Bop-it FHE

This week for Family Home Evening (1-26-16), Ryan picked Bop-it for our activity. We got one for Christmas and it turns out that Ryan is a pro. Here are some bad-quality photos of the fun.

Molly

Wednesday, January 27th-

Molly Post!!!



Asleep in the car with her blanket in her mouth.

Molly is our crazy, funny girl. She is still little enough to carry around and she still has her baby-talk. BUT she is definitely getting to be a big girl. She can dress and undress herself fairly well, which I don't think any of her siblings did at her age. She is more aware of when she goes potty, which means we are getting close to potty training. (I just have to get my game face on. It might be a few weeks.)

Molly is still in love with her blankets. She sucks on them which is super gross. We try to keep them on her bed, but when she's tired she searches them out. She has three blankets that she likes, although she usually favors one over the others.

Molly LOVES Frozen but we limit the movie watching. She has some Frozen toys and books that she really loves. 

She really loves baby dolls, which is fun because Cora has all sorts of dolls that she doesn't really play with.

Molly loves looking at books just like her siblings. She also loves it when her siblings read to her, which Cleod is especially good at.

She is great at pretending. She and Cora love to play with their toy kitchen and food. The other day she pretended to be sick on my bed and Cora brought her "food" to help her recover.

Molly is stubborn and already super spoiled. She is my first kid who doesn't come running when I start the "1-2-3" thing. She just looks at me like I'm crazy. She makes me feel a little crazy, so that makes sense I guess.

I am pretty confident saying that having our 5th child was the hardest thing I have ever done. Sometimes, when she was really tiny especially, I felt like I was falling apart. But when I would hold her it was like she was healing those broken pieces of me.

Five kids is still a lot for me sometimes, although I feel like we are managing pretty well. I cannot imagine life without our happy, crazy little one.

She is definitely a blessing for our family.

Choir, Chili's and Laundry Soap

 

Monday, January 25th-



Ryan smirking because I was taking his picture.

This evening Ryan performed with the Fiddlers Canyon Elementary Choir at a city Art's Council Meeting. They gave a small grant to our choir so it was sort of like a Thank You show. Silas stayed home with the other kids so I enjoyed chatting with friends and being able to video the songs they sang. Ryan is quite a performer and really gets into the music. I'm glad there is a good choir at their school.

 

Afterwards, Silas and the kids met us at Chili's. We went for dessert, but ordered chips and salsa and some nachos. We devoured three plates of chips and most of the nachos before getting our Molten Chocolate Cakes. Yes, cakes. We ordered two. Haha. We are a big family! :)

 

Cora took this picture at Chili's.
Grant was getting tired and rubbing his eyes.

We like to treat the kids after recitals or performances. Also, the elementary PTA was doing a fundraiser so a percentage of what we paid went to the PTA. There are a lot of fundraisers that I do not agree with so when there is one like this, we try to participate. AND, we had a Chili's gift card! WIN-WIN-WIN!

 

 

Tuesday, January 26th-

 

Molly's doing some awesome dive move.

Entertaining Grandma

The girls and I woke up Grandma Warby again this morning. Today I actually got some photos (although they aren't the greatest quality) of them dancing for Grandma. Poor Grandma was in so much pain today so she didn't really pay attention to the girls, but I think they normally help her to feel a little better about her life.

 

After Grandma's and some errands, Silas came home for lunch to watch the girls and my friend Amber and I went to Brick House Café for lunch. I totally forgot to take a photo but we had a great visit and ate great food! I love the sweet potato fries and caramel sauce they have there. YUM!

 

Later in the afternoon, I made five batches of homemade laundry soap. For years, I made liquid soap, but for a little while now I have been making dry soap. Here's the recipe:

 

1 bar Fels Naptha laundry soap, grated

1 cup washing soda (I use baking soda that I have heated at 200 degrees for 1 hour)

1 cup borax

1/4 Pyrex crystal things (optional for scent)

 

After grating the bar (I broke that part of my food processor) you put the soap, soda, borax and crystals in the food processor until they are all mixed. DONE! I funnel the dry soap into the Pyrex container and use the cap to measure about 1/4 cup of soap when I do a load of laundry. I use OxyClean too, but don't add it in before I wash. Not sure why. haha.

 

 

 

 



Lazy days and first haircut

Thursday, January 21st-




Cora singing to Molly

All plans for today were thrown out the window starting at about 3am when Molly came into our room and said, "I throw up my bed." She was up on and off for a few hours but after a few hours of uninterrupted sleep she was her old, silly self.
The girls spent most of the day pretending together. I caught this photo of them while Cora was "playing" the piano and singing to Molly. Molly joined in singing here and there. They love playing together. When I get to join, I'm usually the grandma. I actually really like that too!



