The Last One

We really were hoping for just one more baby. The kids were sure it would be a girl since that's been our pattern so far. But I also didn't think I could do the whole newborn and a kid in (super, super early morning) seminary, so we had a specific deadline for baby #6. After my ectopic in June we were still hopeful, but it just wasn't meant to be. That was hard for me, but I had lots of little confirmations that this was the right time. One of those confirmations was the fact that Catherine desperately wanted/needed her own space. The only way for that to happen was to convert Elijah's nursery into Catherine's room. I wasn't totally ready, but we began the process of moving Elijah out and Catherine in. 

Last crib picture!

Taking that poem off the wall was the most heart-wrenching part of all.

I can't believe we're done with babies already. 

Once again, Melissa designed and picked out decor for the room. I would be lost without her help! Catherine picked out the bedding, and Melissa went off of that. It wasn't what I would have picked (or what I expected Catherine to pick), but it ended up being so adorable and so perfectly Catherine. 

Am I the only one who feels like they repaint a room every year or so?

I guess I at least know all the tricks by now...

Helping paint her new room.

She squealed with delight when she saw the new color on the walls.

I also happened to score a free bedframe off a Facebook group that was PERFECT!

When we got it all set up she was so happy.

She loves that she can lay in bed and look out the window.

And then there was Elijah, who LOVED his crib and would have stayed in it forever.

He suddenly found himself tossed into a giant bed in a new room:

Don't be fooled by the smile: it did NOT go well.

He screamed.

He cried.

He left his bed repeatedly and wailed on the floor by the door.

It was rough for everyone for a week or so.

But eventually he got used to it, especially once he had Aaron in with him.

Unfortunately, he did also give up naps. Sigh...

Catherine had this up on her door basically immediately. 

So friendly and welcoming.

On the one hand, I was very much looking forward to getting rid of all the baby supplies and clothing. For such tiny people, they sure have a lot of large equipment! For a few weeks our bedroom was a huge stockpile of baby supplies we were selling or giving away:

Some things were harder to let go.

We really didn't have a place to put this, so it didn't make sense to keep it.

But even Jon was a little sad to see it go:

Lots of babies nursed, rocked, and read to in this chair.

Hopefully more babies will get to be rocked in it in another home!

Now that it's all done and settled, I feel at peace with how everything has played out. My heart still hurts a little bit when I see tiny babies, so maybe there will always be a little hole there. But this is what is right for our family and there are definitely some perks to being done with the baby phase of life! Just don't be surprised if I snag any available newborns for some snuggles whenever possible. 

Easter Fun

First some silly sisters playing with blankets and pajamas

Such beautiful tongues

Due to Covid and the general insanity of the neighborhood Easter egg hunt, this year we opted to do our own hunt in our yard. Jon & Timmy hid the eggs, then we got all the participants ready:

Elijah was having none of it, so Timmy held him for the picture

A tree egg! 

Elise's loot

Aaron's loot

Elijah's loot

I didn't get pictures of the older two, who were stuck looking for last few eggs. There might have been some tears when Seth couldn't find his last few eggs (each kid got a set number and he had to find the hardest ones). But eventually we managed to get them all! We stuffed them with a bit of candy, some small toys, money and slips of paper with things like "date night" or "skip a job" written on them. Those were a big hit. Things to remember for next year!

Our Easter was pretty small this year: just us and Timmy. I'm so glad he was able to be there so it wasn't just our little family. That would just feel kind of lame...

Family Activities

Another brilliant Bente idea: a tri-family FHE helping the Bradys with their yardwork!

Seth, Jon & Grandpa Brady weeding.

Listening to Grandpa & Grandma Brady tell about their mission to Canada.

I love meaningful service opportunities for my kids!

Then there was our fun co-op kite day, where my two youngest found...

The world's best mud puddle!

And the shark puppy strikes again, trying to drink puddle water:

For interested parties, the answer is no. 

No his shirt was never white again.

Hard to tell, but this is Catherine attempting to fly a giant kite on a very, very windy day:

I'm still not sure who was actually in control: Catherine or the kite...

And, Jon's favorite family tradition continues:

Elijah's egg masterpiece

Seth, Aaron & Elise are super special egg dyers:

Elise's eggs are literally hand-dyed:

Catherine was too cool for us and decorated her eggs with Talia and Alena:

We're so excited for spring and warmer weather!

The Stink

Timmy still comes to visit often, which we love.

And sometimes, Timmy has to use the bathroom.

Or shower.

This is just devastating to toddlers who want constant playtime.

And so the toddler's toys line up outside the bathroom door, 

patiently waiting for Uncle Timmy to emerge and hopefully not impale his foot.

This was a fun parenting day:

Yes, that is an electrical outlet.

Yes, he is licking it.

No, I couldn't make him stop.

When the puppy finished licking outlets, he moved on to biting my sweater:

But the good news is that puppies also love snuggles

 and will occasionally settle down for a hug:

Anna lives for Elijah snuggles!

I do believe "puppy shark" is the most accurate description of Elijah currently in existence. 

Seth & Company

Seth loves Elijah.

Elijah is not always a big fan of Seth's smothering love.

But sometimes the stars align and brothers can snuggle together happily!

Elijah IS, however, always a fan of Seth when we have FHE.

Seth has replaced Jon as the official "tosser of the baby" while singing Sunbeam.

