Time for changes

I seem to be a broken record lately. I tell myself that I am not going to let time get away from me and I am going to post often.....and I don't.
Wyatt got to Florida! We were able to send him and he survived. He survived his first plane ride ever! He had an amazing experience that helped me grow as a mother....I know that seems weird. But I always have a hard time letting the kids go on these type of trips because I always wonder. I wonder did I teach them enough to be able to make it. I guess it is a short trip for them into the world without mom.....and he made it. AND I made it without him and made it through worrying at how he would do. He is already talking about next year (and I think by what I was able to watch of their live feed from the opening ceremonies for Science Olympiad, that it will be in Nebraska! Much closer)
Most of my time lately has been getting a taste of what Gabe does day in and day out. We only were doing this in the evenings, but I know that he line of work is NOT for the faint of heart and more than that....... I couldn't do it because I don't like heights. I am not afraid of them in the sense that I can't go up, but I am a nervous wreck when I am up there and heave a huge sigh when my feet finally are able to come back to solid ground. What am I talking about? Well, we just finished re-siding our house. This isn't for the faint at heart, we did all the work ourselves, with help from our neighbor at just the right times too! Our house is two stories which means that some of the work needed to be done with scaffolding. Thankfully our house has roof lines that allowed some of the work for the second story to be done on the roof, but still not my cup of tea! I am glad to say that we are now officially done!!! All of the painting is over, the siding is up and the caulking has been done. ALL the finishing touches are done! This has been on our plates since March!
We have also been doing graduation stuff. As much as I hated thinking about it and knowing that it was happening....it is done. Amanda is now a high school graduate! She graduated at the end of May. We are proud of her and hope that she does well. I won't have to let go too soon as she is going to live here and go to our local community college. I will have to post pictures at another time.....it seems that my computer is not communicating with my camera.

Birthday

This was a big day for Amanda. We couldn't really celebrate because of the football game. So we did what we could. Tradition at our house is that the birthday person gets to choose the meal that night. Amanda chose tacos, which really lent itself to eating fast. She didn't have much time before she had to be to the game and ready to play with the band. So we had tacos and I had made some cupcakes for her cake. We stuck a match into the cupcake and sang to her. Then we ate and she ran for the game. Not a big fan fare for such a birthday....but I know that she was okay with that as she was doing what she loved: playing with the band.

This is her present from us:

Homecoming 2013

This year's Homecoming was bittersweet for me. I mean first thing, it fell right on Amanda's 18th birthday. I mean how many times does this happen. So because of the football game that night, we had to alter our plans for celebrating her big day. But, it was also her very last Homecoming as a high schooler! I mean, this is her senior year, and homecoming only comes once a year.....so she is done. She has been marching in the parade since she was a 7th grader......6 years of homecoming parades!
But, because of our choices when starting our family.....we also had Wyatt marching for the first time as a 7th grader. So we had our very last and very first parade for the kids. It was fun.
So usually for the parade I try and find a spot where I can sit with some of the other kids, so I can see most of my children. But this time, it was different and I am glad. I called Gabe and he happened to be working at a store right on Main Street where the parade route is. So I found a spot for us and we watched together. As the MS band came up I realized that we were on the wrong side to get pictures of Wyatt. So Gabe took the camera and ran up the route and got some good ones for me!

Then we watched the rest of the parade and the HS band was the very last. They look so smart in their uniforms!

Looking at this last picture, Amanda is the last clarinet right before that sax right on the outside! I got this picture and tried to get one of just her as she got closer....and got the back of her head. Since they were the last ones, I decided to follow them up the route and see if I could get a better picture of her on her very last parade. So, I followed them up the route, but they were moving fast. I was pushing double stroller with James and Henry and I was also fighting the crowd as they were packing up and leaving. But I finally got to the end of the route and got to see the whole parade all over again! But I was also able to get some solo pictures of Wyatt and Amanda.

First day of School 2013

The first day of school has come and gone. On that first day I sent away these cuties:

I was left with these two at home. I wish that I could have gotten a better picture of Henry, but he wasn't happy that James was pulling on him. Henry would have rather been crawling around than sitting on the couch for a photo.

Henry still takes naps (thank heavens) so while he took a nap this is what James and I did:

Katherine on her first day of Kindergarten!

 Jacob 2nd grade.

Mariah--4th grade

Wyatt--7th grade and Bethany 5th grade

Amanda is a senior!! Wow, I can't believe that.

