The kids have grown!

I put them on the scale today. Emily is 54 pounds, Caitlyn 52, Eric 42, Karen 29, and Ben 23. (Ben has been to the doctor 4 times in the past month.) I am so surprised that the girls are now over 50 pounds! Karen now gets to forward face in the old evenflo car seats. (30 pound rear-facing limit)

We got the fisher price booster yesterday and I am a bit dissapointed in it- or at least what I've read about it. It is really 14 inches wide- only 2 less than the graco boosters we have. Also, Eric is the only one who can use it at its thinnest.

So, what I have decided to do to the car seats (for now) is this:
Give Eric a booster in the van pending good sitting. Put the radian in the car for the older 3 to share. (They can sit in the middle and there will be no buckling issues.) Also in the car is the rear-facing tribute for Ben and the forward facing titan for Karen. In the van we have the new avenue for Ben and Karen's pink scenera. I'm sure this is all gobbelty-gook for most, but oh well. Here's Eric in his new booster.



Last Thursday Emily danced for the senior home. She was graceful and is a natural dancer.



On Friday we met mom's friend and went out to Cottonwood canyon. We had a lovely time. The kids got to go out on a canoe for the first time in their lives.



We walked around the lake and guess who decided to be the "trail boss"?


Saturday we went to Lagoon. It was crazy with a million people, but also fun.

One down, one more to go

We went to kmart today to check out their car seats at 10 percent off. I had a coupon too. I had little miss 27 pound 3.5 year old sit in the car seats. In the evenflo tribute she had 2 inches above her head, cosco scenera 4 inches, and the safety first avenue 5 inches. I bought the avenue. The seat is the tallest, has the highest straps (16 inches) and it has an 8 year lifespan. I think the seat may be my last harness purchase! (Yah, maybe not when the other spare expires.) The seat will be Karen's spare in the car until Ben is nearly 30 pounds and then it will be his main seat. I bought the silver instead of girly pink. I installed it after the kids went to bed, so I have to wait till tomorrow to get kids in the seat pictures.



Isn't it nice? It was a pain in the patootie to install. I need a pool noodle. Oh and there are 15 inches left on the other side of the car. The booster seat should fit nicely. I am so excited! It is on its way.

Emily lost another tooth today. This time Aaron had to save it from the basement sink drain. Apparently she was trying to pull it out. I must remember to get the tooth fairy to come.

Caitlyn's Party

Today was the big day. Two seven year old girls came over to play in the pool and have cake. It was fun. (Our three girls were here too, so it was plenty of kids for me.) Caitlyn helped make her "cake" It is actually ice cream molded to look like cake with whipped cream on top.





One girl sewed Caitlyn a quilt. (Her mom helped.)



It is so refreshing to not get junk at a birthday party. I tried not to give junk as favors. I did give out most of last year's Halloween candy. (The hard candy that doesn't go bad with age.) The kids played a game picking up glass rocks in the pool. They kept them. Then we found some pink jump ropes with wooden handles on clearance. My kids think the jump ropes are the best. I'm going to take back the spares and get something boyish for Eric.

I sold the booster seat today! Then I bought the Fisher price one. The kids had a hard time deciding between silver and tan. They ended up with silver.

Here's a pic of Karen and her piggy tails.

Wheeling and Dealing

I've had some stuff up for sale for a while. Thing are finally coming together and it looks like I might be selling several things. I started this because I wanted to get Eric the Nautilus car seat, but I've decided against it now. I think I'll let him use a booster when he's 6. Maybe. He's already 5.5 years old. He's really okay with his car seat anyway. He just loves new things. So, my latest idea is to sell the spare booster seat. Then I'm going to get the Fisher-Price Safe Voyage Booster. It has an adjustable seat from 10-12.5 inches. The turboboosters we have are 16 inches wide. The FP booster will give room for my beloved 3 across in the tempo. Aaron always complains when I do that with a booster because the kids can't buckle. The booster only costs $30, so no big deal with all the money I have and will be making. Maybe I can sell more stuff and get another one.

Emily has been wheeling and dealing at dance. Her tap shoes were too small, so she traded her teacher for bigger ones. Then her ballet shoe go a hole in it from too much wear. (She loves her ballet shoes.) She took Caitlyn's ballet shoes to trade for a good pair. I have let it out that Caitlyn won't be doing dance this year. Viola lessons are twice the cost of dance. Perhaps when she gets into orchestra she can go to no lessons and do dance again.

Benjamin had his well check yesterday. He weighs 23 pounds and is 32 inches long. He has two more inches to grow before he can forward face in the car! (Not going to happen till hes 3.5 or 4, though.) He's still not talking which isn't a concern due to our family history and his visual impairment. I'm starting signing with him. I don't expect anything though.

Karen has curly hair!!! I am so surprised. She inherited Aaron's hair. Or at least his wavyness. She's going to look like her grandma. I always thought she had straight hair like me. It is so interesting how different all the kids are!

A Miracle

I've been reading "The Work and the Glory" books lately. (After watching the very bad movies.) What has really struck me is how much faith the early saints had. They witnessed many miracles. That made me question my faith and I have determined to be better. This past week I had that horrid illness. It was really quite awful and I lost over 10 pounds in just a few days. Last night when I went to bed I had my telltale burp attacks. I thought it was just some leftover from my illness and having my stomach ache since afternoon, so I just went to bed. At 3am things had progressed and it was a stress attack. I prayed and pleaded, then jumped, then felt it would be okay and went to bed. I woke up healthy and fine! I know it was Heavenly Father who healed me of my problem.

I have been reading other things too. Michael Ballam emailed some of his talks to me. I read the first one and learned that music can give order to the brain. It also creates a bridge between the left and right sides of the brain. I want my kids to have music in their lives. The other bit I've been reading is DeMille's packet on Love of Learning I think. I read about educational theories and such. I as mentor to my children need to be in scholar phase and study myself. There is a point where he says that I should teach the kids what is mine. What is mine is different than anybody else. I have stewardship over my children. I can teach what is right for my family at that time. That is so freeing! Science is not mine (yet) and neither is ancient history. Right now what is mine is to learn cursive (better), Greek, to play the organ, and to become better acquainted with the scriptures. Since I'll keep on studying I can go through other studies. Someday math may be mine. (If not, I'll tell Aaron he needs to be mentor for a while.) It is so nice to know that I don't have to subscribe to the public school subjects. My kids will be okay.

I started punishing the children with chores. My house is cleaner already. It is so much better to have the kids do something constructive to make up for their folly rather than just sitting in the corner. Those whose folly is to make a mess get to clean it up and do yet another chore. It is awesome!