Friday, January 22nd-

Molly's first haircut

This morning the girls and I stayed home. They were really good at just playing together again. By afternoon it was clear that Molly wasn't going to be sick again and Cora was fine as well, so I spontaneously made them appointments at the hair college in town and we headed over. Cora has had several hair cuts, but it was Molly's FIRST HAIRCUT!

They both had their hair appointments at the same time, but Cora is so easy-going that she went with her stylist and chatted away. Too much, probably.



Molly telling the stylist how old she is.

Molly was a champ as well. She really is a spunky, silly girl so watching her so quiet was great! She didn't talk at all but did everything the stylist asked her to.

It has taken me so long to get her hair cut because she has always had cute little curls at the bottom of her hair. I'm afraid they are gone. I had a clipping of her hair which is something that I have never done. Molly is definitely super spoiled and I don't care. :)

Cora's haircut is a cute, layered bob that doesn't take a lot of work to style. I'm excited about that. When I only had the three boys at home is sounded so fun to do a little girl's hair. When Cora's hair was long enough, I really did enjoy the bows and the different styles, but on a daily basis I cannot always find the time to get her hair fancied up.

I love my girls!



Before and after

Before and after



January 20

Wednesday, January 20th-

Deruchette had her baby last night! It's a girl! And she is a miracle. The Warby family is basically our family and we are very happy that Tamina is here.



Breakfast with Grandma Warby

Although I was anxious to get over to the hospital and see my friend and her new, little one, the girls and I started our morning waking up Grandma Warby. For a while now, I have been helping out either waking up or putting Grandma to bed. It has been really good for me and for my kids. Grandma (Florian Matheson Warby) is actually my cousin. Well, she's technically my second cousin, twice removed. My grandma, Pearl Matheson McAllister, my mom's mother, is Florian's second cousin and they were close in age and both grew up in Parowan, UT. Grandma Warby also new my Grandpa Rowley's family, including Grandma Cora who our Cora is named after. My Grandma, Pearl, died when I was very young and my Grandma Rowley died when I was in college. I knew her very well and lived with her for the last few months of her life, but in my naivety I feel like I didn't care for her as well as I should have, at the end. So in some ways, I am making it up to my Grandmas, who I love so dearly, by caring for Grandma Warby the best that I can.

Grandma Warby was an only child due to the tragic deaths of each of her sisters before they turned one. For this reason, and others, Grandma is used to getting what she wants. She can be feisty and hard to deal with, but over all I really enjoy interacting with her regularly.

My kids have had a good experience watching and caring for her a little too. Cora and Molly love when we get to eat breakfast with her. Before we leave in the mornings, they always dance for her, usually to "Somewhere My Love."



Waiting for appointment

Lazy Molly in the waiting room

After getting Grandma settled, we went to story time at the library, something we do nearly every Wednesday morning. Then we headed to the Ear, Nose and Throat specialist in town, Dr. Pearson. Cora has had very bad breath most of her life and I finally wanted to see if it was anything serious or if there was something we could do.




Dr. Pearson is the doctor that removed my tonsils a year ago and Cleod's several years ago. He is a very smart and nice man. He didn't find anything wrong with Cora's tonsils or sinuses. He did find that she has a lot of build-up on the very back of her tongue, so we just need to clean that better. Cora was so good when he was poking around in her mouth. It is almost ridiculous how much she loves going to the doctor. In the picture I took, she looks nervous but she wasn't AT ALL. She kept saying that she couldn't wait to meet him.



Waiting for the doctor

Miracle baby

After the boys were home from school and done with homework, I was finally able to head to the hospital to visit with Deruchette. I teared up as she told me about the delivery. Tamina is only 4 lbs. 3 oz. and 17 inches long, although she was full-term. The cord was around her belly several times and it was scary getting her here, but they were watched over and had a great doctor to care for them. When I was visiting, the baby was in the nursery so I was just planning on chatting with my friend, but Brett was able to take me back to the nursery so I got to hold her for a while.

She is adorable and itsy-bitsy. She makes all sorts of interesting faces and has a precious little cry. She is going to fit right into her wonderful family!

Holding Tamina

January 18 & 19

Monday, January 18th-

Happy MLK Day! No school for the kids and no work for Silas!

I always feel so super excited for these little vacation days, but sometimes I have unrealistic expectations. I think I can get so much extra housework done, but I really usually get less done.
At this stage in my life, I have a lot more flexibility because we don't have a baby and we have older kids who are very helpful but I still feel overwhelmed with the amount of housework I need to get done. I haven't been able to really declutter much lately and in the back of my mind I imagine that Saturdays and holidays are perfect days for getting these things done.

