Little Larsen's

Yesteryear

2012-02-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

I have had fun going through old family pictures before I had started the blog. I love being able to put them up with the corresponding memory and still feel like I am adding to the layers of my family history.
This is Kenna and Andey Halloween 2004. They were so little! Kenna was 3 1/2 years old and Andey was 16 months old. My sister in law Hayley made Kenna's costume. It is a Renaissance flower girl costume. We still have it. Charlie is going to be SET in the dress up department!
Andey was a flower girl and she wore Kenna's flower girl dress from my sister Nellie's wedding. This was in our house in Arizona.

Magic Unders

2012-02-17T12:34:00.003-08:00

Ama sent P-man his birthday present a little early this year. And it came just in the nick of time. Inside was another magical Transformer shirt and a whole slew of magical Transformer unders. We loaded him up today for school. OK he only wore ONE pair of unders but not for lack of trying on his part. I almost conceded...almost. He also wore his new shirt. And it worked. Green for P-man!!! Three greens in a row this week is waaaay more consecutive greens than he has had in along while. I am rewarding him with a super special magical milkshake.

The Dog thing

2012-02-17T00:01:00.000-08:00

We have had the dog for 2 months now. Sill not loving it per say. I "like" the dog enough. I have never been a roll around on the floor with a dog type of person. The "dog" is getting bigger, and stronger. So strong that unless she starts listening to her training reeeeally soon Andey will not be able to walk her anymore. Yesterday she pulled Andey down and literally drug her across the sidewalk. All because the dang dog got excited that there was a person she had not sniffed yet. I was mad. I put her in her crate for the afternoon. I know that I am not supposed to use the crate as a form of punishment but I saw it more of a method for her protection. When it comes to kids vs.dog my kids win hands down every time.
She is getting better at a few things. She no longer poops in my house. She has her very own poo corner. It is sick and I make the kids or Brandon pick it up. She also sleeps through the night, does not yelp in the crate anymore, and she will sit and stay when I tell her to sit. Now have the children tell her to sit and you KNOW that isn't happening. She is getting better. I have to keep telling myself that she will get better. Between her and Porter I don't know what I have gotten myself into.

Tacos

2012-02-16T00:01:00.000-08:00

Every time our neighbor to the right of us leaves Weston announces "He is going to get Tacos again". To set the record straight, Weston has NEVER seen him eat a taco.

A lovers day that was not so loverly

2012-02-15T05:17:00.002-08:00

Yesterday was Valentines Day. I felt a bit let down this year. Lack of preparation on my part and a "yellow" from school for one of the children (you don't even have to guess which one anymore...sad) coupled with a cranky baby, the ballet hustle, and a MIA daddy had me wishing for bedtime for everyone. Including me. I was just ready to end the day quietly and quickly praying for a fresh start the following day.

Dress Up

2012-02-15T00:01:00.000-08:00

Dress Up starts at age 5 and never stops.

My what big eyes you have

2012-02-14T00:01:00.000-08:00

My little Charlie has got the sweetest, biggest, most expressive eyes. They are framed in loooong dark lashes. Her favorite thing to do lately is just rest her cheek against yours when you hold her. I LOVE it. I can feel the flutter of her eyelashes on my skin and it just melts my heart.

Night Terrors for Trains

2012-02-13T03:47:00.000-08:00

Every single night for the past week little man Wes has been waking up with the same nightmare. He dreams that a train is barreling through his room. Now this boy LOOOOOVES trains. However, I think even the toughest man would get a little terrified if a train was coming through their room. It is so sad to see my little man so shaky and scared about his loves. Brandon and I are doing our best to reassure him that trains are good. Little man had a particularly hard night last night. Brandon finally convinced him that the train whistle is just Thomas saying hello. I am praying that he remembers this tonight, Momma Bear needs some sleep

The Secret

2012-02-11T00:01:00.000-08:00

The Secret to a semi good week with Porter at school is to just follow through on a few simple rules.

1. Wear a Super Hero shirt/underwear/socks/shoes...basically whatever. Preferable Transformers but we are starting to realize any Hero will do. Do NOT mistake a villain as a substitute.... this could end in tears for all. Example: Monday-Yellow

2. Bribe his teacher with a bum load of Box Tops to help throw the school competition in their favor.

3. Make sure that you include at least one of his favorite treats in his lunch each day at school.

4. Bribe him at least one of the days with a baked treat for after school.

5. Drive him (and his sisters and his little brother) the whole 100 feet to the bus stop each morning. While waiting for the bus DRILL it into his head the list of things that he is not allowed to do.

6. Have a half day on Friday. He has a better chance of staying on green if there are not a lot of hours to allow "yellow" behavior.

And one for Kenna

2012-02-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

Since I had written a toddler/baby story history for Andey I decided to do one for Kenna. Especially since I started this blog when she was 5. I want to remember things from when she was little.

Kenna was 5 weeks early. She was perfectly healthy and able to come home. The only thing that she needed was a little extra help with her bilirubin levels. Kenna started to crawl at 8 months and started to walk at 12 months. She did not get her first teeth until she was 13 months. Her first real word was puppy. And she would say it clear as day. She was so happy when you would get her from her nap. Every time she would greet you with a huge toothless grin.
Kenna was little. She was always in the lower part of the charts. Her cheeks were big cheeks so it was deceiving to see her cute face and then her little body.
She was always a Grandma's girl. She was the first grand baby on Brandon's side.
She was a flower girl at 9 months in her Aunt Nellies wedding. When she was 18 months old we decided to switch her to a big girl bed. I was pregnant with Andey and we wanted her big girl transition to be a smooth one. She did great, I slept on the floor in front of her door all night long waiting for her just in case she needed me. When she was 20 months old she decided that she did not want to nap. I had foolishly stored my acrylic paints high in her closet. She found them.Specifically the orange one. She painted EVERYTHING in her room orange. Her dresser, her bed, her sheets, her floor, the wall and the door. When she was 2 the Movie Two Towers had just come out on DVD. Brandon and I rented it. Little did we know that Kenna had snuck out of her room and was watching it from behind the couch. We finally discovered she was there after she let out a little scream during a particularly scary to her scene. At that point she would not sleep in her bed anymore. She reverted back to a playpen (the crib was in use by Andey). She would have night terrors badly for months and months about the scary monkeys (Orcs).
When Kenna was 17 months old she was standing on the back of our Kitchen table bench. It fell over on her and landed on her head. It split her forehead open and we had to rush her to the ER to get it closed. Luckily it was a clean split and they were able to glue it back together. She still has a scar.
Kenna loved to sing and she would always sing You are my Sunshine. She started this as soon as she could string a few words together. She would call and elephant Omeat.
Kennas first airplane ride was when she was 2 months old. We came out to North Carolina for a visit. My parents and I toured the Blue Ridge Mountains with her. She started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks. She started gymnastics at age three with Miss Angela. She did that for two years until we moved to North Carolina and she started ballet with Miss Bonita. She has been in ballet ever since.
Kenna only had one "Pink Card" in Kindergarten. She was a very well behaved little girl. One day at school though they had a fire drill. She decided that it was funner to stay and play. So she veered off the line and went into and empty classroom where they found her playing after a frantic search outside. She was so sad and terrified that she was in trouble that we never had any other issues with her.

