i {heart} pintrest

I absolutely LOVE pintrest. 

It's so fun to jump on and see all the fun things out there I want to try. 

Well...I have a TON of projects now. 

It started to make feel a bit over whelmed. 

I came to the conclusion that if I didn't actually try the things I was pinning then it was just a

huge waste of time.  So I set a goal to start using some of my pins and I love it. 

this was a cute math activity to help teach addition and subtraction. 

It came from this blog.   

Even though she knows all of her colors and I had her sort them into piles first

then she had to put the equation together,

and add it up. 

Miss B had a lot of fun. 

I'd say it was a pintrest success!  

Pizza Party

The kids are loving their new school and are making wonderful friends. 

I wanted to get to know some of them better

so we had them over for an out door movie night on the big screen 

Which turned into an xbox tournament.  :) 

We ordered pizza and later had ice cream sundae's

They all had a blast. 

These two are hilarious together. 

They are all a great group of kids. 

It was a fun night! 

Grandma/pa visit

Ry's Mom and Dad came out for a visit. 

It was sooooo much fun to have Grandma and Grandpa here.

Grandma said she saw pictures of the baby of facebook and couldn't believe how big she is getting. 

She told Ry's dad she had to come right away before she is any bigger.  :) 

She is super busy and had to take a day off work to be able to come. 

It meant the world to us that she would do that.   

The older kids all had a great time with them too. 

We went out to eat a couple of times and enjoyed visiting and catching up on everything. 

Although it was a super quick trip, it sure was fun and nice to have them here. 

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa. 

WE LOVE YOU!!!!

 

school supplies

I was so excited when we got the supplies list for school. 
Kind of a lot of stuff, but still...I think it's exciting. 

I later found this Hello Kitty back pack and couldn't pass it up for my Hello Kitty lovin kindergartener.  She was over the moon excited when I showed it to her. 

New School, New Year

 School started back the beginging of August. 

It seems like it is earlier and earlier every year. 

I feel soo bad for all the little kids that have to go back while it is still sooooo hot.   Infact, it's usually soooo hot that they can't even go outside for recess due to extreme heat advisories.  CrAzY!!!!  Any...enough of that tangent. 

Ky guy started 6th grade with Mrs. Gabbin.  
She is a great teacher and he has made a ton of friends. 
I love that our place is the "hang-out house" 
I get a kick out of watching him with his friends. 
Such a great group of kids. This is a huge answer to our prayers!!!

J Frog is in 5th grade and got a boy teacher this year,
Mr. Webb.  J was so excited when he found out he
has him.  According to J, he is the BEST teacher ever. 
He is really funny and does an awesome job
motivating and encouraging the kids.  J- has made
some good friend and loves going to school this year.  
Again another answer to our prayers. 

 

Little Miss B started kindergarten this year. 

I can hardly believe it.   

She LOVED it!!!

Her first day she kept talking about her beloved preschool teacher

and kept making comments like "Ms. Staci already taught me that" or

"That's not how Ms. Staci sings it" or "Ms. Staci does it this way"  hahaha

Her teacher got a kick out of it and said she hopes Miss B loves her someday

as much as she does Ms. Staci. 

I get to go in every Monday to help with "workshops". 

I LOVE that I actually get to work with the kids and not just do busy work. 

I LOVE how excited Miss B gets when I walk in her classroom. 

I also love getting to know the other kids and seeing how the classroom runs. 

 

Off they go on the first day. 
Dad, Mom and new baby walked with them the first day. 
Our plan was to go the first day to make sure they knew where to go. 
Well Ry being the adorable doting (and a little bit over protective) daddy that he is
decided to walk Miss B the next day too. 
Then it was the weekend, so he felt like he wanted to walk her on
Monday AND Tuesday morning too. 
I think its great that he did it, but it was just sooo cute for me to watch.
He'd come home from walking her to school and say
 I think she can go alone with the boys tomorrow,
then that morning he would say, I'm going to take her just one more time. 
He ended up taking her for the first 5 days of school. 
So CUTE!!! 
Daddies are the best. I just love the bond those two share.   

 The first day we wtched her walk all the way to the door with her class. 
We did really good with the emotions, that is until they went inside and I couldn't see her anymore. 
I didn't bawl...but I definitely got quite teary-eyed.
I was very thankful I had a brand new baby to go home and snuggle with,
and a darling hubby to keep me laughing. 

It's been a great year so far.  I can't believe its already parent teacher conference time. 
 

