Time goes by fast

I'm not doing so great on this Blog stuff. It's amazing how time goes by so fast.

I went to the hospital on November 21st 2014 to be induced. I didn't want to be induced but at the same time I was tired of being pregnant. I got there around 8 and had him a little after 12. It was a fast delivery. They were scrambling to get everything together. He was 8lbs 14 oz. The nurses and doctor were all surprised at how big he was. We named him Benjamin Argyle Westwood. He is such a good baby. The kids absolutely love him. 

 BriLynn turned 6 Years old.

Since the baby was only 4 days old we celebrated at home. Our neighbors and my sisters Stephanie and Sherry came for cake and ice cream.

Jacob turned 8 and was baptized.

We celebrated Andrew and Jacob's birthday at a Trampoline Park. Jumping and Pizza...what isn't there to like.The kids had a blast. Andrew  was ordained to the Priesthood. I had to hold back the tears when I saw him passing the sacrament for the first time. How did they get so big?

We had the Baptism, Blessing and Priesthood Ordination all on the same weekend. We felt the love of so many family members that came from near and far to celebrate these three special boys.

Well, that's our last few months in a nutshell.

Baby bump, planes, football, and horse rides oh my

So in all my years of being pregnant I've never documented how big I get month by month. So with this one I did. Man check out how big I get at seven months wowza!

6 MONTHS

7 MONTHS

8 MONTHS

9 MONTHS

It's very cute to hear Johnny ask when his baby brother will be here. A few more weeks buddy a few more weeks,

A few weeks ago a co-worker of Kevin's took the kids flying. I guess Kevin was able to fly the plane for a little bit but I'm sad I didn't get a picture of it. It was just the oldest four that went so I took the two youngest to play while they flew. BriLynn was sad but they were still able to get in the plane to check out the cockpit.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about them going. Especially since the book I was reading for book-club at the time was Heaven is Here, the story of Stephanie Nielson and the plane crash that burned 80% of her body. 

Andrew played flag football this year. 

He had a lot of fun and I have to say I had a lot of fun watching. 

 I love our neighborhood. Yesterday our friend to the North of us stopped by to see if the kids wanted to ride her horse. YES! The kids loved it, BriLynn giggled almost the whole time.

Change is good

About two months ago our family moved from our home of 11 years to another. It was a hard decision. We have felt prompted that we were to move for the last few years. We were looking for homes when Kevin was called to be the Bishop. He had been the second counselor for a couple years before being called. We were looking for homes when this calling came and decided to stay. Well almost four years rolled around and with much prayer and temple attendance we felt it was time for our family. We knew we could not stay in the same place as our family was growing and our home getting smaller. The kids were getting older and they would have a harder time transitioning to a new environment. Plus we were prompted. The home we bought was bigger than we planned on buying. I love the Lords peace. We looked at many homes and even though it was more expensive than we planned we felt peace.

The area has been so welcoming. We have been invited to so many BBQ's and I'm excited to be a part of the neighborhood book club. The kids have made friends easily with the next door neighbors. We were told they were praying for a family with kids to come in. A friend down the road said she was praying for an 11 year old boy to come so her son would have a friend close. There were multiple prayers being answered. The kids have liked the horses that surround us. A family in the ward invited the kids for rides which the kids loved of course.
I thought finally sitting with Kevin during sacrament would be nice since it's been six years. I was mistaken. We usually have a few kids between us and I've come to the conclusion that he missed the hardest years. The kids are all bigger now and he didn't deal with the tantrums that ensued while they were younger.

Andrew has begged for contacts for the last two years. We felt he was responsible enough and this year was the year. He looks so grown up to me.

We updated the handles in our kitchen.You can't see it very well from the first picture but the handles are white and gold. We want to switch all the gold fixtures to oil brushed bronze. We got all the door handles to change out as well. It's convenient that Kevin's parents have an online hardware business so we could get everything when we went to Missouri.
BriLynn caught her first fish while there at their ranch. She was so excited. This one was her first but right after she caught a big catfish. Every few minutes a fish was hooked :)

The kids also had their first experience at catching lightening bugs. They were really pretty to watch.Unfortunately while there we also experienced a lot of ticks. We took 11 off of Johnny bugs...yikes. The kids got some chigger bites too which thankfully I never experienced. 

