Joshua Gets His First Solids

I went on a lovely hike with Johnny, Adam, and my Sister Amy on Saturday. It was 7 miles round up and down one of the Bountiful mountains.  I had left the rest of the kids with John. I thought we would only be gone about 3 hours, but the 3 hours turned into more like 4 1/2, so I had John give Joshua some baby cereal to tie him over. Anya thought feeding the baby a great activity and quickly and cutely took over for John. Joshua actually didn't eat very much, but he and Anya seemed to enjoy the whole thing rather well.

Great Place For Pictures

We have this part of our neighborhood where the overflow waters are directed. To make it more than a dump, the city has put in walking trails and such. Our kids calls this "snake and spider soup." This name came into being because when we moved in, Adam saw the place with all of the tall grass, and exclaimed, "That is a lot of tall grass! Snakes and spiders live in tall grass. That is 'snake and spider soup'."  After that the name just stuck. Most of the year, snake and spider soup just looks like a pile of tall dead grass, but in the spring it is beautiful, and fragrant! And a lovely place for pictures!

Devil or Angel

Sometimes I think my child is a little devil

Even though he looks like a little Angel.

So any suggestions? How do you get pen marks off of couches?????

Rachel and Anya's Dance Recital

Rachel and Anya had their big dance recital Friday night. They preformed second, so the dance studio let us sit them on our laps so they could watch most of the other dancers. I had to bring them backstage for the final bow. They were absolutely adorable!

Rachel knew her dance very well and did a really good job. She started dance class in September rather uncoordinated and awkward, and she ended much more limber, elegant, and coordinated. I am so glad this helped Rachel's coordination. I'm sure better coordination will help her overall future happiness. I will be putting her in a ballet class next September.

Anya, was just absolutely cute. She knew most of her dance, but at one point the girls change position from the front to the back of the dance group. When all  the girls changed, Anya got confused and started looking for her little tape spot on the floor. She spent most of the rest of the dance trying to find her spot (which wasn't there) until another girl pushed her forward. Then Anya remembered what she was suppose to do and finished the dance. The whole thing was just adorable!!!!

Their dance was a "Dance Myself to Sleep " dance-- thus the cute pajama costumes. All of the performers were given a trophy and all of the families will be given a dvd of the whole program.  Rachel and Anya love their trophies, and their new dance pajamas!!

Kate's School Play

Kate's 6th grade class put on a little play today and I was able to attend. I attended with 4 little kids in tow, but I attended. The little ones were decently behaved too. (At least I thought so.) Kate played the Dwarf . I think you can see why she was chosen for this part. (click on the picture below)

It always amazes me just how small Kate really is when I see her around her classmates. She is a whole head and shoulders shorter!! But, of course, Kate was the cutest in the play. The play was real funny too. The 6 graders did a good job.

Family Home Evening Activity

Last night we had one of those family home evenings that everyone is going to remember for a long time. I got the idea from Alida at her blog. It really helped illustrate how important each member of our family is, even though we all are good at and like different things.

First we gave each child a little bowl of bake batter.

Then we put a different color or colors of food coloring in each bowl and had the kids stir in their color. We talked about how each of us have things that are a little different like the different colors of the cake batter.

Then each child put a spoonful of their colored batter in each cupcake paper. As each child took their turn spooning in their cake batter, we all said nice things that we like about that child.

After we cooked the cupcakes, we frosted them with chocolate frosting. We all love chocolate frosting the best. We talked about how we have things that are the same that helps to unite us.

When we opened the cupcakes, this is what we saw. We talked about how beautiful of a family we can be when we take all of us and all of our different colors and become one. Kate said she expected the cupcakes to come out all brown and gross. She said these were so beautiful. I think this lesson really helped to illustrate how wonderful it is to have a family with a bunch of different people who have some things the same and some things different, but how when we all work hard to choose the right and to be nice and loving to one another we are so beautiful. We talked about how when Zion comes again, and we are "of one heart and one mind" how there will be people who are funny and people who are serious. There will be people who like fiction and people who only like nonfiction. There will be people who are good at sports and people who are not. But that everyone will work hard doing their part, and all of those different parts will be necessary. For Scriptures we read Moses chapter 7 about Enoch building the city of Zion and how very powerful Zion was. Then we talked about how powerful we can be as a family when we take all of our wonderful differences and become one.

