Bloomin 2

PART of "Blooming where you're planted" is finding the amusement in the oddities. (Wow 2 big words in one sentence........WHAT is wrong with me?!?!?)

One MAJOR con about the house is that there are no storage areas. As in, no garage, shed (well, FUNCTIONING shed), extra rooms, etc. So just think.....ALL of your Christmas decorations, strollers, vacuums, baby clothes in every size and both genders, winter/summer clothes, etc. You get the idea......NO place to put those that is not out in the open.

However, there are two VERY huge rooms in this house (like rec-room size rooms), which serve as the girls' bedroom and the boy's bedroom. So part of the girls' room has become my storage area.

CLEARLY the room isn't clean and we build huts a lot in our beds, but here is a look at one half of the girly room.

And HERE is the other half. :) See? It's huge and functioning fine for a storage area. (Royce will eventually come into that little bed......I'm just not sure I'm up for the challenge yet)

 But I want you to notice the door on the left.....they have their OWN toilet!!!! Isn't that fun? But here is the "oddity" in the situation....the OTHER door on the RIGHT is the OTHER half of the bathroom. They are in no way connected. hahaha

So one door is JUST the toilet and you walk around and there's the sink (and all my cleaning/toiletry storage)

 Isn't that funny/weird/unique? (Yes, I realize the girls have an abnormal amount of bows.....so sue me)

Okay, so I don't have storage areas, but I do have super cool large rooms that serves well for gymnastics and tag.........plus we have a split bathroom.

Here is a before picture of the "Jefe de la Casa" before his haircut.

DID I JUST SAY HAIRCUT?!?? Yes, it broke my heart......but the bushy back mullet had to go or at least wait for the front to catch up. Last night I cut all 5 of my boys' hair. I felt like a REAL salon........filled with HORRIBLE tippers.

Daddy's CAMPING?!?!?

I REALIZE this sounds like a miracle when I say, "Brooks actually went camping"......but it's true. He went.

ACTUALLY, we were supposed to go to a beach house for the weekend w/ friends but they ended up not being able to go, so Brooks agreed to take the older 4 camping to the ward/church campout.

(Let me be clear....I DO like camping, but sleeping on the floor 10 days before my due date didn't sound like fun......nor did trying to keep up w/ water-magnet Royce)

Brooks was under STRICT instruction to take pictures, and he actually did w/ his phone. I was impressed.

Bronson trying to rock the "homemade" raft.

 Aleeya LOVED being considered one of the "big kids" and being allowed to go.

 Emerson (red shorts) and Aleeya playing w/ 2 friends. I love how much fun kids can have in nature.

 Friends of our's brought their pontoon AND LET THE BOYS DRIVE!!!!

Camden took it VERY seriously.

 Emerson, just had ONE thing in mind though........he wanted to go faster. This was taken right before he took the throttle (is that what it's called?) and just cranked it forward to go faster making everyone get thrown back in their seats. He thinks he's soooooooo funny.

 However, after seeing this picture of him in the mud, I think he's right.

 (Later that night when I saw other moms that had gone to the campout they mentioned how many mud wars their kids and my kids had, how much fun, etc. They said it in a way that I wouldn't have KNOWN how many mud wars went on.........Silly them. WHO do they think saw and did all the laundry when they got home?!?!? hahaha. I think it's fair to say, there was a LOT of dirt playin')

Check out Bronson (the little heart throb) in the upper left corner being chased by 3 girls. I don't blame those girls though.

 These 3 boys.............the 3 Musketeers, The 3 Stooges or whatever you want to call them. They are inseparable and so funny to watch in action.

 Here they are blocking together while playing football.

And that's actually how they sit by each other during Primary at church too every Sunday. They're so funny.

I WISHED Brooks would've gotten some pictures of the sleeping arrangements, because I think that would've been funny to see.

What did I do during all of this?!?!?

Well, I cleaned every room in my house, pulled out baby stuff, got presents wrapped for baby girl to give the kids in the hospital, colored a LOT w/ Iris, then spent a hour scrubbing off crayon from the walls from Royce. They were so good though. Crazy how the 2 "highest maintenance" (Because of their ages) kids are actually pretty easy when there's just 2 of them.

I put the kids down for a nap at 12:30 and laid down too. We all woke up at 4.

