Wrong Socks?

Abby said the funniest thing the other day when I picked up the girls from my Mom and Dad's house. Piper had started to cry - OK, scream - when I put her in her carseat. Abby walked over and matter of factly told me that Piper was crying because she wanted the yellow socks that Paige was wearing. I laughed, but told Abby we didn't have time to switch their socks. So I get the girls in the car with Piper still screaming and about half-way home Piper stops crying (quite unusual - she hates her carseat). When we got home and I opened the door to get the kids out Paige had bare feet, Abby had the blue socks Piper had been wearing in her hands and Piper was wearing the yellow socks. Abby looked at me in all seriousness and said - "See - she just wanted yellow socks".
I asked Ethan to hold Piper while I finished making dinner - here is his idea of holding the baby. I had to chuckle - and grab the camera.

Halloween

Yep - I am posting about Halloween in December. I warned you that I was a little behind on things. Halloween was the same weekend that Frank had the big kids so it was just the twins and I for the big day. Paige is the giraffe and Piper is the frog - aren't they cute?

Disneyland!!!

Here I am playing catch-up again, but better late than never, right? Frank took the kids to Disneyland during Halloween (it was Nevada Day in Nevada so he had an extra day off work). The kids had a great time and I really appreciate Frank's mom being willing and ready to go with them on a couple hours notice (I was really nervous about the age difference with the kids - Abby isn't big enough to go on all the rides the boys like and I didn't think that they would like the rides she likes - but with Grandma there, they could all go on rides they liked). Here are some of the highlights
Here they are together. I do want it on the record though, that I packed cute outfits for Abby - really cute outfits that match. I put 4 outfits in her suitcase for a 2 day trip - somehow she ended up in this - a shirt that went with the warm outfit, capri's that went with the cool outfit and shoes that her dad bought. Oh well. . . . . As for Miles - I can't blame his dad since he dresses himself. I purposely did not pack any athletic shorts or pants - however, I let him pack a backpack to take (which I thought would be books and pokeman cards to do in the car) and evidently he snuck these shorts in. Another "Oh well . . . . ."

Also - note the Oregon Duck jersey that Miles is wearing. The weekend that the kids were there in Southern Cal was the same weekend that Oregon beat USC in football. I'm glad I didn't see these pictures until later as I would have been worried about Miles safety - his dad on the other hand thought it was quite funny how many dirty looks Miles got.

This is the first trip that Abby liked the characters - last year she was too scared to pose for pictures with anyone - even princesses.

Favorite ride of Abby's

The kids had a great time - thanks Dad and Grandma!

Book of the Month!

Abby loves to read stories - let me clarify that - she likes to read the same story over and over and over again. Here she is reading her "favorite" book this month. Bet you can't guess how many times I read it to her - she has it memorized word for word. Yep - I have literally read that book hundreds of times. Sorry for the motion again - I had a baby in my arms as usual and I tend to not know that I am rocking back and forth.

"Just a sec"

OK - so I am trying to catch up on everything that I have been meaning to blog about - so I apologize if things are completely out of order (the rate I am going - I will get Halloween pictures posted by Christmas). I had a funny conversation with Abby today - it went something like this.
Abby: "Mom, can you read me this story?" (As I am driving)
Me: "Just a sec."
Abby: "Mom, Jesus doesn't want you to say "Just a sec"."
Here is where I am going to insert some background information. With the boys being in school and bringing home words that I don't want Abby using (like hate, stupid, etc.) we have talked about words that Jesus doesn't like us using. Back to the conversation -
Me: "Jesus doesn't like me to say "Just a sec?""
Abby: "No, it is not nice to the kids when moms always say "Just a sec" - moms are supposed to help them before a sec."
Me: "Oh - OK"
It is sure hard to keep a straight face at times with this child - anyway, the converstation lasted the entire drive home, and I was able to then read her the story - thankfully the twins had fallen asleep on the way home. I have noticed that with new babies in the house, "Just a sec" is a phrase that I use often - so I will really have to work to take those words out of the vocabulary - but how do you argue with "Jesus doesn't want you to say that"?

