So I pretty much failed at blogging in 2011...

Here are a few highlights from last year:

I spent January organizing my house and February to July destroying it with remodel until I finally quit so I could spend more time with my kids on summer vacation.  We have yet to regain the initiative to finish our projects.

MAY
      - Hailey joined her siblings in the world of glasses.

 

  - Savannah turned 7 and we gained a new member of the family "Bobo"

 

  - Dan, I, Danny, Amber, Jacob, Hailey, Amanda (cousin) & Caleb met Dan & Penny in Durango, CO or the Iron Horse.  Danny and Amanda rode the 50 miles uphill from Durango, CO to Silverton, CO and did Awesome.  Dan did the quarter horse which was 25 miles to Purgatory from Durango.  They were beast!!

Mandy was kind enough to keep Savannah and Katie at her house for the weekend.

 

- June 27th  Hailey and I were driving home from gymnastics (on a little street in Heber) and were t-boned by a guy in a Ford F150 when he did a rolling stop through a stop sign.  The Yukon was totalled.

 

JULY

  - I started biking!!  Watching the boys ride in Durango gave me the motivation to try a new sport.  Dan got me a bike as a late bday present.  

  - Keri and Ryan stopped by for a visit!  We loved seeing them and wished it would have been longer.  The cousins don't get to see each other enough.

 - We had a Higham Family reunion over the 4th.  It was so fun to see extended family that we rarely get to see.  We played minute to win it and Amber did pretty well as you can tell.

  - July 26th - some ladies from church and I started taking tennis lessons from a friend.  I'm not sure if we improved our skills over the course of the summer but we sure had fun!

AUGUST

  - My nephew Tyler got married so we followed him to AZ where we were able to go to their reception there too.  The kids LOVED dancing and goofing off at the reception with their cousins.

 - We were able to spend the first two weeks of the month in one of our favorite places - Greer, AZ

 

 - 16th We got home from the cabin and learned that my Grandpa Olsen's health was declining rapidly.  I spent every day of the week down there visiting him and brought the family on the 16th to say their goodbye's.  While we were there, kids will be kids and they were playing on the exercise equipment in Grandpa's house, Amber fell off one of the machines and the legs swung around and whacked her in the head.  Luckily, Maynard is a doctor and was able to fix her up quick.

Two days later on the 18th Grandpa Olsen passed away.

Grandpa's Obituary 

 

School Starts!!  The kids are always so excited to go back to school.

Hailey 4th Grade          Savannah 2nd Grade

Jacob 6th Grade

Amber 8th Grade              Danny 9th Grade FRESHMAN!!

 SEPTEMBER
    - Kindergarten started later than the other grades and Katie was so excited to join her older siblings!

Katie Kindergarten

 - September 17th - Wonder Woman

    - Amber, Amanda & I rode in an all woman's ride.  We did the 30 mile loop and had a blast!

 

Amanda     Amber      Alisa

The next weekend my friend Renee and I rode in the Heber Valley Century ride.  We signed up for the 50 mile route but felt so good we kept going and rode the 66 mile route.  Yay us!!!

 

Danny and 2 of his cousins rode the full century!!  I didn't get any pictures though.  :(

OCTOBER

 -- Dan's parents were able to come in town for conference.  We always love seeing them and visiting!! Jacob was able to go to his first Priesthood session of Conference. He was a couple months early but it's all good.

Penny and I were able to enjoy a session together. We could actually listen without all the kids around.

  While the kids were in school we made sure to drive up and see some of the fall colors.  AMAZING!

We packed up the kiddos and drove to St. George, UT for a couple of days and then on to California to go to Six Flags.  We all had a blast!

 

So  I know I haven't completely finished out the year but you get the idea.  We had a great year!!!

November - Danny turned 15 and got a permit.  We spent Thanksgiving in AZ and LOVED the family and weather!!

December - CHRISTMAS!!!!!

The Perfect Day

By Jacob

4 cups of love
3 quarts of passion
1 awesome dad
1 son
A barrel of Laughter
3 gallons of quality time

Mix love and passion until the happiness bursts,
Then blend in a barrel of laughter,
Stir in one awesome pop and his loving son.
Add some quality time
Next bake with sunshine i n an oven of fun
Serve daily in generous helpings....
And enjoy!

