2 Weeks In

I know its not exactly two weeks into November but I have had two solid weekends of it with some pretty good weeks to go with it, so for me two weeks in is good.

The first weekend in November, my friend Stephanie Skeens came for a visit.I met her at BYU-I when I was a Senior and she was in her first semester. She was originally going to come Friday, but ended up coming for Saturday and about 1/2 of Sunday. So, she was officially our first non-family guest to stay over night. SWEET! To be truthful here, I was really nervous about her visit because she has a very strong personality and is kind of hardened person. Plus, the last time she came to visit we went to the temple open house together and she was pretty much anti-the church. She is still trying with all her might to figure things out, and to do the right stuff, but doesn't have a whole lot of good examples and just struggles sometimes. Anyway, I was kind of worried, but at the same time I very much wanted her to come here in hopes that she would be able to visit a place that accepted her where she was. Where we didn't back down standards, but she could still be herself and be comfortable. I think she enjoyed our company. We didn't do anything excited as I was alone with the 4 kids that day because Jason had to work. So, she brought in her huge comfy blankets from her car and helped the girls build a fort. We ate and chatted a bit. She got us to go outside and throw a frisbee around. She played steamroller with my girls. Helped me clean-up meals, and we watch Big Fat Liar that night. (I know this is a terrible title for a movie, but really its good and clean, promise) Then Sunday she went with us to church, helped with the kids. Then after lunch she loaded up and went home. So, it was short, but I feel like it went good. My kids loved her. They loved her sense of humor and the fact that she included them in just about everything. It was a very enjoyable weekend.

Me teaching Tia how to throw (photo credit Stephanie)

Tia, Kylee, Me, and Gaupp (twins in stroller) on the way to church. Photo by: Stephanie

My crazy house

These two besties (Kylee and Tia) photo by: Stephanie

Kylee and Stephanie

Stephanie and Me.

Tia and Stephanie

This past weekend was really nice weather. We got a bit of a cold spell and some snow earlier, so good weather was a nice break. Since games were cancelled on the 2nd, everything was rescheduled for the 9th, and it worked out great except that Kylee got sick and had to miss her last game, which was a huge bummer. But on the plus side, I think it help Gaupo see how much we all like soccer and how good its been for our family, so Spring soccer might be in the works. (I am both excited and worried about this) Anyway, it was a great day for soccer. Tia's game was at 9:00 and you could tell we hadn't played for a couple weeks, but I think the kids still had fun and it was good to play a 'last' game. After Tia's game, we went to the doctor because we thought Kylee had step. Turns out our doc doesn't do walk-ins anymore however, a nurse was willing to do the throat swab for us, so we didn't have to go to urgent care. The receptionist said we should go buy a lottery ticket now because they NEVER do that. I was so glad they did especially since it came back negative, grrrr. Anyway, since it was negative and we were on the right side of town with some target gift cards I needed to spend we went pants shopping for the girls. Once again we struck rich, and found Kylee 4 pairs and Tia 2. We really needed that many so I am glad we could find them and have gift cards to help us out. Then we went home and had lunch and rested. Then later in the afternoon we all went for a family bike ride. It was a good ride we all enjoyed the ride and the little play at the park. Then I made chicken noodle soup for dinner and we just kind of relaxed into the night. It was a busy but fun day. I really wish I had more pics of the girls playing soccer, but between twins and coaching, no such luck.

As for the weeks, I totally planned to just get a little started on my Christmas projects, but then apples went on sale-ish. I mean they were on sale, but not a normal like I have to can these sale. However, our family is out of applesauce and I bought some and it was just gross, so it was a need and they were a pretty good deal. So, Veteran's Day Gaupo helped me can 56 pints and 3 quarts of applesauce. Today I prepped apple slices to can tomorrow, prayers that that goes well for me. It has made for some tire some days though. Canning is a ton of work. I give major applause to those who do a bunch year after year. Plus to those pioneers before all the nifty helpful stuff came about. I mean its not easy, but it is tasty and I am so excited to have my jars full again!

