My Daily Doses of Joy

Jake will be 13 months in a couple days. He is seriously so much fun! First thing upon waking up, he wants a bottle of milk. If it's close enough to when we're to be up, we bring him to our bed to snuggle. After his bottle he goes back and forth between Ryan and I giving kisses and looking quite pleased with himself. I wish it could last forever! It's the best way to wake up!

Look at those curls! He's my only one to have had them and I can't bare the thought of cutting them off yet! The kid loves baths, balls, new to cars, and above all, CLIMBING! Every day he seems to find something new to climb up and give me a heart attack -- up to the trampoline, the tall kitchen step stool, all the way up the ladder to the top bunk, dining room chairs, the couches. He lives to explore his environment and is often scarily independent! The last few days he's also gotten stuck under beds and furniture while seeing if he can fit or trying to get an elusive ball. But when he's tuckered out or just needs a hug, he comes to find me. I scoop him up with kisses and if he's ready for a nap, he'll yawn and then start sucking those fingers while laying his head down on my shoulder. It's moments like these that I treasure and thank God above that I am able to be a mother.

Today was our first real dip in temperatures indicative of fall weather. Jake will surely miss his favorite room of the house - the backyard! He pushes the truck, rides and climbs all over the bike, and ends up on the trampoline every time. I zip it up, throw some balls in there and he's good for at least 15 minutes just playing.

Jake's also recently been working on hollering my name. He perfects this while we are confined in the van together. He wants me to answer him each time and grins big when I do. It sounds more like "Maaa" as in "mad" rather than "Mom".

Here's our girl! She loves having her own soccer practice. When I announced Sunday at dinner that we'd have to miss her practice because of the boys' school open house, her lips frowned and a slow sad cry began. It wasn't a tantrum, it was real sadness! We declared a family soccer practice for FHE the following night in her honor which cheered her up and kept her going all Monday.

Morgan has enjoyed having some quiet time to just play on her own lately during Jake's naps. While I buzz around doing chores in the morning, she happily plays alone for an hour or so with her dinosaurs, cars, dollhouse family, and lots of books. She still loves baths and would take them twice a day if allowed. We've been working on being a kind big sister to Jake and it's been fun to start to see her understand that role and find joy in it. She has a hard time when Jake gets into her staged toys so I'm helping her figure out ways to distract him. They love to play chase and peek-a-boo around Ryan's spinning chair. Such a cute happy girl!

The kids aren't enjoying waking up for school and are rarely up on their own. I've been trying to make it a fun think like my dad did. If I'm not humming Beethoven's 5th while tickling them awake, I'm humming the Star Wars title song. It's fun to see them stubbornly giggle first thing in the morning, but if I'm not on my game and need to get them up without a fight, I'll turn on the TV to play the Piano Guys Star Wars parody, called Cello Wars. Awesome! Check it out below! Once the kids hear it begin, they're up pretty quick! Ryan added the funny dog teaser and it's been a hit too. And if I'm not up for arguing during breakfast, it's been great to turn on the Book of Mormon Stories videos since they're short and easy to cut off to get the rest of the routine rolling.





Last week we got broken in with a little homework for the boys so this week's "home learning" felt like an onslaught. Finding pictures for their Identity posters, spelling lists, reading time, mathletics and antolin.de time online, and the like. Ever heard of edmoto? It's like facebook for a grade school classroom. As part of Easton's Identity research unit, they're learning about being good digital or online citizens. Woah! The boys also started their school's after school activities of science club, Chef's Academy, and Easton starts piano tomorrow. Life's feeling full, especially our evenings! Thank goodness I've got Ryan to tag team the kids' needs and help keep life fun! I sure love this family of mine!

Provençal Pool Fun

We just spent a week with the cousins at a secluded villa on a vineyard with a pool in the southeastern part of France called Provence. You know Ryan loves an area when he stops to look at all the realtor office posting boards! I'm tempted to list the things I love about the area but I want to get some pics of the kids up first, mostly for the Grands.

