Garden Time!

It was a little dark by the time we were finished planting but you get the idea right?!

After a week of preparing the soil, we planted part of our garden tonight! We planted the early crop of peas, carrots, radishes, and lettuce. Hopefully everything will grow. I think our garden will stand a chance as long as we keep the kids and Cody out of it until the seeds sprout! That will be easy!! =)


Care Bear found this swim tube when she was looking in the garage for a shovel so she could help daddy. Who knew a floatie was necessary for gardening!

Jaco helping plant radish seeds!

La-La's turn!

Teamwork! At least it looks like it in this picture. In reality there was a lot of "Hey! It's my turn!" "You took my place!" and "WAAGGHH!"

Care Bear snuck in and took an extra long turn when Jaco and La-la weren't looking!

A friend of mine gave me a Hummingbird feeder for my birthday and we all have loved watching these amazing creatures fly in for a meal. I love it when it is warm enough to have the window open and I can hear the tiny wings buzz as they come and go. They are very competitive birds and only one bird is allowed to eat at a time. That is a rule they never break and they fight to enforce it!

Here is Cody just minutes before his first official, much needed hair cut. Fuzz ball!

And here is the new sleek version of our dog!

Spring Break

This week has been Spring Break for us. The weather has even cooperated for the most part! Our YMCA had free swim lessons for kids 3-12 all week long so we took full advantage of it! Care Bear doesn't mind water, La-La loves water, and Jaco is scared of water; with good reason. When we were moving from Detroit to Seattle we stayed at a hotel with a pool. I took the kids swimming and I was holding La-La while Jaco held on to the wall. At some point he decided to try to walk to me and got in way over his head. When I pulled him out he was coughing and sputtering and he had claw marks by his pale face from trying to get up out of the water. He told me he kept calling for help but no one could hear him. Ever since then he has been very afraid to put his face in water. He was not very willing to go to the first swim lesson but then he decided it was actually pretty fun and he was excited to go back! So enjoy the pics and video clips of the kids in swim lessons.

Jaco was willing to try the first day but as you can see he was not very comfortable with the situation.

By the last day he was so much more sure of himself! His teacher was very patient with him and did not push him to do too much too soon. I was so proud of my boy! He definitely earned the most improved award!

Care Bear was also a little nervous the first day but she is always like that in any new situation. She never cried though and did whatever her teachers asked her to.

Today, her last day, Care Bear just had fun. For her age group, the goal was mainly to get the kids comfortable in the water.

La-La LOVES water and has from a very early age. She has taught herself to swim but really doesn't know how to move her arms and legs properly. This week seemed to help that for her!

By the end of the week she was almost able to back float and had better technique in her movements. She can't wait to take more lessons!

Happy Birthday Michelle!

Michelle is my older sister! She is the second girl and 4th child out of the nine of us. She is a spaz and a bit of a clown but that is why we love her! Here are some of my memories of growing up with her!

Since I shared a room with the 3 younger girls, I don't have a ton of young memories with Michelle.
I loved trying on her bras as I dreamed of having one of my own someday.
She was the older cooler sister and I am sure I was the annoying little sister.
She was kind of a mean baby-sitter to us. All the other parents in the neighborhood loved her as a baby-sitter but I didn't! :)
When we did share a room, we pooled our money and bought a tall skinny bookshelf which I have drug all over the country and still have it today!
She did not like when I practiced for my voice lessons. Come to think of it, I think Mom was the only one who "enjoyed" it!
She had this tiny Ford Festiva that our mom called a roller skate. It had speakers in the back that were as big as the car!
She listened to cool music like Enya and ABBA.
She was a rebel child and had a boyfriend Dad didn't approve of but we all did. He was her missionary! Andy was a cool guy and they are still friends as her husband hangs out with him!
We both had missionaries at the same time and we would go to Smith's and spray our teddy bears with the cologne samples so we could dream about our men.
She started working at Smith's as a bagger and we all found it so funny to call her a bag lady.
She is a prankster and has been known to serve friends chocolate covered cotton balls and unflavored jell-o on April Fools day.
We had our first babies one week apart from each other. They were due further than one week but my baby came early and her's was late!

Michelle is a great friend and sister! We both moved far away from family at the same time so we relied on each other to survive. We talk at least once a week and I love those conversations! Happy Birthday Michelle! I don't know if you will see this since you STILL don't have a home computer but maybe Jen or Maria will share their computers!

