♥ Love Life♥

Today is one of those days I keep looking back. Although if I'm honest I often look back.

I have never been a person who looks forward, sure I plan for next week, next month and even this coming summer. But thats about as far as Im willing to go.

I am in love with this time of my life. I love having my baby home with me most days. I love having toys to clean up because it means my kids are still young enough to want to play with toys. Making lunches every morning for my kids, because they still WANT me to make their lunch. Reloading the dishwasher after another poor attempt by one of the girls because they just can't fit as many dishes in as I can.

Running a Children's Choir because my girls are young enough still to be in a Children's choir. Calling outside for the kids to come in for dinner, cause all they want to do is play outside. Hearing "Mommy come see in my room" cause no one will appreciate your tidied colouring books like I will.

Stopping my son from trying to jump over his younger sister with his bike, cause of course thats a good idea when your 6. Having a 10 year old who wants so badly to be around us all the time, cause she is interested in what we have to say.

I had no idea how fulfilling being a Mom could be. I had no idea how hard it would be. I also had no idea how much I would long for this period of life to last forever.

So- for later... this weeks darling things I want to remember.
Remy calls her teacher Missy Herr. Not Ms Herr. Missy Herr. She also says "Mist-her" instead of Mister. You also coloured the Barbie car this afternoon- the same Barbie car your sisters found hiding in my closet for Christmas 7 years ago. After half a pkg of wet wipes I found out what you were doing, you handed over your markers with a OK.
Barker you are working hard on your letter sounds. Home Reading is difficult but you are pressing hard to get better. Watching you sound out words sitting beside me on the couch, sometimes I lean over to snuggle you and you loose your spot. Sorry about that, but its so hard not to!
Annaliesse is so much like her Aunt Laura. You have a new frenemie every other week. We are getting ready for your Birthday next week and you invited more people then I could fathom. You have been in tears about a million things lately, but all you need is a snuggle and you seem to bounce right back.
Kalia, we wrestled yesterday. Something we don't do very often but I needed some hugs and that is the only way to get them from you. It was glorious feeling your cheek on my cheek, hearing you laugh in my ear and watch your expressive eyebrows.

One thing

These kids love their Grandma. A lot.

Bulletin Boards

Parent Teacher interviews last week. Two good things about Parent Teacher interviews.... 

#1 someone tells you how amazing your kids are, which you know anyways. 

#2 I get to see awesome bulletin boards with some great pictures on it.

2.... err 1 more Snowboarder

Justin took the kids Skiing again on Saturday while I attended the Youth Temple trip that morning.

A few things to go along with this....

Justin bought 3 more snowboards this week.

A Remy size, a Barker size and a Annaliesse size.

I admit this Momma wasn't very happy about another 3 snowboards, especially since we agreed the kids would learn to ski first! Justin has insured me that the kids will still ski AND snowboard.

We shall see...

So Remy and Annaliesse got all the one and one time from Daddy, this trip. Justin said Remy was darling on the snowboard and Annaliesse is probably going to stick to skiing :)

If you ask me..... a four year old girl snowboarding is the cutest thing EVER.

Snapshots

I started crocheting again the other day, my first restarted projected didn't end very well. The hat I made Remy was 4 sizes to small! 😂😂

Kalia must have taken this pick when Mom, Laura and I were practicing for our trio at the nativity.

Some Monday mornings are sooooo hard.

Remy and Ray having a great time painting together... they have a great time doing really anything together. 😆

We had the missionaries over for dinner, its always a good time :)

Indoor soccer

Kalia has been playing U12 indoor soccer for a couple month now. She was a bit nervous moving up to U12, the kids are all bigger then her and as she says "kick really really hard!" As the weeks go on she is getting move comfortable playing and going after the ball. Just a few more weeks, it ends at Christmas, but she has enjoyed being active, doing a sport and her favourite part, staying up late. It is not competitive by any means, they just play against the kids that attend. She is looking forward to soccer starting and she keeps asking to play in the travel league- which will be a challenge to make work....

Snowboarding Kalia and Barker

We spent another day at the hill last week. Karla texted~ Calgary kids had a PD day so Miguels and Lieshmens were going skiing and did we want to come? Justin and I talked it over, our kids did not have a PD day and Annaliesse really wanted to stay at school. Luckily for us Grandma was willing to help with Annaliesse durning non school hours and so we took off with the other 3 kids to the mountains.

This year we have passes at Nakiska, which is really nice travel wise. It takes off about 30 minutes driving time for us. Up and gone by 6:45 am and once again Justin and the kids were first inline at the bunny hill when it opened.

