Snippets~A Photo Shoot

One goal that I have had for a few weeks now is to take pictures of each kid, for their 2011-2012 school year, no easy task when you have five. I had to do Laney on one day, the older girls on another and then the boys. I would like to get pictures of all of them together, but Laney is NOT cooperative with pics these days and Heath just wants to ham it up. So I will do what this pregnant body can do for now because my ever changing hormones can't handle it! :)

I can't believe that in about a week I will have added another child to my already crazy bunch of kids. They sure are a lot of work, but so worth every minute of it.

Now be prepared for a lot of pictures! I had too much fun! :)

First I wanted to start with these. I LOVE how it turned out! I don't get pictures like this with Chad often (he isn't big on PDA...boys!) and this is just one of my faves now. I can't decide which I like best. In color or B&W? 

They were having fun together and I wanted more cooperation on poses, but had to just go with it. In the end I think its cute and fun to see their personalities not only shining through, but that they enjoy each other (for the most part).

Heath loves to try and get people to laugh. He LOVES life so much and I wish I could be more like him. Life about does me in and then I am done with it, but he isn't usually down for very long. :)

Heath lost his first tooth and he is the youngest one in our family to have lost a tooth! Most of my kids were at least 7 going on 8 when they lost their first.

Chad has been hitting some of that teen 'tude, but overall is a good kid. One day when we were visiting my sister, Laney hit Chad and kept on messing with him. My sister told him to stop her, but he simply said, "She's too cute to scold!" Now if she has him wrapped around her pinky, I am wondering what our newest little one could get away with on his watch. :) 

He has even babysat a couple of times for another family and has done really well. Their kids want him over a lot! We are pretty proud of our boy who won't be boy for much longer! I can't believe we have about 6 more years with him before he ventures out into the world on his own.

It was hard to get Laney to be in some of these pictures, but the girls loved posing for the camera. Unfortunately for some reason, Alyssa isn't happy with her teeth and doesn't smile much, but I still was able to get some good pictures of her.

Ring around the rosies and other games were the only things that worked for Laney-bug. At least they had fun together.

Alyssa is still the little mama. She really is such a big help to me especially when I have been sick with this pregnancy.

She also LOVES to sew and go to fabric stores. I think that is going to be a weakness of hers cause she LOVES fabric! :) 

I admire her giving heart too. She truly has a love for people. Another trait a child of mine has that I wish I had too. I sometimes allow myself to get annoyed more than I should.

Bria has also lost several teeth as of late. She and Chad have both lost 3-4 at a time. I wouldn't be too surprised if the tooth fairy goes bankrupt anytime soon with these two. :) 

Bria has been doing really well with her piano. She can play left and right hand by ear so long as she practices, but after a few tries or so and then she pretty much has the song down. She loves it too. So that really helps. Now she wants to play flute, but I think with her good ears she should do strings, but I will be a good mom and let her try things out before she makes a final decision. :)

What can I say about bug-bug? She needs NAPS! She is now in a big girl bed and it is hard to get her to nap, but because she isn't getting them she isn't the same child. She spits, hits and gets into EVERYTHING much, much more than she used to. Of course it could be the fact that she is 2!!! :) I can NOT keep up. So we are trying to make her take naps. I am hoping that we can get into a groove soon. I am so tempted to just put her back in the crib for nap time until the baby is old enough to be out of the bassinet.

Other than that she is very snuggly and lovable when she wants to be. :) 

She also loves to learn phonics with Heath, so I have been doing alphabet flash cards with her and we let her think she is doing what Heath is. I think I may have an early reader on my hands though. She sure gets it quickly.

And Laney STILL loves her bellybutton! :)

The Gift of Love

“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.”--Kahlil Gibran

Bria has, for the second time, donated her beautiful brunette locks to the Pantene Beautiful Lengths program. I am very proud of this little one for growing her hair out again. It sure grows really fast! Alyssa is still working on getting hers long enough to donate again.

After all the tearful mornings of hair brushing, I am glad to be done with long hair. At least for a little while, but I have to say that when she told me that she wanted to do this again, I was shocked. I thought, "No way! You scream even when I put the BACK of the brush to your head (major drama round these parts)!"

Despite it all I am proud of my little gal. Her new do is tres chic thanks to our hairstylist, Bernadette! Whom I am sad to say will shortly be moving, so if there are any recommendations for a new awesome stylist from the locals here in Huntsville, please let me know :)

Beautiful Child

What children take from us, they give.
We become people who feel more deeply,
question more deeply,
and love more deeply.

~ Sonia Taitz

Recently Miss Lys was watching the kids while I took Chad to a piano recital and Tyson had to mow. Laney was down for a nap so it was just Heath and Bria. Those two together spells trouble, but Lys held her own. She told them that if they cleaned their rooms that she would give them a prize. Heath was anxious and blurted out that he wanted Bria to lose so that he could get the prize all for himself. Bria was mad and started crying saying that he was "the meanest brother in the world!" 