Andey's School Project

2012-02-09T00:01:00.000-08:00

I had to write memories of Andey for an upcoming school project. I also had to send in some baby pictures and toddler pictures. I figured I would post it here for posterity sake.

Andelyn Christine Larsen Born June 1, 2006. She was 4 weeks early. She weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces and was 19 inches long. She was born in Mesa, Arizona. We chose Andelyn after seeing it in a graduation program. We both thought it was a beautiful name. Her middle name is after her Grandmother from her mom’s side. Andey started walking at 13 months old. Her first words were puppy and dada. Andey used to hide under her crib with a lotion bottle and put lotion all over her body. She always liked to play pretend and would love to lotion her dolls as well. She is very athletic and started ballet at age 3. She has been in ballet sever since. When we lived in Arizona we would go swimming at her grandma’s house a lot. She had no fear and would often let go of the edges just to sink. She has always picked up on learning new things quickly and soon was swimming instead of sinking. Her favorite movie was Totoro. She loved the music from it so much that she would fall asleep listening to it.
When Andey was 18 month sold we visited San Diego. There were millions of tiny sea shells on the beach and Andey thought that they were there just for her because they were just her size. We also saw Shamu and she loved that “the big fishy” got her so wet.
Andey was always such a cuddly baby. To this day she still loves giving loves to her mom and dad. When she was upset her momma could always calm her down by rocking her and singing to her. She got her first tooth at 14 months old.
Andey had stopped growing at 8 months old and was in and out of the hospital a lot to try and find out why. She was 8 pounds at 8 month and 8 pounds at 9 months. Finally she started putting on 1 pound every month when she was 9 months old. When she was 12 months old she was 13 pounds. Nothing was really wrong except that Andey has a very very fast metabolism. Andey had to stay a full week in the hospital because she was so little. To this date she is the only child in our family who has had to take an ambulance ride due to a finger in the drain incident when she was 4. Andey started having night terrors very early on too. She would wake up but not fully and it would take a lot of cuddling and singing to get her to calm back down.
She used to hide under her bed and try to drink the baby lotion. If we could not find her we knew that is where she would be.
Andey started flying on a plane when she was 4 months old and we came to visit North Carolina and she has been on a plane every year since.
She has one older sister, one younger sister and two younger brothers. She has 17 cousins right now.

My little underminer

2012-02-08T04:36:00.001-08:00

Weston has been such a little stinker lately. Not a throwing a temper tantrum kind or blatant disobeying kind. He undermines me with the stinking dog. And he KNOWS exactly how to do it. Here is a little back story. We hired a trainer. He has been working with us and Brooklyn on basic commands to start with. We started with a Sit, Stay command. We tell her to sit, then tell her to stay. Once she has sat for her allotted time we tell her "You're through" in a slightly high voice. Our homework is to practice with her. So we do. Mostly I do during the day. Lately however when I am doing the practice routine Weston is upsetting my MoJo. I tell her to SIT, then Stay and almost immediately he pipes in with "You're Trough!" in his high little voice. And Brooklyn gets up. I have told him not to do this but he continues to do it. He will pipe up from wherever he is in the house with his "You're Through!" whenever I practice or tell Brooklyn to sit. Even if he is in the bathroom I will here a "You're Through!". And Brooklyn listens every single time.

Sweet Pea

2012-02-07T07:16:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday my friend Cara and I were able to host a baby shower for another friend of ours (April) who is due soon with her sweet little girl. We decided to do a candy bar. As in a lay out of nothing but candy. It turned out SO sweet! The theme of the shower was Sweet Pea. We did yellows and pinks and reds. It was perfect. I am excited to get some pictures of it. Sweet little Scarlett is due to come into this world anywhere from the end of February to the end of March. We are all so excited to meet the newest Moore baby!

Remember waaaaaaay back when?

2012-02-03T04:41:00.000-08:00

Back when all was well with the world. Festivus Miracles were happening willy nilly and left and right. You know what I am referring to right? To put it in Layman's terms, Porter was well behaved. Even if it was just for a small time in his Kindergarten career. Well not so much lately. We have had relapses. Relapses that actually took him so far back that he was WORSE than when he started. It sucked. Still does. BUT after a ton of prayer, a load of research, and some counseling I am starting to try and take a different look on it. Instead of having the expectation that he HAS to be on green every day we are celebrating BIG time when he does get on green. I started driving the kids to the bus stop in the morning (SOOOO far I know) just so I could have that extra few moments with little P-man to remind him of the things he is not supposed to do and how he IS supposed to act. He thinks that Transformer shirts give him super powers. So far every time he had one on this week he was on green. What might you ask did I do with that information? I ran with it. I ran all the way to Target and bought Transformer underwear, shorts, and I am tempted to get shoes. I also got some other shirts that I hoped would posses these magical do good powers. So far so good.

