FOUR YEARS OLD!!!

As the dreaded birthday neared, I decided they don't make diapers for four year-olds. The end has come. We are in potty training mode now. We will have no more diapers on any bum in this house again. Since Friday, I have had four naked four year old kids going on the floor ten times a day, each. I have been getting my exercise for sure! Of course they all want to go at the same time. No, I didn't think to get the little potties all in a row until the first day was over. I thought they would take turns. Ha ha ha ha! We have four toilets, luckily. Not so luckily they are spread out over three floors of the house. I have been running - literally running- up and down those stairs every 20-30 minutes! Whew! I need to catch my breath just thinking about it....

Who would have known I needed to explain better than, "Put the pee pee in the potty or you will be wet. Stink goes there too, okay?"

"Okay mommy!" They all cheered in excited unison. "We're big now!"

Day two Brenden comes to me and says, "These pants are broken! They have a hole in them. I need new pants!" I change his wet clothes and we practice sitting on the potty again. Some time later he returns. "These pants have a hole in them. They are broken! I need new pants! I get wet. I need new pants!" I finally get it and tell him all the pants will have holes in them. He will get wet if he doesn't use the potty. He says, "I need a diaper. I don't want to be wet." (Insert picture of lower lip curled waaaayy out here.) Well, after we figured that out he has done much better. He loves to get treats!

The other kids are progressing alright. Evan is really good and will go without asking or telling me now. I just need to remind him he needs to put his clothes back on when he is done. I will find him running down the hall in the buff. "Evan! Why are you naked?" Thinking oh, no! Where is the mess he got himself out of? "I put pee pee in da podee" then he leads me to it and smiles! I would say he is about done. He doesn't needa treat everytime anymore. Marek can't figure out how to get there in time yet, at least not for the most important part. Lily is still content to sit in the yuck. Eeew!

I thought we had laundry before, ha! I am just glad we have enough toilets to have a spare!

Oh, their birthday was good too. They got lots of books, a great soap mold kit like playdo for the tub, and some puppets. Even though I said we didn't need any gifts. It wasn't too much though. Thanks everyone!

Steve has the day off work tomorrow to help finish off the potty training (hopfully it will be finished after one more day!) Stephen and Dallas have been helping remind the kids and taking them to a far off potty while I was with another kid already. What a lucky mom I am to have such good helpers! Of course, they got just as many treats as the kids did, after all, they went on the potty too!

8 years old and baptized!

This weekend my oldest son turned eight years old. We had Grandma Taggart fly in from Arizona for the big event - his baptism. She will be staying until Monday afternoon. It has been good for the boys to see her again and the little ones got to meet her and remember who she is. It's been about 2 years since we saw her last. Stephen was so excited to be baptized. I was sad it was on a holiday weekend and the bishop, his primary teachers, and others had other plans so they were not able to attend.

When we walked into the room for his confirmation it was just our family. I looked around and realized that there were no, none, nada, zero men there to assist in the priesthood blessing, confirming Stephen with the gift of the Holy Ghost. With only one member of the bishopric there, our circle of priesthood was nearly a circle of two. Then the other baptism from our ward came in with her family. They had the biggest group of people! WOW. We had a few of them help us, they were our friends too. I was sad that none of my family were there. But I am ever so greatful that they all have jobs!!! They all were at work. I am glad Stephen was happy and he knows he is loved anyway.

Where did the summer go?

Well, We have been so busy that I haven't blogged much. I have thought of it often though, believe me! Our summer has included fun things like having a visitor from Germany stay with us for 5 weeks. We went swimming, drove to the arches national park, hiked a bit, camped in mountains, went to Lagoon (local amusement park), saw a natural geyser, went to the zoo, the dinosaur museum, lunch at the park (many times). We attended the free movie almost every week, had playdates with friends, went bowling (yes, all of us - well, not Steve he was working) and more.

Here is a picture of Goblin Valley in Southern Utah Sabrina (German friend mentioned earlier) is in the background. I finally have a decent picture to put on facebook, if I can figure it out.


Here's a picture of Steve with some of the kids in Goblin Valley

Yet, when someone asked Dallas if he had done anything fun this summer he said, "mmm, no not really. But we ordered a swing set!" We have indeed ordered a swingset, but what about the entire summer? Oh well. It will get here in a few weeks.

This is what happened today. Of course they saw the camera coming and got their smiles on. I can't believe Lily was still clean even when I dressed her in a white shirt today!






Brenden was in on it too, but you can't tell because it's all on the back of his head. i took the pictures, then hosed them off outside, stripped them to their diapers then let them in the house. Then I decided that Brenden was still too dirty and took him to the shower. He still got a bath at bedtime for, as he said, "I am a dirty boy! I need a bath." He speaks the truth!

Whatever will I do next week without a vehicle? I guess there's enough dirt to keep us busy...and that ever elusive potty training... nah, why waste time for fun? Besides, we wouldn't want Daddy to miss all the real fun! He will be going to Colorado for high adventure mountain climbing. Wish us all luck!

Swimming?

How about taking six kids ages 7 and younger swimming, with one adult? Even better sounding when four of them are three years old right? Well, my sister called me yesterday morning and suggested we go to the pool. Would she help keep track of the kids? yes? Ok, but how much would it cost me? I never did find out and we didn't end up at the pool.

