Nat's Slumber Party!

I decided that Natalie should have a slumber party for her 10th birthday, because that's what I did! It was kinda crazy-- next time we'll invite fewer kids. But they had a lot of fun!

Decorating Cupcakes with the early arrivals

She wanted bug cupcakes! Bees and ladybugs.

Pizza and Presents

Watching a movie and enjoying the fabulous candy dish.

And I can't believe I didn't get any tent pictures! We set up the tent in the back yard and they thought it was so cool to sleep in it!

Plaid!?!?

Background fact #1: There is an episode of "Wow Wow Wubbzy" (a cartoon enjoyed by jess and missy) where wubbzy and his friends discover the land of plaid, where everything is plaid. They are so excited to visit such a wondrous place, but after spending some time there they get bored and realize that even plaid can get old.


Background fact #2: Missy says "shworts" instead of "shorts." It's so adorable that I haven't even really tried to correct her.



Missy's statement, out of nowhere today:
"I didn't know that plaid was REAL! My shworts are plaid!"

Into the woods . . .

On Saturday morning I woke up determined to get my family out of the house and into the woods! It's FALL! And while the trees in town are still green, I'd been noticing some red up on the mountain. It seems like every year lately the leaves turn up there and I mean to go see them, but then the wind starts to blow and before I know it it's too late. This year I'm determined to get up there numerous times so that we get all the leaf-looking and being-out-in-the-not-too-hotness that we can get.

So we went! AND I brought the fancy shmancy camera that we use for the business so I could take some cute kid pics. (I also tried to make the kids look extra cute as we were getting ready, but that turned out to be too stressful and I gave up.)

We went to our very most favorite place in the world, the spot where my family held their reunion for more than 15 years. The great thing is that Jason got to go there quite a few times before we changed spots a few years ago, and he loves it as much as I do.

It was so funny trying to get the kids to let me take their pictures. Jess was excited about it and had fun posing, but the rest of them were pretty annoyed because they didn't want to stop playing. But the cool thing is that they all did it. They didn't whine or pout, they just patiently posed and smiled and put up with their silly mom. They're such great kids.

Missy insisted on taking me on a long trek into the woods to find the perfect spot for her pictures, and once we got there this is what she did:

This is the only one of her that I really like, and it's cropped from one of her with Jason and Mandie.

Mandie had a lot of fun up there! She's getting so grown-up.

Here's Jessica with her "J"Being "The Queen of Nature"





Melissa was very excited to find this "log" and we helped her make a bridge out of it.

Last but not least: the best pic of the day

How funny is Josh in his harry potter glasses??

If I can get all my kids to love reading, I will be one happy mom. Natalie's always loved it, and now Josh is well on his way! It's so fun finding fun chapter book series for him to read, and watching him enjoy them.

Go reading!

And speaking of Josh, now that he's 8 he gets to be in Cub Scouts! He has never loved anything so much. How awesome that this program exists to let him have fun, be with BOYS (my poor brotherless child) and learn cool stuff!

Go scouts!

The Fair!

We had our county fair on Labor Day weekend. We haven't been in quite a few years so we decided we'd better go and let the kids go on some rides. We also visited the petting zoo while we were there and the kids totally loved it. It's so fun to see their reactions to real live animals! And of course Mandie was the cutest. There is nothing in the world like watching a one-year-old discover what an amazing world they live in! I didn't really get any "good " pictures of her with the animals, but I'm putting these up anyway.

Here she is touching a bunny

This is the look she got on her face when she saw the HORSEY!

And here she is leeeeeeaning as far toward the piggies as she can. It was just so stinking cute.

And I LOVE this picture! How cute is she?? She really loved the carousel. She's totally just old enough to be able to enjoy it. She got that she was riding a horse, and she thought it was so cool to see Dad and the kids pass by every time we went around.

Here's Jess and Missy on a little car ride
And Nat, Josh and Dad on the cool big kid ride.
The kids' attitudes about the rides really said a lot about thier personalities. Nat is totally big enough now for any ride and loved them all. She really wanted to be able to spend her own money and choose how many rides to go on and buy some treats, and I was telling her that in 2 or 3 years she'll be big enough to come with her friends and (yikes!) no parents! I have many fond memories of going to the fair with my friends.

Josh was pretty timid about the rides. We'd ask him if he wanted to go on something and he would say no, but then with a little convincing he would go, and he LOVED them all. Never got scared at all.

