Felt Books

For Christmas last year I made each of the kids (except Laura) a felt quiet book. In an attempt to surprise them, I only worked on them at night while the kids were asleep. The only ones I got finished before Christmas were Eva's and Jack's. I had all the pages done for the other three, but didn't get the books sewn together. It's been on my to-do list since then. I FINALLY got them finished :)

Eva's ~

I took pictures of Eva's before sewing it together.

Her first pages are an abacus ~

The next pages consist of a zipper and button page and a shape matching page with magnets instead of velcro as the velcro makes too much noise :)

The third set of pages follows a farm theme with five finger puppets and a pocket to store them in behind the barn doors ~

Each of the books ends with a page that holds crayons on one side and paper on the other. I only took pictures of one set of those pages since they only differ in color.

Jack's book ~

Jack has a "car town", complete with a gas pump on a ribbon that he can use to fill up his cars ~

To work on his numbers, he can match the number of eyes on the monster head with the number on the monster's body. The second pocket has a matching game with upper case and lower case letters.

Jack also got a potato head - both Mr. and Mrs. ~

Beth's book ~

Beth got a book with a clock (I still need to sew the button on for the clock hands) and tic-tac-toe, because that is her favorite game to play with Kiki ~

She also got a landscape she can decorate ~

And a "gingerbread man" she can dress ~

Here is what the coloring pages look like. One side has a pocket for crayons and the other holds a small paper tablet in place ~

This is what the outsides of the books look like. Eva's is royal blue, Jack's is yellow, Beth's is purple, Kylie's is pink, and Meg's is hunter green ~

Kylie's book ~

Kylie got a snowman page (all the little pieces are stored in the "snow" pocket at the bottom), with a weaving page across from it ~

She got a face page with both boy and girl decorations ~

Her game page has chess ~

Megan's book ~

She has a page with yarn to practice braiding and a weaving page like Kylie's ~

She has a cooking page with a fridge-shaped pocket on one side and a placemat pocket on the other to store all her felt food in ~

She got a checker board as well ~

How Do I Love Thee?

Let me count the ways :)

Valentine's Day is a bit different with six kids than it was before we had kids. Rob and I did a pseudo-date the night before. Megan is about 6 months away from being able to babysit for the family, so we've started giving her a chance to "babysit". We go into our room and she's in charge of the kids for an hour or so. It gives her experience, but we're right there if she needs anything. She does an amazing job and it allows us to have date nights even when we have sick kids or something like that.

I love trying to make holidays special for the kids :) We started off with special hairdos for the girls. Megan put a red rose clip in her hair, Kylie got heart braids, and Beth got red bows. Beth was going to get heart braids too, but she stood up into the corner of a chair and got a black eye and we didn't have time to take care of her eye and give her heart braids.

A few weeks ago I bought Eva a cute little Valentine's dress. She loved it. She loved it so much that she took it and hid it somewhere and now we can't find it. Oh well :) We came up with a super cute outfit for her to wear in lieu of the dress. The scarf was her idea - she loves that scarf!

She finished off her outfit with her favorite sweater and mismatched flip flops of course.

Eva, Laura, and I skipped our nap and picked up lunch at Kroger, then drove to Rob's work to have lunch with him.

We also picked up flowers and a small red velvet cake. We decided this year that we wanted to be Valentine elves. We picked Kiki as our target. The kids wanted to do a conversation heart theme, so I cut out dozens of hearts. When the kids got home from school, they each grabbed a bunch and wrote down reasons they love Kiki. I had done the same for me and Eva. Travis and Susie also wanted to be part of it and they both called with messages for me to put on hearts for them. We had so much fun sneaking into Kiki's house and decorating her couch with them! We also left the flowers and the cake; red velvet is Kiki's favorite :)

 
I made a special dinner that night for us. We had shredded pot roast in gravy (one of Rob's favorites) over mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, and homemade heart shaped biscuits. I forgot to factor in the extra treats the kids got at their school Valentine's parties. Rob and I were the only two who ate much of anything. Next year we're doing pizza. Or maybe Rob and I will get take out and the kids can have chicken nuggets or mac and cheese or something.

 
We had planned to let the kids watch a movie that night. Grandma and Grandpa K sent "Jack Frost" and they were super excited to watch it. Unfortunately for them, their sugar rush ended about the time dinner started and they all crashed and got super tired and cranky, so they went to bed early instead.

Fate decided to make our night super special and at about 8pm our house alarm went off. At first we thought Beth, who had run downstairs for a cup of water, had opened a door, but she came running back upstairs and hadn't gotten anywhere near the doors. A couple of years ago one of the sensors had fallen off the back door, setting off the alarm, so that was our next thought. We checked and none of the sensors were out of place. At that point the alarm company called to check on us. While I was on the phone with them, the phone lines went dead. Then the alarm went off again.

We got a bit nervous. A few days earlier a felon that was being transferred from FL to AZ had attacked his guards and escaped about 15 miles from our home. He was still at large and we had been bombarded with warnings about him. Area schools (including the elementary school the kids go to) had been locked down due to sightings.

