Rachel's Baptism

Dear little Rachel got baptized yesterday afternoon. The morning was a bit eventful. Rachel woke me up and I noticed she had bangs. I asked her if she cut her hair and she immediately said, "no!" Bomb!!! Not the best way to start your baptismal day. In the end, of course, everything went well.

Rachel is a very sweet and Christ-like little girl. She is one of our most creative children. She loves to craft and make things. She loves to sing and dance and make up songs. Rachel has the best voice of all the members of our family. Unlike her mother and father, Rachel always befriends the friendless and helps those with disabilities.

At school Rachel is friends with all of the kids who do not have friends. She makes a point to be with those kids, play with those kids, and help those kids feel wanted. Rachel has had her other classmates tell her not to play with those children for various reasons. But Rachel always tells the other kids the reasons why the friendless children are good and worthwhile kids. Our whole family can learn from Rachel's Christ-like acceptance of other people.

Rachel spent the week preparing for her baptism by studying covenants, ordinances, Joseph Smith history, the 4th article of Faith. When we asked Rachel if she had a testimony, she whole heartedly said that she knew the church was true and seemed annoyed that we would question her on that. I think Rachel was ready to be baptized.

The ceremony was sweet and beautiful. Rachel will always remember this sunny May 3, 2014 when she made a covenant with our Savior and became an official member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

This Week at Our House # 17

1. We have heard nothing, nothing, nothing about jobs, yet John and I have both seen the tender mercies of the Lord play out everyday since he lost his job.
2. 2 more (of our 3) cats have had kittens. The second cat abandoned her kittens and ran away from home. She had 7, 3 died, 4, I have been able to save and the first mom cat has adopted them and they are doing well now. The third cat had 7 kittens and they seemed fine, but when we checked on her later this afternoon, one kitten had died and 3 were close to death. Using a heating pad and kitten formula, we were able to save the 3 dying kittens for now. They all seem normal, so we are hoping that with some human intervention, they will all live. This has been exhausting both emotionally and physically. I have been making sure our mom cats have been getting plenty of healthy food and water so they would have healthy kittens. 
3. Ruth is finally all better and back to her life. She is still getting her make-up work done. She went to a school dance on Friday and danced with 4 guys. She asked 2 and 2 asked her. Tomorrow Ruth has tryouts for musical theater. She has been singing a bunch and memorizing some Shakespeare for an acting piece. Wish her luck.
4. Kate is looking forward to the end of the school year. She has a long list of books she plans to read this summer. 
5. Johnny is finally feeling better. He almost didn't do his make-up work because he was expecting his teachers to tell him what he missed instead of asking his teachers what he needed to do. Thank goodness for mother intervention.
6. Adam had his first soccer game in the rain. I paid for spring and fall soccer for Adam before I knew John was going to lose his job. I am glad it happened that way. Adam loves soccer!
7. Rachel's baptism is this Friday. We have realized that all of the years of Rachel ignoring family scripture study has made it so she has no clue about baptism and we are now talking to her and quizzing her on a regular basis. Rachel has always been the hardest of our kids to teach because she just doesn't pay attention. We have officially decided that if Rachel doesn't get into Legacy Prep for next year, I am going to home school her and make sure she is learning what she needs to both for school and church.
8. Anya is just plain old tired of school. She has been complaining of a stomach ache everyday before school, though she is fine and enjoys school once she is there.
9.  Joseph had a better week. He played outside and with his toys instead of getting into everything. He and I always get along better, when he isn't pulling everything out. Joseph knows he has to get shots for kindergarten and is terrified. His appointment is June 2nd.
10. Joshua pooped in the toilet everyday this week. He has even taken himself every time since Wednesday. I hesitate to say, we have made it. We'll just see what another week brings on the potty training front. 
11. Arwen is so, so cute. She cuddles me every day. I love watching her play and set up her toys. I love when she says, "No, Don't." She is just adorable. I worry how she will react to the new baby.
12. Susan is now 32 weeks along. I am 7 months pregnant and feeling big and uncomfortable. 

