Baby boy is 5!

Today was a day I've been thinking about for a long time. The day my baby turned 5. In all my married life, I've never gone so long without a new baby. And he will be going to Kindergarten in just a few short months and my life will never be the same again. It's rather momentuous, and kind of hard to wrap my head around. It's rather strange to realize that I've truly moved past the child-bearing part of my life.

Anyway, today was James' 5th birthday. Since he was born at 6:45 a.m. he was already 5 by the time he woke up today. After Stake Conference we had Ford, Shiala and Kami over for dinner and donuts. Per tradition, James chose our big meal for the day, tin foil dinners. Here he is enjoying his own creation.

yum!

The local Welch tribe

After dinner, we lit the candles on the donut 'cake' and then opened gifts. When we began this part of the party James immediately covered his ears. He does not like to be sung to. This year it also took quite a bit of coaxing for him to actually blow out the candles. I thought they would melt completely before he put his hands down and blew them out. But he finally decided to do it, thank heaven.

watching Nina light 'em up

Kami had no qualms about the singing, unlike James

debating whether to blow or not...

opening his card from Grandma and Grandpa Welch

Loving the 'gift' he found inside!

a fun light-up spinning candy/toy from Ford and Shiala.
He always wants one when we go to Maverik, but I never let him get one!

This shirt was perfect for him! and it came with a RC dinosaur. 

Lucky boy's goodies

After we ate goodies, Allie brought up a gift from Grandma B…some cool rocks from the Fort, $5 and a rubber band pistol...

"Take a picture of my dinosaur, Mom!"
I was really aiming for the cute face behind it!

James came as a surprise to our family, but what a gift he has been. He has kept us hopping and wondering how we'll survive him at our advanced ages. He is a very smart, capable boy and we look forward to watching his life unfold. James, we sure love you and are thankful that you came to our family!

Country living (AKA We are Rednecks)

Winter really seems to drag on here, or at least the cold does....
By about Feb/March we start to get a little cabin fever and long to get outside.

On this day, Charlie asked me if he could shoot the BB gun. It must have felt warm, since he chose to wear shorts. My younger kids have to have a bigger person (16+) with them when they shoot so I agreed to go outside with him for a while. A SHORT while. It didn't feel all that warm to me, even as I sat on the south side of the house in the little corner by the chimney where no wind was blowing.

Charlie had grabbed some cans to shoot at and he set them up and began knocking them down.

He begins with his gun lowered and slowly raises the tip to aim. It's kind of funny to watch him. He has also struggled with which eye to close when he's aiming. But I think he must have that figured out because his shooting is becoming much more accurate.

Then Soren joined in the fun...

We do have more than one BB gun so that no one has to wait for a turn. 

Still working with them on not pointing a gun at anyone, or the house or cars, and to keep their finger off the trigger unless they are actually aiming at their target. It's a lengthy process, a work in progress.

Then, Cambria joined in and began shooting down all the targets before the boys had much of a chance to hit any. They better learn to cock the gun a bit quicker.

I'm thankful that we live on the edge of town so that this kind of activity can occur in our yard. We want our kids to grow up having a knowledge of the use of guns as well as a respect for them. We don't want them to be scared of them, but to know how to use and handle them properly and safely. I guess that liking this type of activity might make us rednecks, but so be it!

Lunch date

Just before the little boys' birthdays Cambria, James and I drove to Blanding to check out the new Shopko Hometown store and see what we could find for birthday gifts. It's a nice store and it's nice to have it as an option rather than always running to Cortez to Walmart.
Before we left Blanding we decided to grab some lunch at the Patio. It was nice to have a little outing with my oldest girl and youngest boy. Life is good!

James enjoying the ice cream that was part of his kids' meal...

made the shopping worth the bother

I'll miss my lunch buddy.

Jr Jazz

Another year of Jr Jazz is finished. Whew! I am thankful my kids have opportunities to try different sports and learn some skills, but I'm always glad when the season is over and my Saturday mornings are my own again.
This year, Soren was in a group of 3rd/4th graders. It's always funnest to be in the older half of the kids. Then the next year, you go back to being with the boys who are a grade ahead and just a bit better at playing basketball than you are. I also really appreciated fathers who give of their time to help coach and teach the boys.
I don't know if Soren will play basketball past Jr Jazz, but I am happy he likes it and has fun playing. I would rather they play for fun, than feel pushed into playing to make a parent happy.

Soren-#5 in black

I took Charlie once and this is what he spent his time doing. Throwing/sliding toys on the bleachers. I don't know why they even want to come, since they never watch the games...

Bear scout & banquet

Soren finished up his Bear requirements just before he turned 10, squeaking them out in that last week before his birthday. In February we had the Scout Banquet and that was where he was recognized for earning his Bear badge. Due to budget cuts we no longer have a Scout store in town, so they didn't have his pin or badge yet, but gave him a certificate and recognized his work.
We have done scouts for so many years now that it's hard for me to be enthused about it all, but I am glad they have the opportunity to learn these skills and character education. I appreciate the people who volunteer their time to help the boys in this program.
Good job, Soren, finishing up! (so your mom would quit nagging you) Next up, Webelos!

Bear scouts decorating their cake for the cake decorating contest...

Sis Olson and Soren
he looks pretty cute in his uniform :)

receiving his certificate for his Bear award.

