great, understandable language. I'm clinging to words like "flumb"(thumb) and lellow, because pretty much every other word is totally free of little kids sounds. (clear r's, l's, s's.)  She talks a lot. Like, all the time.If she isn't talking, she is making some sort of noise, lalalala! All that noise makes it hard to be a good listener sometimes.... but she isn't usually naughty, just distracted!

 Jane and Henry and I crashed Lily's fall field trip to the pumpkin patch. It was fun to see her interact with her class mates, she is a full head taller than most of them and acts like it. ;) She loves Pre-K and is at that awesome stage where she sounds out everything. She'll write whole pages of letters the "meensumfng" (mean something). You get the idea. It is lovely! Most of the time her her notes say "Lily Loves ___" (insert name of family member).

 Lily was planning her birthday for 11 months and 30 days. :) She already is looking forward to being 6, but I keep telling her to enjoy today! Live in the moment!!! She loves to color and draw and will spend a long time playing all alone with a dolly. The other day I heard her playing all alone with imaginary friends. I love that!  She is really sweet with Henry and they play together really well, today they were on and off the bus (couch) a hundred times!

Lily wanted to be Fancy Nancy for Halloween. The thing was... she pretty much is Fancy Nancy everyday. :) Life would be so boring without Lily around. She is such a sweet, cuddly, loving little girl. She is so entertaining and delightful. She always wants to be helpful and do the right thing.

Oh How I love this boy.

Oh, Henry. He is full of fun and energy and keeps us all laughing.  I am loving his language--- words like whobody. Such a great word!  During the month of December, we rocked out to Christmas music, pretty much every waking minute. :) Everytime the Little Drummer Boy would come on, no matter who the artist or where we were (car, kitchen, home, party...) he would stop what he was doing and run to me, grab my chin so he could get my full attention and say "Dis be Misso Gwummo guy?"  (Mr. Drummer Guy) It charmed me every time! 

Henry is a big kid. He likes to do all the things the big kids do. He has rocking moves with Just Dance 2 on the Wii, is a whiz on the computer and can race hotwheels and build spaceships with his trio blocks. He is happy about 99% of the time, just a really good natured kid.  He loves his big brother and sisters, and often asks where they are if they aren't home. He shouts a lot, likes to be independent with everything but the potty (he is a social pee-er. He just wants company!) Henry isn't picky and will eat pretty much everything.

Henry is a likable kid. He is easy going, doesn't beat his friends up, pretty good at sharing, INCREDIBLE at delayed gratification, and irresistable when it comes to kissing and squeezing. Fortunately, he is just a big love and loves to cuddle with his momma. :)

This week my goal is to post a "snapshot" of each of our kids.  Since the past year of my blog has been so lame, I'm hoping to catch up a bit by writing down some details about each of our kids that make them so unique.

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hello?

I'm a non-blogger blogger. But... I miss being able to look back at my blog and see what was going on in my life, so I'm re-committing myself.    I'll start by telling a few things that made me happy yesterday.

I was standing at the kitchen counter making waffles and a cardinal was enjoying birdseed at my window feeder. I love being inches away from those beautiful creatures and watching their little beaks munching!  It was one of those, "my life is so good" moments: good music playing, happy kids, warm kitchen, yummy smells, good food, beautiful life.

Michael was in need of new pencils for school. I found 6 brand new pencils, sharpened them, and left them on the table by his homework. When it was time to clear the table for dinner I told him those pencils were for him. His enthusiasm was awesome. You would have thought it was a brand new game for the Wii or something. :)  Sincere gratitude is a beautiful thing.

Lily and I were playing some silly game where she puts a pillow on my head and I act shocked. As the pillow fell off my head, she threw her arms around my neck laughing and shreiked in my ear, "Oh Mommy! I just LOVE you!"  :)

Eve came home in a mood.  I think it is the sassiness of 8.  I reminded her how the tone of what she said was as strong of a message as what she said. A few minutes later, after being less sassy, she said "Wow! I feel a lot better! That tone thing works!"  :)

Jane did a ton of Math work today... in various positions/locations. At one point I walked in the kitchen to find her sitting on the floor with her book on a chair.  Not ideal, but it made me laugh and she completed all the work she needed to finish.