It turned out the motion sensor downstairs hadn't been turned off and when Beth went down to get her drink, she set it off. We're not completely sure why the phone line went dead or why the alarm went off the second time, but Simon never barked, so we don't think it was someone breaking in. It made our hearts race and isn't that what Valentine's Day is all about? ;) By the way, the felon was found later that night breaking into a house two towns away.

The rest of the week has been pretty uneventful.

A few recent pictures ~

Meg and Laura reading 

Love my littlest munchkin! She gets up on all fours now and rocks. She manages to scoot backwards and gets super mad that she can't figure out how to go forward.

 

 After the girls night out with Megan and Kiki, Kiki bought her a book about how to deal with bullying. She had it shipped to our house in Megan's name as a surprise. Meg was thrilled to discover a package addressed to her and even more excited when she opened it! She spent the afternoon reading :) Thank you Kiki!

And a shot of Eba ~

Back to Life, Back to Reality

We've kind of fallen of the face of the Earth for the past month. Rob had a month off work to recover from his surgery and it was the first real break we've had in over a year, and the last year has been quite challenging. Rob didn't feel horrible after the first few days, he just couldn't sit in a chair for eight hours (or even one hour for a while due to the location of the incision) as his job required. He was able to help out a bit around the house and the amount he was able to do increased with each week. The older four kids were in school every day, so we got to spend lots of time with Eva and Laura and each other. We really needed it and it was wonderful! All things must come to an end sometime though and Rob went back to work this past Monday.

We are really looking forward to me finishing up school and being able to earn enough that Rob and I can switch roles! I LOVE being home with my babies, but I do not love cleaning the house (although I think I might like it better if I was actually able to complete chores, which doesn't happen often with little munchkins around, not that I'm complaining). Rob loves being solitary, would wear basketball shorts or pj pants every day if possible, and loves housework. I love being around people, love dressing up and looking professional, and would much rather be a therapist than do housework. We're actually getting close to being able to switch off! I have one class left after this quarter (the class in which I write the first 40-50 pages of a thesis) and then start internships! I am not sure yet where I'll be doing my internships at, but I'm applying next week and should know soon :) I graduate in about a year!

I'm so glad I'm almost done! It's been four years since I started and I've only taken one quarter off during those four years. I'm a bit burned out. Even though I took last quarter off, my motivation for school work was gone by the second week of class. It doesn't help that this class is one of the general requirements for all counseling majors rather than one geared towards my major. I'm not thrilled with the teacher either, but at least I'm already halfway through :) I have decided to adjust my approach to schoolwork. I have found it works best if I piddle around all week on fb and pinterest, developing my fb gaming skills (which are now razor sharp! I'm sure being able to line up three of the same candies in a row will help me get a job, right?), pinning amazing recipes I will never have time to make, until the very last minute, then the pressure I'm under to get my assignments done seems to exert enough force that I create masterpieces . . . like coal being turned to diamonds. Or at least that's what I hope is happening, because motivation is not my forte' at the moment.

Anyway, this is what we've been up to . . .

Our weather this year is brought to you by the words "cold" and "front". We seem to alternate between warm days and freezing cold days, usually on the same day. It has caused a bit of a problem with dressing the kids for school. If it's 30* in the morning and 70* when they get out of school (or vice versa), what do you have them wear?

One day the morning was absolutely gorgeous. Betsy and I (and Laura) went out to get pedicures and to lunch (this was near the end of Rob's medical leave, so Eva stayed home with him). We got home about 30 mins before it was time to pick the kids up from school. It was in the 70's and beautiful when I got home, but when Rob, Eva, Laura, and I headed out the door to walk to get the kids 30 mins later, we took one look at the sky and had Rob take Laura and Eva back inside. I think Texas storms rolling in are one of the most awe-inspiring things I've ever seen. It's amazing how quickly the weather changes! I took a shot of the sky while walking to school. The temperature dropped about 20* while I was waiting for the kids to come out and the raindrops started falling as they exited the school. We ran home and made it before it started pouring :)

I love that our kids love books! I caught a shot of Beth curled up in the front hall with a book ~

Another fabulous outfit brought to you by Eva the Fashionista!

We weren't able to have our traditional superbowl picnic party last year as we were driving back from Utah. This year we went a bit more low key than usual. We had nachos, cantaloupe, chicken strips, and a veggie tray. We also made a passionfruit punch to go along with it. 

The older kids take their responsibility of teaching Eva and Laura very seriously. They love trying to teach Laura to crawl or Eva to read. They have recently set up a "baby school", complete with teaching certificates on the wall. Laura and Eva adore it!

We really love doing things as a family! Even shopping :) We managed to fit five of the kids on one shopping cart at Walmart last weekend. Laura was strapped onto my chest in a baby carrier. FYI, they don't card you if you bring six kids shopping with you (we bought compressed air to clean out our tv).

Megan had a hard day at school last week. There is one girl at school that has picked on her for the past few years and she was particularly mean one day last week. Kiki and I took Meg out to dinner that night to make her day better :) We went to a Mexican restaurant. Meg got to try queso for the first time (that she remembers)!

