Christmas!

Pajamas lovingly made by Grandma Tregaskis!



Christmas this year was pretty near perfect at the Findlay home. My parents did the Santa put-together as a surprise so we went to bed at 11 pm and slept until 7. Not too shabby. In the morning, once we were ready, the plan was to let each child loose one at a time so I could get a picture of his/her face as he encountered the glory of Christmas morning. Each child came running in with a fake, frozen smile, stopped dead in front of the camera and stayed there, waiting for the flash, with out looking from left to right at the presents around them. Huh.

Ben waited for his allotted "flash" and then casually looked around before doing the double take of all double takes. He saw his bike and I think it took a few moments before he realized that THIS thing was HIS! For a second, he just stared at it before bounding over. "I GOT A BIKE!" Yes. Not only a bike, but the 'COOLEST BIKE IN THE WHOLE WORLD'!

Lizzy came running and stopped about halfway into the room. She posed as only Liz can pose before going for her stocking. Mean mom that I am, I wouldn't let them have any candy before breakfast. (I let them once, and 3 kids threw up.) We couldn't have that mar Christmas morning. After checking that her stocking was safely stowed, she turned as Jane came in, 'froze' for her picture, and then they both began testing all the doors, knobs, and buttons on their play kitchen. Jane's first action after that was to look for the presents she bought for others. The girls spent the entire morning making a wedding lunch in their room and getting all dressed up for it. I was invited to tea and the dancing to follow.

Liam was the only one who came straight in, (of course I didn't get a picture of him because by that point, I had given up) found his GeoTrax airplane, and began exclaiming over it while trying to tear it open. He tossed the name card aside without reading it; he KNEW this was meant for him. He only asked for one thing for Christmas, and while it didn't match his description exactly, it was what he wanted. (A airplane with one turning thing that's orange and has a remote control.)

Natalie came chirruping in and spent the morning wandering from kid to kid, kissing, hugging, and stealing their presents, interspersed with sitting on my lap and opening her presents. She loves to see the kids happy and was in her element that morning.

We only had a partial meltdown later that afternoon (I think because of the regular wake up time-but really, who could expect kids to sit down on Christmas day and do something ordinary like eat lunch when there were so many toys and puzzles to use?!) and that was followed by quiet time at Grandma's that lasted for almost 2 hours. Mommy got to read and rest and Daddy got to try out new Nintendo games with Ben. We were totally spoiled by our parents and friends around us who helped us out during this period of unemployment and made Christmas magical for our kids. WE LOVE AND THANK YOU! We hope everyone's Christmas was wonderful and that a great new year will follow for all of us.

Headline: Karate Baby Kills Mother in All Night Wrestling Match

Natalie has grabby hands. You know that part on "The Incredibles" where Helen is all stretched out and stuck in the doors? You see her hand reaching around for the bad guy and then she punches him and knocks him out? I experienced that at the hands of my innocent little girl last night. Several times. I'm glad I don't have a black eye today. She also likes to feel around for my jugular, and then HIYAH! Karate chop to the throat. Why? She's half asleep, WHY- I ASK YOU must she flail her arms and dimpled little fists about my face and throat. This went on last night for FOUR HOURS! I kid you not. Now, let's add to the equation: I must have been more tired than I thought because instead of taking my antacid, I accidentally took one of Ben's sleeping pills. Soooo, in addition to the judo match, we add THE WORST HEARTBURN IN THE HISTORY OF HEARTBURN and super dizzy brain from the sleeping pill. When will that last stubborn molar poke through?

Of course, when we woke up this morning, she climbed up into bed with me, chattering happily, and gave me a big slobbery kiss and a luvey. Ahhhhh.....all is forgiven.

Cutting a Tree

Monday we started a new tradition and took the kids with us to cut down a Christmas tree. It was fun to be together and let the kids rediscover snow. Natalie's reaction to the snow was funny. She started out standing with her feet braced shoulder width apart and her knees slightly bent. A minute later, she was squatting and flicking it with one finger. A minute after that, she was sitting in it and eating it with a huge grin on her face.

We parked the car by the side of the road and let the kids play while we walked the prescribed 100 feet from the road and cut down our tree. We also had fun touring around Ephraim showing the kids the places where we met and had our first kiss. (I later found a paper Lizzy had been coloring. She wrote: Mom Daddy + Lizzy and Jane. Pas (place) cod (called) Ephraim is mommy and daddy cist (kissed))

On the way out, we stopped to visit Great Grandma and Grandpa Findlay's grave site. I think the kids will remember the day for a long time. It was fun to go somewhere together!

