Poop

This picture doesn't do it justice. There was poop EVERYWHERE!!!! Every stair had a poop blob, the walls were finger painted, and under the stairs (where the deed happened) there were plastic cups full of poop. She tried cleaning it up by herself, and she tried taking a bath by herself, that's how I discovered what had happened. I heard the bath water running. And, boy did she look guilty!!!! I quit AGAIN! Potty training is the worst! Hannah has been very difficult to potty train. This is the third time I have quit. Now, she tells me when she needs to pee and I tell her to go in her diaper. After she is done, she announces that she peed in her diaper.

Playing Monster

Casey Painting, and Playing with Backgrounds

Naked Babies, Trampoline and Watermelon... What's not to love?!

I was trying to clean up and Caleb kept wanting to be held. So I had a brilliant idea. I stripped him down, placed him on the enclosed trampoline, and gave him a slice of watermelon. He and Hannah were contained and happy. I opened the window and door so I could see them and hear them, but I was able to get my floors cleaned.

Joshua's Performance

This handsome boy had a performance at school. He did a great job. I love him so much.

He's really growing up. He's still very good-natured and careful with his siblings. Mercedes was asking a lot of questions about where babies come from and some of her questions were very specific so I decided it was time for the "talk". Joshua wanted to be present and Mercedes wanted him there so he came upstairs with Mercedes and I. It was such a good talk and I really couldn't have asked for it to go better than it did. I really felt the spirit of the Holy Ghost present with us in my room. I know it may sound silly, but I really did feel like the Holy Ghost was helping me give the talk. Joshua was so helpful. He would say things like, "sometimes it is called the law of chastity, and the feelings that we have were given to us by Heavenly Father, and they're good, but they have to be kept in check. Just like a fire can get out of control and explode or start a forest fire, those feelings can get out of control too. So, we keep our thoughts clean and we save that part of ourselves until we are married." Something like that. That's only a small part of the talk, but we talked about it for awhile. He was so willing to speak about it reverently and he actually helped make Mercedes feel comfortable. 

When Mercedes found out about how babies are made, she didn't get embarrassed or anything. She just kind of had a demeanor that seemed to say, "oh yeah, that makes sense". The talk was prompted by her questions regarding the new marriage law. How the government recognizes homosexual marriage, although she doesn't know about homosexuality. We have re-emphasized that Heavenly Father wants marriage to be between a man and a woman and that even if people say two men or two women can get married and it's ok, we know that it goes contrary to the commands of God. God's laws are higher than man's laws and we choose to follow Heavenly Father's commandments. We talked about how we love all people, but that we need to lovingly take a stand for what's right. Some people knowingly sin and others have been severely mislead into believing that it's not a sin. We are the light in the darkness of the world. Anyway, she wanted to know why two girls or two boys couldn't get married with Heavenly Father's law. This, and other questions about how babies are made is what sparked the conversation. We talked about the sanctity of marriage and about the sanctity of the act of marriage. It was a great talk, and I'm glad Joshua was there.

Latest Painting

Here is my latest painting. Her anatomy is off, so I may try it again. But, I like the background.

Luke's Birthday

Luke got a medical kit from my parents for his birthday. He was more excited about that kit than he was about his bike. Silly kid.

Park

I took Lukey shopping for ideas for his birthday present. He really liked this bike because it has a fake spedometer that makes a revving noise. That's what we bought him :)

I've been great about exercising every day but the weekend. The kids and I like to jog (I push the stroller and Lukey rides his bike) around the trails and to the park. The weather stayed nice clear til the middle of May this year so we really got to enjoy the outdoors.

Lukey likes to carry Caleb everywhere and take him down the slides. I'm really going to miss having him home with me. We like to test the kids limits by taking them on really long bike rides on the Queen Creek trails. We usually go at night and for a kid, the 6 mile round trip is a long one. Luke was starting to get tired and I could see him slowing down. Then, he started mumbling to himself. He was making up a song that went something like this, "I'm not going to slow down, nothings gonna stop me. I'm gonna make up my mind to be tough" and then he sped off again. When he is whining or saying something is too hard, I like to tell him that he has power to change his attitude. He can choose to be the lion and not the mouse. It's moments like these when I feel good that something may be sinking in.

Hannah loves life. She gets excited and happy easily. She loves the park and the slides. The other day she got mad at me about something. To this day, I'm still not sure why she was mad. But, nevertheless, she was angry and crying. She kept telling me that she was mad at me and wanted to run away forever. Luke then asked her who would tuck her in at night when she was tired. That made her change her mind. Tucking in is a big deal at our house. Every kid looks forward to being tucked in, even my almost 9 year old son. They each get a song and a good tuck with a kiss. My tuck-ins are so good that it gives the runaway child pause :)

This cutie loved going down the slide with Luke. He's such a smart boy. The other day, he slipped and fell on the tile next to the sink. It was wet and I hadn't realized it. The next day, I washed his hands and set him down on the tile again and this time he carefully bent over and touched the tile to make sure it wasn't wet each time before he took a step until he was safely on the carpet. I remember Joshua or Mercedes doing that exact same thing once as a toddler.

Caleb loves his daddy. His face lights up every time Jon Mark walks into the room. He gives him fives and pounds. He can say: hi, bye, night night, ball, mom, da, and he mimics other words too.

I gave Luke a haircut this week. He moved and I cut his ear. Not only that, but he ended up with a really short buzz cut. He wasn't happy and missed his hair. I told him it would grow back and every morning since he checks the mirror to see if it's longer. 

Newish Dress

I had this dress that was too short, so I added a ruffle. I was impressed with my sewing ability so I had Lukey take pictures. 

One picture wasn't enough, so naturally he took about 100. Seriously. He saw me starting to delete them and he didn't want me to. So, I reduced it down to 4.

He made sure to take a picture at several different angles like a pro.

As a side note, Later that day, I wore that dress and those tall shoes to the store. I totally fell--all the way down--while holding Caleb. It was so embarrassing. But, I was able to laugh about it which made all of the many on-lookers feel better about the situation.

Girl's Night

Last weekend was Father's and Son's for the church. The men all left to go camping and the girl's spent the night at Michelle's. I'm too much of a chicken to stay alone at night. We started out the night with dinner at Cafe Rio. Then, we ate ice cream. After our bellies were full, we let the girls give us a make-over and we did our fingernails and toenails in rainbow colors. After the kids went to bed, Michelle, Jessica, and I stayed up much too late talking. It was so nice. I enjoyed spending time with my daughters and Caleb. Talking late into the night was a wonderful refreshment as well.

Hannah was so excited that she looked like a "witch" and so everyone requested witch make-overs. She kept repeating, "I'm a witch... hee hee hee!"

Mercedes enjoyed being the oldest and relished that she was Queen of the Witches.

Jessica did all of the girlies hair.

Michelle was the leading gal in painting toes.

We look amazing! I hope it becomes a tradition.