So in a nutshell: Porter regressed, we are trying to accentuate the positive, all is not lost, this too shall pass, Transformers are magic.

Anxiety

2012-01-31T10:16:00.000-08:00

this little patooty (don't let those big cheeks fool ya, she is a peanut) is having massive separation anxiety lately. To the point that if I lay her down on the floor she flips over onto her belly then buries her face into the carpet while hysterically sobbing until I come back. It is pathetically sad.

Celebrating the January Boys

2012-01-30T10:45:00.000-08:00

We had all the North Carolina family over yesterday to celebrate our January Boys. The meal was simple, shredded BBQ chicken sandwiches, pasta salad, fruit salad, green salad. I made giant cupcakes for the birthday boys. I also made Mint brownies for everyone else.
The kids had so much fun playing together. The girls all gathered in Kenna and Andey's room and after a while they resurfaced wearing make-up. Lots and lots of make up. It was sweet because Joleigh is now in the big girls group and was loving every single minute. It was loud and chaotic and super fun. Then within a matter of 30 minutes it went from chaos to quiet. Everyone left at the same time and I threw the kids in bed and voila. Perfect evening.

Kenna's Bucket List

2012-01-26T04:39:00.000-08:00

1. Become a Mermaid
2. Discover Maco Island (from her FAVORITE show H2O)
3. Get wings
4. Learn to breath under water
5. Get over being scared of heights
6. Find Cleo, Ricky, and Emma from H2O
7. Ask Jesus or Heavenly Father to turn me into a Mermaid
8. Learn how to fly
9. Read all mermaid books
10. Learn how to speak dolphin

He Came Bearing Wimsy

2012-01-25T13:31:00.000-08:00

I saw this title on another blog post a while ago and it stuck with me. To me it describers my youngest son perfectly. He is a comedic soul in the body of a very serious child and when the funny side shines through... MAN does it burst. This little spitball of fire that is my three year old is awesome. He still prefers his dad to me. I would say almost to a fault but there is no almost about it. It is plain and simple. He likes me, but he LURVES his dad.
He is into telling everyone how big he is and he is starting to want to do every thing his older brother does. Including saying and laughing at potty words. So in keeping with the spirit of doing things his brother does,he does time out. Just like his brother.
He still naps. Most of the time. He tattles, mostly falsehoods because he quickly learned that he can control the fate of his siblings by what he says. Don't worry, he only wielded that power for a short time before we were onto his game.
He loves all things boy. Even if he has NO clue on how to play them. Currently BeyBlade Metal Fusion are a passion. And he has no idea why except for the fact that his older brother and his older neighbor friend has them.
He is an awesome AWESOME little guy. We are thrilled to have him :)

For record sake, a couple of his favorite phrases:
"I LIKE to be naked!"
"What the heck?!"
And replacing various words in his sentences with poop.

Let's get ready to RRRUUUUMMMBBLE!

2012-01-24T05:07:00.000-08:00

again.

The stomach bug has decided to pay us another visit. I guess that the Larsen household makes for such good company that it felt drawn to come back. Personally, I hate her/him (whatever you feel the gender should be). I want to hurt it. I want to drown it in a river. Because you see the latest victim was my little man Weston and he/she took him out. As in throwing up every 30 minutes for 9 1/2 hours straight. For those of you that are counting that is 19 times people. 19 TIMES. Gah, I can not say how much I loath this bug. One of the worst parts is that I am having a bad mommy gut feeling that I will be getting a phone call from school in regards to Andey today. SERIOUSLY GO AWAY YOU STUPID BUG!

Been there

2012-01-20T10:32:00.000-08:00

Done that X3. We went for Charlies 4/6 month check up. Bottom line is she is not growing very well. She is hitting all of her milestones developmental wise but growth wise not so much. The Dr. was very worried until I filled her in on Kennas problem, and Andey's problem, and Porters problem. Then she felt better. Not great but better. So the stats are as follows, little peanut is 12 pounds. She is below the 5th percentile for her weight. She is 25 inches tall, she is at the 5th percentile for her height. Ity Bity Baby peanut. So now we just take this and figure out what we need to do next.

Parenting-Fail

2012-01-18T17:43:00.000-08:00

Do you ever have one of those days when you feel like you are doing a lousy job at parenting? Today was one of those days. I feel like I am struggling all over again with Porter after he had this fantastic streak of awesome behavior. He is acting like a typical impulsive boy but times 100. Which I really do not know how to handle. And he is doing things that I just want to pull my hair and scream "REALLY?! How did you see that as a good idea?!" Like today. He was in his usual spot after school these days. Time-out. Which I hate but I will always back up the teacher. I was downstairs battling the homework monster when I smell a burning smell. As I walk upstairs it gets stronger and I see Porter literally streak in a blur to his room. I run into my room and my bathroom to find that he has lit the bathroom garbage on fire. WHAT THE?! It is under control but the damage is done. My room is filled the the smoke smell and there are ashes all in the toilet room. LUCKILY no one was hurt and it was contained and put out before I got up there by Porter who I am sure was thinking "CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP!!!!!". After I admittedly went berserk on him I put him on the phone with his dad. Bottom line- he did not do it maliciously, he was curios. He KNEW he should not have done that but this is where his Achilles heel is put into play...that dang impulse of his. He lets himself act before thinking it through. So needless to say he spent the rest of the day with his nose literally in a corner while I repeated a bazillion times the mantra "Do not touch fire, listen to your teacher, stay on task" over and over and over and over. He was literally in tears because that is pretty much all I would say to him all night. He went to bed right after dinner with a hug and an I love you. Still, I feel like I messed up somewhere along the way for him to be this way. My dad assures me this a boy thing and it is magnified because he is my first boy therefor I am cutting my boy parenting teeth on him. I just hate it because I don't want him to act this way. I want people to see the good in him. I want to see the good in him more often.

I am just hoping for better days to come. I hear boys get easier as they get older but girls get harder....grrrrreat.