Henry. Just Henry. He keeps me laughing all day long.  I sat under him and watched Sesame Street for a while today, he is lovey and cuddly and adores me... it is mutual.  I think I "cocked" his nerf gun at least 5,000 times today. 

Dave built a lovely fire for FHE.  After we had our snack (banana split on a spoon: one slice of banana, a spoon of Neapolitan ice cream and a choc chip on top... I don't do big snacks at bedtime...) and the kids were tucked in bed, I sat in front of the fire and read for an hour. It was warm and lovely.

I have a good life.

The Whole Oxygen Mask Thing...

Dave and I were invited to the most Spectacular Birthday Party EVER! :)  My Dad turned 70 and Bev threw him an amazing party.  All of his children and spouses were invited to go on a Cruise with them.  What an amazingly generous gift we all got for his birthday!  

We were so excited. But, we have 5 kids.  How do we do this?  Oh yeah, Dave's amazing parents! They flew out and spent 8 exhausting days with our kids. The kids had an amazing time with them. There wasn't a single minute of our vacation that I felt nervous or worried about the kids. I knew they were in competent and LOVING hands.  Every time we called we heard laughter. :)  It was such a blessing that they were willing to come and do this for us. 

Our first stop was Sally and Jason's house.  The Peel family went to church and Dave and I napped. And nobody woke us up. It was Awesome!  (Our flight left Philly at 6 so we had a very short night!)  We enjoyed Halloween  California style and loved watching their kids flitting around the yards handing out candy. They have such wonderful kids and it was so fun to see Sally and Jason.    The next day we went to see Dave's Grandma Steimle.  She is such a sweet lady.  We got to see her new place and eat lunch in her dining room. (Couldn't help but notice the 45 different varities of walkers!)  You can tell that everybody loves her!  Every time we get to be with her feels like such a treat. She is such a positive cheerful lady. 

Then Sally drove us to our ship.  When we got to our room we had an invitation for the official Birthday Kick Off Party!  It was such a total JOY to see my siblings.  I haven't seen Will in almost 2 years, Jenny & Eric, and Amy & Chad it has been 4.  We saw Angela and David 4 years ago and Heaven knows when we saw Joel last. Plus, we were able to meet his darling new wife Alicia.  I kept crying.  It was just so fun to be in a room with all these amazing people!  

Jenny worked really hard to create a memory book for Dad. It was beautifully done.  We enjoyed Pumpkin Pie, (Dad's favorite!) and watched the sunset and the land disappear.

The next morning... Wait. I have to tell you how cool it was to sleep in.  It has been nearly 12 years since we actually slept in last. (well, at least me ;))  Even though Dave and I were not accustomed to Pacific Time and woke up at 5:30, it felt like we had slept forever!  What a treat!  The next day we spent on Catalina Island.  It was so nice to just wander around together.  My pictures are severely lacking in Joel & Alicia and Bev & Angela... I think because they ditched us and our GPS tour for shopping. :)  We ate a wonderful meal (probably my favorite of the whole trip) and laughed and had fun.

The next day was spent in Ensenada, Mexico. We had a great time shopping and being touristy at La Bufadora.  La Bufadora is one of the biggest blow holes in the world and was really really cool. Water shoots out of this little under ground cave (or something like that... I need to learn more.)  My favorite part was when we were posing for a family picture and we had our backs to it and we all got soaked. Awesome! 

The next day (are you tired of this trip yet? Tough. I'm not. It was awesome!)  We spent the day on the ship.  We played mini golf, read, relaxed, did music trivia with the cruise director and played shuffle board on the Lido Deck. :)  Really, it was so fun just to hang out together and get to know each other again. I have an amazing family.   Plus, we all wore matching cruise shirts and people asked us for directions and what time the black jack tournament started.

 Our last day of vacation was spent in Disneyland. Holy Cow! It was so much fun!  We had a great time going at our own pace, doing fun rides our little ones would hate (Space Mountain! I LOVE Space Mountain!)  We got soaked on Splash Mountain and loved the fantastic fireworks. It was so hard to say goodbye to everyone and head back to our hotel. So hard.  I was really weepy. I think mostly because I had anticipated this trip and spending time together, and it was Over! :( 

When we came home I realized why they tell you on the plane to put your own oxygen mask on first before helping people around you (your kids).  If you can't breathe you aren't of any use to anyone.  This trip kind of felt like a giant dose of oxygen. We both came home feeling so refreshed and like our marriage was fresh. I had no idea how much Dave and I needed time together.   It was hard to be away from our kids, but it was GLORIOUS to spend time together and relax without the pressure of day to day life!  A million thanks to Dad and Bev, and Linda and Alan who made it possible! 

