Another Big Day

Kira with her Papaw

After her baptism and confirmation

With her beloved new scriptures and hymnbook.

Ben and Aurora, apparently they love each other.

Emma and Leia

You can see most of my girls in this one.

Leah did fine sitting by herself!

With the pinata

Playing with their toys

Her cake

Ben got two sticks to help flame up the candles

Leah and her bestest friend Violet

Emma conquered the turtle

Lots of kiddos on the spiderweb

Yesterday Kira was baptized by her Papaw (my dad).  I think she did a fantastic job!  She prepped some in the bathtub the night before holding her nose and going backwards.  It seemed to work, because it only took one dunk (which actually surprised me, considering her behavior lately)!  She felt very loved by the people who came to celebrate with her.  I'm glad she didn't realize who all wasn't able to come, phew!  She had a beautiful confirmation and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  I'm incredibly proud of her for making the decision to be baptized!  I didn't push her, and let her choose on her own.  Afterwards we took a whole bunch of family pictures.
We told everyone goodbye and went home to change clothes and head to Leah's friend Violet's birthday party.  That was a blast!  The kids got to ride on a little train, that went pretty fast.  Ben sat by Aurora, and apparently they love each other.  I'm glad her mom let me know!  They held hands to sit by each other on the train.  Then Ben hung his head off the side like a puppy.  Good times!  He's still a kiddo, that's for sure!  He played with her a few times, but mainly concentrated on downing some serious amounts of food!  I was impressed!  Violet loved her present!  After the party, we went to the Zoo (that's right by the train) and their family was there too, so our kids played more together and looked at the animals.  There aren't many animals at our zoo, so it doesn't take long.  I enjoyed being downwind from the roses!  Aaahhhh...  I kept the kids away from home as long as I could, so Scott only had Cecilia for almost four hours.  I took TONS of pictures, and made the mistake of deleting half of them before they were all downloaded.  Whoops!

Getting past the drudgery

I've been up for two and a half hours already and am exhausted!  As I was putting laundry into the washer I was thinking about the fact that I wouldn't trade the "drudgery" that I consider cleaning after my kiddos for being single ever Ever EVER!  I was reading on the Mormon Bachelor's blog http://kenttuttle.wordpress.com/ and I remember how miserable I was being Single!  I always wanted to be a mom and here I am, pregnant with my sixth kiddo, a full-time student with a year left until I have my Elementary Education Degree!  I love being a mom and wouldn't trade it for anything!  Not having enough money.  Not a luxury apartment.  Not "freedom" to do whatever I want.  Not clubbing.  Not being able to spend money on whatever I want.  Not being able to vacation anytime.  None of that compares to my kids' faces when they wake up and see me and tell me a happy "Good Morning Mom!"  Or when one of my little girls finds a brush and brushes my hair.  Or when one of my kiddos is sad and immediately comes to me to help them feel better.  Or when my little girl is crying in her crib and immediately calms down when I pick her up and I can tell her that it's okay, because her mommy has her.  Who could ask for a better feeling?  I remember when I was newly graduated and one of my cousins willingly let me stay with her while I prepped to go to LSUS.  She had a little baby girl and that little girl did not stop crying at all when I held her!  One of my other cousins used to tease me about it.  A few years later after I had married and had my own baby, that cousin came to visit me and reminded me of that.  My baby had no problem calming down when I held him.  Our babies know us.  They love us and feel comforted by us.  I LOVE it!  Even when they get older and go through the Independent Twos or the Tyrranical Threes.  Or the fit fours (it seems my four-year-old throws a lot of fits).  As she jumps up and down informing me that her big sister isn't going to polish her nails even though she asked nicely!  It is not easy being a mom, and I'm super grateful to my mom for making sure that I never thought that!  I feel for those who are Single and I hope they are happily Single, but I am very happily married, happily a mom, and exhausted!  And it's all okay!  I'm very much looking forward to being done with school for this semester and having all day with my kiddos!  I have a lot to get done, but I get to be at home!  Hurray!  Now, back to worrying about money.  Ugh!