The "Duck's Friend's" visit

Quite a few weeks ago now we had our first overnight visitors at our new house. Some of our friends from Oregon (now living in Vegas) came over to see us. It has been 3+ years since we had last seen each other and I didn't know how well the kids would remember their friends - but both the boys had a blast with their old friends. Did I mention - they are both girls - and although Miles is going through that anti-girl stage right now, he had the most fun. Not only are both girls really cute girls, but they helped the boys in their "hut" and played football with them - I think Miles might have his first crush:). Here are some fun pictures of the Oregon years mixed in with the recent visit....

This is the first Halloween we were in Eugene - Miles is Buzz and Jocelyn is Snow White. Here is an Eugene Easter - yep, it was raining. Ethan and Miles are on the left, then Tallie and Jocelyn.

This is a welcome back to law school bash - our second year. Miles, Tallie, Jocelyn, Trinity and Hallie

This is the kids fall of 2007. We had been in Reno for 1 year and the friends were living in Vegas. We ran into them in Disneyland - it was crazy, neither of us knew the other was going to be there, but we got some pictures of the kids together.














Ethan and Tallie are the same age in school - but they have never been the same size. When we started law school, Ethan was 8 months old, Tallie was 2 months old - Ethan is big for his age while Tallie is petite. Here they are in 2006.
Here they are in October 2009!

This is Miles and Jocelyn at his 3rd birthday party (2004)

Here they are in October 2009!

Here they are together - my boys had a blast - thanks so much for coming!!!

Conference Notes

Conference weekend has always been a favorite of mine. When I was little, General Conference was a synonymn for really good breakfast and staying in pajamas all day. Now it still means that I get to stay in my pajamas all day (and make the good breakfast), but I really look forward to the messages that are shared. Well, in order to hear the messages myself this year, I made little General Conference books designed to keep the kids busy as well as helping them to listen to the talks. Well, I amazed even myself at how well the books worked with keeping the kids busy and quiet - especially Miles - that is until I asked to see his book. This is a sample of what I found -
Yep - Pokemon People. Looking around at the house now, I am wishing that I could have back the 2 hours I spent preparing the books. I could get a lot cleaned in 2 hours. Oh well - the kids were relatively quiet so I enjoyed Conference, which was one of my goals in doing the books - so therefore the books were a success - right?

Is it a girl thing?

Okay - so we are getting ready for lunch today and I asked Abby what she wanted to eat. Her reply was spagetti, which we have in the fridge from a couple nights ago - easy, right? So, I got out the spagetti and warmed it up and got Abby up to the table. We had just finished the blessing when Abby burst into tears - got down from the table and ran to her room crying because she didn't like spagetti. I was still at the table - completely bewildered - what had just happened. Not knowing what to do, I ignored her and went to play with the twins (they smile at me, unlike Abby these days). Well, next time I turned around, Abby was back at the table eating her spagetti - with a big frown on her face. She finished what I had given her and asked for seconds (still frowning), cautiously I got her more and watched as she finished that bowl as well. I am no stranger to the terrible two's, the boys were stubborn, independent and tested me on all the rules, but this is different - I have no idea how to combat these emotional outbursts. This has to be a phase right - I mean, she WILL go back to being my happy, go-lucky girl soon, right?
I had to get a picture of this - this is the same girl who loves to have her picture taken, it had to be really hard for her not to smile!

I figured it out - give her chocolate and the smile comes back. Thanks Grandma, for sending the leftover cookies from Miles's soccer party home with us - I have a happy child again! Now off to put her down for a nap - yeah, I don't think I will be winning any popularity contests today.

Yeah Me!!!

