Little things

* The kids had the Monday after Easter off of school this year so we used the time to recover a little from our trip. Luke helped mow the lawn while M&M did an awesome job vacuuming out the van! The younger girls helped to entertain MJ while I helped with the mowing.

* M&M scored two goals in one of her soccer games a couple of weeks ago! One of her goals for this season was to score a goal and she accomplished it! (Unfortunately DH and I both missed both of them! The game was a makeup game on a Wednesday evening and I had dropped M&M off at the game, but then had to go back home to pick up something that we had forgotten. DH arrived late because he was stopping off on his way home from work. She scored both of the goals at the beginning of the game.) M&M said that they were both passes made to the center of the field and she was in the right place at the right time and beat the goalie to the ball both times.

* Luke scored 4 goals in his game a couple of weeks ago! He scored the only 3 goals made in the first half of the game and then he scored one more in the second half. Fortunately I did get to see all of his goals.

* MJ has only woken up once a night for the past three nights in a row! Thursday evening she slept for over 6 hours straight. I am crossing my fingers and hoping that we finally have the worst behind us. Now if I could just get her to nap better during the day...

* Lately I have been trying to have DH take MJ during Sacrament Meeting so she doesn't think she needs to go out and nurse the whole time. Somedays, like today, it works great and she ends up falling asleep in DH's lap (after a little bit of a struggle).

* We have finally had some nice weather so I have been able to get out to the garden and get a lot of work done in it. I will hopefully be able to start planting some things tomorrow. We have quite a few of our strawberry plants come back this year and I have bought a few more to plant in what will hopefully become a nice little strawberry patch along the side of our house out in the garden area.

Little things

* M&M making a birthday cake for me (and letting Kay help her).

* Luke making no-bake cookies for the family Tuesday evening.

* Family coming over to help celebrate my birthday.

* The kids having fun playing with and entertaining their 14 month old cousin.

* Blondie & Kitty making me birthday cards.

Little things

* Finally having everyone healthy!

* Watching MegaMind as a family (loved the movie - definitely my kind of humor).

* Helping Kitty learn to read.

* The weather being warm enough to go for a walk with the kids Sunday evening.

* MJ almost has her first tooth.

* Kitty has almost lost her first tooth.

* M&M helping me make dinner for the last two weeks (one of her requirements for YW). I think it's been an eye opener for her to see how much work is involved in feeding a family.

* M&M learning to play The Pink Panther on the piano (mostly on her own).

* Kay actually allowing me to put jeans on her one day last week.

* Blondie reading books to her sisters at night.

* Kay becoming an expert at twirling the hair in her ponytail. She'll suck on her thumb on one hand and use the other hand to twirl her hair.

Little things

* Watching Secretariat with the family - great movie!

* Finally putting together a dinner menu for the month and sticking to it for the first week.

* Seeing MJ light up whenever she sees one of her siblings.

* Having MJ hold out her hands for her dad when I am holding her.

* Kay coming up to MJ and saying, "MJ's so adorable!"

* Finding some cute, cheap fabric to make myself a skirt (less than $2/yard).

* Watching home videos with the family!

* While cleaning up the family room the other night, Kay took Luke's shoes immediately after he took them off of his feet and put them in his room.

Little things

* Luke making a lunch for Blondie when she is running a few minutes late (without being asked).

* Blondie telling him "thank you" without being prompted.

* Blondie giving a big chocolate bar that she received at school to M&M because she doesn't think she can eat it all and she knows that M&M loves them.

* The kids (especially M&M) getting excited about receiving big homemade fudge kisses from Grandma N.

* Kay getting excited about receiving some Valentine candy and wanting to share with her dad.

* Spring fever!! We have been having unseasonably warm weather ever since last Saturday - highs in the upper 50s-60!!

* Watching M.J. figure out how to move around the room. She can now get herself to the sitting position on her own.

* M.J. getting excited when she sees her dad and crying if he walks away without picking her up!

* Kay being very polite and saying "please" and "thank-you" without being prompted.

* Making & decorating Valentine cookies with the kids.

Little things

* Having a quick and relatively pain free dentist appointment. I was gone from my home for less than an hour! I was the only patient there when I first arrived and I think there was only one other person there when I left.

* My dad watching my three youngest kids while I was at the dentist. The dentist and his assistant thought I was crazy for asking my dad to watch them for me - especially a 4 month old. I never even thought twice about asking him because he loves kids and does great with them. Kay especially loves it when Bacca comes over. Normally my mom would have come instead of him or with him but she had a concert that morning.

