Merry Christmas!

Here we are and it is already Christmas Eve. Our house is certainly buzzing with excitement right now. I decided to post our Christmas letter (it is a bit jumbled from the margins) in case we happened to miss sending you a card this year, but we hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

It seems so amazing that it is already that wonderful time of year,

Where families gather from all around
and gifts are shared with cheer.

And so it is with grateful hearts, we write to you once more

To wish you happy holidays and hope great tidings are in-store.

2009 was a big year for us,
our family changing yet one more time,

Adding another little boy has the family turning on a dime!

Little William came to us this April, so healthy and so grand,

With golden locks a plenty, bright blue eyes,
and perfect little hands.

The other boys play with him like a toy, which Will thinks is so much fun;

He is rolling, laughing and always getting his way,
so happy to be the youngest one!

Caden is on the downhill side of Mrs. Black's first grade class;

He loves reading, math, running and screaming,
and playing in the grass!

His first year of soccer was trying, but he loved it all the same;

He was a great goalie and team-mate
and found adoration for the game.

Ethan is still in preschool, learning so much everyday;

He is the happiest little boy always talking and wanting to play!

It matter not with who, when or how, for picky he is not,

Enjoying anyone willing to play with him,
while sharing anything he has got!

Angie is running ragged, outnumbered now four to one,

Doing her best to keep the family schedule
hoping someday her scrapbooking to be done!

She has honed her mommy skills
and with the doctor on speed dial,

Keeping ALL the boys healthy and in line,
while clothed and fed all the while!

Sam is ready for the snow and has counted the days
until it blanketed the ground,

Still working on his Master's Degree with thoughts never far
from his sled and it's reverberating sound!

So the time is here at last, where we celebrate
the birth of the greatest of us all,

Gathering together as friends and family in lands big and small!

We are so glad you're a part of our lives
and know to our hearts you are near;

Until we see you next time...
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Holiday Fun

Our lives always become a bit chaotic this time of year with birthdays to celebrate and holiday fun (and stress) to be had. We had a good Thanksgiving this year again. My husband wanted me to post my brother devouring the turkey. He is always fun to have around and so is his family.
This year each family member said what they were thankful for. I loved Mike's son's comment, "Me". We laughed about that for a while. Only a child would say such things, but I like the fact that he loves himself and has confidence in who he is. I, for one, could certainly use more of that in my life. Kids are so honest and I love seeing things through their perspective.

We celebrated Ethan's 5th birthday this month. I can't believe that he is 5 already. I know moms' say things like that all the time, but really it has flown by. I still think of him being younger than that, but that could be from his behavior some days. Here are some fun things about Ethan.
*Ethan loves to talk and talk and talk. He really never quits. He even talks by himself during bedtime until he falls asleep.
*Ethan loves to talk to anyone. He has never been shy and will strike up a conversation with complete strangers.
*He loves movies. We call him our T.V. junkie. This is the one time where he will be somewhat still and quiet, at least for a little while.
*He is a picky eater. I am not a mom to cater to everyone's desire to meal times and basically it is you take it or leave it attitude, but this boy would rather leave it which leads me to my next comment.
*Ethan is stubborn. Unfortunetly, he has inherited this from me.
*He has such an imagination. I love to listen to his stories which are always different and he can play with one toy and be happy with that all day.
*He is smart. All moms say that I know, but really, I think he is pretty smart for his age.
*Ethan is loving and supportive. He is quick to tell people, "Good Job!" and he is one that I can always count on for hugs and kisses unexpectedly. I am hoping to hang on to that for as long as I can.
*He is tough. I recently got him his last set of vaccinations for kindergarten and he surprised me when he didn't cry, but said, "Owww.....that hurts," as he scowled at the nurse.

Happy Birthday, Darling!

I have been trying multiple times to get some family pictures to send with our Christmas cards this year. Well, we tried that and it didn't work so well, so I tried taking separate pictures of the boys and as you can see that didn't go so well either. Trying to coordinate all that is like trying to nail jello to a tree. These are some of the rejects.

So Christmas is fast approaching and we have another birthday to celebrate next week and I am so unprepared. It is a struggle for me to focus on the true meaning of Christmas among so much stuff and drama, but I try. We are blessed to have the funds to give to our loved ones this year and blessed to be so healthy. I am happy to celebrate with William and as always the kids have a way of making Christmas so exciting.

So It Begins...

So I have tried multiple times to post lately, but have been unable to finish any of them. They just end up going into my drafts section so while this one says September it is really October 5.