Ben's Birthday, Baptism, and Halloween in All Their Glory

We had a lot of fun with Ben's birthday this year. He chose to stay up late with Mom and Dad and watch Spy Kids. He ate so much popcorn and candy during the movie, that at one point he stood up and said, "Wow! My head feels funny. Why does my head feel funny?" It was nice to have some alone time with "The Kid." I can't believe how grown up he is. We're very proud of him and how well he is doing in school.

2 days after his birthday, we were blessed to watch our oldest child enter the waters of baptism. He was pretty nervous about going under water but he stayed very calm and did great! His daddy confirmed him that same day and did a good job as well. Now we're working on the idea of fasting...that might take some time! Thanks to all of our friends and family who came and supported Ben. It made him feel special.

Here are Ben's thoughts on his baptism:
Now I'm not worried about going under water anymore. I felt weird but good after I got baptized. I felt the spirit when my daddy gave me the gift of the Holy Ghost. I liked having friends and family over afterward for a party. It was a good day.
Halloween was a lot of fun this year. Everyone was cheerful and warm. We started early, before the sun went down and covered twice as much turf as usual. The kids got way too much candy but I- I mean, we-were able to take care of that by sharing. With mommy. A lot. I didn't get a picture with all 5 kids because by the time "Superman" was ready, "Zorro" opted out of any further photo sessions.

Ben: Zorro

Lizzy: Hermione

Jane: Barbie princess

Liam: Superman

Natalie: Kitty

Goop

I remember when we were little and did something silly my mom would call us "goops." (I get my talent for nicknames from her.) Liam is a silly goop. The other day, Jason was sitting on the stairs, putting his shoes on, when Liam came up out of the blue and called him "your majesty." Here is a reprise:
The picture below is a recently rediscovered picture of Liam last winter during Ben's orchestra concert. It was too cute not to post.

In Chloris Leechman's words: "YOU'RE ALL FIRED!!!"

The 2 of you that actually read this blog are no-commenters.

Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures

Natalie had freezing feet today at Grandma's house so we put some socks on her. They were so slippery she got stuck doing a stradle as her feet slowly slid out from under her. Grandma fixed it by using some medical tape left over from her surgery. Now she can run. And get into whatever she pleases. The picture is the clearest one I could get. As soon as she had them on, she was off! I couldn't get her to sit still long enough to take a picture. The other picture is Liam's first day of preschool. Isn't he handsome?!

What David calls jud

I've never really used my blog as a place to bear my testimony before. However, the thought struck me last night that when you combine my hormones with the spirit, I wouldn't be able to bear my testimony in public in any way that someone could understand. I get a little "weepy" you see. I was pondering about the horrible no good very bad day we had yesterday, and realized how many blessings we have. So here it is: (I like lists. It helps me get everything out. If Jason ever asked me to write a poem about why I loved him, he'd get a numbered list.)

1. On trials: I just finished listening to an awesome talk from the 2005 fall conference on trials and what a blessing they really are. We've been so blessed to take a lot of leaps of faith in the last 2 years and really try our testimonies. We've had directions and promptings from the spirit that didn't make any sense. Following these promptings has been very difficult for me. I like to be able to know how everything is going to work out in the end. Some of these leaps of faith have yet to be worked out. However, we are relying COMPLETELY on Heavenly Father for everything. This in itself has been an amazing experience and wonderful blessing. I'm grateful for the opportunity to feel the spirit, to live in a country where I can act on its promptings, and to try my own faith and endurance. I'm grateful that I have a knowledge that Heavenly Father not only has a hand in my life but is completely involved and cares very much that I make it through the tough times. The decisions we've made may not make any sense to the world, or to me, but I do have a testimony that I'm where I'm supposed to be and that everything we're going through has been for our own good. It's been confirmed by the spirit so many times. took Liam to the doctor yesterday. He failed his hearing test and was borderline on his vision test. His poor little body has already been through so much. To add to this, he will start school looking different than his peers. He will be questioned and probably teased. I hate the fact that he may need a hearing aid and glasses to go with everything else. He is the best example I have of being content and happy in whatever circumstances one is put in. He is the happiest kid I know. I'm grateful to be his mother and to learn from him. It may turn out all right. He may not need a hearing aid or glasses. His spots may fade before school starts. But he will be okay with whatever because he knows Jesus loves him, and that we love him, and that he has an eternal family. He is content with that.
   
