These are the Days

Our Gratitude Tree

2010-12-06T20:29:00.000-08:00

As I am taking down our gratitude tree this evening, I wanted to record what we were thankful for this year. Caleb was particularly grateful this year and quickly used up all the leaves that we had. I am grateful for him and his eagerness to participate in this new tradition.

Paige:
--I am thankful for Daddy.
--I am thankful for Heavenly Father.

Caleb:
--I am thankful for my brothrs and sister.
--I am thankful for markers.
--I'm thankful for muney.
--I'm thankful for seltr(shelter).
--I'm thankful for toys.
--I'm thangful for natchr(nature).
--I'm thangful for god.
--I'm thangful for momy
--I'm thankful for Cameron.
--I'm thangful for lite.
--I'm thangful for food.
--I'm thankful for me.
--I'm thankful for are noow(new)baby.
--I'm thankful for dad.
--I'm thankful for Porter.
--I'm thankful for Cade.
--I'm thankful for firefitrs(firefighters).
--I'm thankful for Paige.

Cameron:
--I'm thankful for my friends.
--I am thankful for video games.

Cade:
--I am thankful for my family.

Mom:
--I am thankful for my wonderful husband and for Cameron, Cade, Caleb, Paige, Porter and our new baby.

Halloween

2010-10-31T22:08:00.000-07:00

Sleeping Beauty working it!

A Vampire who ironically is missing his two front teeth.

No particular character, just looking cool with clothes covered in duct tape.

And the cute little monkey boy!

This big guy hung out as himself since he never really settled on a costume this year.

Pinewood Derby 2010

2010-03-22T20:59:00.000-07:00

Pinewood Derby time again (so soon?). In an effort to simplify this year we went with kit cars. This choice unfortunately did NOT help improve the boys' winning streaks. It did, however, once again provided us with a great opportunity to praise them in their efforts to be "good sports", which they really were.

Cameron

Cade

Cade's car ready to race.

Cameron's car on the starting line.

Oh, well...maybe next year!

Porter's 1st Birthday!

2010-03-20T20:29:00.000-07:00

The cake,

plus a cake just for Porter.

Delicious!

Time for presents: new clothes for summer and...

a new bike to ride.

Before and After

2010-03-18T10:58:00.000-07:00

What a difference a haircut can make!

Has Anyone Seen My Brain?

2010-02-16T14:30:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks before the Valentine's class party for son #3 I receive a written request that I provide some supplies for the party. Not a problem. I sign the paper and send it back to school.

As the day approaches I look for that little slip of paper where I've written down what I am to send. It says 2-5 pound bags of flour. Hmmm...I was thinking that it was sugar, but I did write down flour.

It is now late in the evening the night before the parties. I am at the store buying party supplies for all three boys and still questioning my assignment for Caleb's party. To be safe I buy 10 pounds of flour and 10 pounds of sugar. The next morning before I send the boys with their supplies I email the teacher to double check my assignment. I find out that it really is SUGAR that I'm suppose to send. Whew, glad I decided to check with her before sending in the flour. That could really have messed up some party plans.

It is now the morning after the day of parties. I'm finally getting around to taking the grocery bags of flour down to the storage room. As I go to put them on the shelf, I pull out one 5 pound bag of flour and then...one 5 pound bag of sugar!

SERIOUSLY?

Can You Feel the Valentine's Love?

2010-02-14T17:47:00.000-08:00

Copying the idea from Jessica Romney, I started doing the 14 Days of Valentine's a couple of years ago. I didn't quite succeed in getting a picture of each day, but here is a good sampling of some of the gifts the kids received each day.

Crunch 'n Munch

New shirts (red and pink)

New movie and licorice

Lucky Charms

Strawberry heart-shaped marshmallows

Little Debbie Valentine's cakes

Valentine's cards to give out to friends

Chocolate bar and note

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Doing Laundry Just Got a Little Happier

2010-02-08T12:13:00.000-08:00

I admit it. I am a sucker for vinyl signs. I think it might be because I need visual reminders to stay positive about daily life.

But whatever the reason, I'm loving the look of this new sign that I put up in the laundry room today.

First one that I've put on the actual wall.

That took some serious committment from someone who worries too much about the "what if's"!

New Pillows

2010-02-06T12:36:00.000-08:00

I've made these pillows over the past couple of weeks.
One more project I can check off of my to do list.

Thanks for the push to get it done, Lindsey!
Now it's on to the curtains...hopefully.

Ingenious or Pathetic?

2010-02-05T15:30:00.000-08:00

What exactly is this?