I know it is not polite to brag, and most people probably don't brag about a B, but I am going to!!! I GOT A "B" ON MY ADVANCED CALCULUS TEST!!!!!!! For the first time in the six weeks since the class started - I have began to think that I could maybe pass this class. I was crazy to even take this class right now, but SUU only offers certain classes during certain semesters, so if I didn't take it now it would postpone me finishing school one whole year. However, as soon as the class started, I began preparing myself for the possibility that I wouldn't be able to get a C (needed for the class to count) and would have to take the class over. Not only is the class hard to begin with, but the last calculus class I had was 12 years ago. I know Heavenly Father is helping me "remember" (I am not so sure that I even knew some of the stuff I have "remembered" to begin with:)) what I learned so long ago. So anyway - I am on cloud 9 right now - yeah me, I got a B!!!!

Fall???

It sure didn't feel like fall today - it was 80 degrees at least, but the calendar says it is fall, so we drove up Cedar Mountain this evening for FHE. The kids loved it - Abby would shout out everytime we saw a tree with red leaves (which was pretty much constantly). I tried to get the boys to admit how beautiful it was - they wouldn't use the word beautiful, but they had fun playing in the leaves and climbing the mountain. I have been pretty uptight with the kids this last weekend, thanks to a big test I had this morning, so it was really nice to be able to relax and have fun as a family. Here are (quite) a few pictures of our trip.

"Mommy Clayton Gilmore"

I got the middle name today - by my 2 year old. She wanted candy for desert - after breakfast - and she wouldn't listen to my explanation that we have desert after dinner, not breakfast. It wasn't the right middle name though, so instead of taking her serious, I burst into laughter - which in turn, made her even more angry with me. Miles's middle name is Clayton, and yes - he is my child that gets called by his full name the most (sometimes it seems that my children don't even listen until they hear their middle name), so when Abby was upset with me - she did what she has heard me do when I am upset with the boys - she used a middle name. I wish I could put into words her expression and tone when she used "my" middle name - I guess you will have to use your imagination. She was an early talker and has quite a vocabulary - so I sometimes forget that she is only 2 years old - but then she will come up with something as cute as this and realize how lucky I am to be her mom!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

Look what my sweet sister-in-law helped the kids do. She watches the kids while I have class every Tuesday afternoon, and I came home to a surprise party!!! Not only had she helped the kids write me cute notes, but she had also made me a cake - carrot cake (which next to Red Food Cake that I can't eat right now (Piper asked me not to eat chocolate while I am nursing her) is my very favorite). Is that even legal to put parenthesis inside parenthesis? Anyway, the dishes that I have been trying not to wash were also washed and put away - she is an angel!

Soccer Time

The boys both enjoyed AYSO soccer this fall - Miles was lucky enough to have Grandpa and Courtnie as his coaches. My arms were full with babies this year - so instead of action shots I just posted the professional pictures. Maybe next year . . . .

Duet Recital

Miles and Ethan are playing a duet in a piano festival this weekend. My mom had a recital that we used for dress rehearsal. The boys have had a very hard time sitting on the same bench - I don't know that we will do duets again, so I had to post this in case it is a first and last. They played two songs, but I only got the last one. Here is my attempt at a video - sorry about the motion, I had a baby in my arm and didn't realize I was rocking back and forth.

Babies Blessings

I really want to be better at this blogging thing, but it seems like days just get away from me. I am trying to use this as my journal, since I have been hit and miss with that as well, so I am going to play catch up and show you what we have been up to the last couple of weeks. Paige and Piper were blessed in church on Labor Day Sunday. They were perfect angels during the meeting, but as you can see from the pictures, there were a few meltdowns before church (in this picture Paige, later on Abby).
The pictures never seem to turn out the way I have them in my head - but I guess when you have 5 kids in a picture, chances are that they are not all going to be looking (or happy for that matter).

