Update and pictures

Just a quick update on what is going on at the Olson house. We have been frantically trying to get ready for Christmas as I have put most of the shopping off to the last week. We finally got all our shopping done on Saturday. Who waits til the last Saturday before Christmas to go shopping? Apparently everyone where I live. The stores were packed. That's what I get for procrastinating. It seems that my life is spinning out of control and I am constantly pedaling to keep up. How have I allowed so many distractions to get in the way of my most important job, which is nurturing and teaching my family. It's time for me to inventory everything I'm doing in my life and drop about half of the things. I figured out that I spend about 6 hours per day (at least) taking care of the baby, yet I am still trying to do the same amount I did pre baby. It does not add up, and my housework and homeschooling is suffering. I can not let this happen. That is why I have been spending much less time at the computer. Okay, I'm done venting.

McKay was recently asked to share some of his knowledge of birds with a co-op group of homeschoolers who happenned to be studying birds. He did such a great job talking about birds in the area and showing some of his drawings and paintings. It was fun to see that he knew the answers to every question that was asked. The only pictures I got were at the very end of the presentation when all but a very few children were left. The others had lost interest and fled the scene. I think it was a little disheartening for McKay to see that not everyone shares his passion for birds. He was also there for an hour or more and they stayed through most of it. What a great learning opportunity for him.

Elena got to be Mary for our Primary's Nativity scene at our Ward party, and she was so excited to hold Oliver posing as the baby Jesus. What an exciting day for her. We also saw Santa at the party, and Elena and Alexia enjoyed it very much. I guess McKay is too old for such things.

Oliver had his two month check up last week. He has gained 4 1/2 lbs. and 4 inches in length! He is growing too fast. He's already wearing size 3-6 months. All of the newborn pants go to his shins. I guess my hopes of having a little baby for awhile are already being shattered. He smiles all the time now, and even chuckles on occasion. Especially for his Dad. He is such a good, sweet baby, but he doesn't tolerate any of the kids holding him for very long anymore, so I usually tote him around in the ring sling. What a joy it has been to have him. He is very loved.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season. I may not be posting again for a little while as I have put off many things that really need to get done, and I am determined to enjoy this little one while he is still little. Here are a few pictures of Oliver in the last few weeks.

Shakespeare Fun

For the past few months, we have been studying England in Culture Studies. If you haven't been following my blog, Culture Studies is something we do with 3 other homeschooling families. We study a country every month, and get together weekly to discuss and present things we have learned. We decided to take 3 months to cover England, because it's such a rich part of US History. We broke it up into Early England, Shakespeare, and Modern England. In October, we had a lot of fun learning about the medieval period of England. We read and discussed the book King Arthur and his Knights by Howard Pyle, which, by the way, is the best version I have read. We also played a revised version of Risk which my sister Sara made up, which was very fun and taught us more about the conquests of Europe in the dark ages. November was set aside for Shakespeare. We read "A Midsummer Nights Dream" and the kids did a very impromptu play which was a lot of fun. December, we will be reading A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I can't wait to experience more of England. What fun it has been!

The cutest cast of "A Midsummer Nights Dream" ever.

Just Pictures

A Cute Little Lion

Halloween Fun

Yesterday morning, the kids had a Halloween Party at Liberty Academy, with lots of candy, games and fun. And then last night, they had fun trick or treating with their cousins from Lindon and Provo. We had yummy soup in bread bowls and salad before they left. What a fun day for the kids, but very tiring for mom, dad, and Oliver.

Two beautiful Medieval maids

Just back from trick or treating

Proof that all that candy really does make your teeth fall out

Two Weeks Old

Monday was Oliver's 2 week check up. He now weighs 8 lbs. 11 oz. and is 21 inches long. I think it's 40 something percentile for weight and 50 something percentile for height, and his head was 70 something percentile. My big-headed babies. My other 3 babies were always over 95 percentile for their heads. So his head is actually a little smaller. He is starting to make a lot of cute cooing noises now. He is a very vocal baby. He especially likes to "talk" to his Daddy, who will not ever allow me to take any pictures when he is holding him. I really dislike my camera. The pictures are so cloudy and horrid. Anyone have any suggestions on cameras that are good but not too spendy? I really want a new one, but don't have a lot of money to spend, or should I just wait til I do have money to spend? What do you think? BTW, most of these pictures were taken by the girls.