Bragging Rights

Today was Parent Teacher Conference. I am always a little nervous to hear what other people think about my kids. Am I doing enough as their mom? Can their teachers see where I am struggling with them? Today's conferences went great and both Jaco and La-La are doing really good! La-La's teacher said that she is such a joy to have in class. She loves to help others and has never had a time out. She is reading more and more and counting higher and higher. La-La wants to be a mommy when she grows up and it shows in the way she interacts with her classmates. She is the oldest (but far from the tallest) in her class and loves reminding everyone of that fact. =)
Jaco is doing so good in school! His only real problem is his organization skills. His teacher said his brain is just going too fast! He LOVES to read (just like his mom!) and always has. I remember when he was a crawling baby his favorite toy was books. He would sit and study them and loved to be read to. He would memorize his favorite books and almost "read" them to me. He gets to read at night before bed and there have been times when I have gone to bed late and I find him reading with his book angled just right so he can see by the light from the hall. It is not uncommon to hear "Let me just finish this chapter! Please!"Today his teacher gave me his test results in reading. OK, now I get to brag for a minute. Based on the National Norm Scores, Jaco reads at a level equal to that of a typical 10th grader and he reads at a level greater than or equal to 99% of other students nationally in the same grade! The new trimester just started and he has already completed 30% of his reading goal! Jaco excels in reading but also math and science. He is a well rounded smart kid! He takes after his smart daddy. I am so proud of my boy! He is challenging sometimes because of extreme ADHD but getting reports like this make it easier to deal with. Here is what his teacher wrote on his report card. "Jaco continues to amaze me with his in-depth curiosity and will go far in this world. Now, if we can just get the organizational skills together!"

Tic Tac

This is probably one of those stories that is much funnier if you actually witnessed it but I have to share it any ways. Just to preface, Jaco is a drama king. And I mean DRAMA! Last week when he had strep throat, it literally took over 10 minutes to get the throat swab to test for strep. 10 LOUD minutes of tears and screaming. If the child ever needs stitches or gets seriously hurt, they will have to knock him out before touching him. OK, so tonight, I am quietly reading stories with the girls after having our traditional Corned Beef & Cabbage for St Patrick's Day. All of a sudden our house was FILLED with ear splitting screams and Jaco came thundering down the stairs. He yelled something about a spider crawling on him. I went upstairs to investigate and at first I thought I had found the "spider" when I saw a piece of black yarn. Then La-La discovered a tiny little eight legged critter. Upon further investigation, I came to the conclusion that it was a TICK! I put our new friend in a cup with a lid so we could show daddy. Well, just like a spider, ticks can crawl up walls and this little guy made it to the top of the cup in record time while we were showing him off. All of the kids were gathered around and I shook the cup to get him back to the bottom. All of a sudden, once again the house was filled with screams but this time it was three times as loud and I was surprised to see all three kids huddled in the kitchen screaming. I looked in the cup and realized I had shook the tick out. As the kids saw the little creap fly, they flew as far away from me as they could. Thank goodness I found him again! Once everyone calmed down we tried to finish our bedtime story. Care Bear wanted a snack but just stood in the dining area crying. She wouldn't go in the kitchen because she knew I had put the tick on the counter! She just stood there crying about the "Tic Tac". She was truly petrified! I am sure she got herself so worked up because of all the screaming in the house. I shouldn't laugh but I can't help but chuckle when I think of how fast and loud the room cleared when I accidentally let him loose. I am worried that we could be in for a long, loud spring and summer. I have been told there are quite a few Ticks in the area and the girls especially like to go on adventures through weeds and in trees. We are in serious trouble if one ever burrows it's tiny head into a little body named Jaco, La-La, or Care Bear!!!


Here is a picture of the tiny trouble maker. The top picture is the same guy just enlarged a ton! When I look at him big, I can kind of see why Jaco screamed so loud! The critter is pretty nasty looking.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Poosie Doo!! For those of you who don't know, that is my sister Maria but growing up she was rarely called anything but Poosie thanks to our oldest sister Melanie. I can't remember the first name Mel came up with because it was shot down by Mom. I am sure Mom still regrets allowing Poosie Doo to stick, especially when she would run away at church and one of us would holler "Poosie Doo! Come back!"

Here are some memories I have of Maria.
Mom always said she was a little boy in a girls body because she was very active.

She was born with a funny bald spot on her head that was fun to poke.

She loved my made up stories that I told almost nightly. At one point all 4 of us youngest girls shared a room; two sets of bunk beds made it work. Those bunkbeds provided hours of entertainment from becoming forts to shaking trains. And we SHOOK those beds. It was amazing they never fell on anyone!