Dream Scene

I just started reading a finance book and the first thing they tell you to do is come up with your dream.  If you had all the money you needed and never had to work again, what would your perfect day look like?  I have a really hard time imagining having all the money we need (since we're on our sixth kid and Scott really hasn't started working yet, so close though).  But, I do love to dream, so here goes!
I would wake up in the morning, next to my husband in a nice memory foam bed, so my back isn't killing me when I wake up.  My room would have a large mural of the Swiss Temple and mountains for us to see when we wake up-that I painted.  We would be able to go downstairs and have breakfast together as a family at a table that was big enough for all of us-without crowding.  I would have been able to cook breakfast in my very own kitchen in a house that was ours-not rented!  The kiddos would all be able to fit in one vehicle (a current problem) and I could bring them to school, so I could get to my "work."  I would go to my studio to take pictures of adorable babies, families, etc.  Then when I was done for the afternoon, I would get back to work on my children's books about different abilities-using pictures that I had taken on our family vacations around the world to see different animals.  I would check on my husband who would probably be outside in our large you-pick-it orchard or in one of his aquaponic greenhouses, to see what he wanted to do for dinner.  He would pick the kids up from school, as I finished editing the portrait sessions from the morning.  It would be Friday, so we could go to a movie as a family after we get something yummy and healthy to eat, maybe a salad bar or chinese food.  Then we would pack for a fun Spring Break trip to Walt Disney World where the kids could have a blast enjoying themselves and swimming with dolphins!  We would have no debt, including student loans, would have enough in Savings to live for a year without a problem, and wouldn't feel so stressed.  Dreaming super big- they'd come up with a way for Scott to handle his Bipolar without lots of medication and Ben would be almost off the Autism continuum and dealing well with his ADHD.  We would be able to visit distant family once a year and let our kids meet their cousins (not at a funeral).    Yep, that's my dream.

The Year of the Boys

It seems like a lot of us are having boys!  I am, my sister-in-law is (we went to their gender party today) and at least two of my friends that just found out are too!  I only have one friend having a girl, which is interesting!  I know I'm excited about lil' Joshua!  I got him a bouncer today (that matches the portable swing I already got him).  We're going Rainforest theme, I guess!  For those two things anyway.  I got to go to some garage sales today and I spent most of my budget on a Sit N Stand for my brother and sister-in-law, because they desperately want one and couldn't find one cheaper than $75.  It looks pretty nice and "only" cost $30.  I had $40, so I still managed to get the aforementioned bouncer, plus a bag full of clothes, shoes, a few toys, and a fraction game.  So, I did pretty well!  Last night I got the major parts of a crib and a desk with fold-up mirror for free.  Fun times!  We just drove around a little, because it was already close to midnight when we started!  Bummer!  And we really didn't have much room in the car!  So, we were lucky to get that much in!  We spent as much time together as possible with Scott and my family and then headed out.  We got some pretty good pictures with my mom's camera and Scott's phone.

 She's doing great after getting a ton of shots yesterday!

 They didn't fall in!  Woohoo!

I'm going to make this my new picture for my Six Silly Geese!  How cool is that!!

Weekend!

I love Thursday nights when I'm done with school until Monday!  I think:  "Ahhh..."  Until I realize that means doing homework that would be good to get ahead on and cleaning like crazy and going through more stuff to see what I can get rid of/sell/pack away.  Yep.  Fun times.  To any and all single mothers out there, I'm beginning to feel your pain!  I really don't like having my husband away.  I can't ever ask for help and get it.  I have to do the dishes, trash, laundry, cleaning, cooking, bathing and clothing kiddos, watering plants, feeding fish, etc.  I"m glad that I was lucky enough to get someone in the Ward to watch my kiddos for a very reasonable price!  Luckily, I only have a few more weeks of school, until I have a break!  In the meantime, here's some fun pictures from this week:

 On the scavenger hunt for my IT class

Launching my pretty rocket.  It didn't go far, but it looked cool!

Either way, I'm excited to see my husband tomorrow!  I just need to get a ton done, plus find my phone charger, and grab the stuff Scott needs.  He gave me a little hope that we can get a loan for a house.  We just have to come up with four thousand dollars or so.  Bwahahaha!  I'm not picturing it.  And most of the houses we liked before are at the "show for backups" stage, so not much chance there either.  Oh well!  I'm sure that whatever Heavenly Father wants to happen will!  Maybe Joshua wants to be born in Emporia.  I desperately hope not, but maybe.  I really don't want to be moving with a newborn or trying to commute to Olathe from here.  No thanks!  But, I am looking forwars to Bulky Item Pickup tomorrow.  As I rub my hands together in glee...

There will be storms

Jesus was able to calm the storm, and even though I can't do that myself, I can do my best to feel peaceful in the midst of storms.  I love the song:  "Be Still My Soul" and found out the David Archuleta sang it.  Cool!  Here it is.
And you can check out the kiddo scripture version on video here.

