The End of the Year

I always get a little sentimental at the end of the year and feel the need to write up a Christmas newsletter. It helps me to be more mindful of the good times and blessings of the year.

Ryan: Ryan has had a very eventful year. He became a High Priest in March and changed jobs in May. He loves his job. He really enjoys working for a Medical Company. Something about doing good in the world, and something about not having to be in touch with his feminine side. No more crafts and no more pink. Ryan has been traveling more the last half of the year. He likes it but I really miss him. Ryan got a new calling today. He moved from being the Ward Mission Leader to the 1st assistant in the High Priest Group. We will have to wait and see what the new calling entails. My guess is busier Sunday's and less busy Thursdays'. Ryan is still an amazing artist and creative guy. He is the coolest one in the family which is evident in the fact that everyone wants to sit by or on him at Church.

Brooke: One thing I've learned over the past year is that life has a way of getting busy. I guess chasing around 4 growing kids will do that to you. I love to spend time travelling with my family. We got to do a few more road trips this year and I loved every minute of it. Sometimes I feel that I struggle to find my own identity in the middle of raising a family... but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love to see my kids grow and to see each of their personalities develop in their own independent way.

Anikka: Anikka is growing up a little bit each day. She is starting to develop opinions in everything. It has been great to watch. She is in 5th grade and doing very well. She has been getting straight A's. She did a sports camp over the summer and really enjoyed volleyball and tennis. She also played flute this semester and while she had fun, she is ready to move on to the next thing. She continues to be the best big sister that three little boys could have.

Bennett: Ben is such an obedient child. If we say "kids go get in the car," He is the first one there. Ben is developing his drawing this year. He is also a very visual learner. His report cards have been stellar! He is reading very well and loves math. He is even showing off his multiplication skills to his 1st grade class. Ben played tackle football this year. He had an okay time but really loved being a part of a team. We loved watching him.

McKay: Mac has been so funny this year. He just wants to have fun. He is in preschool and really loves it. He likes super heroes right now especially Captain America. He gets really excited about all things. On Christmas morning we came downstairs and Mac ran straight to Ryker's pile and said "Wow, look at what I got!" We said Mac that is not your pile, yours is over here. He turned to his pile and said "Wow, look at what I got!" He was just happy to get something. Mac has Charisma and we just love him.

Ryker: Ike really keeps me on my toes. He is such a Momma's boy and I am not really discouraging it. He loves to cuddle with me and will not stay in Nursery. We have not tried very hard to get him to stay. He is our last baby and it really is bitter sweet to watch him grow. He is into everything and is very stubborn. He loves Anikka, Ben, and Mac so much and loves to yell their names when ever he can. He speaks very well for a boy and is so good in the car which is such a great thing since we are in the car a lot. Our lives are totally complete with him in them.

I Would Be Happiest...

I am trying not to have this blog be all about Mac but he is just so funny right now. On the way home from Preschool the other day he started telling me that I "built him human." I told that I did build him human as he grew in my body. Then he proceeded to tell me the story of how we really got him. "You [Mom] went to a group of Monkeys and asked them if there was a baby monkey that you could have and they gave you me. Then you took me and built me to be human. And I am Wolverine too. I was a Wolverine Monkey and then you built me human. And you know what Mom, I would be happiest if you just took me back there." Can you tell that he recently watched "Tarzan"? He has got the most amazing imagination. I am just hoping that he will someday like his own name and want to be called be it.

We had to quickly do our entire month of thankful pennies so we could give them to our primary for the deadline of Pennies by the Inch fundraiser. So we just wrote down and counted all the things that we were thankful for for the whole month. Here is our list.
11th 13 for our 13 years of marriage
12th 10 for tithing
13th 10 for the years we have had Anikka
14th 7 for the years we have had Ben
15th 4 for the years we have had Mac
16th 1 for Ike
17th 3 for our Bishopric
18th 12 for the Prophet and Apostles
19th 9 for all of our Primary Teachers
20th 4 for our Home Teachers and Visiting Teachers
21st 10 for our copies of the scriptures
22nd 0 no debt on Ryan's car and Credit Cards
23rd 13 for the Articles of Faith
24th 2 for our Cats
25th 2 for Ryan's jobs
26th 12 rooms of our house
27th 2 for Food and Water
28th 12 years of the kids education so far
29th 2 for the Doctors we know
30th 6 for our Modern Conveniences
The grand total of our thankful pennies was 382. It doesn't seem like that much when you put the decimal in the right place, $3.82. It was really fun and the kids loved it. I think it will be a great thing to do every year.

More Thanks

Yesterday I was rear-ended. It wasn't very fun but with all the really nice people that I have been dealing with it has just become a minor inconvenience. It was just Ike and me in the car and we are both totally fine. I am thankful for nice people and safety.
On Saturday we were thankful for Grandparents so we put in 4 pennies. On Sunday we were thankful for all of our aunts and uncles and we put 15 pennies into the jar. On Monday were we thankful for our cousins and we put 15 pennies in the jar. On Tuesday Ryan said he was thankful for water, gas, electricity, TV, Internet, and garbage pick-up so we put in 6 pennies. On Wednesday, Ben said that he was thankful for Temples so we put in 135 pennies and nickles. (Cool, huh! 135 and that does not include the 15 under construction or the 16 just announced). Today we put in 2 pennies because we are thankful for our cars. I sure am liking this penny jar. It is so visually cool to see all the things that we are thankful for.