The Jenny Nicholas, 34 days till Christmas Concert Extravaganza.

Tonight our children put on a concert for us, complete with programs, signage, a band, and autograph pages.  Jane was Jenny Nicholas. It was awesome.  I just love how my children do things like this... it takes me waaay back to when I was little and we put on "shows" for our family. :) 

Lily was "Samalina".  She is something else.   I am not sure where she gets this stuff, but goodness, Dave and I just can't keep a straight face.  This photo is from the first day of school,  I asked her if I could take her picture. She struck this pose and her teacher said out loud (I think she might not have realized it wasn't just in her head.)  "Oh My."  :) 

Turkey Point Lighthouse

Turkey Point Lighthouse was on our Summer Fun List and we just kept putting it off. Ok, I kept putting it off. 
I'd never been there so I didnt' know what to expect, and with 5 kids, I need to know what to expect--- the kids are unpredictable enough!  Anyway, in late August we took a Saturday afternoon and went on an adventure. 
Henry is under that big blue hat. I didn't dare let go of his sweaty little hand while I snapped the picture!


The "hike" from the parking lot to the lighthouse is .8 miles.  Not so bad, but it was really hot and humid. When we finally reached the lighthouse we were permitted to climb the beautiful spiral (and really scary) staircase up to a ladder, then we were in that top little room. I'm pretty sure it was 200* in that lovely little room. We quickly said, "yep, that is a view alright!" and then tried to get down. It took some coaxing to get Lily to go down the ladder but Michael was a rockstar helper and we made it down in 6 very sweaty pieces.
 Henry is 3 feet off the ground and it was a rocky trail. Do you remember what little boys do when they see rocks? They pick them up of course! Every blessed rock!  It took us forever!  :) On the other hand,  when you hike with a 2 and 4 year old, you notice all the things on the ground, even under the bushes that you'd never have seen.  On the way up to the lighthouse we were astonished by how many butterflies we saw.  On the way back it had tripled. They were EVERYWHERE.  I actually noticed a guy tallying them and stopped and picked his brain about butterflies. I guess Elk Neck state park has an amazing butterfly population and we were there on the peek day of the summer, this gentleman was a huge butterfly guy and said he had never seen so many in all his years. It was amazing!  I think our favorite was the zebra swallowtail.

It is hard to tell, but under the edge of that bush we saw probably 25 little tiny butterflies! It was so cool. Like I said, hiking with a toddler gives you a whole new vantage point. :)

Because I've never had an original thought...

Here are links for the October crafts.  I made the cute jars with the kids last year, they were so fun and easy. It was fun to pull them out this year and hear the kids telling which was theirs. I love when they have ownership in a project like that!  I made them at the kitchen table with my 5 kids and 3 extra kiddos all 10 and under-- so they must be easy! :)  Here is the link.  Oh wait, she just shows pictures, no directions!  Oops. Her pictures are fun though.  You simply modge podge strips of tissue paper to the outside of a jar. It is fine if it isn't perfect, ours have bumps bubbles and even a tear or two.  After it is dry you modge podge the face on.  I will say they could probably use a coat of some varnish type something, they were a bit sticky this year when I pulled them out of storage.

The rolled flowers are all over, and mine aren't the cutest, but the girls were happy with them and they'll be worn plenty this month! Is there any other time of year you wear orange and black? Here is a link for how to make them.

Hooray for October!

 Hooray for creating new hair thingies!  I realized last night how much I enjoy making things!

 And Hooray for pulling out decorations we made last year!  I just love these- everytime I do dishes I feel happy!  (Pictures are from last year our leaves haven't turned yet.)

I love October!

