Life with twins + 4 more

Last week my sister fell down her stairs holding her baby and ended up breaking the bone in her back right above the tailbone. (And they say I am the weakling in the family! :)) Pretty hard to take care of your kids when you can't even stand up let alone roll over.

So she got to have a few days of R&R, my kids got to hang out with their cousins for a few days, and I got to experience life with twins plus four more. Yep, that's six kids all under the age of 7.

Bridger and Caymbree are only a few weeks apart in age. Considering they are right smack dab in the middle of the terrible two's they did awesome together.

The kids did great! It got a little crazy during meal times and bedtimes but other than that it wasn't too bad. Luckily the weather was FABULOUS so they spent a LOT of time outside AND....

I had a LOT of help. Hallee was a life saver and earned five bucks for all her help. Unfortunately, she got a taste of what life is like for a mom and I am not sure she was too impressed. When we first picked up my sisters kids we had an hour and half car ride back to our house. I put Hallee right in the middle so she could give the baby the binkie when needed, entertain Caymbree, and pass treats to all the kids. About 1/2 hour into the car ride we had the following conversation....

Hallee: "Wow. I think I now know why you are always in a hurry to put us to bed."

Me: "Oh ya? Why's that."

Hallee: "Cause this is crazy! All I can think is how I can't wait until everybody is in bed."

Me: "Yep. Taking care of kids is really hard work sometimes. That's why mom gets kind of ornery some nights."

Hallee: "Ya. Now I know."

This picture still cracks me up. When I went in to check on the girls one night this is how I found Adi and Hallee. Too funny. If it would have been Hope laying on Hallee she probably would've ended up with a broken nose.

Move over Christmas!!

Move over Christmas!!! Halloween has taken over! Seriously that's how it seems. October was crazy busy with all sorts of fun activities and while we had a blast I am kind of glad to see it end.

HALLOWEEN PARTIES

This year Troy and I had to dress up on three separate occasions for different parties. The first one included a yummy dinner, a lot of running around, and the Newlywed game. The second involved a little murder mystery and a variety of "test your fate" activities. The guy below had to let a live tarantula crawl on his chest for 1 min. Others had to eat things like a cow tongue, three king worms, nasty drink concoctions, and the kicker of the evening was when a poor girl had to eat three live goldfish!!! I was dying!!! Let's just say I did NOT test my fate that evening. Troy did and as luck would have it all he had to do is stand with his arms out straight for three minutes! BORING!!!

I didn't think we were going to be able to pull of the third party; the annual family Halloween party. We had so much going on and it just seemed simpler to stay at home. Anyone who knows me knows that I HATE to miss out on family functions so by Thursday night I caved in and we made it work. And I am SOOOO glad I did. It's not everyday that you get to see your family (especially this bunch) all decked out in sweet Halloween attire!

Grandpa and Grandma Smith with their great-grandchildren

My mom and dad

Hallee and cousin Olivia

Me and my gang

FALL LEAVES

Fall just wouldn't be complete without playing in the leaves. Thank goodness my parents back yard does more than the trick. My dad saved this pile of leaves just for the grandkids. Good thinking Pops!

CRAFTING

The girls and I managed to do a little crafting this month as well. We made these cute kabobs out of gummy/gooey treats to give to all the cousins. A little sticky but a fun project. I also realized a few days before Halloween that the girls did not have trick-or-treat bags. So, I came up with the perfect way to rid my pantry of all those empty food storage cans. :)

Note: It helped to microwave some of those tougher candy for a few seconds to make it easier to slide. We also put them in cellophane bags and tied black tulle around the bottom.

PUMPKINS AND THE PUMPKIN PATCH


The pumpkin patch is always a favorite! Full of photo ops, the quest to find the perfect pumpkins, and mini corn mazes.

All of which leads up to the MUCH anticipated pumpkin painting night.


Check out our masterpieces!

SUGAR COOKIES

We made sugar cookies one night for FHE. Looks like the cookies got the best of us!!

So there you have it. Add on a trip to Cornbelly's, the Scarecrow Festival, the witches at Gardner Village, class parties and the school carnival and you now know why I am saying that Christmas doesn't stand a chance.

