Chicks!

After thinking & talking about it for a year now, we FINALLY did it...we got chicks!  Aren't they so cute?!  The kids are loving it, they just want to hold the little puff balls constantly.  Now, you may be wondering why we would want to add another level of crazy to this circus we call life :)  but we love the idea of fresh eggs from chickens that we feed- so we know exactly what we are getting, we also liked the idea of the kids getting a better understanding of where food comes from & how all that works, and finally- we are hoping it will be a good learning experience for the kids to be responsible to help feed, clean up & gather eggs.  So in other words- we have pretty high hopes for these chickens!

Here is Averee holding one of the Barred Plymouth Rock chicks.  These chickens will be black & white stripped and lay light brown eggs.

This is Adee holding one of the Rhode Island Red chicks.  These chickens will be a reddish-brown color and lay dark brown eggs.

We also got some Americana Chickens- they come in a variety of colors so we aren't sure what they will end up looking like yet.  They are also called Easter Eggers because their eggs can be pink, blue, or green.  So fun!  They won't start laying eggs till they are about 6 months old...so probably around November.  Right now they are living in a box in the laundry room under a heat lamp to stay warm.  But eventually they will move to a bigger crate in the garage, and then to a fenced in chicken coop in the backyard.  What an adventure :)

Saturday is a special day...

After talking to my friend today (thanks Elsha!) I got to thinking it would be a good idea to document the kids chores-it might be pretty interesting to look back in 10 years & see what the kids did for chores & how much they got paid. Saturday is our cleaning day, everyone is usually home so it is the easiest morning for us to get it all done.
So after breakfast the kids do the chores that they are expected to do each week just as part of living here & contributing to our family:
Averee (8.5)- Deep Clean Room, Clean 2 bathrooms (mirrors, sinks, toilets)
Adelyn (6.5)- Deep Clean Room, Wipe down Living Room furniture (couches, coffee table & end table)
Owen (5)- Deep Clean Room, Wipe down all Light Switches & Door Knobs
Next comes the chores they can do to earn money. The amount of these chores they do is up to them, depending on if they want to earn money or not. But sometimes if they have been naughty, or if I just feel like the house really needs it, I make them do all their money chores:
Averee (8.5)
Wipe down 1 wall of Mom's Choice $.75 (can be done multiple times)
Clean Pantry Shelves $.50
Organize Toy Room $1.00
Clean 5 Doors of Mom's Choice (front & back) $1.50 (can be done multiple times)
Clean Inside Fridge $1.00
Wipe Down Dining Room Table & Chairs $.75
Adelyn (6.5)
Wipe down 1 wall of Mom's Choice $.75 (can be done multiple times)
Clean 5 Doors of Mom's Choice (front & back) $1.50 (can be done multiple times)
Clean Front of Fridge, Back Door Window & TV $.75
Clean Entertainment Center $.50
Clean Kid Tub $.50
Clean Mom's Tub $.50
Clean Front of Stove & Dishwasher $.50
Wipe down 1 Door Frame $.50 (can be done multiple times)
Owen (5)
Wipe down 1 wall of Mom's Choice $.75 (can be done multiple times)
Wipe down Hutch & Under Bar $.50
Clean Front of Kitchen Cabinets (lowers only) $.50
Clean Front of Bathroom Cabinets $.50
Clean Front of Mom's Bathroom Cabinets $.50
Clean Baseboards in 1 Room $.25 (can be done multiple times)
Clean up Backyard (put toys away & pick up garbage) $.25
Well, that's about it. Am I a slave driver? Hopefully no one calls CPS after they read this post :0) The kids seems to actually like the opportunity to earn their own money. Plus, it gives us a chance to teach about savings & tithing. They might just thank us later. We can only hope.

Taytam & Jocelyn

My really good friend Christan Smith came to visit. She had a baby girl about a month and 1/2 before me. They live in Virginia so we don't get to see them very often. It was so good to see Christan & meet little Jocelyn in person. As you can see-Taytam is already bigger than her! It's also funny because Jocelyn was a name we were thinking of for Taytam. Great minds think alike!

