Jake is 6, Reptile and Amphibian Day, Family

 

Trying to take a family picture before opening Jake's bday presents.

 

Birthday boy with a smile to show you just how excited he is to open his presents! Jacob is 6 now! He is our official "finder"; if we lose something, he knows where things are or can find them most of the time. He is so thoughtful and will give me a little back massage to help me feel better when Katy or Diana have their usual morning spill of milk or cereal or whatever. He prays for his grandpa's ear to get better every single prayer. There are a million little ways he is so sweet, kind, happy, and fun. He is a blessing to me every day.

 

Nerf football happiness.

 

 

Teaching the kids piano lessons once they turn 5 is as close to homeschooling as I've come :) Jacob finished his primer level on his birthday and was so thrilled to be done with the pink books!

 

To celebrate Jake's birthday, we went with the cousins to the downtown science museum's Reptile and Amphibian Day. They are turning over cards with snakes on them to see which ones are venomous.

 

Don't worry it's not real :)

 

Guessing how many frog eggs are in the jar.

 

Making frog hats.

 

Katy was a doll and let us cart her around 90% of the time.

 

Diana put her head in the lion spot- pretty accurate I'd say! :)

 

I've never seen kinetic sand like this. As the kids moved the sand around, it changed the topography colors. A great hands-on science learning tool.

 

The kids took turns touching the iguana and the owner encouraged me to say hello. I talked a bit and petted the iguana and he closed his eyes like he was really happy.

 

So the owner said to get up close and I did!

 

We were leaving and found that we couldn't cross the street to our parking lot because there was the Raleigh St. Patrick's Day Parade going on right next door. There were some very interesting groups that I'm not sure how they connected with the Irish theme. There was a dog training school, lake boat tours, and this is an Indian dance group...dressed in green. It was entertaining though!

 

Diana is a fireball of energy! She loves friends and is always asking us to play with her in the sweetest voice.  She "helps" the kids make their lunches and get ready for school, she "helps" me make mac and cheese, she "helps" water the garden, and so on. Keeping up with all of her assistance is often exhausting!

 

Blueberry scones, oatmeal and o.j. for breakfast.

 

For the final game Marian and I coached, the husbands and 11 kids were all there. We really make a statement as a group wherever we go. The other two bleachers were filled, but the one on the end was left completely open to our families haha.

 

After the game we went to our house for a bbq and watched a BYU basketball game. Diana and Evelyn are so fun together and communicate so much better now that they are a little older.

 

The weather has hit 80s and I've had fun sunning on the back porch with my beardies.

 

Yesterday I took Diana to the park. This is BEFORE we got out and she has dirt smeared all over her face. Somehow in the morning before the kids went to school she was in the backyard having a lot of fun in the dirt.

 

Sweet sunshine.

 

Diana loves to run around the park!

Sitting on the Kofford's front porch swing custom made by Daniel last summer. I love my family.

Chickens, hamsters, end of season

 

We had heart pancakes for Valentines Day breakfast.

 

Sometimes they took on different shapes...like a chicken.

 Nicole wanted any chickens I made :)

 

Family band practice. Jake on guitar, Mike on drums, Diana on interpretive dance.

 

While cleaning the Uromastyx cage, Croc took a leap out of the cage right to Jim, who thankfully caught him!

 

Roxy has become braver too. Both Uromastyx are wild caught in Morocco so they will take a long time to warm up to us and probably won't be as friendly as captive bred. In a few years if they have babies it will be interesting to see if all of our handling will make a difference.

 

Nicole and Katy

 

Church entertainment- Katy is almost two, that wiggly age of exploration and vocal expression!

 

For Valentine's Day we got 5 hamsters! Well, the stuffed kind.

 

We had sleet come down and school cancelled last Monday. We had dentist appointments scheduled and the precipitation wasn't so bad so...I took the kids. The drive there was fine but it was a little slippery on the way back, and up the driveway we fished a bit and almost didn't make it up. After we got inside, the kids ran around yelling, "We almost died! We almost died!" You can't say they don't know how to be dramatic.

 

Jim was gone that week so we went to all of the practices and games in style. Here was a post-bedtime basketball practice so I had the kids bathed and in pajamas so they could crash when we got home. Lots of laps around the community center for an hour and we did it.

 

By Friday night I told the kids I was tired after the long week of Jim being gone. Michael went downstairs Saturday morning and made a list for the three oldest of ways to help me. 1. Give Mom back-a-sauge. 2. Make sure everyone on task! 3. Help Mom.

 

Jacob's was simple- 1. Take care of little sisters.

 

His ambitions for Nicole were a little higher. 1. Run 1/2 mile 2. Take care of Katy and place with her. 3. Take Diana and play with her. 4. Practice basketball.