Mac = Big

Mac has a huge personality and he often over shadows everyone else in the family. Especially quiet and obedient Ben. He is big fun and also big trouble. We are trying a few new discipline tactics around our house. One is the Repenting Bench. It is a gospel centered time out. When they sit on the bench they are to think about what they did wrong, say sorry and then ask for forgiveness. Mac spent a lot of the time on the Repenting Bench the other day. That night when it was time to report and say good night to Dad who is in Chicago this week, Mac told him that "Today was the happiest day of my life because I love the Repenting Bench!" Ryan couldn't help but laugh. We have a long road ahead of learning to balance him and the rest of our children.

Today we were thankful for our eyes and we put 12 pennies in the jar.

Stealing Thankfulness

Well we are hanging in here. Life is rough and good too. I have had more down days than up over the past year. I am just dwelling on the negative and thinking mostly about myself. I am wallowing and I would like some sympathy for it too! So in trying to act like I am a happy, thoughtful person until I become it (fake it til you make it), I am stealing a super great idea from one of the great blogs that I read. My friend Beth's blog vermillionrules.blogspot.com is so great and she is the most service oriented person I know. She is so kind and thinking of others all the time. Every day in November she and her family are counting things that they are thankful for and putting that amount of pennies in a jar. The jar will then be donated to a charity at the end of the month. The other day they counted shoes. I love this idea and I am so totally stealing it. On the first day of November we put in six pennies for every person in our family. Yesterday Mac said he was thankful for God. We put in 3 pennies for Heavenly Father, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost. Today Ben said he was thankful for our country. We put in 50 pennies. I am excited to see how this evolves. I am very thankful to others for their great ideas.

The 2nd Bi-Annual "Steak" Conference

Steak Conference was semi successful this year. The Steaks were awesome,thus the success, the children were less than reverent, thus the semi. Ryan and I spent most of the time in the hall with the two youngest who did not want to sit in the dark watching the TV screen speakers. On the plus side at home that evening Mac informed us that he is "The Strongest Man in the World." We laughed a little bit and said "Oh Yeah" He said " Yes, cause I hurt Dad." I guess that Ryan used to be the strongest man in the world until Mac bent back his fingers (during Stake Conference) til they hurt. Ryan has lost his title to the 4-year-old. He will try to earn it back soon. We wish him luck, maybe he can have some of mine!

My Lucky Streak Continues

I have considered myself to be lucky. When I was a kid I won a week's free lessons to a Karate studio. That is when I started thinking that I was a lucky person. Today I won a $25 Gap gift card. I am pretty excited. When your a Mom it is really the small things that make your day. In the past I have won $50 from a weekly drawing, a sweet Breville panini grill (that is probably the largest thing that I have ever won), I have won a gift certificate at the school book fair and a gorgeous baby quilt from a drawing. But probably that luckiest I have ever been was when I met and married my husband. I feel so lucky and blessed to be married to him.

The Things Mac Says and The Rest Of Us

Oh my little Mac. He is just a force of nature. The other day he and Ike and I were in Mac's room and he turned to me and said "Mom, are you keeping Ryker?" I swallowed my guffaw and said "Yes." Then he looked very sad and said "Then how am I going to be the baby?" It is very funny that after 15 months he still had doubts over whether we were going to keep one of our children.
Mac has started preschool. It was very fun for me to see him be a little bit nervous. That is an emotion that I rarely see in him. He said that he would miss me. I love him! When school was over I asked him if he had a good day and he said "yes I got gummy bears and popcorn!" I asked if he learned anything and he told me no. I said "Did you listen to your teachers?" He said "Yes, when we said more popcorn, more popcorn, she told us to stop and we did." I am glad that he listens.
Ben and Anikka started school and we have officially become a busy family. It has been a little hard to find time to read the scriptures together, we had to move from right before bed time to early morning, I have never wanted to move it to morning but that is the best time. What we do for the benefit of our children. Ben has started Football, which is really time consuming for both him and Ryan who is helping as an assistant coach. Anikka started band and is learning to play the flute. She seems to really like it. But now there is a 45 min. window to make and eat dinner between picking Anikka up from band and seeing Ryan and Ben off to football practice on Tuesday's and Thursday's. It is busy and it is only going to get worse over the years! It is a really good thing that Ike is so good in the car because he is going to have many, many car trips over the years.

Ben's Birthday

Bennett turned 7 on July 19th. I am so proud of my browned-eyed boy. He is so interesting to watch. He is a rule lover and really wound tight. He got that from me. He wanted a Pirates of the Carribean cake, and Dad really came through. Ben started football recently and I could not be happier. I love football! I really hope that he loves it too. Ben has learned to watch out for his two little brothers and he is the first one to help set up chairs when we get to Church. He is such a good boy. He played T-ball this spring and he was the kid that was always two steps behind the Coach and listening to what he said. Ben really knows how to follow directions. Ben also has epic tantrums. He is trying to work on controlling his temper, it is a learning process. I took Ben shopping for school clothes and he really didn't know what to do with himself as the center of attention. It was quite funny. We really love our sweet, obedient child!

