December Already?!?!

Man it's been a while since I last posted. I haven't had time to check on others' posts let alone time to add to ours.

Life is good here. We just do school everyday. It just seems like it's ruling my life right now.

We've had fun making Snow Ice Cream. My kids call it "Snow Cream." It's really good when you add orange juice after making it. Tasted just like those orange drinks you get at the mall.

Snow Cream: Mix 1/2 cup milk, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/4 tsp of vanilla until sugar is dissolved. Then add mixture to 4 cups clean/edible snow and mix. Yum!

A Bed!

I was so tired last night. I have to add a warm bed to my gratitude list!

Trunk or Treat

All the kids are off of school for today and tomorrow (fall break), so our house has been the zoo. There was lots to do today, and not enough hours to do it all. But, then again, that's always the case.

My biggest accomplishment today was removing all of the summer clothes from their shelves. I've been meaning to get around to it, but just haven't had the time. When Ben and Rachel both dressed in shorts (it's been extra warm the last couple of days... in the 50s!) I knew all the shorts had to go.

Ruth had a lot of fun painting her "Ruthbot" costume. Since tonight was Trunk or Treat, we decided that we ought to get around to finishing her costume. We cut it out mid-September when she started walking around with the box on her head saying, "I am a robot." We quickly put the eye hole in for her when she walked into the walls.


After baths, Mr. Moroni wanted to play with Mommy. I keep noticing how long his hair is getting. Those curls certainly are getting wild! I'm sure it's time for a hair cut, but I'm not in a hurry.

This evening was Trunk or Treat and everyone got to try out their costumes. What fun!

Our Little Pumpkin!

Our Ruthbot!

"I'm half Pilot/Half Pirate!"
(Go ahead, say it out loud.)

Sneaky Ninja!

What a Tiger!

Our little Devil!

Swoop Bunny, Bunny!

What a Grim Reaper!

Orthodonti$t

We got word about a week ago that Jo$eph would be needing brace$. With that looming over our head$ we were worried that Rebekah would be $uffering the $ame fate. Today, Rebekah had her appointment and the news was quite the opposite. Not only was the headgear/bite plate combo working, but she could cut back on the wearing of her bite plate to 12 hours a day! Woo Hoo!

Chocolate

My mother told me that she was grateful for skin that could be washed. "Isn't it great that we don't have to dry clean our skin?" Of course, I laughed. But after thinking about this picture with Moroni, I'd have to agree.

Ruth tried to make her own hot chocolate and Moroni of course, sampled everything as well. After we bathed him, his hair still smelled like a cup of hot chocolate!

I'm also grateful to Daddies who rough house with their kids. Both mine and my kids' daddy.

Wonderful WIVA

Today we got up early (before the bus) and left for state testing. My kids really like going to the testing site and taking the state tests. I know. Weird.

This made me realize that there is even more to be thankful for. I am thankful for the wonderful school, Wisconsin Virtual Academy (WIVA), that my children have an opportunity to attend. I am thankful for each teacher that touches my children's lives. I am thankful for the opportunity I have to learn about each of my children and to become intimately familiar with their education. I am thankful for the internet and the opportunities it provides us.

What a wonderful thing the mind is and the amazing things we can learn.

Family Fun

This weekend has been stake conference. One of our challenges was to be grateful for something new everyday. This could be a great way to write about it!

One thing I'm grateful for is my Savior. I am grateful for the atonement, for the opportunity to overcome death and sin. I am grateful for eternal life and eternal families. I am grateful for a wonderful spouse who completes me. I am grateful for the wonderful children that have been sent to our family. I am grateful for the love that my children show me. I am so blessed!


After church today didn't start off so well. It seemed as if some of the children were just plain cantankerous and arguing with everyone. However, after some quiet time, they all gathered spontaneously at the table for a game. It was such a blessed sight to see six of them gathered together for a game and having fun with each other(Moroni and Ruth were with Robert).

Robert had been fighting with a computer virus and I dragged him in just to soak in the wonderful sight of our children all happy together. It's just one of those parent moments. We both were developing headaches and they were playing Pit (very loud confusion). We didn't want to tell them to put it away since they were having a lot of fun, so we popped some ibuprofen and joined in the craziness. Moroni, Ruth and Sam played with the potato heads while we joked around the table.

Grandpa moment: Ben at one point collected one of everything just to watch us all go crazy, but Daddy got the blame! Who'd have thunk Ben would be so devious.

