{Arizona prt.1}

 Of course as soon as we got out of the car the children dug out their swim suits and jumped in! 

{being a girl}

We tried Presley on some taekwando with her brothers. we figured, we are here...she is here, why not? We tried about 2 months worth of showing up in her white uniform with bows bigger than her head (ya know just to girl it up a bit) and she never stayed on the mat for long. But her dance classes, that's an entirely different story. She loves it. She twirls about with ribbons, shakes pom pons, & taps her toes. The girls are all darling & love to sing the latest Disney hit "Let it go" at the end of the class. Our girl is still working on her words, but she hums right along with the best of them. Presley loves slipping into her pink leo & tights. She really enjoys being a girl.  

I spied on her through the one way mirror today (when I wasn't having deep discussions about burger joints, babies & book club meetings with my good friend.) It is easy to see that Presley is enjoying the room full of girlies & pink.

{blue & gold}

Last week was T's Blue & Gold banquette for scouts. It is fun seeing Tre light up when he is with his church pals. They are such good buddies. He had a great time running about with Nate & Josh & the other scouts. His scout leader is my good friend & I just love her to bits! Tre has had all super great leaders. He always has a great time at meetings & comes out all smiles with a good story to tell. He feels very loved by our ward family! Who could ask for more?! 

{busy hands}

The children have been passing around a yucky bug to one another. We have been trying to chase it away for weeks now. The littlest ones seem to be getting hit with it over & over. That has been keeping my hands busy. Always a warm baby to hold & rock. My favorite moments of motherhood are those in the darkness of night with my cheek on their forehead offering milk or humming love songs. It reminds me of the moment I fell in love with our first baby. It was in a feeding at 4am on our green sofa in our tiny 900 sqft  house in Provo. It was so cold outside, but so warm inside & in my arms was a swaddled up baby drinking while in twilight. I have moments like this etched on my heart with each of the 5. The moments I fell in love. 

----------------------

I took a moment to sit on the floor with my wrestles sick baby this afternoon while the brothers were at school & sister napped. He picked some little cars & found the windowsill to be a suitable race track for his matchbox cars. 

{14th}

I am the worst valentine to have. Really I am. 

Poor Rod came home to a wife in his sweat pants (not even my own) and an old t-shirt that had some of coopers afternoon snack on it. My hair in a high pony & most of my makeup rubbed off by little hands grabbing at my cheeks for kisses or eye contact. It had been one of those extra busy holidays for the school aged children & thus an extra busy week of preparations for me.  We had heart attacked each other's doors earlier in the week. The boys delivered their little bouquets as always. This year Maddox did not choose a little friend, rather his primary teacher. I feel full heatedly that he was inspired to choose her. She is just the sweetest & deserves lots of flowers! Britt chose E again who remains a full head taller than him! poor short boy...we are still waiting for a growth spurt! Tre picked his sweet buddy A who has grown up so much this past year! I look at pictures of Tre & A from a year ago, even 2 years ago & they are so big now! A gave Tre a whole cookie cake this valentines day! Presley was gunning for it. Sweet Big brother shared with everyone.  Maddox went to our cute neighbors M & M's house for a fun little after school party with the cutest cupcakes. Poor Tre was too sick & Presley & Britton are homebodies. It was a beautiful day for outside play! Rod made it home for dinner (not common) & we fed the children heart shaped everything & strawberry milk & then sent them off to bed with chocolate filled tums. I had told Rod not to get me anything (residency means money is silly tight) & then in jest said that I would make exceptions for cadbury chocolate. He did not just buy me a candy bar, but instead got to making me a flour free cadbury chocolate cake. It was delicious. He is one of those people that everything he does is done perfectly. Talented guy! I felt all mushy & lovey for my friends & family. It carried into the next day & rejuvenated my resolution for the year to SHOW love rather than just speak of it. 

lots of valentine fun on my instagram feed too.

my id: jennifersclater

{grapple}

They call it "grapple" here. Its a snowy, icy mixture that looks a whole lot like dippin' dots. 

I could not believe it when I turned on the morning news and saw that the children had a "snow" day. 1) because I am from New Hampshire & lived in Utah both of which you needed a ridiculous amount of snow for the word cancellation to even be whispered. 2) The amount on the ground was none...it only stuck to porches and trampolines & some mulch. Roads were grapple free. 3) Moving here to Texas I thought we were leaving behind snow days. We hoped anytime the temps dropped, but really never thought it would happen. 

After wishing I had seen the cancellation before waking the boys, we gathered in the kitchen to make pancakes & hot chocolate. We stayed in our jamies much too long & then explored the back yard in its new frozen state. It was magical having a snow day here. May never happen for us again, but it was a memory the children will surely never forget. It restored our hope in snow days. 

 Funniest part? It was 70 degrees by 5pm the next day. The children were in tees. 

{family & football}

Rod spent many years living in Washington state as a kid. He has fond memories of it. My father in law (such a fun guy!) is a loyal Seahawks fan. So in honor of him we dressed the kids in blues and greens for football's biggest Sunday. 

GO SEAHAWKS! 

