convention etc

I'm so tired that I'm not sure how much I can write but wanted to say that convention was once again sooooo wonderful. Yes it rained and was muddy and the clothes got filthy...Abby got a diarrhea bug and pooped her pants twice....but it was still so great. I told someone it was my worst convention yet with kids being wiggly and fussy etc. but then I got home and realized I DID hear something and it was probably my best one yet. Not a great family picture but had to hurry and get the tent down before it rined again.

This is a photo of my beautiful girls. I love them so much I think we should have six :) Then I remember how busy life is with 4 and the thought disappears. The school didn't grant me my request and so now Abby and Kylie are going to school on opposite days. IT's so frustrating but I can't think about it too much or I get really upset. It is going to be hard on Abby being up late Wednesday night and being up early Thursday but I guess she has to get used to it sometime. I just keep telling myself that it will be good because some days it'll just be Abby and Chelsea and some days it'll just be Kylie and Chelsea. It's not often that either has the opportunity to be the "Big sister" so it'll be good for both of them. I just have to psych myself up to be extremely busy next year.

Another picture of the munchkins. Would you believe that Chelsea is even busier than Kylie? I know....I didn't think it was possible either. Kylie told me today "You can spank me but I'm not going to cry" (she cried). Chelsea you discipline and she smiles at you.

Hayley doing Ashley's hair.

Some of the girls being goofy. There was about 800-900 people there. I would say almost half were under 25 and of that half I bet half were 4-8 years old. LOTS of little girls. It was the first convention that I hardly saw my girls. Just Chelsea.

Brushing teeth in the morning.

So here is Chelsea having a nice drink of water....all ready for meeting. Then she goes into the tent while I stand outside brushing my teeth or something....

Then she comes out like this!!!!!!! She got into the bag of little M&Ms I bought for Steve and shoved HALF the BAG into her mouth!!!! Look at those cheeks!! Thank goodness her Wednesday night shirt matched the skirt. We did a quick switch.

The girls started the night sleeping all neatly like this....










They ended like this!

Here is a little baby Robin that couldn't fly yet. An interesting spiritual thought....The baby Robin either fell or wandered from the nest. We stood all around and looked at him. His mother was in the tree beside us not doing anything to save her baby but always keeping a watchful eye on him. I thought isn't that like us...we go into a world filled with danger because it is necessary for us to live 'in' the world, but God knows we aren't capable of much and when we fall or wander too far he'll still be there keeping a watchful eye. When we left the mommy Robin must have come for him as he was gone when we got back from meeting.

Okay well I am going to my tea as per nightly ritual. Some other pleasant news....I didn't lose any more weight at convention but I did maintain in spite of the occasional slice of pie. So....can I lose 2.4 this week before our little trip?? Hmmmm.....stay tuned.

Will leave you with a little picture of my big girl on her last day of Grade 1!!!

So much to blog....so little time

I must start with a picture of my 4 precious little girls.

....and then we throw in a handsome husband.

Now I will begin the rest of the blog by saying that I am so proud of Steve. This is the bank Emcee just built. Isn't it beautiful? Steve did such a great job running his first new construction project. Here are some pictures of the inside. Maybe later I will get pictures of the outside.

(I have tried to edit this so there isn't a big space between the text and pictures but stupid blogger won't let me so jsut scroll down)

Hallway to some offices

What you see when you walk in. Steve said there was so much light that it was hard to get a real good clear photo.

Their kitchen

The greeter desk etc. Those big fuzzy light fixtures are what came in the box that the girls are now using as a house

I had a day where it was just Chelsea and I bonding. So I put her to work unloading the dishwasher.

Our awesome new waterslide. We make mom set it up even if it is cold out. Which....pretty much seems like our entire summer is going to be. But it's going to be GREAT this summer for keeping the kids happy and entertained at home.

Kylie getting some air! She has gone over the edge three times now. I'm just waiting for the first broken bone and hoping it's not her neck!