One Day

2012-01-16T13:23:00.000-08:00

Westonisms lately

"One day I go to bed. One day I wake up. One day I go downstairs. And one day I play trains" (This is all in one day)

"You breaka my heart" (Said when he gets in trouble)

"It's ok, I'm OK"

Friday the 13

2012-01-14T00:01:00.000-08:00

A lucky day or a cursed day. Actually here in the Larsen home it was a little bit of both. Porter was on yellow all week long. As in he practically paved the road from his school to home with yellow bricks because that is how many he had this week. Except for that one purple brick but that is nothing to be proud of. P stands for purple AND Principal. He may think that I am going to jail because of his actions this week. I may have not told him otherwise yet. (I will, he just needs to stew for a bit) To round off the lovely week the bank canceled my mortgage payment for no reason then tried to convince me that "I was mistaken and confused on the date that I sent it". Whatever, I can fight that blasted battle until I am blue in the face or I can move on. Move on it is. Charlie fell and hit her head. Nothing bad just a hysterical baby that needed some extra love. Here is where the good comes in. She wanted to snuggle. Bury her face in my chest and warp her itty bity arms around my neck type of snuggle. It is my main mans birthday. He was also born on a Friday the 13. I count Fridays the 13 in general lucky because they gave me him. So those two things trump the bad. So take THAT awful no good lousy emotional day.

If I had any doubts

2012-01-13T06:11:00.000-08:00

If I had any doubts about Andey's ability to read at a high level, they have been quickly dispelled. She read a 539 page book in two days. TWO.DAYS. And she totally understood everything in it. Go Andey!

I look forward to 2:35pm

2012-01-12T04:06:00.000-08:00

Each weekday. And I get nervous for 2:35 pm each weekday. The kids come home. I love that. The girls take over Brooklyn duties, I LOVE THAT. I anticipate whether we will be having a yellow afternoon with Porter confined to his room or if he will be able to room free on Green. The homework monster also shows up at that time which I do not like at all. I do like the feeling when it is all said and done that we got a lot accomplished that day. I look forward to 2:35 each weekday... but I LOVE 6:00 each weekday night...bedtime :)

hi Hi HI!

2012-01-11T07:21:00.000-08:00

I was trying to get a picture of Charlie but once she noticed I was holding something she wanted she went for it.

The art of flirting

2012-01-10T15:52:00.001-08:00

From the perspective of a 5 year old little boy.

There are 4 basic steps to this long lost art. Follow these simple steps and you to can have a passing glance turn into a meaningful relationship. This method has stood the test of time. It dates back to the caveman.

Step 1. Make contact. Talk to your intended. A lot. Like if you thought you were talking a lot, amp it up. Even if it gets you in trouble with the authority figures.

Step 2. Show your intended you have a bad boy side (obviously this is from the perspective of said "bad boy"). Show her you are not all unicorns and rainbows. Get in trouble. Lots of it. LOADS of it. Especially with authority. Fight against the establishment. Embrace your reprimands.

Step 3. Now is the time to show her not only do you have a wicked bad side but a gentle one too. Throw a few good boy days around. Let her start to trust you. This will start to establish trust.

Step 4. When all of the above does not work. Throw a rock at her.

Trust me, do these simple steps and you will see results. Just ask Porter.

Give me some Sugar

2012-01-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

Weston is too southern for his own good. And he is a ham. So a southern ham if you will. He says "Give me some sugar" then kisses me all of the time. Today he came up and said it and without looking I leaned down and got a mouth full of chocolaty mess. Seeing as how he had kissed his chocolate pudding filled spoon to create a chocolatey face.

Reflecting

2012-01-09T05:13:00.000-08:00

Makenna is nearing the end of her elementary school career. It is beyond strange to me that I vividly remember that time in my life. I try to remember (and I successfully do most of the time ) how I felt at that age. The emotions, the insecurities, all of it. Everything was a big deal to me and I see that in her. I want to acknowledge that and remember how she is feeling now. She and I are alike. So much alike. I am trying so hard to remember to understand when she is having a good day or bad day how to react. It is just beyond strange that I have a daughter who is old enough to carve out her own memories that she will vividly remember when her daughter is in 5th grade.

Fresh

2012-01-08T00:01:00.000-08:00

We took Christmas down. Why does it always seem to come down so much faster than it going up? I love how it looks when it is up but once New Years is over it just sits as a reminder that it is another thing I need to check off my to do list. Plus the house always feels so clean when it is down.

Bragging Rights

2012-01-06T11:49:00.000-08:00

We have had green for two weeks in a row. TWO WEEKS IN A ROW! I feel like that statement deserves to be published in gold and shouted through the streets using a Megaphone attached onto an ice cream truck while handing out delicious treats at the same time. AND to add to the awesomeness that is Porter, he received Star Student today. PEOPLE THIS IS HUGE! Apparently the entire Kindergarten staff celebrated because they all know Porter and what a massively huge deal this is for him.

I think his face says it all, don't you?

Grandpa and Grandpa left

2012-01-06T00:01:00.000-08:00

And we are sad. The left at 3:30 in the morning. Kenna set her alarm for 2:30am. I quickly changed that. Both girls climbed into bed with me this morning after they left and just cried themselves back to sleep. I had to bribe Porter with GIANT marshmallows in his hot cocoa this morning to be happy before school. I even wrote a note to his teacher explaining that he might be off to day because he is sad. I have no high hopes for a green day today.

Holding it together

2012-01-05T03:33:00.000-08:00

Porter has been on green all week. A Festivus miracle. He is doing loads better (watch he will be on blue or red or...gasp....pink today when he comes home). He holds it together at school long enough to get that elusive green but as he gets off the bus I can physically see him start to loose it as he gets closer to home. It is like he bursts in the front door a ball of energy itching to just explode. And explode he has been doing. Yesterday after no less than a gazillion meltdowns and almost as many time outs we were talking about his behavior. This is what he had to tell me. "Mom, I am good at all day and I just can't be good anymore"

I guess I just need to be thankful that HAMDOG is finally seeing the good little boy that was hidden under all that yellow and blue and occasional pink. I will gladly take the yellow here at home (ok I lied... not gladly)

Traditional Photo Op

2012-01-05T00:01:00.000-08:00

The last night of the AZ grandparents stay here in NC we always take a photo with the kids on the stairs. It is fun to see how things have changed over the past 5 years. From adding more people to the picture to the people in the picture just getting bigger. (I am referring t the children not the adults ;) ) We even added a puppy in this years picture.