Remy is doing fantastic. She moves her shoulders to turn and she pizzas down the mountain. It is all I can do not to run along side her and give her kisses!!!

Kalia and Barker both wanted more time on the snowboard! They had a great time. A few runs on the bunny hill for both of them, then up the mountain!

The first time down Barker fell so many times, and a couple times hit his head really hard. This kid can NOT handle hitting his head, and in the middle of the mountain Justin ended up holding him on his snowboard while he snowboarded down for a bit. After that ride, they were both a bit frustrated....

But Justin is a awesome teacher when it comes to skiing and snowboarding with our kids. Kalia and Justin headed up the mountain next. She also started with lots of falling, until she stood up, switched her footing from regular to goofy and just went! She said it just clicked! She had a great run down the mountain and loved it. She still fell, and on the last run of the day she fell hard on her stomach and smacked her face. She was frosty to Justin for a while after that.... but she had a great day on the board!

Barker went down again too, after Justin switched the bindings around for goofy, Barker got way better all of a sudden! Looks like those 2 take after me!! Goofy like Mom, maybe Remy and Annaliesse will be regular like Justin.

It was great having cousins for the kids to ski and snowboard with, and SIL and BIL to chat with in the lodge!

I also reached a conclusion while skiing down the mountain.... I am NOT a skier. Snowboarding makes me really nervous, breaking my wrist hurt like crazy and I am not keen to do it again. So heres the thing....

Going skiing and snowboarding with my family is lovely. I enjoy all of it. If I feel the need to get on the mountain I will snowboard down once or twice, or just hang in the lodge with the littles or as people come back. I am fine with that. Totally happy to do it.

Paper chains

I showed a friend how to set up a blog yesterday. As I was showing her different things,  I was scrolling through old posts of mine to use examples. I hope she starts to love blogging as much as we do! Anyways as I was scrolling through I came across a couple posts (here and here) making Paper chains with the kids when they were younger. I realized I had never done that with Remy and she is the perfect age. After Preschool and lunch Wednesday we got to work, all we needed was construction paper, tape (stapler works better but we have no staples) and scissors. Christmas music doesn't hurt either.

Oh she loved it. We used a ton of tape, her little fingers needed long pieces to to put the paper together, she also needed me to rip off each piece. It was so nice to sit side by side chatting, laughing and having a great afternoon with Christmas music, and then Moana.

We hung it around her room, it wasn't quite long enough to span all 4 walls, so she wanted to add more. As you can see by her rosy checks in the photo of her and I, she was getting tired and a slight fever, the second half of our paper chaining was more Mommy and less Remy.

She as so excited to show the kids when they got home from school! 2 of the kids were so excited for her project and fun decoration for her room, 1 was mad and down right jealous she got to do a craft project with Mom. We postponed piano and home reading and crafted instead.

Remy spend a little more time and made a little chain for her Best Friend Ray. And I quote "This for Ray. Cause he sick"

I need to remember to craft and play with Remy more. So much one on one time I tend to forget she would like to do a craft too- We tend to snuggle, wrestle and run errands more then I ever did with 4 little ones at home.

Odds and Ends

Remy has been loving the Christmas books lately!! The other day we sat down and read 5 in a row- seems like not that many eh? Remy gets distracted at the drop of a hat~ usually I beg her to read with me, and half way though a story she says "we done now? I want to play"  

We have a rule in this house. No electronics until Piano is practiced, Home reading done, flashcards done and spelling (for Barker). Generally by the time the kids get those done, its dinner and off to some activity. Some days they do get a bit of iPad time. Annaliesse LOVES those days. She can do anything while watching a iPad. Unload the dishwasher, clean the back hall, clean Remy's room, clean the toy room and even put away laundry. Talent guys. Pure Talent.

The kids asked for Cinnamon buns Monday. Remy and I got to work, well I got to work, Remy repeatedly licked her fingers (and flour 😶) and ate dough!!

Bobby is surrounded by girls. SURROUNDED. Can you tell?

I got the yarn back out this week. Remy wants a new hat with ears.... wish me luck! The first hat I made fell apart in a few months.

 Spent over a hour in Micheals looking at stuff for craft night and a Christmas craft at home. Remy ate a happy meal while I did it, and cheerfully chat about things she saw. She is so patient with me while I shop! So lucky for me!

