Blessings in the Craziness

The house is much quieter now that the cousins have gone home, and they are deeply missed by the kids here. I am grateful for the gift of the last few weeks. I am grateful for the fun times with my children as well as my nieces and nephew.

Favorites from the Spring Break '09 -

1) Bedtimes - And not for the reasons you think. I loved the flurry of hugs and kisses after family prayer. After the first couple days, the cousins were right in the mix. WR and EJ slept downstairs with S. At bedtime, EJ climbed on S's back like a koala in a tree, and along with WR, the three went downstairs.

2) In the past months, S has risen to the responsility of being the oldest kid. With four extra kids in the household, she shined. Her helpfulness was invaluable.

3) Giggles and braids - fixing adorable hair styles is not my strength as it is my sister-in-law's, but we tried. The last two nights, the girls all wanted braids in their hair before bed. I loved chatting with the girls; hearing how my nieces love their parents and the fun (and silly) things their mom and dad do.

4)Cousins and friends - what a great time for building stronger friendships. As I braided A's hair Sunday night, I watched B and A smile at each other as only good friends can.

5)Changing fashion - with three girls close to the same age, they loved sharing clothes. I would see WR in an outfit and think, "Wow! A has clothes just like that." Then I'd realize those were A's clothes. Then I'd see A in cute clothes that I didn't remember buying her, then make the connection of exchanges. (Yes, I can be a bit slow.)

On the silly side of fashion is our W. For years, he has loved to wear his clothes backwards as well as inside out. For the last few years, he has limited that style to pjs - thank goodness!. (The pjs are typically crazy mismatched as well!) One night, little EJ decided she needed to wear her nightgown backwards, like W's pjs. It was cute watching her twist her clothes around.

W is also known in our family for wearing mismatched socks. The most obvious was one Sunday a year ago when he wore one of his sister's bright pink sock and another orange sock. (I was just glad I was home sick that day. ;-p) On the cousins last Sunday, sitting in Sacrament meeting, I glanced at Z's socks and realized they didn't match - one black with white trim, the other white with black trim. (They were both Spiderman socks.) I hoped the wacky fashions didn't last when the kids returned home; and that their parents won't mind our W's quirkiness. It sure keeps life interesting for us!

Speaking of Wacky W - he is sitting in a Lego bucket with EJ on his lap watching TV.

The Legos have to be uncomfortable but it doesn't seem to phase him too much.

Pillow Parade

On Sunday night, Z wanted me to finish some last minute designs on his pillowcase. That unfolded into almost everyone wanting to add finishing touches to their pillowcases.

We had to quickly take these photos before a couple of our kids headed to school.

As you can tell, among the boys, BYU football is a favorite.


I put some flowers to EJ's pillowcase to cover up a few "abstract marks" put there by mistake. EJ kept saying she loved the "broccoli" flowers. I couldn't figure out why she called the purple flower "broccoli" - then S told me it was "sparkly flowers," not "broccoli flowers." Now, that makes more sense.

Weekend Wackiness

Saturday morning, Uncle G took six kids to OMSI, the Oregon Museum of Science and Innovation. Its a huge museum with lots of fun hands-on exhibits. Although our family has gone there several times, this was G's first visit.

I stayed home with S, who had to work on a speech project, and EJ. G thought six was his maximum number for one adult. S painted EJ's fingernails as a consolation for not going. EJ kept a rapid conversations with S, making it a bit difficult for S to work on her homework. And yet, it was too cute to stop her.

Favorite OMSI exhibits - shooting off water bottle rockets, designing paper cups to fly, the room filled with balls, and the computer lab.

(G is not much of a picture-taker and with our camera being tempermental, we just downloaded a couple photos from the internet.)

There is currently a great DaVinci exhibit drawing huge crowds. The kids were able to explore the world of Leonardo Da Vinci. W says his favorite of the DaVinci displays was the catapults and the mirror room. G wished he could have spent a bit more time there but he had to keep up with the kids. We will have to go back.

On Sunday night, JJ made crepes with WR as his assistant chef. They did a great job cooking a huge batch of crepes. They worked on their crepe-flipping techniques with minimal amount of mess.

Crepes on Sunday evening was a family tradition when I was growing up. I get a kick knowing that all three of my brothers are the primary crepe chefs in their own families.

S and B fill their crepes.

EJ, Z and W decide their toppings.

The last one "standing"

- This little person was the last one eating crepes at the table.

(The table looked like powdered sugar had exploded over it.)

LOVE this man with dishpan hands!

While crepes were cooking,

G rolled up his sleeves and washed pots and pans

from the dinner earlier in the day.

I spent much of the weekend washing clothes - with 10 people in the house, there's a lot of laundry. And I worried about getting as much of the cousins things packed up for Monday morning. As with packing for our own kids, I find that some of the things I packed sprouted legs and were found again around the house -- like two pairs of Z's shoes. Sorry!

Play Time

On Thursday pm,

Uncle G took most of the kids to a park

while I came later when EJ woke up from her nap. The crew found a baseball field but had no equipment. One of the kids found a ball and . . .


they found a stick that worked great as a bat.