I even rented a movie FOR ME!!!! That would be the first time in over 3 years. Plus, it was a movie I thought the boys wouldn't want to see anyway, so it was extra fun. I watched "Mirror, Mirror". A Snow White/Julia Roberts movie and loved it.

I needed to stay up late doing something though because I DID have a long nap, but I also knew my mind wouldn't let me go to sleep at a regular time anyway. I was convinced that IF I were to go into labor early, it would be while Brooks was out of town (Bronson came 10 days early when Brooks was playing in an away basketball game in college........6 HOURS AWAY). I just needed to keep my mind off of that, and the movie and bath helped. OBVIOUSLY, I was worrying in vain, because baby girl is just fine where she is.

What I do

 I just love when you go through your child's homework and find out revealing things about YOURSELF!!!!

Camden was asked to draw a Venn diagram about his parents. He's always been a man of few words and to the point:

So APPARENTLY what I do is "watch, cook and talk".

Watch WHAT is what I want to know (keep in mind we don't have TV)....so I'm assuming he thinks I just sit back and watch the kids each day? Or sit back and watch the house get destroyed? or just WATCH the laundry clean itself? hmmmm, not sure, but I still thought it was funny.

38 weeks today.

Rocket has NOTICEABLY dropped. Here I am showing you where her little bum is. She's head down, so that is the VERY top of the baby in my belly.

It's like in the MIDDLE of my prego belly, so the top is just useless space I guess right now.:)

I also read in an email that at this point in my pregnancy I should get a "sudden burst of energy and start nesting". Wow, this was CLEARLY either written by a man or someone that has had one child.....because the energy spurts come after a jellybean bag raid and the only nesting going on is making sure my "nest" is properly built in my bed before I lie down at night!!!

(Brooks will be so glad to be rid of all the extra pillows in our bed I'm sure.)

But I actually feel fine and even BETTER since she's dropped. My back doesn't bother me at all and she must have gotten bored with hanging out on my sciatic nerve. I DO make more trips to the lu and wake up more at night though, but I don't feel sleepy because of it during the day.......but I know FULL well, those sleeping feelings will come soon enough.

Soon enough.

Yikes

Nothing like gearing yourself for a good ol' day at the DMV w/ the 3 kiddos.

I told Aleeya to pack a box of something that she and Iris would actually SIT and do and laughed at what they brought (but seriously kept them occupied............well, THAT and the Mambos I brought since it took Royce forever to open them)

Aleeya brought some cut up yard pieces and made shapes?/designs?/whatever with them.

Iris had a tupperware lid w/ a make-up brush and "did her makeup" for a very long time. Yes, we're pretty vain in this family. I would have NEVER thought to pack those things. Glad she packed her own bag!

Acting like a little lady. And no, that's not me sitting next to her even though we laughed about us being the same shape.

 Royce was "buckled" in. But since I can't get the darn thing to tighten (and gave up) the little man has figured out how to stand up to make his statement.

 We were there to register cars/get license plates etc. and we're TOTALLY going to buy one w/ words on it .....Brooks insists. You have to give a top 3 pick of what we want and here's what we submitted:

#1- THEYETI

#2- YETI

#3- MVORELS

Can you figure out the 3rd one? Because Brooks and I couldn't stop laughing about it. Real Christlike, huh. ;) What's funny is that we were driving back from the temple last night when we came up with it!!!

Royce is ALWAYS trying to "edge" away in a sneaky kind of way........like HERE....edging towards the pool during Bronson's swim meet.

 The look on his face is priceless because he KNOWS what he's doing.

Then I saw this picture of me and Royce from today and realized....WAIT.....we kinda have the same LOOK of a face! Guess we look more alike then I thought.

(and we both have hair-in-our-eyes issues sometimes too.) hahaha

Evening of Boys

I've noticed that many of Camden and Emerson's baseball games are on the same nights as Bronson's swimteam practice. Yesterday was our first of these.........actually Camden's and Emerson's FIRST GAME!!!

 And NOTHING brought a smile to my face more then seeing my cute Emerson all in the catcher gear when I showed up! (those are Brooks' legs, who assistant coaches)

Emerson is such a handsome kid!!!! So the batting pictures happened to be the ONLY times I actually snapped a picture on time happened to be on pitches they missed.  Emerson ASSURED me his coach was a REALLY bad pitcher.

