Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas!

We are off to Florida to celebrate Christmas with Nathan's family, where all 8 siblings will be there. I'm driving the children down tomorrow (12 hours) and Nathan will take the train down on the 23rd. Then we'll all drive home together on the 28th. We are excited to see everyone.
We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and get to relax and enjoy the holidays.

Kid business

In November we enjoyed a wonderful weekend with Nathan's sister and then Thanksgiving weekend with my sister. We love having company, especially these fun aunts and uncle. Since then we haven't been too busy, just the usual kid fun and games going on.

Kylie and Madalyn showing their elbow trick and asking if I can do this. No, I cannot. Can you?

Decorating pumpkin chocolate chip brownies for FHE treats. I got the recipe from nestle.com and they were delicious!

Crazy girls! They love these ridiculous, but fun outfits.

Carolers!
The kids love to go around the house, knocking on doors and caroling. Or just standing in the living room and singing their hearts out. This year Thomas is happy to join in and actually knows a lot of songs.

More carolers, these ones outside our dining room window.

Thomas enjoying a cupcake leftover from when I had the Activity Day girls at my house.

Lexi moving into the girls' room. We had a moving day last week where we moved Thomas into a toddler bed and moved Alexis into Kylie and Madalyn's room, where we put up bunkbeds to make room for her.

Spencer and Thomas helping to take the crib down. Now they have lots of room in their room--at least for a few months.

Madalyn, Spencer, and Kylie at their "School of Song" choir concert. They did great and loved their class this semester.

Playing doctor the other day. Spencer and Alexis had head infections that required surgery and bandages. I'm not sure what the halos were for. :)

IT'S A ......

Today I had my ultrasound appointment. We have been so excited and anxious to find out what the sex is and how the baby is growing. The 3 girls pray every night that "The baby will be a girl and that it won't die." They want a girl so badly. They talk about it all the time. Spencer wants a boy, but he doesn't think about it enough to pray for it. The girls' prayers were answered because IT'S A GIRL!!!!
We're so excited. She's looking great and appears to be perfect in every way. What a blessing. I came home extremely happy and overcome with gratitude to Heavenly Father for allowing us to have another baby girl. I was really hoping we could. I feel pretty confident that everything will go well this time and I can't wait to hold her.

How we spent our time waiting for the doctor. I love my doctor's office because there's hardly any wait time, but still books are handy to bring. :)

Nathan is working in the MICU this rotation and was sure he couldn't escape at 9am, but in answer to our prayers he rounded early and snuck out long enough to come and see the ultrasound with us. I was really happy about that. Last November when we found out Julianne was a girl we went out to Denny's afterward. The kids think it's a tradition now. Nathan couldn't go afterward today, but he promised we could go tomorrow on his day off to celebrate. That will be fun!

Dr. Seuss' Family

After Halloween last year the children decided they would be the 6 little ducks this year, but maybe they'll do it next year when we have 6 kids. Instead they racked their brains and decided on characters from Dr. Seuss' book, There's A Wocket in my Pocket. I am a Nureau in the bureau, Kylie is a Zlock behind the clock, Madalyn is a Yep on the step, Spencer is a Nupboard in the cupboard, Alexis is a Nooth Grush on her toothbrush, and Thomas is a Zable on the table. The costumes didn't turn out like I thought they would, but it was fun to let them pick out clothes to match the characters in the book and color their hair for the first time. Fun's all that matters right?

The indoor trunk-or-treat due to the rain.

Our traditional "dinner in a pumpkin" Halloween supper. The kids were so happy Nathan had Halloween off, even though he missed the trunk-or-treat.

Ready to go trick-or-treating

The Cat in the Hat joins us! All the neighborhood kids loved his costume as it was the only recognizable one. :)

Stake Conference Pictures

Last weekend we had stake conference at a convention center along the river on the coast. Nathan got the day off and it was fun to take a family trip there and enjoy a picnic lunch afterward. I happened to bring the camera and it's been a long time since we've gotten a family picture taken, so we asked a jogger sprinting by to take our picture.