I'll start with what we did together the most -- hang out at the pool! Actually, if you logged actual time, the kids probably had more Nintendo DS time than pool time, but if the parentals wanted peace and quiet to read and nap - that's the way it was. The daytime heat hovered in the mid to upper 80s each day which made the water temp of the pool rate from a little chilly to very refreshing. I loved lounging under an umbrella kept cool with a constant breeze while listening to a combination of the kids playing and raucous cicadas chirping. It was even better when I didn't have to be watching the kids and I got to steal a nap there in my chair!

This is a mix of all the days I had some sort of camera with me at the pool. Pool fun was made possible by variations of plastic and foam toys. Many did not survive the experience! Ready for some pictures? First off, my favorite cast of characters:

McKay cracked us up in his pool garb, but he loved the freedom to go wherever in the pool he wanted to go! Goggles were new to his pool attire and between them and wearing his hats low, those ears just kill us!Morgan spent most of her pool time on the sides watching or being a part of the action. I think the water was a little cold to her liking and not having a big shallow baby area cramped her independent style. She loved running up and down the lengths of the pool, making us nervous! But she had to be in the middle of it all!

McKay would have done this all day if Ryan had been up for it! And that's not to mention, Easton, Lizzie and Miles too!

I believe this sucker pop lasted McKay a few days. He's our candy saver/stockpiler and often ends up giving them away. But to have a cool lollipop is to be truly happy for a kid!

Morgan liked to take a breather like the adults with her collection of odd pool toys around her.

Morgan LOVES playing motorboat!

Morgan and Miles also loved squirting Camilla with these pump sprayers and then they'd run off to refill and get her again and again. Camilla is such a good sport with the little ones!

Partners in crime!

The little kids always requested cannon balls and would congregate nearby to witness the splash.
McKay found some shades and I took these pictures in a minute's time. Classic McKay!

Nothing like a hunk of fresh baguette poolside in the morning!

Rand was so fun for the younger kids. He's always thinking of fun things to do like when he spent an hour with McKay trying out different ways to jump into the pool. First, cannon balls - sort of.

Then a demo of stiff-as-a-board-falling-forward.

And then classic boy battle themes.

Add the shields and swords now.

Morgan and Miles thought that looked like fun!

Until it wasn't any more. Run for it, Morgan! He's gonna catch you!

Two peas in a pod, usually playing some sort of Airbender imaginary game.

Santa and cinnamon rolls came to town!

About a month ago in front of the commissary, a nice white bearded gentleman who was collecting donations for the local VFW chapter stopped me [VFW = Veterans of Foreign Wars]. I had Morgan with me and he wanted me to know that Santa would be visiting specific locations in December with free photo ops. How nice!

Fast forward to this morning when en route home, Morgan begins stating something I've heard her say a lot but have never understood - although I know I know it but can't remember this time. "TeeKee," she says with more impatience as we kept fumbling what she meant. When we zipped through the light at the Panzer base, she lost it. She was trying to say "PX!" I'm still laughing that Ryan whipped the car around to make his little girl happy! Her waterworks ceased immediately! We'd both seen the signs earlier in the week posting that Santa would be there today and if the line wasn't horrific, we thought it couldn't hurt to give it a try. But come on, Saturday at 11am? What were the chances!?

We unloaded our crew from the van asking the boys what one item they wanted to ask Santa for. As we entered the PX, to our utter shock, there was only one family in line! Yahoo! We got the kids up there, a photographer snapped away, and then another gentleman burned a cd right there on the spot of our kids' pictures! For FREE! No sponsor posted or solicitation of donations, it was very very nice of them!

Easton told us he was going to ask for an ipod [touch] like his friend Anthony to play games on. What?! For months he's been asking for Super Mario Galaxy II and a Wii to play it on! But he was now determined to not be swayed.

Easton saw the photographer right off and so he wouldn't look at Santa. He just whispered his hope out the side of his mouth as he "posed" for the pictures being snapped.

McKay was fascinated with Santa's glove and kept stroking it which was adorable. If you know McKay, you know how he loves to touch!

McKay kills me! For a couple weeks now, he's been counting down until Christmas. We have a paper chain he made and his advent calendar, but the kid just can't wait! He really wants a bow and arrow but can never remember what it's called so he acts it out. Cutest high pitched "ptchoo" sound effect ever as he lets the imaginary arrow fly while his pincher fingers release! He promises he will only shoot snow with it . . . "fo' wee-o". [for real!]

