First week of school!

Tucker enjoyed his last day of freedom before school started! He lots of fun playing with his friend Samuel for a few hours in the afternoon.

Tucker was excited to start school on Tuesday! He has his kindergarten teacher for first grade this year. He is excited to have the same teacher. I just hope he doesn't feel so comfortable with her that he starts goofing off right away in class. On the first day of school there were clouds in the sky and Tucker said he wanted his coat while waiting for the bus. I told him that it was not cold enough for a coat and that he would be fine. He obediently obeyed. Shortly after getting on the bus and to school, it started to drizzle. It continued to rain off and on throughout the day :P So when Tucker asked to have a jacket on the second day of school I said yes, again looming clouds were in the sky but shortly after Tucker was on the bus the sun came out and warmed up the day. 

Gunnar wanted a picture because Tucker had one so here he is :)

Hunter figured out how to make a star shape with these pattern blocks and was very proud of himself. He then continued on to make this "creature"

Tucker was able to see the star in Hunter's shapes and copied it to make his own star.

Gunnar thought it was cool that I was taking pictures of everyone's creations and requested that I take one of his stacked blocks

Other news in life:

 I have started working out. It is strange to work out as I have never had to consciously work out in my life. Since getting married I have completely slacked off on doing anything athletic and I can tell in my complete lack of endurance for anything. Our stake along with two other stakes get together every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to exercise together. They do Cardio on Mondays, Yoga on Wednesdays, and Zumba on Fridays. I have only been going two weeks but am enjoying it. For now Connor is generally happy to sleep in his car seat or lay on the ground and the other kids run around the stake center gym with the other kids that come with their moms. It is nice to have someone else figure out what I should be doing and have a place where my kids can run around like crazy and not need me for an hour. I am no where near as flexible as I used to be and my right side (previously my more flexible side) is now less flexible than my left. 

Last week my sister Michelle talked about her 'Pollyanna moments' of the previous week. When I was younger I loved this movie. So my sister and I talked about reading it together but apart (since we live in different states). I was planning on making a trip to the library at the end of the week to see if it had the book for me to rent. Well Thursday afternoon a package arrived for me from my sweet sister containing Pollyanna and the sequel that neither of knew existed! I was so excited! It has been such a joy to read this book. While Pollyanna's incessant talking might drive me a little crazy in real life her happy attitude about everything is infectious! I couldn't help but feel happy while reading it. I also had a hard time putting it down :) One of my favorite parts of the book was when Reverend Ford had finished speaking with Pollyanna about the 'rejoicing texts' in the bible. He was reading a story in a magazine about a father's interactions with his son who forgot to fill the wood box. Rather than scold the son and have the wood box remain empty, the father simply said that he knew the son would be glad to fill the wood box for his mother. The son then went and filled the box with a happy attitude. The moral being that when we look for and expect the good in people they will strive to live up to those expectations but if we berate or belittle people they will not change for the better. As I write this it reminds me of my brother Jared. Growing up I would ask him ever so kindly to do something and he would occasionally reply "no." My response to him was often "thank you" anyway. He would then look at me like I must not have heard him and reply "I said no." To which I would say, "I know and I said thank you." Almost always he would then go and do the thing I asked. I also considered it a special power I had to manipulate my younger brother to do something for me but maybe because I gave him the assurance that I knew he could do it he did. I am now trying to implement something of this nature with my children. Like when they are making a large mess, rather than tell them to "stop right now" I have been saying things like, I see you are making a large mess but I know that you will be glad to clean it up when you are done. It hasn't always gotten them to clean with a happy attitude but sometimes they stop making the mess bigger. 

On Friday evening we had a marvelous thunderstorm! I loved it! It reminded me of Arizona monsoons. It was one of the few storms that actually started in the evening and lasted the entire night! Connor slept for 8.5 hours that night but Gunnar decided to wake up lots! Thanks to Pollyanna I found joy in the ability to enjoy more of the storm as I fell back asleep at several points in the night. 

