All she'll really need to know she'll learn in kindergarten...

I wish.I know most moms cry when their child goes to Kindergarten,

but I did a happy dance.
Is that awful?
I wasn't that way with the other two "nestlings", shhh...don't tell, but
"C" is going through her first adolescence.
I often hear the phrases,
WHATEVER,
I DON'T CARE,
What's the BIG IDEA?,
and
"I don't want to grow up. I want to stay a TEENAGER."

Where she got that last one from, I have no idea.

See why I welcome a three hour break?

How we told the "nestlings"

After our lesson for family home evening every Monday we play Hot and Cold.
Maybe you've played it?

If you haven't, you play it by hiding an object and as a person walks around the area it's hidden in the person who hid it says
Hot-if the person is getting close
or
Cold-if the person is far away from the hidden object.
We always do this with some sort of treat on family night.
The "nestlings" love it.
On the night we decided to tell the "nestlings" we were going to have another baby, we wrapped numbered clues around the candy.
Then we had "T" read them in order.
They said:
More Love
One more chair
Around March 3rd
Tiny Toes
"D" big brother
They didn't figure it out right away.
They had to read the clues a couple of times.
They were so excited when they figured it out.

The "husbird" was explaining how the baby starts out like a tiny little seed and
five year old "C" chimed in and said,
"And if it's a boy it's a blue seed and if it's a girl it's a pink seed."
LOL.

On another note, I had my first doctors appointment today.
Everything went well.
It feels more real after peeing in a cup, hearing the heartbeat,
and getting five tubes of blood drawn.

Family Reunion Recap

Two weeks ago we had a family reunion with the "husbird's" family in Park City.
We stayed at the Marriott Mountainside thanks to his brother,
who has a time share with Marriott.

Our room had a full kitchen, three flat screens t.v.'s, and could sleep eight.
It was nice to have so much room, instead of a typical hotel room. Each day they had activities for the kids.
"C" did some beading.
"T" played in the game room with cousins.We braved a very windy day at the lake for some water fun.
"D" had fun throwing rocks.The next day we visited the Olympic Park.
Definitely worth doing if you live in Utah.We watched skiers practice their jumps into this swimming pool.

I could've watched all day.

We took a tour and practiced our olympic moves. Ha.

Here I am, me and my white legs, coming down the chair lift after dropping "T" off at the zipline at the top of the mountain.

The "husbird" and "A" sped down the alpine slide.

As you can see, we had a lot of fun spending time with family for a few days.

Until next year...

Best Razor Ever

If you're in the market for a new razor or you've never found one you love.
Look no further.
For years I had tried different types of razors, never finding one I loved until one of my friends told me about the one she had.
I decided to give it a try, loved it, and haven't looked back since.
Unfortunately I left my razor, the Venus divine at the cottage the "husbird" and
I escaped to this summer.
Boo Hoo.....until a lady emailed me who works for Venus and told me she had read my post and wanted to send me a little package in the mail.
Yahoo!
This is what arrived.

Yea!
The new Venus Embrace leaves my legs so silky smooth.
Though this is sounding like a commercial, I wasn't asked or are being payed to tell you this, unless you consider new razors payment,
just passing on advice someone once gave me, for which I'm still grateful.

New School Year

Ready or not school started today.
It actually felt good to have half freedom.
Miss "C" actually starts kindergarten next Monday which will be really helpful since she has seemed lost all day without her older brother and sister.
She needs school.

I decided to start a new tradition that my friend Samantha does each year,
take the "nestlings" picture at the front door with a sign of their grade.
It will be fun to see how they grow.

I made cookie dough brownies for their after school snack.
Normally I would give them a piece of fruit and some kind of carbohydrate,
but I wanted to surprise them with a treat to celebrate their first day of school.

TEN

Where has the time gone?
My first baby, "T" turned ten years old on Tuesday.
This makes me panicky.
Have I taught him everything he should know in this ten years?
I feel like I need to step it up a notch and really focus on teaching him more.
Eight years is all I have until he goes off to college.
Eight short years.

In the book " The Parenting Breakthrough" it says he should be:

Doing his own laundry
Setting personal goals---check
Play a musical instrument---check
Maintain personal journal---check
Participate in Exercise---check
Clean Stove
Clean Oven
Make several kinds of salad (do pancakes count?)
Understand Basic Nutrition---check
Use a leaf blower
Plant plants
Use the phone---check
Know Articles of Faith----half check
Write Creatively---half check

"T" can do a lot of things not listed, but I obviously still have some work to do.
I love this book, but I do find it a little over the top in some aspects.
I like that it has a list of things your kids should know by different ages though, because it gives me goals to work towards with my children.
Have you read it? Do you like it?
Do you have a ten year old that does all these things?