Camden also sported the catcher's gear, but wasn't AS excited as Emerson was. My skinny Camden up to bat.....once again, I catch the wrong pitches, but I thought it was funny the picture I captured w/ his legs all twisted up. :)

Not sure how thrilled either of them are about baseball yet........but Royce may illustrates how Emerson felt after the game a little.

Iris is soooooo "helpful"

Then I took Bronson over to his swimteam practice. (Brooks took the rest home to put to bed. I love going to watch swim practices) He absolutely LOVES LOVES it and can't wait for his swim meet this Saturday.

 This is him walking in holding his "cramp" when they went to go practice their dives going into their strokes.

But you can't blame him........they swam 700 meters before I took this picture. :) He has practice twice a week......let's just say those nights he COLLAPSES into bed and falls RIGHT asleep. 

I WILL Bloom

Before I moved to Brazil when I was 12 my mom gave me a wall hanging w/ the words, "Bloom Where You Are Planted". That phrase has always stuck with me. I've tried to always live by it.

Sadly, there are times in my "lovely" mansion here that I haven't exactly adopted that philosophy......

so I've decided to every once and a while do a "Bloomin'" post on something around my house that COULD be seen as a "con" or bothersome at first.....but actually can attribute to the character and adventure of living in this house.

Bloom #1- My doors.

They all have a HUGE gap under them. Partly because there once must have been carpet and also that some of the floors are noticeably slanted/at an angle. 

Buuuuuuuuuuuuut it COULD come in handy when you want to slip a banana into the girls while they're coloring but don't want to let Royce in when you open the door, right?

Or you're in the bathroom and think, "AH, I don't have ANY toothpaste and I can't find my brush!!!!" And wa-lah! Without opening the door someone could just slip them right to you! (not to mention cute hands shoved under there!)

I mean, just THINK of the possibilities here!!!!!!!!! 

Seriously, HOW many times have you been sitting in a room and REALLY needed Aluminum foil, or your shoes, OR AN EGG?!??! 

 Those items can now regularly be YOUR'S, without even using the hinges on your doors 

(Holy cow, that sounds like a commercial's little jingle!)

And we've always wanted a home where anyone would feel welcome......so maybe, just maybe it's a dream come true that the front door has such a space under it too.

 As an added bonus, it not only makes HUMANS feel welcome, but other creatures.........if ya know what I mean. :)

Recent pictures

My sweet sister just had her baby girl (her 4th GIRL!!!!) They named her Ava and she was 9 lbs. 15 oz. 

Look at those kissable chubby cheeks. (unlike my skinny string-bean babies)

I wish I could kiss those cheeks in person. But how cute that my little girl will have a girl cousin so close and one on Brooks' side born shortly after mine!!!

Our neighbors took us out in their boat last weekend and I was able to get two pictures before the battery died.

 I LOVE LOVE LOVE this one...........and the boys in it.

The "Rocket" is growing just great. 37 weeks today. "Rocket" LOVES to help me cook and gets right out there to help rolling out the dough. (Why I wear black while cooking is beyond me.......funny thing is, I had NO idea flour got on me until one of the kids pointed it out because it's in my "blind spot")

Boosterthon

I know, I didn't know what that was either.....

before I got a GAZILLION fund-raising flyers, stickers, emails, etc. sent from the boys' school. 

It's basically the school kids get pledges from people for how much money they will pay per lap that they run (w/ a max of 35 laps). So if you pledge $1 per lap and the kid runs them all in the time period then you owe $35. It's a little steeper then the $5 gift wrap I used to go door-to-door selling in elementary school!!!!

Anyway, it was last Friday. They gave each child a Boosterthon shirt to wear and 2 grades at a time would run. (K-1, 2-3, 4-5) I don't know if you noticed, but I have a boy in EACH of those time ranges, so "we" (me and baby) DID infact push the stroller back and forth from the school 3 times that morning......good thing we live a block away.

 I was mostly entertained by the 3 different approaches my 3 boys took. It shows a lot about their personalities too. Emerson told me he was going to be a "marathoner" and not start out sprinting to beat all the other kids. Well, it didn't quite turn out like that because he was DEAD set on running out in front RIGHT from the beginning.

 But you know, that gets boring.....and hard........and it's more fun to put an arm around a buddy and just make it a fun social experience......even if that means walking. He did smile big and start running faster though anytime we would cheer loud.

