I look at my last post and have no clue where to begin! So, let just start here...
Here, would be Boise, Idaho. In 2 short years here is a list of what has brought us to 'Here';
2 baby girls born 20 months apart
2 moves of the whole household in 2 different states
1 wedding
Many adventures!

I could write a huge long post of the what's, when's, how's, and why's, of it all, but I won't! Today is for this...
Moms. Yep, Moms.
At 17 if you would have told that at 41 I would the mother of 9, yes 9, naturally born children and an amazing son-in-law, I would have told you "You're crazy!!"! I was never having kids! I grew up with a mother who always took in 'urchins', well that's what my sisters and I called them. There were always little children at our house. She tutored, babysat, did daycare, and music lessons. No, she didn't need or have to, she LOVED to. She was one of those crazy amazing women who just loved kids! I didn't inherit that from her, sure kids were cute, I'd babysit for money, I even liked some of them, but I had ALWAYS been around them. I wanted to get away, to travel, I had big plans that didn't include, Motherhood!
Fast forward almost 22 years, I am a mother to 5 girls and 4 boys. By the end of August they will range in age of 7 months to 22 years old. In those 22 years I have been a working mom, a stay at home mom, a homeschooling mom, and a sick mom. I wouldn't change or trade it for anything.
Looking back over the years is interesting to me. I've had struggles, loss, pain, joy, happiness, love. My calling in life is being a mother! A daunting and overwhelming task that started at 19 and will never end. I trust God and sometimes wonder if he has the strangest sense of humor sending me 9 children and boys at all! I feel gratitude in my whole being for all these characters he has loaned me to raise into the person he would have them be. I pray daily that I will know how to help them best on their journey and pray that I do well for them.
I have an unique perspective that most families don't ever see. My oldest and her husband came home to meet baby #9 the day she was born. In was quite surreal to my oldest holding my youngest and thinking at her age I was a young mom with 2 sweet little girls. Did I look so young as she does? No wonder people gave me dirty looks when I was out and about with them! I smile down at this beautiful helpless infant girl in my arms and look up at my sweet oldest and remember looking at her and feeling the same amazement so many years ago! They grow so quickly, they leave home, they become adults, they get married. They get married...no longer does she come home for holidays, birthdays, spring and summer break, she now spends them with HIM! (We love and adore HIM which makes it so much easier to share her!). Looking down at this now 3.5 month old little angel I know the time is short and all too soon she will have a HIM! I watch my oldest 2 who are both adults and am starting to sit back and just breathe.
The fingernail polish on the floor and clothes, the new toilet paper roll in the toilet with a little person standing playing a splashing, the spilled milk of the not quite big enough filled with independence child getting his own breakfast, and the sticky little hands that grab your face with the words of "Tiss. mommy!" It will all be gone soon, never to return! Oh sure I will always be hugged and kissed, told " I love you!", but it's just not the same as those first years coming out of those squishy, dirty, sticky, sweet little ones! I know I still have a few years, but they are long gone from my bigs!
Balancing this vast age span of children is an interesting feat. While nursing the baby, talking to a big on the phone and dealing with a little, I have to translate toddler gibberish while still trying to maintain an adult "mom, I need help!" conversation. There are days I feel 'I got this!' There are more days I feel 'Lord, what were you thinking? I haven't got this, I'm never going to have this!'. Days when I look around my house and think I have completely dropped the ball and days when I look around knowing everyone is pulling their weight! Mornings like this one when I know that nothing will be crossed off my list of 20 things that must get done, but the kids will be on time to school, make it to speech therapy, violin, track practice, first temple trip, a sister in law will have prom flowers made, and friend will feel loved and my house will still be filled with dirty dishes and laundry waiting for someone to love them enough to clean them! It's mornings like this where I wake up to a beautiful smiling baby girl and a beautiful sleeping little bit bigger girl in my bed, knowing that we've chased my sweet husband to the couch, all the anxiety and self doubt are tossed to the side and in this moment I have peace. I know it will be short lived because at any moment my alarms will start and I will put this post aside to finish later. In this moment of the dawn lighting my window, a sweet angel smiling up at my tired face and another one sweetly sleeping with an occasional giggle and smile around her binki, I have peace!

My gorgeous ocean

It's just another beautiful, clear day on the coast. It's nearing sunset and looking out over the water it is so peaceful and calm! If I state long enough maybe the inside of this van will be too!

Pirate park

The kids love to play at pirate park and today was one of those days we all just needed out! We didn't freeze completely! 1/14/2013

Snow and mechanics?

We were in Corvallis today and the burb broke down! Poor Ben was stuck trying to fix it in the cold and then... it started to snow! By the time he was done he was cold and wet! Explaining in great detail and emotion yet again why he Hates mechanic work! 12/18/2012

What happens when you cut your hair!

So when you decide to cut your own hair, dad gets to fix/finish the job. I now have a  bald little boy! If you couldn't tell, he's loving it! 11/30/2012

Catch Up!