Send in the clowns

Well the big day finally arrived. Nope not Christmas. Not a birthday. THE SCHOOL CARNIVAL!! Hallee came into our room about three times the night before unable to sleep because she was SOOOOOOO excited!!!

Troy and I made a booth for the carnival. I was a little leery how it would turn out but it ended up being a big hit! Kids would come up to the booth pick a number, say "trick or treat" and then lift up the flap that they had chosen. Behind each number were various "tricks". Things like being sprayed down with silly spray, a water bottle, blasts of air, fog horns, or a semi-scary mask.

My fears of a flop came true the first few minutes when instead of laughter came shock and tears from the little ones. Fortunately, once a few big kids did it the surprise element caught on and they LOVED it.

My kids had a blast and I can't believe how much time and effort goes into putting on this carnival.

MY LITTLE CLOWNS....

Their costumes this year were inspired by my cousin Lorren's costume last year. Thanks for the fun idea Lorren!!! My girls complained about having to be clowns all the way up until I finished the final product and then they ended up loving them. (I even got a few apologies about the amount of whining I had to endure during the process).

I am a scrub ...

That's what happens when you have a mom that is ULTRA talented and generous with those talents. She cooks, she sews, she crafts, she takes amazing photos, and that's just the start of it. The only problem is that it allows me to be a SCRUB. I just mooch off of her talents instead of learning them myself.

CASE AND POINT...

See all those amazingly cute pillows on Hallee's bed. Yep. Handmade with love by grandma and mom. (OK. Let's be honest. They were made by grandma. I did a little stitching and cutting here and there but that's just about it). SHE came down and spent two whole days out of her life just sewing away. Did I learn the skill in the process?? Nah. I know where she lives.

Once again, mom to the rescue. While planning our Visiting Teaching Workshop I didn't have to look farther than her closet to find these fantastic shoe centerpiece decorations!!! Isnt' she talented!

And last but most certainly not least all the new photos so nicely displayed around the blog...yep. Grandma again.

I love ya mom!! Sure glad you got ultra blessed in the talent area!!!

HGTV Vol. 2

It's finally done!!! After two years of Hallee's room being in limbo it is finally finished. It all started when we found out we were pregnant with Caymbree . In order to make room for the baby we moved Hallee's room into the large office. It was suppose to be temporary. Just until we finished the basement (which at the time we thought would only be in a few months). I hated the thought but Hallee thought it was great. She kept telling people she had her own computer and t.v in her room. We kept reminding her that was NOT the case. Over the years the kids loved that they had a place to do their arts and crafts and watch t.v. Troy and I hated that we had to schedule our office time around bedtime. SO, how do you make everyone happy??

BEFORE

AFTER

We got the girls fishtank up and running after promising them for two years that we would "just as soon as we get Hallee's room done."
The room is pretty large so we created a "craft corner" for them to still do their projects on.

I am thrilled with how it turned out and Hallee LOVES it. The girls favorite part is having sleepovers in Hallee's new bed on the weekends.

And by the way - Troy and I finally got our office too. It's perfect!

October Festivities

I {heart} Fall. So many fun things to do. We are doing our best to get them all in. This past weekend Troy and I took the girls to the Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point. The kids had a blast and it was BEAUTIFUL weather!
My friend Tara and I have made it a tradition to take the girls to see the Witches at Gardner Village. For some reason it never gets old. Unfortunately, pictures did. The kids were less than cooperative when it came time to say "cheese".

We loved having cousin Adi with us for the day.

My one and only picture that actually shows a "witch". Gotta love it.

Do you think I was in a "pink" mood when I dressed my children that day?

(Not planned by the way).

Hope's preschool had their first field trip to Cornbelly's (also at Thanksgiving Point). The weather was a little colder but the kids didn't even seem to notice.

Hello....hello? Anyone out there???

Yowzer. I just looked at the date of my last post and realized that this might be THE longest I have ever gone without posting. It's a problem when you are starting to get hate mail / calls from your three loyal readers. Sorry. But I really have had a good excuse. "I'm just saying..."

So just in case you were wondering, here is a look at my to-do list that started about a month ago and will end....hmmmm.... probably sometime after Christmas.