-----------

I know I'm WAY behind but we've had a house under construction since April.  I will catch up soon!

I just wanted to post this cute poem Jake wrote for Father's day

He has his prize in sight....

Caleb is definitely in toddler mode now.  We are in the process of remodeling our kitchen so we have our table in the middle of the room but the chairs are in the garage while we finish our new floor.

Caleb spotted some strawberries on the table and would stop at nothing to get his prize.  We keep all the bathrooms shut to keep him out so he couldn't find a stool and therefore had to come up with another solution. 

I wondered why I kept finding the colander in different places around the house......  at least it's sturdy!

Kindergarten appt...

The kindergarten Dr. Appt brings excitement, apprehension, and even a few tears.

Katie is so excited for her appointment and the impending shots because that means she's growing up and gets to go to school like all of her older siblings.

We are in the waiting room and she is enjoying creating hearts and mastering her newly discovered talent.

No tears yet only smiles, but there may be a few shed later by her (shots).  More than likely I will be shedding tears as another one of my precious gifts grows up quicker than I would like.

Hailey's Swimming Spectacular

Hailey's birthday is exactly one week after Katie's so we had a busy couple of weeks.

Hailey opted to invite less friends and go to a local pool.  It was a much simpler production which was nice for me and she still had fun.
WIN WIN

Cupcakes - I found these on family fun and they were very simple and turned out really cute.

Also I was looking for a new recipe for frosting and came across this recipe --
The Best Frosting I've Ever Had 

It was REALLY yummy (after I picked off the marshmellows).

Amber painted this painting for Hailey's birthday.  

The party was only 2 1/2 hours and that included driving to and from the pool so I decided not to even take a swimsuit and just watch from the side.  I figured Katie could wear a life jacket and one of the older kids could hold Caleb and take him down the small slide (with us watching of course).  The worst that could happen would be that I had to jump in - in my clothes to rescue a child.  Anyway  Dan decided to do the same.  I mentioned that to the lady when we were paying to get in and she informed me that children under 5 could not swim unless a parent was actually IN the pool with them.  I understand why they say this but I actually can watch better from the sidelines.

As a result, these two had to sit in the party room and watch everyone swim through the windows.

There were quite a few tears shed!  We'll just say that Katie may or may not have gotten her feet wet and ventured down the small slide.  I couldn't say if it's true or not.

Happy Birthday Hailey!!!

Katie's Princess Extravaganza

I had two birthdays in March and Katie's was first.  We went back and forth with what she wanted to do and finally decided on a princess party but we had boys coming as well so we found an invite that included knights as well.  Here are just a few of the things that every princess needs at her party.

Royal invitation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hear Ye, Hear Ye,

By order of the King and Queen:

Prince James is cordially invited to the Castle to celebrate Princess Katie’s 5th birthday!!! The royal celebration will begin at 2:00 in the afternoon on the 1st of March 2011 (Tues.).

The King asked that you come dressed as your favorite princess or knight in your most royal attire.   Upon your carriage's arrival, princesses will be greeted with royal wands and gems.  Princes will be given royal swords for bravery.

The royal cook has prepared a feast of goodies for the celebration.  There shall also be festivities including a royal ball (musical chairs), games, and crafts and fun for all.... the excitement will heighten during the defeat of the royal piñata. 

Have your carriage arrive for you at 4:00 in the afternoon when the celebration commences. Please RSVP with the Queen Mom at xxx-xxx-xxxx if you plan to attend this royal gala...The castle needs to plan for your arrival. This is a magical celebration not to be missed!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grand entrance

Princesses

Knights

Castle cake

Pinata

Throne

I decorated one of our larger chairs to serve as the gift opening center. Katie and the gift-giver were able to sit in the throne together as everyone watched as she opened the gift.

We didn't want to leave anyone out so it ended up being a TON of kids.

  Luckily my sister and sis-in-law were willing to help.  Thanks for making the long trek up to my house.  I owe you big time.   

Happy Birthday Katie!

