Oooo I love my girls' dark blue beautiful eyes. Thanks Darren for that contribution.
Notice the pictures on each package. When one of the Presidency or Quorum of the Twelve spoke, the kids dove into the basket to find the package with his picture on it and divided the spoils. The kids decided on the best idea of them all though. One night for FHE we cheated and read some stories from the Friend as our lesson. One of them was about a family who read about King Benjamin's people casting their tents toward the temple in order to listen to their leader speak to them. The kids in the story decided they wanted to have a tent for General Conference and made their Reverence Tent out of pillows chairs and blankets. Well that idea became ingrained into our kids' minds and they decided the only way to listen to Conference was with a Reverence Tent of their own. Long after the packets were completed and tossed aside, and with the packets of skittles dwindling, the Reverence Tent held out. As long as it was up and they were in it, they were quiet. It may become a tradition. 
Now for Elijah, the way we made it through conference with him (for the morning sessions that he was awake) went something like this:
That's the library's Land Before Time in there. Good old Little Foot.
And since I couldn't decide which picture to post because he is so cute I'm putting this one up too. 
Oh and just one more. And I'd just like to say that Daddy got him dressed today. That's why he matches so well and all.
There were plenty of times I told the kids to be quiet or sit down or knock it off, but we made it. Hope yours was good too.
I'm too lazy to get my video with sound out so just pretend you can hear the wind and rain a rippin'. The ponchos only delayed the inevitable, they were drenched by the time they came inside, but they had so much fun while they lasted.
Cooking down plums to can plum jelly...
And making a sweet treat to end the day right...
Feels like a Saturday at my mom's house growing up. The only thing missing was 17 batches of laundry - oh and the other 13 loaves of bread. Mom everytime I eat a tomato sandwich I think of you. :) Missed you today. -- Heidi
Joining us for the excitement were Jennie and Luke, 
Shanen and Cruise,
Jex, Renae and Tate.
I had a great time but honestly didn't get to talk that much to all of the fun moms because we were all busy chasing the boys around the pool. 
Cruise loved it as much as Lijah.
Jex...not so much. But he did have a good time I think. He just wasn't crazy about all of the sprinklers. Renae did manage to get him to go down the slide on her lap a few times. Wish I had that on video. :)
I'm ready for a repeat! Anyone want to join us?
You see, Parker came into this world big, strong, but weak too. He spent his first week of life in the NICU because he had difficulty breathing when he was born. I delivered him on a beautiful summer morning in a small hospital and so they had to transport him to a larger hospital with a NICU later that day. No way was I staying in one hospital while my baby was in another 30 minutes away. So I checked out, went home to get cleaned up and then went to find my baby. It would be two more days before I could hold him again. 
I spent every minute of that week with him that I possibly could, 
but strangely I have always felt like I was playing catch up with my time with Parker. 
I think because our relationship together started out so haphazardly I have always held on a little tighter to Parker. And I would put it out there that he has always held me back.
I've said it before and I'll say it again - Parker is my little love bug. My other two show love of course, but Parker loves intensely. He drops compliments the way other children drop toys. His hugs are big and total body experiences. Some of his friends (and dare I say their moms) are a little taken back by his "big squeezy hugs" as he calls them. Parker to this day will climb on my lap and let me sing Rock-a-Bye Baby. To spend a day with Parker means he will tell you he loves you 20 times and each time is just as genuine and sincere as the time before. I remember being in Old Navy shopping with him and while sifting through the piles on the tables he said to me, "Mom guess what?" What Parker? "I love you so much." That's nice Parker. A woman shopping across the table clicked her tongue and said "Oh that's so sweet." That got my attention. I looked up and realized that she wasn't taking for granted hearing his sweet words the way I was and I remember feeling a little sheepish. Could I have that small moment back? Can I re-live that and have the chance to drop the shirt I was looking at to bend down, look Parker in the eye and tell him I love him too?
From the pictures of her room you may notice that each wall is a different color. Lexi caught pneumonia when she was in Kindergarten and had to be home for six school days. I had just bought her bedspread and asked her which of the colors she wanted me to paint her room. She thought for a minute and then told me she wanted each wall a different color. It was on a whim and I did it. For a year and a half though, I have cringed every time I entered her room. However, since hanging the pink curtains and putting up the letters that tie all of the colors together I actually think it is cute. I finally finished painting all of the flowers (thanks Alena for your help with the vine, ladybugs, and flowers) onto her walls and switched out some furniture with her brothers and it is almost done. 
I played with this little cupboard when I was little and it belonged to my mother. It was black then.
My dad added the bottom in order to make it tall enough for Alexia to play with it and I finished painting it all two weekends ago. Isn't it cute? My boys have just as much fun playing with it too. I'm always getting a pretend treat that someone has made me on a plastic plate. Too fun! 
Now I just have her bed to paint white. We got this bed off of Craig's list (LOVE THAT!) way cheap and it just needs some sanding, priming and paint. Then I only have hanging her shelf above her bed for her treasures and I'm calling it done although I do have an order in with Grandpa Stewart for a low bench to go under the window for a great reading spot. Lexi likes to cozy up with a book in a little spot. Do all kids do this?
It's official...the boys are in bunk beds. I begged my dad to let me borrow the set of bunk beds he made for his kids. I love them because they are so sturdy and made so that an adult can sit on the bottom bunk. Perfect for reading bedtime stories. However, after being used by all seven of his kids at one time or another they were in major need of sanding down and restaining. (Darren sweetie thanks so much for doing this HUGE job!) So after getting dad's permission Darren and I went to it. It is no easy task to sand off stain outside in the 110 degree weather. I think they turned out great. We switched out dressers with Lexi and the boys now have one big enough to share and it matches with the stain of the desk from the office and the bunk beds. This is one of my favorite rooms now. You may notice the ladder being used. *sigh* Yet another project. We have the stuff to make a ladder, we just need the motivation. Pretty hard to muster it when the industrial strength ladder works just fine. :)
Now it took over the spot my mirror and family pictures previously called home. So of course it was time for an update for all of them. Sorry about the flash, but I love the pictures on ribbon and hung this way. 
I couldn't find the knobs I had pictured in my head to hang them on so while at HL the other day I picked up the stuff to make them and I painted them yesterday. Darren helped me figure out how to hang them up and they turned out just as great as I had hoped they would.