So some may wonder how I can get all these kids to school....simple: I make them ride the bus. I don't like the traffic that occurs around the schools at the start of the day and the end of the day, so I simplify my life and let (make) them ride the bus. I mean how else can I do it when every school it starting at the same time and I have 4 different schools? So I have Amanda at the high school and she actually gets to drive because of early morning seminary. Wyatt is at the Middle school. And then I have these two at another school:

 And these two go to the same school:

 So other than Wyatt and Amanda this year, everyone has a buddy at their school. It works out nice....until it comes to parent teacher conferences!


These are just some cute expressions that James had as I was taking pictures that morning. He is such a ham!!

Valentines

I know that I am so far behind if I am posting about Valentines day. But I had to post this picture of a gift that Amanda got from D. D gets a ride every morning with Amanda to seminary. I thought it was so cool! Thanks D for the Valentines present!

Morp

Amanda went to Morp this year. It is so refreshing for me to not have had to worry about a dress and all the fuss that comes with Prom. I think that she had fun....and I got some pictures for future embarrassment!

THE CLAW

(You know you just said it exactly as they did in Toy Story....admit it!) So for some reason I had to go to the laundry mat. I remember that I had to wash the comforters from my bed. And me being the person that I am, usually take my family (read, the kids) where ever I go because you can't always find a baby sitter for 8 kids. And lets face it, how else are the kids supposed to learn how to behave in different places if you don't take them to said places. I know that I also have a built in babysitter in Amanda, but she needs to learn to do things like, say Laundry....which we were doing. So all I am trying to say is that we were at the laundry mat.....me and 8 kids. While we were waiting for the laundry to wash the kids found the claw machine. Amanda had a few dollars so she tried. To my amazement she pulled out this:

 The kids were excited and had her try again. So she tried again and got another one!

Now I am not saying that she got both without a ton of trying. But she is, in my book, the queen of THE CLAW machine. Because in all my years of ever trying.....I have never gotten a single thing.

Christmas Updates

There are just too many things going on during the Christmas season to make blogging one of my last priorities....but now that the year is almost done, I am trying to update so I don't forget anything.

Mariah had her Christmas concert and did a wonderful job. She was playing the part of a snowman and was too cute thanks to the art teacher who helped to paint her face.

Wyatt also had a Christmas concert for band. His was combined with Amanda's so that night was a LONG one for us. We started the concert at 6 and weren't home until after 9. But there was an hour long intermission in there as they were thinking the first part of the concert would be longer. Next time the instructors said that there wouldn't be that long of a break. I am going to have to sit through the entire concert from now until Amanda graduates as they combine the middle school band concerts with the high schools....which makes for a long night for the rest of the family as they don't seem to enjoy listening to the bands as much as I do.

Henry is getting bigger every day and much to my dismay he found his thumb....this isn't a very good picture, but I knew it was probably going to happen. This is one baby that is too much like his oldest sister. She wouldn't take a pacifier either and was sucking her thumb by 3 months. Henry absolutely refuses to take a pacifier and will start gagging if you make him try too many times. The funny thing is that he won't even suck on my finger (he used to earlier). He has found his fist and occasionally will find the thumb.....but it is happening more and more often. These are just a few pictures that are too cute not to share.

We had Christmas and the kids enjoyed the holiday. We have started waiting longer to put up the tree.....it has sort of become a tradition now that we wait to put up the tree until the kids are officially on their break from school. We were really blessed to have a Secret Santa drop off some presents for the kids. We are grateful to them as they made Christmas just a little sweeter for the kids. Somehow the Santa knew the deepest wishes for my kids and came through.

We are gearing up for the New Year. We know we are getting old as we have started a tradition of ringing in the New Year on New York's time. This way we don't stay up so late!

What a crew!

Trying to get good pictures of this many kids can be really hard.....especially when a grandpa is standing right behind me making them laugh!

This is the first time I have had a chance to take pictures of all my kids. What a better time that right after church on Henry's blessing day? What a great bunch of kids!

Antelope--revisited

I neglected to post about Amanda's antelope. She too was successful in harvesting her antelope. We are grateful for the extra meat that it puts in our freezer. And you can't beat the smile it puts on her face!

Homecoming 2012

I love living where I live because Homecoming is a big deal. There is only one high school and they plan for the week for activities after school, sometimes for the whole community, and we get to have a parade! Since Amanda is in the band, I know where she will be during the parade. But I usually only get to see one or two of my other children in school because they aren't all sitting in the same places around the parade route. This year, I decided that I wasn't going to search out any of my children for the parade as I usually don't find them. I knew that because of the route the parade would take that 2 of them would actually be close to their school (which is a LONG ways from where I park). So I was just going this year. I actually lucked out and as I got to the parade route I hear a "MOM!". Of course any mom within hearing of that is going to turn. I turned and saw a familiar face waving at me....Wyatt! Way cool. So we camped out with Wyatt, which turned out to be a great thing as I still had Katherine and James to look out for....and when you have high schoolers throwing candy and 2 young children, that could be a dangerous combination.

