7 years old!

My birthday girl and little Snow White at her princess party.

Our little girl is 7. SEVEN! Where did the time go? Words cannot express how much we adore this little angel. 

Sarah has a special gift. She is honestly the kindest person I know. She thinks of others before herself in any situation she is in.

 She is constantly helping out without being asked....you can almost always find her reading a book to Luke or Kenna, helping the boys with their chores, helping mom cook a meal..etc. 

She doesn't ever give us a hassle about doing her homework or practicing piano. We just had her parent/teacher conference and her teacher had nothing but good things to say about her. 

Making a wish

This year she really wanted a "friend" party. Last year we were traveling to California on her birthday, and the year before that Kenna had her skull surgery a few days before her birthday..so she definitely deserved it! 

Our early morning wake up crew....anxious to watch Sarah open her birthday presents!

She wanted a princess theme for her party, and she wanted Seth to be the "servant" that greeted the guests and took their coats. The funny thing is that HE DID IT! He dressed up in a suit and took the job very seriously. It made her so happy! I guess the good thing about always doing your brothers chores for him is that he returns the favor in other ways!

The Princess and the servant :) 

My 9.5 pound chubby baby has grown into a beautiful young lady!

I know this picture is blurry, but I wanted to include it because it is so sweet. Sarah is fun to buy things for because she is so appreciative. She was so cute at her party....Every time she opened a gift, she would say something sweet about it and then hug whoever bought it for her.

When I turned 7, my dad read the Book of Mormon to me that entire year so that we could finish it before my baptism. Jimmy and I have kept that tradition going by buying our kids a Book of Mormon of their own on their 7th birthday that we each write our testimony in. We read it with them all year and finish it before their 8th birthday. It is such a fun and special tradition. 

Preschool

Jimmy and I decided early on that since I was a stay-at-home-mom, we would forgo preschool and I would just do preschool at home with the kids. We know our children will be in school until they leave home (and probably longer) so we want to enjoy their presence in our home as long as possible. I was a preschool teacher's aide from ages to 16-18 and then I was a teacher from 18 until I was too pregnant with Seth to teach, so I knew I could do it...I just hoped I would be as consistent as I needed to be.

 Turns out it has been great! I must admit, teaching Luke and Kenna has been a lot less stressful then when I taught Seth and Sarah....first off, I am not pregnant nor do I have a baby getting into the art projects we do....always a plus ;-) Also, I am a lot more organized at this whole "mom thing" then I was when they were little. I also realize that what every old lady says to me is true ("Enjoy this time, they grow up SO quickly"). I am already the mom of a third grader! Crazy!

I didn't intend to start teaching Kenna this early, but she loves it and is picking up on things so quickly (she also gave up naps right about the time we started this fall).  I think it will be good since she has an August birthday and will be a very young kindergartener if we choose to send her the year she turns five.

Teaching is something I love and it adds such a fun element to our days. We learn a letter a week, do art (I try for 3 days a week), go to story time at our local library, and read tons and tons of books. Sometimes I will just make up a fun game (making a zoo with our animals and blocks, making a masking tape road for our hot wheels...etc). It is such a joy and a blessing to be able to spend my days with these two little people!

Reynauds Syndrome

With Kenna being blond and fair, she naturally has sensitive skin. Sometimes when we would take her outside she would get these weird hives that we really couldn't attribute to anything. We had mentioned it to the Dr a few times, but he wasn't too concerned about it. 

After awhile we started noticing that she would get fussy if she was outside when the air was chilly. She would be okay for about 20 min, and then she would start asking to go into the house. When we would take her in, she would fuss and cry for about 30 min and then be fine. 

A couple of weeks ago I walked the kids to school. It was a chilly morning...but not too cold. About halfway home she started to tell me that her hands were hurt. I checked them and didn't notice anything. 

A couple of min later she started really crying and saying her feet hurt. I looked at them and almost passed out. They were completely swollen. So bad that they were coming out of her shoes! (Think pregnant, swollen ankles being stuffed in shoes two sizes to small).

Then I checked her hands again, which by this time were completely swollen. 

By the time we got home she was hysterical and couldn't use her hands or walk for almost an hour.  We took her to the Dr where he discovered she has Reynauds Syndrome. What it is basically an extreme allergy to being cold. In Kenna's case, it seems to be getting worse each time she is exposed to extreme cold. It started with a mild rash, and then hives, and now her hands, feet, and face swell if she is exposed to too much cold. So sad. AND so frustrating. She can't swim in cold water, which is such a bummer for summer (even water that comes out the hose is to cold for her skin). Poor girl even gets a rash and a swollen face if the milk from her cereal gets on her face. 

This picture is so sweet. We had cleaned out the van that morning, and her and Luke were playing while I vacuumed it out. I didn't notice she had taken her warm boots off, so her feet swelled up terribly. All morning she had trouble walking and was fussy. During nap time I put a movie on for her and Luke....he was being so sweet and comforting her, making sure she stayed warm. I walked out of the room and when I came back he said "I put Kenna to sleep for you"

This is how she looks most of the time we are outdoors...Bundled up!

9 Years

Yep, I am still in love with the same guy I was 9 years ago.  More so now.  I am pretty much head over heels in love with him.  We celebrated nine years of marriage in August, and I don't feel like it got the attention it deserved.  We have been through so much together that sometimes I feel like he has been by my side far longer than 9 years.  Here is a rundown of what nine years looks like:

Year One ~  Got married :)   Moved to Indiana.  Ate out too much.  Went to the movies whenever we wanted.  Became Parents to a wonderful little boy. 

Year Two ~ Spent every waking moment with our little guy.  When our little guy was asleep we would talk for hours about how cute our little guy was. Moved to an apt in downtown Indianapolis. Jimmy worked A LOT.   

Year Three ~ We welcomed a sweet daughter into our family.  Jimmy still worked A LOT. Our sweet daughter cried A LOT.  We got a dog.  Bought a house.  We were prompted that Jimmy should go back to school.  Left the dog. Left the house. Moved back to CA (Yay)! Jimmy started school. 

Year Four ~ Lived on a ranch.  Jimmy worked long hours far away. Spent all of our free time with our little kiddos. Went to Grandma and Pops every Sunday.  Dinner at Costco on Friday nights.  Seth would wait at the fence for Daddy to come home from work.  Rode horses. 

Year Five ~ Moved to Moreno Valley. Managed apts. Jimmy served in Young Mens. Made great friends. Spent lots of time with family, Went to the colorado river. Went to Prescott, AZ.  Jimmy had an emergency appendectomy.

Year Six ~ Welcomed our second little boy into our family.  Moved to Provo, Utah.  Jimmy started school at BYU. 

Year Seven ~ Seth started Kindergarten. Went on two vacations to CA. Spent time in Delta, Utah with friends. Surprise pregnancy :)  Sarah got her tonsils out. 

Year Eight ~  Our baby girl was born. Jimmy started the accounting program at BYU. Melissa had emergency gallbladder surgery. Kenna had emergency skull surgery.  Crazy year.  

Year Nine ~ Jimmy started the Masters of accounting program at BYU. Sarah started kindergarten. Sarah got rheumatic fever. Daddy was away all summer doing an internship in Dallas.

Year Ten ~ Well, we are only two months into year ten.....so I can't promise anything, but we should be done with school and become grown ups this year  :)

Happenings

Oh my, I haven't posted anything since October! I have no computer, but I just discovered a Blogger app for my phone....SO, now I can post again!

Everybody is good. A LOT has happened since October, so I will have to break it down into a series of posts. But for now I posted some cute pictures of my darling kiddos! Enjoy!