Connor

This post is mostly for my benefit so that I'll remember Connor's stats.
Connor is 6 months old, crawling all over, and just cut his first 2 teeth. So here is the run down on his growth-
Weight: 18# 2 oz (60%)
Height: 27" (70%)
Head Circumference: 161/2" (8%) I always think it's funny that my babies have tiny heads and big chubby bodies!

TEXAS

We had a really nice and relaxing trip to Texas over the last week and a half or so. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves riding horses, swimming, going to the lake, and just partying it up with the fam : ). We are such partiers (if that's a word); let me tell you. We did have a little shin-dig for my mom, dad, and Kinsey's birthday. Too bad my dad missed his own birthday party. We missed you dad!! Now I'm having a hard time kicking my butt back in gear and into our normal routine again. It's so nice to go visit my family because I don't have to cook, clean, or even get dressed if I don't feel like it. Sorry, mom, for being totally lazy on this trip. I really enjoyed myself though and it was fun to watch Kins interact with all of my little bros.


Every morning the first thing Kinsey wanted was to go see Ozzy the horse and Dakota the dog. She LOVES animals and loved every minute of being in TX with all the "pets".

Just thought I'd throw this in there for kicks bc she has some kind of fascination with this dora helmet and always wants to wear it.
I thought I'd let Connor have an oreo bc it was his 6m birthday... he really enjoyed it- as you can see!!

Daily Alarm Clock

Kinsey singing: " MOM! Wake up, it's not time for sleeping! The sun is not asleep anymore, it's time to get up!"
me: ugghhhhh, as she wakes up Connor who is in bed next to me by this point.
So I wake up and look at Connor who gives me the biggest grin his little mouth can form and smile. How can you not?

I have been worried for a while bc Kinsey wasn't wanting to pray with us as a family. Well, she finally got over that and now won't let anyone but her pray. It is really cute and also very humbling because she doesn't ask for anything only gives thanks; somewhat like this:

"Dear Heavenly Father, Thanks for grandma and grandpa, thanks for Chance and Ashlyn, thanks for mommy and daddy, thanks for Heavenly Father and Jesus..... Amen"

I love that she is grateful for the people in her life before the things in her life. Yes, we are blessed and grateful for the things that make life more convenient, but isn't it the people we love who are really important and what really makes a difference in our lives? And ya, I did notice that I was fifth on her list of people.... the little stink.

HOORAY!

Look at my big man learning to sit up! I feel like his life is just flashing before my eyes! I do enjoy the stage though, when they can sit up and play but aren't quite mobile enough to destroy the house.What's going on here??
Thought I would share Kinsey's latest art work. I hope this isn't a premonition of what she will do to her body when she's a teenager ; ). As you can see from the background I was working out and pretty much let her do whatever she wants so I can get through my workout in peace. What can I say? All week Kins has been refering to her hands as if they were seperate entities from her body. Our dialog as she was coloring on herself:

"Mom, my hands are coloring on me."

me "Well make them stop."

Kins, "Stop hands!... Mooom, they won't stop coloring me up!"

Canning

Monday night we had an all nighter of canning 2500lbs of wheat, beans, and potato flakes. It was a lot of work but, we had a good time with Trav's family. We had a nice assembly line going and even Kinsey and her little cousins helped. Everyone worked really hard and it only took 4 hours! HA! It was a great family activity; I hope Kinsey remembers doing it-(fat chance of that happening). We are excited about getting our food storage put away now!! Man oh man do I have a lot of wheat to find places for. : ) I forgot how good it feels to do manual labor- it is so rewarding to see how much you can get accomplished after you work hard on something.

Holy crap that's a lot of cans!
Marisa, Trav's mom, Heidi, and Taylee

Marvilla and Grandma Twilla

Gratitude

For some reason every Sunday it is so incredibly hard to get out the door and make it to church on time. It really stresses me out so, I usually arrive at church a little bit grumpy. There is just so much chaos in the morning and to make it to 8:00 church is a struggle. We are always a couple of minutes late- which isn't even that bad but it is just a pet peave of mine. I love that I can go to church a little moody and always come home revived and happy. A big contributer to this is my husband. He is so good about helping with the kids during church on Sunday. I always get a little bit of a break from the kids because he will just kind of take over. Maybe just to get out of class... but it's good enough for me : ). Another reason I am always happier after church is primary. My junior primary class is definitly a challenge. I always have to keep it fun or I'll lose the attention in a split second, but they are so sweet. I love that we are starting to get to know eachother and they will talk to me outside of singing time. And when they do sing, it really is beautiful to hear their tiny little voices singing church songs. Senior primary is so much fun. They can really interact with me and joke around- I love it. I have one little girl who will just sing, "LA LA LA..." at the top of her lungs even if she does know the words. It's so funny because she really gets into it! Her face gets into all of these contortions... she's so cute. Anyway, I'm just grateful that I belong to the church I belong to and always come home refreshed and happier.

HOBBY LOBBY

Oh my heck, I've been waiting for this store to get to AZ, and it has FINALLY arrived!! It is so wonderful; I just love it so much. I spent an hour wandering around and got the cutest plant for 50% off!! It's great, on top of their unbeatable prices they ALWAYS have good sales. They have the cutest stuff in there- plants, wall decor, frames, craft supplies, pictures, pillows, fabric, furniture, etc.. Anything you need for your house, they have it. If you haven't been you've got to go. It puts Michael's and Joann's to shame. It is amazing, my words cannot do it justice. : )