I am also going through our toys and minimizing! I am so tired of cleaning up toys that are getting left out and fighting with my children to get the toys cleaned up. The other week Brylee did not want to clean up the little bit of things on her bedroom floor and the threat of throwing the things away didn't seem to phase her at all. So I took her crocs (her favorite pair of sandals) that she didn't want to clean up and threw them in the trash along with her baby doll and a couple of other things. I threw them in my "clean trash" the one that generally only has papers or lint from the dryer in so that I could retrieve them later. This got Tucker and Hunter to work hard on their bedroom thankfully. As a result of this, and a desire to have blank wall space in my home, I have decided to get rid of excessive toys in our home. Some of the things my children were sad to see boxed up because they "really like to play with those toys" even though they had not played with them in seeming forever! I need to go through a second time and pair down a little more to get everything to fit a single toy bookshelf. There has been a lot less to clean up the rest of this week as a result and the children haven't missed any of the missing toys thus far. 

As a final announcement we will be blessing Connor in church next Sunday, August 31 for anyone that would like to attend. We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of the family that is coming up to celebrate with us and hope you all travel here safely!

I love to see the Temple!

Sometimes it seems like my kids forget that they have a baby brother in the house. Connor is rather mellow and generally happy lying on the floor watching the controlled chaos. But every now and again they remember he is there and want to hold him :)

This week I tackled the feet of taking the children to the Ogden Temple open house without Bryant. I was super excited to share this experience with them but also a bit nervous of how they would act. Amazingly, we left the house 10 minutes ahead of schedule, which was great since I needed to get gas before starting the drive so we ended up leaving "on time!" Our scheduled time was 11:45 so I brought us a picnic lunch to eat before going through.

Here we are on the grass outside the temple grounds eating. Connor was also supposed to be famished and ready to eat but the spirit of where we were must have been so strong because all he wanted to do was coo and smile and not eat. It was cute but concerning because I didn't want him grumpy throughout the temple 

We started our tour watching a short video. Before the video began the sister missionaries that introduced it warned us to try and be reverent for all to hear as the sound was not very loud. As soon as it started Hunter leaned over to me and said "this is louder than we watch tv at home!" I couldn't help but smile. 

Going through the temple was a different experience than when I was a child. I think they are trying to enable more people to see the inside and so we were just a giant, continuous line snaking through the temple. It was hard for me to keep the kids together after about 20 minutes because the line would stop in the hallways where there was nothing to see and then when there was a room to discuss or see the line behind us would be pushing us forward because those behind us wanted to see. It took between 40-50 minutes to make it through the temple and my kids attentions were shot after about 30 minutes (the expected walk through time). Thankfully, a young grandparent couple adopted Gunnar and carried him through the last 15 minutes so I didn't have to keep bending down and wrangling him with us while carrying Connor in a carrier on my front. It was truly a life saver! 

Overall the children seemed to really enjoy it. Brylee folded her arms upon entering the temple doors of her own accord. She seems to be great at recognizing special places and showing reverence for them. Hunter was amazed at all the gold in the temple and Tucker really liked the stained glass windows. We even went on a Jesus hunt while there finding all the pictures of Christ that we could, which sometimes lead Gunnar in the wrong direction but it was great to hear him exclaim "Jesus!" every time he saw him. 

After exiting the temple we came to this fountain where lots of people were throwing coins and the kids asked me if they could to which I had to reply that I didn't have any money to do so. Well the lady next to us happily offered my children a penny each. Afterwards, Hunter came up to me and identified that it was nice of the lady to give them all pennies and for the man in the temple to carry Gunnar. I am grateful for these kind examples and that Hunter was able to recognize them and feel the joy that came from them.

Here we are after the walk through. Connor only got grumpy a couple of times but was easily consoled. 

They had this statue of Christ in a tent with more information about the Ogden Temple construction. 

This is one of my favorites of the kids. :)

We walked back around to the front of the temple where I sat to feed Connor. I had brought pictures with me for the kids to color before going into the temple, figuring that we would have plenty of time after our picnic but we didn't so they were able to sit and color them while I fed Connor, which was super helpful to me. Then they went and explored this other fountain.