Sisters

Reese is really starting to like Taytam :0) She is really cute with her & very soft. Whenever Taytam starts crying, Reese immediately starts yelling 'Mom! Tayum crying!' I love the way Reese says Taytams name-she misses the t in the middle so it sounds like Tayum. At first I was kinda disappointed to have another girl, but it works out well for Reese to have a little sister close to her in age. Hopefully they will grow up to be best friends!

Tater-tot

Taytam has gotten the nickname Tater-tot, which I love! She is a delicious little chunk! She isn't the hardest baby we have had-that was Averee. But she isn't the easiest either-that was probably Owen. She is somewhere in the middle. Sometimes she can be pretty colicky in the evening, but I think she just gets over-stimulated with everyone & everything going on here at home. She loves to be held which is probably my fault. But oh well-I will be the first to admit she is spoiled! She is doing okay nursing-I still have to supplement with a couple bottle a day which is frustrating. She obviously isn't starving-she is such a chubby little toot. She has so many creases in her thighs it makes me laugh! That is fine with me though-I would rather have a stout rolly-polly baby than a thin one. She likes her bath more now-she loves to splash & splash. She almost looks like she is trying to swim, it's pretty entertaining. I still can't believe I have 5 kids-I swear just the other day I was pregnant with Averee!

So many Helpers!

The kids have been such good helpers with new baby Taytam. They always want to hold her & feed her. She is a very loved & spoiled little girl! But 5 kids is HARD!! It is kicking our butts :0) The laundry alone has completely taken over my life! Oh well, I just have to remember this is the season of our life & we better enjoy it before it's over. Danny has been great too. He has really stepped up & helped more around the house & with the other kids. Everyone seems to be adjusting really well though, even Reese. Thank goodness-I wasn't really sure what to expect from her!

New Pool

What a funny girl!

Each year we get a new blow-up pool (they never make it thru more than one summer). It is totally worth it-the kids get endless hours of fun & usually even get along while they splash away the summer!

Grandma Funk meets Taytam

Grandma Funk came to town to meet Taytam for the first time, so we had to get a picture of her with almost all the grand kids. We are just missing Syrenidie. What a cute bunch of kids!

Blueberry Pancakes

What happens when you leave a 2 year old alone to eat her blueberry pancakes?

Now you know...you've been warned :0)

Lip Gloss

What happens when a 2 year old finds her older sisters lip gloss?

So pretty Reesie-Roo!

First Tooth

Adelyn lost her first tooth! She had been wiggly that tooth for days, so her Dad finally convinced her to let him look at it & POP-out it came! She was surprised & didn't like the blood in her mouth but she didn't cry. Way to go Adee!

Captain Underpants

Reese was such a good sport and let the 3 older kids dress her up in some underwear-luckily it was CLEAN underwear!

It FINALLY snowed!

The kids couldn't wait to get out and play in the first snow of the winter. We had to make a snowman, snow angels, have a snowball fight & we even found a little hill to sled down. We had a blast! When we finally had enough of the cold, we headed inside for some hot chocolate with marshmallows & candy canes. YUM!

Cousin Love

Our cousin Syrenidie was in town & we got to spend some fun cousin time with her & our other cousin Ava. Syrenidie lives in Texas with her mom so we only get to see her maybe twice a year, which means we gotta take advantage of these photo opportunities!

What a cute bunch of kids!!

A Yummy First

So, it's official: Reese loves licorice! She had her first piece today & enjoyed it immensely-as you can tell from her face :0) Not sure if she got more on her face or in her mouth? She will get plenty of licorice in her lifetime cuz Grandma V & Papa always bring the kids a piece of licorice when they come over...the kids pretty much expect it now, so Grandma & Grandpa keep a stash in their car. What a fun Grandma & Grandpa!

Too much help?

How do you know when you are helping TOO much?