Way to photo bomb the picture Porter

Sweet Spot

2012-01-04T05:34:00.000-08:00

Charlie has discovered the Bumbo. And she is in love. Her favorite spot is perched right up on the computer next to m e while I am working on it. And she talks and talks and talks. I love it because I can make sure she is happy while getting some other stuff done besides holding her.

Lunch Date with the school kids

2012-01-03T09:26:00.001-08:00

One of the things that the kids got to do with Grandma and Grandpa while they were here is have the grandparents go to lunch at their school. Monday Mom Larsen went and the ids LOVED it. Tuesday we surprised them and had Mom Larsen, Dad Larsen, Me, Weston and Charlie all show up. Porter about flipped his lid. Kenna was so excited to show her baby sister off. She may have carried her like a trophy around the lunch room. I had to leave to get Brooklyn from the vet so I took Weston but Grandma and Grandpa Larsen stayed to eat with Andey. I am so thrilled that they were able to come visit. I am bummed that today is their last day.

We had some time to kill between Porter and Kenna's lunch so Weston pretended to be a skier and needed to dress the part.

New Year...New Me

2012-01-02T07:50:00.000-08:00

My sister and mom offered to help me get back into shape. Like Pre Pre Pre Pre Pre baby shape. (That is 5 kids for those of you who are confused by all the Pre's). Today was my first day at the Y. Holy Cannoli was it hard! I am not lying when I say I wanted to throw up a little bit a few times but I did it and I am SUPER excited that I did it. Nellie is being my trainer. She pretty much rocks. She is writing a program for me to follow and is so supportive the whole time she was there working out with me. It was so cool to see my mom ( who has been a fitness queen for the past 7 months) do all of her moves. She has some serious core strength. Mostly I am just excited to actually DO something about my body health instead of just talking about doing something.

Delayed Christmas

2011-12-31T05:41:00.000-08:00

We had a second Christmas with Ama and Ampa. I love extending the season. the kids LOVED it. All the gifts were a huge hit. My favorite? A stash of homemade turkey jerky and raw almonds. SOOOO good. Porters were blow up boxing gloves. I think all the children had fin with those. We may have had to instill a rule that you can NOT punch a person unless they have the other blow up glove on. The girls favorite was the glow in the dark nail polish. Try going in to check on yuor little angels in the middle of the night and see glowing fingers. I DARE you not to freak out a little. Weston got a book that is read and recorded my Ama. We have listened to it no less than 9 times this morning.
We just loved spending some good quality time with the AZ grandparents.

Ama and Ampa are coming

2011-12-28T12:01:00.000-08:00

Today is the much anticipated day when Ampa and Ampa (of the Arizona Larsen's) come to play for a week. The kids are ecstatic, the house has been cleaned and we are ready for their arrival. I am super excited because this will be the first time that they meet their newest granddaughter Charlotte (Charlie)

Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T04:54:00.000-08:00

Since I got sick on Christmas Eve and continued with the sickies well into Christmas Day, Brandon took lead on Christmas. He even stayed up until 2:30am helping Santa get things set up. We were able to push the kids off until 8 am but they were chomping at the bit to get downstairs. Well all except Charlie who just wanted to go back to sleep after we took our traditional family picture on the stairs.
Every single item they saw was received with a HUGE thank you and a hug for mom and dad. Weston kept saying "I love this" over and over. Before you knew it it was done. We decided not to go to Church because we had 4/7 of our Larsen clan down for the count with sickies. We enjoyed a nice breakfast and just lounged. We did go to dinner at my parents house but ended up leaving early due to the sickies. Even with the majority of the family not feeling well we still had a great day.

A 34 year old

2011-12-24T10:50:00.001-08:00

With the soul of an immature 18 year old at times. That is how I feel. Then I remember I have 5 kids. The oldest is 10 1/2. Almost in middle school. Then I just feel like an old fart.
It is crazy because I remember my parents when they were my age. And I don't feel that old. (Sorry mom and dad) Then I start saying things like "Time is flying by" and then I start looking more at practical gifts like underwear for my kids. And I realize that I am old. So weird.

Last night Brandon took me to a nice restaurant. Today I got breakfast in bed and some pretty sweet gifts from my children (Kindle and an beautiful pearl bracelet with some fun craft stuff) and I took a hot bath. Did I mention I got sick on my birthday? I did, it sucked but I had a fabulous day none the less.

Keeping up with tradition

2011-12-24T04:50:00.000-08:00

I got sick on my birthday...and Christmas Day. But at least I had a cake that looked like it had been set on fire to help me keep warm. I think once you are over 20 candles on a cake it just becomes a fire hazard.

Santa's coming? I KNOW HIM

2011-12-23T06:03:00.000-08:00

Santa made a quick appearance to our house last night. He pulled up in a White Diesel truck true Southern Style. His Ho Ho Ho had a slight Papaish sound to it. He had one blue eye and one brown eye. Sound Familiar? We convinced Porter he was just a helper for Santa. Porter was OK with that. Weston sat on his lap completely oblivious to who was under the beard and extra padded belly (Santas helper has been dropping the pounds and needed a little assistance to look fluffier). Wes just looked straight ahead and when asked what he wanted for Christmas he answered very meekly "My mom". Then he got off the lap and came to mine where he stayed. Santa then got back in his truck style sleigh and headed off to the other grandchildren's house to spread some more Christmas Cheer.

Christmas Spirit from my girls

2011-12-21T07:32:00.000-08:00

Their gift to me this year is to give me a deep cleaned house. We are talking baseboards, washing the cupboards, washing around the toilet base clean. And in that process they decided to clean out their closet (HALLELUJAH!) and donate some of their toys that they do not use anymore to the less fortunate. It made my heart swell with pride AND it satiated my need to deep clean. Two birds, one awesome stone.

Smile!

