It's Gonna Be a Long One

I'm having the feeling it's going to be a long week.

Ben will be gone Wednesday through Friday.  Kanalu has been staying with us since last week, and the boy who sits next to him in school went home sick today.  So did Kanalu.  Last week, that other boy's sister was throwing up.  Kanalu doesn't look so good.  Joey, Andrew, and Kanalu have been sharing a room.  It's going to be a long week.

***

I have been very pleased to get more notes from Grace lately.  Here's one:

HIYTHISGRACEINOMATHYOOISSSIKFRUMGRACE

Translation: Hi.  This is Grace.  I know Matthew is sick.  From, Grace.

She wrote one to Emma:

EMMASOHALRUDOOENRUDGRATFRAMMGRACE


Translation: Emma, so how are you doing? Are you doing great? From, Grace

There's also this one I found:

HITISISGRACEINOYOOLAKMEYDAD

Translation: Hi.  This is Grace.  I know you like me, Dad.

***

I've been taking a photography class on Tuesday nights.  It's been very educational, and I have to admit: it's kind of fun to have homework.  This kind of homework, anyway.  All I have to do is take pictures.  Here are a few of my favorites so far:

Assignment: Stop something in motion

Assignment: Photograph something outside at night:

Assignment: Photograph something with a narrow depth of field:

I think I'll make a binder.  I like making binders.  I wonder what next week's assignments will be?


This Week's Fun

Okay, having six kids in the house is more work than I had previously thought.  I haven't had much time to sit down and blog, but now that everybody is at school (and it's too cold to do anything else), the turkey is in the oven, and the little ones are laying down -- here I go.

I just thought this picture was cute.  The boys dressed the same on accident.  Now I've just got to get Joey a flannel shirt, and we'll have a trio of lumberjacks:

Grace stayed at Grandma Jane's house last Friday (again -- she really likes sleepovers), and they went shopping before coming home.  One of their purchases was this "back scratcher".  However, Matthew picked it up and thought it was just a big toothbrush.  He found out that it wasn't a very comfortable one.

And I tried my first attempt (and probably the last) at fondant.  I had no idea what I was doing, and it took a really long time.  My arms are still sore from kneading.  Haley was not very supportive.  She said it looked like a rainbow threw up on my cake, or something like that.

I've been messing around with my camera for my photography class.  I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing, so I'll throw in a couple of random pictures of Sunday night dinner at Grandpa and Grandma's house.

We heard hysterical laughter coming from downstairs at my parents' house, so Ben went to investigate.  These two riffraffs were so proud of themselves for getting the elliptical machine to go all by themselves.  They thought it was very funny.

A Week of Fun with Kanalu

We've had an amazing week, and the children are still so excited that Kanalu is here for 6 weeks!  And the best part is that he gets to go to school with the kids.  The even better part is that he gets to come home with us, and we have another playmate here at the house.  It's been so much fun.  Kanalu seems to be liking school and making friends quickly.  He didn't miss a beat, and he even said that being at our house is funner than going to the zoo!  What a compliment!

First day of school (yes, it was very cold - but we were prepared) --

Tonight we went to Grandma's house to celebrate Kanalu's birthday.  We had lasagna for dinner, and we were glad to see Uncle Sam, Anthony, and cousins Lita and Hiram.

We smooshed as many little kids at this table as possible.  And they even ate their dinner!

Andrew trying to get some alone time:

And let us not forget that Matthew's very favorite thing in the world (after his letters, dee dee, and the Harris ladies), is blowing out birthday candles.  He gathers things from around the house, like pens, pencils, crayons, Popsicle sticks, mini lotion bottles, etc. --  sings the birthday song, and pretends to blow them out.  I was distracted with taking pictures, and I should have seen this coming:

Kanalu got the rest of them, though.

Joey's birthday is exactly 4 weeks after Kanalu's.  Grandma Nan was so nice to let him have his present early -- a new suit!  He quickly outgrew his old one, so a new size 7 is perfect.  He already has it laying out on the floor, ready to go for tomorrow.

In other news, Matthew started going potty in the potty chair yesterday.  I knew it was coming because he has been bothered by his diaper lately.  He went at Grandma Nan's successfully, and is continuing to tell us he needs to go.  He even went poopy today!  (I know you're going to read this sometime when you're an adult and yell at me for writing that, but it's for posterity:)

We'll see how long it lasts.  Each kid always has a false start, so this is probably number one for him.  But I'll enjoy it while it lasts.  He refuses to wear the train underwear he picked out at the store today, and won't have anything to do with the pull-ups unless we take him swimming, so we'll see.  He's pretty pleased with himself, though.  Very cute.

Christmas Break Volume 3

Sometimes Christmas vacation can be tough.  It's not nice enough to play outside most days, although we did anyway.  All I have to say about that is thank goodness for snow pants.  We went sledding again, this time at Pioneer Park.  And except for the parents on the next hill that were smoking, it was a great day.  Grace was the first one down the hill.  She went fifteen feet, then promptly hit a tree.  She wasn't going very fast, and the tree was smaller than her, so no problem there.

