Highlights...

I figured since I have been so very horrible about blogging I would catch up with just a few fun and neat occurrences at our house lately. The first is Christian below. Yes, he found Tampons and has absolutely NO clue what they are actually for, so using his imagination he turned them into "dynamite." He has these put safely away in his top drawer just in case he ever finds need to blow something up... I am a do laundry everyday kind of girl. If I don't it just gets out of control and can truly turn scary. I always do it when the kids are in school and Grace gets incredibly bored. Her new hobby is to hang out with the Littlest Pets inside the dryer. Sounds like loads of fun right?!

Austin had gone to bed the other night and he got up and said he wanted to share an experience with me he'd just had. He was reading his scriptures on his bed and the flashlight was going out. He said he decided to say a little prayer that it would burn long enough to finish the chapter. He says it got brighter as he read and then went dim as he finished. I could tell by the way he told me, and more so his urgency to tell me that his testimony had been strengthened by such a small act of faith. Sometimes I think Heavenly father sent these children to me not so I could teach them, but so they could teach me. I learn so much from them!

Dentists, Cowboys And Cleaning Ladies....

This week at school it is Spirit Week. Each day the kids dress as something different. Yesterday was career day and Halee, Austin and Christian wanted to be Dentists. That was awesome because they just borrowed Chris' lab coats, gloves and masks. Connor wanted to be the black sheep and went as a Cowboy. Grace even wore a mask. Funny how at 20 months she KNOWS if she's being left out.

Another thing I thought was kind of funny today. The kids had stomped some mud in the house on their way out today and Grace immediately realized this and was NOT happy about it. She looked at it and said over and over "Ewwwww." She got a rag out herself and cleaned it up! Gosh, I hope this will be a lifelong trait of hers!!! I could use a little enthusiasm concerning cleaning around here! :)

Random Pictures...

I haven't been the most consistent with my blog the last several months. Often times I just can't think of anything to blog about! I guess I'm forgetting that it's the little things I want to remember most of all... I caught this shot a few days back of Christian and Grace in the tub. They were laughing their little heads off, and I'm not even sure what about! I'm not even sure if THEY knew why they were laughing!!! It was so cute. :)

Anybody remember owning the original Little People doll house? I had one and it was one of my most treasured toys!!! I found this one recently at a garage sale, and Grace and Christian just love it. Now if only I had the original little people!!!

My poor husband. With all these kids he really never gets a break. He seems to go and go and his battery never seems to run out....except in this picture of course. ;)

It's a......

GIRL!!!!!! We decided to do things a little different this time. Chris and I went to get the ultra sound done, but instead of finding out what it was, we had the ultrasound tech type it onto the picture she printed out. She then put it in a gift box and we headed home and opened it with all our kids. It was lots of fun!!! Halee and Christian are thrilled most of all. Austin and Connor kind of wanted a boy, but are cool with this being a girl. I'm so happy!!!!! :)

I Can Run, But I Can't Hide...

I have attempted the last few weeks to hide my growing tummy, but at 16 weeks I have come to the realization that I can no longer camouflage the fact that a person is actually growing inside there. I went to Motherhood and Old Navy a few days ago and I am all set. I didn't go too crazy on spending due to the fact that this is my last pregnancy. (Thanks Alexis for the gap jeans....love them!!!!) I will try to post pics of my growing self and child now and again. I'm trying to treasure every moment knowing this will be the last time I experience such a miracle. :)

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day....

I have to say that if someone were to ask me what my favorite day of the year is, I would have to say Christmas Eve. I love this day even better than Christmas itself because of all the excitement and anticipation. I also love tradition. Each year we make tons of finger foods like shrimp, meatballs, crackers with a variety of cheese, and many more. Later on in the evening we have yummy treats as you can see below. Gosh, is it any wonder I feel fat after Christmas?? hahaha. We also allow the kids to open up their very own set of pajamas and sometimes slippers, which we did this year. They were pretty excited. :)

Christian has been beating everybody up since he opened up this present...I thought Hulk was supposed to be a good guy.

I debated on whether or not to get the older kids an IPOD this year and after much thought I decided I would rather put that off a few more years. I'm not ready for that yet! Instead we got them each a guitar and some drums just in case they decide to form a band, lol. I thought these guitars would be looked at for about a day and then be old news, but to my pleasant surprise the kids LOVE them. They will all sit in the back room for an hour at a time coming up with different tunes. It's so cute!

Grace is a major lover of dolls. She was pretty proud of these two.

So now that Christmas is over I am ready for SPRING!!!!!! :)

Little Miracles...

Sorry I have no pictures to share with this post, but I just wanted to share something really awesome that happened to us yesterday. We decided with all the snow we would take the kids sledding at the high school where there's a small incline they could sled down. It was quite a walk all the way across the football field in 3 feet of snow. We were huffing and puffing once we finally made it. About an hour into our play Chris says "Oh crap, my keys are gone!!!" Apparently they had been in his pocket, and had fallen through a whole in his zipper. The car was locked and it was slowly sinking in to us both that finding those keys in the huge span of snow we had trudged through and played in, was next to impossible. We decided as a family to say a prayer. Christian said it. All he said was "Dear Heavenly Father...please help us find the keys...in Jesus name, amen." Chris headed down the hill and later told me he prayed silently that the Lord would help him find the keys to show the kids that faith really does work. As he got to the bottom of the hill he stopped, took a big scoop out of the snow, and there were the keys buried underneath snow. We were completely shocked to actually find those keys in just a matter of seconds. Chris and I didn't have much faith that our prayers would be answered, but maybe Christian and the other kids had enough to make it happen. We wouldn't have frozen to death had they not been found, and I am confident we would have been just fine, but we all walked away realizing that God really is everywhere and can make small miracles happen.