2. On having another baby: When Liam was about 2, we decided that we were done having children. After all, 4 is a perfect number. The van was full, no one had to touch anyone else, 2 boys 2 girls, perfect set up right? Everyone had a buddy. We gave away all of our baby things. Nice plan. Heavenly Father's ideas were different. After miscarrying in 2007, I realized how incomplete we were. The birth of Natalie was such a joy to us. I couldn't believe how much more complete we felt. But there was still a child missing. I felt it- but ignored it. I imagine it was somewhat like Brigham Young being directed in polygamy. I couldn't understand how I could be competent enough to care for 6 children when 5 seemed almost impossible. We finally went to the temple and prayed about it. I was prepared for a "no, you're done having children because it's the responsible thing to do in your present circumstances" answer. I was shocked however to not only get the opposite answer, that there was another child, but that he was waiting RIGHT THEN. I was more moved to strongly feel the presence of his beautiful spirit while pondering on my answer in the temple. It was later confirmed in very specific wording during 2 priesthood blessings. I am so humbled that children have been sent to me. What a blessing they are! I know having families is an important and wonderful commandment. I am so grateful to be able to experience this part of life.
   

Natalie is ONE

Here are some random pictures I had from the first day of school. The day they started, blogger wouldn't let me upload pictures for some reason.

Ben is enjoying 2nd grade. He has all kinds of friends that he wants to bring home or invite to his birthday party. He really enjoys his computer class. Jane and Lizzy are just excited about everything there is about kindergarten. I walked them into their class on the first day and didn't cry, thank you very much. Their teacher put them at the same table but not next to each other. It's worked out great! Liam loves his preschool class. He is very excited every time I tell him he has school that day. He often puts his backpack on and waits outside in his pajamas. The picture I got of Liam is on my mom's camera. I'll post it later, but it's a typical silly pose by Liam where he's pretending to be a super hero.

The big new this week is the baby is ONE! She has been such a joy and a blessing to our family! She was the easiest delivery on record (if you don't count the false labor before) and slept through the night before she was 2 weeks old. She loves to snuggle, unless she's supposed to go to sleep. She's also discovered that she can pull Liam down and wrestle with him. They both think it's hilarious. She has a funny courtesy laugh and she started walking last month. She now occupies her time toddling like a penguin from one disaster to the next. Such an advanced baby.

She has earned herself all kinds of nicknames including: precious, peaches, monster baby, destructo, mabbers (Ben and Liam call her that), and nonsense.

Happenings

So, in case any of you were wondering, it has been officially declared that I am the "meanest mom in the WHOLE world EVERY DAY!" So, if you're ever feeling like a bad parent, don't worry, someone else is worse and was declared so by her 5 year old daughter who didn't want to help clean out the trash in her room. Good thing our lovely upstairs neighbor gave her some pizza and let her come over and play. It helped her forget she is living in a prison with no rights.

In other positive news, IT'S A BOY! Whoohoo. Actually, I didn't have a preference either way but we're excited to know and now I can start working on a quilt. We're getting really excited for our new family member to arrive but we still have 20 weeks left to wait so I'm trying to calm down and snuggle the others as much as I can before my time is divided even more.

Life is getting crazy here with all of the driving to and from the schools but the kids are loving their classes and doing very well so it's worth it!

Little Piggies

Isn't this the cutest thing you've ever seen?


I don't know if I'll leave it because she looks too stinkin grown up. I've never had a baby with hair though so it's fun to play with. She's just a little peach.

Liam's Birthday

My little guy is turning 4 today. It seems like I was just putting him in those little zip up pajamas and rocking him to sleep. He's a crazy kid now. This week working up to his birthday he's come up with some great comments:

"Hey Jane, I know why they're called Gran (Graham) crackers. Because they're for grandkids."
"No, they're for grand people, like grandmas and grandkids."
"Oh, yes. They are."

"YES! That's PERFECT for you face!"

"When I turn 7, I'm going to be a dad and go to work on a Tuesday."

When I asked him if he wanted to have his party at home or at the park he responded, "At Grandma's because it's a 'beery special pwace.'"

In a sing song tattletale voice- "Moooooom, Jane is freaking me out back here."

He likes to come up with silly games with Jane. He also REALLY likes construx, Star Wars, and GeoTrax. He plays quite contentedly by himself but also has lots of friends. He's a good guy and we are so glad he's in our family!

Tagged

Getting To Know Me Better

TAKE THIS SURVEY!

Carly tagged me here. I tag Amy, Kristen, and Dedra

Take this survey

If you could see any band in concert, who would it be?
Honestly? Probably the opera.

Does your family have a garden?
Yes. My parents do and I pretend it's mine.

If you could have 3 wild animals as pets, what would you pick?
3 tigers

What style of clothes do you normally wear?
Mom uniform: jeans and any clean shirt I can find.

Do you play any sports on an actual team?
no

If you were to dye your hair, what color?
My hair color is the only thing I like about my appearance.

What is your favorite music genre?
Classical

When is the last time you actually went running?
I college. My body protested violently by making me sick.

Milkshakes or Sundaes?
Sundaes, with Arctic Circle french fries.