But then I think of my husband who works so hard all week and my kids who have a lot expected of them by their teachers and by me. They need days where they can just hang out.

Once I realized this today, the day went well. I enjoyed having everyone home and letting them do whatever they wanted to do.



Tuesday, January 19th-

Mondays are my normal, big laundry day but since yesterday was a holiday I didn't end up getting more than one load. On a normal Monday, I usually wash 6-8 loads. On Thursdays I wash one or two loads, depending on what has a full load.  (I'm weird and only wash when there is a full load normally.)

After we had baby number 5, laundry became a much more daunting and stressful task for me. I tried doing all of the laundry only once a week. This did not work for us. I never got it completely done and there was usually something that we needed cleaned before the next laundry day.

Then I tried doing one load every day. In theory, this is great because you can get one load washed, dried, folded and put away. But I started having dreams about doing laundry. It was occupying too much of my life doing it every day.

Kids' laundry buckets

I started reading some other people's ideas and have slowly found what works for me. First of all, I had to get over the fact that laundry would be out most of the time. My washer and dryer are in my upstairs hallway and I resisted for YEARS having anything out after laundry day. But with5 kids and other things that need (and want) to be done, I got over that. I labeled little buckets with the kids' names and I leave them out on the hall-wall all the time. I fold the kids' laundry and put it right into their buckets, when they are full the kids take them and put away their laundry.

Teal, blue and white hangers.

Another thing I read (and just recently started) is using one color of hanger for each child. My three boys are in school and I hang their school clothes. Now that they have their own color of hanger, it is easier for them to grab their own hanging clothes and put them away. The only thing that this doesn't work on so far are Cleod's jeans. I still use pant hangers on his and Grant's but they are different enough in size that it isn't hard for them to tell the difference.

The other thing that I do is sort my laundry by color. I love my laundry hamper with all it's beautiful laundry bags! I sort my laundry by: whites, lights, reds (including pinks and oranges), darks and jeans. Like I said earlier, I don't like to wash unless I have a full load and my bags are the perfect size for one load's worth of clothing.

I know, I am a little crazy, but I feel good about my laundry now and don't feel like it is the worst chore ever anymore!

January 16 & 17

Saturday, January 16th-

This morning I woke up early and helped Cleod get ready for his first scouting trip. The 11-year-old scouts were invited to go ice fishing with the boy scouts. They drove to Panguitch Lake for half of the day and had to use augers to cut through the ice, which Cleod said was more than a foot thick. It was really weird sending him on a trip like this, without me or Silas going too. I wanted to be nervous, but with the leaders that were going I was confident that he was safe. They only caught one fish, which they had to throw back, but Cleod had a great time. One of the leaders later told me that he was an "intense fisherman." I thought that was cute. It is probably because we aren't very outdoorsy and he was soaking it all in.


Sunday, January 17th-

Today was another day that demonstrated how our family is getting older. In the evening after church we had a program called Great to be Eight for Grant where the primary leaders in our ward explained the promises that are made at baptism and all that goes into that day. The meeting was for all the kids that will be turning 8 during the year. Grant was surprised because his birthday is in October and we haven't really talked about it much with him. It helped him to become more excited and it helped me to be more determined to teach him more about baptism and the Gospel in general before his birthday.

The next meeting we went to was the Priesthood Preview where the boys in the ward that are going to turn 12 during this year were taught about some of the duties of the Aaronic Priesthood and specifically about what the Deacons do. Cleod was very excited to learn some of the patterns of how the boys pass the sacrament on Sundays. This meeting also helped me to feel so much gratitude for the Gospel and the Church and that the Lord allows the Priesthood to be on the Earth to bless us.

When we got home, we were able to spend some time with Uncle Darin and Brooklyn. We haven't seen her much and we were all very excited to see her and visit. I love my family!!!

January 14 & 15

Thursday, January 14th-

I love Thursdays!

We rarely have much going on Thursdays after school so it is probably the most relaxing night of the week. The big boys caught up on some homework and Ryan got A LOT of reading done. Ryan is a great reader but he doesn't get interested in certain books enough to stick with them. Tonight he finished the second book of a series and is excited for the next one. That makes this book-loving-momma happy!

Ryan reading

Lots of helpers

Flipping crepes

Another happy mommy moment... Cleod made most of dinner tonight!!! And it was crepes. I showed him the measuring and flipping a couple times and then I left him to it. And he did great! I folded three loads of laundry


Friday, January 15th-

Tonight we went to another Fan Fest at SUU. This one was not as kid friendly and was attended by a lot more people! They ran out of food within 30 minutes or so and people were buying their dinners at the concessions and other stores that were open on campus at the time. Afterward, we went to the SUU Gymnastics meet again University of Utah. I have never seen the Centrum so packed at an SUU sporting event. It was crazy. Unfortunately, we lost but it was fun to get out an support the team.