Another Field Trip!

This morning at the breakfast table I looked out the window and said, "Today would have been a perfect day to go on a field trip." It was beautiful weather, we had nothing going on, and it was the middle of the week. I find Wednesday's to draw less crowds than other days. (I was right. We practically had the place to ourselves.) We all agreed we should go somewhere and jumped up to get ready. We went to a free nature and science center about 40 minutes away. It was fabulous! In the science center there was a walk through digestive system and heart, a hospital to play in, a fire safety area where you could dress up in real fire fighter and police clothes, nutrition area, weather area, and much more. Everything was hands on. My kids could have stayed in any one area all day. There was also a planetarium with lots of hands on activities and we got our own private planetarium show since we were the only ones there. It was great because we could talk and ask lots of questions. I could point out to the kids things we've learned before or quiz them on it. I could follow-up at home by having them do reports or look at the night sky with them tonight. It's so fun being a part of their learning. If they had gone there on a school field trip I wouldn't have been able to do that. (And they probably wouldn't have learned much.)
In the nature center there was a touch tank, lots of reptiles and animals, a cave with more animals, and an aquarium. We all liked the parrot the best who actually talked to us. There was also a cockatoo who said, "Happy Birthday," which we got a kick out of.

The most ironic thing that just makes me laugh is this: There is an area that talks about the evils of tobacco and all that. Then we go outside to eat our lunch at the playground and picnic tables and I smell smoke. I look over and see a lady smoking. I can't believe smoking would be allowed at a health and science center so I look around and not too far away there is a "Welcome to our tobacco free park" sign with a picture of a cigarette and a line through it. We eat our lunch, she's done smoking, I wish I had said something, we go on the train ride. We come back, she's lighting up again, and as I walk by I have the courage to point out the no smoking sign. She says she didn't see it. We go over to the fossil dig. There's a dad smoking. I politely point out the no smoking sign. Then I'm thinking I should have asked if they saw the tobacco display in the science center. I'm wondering, "Who brings their kid to a health and science center which has all these things on fire safety, bike and car seat safety, nutrition, and health, then goes outside and smokes? For some reason I found it funny.
Ok, here are the pictures now.

Sitting in front of a fountain

Madalyn being a piece of food and getting eaten! There was a cool walk-through digestive system that the kids loved. They even made me squeeze through it.


Trying out the fire fighter and police officer gear.

Thomas hitting the pipes to make music.

Riding the train! It was fun to have it to ourselves.

Digging for shark's teeth. We found quite a few.

Attempting the rock climbing wall.

Kylie as a human sundial. You stand on the month and put your arm straight up. Wherever the shadow is, that's what time it is. If you look closely you can see Kylie's shadow between the 12 and 1.

The Pumpkin Patch

We love this pumpkin patch. It's just a house that grows a lot of pumpkins and they're really nice.

We were the only ones there and the kids had a great time running around through the maze of pumpkins. On the way home Kylie said, "You could ask them to baby-sit us and we could play outside all day there."

Winter Jammies

The girls get the giggles the first time wearing warm jammies.

Bring out the sleepers!

Once Upon A Child had a deal of buy 3, get one free, so it was easy for us to stock up on sleepers. I didn't realize Lexi was the only one to not pick out patterned. We'll have to go back. :)

I can't believe how cool it's been already. We had the heater on all last week. I guess I shouldn't be surprised what with the cool summer and all. Usually our garden dies by the 4th of July because of the heat. With the moderate temps and plentiful rain this year, it has really thrived. We don't water or weed, but it's still growing strong! Just tonight I picked 2 big bell peppers. Usually they're the first to die in June. Alexis' watermelon plant grew and did nothing all summer, but finally on conference weekend we picked the one and only melon. We also have lots of tomatoes still growing. There's a bunch that are green right now that I hope with the sun this week they'll turn red. I've been so surprised that things are still alive.

