Let the Games Begin!!!

So a few months ago while I was editing a senior photo shoot that I did, I accidentally left my photo card in my computer. This is usually something that I never do, but one time is all that it took and two or three year old hands discovered it along with another bigger slot in the same computer. They decided that jamming it into the DVD drive was a brilliant thing to do. Along with that they put in a target card and who knows what else. When I took it into the apple store they told me that I needed to back it up…something that I had been meaning to do for forever. I have been working on this backing up process now ever since. 26,000 pictures. That is what I have from the last 4 years. I have been cleaning them up and I am finally done!!! I have really enjoyed blogging this last week and I get all giddy inside thinking that I am going to have the things that I know that I am not going to remember documented! Anyway, Monday the computer goes into the shop and hopefully in won't take too long! Now that all of the pictures are organized, I am ready to make photo books of the last few years…like 9 years!

Anyway…onto the games! Trey and Livia participated in Upward basketball last year and they have been looking forward to starting again all year! Because Trey and Liv are so close in age, Livia gets to cheer for Treys team! They love it and we love that we don't have to go to another game at another time, especially because Aurianna has her games on Saturday too! They both did great today! It is so fun to see them learn and grow. My favorite part though happens behind the scenes. Aurianna loves to teach, and really it is one of her gifts. She is amazing at it. She taught Livia how to multiply before Livia was even in kindergarten. She loves taking her sister and brother out onto the field or the court and teaching them the things that she knows. She works with Trey all the time on the court. She makes up these fun games and the kids all love it! Tad has been working a lot with Aurianna over at the church (when I say a lot, I mean everyday), every once in awhile Trey and Liv will go to and it is amazing to see how much they have all grown! Aurianna glows when she sees Trey do something out on the court that they have been working on. Or Livia out on the soccer field! And Trey is always excited to learn something new! They love their new uniforms this year too! It is going to be a great season! Ok, now for the pics!

Two kids

The other day I was driving in the car and I asked all the kids what they wanted to be when they grew up and how many kids they wanted. I ask these questions every so often just to see if their answers have changed.  This is how the conversation went…

Me: Trey, what do you want to be when you grow up?
Trey: A Fireman.
Me: awesome! Livia, what do you want to be when you grow up?
Livia: A cheerleader, like a professional one. Then I want to be a doctor, oh and a fashion designer. And of course a mom. Yep…thats what I want to be!
Trey: Wait, I want to be a fireman and a pilot. And I want to be a Dad, I really, really want to be a Dad!
Me: Aurianna, what do you want to be?
Aurianna: A professional soccer or basketball player!
ME: Livia how many kids do you want?
Livia: Six, except I don't want six if after I have the first one I decide that it hurts too bad. Then that number is going to change for sure!
Me: Trey how about you?
Trey: Four kids, two girls and two boys (spoken like an only boy who wants a brother but absolutely adores his sisters!).
Me: Ainslee how many kids do you want?
Ainslee: LOTS!
Me: how many is lots?
Ainslee: (holding up her five fingers) Five!!!
Me: Audrey, how many kids do you want:
Audrey: 3
Me: Aurianna, how many kids do you want?
Aurianna: Two, one girl and one boy and that is all.
Me: Two, you only want two?
Aurianna: (in very hushed tones) I used to want lots. Then you told me how the babies get in there, and now I only want two. And two is pushing it.

Well at this point, lets just say that I was laughing, hard! I was trying not to laugh, really I was, but I just didn't expect her to say that at all and it caught me off guard. Can you tell we had the talk recently? One day when Aurianna has three or four kiddos running circles around her I will bring this story up and tell her what she said! I am so thankful for my five blessings that put a smile on my face every day and look forward to what they say tomorrow !!!

Milana

The Sound of Silence

I have an odd sound in my house and as I was finishing loading the dishwasher, I found myself doing something, something that doesn't happen, at least not in the middle of the day. What was it you ask? Finishing an entire thought in my head. That's right folks…this little lady was able to start a thought and finish thinking the entire thought through to the end. Why, do you ask, can you not do this on a regular basis? Interuptions…don't get me wrong, they are lovely little interruptions. Tugs on my pant leg to ask for a glass of milk or an apple. A hug around the leg asking me if she is the prettiest pink princess in all the land. Maybe someone is missing a shoe, or wants to know what time bball practice starts, or where her book is or if she can play with so and so. But none less, sometimes, the wonderful conversation that I was having with myself inside my head gets interrupted and usually is unable to finish or come to a conclusion. So why is today different? Aurianna is at a friends house planning the (quotations here-remember keyboard is busted) BEST SLEEPOVER EVER! Trey and Livia are at another friends house and the two little ones each fell asleep on either side of me during a very exciting cowgirl bubble guppies episode (well at least I thought it was exciting…probably because it is one of the only bubble guppies episodes that I haven't seen yet…them not so much since they did fall asleep after all!).  Pure silence…WOW! That silence led me to a thought about my last blog post. All of the sudden I remembered something that I had written about Tad being home all week and that in parenthesis I put AHHHH! All of the sudden I realized that when I typed that AHHHHH it was meant to sound like loud hallelujah cheering from the roof top that my husband was home all week and part of this week with no interruptions…completely 100% mine (and my kiddos!)! And I began to wonder if someone out there may have read my AHHHH as YIKERS, I have to spend a whole week with my husband home. So I thought I would post now about that Ahhhh (and a little about wonderful interruptions I guess)! There are many things that changed when we moved to Ohio. Although, we have lived here long enough now that I can't remember all of them. But one of the  changes that I still every once in a while miss is the fact that my cute hubby has to go to work every day. He has always been a very hard worker, we wouldn't be in Ohio if he wasn't, but when we were in Utah he worked from home. Yes, he did travel, and those weeks were very hard and we missed him  like crazy, but when he was home he was just upstairs! I never had to call to ask a question or see how his day was. His lunch break was spent with us and his commute time was AWESOME!!! So, as much as I love the fact that he doesn't have to travel anymore, sometimes I miss seeing his cute mug around the house in the middle of the day!
That brings me to this marvelous week and a half! Oh how sweet it has been. All of my family home everyday at the same time. No practices or games or activities, no work or meetings or early morning appointments! The girls came down with ear infections and pink eye, but we just stayed home and snuggled like crazy! We have played games, built forts, played dress up, watched movies, taken naps, colored, finished projects, read books, tickled, called family, made cakes, watched the ball drop, stayed up late, gotten totally off schedule and loved every single second of it! I tend to get a little anxious thinking that I need to plan a ton of activities/outings/projects when everyone is home, and I will admit that it took me a good day to come to terms with the idea of all of just staying at home during the holiday, but as I look back at our time together it really has been a glorious week filled with memories that will last forever! My kids (and Tad) keep laughing at me as I randomly walk up to them and hug them, but I know that in just a few days they are all going to be back to running a million miles an hour.      I am sensing just a few more minutes of silence, so I better wrap it up!   I hope everyone had a wonderful New Years Eve!

Milana