Winter Wonderland: If at first you don't succeed, try, try....ah never mind!

We started at 11 :30 a.m. Big beautiful fluffy white snow flakes were still falling. We had plenty of time and only 3 quick stops to make. I packed everything we need. Hot chocolate. Check. Appropriate clothing: Check. We braved the slow roads and got on the freeway thinking, "surely they plowed it...right?" 20 mph and 100 hours later we got off the freeway. 1st errand: drop off a resume. Jason runs in....the kids scream Christmas songs at the top of their lungs. For 45 minutes. Jason comes out. Mommy and kids are grumpy. Daddy cheers us up and on we go. 2nd errand: Brave Wal-mart 3 days before Christmas looking for a sled. It's snowing. It's December. Wal-mart sells sleds don't they? Apparently not. Unless you count the 2 orange ones that only one kid can ride in at a time that cost $12 and will crack or get run over before we can use them again. It's now been almost 2 hours. Kids have to pee. Daddy needs to change. We run home again. Daddy changes. Off again. We stop at Shopko, buy the last 2 sleds (65% off.) 3rd errand: drop Natalie off at Grandma's house. Kids go pee, change into snow pants, coats, gloves. Liam is a basket case. It's 2:00 and we haven't had lunch or naps. Lizzy is crying, her "nickers" are literally in a twist under her snow pants. Jane cries. She fell in the snow. (she is completely encased in winter gear so at this point I'm thinking she's okay.) Ben wants to stay and play with friends. THAT'S IT!!! Everyone get in the car--except Liam, he's staying for a NAP! We're going sledding if it kills us. We unstuck the van-Grandpa and some neighbors help push us out. We make the 20 min. drive to the park one mile away and VOILA! Sledding heaven. Ahhhhhh. We lasted almost an hour in pure bliss sledding and giggling-until Jane "had to go". It was worth it.



Natalie "objects" to broken gingerbread.



GINGERBREAD HOUSES
We decided to start a new tradition for occupying Christmas Eve morning. Making gingerbread something or other. It was a yummy sticky idea. Too bad the homemade gingerbread was too soft and so was the icing. Here are the pictures to document the activity: (despite the picture at the bottom, we all had a good time!

Sour Crumb

At our ward Christmas party last night, Jason took the twins to the restroom. He could hear them in there singing something and giggling. When they came out, they were doing this weird contorted dance move. It was then that he realized they were saying "sour crumb" which loosely translates in little girl talk to "sauerkraut". If any of you have seen Thoroughly Modern Millie, you'll remember that awesome dance. Here's a video of the girls doing it.

What I've learned

Well, here it is. Grab your notebook and pencil, I'm about to unleash my boundless wisdom on motherhood and children. It should be groundbreaking...so prepare yourselves! Here's a list of the important things I have learned. Maybe it will help you. Maybe it will help me!
1. Kids don't know what the word "swallow" means. Don't ever tell a child to swallow their food unless you're sure they know how to do it! That's a mistake I've made more than once!
2. Sometimes mommies cry.
3. You'll say things that you'd never imagine such as "Don't eat your shoelaces," "We don't put our head in the toilet," and the ever popular "Do I have to turn this car around?"
4. Laugh. Laugh a lot. Out loud. Even if it's fake and forced. Even if it sounds strangely erratic and makes the kids look at you like you have lobsters crawling out of your ears.
5. Sometimes, the only way to live through the pressure is to get in the car and scream out loud. There's something very calming about letting that pent up energy out. I KNOW I'm not the only one who has done it.
6. Heavenly Father is over ALL and wants you to be hopeful and HAPPY.
7. Repent.
8. It's not a big deal if playdough gets stuck in the carpet. Once it dries you can vacuum it up.
9. Buy WASHABLE art supplies. Even if they're more expensive.
10. Marker and pen wipe easily off the fridge.
11. Fingernail polish takes fingernail polish off the sink but not the wall.
12. Strawberries can be washed out of the carpet but bananas can't.
13. Pray. A lot. Even more than you laugh.

Oh I'm just full of them. Don't worry, with a little effort, you too can be as good as me. Ha hA! All right, let's just admit it. I have absolutely NO IDEA what I am doing. Last night someone complemented Jas and I on the behavior of our children. Usually we're the freak show. Those of you with kids may know what I mean. You go anywhere and the stares follow you. Like the other night when we took our kids to the art museum and the security gaurd followed us through the whole exhibit. (I had it under control. They kept their hands in their pockets or on the stroller which Liam was strapped into for safety.) But today, I decided to embrace who I am: A lucky mommy of 5 who has no idea what she is doing but is nonetheless enjoying the ride! What is the best thing you have learned from kids? (yours or someone else's)

Natalie's Blessing

Beautiful dress made by Grandma
17 Kids 7 and under
6 infant car seats
6 babies
Lots of screaming and Yelling
Good food
Wild Party
Sacred Blessing
+___________________________

=A Really Special Night

Art Time

In an effort to spend mre time with my kids, I started a midday activity affectionately called "art time." We've done some fun projects-the biggest hit being simply painting with water colors. I'm looking for new ideas. Does anyone have any suggestions of low-cost=easy-to-do art projects? I'm all ears- or rather, eyes.