5 senses

I Hear:

• beautiful soothing music on the stereo,
  
• Green Eggs and Ham, read by Dave to Lily and Henry
• Michael, Jane and Eve laughing and drawing

I Smell:

• Carrot Cake baking
• Cream Cheese frosting mixing

I See:

• Halloween decorations that make me smile
• Kids dressed in matching red yellow and blue church clothes
• Gloomy skies

I Taste:

• Just a touch of frosting... to see if it is just right ;)

I Feel:

• A cool breeze from the kitchen window and a warm draft from the oven
• Totally and Completely Content.

Oh that every afternoon could feel like a Sunday afternoon.


I miss blogging. I'm coming back. Watch out google reader here I come. :)

Belated Trip Report

Last night I lectured Michael about not keeping up with his journal and writing important things down as they happen.

Hello hypocrite mom.

So, here I go. This is a marathon photo post from our trip to upstate New York and Niagara Falls, Canada.

Our first stop (after the 3 bathroom stops, gas stop, etc.) was in Harmony, PA. This is the sight recorded were the Aaronic Priesthood was restored to the earth. It was cool to be there and talk with Michael about what that means, especially as he will turn 12 this year. It was a beautiful location along the Susquehanna Rover next to a very old cemetery where Emma Smith's parents were buried and Emma and Joseph buried an infant son. Henry wasn't into posing... he more likes the action shots. But look at his expression, couldn't you just eat him up???


Next we headed towards Palmyra New York. The drive was incredibly beautiful, rolling hills and green green green. We caught up with Aunt Emily and Uncle Joe and sweet Ruby and Joey. Then we went to the Sacred Grove. I would like to share what an amazing experience it was to be there, in the grove... but really, it was just a lovely walk and a tough balance of letting kids be kids in the woods and remembering we were on sacred ground. We'll have to go back someday when we have time to ponder rather than parent. :) I loved going through the Joseph Smith Sr. home and picturing all those big bodies in such a cozy cabin. I also loved seeing the places we know Joseph Smith hid the golden plates from the mobs. Imagine what tense days those were!


After the grove we ran to Subway for dinner then over to the Hill Cumorah pageant. It was an awesome feeling to be in a place with something like 8,000 people who were interested in the stories found in the Book of Mormon. The pageant was amazing, I'm so glad we went. The cast is incredible too.

Things I don't want to forget: How amazing it is that cousins pick up where they left off... no warm up time, just love and fun. Henry, pointing and shouting "bad guys!" and " Fire!" A lot. :) He enjoyed the show till he climbed up on my lap and fell sound asleep. Lily snuggling on my lap and telling me about what was happening, she was really into it. Watching the wonder in Michael, Jane and Eve's faces. Seeing the tears stream down faces as the Savior makes his appearance and at the very end of the pageant. It was precious.
The next morning we visited the Grandin publishing house, then headed for Niagara. Dave told the kids they needed to talk like Canadians, saying "eh" after everything. I laughed so hard! They really caught on. Then, when we got there, he told them they needed to walk Canadian (same arm as leg) I almost fell over laughing at him and the kids walking like this down the street. It was hilarious to me... maybe I was rummy from so many hours in the car?
Maid of the Mist!




So, putting plastic bags on sweaty bodies in the wind is hard. :) We also had been told to pull them tight around the kids faces so they didn't get soaked... this was bad advicewe quickly loosened things up. (probably given by someone who went when it was cold outside, or with kids who were really frightened by the whole thing...) and It was way cooler to feel the wind and water all around you. It was loud and windy and wet! It was really a fun experience. (once in a lifetime... next time we would go for the walk behind the falls!) It was fun to watch the kids faces, the falls are HUGE when you are on that tiny little boat rocking around at the base of them. So much water! You would think it would run out someday!

We parked way above the falls and so we did a LOT of walking, but it was so beautiful. Our kids were such great troopers. We stopped every few feet for another amazing photo op. The views on the Canadian side were incredible and our timing was perfect. We got there late afternoon and the sunlight was just right.



After walking and posing and walking and posing the only way to get Henry's attention was to show him Lightning McQueen cars from my purse... then he could have cared less where we were he just wanted to play. :) The kids sacked out almost the minute we buckled them in and we drove alllllllllllll the way back to Maryland. It was a crazy trip but I'm so glad we went. So many times over these days my heart felt so full. I have a strong testimony of the divinity of the Book of Mormon and it is a powerful experience to be where it all began. I also have such a special family. Watching my kids love and enjoy time together is the best thing on earth. (and Dave is a saint.)