I witnessed her picking ABC (already been chewed) gum off the road.

She was my buddy and Annie was Miranda's.

She and Annie were pack rats and collected all sorts of treasures (garbage) in baggies.

She has a picture of her when she was a baby in a pink fluffy dress.

We all joke that she got all of the supposed 1/8 indian blood because of her dark coloring.

She made Mom HUGE when she was pregnant. Dad took a picture of mom laying down looking up between her legs to show how big her belly was. YIKES!

She likes to talk. =) I think all us Finch girls do!

She stole my favorite girls name, Rachel. OK, she didn't steal it, Justin wouldn't let me name a girl that so I am just happy to have a niece by that name.

She couldn't say the "R" sound for forever. Mom says she knew Maria needed Speech Therapy when she came home from school with her name written "MAWIA", exactly the same way she said it!

She loved WHAM'S song "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" and would boogy away to it as a little baby. So in honor of Poosie Doo's birthday, click on the following link and enjoy some music!
Wake Me Up Before You Go Go
I tried to get this video here on my blog but could not get it to work.

The fairest Maiden of all!

Today was a beautiful spring day. It was sunny and warm. A little too sunny for my fair maiden, Miss Care Bear. Her poor face got fried! I always forget over the winter how easily she burns until a sunny clear spring day reminds me. She got her fair skin from me so you would think because of all my painful burns I would remember to protect her better. March just seems too early to be thinking about sunscreen! I know, a horrible problem to have. =)
Care Bear is a funny girl. Yes she is still a drama queen and she still does not sleep well but she is FUNNY! Because she has two older siblings, she is trying to grow up way too fast. What does she like to watch on TV? Elmo? No, she loves I-Carly and Drake and Josh because that is what Jaco and La-La like. So because of these shows she talks about kissing. Awhile ago she was sitting on my lap and out of no where she says, "Mom, you want to make out?" I just about died! If you listen to her while she plays Barbies, there is a whole lot of kissing going on. It is kind of humorous but it also makes me sad because my baby is growing up way too fast!
Care Bear has decided she does not want to nap anymore. In the last 3 weeks I think she has taken one nap. She is adjusting so our afternoons aren't too bad now and bedtime is pretty easy. The trick is to get her teeth brushed before she crashes on the couch! Tonight she fell asleep halfway on the couch with her legs suspended on the coffee table. Then when I scooped her up to take to bed she put her her hands on her cheeks. It was pretty cute. Made me think of when she was a tiny baby.
This picture is from a few weeks ago. I think she starts off most nights on the couch and then has to be moved to her bed. That can be tricky though because if you don't wait long enough or wait too long she starts screaming and freaking out. Someday she will sleep like a sweet little angel and give her mom a break!

She does have matching jammies but she is a very independent child. I figure I'll worry more about the daytime clothes matching! Although lately she will get dressed in a clean pair of jammies for the day. Yes, I said DAY! If she had her way she would stay in PJ's 24/7. My kind of wardrobe.

In the beginning....

We are planting a garden for the first time this year! I am really excited about it and the kids are too. We started our growing season by planting flower seeds yesterday. I had my camera outside with us planning on having a wonderful time teaching my kids. Well, it turns out that 8 little hands can not be controlled by one pair of big hands. Seeds were going EVERYWHERE and one of our "greenhouses" (disposable lasagne pans) was hit by a seasonal storm that caused massive flooding. The storm's name was Care Bear. My patience ran out really quickly and I just hurried as fast as I could to get it done. I never even turned the camera on. I am a little worried to see what we end up with. I hope at least a few plants live.

Our makeshift greenhouses soaking up some sun!

Today we planted strawberry plants. They are the kind that will produce all summer long! I went to our local Farmer's Market this morning and bought 10 plants for $10 and we planted them this afternoon. They should produce at least 1 1/2 lbs per plant. Yeah!

I guess a little dirt won't hurt! As long as I can get the dirt out from under my nails before church in the morning. :)

Totally Together

A friend in WA clued me in to this website and I am excited to try to add this to my life. I know some of you don't have a problem keeping a tidy home but I admit that I do! I love a clean house but I do not succeed in keeping it that way. Hopefully this lady's tips will help me and maybe some of you too!

http://www.totallytogetherjournal.com/

Create!

A friend of mine has this link on her blog and I thought it would benefit my blog readers too! This is a short segment of a talk (set to music) given by a leader in our church. But whether you are Mormon or not, I think this is something good for ALL mothers to hear.

http://www.lds.org/pa/display/0,17884,4644-1,00.html