Happy Birthday Corbin!

Wow!  Our baby is 3!  He is such a wonderful finale to our family!  As much as we adore him...he is starting to show that 3 year old personality!  He is loveable and feisty all rolled into one!

Easter 2014

We had a great sharing time in Primary today.  The room was set up like a mock court room with with  a baliff in uniform and a judge in a real judge's cloak.  There were witnesses who had seen Jesus resurrected...Mary, Peter, Thomas, a Nephite, and  Joseph Smith.  It was a great Easter activity.


 

The kids had fun filling all of the Easter eggs they could find in the garage!  There were a lot!  Ryan and I hid them...with our new big yard there were lots of options!  After the kids were done they hid eggs for Ryan and I to find!

Books We Are Reading

I am currently finishing up a trilogy by Jessica Day George.  I'm reading the last book, Dragon Spear.  The first 2 books were Dragon Slippers and Dragon Flight.  It has been a fun read...I was in the mood for some easy reading fun nonfiction so I raided Jenessa's stash of books!

Kessiah just finished reading The Hiding Place, which she really enjoyed and has encouraged me to read it next (so I will!)  She has just started a new book for school called Rifles for Wattie.  For fun she just read 13 Treasures trilogy...13 Treasures, 13 Secrets, 13 Curses

Jenessa reads a variety of books...she has been working on the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy mysteries lately...but she has a stack of books 2 feet tall by the side of her bed.

Sienna has discovered the American Girl books.  She has finished the Kit books and is working her way through the Josephina series.

For our Mommy Reading Time we are working on The Journey to the Center of the Earth.

March 2014

This month has been focused on unpacking, getting back into a school routine with Sienna and Logan, and getting used to our new space!

Some things we have done...We made purchases to be ready for some chicks, we purchased a rabbit hutch that Ryan put together for Sienna's future bunnies, we built a compost area from some pallets that were left in the horse area.

And...we got 12 chicks and 2 ducklings to add to our brood!  Adorable little balls of fluff...the kids LOVE them!

We enjoyed a hot dog/smore cookout in our backyard.  It was so nice to be able to do that in our big backyard!

Overwhelmed!

So to say that life has been crazy lately would be an understatement!  Moving a family of 8 into a new house is quite an undertaking.  (If we ever move out of this area we are going to have to get rid of a lot of stuff!)  Our new house is already working out better for us...it is easier for the girls to get their school and piano done...and has me rethinking whether or not to send Mason to public kindergarten or not.

I am very stressed about our other house selling.  We already know that we are going to lose money on it...it's just the way the housing market is right now.  I just couldn't get it ready to sell while we were still in it...so I have been losing sleep about this for months!  It has been on the market for 6 days and ...yes...I'm freaking out a little because no one has even looked at it!

And then let's just look at my life without the chaos of moving.  I have 6 kids between the ages of 13 and 3 (almost!)  It is nonstop action from morning until night...which can be exhausting!  I know this won't last forever...in fact it will be over before I know it.  Every once in a while I get reminded by others whose kids are all grown up how quickly it all passes. But let's face it...it's hard to be in the trenches! 

Happy Birthday Jenessa

Jenessa was really worried that she wouldn't have any presents because of our recent move!  We've been on a spending freeze until our other house sells...so I kept telling her that her present was getting her own room (which she loves...but she was hoping for a bit more than that!)

I came through in the end...I had actually purchased several things around Christmas time that I had intended on saving for her birthday...so everything worked out just fine!

Jenessa is such an asset to our family.  She has such a helpful, obedient, and trustworthy spirit.  I am truly blessed to be her mother.  I love you Jenessa!

February 2014

1,  It has been a crazy busy month getting ready to move.  We moved in the last week in February and we love the new space.  I'm sure that some of our day to day activities will flow much better.  (Homeschooling with 6 kids can be tricky!  It's hard for older girls to do piano, math or other school work while little boys want to run around making noise or wrestle on the ground in the same room!  This new home provides a better layout us...and the outdoor space will be awesome!)

2.  Valentine's Day was pretty low key here this year.  It fell over the long President's Day weekend and Ryan and I had plans for a productive weekend working on packing and getting the house ready to sell.  Unfortunately, we both got sick and spent most of Friday, Saturday, (and for me Sunday) in bed.  Ryan did manage to go to the store on Friday (Valentine's Day) and buy me some flowers and the kids each a candy bar.  Kessiah made us a romantic dinner, unfortunately our stomachs prevented us from eating dessert...but we really appreciated her efforts.

3.  We had our 3rd annual Judy Family Chopped Competition on President's Day.,,for the first time, I didn't win!  It came down to a showdown between Kessiah and Jenessa.

4.  The girls participated in Piano Festival.  It was a great opportunity for them to play in front of judges and receive scores on their performance.

5.  We enjoyed a visit from Nana and Papa who came down to help us move.  They were incredibly helpful!