More Family Fun!

    I posted last week before the family fun had ended with all the family visitors we had so this is kind of a continuation of last weekend with a little of this weeks activities too.

Here is Baby Shae who was the reason for all the family coming.  Kayli's making sure I get a good look at all those rolls. Could you not just eat her up!!  (Baby Shae, not Kayli.  That would just be weird.)

Kayli was also happy to give rides to the kids on the Ruckus.  Jovi loved it.

Austin was happy to start the race between Mom and Dad on the wiggle cars.

Go,Go, Go!!

It won't be long before these two little cuties are big enough to ride this thing on their own.

McClane was fascinated with the goodies in Grandpa's pocket.

"Thanks for the yummy Nuttella sandwich mom".

And here's Brock's idea of a good time, a trailer full of fertilizer or "Pooh dirt" as Brock calls it.

Can you say "Disgusting"?! Should I be worried that there's "pooh dirt" all over my child's face?

And here's McClane loving Cosmo who is the most patient dog I know.

And treat of all treats, dinner at Applebee's.

   I couldn't believe how well behaved the kids were at Applebee's.  We had a few free kids meal gift certificates to redeem before the month was over and the kids were all so excited and loved their food but were a little surprised to have to wait for their food.  I guess fast food has ruined them a little but sitting and having a meal served to you is a special treat for mom if no one else.
    So that's the week in a nutshell.  I apologize that my comment box isn't working.  I've looked into it but if you know me, I'm not that tech savvy so if anyone knows what might be wrong please let me know but for now I'll just imagine what you all might say or figure no one has a comment.  Either way this is just therapeutic for me to get this all documented.

Just Another Week in Paradise:)

        Another week has flown by and now the weekend is here which brought several visitors our way, most of which follow this blog and won't be too happy to see their faces here but too bad!

This blurred cutie pie is Kari Larson, my last Larson niece who is the best baby girl!

And here's McClane with Grandma Baker and cousin Lottie.

This is the typical Baker family gathering, just sitting around visiting.

And this is cute Asher Larson who wasn't aware I was taking his picture until it was too late to hide.

Here's Kari again and this is what happens when you're the sixth child, mom just dumps you wherever.

And here's Isaac, Asher and Jovi playing basketball with Grandpa Baker.

Aunt Ann is holding chub of love, Cole Baker who has grown a ton in just a few short weeks.

And yes, Grandma even managed to squeeze in a short nap with Brocky boy.

   Tomorrow my sweet baby niece Shae is being blessed which is the reason for all the "chaos" at our house this weekend and we're happy to accommodate as many family members as possible we only wish they could stay a day or two longer, especially if they're going to continue to restock the bridge mix supply:)
    And last but not least, McClane is definitely walking.  I'd post a video but I don't have a great video of him yet so maybe next time.  There's a picture or two that should suffice for now.
It's recently occurred to me that Brock has finally reached a new phase and isn't so hard to manage but now McClane is hitting the "busy-drive-mom-crazy" stage of life and it's going to be several more years of chasing a toddler around.

This was just seconds before he fell and put a little cut on his head.  He'll be covered in bruises for awhile.

Sorry it's blurry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

Put Him to Work!

         It was time for a small change after cleaning out Mark's room of all the toys and cleaning up the storage room and garage last weekend and thankfully I have a great husband who can be convinced every once in awhile to do things my way and be a bit inventive. 
        I've had bookshelves for years now and I've also had toddlers for years and those two do not mesh well.  The time spent putting books back on shelves after the toddler has had their fun is incalculable so I decided it's finally time to put up a shelf out of reach of little hands and Mark's room had the perfect spot for this shelf.
        Of course Greg was ready to just do a little shopping at IKEA or something and find a simple shelf that could quickly be installed but Greg doesn't run the finances and doesn't realize that really wasn't an option but I was willing to make do with pretty much any kind of shelf.  I was even ready to go so far as to dismantle our cheap bookshelf and reconfigure it some how to be hung up on the wall but after discussing it for a bit Greg realized he had another option, use the old wood fencing he's been stashing under the deck out back for who knows what.  Rustic shelf, sounds good to me!!  We were even so lucky to have an old nail gun and nails that worked in it so literally no money was spent to assemble this shelf and I couldn't be happier to have the books out of reach and now Mark has an even better spot for his desk in his room.

Here's my man prepping the boards.  (Really just brushing off all the dust, cobwebs and dirt.)