Laura has lost a lot of the hair she was born with (like most of our babies). She's kept a line of longer hair along the top of her head. It would make a great mohawk if I added some hair gel! She also has the bazillion cowlicks most of our kids inherited from Rob. The combination of the two makes for a great Alfalfa style hairdo!

 I love how close Eva and Laura are! Eva loves showing Laura things like how to watch "the Lour-de-at" (the Lorax - Eva's current favorite show that she watches literally 5 times a day) on my new tablet.

We have been going through the process of sorting through our baby stuff and getting rid of the things we don't need anymore. There are so many memories associated with everything! It's really hard to know we will never use these things again :(

One of the things we're getting rid of is the bassinet. Eva discovered it and apprehended it to make a bed for herself. She even slept in it that night, although we moved it off the couch onto the floor.

And finally, recent facebook status updates ~

"If someone from the 1950's suddenly appeared today, what would be the most difficult thing to explain to them about life today? That I possess a device, in my pocket, that is capable of accessing the entirety of information known to man. I use it to look at pictures of cats and get in arguments with strangers."

It never ceases to amaze me how many urgent questions suddenly arise the instant I sit down to do homework . . .

I have ruined Eva's morning. I will not let her eat butter with a knife. Or even without one.

"I wake up every day planning to be productive and then a voice in my head says 'Haha! Good one!' and we laugh and laugh and take a nap."

We opened up the windows and aired out the house. Rob discovered Jack trying to climb up to the laundry room window, so we talked to the kids about not getting near windows open on the 2nd floor, explaining that the screens weren't strong enough to keep them in and they would fall. Megan's response: "So kids, if you want to lean against those windows, wear a helmet!"

Rob just incorporated the term "metaphysical" into a conversation with my seven year old about figure skating, Barry Mantilow, and Neil Diamond. My poor kids . . . 

Nothing says "I love you!" like your 4 month old screaming so hard she throws up all over Daddy when you have the audacity to attempt a quick shower. We have officially entered the "Mommy ONLY" phase :)

 
Whoohoo! Finally got to play with my tablet (that we bought to replace the one I bought on Black Friday that never worked) - about 4 hours after I opened the box. Apparently I bought Eva a tablet and she will let me use it while she's asleep . . .

Yes, that was my daughter doing headstands in the aisle during the middle of church today while wearing a dress . . . at least it was the 2 year old :)

Nothing beats driving down the road with all of us in the car, belting out a song at the top of our lungs :)

Recipe for a perfect winter day ~ lunch at a picnic table at Central Market with Rob, soaking up the 76* weather while Eva plays on the playground :)

How you know you've married a nerd ~
Our second tv croaked, but we didn't want to spend tons of money to replace it, so we bought one off craigslist. The one we got is in really good condition, but is much bigger and heavier than we thought it would be. Rob's response - "Well this would be helpful in an invasion. You drop this out the window and you'd take out at least two orcs. Maybe even a uruk-hai!" Peter Jackson must have cut the scenes in LotR where they drop tvs on Sauroman's army . . .

Back to life, where Rob has to go to work :( Eva has already asked, in a very accusatory tone of voice as if I hid him in the closet and wouldn't let him come out, where Rob is at least five times. Must figure out how to win the lottery so he can stay home . . . 

"When posting a facebook status, there is a fine line between 'what's on your mind' and 'I should probably see a therapist about this.'" 

Audrey in "The Lorax" = typecasting at it's best. 
Ted: "What would you do if someone gave you a tree?"
Audrey (Taylor Swift): "I'd probably marry him on the spot!" 

"Valentine's Day Cards for the real world:
When you walk in the door tonight and smile at me, my heart will skip a beat . . . 
Because your children have gone insane and I really need a break."

Note found in Megan's handwriting ~
Meat = food
Blood = face paint
Guts = sacrifices & bait (?!?!?!)
Bone & Hooves = weapons
Hide (skin) = warmth & trade
I don't remember letting her read Lord of the Flies . . .

Watching Laura Grow

Birth ~

One month old ~

Two months old ~

Three months old ~

Four months old ~

Five months old ~

5 Months Old!!!

I can't believe our little Laura is already 5 months old!!! We are so blessed to have her as part of our family! She sleeps very well at night and cat naps during the day unless I nap with her. She sits in her high chair at the table at dinnertime with the family. Last night she made it pretty clear that she wanted dinner too, so we tried some berry applesauce. She ate about 6 spoonfuls, but didn't seem too impressed by it. An hour or two later (several hours before she usually falls asleep), she zonked completely out. She stayed asleep for the next 14 hours, stirring every few hours and waking up for a second to nurse. Methinks she'll be eating dinner with us every night!

She's growing up so fast! She even got up on all fours for the first time this morning!

We can't imagine life without her!

Beth decided she wanted to be part of the photo shoot ~

And a few other random photos ~

Eva in one of her fabulous outfits ~

Eva impersonating a bunny ~

The girls were watching some "girl show", so Jack escaped into our room. He turned on Transformers and cuddled up with Dad while Dad played on the computer.