Blog Award: Stylish Blogger

 

Yeah, I have been awarded the Stylish Blogger award by: Julie . She deserves this award more than I do. She is definitely a stylish blogger full of wisdom and humor. I get stuck in her blog way too much. So thank you, Julie from Hesses Madhouse, and Mother of the year in Oregon.

So here are the rules

1. Link back to the person who awarded you. (see above)
2. Tell us 7 things about yourself (see below)
3. Award 15 more deserving blogers
4. And the time consuming part: tell the people you have awarded.

So here I go: 7 things about me

1. This came on the very day I decided that I have been spending too much time reading blogs, and not enough time reading scriptures.  I put up blogs and I want to read and get in snatches sometimes long through out the day. I decided I better  start doing that with scriptures more. So, I am going to spend less time on blogs. But, I learn so much from all the good people out there in the blog world that I am still going to be popping in and out of your blogs. 
2. Everyday, I am grateful for my big family. I truly love being a mother of many.
3. I am addicted to chocolate, especially dark very expensive chocolate. 
4. I have always had the problem of wanting to be like everyone else. This may not be noticeable anymore because with 8 children I am definitely different.
5. Even though I have always wanted to be like everyone else and really cool and fun. I am really just a boring, nerdy girl. Now I am too busy to worry about that anymore.
6. I am ever the pessimist except when it comes to having children and marriage and all. I think families are the absolute best thing and it makes me sad for people who chose things over family. I am trying not to be so pessimistic.
7. Seven things is a lot. I am pretty boring.

THE AWARD GOES TO:

1. Confessions of a Stay at Home Mom: This is my Awesome Sister in law. I love her blog and read it as soon as she writes. You should all read her blog too. She is fun to read, open, and refreshing. We are all so glad Grandma and Grandpa Robertson chose to have 9 kids, because what would we do with out Becca. She is the Best!!!!
2. Two Scoops This is my neighbor. She is so funny. If you need a laugh, read 2 Scoops!!
3. 5 nuts in a nutshell Cute blogger.
4. Larger Family Life - She lives in England and has a nice huge family. I like to connect with other moms of big families.
5. Living Somewhere over the Rainbow I think we would be good friends if we lived close. Great person and a great blog!
6. Diapers and Divinty I can't remember how I came upon her blog, but she does a good job of linking up good people.
7. GrumpyGrateful Mom - So fun to read about her mothering adventures. She is a great writer.
8. Our Busy Homeschool Here is some one who can help you get organized. 
9. Natalie... I don't know her at all, but I love how she writes. She is just a wealth of knowledge.
10. Provident Mommy She mother of 3. Fun to read.
11. My 5 Small Boys -  Here is one of the most amazing Moms ever!! She is young and wise and fun. I hope I can meet her some day.
12. Mamaswhoknow A nice inspirational blog for mothers.
13. Me and My Peeps This is another sister in law. She is wonderful. She keeps a sweet blog about her cute little children. I love Rosanne. I think you will too.
14. Living Waters This is an inspirational blog by Lee Ann. She is older and so sweet and good. I hope I can be as good as her someday.
15. Free Range Kids This is a blog that all moms should read. While I don't agree with everything, it really helps me as a parent.

Oh and except for #1, none of these blogs are in any particular order. All of you help me to be a better person. Have a good day everyone and Thanks Julie for thinking of me.

4 Months

My baby is 4 months old!!! It has been a fast four months. He is 13lbs, 6 0z (20%) and 27 inches long (50%). Joshua is a very calm, sweet  baby. We call him our "chill baby" because he just lies around watching everyone and just smiling. Having kids run over and around him doesn't bother him at all. In fact, he usually smiles at the antics of his older siblings. But, at the doctors yesterday, Joshua was just mad. I am sure the doctor and the nurse thought I have a very fussy baby. Joshua screamed about being weighed and measured. He screamed about being checked by the doctor. He screamed when he received an oral vaccine, and he saved his loudest screams for the needles. Once I put him in the car, he calmed right down and went back to just chillin'.

Here's my Chill Baby at 4 months

 

Isn't he just the cutest!!!!!