I've been tagged

I guess now I am officially a blogger. So, I am suppose to name 7 strange or weird things about me. Where to start? This is really hard for me. I know my husband would think it quite easy, but I have a rational explanation for everything I do. Just not rational to anyone else. I will have to look at myself from someone else's perspective.

1. I love to read and learn. This is not strange or weird per say, unless you knew me in Junior High and High School. I probably could have been voted least likely to make it to class, or school for that matter.

2. I home school my children. Again, see #1.

3. I absolutely detest shopping of any kind. I would rather do anything than go shopping. That is strange considering most women love to shop. In one area I used to live, there was a group of women who would go shopping together on a regular basis. I think I would pull my hair out. I think this relates to my being a tight wad. I hate to spend money. Every purchase I make terrifies me.

4. I dislike housework and cooking and I am not very organized. See #2.

5. I do not enjoy watching television or movies. There are too many other things I would rather do.

6. I am married to a man who loves television, movies, and shopping, and hates books. I guess opposites really do attract.

7. I do have my extravagances. I have to have my raw, grass-fed cows milk every week which sells for $3.50 per half-gallon, my REAL maple syrup and other great foods that I love that are worth the high price tag. I also am willing to spend money on books that I love, although I try to get them as cheap as I possibly can, and I have to really love them to pay full price.

There you have it. That was actually kind of fun. I tag anyone else that reads my blog, who hasn't been tagged yet and wants to do it.

Some alone time

A wonderful neighbor came this morning and took my 3 older kids to Pumpkin Land today. I'm excited for them because they have pretty much been cooped up in the house since Oliver was born. We are trying to keep them away from other kids for atleast a week or two since the stomach flu seems to keep making the rounds in our house. They were pretty excited to go. Oliver and I are just hanging out and will probably do some grocery shopping while the kids are gone. McKay has started a blog and he would really love to get some comments so if you have some extra time check out his blog. The link is on my side bar.

I am so amazed at how much easier it has been to have a little baby this time around. It is so great to have older kids around to help. I don't think Oliver has ever cried longer than 30 seconds because there are so many willing people to hold him and make him happy. The one exception is when I give him a bath. He does not like it at all. He screams through the whole thing and it tears my heart strings to hear him. He is a wonderful baby though, and I feel so blessed to have him and 3 other wonderful children. Well I just fed the baby, so I better hurry and go to the store before feeding time comes around again.

A Lost Tooth

Alexia wants everyone to know that she lost a tooth last week and the tooth fairy gave her two dollars.

Birth Story

On Sunday morning, at about 5 AM, I started having intense contractions that woke me up. I didn't really think much of it, because I had been having some pretty intense contractions on and off for several weeks. These were a little more intense but they were 10-15 minutes apart, so I decided to go ahead and get ready for church because the kids really needed to practice for the primary sacrament program, and I had gotten to the point where I was convinced I would never be in labor. So, we all got ready to go. At about 8:30, a half hour before church was to start, I had a few really intense contractions that made me decide to stay home. Thinking I had plenty of time, I called a friend in the ward and asked her if she would take my kids to church with her. A few minutes later, Elena informed me that her tummy hurt. I thought she was probably just excited that I was having labor, but I decided to keep her home. Thank goodness I did because a few minutes after McKay and Alexia left, Elena threw up and then again a half hour later. My contractions at that point were intense enough that I decided to lay down and listen to my hypnobirthing relaxation CD's. By 11:00 AM The contractions were 2-5 minutes apart and I knew that I needed to get ready to go. We packed bags for the kids, grabbed my previously packed bag and called my mom and the nurse/midwife to let them know we were coming. When the kids got home at 12:00, we had them hurry and change and then we left. Clarence stopped at his work to get his boss's cell #, then off we drove to Cedar Hills to drop the kids off to my mom. Clarence asked me if I was sure we should go to the hospital because I was so relaxed, he could not tell how intense the contractions were. I reassured him that I was sure we should go right now. When we finally got to the hospital, a little after 1:30 PM, I knew that I was in labor, but I figured it would be awhile. Much to my surprise, they told me I was dilated to an 8+. I was so elated. At exactly 4:00 PM, Oliver made his grand entrance into the world. Because of meconium in the amniotic fluid, and the cord being wrapped around his neck, he lacked oxygen, and was wisked away from me before I had the chance to bond with him. They sucked a bunch of meconium out of his stomach, and then I only got to hold him for a few minutes before he was taken away again because he was so pale from lack of oxygen. He is a wonderful reward and I am so grateful that he is doing so well now. We left the hospital Monday night at around 7PM and we have just been taking it easy and enjoying him since. I hope this all makes sense as I have not had much sleep in the past few days and I am a little delirious but very happy.

