Special

Grant got to do something very special (to him and me) for the second time this year. He was able to be the partner and coach golfing for my good buddy Scott in the New Mexico Special Olympics. I grew up with Scott and feel like he is a part of our family. Scott used to stroke my hair, tell me how beautiful I was, and say he was going to marry me. He kinda liked me, but now...now I am peanuts compared to Grant. He LOVES Grant! And Grant loves him. The other week I was asking Grant what he liked to do, and his first response was, "I like to golf with Scott." This has been something that was, and is, so good for his soul. It is important to him to be able to share this time with him. I think a part of him feels connected to our sweet William&Mary that live so (too) far away. I know he wishes he could be there to participate with them, so really Scott is giving Grant a gift by allowing him to be a partner. It really has been a blessing for many reasons.

This year Grant and Scott did fantastic and won a gold medal. Yep, Grant got a medal too. Now he has two and a future of many more. They are so cute together, and I love having this time to reconnect with Scott. It really is something Special!

"You have your hands full"

"You have your hands full" is one of my most heard comments when I am out with the kids. The other one is a question: "Are they all yours?" When we go to the store we all hold hands until we are out of the parking lot, so this is usually how we look (even though the picture was taken when we were camping, it is still us any given day of the week.) I usually respond cheery and happy and say yes I do but for the most part it is fun. It never ceases to amaze how many people are blown away but our numbers, coming from a family of 8 kids I feel like we are just average in numbers. Though when it gets loud at home I feel like we had a few too many. I have to admit, in my mind, it is positive attention and I kinda like it because I think we have a cute little (big) family.

Side Note:

When we had two kids a boy and a girl everyone said, "Well now you have both are you done." After three they would say, "Three is a good number, is that all you are going to have?" After four it was, "Goodness, are you done?" Now that we have five people ask, "So how many more do you want?" Seriously don"t those questions seem to be in reverse?

Many Faces

This kid has many faces. Often he looks concerned or scared.

He can be a little flirt too.

I even caught him sneezing.

But my favorite is his smile.

He melts my heart...I am in love!

Another give away

My sister is back at it again. She is having another give away at Scary_Cute. Growing up I was always the artsy fartsy one creating things and drawing. Now Chelsey is the one with the eye and the talent and I just like to build things and put things together...who would have thought?

Never would have imagined

I never would have imagined that I would be saying this, but I am a PROUD (yes I said proud) new owner of a treadmill. I always thought I hated them, but when running early got too hard, this was my solution and so far I LOVE IT! I have only had it for 5 days and have used it 3 times (one day was Sunday and the other we were camping.) Here is to trying something that I thought I did not like and discovering I was wrong!

And they are off

Friday was Caleb's first day of school. Grant went and woke him up and he was so excited. When he wlaked up stairs he all of the sudden looked so grown up. So when exactly did that happen? I took him to school and he was loving every minute of it. He has been waiting for this for a long time. He practically ran to his classroom.

After school he rode the bus home. At first he was telling me that he wanted to do it all by himself. When he was in line to go on a tour of the school (and before he got back I would leave) I asked him one more time if he wanted to do it by himself or if he wanted me to come help. He said he wanted me. I have to admit a big part of me was glad he is still a little dependant (though not much.)

He did great and loved it. He was ready to go again Monday morning. James got to go this time to.

I think she may have been more excited about wearing her new sweater than school, but she was still excited about school. She was a little shy when I dropped her off, but she did not cry. She did great.

I have to say it was very odd to leave to kids at school. I went to the store, and it felt weird to only have 3 with me. For awhile Isaac and Mique were napping so it was just Asher and I. It seems empty, but they are off and I will not hold them back.

(Might I add, I have been so excited for Caleb because he has been ready for this for literally years. It was so much easier for him than James, but when I left the school without him I felt my throat tighten a little, I have heard it does not get easier with each kid, but now I have experienced it.)

Shut doors

I am always telling the kids the doors are not allowed to be shut, that is the rule. I do not want kids being shut out or left out, I want to know what is going on just by walking past. It is less danger of fingers getting slammed, and it is simply a rule I enforce. Though, there is one exception to this rule. When I put the girls to bed their door HAS to be shut. For one reason: if it is not Mique will come up in the middle of the night and repeat "I want up" over and over until she burrows her way into our bed (usually while I am feeding Isaac, so there are two kids too many.) Last night we experienced other reasons why. After Grant got home from Young Men's he went down to talk to the girls (and boys) since they were not asleep. He apparently does not know the drill and left the door open. When I went down to tuck them in before I went to bed I found Mique with a brand new package of rubber bands (the tiny ouchless kind from walmart) 6 colors at least a hundred of each, probably more like 150 of each color spread all over the bed and floor. I checked her wrists (she has been known to put them on there) and picked up as many as I could. She also had the toothpaste in there, a stacking cup smeared with toothpaste all on the inside. She had it all over her hands and face and of coarse the bedspread that I just washed 5 days ago. Each one of these is reason alone to shut the door, but all combined about put me over the edge. She may look sweet, but you can definitely see the mischief in her eyes.

I am hoping some day we make amends and this little girl does not do me in (she is very, VERY close.) For now I will follow behind her cleaning up messes and always, ALWAYS shut the door at night!

Haaampp

It took me awhile to figure out what haaampp meant, but now it is a word as any other, at least in our family. It is food in the tongue of Miquelyn. This is how she tells me she wants food. If she wants a bite of my food she sits really close to me repeating haaampp over and over again. She now says I want haaampp. Last night it went to a new level. She was saying dinner prayer (which is mostly mumbo jumbo to us) but there are a few words she says well. She says Heavenly Father, help me, thank you, Jesus Christ and a few others. When I prompted her to say thank you for the food she said an audible thank you then haaampp. It took all I had not to burst out laughing. Then it came out again when she said bless the food. I want to try and get it on video because it is so funny to me, and only fully appreciated when heard. It is amazing to me that I can even speak Miquelyn language, but occasionally I can.