More Pictures

well, I broke down and got professional pictures done...I have no clue why this is underlining what I'm writing.....anyway...they turned out good...my mom is happy.

Picture Time

Why is it so hard to get a good picture...I mean a picture where all the kids are looking at the camera at the same time and they are smiling sweetly and no one is making a silly face, or has their eyes closed....maybe this is just not possible!! At least for my kids it isn't.

Brown sugar....anyone?

As I sat downstairs on the computer writing my last blog entry, I completely lost track of the time. When I noticed it was 10:06 (Joe is out of preschool at 10:00). I panicked and ran up the stairs yelling for Aaron to hurry and go get Joe. What I found was that Aaron had already left to go get Joe and Hannah had helped herself to the brown sugar that was left on the table from breakfast. Molly was so happy to be getting all the crumbs that fell from the the table just for her! Hannah was quite proud of her accomplishment...as you can see!

Housework...Smousework...

I hate doing housework....well I don't really hate it I just dread starting to do it. I think the hardest thing for me is knowing where to start. There is always so much of it to do. The kids have their chores and they do them, most of the time, but there is always so much more to do. Laundry is my hardest thing to stay on top of. I will do so good with it for one day, then I slack off and before I know it, there are mountains and mountains of it to do. My brain is so scattered. I start one thing, then go to put something away and notice I need to do something else...start doing that instead and before I know what happened, I have started on five different jobs and haven't finished one of them. Perhaps Matthew gets his ADHD from me. I'm not a big list maker but I do notice that when I have one going, it does keep me more focused. I need to remember this. A couple weeks ago in Relief Society our lesson was on the Atonement and our teacher was saying we just have to make it through this life and then we'll be in the afterlife where we won't have to clean anymore....everyone laughed and this thought came to me....what if being in the afterlife means we don't HAVE to clean.....we just WANT to clean.

The Day of Love

Today is Valentine's Day. Aaron is working so we will not be going out to celebrate, so I thought I'd do something fun with the kids. I don't even know what yet. I'm sure it will come to me. I still haven't gotten anything for Aaron. I'm thinking I'm going to get him a pocket watch. He doesn't like to wear a watch, but I think he'd like a pocket watch because it's something different. He doesn't like chocolate very much and after our last date (we went to an evening of chocolate where they had all kinds of chocolate for all to taste)....I have to admit that after that I'm a bit chocolated out too....I never thought that was possible!! Anyway, Aaron and I may go to a late movie after work, but we're probably going to be too tired. I love Valentine's Day...it's one of my favorite holidays...I love the colors, pink, red, white, they look so good together! I love candy! I love....LOVE. We got the kids each a heart shaped box of candy. We were going to get them a stuffed animal too (our tradition) but I don't think the older kids really appreciate it anymore, why do they have to grow up so fast? I can remember two Valentine's Days from my youth, well I remember all the candy and cards at school from several years, but there are two fond memories at home. One was from when I was around 8 or 9. My mom made a really nice dinner and we ate with candlelite at the dining room table instead of the bar (where we usually ate). When we sat down at the table Jenny and I each had a big heart shaped box of candy. The other memory I have is when I was in Jr High and my mom gave me some perfume and matching lotion...it was such a surprise and made me feel special. This year Aaron gave me a very nice card. He's so good about doing that.....getting cards for Valentine's day. Today is the day to remember love....I know I have more love in my life than I can possibly measure and for that I'm thankful!

Zaner Waner

This is a picture of Zane with Lauren, Amy and Megan....taken in December 2007

Last night we went to pick up our nephew and cousin, Zane, from the airport. We are so excited that he's here. He'll be here for 2 weeks and all the kids are so happy to be able to spend so much time with him. We are so thankful that his mom has a job where she can get such a big discount for him to travel. It was only 65.00 bucks, round trip, for him to fly to us. Well, kind of to us, we had to go to Omaha to pick him up, which is about an hour away. He's such a good kid and gets along with everyone in our family. He's come a long way.......he was a pretty hard little boy....long story....anyway we just are so happy he's here. We're looking forward to taking him to the Children's Museum and showing him the sights here in Lincoln.

I am a LOST junkie

I love the show Lost. I started watching it one summer when they showed all the episodes again after their first season. I got so into it. Now our whole family watches it and we love to talk about it afterward, what we think, who we think, how we think. We had to wait such a long time for the new shows to start and we're not disappointed at all! We have so many questions and we can't wait to see it the next week to find out what's going to happen....Now that we have DVR I can watch it at my convenience and fast forward through the commercials (can I just say the DVR is the best invention!)...Love it!!

Tomorrow is Aaron's birthday...he'll finally be 38 so he can stop saying I'm older than him. He has planned a wonderful night for us. I just found out tonight what we're doing...we are going to a night of chocolate...it's some charity thing where we get to go and have lots of chocolate..sounds yummy to me.

Lions and Witches and Wardrobes...OH MY!

Yesterday I picked Zack up from school and was on the phone with his grandma Schafer all the way home...then when we got home I got on the phone with Michelle and he was nearly bursting to tell me something....when he finally had my undivided attention he made me play 20 questions to guess the play his school is doing. After several questions...maybe 12...or less, I finally guessed. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He is so excited it's funny!! He is hoping to get the part of the Professor or the Witches first footman. I told him he'd make a good Aslan (not sure how to spell that). He says he'll be lucky to get a speaking part because he's a freshman. I'm excited for him because he's so happy about the play. It will be interesting to see what happens. Try outs are on the 18th and 19th, I think.

You know you're a mom of six kids when........

The other night I was downstairs doing laundry and cleaning up the laundry room and when I came upstairs this is what I found. My sweet little girl sleeping on the living room floor...it was like 5 in the afternoon. But in order to see what it's really like at our house you must see the big picture......
Yes, this is what living in a house with six children is like.....this room was clean before the kids came home from school. What you don't see is Josh sitting on the couch....he didn't even know she was asleep. This is not the only time Hannah had to give herself a nap because her mom failed to lay her down for one.

In our new ward there is this woman who has been so kind and welcoming to me. As I've watched her with her two little kids I realize how much things have changed since we only had two little ones. For instance there are mornings when having cookies and milk for breakfast didn't seem that bad. Cereal for dinner happens around here at least once a week. Letting a kid go to school with bedhead is not the end of the world. Letting the dog lick a kids mouth is not reason to get out the alcohol for sterilizing. There are so many things I've learned along the way and so many things I still need to learn. I love being a mom and even though I feel so inadequate so often, the one thing I know is that I love my kids more than they can ever know. They are so much of who I am. I feel blessed to be known as their mom.