Applesauce was this week, but last week I decided it was time to start Christmas projects. So, I got the house cleaned. I promise it was although, now it doesn't look it. Except the bathrooms aren't revolting, so you know it happened. Anyway, part of the clean-up was the guest room and turning it into my craft room. After that was all squared away, I cut out pajama pants for the kids (I hope they fit) and got the stockings for Kade and Abby cut and sewn, plus buying all the supplies to stitch on them. It was kind of a lot of stuff, but it feel so good to have projects and things to work on. I love taking breaks, but I have been on one for awhile, so its good to be back to work.

One more bit of news is that last week we talked to a realtor about selling our house and buying another. I really would like more space in the kitchen to work and have people work with me. We could also use a living room where you can actually see the people you talking to instead of having to tilt your body on the couch. Bigger bedrooms for the kids would be nice too. So, anyway we have our work cut out for us. We aren't 100% sure we will move because if we don't find something better for us than what we have then we might as well not move. Our house has so many great aspects to it, but its flaws are kind of glaring right now. Although, last night while cuddling Abby, I thought of all the things we have done and the things I like about this house and if we move it will be hard because so many memories have been made in this house. It will always be a tender spot for me.  Yep, it been quite a couple of weeks for us.

Here are some pics just because I like them.

Tia pretending with horse and blocks.

Kylee's duplo castle

Gaupo and the twins.

Abby in a super cute dress.

October

I can't believe I just let October slip by with no blogging about all the great things that happened. October is one of my favorite months. For one, Gaupo's work incentive is Walk-tober and he strives to get over 10,000 steps all 31 days of October. That means for one month out of the year we go on family walks, and this year we even worked out together. I love being active as a family, so to actually have Gaupo motivated to go biking, walking, whatever is AWESOME!!

Gaupo pushing the stroller

Kylee and Tia on Scooters

Abby and Kade

I also loved October this year because family came to visit! I love Colorado for so many reasons, but being far from family isn't one of them. It was so fun to have them come, and I only got a couple of pictures even though we had a great time. Oma and Papa arrived on Wednesday the 16th and stayed till Saturday the 19th. It was perfect timing because I got Thursday with them all to myself. Well, I guess I had to share with the twins, but not the big girls. Although, Oma did go to both their classes and read books to them. The girls thought that was so amazing. Papa decided to walk with her to the school, so while they were gone I made bread and monster bars. With our day alone, I had them go to Costco with me, so we could get the refer-a-friend reward for me getting a Costco membership. We meandered around there and for awhile and came home. It was just fun to be with them. Our house is always full of projects and my dad loves to work on something. This time he chose to saw off the bottom of the guest room door, so that it now opens and closes easily. It took him awhile to get it just so (Papa is a bit of an exactist, which is totally fine), and I will tell you it works so nice now. Friday was the start of "fall break." It is really just a four-day weekend but it worked out perfect for our visitors this time. So, the girls got to have whole day with no school and Oma and Papa. Plus, Aunt Kitt arrived around noon. We were going to do something, but we ended up hanging around, visiting, going to the park, watching Twitches, and making snickers popcorn. It was so nice to just relax with them. Everyone stayed for the girls games on Saturday, so that was fun to have a lots of family to cheer them on. Oma and Papa left after the games to head home, but Kitt got to stay. We just enjoyed her and her and I stayed up way to late talking about sister stuff and it was awesome. A little bit hard to get up the next morning, but so great to see her again. I really miss having her close. I know when they finally move back things will be different than when she lived here before, but I am so excited still. Kitt left Sunday around 7:00, and the girls were so bummed because they didn't have school Monday, so they thought Kitt should hang around longer, but she had to go to work.

Abby and Kade, and half of Papa at the park

Tia in the sand.

Kylee on the Monkey Bars.

Monday of the 4-day weekend was really fun too. We spent the vast chunk of it making Halloween costumes, which if I do say so myself turned out very well this year. The girls even helped make them which I think made them even better. I have really enjoyed working on things with the girls this year.

Tia with her tail and wings.