Relaxing Sunday

We had Stake Conference today. The first time Grandpa has sat with us for over a year. There was lots of holding, cuddling and sharing going on by him. All 4 kids drew almost the entire meeting, Barker drew this for Grandpa. Its Great Grandma Chipman funeral, Barker said. Its crazy, Barker is 6 and honestly I didn't think he would remember this day still, it obviously affected him more then we thought. In case I forget, Grandma Chipman is in the grave, the rest of us are sad around her, along with Laura and marks dogs, with a hot air balloon flying in the background.

Lunch at Grandma's and Grandpas today instead of dinner. Everyone was over except for Miles who is hunting. We had lovely dinner of Roast, mashed potatoes, carrots, peas and jello salad. It was a great afternoon, kinda nice to halve lunch instead of dinner.

Mark, Justin and Dad carried up the Christmas stuff for Mom so she could decorate tomorrow on her day off. The groaning and complaining by these grown men, 😅😅. We headed home by three and finished off the day watching Women Woman and Elf.

I'm gonna go ahead and enjoy this relaxing Sunday, they are going to be fewer and fewer for me these next couple years.

Skiing and Singing

Saturday November 11.

Justin took the kids skiing for the first time this season. Even though I tried to talk him out of it numours times, 4 kids by yourself on Ski's is not a easy feat. Especially when one of them doesn't do it alone and 3 more need close attention. But he insisted Superdad could do it, and he did, and they had a amazing time.

Meanwhile Mom, Laura and I sang with The Okotoks Philharmonic Chorus for Remembrance Day. A lovely lunch with lots of laughing and a great chat, then off to sing with the ward choir at a Funeral.

At the hill Justin and the kids had a blast with Payton, Beckett and Uncle Jay. They started off doing a few run off the Olympic Chair, Remy, who I was worried terribly about did amazing. Justin said it took Kalia quite a while to get her ski legs back, but Barker and Annaliesse acted like no time had passes since last winter. After a few runs Justin took Kalia and Remy to the bunny hill to let Kalia let try the new snowboard. Justin promised everyone could try it, but Kalia got the majority of the afternoon to practice. Kalia practiced while Remy worked on skiing by herself! Justin said she did amazing, taking the magic carpet up and skiing down like a little darling four year old. Kalia spent a ton of time on her butt, knees and face. LOL Snowboarding wasn't as easy as she thought.

Annaliesse had her turn on the snowboard and Justin said he was blown away. He couldn't believe how easy she picked it up. Justin said she was a natural, by far the best snowboarder of the kids! A fact she couldn't help but rub in the other kids faces....

Barker had his turn next and was almost as good as Annaliesse. I guess this is what happens when you start skiing young eh? Payton and Beckett both had a turn on the snowboard as well. They had a great time skiing, playing with cousins and being with Daddy all Saturday.

Justin got home just in time to pick up the babysitter and come meet me in the city for Adult Session Stake Conference. Mom and I shopped while Dad attended Preisthood Session (Justin was driving home) and we all met at the Stake Centre for the session at 7pm. It was a great session with Elder Maynes speaking to us for over a hour, he was amazing. He talked about how daily choices made over and over eventually make Traditions. And how Traditions are either celestial traditions or false traditions. A great Saturday, everyone doing something they enjoyed... kinda bummed I missed the first ski day though 😉

Snapshots

I was hoping to get some sewing done on Barkers Christmas quilt this week. Remy had different plans.... She was grumpy and out of sorts all day. Usually when I sew she plays downstairs with toys and is perfectly happy. Not this day. She wanted nothing to do with downstairs, toys or me. I sewed for a hour with her until she just could do it any longer. We headed upstairs where she painted for a hour.

Barker hurt his foot Saturday. He was playing soccer and kicked the stairs, he spent the rest of the day winning, limping or crying. It was not exactly pleasant. Also- can you tell who was shopping while Barker sat in the cart? LOL

Remy got her shots this week. She was a champ, said ouch for one and just sat there for the other 3. She was really nervous in the morning and didn't want to go, but we put on special lipstick and I told her about the stickers... after that she says "I little bit excited a little bit not."

She napped that day and the next. Which rarely happens anymore. It was all I could do not to crawl in bed and snuggle with her.

Stickers are quite the past time right now. First it was Dora stickers and now Christmas stickers.

Snap happy

Justin and Remy were playing with  his phone the other day.

They took these hilarious photos and laughed and laughed and laughed.

Remy took the bottom 3 and Daddy said she was making his eyes go crazy!

She thought it was hilarious. 

I remember the other kids being 4, I wonder if we played as much as we do with Remy.

Probably not as I was dealing with babies every other time.

Thats life though.