2011-12-19T09:20:00.000-08:00

Charlie has been giving her smiles away a little easier to us. New people still have to work their tail off for a little half smile. She is such a serious baby. But for me she will gladly give me the huge open mouth smile. The one that is so big that you can see her half dimple in her lower cheek. That dimple only makes it's appearance rarely and mostly only for her mama.

A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!!!

2011-12-16T11:43:00.001-08:00

We have a never before seen, unprecedented, much longed for FIRST FULL WEEK OF GREEN from HAMDOG! Go P-Man!!

Another reason why I LOVE North Carolina

2011-12-15T06:06:00.000-08:00

The sun coming up through the mist over the trees in the backyard looks like something out of a fairytale.

Long Lost twin

2011-12-14T00:01:00.000-08:00

Dear Shakira,
We found your long lost twin brother. He resides in Monroe. He moves his hips in an upbeat fashion just like you. Much to the dismay of his father figure his hair has grown into long luxurious locks. Must be in the family blood.

They have the moooooves

2011-12-13T19:00:00.000-08:00

Brandon took the boys to Walmart one Saturday morning to let me sleep. They seem to think it is pretty fun to get up at the crack of dawn. I think otherwise. He soon texted me these pictures of my boys. Little posers. I am loving Porters "Jazz Hands" GLOVED Jazz hands at that.

The winds of change blew

2011-12-12T15:46:00.000-08:00

And after the dust from those winds settled we found ourselves with a new family member. Introducing Brooklyn Larsen. She is a 8 week old Boxer mix puppy. She has been great so far. I am still not 100 percent sure if I am on board but at this point there is no going back. The kids adore her. Weston is still slightly nervous of her (he gets a weird giggle when she starts to chase him and he high step runs away). Brandon is in looooooooove. We are talking TRUE lurve.
So far she is doing pretty good. She only cries a little when she goes to her crate (I am a stickler on crate training, one of Brandon concessions he had to make) and she has had a couple accidents on the hardwood (thank heavens it was the hardwood). But after a lot of research I have come up with a customized plan that I hope will work for her and for us. I am really looking forward to the day when there is no night time potty breaks and no accidents in the house and I don't feel like i have another newborn suddenly.

Not so stealthy

2011-12-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

Weston needs to learn some new stealth tactics. His current ones are failing him miserably. He LOVES to grab what ever I told him no on. Like yogurt, chips, cookies, pretty much anything he isn't supposed to snack on at the given moment. Then he hides it behind his back. Then he says "I farted"........? I guess in his weird little mind he thinks of it as an evasive maneuver? Or maybe a decoy? It has worked ZERO times. Mom- 1,123,456,789, Weston-0

My big Kenna girl

2011-12-09T00:01:00.000-08:00

This girl can drive me nuts sometimes but when she shines, she shines bright. I am single mom this week. I have to cater a Holiday Open House as well as a wedding. I had a few extra kiddos added to my flock so I was a wee bit stressed. Wednesday was particularly busy. We had to do the Activity Day girls run, I had to deliver round one of food for the Holiday party, we had to get a milkshake (PORTER HIT THREE GREENS IN A ROW GO HAMDOG!), and then do the drop off routine after Activity Day girls. The kids all crashed after we dropped our little Magen off. We got home and Porter literally crawled up the stairs and put himself to sleep. I turn around to get Weston but Kenna was already carrying him in the house. I went to get Charlie and get her upstairs to feed her and the whole time I am feeding Charlie I am just watching Kenna shine. She got Weston on the potty, teeth brushed, bedtime routine done, tucked in and put to bed. Then she tried to change Andey (who had fallen asleep on her floor) dressed for bed. That situation did not pan out as well for her as it did with Weston. Something about trying to change your tired 8 year old sisters clothes just pisses said 8 year old off. Kenna did not even let that phase her. It was a quick goodnight and she was in bed and asleep. YAY!!! This made for a very very smooth transition tonight for a very very very tired mama.

School Play

2011-12-08T00:01:00.000-08:00

Andey had her first school play last night. She performed in "The Little Pine" It was A.dorable! I was able to get a sitter for the other kiddos so it was just Andey Charlie and I. She is a born performer that Andey of mine. She has a pretty good voice and sister has some rhythm. We bolted after the third grade performance and headed to McAllisters Deli to take advantage of the kids eat free. It was such a pleasant evening with such a happy 8 year old I decided to take advantage of the situation. We sorta had "The Talk" on the way home. It went much better than Kenna's. There were no yelling of body parts and no hysterically nervous giggles. There was however a solemn oath she made to me NOT to talk about this to anyone except mom and dad.

Just Trick or Treating

2011-12-07T06:15:00.000-08:00

I have a TON of baking to do today. As in I have to bake for my parents Open House as well as a wedding on Saturday. And I have daycare kids. I am buuuuuuusy. Needless to say I am in the kitchen pretty much all day today. Weston decided to help. However his version of helped included taking his newly found Cars Backpack and "trick or treating" in my pantry. I have a School lunch organizer and I fill each Sunday with the snacks for the kids school lunches. Weston helped himself to all the snack.s Saying "Trick or Treat" each time he took one followed by a "thank you". His little back pack is bulging with school snacks. I am going to have to wait until nap to replenish all of them back into the organizer.

BIG Changes for the Little Larsens

2011-12-06T08:39:00.000-08:00

We have a BIG change heading our way. I cannot blog about it specifically because my daughters tend to hijack my blog and this is a surprise change. But the winds of change are blowin' towards 1809 Lexington Ave. :)

Missing his Dad

2011-12-06T00:01:00.000-08:00

Weston has been moping around the house for the past day sometimes crying sometimes just wearing a long face. His phrase that he mutters to anyone who will listen is "I lost my dad". It is pathetic and adorable at the same time. Pathdorable?