Introducing...

Oliver Clayton was born Sunday, October 12th at 4:00PM. He weighed 8 lbs. 2 oz. and was 20 inches long. We are so excited to welcome him into our family. I will post more later, when I get more time and energy, but we are all home now and doing well and he is beautiful.


My camera is not very great, sorry for the cloudyish pictures. I will post more pictures later too.

New Book List

After I wrote the last post, I thought it would be fun to make a list of liberty promoting books and works. I will put more as I think of them. I hope this will help me and anyone else interested in learning about the principles of liberty. Most of these I have not read, but are on my to read list. If anyone else has any suggested works you may post them in the comments and I will include them.

Opinions of Maria

As I was studying the famous speech by Patrick Henry, entitled "Give me Liberty or Give me death," I was struck by these words in the text: "...Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings. ...it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those, who having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst and to provide for it."
This passage has inspired in me a renewal of my commitment to study the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, The Federalist Papers and all things that will help me to understand my role in this great country which has a Divine heritage.

I can not afford to be ignorant in this regard any longer. While watching conference this past weekend, I was struck by the words which President Packer spoke. He told of the first 24th of July Celebration in the Salt Lake Valley. He told of 3 important things which happenned in that celebration.
1. The young men carried the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
2. The young women carried the Bible and The Book of Mormon.
3. The older and wiser generation were honored.
It is time for me to embrace our countries great heritage, the heritage of Truth, and to study the works that our Forefathers studied, which led to the establishment of this God-given land of liberty. If I have learned one thing in the small amount of studying which I have done, it is that liberty is not free. We are going to have to fight for it as much as any generation past or it will be taken from us, just as history tells over and over again.

These are a few of the sentiments I have had as I have pondered the recent bill passed in Congress to the tune of 700 billion dollars. I feel ignorant in this matter, but everything I have read, leads me to believe that this is fundamentally wrong. Some of my reasons for believing so are as follows:
1. A problem with overextended credit can not be fixed with more overextended credit. There will be a point when we will be overextended beyond the point of no return.
2. It has never been the government's role to meddle in the free market. It is no longer a true free market when this occurs. If it were a true free market economy, the low and high times would balance each other out, and recover in a much shorter time.
3. Ezra Taft Benson in his "The Proper Role of Government" said, and I paraphrase, That the government should have no power that we as individuals do not have. (Do I have the power to take money from all American citizens, and give it to whomever I choose?) Frederick Bastiat calls this legalized plunder.
4. I believe that the majority of people in this nation are against this bill and it was still voted through. There were many other options submitted to our congress and representatives and no other solution was even considered. It was passed through way too quickly without enough deliberation.

I feel so underqualified to share my opinions on this matter. Mostly because I lack the ability to explain what I have learned. However, I would refer you to other great works and sites that have helped to lead me to these conclusions.

-"The Proper Role of Government" by Ezra Taft Benson
- The Law by Frederick Bastiat
-Whatever Happenned to Penny Candy (can't recall the name of the author, but it's a great book that teaches simple economics.)
-The Declaration of Independence
-www.gwc.edu
-www.causeofliberty.com

There are so many more, but these are the ones I can think of off hand. This is not meant to be preachy by any means but as an attempt for me to share some of the things I have learned, so they will be more deeply embedded within myself. I love this country and desire to do my tiny part in preserving it.

Oh, and by the way, Yes, I am past my due date and still no sign of baby. It is the hardest thing in the world for me to be patient, but I can't be pregnant forever and I'm definately not the first to go past the due date, but it is still hard for me, especially considering the fact that my last baby was almost 9 lbs. and she was a week early, and I am measuring pretty largish. Oh well, it will all work out. I am sending out positive affirmations for myself, so if you have any to share it will be much appreciated.