How many songs are on your music player on your computer?
That's Jason's department

Eyeliner or lipstick?
Eyeliner. There aren't many shades that go with red hair.

Hair with volume or flat, straight, thin hair?
Smooth please.

Have you ever colored your own hair?
no

What kind of shoes do you have on?
Flip flops

Do you have a doorbell?
yes-please knock.

Have you ever pet a camel?
Camel's are scarier than anything else at the zoo.

What about a cow?
Yes

What's the craziest name you've given a pet?
Do my kids count?

What comdiments do you like on your hotdog?
Just Ketchup

What is your favorite gum?
anything with whitening.

Do you over use the saying "your mom"?
Of course!

How often do you sit around on your butt?
As often as I can with 5 kids.

Do you think you have great hair?
?! No way.

Ever cut your hair yourself?
Nope. I cry when professionals do it. What would my reaction be if I did it myself? I shudder to

Current thing that is making you happy?
My family.

What color are the blankets on your bed?
Red

Do you like watermelons more or cherries?
Cherries

Last time someone recorded you on a video camera?
Natalie's birth (afterwards of course.)

Last time someone took a picture of you?
I can't remember but it was probably Jason.

Can you say your abc's backwards?
Who can't?

What color is your shirt?
Red

Do you know anyone shorter than you?
My kids

Taller than you?
All of my brothers and sisters

Where are your ancestors from?
Mostly the British Isles, some from France

What do you order at taco bell?
Chicken soft taco. But Taco Time is way better.

Has a dog ever licked your mouth?
no way

Do you know what crop dusting is?
yes

What can you cook the best?
Ask my husband

Have you ever gave or been given a hickey?
I'm pleading the 5th

Tell us a memory from riding the school bus:
The Larencos wouldn't let us get on. Finally, the bus driver kicked them all off.

Do you have allergies to anything?
Probably, but I can't figure them out.

Would you adopt a child?
I used to say I would, but now I don't think so.

Last lie you told?
I never lie. I'm just like Superman.

Do you know how to dance salsa?
Once upon a time...

Are you obsessed with anything?
Reading, quilting, and my family.

Do you like it when it rains?
Yes. Especially at night.

What was the last thing you bought?
A maternity shirt. Is it too hard to make one with sleeves that doesn't have to have an undershirt?

Are you going to do another survey now?
no

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And Baby makes....it tooooo crowded

While at the temple last week, the sealer urged all of us to reread the Pearl of Great Price. I felt strongly that I should obey and the first words that met my eyes were:
"And I, Abraham, saw that it was needful for me to obtain a new place of dwelling." I'm just sayin'.... Anyone want to buy a 3 bedroom condo?

Murder 1

For the first time in my life, I'm considering some nice illegal acts.....yes...that would be nice. Maybe a little breaking and entering? Or vandalism? Hmmmm. How much time would I get for that? Maybe they'd let me off because I'm pregnant? A lot of women go a little psyco when they're pregnant. I could plead insanity. Though, of course, it's not my pregnancy driving me insane, it's my HOA!!! The freakin *^(*&^(*$ Honestly! Can you get any dumber? I just don't think it's possible. I'd like to find out what's really going on in the presidency where Mr. President is married to Madame Financial Officer, who hires her kids to do a poor job on various assignments. Madame chairman runs the whole shebang but isn't supposed to be involved because she's not on the board. She's the paid accountant. Their majesties are the terrors of the neighborhood and I AM SICK OF BEING BULLIED!!!!!

But what can I do?

Bridal Veil and Funny Face

This week we took the opportunity to take the short walk from Bridal Veil Park to the falls. I thought I remembered it being a grueling walk that took FOREVER but then Jason reminded me last time we did it, it was 175* and I was 9 months pregnant! It was a nice short walk and the kids really enjoyed the falls. Even Natalie kept trying to jump into the water.


Natalie's new face inspires pity of the deepest kind. She uses it when she wants food or to be picked up. She knows she's doing it and even hammed it up for the camera. She'll even whip up a tear or two if she feels I'm not responding fast enough or well enough. Pity her.

Bingham Copper Mine

Our outing last week was to the Bingham Copper mine. It was raining pretty hard so we did our picnic in the car while we drove. The mist in the mine mad for some cool views and all of the vegetation was extra green after the rain. We were surprised at the amount of wild flowers growing everywhere. Liam loved the big train replica and everyone had a fun time looking in the microscopes at the rocks. It was quite chilly so we didn't stay outside long but Liam was so fascinated with the big trucks he said he didn't want to go back to the car as he stood there shivering. Definitly a fun trip, we'd recommend it to anyone. Forewarning though, they only take cash. $5 a car.