Soooooo, I learned something

and I don't want to be selfish and keep the information all to myself, so here goes......

A 15 passenger 1989 Dodge Ram Van's gas light does NOT come on when it's empty.

So, don't wait for it to come on.

See? Isn't nice to say you learned something today.......and at my expense?

You see it's November 30th and as much as I usually keep every gas tank at least above half, we've been trying to figure out exactly how many miles we get to the gallon in our van and I really wanted to wait until December to fill it up again.

I saw it was empty, but I also saw that a light hadn't come on yet, so I thought I had more time.

You know what happened to thought, don't you?

Of COURSE it would happen on the day that the girls and I pulled a pj day (I really SHOULD include a picture of what I was wearing, but I'll spare your eyes......let's just say this hoodie doesn't exactly fit) and were just in the garage rotating clothes, doing laundry and hanging out. I was on my way to pick up Emerson from preschool and well.....the van, sputtered and stopped......in the middle of the lane......and considering it's size, we kind of couldn't go incognito.

Thankfully it was by my gym, so ghetto me and pj-ed girls (w/ homeless looking hair) walked into our gym to page my hero and knight in shining armor, who DID come to rescue us.

PROS? Yes there are some:

-I didn't go into labor

-Aleeya DID hold in her poop even though she said it was going to come out.

-Emerson's preschool teacher was so kind to let him stay longer

-I got time to clean out the van

(a chore I've been delaying because....well....climbing/sliding under all those benches isn't my kind of fun right now)

-I found why I like to keep tanks above half

-I got to see Brooks in the middle of the day! YAY!!!

Our new addition.........

Hopefully this one won't stay around too long though. Look what we found on our porch tonight!

(Side note: a raccoon was on our porch last week. Do you think it's time to keep our porch door closed?)

Seriously, that thing gives me the willies.

You may have thought I was talking about the baby boy, but don't you worry, I'm still like this:

(This is Aleeya after she shoved her baby in her pajamas to be like me. Later she pulled it out and gave it "leche", which if it was that easy, we would all have babies when and where we wanted!)

I'm 39 weeks as of yesterday. I went and got a good ol' massage to celebrate. The lady didn't TOUCH my feet though because of all the accupressure points that could send me into labor......seriously? If you're going to be "sent" into labor, I could think of worse ways!!!!

Bronson came 10 days early, so always at 10 days before my due date I have a little "Bronson" moment.....which was good, because I guess it made me pack my hospital bag and get a few more things prepared. I'm kind of a prepared freak when it comes to right before a baby comes if you haven't noticed. I'm sure it's overboard in some aspects, but when I was awakened last Tuesday night 3 times with some pretty painful action going on, all I could think about was how I didn't have the Thanksgiving stuff made for Brooks to take over to our friends' house and the last few items I needed in my hospital bag. It didn't help it was the night before the "10 day mark" as well. So I'm in the constant keep-the-floors-mopped-and-laundry-up-to-date-and-groceries-in-the-fridge-and-school-lunches-packed-and-house-picked-up mode.

It's good though, I'm happier and so is everyone else when we're in a cleaner and more organized home.

It's weird to think though that I'm probably in the single digits of full night's rest......which if you know me, I LOVE my sleep.

Now if I can JUST quit being so winded when I go up and down the stairs!

Thought I would add this sweet picture of the girls "doing the sacrament" today though.

They're so sweet.

The day after Thanksgiving we got all of Christmas up. I couldn't help but stare at my mantle with all the stockings on it.

My mantle truly runneth over with love. :)

This one right here

Yes THIS cute little girl is the best.

She may LOOK younger but she will be 18 months on December 2nd.

I'll tell you what though, she THINKS she's the same age as the rest of them because

-she goes everywhere they go

-most of the time is holding a purse or packpack.....and who KNOWS what I find it them

(you know, things like our PHONE)

-she's in the bottom bunk..... big girl bed....and LOVES it.

-hums as she comes up the stairs

-grabs her blankie when she's tired and says, "Nah, Nah" (night night)

-Gets me my glasses every morning and my warm socks to put on (wood floors)

-brings her hand to her mouth and makes a sweet smacking sound when she wants to eat

- lets me know when she wants her milk, "Le-ne" (leche).....well, actually soy or almond milk

-when she wakes up she goes into the boys' room and plays with them

(In fact, this morning is Saturday, and I heard her come out and "talk" to Bronson in the hall by my door. Then I heard Bronson say, "Mommy has to descansar mas, come in my cama"! The boys are so sweet to let me rest more on a Saturday morning, whether I was already awake or not. And of course, Iris followed)

-will climb up the ladder and go down the slide into the leaves over and OVER again....in fact I think it entertained her for about a hour the other day.

-Oh, and she plugs her nose and tells me "Pee-ew" when she poops........as if this pregnant nose didn't already KNOW!