False Alarm

Friday morning, I started feeling a little nauseous but didn't think anything of it as we had a very busy day ahead of us. I packed up all the kids and headed off to Liberty Academy. Then about an hour or so before it was time to head home in the afternoon I started feeling really nauseous and felt like I wanted to vomit. I waited for the kids to finish their last classes for the day then headed home. As soon as we got home, Elena ran to the bathroom and started throwing up. Then not 5 minutes later, McKay runs to the bathroom upstairs and throws up. Thankfully, they both made it to the toilet, so I just went and laid down because I felt terrible and to top it off I was having pretty strong contractions every 5 minutes or so. Clarence brought dinner home and I ate a little bit then went to the bathroom myself and released the contents of my stomach. I then went to take a bath to see if that would calm the contractions. As I was bathing, Alexia proceeded to throw up all over her bed, herself, and her bedroom floor. I got her into the bathtub, and Clarence and I cleaned up the mess, then we put the kids to bed. Luckily no one except myself threw up after being put to bed, and my contractions just kept getting more intense. Finally at 2 AM, I woke Clarence, asked him to take me to the hospital and called my mom and informed her that I would be bringing 3 sick children to her house. It took us an hour and a half to get everyone into the van and out of the house. After dropping the kids off at my mom's house, we went to the hospital and they checked me. Only 2 and 1/2 cm dilated, and I was so sure this was it. An hour later they checked me again and of course I was the same so they sent me home and told me I was probably just dehydrated from being sick and that could be the cause for my contractions. By this time, it was 5 AM and Clarence had to be at work at 6AM so he dropped me off at my mom's house. My poor mother took care of me and my children all day. Every time Alexia even drank a little water, She would throw up a few minutes later. This went on until about 4PM when she was finally able to keep some food down, and my contractions finally slowed down and started tapering off. I just have to say that my mother is a saint to put up with all that. Thank goodness for her. And poor Clarence looked like death when he came to pick us up that evening. We all survived however and we are still here. What a crazy weekend that I hope we never repeat.

finally!

Wow! It has been nearly a month since I last posted anything. We have been so busy, I just have not taken the time to update anything. I will give a quick run down of what everyone has been doing.

Clarence has been working so hard, we hardly see him lately. The man never quits. He's like the energizer bunny. He has been doing many side jobs and never has a day off. He just got a promotion at work and will be working 5 days a week again. (He was working 3 - 12 hour days) so I don't think he will have as much time for side jobs anymore. He has also been finding time to play racquetball with a buddy from work atleast once a week, and go running when he can. He has lost like 20 lbs. I guess no sympathy weight gain for his pregnant wife. He has taken the family skeet shooting and out for periodic fun and treats. We are very proud of him and grateful for all he does for us.

I have been trying to keep up with everything in all of our lives. As much as I try to keep our life simple and manageable, it has not turned out to be that way lately. Between culture studies and emotional clearing on Wednesdays, Liberty Academy on Fridays, cleaning my mother-in-law's house on Thursdays, and OB checks on Tuesdays I feel that I am never home and my house cleaning has been suffering severely. We also do homeschool every morning, so my time is severely impeded. It is time to simplify. Culture Studies went great this month. It was our family's turn and we studied about Sweden. It was so much fun and we learned so many great things about Sweden. What a joy to learn about other cultures. I am glad my turn is over and now hopefully I can focus on baby boy. I have had several moments that I have thought I am in labor, and then the contractions go away. I am trying very hard to be patient. Hopefully any day now. We have finally, I think, agreed on a name, but I am not going to post it until he comes and we are sure.

The kids are doing great. They are enjoying school very much. McKay just bought a ripstick with his own money, and I am amazed at how quickly he has picked up how to ride it. A ripstick is kind of like a skateboard, but with only 2 wheels. Its kind of like going from roller skates to roller blades. You have to balance while riding. He has also been doing alot of painting and playing Empire Earth on the computer, which also explains my lack of being on the computer. Elena loves her theater class and is excited to put on a play about Snow White. She loves to play with friends in her spare time. Alexia also is loving school and playing with friends. She is pretty much Elena's shadow and loves to do whatever she does.