* MJ sleeping the whole time I was gone.

* M&M getting Kitty ready for her dance pictures while I was at a rehearsal on Saturday. She got her all dressed and even fixed and curled her hair!

* Online shopping! I am loving it this year!

* Helping the Bear scouts make tool boxes. Yesterday we finished putting the screws in, sanded the boxes and started painting them. We will finish them up next week.

Little things

* MJ squealing when I smile and say hi to her in the exersaucer.

* MJ sleeping a little better at night and getting some good naps in during the day as well.

* Luke helping Kitty make cookies for FHE.

* MJ getting excited when her dad gets home from work.

* M&M and Luke being able to make cookies on their own without any help.

* MJ laughing while watching her siblings play.

* Kay napping without putting up a fight.

* Finding some nice shirts for me and M&M at the thrift store.

* Being told that I look too young to have a child in middle school.

Little things

* Teaching M&M how to make bread.

* So many people at church commenting on MJ being such a pretty baby.

* Kay loving nursery.

* Playing my flute with the ward choir today at rehearsal.

* MJ finally getting some chubby legs.

* MJ sleeping the whole time I was at rehearsal yesterday - almost 3 hours in the morning.

* Watching Toy Story 3 and eating popcorn with the family last night.

* Harvesting some potatoes from the garden yesterday and using them in a beef stew for dinner tonight.

* Eating homemade strawberry-peach jam with the homemade bread that M&M, Luke & I made. YUM!! :)

Little things

* Kay breaking out into song this morning singing "Book of Mormon Stories" and "Patty Cake"

* Kitty entertaining MJ while I showered this morning.

Little things

* My mom coming over to help sew yesterday.

* Being able to run to two stores while she was here to look for a costume for Luke.

* Having MJ sleep the whole time I was gone.

* MJ and Kay napping at the same time while the other 4 kids were all at school.

* Getting some good work done on some costumes while the little ones napped.

* Finding the perfect costume for Luke just when I was about to give up and leave the store - and it was less than $15!

* Luke absolutely loving the costume when he saw it - and it fits him pretty good too! (M&M opened up the costume when she got home from school and then put it on and scared the kids with it when they got home from school.)

* Having a good FHE discussion about temples and testimonies.

* Luke entertaining MJ while I finished getting dinner in the oven.

Little things

Luke making a lunch for Blondie this morning.

Little things

* MJ finally sleeping a little better. She fell asleep at the end of Blondie's soccer game on Saturday and stayed asleep while I drove home and dropped off some kids, drove to a craft activity, learned how to do a craft and finished it, drove back home and picked up 4 more kids for M&M's soccer game and then drove to M&M's soccer game. Then she finally woke up! She also slept for a few hours so I could get some work done on some Halloween costumes.

* Taking the 3 youngest to M&M's band concert by myself and being able to video tape it as well! (Thankfully they only played 2 songs.)

* Watching the kids play in their soccer games. Blondie always got so excited for her games and practices.

* M&M helping me make dinner on Sunday and then making cookies for dessert.

* Watching M&M and MJ make spitting noises back and forth to each other.

* Getting some really cute 3 month pictures of MJ at the photo studio. It was hard to pick which ones to buy!

* Having my mom come over and help sew Halloween costumes with me.

* Taking 4 kids to the dentist and none of them having cavities.

* Having M&M come to our Relief Society craft night and helping me paint my crafts and tend MJ.

Little things

There's a blog that I read occasionally where the author posts little things that happen in her life - usually things having to do with her kids - that she wants to remember. I thought that I would also try doing that from time to time. So here are some little things from the last few days:

* Luke helping Kitty bake some pan cookies for FHE tonight - it's Kitty's turn to be in charge of the treats.

* Blondie sitting on the couch reading through a story in the Friend to prepare herself to teach the lesson tonight for FHE.

* Kay always coming up to me while I'm holding MJ and saying, "Oh, she's so cute!" and then touching her head gently and kissing the top of her head.

* MJ sleeping through all of Blondie's soccer game last Saturday - even with me yelling on the sidelines.

* Blondie practicing the piano without being asked - she just started lessons 2 weeks ago.

* M&M curling Blondie's and Kitty's hair.

* Luke offering to change Kay's diaper when she first gets up in the morning.

* Kay repeatedly saying, "Mmmm. Delicious" while trying a new coffee cake I made for breakfast yesterday.

* Kay asking to go to bed when she gets tired. She'll say, "I want to go to bed - and I want some milk and some books."

* MJ smiling and cooing.