The boys each got a piece of candy and Santa had his eye on Morgan. She was perched atop Ryan's shoulders and did not want to be handed over. But as she saw the candy being offered she began to warm up until Ryan went to take her off his shoulders so she could take the piece of candy from Santa herself. She began to scream bloody murder! For heaven's sake, you'd a thunk we were trying to drop her off at nursery!

We enjoyed a nice quiet day at home after that and I finally got the nerve up to try making another quiche and my first ever attempt at cinnamon rolls. Oh how I love cinnamon rolls!!! I have two friends that make seriously good ones but they live in Virginia and that doesn't work so well for that craving. But without a mixer, making any type of bread just didn't sound fun and anything that has to be kneaded and rolled out like sugar cookies just seems so arduous on most week days! I cook out of necessity or duty, not because I enjoy it. However today, I had no pick-up/drop-off schedule to pin me down so I had at it!

I've recently been admiring Our Best Bites recipe blog's Christmas concoctions and wanting to try one of their three cinnamon roll recipes. I DID IT!!! First attempt was a complete success! I really like their step by step photo instructions like Pioneer Woman's. This is the Everyday Cinnamon Roll recipe.

Mine didn't rise until they were in the oven and I was a little worried, until . . .

Hello, Beautiful!!!

Ryan called them "Superb!" and better than Cinnabon! And I think he ate four?! Said they might become a new craving for him. {Better get me a mixer then, Santa - wink, wink!} The kids also loved them although they were a bit rich for McKay. Easton went and polished off the extra frosting after downing two. It's a seriously easy recipe with stuff I usually have on hand, even though my yeast packet was probably expired. Debra and Samantha, they're not up to par with your amazing rolls, but they'll do for now!

St Nikolaus and a late snow day!

I interrupt this post to bring you Morgan in a dirndl. It's a little big on her and with luck it will last her a couple years. I get a kick out of her round belly making her apron stick out!

Now just imagine her scaling church pews back to front in her dirndl and flashing a coy grin at anyone who dared ruin her fun. I got a kick out a special forces guy and his wife giving her props! Oh she kills me! Who'd have known she'd been screaming for her life as we approached the nursery door just minutes earlier!

So, back to 6 Dec - St. Nikolaus Day . . .

Sunday evening, the kids were all excited to put a boot outside our door for St. Nikolaus. If they've been good, St. Nik will leave them a treat in their boot. If not, he'll leave twigs or a switch for parents to give spankings! (Morgan's slipped down inside.) For a quick Q&A about the tradition, click here for St. Nikolaus article.

In the morning, the boys instantly ran to the door to check the boots.

I say there's no better way to start the day than with a big hollow chocolate Santa!

A kind neighbor left us a bag of chocolates as well so I could leave the kids' alone.

Then I had to be the ogre that made them get ready for the day. I can't believe how much snow we've been getting! We've heard Easton's international school only cancels in cases of salt shortages so we got him out the door. Thankfully, Ryan is driving him. Bundling up Morgan and McKay was an adventure before we even got out the door. Morgan likes to take the "scenic route" through all the snow drifts challenging her athleticism while McKay wants to get to school to play with friends.

After shoveling a good 8 inches, the snow was still coming down heavily. It was comical to see Morgan try to cut through snow up to her thighs or use her sand shovel to "help" me. Soon Easton's school called for an early release at 1pm - road conditions were changed to a red. I tried to back out and head up our cul de sac's hill and couldn't get any traction. Very wet, quickly accumulating snow = wheels just spinnin'! Some construction guys working on a new home had to push me up the hill. With the hills and intersections I knew I'd have to encounter on the way to and from Easton's school, I chickened out and called Ryan. Luckily, the bases were getting an early release too!

To welcome home the stragglers, we had hot chocolate (although I had already treated myself to the good stuff Ryan brought home from last week's Tubingen chocolate festival - YUM!!!). I've realized recently that having spray whip cream in the fridge is becoming darn handy, practically a necessity! We decked the tree out and the boys hung the ornaments for the first time all by themselves. It's hard to resist being controlling about ornament placement when you've done it "just so" all these years, but they had a good time and were quite proud of themselves!