I have not taken any pictures in weeks because of lack of time, and because the camera is sitting in my hospital bag, because I am so afraid I will forget to bring it to the hospital. Anyhow that's our month in a nutshell. I will try to be better about posting.

School time

Last Friday was the first day of Public School that my children have ever had. (Excepting McKay who did go to kindergarten and half of first grade.) A Charter school in our area created a Friday school day for homeschoolers and we decided to take part. So, every Friday my children will be going to school. They had a blast. That morning my girls woke up at 5 AM because they were so excited. They don't even do that on Christmas morning. My children are very heavy sleepers. The school day consists of various one hour classes that they sign up for and is actually totally seperate from the full time students who attend. McKay is in 5 classes. They are Math Motivation, Art, Language Arts, Basketball/Volleyball, and Technology. The math motivation class goes along with ALEKS math, which is an online virtual math program which he will be doing at home, and every Friday they will do fun math activities. He says it is a lot of fun but he loves the basketball/volleyball class the best, and he's so excited about the Technology class. Elena is taking 3 classes which consist of Art, Science Lab, and Children's Theater. She is most excited about children's theater as we have been to a few plays and she has been begging me to let her be in a play. She is extremely shy though, so we will see how it goes. Alexia is taking 2 classes this year. They are storytelling and Arts/Crafts/Math fun. The storytelling teacher is the same as the children's theater teacher and she is fabulous.

I think this will be a great experience as they will get to try many subjects, spend some time apart ( a big plus), and get someone besides mom teaching them for a change. These classes are free, because of going through the public school system, and that is great. I know I choose to homeschool, but homeschoolers still have to pay all the same taxes that public schoolers pay, yet we have to pay for everything ourselves, so it is so nice to get a few tax benefits also now and then.

We are still doing culture studies with some other families (see my first post) once a week. We are starting again Sep 3 and our first country of study will be Sweden, which my family is in charge of for the whole month of September, so hopefully baby boy will stay baking in the oven until October. My guess date is the 6th of October, and I have always delivered really close to the due date so we will see what happens. Still that's cutting it pretty close. I'm very excited about this school year and hope to be able to handle it all.

My baby is growing up.

My baby girl, Alexia has turned 6 years old! I can not believe it. Has that much time really passed? We had a small family party for her. She had a few friends come over for cake and ice cream. I used to do a friend party every year for each of my kids but it had become a time and financial burden that I really did not want, so I decided to give them a friend party at the ages of 4, 8, 12, and 16. This is much more manageable to me. A friend gave me the idea and birthdays are much less stressful to me now, and I think as a result, more enjoyable for the kids, and more special when they do get a friend party. I did not get any pictures. The camera unfortunately was misplaced that day. My sister took some on her camera. But I don't have them yet. I don't know what it is but Alexia seems so much younger to me than Elena and McKay did at that age. Maybe that will change when baby boy comes along, which by the way, is only 8 short weeks away.

Best Friends

Today has been one of those glorious days when everyone is getting along and peaceful. Elena and Alexia have been best friends since they woke up this morning. They have played peacefully and they are being very sweet together. They just finished their chores which they helped each other with, and Elena is going to take Alexia outside for a roller blading lesson. McKay got home this morning from a Father/Sons campout and has been much too tired to do any teasing or worry about the girls. He has just been minding his own business playing computer, reading, and napping. What a glorious day! I am ready for more of these kind of days.

What we've been up to

I think today is the first day that I have actually been home all day in 2 weeks. I am so exhausted. Pioneer Day is the big celebration time for Spanish Fork and there has been stuff going on almost every day for the past 2 weeks. We've been to 2 parades, the carnival, concerts in the park, and fireworks. Not to mention all the other things that went on that we heard anyway because we live so close to the city center. We have heard the rodeo going on every day for the past week and all the activities going on at the park. The kids have heard these things going on and have been asking to go to everything, so we did oblige them on a few things. I have to admit that yesterday morning when I woke up to everything cleaned up everywhere and all the cars gone that had previously lined the street, that I felt very relieved. It was fun and all but I am ready for things to be back to normal.