My strategy for keeping Porter from climbing up the stairs!

Oh, of course it is!

The blockade has progressed over the past couple of weeks.
It started as a couple of stools, but Porter learned to crawl under that within the day. So I turned them 45 degrees and that worked temporarily because he could only crawl under the stool in one direction. So he would enter the stool tunnel on one side only to come out at the other side instead of at the stairs. After another day he figured out how to crawl both ways under the stools and through the stools to get to the stairs. This is when we moved on to the basket/bucket combination, mostly because they were nearby one day. At first he was tipping the basket over so we added some weight to hold it down. A couple of days ago he figured out how to slide that even though there was 24 pounds of weight in the bottom. The kids have since collected all of the weights in the house and added them to the basket. The stool was recently added to keep him from sliding the bucket around.

The ironic thing about this all? He just climbed in the basket and crawled over the weights to get to the stairs while I was typing this post.

Maybe I should stop typing and start lessons on how to go down the stairs!

Honestly, I'm just really scared he's going to fall down the stairs. Paige fell down the stairs in our old house when she was just a little younger than Porter and it was awful!

Family Photo Outtakes

2010-02-03T11:17:00.001-08:00

These photos were taken on Thanksgiving day, but I had to post a few of them because they make me smile every time I look at them. Enjoy!

It is always an experience trying to get the family photo for the Christmas card!

Paige

2010-01-24T17:36:00.001-08:00

Paige has taken to referring to Cameron, Cade and Caleb as "The Brothers". Even though Porter is also her brother, he is always identified singularly.

Here are some examples:

"Where are The Brothers?"

"When are The Brothers going to be home from school?"

And my personal favorite--makes me smile everytime:

When she says her prayers it goes something like this: "Thank you for Momma and Dadda and The Brothers and Porter."

Paige also has frequently been starting this conversation with us about Porter:

Paige: "Oh, he's a cute baby. What should we call him?"

Mom/Dad: "I don't know. What do you think?"

Paige (with a big smile): "I know! Let's call him Porter. That's a good name." (This last part is said while slowly nodding her head like a wise and knowing parent.)

Bath Time--Chickenpox Edition

2010-01-22T17:00:00.000-08:00

I was quite surprised when Porter came down with the chickenpox at the beginning of December. None of my older kids have had the chickenpox because they have all been immunized, but of course at 9 months old Porter wasn't old enough for the vaccine. He was pretty miserable around days three and four of the infection. He had a fever and I'm sure his body was aching. During that time I literally held him day and night because that was what calmed and comforted him. The itching never really seemed horrible. He had his moments when I could tell they were itching and so I'd give him oatmeal baths, like the one he is having in the pictures. Most of them were covered by his diaper and so he couldn't get to them. He did have several on his head and he would try to scratch those which I must say (if I can do so without being insensitive to his discomfort) was about the cutest thing I've seen him do.

So Porter having the chickenpox was disturbing on another level because it has always been in question whether or not I have ever had the disease myself. I pretty much pushed it out of my mind hoping for the best and figured that if I was going to get them it would be right around Christmas. The week before Christmas my throat got really sore and I started wondering if it was the beginning of "it". In the end it turned out to be strep throat and I forgot about the looming pox. The next few days continued to be crazy with a work party, two of us with strep, the "single mother of 5" Sunday, my sister coming into town (which was actually helpful), our basement flooding (yes: new house but the same story), our anniversary, Christmas break, and did I mention that I was sick and didn't feel so hot? The best part of it all, seriously, was that as I was bailing water out of our window well on Monday (our anniversary) I was just so grateful that my sister, Krista, was at our house already and she could keep an eye on the kids and that because I had started a round of antibiotics the day before my throat was not on fire for the first time in 3 days and so I felt good enough to bail water in the freezing cold. I don't think I would have been able to handle it otherwise. Heavenly Father sends us tender mercies even in the midst of our disasters!

Wednesday morning as I went to get into the shower I noticed several red blistered spots on my abdomen and it was then that I realized that it had finally caught up to me, about 30 years too late in my opinion. Sorry to all of the people at the grocery store the day before and the people at the gym that morning! Paige also broke out in a very mild case that afternoon. They never blistered and went away after a couple of days. She had had one dose of vaccine and obviously it helped her. Let's just say that things went rapidly down hill for me over the next couple of days and by Christmas I was no longer eating because the inside of my throat was covered with pox and it hurt!! I'm feeling much better now although the pox marks will take some time to fade. I can now say with confidence that I've had the chickenpox. Boy howdy, did I ever!

