Tuesday, March 31, 2015

365 Joys- March 31st 2015

3/31/15

We were looking at Facebook and there's a feature called "On this day" and on this day last year Nathanael and Samuel were making the temple out of dominoes... so Juliana wanted to make one, too!


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365 Joys- March 30th 2015

3/30/15

Gourmet pizza a la Benjamin.

With help, but he still did most of it on his own.

Meat/mushroom sauce, 3 cheeses, bacon, pepperoni, green peppers...

Yes, he made the crust, too.  It wasn't big enough for the pan if we did 2 and was too thick if we did one...
(oh, and these were our 5th and 6th pizzas... )

The rest were pepperoni and pepperoni and green pepper... and one cheese.

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Monday, March 30, 2015

365 Joys- March 29th 2015

3/29/15

The many faces of Juliana.


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This was when she said she was dead.


My little zombie girl.



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365 Joys- March 28th 2015

3/28/15

She is getting more confident!  Love this baby girl.


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Look at that grin!


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Michael and Ginny

I just love this picture.

It perfectly shows the relationship between my oldest and my youngest.

She sees him drawing ALL of the time.

She wants and needs to do what she sees him doing.

In this, he is helping her.


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And yes, she seems to be left handed.



365 Joys- March 27th 2015

3/27/15

Happy 7th birthday to our Christopher!  He almost was born on Nathanael's birthday, but he was born on his cousin Jacob's birthday instead.

This is our never ending energy kid.  He can go from early in the morning to late at night.  Bedtime is still a struggle for him.  He has fun doing anything.  He loves running, jumping, climbing, Superman anything, flying, going fast, and doing things with his family.  As long as they're fun. To him.


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You can almost see him growing.  He loves Legos, Superman, reading new things, Superman, Life of Fred math, Superman, superheroes, and meat.

This was the kid that would start running back and forth across the nursery room (it was in the end of the cultural hall at the time) and get everyone else following him.  (sigh).

Can't wait to see where he goes from here!

He looks forward to this coming year when he can be baptized, but we will enjoy every minute until then as well!


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365 Joys- March 26th 2015

3/26/15

Today my joy is full.  Nathanael is 12!  He is our 4th child to turn 12.  He will be our third child to receive the Priesthood.  He is a son to be proud of.

We love this kid.  He loves art, scriptures, Legos, reading, Harry Potter, Eragon, other books, Scouts, the outdoors, writing books and stories, and other things.  He is great with his younger brothers and sisters and gets long with the older brothers and sister, some of the time.

He is responsible, yet playful.  He is serious, but can be silly.  He is quiet but can speak up when he needs to.  I look forward to seeing how he grows from this point on!


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and just because she is adorable...

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365 Joys- March 25th 2015

3/25/15

Nathanael's birthday dinner, a day early because his birthday was on the day of Pack Meeting and his first Young Men's meeting and such... too busy for a nice dinner!  So here we are....



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365 Joys- March 24th 2015

3/24/15

This is her favorite place to stand.

So if you can't find her, check here.



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365 Joys- March 23rd 2015

3/23/15

This is my new favorite thing.  Seriously.

It's just fun to find a new thing that is just great!  I love the crunchy spiciness.

It may be silly, but YUM.



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March 22nd 2015- Benjamin's Piano Recital UPDATED WITH VIDEO! :)

Benjamin participated in his first piano recital today.  He did great!


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He didn't play perfectly but he did do a great job of recovering and continuing on with his pieces.  Sometimes he gets frustrated and starts over... not this time!

That was what I was most proud of... even though his pieces were almost perfect!


Tom also got a kick out of Benjamin's playing more complicated pieces RIGHT after someone played Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

All the participants did great, from the tiniest to the biggest (Benjamin).

The other really awesome part was how many people showed up to support Benjamin.  We had 3 full rows of Benjamin fans, mostly from church.  We called it 4th hour... hahaha.  Thank you friends!


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Tom apologizes for the sideways-ness of the first video. 

365 Joys- March 22nd 2015

3/22/15

I have two posts for March 22nd, and you'll see why later...


But here are my sweet little girls... ready for church.  New dresses for spring!


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And then Juliana and her awesome fashion sense, after church.


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Gorgeous.

365 Joys- March 21st 2015

3/21/15

It's spring!  And here are the starter plants for our garden.  Yay!



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365 Joys- March 20th 2015

3/20/15

She's walking!  She started a week before this, really taking more than one step at a time but HERE she goes!!!



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365 Joys- March 19th 2015

3/19/15

Michael in his awesome shirt.