Piper is on the left, Paige is on the right. My mom made both the dresses that the girls were wearing. Piper is wearing the dress that I wore when I was blessed, Abby also wore that dress. My mom made the other dress for my sister's girls to wear, so Paige is wearing the same dress that Lainey, Katie and Shawni wore.

I wasn't planning on making a big deal about the blessings, but we had family come from all over the state. It meant a lot to me that family came to support us for this day. Here is Grandma Gilmore with all 10 of her grandchildren (yep, count them - there really are 10). She and Heather (Frank's sister) drove down with the 5 cousins from Salt Lake early that morning and went back after dinner that night. They deserve a medal for that trip!

My Grandma also drove over that morning with my aunt and uncle from Escalante. Here is a four generation photo - by the way, my Grandma is a twin herself, so these great-grandbabies are pretty special to her.

Abby

I haven't had Abby's pictures professionally taken for a really long time (like since she was 3 months old) - so we went to Walmart yesterday and this is what we came home with!

A lot of these poses she came up with herself - she is a natural! I am very proud of myself for actually getting to this appointment - Paige and Piper took turns screaming at me while I was trying to do Abby's hair - so I was going back and forth between kids, calming one child down then rushing back to try to find Abby to curl another section of her hair before the next baby would fuss. By the time we got in the car with Piper (I only could manage one of the babies for this outing, so Grandma got to watch Paige for an hour), I realized that Miles was still home - I had sent him to scouts 10 minutes earlier, so I found his shoes and got him in the car. By then, Abby was crying because we "forgot" Paige. I got Abby calmed down by giving her lip gloss and dropped Miles off at scouts. By the time we got to Walmart after waiting in traffic - yes, traffic in Cedar (there was a fire so lanes were closed) - we were 15 minutes late for our 30 minute appointment. I was completely frazzled, but the pictures turned out great! I am not so sure that I will ever adjust to 5 kids though - I had just got to the point that 3 was manageable. Oh well. . .

Sacrifice?

Well - I have just realized that Piper doesn't like it when I eat chocolate. She gets very gassy and the only thing that will calm her down is to feed her again. So for the sake of my sleep - I have now given up chocolate (yes - I value sleep more than chocolate). I did cheat the other day - just because I can't believe that one food would affect her so much - and had some zucchini bread with chocolate chips, but even the 3-4 chocolate chips that I ate got her quite upset with me. At least she doesn't mind peanut butter!

My Pancake Maker

The kids came back last night - they had a great time with their dad (he is going to send pictures, so I will post them later - but they spent the week at Lake Tahoe - one of their favorite places). Miles learned how to make pancakes (THANKS Grandma Gilmore) and was eager to show off his cooking skills - so we had pancakes for breakfast.
I was impressed - he not only mixed the batter himself (measuring too), but he poured the batter and flipped the pancakes himself. He wouldn't let me help at all - in fact, when I suggested he go sit down and eat with the rest of the family - he refused and cooked the entire batch himself. Here's what it looked like!

I have had a hard time this summer (and spring before that and winter before that) letting people help me. I used to think that I could do everything by myself - but I am learning (slowly) that I do need help (lots of it). Anyway - one of the things that I wanted to do this summer was to start a MTC - yes, it stands for Missionary Training Center (I got this idea from my sister-in-law, Thanks Elsa). Anyway, I wanted to focus not only on scriptures and stuff, but also on the practical things that missionaries are expected to know - like cooking, sewing, laundry, etc. Anyway, it was an idea that lasted for only 3 days - dispite the fact that both boys have been begging to cook all summer. So I really do appreciate Grandma Gilmore for taking the time and having the patience to help Miles - he loved it and loves that he has a new skill - not to mention, he is really good at it, so I love that he enjoys helping me (at least helping me cook - helping me clean his room or practice his piano is another thing). Anyway - thanks to the whole Gilmore family who took good care of my kids this week - they had a blast and got a lot more attention then I have been giving them for a while!!