The Big Little Man

2010-01-10T19:54:00.000-08:00

Porter learned a new trick today. No, not how to unload the dishwasher. He learned to pull himself up to standing in order to unload the dishwasher.

Look how happy he is with himself!

Isn't it Bedtime?

2010-01-10T12:10:00.000-08:00

Who wants to go to bed when you can all pile on top of Mom instead?

First Good Snow

2009-11-22T17:08:00.000-08:00

The first good snow arrived on a Sunday morning in our neighborhood. The boys could hardly contain themselves and were out the door as soon as I turned my back. They made quick work of what snow there was and soon had two great little snowmen.

Cameron and Cade built this snowman,

and Caleb built this snowman.

It was also really cold so as soon as the snowmen were built they were back in the house asking for hot chocolate!

Bath Time

2009-11-14T14:31:00.000-08:00

Back to School

2009-09-08T14:35:00.000-07:00

Time for school to start again. This is the first and last year that all three of these boys will be attending the same school. Hope they enjoy and appreciate their time together.

Cade will be in Mrs. Cossette's 3rd grade class.

Caleb will be in Mrs. Smid's 1st grade class.

Cameron will be in Mrs. Jensen's 5th grade class.

A Party for the Princess

2009-08-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

Our Paige, also known as the princess around here, has turned three! It was fun for her to be old enough now to anticipate and understand what it meant for it to be her birthday. She enjoyed her special day and all attention she received.

Her brothers gifted her this Cinderella princess crown--which you can see she loved,

while her Grandma and Grandpa Ballif gifted her this beautiful new gown.

Mom and Dad went for something a little less "princess" although still pink. A new set of wheels! (Notice Caleb in the background loving on Porter. He absolutely adores his baby brother and always wants to hold him, hug him and take care of him.)

In the evening we celebrated some more with a royal castle cake and some ice cream.

What a fun day and what a fun girl! She tells practically everyone now that she is big because she already had her birthday. We sure love our Paige! She brightens our home with her sweetness and love for life. She truly is a joy to be around. Happy Birthday!

I Looked Out The Window and What Did I See?

2009-07-17T19:04:00.000-07:00

Silly boys!

Could someone explain to me just what they are doing?

Cade's Baptism

2009-07-11T16:44:00.000-07:00

Cade was baptized and confirmed by his dad on the evening of July 11, 2009. We are very excited for him and know that if he will continue to follow the example of his Savior, his testimony will continue to grow and he will be happy in his life.

Aunt Krista came to join us for Cade's special day despite the fact that she had just seen us in Utah a few days before and it was her third trip to see us in Washington in four months.

We are very happy for you and we love you, Cade!

Balloon Fest 2009

2009-07-04T20:54:00.000-07:00

A few years ago we started a tradition of attending the Provo Freedom Festival Balloon Fest. I think this year was the best year yet for us. We actually were able to see the balloonists play their jousting game this year for the first time--all other years the wind has not allowed the balloonists to make it back to the playing field. Grandpa Ballif joined us this year and then treated us to breakfast at McDonald's afterwards. Thanks, Grandpa!

Notice any family resemblance?

Look Who's Eight

2009-06-28T14:42:00.000-07:00

Once again Cade had his birthday while we were visiting family in Utah. This year we celebrated at Grandma and Grandpa Ballif's home.

Cade wanted flames on his cake.

Grandma and Grandpa Ballif

Showing off some of his loot. Candy is always good, especially when it is super-sized and you don't have to share. He also got his own set of scriptures and a new volleyball set for the yard.

Cade's Star Wars Party

2009-06-13T15:42:00.000-07:00

Cade and Bryant celebrated their 8th birthdays this year by having a party together. It was extra nice since Bryant and his family are moving to Florida in July. The party was Star Wars themed and included:

presents, of course,

light saber training,

a head stand competition,

and lots of young jedis!

Happy Birthday, Caleb!

2009-05-31T20:57:00.000-07:00

Caleb turned six this year and is really a great, kind, responsible kid. We love having him around. His birthday was on a Sunday this year, so we opened presents in the morning before church and then had cake and ice cream later in the evening.

Caleb's birthday turned out to be quite a busy one for our family this year as Blake was sustained as bishop of our ward on the same day. So in addition to our regular Sunday meetings, we also had a Stake meeting in which our new ward was created from three existing wards, followed by a meeting with the Stake Presidency where the new ward leaders were set apart. We had to scramble to finish the cake and sing to Caleb before Blake left with his counselors--we didn't quite make it and Brother Fotheringham and Brother Lee got to join us for the singing.