Excited for the meet to start!

This is how full the Centrum was about
20 minutes before the meet started!

January 12 & 13

Tuesday, January 12th-

The day after being sick is rough!

Today I ate ice cream for a morning snack. It was the only thing that sounded good. And I think it actually helped me to get some energy!

And then I crashed. haha.

On a happier note, 25 years ago my brother Darin baptized me. I remember it being a special day. I'm grateful for my membership in the LDS Church.

 

 

Wednesday, January 13th-

 

Today I am grateful for…

• Good scout leaders for my boys
• Good friends
• Electricity
• Amazon.com (just ordered a couple of used books!)
• Health

 

 

 

January 10 & 11

Sunday, January 10th-

Today was a success!

• Silas had 3 meetings and helped in another ward's primary.
• I went on visits with the Young Women's Presidency and were able to meet a girl we haven't been able to contact.
• The kids only watched one movie and it was after dinner!
• We were 10 minutes early for church.
• Ryan worked hard to be reverent during primary class.
• We had Jambalaya for dinner!

Monday, January 11th-

Moms shouldn't get sick. It messes with life!

This morning I woke up with the stomach bug that we thought was long gone. It was MISERABLE. Silas was able to stay home to watch the girls and shuttle the boys to school, the orthodontist and piano lessons. I am grateful that he was able to stay home.

Silas reading to the girls.
(He does a great accent for Skippyjon Jones!)

So I read the new book club book about Black Mormon pioneers and watched the entire second session of a Hallmark show, When Calls the Heart, thanks to my nice friend Megan.

Speaking of orthodontist...today was the day! Here are some cute pictures Silas took of our Ryan and his braces!


BEFORE

DURING

Almost there! Look at that face! He's so cute.

AFTER! (This is at home about 9 hours later.
You can already see a difference between his
front two teeth!)

January 6 & 7

Wednesday, January 6th

The boys were so tired this morning from being sick yesterday that I decided to let them stay home to rest today. Ryan and Grant are back to normal, but Cleod isn't feeling well.

I went to the school and got the school work they have missed and we spent the day, on and off, reading, doing math and social studies homework.

After feeling temporarily overwhelmed with life this afternoon, I decided to skip mutual tonight. I am the Secretary I'm the Young Women’s Presidency and like to be at all the activities, but with 3 other leaders, plus leaders from the Spanish branch (we combine with their youth for weeknight activities) I knew they would be fine. Thank goodness I decided to stay home. Silas came home with a headache and fell asleep by 7pm, the time I would have had to be at the church. Cleod threw up less than an hour after that, and although he's 11 years old, I think he still needed some support from his mommy.

Thursday, January 7th

Molly joined the club during the night when she threw up in my bed! But I was grateful that she had come into our room so we could take care of it right away. From about midnight to about noon today she's been getting sick. It is so sad to watch a 2-year-old be so sick.

Poor Molly Moo!



Watching Frozen on my bed.
(Sheets were in the washing machine.)

Me and my sick Molly. She is
also ALWAYS happy, even
when she's sick.

This evening, I was able to go to my monthly book club meeting. I love visiting with these ladies and eating yummy food. Tonight we discussed Pollyanna. It is a very cute book that helped remind me to look for the positive in every situation!


Today I'm grateful for:

• Cleod being home to entertain Cora while I took care of Molly.
• A washer and dryer!
• A good neighbor who brought my other boys home from school.
• A nice husband who willingly runs to the store after work for me.
• Holding Molly while she napped.
• Early morning workout

 





January 8 & 9

Friday, January 8th-



Silas drinking his Sprite/water!
The waiter filled his half empty
Sprite with water. HAHA!

Some faucets and sinks we like

Me and my pretty hot cocoa

Cleod is still sick so we had another lazy home day. Lazy is relative, especially for the Mom, but it was a relaxing day.

Silas and I think it's important for us to have regular dates. Sometimes we do home dates, but it felt especially good for me tonight to get out of the house. We ate dinner at the Thai restaurant in town, which is delicious, and “window shopped” at Home Depot. We are currently in the market for a new kitchen sink and faucet. Wow, are they pricey! But we figured out what we like and have a goal to save for it. Then we went to one of our favorite places, The Brick House Café, and ordered hot cocoa (SO YUMMY) and cheesecake! Totally fun and delicious date!


Saturday, January 9th-

Our day in photos...

Christmas gift from my parents that we
finally put together! It is now the home of all
the games and puzzles.

Molly not letting me pass when
I got home from the gym.





Cora in the bouncy house at the SUU Fan Fest!

Being silly at the SUU Fan Fest.