Random Events from 2014

Jacob had a lot of teeth trouble towards the end of 2014 and at one point it was so bad he wanted them to rip out his tooth (back corner directly on top of a tooth he already had pulled) Anyway I had to pick him up because of the condition of his pain and take him to the dentist and we sat in the car while Jacob ran in.

Ryan

William

Steven and Christopher watching a movie

I needed something from Desert Book and of course I couldn't just run in, so I unloaded all of the kids and boy was it a sight.  I held Spencer and Max and had Steven hold William's hand and Christopher hold Ryan's hand to cross the road to the store and we when we walked in they were so well behaved. The problem was that I had no clue where the thing was that I was looking for and then a few women stopped to ask me about my cute bunch of boys and well small boys can only go so long before they need to run, chase, and make loud noises.  Fortunately the women were so nice and literally helped me out to my van, one worked there but the other was visiting on her way to drop her son off at BYU-Idaho.  They were so nice and complimentary on my sons and reminded me that it all goes by so fast, but that it seems like I'm doing a good job.  Then before one left she commented on how clean my car was, which it really wasn't at all but made me feel good.  We get approached a lot for our family, some I'd rather people think before they speak, but others I love and feel uplifted.  On this occasion I felt very uplifted.

Pretty typical sight around our house

Spencer Max

The Bath Boys

Ryan, William, and Christopher

Spencer and Max just lounging in the tub

Boys playing in the sink

Jacob and Steven had their dentist appointment at the same time, so Jacob was in the next room listening to everything going on with Steven.  The nurse asked Steven if there was anything bothering him, referring to his teeth.  He thought for a moment then said, "Flies.  We have a lot of flies at our house."  Everyone in the two rooms started laughing.

Dentist Appointments (William and Ryan's first)

Jacob and William trying to help Ryan

Ryan really didn't like it

Christopher was very chill and loved watching the TV

Mom and Ryan

William didn't like it but was better than Ryan

Since this winter started out very warm we took advantage and played outside as much as we could.

In our yard

At the park

Max

Spencer

William

It was so fun we had to bring back the rest of the family to show them

William

Yes Christopher is wearing his pjs, unfortunately he couldn't find his shirt
so he put Max's ( size: 24 months) on. Hence the belly

Spencer

Max

Playing while I cook dinner, with no coats or shoes

Another park in December, the boys were in heaven.

Ryan

Max

Spencer

They started with jackets but ended up taking them off because they were too hot.

Ryan

These boys were so good, because it really wasn't that warm

I tried to get a cute picture of them at the top, but William kept sliding down just to get a reaction from me.
Well everyone this is more real life than posed cute boys.

Ryan was more than pleased to pose for a picture, in fact he stood like
this for a minute until I got the hint that he wanted his picture taken.

William

Ryan

Spencer Max

Thanksgiving was different than any we've had.  We're used to big family gathering and lots of baking. This year we went to Denny's with Jacob's brother, had my brother and his friend over for pie and then a little Black Friday shopping before 8:00 p.m.  It was fun and here are the only pictures taken from the day; I'm not sure which little boy took them.

Black Friday Ads

Uncle Andy

Sometimes when we go to restaurants, it's pretty awesome that that many small boys are behaving and eating their food.  This time...not so much.  Luckily the people there were okay with our not so quite crew.  Here's what everyone was doing:  Spencer smiling, Ryan feeding Spencer, Steven doing mad libs, William dumping his water and playing with his water filed straw, Max looking grumpy, Christopher of in his own world (or I didn't pay attention enough to know) and poking at his pizza, Jacob and Andy talking away, and I was trying to make sure Spencer wasn't choking, helping Steven with his mad libs, cleaning up after William, and making sure Max wasn't going to cry.  You know the usual stuff.

Denny's Menu

Movie Nights

Spencer

I was getting together a package to send to Marshall and Susan in Korea and asked the boys to draw a picture or write a letter to Grandma and Grandpa.  Here is Christopher's:

Dear grandma and grandpa,
I like you because you're so nice. How's your day? Did you have a nice trip? Do you like me grandma and grandpa? Yes I do. How's your trip was it good? Yes it was.

Ryan and William

Playing with Cousins
Spencer, Ethan, Max

Ryan fell asleep like this.  Sometimes he's just too cute

"The Tree of Life" in Draper, UT.  Date

4 little monkeys jumping on the bed...