Hunter requested that I take this picture. I thought he just liked the waterfall aspects of the fountains but I realized this evening that it has a great reflection of the temple on the top of the water and now really LOVE this picture! I'm glad that I said "yes" to something that was not a big deal, although it would have been easy to say no to. 

Here we are in front of the temple :)

When we first arrived in Ogden and were looking for the best place to park we saw a bunch of these painted horse statues. The children really wanted to try and ride them so I told them we could after walking through the temple. Well Gunnar REALLY wanted to ride them so as soon as the introductory movie of the temple tour ended he reminded me that it was time to go see the horses. It was cute. Thankfully, they were okay with only riding on one of the horses (there were different ones at every corner of multiple intersections) because I was rather worn out by the end of the temple tour to be honest. 

The children wanted to show me that they could all fit on this chair together. I was just glad they figured out a way to share and all be happy about it :)

As a result Tucker wanted his picture taken in this silly pose. I love my silly kids. You can see the pillow case I made for Gunnar for his birthday in this picture too. I really like making pillow cases because they are easy, quick, and turn out super nice

 In church today the sacrament song was "I Stand All Amazed." This is one of the primary songs this year so my three oldest children all know the first verse really well and decided to sing along. They were all loud, sometimes coming in before the right beat, and sometimes off key and it was downright hilarious. They were each like the young child in the primary program that sings really loud and everyone hears and smiles about. I had a hard time singing because I was suppressing giggles. Despite the funniness of it, it was great to hear them singing the song and being a part of what was going on. 

This evening Connor was also super happy and I almost caught it on camera. 

As soon as I laid down to talk with him, everyone else remembered that they had a baby brother and decided that they needed to converse with him as well. Thankfully, Connor was not super overwhelmed by it all.

Apparently I'm awesome

This last week has been a really good week. If I think really hard about the week I can identify plenty of times where the kids weren't listening or I got frustrated but my general feeling of the past week has been bliss. I am really enjoying life right now.

Last week a bunch of people in the ward were looking for camping stuff for this past weekend. So I got on the ward facebook page and posted: "There have been a lot of requests for camping stuff. For anyone in need: we have three blue roll out camping mats, two twin air mattresses, 5 full size sleeping bags, a spacious 8 man tent that you can stand up in, and a partridge in a pear tree"

I just thought I was being clever and silly. Well the following day at church the bishop came up to me to tell me that I made him laugh. His wife also came up to me and gave me a hug because I apparently always bring a smile to her face. It made for a great start to last week.

My calling in church is to teach Sunday school every other week and it was my turn this Sunday. I always feel like it takes me a little while to get in the zone when teaching and I can easily lose track of where I am. I like to write out what I want to say (like giving a talk) so that I don't have to come up with filler words but I also don't like to just read from a paper when teaching so it can be hard to keep track of where I am and say everything I wanted to say. Apparently, people like my lessons and this week someone came up and told me that his wife doesn't usually like gospel doctrine classes and prefers gospel essentials because they keep it simple but she enjoys my lessons.

Then my visiting teachers came over and I have a new sister visiting me that is new to the ward. Apparently, the week that Bryant I spoke in June was her and her husband's first week in the ward and he was super impressed that a pregnant lady that was about to pop could give such a great talk and be so spiritual. I totally felt like I fumbled through my talk because I started crying when I completely didn't expect to be so I blamed it on the pregnancy hormones :)

It was so wonderful to have people tell me that they think I'm awesome especially when I haven't been feeling like I have been doing a whole lot of special these past weeks. So I have decided that I need to be more vocal of people that I think are awesome because everyone has to like hearing how awesome they are :)

I hope this week continues in awesomeness and so does yours :P

Primary Carnival

Our ward puts on a carnival each year for the primary kids and their families. Our children always enjoy it.

Three of the kids got their faces painted

This year they had the added "game" of beat on Bro. Buck. It was a big hit. After Gunnar did it I took him to play some of the other games again and then asked him which game he wanted to do again and he said "swords!"

August is here!