We are enjoying Summer but I'm afraid we sleep in and stay up way too late now. It's going to be tough to adjust our habits when school starts up. Nights are just too wonderful to go to bed!!!

Another update

Wow it's been awhile since I've been on Blogger! 

A little update on what's happened in the last few months. BriLynn finished preschool last month. She loved going to the University. I had to sign them up when they were born to get them on the list. This was at her last field trip.Jonathan had fun too.

The kids played Jr. Jazz. Kevin coached Andrew's team this year.

Danika's team won the girls championship for 8-12 graders. 

Jacob had fun as well but I'm pretty sure the treats at the end of the game is why he enjoyed it.

Luke's team had a great year as well.

Andrew was chosen as one out of six students in all the fifth grade to receive the Hope of America award. It's given by the Kiwanis club. He was chosen because he excelled in all academic and social categories.His teacher this year Mrs. Stewart does nothing but praise him whenever we talk to her. 

And our latest news.

That and we moved. We are liking our new home and adjusting to having Kevin home so much ha ha. It's been really nice to have all the kids activities on one night and not spread throughout the week. The area  is beautiful and the neighbors are great. We will miss the old neighborhood and friends we made and we're excited for this next chapter in our lives.

Update

Andrew got his arrow of light. His awesome Webelos leader (not the one pictured) made him this awesome sign. I'm still surprised he's in 11 year old scouts now.  He got his Webelos badge in December. Luke will receive his wolf this a month. With four boys, scouts will be a big part of life.

 Ya know how it's hard to get a moments of peace as a mom? It's not only kids that need me while in the bathroom. Yeesh ha ha

Remembrance

Things to remember:

We had our home teachers over last night. They asked the kids what they are thankful for. Danika pops up quite promptly and says "boys". Sigh...I'm sure one day when she's grown with a family of her own we'll laugh about it but for now, I'm nervous.

I have been going to the temple every week for the last seven months. Danika started going weekly a couple months ago doing baptisms. One week I'll do a session and the next day Kevin will take Danika to do Baptisms. Then the next week we switch. Most weeks I just sit, watch, read and wait for her to be done but this week I did baptisms with her, it was great. Growing up as a youth I maybe went twice. The temple was two hours away. Kevin has been able to help confirm and other times help with the baptisms. I hope she continues her love of going to the Temple.

Funny kids

Kids say funny things. I wish I would have recorded more of the funnies our kids have said over the years. Tonight just before FHE, the topic of us being able to be like God and create worlds came up. Luke said "I'm going to create a world of Monsters. Monsters that give ice cream to everyone." How random is that? It made for a good laugh though.

School and cookies

Danika started 7th grade. Andrew 5th, Luke 3rd and Jacob 1st. BriLynn will be starting preschool at the beginning of Sept. It's crazy to me that I'll only have one child with me for a few hours of the day.  

 Today we also had a cookie party to kick off the school year. I got the idea a year ago from my awesome friend Kristy. The kids and Moms had fun. Even when the cops showed up ha ha. There was a little boy who came home with Jacob. He told me he asked his mother before he walked home with Jacob and she said it was okay. Well apparently he didn't or maybe he did the cops didn't know where his mom was either. The dad reported him missing to the school. He wouldn't let the cops take him home so they had to call his Dad to pick him up.Very interesting day.