Kylee with her ears and tail

Completely aside from costumes, the girls and I worked together to plan a Fall Party for a couple of their friends. They each invited one school friend and then Tori and Trent. We invited whole families but still ended up with only about 6 guest which actually turned out to be enough for us. We had fun visiting as adults, the kids had fun playing. Things didn't go exactly as planned, but it was still really fun. We worked on planning the party and making invitations on Sunday afternoons, and it was I feel like a great use of our time. The girls thought of what to have, what to do, how to decorate, and then we helped make it possible. We had pumpkin pancakes, sausage, and hashbrowns for dinner. Then we did a craft of a fall snow globe. They played pin the bat in the tree and had a pinata. There was plenty of time to just play and it worked out really good. I got 2 pictures after everything was over. So much planning and almost no proof. Kind of a sad deal, but the party was super fun, so oh well.

Pin the bat in the tree game.

The kitchen after math.

Of course our October wouldn't be complete without our Halloween celebrations. We watched several Halloween movies this year and even shared a couple with the girls. They did okay with them, although they did get a little scared with Twitches 2. Overall they did really well. Besides movies, the celebration was kicked-off with our ward Halloween party. It was potluck pizza and salad. It was super chill and I thought just perfect. I made a jack-o-lantern pizza for it, but it was kind of crazy day, so it got more toasty than I like, but oh well. The kids loved wearing their costumes and had a great time with their friends. Saturday was more soccer and we had monster tacos for dinner. I had everyone build their own and it worked great. Sunday was Autumn Sausage casserole. Monday we did meatloaf hand and pond sludge (potatoes and gravy). We also carved pumpkins that night. The girls pretty much gutted their own. They still needed help carving, but other than that they did great. I only had two tealight candles, so we used some old sparklers and they were way cool. It looked extra cool because it was so cold you could see the smoke coming off of them. So, I am very tempted to make sparklers a Halloween thing because it was really fun.Tuesday Jack-o-Lantern turnovers and dry ice and rootbeer night. It fun to let the kids blow the fog and then have some sludgy rootbeer. We had a ton of dryice this year, so it was really cold. It was already really cold outside, so slushy rootbeer was a little chilly for treat, but still so good and fun. Wednesday was suppose to be mummy burritos, but it was just burritos. Thursday, Hallowee, was the school Halloween parade and the traditional moldy mac and worms. After getting some food in the girls put the finishing touches on their costumes and Gaupo took them trick-or-treating. It was so cold, I didn't dare take the twins, but Kade and Abby were pretty sad to see everyone go outside without them. The big girls trick-or-treated for a little over an hour and got a great haul of candy and it was a very successful night.

Abby (cheerleader) and Kade (football player) 

Tia for Ward Party (Blue Dragon)

Kylee as a fox

All the kids

Meatloaf hand and pond sludge (top), turnover (left), moldy mac and worms (right)

Monster taco creations. Made by Gaupo, Tia, Kylee, and Me.

Gaupo lighting pumpkins

Tia, Mine, and Kylee's pumpkins all aglow.

Tia and Kylee with Sparklers.

Gaupo, Tia, and Kylee making the fog.

Tia on Halloween (Blue Dragon)

Kylee on Halloween (Fox)

Sisters and Best Friends

Not Much Here

I don't really know what to write about we haven't been up to much. I checked my phone for pictures that could inspire me as far as what to write about and this is what I found.

Kade in a cute new outfit.

Abby with Kade's helmet. 

A family portrait that Tia and I worked on together during conference. Tia also added her cousin Roxy in there.

Kade and Abby in twinner pants and sleepy positions.

See what I mean not a whole lot here. I spend a lot of time with my twins because they don't go to school. I didn't realize how much I missed having my big girls around until Monday when Kylee stayed home because her throat hurt. Yes, there were time it would have been easier for her to be at school. I could have gotten more done and had more alone time, but I loved having her for just a little bit. We read, did her math homework, ran to Sams Club, and just normal stuff, but it was fun to have someone that interacts with me to do it all with. I love doing my stuff with my twins, and I feel so blessed to have them in my life because I don't have to do things alone, but it was fun to have Kylee around.