This Week's Pictures

This Week at Our House #16

1. One neat thing about this weekly blog is I know exactly how many weeks we are into the year. John is still unemployed, but his company paid us for the second half of March this week. That has been a huge blessing, and will help get us through the rest of April.
2. I am sure thankful for spring, the warmer weather, the pretty flowers growing and all. I've spent much of this week pondering Easter and the last week of Christ's life. It has been helping me to "live in gratitude" a little better as President Uchdorf counseled in conference two weeks ago. Easter was nice today. The kids are sick, but Grandma funded plenty of candy for an Easter Egg hunt and that made a huge difference for the children. We have also experienced a few other tender mercies. We were able to get the medicine Ruth needed for $50 instead of $90 and Target's candy was on a good sale and we ended up saving $18.
3. Ruth spent the first half of the week quite ill. I took her to the doctor's on Tuesday. Nothing was determined then, but the doctor was really quite worried. On Wednesday, some lab results came in and we found out that Ruth had a kidney infection. She is doing much, much better. She will have a lot of make-up work. It's hard to miss school when you are in high school.
4. Kate was sick with a very bad cold and missed school on and off. She is finally feeling better, but will still have some make-up work to do. Kate helped a lot with preparing and setting up the Easter egg hunt for the little kids. She is also my right hand man when it comes to keeping Easter centered on Christ. I really appreciate her good example.
5. Johnny was a little sick with a cold until Thursday night when he came down with a fever and a bad cough. He is still pretty miserable, though his fever seems to be gone. I do not think he enjoyed Easter much at all. He just wasn't feeling well enough.
6. Adam got sick and stayed home from school on Thursday and Friday. Though his version of this illness seems to be more stomach based than cold symptoms. He LOVED the Easter Egg hunt and knew all about the Easter Lessons we had and seemed to quite enjoy his Easter holiday.
7. Rachel has been the kid with the least amount of illness. She stayed home from school with a headache on Monday, but otherwise has been fine. Next to Adam, Rachel was the egg hunter champion this year. Rachel's baptism is coming up on May 3rd. She has been reading her scriptures everyday and is finally seeming to take at least half of our scriptural lessons a little more seriously. 
8. Anya was well until today on Easter, poor kid. She enjoyed the egg hunt and the Easter lesson and videos, but by the end of the day was feeling pretty crappy. However, she is looking forward to a day off from school even if it is a sick day.
9. Joseph had a very bad cough most of the week and a fever many of the days. I wanted Joseph to stay down because of his cough, so I did not give him any medicine for his fever. When his fever left (it's been on and off) he spent the week getting into everything or playing outside. I wonder if he is ever going to get out of the "get into everything" stage. It drives me nuts. He plays in the kitchen cupboards, he sneaks into the older kids rooms, he plays in the garage, he gets into the tools, he climbs up into every space, he plays in my closet and the storage closet. You would think by now he would have realized we are not hiding a treasure any where in the house.
10. Joshua had the fever and cough, but it did not keep him down much. He kept going and playing, and doing just like he always has. Josh didn't do too much egg hunting, but he did enjoy sitting and eating his candy.
11. Arwen was sick earlier in the week. She still has an awful runny nose, but seems to be doing much better. Arwen was really cute about the Easter egg hunt. She did not bother to try and find any eggs, but she sure loved getting an Easter basket with some candy just for her.
12. Baby Susan is now 31 weeks along. We are getting closer to the end with just over 2 months to go. Right now I am just looking forward to the end of the school year, then I will start cleaning things out and preparing to meet my new little daughter.

This Week's Pictures

Evidence of Kids

one of the harder Easter eggs to find

Resting on the floor because they had to get up early for the Easter egg hunt

This Week at Our House # 15

1. John had one job interview. I think we are going to open up the job search to include a move. Neither of us want to move, but John needs a stable job.
2. I had a lot of UFI and political stuff this past week. We had a media training seminar given by Alliance Defending Freedom on Friday. It was very interesting. I think I have been given an opportunity to put some new great skills to use as well as deciding that I would be happy never to be interviewed by the media.
3. Ruth had a fun week until Friday. She got out of school early to come to the media training with me and part way through developed a fever and has been feeling pretty sick since then. I hope it is nothing too bad. I worry more about the older ones with a fever than I do with the younger ones.
4. Kate came with me to the media training, but has been down with a bad cold since then. Ruth and Kate do not seem to have the same thing, but it could be.
5. Johnny was a big help around the house all week long. He has even kept up with his homework and had his research paper ready to turn in on time. Johnny helped his Uncle Jeremy a couple of days this week with roofing. I think that was a pretty awesome opportunity to serve.
6. Adam had a fun scouts activity on Thursday-- the highlight of his week. He is so sweet and hugs me and sits by me all the time. Adam is really good about getting his homework done too, unless it is a big project. But it is nice to have one kid that I do not have to nag on a regular basis about homework.
7. Rachel has to be nagged to do her homework. She loves school, but hates homework. Rachel did not get in on the lottery for Legacy Prep so she is once again on the siblings waiting list. I am expecting she is pretty high, so we are praying that she gets in and on the same school schedule as the other elementary school kids.
8. Anya's reading has improved substantially. She is reading faster and better and could even follow along with the hymns at church today. I think this makes her one of our earliest readers.
9. Joseph did get into Legacy Prep on the lottery. I have to get him registered early this week. He will be a young kindergartener, but I feel pretty good about sending him and letting him join the ranks of the school kids at the end of August.
10. Joshua's interests have expanded from cars, trucks, and trains to the Avengers. He says he is Captain America!
11. Arwen is getting into everything. She pushes chairs around and climbs into high places to get to things. Fortunately she seems to have great balance and coordination, though pulling everything out all the time isn't my favorite toddler activity.
12. I have made it to that 3rd trimester slump. I am feeling tired like I did in the first trimester and it is getting harder to move around or roll over in bed. I had my midwife's appointment on Monday. I am doing a homebirth and it is all paid for. I am very grateful for that decision. I have never had a homebirth, but we knew that John's job was not stable and we could be left with no health insurance at a moment's notice. Since that has happened, it is nice to know that all of the baby care, labor and delivery and continued OB appointments are taken care of and paid in full.

