Husband of the Year (every year)

It's been a while since I've praised my husband.  (here on my blog that is)

I honestly believe that he is quite possibly the world's best husband. 

I have become extremely dependent on him.  Without him I am a mess.  Without him while being sick I am pretty much useless, which is what the past 48 hours have been.

He came home today, scooped up the baby and just basically took over.  I needed that.  He is almost always exactly what I need when I need it. 

I am truly blessed. 

Today...

I ate chicken nuggets for lunch.  Not just any chicken nuggets, dinosaur chicken nuggets.  Laziness.  Pure laziness.

Seth is "out of town".  Less than 10 miles away.  Apparently good team building requires staying the night together.  A work "sleepover" if you will. 

Nash crawled in to the shower this morning while I was washing my hair.  He scared the poo out of me.  My eyes were closed and I felt something touch my toe.  He is way too mobile way too soon.  But he's super cute so I guess we'll keep him.

I went to Target and they handed me a coupon for $5 off a $25 purchase.  So instead of spending $10 on the things I needed I spent $37 and that was with the coupon.  They are so tricky!  I'm thinking of going back to see if they will give me another coupon. 

Luc had a friend over.  I used to dread having other kids at my house.  I think I was a little intolerant.  I love it now.  Nothing like some one else entertaining my kid for a couple hours.

While Luc was being entertained I finally cleaned out the front coat closet and turned it into the vacuum/storage closet.  (only took me 3 years of living in this house in the middle of Phoenix to realized that we don't really need a coat closet.) 

That's what's going on around here today.

Be Patient with Yourself

Just watched this and loved the sweet message from a disciple of God.  It's 3 minutes and will bring peace to your soul.  A good reminder to be patient with ourselves.

Coming To Terms

There are certain things in my life that I have come to terms with and accepted as reality, just a part of life, no big deal (nbd if you're "cool"). 

For instance, I know I will never again be a size 6.  Not because it's impossible but because I am just fine being an 8/10, I don't love exercising and I do love food.  So that's that.  And it's ok.  nbd

For every one of those there are 5 more that I am not ok with and either need to come to terms with or change. 

Here is my current "issue":

1. Laundry.  I just don't like it.  I don't like doing it, I don't like thinking about it, I don't like seeing it.  It's my enemy in this house.  It's never ending and no matter how I try it just never gets any better.  I spend 2 days getting it all done and put away and within 24 hours it's back, staring at me, taunting me. 

Five minutes ago I changed Nash's diaper, stood up and said "I am going to go finish folding that laundry" and then promptly walked to the computer and pulled up the blog.  I would rather do most anything than laundry yet I hate that it's not done just as much.  To quote a favorite movie (name it if you can)

William: [Spike wearing Will's wetsuit] Can I ask you why you are wearing that?



Spike: Combination of factors. No clean clothes.


William: There never will be unless you actually *clean* your clothes.


Spike: Vicious circle.
I agree, vicious, vicious circle!

First 5 Thoughts

My mind has been bogged down with all sorts of half-posts lately.  Like the first sentence of a post and then nothing more.  So here is my mind-cleansing post that will hopefully lead to happier more productive posting in the near future.

1.  I love my little Nashy-Baby.  I don't think I love him any more than my other kids, that is pretty much forbidden right?  But he is a baby and he is superly-duperly cute and cuddly.  Loving him is just so easy.

2.  I am ready for the holidays.  Not like ready-ready.  Just ready for it all to get going.  Tonight I was actually wishing it was tomorrow night because I am ready to cook/bake.  I'm making 3 pies.  All new recipes.  I hadn't realized that until I just typed it, I hope at least one of them turns out.  (super high expectations for myself, huh?)

3.  I have become addicted to pintrest.  Is anyone else having the same issue?  I love it.  I mostly just look at stuff and hope that I will one day try/attempt one or more of my "pinned" ideas.  I have tried a few recipes and I made this for my sister-in-law for her birthday (I'm like 90% sure she doesn't read this, if she does, well Happy Birthday Carmen!!) 

and I put together little Turkey Tom here for McKay's class "Friendship Feast".  He was definitely cuter on pinterest but still a hit with the 2nd graders.

4.  I have been battling whether or not to blog about "x" and for a while I thought I had jinxed "x" because I hadn't mentioned it yet but now "x" is doing a lot better and so now of course I'm worried that if I do blog about it then I will jinx it.  So I won't.  That's all I'll say about that.