After dinner we started our new evening duties routine. Easton and I are a team, McKay and Ryan the other. One team's on dinner cleanup, the other on house pickup and bedtime routine enforcement. At first it was a little difficult again for me to let go and allow Easton rinse dishes his way, but putting on silly Christmas carols had us laughing and working together in the sink. He likes the BYU a capella group Voice Male's Jingles II album - especially their version of Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer! "Gimme a 'Whoop, Whoop!'"

Day one of the new routine went great and then it was time for FHE! Easton led us singing Silent Night and I'm sure we tortured our neighbors' ears if they heard us mangling a verse in German from Easton's school songbook. We watched President Monson's address from the Christmas devotional and talked about what Christmas is all about. Then the boys got their wish and we watched a Christmas movie - the animated "Christmas Carol."

Ahhhh, I wish every day could be a snow day! Except I'm out of eggs and really want/need to be baking but hate heading out in this stuff!

Cousins Weekend

It was my turn to watch cousins while their parentals went on a sweet escape to Berlin. Ryan wasn't able to join me so I was on my own. It proved to be a lot of fun and not as overwhelming as one might think with nine kids between the ages of 3 and 16. The older ones were very helpful and the younger ones played inventive, good guy/bad guy games pretty well together. Of course, it was a honeymoon of just two days, three nights so we were all still on our best behaviour.

To wear out the kiddos Saturday, I took the little ones to the park. The ground looked like it was moving because of hundreds of big black ants everywhere. YUCK! We didn't last long there because if you stood still, you'd have at least a dozen crawling up you in seconds. My kids screamed, the other Carters didn't even notice. I don't do ants. We left, but did get in a few happy moments like this one.

I took all those hot sweaty, stinky bodies and hosed them down at home. We all felt much better. Again, the timer on my watch proved crucial to giving everyone their allotment of time as hose holder!

I was grateful for my niece who made mac'n'cheese for the crew while I hosed them down. We fed 'em and then did naps. Now that's a great Saturday!

It's so great to have older kids around! Of course, they were probably more eager to help me out than they are for their mom because I was a novelty. Well, me and my ipod. The older ones cooked, they cleaned, they stayed up late chatting with me about deep stuff like it was fun, and they entertained the youngsters! It was awesome!

I really admire them too. They gave up their comfortable network of friends and activities to come give this German experience a try and are showing great courage in the face of daily challenges to their high gospel standards. Their German is coming along so much better than my feeble and inadequate attempts - they had to read the cooking instructions to me regularly. I'd have been lost without them!

My nephew orchestrated this game here which he called CTC: Capture the Cup. I'd come out to check on them and giggled to see them all decked out in bike helmets and armed. It was their own version of capture the flag and it was hilarious! My nephew ROCKS at creating games to play with the younger ones. He's also great at letting me tease him and I see fun potential here. I made him eat his dinner before having dessert and he made me come watch his dramatic final bites so I could cheer loud and proud for him. But he wasn't anticipating the big, fat slobbery kiss on the cheek I pinned on him! My little (now big) brother Matt used to love/hate those!

We sure are enjoying having these Carter cousins in Munich! Who'd a thunk we'd have family while here?! What fun!

Recap

Howdy! I wish this was a recap of all our travels with my folks, but I haven't had time to do it justice. Thank heavens for the trip journal I actually kept this time! So this is my fabulous Mother's Day -- my own record of a lot of mundane life details so feel free to skip it!

I actually took the liberty of extending my Mother's Day celebration a day on each end - totally undeclared. That's the way to do it if you ask me, then no one else feels pinched by expectations. Victory!

Ryan was in his baking zone this weekend and who was I to argue?! I wish I'd taken pictures of the beauties before they were devoured! Defying all expectations, Ryan tried his first fresh strawberry rhubarb pie and it rocked! The crust was of course, perfect - but the filling was so yummy, just the right balance of sweet and tart I do declare I have a new favorite. I'm not a tart fan so that's sayin' somethin'! He and the kids made me breakfast in bed on the official day - an omelette, bacon, strawberries and cream waffles, and a cute card signed by the kids. Ryan also whipped up his mom's roast and gravy for dinner only to be outdone by another pie - apple this time, per my request. No wonder I'm feeling rather plump lately!