The beginning of August brought a Ninja Turtle party for the child of one of Bryant's co-workers :)

Connor turned one month old and weighs over 10 lbs! He is a great eater and a great baby! Connor is my easiest baby thus far. He goes to bed around 10 pm each night and sleeps until sometimes between 3:30 and 4:30 and then goes right back to sleep until the morning! It has been amazing. He also naps really well in his bed, often sleeping at the same time as Gunnar in the afternoons. He is beginning to spend more time awake and is generally happy during those times. His fussy time seems to coincide with making dinner so we have been eating a little later around here as it takes a little longer to get the meal prepared with a baby in my arms. Connor is truly loved by all of his siblings, although Brylee still tells me that she wants a little sister next!

Tucker is such a great reader! It is super helpful! While the children were at their friend's house while Bryant and I were sailing, they were introduced to "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein. Tucker was telling me about how they read a bunch of short silly stories and what some of them were and I was able to figure out what he was talking about. Well my sister Michelle passed the three poem volumes down to me a little while back and I had been trying to figure out the best way to introduce them to my children. This was the perfect moment. I got the book down for Tucker and he read a bunch of them to everyone while I worked on lunch :) I love seeing all of my children crowded around a good book

My sister also gave us these big bubble wands and tray. It made a fun activity for the children outside this past week. They thought that all of them were really cool.

Gunnar is finally able to blow bubbles because the ring is so big that he doesn't put it on his mouth when blowing! He was so proud of himself!

Connor had lots of fun hanging out in the shade as well.

This is the best "smile" I have been able to capture thus far. He loves to have someone moving his legs so he is "running" but I can't get a picture of his cute face and make him run at the same time. 

Here is a close up taken by Tucker  :)

This is a sweet video of some of the interaction Connor gets with his siblings.

Oh and this reminds me. Connor is the first child not intentionally attacked by his older siblings. Hunter attempted to kill Brylee twice: once by pulling the blanket she was laying on on the couch off the couch with her on it and another time by trying to sit on her face. Brylee attempted to kill Gunnar at least once as well when he was first born. No one has meant to hurt Connor but giving him tummy time can be a very dangerous task with four older rambunctious siblings! Even with my watchful care and sitting right next to him, Connor has had his hand stepped on and someone else tripped and almost smashed his face. The children have gotten better at keeping a watchful eye out for Connor and I have rearranged the furniture so that there is a little more floor space for him to have but I still feel he is safest when he is in his bed :) With school starting in another week, there will be a few less feet running around, which hopefully makes life on the ground safer.

Despite these "set-backs" Connor has rolled over three times from his front to his back, once right after I put him on his tummy one day, and then twice yesterday. He not so willingly performed it a second time for me so I could capture it on camera :)

8 Years!

Bryant and I have been married for 8 years!!! I love this guy so much. I couldn't imagine my life without him. To celebrate we went on a sunset sail on Utah Lake. We actually got to man the boat and practice tacking and learn lots of sea terminology. 

Apparently, I impressed Bryant with my sea knowledge. Bryant asked our captain what he thought the weather was going to be like because it didn't seem like there was a lot of wind. Our captain responded that he thought he saw red in the sky that morning. Bryant looked confused so I repeated, "Red in the morning sailor's take warning, red at night, sailor's delight." Both Bryant and the captain looked at me impressed. That was a phrase I learned when watching Deadliest Catch with Bryant years ago! Bryant doesn't remember it at all. :)

Next the captain was trying to teach us the different sides of the boat and he pointed to the left side and asked what it was called, which I confidently replied, "port side." Again Bryant was surprised, so I told him that the captain had just referred to something being located on the port side of the cabin to his first mate and I had made a mental note :P

It was so nice to get out of the house without the kids for 2 hours. We are considering taking lessons starting next spring and are looking for another couple to join us so we can get a group rate! (hint hint nudge nudge wink wink)

Here is Bryant at the controls :)

Here is our sunset 

Thankfully we didn't get eaten by a bunch of bugs! As we were walking back to our car they were swarming above in the sky. There were so many they made quite the loud audible noise. I had never heard anything like it before.