5.  Now I feel guilty for saying how much I love Nash without saying anything about the other four.  I am such a woman/mom.  Well I love them all.  They are all adorable and sweet (most of the time.)  Any advice on a 7year old growing up too fast, a 6 year old who can go from happy to complete melt-down in 2.8 seconds anytime after 7 pm and a 3 year old who cries about everything, would be greatly appreciated.  Did I mention how much I love each one of them?  I do.  And I love being their mom.

  

Costco

I am trying to figure out if I am overly sensitive (not a normal "Denise trait") or if people at Costco (more specifically our Costco) are intolerant of children.  Once in a while I am brave enough to venture in to Costco with 2 or more of my children.  I always talk to them first about proper store manners.  "Try not to walk in front of people."  "Be careful not to bump into people's carts."  "No running and no yelling."  Just the basics.  And for the most part they are fairly well behaved.

Inevitably someone will comment and/or glare at us.  Last time we were there (and by we I mean all of us, including Seth) a lady turned the corner, quickly took a mental count of my 4 children and then audibly gasped before rolling her eyes.  Seriously?  Is it all that shocking to see a family with a whopping FOUR children. 

A year or so ago a lady in her little motorized cart nearly backed right over Kimball and then huffed at me and glared at my then 5 year old as if she were a total nuisance.  Excuse us for walking behind you in a store and then not moving fast enough when you started "back-up beeping" at us.

Then of course there was a few weeks ago when Seth was out of town and I dared to go with my children AND our exchange student.  That nearly blew people's minds.  What kind of strange family is this and why are they disturbing our peaceful Costco Food Court meal?  (I do have to admit that Luc did have a full-fledged 3 yr old breakdown during this particular trip but old lady sitting across the way glaring at me did not help the situation.) 

And while I'm up on my Costco-sized soapbox let me just pose this last question; why in the world are you shocked and annoyed to see a *big family in a store that specializes in large quantity items?  It's not like we're taking a family trip to an upscale fancy shmancy art museum.

Just Sayin'.

*Just to clarify, I personally do not consider my family BIG.

A Walk Through My Phone

My phone keeps informing me that I am "out of memory space" and I need to delete some pictures in order to save more.  But I don't want to delete them.  They are precious little memories.  So I finally sat down and emailed them all to myself.  I'm sure there is an easier way but it probably would have required finding some sort of cable/cord thing and actually attach my phone to my computer and that all seemed so complicated.  

After much hard work, I present A Walk Through My Phone (I am sure there could have been a wittier, cuter title for this but that's all I've got for you.)

It doesn't seem like that long ago that I was constantly telling my kids not to climb on the waterfall rocks now they are big enough to do the simultaneous jump. 

 Every time Luc sees masks like these in the store (almost always Target) he begs me to put it on him and take a picture.  I inevitably pretend to take a picture and then he asks to see it.  Ugh.  But then again look how cute he is and how happy it makes him.

6 months old seems too young to be ending up under my feet while I try to do the dishes.  When did he get big enough to be crawling around?

 My Boys.  Every time I put this shirt on either of the boys Luc begs to have them be "twins."  Makes the $4 (total) I spent on them worth it.

 My Sweet, Sweet Kimbalita.  She almost always looks disheveled.  She can't make it out the door and to church without looking a mess when she gets there.  Good thing she's cute.  This is at my nephew's soccer game and I swear I did her hair 20 minutes before this.

 This is a dress McKay begged to try on and then cried when I wouldn't spend $30 on a dress that is way too mature for my little girl.  She made me take a picture and bring her back to get it once daddy saw it and said she could have it.  The dress is still in the store.  Daddy agreed with mommy.

Family Home Evening.  Note Luc's ability to sit and listen.  I saw a poster/quote today that said "FHE would be so much easier if we didn't have to involve the children!"  So true! 

 These girls LOVE their baby brother. 

 Oh the joy that can be bought for 50 cents!

 Lunch with Nana.  One of our all time favorite activities.

 McKay takes Nash and reads to him nearly every day.  Too cute.  He's getting a little big for her lap though.

 80's Day at school.  I found out about it the morning of.  The girls wouldn't believe me that I knew what 80's styles looked like.  They kept wanting me to google it.  Then when I did Kimball's bangs, she was too embarrassed to wear them that way to school she made me "put them back down."

 Our Halloween project.  They were for outside but Nash enjoyed them before I put them out.