Lay them out and doing a little measuring.

Starting to nail it all together.

Here's the before of Mark's little "nook".

And this is how his room was before.  It's such a tiny room that this was really a great change.

And here's the shelf installed and stacked with most of our children's books.

And here's Mark's room with a little more space around his bed.

And the final look for the "nook".

   Also this week we've had a little fun.  McClane is really becoming quite a skilled little boy.  He's climbing up on everything and is even able to climb down too.  I found him climbing down from my bed today without any problems, not even a scared look of "where's the floor" on his face or anything.  Before we know it he'll be riding around on the wiggle cars.

    

     He's also had his first nap in his high chair.

    And then there was Father's and Son's this weekend.  It was half tent, half the back of the car for sleeping arrangements and Greg said it worked great.  He didn't love all the weapons that were brought and used around the campsite but after they ate dinner and got away from the "Shoot um up" area things weren't so bad.  He did not take McClane for some reason but just having him and Kayli home with me for the night was still a welcome break.

Ready to go and McClane luckily doesn't realize he's being left behind.

    So that about wraps up the week.  Next week my family is coming and I can't wait to see them.

Final Piano Recital

       Kayli and Mark just had a piano recital and this was Kayli's last official one.  She would have really liked to have skipped it if she could have but I insisted she do this one last performance before she takes a break from piano lessons and recitals.  This does not mean she's off the hook from playing piano altogether but I thought it was time to end the lessons so Isaac can start up since I can't really afford for three kids to have lessons all at once so now it'll just be Mark and Isaac taking lessons and Kayli will hopefully still practice daily to keep her skills fresh. 
      This really is a weird thing for me because I don't play the piano and never had lessons but I remember begging and pleading to have lessons and I've never met an adult who regrets taking piano lessons when they were young.  All I ever hear from adults is how they regret they quit piano and how they wish their parents would have forced them to keep going so I'll take my chances with my kids and keep forcing the issue.  Mark is one who I could easily let quit if I didn't have such a strong conviction about this because if anyone can argue and manipulate me to give in it's him but thankfully I'm still winning this argument for now.
    I'd post their videos but I'm not going to lie, Kayli did not do her best (She's a lot like her dad and the nerves really got to her.) and Mark did ok but I hate to show one and not the other so I'll just settle for the photo I took of both of them in front of the piano.

   Last weekend we spent a little time up in the canyon at Mutual Dell for a Garrett Family get together and I took a couple shots of Greg with Brock and McClane.

McClane was loving this "lift" from Dad and couldn't stop patting his head.

    Also this last weekend Greg agreed to give the kids "Father's Blessings".  Now if you don't already know, Greg is not comfortable doing things like this and I was actually quite surprised when he didn't put up a fuss when I brought up the subject.  We had hoped to do them sooner in the week when the kids were actually starting school but it never worked out but Mark brought it up after we'd mentioned it so Greg knew he wasn't going to be let off the hook so after church we sat them all down and he gave them all, minus McClane a blessing.  I won't go into details but it was, without a doubt, one of the most spiritual moments our family has had to date and I don't think Kayli or Mark will soon forget the spirit they felt.  Mark even mentioned it afterwards how strong it was.  It was truly a testimony to me of how powerful the priesthood power is and how blessed we are to have access to it in our home.  It is also clear that priesthood blessings don't need eloquent speech or special phrases to access the spirit and I'm so grateful to a husband who is worthy to use this power.
     As for the rest of the week it's been pretty normal.  Today we've been busy moving and reorganizing a few things and of course this always leads to changes we're not prepared to do.  Right now it's obvious we need a different set up for the books in Mark's room but building shelves is not in the budget and really not on Greg's weekend agenda but I'm going to do my darnedest to convince him to do something with what material we have on hand even if it means disassembling the cheap bookshelves we're currently using and refurbish them into hanging shelves some how.  I hate all the wasted wall space we have in some of these rooms and especially in the garage but unfortunately I'm not a builder and don't know all that is required to hang shelves and such so I have to take Greg's word for it that my ideas won't work.  For now I'm happy to have a little more space in my storage room and to have all the toys in there so Mark's room won't be such a magnet for kids and messes.  I'm sure some day I'll miss having toys all through the house but at this moment I wish I could pack them all up and give them away but that dream will have to wait and then it won't be a dream but a sad event I'm sure.