Spaghetti anyone?!

I love the spaghetti dinner picture. Helaman sure loved it.

Last night . . .

So after a week of sick children (Helaman and Anela) Namu and I finally made it to our bed last night (mainly because we have had to sleep sitting up on the couch with the sick children so they could breathe. But this is how the night progressed:
10:30 - We started a movie- Helaman woke up. We put him in bed with us
about 10:45 -
Anela came into the room crying. Added her into the bed with Helaman.
Few minutes later Namu stood up to sway Helaman to sleep.
Anela falls asleep. Put her in Helaman's co-sleeper so she won't kick Helaman and wake him up.
Minutes later Nalia comes in crying hysterically because of a bad dream. (Pomai was swirling the bunkbed and she almost fell off) Calmed her down. Add her to the bed
5 minutes later - Pomai comes in. She has been bitten by a mosquito and has 3 very large bites on her leg. She wants to sleep in our room but since there is no room I put medicine on it, have her to put on pants and send her back to her room.
Back in our room. I set a bed up for Nalia on the floor so she will sleep and not watch the movie.
Namu climbed into bed with Helaman sleeping in his arms.(so adorable because Helaman is laying next to him hanging onto to Namu's ear)
12:30 - just before the movie finishes we have to pause the movie to give Helaman his medicine. (he hates the medicine and spits it up or gargles it as long as he can BUT tonight he took it easily as long as he was holding onto Namu's ear)
Movie is done. Lights out. (all except for mine; can't stop thinking about my big project at school and all the things I have to do.)
1:18 - I am still up and can't get my mind to slow down
1:38 -STILL UP. Pomai comes in. She has 3 more bites on her arm. (mean mosquito - it must be huge by now). Make a small spot on the floor on the other side of the bed (mind you there is a little more than two and a half feet on either side of our bed). Spray her bedroom and hall for mosquitos and close the door to our little room.

I climbed into bed. I was so tired BUT I had to smile that I managed to fit everyone into our little room and the people that are most precious to me are all right here. At least I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

LOSING AND GAINING

No it is not about my weight. Right now it is all about the teeth. Helaman now has 7 teeth (just turned 8 months) and for some reason they just keep coming! It has been non-stop teething for the last month. I am grateful for EVERYDAY that he is so good natured because when he does get fussy it is not that bad. Bad for him but not for me : ) Meanwhile Nalia has lost 4 teeth and with no new teeth in sight . . . she just might be singing all I want for Christmas is . . .

Back to blogging

So after a 3 month hiatus I am back to blogging. I have missed blogging and reading others blogs BUT I didn't dare get started because I often get "lost" in the blog land. However I have realized (as I am sure most of you already know) that blogging gets me to focus on all the "little things" and the FUN in life. The act of writing and sharing my gratitude and JOY for these things changes me. So I am super happy that life has settled down enough that I can squeeze this in.

There are so many fun things to share but since catching up is kind of like catching up on scrapbooking - I will take it slowly. I did want to share my new mommy organizing tricks. I found the ideas on http://www.meckmom.com/ (thanks pua). These 3 ideas not only kept me sane, during all the changes with my job, BUT it changed the tone in our home too. YEAH!

"Job" Charts -

So I took her idea and tweeked it a bit. I made one chart for each girl with their daily routine (prayer, making bed, packing backpack, setting out clothes, homework - you get the idea). I just felt like if I called this "the job chart" my girls would hate doing the necessities. We just use it as a checklist. Then I made a seperate chore chart. They are made on foam board and with velcro. The girls move the icons from one side to the other. Most of the icons are on Meck Mom but I made a few of my own just by dropping my image in her chart. It was so easy and the girls enjoyed helping me making them and personalizing their chart.

Stacking Baskets -

So everyday either before or after dinner (depending on the hunger level of my family) I call "stacking baskets". My girls get the baskets (everyone has one except for Helaman) and spread them out in the living room. Then we run around the house and pick up anything that is not where is should be and it gets put into the basket of the person that left it out. When everything is picked up we count up the number of items in each basket. We keep track of each person's amount each day and at the end of the week the person with the fewest amount of items gets 1 dollar (totally worth it). I love this because the cleanup is less and less, it holds each person accountable for what they left out and it is a FAST and FUN way to get the house clean. I found these baskets at Walmart for about $2.15. (called stash box on meck mom)

Sticker Rewards -

This is the BEST idea of all. I can not tell you the number of "reward systems" I have tried. However it always seems to fizzle mainly because stickers get lost or the chart gets played with or it is too much work. This has eliminated all of that and still allows me to focus on all the great and wonderful things my girls do. I reward them for anything and everything - assisting a sibling or me, random acts of kindness, etc . . . I also use it to break bad habits. Here's how it works - I got a book of stickers from Walmart and then took one sheet and cut it into three parts. In the cupboard, I taped one part for each child and then let each child select a reward (extra play time, pick family fun, Book club book, etc. . . ). The ingenius part is that I pull off the sticker and then give it to them - where it ends up does not matter (as long as it is not on the walls or furniture). When the stickers are all gone they have earned their reward. No more lost stickers.

Happy Father's Day

This is the first Father's Day that we are not with Namu because we are in Utah. We all miss him very very much. The children put their thoughts on video as a gift to their Dad. Personally I am grateful everyday that Namu is such an amazing father. He LOVES each one of them and takes time to know each of them individually. The thing I love most about Namu as a Dad is his humor. It doesn't matter what the situation might be he can always find a reason to laugh and to make the rest of us laugh too. He is a great example to me and reminds me daily of how special it is to be a parent of four amazing kids.

Happy Father's Day Dad. We love and miss you - Love, Pomai, Nalia, Anela, and Helaman

Laughed till we cried and kept on laughing

So if you know anything about Namu and his migraines - you know how hard it is for him to get up some mornings. BUT this took the cake. So for Family Council each person was sharing something they did well at and Namu jokingly said I woke up. I said woke up that is your success for the week?! He kept his straight face and wrote it down on the agenda as the rest of us laughed. Well after successes everyone sets their goal for the week. Anela started. Namu asked, "Anela what is your goal for the week?" She promptly answered, "To wake up"

Trouble Trouble

So I got in trouble because my sisters found my not so private blog before I was ready to "unveil" it (whatever that means). Anyway I have officially made it private. I am excited to join the blogging bandwagon and share the comings and goings of our little fam. love ya

Happy 3 months

So Helaman is officially 3 months old today. He is such a happy boy. He has brought us so much JOY. He is near 16 lbs. and baby talks a ton. The girls love him to death and it is so fun to see their interaction with one another. He has a special smile for his sisters. I love love love his smile. Melts my heart EVERYTIME, if that is possible. It is so wonderful that there is always lots of room in your heart for more children. SO happy birthday Helaman!