Henry B. Eyring said:  "If we have faith in Jesus Christ, the hardest as well as the easiest times in life can be a blessing. In all conditions, we can choose the right with the guidance of the Spirit. We have the gospel of Jesus Christ to shape and guide our lives if we choose it. And with prophets revealing to us our place in the plan of salvation, we can live with perfect hope and a feeling of peace. We never need to feel that we are alone or unloved in the Lord’s service because we never are. We can feel the love of God. The Savior has promised angels on our left and our right to bear us up.¹⁰ And He always keeps His word."

So, although one of my trials maybe that I worry (sometimes too much) that something will happen to me or my family, I know whatever does happen, we'll be okay.  As I was busy carting stuff downstairs along with my kiddos (since they were asleep or half asleep), I wasn't too scared, but then the sirens started going off!  They went off for about twenty minutes!  Some of my friends were talking on Facebook about where the tornado was, and I got a little scared.  Poor Kira was shivering and not feeling good (she was super tired)!  Luckily, we made it through okay and carted everything back upstairs for our sleepover in the Living Room!  We were under a tornado watch until six in the morning.  We kept the weather channel on all night.  How tiring!  So, I was exhausted come this morning when Scott called me first thing.  And Kira suggested cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  Luckily, it wasn't too hard, but it was time-consuming and they couldn't take baths until after.  We still managed to get to church not too late!  Hurray!

Let the storms (trials) come and I will do my best to be still/calm!

Don't go out for three days

That's what my Jones Soda cap said.  I thought they were supposed to be funny sayings, not an order or "fortune."  Either way, it's been a crazy weekend! 
I was excited to get things done on Friday, but was easily distracted by entering cloth diaper giveaways.  I figured it was worth a try!  The kiddos wrecked the Living Room, and I was being lazy, so only cleaned up some (and did laundry) and packed our overnight bags and we ate lunch.  We got the kids from school and hightailed it north.  We went to my parents' house and changed into nice clothes to head up to the Temple.  Scott was already up there waiting for us.  It was nice to take a break from having to constantly hold Cecilia!  I feel bad for her going pigeon toed, due to my huge belly!

It was great!  My kids behaved very well inside (which was a miracle in itself)!  Ben commented in the baptistry about how it made sense (that the twelve oxen were to remind us of the 12 tribes of Israel).  My girls were all excited about the shiny chandelier in the Celestial Room!  I hefted each of them up to look in the forever mirrors, which they loved!  Then we got to go to the Sealing Room, which the kiddos were super excited about!  The mirrors were easier to look into and Leah LOVED the cushion at the base of the altar!  All of the girls had to feel how soft it was.  I was excited to show them where (in general) their mom and dad were sealed together forever!  The Temple is a very important place to us, and I was excited to share it with my kids!  They won't be able to see the inside again until they're twelve and can do baptisms.  The kids really liked the punch and cookie afterwards too.
I was sad that my camera battery died right before I got a good picture after we went through the tour, so I took one with my phone.  It's not the same.  Leah was crying that she wanted to go to mamaw's house and kept holding onto posts and such.  Her words weren't coorelating with her actions.  Poor kiddo!  It must be hard to be three!
We went back to my parents' house and had pizza and cake.  Kira opened presents without me there and taking pictures, so I have no idea as to what she got from whom (other than the bedset from my mom and dad).  She was very happy though! 
We did all the bedtime routine and then Laura and I went searching for great "trash" in OP's bulky item pickup.  We were out until after midnight, but got a ton!  Laura got a crib mattress, vacuum and a huge black beanbag.  I got a crib mattress, 2 of those bed things that keep the kiddo from falling out of bed, a black leather computer chair, the plastic that protects your carpet that goes under the computer chair, a regular highback chair with wooden legs, a full-size keyboard (it has one broken key and needs the cord to plug it in), a kiddo four-wheeler with the battery and charger, two toddler toys, the letters "TA" and "RA," some ties, and some wallpaper and some paver stones (the semicircular ones to go around a tree).  I think that's everything.  Completely worth the $15 in gas and lack of sleep! 
Of course Cecilia woke up early, so I got about five hours of sleep.  I'm not sure why, but it seems most of the time I go to Olathe or come home from there very tired.  Luckily, we always make it back safely!  I picked up groceries and everything I needed for Kira's party at Hy-Vee (I love their store) and then got a gas discount, so I got gas.  I went back and we got everyone and everything loaded in the car and dropped Scott off at his mom's house.  We came home and had about thirty minutes to clean and set up for the party.  Mad craziness!  Kira had three friends show up and we made tutus, poufy bows, and they ate lots of snacks as I did most of the work.  I was glad, since I bought lots of snacks!  After they left the house was a wreck again!  So, I cleaned again, and now I feel much better!  Now pictures!