We also got our first snowfall of the year. Ruth ran everywhere saying, "It's no (snow) time!" She put on her 'no boots' and insisted on walking in it. It's just a light dusting, but with the chill in the air, it's enough to give us a taste of what might lie ahead. I'm thankful for warm houses.

Pumpkin Pie

Ruth and I had fun making a pumpkin pie.

Mmmmmm. Lotion

This one's for you, Phil.

I was checking schoolwork in on the computer and Moroni comes toddling into the kitchen. I look and he has something blue all over him (mostly around his mouth). I pick him up and smell it. Wouldn't you know... he's been sampling the lotion. I knew I had to get a picture of it for my brother.

Later, however, when I walked into my bathroom, there was pink and blue smeared everywhere. Ruth and Moroni had had fun with 2 full bottles of lotion. Maybe I should have gotten a picture of it, but I was busy cleaning up.

Later on that evening I walked into the bathroom barefoot and the floor felt so soft and smooth!

Boogie Woogie Halloween

My father-in-law got us this singing pumpkin a few years ago for Halloween. My children love it. This year it is a favorite of Ruth and Moroni. They carry it everywhere and Ruth even dances and sings with it.

Life Science

Rebekah has been working with taxonomy in life science. This was one of the projects/lessons she had to do. She was so proud of it when she was done that she had to take a picture of it.

Throw the Baby Out

No we're not getting rid of the baby. "Mr. Moni" just likes climbing into everything. It doesn't matter if it's the trash can, the dishwasher, or a laundry basket sitting on its side.

Fall Fun

On Friday we went to the pumpkin patch. It was raining so the hayride to pick your own pumpkin wasn't available but Rachel, Ben, Sam and Ruth went with Daddy through the corn maze. It's all fun and games till Daddy slips in the mud and is all brown!

The older kids went with me to pick a peck of apples. We went home and made Apple Crisp. Oooh how yummy.

Today we went back to the patch (it was sunny) and took the hay-ride out to the patch. We were going to pair up to create our pumpkins, but everyone ended up getting their own anyway ('cept Joseph who elected to stay home - he'll help Sam carve and Moroni, who'll help everyone carve).

Cranberries

It was Robert's flex day. We scheduled a tour of the cranberry marsh in Wisconsin Rapids. It was almost a three hour drive up there, but it was a lot of fun watching them harvest the cranberries. Rebekah's favorite part was when we got to walk in the dry cranberry bed.

After the tour we stopped at a Pizza Hut for their lunch buffet. The kids were so excited to be able to eat *in* the restaurant. We all learned a pretty important lesson. The root beer we ordered cost almost as much as the pizza at $16. Ouch! When we got home we went to the store and purchased $16 in root beer and had a taste testing contest to find out which one we liked better: A&W, Mug, or the no-name. A&W won out, but some of us really like the no-name. We even had plenty of 2-liters and cans left over ($16 buys a lot of root beer).

The kids decided that next time we would just get water and then they could all use the money they saved to purchase their own 2-liter of soda. What smarties they are.

Candy

I walked into the kitchen and Ruth had her pink boot on the stove. Seems harmless enough at first, right? Well I discovered that she was stuffing candy into it and running off to go eat! The little sneak!

Look Who's One!

I can't believe it. Moroni is one! He really enjoyed the birthday cake, but mostly the candle part. He kept trying to grab it! Poor Moroni, though. Since he's number eight, we really didn't need more toys and such lying around. He even has a lot of clothes from Grandma KK. As a result he only had one birthday present to unwrap (not that he'll remember anyway). He got a little toy remote with lots of buttons to push. However, this doesn't deter him from the real thing. His favorite thing to do on my bed is to drop remotes and phones behind the headboard. Thank goodness Robert got on of those long arm claw things to grab all of his fun from behind the bed and dresser.

The Same Mold

Here's Ruth holding a picture of... Rebekah. I guess we just don't have a lot of different looks in our family. We have a picture somewhere of Mary in the same dress with the same pigtails holding the picture of Rebekah as well. We don't know where it is. It's probably digital. Robert wanted to get a picture of Ruth holding the picture of Mary holding the picture of Rebekah. Maybe he'll have to doctor one later.

Silly Sam

Today we were getting ready to go to church. So we told Sam to go get dressed. When he was all done he came out to show us how he got dressed all by himself. But he didn't know that his shirt was upside-down. This is a picture of Sam with his shirt on upside-down.
~Rachel

My Friends

We were looking at posts of our cousins and Ruth said, "I'm looking at my friends."