Conference was this weekend. We missed Saturday Morning Session because we had soccer games, but we listened to all the rest. It was so good. This year was the first year I didn't go to women's session at the church. It was a little weird, but by the time I got dinner on the table it was like 5:50 and I wasn't even dressed yet. Plus, it seemed like a lot to just dump on Gaupo. 2 baths, 2 showers, feeding 4 people and yourself, plus putting 4 kiddos to bed. It's a lot normally but by yourself its really tough, so I stayed home. I watched it all. I watched some while I finished dinner. Gaupo still did all the baths and showers, but I helped with lotioning and feeding the babies before their bed time. Plus, I was here to help keep the big girls downstairs while he cared for the twins. I still got a lot of the meeting and think I made the right choice, although, I do not plan on doing that all the time. My favorite talk from conference was Pres. Nelson's talk in the Women's session. It added so much meaning and purpose to me receiving my endowments. It blesses me and my family so much. It gives me priesthood power that I can use in my own and families lives. I am not a Priesthood bearer, but that does not mean that I do not have priesthood power. I don't know it was really good and meant a lot to me.

I had parent teacher conferences this last week too. That was a little rough. Like as in I cried as I went home after them. I want so bad for my kids to get school and to do well, and they struggle with it. I think it is just so something I never expected to have happen that it takes me back every time. My kids are trying and they don't cause problems at school. Plus, this year is so much better than last year, so really we are doing so much better, but it was still hard to hear that my children were struggling academically. I think its hard because there is only so much I can do. Forcing it down my kids throats, making them practice practice practice and not get to play, or stressing our whole family out over it isn't going to do any good in fact it will probably do just the opposite, so we just do what we can. Conference gave me some areas to focus on and so we work on those and just hope and pray that between the help they get at school and what I can do here is enough and that they will be okay. It's hard. I sometimes wish I could have a conference that all the teacher said was your kid is doing great, they seem to understand everything and are right were they should be. They have great behavior.... You know that kind of conference, but that isn't the case, and that is okay. Or at least it is now. We keep working and trying. They will be okay, and one day that conference might happen, but if it never does than it doesn't and we keep trying our best and keep moving forward because I plan on my kids being great people anyway.

That's pretty much it from here. We still do soccer, school, work, and play. The weather has been awesome, but threatens to go south later this week, so welcome Fall.

Tons of Poop And The End of Nursing

This last week was so crazy and stressful. I am a woman who loves her schedules and the predictability that they bring to highly unpredictable things like kids. Last week my twins made life really crazy.

Last week, 4 out of the 7 days (probably I honestly cant remember but a ton of them) when we got the twins out of bed in the morning they were covered in poop. Like a couple of times I really just wanted to throw their jammies away instead of washing them out. They were so gross. I have no idea why there was so much or what was going on. They didn't have fevers, rashes, or anything like that just tons of poop. I mean Kade is popping out teeth like crazy. He currently has four you can see plain as day, one cut through, and one more cutting through. Plus, you can see his molars swelling up his gums in the back. Abby doesn't seem to be getting teeth, but she was doing it too so who knows. All I know is Saturday night I looked at Gaupo and was just like what is going on there is so much POOP! Both of us are kind of just in awe.

Another big unplanned event was Abby decided she is done with nursing. She is totally good with a bottle. I actually think better than Kade because she actually will hold her own bottle, but yeah she just stopped. It could be because she tried to bite me a couple of times, so I spanked her mouth and she was like enough of that and just wouldn't do it. I don't know, but if she's going to bite she can be done. Anyway, Tuesday night she tried to bite me, but she did latch on again and nurse. However, Wednesday morning she wanted nothing to do with it. She did nurse at 11:00, but after that I could never get her to do it again. She always just kept her jaw tight, squirmed away, and protested. I wondered at first if it was a growth thing, or teeth, or phase, so I tried to pump to keep the milk supply around, but my body doesn't pump, my life is really crazy to try and relax enough to get the milk to let down, and it was so hard. Finally, I just had to accept that she was done and that nursing was history for her. However, with no weaning time, Oh my has the engorgement been awful. Saturday was the most painful day and Gaupo had to work and I had to coach a soccer game, and well we survived. I wasn't as patient of a coach as I would like to be and it was hard to do things with the kids because any touch on my chest was just so painful, and sometimes it hurt without out any help. It was a pretty rough day. I totally recommend not stopping all at once if you can help it because it is super painful. It was also very emotional. When I am stressed I get angry and Wednesday morning was not a good morning because Abby wouldn't nurse, I couldn't get the milk to let down, there had been tons of poop, we were running late for school, and as immature as it is I thought "it's all Abby's fault. If she will just nurse none of this would be happening right now." Poor Gaupo didn't really want to go to work because he could tell I was having a really rough time of it. He told me when he left call me if you need anything and I was enough of a mess I shouted, "No, I don't need help. I can do this. You have to work." Poor guy. I could tell he didn't really want to leave but he really did need to so, I felt bad, but luckily it worked out.