Because he's awesome.

That is all.


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We love Cookie Monster.

365 Joys- March 18th 2015

3/18/15

Juliana used some of her Christmas money to buy a zombie t-shirt.


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4 cute little zombies are all saying "brains" and going one direction.



One lonely, also cute, little zombie is all alone and thinking about a sandwich.


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She LOVES it.


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And it's perfect for my little girl who has a stuffed brain cell, a zombie for a baby doll, and who has loved "Plants vs. Zombies" since before it was cool and before she could walk.



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365 Joys- March 17th 2015

3/17/15

Our St. Patrick's Day tradition... fake green food (or real, we are good.) and wearing green!  yay!


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365 Joys- March 16th 2015

3/16/15

Goofy little girl and her sweet grin.


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365 Joys- March 15th 2015

3/15/15

This sweet face always brings me joy.


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But seeing them play together like this, also brings me joy!


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Lots of choices today.

365 Joys- March 14th 2015

3/14/15

Pi Day!

I'm thankful for my daughter who, even though she was babysitting due to a campout and my going to the temple, still made pies for pi day.  She made a LOT of tiny little mini pumpkin pies plus one big gorgeous one!

Awesome job, Emilie.

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365 Joys- March 13th 2015

3/13/15

Once upon a time all the older boys and Dad were at an overnight Scout campout.

We had a lot of fun at home.

When it was time, I called everyone to come kneel down for family prayer.

THIS is what I got.


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I looked over just a few inches.


And this was the sweet sight...




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365 Joys- March 12th 2015

3/12/15

This little Shirley Temple face brings me joy.  She's such a goof and growing up so fast!

Stay little and sweet, Juliana!


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365 Joys- March 11th 2015

3/11/15

This cheesy grin brings me joy!  Really!



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365 Joys- March 10th 2015

3/10/15

Around the World Fair with our homeschool group.  It was great!



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365 Joys- March 9th 2015

3/9/15

Look at the joy on this face!  (dessert from the fundraiser, haha)



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365 Joys- March 8th 2015

3/8/15

No words.  Just happiness and joy and fun and laughter, haha.


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I'm sure Nathanael will forgive us eventually.

365 Joys- March 7th 2015

3/7/15

It's a good thing I like healing posts!

Emilie had a close encounter with a gravel path at the inner tubing activity with the Young Women.

They even called an ambulance and would not release her to go home with her leaders until they'd gotten a hold of Tom or me... they did.

 Here she is, already looking better!  Joys!



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365 Joys- March 6th 2015

3/6/15

This is what keeps me up late at night.

Not sure why she is so awake and happy when everyone else is asleep!

However, I'm ok with how it works and her learning how to sleep at the right time is coming along nicely.

It's only once in a while that our schedule is this off!!!

It's a good thing she's cute haha.




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365 Joys- March 5th 2015

3/5/15

Sisters.  Juliana was throwing a tantrum.  Ginny decided to commiserate.  Ah, togetherness.

Wonder how they'll be when they're teenagers.


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Oh, and the Snickers were from a really good deal at Sam's Club.

365 Joys- March 4th, 2015

3/4/15

It brings me joy (again) that bodies heal, and especially little bodies.

Ginny is a climber.  Today she was climbing and fell.  She had her tongue sticking out at the time, apparently.

Michael and I could see that she was bleeding from the mouth and thought she'd bit her gums or hit  her cheek or something.

It wasn't until I looked closer that I realized she had a hole in her tongue.  (no tongue piercings, baby girl!)

Tongues heal fast.  But WOW, she bled a lot that first hour.  I researched like only a mother can...

And we realized there was nothing we could do.

But she loves popsicles.


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She's healing quite nicely, as this picture two days later shows... 


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365 Joys- March 3rd, 2015

3/3/15

Timothy brings me joy.

I love how he looks at things.  Always with exuberance and a huge amount of energy.

Or, with a huge amount of energy against the whole world... either way, he throws his whole self into things.

We love him.


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365 Joys- March 2nd, 2015

3/2/15

It brings me joy that each of my children find me  humorous... SOMEtimes.  This is her, I can't believe you're my mother, face.


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Haha.  I've seen that what, at least on 10 kids now?  I'd like to think Joseph never made this face at me...

Maybe when I wasn't looking.


Or he's making it now.  ;)

365 Joys- March 1st 2015

3/1/15

The fridge in our house is often decorated with original art.


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Over time, it is often altered.  Again and again.


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Until it reaches a state that it is a masterpiece.  Done by family.


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And then we start over.


This brings me joy.  :)