Surfing the Web

Sam was surfing the web and was surprised that he could get onto one of his favorite games from a different computer. Ben tried to explain that since it was the web, anyone could play that game at any time, "even Rudolph Hitler."

Happy Birthday Ben

Sunday, the 21st was Ben's 7th birthday. He said it was his "best birthday ever." Ben got U.B. Funkeys and they have even been seen on commercials. He really likes to play them and his favorite thing to do on U.B. Funkeys is discovering new worlds and purchasing pets.

Cousins

Orion got to come over and play today. Moroni (and Ruth too) had so much fun playing. They were just loads of grins and giggles.

Sun and Moon and Stars

Sam: Oooh! Look! The moon's all the way up!
Ruth: Huh? Where'd the sun go?

Allergies

Today I went to the doctor's office because of Rebekah's and my allergies. They told me that Rebekah and I both had allergies to the medicine we were taking for are strep throat. Our allergic reaction gave us both red bumps. The bumps itched like crazy! I woke my mom up at 5:55 this morning because it itched so much. It itched so much at night I couldn't go to sleep. I itched it so much that when I didn't itch it, it would burn. But now Rebekah and I are on medicine. So now we're getting better.

-Rachel

Camping

We went camping this weekend and the kids all had a really good time. Ben and Mary were looking for sticks to throw in the fire, Joseph was planning games of capture the flag and joined games of Frisbee while we discovered Rebekah and Rachel both have allergies to the medicine we have been taking for strep and Sam made a little club in the hiking area and Ruth was watching the fire very amused and Moroni can't really do anything yet. But wow was it exhausting!
-Rebekah

Weekend! Yeah!

I'm still trying to get everything together for school. I know that I should have done it weeks ago, but I had other things to do. I'm just trying to be patient with myself.

It's been frustrating to blog and do email on our old laptop. I can't type a w,x or q. While the latter two letters aren't bad, I'm learning how much we use the letter 'w' in our everyday type. I usually have to cut and paste whatever letter I'm missing from somewhere else. As a result I never use a capital for my name.

We've got everything cleaned up and we're getting ready to go camping with our ward. Time to shut the computers down.

Sleeping In

Robert is gone until Sunday. Since we had nothing else to get up for (with Daddy being gone) we totally slept in today. I never sleep well with him gone anyway. The kids rolled out of bed between 8 and 8:30 and were surprised that the bus had already come for the other kids. Hmmmm... I sure do like the freedom that we're provided.

Ben and Mary finished school by noon (and Ben even did some bonus classes) and Joseph, Rebekah and Rachel completed their assignments in time to play with friends. I'll count today as a success. Just three more days until daddy comes home.

School

School has started. Things are full here, but I'm loving the time with my children.

Labor Day

hat an aesome day. (Currently I can't type the letter that begins my name, so I'll go back and fi my post later) This morning e headed off to the ard primary activity here the kids participated in olympic events. Benjamin's favorite as the hurdles. You should have seen him flying through. Unfortunately I forgot my camera. Boo hoo.

After the olympics, our ard had a picnic. It as almost 90 degrees today, and e could really feel the heat. After the picnic, e decided to spend the last day of Summer at the pool. Some of the kids didn't ant to go to the pool, so I stayed home ith them and Robert took everyone else.

For family home evening, e talked about school starting and everyone got their father's blessing. hat a onderful blessing to have the priesthood in our home. e also did some planning for the schoolyear and brainstormed ideas of ho to stay on track. ill they ork? e'll see.

Saturday is a Special Day

Since we were all quarantined today, we went to play (just our family) beach volleyball. The kids really had a lot of fun hitting the ball back and forth, but I think we need to rearrange the teams next time. Joseph and I were on one team with Mary and Sam, but Mary and Sam were more interested in the sand. Robert's team, however, had Rebekah and Rachel and Benjamin, all highly interested in the game and where the ball was.

We then decided to do our family cleaning after lunch, so once our quarantine was over, they would be free to play. We also had the missionaries over for dinner tonight. We really enjoyed our time with them.

We All Have It!

While all of their quick cultures for strep were negative, the nurse called me this morning and informed me that their overnight cultures were all positive. Oh Joy! We now have a whole shelf in our fridge dedicated to antibiotics (at two bottles per kid). By the time our round of treatments is through, we should have no germs at our house!

It's not too bad. Nobody has any symptoms, it's just been a lot of back and forth to the doctor's office and the pharmacy. I did, however, forget to get myself cultured yesterday, so I had to go in today and get cultured. So far my quick is negative...

