How come I didn't think of this?

A couple of Saturdays ago the kids and I were working together on 'family jobs'. They were anxious to finish so they could go play, so they quickly finished their assignments and I 'dismissed' them to go their way.

A little while later I could hear sounds from the kitchen that puzzled me. I walked in to find Katie and Emily cleaning the windows, and wiping the kitchen table. 'What is going on here?' I asked both puzzled and pleased. With smiles they said in unison, "We're playing Orphanage!" Then Katie added, "Ya, Mom do you want to play? You could be the mean lady at the Orphanage that tells us what to do!"

In my head I'm thinking... 'How on earth is this different from what we were doing this morning? I just was a mean lady telling you what to do.' But then I thought, 'This is brilliant' and 'How come I didn't think of this???'

So now we play Orphanage every so often. Yesterday when the kids came home from school I immediately assigned some jobs. "Mom, just wait... we'll play orphanage and then we'll do it." 'Oh, they just need a few minutes to get into character,' I thought as they climbed under the dining room table and pretended to wake up from their poor night's sleep. 'I guess I'll try to do the same! ; )

Surprise!

To celebrate Del's retirement, Chris, Nikole, Ashlyn, Lindsey and Shelley planned a big surprise Retirement party for him. Chris couldn't help but add to the surprise by taking Luke and flying out to Utah to be part of his big day. They enjoyed a short but full 48 hours of visiting, eating and letting the little cousins... Luke, Haylee and Kayla play together. Luke especially liked being with Grandpa... or so I'm told. Congratulations on your retirement Del!

Great talks

Here I am posting again... (you can tell my husband and my baby aren't here!) Our family home evening was fun tonight. Ryan planned it and had us read in Luke about the Good Samaritan. We read it, acted it out, he asked questions to everyone, and then had us plan a service project which we all need to report to him about at the end of the week. It helps pass off one of his Faith in God requirements. When we got done he wanted to do another requirement. So he read to us D&C 89 while I dished up the brownies and ice cream. We talked about almost every verse. Then I sent the giggly girls to bed and Katie and Ryan stayed up to finish talking about the rest. Like always happens with me one thing lead to another and soon we were talking about being teenagers, knowing that every commandment has blessings attached, dating, the 'secrets' that Heavenly Father gives us to help us be happy... etc. etc. The kids LOVE these talks and so do I. Every time I paused (which was rarely) the kids said, "Keep talking Mom"... and so I did. About my high school, about how to be popular and good, about how being the oldest in the family is a big responsibility because their siblings will follow their example... Somewhere in there Ryan said, 'Is it ok if someone from my school has a crush on me?' He told us who it was and how she told him, we giggled together, he assured us there were no mutual feelings and then he looked at me and said, "AND THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, MOM! -- You're the one who makes me wear cute clothes and do my hair!" Yes, it is true. I take all the blame.

It is amazing the transformation that occurs when I sit down and just talk to them. One of my main goals as a mother is that my kids will always want to talk to me, ask me questions and want to tell me everything -- crushes and all. Ryan says talking to me is 'the most amazing thing ever.' I hope that never changes. Love you kids! Thanks for great talks tonight.

A Look Ahead

Megan's week...
- Preschool field trip to the Columbus Museum on Tuesday
- Gymnastics on Tuesday
- Playdate on Wednesday
- Preschool field trip to Kids Zone on Friday

Emily's week...
- Ballet on Monday
- Gymnastics on Tuesday

Katie's week...
- Ballet on Monday
- Gymnastics on Tuesday

Ryan's week...
- Pine wood Derby on Wednesday
- Basketball practice on Thursday
- Basketball game on Saturday

Chris' week...
- A doctor's appointment on Tuesday
- Bishopric Stuff/ Pine wood Derby cheerleader on Wednesday
- Ryan's Basketball practice against the Dad's on Thursday
- Working all Saturday

Lukey's week...
- most of the above

Lisa's week...
- ALL OF THE ABOVE! and
- Girls Night out on Thursday
- Trip to the hospital for Glucose Test - whenever I can fit it in.

(and this is just the scheduled stuff we have to leave the house for!)

Missing in Action

The DVDs aren't sprawled out all over the family room floor.
The area around the highchair is clean.
No animals have been carried around or growling sounds made.
The gate to the upstairs remains open.
No one tries to escape into the garage.
The cereal boxes haven't disappeared from the pantry.
The Johnson pew at church was completely in order.
No sippy cups have been made.
The basketballs sit neatly in their container.
The baby Einstein movies feel neglected.
The wipes have no purpose.


Lukey in on vacation with Dad...and he is missed!

Riding Lessons

For Christmas Katie and Emily each got a little horse figurine with tag attached which read 'you will be starting horse back riding lessons in January. Enjoy!' They were both thrilled and have been anxiously awaiting their first lesson... which was Thursday.