Last week, Averee had a big assignment due & I had major guilt about helping her TOO much. The project was to pick a MagicTree House book, read it a few times, research the subject matter & create a tri-fold display board to showcase the book & what you learned about the subject matter. She is in 1st grade! I loved the idea of the assignment-but realistically how much of this can a 1st grader do on their own. I know her teacher expected some parent help-but how much help is TOO much help? So, of course I let Averee pick whichever book she wanted-she picked 'Monday with a Mad Genius' which is about Leonardo di Vinci. Awesome-he is fasciniating! We read the book together a few times. Then I let her pick which pictures she wanted on her board & she cut them out. She picked 'Mona Lisa' since that was in the book & she had learned about it & painted her own in her Art class. Then she also picked 'The Last Supper' because she thought it was a neat painting of Jesus. Then we searched through pictures of all his drawings & inventions & picked the best ones we could find. Since she loves to draw just like Leonardo-she drew a picture of a scene from the book-so cute! Then I gathered the basic facts about him & his life to put on the board also. I let her pick what scrapbook paper & stickers she wanted & then we went to work. I did most of the cutting-more for safety reason than anything else, but she did all the gluing & decided where everything should go. Then expertly embellished the whole thing with stickers. All our scrapbook time was paying off-I was so proud! :0) I typed up (word for word) her review of the book & we put that on the board too. Anyway, it turned out great-she was really excited about it:

But then I started to get really nervous-did all the parents help as much as I did? Well, the assignment due date came & Averee was stoked to show her teacher her project. That afternoon they had a project fair & all the projects were on display in the gym. Averee really wanted to go & see all the other 1st graders projects-I was curious to see how ours compared to the rest. Well, I was happy to see that we were about the middle of the road when it came to parents involvment. Some projects were so cute & obviously done with VERY little parent help-good for them! But other projects should have just had the parents name on them-it was a little ridiculous! I am glad I didn't go that far! But it was funny cuz one project even said "by Anne Tanner and her mother", which I thought was cute. It was kinda cool cuz Averee was the only child to pick that book so there weren't 10 projects just like hers. She is one of kind! ;0)
Anyway- it was a good learning experience for us both. I think next time I will try to help her even less, but encourage her to think out side the box & be even more creative. You get an A+ from me Ave! Love ya~
P.S. it was funny cuz all us moms kept teasing each other & asking if we got OUR book report done yet...we felt like we were back in school ourselves!

One more project off the to-do list!

We have been in this house for 3 years now & it has taken me that long to decide what color to paint the girls room-Ridiculous! Anyway-I finally settled on pink for all the walls & a darker pink stripe on the accent wall. It turned out pretty darn good if I do say so myself!
BEFORE:

AFTER:

It took me 5 days & by the end my arm was killing me! But it was worth it-the girls LOVE it! I love that it is finished & the room finally feels done :0)

P.S. the funny thing is that I used to HATE pink...I mean seriously loathe the color! Don't believe me? Ask my mom! But I guess after 3 girls you kinda have to succomb to the glorious hue right?

Mess after mess after mess after mess...

