We are a happy family

It seems like lately we have been having a lot of fun just being together as a family. Flying kites, lying in the grass soaking up the sunshine, watching movies together every Friday night. It's not that we are doing anything too exciting, but we are making memories and finding joy in one another. 

For example, this is how we wake up on Saturday mornings. All the kids come to our bed to snuggle/tickle fight and inevitably someone lets the dog up so she's part of the fun. With four kids, we have lost the luxury of sleeping in, but at least we wake up happy!

Little Max has become an expert at sitting. I love how liberating it is for me as a mom when my babies learn to sit. Now if I'm holding him and I have to pull something out of the oven or wipe someone's bum, I can just sit him down for a second and not worry about it.

 In case you were wondering what I look like. It seems like for every 100 pictures of my kids there is one picture of me.

Kate's Field Trip

When I was a kid, I was always jealous of the kids whose moms got to go on field trips with them. So now, as a mom, I try to do as many field trips with my kids as I can, even though it is a bit exhausting taking my younger two with me. Max was in the Snugli the whole time, wishing he was at home napping.
Kate's class took a field trip to a local nursery called Hansen Plants (or "Hants and Plants" as Kate pronounced it.) It's just down the street from the school, so they needed mommies to drive. Here's our backseat filled with little ALA kindergarteners: Kate, Sammie, and Erica.

The nursery workers took us around and showed how they plant each seed and grow them in these large flats until they get big enough for a large pot.

I love Kate's face in this photo-- apparently she's not too sure about what is being said.

At the end, everyone got to plant a little pumpkin seed.

 Even little Eve! The bummer news for us was that when we got home we left them on the counter and Daisy dragged them all over the family room. Not the best growing conditions for a pumpkin.

 Everyone's favorite part of the day was when they showed the class the turtle that lives at the nursery. Apparently he's a sensitive little guy and pees when he gets nervous. And you better believe he was nervous with 25 kindergarteners in his face. They all laughed like crazy when the turtle relieved himself all over this poor woman.

Easter 2012

Easter is one of my favorite holidays. I love the meaning behind it: our Savior's glorious Resurrection. I love reading in the New Testament the week before Easter and trying to imagine what it was like for Him. I love pondering the truth of the hymn "I Know That My Redeemer Lives." I love the hope I find in sunshine at spring, reminding me of rebirth and new life.

And, yeah, I love Peeps and dying eggs too.

This year was a little tricky because Travis was in the BAHAMAS during the week before Easter. (lucky!) The kids were so excited about dying eggs, but I made them wait till Saturday when he got home because Trav loves that tradition as much as they do.

After a little instruction from Dad, Eve was ready to try it on her own.

We taught Kate the trick of writing on the egg with white crayon before you dye it and watching your words appear. Here's her special egg that says "I Love You."

 It is so great to have Eve in our lives. The other night she got out of bed around 8:30 and said, "I need to ask you a question. When Jesus died, when did He come alive again?"
Wowed by her deep spiritual inquiry, I replied, "After Jesus was crucified, he came back to life three days later, on Easter Sunday."
"Did He turn into the Easter Bunny?"
Clearly we have missed out on some key doctrine here.

 Anna and I decided this egg is our very favorite color. Almost the same as her eyes!

 Even little Max got an egg. Not that it did him any good.

I am the worst at early morning photos. This year we did something fun by hiding the kids' Easter baskets and leaving a little clue for them. Kate found hers in the fridge with no problem, Eve's was hiding in the bathtub, and Anna had a tough time figuring out where someplace "warm and dry" was. She eventually got it, but was pretty stressed as she ran around looking for it. (the dryer)
Yes, I did make Easter skirts for my girls and an Easter onesie for Max. Yes, it took countless hours (the drama of the Easter skirts  made me wonder if I've lost my sewing ability). And, yes, I forgot to take pictures of them wearing said apparel. Even though Max only wore his for about 20 minutes before covering it with poop.
And, yes, both sets of grandparents had fun Easter egg hunts that the kids loved. Yes, I neglected to take pictures of that as well. Better luck next year!

Random Happenings

A sample of what's been going on at our place lately:

 With all of my children, I have one precious picture of them asleep as a baby. They are so sweet when they sleep. I realized I didn't have one of Max, so the past week I kept sneaking in take his picture while he was napping, and I kept waking him up. This picture shows how much he appreciates my attempts to capture his cuteness!

Eve got into the KoolAid. 'Nuff said.

Kate decided to give Eve a make-over while I folded laundry. This is the finished product. Kate said to me "Doesn't she look like a movie star?" I guess that depends on what movies you watch, my dear.

Max started eating rice cereal. So far, so good. He's also working on sitting up, and scooting around backwards (imagine a caterpillar on its' back scooting along.)

There's a lot of baby love around here, but Kate is definitely the biggest helper with Max. Every morning she likes to be the one who changes his diaper and picks out his clothes.