They get a pass this time.

As I walked down the stairs after the kids all left to school this is what I found.


The kids are always in a hurry and dump all their old papers out so they can run out the door.  I grumbled and then looked a little closer.  The top paper had my name written out with some sweet things written on them.

I am still leaving the pile for the culprit to pick up but I'm not grumbling anymore just teaching them how to be responsible...

And I still am not sure who's pile it is...

Blogging on my new Xoom tablet!

Just wanted to test out my new toy!

I will try to catch up on my blog tomorrow.  This app should make it a lot easier.

Grandma's Memorial Valentine Party

My Grandma was a wonderful woman who LOVED the Gospel and her family.  She always made sure that we were able to get together with cousins and she often planned cousin camps and parties to make sure that we were able to forge bonds with one another.

As we grew and started families of our own she started having an annual Valentine's party for her great-grandchildren.  Before she passed away she mentioned how important it was to her and that she hoped we would continue the tradition ... so we have.   It is a wonderful time to catch up with our cousins and their families and it is always emotional as we view a video we have of Grandma at one of her last parties.

Here are some of the highlights:

Don't peek....

As many of you know I spent the entire month of January in deep organizing.  Also many of you know that I have seven kids so the organizing can only go so far.  Try as I may --- I just can't keep up with everything 100% and be a happy momma so there are things that I avoid purely for my sanity.  Here are just a few:

           *  I DON'T venture downstairs to the kid's play
               area unless absolutely necessary
           *  I avoid taking children with me when I'm going
               grocery shopping
           *  I RARELY look in the kids' drawers

People often ask me for tips on how I do it (handling 7 kids and remaining happy) - this is how.  I have discovered things over the years that trigger a little mom grumpiness in me and these are some of them so to remain a happy positive mom I avoid things that might turn me against the kids.  It isn't 100% fool proof as I still have my days but it definitely helps a lot.

Anyway, today the kids are taking some skiing lessons so after they headed off to school I had to venture in their rooms to find the right clothes for them to take to the mountain.  Needless  to say this was going to require me to hold my breath and dive into the kids' drawers.  You may be wondering what is so wrong with looking in their drawers -- I'll tell you why.  I don't really love doing laundry.  I know it may seem like I love it because I do it almost every day but the truth is sometimes we do things that we simply don't love.  The part I don't like about laundry the most it putting it away. 

I don't mind folding it, although I wouldn't pick it to do on a Friday night.  I have a ritual I follow.  I set up on the couch and turn on a show and fold the night away.  Everyone has a pile and then they each have to put away their own laundry.  As I hand them their pile I always remind them, "Please sort your clothes and put everything away in the right spot".  The "right spot" meaning the drawer or cubby where the clothes go.  Everything has a place when I organize their drawers for them (when the seasons change).  If they'd just keep putting their clothes away as I organized for them things would stay organized.  Right?!

As you've probably guessed, things don't run this way.  I wash, fold and hand them their pile of laundry with the friendly reminder and then they run upstairs and stuff their clothes wherever they please so when I open their drawers I get angry.  I see everything all mixed up.  Dirty clothes in the drawers and clean clothes on the floor and I usually start emptying their drawers and yelling at the kids that they need to come and re-organize their drawers the way they are supposed to be.  There you have it!  I don't enjoy being that kind of mom so I just keep their drawers closed until it is time for me to come in and go through sizes and switch winter for summer and vice-versa.

Today I started in the girls' room and it was pretty easy to find what I needed.   The drawers were sorted as they were supposed to be.  They weren't folded but at least their was some sort of organizing.  Then I opened their sock/underwear drawers and they had placed one of my organizing baskets in their for the undies and the socks were on the side of the basket.  They also had a little piece of notebook paper taped on the edge of the drawer with socks/ underwear scribbled down (they aren't allowed to play with my label maker).  I was very proud of them and it made my frowny face turn upside down.

The boys room was another story.  I looked vainly for what I needed without success then I ran out of the room and shut the door.  I will spend the remainder of the day trying to forget what I saw in there .... at least until Saturday and then they'll get it!  Want to venture a guess at what the boys will be doing with their Saturday????