yup, it was one of THOSE days...you know the kind: you feel like all you do is clean up mess after mess after mess! UGH!
Owen has RE-discovered his love of water; playing in it, spilling & splashing it, experimenting with it. He has also started leaving little bowls of water all over the house for his kitty, doggie, or whatever the imaginary pet-of-the-day might be. Of course these little bowls spill, get kicked, etc. But it is just water right? To add to the excitement of the day he decided it was cool to watch the glass bowl full of mac-n-cheese spin around on the counter. Fascinating! But of course all good things must come to an end & it ended up spinning right off onto the floor & shattering EVERYWHERE! There was glass & noodles from one end of the kitchen to the other! And it was my favorite glass Pampered Chef batter bowl-the one with the handle. Used it all the time. Bummer! I surprised myself & just calmly put him in his room till I had the mess all cleaned up. Never mind that Adee was supposed to be at preschool 2 minutes ago & Reese is screaming for me to come get her out of bed. Oh the joys of motherhood, right? When I got all the glass cleaned up & it was safe for Owen to come out we had a good talk about not touching things on the counter. I was pretty calm & collected (sadly-not always the norm) I kept in mind what my BF Rachel once said "What is more important-the bowl or the child?" I love you Rachel & your constant example...
Well, the messes continued. There are always the messes to clean up after each meal and such. But the girls have really been into painting lately-which is great. I am all for letting their creativity flourish. However, paint comes with it's share of messes as well. Speaking of paint-I have been trying to get the girls room painted since Friday! What a mess! (Pictures of that project coming soon) So, to top it off-I am walking out of the girls room after applying the last (I hope) coat of paint when I notice the door to the garage is open. I investigate & what do my wondering eyes behold? A 3 year old boy showering the garage floor with his arching stream of pee! SERIOUSLY!? I yell "What are you DOING?"...he turns in surprise. Of course he can't stop mid-stream (what is that all about anyway?). I yell again "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? STOP!" He still seems surprised & bewildered. I start to realize that this was a case of mistaken room identity, & to his defense the bathroom & the door to the garage are close together & he didn't turn on the light. Danny thinks it is hilarious-but then again HE is the one who showed Owen how COOL it is to pee outside. UGH. Anyway-I get that mess cleaned up & we move on to the rest of our night without anymore major catastrophes. Dinner, showers, homework, piano, FHE, & Good Night-Thank goodness!
Despite the messes of the day, recent events have caused me to look at my day & life a little differently. I am actually struck by a sense of gratitude. I am thankful that I even have the blessing of children to clean up after. I get to be their mom & they have & will continue to teach me so much (especially patience). I am thankful that I am still here on this earth to be their mother. To not only clean up after them but to teach them, discover the world with them, nourish & nurture them, hold & love them, read to them, play with them, sing to them, tuck them in at night, comfort their fears, & show them how to do a cartwheel (that is a whole other story). I am also SO thankful Danny is still here on this earth to do it all with me. To help me be better & want to do better. To laugh with me & cry with me. To be my everything...what would we do without our families?
Recent event have also caused me to ponder my life & ask myself some questions. Do you ever feel so blessed & so lucky that it makes you feel a little guilty? I mean seriously...my life is so blessed & easy it is a little ridiculous sometimes. It may sound cliche but I truly mean it. Why do I have it so good while so many others are struggling so badly? Is it because I am weak & the Lord knows I can't handle much else? Are my trials coming later? Will I be able to handle them or will they be so hard that they break me? Will I handle them as well as the people suffering around me have? Am I doing everything that the Lord would have me do? What can I do better? How can I be better? Who can I help and serve? Am I sufficiently preparing myself & my family for what lies ahead? What does the future hold for me, my friends, my family?
It is interesting to me how the death of someone else (even someone we don't know that well) can make us take stock of our lives. To see things with more of an eternal perspective. The recent deaths around me have made me a better person & made me want to be a better person, mother, friend, sister, daughter, a better child of our Heavenly Father. So, to Ryan MacPherson, Sara Baker, & Kathy Graf-thank you for your examples & the opportunity to remember what matters most & to never take it for granted. You will be missed...

Latest crafty crafts...

Here are a few of the more recent crafts I have finished...

These chore boards turned out so cute & functional! The kids are actually excited to finish a chore so they can mark it with a magnet. Love it!

This is the magnet board in Owen's room...of course he has already broken the C off the word CREATE. Boys will be boys! UGH!

Here is the magnet board that is hanging in Averee & Adelyn's room. I love the colors on this one. Their room is modern, funky & whimsical-so fun!

This is the magnet board in Reese's room. Her room has more of a vintage feel-with some fun antiques. Gorgeous!

This is the HUGE magnet board in my laundry room. I LOVE how this turned out-the colors & papers are perfect for my red walls. This is a great way to keep our family organized, and you know I love that!

Thanks for looking! Hopefully this inspires you to get some projects of your own done :0)