Brandon is out of town working, he is not really lost ;)

Getting better and bettter

2011-12-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

Porter is starting to get it. He is not consistently getting it but I no longer feel the need to send in an apology note to his teacher on a weekly basis. He is calmer. He listens better. He follows directions better. Not perfectly but better. He LOVES doing all of his math homework for the week on Monday night. If I get sidetracked with the girls homework and he just goes for it, it is done before I can stop him. His Green Days are starting to out weigh his Yellow and Blue Days. I am not getting as many emails home from the teacher. And he is telling me about his day. I feel we are rounding the bend and seeing the light at the end of the "WhatarewegoingtodowithPorter" tunnel.

You're my little chu-chi face

2011-12-03T04:21:00.000-08:00

My coo-chi, coo-chi, woo-chi little chu-chi face.

LOVE this little girl!

I'm leaving you!!!!

2011-12-02T00:01:00.000-08:00

A couple of days ago I took Weston and Charlie with me to Old Time Pottery. Weston was sitting in the front of the cart while Charlie was in the back of the cart. I was loading Charlie back in to the car when I here Weston yelling frantically "I"M LEAVING YOU!!!!!!" I look up to see the cart rolling away from the car with Weston yelling at me. I caught up with him a few cars down and wheeled him safely back to the car. I found the phrase he was yelling so funny so I started to call my family to relay the story. Every time I would hang up the phone Weston would say "Nemeber I said I was leaving you?" Then do a forced laugh.

Christmas is up

2011-12-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

I actually waited until AFTER Thanksgiving this year to decorate. Not because I was giving respect to Thanksgiving but because I simply had no time to do it. We spent the Sunday after Thanksgiving decorating the whole house. I gave up control of the three this year and instead of it looking the way I wanted it to I let the kids make a memory. It was a little ornament heavy in the midsection of the tree. I waited until after the kids went to sleep and moved a few around. For the most part the kids did it all by themselves and did a great job. Kenna was at my side the whole time we were decorating. Andey waxed and waned on her help but she finished with a bang. Porter got as far as the tree then re-re- re discovered the blocks that are currently hanging out in a bin up in my closet. Weston sat behind the tree turning the lights on and off over and over and over. I placed Charlie on a blanket under the tree lights and she just kept herself busy talking and squealing to the lights. Brandon is out of town for the week so hopefully this weekend we can get the outside decorated.

Examples

2011-11-30T00:01:00.000-08:00

Yesterday on the school bus there were two girls that started fighting. According to my children they were saying not so nice things to each other and inappropriate things to each other. So what did my children do? They banned together and started singing Primary songs and Christmas songs. It COMPLETELY diffused the two girls fighting who then wanted to join in the singing. The three older kids even walked home hand in hand belting out their tunes together.

Family Pictures with the WHOLE Cheney Clan

2011-11-28T17:40:00.000-08:00

We had family pictures by the ever so loverly KaraBeth on Friday. There were 18 children including 2 new babies who where on a strict feeding schedule and 12 grownups two of which where on a strict feeding schedule (they are preggers). We had limited time before we lost precious daylight. We were on a mission to get these done and our fearless leader KaraBeth did NOT disappoint. She knows what she is doing and she is efficient. Before we knew it the MASSIVE family pictures and the Nana and Papa pictures with all the grand babies were done and we were headed to the second location. I should note here that the Nana Papa and the grankids pictures were a little more difficult because there were a couple little ones that got down right terrified of the massive amount of yelling adults behind our camera woman. Poor Aaron was pretty traumatized. It did make for a cute picture though. She had each family lined up and ready to go. Then she had a conveyor belt of all the grandkids lined up and ready to go so she could get individual shots done. THEN she got a ton of candid random shots of everyone. Before you could say Bobs your Uncle (*well he is MY Uncle but I digress) we were done! The one shot that I wish we got was the one of TJ tormenting my mom and throwing a live duck her way. Leave it to my brother to handle the wild animals for the sheer delight of bugging my mom :)
We ended the night going to Tin Tins with the siblings while the fantastic Lela babysat.
Side note. Weston declared to me today "Lela gave me macaroni and cheese and ice cream. Ia am going to marry her" The boy has good taste :)

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-26T05:47:00.000-08:00

We had the entire Cheney clan this year. All the siblings plus their spouses PLUS all 18 cousins. We have two buns in the oven to add to the Cheney Clan next year, Trisha is due with her little girl next Spring and Christina is due with her little peanut early Summer. We even had a few guests. My mom being the Super Woman hostess that she is had everything impeccably decorated. We had to have two kids tables this year. Porter was right on the cusp at being at the Big Kid table. But the added responsibility at the littles table made him so calm during dinner. Whoda thunk?
the front room acted as the parking garage for all the infant car seats. There were 4 lined up side by side. It also acted as the mothers lounge. ;)
We had three turkeys. One smoked, one fried and one brined. A.mazing. We had a TON of food. I was in charge of the rolls. In case anyone cares it takes approximately 4 hours from start to finish to make 200 rolls. Little Trivia fact for ya there.
Surprisingly we had very little leftovers. After dinner Papa built a fire in the woods and all the older kids spent a good two hours going on adventures through the forest. The babies and their mamas stayed in the house and chatted and laughed and enjoyed each others company. Later we headed over to TJ and Michelle's for pie. And pie we had. Lots and lots and lots of pie. We rolled ourselves out of there just in time to go to bed. It was a fantastic day full of Family and Food and Fun. The best kind of fun :)
The following day we attended White Friday at the Temple. All of my siblings were able to go through together, it was pretty amazing. Brandon and Jonathan stayed behind to help watch all the kids to make it possible for the siblings to go.

Excuses

2011-11-24T00:01:00.000-08:00

My dear sweet creative almost three year old is currently upstairs yelling under his door why he should not have to take a nap. These are my current favorites for the moment.

"I farted and my room is too stinky!"

"I bumped my head on Porters bead, I need an ice pack"

Trish and Sam

2011-11-23T05:24:00.000-08:00

My sister Trish and her little guy Sam are in town for Thanksgiving. I LOVE having her here. I just love having all my sisters here. She has had to come over every Sunday to get her progesterone shots in her hiney (I totally feel ya Trish) and that has given me an excuse to just hang with her. I should mention here that she is 22 weeks pregnant with a girl (YAY!) and she looks fantastic.
It is going to get hectic the next few days as the rest if the family rolls in and I like having the guaranteed time she gets to come see me. Last night my other sister Nellers even came with her new little Gavin. He is a cutie!
Sam stayed home with Papa and Nana. They are tight. In fact Papa already has Sam trained in the Cheney ways. Cleaning is fun. That is something he tried to instill in all of us Cheney kids growing up. I think Sam understands.