Elijah always cries when the song ends and the tossing stops.

These two are still thick as thieves most of the time.

And if they were to suddenly decide to drop an album, they've got a cover already good to go.

March Family Fun

Catherine's dream of her own room was getting more insistent, so we started looking into beds that would fit in that tiny room but still have lots of useful sleeping space for when family comes to visit. Melissa found a great twin bed with trundle on FB marketplace that looked like a perfect fit, so I sent Jon to pick it up. Things I forgot to ask and the sellers didn't disclose: they were smokers. So Jon got to drive home with nasty, smoke-covered-up-with-too-much-Febreze mattresses and bedding. 

We tried all the things. Sunshine, baking soda, vinegar, scentless Febreze...nothing got the smell out. So Jon got serious. An ozone machine arrived in the mail and we put it to the test. After a few hours in the van with the machine running, the bedding was shockingly scentless. I was amazed. But the mattresses? Much better, but still smelly. We ran it through again. And again. Which was when we realized that the smoke smell was entirely gone (hooray!), but whatever scented stuff they had used to try to cover the smoke? That stuff WOULD NOT COME OUT. It was faded, but still unpleasantly strong. 

Long, long, long story short, the eventual solution was buying a plastic mattress cover (like you'd use for moving or storage), putting the mattress and ozone machine inside it, taping it up, and letting it run for hours. Outside in full sun to help pull the scent molecules out. Moral of the story? Unless you are truly desperate, don't bother with furniture from smokers. Also, ozone machines are really amazing! Wish we had known about them much earlier during the vomit/old milk in the car episodes of our lives...

Jon was doing something on the roof, which obviously means group field trip to the roof.

I think someone was doing math up here with me at one point. 

Not a single kid fell off! Winning!

Tis the season for baby seedlings to start! 

This time we were super smart and careful about placement and weights.

No way this thing would go down in the wind again.

Like it has every other year. 

Best part of March???

Vaccination day!!!

I might have gotten a little teary.

Not because it hurt (which it actually kinda did), but because there was a light at the end of the Covid tunnel! Here's to hoping things will head back to normal ASAP!

Jon got his as well. 

We both got them slightly earlier than the general population since we were "essential workers" at church and the governor wanted churches opened up. But within a couple of weeks it was available to all adults so I didn't feel as weird about getting mine. 

Shot #1 just left me with a crazy sore arm. Shot #2 wiped me out good. I expected the aches and fever, but the nausea was a nasty surprise. Thankfully Jon was totally fine (minus a slight return of the Covid Toes) and could manage the kids while I stayed in bed so I wouldn't be sick. But after a day or so I was good to go and happy to be done with this nonsense!

I hate my life.

This time we physically tied the greenhouse to the house.

If it goes down again I'm giving up on this nonsense.

(Thankfully it did survive the rest of the spring and grew lots of lovely seedlings!)

Math on the Farm

One perk of Covid is having some of our best friends homeschooling with us for the year! When Bente asked if we wanted to get together for a "Math on the Farm" day at a friend's "farm" (more like a homestead), we were all in! 

This was the group I got to take: the middles

Catherine, Talia, Paul & Aaron

We did things like figure out how much money we could get from selling alpaca wool, or figure out how many chickens weigh the same as one Talia, or measure the area of a bridge to paint. They weren't totally committed to the activities and mostly wanted to feed animals and throw rocks in the pond, but we got enough done to satisfy Bente!

Melissa had the littles (Elise, Luke & Elijah)

Painting numbers on the barn with water

Elijah was fully invested in this activity.

But he was more invested in eating the food we brought for the animals to eat.

Thankfully there was enough to share:

Bente had the big kids (Seth, Gabe & Brie), who measured, cut out and assembled a shelter for the alpacas. That kind of hands-on stuff is perfect! They all had a great time and hopefully learned something useful.

Grateful for good friends with brilliant ideas!

Aaron the Russell

Aaron came up from the basement wearing this glorious armor he'd made.

He told us it was super strong and asked Jon to test it out. 

He got a bit nervous when it was time for the actual test, 

but it held up and "only hurt a tiny bit."

My assistant Aaron cook helping make green eggs for St. Patrick's Day.

He was thoroughly disgusted by the color, but did still eat them!

He's getting very good at tree climbing now.

I am told to take pictures like this on a regular basis.

(This is the Knoxes' front yard). 

We're trying to cut down on sugar and processed stuff, so we've told the kids that desserts will either be ice cream, dark chocolate or a homemade treat. That way we have to be deliberate about what we're eating. Aaron really wanted Swiss Cake Rolls, but since we're not buying that stuff anymore, we found a recipe online for a giant one. He was thrilled and it was delicious!

Cat Catherine

The kids decided on a Minecraft theme for our Sunday Knox dinner.

Catherine went all in on her Minecraft Pig costume (notice the socks on her hands).

Also the adorable curly tail!

Most recent project: making so. many. God's Eyes.

This giant one in our entry is her masterpiece.

Another Sunday Knox dinner: this time it was Pi Day!

Melissa promised a prize to whoever could memorize the most digits of pi,

Catherine spent all afternoon working on it and barely beat out Jon in the end!

Since Jon is anti-pet, hanging out with the Knoxes' pets is the next best thing.

Especially when it involves cats named Zuko and a cat backpack.