We drove out to the farm after school. It's about 17 minutes away out in the country... beautiful and peaceful. The girls instructor, who we know from church, met the girls and off they went. With Geneva and Hanna in town, Chris had called ahead to see if another horse was available for Hanna. Sure enough they were all able to enjoy the lesson together. They walked down the dusty road to the back pasture and returned with their horses. Then they tied them up, brushed them, learned how to saddle them, and walked them up to the arena where they learned how to ride. They all did so good. It was so fun to watch... but a little unbearable for Megan who was dying to 'have a turn', and Ryan who kept saying 'this is totally not fair' every five minutes. The lady who owns the farm saw Ryan and Megan's sadness and offered them a ride down the pasture to help her unload the hay for some of the horses. They climbed aboard her little tractor and off they went. Then at the end they hopped behind Katie and Emily on their horses for a trail ride.

It's refreshing to be out in the country. Time seemed to stand still as we enjoyed the scenery. I know I can speak for the whole family when I say... "We can't wait till next month."


Emily and Ace

Katie and Rosie

Surprise!

Well, what do you know? Guess who showed up at my house on Wednesday afternoon... as a total surprise to me. Geneva, Hanna and 3 month old baby Cole. After a visit to her sister in Florida they drove North to spend a couple days with us. Chris was totally in the loop. In fact, it was his bright idea to keep it a secret from me. I could tell something was going on. He was being extra helpful around the house, extra interested in my schedule and extra sneaky. Don't get me wrong, my cute hubby is naturally helpful and always interested but something was just a little bit different and I could tell... I have been married to him for 13 years now and can read him like a book. Nonetheless he was able to keep me on pins and needles as to what the big surprise was.

Our girls weekend was not necessarily relaxing and spa filled... but it was wonderful. Half an hour after they got here and before a proper tour of the house we rushed off to get the kids from school and over to a cub scout field trip, out to dinner and straight to Young Women's. Sounds fun doesn't it? Well, as we've figured out before, we can talk about anything anywhere... and we did... even with seven kids swarming around us. You name it, we talked about it.

Chris was working nights this week... 3:00 - 11:00, so Thursday he took Megan and Luke and we took baby Cole, Hanna and Katie (totally skipped school) out shopping. We hit some 'mommy stores', Auntie Anne's pretzels and then a special trip to Justice for Girls to buy matching necklaces and vests for our little best friends. Then off to horse back riding lessons and back home for dinner and a relaxing evening. When Chris got home at 11:00 we ended up staying up till 3:15am chatting. A pregnant lady and a newborn mom? Are we crazy?!

Friday we headed up to Callaway Gardens for a couple hours. The girls were so cute being twins. We went for walks, found some great views of Robin Lake, checked out the butterflies, ate snacks and took pictures. When Chris left for work we got our babysitter and Geneva, baby Cole and I took off for dinner and a 'walk down every isle' tour of Target. Fabulous.

Saturday was rainy and filled with random errands, a basketball game and appointments. We relaxed, made a Italian potatoes and chocolate covered popcorn, rented movies and yes, talked some more. It was a fun couple of days. Thanks so much for making the trip, girls!!! Come back anytime!!

Inauguration

A day for the history books.

No matter what your political views, today was a big day. I love the crowds of people freezing in Washington, the American flags, the support, the entire peaceful process. It was fun to watch the inauguration... (the kids watched it at school during lunch) and be part of such a historic day. God bless America!

24

Chris and I have been so excited for 24 season 7 to start. Seems like we've been waiting forever!!! It is the perfect post-family home evening mommy-daddy activity... problem is we start it and I start falling asleep. I don't know what it is... I think the legendary ticking clock sound actually lulls me to sleep, reminding me of late nights when Chris would say... 'just one more episode.' Ah, fond memories. Wish we were watching it with the Crawfords!

My kind of pet

Emily came home full of excitement on Thursday. "Mom, I get to have Happy this weekend if you say it's ok." Happy is the Kindergarten class hamster. "Sure I said." Ryan froze and turned slowly. "Mom, I can't believe you just said yes! It's a PET, Mom." Yes, I know, I'm not fond of pets. But a pet for three days? That's my kind of pet!!!

Matching Aprons

My mom sent us these aprons in a 'after-Christmas' package. We love them. On Sunday after church when I put mine on the girls quickly grabbed theirs too. They were excited about unloading the dishwasher and helping me with Sunday dinner. I didn't know they were magic aprons. Thanks Mom!!!

Back to Ballet

Ballet started again today. Emily was a little nervous to be in her own class (without Katie) but when I saw her after class I said, "Em, I saw you in your class and you were smiling... I think you might have even had fun." "Ya, Mom, I was scared but you were right, it was awesome." I love it when I'm right.