Then I lucked out again. I knew from talking to Amanda that she would be marching on the same side of the street that I was on, so I wasn't worried about that. I was more worried that I wouldn't be fast enough on the camera to get pictures as they marched by. But, once again, they stopped right in front of where I was, and with my new camers I was able to get some really good pictures of her. (Did I mention how much I LOVE this new camera and my sweet husband for getting it for me for my birthday?) I am not sure why (I should just blame the hormones) but lately seeing my baby girl doing things like this makes me cry. I almost started crying as I see her marching away.....I am so proud of her.

I must say that this year's homecoming wasn't as hard as the years past. I am a transplant to this area and so growing up my heart was blue and gold all the way. I have noticed the last few years, especially as Amanda has gotten into high school, that my heart is slowing turning red and black. I will admit that I still have a big soft spot for my alma mater and the blue and gold.......but there is something about the Big Red that makes my heart melt now. So good luck in tonight's game and GO BIG RED!

First Day of school 2012

 So I have been looking forward to this day for a long time.....well, I guess more so in the last few weeks, as my kids have gotten tired of playing nicely together and needed more structure than I could provide. I am not a morning person, but this year will be a little easier as Amanda is able to drive herself to early morning seminary. The other children ride the bus and that means that they have to be ready by 7 AM. I know I could give myself some extra sleep by driving the children to school, but I have decided that it isn't worth it to try and get the youngest ones up and ready so we can all go and then the hassle of the traffic around the schools at that time......besides I have 4 different schools this year! As the kids were getting ready for school this year I got the camera out and snapped those typical pictures but this is the one that I got the most kick out of. All of my kids needed new tennis shoes before school started. I got lucky because they also needed pe shoes too. 5 kids off to school times 2 pairs a piece.......that is a budget nightmare. Thankfully KMart also had a sale about the time of buy one get one half off. My lifesaver! Although I wish it had been a buy one get one free sale. So each of the children were able to pick their own shoes and this is what we got:

I loved the fact that they were all so brightly colored and brand new.

I do take pictures of the kids individually, but rather than bore you with all of those I will just post one of all the kids (minus Amanda who had to leave for seminary before I could remember to get this one):

From left to right we have Jacob 1st grade, Mariah 3rd grade, Bethany 4th grade and Wyatt 6th. Of course James isn't in school, but he was up and wanted to be in on the action as well. Some may be asking where Katherine is:   she slept through this entire process and I let her as she didn't have anywhere special to be!

And just so Amand isn't left out, here she is ready for her junior year of high school!

So the first day was mostly uncomplicated for the kids. They arrived home from school and as typically happens all the homework falls on my shoulders because of the information updates that you have to do. They want to know every phone number in the book in case of emergency. Each child had the same form to varying degrees and each one had about 6 papers that needed to be filled out and signed. Try doing that five times over! Next year it will be worse as I have Katherine starting kindergarten!

The only funny story I have about today is also embarassing for Amanda. Yesterday was the first day she drove herself to seminary and then to school. She calls me from the school about the time she should have been pulling into the driveway, and she was upset. I asked what the problem was. She told me that she left the lights on the whole day and the car wouldn't start. She asked if I would come and jump start the car. Thankfully, this is something that Gabe has taught me how to do and I KNOW how to do it. So I told her I would. As I was mentally preparing a list of what would have to happen so I could do that, she told me that one of the teachers had some cables and would help her out. Great! That saved me a trip to the school. Then when she told Gabe about this, he reminded me and informed her that she already had the jumper cables in the trunk! I had totally forgotten that she did. All in all, she is okay other than her bruised ego and it could have been much, MUCH worse right??

So we are off and running with all our school activites and homework!

Trek

 So the reason for Amanda not being among the sleeping children is this.....she is on her trek. The left Thursday morning (too early if you ask me) and won't be home until later Friday evening. So, thanks to a great friend who went with them to drop them off at the starting point I do have some pictures to share. I took one of her before she left the house and the rest are thanks to my friend.

Amanda before she left the house:

My friend posted this one and I said that I didn't like it because I couldn't see her face:

So she posted this one waving for me!

This is the group she went with as they were headed out from the starting point. Really sort of impressive if you think about it.

Here she is with her handcart group.

We will know more about the how the rest of the trip went when she gets back.