I spent hours looking for Lily's swimsuit. They were interrupted hours, but still, she has been carrying her princess suit around nearly every day since we bought it in May - just before the rains started. Now when the sun shines I can't find it? You've got to be kidding me! So My sister, Lacey, decided to buy her a new one - only $7, cute blue and pink striped with a flower and butterfly- so that was nice. Between this and trying to get all of the kids in their suits with sunscreen on, waiting for so and so to be able to go, call them to see what's taking so long/what time they are available- oh! They decided not to go. Thanks for telling us, blah, blah, blah - our attempt at going to the pool at 1:00 turned into running through sprinklers at 2:30. This wasn't as exciting as Lacey had planned (kids were still looking for snails and bugs. You should see our collection!) so she went to the store and bought a slip and slide.

We waited for the set up and waited for our turn. While Lacey was out shopping, she got more kids and we ended up with ten kids there. Boy were my kids mad at me when I said it was time to get dry and go home for dinner! This process took me close to an hour. I can not believe how time consuming this simple fun was. I feel like I wasted a good amount of day trying to figure out what we were doing - oh, the pool ended up being closed for maintenance when I called to get the cost. Then we drove by the pool, and it really was open. The kids could see other people in there playing and I was in trouble once again.

I refuse to be in trouble today! I will clean the house: dishes, laundry, bathrooms, vacuum the floors, get the guest room ready, take the kids to the park for lunch, do some homework (I finished a class yesterday except for the final), pull the weeds, harvest some strawberries, mow the lawn, read with the kids, have an art project with them, take them to the library, make a batch of cookies.... well, maybe I won't do ALL of that today.

But I will not give the kids expectations that can't be met today. We will most likely spend the day watching TV while I clean up and get ready for our visitor. We will got to the park because it is chicken day. I found out yesterday they are cutting back their menu options because of the economy. This means they have five things to rotate through the entire summer. Major bummer since my kids will not eat three of them EVER, and the other one they are 50-50. They like the chicken sandwiches.

Thursday our visitor will get here from Germany. Sabrina will stay with us for about a month. We are very excited! She is 17 years old. She teaches swimming at home and will help us learn while she is here. Maybe after she leaves I will feel better about taking my kids to the pool. What is American that we should share with her? We are thinking of taking her to the Arches and Zions national parks, a BBQ, fireworks and parade. Any other ideas?

Definitely a TV day. Dallas just came and told me he doesn't feel well today. I will not be in trouble today - no expectations to let down!
We love each other and we are sick today - Oh wait! Was that the camera?


What can I say, they take after their mother.

Bryce and Shannon's Wedding

Here are some fun pictures from my Brother's wedding on May 30th. It is quite a chore to get a good picture with all the kids looking and being happy with us. This is the best one Taken.
This one not so good.
Lily was the flower girl.
She was such a pretty princess.
Evan ended up being the ring bearer. Tavner was suppose to do it, but he was having a hard day and wasn't so cooperative. Evan stepped in and was great!

Hot Water!

(Sang to the tune of I wish I were an Oscar Myer Wiener)

Oh, I wish I had hot water in my kitchen!

Oh how happy, joyful I would be.

'Cause if I had hot water in my kitchen

All my many dishes I would clean.

Oh, I wish I had hot water in my bathroom!

Oh, how happy, joyful I would be.

'Cause if I had hot water in my bathroom

I could take that bubble bath I need.

This is the song I was going to leave on the plumber's voice mail today. I have been leaving messages all last week. He came and did some work and we thought it was fixed but it wasn't. Then he went out of town. He is a friend so I haven't been too upset about it. I guess he just got back to town this week.

I thought singing this would help him remember me. Alas! He answered the phone instead! He said he will be coming over today. This is good news, but I was looking forward to my fun.

Steve just rolled his eyes at me this morning when I sang it for him. I said,

"Aren't you going to comment?"

"I chuckled."

"You know I am a verbal person."

"I have to go to work now."

"Are you ignoring me and avoiding the topic?"

He just grinned at me and asked for his keys. "Will I embarrass you if I sing to the plumber?" "No. You can sing the first verse." I got permission to make a fool of myself and then the plumber answers the phone. The nerve!

What can happen when mom sleeps at night?

A successful day

Yesterday was such a success, very productive. With the exception of telling the boys we won't go to the park today, everyone was generally happy all day. Thanks to my darling hubby for letting me sleep.

I completed a homework assignment with 95% correct. I was able to practice the piano and convince the boys to practice. I vacuumed two rooms, gave all six kids haircuts, harvested the cherries and thinned the peach tree. We went to the park for lunch. I found the kids that were chasing the seagulls, then disciplined them intensely. I had story time with the kids, made dinner then had pizza instead (it didn't quite turn out the right way. I am so glad there is a $5 pizza place on the way home from work. Thanks Steve! You are my hero again.)

I also made it to my teaching class at church and visited a few minutes with friends there. I was uplifted and inspired. I squeezed in a good hour phone call with my dear friend, exercised for a while, found bugs and worms, and got soaked in the rain with the kids… It was a great day!

Anything can happen with a good night's rest. You know you are loved when your husband says, "When Dallas gets up tonight send him to me. If Lily gets up send her to me too. You sleep tonight." Thank you Steve! You are the greatest!

Today the sun is shining. The only day the sun shines for a week is the one day we are not going to the park (part of that intense discipline yesterday) This morning I hear nothing but loud angry voices. "I am not going to get dressed! We aren't going to the park today so I am not going to do anything you want! There's no reason for me to get dressed! I want to go to the park!" and so on. Does it matter that I want to go somewhere else? Come on! The sun is shining today! I guess I will mow the lawn.