I got home and lined everyone up for medicine. They all love the pink stuff. Poor Ruth has the white one (Augmentin) for added protection and it's not supposed to taste too great, but she still likes to take it. Sam is disappointed that he only gets one syringe full (2 teaspoons) but Rachel gets two syringes (3 teaspoons). "It's not fair." Joseph has the easy way out. Since he's allergic to penicillans and cephalosporins, he gets to take azithromycin which is only once a day for five days.

Strep

We have had a very full week. Moroni had strep in the diaper area, and Ruth had it around her mouth. It took a few days to figure out what was going on and after several trips to the pharmacy, we're all starting to feel better.

Rebekah had a sore throat kick in yesterday, so we took her to the doctor's office today to have her throat cultured. It came back positive, so the doctor felt it best to bring everyone in that hadn't been tested yet. That was 5 out of 8 of the kids. I kept getting comments like, "Brought the whole family in?" If they only knew.

Ruth put one of the k12 boxes on her head and walked around saying, "I'm a robot." I believe Rebekah has cut holes in boxes and had fun walking around. We never know who is going to watch us and follow our example.

WIVA Social

Wednesday we went to Token Creek County Park to meet the kids' new teachers for the year.

One of the kids found money in the sandbox and all of the kids crowded into the sandbox and started digging. Someone had buried all kinds of change in the sand.

A Teenager!

We finally have a true teenager! Joseph turned 13 today. Although, I have to admit, it's felt like we've had teenagers for a while now.

It's kinda funny how being a mom of older kids is what's making me start to feel older. Half of my kids are now baptized, Joseph is a deacon, passing the sacrament, and Rebekah will be starting in Young Women in December!

Mom always said that it seems like you're a mom of toddlers for forever and then you blink and they're all grown up. I think it's still having toddlers that is making my older kids' lives go by so fast.

I should just try to enjoy them all where they're at now!!!

Birthday Bash

Friday was Robert's birthday. We went out for lunch at Red Robin, and I really overate!!! Talk about nummy!

When we sang happy birthday, we had to light the torch. We wanted to see if he could blow out all of his candles in one breath. Guess he's not as full of hot air as we thought.

The kids had a lot of fun wrapping Robert's presents. They even wrapped one present, put it in a box, wrapped it again and then put it in another box and did a final wrapping. However, when they said that he would be surprised at one of the presents they wrapped, he said "You wrapped it again and again, huh?" Rachel then said, "who told you!" He's so good at getting them to give away their secrets.

Robert's best present was Wii Fit. It got played all day long today. He's so worried that we'll knock off his high scores. We'll have to see.

Dirt Boy

Okay, so while Rachel was writing the last post, I was holding Moroni while sitting next to her. I had given him part of a white chocolate cookie. By the time she was done with her post, he had abandoned the cookie for a fist full of dirt from a potted plant that was sitting behind me. The irony was that he was wearing his "Note to self: Don't eat dirt (It's not food!) shirt that Aunt Cherstin got him after he kept eating the dirt at great Grandpa's house. It's even funnier that the last time he wore this shirt, he ate dirt out of the garden while I was weeding. Guess it 'just looks like something he should taste.'

Achievement Days

Today in achievement days we made cookies. They tasted really good. We had cookie paint and we painted them. Then we read the book Mrs. Piggle Wiggle! Then Rebekah and I sat in the car waiting for our mom for a long time.
--Rachel

Sleeping

Elder Ballard said (April 2008 General Conference) "recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction."

Team Husted

Today, after breakfast, we went to the city park and played some softball. After we played some frisbee football. It's so nice having our own 'team.' Dinner was the High Priest's social at the Richards' home. The picture is Ben just before getting on the trampoline.

Sleeping!!!

Let sleeping babes lie.

Dirt

What can I say? It's Moroni with a cup of... dirt!

At the Pool

I thought I would post a picture of Mary, since most of the pictures are of Moroni or Ruth. What can I say... we just have cute kids.

Last night was MISERABLE!!! Moroni tossed and turned the whole night. After Ruth ended up in our bed, he kept climbing on her and pulling her hair in the middle of the night. She couldn't sleep through it either. Teach her to sleep in her own bed? We wish.

While most of my morning was in slo-mo, I did manage to get the bathroom clean. WooHoo. What a statement that is when I'm excited to get the kids' bathroom clean?

Later on I made cinnamon rolls (talk about excited kids) and we went to the pool together.

Hopefully tonight we sleep better since tomorrow is full of meetings for both Robert and me.