After church and some quiet time we headed down the hill to Natalie & Glen's for dinner & playing & oh yeah...football too. The guys hid up in the media room watching the game on the big screen while the kids played and the ladies caught up. I remember super bowl Sundays at my Aunt & Uncle's golf course with the rest of the family and food and ice skating on the pond. I hope our kids will have these happy days tucked away in their memories to share with their own children someday.

& while we are on the topic of my family & my Aunt & Uncle... I have had my cousin, Craig on my heart a lot these past few weeks (Literally I feel my heart heavy in my chest. heavy!)  He is a helicopter pilot and is flying in some dangerous territories during his current deployment. I literally loose sleep thinking about him, praying for him. My Aunt Carol & Uncle Kevin were like another set of parents growing up, we lived at their house every other weekend and my cousins at our house on the others. It felt like I had 3 brothers rather than 1. I love Craig very much. Most of my childhood memories (like super bowls) have him in them.  The children, Rod and I discuss him daily and we are all very grateful for his service!

{Stormy}

After being told Presley was a boy during several ultrasounds I remember feeling peace. I even laughed. My mother cried. She wanted a baby girl for me so badly. I understand now why. My mother is my dearest friend. I think she wanted me to have that too with a daughter one day. The day Presley turned out to be in fact a girl was one of mixed emotions..surprisingly. If anyone should be ecstatic to be having a daughter it should be me. Truth is I mourned that little boy who I imagined would be named Nixon (not after Richard mind you.) All my dreams had been blue.  It took me a bit to push that aside and really embrace that I was now a mother of that daughter I had so long for. Presley was pink and perfect and full cheeked when she was born. I remember thinking how much she looked exactly like my own 1st day baby pictures. She was mine. Her demeanor was still and quiet. Calm & content. She hardly cried that 1st year. She was wide eyed and soaked in her brothers as they ran across the large grassy lot on the side of our 2 bedroom home. She wore big bows and flowers on her head, never taking them off, a girly mothers dream. She napped and slept well always awaking with a smile and bright eyes. I imagined her always being that. Still & quiet. Calm & content. I think I forgot that even little girls become 3. Presley today is all but still & quiet. She is not even a bit calm & is hardly ever content. & yet I love her. She gets hives (no really. hives!) if baby cooper even looks at her, She screams when people say her name, she causes scenes and yet I love her. I think she may have been meant to be an only child. Someone, somewhere got confused and sent her cute/crazy little spirit into our very busy family of brothers. I feel sad a lot when I think of Presley because I know she does not put fourth her best self at church or speech or school parking lots of grocery stores, or anywhere really. I'm not sad for me. I am sad that onlookers do not get to see those moments behind the scenes. When she copies the way I stand in the kitchen while I prepare dinner, like a flamingo. When she has to give me the 3 step hello/goodbye/nighty night. It starts with the hug, then the kiss and finally the most important part-the high five! When she sings during bedtime song & prayers. When she will instantly stop storming if given a warm embrace accompanied by a soft back rub. When she helps (or tries to) fold laundry or wipe counters "just like mommy." When she prays through every ones prayers with her arms folded and her eyes shut tight. When she won't stop waving goodbye to Madds' bus till it is completely out of sight. When she will twirl and twirl and make me twirl right along with her till we both are dizzy and giggling.  I wish people could see that part of my girl. Its those moments that assure me that inside that stormy girl of ours is that calm baby.  I am willing to wait out the storm for the calm. Because I love her (and 3 year olds are not 3 forever. THANK GOODNESS!) 

{stretching days}

Everyday Coop does something else, something new to show us that he is leaving behind his days as a baby. Its sad really. An end of an era. He is one & I know he should be using the bottle less, but I cannot help but try to stretch these days. I go to him at night when he cries out. I pick him up. I take him into the corner where the rocking chair is & I wrap him up and rock back & forth while he drinks warm milk. Its dark and still. Just the sound of his quick breaths between sucks. I love the way babies lips curl when they nurse or drink from a bottle. I am going to miss seeing that. I'm going to miss baby cooper. Toddler Cooper has proved to be just as lovable though. He is smiley and adorable. He is into EVERYTHING. Every kitchen cabinet, every closet, every drawer, the pantry,  the trash oh the trash! And lets not forget the toilet paper & toothpaste. Never a dull moment with that sweet buddy. Presley is doing her part in keeping him crawling. Every time he stands up or takes a few steps in her vicinity he gets a little shove from sis. He gets bravest when she is playing in another room.  He has started to sing and says choochoo (our family nick name for paci) and Mama, Dada, Baba. The starting words. He loves to dance about & climb stairs. He hunts for remotes and knows how to remove all the backs to find the batteries. He opens doors, and can yell a mighty scream when he wants out of the high chair, he looks cutest in his moccasins and flannel shirts, like a little mountain man. He makes my life better. more complete. Babies have always had a way of centering me. I imagine baby cooper will always be BABY cooper...

even when he is 18. 

{Monday}

Monday the children had off so the mommas from the street took the kids to the park for pizza and play. These little ones are such good buddies. They are such big hearted and kind children. 

Its such a comfort to know our babes are growing up with such a wonderful group.