Chelsea thinking her sisters are crazy. It's cold out!

Hayley and Mia reading books together

Kylie's Sunday lunch birthday party. Yes my second youngest is 4 now!!!! She's the same old loveable kid with selective hearing issues :)

Blowing out the candle

New dress for convention. I love that these long dresses are coming back into style.

She wanted flip-flops for her birthday cake so this was my attempt. We pretended it was summer.

Chelsea the train conductor.

It's just so frustrating when you can't get the boogers out.

Making bubbles

Kylie's mid-week party at chuckie cheese. "What do you think Breeya.....should we make it go up?"

Poor Chuck E. he was super loved by the girls.

Ride Kylie Ride!

So that was our week this past week. Now I am TRYING to get myself motivated to pack for convention but it's sooooo hard. All I've done is wash clothes. I am sure I will be running around all crazy like when it is actually Wednesday morning!! Kylie is having a hard time understanding that it is convention on Wednesday. She insists that there is one more day of preps. So I told her we'd go to preps on Wednesday. It will be interesting to see the responce when she sees everything is done!

Well I am off to my nightly cup of tea, but it has been fun chatting. Some of you distant family and friends I wish we could see each other and speak in more than pictures and blogs. One day......

Love you all from the bottem of my heart.

Jen and family.

Life in our Madhouse

So what has been happening? The girls and I had fun on Friday. I went on Hayley's fieldtrip, then we came home and built this cardboard house (yes that's my lopsided roof line....not the carpenter husbands!). I was then informed not only were no boys and men allowed in it but no women either! So anyhow, then we had supper and a marshmellow roast. Those massive ones you can get now are not kid material we found out. Granted they taste great and they are HUGE but they stick to EVERYTHING. You thought the normal big ones were bad....these are like glue. After that we went for a bike ride/run and made it home just before the wonderfully HUGE thunderstorm. I just love a good storm.



Saturday we went to preps for the morning and came home so Steve could work in the afternoon. A quiet day planned tomorrow. A lovely, blessed, much needed, day of rest. Hayley is to have her tooth pulled on Monday so I guess we need to make a decision regarding appliance versus spacer.



Ooey-gooey mess



I think her hand is permanently stuck to her knee.





And this is the house that mom built!



The girls pulled benches inside and made beds. I told them they couldn't sleep there but they might as well. I don't know why we bother to provide them with beds. Abby is the only one (and Chelsea obviously) who stays in her bed. You never know where you might find the other 2. Unless they are at your feet or kicking you in the back. Below you see a picture of where Kylie chose to spend the night last night.





Look at that door. The people who lived here before us painted over those old nasty brown wood doors with the wrong kind of paint that is now falling off in chunks. Can't wait for new carpet and interior doors.



Hayley's trip was to a place where they learned about how things were done in pioneer days. Here they are doing math on tablets. I wonder what Hayley will do when she realizes she doesn't have 11 fingers to use. Hahahaha. They made me feel old talking about what a chalkboard was!!! Hayley's class has a whiteboard and a SMART board. Technology......hmmm....





They had races



That's MY girl in the lead :)





They made homemade icecream so here they are all eating it.





Then they learned how to farm. By this point Hayley is apparently bored?? She is standing there because she knew that after the seeder, the next thing you need is a tractor to pull it. This was an easy task since 95% of these kids are farm kids.



We made cupcakes with whole wheat flour that the kids freshly ground. (She's reaching for another spoon in the bowl, not grabbing the batter).



It was fun going and seeing how the kids interact with each other. Hayley has an amazing teacher who has incredible control over her class. If the kids are being noisy and wild she says "Class class" and they say "yes yes" and then they go totally quiet. She never once had to raise her voice.



Well that's all folks. Only 2.5 weeks now until convention. Looking forward to it.



Love Jen, her wonderful husband, and her little peanuts.