My PT Sub job

When school started back after Christmas break I started a small part-time job subbing as a janitor at the high school. It's a semi-permanent sub job, at least through the end of this school year. So this is what I do every day of the week. I empty all the big trash cans in the hall, clean the fountains, clean all the entrance doors and sweep the halls. It's just 2 hours a day. It took me a while to figure out how it was going to work best for me, but what it has come to is that I do 1-1.25 hrs after school and then go in at about 6 in the morning and finish up. That way it doesn't interfere too much with family time and when I get up early and go in no one even misses me.
I've discovered that I like a job that allows me to work quietly. I put in my earphones and work away.
I like having the extra income. It has allowed me to get some things for the house/family that were needed but always at the bottom of the priority list, like new bathroom rugs. It also allows me to have a bit of money to spend without feeling guilty.
I was so sad when my vacation rental cleaning job ended and missed the extra money. This has been a nice blessing. Funny how Heavenly Father works things out for his children. Closes a door but opens another, if we can be patient and wait on His timing.

cleaning fountains every day….sometimes they only stay clean for 2 minutes.

This is my view every day…Lots of orange and black

I listen to Pandora most of the time. I like this station that plays music from my high school and college days. I also like the Adele station as well as listening to audio shows on the Mormon Channel.

Danc-ercise

After pondering the fact that I need to do more to make life fun and interesting for my kids, I think I really surprised them one day when I agreed to play Just Dance with them. Hannah, Charlie and I danced a few times, our favorite is the Ghostbuster dance. Sadie was so astounded she ran and got my phone and took pictures. Probably thought it was a once in a life-time event! I'd say she's probably right, but I'm trying to remedy that. :)

Hannah, Charlie and I doing the Ghostbuster dance

Who you gonna call?

Ghostbusters!

Add caption

Its quite the workout to do Just Dance.
I ought to do it more often...

I think I actually won by points on one dance! Made my day :)

We finally even got Soren to give it a go!

Valentine's

We had a low-key Valentine's Day. Seems like that's the case with most holidays around here. I've thought a lot about it and realized that I need to do a bit more to make such days exciting and fun for everyone. There is no reason not to make a few days a bit more special than all the others! Something for me to work on.
We found some cute Star Wars printable Valentine's cards for the boys to use for their classmates. They attached a pixie stix as a light saber and wrote all the names on them. Thank heaven for people who generously share their work for those of us who have no idea how to do such things...

putting classmates cards together

Valentine's was on Sunday this year and I didn't have any plans to do anything special, but we made lasagna and I realized I could throw a red tablecloth on, put red goblets on for the red juice and call it "Love"sagna and make it a bit special.

"Love"sagna

My sweet boys

Two of my girls and the "Love" of my life.

I am so blessed with a wonderful family and I sure LOVE them!

Hannah's art

Hannah likes to draw. She is happy that our school has an art teacher again. It didn't for a while. She has done projects in different media such as acrylic paints and pen/ink.
This year she drew this picture of Kami with pen and used lines to indicate depth and shadow. I like how she varied the line directions and spacing to create the shadows. Her teacher encouraged her to enter her picture into the art show in Springville. That's a pretty prestigious art show and unfortunately, her pieces were not accepted. But I was proud of her for even trying. It took some time to get them framed and ready to display and write the artist statements.
I think if she continues to draw she will really develop this talent she has for drawing.

Hannah's drawing of Kami in pen

the back of the drawing that shows the actual picture of Kami on the trampoline she was looking at.

Ponderize January 2016

My ponderizing has gotten way off track since Christmas. I kept this scripture up on the fridge for a whole month. I started a new part time job in Jan which kind of threw me for a loop and it seems my brain was also preoccupied with Montana's upcoming wedding. I was going to replace it (the scripture, not my brain, although that might have been a good idea!) at one point but then realized that I would be studying that chapter in my Book of Mormon study I'm doing so I kept it up. 

I love the second chapter of 2nd Nephi! I love the truth in this verse. I think it's a truth the world has completely lost. Not that it was ever generally understood, but it seems as if everyone in the society I currently live in wants to be FREE. Which, to them, means free to do any thing, give in to any whim or thought or desire and also be free from the responsibility and consequences of their 'free' choices. They don't understand that exercising their agency in that manner will ultimately leave them in bondage and under the power of Satan. And they complain bitterly about how crappy their lives are and how there can be no God because of all the crap in their lives.  

If only freedom and liberty were concepts and principles understood and lived correctly, what a world it would be. We are free. God has given us agency and will not force our obedience. He also will not reward us for evil or bad choices. We will repent or we will pay the price for them ourselves. Is it not easier to just choose the Lord's way? Easier said than done, I know. That darn human factor makes it so much harder than it sounds. Thank heavens (literally!) for the Atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance.  

When I see the ultimate choice here in black and white, (or orange and green!) it's a no-brainer. Why would we deliberately choose to be in captivity and be miserable? (Shrug!) I surely don't know why anyone would CHOOSE that.

Long Sunday afternoons.....

We have such LONNNNNGGGGGG Sunday afternoons this year, since we have moved back to the 9-12 church schedule. Since we only have 2 wards in our building, we either go to church at 9 or 11. It's not as bad this year as it has been in the past, because there are no babies, and the kids are growing up and learning to entertain themselves better. Still, there needs to be alternatives to the 387,848th watching of 'The Best Two Years' or 'Baptists at Our Barbecue'! Here are a couple of things the kids have come up with.

playing 'Don't let the balloon touch the floor!" with a rubber glove balloon. :)

Even Dad got in on it. So did I, but since I was the photographer, there's no record of me playing. Hehe.

A mean game of Battleship. I think the littler boys finally have figured out how to play it correctly 

I always have good intentions of good things we should be doing on the Sabbath, but by the time I get home and we fix dinner and eat, I'm wiped out and have to take a nap before all the big kids start Facetiming us. We love seeing/talking to them, but it takes up a good chunk of time on Sunday evenings. I may have to start scheduling them ;) By the time all 9 are out on their own, I don't think we can talk to every one of them on Sunday evening unless we do a conference FaceTime or something. 1st world, large family problems!