...one fell off and bumped his head.

Ryan fell and Steven is "playing" with William in the background

Spencer's First Haircut

Before

He really did so well!

First Trip to the ER

I knew it would come someday with 6 boys, but a week before Christmas we had our first trip to the ER with Steven.  He was standing on a stepping stool and turned to show me a picture when he fell and hit his head on the corner of the chair.  Blood followed, but not gushing.  I called Jacob to come home, since it was lunchtime, and see what he thought.  Since he has red hair it was hard to tell exactly how bad it was.  Jacob talked him into shaving around it to see what we had.  

It looked wide, but not deep and he had calmed down by that time so we put a Band-Aid on it and continued with the day. (after Jacob shaved the rest of his neck to look somewhat normal).  Then before bed he came up and told us it felt wet.  We took the Band-Aid off and it was soaked with blood and we could tell the cut was much deeper.  So off to the ER he and Jacob went at 8:30 p.m.

He had staples and wowed everyone with how brave he was.  No tears! He came back smiling showing me all the treasures he got from the doctors and nurses, and Jacob even took him out to get some treats from McDonalds.  Now the question is how much longer till we have to do this again? 

 

The doctor even gave Jacob the tools to take out the staples on Christmas Eve, but Steven wanted to wait till we were in Soda so he could show Grandma and Grandpa Balls his staples.

Staples in.

Jacob built a cast of legos

William and Ryan dressed like my twin unclesWayne and Garth.
Jacob did it on accident but I couldn't stop laughing.
It's really what each would wear.

Ryan has found his way upstairs after Christopher has fallen asleep. Jacob and I just think he's too adorable to just sent right back to bed so he gets to snuggle with us for a bit before heading back to bed.  Jacob and I have a love/hate relationship with it.

Sego Lily Sing Along

Steven really wanted to sing with all the Kindgarteners and sing, "We Will Jingle" even though we had to come back after picking him up.  I convinced Jacob to come so he could stay in the back with the stroller full of kids and I could sneak to the front and get a picture and video of Steven.  He did a really great job.  Even though I couldn't tell all the words, I smiled the whole time seeing his enthusiasm for the song.  Great job bud!

The cheering crew

Since the weather was so nice we took a walk and took our neighbors some Christmas goodies.  I'm not sure we'll be able to do that again, but it was fun.

Ryan loves to sleep with a lot of pillows.  There are often random pillows in his room and before bedtime he insists they are all on the bed and all surrounding him.

For Christmas I wanted a cleaning company to come and deep clean parts of the house that I just can't get to (the kitchen, the windows, the walls from toddler height down...)  We went with the Widdup Cleaning Solutions, since they are Jacob's sister's in-laws.  We budgeted how much we thought it would cost, but when they came they said they wouldn't charge because we were family.  We couldn't get them to let us pay, we even had some good cash on hand as well.  They did such a great job, and we were very touched with their generosity.  While they cleaned we went to eat at Pizza Pie Cafe, since our neighbors work there we all had a coupon and all ate for free.  We both felt so grateful for everyone's kindness to us!

It was these guys's first time at the table and they giggled most of the time.
They were so proud of themselves, yay for table food!

After our kitchen was cleaned I honestly was giddy while making dinner.  Jacob kept commenting like, do you see how clean the sink is!  I don't think I've ever seen it that clean!  Christopher, the next day, asked if we got a new fridge because it looked so good! Thanks Widdup Cleaning Solutions! Now all we need is to keep it this clean....


Sometimes I turn around and discover that I have such a handsome boy on my hands! I tried to get a picture of Steven to document how grown up and handsome he looked, but of course he kept being goofy and moving at the last minute.

The Bath Boys II

Such a typical sight
Ryan playing by himself, Steven being crazy, William offended
 by a big brother, and Christopher being weird.
Note: William and Ryan could be switched in this scenario

At least they'll always have each other!

As Jacob and I thought about 2014 we both agreed it was a weird year.  It kind of went by like a dream.  We had some really great points (when Spencer and Max joined our family) and some lower points (trying to take care of 6 kids under 5) and all while only being half a wake.  I'm not sure I can describe it.  It was good.  But I'm excited to see what 2015 has to bring for us!