Jessica wanted to go on EVERYTHING. Nothing looked to scarey. But then when she went on a couple of the bigger rides, she wasn't too happy. They were a little too scarey after all, and they bothered her very sensitive tummy.

Missy was very picky about what she went on. She wasn't as brave as I'd expected. She's so loud at talkative at home that I forget how timid she can be in public. She also took the decision of which ride to go on very seriously. She wanted to know all her options, have lots of information on them, and then take a lot of time thinking it over.

These kids are all so different and interesting! I really need to work on getting to know and understand each of their personalities better. I was just reading something (I think something churchy) about how you're supposed to tailor your approach to child rearing specifically for each individual child.

Yeah. Gotta get on that.

Thirty, flirty, and thriving.

Heehee, remember that title from Thirteen Going on Thirty? Love that movie.

So I thought I'd actually write about myself for a change.

I turned the big 3-0 last week! I used to wonder how I'd feel at thirty. It always seemed like no one was ever happy about turning 30 when I was a kid, and I thought as long as I was married and had a couple kids, I wouldn't be upset at turning 30.

Then I started growing up. I remember around 26 I realized what it really meant to be getting closer to thirty. It meant I was no longer just starting out. I no longer had my whole life in front of me, and plenty of time to do whatever I wanted. I took a college class when I was about 23 and had two kids, and at that time I totally fit in with all the college people. Nobody knew that I wasn't just a young pup like everyone else. At 26 I realized that probably wasn't true anymore. I offically looked (and probably acted, and definitely felt) older. I was forever past that phase.

A couple months ago it occured to me that I'm actually totally happy to be turning thirty! That was a cool moment. I was talking to my sister-in-law Julie at the time, and she said I was probably feeling good about it because I've lost so much weight. I've lost 50 pounds now! (Actually, 52 as of today ;)) And I think she was right. Not only do I have higher self esteem and more energy, but losing that much weight has actually made me feel successful. Like I've actually accomplished something that not everyone can do. That's a pretty cool feeling!

Of course, even without that I certainly wouldn't be bummed out turning thirty. I have a fabulous husband who I love about 100x more than I did when I married him, and 5 gorgeous healthy children. And a house, and friends, tons of fabulous people in my life, and awesome relationships with my amazing amazing family. Life is sweet! I'm a lucky girl.

(ps, now that I'm 30 shouldn't I be thinking of myself as a "woman"?)

It turns out that 30 also finds me at an interesting crossroads in my life.

We're done having kids. I never knew how cool it would feel to be at this point. First of all I always thought it would be really hard to decide to be done, that I'd always be wondering whether there was one more waiting to come. But it turned out to be a very clear decision for us, even though we had originally planned to have 7 or 8 kids.

Second, it always annoyed me to hear women emphatically announce, "this is our last one." or "oh yeah, we are done," because it seemed to be an insult to the kids they did have to be so glad to not be having more. Now I realize, it's actually a huge deal to know you're done. I feel like now it's time for a whole other part of my life. The part where I get to focus on just being a mom, instead of on being pregnant, wondering if I am pregnant, wondering when to get pregnant, etc etc etc. It's kind of like finishing a delicious meal. It's not that I didn't love it, but now I'm satisfied and looking forward to dessert.

One thing I'm looking forward to is going back to school. I'm probably going to do a class or two next year, when Missy's in kindergarten, and then start full time the year after that. I thought about doing a 2 year program to become something like a respiratory therapist, but then I remembered that I love going to school! So why rush it? I'd like to at least get a bachelor's, if not a master's. The jury's still out on what I'll actually BE though. Any ideas? My friend Noelle is a family therapist and thinks I'd really like it, and I think she might be right. I've also thought about being a social worker, a sign language interpreter, or some kind of medical technician.

In the mean time I'm trying to really make sure I enjoy the last few years of having little children. I'm loving spending the days with my 2 little ones right now. Missy and I are doing "home preschool" which is totally fun for both of us, and Mandie's totally getting to the age where she's ready to learn and play with her big sister.

Last of all, I just feel the need to point out that I am not flirty. I remember when I first knew Jason, we were at a ward devotional or something, sitting on the floor eating refreshments. My adorable roommate Jamie was like, "go flirt with him!" and I was like "no, wah, I'm too shy" (or something like that) and she goes, "just go sit by him, and put your hand on his knee when you tell him something, then leave it there . . . " She was such an expert. It would have been a good idea. I didn't do it. I did go talk to him though.