The Weather

Our weather has just been weird this spring. It has rained/snowed at least three days a week every week since April began. Plus we had a very wet fall and winter. Since we live in the desert this is just weird. Adam's kindergarten teacher compared it to living in Seattle. It reminds me of when we lived on Long Island in New York. In New York it would just start to storm and then rain for a whole week straight. We have been having rain storms that last 3 or 4 days, a few days off and then more wet weather.

Randy Julander, the federal government's premiere snow survey expert in Utah said, "It is a very, very tenuous time for us if it ever warms up...Sooner or later, Utah is going to heat up. It will be like filling a thimble with a fire hose."

A lot of snow always falls in the mountains. As the weather warms up the snow starts melting and fills up the rivers and reservoirs. This usually happens slowly as springs turns to summer. This spring we have just had cold weather and storm after storm. There is a lot more water than usual, and the mountain snows have not had a chance to melt. The weather/forest/government people have drained reservoirs and rerouted rivers in hopes of stopping floods and mudslides when the weather warms. They are now saying they have done all they can do and we have to wait for when the weather, probably suddenly, warms and everything melts all at one time. This happened in 1983 and there were floods and massive mudslides.

We live in the bottom of the valley. I saw a picture of where we live in 1983 and it was completely flooded. So now we just wait for the warm weather we have wanted, that will come.

Oh and it has rained everyday this week. It looks like we will get a break on Saturday and Sunday, but another storm is predicted to come in after that. I like the rain, but  really, I like to watch it from the comfort of my heated, dry home.

Friends

Friends are good things to have around. I am glad that my daughters have good friends!!!! And my daughters should be glad that their mother lets them have big parties, spends her whole day cleaning the house for the party, takes them swimming, swims with them, makes a dinner for 20 people, cleans up a dinner for 20 people, and sits and chats with a bunch of 11 to 14 year old girls :-)! I like that my daughters have good friends. They are worth it.

Daily Life

I injured my left foot from exercising too much too quickly. I finally went to the doctors and it is plantar faciitis. That is inflammation of the connective tissue on the bottom of my foot. So I have to wear these awful, ugly supportive shoes all of the time until it is better. I also got this weird sock thing called the strassburg sock. It  keeps your foot contracted while you sleep. Apparently, your foot relaxes while you sleep and it starts to heal relaxed and then you re-injure it as soon as you stand up in the morning. This helps your foot heal in the standing position while you are sleeping. My foot does seem to be healing a lot faster now. I am going to get SLOWLY back into exercise today.

My cute sister in law, Becca, put the directions for this cake on her blog. I thought my kids would love it so I made it for an after school snack. They were really excited about it, but decided to save it until Dad came home. So we ended up eating it just before dinner.

I am finally staring a garden. I wanted to put in wood boxes since we moved in. We didn't have the money last year, and again, we will not have the money this year. So I decided to dig a big pit and bank up the sides to make a box out of earth instead of wood. The pit is now dug. Over the next couple of days, I am going to smooth out the sides and plant grass on the banks to keep them from eroding. Then next week, I will fill up the pit with potting soil and start spinach. Over the next 4 to 5 weeks I will get in some tomato and squash plants planted. I also have some basil started inside. I hope we are finally done getting snow here in Utah so my spinach won't die. It has been a long winter.

Anya has been dressing up as a unicorn almost daily, and carrying a stuffed unicorn around. She will crawl around and whinney like a horse too. She calls unicorns, "haycorns". She is funny. I love the antics of toddlers.

 

This happens a lot now. Joshua sits in his bumbo seat and sucks his hand while Anya comes over and sucks his pacifier. Joshua is getting so big. He will be 4 months old in a week!

From The United Families International: Myth Busters Monday

I found this article very interesting. I have always been unsure about this. It seems that society has progressed so far in the immoral direction even from when I was a kid, but you hear the opposite all the time. Everyone says grandma was sleeping around before she got married. Though I found it hard to believe, I had no way of disproving it. So here are a few good statistics on the topic of cohabitation and babies born out of wedlock.