 Hero Day.  They are dressed up as "mommies."  McKay's baby is either nursing or about to fall on it's head. 

My Hero

As we were preparing for Patriotic Day at school this morning (dressing the girls in any red white and blue combos we could scrounge up) Kimball informed me that tomorrow is "Dress like your favorite Hero Day" Oh crap, on top of Halloween costumes for the weekend now I have to come up with a Hero costume. Ugh.

Then she said "mom, I want to go as you."

Oh, for the love of all things holy, if she didn't just make my year. *sniffle, sniffle

I guess I better get busy finding a very "motherly" looking hero costume.

1/2 a Year!

My baby is very nearly one half year old. He is growing way too fast. (I know that phrase is way over used but it's so true this time.) He is getting too big too fast and I just want my little baby to stay a baby for just a little longer.

He thinks he's so big.

His favorite toy is my phone or my ipod, definitely a 2011 baby!

He'll eat pretty much anything he can gum to death.

Luc can make him laugh at any given time.

He's learning to crawl and sit.

And he's cute. Super Cute!

He's gets "out" quite a bit. In his first 5 months he went to Utah and back, to Las Vegas (2x) and California, a NFL football game, a MLB game and to the zoo 3 times. No wonder he's growing up so fast!

His first experience with Utah... Not sure what he thinks of that.

He got to meet his Great Grandma Avey (aka Gma Vegas) just a couple weeks before she passed away.

The Cardinals/Chargers game was a little loud for him but he was a good sport.

He loved the Dbacks game but that might of had something to do with us being in an all-you-can-eat section where we didn't have to sit the whole time and all of Seth's co-workers could pass him around.

Plus 1

In case 4 young children wasn't enough we have once again added a teenager into the mix. Heaven forbid we would actually plan for something like this. Not us. We just jump into things at the last minute. Last year it was all my idea and it took some convincing to get Seth to agree to it but with about a week's notice we took in our first exchange student. Killian became one of the family with little effort. After he left it felt like we were always missing someone. But then we had Nash and our house was crazy and crowded and it felt normal.

Two weeks ago we got an email from the director of the exchange program saying they were in desperate need of a host family for a Brazilian student that had arrived the week before. I called Seth "knowing" that he would be my voice of reason and say "absolutely not." Level headed, practical Seth was nowhere to be found. And now life is again crazy and crowded. And of course we love it.

It's been an adjustment, it always is when you add another one to the family but we are so happy to have him with us. Poor kid got to live in a house with 2 other exchange students (1 who is also from Brazil) for the first week and then he was thrown into our house with 4 little kids and no other teenagers in sight. I think it has been more of an adjustment for him than for us.

Soccer Chicks

Seth is coaching McKay and Kimball's soccer team this season and it has been so much fun. The kids are having a blast and playing really well. They don't keep score in 5-6 year old soccer. The kids aren't supposed to know if they win or lose. But let me tell you something. They do. The parents (including me) totally keep score an the kids know who won. Last season we didn't win any games. Not one. And the kids definitely knew it. It's been fun for them to be on a little better team this year and to actually score some goals.

Isn't she cute?

Kimbalita

My little Kimbalita turned SIX on Monday. And in true Avey fashion we partied all weekend long. Birthdays last for days here in our home and I think that's how it should be. It only comes around once a year so we might was well get the most out of it.

She had a birthday party with friends. I keep saying that at some point we are only going to have a friend party every other year but as their birthdays get close and they start telling me about their "plans" I always cave. Maybe next year I'll be stronger. Here's how the fun went down.

Kimball's Rainbow Splash Party

Pin the Cloud on the Rainbow

(Kimball's idea)

Rainbow Cupcakes

(the inspiration behind the theme)

Rainbow Drinks with name labels

(my very inexpensive excuse for a party favor, there were also

rainbow candy bags but I forgot to get a picture of them

A Borrowed Water Slide

(fits right in with the inexpensive part of the theme)

We continued the weekend of celebrations with a party at Nana and Papa's with her cousin Sloan who was celebrating her 10th birthday. Kimball wanted salad for her birthday dinner and Sloan wanted Tacos so they compromised and we had taco salad. What 6 year old wants salad for her birthday dinner... she is a child after my own heart.

Then we finished off the celebrations on Monday by going to IHOP for dinner (kids eat free!)

All in all a good weekend. Kimball's birthday always falls right around General Conference weekend so she is blessed to have a mother who has it fresh in her mind that being a mother and loving her children is a top priority. I love General Conference.