McKay turned 11 on the 18th. We went to Lagoon together as a family to celebrate and he also got to have a friend sleepover. He got a rubber band gun, a humongous Frisbee, and a really nice acrylic paint set and paper to go with it. I can't believe I have an 11 year old. He gets to go on his first overnighter for scouts next weekend and he is so excited, and I am so nervous. I don't know if I'm ready to let someone else be responsible for him, even just for one night. He has had sleepovers, but they have always been with cousins.






We broke down and bought a really old 3rd car, so that Clarence doesn't have to drive his gas guzzling truck to work anymore. We seriously have been spending as much on fuel as we spend on groceries. Crazy. Clarence also did another concrete job this week. He is the man. I helped him screed again and the kid's played in their fabulous back yard. Elena got bitten by their dog though. That's what she gets for teasing him and throwing a Frisbee at his head numerous times. It was very HOT! I drank tons of water and sat in the shade when I wasn't helping, which was most of the time. I think it must have been a humorous sight to watch a 7 month pregnant lady bending over a screed rod, screeding concrete flat. To screed concrete means to run a 2x4 across the wet concrete to make it level and flat. That's basically all he has me help with, he does everything else himself. There is actually a lot involved in making concrete look good.

We also have been trying to fit school and playgroup in, and my friend Mindy taught me how to bottle apricot jam and butter. Thanks, Mindy. You are so inspiring to me.
Those are some of the things we have been up to and why I feel that I can not move today. Hopefully next week will be a little more laid back.

What did you say you are selling?

Have you ever had the experience of teenagers going through the area knocking on doors trying to sell magazine subscriptions? It happenned to me last night for the second time since I've been married. The first time I actually obliged and bought a subscription for a magazine I never read which cost about 3 times the regular newsstand price. I was not about to oblige a second time. I figured out after listening to the sales pitch last night that these kids use guilt, manipulation, and flattery to get you to buy. I did not hear anything about the quality of the magazines or why it would be a good idea for my family to make this purchase. Some of the things this young salesperson said to try to convince me to buy went something like this:

1. After finding out that my occupation is "domestic Goddess" (his term not mine) he told me that is the hardest job in the world and I deserve to put my feet up and read trashy magazines. (yay for me.) These magazines were pretty much garbage except for maybe "Family Fun" and "Parenting" which incidentally gave him the most points, which also means most expensive.

2. He is so close to winning the most points to be able to win a vacation and if I help him out he will for sure win.

3. All of my neighbors have helped him out by buying a subscription. (let's rub on the guilt.)

4. If I buy from him, he will put a sticker on my door that says "Don't bug me" so that none of the many, many other teenagers in my area will not knock on the door and bother me again. ( and this is a good reason why I should buy? Give me a break.)

5. He entertained me with some extremely lame jokes and asked me many personal questions and shared personal things about himself so that by the end we were on familiar terms.

6. He talked so fast I couldn't even get a word in edgewise.

7. Oh and my favorite: He told me that he is from a national group that is teaching teenagers positive communication and social skills.

I succeeded in not buying, and as he left he said "Please don't buy any magazines from anyone else." So what are they actually selling? Magazine subscriptions or the chance to further the education of the future leaders of our country by teaching them to get away with manipulation and con artistry. (If that is even a word.) Whatever happenned to selling things for the purpose of providing a useful service to someone? Well, that's how I feel about that.

12 More Weeks

I feel like a balloon that is about to pop but I still have 12 more weeks to go. I have no real complaints though. This pregnancy has gone by so fast. I don't know if I am ready for this change. Alexia is so cute. I have a box of baby clothes and blankets that I have not figured out where to put yet. She has gone through every article in that box atleast 5 times. She pulls everything out, sorts them very neatly, and then throws them all back in haphazardly. Elena, I think, shows the most outward excitement. She constantly hugs and rubs my belly and talks very sweetly to the baby. The other day we were at a park and there was a scottish festival going on. Elena and Alexia went off to play and I decided after awhile that I better go find them as there were quite a few people there. I found them in the middle of the festival looking at all the booths. They then showed me all the things they wanted to buy at the different booths. At almost all of the booths we came to, I heard from the attendants that Elena had told them all about her new little brother. I think we need to have a discussion about talking to strangers again. I think McKay is very excited to have a new brother, but he is also beginning to understand that it also means more responsibility. I depend on him so much and all the kids really, because my energy level is not quite up to par, and they really do a lot around the house. McKay is really a great help but he has expressed to the girls that there are going to be a lot more responsibilities when the baby comes. He's such a mini adult. I think Clarence is ready to end the 9 month emotional roller coaster, although he has been very supportive. I know that it has been hard for him to deal with a wife who breaks down every few days and totally loses it. I also have a much harder time with meals, laundry, and just general maintenance, but he never says anything and pitches in to help with housework a lot. I have a great, supportive family. I am so grateful for my husband and each one of my children. Somehow we will all get through this, and be blessed with a beautiful baby.