Thoughts

I have been reading a lot of Merrilee Boyack's books lately. One of my friends suggested I read "Strangling your Husband is Not an Option." You should have seen Kevin's face when he read the title he he. When I looked it up at the library I decided to place her other books on hold. They have been so insightful.
 I wanted to write down some of my thoughts and things that stood out to me. In her book "Toss the Guilt and Catch the Joy" she talks about how we as women compare ourselves. "It is strange to think that probably every one of us has been judged and compared unfairly, and yet we still continue to do it to ourselves and others."
She mentions how we may notice someone got a new car and we may feel bad about our old one. Someone has a great new dress on and looks like she lost weight and we criticize ourselves for a failing diet. We listen to great Sunday School lesson and think of how we struggle with teaching a basic lesson. Then we go to RS and see so many great women and we feel inadequate.
What we don't realize  is that the family got a new car because theirs got totaled, the payout from the insurance was lousy. The sister lost weight because her father passed away and the new dress was for his funeral. The teacher for Sunday school has a father who teaches at BYU and gave him amazing files on the course subject. In RS there's a sister who is struggling with her son; one dealing with health problems, another dealing with the past of an abusive first marriage.
We walk out of church feeling bad about ourselves. "I'm not as slim as Mary", "I'm not as talented as Joann" etc....
 I find myself comparing myself and I need to remember that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are the only ones who can make righteous comparisons. They know the truth about each one of us. What we desire and hope for. We don't know what people go through.

I love how she mentions that Pride can go both ways. One sister may say "Well I was the RS Pres, always had my children and myself dressed neatly and on time to church" In her heart she is critical of others. Another sister may say  "If I had money like that family I could afford nicer clothes." In her heart she covets what others have. Both are being prideful in different ways.

I want to work on this. I know there are times I compare, criticize and judge. I don't need to look at others for what I should be doing or becoming, I need to look upward. We as women are our best enemy. We constantly put ourselves down. "I should have done this," "I could do better at that," "I'm lousy at this." etc... I know that's not what my Heavenly Father wants me to do. I need to work on ME and not worry or compare myself with others..

Aside from that I was called to be the Secretary for the Stake Relief Society. I'm excited for this calling, I'll be working with some great women.

We also had our first broken bone in the family. Poor Luke broke his leg. They did a CT scan and MRI and he needs to have surgery. We will be going to Primary Childrens next week.

FUNNY/update

Danika said something tonight that made me giggle and I had to write it down so I could remember it.
Danika: I don't want to toss the dollar.
Me: What?
Danika: You know...toss the dollar?
Me: (thinking hard, it clicks) You mean pass the buck?
Danika:Ya


 The kids have done swimming lessons and tennis lessons. I may put them in another swimming session in August but for now I'm enjoying the break, piano is the only thing we have weekly. Danika goes to girls camp in a few weeks. I know she will have a ball and I know I will miss her. I guess a perk to being the Bishops wife is that we are always invited up for dinner one of the nights so, we will still be able to see her. She is also getting fitted for braces next week. Andrew and Luke will be going to their scout day camps next month.
The kids have enjoyed our summer activities. They get excited  and ask me daily what we are doing.
I hope I can be the kind of Mother they deserve. I need to work on keeping my voice in a lower tone. With eight people in the house the noise level can quickly elevate. It has helped to go to the temple. I'm so glad to have a temple close. I made it a goal to go weekly through the Summer  I'm sure I will still try when school starts back up but as for now I'm going to the 5:30 session on Wednesday mornings. It's been tough to wake up at 4:30 to be to the temple by 5 but worth it. I'll have to find another time to go when school starts since the kids leave at 7:50 for school and I don't get home till 7:40ish.
Jonathan is potty trained now. I'm excited that we don't have to buy anymore diapers.
BriLynn is as ever a little girl. She loves to dress up in dresses and be a princess.
Jacob is doing well in Piano although I have found I wouldn't be a good piano teacher as I get impatient quickly when he practices. Luke and Danika are doing well in Piano as well. Kevin is busy with his calling and work. He has enjoyed playing racquetball with some coworkers a few times a week. He likes his job and that is always a blessing. I don't know if I wrote before about it but he switched companies last October. He's still a Senior software engineer, the cutest computer nerd I know. As for me I keep busy with the kids. I do enjoy my weekly workouts with my friend Trudy. Plus the freedom to shop alone with Danika here to babysit has been great.