Spencer's Birthday

Making pink ice cream cone cupcakes

Nathan took the day off and took Spencer bowling--something he's begged to do for 10 months.

I hit a great boy yard sale and got Spencer roller blades, a mitt & ball, wallet, jeans,
and sneakers all for less than $5.

A few nights later I go into the kitchen to make sure everything is cleaned up before going to bed and I find this. Earlier I had let Thomas stay up after the other kids had gone to bed and I had heard him in the kitchen, but never knew of any damage. Evidently he pushed a chair against the stove and eaten the tops off each cupcake cone starting from the right and moving towards the left. I think he was looking for one with real ice cream in it--his favorite treat. The one in the back on the right is the only one untouched. Nathan and I got a kick out of it.

Field Trip!!

We've had enough of staying home bored, so this week we decided to take our new van for a spin. We're studying the 1700's right now, and since we missed Williamsburg homeschool days the week our old van was broken, I looked online to find a town in North Carolina that had similar colonial activities to make up for it. We found Edenton over on the coast, the first colonial capital of NC, and studied up on it before going. We learned about the famous people who lived there and some of the major events like the Edenton Tea Party, which happened 10 months after the Boston one. Like Boston, Edenton was a major sea port during the 1700's and 1800's until Norfolk boomed and practically put it out of business.
I guess I didn't take many pictures inside the colonial houses we went in--too busy being interested in everything:)--but I have pictures of other things we did. By the way, Kylie got everyone dressed in coordinating outfits before I even woke up. :)

Mesmerized by the fish at the free aquarium.
(I know they're not colonial, but I figured we may as well get a little science in too.)

Having a quick picnic lunch because the ducks were trying to get our food. After a few minutes there were about 40 swarming around us, scaring Alexis and Thomas.

A walk onto a pier.

Taking a trolley ride! We learned a lot of history about the town and got to see houses from the 1700's, the very first church built in NC in 1701, a cotton mill, and lots of other cool places. We mostly loved looking for Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, and Victorian era homes and buildings. We studied up on the eras from my BYU interior design textbook and the girls really soaked it in. The tour guides were impressed they were picking out chippendale wing chairs and Queen Anne high boys. It's fun to feel smart once in awhile. :) It was mostly fun to have so many houses to practice on and see so many real examples.

Noteworthy News

You may think that my lack of writing means we've been super busy. On the contrary, we have been really bored and haven't had much to tell you about. Everyday is about the same: homeschool most of the day, then relax and do nothing all afternoon. Then dinner, scripture reading, and bedtime.

However, now that September is closing, I do have a few things to report:

Kylie turned 9 years old this month.

The girls tried to sell Spencer at a ward activity

Nobody bought him, nor did they buy Thomas, who jumped up on the stage and wanted to be sold too.

What was bought was a new car.
Since we're keeping the boys and adding another member to our family, we upgraded to an 8 passenger minivan. (And the fact that our old one completely died.) The picture looks funny, but it's a gorgeous blue color and we love it!

So that's what's been going on here lately. Besides the fact that we haven't been very busy, I also haven't written because I've been too tired, sick, and lazy. I just haven't felt like it. However, we are thrilled to be expecting another baby. I am due April 17 and feel like this is going to be the longest pregnancy ever. After losing Julianne, this pregnancy seems so special. I feel so much closer to the Lord. I just can't wait to hold the little baby in my arms and bring him or her home.

Thomas Turns Two!

Making the cake.
I really do keep shorts on him, he just ditches them in one of the bathrooms and I'm too lazy to go find them.

Pizza, Thomas' favorite!

Opening presents. He got lots of cars. He has to have one in his hands at all times. :)

The kids went to a friend's house so I got to have time with just Thomas where we decorated his tractor cake together.