Myth Buster Monday: Throughout history, high rates of pre-marital sex and unwed childbearing have been the norm, not the exception

In Abstinence, Cohabitation, Families, Marriage, Myth Buster on May 9, 2011 at 10:20 pm

Did great-great-grandma have a robust sex life prior to marriage?  According to some academics, she did.  There are many academics and those who wish to influence public policy who insist that high rates of pre-marital sex, cohabitation and children born out-of-wedlock is not something new and thus should not be feared or identified as a societal problem.  They argue that there were high rates of illegitimacy and cohabitation in the first half of the 20th century — and earlier centuries – and insist that the high marriage rates, traditional families, and the “Leave it to Beaver” life-style of the 1950s and early 1960s is the historical aberration.
So what’s the straight story?
Some of the best record keeping comes to us from Britain and is compiled in a study done by The Center for Social Justice and chronicled in their work “History and Family:  Setting the Records Straight.”
Here are a few statistics that shed light on the question:

• Only 3.8 percent of those who married before 1945 reported having cohabited before marriage, compared to 6 percent of those who married between 1945 and 1954 and 14.6 percent of those who married between 1955 and 1964.  By 2006, 88 percent of all couples who married in Britain had cohabited prior to marriage.
• Records of unemployment claims from the 1920s point to minimal levels of cohabitation.
• Levels of births outside marriage were the same in the 1950s as they were in the 1750s – around 5 per cent.
• By the late 1970s, the percentage of out-of-wedlock births in Britain stood just above 10 per cent, by 1991 it was 30 percent and today it is 45 percent.

What about the claim that pre-marital sex was a normal part of the courtship process for large sections of the population throughout much of the last 250 years?  Simple logic would tell you that, without modern contraception, there would have been a far greater number of children born out of wedlock if pre-marital sex had been as rampant as it is today.   We recognize that there were probably plenty of “shot-gun weddings,” but it is important to point out that, unlike today, marriages were indeed forming and the divorce rate was very low.
The advent of the contraceptive pill was a major factor in the increase of pre-marital relations.  Prior to Britain’s passage of the National Health Service Act (1967), “the vast majority of brides had not had sex prior to their wedding day.”[i]

---

[i] K. Dunnell, Family Formation 1976 (London: OPCS, 1979) and M. Schofield, The Sexual Behaviour
of Young Adults (London: Allen Lane, 1973), p. 166.

My Mother's Day

My Kate woke up early-ish (we all slept in on Sunday), and made waffles!!! I couldn't believe it. My first impulse was to stop her. I thought we were out of baking powder and I knew she did not have a recipe. Well, Kate found a recipe in one of our old recipe books and just dumped the rest of the baking powder in the bowl which happened to be enough. When she heard I was nervous she brought me one of her perfect waffles. We had a nice family breakfast and then Kate, John, and Ruth cleaned up.

Later that morning, I was showered with gifts. I got a fourth bar stool (I actually wanted that a lot),  a card from Johnny, a painting from Adam, a homemade necklace and flower hair clip from Ruth, a trip to Maggie Moos from Kate, chocolate from the little kids, and a new Temple dress from John. Then it was time to get ready and go to church.

After church, we had an easy meal and headed down to Provo to say happy mothers day to Gramma. We had a lot of fun with all of the Utah Robertson family. We were really glad we went down, even though we didn't get back until after midnight on a school night.

For Mother's Day I was planning on writing my top ten reasons I love being a Mom. But I found it really hard to come up with ten reasons that were not just trite. I love being a mother. I love watching my children play, and read and grow. Motherhood is good and hard. I like that it is both. I like to do hard things. I love my little baby's and how sweet and cuddley and good smelling and soft they are. I love, love, love reading to my kids-- young and old.  I love hanging out and talking with my older kids and playing games with my middle kids. I love shopping with them, and going places with them. Sure I have plenty of unwanted poopy diapers, excessive crying, siblings fighting, and sick children, and spills that make motherhood hard. But the bad, the hard, and the gross stuff is not what makes up the majority of my life as a mother. Most of the time, I am not drying ridiculous amounts of tears, changing diapers, refereeing fights, helping sick kids, and wiping up spills. Most of the time I am cooking, cleaning, reading, playing, talking, and feeling rather peaceful as a mother. Yes, I have those days, but I did before I was a mother too. They were just usually all my fault back then. Now, I have 8 perfect scape goats :-).When I was a little kid, I wanted to grow up to be a mom. I have been very blessed to be just that, and I love it!

Joseph Reading to Joshua

This is one of the cutest things that happens in our house on a regular basis. Joseph always gets books and reads to Joshua while Joshua is in his swing. The nice thing is, Joshua really enjoys this time with his brother.