1. Family Pictures - Oh the dread. Found outfits, picked location and "hired" mom to be the professional photographer. G&G spent the afternoon trying to get kids to smile, look and NOT fidget. You know how that goes. Glad they are over. Pictures coming soon...
2. Hallee's baptism pictures - Found and ordered the dress. "Hired" mom to once again make the trip to our house to take the pictures. She looked beautiful. That is until I wiped her nose a little aggressively spurring on a nose bleed all over the white dress. Awesome.
3. Visiting Teaching Workshop. A little worried going into it that it was going to be a COMPLETE disaster but it actually turned out really nice. Hopefully I will get around to posting about it.
4. And the Shining Star of the month is HOPE HODGES. Made a poster (forgot to take a picture), bought treats and went to Hope's preschool to tell all about her. She was queen for the day.
5. Remember my friend Jen that said, "There are those that DO. And those that DON'T. You are one that DOES." Somehow I agreed to be the room parent for Hallee's classroom at school. SO, for the past few weeks I have been planning and organizing her upcoming Halloween party AND creating a booth for the carnival. Had to recruit Troy on this one. Still working on it now. I'll let you know how it comes along. And by the way. Stay tuned for a VERY important soapbox post about how I feel about the lack parental involvement. Ya. Just be prepared. It's gonna be ugly.
6. I am also in the middle of preparations for the Utah Dance Judges Association. Our Fall workshop is just a few weeks away so I am frantically getting all the paperwork and e-mails up to date.
7. In my spare time I decided to make all three girls Halloween costumes. In fact, just finished them up today. Super cute if I can say so myself.
8. Next on the list is preparing for Hope's birthday. Since she is a gum fanatic I'm thinking something along the lines of a bubblegum birthday. Hmmmm...... it just might work.
9. Creeping around the corner is my competition. Registration forms are flooding in. Time to start making all the arrangements.
10. And off in the near future is Hallee's 8th birthday and you know what that means. Luckily the dress is bought, pictures are done and now I just have to work on the keepsake book I decided to do in all my spare time. Speaking of which....if you haven't turned in your letter (and you know who you are) COME ON ALREADY!!!! :)

So, on the days that I am super ornery and Troy asks me what is wrong I just look at him and then point to my to-do list so nicely hanging from the refrigerator door. Then he lovingly sweeps me off my feet, kisses me gently on the forehead as he lays me down on the couch to give me a much needed back massage and asks what he can do to lessen my stress. OK. NOT QUITE. It more or less includes the words "more than you can chew."

So to my loyal listeners (he he), despite it all, I think I am back. Sorry to leave you hanging.

A happy labor birth day!

We had a blast at Bear Lake this year celebrating Troy's Birthday over Labor Day weekend. Tom and Diane, my parents and siblings plus families all joined us for one last getaway.
The weather kinda-sorta cooperated with us with bouts of sun mixed in with a little wind and rain. Of course, the most beautiful day was Sunday. Go figure. We made the best of it by going on a nature walk to Bloomington Lake. It is absolutely breathtaking!!!

FHE failed again...

I am seriously just about to give up on Family Home Evening around here. Hallee is the FHE Nazi and does not let us forget about it and talks about it all week long. You would think with that kind of excitement we would have some really meaningful moments but they always seem to backfire. Our lessons are SUPER short and yet they still seem to extend beyond their attention spans. For example, this week Troy talked about Joseph Smith's First Vision and it's significance in our lives. At the end of the lesson Troy asked the girls, "So, if someone were to ask you what church you belong to, what would you say?" Hope's response, "NONE OF THEM. BECAUSE NONE OF THEM ARE TRUE."

And now you know why we struggle with FHE around here.

HGTV Hodges Style Vol.1

I am seriously so behind on my blogging. I still have over 100 pictures to sort through and post from our trip to Bear Lake over Labor Day. Nice hey? But we have been busy around here. We finally finished (okay the bathroom still isn't done) the basement, we have an official office once again, and Caymbree got a big girl room complete with the bed and all which meant that we had to do some serious rearranging and redecorating.

Caymbree's room turned out better than I expected thanks to five cans of spray paint, a little hard work and money earned from a garage sale. Stay tuned for more pictures to come...