My Heart SMILES

I'm just blessed.

Peter's Smile.

This is how Peter smiles for pictures now. I hope I can break him of it soon I want a good picture to print off.

big HUGE flowers

I had baby boys when the whole put huge ginormous bows and flowers on your baby girls head thing got popular. I always thought "how is that baby holding her head up? I'm never going to do that if I have another girl." Well you know what I have been converted. Miriam doesn't wear them that often, but when she does she looks ohhhh so cute.

Somethings you never get over.

Benji fast asleep on the "King Chair". AKA the lazy boy. I always thought it was a "boy" chair. As I'm older I know better but I still feel awkward sitting in it. Yeah I know I'm weird.

She Scoots....... Kinda.

She's trying to be mobile........ and you have to admit the fishy is cute.

LOVE

I'm so glad these two are such great friends. Makes being a mommy that much sweeter.

The Kiddos

After church today I took a pic of the kids for a project I had made. I had to do it really fast because we were having dinner with Jonathan's family. If Benji's neck looks strange that's because I had to put a different head from another picture on this picture. I didn't have time to make it look better.

Photo Shoot.

today we had a fun little photo shoot and these are the two of the girls i'm going to print off.
I'll do the 3 younger kids later.

Peter's tball

Peter started TBall practice a little while ago and I forgot to post. Isn't he cute!!!

Backdrops are here!!

I ordered some backdrops and they came in. I'm excited to start a photography biz up again.

Hand Stands

Emma can do hand stands. Jonathan can too. Emma can walk on her hands. Jonathan can too. Let me tell you they more alike than just that.

Sock Puppets

Lily had the idea to make sock puppets today.

His Hiding Place.

This is where I find Benji allot of the time. Silly boy.

He Can Cook.

Jonathan hasn't really done any of the cooking for the last 9 years. He's done simple things like...... cereal...... and eggs. But he's been wanting rice dishes lately well he's always wanted rice dishes. I've had a hard time doing it, because I'm not so into them. So one night I bought him a stir fry pan, and when I brought it home he was so excited. He spent hours seasoning the pan. He has been making the rice dishes as well and he's really good at it.

Sneaky Peter

We were at the store getting some clothes for the kids and some shirts for Jonathan. We had all the kids with us so it was kind of crazy. So after I got home Peter said "where are my lego jammies" I said " we didn't get you any". He then said "where is the bag from the store". I said "on my bed". So several minutes later he comes running out with his new jammies on. So he snuck them in during the craziness and I didn't even notice. Ughhh I think I have to watch this little one.

Happy Baby

Miriam is my happiest baby. My other babies were happy don't get me wrong. She is just happy ALL THE TIME. I love it

Daniels Wedding

We went to Jonathan's cousin Daniel's Sealing today and it was really nice. I brought my camera and took a few pics. It was sure nice to be in the Temple and remember my wedding day.

Singing Parrot

Video is not very good but the important thing is that you hear that Jack sings us some opera.

Peter's Song

This is the song Peter made up about Miriam.

He sings this in the car all the time.

Lighting!!!

My friend Liz gave me some studio lighting, and I've been testing it out. Look at this ohhhh so cute picture I got of Miriam.

Something's New.

My friend Liz sold me her really nice (better than mine) camera. My camera is really good but this is just better. This picture was taken without the flash and my other camera taken the same way would be darker. Nothing photoshop wouldn't fix, but it's nice to not have to fix up the pictures as much. I sold my camera to my brother in law. He was really excited, and I hope he enjoys the camera as much as I did.

Oh and we bought another car. We traded in my old van and got a really good price for that. My car was getting up there in miles, and I couldn't even open up one of the doors from the outside. One day after church I was opening it up and the handle just broke off in my hand. It's a Honda Odyssey, and we love it.

Daddy's Boy.

Now that we have the recliner Benji loves to sit in Daddy's lap and fall asleep. Makes it hard for Jonathan to get up sometimes. Good thing it's comfy.

Benjamin is 2

My little guy is growing up. AWWWEEEEEE. This is the only picture I got of him not trying to run away from the camera.

Weight Loss UGGGGHHHH!!

So I've had a few people wonder why I'm not updating my weight loss like I was. Well...... I have to rethink my plan of action to lose weight. I was losing my milk to feed my baby, and that wasn't working. She was up all night eating and I wasn't getting any sleep. So just to explain the picture here. I was diagnosed with Insulin Resistance, and a thyroid condition almost three years ago. I was put on two medications to regulate certain hormones so I can lose weight easier. See I'm not a big eater, and I'm always moving around. With 5 kids how can you not.... So I was always wondering why I have such a hard time losing weight unless I go on an extremely strict diet while on my medication. Not good for a nursing mother. So I was put on these medications to help me but since then I have been pregnant or nursing and I just found out yesterday that I have been on a dose that will help me not GAIN weight. What??? I thought I should be losing weight on my dosages. So as soon as I finish nursing my baby I will go on a stronger dose. My Dr. said that I should lose weight just great on that. SIGH!!!! Well it's good to know, and I'm excited to know something is going to work.