W - up at bat.

A at second base.

Z taking his turn at base. (Yes, he still has a splint on his wrist.)

As you can see, Z doesn't let a small break in his wrist to slow him down.

He had a blast with the zip line making it twist and turn. (I noticed he used his right, where the break is, mainly for balance.) He was laughing and giggling so much, I hated to have him stop but we didn't want to tempt fate.
A and B were having way too much fun cleaning the kitchen after dinner on Thursday. (Seriously, they were laughing and giggling and taking their time finishing the job.) So the other kids climbed on my bed and watched a movie. The two girls soon joined us.

Silly cousins
EJ asked with her nicest "please" for W to read her a book.
I swear that girl could get the Queen of England
to turn over the crown jewels with her smiles and pleases.


EJ watches the squirrel eat peanuts off our deck.
Granny W must be looking down with smiles.

The girls are dancing with the Wii. EJ is just dancing

Grandma and Grandpa J sent movie money

so we saw "Monsters vs. Aliens" on Friday afternoon.

It was a fun movie based in Modesto, California. (B and WR pointed out that the cheesy finance in the movie was named "Derek." At the beginning of the movie, Derek was hoping for a transfer to the happening place of Fresno, Calif!) We bought peanut butter m&ms as snacks in honor of Grandma J.

WICKED Wednesday

It was a wicked Wednesday. I woke up with a wicked headache and the weather matched - rainy all day. The plans for the day kept shifting.
The original plan for the day - Visit a friend's farm. But with the rainy, muddy conditions along with 15 kids (her 7 and my 8), it wasn't a great idea.
Plan B - Take the boys to the friend's house to play while the girls continued playing house downstairs. Z wasn't sure he wanted to go without the whole gang.
Plan C - B suggested swimming. With Z's broken wrist, I had decided it wouldn't be fair to him. However, Z said he was happy to just hang out and watch . . . of course, with his sister's DS games to keep him busy. With our spring breaks often filled with rainy days, we are happy to have indoor swimming pools.

Watching the kids at the pool, you could see each kid's personality. EJ walked up to the lifeguard like a pro so he could put on her lifejacket. She loves swimming and bobbing in the water like a cork.

A favorite at the pool is the swinging rope. W didn't hesitate to ask the lifeguard for their turn on the rope. On the rope and diving board, JJ worked on the style of his plunges. W tried contortions of every angle, often hitting the water face first, getting up and going again without fear. B is a fairly fearless adventurer joining the boys on the diving board first thing. A and WR liked to splash and play and giggle watching the kids dive, then deciding the swing rope looked pretty cool. Meanwhile, ER kept S and her friend busy.

I think that is B taking her turn on the rope.

Meanwhile in the stand, Z hung out with me. I love spending one-on-one time with this guy. (He also went with me to a missionary homecoming on Sunday.) Once he gets going, he has lots to share. It reminds me of his dad when he was little and I wish my brother and his family lived closer.

Z. did a great job playing his game or just watching the kids. Once in a while, he would say, "I wish I could go swimming."

I would anwer, "Yeah, that would be fun."

Then he would smile and return to playing or watching. After an hour, I did buy a treat from the vending machine because he was such a great sport about it.

Z was pleased to create his own little table in the bleachers.

In spite of a rough start, Wicked Wednesday turned out to be a very good day.

We celebrated S's 15th birthday. Can it really be 15 years since she was born? (Her big brothers are a little freaked realizing S can get her driving permit soon.)

The kids were excited for S to unwrap her presents at lunchtime. (W and Z masterfully wrapped the presents. Thank goodness for gift bags!) The main present came later . . .

S, along with her parents, went to see the musical Wicked. S and I know the music and loved seeing how the puzzle pieces fit together. There were a few great surprises.

We stopped off at Burgerville for smoothies, ending a great day for S .

Hanging at Home

This morning my visiting teacher arrived with her little girl, who is almost 1 yo. The kids had a great time with the baby. EJ pretended to take pictures of her.

(Yes, I know the photo is fuzzy.)

The Wii has been a great source of entertainment and the kids have cooperated pretty well, for the most part. The funniest part is when the kids disco dance,
part of the Rayman Raving Rabbids.

When I was little and visiting relatives, my Aunt Patty had my sister, cousin and I each decorate pillowcases. I still have mine. I thought it would be fun if each kid decorated a pillow as a memory of this fun time. I was pretty impressed with how well the kids did.

We printed pictures from the internet which the kids traced onto the pillowcases. Then they used fabric paints. We have pillow cases on many flat surfaces throughout the house. My nightmare is having our cat walk across one with wet paint making permanent tracks where I'd rather not.

Happy Birthday S!

Though its not until tomorrow, we had S's birthday dinner early. The kids were excited to sing "Happy Birthday" though I think they were even more excited to have cake for dessert!

Grins and the Gilbert House

This morning I had to get our tire fixed before heading off to explore. I took EJ with me. She had a cat on her jacket, so I asked the cat's name.

She said, "Nuns."