This picture is the first BSU game of the season if I'm not mistaken. Anyone who knows my husband knows that he has been counting down the days to this one moment. He was lucky enough to get tickets from his brother in Boise and had a wonderful time as usual. He has already set in motion the yearly boys get together to see the game. I have no idea who BSU is playing only that it is in November. I am lucky that my husband is only into college football otherwise I might go mad with him so obessed over sports all the time, but then comes snowmobiling....then golf....then....oh well. Sam is a lot of fun and truthfully my life would be just so darn boring and depressing without him.


The boys have started school (I know it was over a month ago) and everyone is doing well and enjoying it. I have really appreciated the quieter times at home with Will, but that time just flies by. Cade struggles with doing his homework and it was a big frustration for both of us to get it done. He now gets a reward for doing it WITHOUT WHINING! It has been helpful and while I hope that he will enjoy it sometime, I honestly don't ever remember my homework being fun.


Here is a cute picture of William looking like he is saying a little prayer. He is growing and changing so much. He has already outgrown the adorable little outfit in that picture. Sam and I go back and forth on who he looks more like Caden or Ethan, but he is developing his own look these days. Will is also rolling over and now sleeps best on his belly. I wish I could say he is sleeping through the night, but he is still up 2 or 3 times a night and on rare occasions more. He seems to be getting into more of a schedule with naps and feedings and speaking of food...the boy is becoming a tank. We started him on cereal at 4 months and have continued from there. He is a good eater and always is interested in what we are eating. He already prefers the sweet stuff which his daddy is sure to give him and I am trying to keep everyone from feeding him "table" food when I'm not looking (you know who you are)! C'mon, the boy isn't even 6 months yet and I as his mother should be the first to feed him such wonderful things. Okay....I think I will move on now.

Our family is doing well despite a few sicknesses lately. The boys are excited for Halloween and are hoping to be characters from Star Wars. I can see them now running around hitting people with their lightsavers. Oh my boys are never boring! I remember being sad that I wasn't going to have a little girl, but now it just seems right that I have all boys. I can only imagine the things that will happen with all these boys, but I think that I would rather not...Hee, Hee.

William

SMILE!!
I am keeping my mommy so busy that this is all she has time to post right now!

Oh so busy!

Elizabeth (my sister-in-law) and William on his blessing day. She was looking so cute that I decided to post her picture instead of mine. :) Thanks to everyone who came to the blessing. We had a wonderful time.

Our family went to Island Park and stayed at my in-laws cabin. We didn't know we would be sharing the place with a squirrel who visited us often at meal time and I am talking about INSIDE the cabin. That explains all the hidden peanuts all over the place. We had a good time even though it rained and we didn't catch any fish. This picture is of Caden at a kids pond in Island Park. He really likes to fish and loves it when he catches them, but then don't we all?
This would be me trying to fish with the baby strapped in front of me. It was drizzling a little so I was trying to keep him covered.

Ethan finally got his first bike and helmet. He was so excited! Caden finally took the training wheels off of his bike. We had tried to take them off before, but he got into Daddy's tools and put them back on, so we let it be. A few weeks ago, I caught him in Daddy's tools again, but this time he was taking them off. He has been riding training wheel free ever since.Check out that cool scar of Ethan's. He and Caden were pulling on each end of a rubber band cord I use for exercising and well let's just say that Ethan didn't let go of his end when Caden did and the handle came flying back and nailed him in the head. We took him to the doctor for stitches, but they used glue instead and now he has quite the mark. He is a tough boy and will have some stories to tell some girl about all his scars when he gets older.
Cade and William before the soccer game. This is the first year we have put Caden in sports. It has been a lot more fun for me to watch than I had anticipated. He is really timid about kicking the ball and tends to just jump up and down when he gets excited (like when he plays the Wii), but he is learning and I think having some fun. William is growing every day and is now 3 months old. He is starting to coo and smiles often. I can now give him a bath for a few minutes without him screaming the entire time. What a relief!

Well, the summer is just flying by and I am really hoping to go camping more in these last few moments of the season, but I can barely keep up with all my kids and housework these days, so I am hoping that school might bring me some time. Caden will be in 1st grade this year. He is not too excited to go back to school and I don't think he realizes that he will be spending most of the day there, so it will be interesting to see how he handles it. Ethan will be back in preschool and is so thrilled to see Mrs. Thompson again. Sam has been telling me that he is getting hassled about not having new pictures of William on here, so I will try to get more on here later. Hopefully, we will have some family pictures taken soon.