After breakfast, everyone piled into my bed and we had some fun ticklin' times! I love 11am church!!! As for the kids, they're just growing up too fast! Morgan's not so much a delicate wisp of a girl as she's a feisty tomboy ready to jump, climb and throw herself into everything although Ryan and the boys are a bit too big and rowdy for her at times. She does this sumo wrestler stance and saunter that cracks us up! Oh the faces she pulls! She now waves hello and bye to everyone to get attention. If she catches your attention and you're not going anywhere, you get her full show of silly faces. What a character!

Easton's growing up so quickly and is all arms and legs, but he sure loves to melt into giggles at the mere mention of being tickled! McKay, oh McKay - there's always the back story battle we're supposed to go along with or he could melt into frustrated tears. He asks to be tickled but prefers to be tossed around or snuggled.

In addition to Ryan and I being assigned talks, Easton too had a talk in Primary. It was the Carter show at church, I tell ya! He was to speak on repentance. On the way to and from his soccer game Saturday morning it was just us two and I realized we had to start from scratch on this one with a definition of the word. It sure was neat to chat with him uninterrupted and see him understanding the principle, counting down the steps of repentance. Later in the afternoon I looked up a few short stories of the principle in action from past issues of the Friend magazine and had him come read them to me. He's such a good reader, I'm so proud of him! I asked if he wanted to share one of those stories in his talk or if he'd had a similar experience with repentance to share.

Easton began to tell me a story about a boy in his class and I began typing it as he dictated. Easton got a little bugged with me when I corrected his grammar on the screen while he was mid-sentence. It's so exciting to see him internalizing the gospel and I was reminded I gotta bring my A game! In Primary, he bravely read his talk with a strong voice and we were so proud of him. This is the first time I haven't just written his whole talk and was happy we both learned a new process together.

I finally have a designated church bag! What a difference that makes! Of course, it's a basket I got in a quaint little German basket weaving store and then found it's twin in a shop around the corner for half the price I paid. Oh well!

At church we often sit in the back and never know if we'll have English hymnals so I've started bringing our pocket ones, plus the small Children's songbook for Primary. The kids love them. During sacrament meeting, McKay got the the Children's songbook and began softly singing his favorite song, "Follow the Prophet." I didn't really notice until the sacrament started being passed. While it was soo adorable to hear him trying to sing to himself, it was just a little too loud and I had to ask him to be quiet. My nerves were already heightened by my impending talk. Oh how he loves this song and I love hearing his impromptu verses or variations to fit whatever he's playing!

My talk went fine although I wish I was a better public speaker. When I got back to my seat I was so sad the boys had headed to the bathroom at the end of my talk. They almost missed singing with the Primary. There's my boys tromping up front, McKay's got half his shirt hanging out below his vest, the other half tucked in. Classic. Easton's never really been brave enough to get up there but he sang real good this time. It helped that part of the song they sang was "Teach Me to Walk in the Light" - what we call his song around here. McKay sang sometimes, but mostly just stood up there looking back at everyone and had a big wave to us, the parentals.

On Monday we all overslept. I said, "Oh Darn!" and began making waffles. This time I wanted to give Greek yogurt a try. I made it unhealthy with a little powdered sugar and a drop of vanilla but we sure liked it! Strawberries and pears to top it off and Morgan devoured the yogurt!

Everyone played hooky and after I talked Ryan into swapping room furniture around between bedrooms, we left our chaos for Sensapolis with the kids. I believe I swap rooms around because I haven't the energy, money or know-how to decorate. I pretty much do it every six months or so. Ryan and I have now moved into each bedroom and no one is where they started a year and a half ago!

Sensapolis, a huge warehouse sized indoor playground, perfectly near empty on a school day! It's got life-sized treehouses, a pirate ship, a space ship, rock climbing walls, and a castle. All us kids had a ball and it was a great day of family fun!

Morgan lasted pretty well but we did have to resort to serious snuggle sessions to help her regain her strength. That girl tried almost everything the boys did! We stayed six hours and the boys could have and wanted to stay longer. That was probably because they knew bedtime awaited them at home.

So today my party is over. It took all day to clean up the kitchen from all the baking and cooking since I'd sworn off kitchen duty for the weekend. All's good with an audio book and an empty or sleeping house! Over and Out.