-Words she says the best: Daddy, Sally, Doggie, Adios, Hot and Baby

(Yes, it's pretty clear to see where her priorities lie......I should've put the word HOT by DADDY!, but that's another post, I guess)

However, whether she KNOWS it or not, she's still my baby girl, still takes 2 naps and will STILL be my skinny little princess when this baby comes.

(She's going to LOVE having a baby here!)

Oh, the joys of Fall........ing.

We got a nice ol' big pile of leaves by the slide on Saturday (obviously, it's over halfway up our slide!)..........wait, what am I saying, "WE" didn't do anything, the boys and Brooks did the leaves outside while I took pictures. :)

Here's Camden being thrown in.

Iris (we had to dig her out pretty fast)

Oh, and are you wondering how Iris liked it?

Does THIS tell you anything?

Our 3rd neighbor is trying to sell her home (should I take this personally?). She had an Open House yesterday. Whenever I see the Open House sign I always try to make sure our yard and side of the house there looks all nice and neat to not hinder anyone from buying HER house because of the neighbors. (however, the Yeti parked in the driveway, MIGHT scare a few....)

Anyway, during most of the open house, I thought it was funny that the boys were in the front yard playing football...........

with bike helmets on. :)

Hey, if they're going to buy the house they have to know a LITTLE what they might be getting into, right?

My husband is a genius

Okay, so maybe not according to HIM, but he came up with this GREAT idea that I thought was genius.

Last year, when I was taking down the Christmas tree, I commented on what a pity it was that the tree was only up for one month when the kids and I love it so much!

And SINCE Brooks was raised NOT to skip Thanksgiving, I didn't want to put the tree up before then. So he came up with THIS idea........

It's our Thanksgiving Tree.

November 1st for Family Home Evening the kids thought of things they were grateful for and we wrote them on some leaves, along with their names on them. Then we hung them on the tree.

I'll have to admit, I can't walk past that tree w/o remembering HOW many things we have and what REALLY matters to my kids (some of those things are pretty funny).

My friend Page over at Vibrant Vinyl did the words on top, "Because I have been given much" and I LOVE how it turned out. I taught that song in Primary this month so it's always being sung around this house.....and it just seemed to fit to go on top of this tree.

AND as an added bonus, now all I have to do is take off the leaves and have the kids put on the Christmas decorations.....after Thanksgiving, of course......since the LAST thing I would've wanted to do a week before my due date is assemble the Christmas tree.

Now I don't need to think about it.....

With Aleeya's choice of outfit yesterday I no longer need to think of a topic to teach on Monday for Family Home Evening!

I would say a lesson on modesty is about due, don't you think?

Mother Nature....

You are DEFINITELY female. I see that now.

One minute you're like this, and the next like that.

Here are the kids today......playing/jumping in the pool (right after jumping in all the leaves)......70 degrees.

But what's AWESOME about it is that during the nights it still gets in the 30s, so we get to all sit by the fire in the morning, drink Wassail and and nights curl up in bed under ALL the covers.

I would say, This. Is. Perfect.

Creeping up on me......

I'm "due" December 4th. (Not that my due dates actually MEAN anything, but you know) That's actually 4 weeks from this Saturday!!!! It's crazy, because everytime I get close to delivering, a lot of things go through my mind and this time is no different.

- I'm a planner, and I've made a mental list of EVERYTHING I would like done before the baby comes. Part of me thinks, "What if I'm not DONE with all of this before the baby comes?!?!?!?" Which is silly, because the baby will come when it's best for us, whether I have all of Christmas, freezer meals, sewing projects, Primary songs taught, presents for teachers/neighbors, temple sessions, Personal Progress goals done that I want or not.

- I play scenario after scenario of "If I go into labor at THIS time, the kids will go here, or I'll call so-n-so, etc." Also, what do I need in their "bag" in case they go to someone's house, and do I have their schedule/school stuff all typed up for someone......

-I get a little nervous about labor, because let's be honest, I don't like pain. When my contractions always get close enough towards the end, I get excited wondering if it is THE TIME, but then right after I get REEEEALY scared and anxious thinking, what if this is IT?!?!?

I get a lot of, "But you've had FIVE OTHERS!!!", but I think that's WHY I get like this, because I KNOW and DON'T KNOW exactly what's coming!!!!!

EVERY labor/birth story has been different for all 5, so I really go into it, not knowing what it will be like, except I know there will be pain involved.

I'm not one of those this-is-such-a-spiritual-moment when I'm labor type of people! (However the moment after I feel it)

- I'm FINE with going overdue. I'm also not one of those get-this-baby-out-now type of people, because I KNOW the baby will come eventually, on his own time table, when his body is all developed and ready to make an appearance. With Iris (I went only 4 days over due), each morning I woke up, I thought, There's one more full night's rest I got......as opposed to having a newborn and NOT getting sleep. I'm also not naive to the fact that your body doesn't feel AWESOME after you have a baby. (Energy "high", yes, but physically, not always) All the nursing and healing adjustments really aren't that fun anyway at the beginning, so I'll take one more day of "whale=ness" to prolong THAT!