12 weeks

The counters, table, and sink have been wiped clean, the dishwasher is washing, the washer is going, and I'm dressed so now maybe I can do a little blogging---
granted my kids aren't dressed, but they're happily playing in their pajamas with their cousins who spent the night, even though it's almost eleven.
There's only a couple more lazy summer days left since school starts on Monday.
I'm not sure what to blog about since I have so many things to tell you.
A lot has happened lately.
The last twelve weeks have been very challenging.
I could have laid on the couch everyday,
but I've had pull myself up by the boot straps and
do things I didn't feel able to or have any desire to do,
such is life when pregnant with a fifth child.
Unfortunately the world doesn't stop and
the "nestlings" and "husbird" don't wait in the wings until I feel well again,
life goes on.

I've determined my house doesn't smell good.
The "husbird" thinks I'm crazy, but I don't like the smell of it.
Every time I come in from being gone I want to throw up.
I put those airwick plug-ins everywhere and I don't like how they smell either.
I want it to smell neutral, not good, nor bad, but how?
Any suggestions? I need help.
I can't wear perfume either, it makes me super sick to my stomach.
This hound dog sense is driving me insane.

You know, I never took a pregnancy test.
Well, I did before a week and it was negative.
Then I felt awful and missed two periods and figured I've got to be pregnant.
I guess there's a chance I'm not.
If I'm not then I must have some weird disease that mimics pregnancy symptoms.

I was rescued from cooking dinner a couple of weeks ago.
A dear friend brought us dinner and made my day.
Cooking has been the last thing I've wanted to do since I got pregnant and so it was truly a blessing to not have to worry about it for a night.
Thanks Carrie and Mietra!

What does it mean...

when my seven year old "A" bursts into tears when I tuck her into bed tonight and she tells me that if Jesus isn't real then when I die I'll stay dead and she'll never see me again and that she thinks
I'm going to die?
Then she cries a lot.
I cry.
We hold on tight to each other.
Then I tell her Jesus is real and that she should pray to know if he's real, and if I were to die that she could she me again.
I find my little girls to be so in tune with emotions and have such great intuitions.
More than I do.
I had a very emotional day and even though I thought "A"
didn't see most of my emotions she obviously felt them.
I can't hide from her.
She knows me.
Do I need to pack my bags for heaven?

On the Grill

Barbecued Chicken

1 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1 cup brown sugar
thumb size ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
chicken breasts or tenders

Marinate chicken in the sauce overnight or boil the chicken in the sauce for a few minutes and then put the chicken on the grill for 2 to 3 minutes each side.
I love this recipe because it's so versatile and tasty.

I usually make a big batch and serve it one night with rice and the next night I cut it up and serve it over greens, with corn, tortilla chips and ranch dressing.
I never remember to marinate it overnight and so
I use my food saver hand held vacuum.
I suck all the air out and it's done marinating in 20 minutes.

Summer Robes

Instead of towels we have robes for our many water days.
I love seeing them all lined in a row.

Just what the Doctor Ordered

The "husbird" and I escaped to the mountains for some much needed kid-free time.

My mom watched the munchkins for us.
She's the kind of wonderful that doesn't just tell us we need to get away together, but actually calls and tells me the different dates that she can watch them.
Then she bends over backwards to make it happen.
She' s a gem!Since embarking on this new adventure for the past nine weeks there have been a lot of ups and downs, but mostly downs. I have had chronic nausea and it has been miserable to live with day in and day out, feeling this way gives me a greater appreciation for anyone who lives with constant pain or illness all the time. I've been counting the days, sometimes the minutes until my stomach will feel normal again, anywhere from three to eight weeks to go. I'll hope and pray for three. I've gotten really good at faking it, acting like everything is fine when it's not.
Sometimes I can't though, sometimes it's just too much to handle.
Our little getaway was a great distraction from my constant nausea.
It didn't make it go away, but it helped to not have all my daily responsibilities to do.
Sundance is so beautiful.
The view from our cottage was spectacular, pine trees as far as the eye can see.
This is the longest we've ever left the "nestlings," four nights, three and a half days.
We missed them but it was so nice to
watch four movies, four whole movies with no interruptions,
go on a hike to Stewart falls,
eat out without sharing my food with four other mouths,
and do a little shopping at my leisure.
I'm bummed that I left my all time favorite Venus razor in the shower, oh well.
The best part is I got to spend time with my man, nauseated or not.