So, if you are a poor soul that knows this page exists, I apologize now! Onwards and upwards, isn't that what they say? So I thought after my random FHE post I should give an update!
We are still on the coast and have made another addition to our family...Princess Daphne Arabella has arrived! Weighing in at 7.11 lbs and 20 inches long, lots of black hair, long fingers and toes, long skinny feet and a very sweet little face! We now total 10, but the funny thing is as of today we have officially 4 adults, okay maybe not so much funny as Crazy! So to recap for everyone, #1 - 20, #2 - 18, #3 - 13, #4 - 10, #5 - 8, #6 - 5, #7 - 3, #8 - 3 months, Whew! There it is I am the mother of adults and infants! It makes for quite the interesting day and conversations throughout the day!
Have I figured out how to make this work? (Insert laugh of monumental proportion!) Um... NO! I think by the end of the day everyone is tired of each other and then they have to share a room! (My way of getting back at them at the end of the day! (Insert evil laugh)). The house is chaos, for some reason my loving? Heavenly Father has decided I can handle this said chaos, because as of now I do not believe there is any taming of it! My neighbors don't seem to mind my screaming out the front or back door for the boys, my frantic "Q, where are you?" and then scolding when he's found, Q running around in a diaper and my other little boys shirtless (yes, I am one of those moms, don't judge the Lord will see to it that you are too!), the fact that there are any number of outdoor and indoor paraphernalia strewn all over my yard and driveway, and the countless at times peoole that just walk in and out of my house (you know who you are 😉).
I wouldn't change this for anything, but I do have to, not need to, have to have a break every now and then! I love my family and being their mom! I'm worried and excited to see where their lives take them.
I AM BLESSED! 😊

Words Matter Family Home Evening

Family home evening went so well this week! i think that everyone from my 2 yr. old up to my 20 yr old was able to understand and participate. It's really hard to prepare lessons and activities that everyone can enjoy. We have a slight problem in my household due to Bren who is 13 and is labeled as High Functioning Autism. When Bren gets overwhelmed in a situation whether noise, visual stimulation, nervous/anxious or just lost because too many of the a fore mentioned issues he says things he doesn't mean. It maybe calling people names, I hate you, or one of many versions of Everyone hates me, I'm going to shoot myself. He is number 3 of 8 his younger 5 siblings catch these phrases of his quite quickly. After Q my almost 3 yr. old called his church class teacher a "Jerkhead" because she made him share a toy I knew it was time to start really focusing on teaching my family the importance of the things we say. Now while I know that Bren will forever say things that make me cringe and cry, my other children don't need to. Yes, I realize this is a double standard, but I have to pick my battles and right now this is not one that I choose to fight with him. My other children start to realize there is a difference in him when they are about 8 and when they start asking questions then we tell them about Bren's challenges and explain some of the struggles they don't see in their brother. This lesson even made Bren think about it for a few minutes. So here ya' go.

Words Matter!

 I used ideas from 2 different places online Or So She Says... and How Does She? They both had great stories and ideas. In my head, with my family taking a bit here and a tad there made the perfect lesson! Here's what I ended up with;

Display the "Words Matter" sign (I used this one).

Opening Song : Kindness Begins With Me

Lesson:

Who can tell me what a builder is? Let anyone who wants to answer, make sure you leave the emphasis on, a person that builds things and fixes things.

Who can tell me what a bulldozer is? Again anyone who wants to answer, make sure you leave with the emphasis that they tear things apart and knock things down.

Now, who can tell me how people, us can be like a builder or a bulldozer? Let the answers flow, making sure that the answer We can either build people up by being kind like a builder does or we can be like a bulldozer and tear people down by being mean. (Many ideas came from this question)

Pres. Gordon B. Hinkley said "“You are good.  But it is not enough just to be good.  you must be good for something.  You must contribute good to the world.  The world must be a better place for your presence.  And the good that is in you must be spread to others…” We need to be kind to all the people around us, to our family and friends,  teachers, and many others, even strangers in the street need kindness.

I have a story, I want you to listen and tell me if the person telling it was a builder or a bulldozer.

" The day I met Luis was the day I realized my most important responsibility in life was to be a builder.  Luis sulked into my classroom, plopped himself into a desk, and put his head down.  He did that the entire 45 minutes of class.  In fact, he did that for three days, despite my requests for him to “wake up.”  On the fourth day, when Luis plopped himself down and checked out before class  even began, I walked over and plopped down in the desk beside him.  I noticed his muscle car binder and commented on it.  “Cool car, “ I said.  “What kind is it?”

            His head immediately perked and a spark entered his previously listless eyes.  He proceeded to explain to me in vivid detail the awesomeness of this particular car.  To make a long story short, Luis was the low man on the social totem pole of high school.  He’d just transferred from a different school and left all of his friends behind.  He was largely overweight and the target of teasing and terrible comments.  How would it feel to be Luis?  I imagine incredibly alone.

            Every day when Luis came to class, I said at least one kind thing to him.  Cool jacket, the Braves are having a good year.  I loved reading your free-write about horses; where did you learn to ride?  Hey Luis, that’s a great book—what do you think about…  It was like no one had ever talked to him like that.  Over the course of 16 weeks, Luis went from head down on the desk, zero participation, and not turning a single thing in, to getting involved and even making new friends.  At the end of the semester, he left a small, gift wrapped box on my desk with a note that simply said, Thank you for being nice."

What do you think? Builder or Bulldozer? Repeat the quote by Pres. Hinkley

Now, I have a video for you to watch.

How did those girls feel? Do you think they knew that was how those boys saw them? Do you think those boys had ever told them before? Were those boys builders or bulldozers? I would love for us all to be builders, especially in our home with each other. There are enough people that are mean and cruel with the things they say, we shouldn't be one of them.

Close with your testimony.

Activity: We played a game, but you could do the activity mentioned here.

Closing song: A Special Gift pg. 145

Treat: cookies 

Hopefully this helps and gives you ideas!