"Nuns? Is that her name?" (Having my firstborn come up with "Boo-ton" as the name for his Snoopy years ago, Nuns seemed reasonable.)

EJ said, "Hers name's not Nuns."

"Oh, what is it?"

"It doesn't have nones name."

Now I understand.

The Gilbert House in Salem

Sitting in a giant chair -

The Gilbert House is a children's museum in Salem, Oregon. Its a favorite place for our family to explore and take visitors.

The creativity room is a favorite, especially for W. The kids can take various recyling projects and creat all sorts of projects. With a plastic lid, glue stick and yarn, ER called her project "Waterfall."

In the water room, the four kids connect pipes to make water flow where they want.

Z, W and WR working on their creations.

The kids danced in a room to create these wild images on the wall.

The girls are practicing their Chinese lettering. Their interest here didn't last long.

The Dangers of Sunbeams and Exploring Honduras

EJ wasn't sure about attending Sunbeams today in a strange ward. However, our kids convinced her that Sis M, our Sunbeam teacher is one of the best around. (She does send home some great handouts . . . and some unusual ones.) I figured we were safe since Sis M. had already sent home goldfish (the ones that swim) in bowls a month or so ago.

I was wrong. EJ came home with bug (or fairy wings), attenea and . . . four (live) crickets in a bug box. According to EJ, if you put the "kick-kits" in light, they will sing. When I told D and V that EJ was bringing home some unusual Primary handouts, V said she always loves "treasures." She wasn't so sure when I told her the handouts were "live!"

We will see if the "kick-kits" are still alive after a week.

Sunday evening, I took the four oldest girls to a fireside where a recently returned sister missionary talked about her mission in Honduras. The sister was so animated and excited as she shared her love for the people and her testimony of Jesus Christ. All the girls were very impressed. Afterwards, B said, "That was so cool. I want to serve a mission!" Then B and WR told me that their mom had been pulling out her mission things just before the trip, initiating their enthusiasm for sister missionaries!

WR words - It was awesome! She was telling about her life in the mission. We saw how poor people live. She said it took a long time to learn to speak Spanish. When she was going to go on a mission, her mom called her and told her she had to go to another MTC - in Guatemala.

A words - I want to get building stuff and help the people have better houses. I really liked the pictures. The tarantula picture was really big and scary. I want to serve a mission.

Are Broken Bones Contagious?

A week ago, we were getting ready for the cousins by cleaning the big brothers' room. I didn't realize that J's big football award (a large rock) was still on the bookshelf when I was trying to move it. I didn't even see the 10 # rock until after it fell on my foot.

Not wanting to go to the ER, I waited until Monday to check in with my doctor. Meanwhile, my upper foot, especially my big toe turned brillant colors. The xray showed the toe was broken. Its amazing how such a small break can cause such pain. (I won't subject you to any pictures of my foot. Its not my most attractive feature.)


Fast forward a week, G took the kids to a nearby playground late Saturday afternoon. Z jumped from a rock onto soft dirt. He seemed to have landed with his right wrist under him and said it hurt a lot. G brought him home and we gave Z a bath and then put ice on his arm and just watched for a bit to see if he needed to see a doctor or if he was just very tired and hungry. After G examined it a second time, we decided to take Z to the ER just in case. (With growing bodies, we were concerned with an injury that might affect a growth plate.)

Uncle G examines Z wrist.

(I really dislike my camera; I want to point and shoot and not have to worry about fuzzies!)

The x-ray showed that Z had a "very non-displaced fracture," according to the doctor. (Basically, a very minor break.) According to the doctor, not too much to be concerned about, but something we should keep an eye on. They put a plaster splint on it. B went along with G and Z to the ER. (Z asked B to go and she was very willing, and a great help to him.) Z did really well at the hospital and didn't cry when they positioned his arm to take x-rays. By the time he got back to our home, he was tired and ready for some pain med -- Tylenol. I snuggled him on my lap, gave him the medication, and turned on cartoons. He quickly fell asleep.

Today, he is back to being Z, a busy boy who is a little weighted on his right side.

Z and his cast.

Don't all the moms want to snuggle this cute boy! (Don't tell him that. He might run off!)

We decided that Z needed a better story to go with the cast.

This is Z's version of his injury:

Z was fighting Darth Vader with light saber. Darth Vader hit Z's wrist but Z cut off Darth Vader's head. Z is the winner!

PS - In case you are wondering, parents D and V haven't fired us yet!

Then comes fun

EJ teaches Darcie how to play Wii boxing.

The kids are trying to get Libby to show off her tricks. The saying "too many cooks . . ." applies here. They learned that only one should give commands at a time.

B reporting: We played outside in the treehouse and started making another one. We made up a game and played it. Me and Z were bad guys. W was the prince who saved WR (the princess). They killed all the bad guys, then the ruled all the good guys.

Then we went to the park where Zach got hurt. (See next post.) Darcie came over with her dog Libby. We played with Libby. We taught her tricks like "sit up," "dance," "roll over."

I went to the hosptial with Uncle G and Z. After that, Uncle G bought us frostys at Wendy's.