A Gift from Above

I know I have posted about our little love, but I wanted to document our journey of getting this sweet little spirit into our home.

I wanted another baby sooo bad it literally caused an ache in my heart.  I fasted and prayed, plead and patitioned the Lord to have it be so if it was his will. 

My cycle has always been very irregular, which is very frusterating when you are trying to get pregnant. We sought medical help and had many many appointments to help get pregnant.  When all was said and done, we had no real good medical reason for not being able to concieve. 

I kept telling myself how lucky I was for the three I had, but I still couldn't help yearn for another baby.  After it seemed clear that we just were not going to have another child I decided it was time to ask for help to completely accept his will.  That maybe the ache could go away and I could really just love and enjoy being a Mom to the ones I had.  Each day I felt I was getting a little better at being able to come to terms with it. 
 
Ryan and I were lucky enough to get to go to the temple every Tuesday last year while Little Miss B was in preschool.  One day as I was sitting in a session, out of the blue very clearly the thought came to my mind "Don't you give up on your desire for a baby"  WOAH!!!  I literally got chills and wanted to stand up and pull Ryan out of the session to share my experience with him.  Shortly after that I found out I was pregnant and I just cried and cried.  I immediately fell to my knees and poured out my heart and my gratitude to my Heavenly Father. Someday I want to ask Him why the wait, but then I think about everything I learned in the wait and I realize I already know the answer.

It sure is easy to say I have a testimony in Heavenly Father's plan for me when things are going according to my plan. But when I go through something that is not what I had planned it takes so  much faith. After soul searching for a long time, I finally gained a testimony of his plan, his timing and for sure his love and concern for me.   

Many spiritual experiences have tied into this baby coming and I realize that the Lords timing is perfect and unchanging. With the world everything is fast. The faster the better and we are some what programed for immediate responses from the world around us which can cause us to grow impatient with our Heavenly Father when his responses are not immediate. His perfect, constant and exact timing is perfect for us and some times that perfection means waiting and having to trust in that wait for whatever it may be.

This is my "gift from Heaven" photo. I think she just looks like a gift wrapped up and sent lovingly from Above.  I get teary eyed over this picture.  I just LOVE the way it turned out. 

She sure has had a tuff little start at life, but she is the sweetest little baby. 

Very easy going and full of smiles. 

The kids all adore her. 

The boys are so gentle and protective of her. 

 Nothing beats the bond of a sister and I am soooo thankful

 my girls get to experience that relationship. 

sometimes I can still hardly believe I really have this little sweetheart. 

She has been worth the wait.  



mommy's lil' helper

 

Cute little Miss B.

She just melts my heart.

I don't know if it's because the baby is soooo little or what,

but I just feel like she all of the sudden grew up over night.

she absolutely adores her baby sister

and helps with the baby in any

and every way possible

When we first brought Little Love home I made the comment to my mom just how hard it is to get things done with an "extra" set of hands.

She wants to be involved with EVERYTHING.

My amazing mother (of 9) sympathized

and suggested I get her her very own special doll that she can take care of

while I am taking care of mine.

When my baby bathes, her baby bathes, when my baby eats, her baby eats etc..

I was able to pick up this cute little baby bath, high chair and crib at

Once Upon a Child for next to nothing and my little side kick had a ball taking care of her baby doll. 

We also went to this cute girlie cafe for a girls lunch and cupcake

followed by the ribbon store next door to pick out ribbon for hair bows.

This was right before she started kindergarten.

A few days later we made a whole bunch of back to school bows. 

She had a few little issues when is comes to her daddy holding the baby.

She DID NOT like it.

She started telling us she was 1 year old again and got a little needy.

She is doing much better now, but will still occionally ask Ry to put the baby down,

or have Mommy do what ever he is doing with her.



She has been sooo excited over all of the little gifts

and packages that have come for the baby.

I have been touched by all the simple sweet little prizes

that people have included for her and the boys.

That is something I want to keep in mind.

It was such a simple thing but look how excited she is over her own set of stickers.

I wish I had the camera ready when we opened the package of matching dresses from my sister.

Or the candy and finger puppets tucked in to the diaper bag full of baby supplies from her other Aunt.

I need to remember to be so thoughtful when people I know have kids.

It really helped her a lot.

dance has started again and she couldn't be more excited!!!

I just can't get over how much alike these two are.

Can you tell them apart???

Little Love is on the left and Miss B on the right.

The bigger she gets the more alike I think they look.



I sure am blessed to have such beautiful daughters!