Christmas 2012

 About a week before Christmas, Anna lost her front tooth.  The other one is just barely hanging in there.  We tried to convince her to pull it out so she could say that she wanted her two front teeth for Christmas.  We also tried to convince her that it would be awesome if the tooth fairy and Santa came on the same night.  Her other front tooth is still there.......

 I can't believe how grown-up Rachel is getting.  She is such a sweet girl.  She likes to borrow my things now, like my coats and shoes.  But on the good side, I discovered that her snow boots fit me.

 Sammy in his new Sunday outfit.

 This is my father-in-law on Christmas Eve.  He looked cute in his Santa hat.

 Anna pulled out the angel Halloween costume to dress up for the family nativity.  She looked like a doll.  :)

 Sam and some oranges from a stocking.  He ate somebody's candy bar while we opened presents.  He also took bites out of oranges.  He likes oranges.   None of my other kids have liked them at such a young age.

 Yes, its the newest Diary of  Wimpy Kid book.  And his new pajamas from Grandma match too!

 Caleb wearing his new hat that Rachel made.  Rachel learned how to make fleece hats in her CTE Class at school.  In about 2 days, she made 17 hats.  She gave a lot away, and then she is going to donate the rest to a shelter.  She was really proud of the BYU hat she made for Dan.  She found the "BYU" in the scrap pile in her class room, and cut it out and sewed it on the hat.  It looks pretty cute on Dan.  Or maybe its just that Dan has such cute dimples.  :)

 Well, here's all 5 kids in one picture--sort of.  I've discovered that the more kids we've had the harder it is to get them in a picture together.  This last picture is Alex holding up his stocking.  He was not happy about the remote-control car that Santa brought.  He came in an exclaimed, "I don't want that!" He told Santa he wanted his very own computer.  He did get a little hand-held kid tablet thing with angry birds on it.  He was happy about the family laser-tag set though. 

I know that we are incredibly blessed. I am so happy to have my husband and children.  Each child is so special to me.   I am thankful for Jesus Christ and everything that he did for us.

Some new pics and a ramble

 

Well, we finally got family pictures this year.  The last time we had pictures was when I was pregnant with Sam.  He will be 14 months old next week.  How time has flown!

Everyone is doing well!  My older 3 kids are in school all day.  I chose not to put Alex in preschool this year.  He liked preschool, but he always asked if he could just stay home with me instead.  So, I am letting him have one last year of just staying home with me.  I am teaching him how to read and write and count.  Alex just had his 5th birthday.  Anna just had her 7th birthday.  I am already hearing, "How long is it until my birthday?"  Halloween costumes are picked out.  Rachel is going to her first school dance this Friday.  They needed volunteers for chaperones, but I decided I'd better not.  :)  I figured she wouldn't appreciate it.  She spoke in church for the first time on Sunday, and did a great job.  Since cross-country and swimming lessons are done for now, my evenings have become much nicer.  Rushing to get kids everywhere isn't always very fun.  Rachel and Caleb might join the swim team at the fitness center, and I told Anna I would sign her up for gymnastics.  So, things are bound to get busier again.  At least everything will be close by.  Alex wants do try soccer in the Spring.  Ahhh.....Spring, my favorite season of the year.  Can I just fast-forward winter as soon as the holidays are over? 

Sam is starting to talk a little, and its so cute.  He definitely knows Dad and No.  Mom was his first word.  He loves Mom, but is becoming a Daddy's boy.  He's discovered that Dad is more fun than Mom.  He loves going outside and screams if someone goes out without taking him with them.  Have you made it this far in my ramble?  Sometimes I have organized posts, but this is just some random writing.  :)

I love being a mom and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.  Each of my kids is so special to me.  For one of Caleb's birthday presents, I gave him my old digital camera.  It was a really nice camera.  He said to me, "Why would you give this to me when you could sell it for a lot of money?"  He was thrilled to have it.  Now I've had to keep borrowing it cause my newer camera is having issues, and the warranty is over.  I am eyeballing  a new Nikon or Canon Rebel camera.  Good thing my birthday and Christmas are coming up. 

Well, that's all for today. I gotta take advantage of Sam's afternoon nap and get off the computer.

Cross Country

Rachel was able to run at the Charter School Middle School state cross-country meet today.  She ended up the 5th runner on her team, and an overall place of 44th.  Her time was 4 minutes faster than her fastest time from last year.

 Daddy gives the best should rides.  Its fun to rub his fuzzy head and pull on his ears.

 Anna after playing on the playground at the meet.

 Rachel with her Coach, Ms. Garcia

 Yes, this picture is on here twice.  I can't get it to delete.  :)

I am really proud of her!  Last year she walked a lot.  This year she was much stronger and did not walk at all.  Her goal was to make it to state, and she did.  Her team placed 3rd.

Team Photo.  Rachel just won't let go of that trophy.

Some stuff I've written

I'm certainly not a poet or an author.  But  a few months ago I started a blog that is just my writing.  Some is serious and some is funny.  And let me reiterate that I don't claim to be awesome at writing.  But I thought I'd share it in case you might enjoy it.  Its just some stuff I've made up recently.
http://christineiswriting.blogspot.com/

All Together

We had our annual Marchant family reunion  during the last weekend of June.  We stayed in some townhome apartments in Ephraim.  Much to some peoples chagrin, I insisted on a parents and siblings photo.  It is very rare to get us all together in one shot.  Can you name them all? 

Left to right: Bridget, Ben, Becca, me, Leslie, Jenny, Angie, Carrie, Mom and Dad.

This was at the old pioneer cemetary.  Bridget set up a fun "Amazing Race" for the family.  Too bad we were in such a hurry to win that we didn't take very good pictures.

Leslie holding Sam



Anna swimming at Snow College

Jenny's baby Max with his broken leg.  He hobbled around pretty fast on that cast.

My kids, minus Sam who really didn't want to be in the picture.



Easter 2012

7 months old already
My cute, stubborn curly girl

All my kids.

I call this picture "I have sisters"

My girls.

My oldest and my youngest

Can you say mischief?

Do you really want me to sit still?

Dan always does a "Mom" egg every year for me.

Alex admiring his egg

What's it like with 5 kids?

Well, at first I thought I was on the crazy train on the way to the looney bin. But now I've adjusted. :) Its great having 5 kids. A little crazy now and then, but I have no regrets.

I am constantly asked by people, "How do you handle 5 kids? I can barely handle my ____ (fill in the blank)". Well, there's no magic trick. But as I've thought about it, I've come to relate it a bit to running.

Right at first when you start running, it is really hard. When you first become a mom, it is really hard. You've never done this before. It wears you out. You don't know how other people who do more than you can possibly do what they are doing. But like running, you get stronger and are able to handle more. That doesn't mean that some days the miles don't seem harder than others. Some days feel like speedwork. But some days are more like the beautiful mountain trails. Overall things get easier. So, adding children to the family is kind of like adding miles to your workout. It is hard but gets easier. I can honestly say that each child has added so much joy to our family. I can't imagine my life without any of them.

Here's some recent pics from our family Valentine's party. Photos courtesy of Becca.