Alyssa simply said "Heath. Top bunk. NOW!" Then pointed the way and walked right behind him. After settling on the top bunk, Lys explained that we are to talk nicely and love others enough that we want to see them succeed. Then she told him that he needed to apologize to Bria, but first he needed to apologize to Heavenly Father. So, she sat with him as he folded his arms and apologized. Then after they got down from the top bunk Heath bore his testimony (out of the blue) and said that he knows if he tries to be righteous that he will be able to go back and live with Heavenly Father.


Bria was apologized to. Of course she said in her very southern belle dramatic voice "You are not forgiven!" I have no clue where she gets that from. ;) Alyssa tried talking to her, but she just needed some time to think it through and let the hurt pass. After finishing up things with Bria, Alyssa walked out of her room to see Heath crying. She asked him why he was crying and he simply replied "I feel so happy because I did what was right!"


After telling Tys all that had happened I asked, "So, are we doing a good job as parents or what?"  He smiled and said "Either that or our daughter is showing us up!" ha ha! It probably really is the latter. ;)

Alyssa is a beautiful child and is such a great blessing to our family. She is quiet, reserved and shy, but she is very devoted to God and is one of the most compassionate, loyal and loving people I have ever known. I am almost 100% sure that is just her, not our parenting, that has made her so great. I love her and can't wait til she gets back from visiting our family in Georgia. Only about 2 more weeks and she will be home sweet HOME! :)

Snippets-Being Grateful

Life has been a bit on the frustrating side lately. So I decided to make a post on the things I am grateful for so that I won't forget the good things that we have been blessed with.



A very dear friend of ours and her daughter came by to have a much anticipated tea (juice) party with the kids. There were so many yummy goodies (even a few things from her garden) and the kids enjoyed the vintage children's tea set they were able to use. This is something she has done with the kids before and they beg for another every time they see her. I am grateful for friends that enjoy my kids and spending time with us. :) I just wish she wasn't so camera shy so I could have her picture forever (I guess I will have to sneak one sometime. ;)









This child loves to look out the windows and squeals with excitement when she sees the kids playing out there or something of interest to her. I am grateful for the simple joys in life that can put a smile on your face, even when smiling might be hard to do at that time in your life.



We have a lot of yard work still left to do, but it has still been busy around here and the rain hasn't helped with that either. At least we are having some pretty blooms to enjoy despite the weeds that keep creeping further into our flower beds. I am grateful for all the beauty nature has to offer.



Once again Laney loves looking out that window.









This was Bria's first year in dance. She was bored towards the middle and end because practicing the same routine over and over again caused her to lose interest. I told her that since we paid for it and had already signed the contract, that we would honor the contract and finish the year.

After she did a performance, she decided that it might be fun after all. She loves attention and liked performing to get that attention. So she is signed up for another year, but this time no ballet. She said that it was too boring. So, we are on to tap and jazz.



Her entire class did really well and we were very proud of our little Bria who had really good form.






I am very grateful for family and all the happiness that it brings to my life and for extended family being able to show their love and support at our kids activities. I am also grateful for my daughter's friend who happens to be one of our neighbors. She is fun to be around.

Miss Ballerina

This year Bria decided that she wanted to try dance. We signed her up for the 5/6 yr. old combo class. When we first went in for shoe fittings she told me that she would only love ballet and jazz, but that tap would be her least favorite. I told her of Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Gene Kelly and I think she really needed some visuals so we will have to netflix a few of their movies for her to fully appreciate the greats. Then told her that I thought the same thing as a little girl when I was put into dance and when those taps were put on something magical happened. I LOVED the sound of them on the floor and it was music to my ears. She was still not sold on the idea.

After finally trying the tap shoes on and taking her first step in them, she wouldn't let us take them off. The magic happened. She LOVED the way they sounded and insisted that she was going to wear them all day and night (and she would too if we let her), but the nice shoe lady said that it would ruin them and she should only wear them in the dance studio. My little gal took it to heart and is very diligent at making sure her shoes (the tap shoes in particular) are taken care of. Now if we could only get her to take that special kind of care with her bedroom.

She has been doing really well and has demonstrated several stretches to the class for her teachers because of her great flexibility and strength. The funny thing is is that she had been doing the stretches they do, at home before ever going to dance, for a few years, trying to be goofy for us. Who knew that goofiness would one day pay off. :)

As a mom I feel that it is my duty to help my children find and further develop their talents, but through the years I have learned that I had to let them make the decisions on what they felt they wanted to learn. If they didn't want to do something that I thought they would be good at because they showed promise, I had to let go because ultimately in the end if they have talent and passion for it then they will flourish in ways that I never thought possible and if I pushed them knowing they weren't happy doing it then it would cause undue pressure and frustration for everyone involved. However I do try to make them see something through until it is done for the season. It sure is nice to see that she loves this and is making great progression in her new found talent. I can even tell that she has gained some pretty good muscle and balance. Who knows where this little gals talents will take us. I love this gal!