What Do You Do In The Summertime?

Well, I have not been blogging. We have not really been on the computer at all. June was a good month. We celebrated Anikka's 10th birthday and our 13th wedding anniversary. Anikka is just learning to enjoy going shopping and out to dinner for her birthday. We had fun. I appreciate her so much. She is the best big sister and so not shy. She is really good at public speaking and still bears her testimony on a regular basis. She is the first to volunteer for anything and is really an independant person. She was able to stay with her sweet Aunt and Uncle for five days, to help out. She had the best time and was not homesick at all.

The 26th was our Anniversary. I am still very much in love with my husband and could not ask for a better man. He is so thoughtful and dependable. He takes such great care of us. He is enjoying his new job quite a bit. He is having fun and still misses working full time for the old bosses. When I asked him what was different about the new place he responded with, "Well, there is a lot more swearing now." It was a good move for our family and I hope provides a good future too.

Ryker's Birthday

It is still fine if I do a post in the month of his birthday, right? Ike turned 1. It is really a weird feeling to have my baby grow so fast. Each kid grows faster than the one before them did. His birthday was May 9th and we made him a cake. He recieved a new outfit and one new toy. He is the third boy so we have plenty of toys. He speaks really well for a boy. His very first word was mama but he has since expanded his vocabulary to include: bath, bye-bye, dada now daddy, go, he will even say go bye-bye. So maybe that is his first sentence. He is walking pretty well now. He took his first steps shortly after turning 11 months. He has the cheese face down and can yell his displeasure well. He loves to watch Mac and go outside to play with the big kids. Anikka and Ben love him so much and help him and me with anything. Mac also loves him and wants to tackle him regularly. I really like that his birthday is two days before mine. I also had a good birthday and Mother's day. For Mother's day Ryan bought me flowers and nice european chocolate. and for my birthday Ryan and I went out to dinner at the Blue Boar Inn in Midway. It was really fun and thanks to my sweet sister-in-law it was kid-less and quiet. We are really grateful to have such a sweet little boy to be the baby in the family.

Mac's Birthday

My little ball of fire turned 4 on April 30th. He is so busy and into everything. Over the last year he has earned the nickname of Mac the Destroyer for obvious reasons. The kid just enjoys being destructive. We made up a little story for him in an effort to teach him to be nice. It goes like this.
Once upon a time there was a little boy named Mac the Destroyer. He was a special little boy. He good bounce off the walls. He could talk his Mom's ear off. He could knock down buildings with the sweep of his arm. One day Mac the Destroyer slowed down long enough to notice something. He noticed that everyone around him was sad. When he asked why they were sad they told him it was because he broke their things. Mac the Destroyer did not want others to be sad so he promised to stop destroying things and use his powers only for good. He learned to help others and be kind to their things and soon they changed his name to The Amazing Mac.
He likes his story and I can only hope that he catches on to the moral of the story soon. We had a good family birthday party for him. He requested a lava cake so Ryan and I put forth some of our best efforts and tried to make a volcano cake with red lava icing spurting from it. Not the best looking cake ever but it really did taste good and that is really what counts. Mac is so stinking cute and really funny. He is also very polite and is quickly learning the power of words. Like if you say something nice it sure gets you far. We are so grateful to have our sweet white-haired little boy in our family.

"Steak" Conference

Last year around the Holidays, Ryan commented that there really needs to be a holiday that celebrates steak. So we spent the remainder of our drive discussing when would be a good holiday in which we eat steak. We decided that Stake Conference is just the time and place to celebrate. We had a very special Stake Conference today. Ryan was Sustained to be advanced to the office of a High Priest. Ryan said that all this means is that he will have to be really good at doing his home teaching from now on. I sure love him. He is so great and special and he is really humble. I think this is the perfect Sunday to start our new tradition of Steak Conference.

When I Cry, I Get Little

Mac is going up a lot lately but he still reminds me on occasion that he is still my little boy. One morning Mac put on his socks and shoes all by himself and I was very impressed. Later that afternoon, the boys were fighting and Mac ended up crying. As is often the case when they fight I think it is because they don't have anything to do so I give them something to do. I told Mac to go and get his shoes on because we needed to leave shortly. He brings me his shoes while still whimpering a little bit. I said "Hey I thought you could put on your shoes all by yourself?" He answered "I can't, when I cry I get little." Me too Buddy!

Today, He was telling Ryan that he only likes Ben, Mac, Ryker and awesome Dads'. He does not like Mom or Anikka because we are girls and he does not like girls. He just likes boys. He is really into the boy vs. girl thing. Anikka and Ben were not into the boy vs. girl thing nearly as much. Here is to hoping that he learns to like his Mom and sister because we are really not that bad and we smell good too!