 Making tutus

 Rya and Kira with her presents from her!

 Faith and Kira with the pony she got!

 The four girls with their tutus and "bows."

 Girls being silly!

 Kira's cake

Cecilia made a mess!

Happy days are here again!

Although we ran a little late getting the kids to school, it was a pretty great day!  Erika came and she was able to watch the kiddos for me all day!  So long as all goes well, she will be doing that for the next month!  Woohoo!  It's so nice to have someone trustworthy to watch my kiddos while I'm gone!  Classes went well, I got a 40/40 on my monsters, which is great considering they are now in at least six pieces!  Not so durable after all...  They weren't fantastic looking, but I really should have taken a picture before I let the kids play with them.  Oh well!  Megan (who's in my art class) took me to Sonic to get a drink before the next class.  Nice!  Turns out she did it in order to keep me out of the classroom while they set everything up for a surprise baby shower!  I was certainly surprised!  I got presents for Joshua, plus food for the both of us!  He obviously liked it, because he's been moving around like crazy the rest of the day!  We had burritos, nachos with cheese dip, cookies and cupcakes.  Yum!  The Ladies of Block I (Afternoon) gave me a super cute diaper "cake" that was actually a dog stuffie (that sings the ABCs) riding a tricycle.  Super cute!  It had blankets, socks, hand sanitizer, and diapers (of course).  They also gave me a box of size 2 diapers and four cute saying onesies!  Seriously, so sweet!  This is my sixth kiddo and people are still willing to celebrate with/for us!  A great group of women!

 Isn't it awesome?  Cecilia especially loves the dog!  She keeps stealing it!

 Everything but the box of diapers.

 Cute shirts!

 More cute shirts

The card from everyone!

I managed to get the kids from school in the rain, made dinner, got more homework done and bragged on these awesome Ladies!  I think I can finally go to bed!  Hopefully this heartburn goes away soon!



Ode to Kira

Kira turned eight yesterday!  What a day!  Scott left the night before, so when I found out that my sitter couldn't make it at 9:30pm the night before, I was super worried about Kira's birthday!  Luckily, I had a few people from the ward able to help and made it through the craziness!  We all walked to the kids' school (using our huge stroller that has two wheels that aren't flat) and Kira had help carrying her fancy schmancy cupcake cake.  Sadly, I was too lazy to make cupcakes.  Not that mine would have had cool flowers and a Tinkerbell toy in the middle.  I was late to my first class, but I had told my teacher I was going to be late anyway!  After my second class I picked my girls up and we watched Kira eat lunch (we didn't have time to get food before we met up with her) and there wasn't really room for us to sit down anyway.  Kira was super glad we came though!  The girls were glad to get food finally!  Then we ate on the way to the next house and luckily, Cecilia had fallen asleep!  Phew!  I dropped them off and taught.  I was so out of it that I left the post-test there.  Whoops!  After my last class (that ended early), I picked up my girls and then Ben.  An hour later, we went back and picked up Kira.  She was a pretty happy camper!  Until she got home and found out that her siblings had eaten all but one popsicle (and that one was the one that Ben picked, not her).  So she didn't get any of her birthday popsicles on her birthday.  She loved her Taco Soup Dinner!  She ate two bowls of it!  Then she got to stay up with me for an extra hour and we read books together (I tested my lesson out on her for my Reading class, I picked pretty well).  She got phone calls, so she felt pretty loved too.  She was very excited when she found out that her Papaw had bought her an Eiffel Tower in Paris!  Very cool! 
On to the ode to Kira, pictures of her first eight years!

 Us, before Kira peed out of her diaper.  On the Temple Grounds.

 Her first Christmas

 My one and only natural birth.  She really wanted to come today!

 Ben was so excited!  He called her "Ki!"

 With her Grandpa holding her (he passed away 11 months later)

 In her blessing dress, that I bought at the Manti Temple Pageant before I knew I was pregnant!

 It cost $10 more than I paid for my Wedding Dress.

 She's always loved to color!

 At Nauvoo

 At Sam's Track Meet

 At Far West

 With my Mamaw

 At Nauvoo

 They love each other!

 Kira's so sweet!

 She was very proud!

 At the Kansas City Zoo

 At the Park

 After she chopped her hair, she graduated Kindergarten

 Adam-ondi-Ahman

 In her favorite outfit, all pink!

 With her cake!  She kept informing everyone to be careful with it.  Including the cashier!

 As they walked down the Sidewalk.

 With her big present.  She loved it!

In her baptism dress by the KC Temple.  She's so pretty!  I really do take it as a compliment that everyone says she looks just like me!