On side note, this is my 5 month old. Is it just me or is he attempting to crawl? Please no. I'm not ready for that!!!

Hodge Podge and A Couple of Cute Pics

Just one Lesson I've Learned for today.

• Oatmeal when left in the bowl, on the spoon or on the table or floor will turn to a substance similar in strength to concrete. This does not mean that I always get it cleaned up when it first spills, I haven't learned that lesson yet but I do know what to use if I ever need some concrete and don't have it on hand.

I love the things I overhear when my kids don't know I'm in the room. Luc was watching Blue's Clues the other day (which he does everyday) and Steve (or Joe?) asked "what are you grateful for?" and Luc promptly answered "my whole family." Too cute.

Speaking of things kids say this is a dialogue between McKay and I the other day:

M: Mom what is glee?

Me: It's a TV show

M: No what does it mean?

Me: Happiness or joy.

M: Oh I thought it meant when boys like boys.

Me: No, that's gay.

M: Oh, so Glee isn't gay?

Me: um...

Part I:
I love lists. I make them all the time. Lists of things to do, lists of Christmas ideas, lists of thoughts for blogging, lists of groceries (that I normally forget to actually take to the store with me), lists of things I want, lists, lists lists. (now the word list is starting to sound funny)
Here is my list today. There are two things I love about this list. First that I had to put shower on my to do list and second my exaggeration about feeding my baby 17,000 times a day! Dang I'm funny. Even in my lists.

Part II:
I am trying really hard to get the kids' Halloween costumes figured out early this year. McKay wants to be Mary Poppins. I think that is so cute and if I had it my way I would figure out how to make all four kids be something from MP so I could have a cute little coordinated family. But that will never happen. Kimball wants to be Little Red Riding Hood (careful when googling "Little Red Riding Hood Costumes" apparently that is a very popular hoochie mama costume and you might not enjoy some of the images that flash before your eyes.) Luc wants to be either a Blue Bakugon (sp?) or a train. Ugh. I am working on convincing him to be a cowboy or Darth Baber (that's how he says it). But so far he only wants to be inanimate objects that will require way more time and effort than I will ever be able to muster up. Nash will be a chicken, I think. We already have a chicken costume and it will be the perfect size. Although if I were more ambitious I would have him be a Phoenix Suns basketball player. Get it? Like Steve "Nash".

I wasn't planning on giving so much information on our Halloween preparations. Really I just wanted to know if this hat could pass for a Mary Poppins' hat if I spray painted it black? And if so, can I spray paint it or do you think there could be an easier or better way to make it black?



Side Note: Thanks so much for all your encouragement and understanding on my last little break down post. I am feeling much better. Just one of those days (or 2 or 3).

I'm in search of a little therapy. Blogging is usually therapuetic for me. But I'm not sure that I want to vent all my frustrations about me to the world lest you all think I'm failing at my jobs as a mother and a wife. I'm guessing that most moms have days like this. Days where you just think "why can't I figure this out? why am I still struggling with ________?" Tell me I'm not the only one? Deep down I know I'm not but it sure feels like it sometimes.

Baby crying. Gotta go. Here's hoping for a little more confidence and self-assurance tomorrow.

A Thousand Words...

"They" say that a picture is worth a thousand words. What do they say about school pictures? Are they worth the arm and leg they are trying to charge me? I am boycotting school pictures. I've never been a fan in the first place but now that there are two of them in school (and someday there will be four) I am officially refusing to pay for a bad picture with a cheesy background and fake smile. I did doll them all up and put them in cute clothes so they wouldn't feel left out at school and I snapped a few pictures myself and I will even photoshop them (to the best of my limited ability) and add a little "2011-2012" on the bottom corner but I will not order them this year. (or next unless of course we come into some serious money and there is absolutely nothing else to waste it on.)

McKay chose this pose. Shocker.

Kimball lost her first tooth last week. The tooth fairy forgot to come the first night, then her tooth disappeared the next day. Good thing the tooth fairy can find teeth even if mommy can't.

My beautiful sweet McKay





And as long as we're snapping pics... my boys! Luc can't seem to look at the camera. Ever.

I wish I knew how to take baby pictures. He is super cute.

Even when he's ticked.

Luc started preschool and apparently its exhausting because he crashes like this at least once a week. This was at like 5pm in the middle of dinner.

Arizona Cardinals vs SD Chargers Preseason Game

The noise was a bit much for Nash.