We made butterflies out of toilet paper rolls and cereal boxes (via Pinterest). There's so much I love about this picture-- the lighting, the way Evie is so carefully dipping her paintbrush, her enormous paint shirt. But maybe the best part is how even 3 days later she keeps telling me, "Mommy, my butterfly is the very beautifullest."

Max, 6 months

Indulge me...

My name is Max. I have brown hair and brown eyes. And little bubbles that come out of my mouth.

I am six months old now. My favorite person is my mommy. I love her so much that I can't be apart from her for more than two hours, even at night.

 My nicknames are Little Chief and Stinky. Who comes up with these things?

I love my sisters. Even the one who lays on top of me and calls it hugging.

I also love my dog. She takes my toys away, but she doesn't seem to mind when I pull on her ears. And, she licks up my spit-up, so I guess we're pals.

Gluten Free Girls

 When I first found out about my Celiac, I learned that it is a genetic disease. In fact, odds of one of my children having the disease are 25%. Instinctively I knew it would be Kate. She has always complained of tummy aches, had diarrhea, etc. So, when we were in the doctor's office for her the day after Thanksgiving because we thought she had appendicitis, I asked them to test do the Celiac panel when they drew her blood.
That was a crazy, emotional day. The good news was that our little girl didn't need to have surgery. The bad news was that she was traumatized from IVs, ultrasounds, and CT scans. When we found out she was okay to go home, I didn't give a second thought to the Celiac panel.

That is, until I took Max in for his well check in January. Just out of curiosity, I asked the doctor about Kate's results and it turned out her levels were sky high! We immediately scheduled an appointment with a pediatric GI, but were told it would take two months to get in.
In the meantime, Anna and Eve both started complaining of tummy aches. At first I blew it off, thinking they were jealous of the extra attention Kate was getting. But we eventually got their tests done as well. Anna's level was even higher than Kate's, but Eve's was normal. To give you a reference-- Kate's was 150, Anna's was 165, and Eve's was 4. I think anything above 100 indicates Celiac disease.

We met with the GI who advised us to have an endoscopy done on Kate. The reason for this is because if it were not Celiac disease and we imposed a gluten free lifestyle on her, it may not even fix whatever was causing her tummy problems. Plus she'd go her whole life without a creme puff for no reason.
Kate was NOT happy about having to get a scope done, but when the day came, she toughed it out. (No pictures because Trav took her.) The results showed that it is clearly Celiac, and her doctor said it would be safe to assume the same for Anna, even without a scope.
So there you go. Three gluten free girls in this family.
There's only one thing to do in this situation. Stuff yourself full of pizza, then say goodbye to gluten forever. We'd always wanted to take the kids to Pirate Island Pizza, so the Saturday after they were diagnosed, we headed up there. Imagine our surprise to find a lock on the door! Apparently there was a fire in the kitchen a few months ago and it closed down.

We decided to make do with Pizza Pie Cafe. The kids love that place, but I couldn't think of what I would eat there. (I was NOT going to try a gluten binge, thank you very much.) This turned out to be the best thing ever because Pizza Pie Cafe now serves gluten free pizza! I have been searching for gluten free pizza for 4 months and hadn't found it. I was so thrilled to finally know of a place to get some!
Anyway, the kids wanted to do their gluten-glut so they got the regular stuff and enjoyed every last morsel. Especially the Oreo pizza; that does not come in gluten free.

And they had tummy aches the rest of the day to show for it.

2012 Word

Here we are at the beginning of March, and I think I've finally come up with my word for the year. You know, the one word that sums up what I am trying to become this year? In 2010 it was Rejoice. In 2011 it was Bless. And the word for 2012.... Do.

Do. As in

Just Do It.

I will go and do the things which the Lord has commanded....

Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only

I can do hard things

Make it do

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me

Do what is right

I feel like I have so many aspirations of the kind of person I want to be. I imagine myself being compassionate, educated, confident, kind, righteous, etc. when I am "grown up." The only trouble is, I am grown up! If I want to become those things, then I had better start doing something about it! 

So this is my year. My year to spend more time playing with my kids, more time enjoying the mountains, more time serving in my community, more time loving my husband, more time growing close to the Savior. It is my year to Do.

For me, doing will mean engaging in purposeful activities. I will have to limit my time on Pinterest for sure, because as much as I love it, it only gets me with a longer list of projects I want to do and less time to do them. I will also have to limit the time I waste in other ways, so that I might use my precious minutes to do something productive. 

Do implies action. It implies gumption, pushing yourself through difficult circumstances till you come out on top, or at least finish the race. Do implies getting something done, whether it's a bathroom re-do or calling a long lost friend. Do means actually doing something after you ask your visiting teachee "Is there anything I can do for you?"

Do means the world (at least my world) will be a better place because I'm in it. 

Because I want to be like Grandpa Max, who wholly deserved it when we sang this hymn at his funeral almost eight years ago:

Have I done any good in the world today?

Have I helped anyone in need?

Have I cheered up the sad? 

Or made someone feel glad?

If not, I have failed indeed.