The Slideshow

Ahhhh!!!  Why must they grow up so quickly?  I'm about to run into their rooms and beg them all to please slow down their growing up. 

Allison put together this beautiful slide show of Annie and Elinor growing up.  She also was the official photographer for the weekends events and she has some great pictures up on her website.  http://lovinorange.com/?p=556#comment-969

Thank you, Allison.

The Big Day

Elinor got baptized on Saturday.  It was a beautiful day for her and for our family.

Grandpa Fox baptized her and Abe confirmed her a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

There were four children, including Elinor's cousin, Annie, from our ward getting baptized, so there were a lot of people involved in the day, but it all worked out well.  We did lose track of Faith at one point, but she was safe and sound sitting with another family.  

They had a lot to celebrate!

We went over to our church house for a luncheon afterward.  Did I go overboard in my planning of things?  Perhaps.   

But in my defense, my mother loved a good party and I think she gets to help me out from the other side when it comes to planning events.  I appreciate it!  My girls and I had a fun time putting things together.

Grandma Fox and her aunt, Aunt Marie.  Aunt Marie and Uncle Bob are so sweet to come to our special events.

And now the weekend is all done.  It was a lot of work to get everything ready, but it was well worth it.  I am feeling so relaxed as I write this post, thinking of all the good memories we have.   Thank you to all our family and friends who helped out and shared this time with us.  

Treasured Time

Grandma and Grandpa Fox also came to town for the baptism of Elinor and Annie.  In fact, Grandpa was the one to baptize both granddaughters.
We had a marvelous time getting lots and lots of grandparent time this weekend.  In a family of 9 children, 9 in-laws, and soon to be 50 grandchildren-- you love and appreciate that time.

 We went to the Mayan for dinner.  Not such great food, but the entertainment was great, and of course the company was fabulous.

Quite a treat for our crew!

Grandma gives each 8 year-old granddaughter a Madame Alexander doll  of a literary character and the book to go with it.  Elinor was thrilled (as was I), with her Mary Lennox doll and her The Secret Garden book.  It was so lovely to listen to them reading it aloud to each other last night in their room.

Busy, Yet Satisfying

Now that this very busy, but very satisfying week is done, I have a moment to sit down and share it.  Jesse and Amy (Abe's brother and sister-in-law) came to visit this week so that Elinor and Annie could be baptized together.

When their family arrived in town we quickly situated the kiddos--- and we headed off on a couples and babies date.
Both couples have six children of almost identical ages and it has been a very long time since we've gone on a double date together.  It's easier these days now that our oldest children are our built in babysitters!

When we got back home our families enjoyed being together.  Here's how we kept all 16 people happy, late into the evening.

The baby boys were happiest being held-- George and Asher.

Cannon and Jessica loved story time with Abe.

Wii to entertain the five year old set--John and Faith.

Popcorn treat for the ladies of the week-- Annie and Elinor

Julia and Bethany did arts and crafts.  What a lovely expression you have, Bethany.  You must be my daughter.

The preteens.  Perhaps Clark and Alexis do not wish to have their picture taken?   They played games on the laptop.

And of course I ate up every moment of swapping stories and ideas with another homeschooling mother of six!

Show No Mercy

One of the reasons we signed the man-child up for wrestling was that he doesn't have any brothers close in age to rough-house with.  He's a big kid and they are little girls.  Bethany might not be that much younger (20 months), but there is a considerable size difference. 

Too many times I have said  "CLARK!  DO NOT TOUCH YOUR SISTERS FOR ANY REASON!"
In all fairness, I also say, "GIRLS!  DO NOT TOUCH CLARK-- YOU WILL GET HURT!"

And yet the pattern of teasing, provoking, rough-housing continues.  It frequently ends in tears.  Usually.

Wrestling season is well underway and Clark had a tournament this evening.  The boys are matched up by grade and relative size.  Clark lost the first match by points but wasn't pinned.  They had a short break and it came time for his second match.  Abe quickly came over to tell me that Clark had been matched up with A GIRL!!!!!

My son, the one I have told ten zillion times to NOT TOUCH THE GIRLS!  The one I have told to KEEP HIS HANDS TO HIMSELF!  The one who I signed up for wrestling so he wouldn't be tempted to injure the girls is now suppose to wrestle a girl???

Oh, give me strength!

My first thought is to send Abe back with a message to Clark--- "Show no mercy!"
I know, I know, how charitable of me.
It's just that if the young lady wants to wrestle with the boys. . .
Well, that is for another post another day.

My second thought was to pray.  Even though I think it's dumb to pray to win a sporting event.  Pray to do your best, but pray to win??  Anyway, I pray, "Please let Clark win this match".  This was his fourth wrestle and he hadn't won yet.  I want him to like wrestling because it's a good outlet for him and great exercise.

Oh, and he's wrestling a girl so in his own words, "If I lost I would be shamed forever".  His wrestling career would have ended after only 4 matches. 