-And well, um......we don't have a name yet. :)

With all these things going through my mind, it's always kind of a whirlwind...... and you can imagine why seeing my date getting closer and closer get's me thinking WAAAAAAY too much.

Until I ran across this picture (while getting Iris' scrapbook underway.....finally.....thank you Personal Progress):

This was RIGHT after I had Iris and they handed her to me. I broke down crying when they gave her to me. Infact, I'm tearing up now remembering back to that moment, and it's pretty pathetic.

I was soooooooo happy. It filled my whole soul and shaking body. There's some part of me that just "clicks into place" when they hand me a new one, like I was missing this part of me all along in my family. One thing with having more kids, is that it has seemed to get MORE special each time to me and MORE miraculous. Yes, I was excited she was a girl (because we didn't find out the gender and I REEEEEALLY wanted Aleeya to have a sister), but that wasn't why I broke down. It was just so special and intimate. Truly an indescribable feeling.

I can still remember that feeling as I type this, and it makes my arms LONG to hold my little bundle of blue that I've come so familiar with recently (meaning, I could tell you the size of his feet, how boney his sweet knees are and how long his back is when he rests it up against my left side when we go to bed each night).

Now doesn't this picture really make EVERYTHING in that above list seem so insignificant!?

YAY for blogs

This time of year is always my favorite to look at people's blogs of all of the Halloween costumes.

Yes, we JUST got back from our Trunk or Treat, I put the kids down, raided their baskets and just want to sit my fatness on this comfty computer chair and document Halloween.

So please oblige me. :)

Here's Russell, Tinkerbell and the Skeleton (that was SUPPOSED to be Darth Vader, but he JUST changed his mind. Good thing for friends with kids the same size!)

I was LUCKY to get one picture of this rhino, because he was just off doing his thing all night (obviously, since he picked a RED shirt to go under his costume)

I was a speed bump..............for obvious reasons.

And Iris? Well, I HAD her dressed as a fairy with wings and all, but look at this face.........

the rashy red stuff kind of ruined the fairy look......and I didn't have a pirate outfit her size for her to go as Redbeard, so I threw her in her pjs and she went as......um.......a homeless child.

If arranged marriages are considered fine, this is one I would do.

How cute is Peter Pan with his Tinkerbell?

Since Brooks is still in San Fransisco, I was getting a little exhausted after the whole Trunk or Treat, chili dinner thing, but the kids wanted to do the cake walk. I told them as soon as one of them wins, then it's time to go. I threw 3 kids up there (made our odds better!) and on the FIRST round, Emerson won. (Tender mercy from up above I'm thinkin' ) He was pretty proud of his cake.

(And yes, I did darken his eyebrows this time, and they looked awesome)

I try to do some project whenever Brooks leaves because I don't REALLY have to keep the house always clean and a huge dinner made. I decided to spray paint our brass bed that is over 20 years old......and chipping.....and turning green (oxidation, I guess).

I've never spray painted (or really painted anything) before, so it was kind of exciting. I picked brown, because I wanted something very calm and muted and different from the shiny brass.

Aleeya helped me set back up the bed. She held it while I screwed everything back in...........I know, I know, and to THINK I slept in it last night. But it actually held up, and I just WISH I had the time to do the dresser as well while he was gone.

Update: Brooks was SUPPOSED to have gotten back tonight at midnight but on the answering machine he told me he missed his flight and that it was a long story and that he won't get in until tomorrow afternoon and that I needed to call the bishopric to let them know that Brooks won't be able to make it tomorrow for when HE SPEAKS IN CHURCH!!!!!

Um....I had no idea.

(What a stinker, he always likes to surprise me with that and just walk up to the stand)

And no, he knew better then to ask me to speak for him,

afterall, the congregation wouldn't listen to a WORD I would say, because I would imagine 5 kids sitting by themselves right up front might be more entertaining then anything I would have to say.

Ahhh, the good ol' days

I pulled a "Dad" this week, when I was trying to get Bronson to keep his wrists lifted and flat and his fingers curved while practicing the piano........

I remember the good ol' days when my dad would make me balance things on my hands too!

P.S.- It's amazing how JUNKY you sleep when the last thing on your mind is seeing a "Tornado Advisory" for your area. I tossed and turned and w/ every possible scenario going through my mind, my plan of action, etc. Then I woke up Brooks in the middle of the night when the rain got bad. My only thought was, I bet our basement is flooding right now!

Thank goodness, it wasn't, but I still slept horribly.

Don't worry though, Brooks leaves today for San Fransisco for 4 days, so I should have PLENTY of bed to sprawl out on and make up for last night's sleep!