 Almost WEEKLY I get the question from Camden asking if I have found a "Track and Field" team to sign him up for. He's always been a fast little guy (believe me, I know, I have to time the kids out front a few times a week to see if their times are getting faster!!!). Camden took this race VERY seriously.

 Even if that meant nudging out whoever needed to be nudged and not participating in any of the fun games (put your hands up, act like your swimming, skip this lap, etc.)

 He's in 2nd grade. He was the first one done in his grade............AND he beat all the 3rd graders too. :) And we got a slight smile and nod when he saw us there (he was the one BEGGING us to come), but that was it.

Here is Bronson running as fast as he can after everyone else started walking. He wore a smile on his face most of the laps.

 He's such a consistent kid. His thinking: "The teachers asked me to finish, I'm going to do it and have fun doing it. You can count on me!" He was also one of the first ones done in his grade.

 And he actually acknowledged his fan club a few times .....well, he DID have the loudest cheering section. :)

Side note: I DID find the 3 different times of races interesting because in the little kids they were all just little energetic tykes but tired fast. Camden's group had the fastest kids that would run most of the time. By the time it was the 4th and 5th graders, I would say close to 50% of the kids seemed like they had NEVER exercised in their lives and could barely breath as they were walking around. Childhood obesity is definitely a problem, but I hadn't seen it as obvious before.

Everytime they would run a lap a teacher would mark off (on the back of their shirt) which lap they were on until they got to 35. Bronson and Camden's shirts are all filled up and Emerson's stopped at 27. However he ASSURED me he got to 31 laps but he just tricked the teachers and ran past them before they could mark his shirt. hahahaha.

(yeah right)

Practice Makes Perfect

Sometimes it is just SO hard when you're 3 to remember how to kneel down, bow your head and close your eyes during a family prayer..........so it helps to have to practice after everyone has already left a little.

I realize she doesn't look thrilled but doesn't practice make perfect?

Let me re-phrase that like my dad used to teach us, "PERFECT practice makes perfect".

There we go.

Happy Sunday..........may it be just as spiritual as Iris' is w/ all her praying.

Rocket Fuel

The "Rocket" (my belly) has declared 3 new items this week as it's new fuel (preferably it's only fuel, but apparently that can't happen).

(we tried to capture the Rocket it all its pointy glory, but this still doesn't do it justice. Probably because my belly button isn't sticking out in this picture, but trust me, it usually is......hence the reason I do NOT wear fitted shirts now because I get tired of having the button point me in the right direction all the time)

Caramel Apple Sugar Babies

SERIOUSLY, TO DIE FOR!!!!! I found them at Dollar Tree and they are beyond yummy.

Dinner Mints

I think in the past 4 days the Rocket has consumed 3 bags. No lie. The melt-in-your-mouth buttery taste is awesome.

Cascadian Farm FRENCH VANILLA granola

I'm not an "organic" person by any means, but when I was in charge of an activity last spring to bring granola for parfaits I decided to go easy and just buy some. I brought this, and it's literally better then any homemade thing I've tried. Bronson keeps begging me to put it in his lunch again w/ yogurt and works to make a parfait, but I'm having a hard time sharing my usual breakfast feast. :) (Got it at Walmart)

Went to the (VERY IMPERSONAL AND SOCIALLY AWKWARD) doctor this week for the first time. Man, have I missed peeing in a cup!!!

Since I was 34 weeks when I saw him he made SURE to tell me that it "might starting getting uncomfortable to lay on your back..."

(UM, THAT WAS LIKE 5 WEEKS AGO!!!! But thanks for the delayed information anyway)

and that I should stay away from eating swordfish.

Got it. Phew, glad I went.

Aleeya drew me this picture of this of me, "Rocket" and Daddy in the hospital after she comes out. Doesn't Daddy look thrilled?

 (I love all the encouraging stickers around the side......I should probably throw this in my hospital bag......when I pack it at 41 weeks!!!!) ;)

And BECAUSE it helps to realize this pregnancy WILL infact result in something pretty awesome, I have to include a picture of the most beautiful boy I've ever seen.........."Wingman" (after his cute blonde wings coming out both sides of his head)

I really and truly can't get enough of his face and his skinny little 23 lb. body.