Thursday was the craziest morning of the week. We had a huge mess in the twins room with poop and everything. So, I got that all cleaned up. Then I tried to nurse Abby and she of course refused. So, I tried to pump as my girls are running around not getting their lunches ready, and breakfast is not being made. Gaupo is having to feed Abby so I can pump, and when I am pumping and all those things are happening its like watching mini-bombs go off all over my house. Anyway, we are behind because it took a long time to pump. So, I am trying to get everyone breakfast. I had had to change another poopy diaper before breakfast. Feeding breakfast, rushing the girls to eat so we can go and Kade just pukes. Just total fire hydrant. His tray does not catch it all and so now I need to do a bath again, plus there is throw-up everywhere and I am suppose to be out the door in about 5 minutes to get the kids to school. I am pretty sure I can't make it at this point, so I reach for the phone to call my carpool buddy, but then I decided, No, I can still make it. However, the girls are totally freaked out, so when I went to put the phone down they yell, "No, Mom! Call Sis. Bailey, Call Sis. Bailey." I figured if my kids thought I should tap out then it was time. Thankfully she is awesome and came and got the kids. I had barely bathed Kade and waved to them as they were running to her car. Then I got the mess cleaned up, and twins to nap. I decided I wasn't going to call my mom instead I was going to read scriptures, pray, you know ground myself that way, and I did and it went great. Then the twins woke up Abby refused to eat, so I tried to pump and while I am pumping the twins just want me, but I can't hold them because I am pumping and Kade tried to climb on the couch and feel and he needed comfort, it wasn't going well. So, I decided that I had had enough of the crying and whining and I needed OUT! So, I loaded them up in the bike trailer, called my mom and talked to her while I rode my bike to a park and let the twins swing and then rode home. It was much needed break. I don't honestly remember what happened that afternoon, and I know I made it through soccer practice and dinner, but it was a crazy, crazy day.

In fun things this last week, we had one of my favorite days at the school--FOX TROT! It is the schools fundraiser for the year and I actually don't like fundraisers, so the funding part I don't like, but the FOX TROT I love. Gaupo had the day off, so I ran with both Kylee and Tia in their portions of the race. They both did great. Tia ran four laps and Kylee did 4 3/4 laps in their allotted times. It was fun to be outside in great weather and run with them. Its fun to chat, to urge them to keep going and to watch them just keep trucking along. Plus the continuous fun music. It is just fun or at least we really like it. Plus, the shirts this year were cool.

Tia running. She is the one by the edge of the sidewalk on the right.

Me and Tia

Me and Kylee

Kylee running.

This week is going a lot better. It is still a little crazy because I feel like that is sometimes the way it is with four kids, but its a lot better crazy just the normal--parent teacher conferences, soccer, doctor appointment, and stuff like that. I love my fun family, but boy oh boy are some weeks really crazy.

***As I was getting the above photos off my phone. I looked back at the rest of my pictures from Sept and we had a really good month. Its a pitty I didn't write more about it but good times were had memories made and life lived.

Kylee playing soccer. She is the one in the green.

Abby swinging at the park.

Kade swinging.

Tia got new glasses.

Family truck ride before the family bike ride.

Family bike ride. My handle bars, Kylee, and the two specs further up Gaupo and Tia.

Tia (red Shorts) and Kylee playing by the river on our bike ride.

Kade with Gaupo at the river.

Abby's toes in the river.

Me, Tia, Kylee on the bike ride.

Tia wearing the Armour of God. Come Follow me Win!

See it really is great.