Our Guy Kid

I was busy when I last posted and didn't get a chance to do a post for Ben on his birthday. So let the brag session begin! Wen Ben was born, people looking in the nursery window would identify their cute relative and then exclaim "Oh my gosh! (we're in Utah) Look at that one!" and point at Ben. He was so cute with chubby, hairy shoulders and chunky cheeks. He weighed a whopping 8 lbs. 12 oz. and came out facing sideways. He's always been very creative and active. I think the reason that we had twins is because he REALLY wanted to be a big brother and have siblings to play with. He's a good brother and loves to play with Natalie now. Ben is smart. He's way ahead in reading at school and can play "Jingle Bells" and "Ode to Joy" like nobody's business. He was my buddy when it was just the 3 of us. We would spend hours outside together. As a baby, if he was crying all I had to do was take him outside. (Usually.) We're so glad we have him now as he is such a help with the younger kids. He has lots of nicknames. The one that really stuck is "Benny Penny" because he has swallowed almost enough loose change to buy an ice cream cone. Liam idolizes him and copies everything he does. Thanks for being such a good example Ben!!

President Uchtdorf said MY baby was pretty

Jason and I were lucky enough to be able to attend a seminar given by Pres. Uchtdorf to the pilots down at UVU. He talked on his love of flying and how to balance it with family and church responsibilities. I really appreciated his wife Harriett's remarks. We got there early so we got to sit on the front row and shake his hand. When they saw Natalie, both he and Harriett said she was beautiful. It was an uplifting experience. I'm always amazed at how the spirit FLOODS the room when a general authority enters. How can one be in the same room as such a man and not believe? We literally felt him before we saw him.

Halloween 2008

I think this year Halloween went really well. We went to Jason's work party with the kids where they ate some sugar, then home where they ate some more, then trick-or-treating with more sugar, and then the grandparents for the rest of the sugar in the world. We only had one child throw up from the sweet stuff. Trick or treating was nice because it was so warm. It was fun to see all of our ward friends and neighbors out enjoying the fall weather together. We also had a nice relaxing visit up at the Findlay's where we watched 'The Russians are Coming' (Findlay tradition) as the kids slept off their sugar highs.

Crazy thougts, new addiction, and general catch-up

So, I am basically crazy. I know a lot of you are thinking "5 kids in 6 years, yeah she is," but that's not what I mean exactly. It's crazy that I have 5 stinkin cute kids and a freakin hot husband but sometimes I still feel ungrateful! Shame on me. I'm living the good life. Natalie is fitting right in and has actually added an ounce of extra serenity into our home. ("Quiet voices, the baby is sleeping.") The other kids love her and so they obey when I ask them to do things for her sake. I'm not sleeping but, at least while I'm awake, I get to hold and cuddle the baby.

My new addiction is my latest reason for my inactivity here on the blog. My mom got me addicted to Goodreads (thanks a lot mom) and every time I go to the site I plan on just staying for a few minutes. An hour later, I'm still there. I know I'm not the only one who enjoys this site. Honk if you love reading! I think they should make one for movies and music. Then I could spend all of my time on the computer and let the kids stay up late every night because I'm in the middle of adding new things...bedtime can wait. Honk if you love bedtime!!!

In other news, Ben celebrated his 7th birthday!! We love our Ben and think he is the greatest big brother ever. He's developing his musical talents further. The other day he got out Jason's guitar and figured out how to pluck out melodies all on his own. He's got a really good ear. Picture to come later-I haven't been able to get him to stand still long enough for me to take a good picture.

You are not my mother, YOU are a snort.

I love the sounds that newborns make! I normally would preface this post with a disclaimer saying that I was just posting it for my own sake and for record keeping purposes. However, I'm fairly confident that I'm not the only one who thinks that this is FREAKIN CUTE!!! Natalie is doing very well. She sleeps well at night and would probably sleep through the night if I held her the whole time. She's not fond of being alone and sleeps better when there's lots of noise and activity around her. She's a good eater and has gained 2 pounds and one inch. (Babies generally loose weight during the first 2 weeks.) She's a happy little snort and we all love her!

10 points to whoever can name the book that the title of this blog comes from...

To: Aunt Amy From: Luscious

Head

Shoulders
Knees

And Toes

Eyes

EarsMouth and Nose

Many of you know that all of my children have weird nicknames and our Natalie is no different. She has been nicknamed "Luscious" because she reminds me of a luscious peach all covered in fuzz.

Natalie Michelle Findlay (23 September 2008)

FINALLY, our little Natalie has arrived. She did take a little persuasion (Oxytocin) but in the end she decided it would be ok to come. Michelle was a spectacular example of the perfect expectant mother.

We arrived at approximately 7:00 am this morning (Tuesday September 23, 2008) and Michelle received the oxytocin at 8:15. By 10:33 MDT Natalie had arrived. She weighs 6 lbs. 12 oz. and is 19 1/2 inches long. She has thick dark red wavy hair. Please enjoy these photographs.

Hell Hath No Fury Like...

A woman who doesn't like her doctor and STILL has not had her baby.....contraction, contraction, contraction....no baby. BLAST!!!

Catch-Up Post

This last week has been a busy one. For some reason, mother nature has seen to inflict lots of tricks on me in the last few days. I'm in and out of labor. The baby will probably arrive sometime this week. We're excited about her arrival and can't wait to meet her. Lizzy and Jane have been practicing their mommy skills on all of the babies around us.

Ben is settling into school really well and is enjoying his music classes and has made some new friends. Grandma and Kristen took a shopping trip a few weeks ago and came back with these matching outfits so of course we had to have a photo shoot. I think we got some really cute pictures. Thanks Grandma!

My little Liam Bruce has emphatically told me that he isn't little anymore. He growed up. Liam celebrated his 3rd birthday this week. 3 year olds are fun to buy toys for. He has been excited about all of his new toys. He's such a happy kid and I can't imagine our family with out him.