What a day!

Caden with kindergarten teacher

My sweet William

Ethan with preschool teacher

Already this morning has been a busy one filled with many surprising things. First, my two oldest boys were up at 6:00 a.m. I don't mention the baby because he is up at least 4 times a night! So I am fairly tired already. Then I discovered that those two oldest boys had killed the fish with a concoction of a green marker, Windex, and Pledge (and that is all they fessed up to). I am not upset, but more relieved that I don't have to be the one cleaning the tank and feeding it anymore. I am not an animal hater, more an animal lover, but as any parent knows, your children's pets can sometimes end up your responsibility (especially with young children); otherwise, they might starve to death. Caden was sad and demanded a new fish, but it is just not going to happen. I don't want another pet dying from the boys' experiments.

I then was shocked to enter the boys' bathroom and discover the mess that awaited me. With toothpaste smeared all across the vanity and other things I won't mention smeared across other unmentionables, I was dreading my responsibility of cleaning said bathroom, but I slapped on my rubber gloves as high as they would go and scrubbed and sanitized away. It is a nice feeling to see a clean space....at least for a few hours.

So with a little baby still sleeping away and not in my arms, I decided it might be time to update the blog. While I was doing this I also was trying to catch up on some blogs I follow and was shocked, SHOCKED I say, to read that I had won a prize. It is a jelly roll of new fabric (that won't even be in stores until September, how cool). I won it from Kati Cupcake (look at my blogs I follow to see) for posting a comment on her blog. She sells online and also owns The Quilte Shop in Rigby. It is really beautiful stuff and I am so thrilled.

It is now 11:30 a.m. and I am wondering what other surprising things might happen to me today, good or bad and wishing you all good things today.

More baby pictures

Welcome, Baby!

William Samuel Grover
Born: April 23, 2009
Time: 5:40 p.m.
Weight: 6 lbs. 7 ounces
Length: 19 inches

Cowboy...Take Me Away!

I know that some of you have heard Sam and I praising Leading Edge Preschool and perhaps even get sick of hearing it, but we just can't seem to help ourselves. We love how organized the school is and the ways the teachers make learning fun for the kids. I won't start bragging about it again, but wanted to share this cute photo of Ethan on cowboy day. This kid has such personality and is such a boy! I love how he is making guns out of his hands. I don't particularly like it when he is shooting people with the pencil he got in primary (anything can be a destructive weapon with boys), but he never fails to bring a smile to my face. I think I have a picture of clown day somewhere and am really disappointed that my camera wasn't working on wear something ugly day. We spiked his long blond locks up and sideways, put on the ugliest shirt we could find and adorned it with a bright, thick gold chain necklace (which he thought was cool) and he still managed to look cute. That's my boy!

Suggestions Please!

For every one of my pregnancies Sam and I have always had a girl's name picked out, but alas here we are having another boy and are again struggling with finding a name that we both love. So I thought that some of you who actually read this blog might be willing to make your suggestions to us. You never know...yours might be the one we pick!

Snow Much Fun!

This photo above is of my brother and his family with my little Caden looking so silly with those huge goggles on. Our family is enjoying all the snow we have been receiving this winter. I really just like to look at it more than play in it, but the boys have been having a good time, even Ethan who tends to get cold quickly has been out in spurts to do some sledding and Sam can often be found snowmobiling with his buddies. He and Grandpa took the boys snowmobiling yesterday afternoon. I was certainly invited and Sam assured me it would be okay, but I really didn't feel like going against doctor's orders and trying to keep myself on a snowmobile almost 7 months pregnant. Instead I enjoyed a quick visit with my sister and then some nice and quiet alone time. Now if I could only get more of that. :)

Born to boss the boys!

My sister found this card for my birthday with this cute little girl on the front that says, "Born to boss the boys". It was quite perfect for me at the time as two days before Sam and I found out that we are having another boy. I am thrilled to be having another baby and a healthy one also, but I was surprised at my disappointment that it isn't a girl. I know a lot of people were rooting for it. Sam assures me that this is our LAST child, so it was harder to swallow the fact that it is something that just won't happen for me. So.....a box of Twinkies and tissues later, I was feeling better about it. I was just born to boss the boys. Hopefully, Sam and I will do a decent job of raising them. I can only imagine the things that will happen with just boys in the family and hope that me and my boys can survive them.