4th of July Festivities

This year we opted not to take the kids to the balloons and parade like we normally do. We did have a fun family/friend BBQ at Clarence's brothers house on the 3rd. We ate some great food (thanks to Marilee and Howard) and the kid's put on a fabulous firework show, although I was very nervous the whole time as all the kids were lighting them simultaneously. Then, last night on the 4th we went to watch the Provo firework display in my husband's work parking lot. McKay has been with his cousin Jake since the 3rd and I am sure he has had and is still having a blast. I am grateful for the freedoms we enjoy in this country and for the opportunity to celebrate.

My hard working hubby

I thought I would pay a small tribute to my dear husband. I don't think I have even mentioned him in any of my previous blogs and I want everyone to know what an integral part of our family he is. He works 12 hour shifts so that he can spend less days at work and more time at home with us. However, everyone at work has been finding out that he used to be a concrete contractor, so he has been doing some side jobs and we have gotten to come with him and offer our meager assistance on some of them. The last job he did was a at a cabin lot by Indianola. What an amazing place. This was a 3-acre lot with deer and other wild animals constantly running through the property. The people who live there just happen to like birds and had many bird feeders and bird houses all over their property. McKay got to see about 30 different species of birds, and the kids had a blast wandering all over the property and seeing beautiful nature. McKay and I helped Clarence a little bit, but I must confess we spent much more time wandering than helping. I am so grateful for Clarence's work ethic. He is such a great example for McKay and he has taught him so many things that are hard for boys to learn when they live in the city. I am also grateful for his dedication to family. He has taken us on many field trips and spent so much time helping the kids do projects and have fun. Home school would be very boring without Dad to spice it up. Many times he has brought lumber home to build boats, bird houses, and any other project he thinks the kids may be interested in. He even recently made me a garden box so I can have fresh produce, even though he doesn't even like most produce, and he faithfully takes the kids out and weeds and waters that garden. What a great guy.




These are pictures I took of the last job he did in Indianola. He did that whole thing by himself. I just helped him screed the concrete flat, and McKay helped him form it up and tear everything down. I don't know if you can tell from the picture but it is a huge pad. They are putting a big garage on it, with room for sidewalk all the way around.

All About Elena

Elena is the middle child and is always apt to feel left out even though we try really hard to keep things equal for all of our kids. This past few weeks however, she has gotten to do a lot of things that the other kids have not gotten to do. I thought if I blogged about it I would have proof to show her that life really is fair for her. For her birthday, Elena got a cutie bakeware set and she has recently gotten to make cupcakes a few times by herself with Lexie hovering and wishing she could help. This really is a big deal for her because she loves to cook, but she loves to do it without Alexia. She does not want to share the fun. She would rather let Lexie add all the ingredients than to have to split it up half and half. So Alexia usually does the helping while Elena leaves the room angry.





Elena got invited to 2 birthday parties which Alexia didn't get invited to. That's pretty rare because they both have the same friends and where one goes, they both go. However, Alexia ended up going to one of the parties anyway because it was quite a drive and my sister-in-law needed some help with watching the kids in the swimming pool which meant that Lexie and McKay had to come. She did get to sleep over at her cousins house all by her self the night before though.

And finally, she got to take swimming lessons for 2 weeks all by herself, she didn't even want the kids to come with us to drop her off. She got me all to herself for all of 5 minutes of driving time, but it was enough to make her feel very special. I did stay and watch her about half the time.


Elena is such a cute and sweet little girl and we love her a lot.