This Weeks Picture

This Week at Our House # 14

1. We sure had a week full!!! John found 3 more jobs that fit his abilities well. They are all out of state and work from home jobs. I really hope he gets one of those. That would be such a blessing for him to be able to work at home and would put several hundred dollars back in our pocket from gas.
2. I had a busy week. The kids were on Spring Break. Rachel and Ruth had Monday and Tuesday off and the Legacy Prep kids had the whole week off. My kids surprised me. I offered to take them to do things and all they wanted to do was stay home, relax, play, and hang out. I am gratefully astonished for my easy to please over vacation kids. Wednesday, I went to BYU to man a UFI booth at an event there. That was a great opportunity for UFI and has made it possible to expand the intern program. I loved seeing Laura Bunker and Rose Marie Murray, and I got to meet another UFI wonder, Linda Ash. Kate came along with me and we had a great time spending the day together and getting the shopping done afterwards. I am keenly aware that I could lose my children by spending too much time trying to save other families. I pretty much always take a child with me when I go and do UFI things and it has been well spent one on one time.Thursday was dear little Rachel's 8th birthday. I brought treats to her class, had all the kids pick out a little treat to wrap for her and made a fancy dinner. I love that little girl with all my heart. I can't believe she is 8! On Friday, I cleaned the whole house and got us ready for General Conference. Saturday we baked, snacked, and listened to some amazing conference talks. I did some driving picking up Ruth's friend who has never heard General Conference before. The kids were all really good. Between the 2nd session and Priesthood session, I got to meet Kathryn Skaggs from a Well Behaved Mormon Woman blog!! She is just as amazing in life as she is online. I would love to sit and talk to her for hours! And today between sessions of conference our sweet Calico cat, Sakura had 6 beautiful kittens! I loved Elder Bednar's talk the most today and President Uchdorf gave me a lot to work on. We are very blessed to have so many wonderful family and friends and opportunities to serve.
3. Ruth had Monday and Tuesday off. I LOVE having her around and talking to her and having her do things with me. I love that Ruth invited her friend over to listen to General Conference. Ruth has a job interview at In and Out Burger tomorrow. I hope she gets the job. It will be fast paced and a bit challenging, but she will be blessed to work and save money for college and a mission. I hate this and I love this. I love that she is growing and experiencing new things, but I hate that we will lose so much more time with her.
4. Kate LOVED having a week to lay around. She spent one day on homework and the rest of the time either going out with me, playing legos with the boys, or watching her favorite movies. She needed the break. There is now a 7 week stretch of no vacation and then the 9th grade will be over for Kate.
5. Johnny played legos, computer games, wii games, babysat a bunch, did no homework, helped finish another 1,000 piece puzzle, ate lots of food (I think he is growing), and happily did everything I asked him to do. He was a delight to have at home this week.
6. Adam played as much wii as we would let him. When I told him to get dressed, he would change into clean pajamas. Adam took lots of good notes during conference and listened attentively to all but the last session.
7. Rachel had her 8th birthday!!! I can't believe my baby is 8. Now we must have her spend time in our room at night teaching her about baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. She gets baptized the first week of May. I look forward to spending that talking and teaching time with her, just as I did the other 4 kids ahead of her. She is a good girl and has learned to help and work a lot this last year. She has begun combing her hair and taking care of herself. My mother sent her an American Girl Doll for her birthday, so now she has a big responsibility to take good care of her nice things.
8. Anya loved her much needed spring break. Now it is back to school and the race to the end of kindergarten.
9. Joseph went with me on many errands this week and took a lot of time to just talk and ask questions. He also spent plenty of time trying to get out of chores, wrestling his brothers, and playing outside as the weather permitted. Joseph is very, very excited about the kittens. I am worried about keeping them safe from my 3 youngest kids.
10. Josh pooped his pants almost daily, but started taking himself pee for the first time. He is by far my hardest kid to potty train. Maybe in 6 months down the road, I can say, "Josh is potty trained."
11. Arwen was so cute looking at the new baby kitties. She is just cute anyway. I love to watch her play and set up her toys. 
12. Susan is moving around. I am still dead tired with the pregnancy, but am grateful that I have not had the hip and leg pains that I had the last 2 pregnancies. I suspect they will come at some point, but I am enjoying that moving doesn't particularly hurt yet.

This Week's Pictures

Getting to meet Kathryn Skaggs

Poor cat was so big with all those babies

Fruit cars for Josh

Ruth and her friend watching General Conference

Listening to General Conference

sustaining the Prophet

Our conference notes. This kept the kids listening well.

The kids make beds to listen to conference

Anya's notes

Finished another 1,000 piece puzzle

6 babies born today