She was a big girl.  I mean, Clark is a big kid, but he looked downright skinny compared to some of these bigger boys (and this girl). 

The first match this evening I was really nervous.  I hadn't seen Clark wrestle yet and if you haven't been to a wrestling match before, it is intense!  One guy facing off against one guy to see who can dominate.  It's so raw and this was my  man-child.  I handed George off to Abe because I was afraid I was going to wet my pants.

When Abe realized Clark was going to wrestle a girl he handed George back, afraid he might wet his pants!

He won.  And no mercy was shown.  Phew!
In his words, "I'm glad I won, but I did not enjoy wrestling her."
For the record, I did not enjoy watching my son wrestling a young lady to the ground, either.

Weird Science and Conflict Resolution

There are some really good ideas online for reusing baby food jars.  This wasn't one of them.

I can't believe that nobody thought of creating a mad scientist's lab with Littlest Pet Shops floating in formaldehyde (water).

That is how seriously my girls take their science.  Yes, it is impressive. 

I have a situation for you to help me solve.  An ownership dispute between Bethany and Faith, but it could have been between any of the kids as this is not the first dispute of its kind.

In our house I will ask my people to pick up their "precious things", but if they are small trinkets and I continue to find them left out-- they go to the trash without comment and no one is ever the wiser.

NOTE:  No one ever misses anything I throw away.  They don't even know it's gone.  They are happier to have less things to pick up without having to make the hard choice themselves.  I provide a service, much like the city garbage man.  I am loved and appreciated for my efforts.  Okay, that last part is an exaggeration.

There are a couple of flaws in my master de-cluttering plan.  First, the children can look in to the garbage bin and see what I've put there.  If they see their "precious thing" in the trash can, they silently retrieve the item and go put it away.  But that is okay, because the end result is toys put away and not left out.

The second and real problem is when one child sees another child's "precious thing" in the trash can.  The child silently retrieves the item and at that point considers it their "precious thing" now.

We had just such an occurrence today.  A miniature bottle of bubbles Faith got at a birthday party.  She left it out one too many times, I threw it away, Bethany retrieved and claimed it, Faith saw her with it-----and sadness ensues.  What to do?  What to do?  I took the bottle back into my own pocket, and said I would decide later ,who was the rightful owner.   You can guess where the bubbles are now.

Did I do right?  I'm not sure. But nobody has asked about the bubbles since and I'm fairly certain no one ever will.  Is there a better way to deal with "precious thing" clutter?

Perhaps I sound heartless, but we can live very comfortably in this house as long as we don't get overrun by "precious things".  The kids are used to it, and like I said,  I'm pretty sure I am loved and appreciated for my efforts.  :)

Funny girls.

Another Cause for Celebration

Look.  LOOK!  This is my newest niece-- Aliyah.  Have you ever seen a more gorgeous head of hair on a baby?  On anybody?  EVER?  AHHHHH!  I was dying. 

My brother Matt and his wife Misty came to town this weekend to bless this little treasure with their family.  I hadn't seen her yet.  I was aching to hold her and she was all I hoped she would be!

So sorry, Matt and Misty, you cannot take her back to Washington. 

My siblings and I will all have babies within one year of each other this year.  Here are 3 of the 4.  The 4th isn't born yet.

I MUST HAVE ANOTHER GIRL BABY!!!!!  I know this sounds very greedy, especially to my sister-in-law, Katie, who has been blessed with five boys and no girls, but there it is. 

"What, Mom?  Don't you love us, boys?"

Well of course I do.  But can I put bows in your hair?  Can I make you wear pink dresses?  Can I doll you up? 

No, I cannot.   I should not.  But I'd better have another girl so I'm not tempted to!

A Cause For Celebration

Elinor is eight years old!

 

Forget celebrating for one day-- or even for one week.  Elinor has been in celebration mode for the last week and will be for the next week as she prepares for her baptism day.  

Our wonderful Barbara took Els out to lunch on Monday and then shopping for a spring dress.

I think they made a lovely choice!

She was excited to get her scriptures on her birthday.

And she has hot hula hoop moves.  I used to have hot hula hoop skills.  I thought I still did, until I tried it in the store.  Not pretty.  I probably shouldn't try to hula hoop at all, but especially not in Walmart.

Have you ever heard of Sing-a ma Jigs?  You push on their tummies and they sing one note per push.  If you have more than one they will harmonize with each other.  They are really fun to play with, but as you might imagine they do start to grate on the nerves after a while.  The girls all got them for their birthdays.  Will I regret this decision?  Perhaps.

Allison took Elinor out to lunch last Saturday.  That started off the birthday celebrations. 

Uncle Matt loaded her up with cold, hard cash.

Now.  I'm just going to say it.  All this celebrating has gone to Elinor's head.  The gifts, the lunches, the money, the day off of any chores.  We encountered a wee bit of attitude today.  

Don't tell Elinor this, but I don't think her attitude held a candle to the sass I could produce at her age.  Sorry sweetie.  Nice try.  Happy birthday, I love you.