We were excited when one of our favorite families came over.  Joey and Kourtney played for hours!  Kaitlin and Andrew played, too, including making a cool fort in the basement.  We were especially excited that their little brother, Keegan was able to come this time, too.  He and Matt had a great time.  Their parents brought over breakfast -- Joey safe pancakes and sausage (our favorite!), and we dined on Costco pizza for lunch.  It was a great day that we will hopefully repeat sometime very soon.

This is not a new haircut, she just played so hard her hair did weird things.

You can tell it's been a great day when they just fall over at the end of it.

The next day, Daddy got the kids working on some projects around the house.  The big boys got their own tool boxes and tool belts -- and REAL tools -- for Christmas.  They were more than happy to break them in by helping Daddy.  This is my new favorite Saturday morning sight.  And, of course, Gracie had to be where the boys were.  She was a big help.

We also said good-bye to a really good friend.  Janelle is headed down to St. George for nursing school.  She has been one of the funnest people in our ward.  The boys had tears when they found out she was leaving.  They keep saying how much they wish she could stay.  We will definitely stay in touch, and hope all goes well for her!

Bloody Sunday

I love Sundays, but I hope I don't have another one like this again any time soon.  Church went fine until the last half-hour, when the nursery people brought Matthew to me.  He had put up with not having "Momma Harris" and Katie there for long enough, and finally had a meltdown.  He was done with nursery for the day.

We then went home, to Grandma's house for dinner, then back to church for tithing settlement.  Joey's tooth was hanging by a thread, so thankfully Brother Draayer (a dentist) pulled it out for us.  It bled for a little bit, but stopped very quickly.  Unfortunately, that was not the end for us.  Joey and Matthew went into the coat closet to see Matt's shoes light up.  Then Matt shut the door (which I told him not to do), and kept the lights off.  I heard a bang a few moments later, but thought they were just kicking the wall.  I went in there to tell them to get out, and Matt was standing there by a chair, covered -- and I mean COVERED -- in blood.  So was the chair.  He was just wiping it off as it soaked his entire face.  But he wasn't crying.  He didn't even look bothered at all.  He was just mad that I grabbed him and marched him to the bathroom.  He wanted me to quit touching him, but that thing would not stop gushing.  I had to have Haley come in and help clean up the sink (which turned from solid white to solid red) while I tried to stop the bleeding.  I completely soaked half a roll of toilet paper, plus some napkins.  We grabbed a bunch of toilet paper, and went back out into the foyer, where our dentist (Dr. Haslam -- yes, we have lots of dentists in our ward) was waiting.  He helped us get the bleeding under control, and just before his nose finally stopped bleeding, a gigantic blood clot came out.  It was like nothing I've ever seen before.

I don't think Matt has as many pain sensors as a normal human.  He NEVER cries when he gets hurt, unless he whines because he thinks someone did something mean.  I have a feeling we're going to be known at the ER very well.

Christmas Break Volume 2

Christmas was a success!  We prepared by bathing the children.  They were stinky.  First was this little character.  I just had to get a picture of him while he patiently waited to be dressed.  I love my little kids fresh out of the bath, covered in a towel!

On Christmas Eve, we had my parents and brother over for dinner.  We did this because Grandma Jane's gift for the boys was huge, and couldn't be wrapped.  We deliberated on how to give it to them, and decided to bring it over to our house, lock them in their rooms while it was brought in and assembled (thank you, Eric -- we had no idea how to do that), and then bring them down to see what it was.  They had been discussing the possibilities.  All they knew was that it was big and expensive.  They thought it might be a big wheels, gaming system, a club house, or a horse.  They were wrong, and Joey was not exceptionally excited for what it really was.  But by the end of the night, we couldn't keep him off of them.  It was a full, real drum set!  I was having some second thoughts about it (and still am), but we'll see how it goes.  They start lessons on Tuesday, and I think it will be more fun once they know how to play them.  But they've got some good practice in already.  So has Matt and Grace.

Other gifts received were Lego Indiana Jones 2 for the Wii (from Uncle Eric -- they've been asking for that one for a long time), a Hannah Montana guitar that plugs into the TV, puzzles and ABC laptops, and boots and a REAL laptop for Haley.

Later that night, we went on our traditional city tour of Christmas lights.  We were so happy to catch Santa taking a break in one of his favorite neighborhoods.  He came to the window, talked to the kids, and gave everybody a candy cane.  That's my very favorite part of Christmas Eve.  The kids were begging to go to bed at 7:30, thanks to Ben's ingenious idea of waking them up very early for a breakfast out and shopping.  It works every time.

Early the next morning, we were lucky enough to capture Santa's bounteous gifts he left before the kids got downstairs.  Haley got an official Time Bandit sweatshirt and cap, Andrew got a guitar, Grace and Joey got ukuleles, and Matthew got his garbage truck (complete with the most important part -- a garbage can that can be dumped).

The rest of the presents were awesome, too.  The kids played all morning with each other, and they're still going strong.  Some of the more popular gifts were lego Star Wars things, Zoobles and a house for them, pajamas, and light sabers.

I finally had time to take a shower before we went over to the Manley's for lunch.  As I was getting myself ready, I could feel the floor vibrating, and hear the drums being lovingly used.  I figured it must be the boys, but I went to the kitchen and saw them playing in there.  So I went downstairs to investigate, and found these two having a jam session.  Matthew was playing the symbols with his foot while singing the ABC's, and Grace was busy keeping the beat.  Classic.