 

The kids games were fun to watch, they both had their games at the same time so Marian had to coach alone while I corralled the littles. Michael works so hard in his games despite his teammates not passing to him. He is usually the first back down the court! Mike's game was tough because they were getting out-rebounded. At the half, I told Mike they had to get more rebounds or they wouldn't win.

 

Diana expired long before Michael's game ended. She was pulling on my arm, making all sorts of noise, etc. There were extra games going on and this one turned out to be a last second loss but the suspense and last second plays made the gym so loud it turned out to be helpful in making Diana's rowdiness not as big of a deal. After the game, when the coach was giving the postgame spiel to the kids and parents, Mike reminded the coach that I had told Mike that they needed more rebounds. I had no idea he would tell the coach too! :)

 

Spike finally decided to shed! This is the first time in a long time he has shed.

 

Croc closeup. His eyes are so kind, he reminds me of Little Foot from Land Before Time.

 

Our area has free two hour delivery through amazon prime. It is amazing! Most of the basics like milk and eggs are expensive because they only stock organic cage free stuff, but my rice milk was cheaper than the store and the candy was same price. So I satisfied my chocolate cravings and got stocked up on milk...within two hours! Wohoo!

 

The weather has been pretty chilly but finally is warming up, will be 70 tomorrow. The kids have gone outside so much and it's been wonderful to see them enjoy the outdoors again!

 

The kids Statue of Liberty artwork.

 

Last games of the regular season were this Saturday. Mike's team has only lost once so they have a good shot at doing well. I love watching my kids play basketball!

The last few weeks

 

 

Nicole dissected owl pellets in school and the ONLY way I could get her to stop taking these scum-covered bones all around the house, showing her siblings and examining them was by taking a picture so she could see it whenever.

 

We took the kids to the circus on Friday and they loved using the camera. I finally had to hide it and tell them to just watch the show!

 

Diana loves her daddy! She sat on his lap the whole time and when she got bored the popcorn we bought lasted her the rest of the show.

 

 

The whole crew!

 

A favorite act was the high wire.

 

They also shot a lady out of a cannon. Some kind of sling shot in a cannon with sound effects, but still fairly awesome.

 

 

Right at the end of the circus, Jim got a call from the hospital (he was on call) and because it was just a few minutes from the stadium we grabbed lunch and waiting in the parking deck while he took care of things.

 

I tried out royal icing for the first time today and had a lot of fun. It's like art, but no matter how you do it tastes good. I also don't eat as much because I'm focused on creating cookies.

 

A few pics from that last ice storm. No snow since then. Nicole's selfie at our last snow. 

 



 

Even little Katy got outside once the ice warmed.

 

Diana's afternoon nap after a long couple days of energetic outlet resulting in mischief. Cold days make for less outside time and with her activity levels that gets tough.

 

I've enjoyed letting the lizards run around their room a bit after closing it off with baby gates. They like basking in the sun.

 

Michael is gravity in action. He somehow is on the floor a lot. It doesn't bother him at all, it's just part of the game to him.

 

Nicole's basketball time finally won a game, and it was in overtime! They've had three losses by 3 points or less so to get a win finally was a big deal.

 

Mike doesn't wait on the sidelines, he rests. Sprawls.

 

But when he's in, it's all engines forward! I love watching him give his all in a game!

 

To see each of the three kids at their lunch times, it takes 2 hours. So D and Katy ate and played with toys while we got to bring lunch to each of the kids. Not sure if we'll do that again, but the kids LOVED it and I got to see some of their school stuff. Here is Michael's groundhog on the "Fabulous First Grade Wall."

 

Diana and I making cookies the other day. She loves helping and will ask relentlessly for every single step of baking.

 

I was chopping veggies and one of the onions had really grown! I'm going to plant this in our garden if it lasts long enough.

We finally found out the gender of baby #6! For the kids to find out, I had made a cake with the right color on the inside and made them wait until after dinner to get a slice and find out. It was really fun to see their reactions. Someone asked why we had cake and I said because we wanted to find out what we were having. Michael said, in a voice like it should be obvious, "We're having cake." Like that's all that mattered to him at that moment- eating :)

 

We took some fun pictures to share the news!

 

 

We are SO excited to meet this little boy and know he is so special!

 

Jim took the afternoon off (hence the minute I have to blog) since he's off to Puerto Rico on Monday. He brought home a huge heart balloon from the store but as he got out of his car while holding flowers too it got out of his grasp and flew away. So he made me run out and took a picture with the dot of the balloon in the distance. I told him it was the first time anyone every gave me decorations in the sky for Valentine's Day :)