Being Crafty again.

I decided to make flower hair clips today. Oh boy are they easy. It was fun.

Crazy Hair Day

It's crazy hair day today. It was fun to do crazy hair do's. 

Learning to Save.

Lily and Emma having been saving there money for months now to get something they really wanted. Usually it's Oh I have money lets spend it NOW!!!! But we taught them that they need to save up and get something they really want, and not get things that are cheap and going to break right away. So they both saved up around 20 dollars and got something that's going to last.

Student of the Month

Look Look!!

Emma got student of the month for her school. 

She is having ice cream on the stage on friday. 

She is on cloud 9.

Special Necklace.

I saw Lily wearing a necklace today and I asked her were she got it. She told me that Grandpa Manning gave it too her. It was Grandma Manning's. (Jonathan's Grandma passed away a couple of weeks ago)
That was really special that he let her have it and she has been wearing it ever since.

Big Helper

Emma often helps us allot with Benji. She will lay down with him to put him to sleep at night when I'm just done after along day. She is such a great help around the house.

Eating Ice.

Benjamin loves taking my cup after I'm done and eating the left over ice. I guess he gets that from his daddy. Jonathan likes to eat ice as well.

New Chair!!

We ordered this chair about 7 weeks ago. Jonathan has been wanting a Lazy boy for a long time. Let me tell you it is soooooo comfortable. Jonathan sure loves sitting in it.

Every Picture has a story

I was tagged by Andrea.

This is a picture of my sister in law Christina finding a seat at thanksgiving dinner in 2002. If you look really hard you can see Jonathan taking that picture in the window. He's wearing a yellow shirt.

I tag Liz.

1. Open your first picture folder.

2. Upload the 10th picture in the folder (if there aren't 10, go to the next folder with 10 pictures in it).

3. Tell us the story behind the picture.

4. Tag at least 1 friend to do the same.

Makeup Art?

This is what an unsupervised Benji does when he finds lip stick. This is Jonathan's weight bench by the way, and it WON'T come out.

Oh boy it is hard to take a picture a day and blog about it. But as the year unfolds it's going to be fun to see what we've been up to.

Down to the last drop.

Benjamin was sure enjoying his ice cream today. Just couldn't get enough. 

Heart Breaker??

Ohhhh I think I'm in trouble with this one. This little face is going to convince me into giving into to allot of things.

Lily's Baptism Day

The Big day is here. Lily got baptized today and said she felt perfect. Well before we went to the church in the morning it was allot of work getting all the kids ready and getting there on time. As I helped Lily into her jump suit I almost cried. As I sat there in the chapel and saw my oldest child anticipate her baptism I almost cried again. I thought oh great I have to give a talk and I'm an emotional mess. I got up there and gave my talk and decided to add some personal stuff to the end and guess what I cried. I really don't like crying in front of people but that is what happens when you feel happy, and the spirit is strong. Oh guess what Jonathan cried too as he baptized her. After the baptism we had banana splits at our house. Lily said it was the perfect day.

He Can Reach!!

The light switches. AHHHHHHH!!!!! If you know Benjamin you know how active he is. He loves to turn off the fans, and I HAVE to have circulating air. So it's been lots of fun with Benjamin turning off the fans all day long.

It's almost here!!

Today I took pictures at the Temple for Lily's Baptism. When I got there I took some cute pictures and I looked that the screen on my camera and guess what I left my memory card at home but luckily my father in law was close by. He had his camera with him. It took pretty good pictures for a point and shoot.

My Garden.

I love having a garden. Look at all my broccoli, but the sad part is that I can't eat it or Miriam will have tummy issues. Oh how I love broccoli.

Being Prepared.

Lily preparing for her baptism by reading her scriptures daily. She is really good about it. Wow she's just growing up.

He's at it again.

This is what I see in various parts of my house. Benji has this thing with pulling around HUGE blankets. Why can't he pull around small blankets that are easier to clean up?????

I feel special

Look what Jonathan got for me. AWE he's so sweet. So are the chocolates, and the kids eat them for me.

Be My Valentine Daddy!

Emma said that Jonathan was her valentine this year!

Gotta keep that smile purdy!

Benji is getting good at brushing his teeth.

Peace, Man!

Miriam was in this position for along time. She just stayed there like she was stuck or something. But I thought it was funny that she was giving us the "peace" sign.

Obsessed Much?

This is what the majority of Peter's meals look like. He is in love with peanut butter. At least he is having jelly with it now. 

Benji's Idea of Working Out.

We have push up bars that turn so that your wrists don't get hurt. Benji likes to stand on them and twist. I wish my camcorder was fixed so I could get video of it. 

Silly Lily

I was looking through my pictures today and this is what I found. Looks like Jonathan and Lily were having a little fun.