Just for kicks and giggles

2011-11-22T05:22:00.000-08:00

I was playing with my iphone and found an app for making pictures look old. So I gave it a go.

Jumparoo

2011-11-21T05:18:00.000-08:00

We broke out the jumparoo for Charlie last week. She likes being on the floor for a little while, then she gets mad. During the days when her siblings are at school it makes it difficult to get things done because I don't have the girls who are here to hold her and entertain her. So we got the jumparoo out. She seems to like it ok. So far she is still a bit of a lightweight so she doesn't touch the ground. Mostly she just dangles, if one of the children happen to walk by they give her an obligatory push so she gets some movement in. She just sits there staring you down for the most part.

Red Splendor

2011-11-16T00:01:00.000-08:00

Fall has come to the Carolinas. It had taken up residence a couple of weeks ago but lately the red maples are in full splendor. I had to make an un-scheduled detour on ballet night and I happen to pull into a bank parking lot where one was in all her glory. I simply had to take a picture. I think there is a law about that. When you see something pretty or beautiful a picture must be taken.

Porter Logic

2011-11-15T00:01:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Porter kindly informed me that he can not kiss me at school or at Church anymore. When asked why this was his reply.

"If I kiss you then all my fwiends will think I want to mawwy you"

Bus Riders

2011-11-14T03:32:00.000-08:00

The three older kids are bus riders this week for the morning school run as well as after school. Which means that the bus arrives to get them at 6:25. Which means that they get up at 5:30. Which means I get to get up at 5:00 or a little earlier to start getting things ready for the morning rush. fun.

This is supposed to be temporary...have I mentioned that Brandon wants to make it permanent?

Sweet Sleep

2011-11-09T05:05:00.000-08:00

Charlie has been doing awesome with her night time sleep schedule. For the past 5 days she has slept from 6 pm-6 am. 12 hours a night baby!! Love when things finally click.

Drama King

2011-11-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

As a follow up from the Blue from Hamdog yesterday I wanted to continue our story today. Once he was home there were known consequences. The basics of no TV and no playing outside were given, Because of the severity of his actions at school he was to stay in his room until dinner. No special snacks. He was ticked about that. Once he finally understood that he was NOT coming out of his room the lamenting started. He was staaaaarving. He needed some chips. How long until dinner? I am such a mean mom. He wanted his candy. His stomach hurt because he needed food. Don't I know how hungry he is? He was yelling. A lot. So much that it was distracting to his little brother who yelled upstairs "BE QUIET PORTER I AM TRYING TO GO PEE!".
Then this lovely little gem came from P-mans mouth. "I am going to throw up if I don't eat!" So I gave him a bucket.

Blue

2011-11-04T07:05:00.000-07:00

Porter has been doing so well in Kindergarten lately. I really thought we were past the week long yellow's with an occasional green thrown in here and there. In fact he had not been on yellow since last Monday. I got overly confident. Then Wednesday we got a yellow. It was just in time to cancel out the deal he had with Papa. I was bummed but we can recover from a mid week yellow. Then Thursday came. And the note in the binder. Check Email. Written in Blue. DOOOOOOOOOH

"Mom,
Today he cut his own hair at his desk when we were doing our math leaf graph. He has not been on task all day. As you know yesterday he ran in the room and hit his head on the round table next to his table...today he also ran in the halls, lunch room, etc. We do need to have a conference next week or before Thanksgiving. Thanks for you time. Hamdog" I put the Hamdog in to protect her real name ;)

Lovely, juuuuuuuuust lovely. Not only did he fall off the wagon, he took the whole wagon down with him.

Italiano

2011-11-02T06:07:00.000-07:00

I LOVE this phase in Weston's vocabulary. He speaks with an Italian accent. I have no idea why. He says "a" in front of almost all of his words.

"Momma, don't throw a candy in the a garbage"
"Momma, I will a obey"
"Momma, I take a a shower"
"Momma, I a sorry"

Just imagine a little Italian three year old saying these things. I think it is pretty adorable.

A few of my Faves

2011-11-01T11:20:00.000-07:00

These are a few of my favorite shots from our photo shoot with KaraBeth. I know I am biased but DAAAAAAANG I have cute kiddos ;)

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T00:01:00.000-07:00

Every single year I have these grand plans for a fun filled food themed Halloween. It just seems like time gets away and before we know it Halloween is a week away and no costumes had even been planned. So then we enter a week of high stress costume hunting. So we started the search. We knew that Andey wanted to be a zombie. Easy right? Well I thought so. I got an old skirt from Goodwill, we had a few shirts that we would layer. I was going to burn them and fringe them to get that tattered look. Well first everyone should know fire and I ...no bueno. So in my naive mindedness I started Andeys skirt on fire...her polyester skirt on fire. And WHOOOSH! There was screaming and panic and "HOLY CRAPOLA WHAT HAVE I DONE?!!!" being shouted. Mostly by me. No worries, we got it under control because Brandon took over the fire duties. She looked like a burn out zombie and she loved it.
Kenna wanted to be a Mermaid Bride who is walking on Land. ?. So I found a bride costume and we let her spray paint it blue. Done.
Porter wanted to be a skeleton, then a ninja, then a skeleton ninja. So he was a skeleton ninja. With black goth eyes. He may have gone to school looking like he had eyeliner on the next day.
Weston was a Dragon for trunk or treat and the Big Fat Pumpkin made a reprise for Halloween night. I am a little shocked at how much the kids love that costume. Brandon even painted his face. I have no clue what design he was going for he just started drawing and then was done.
Charlie and Brandon were the coolest ones. Brandon was Dr. Doofenshirtz and Charlie was Perry the Platypus. We found a fedora. It was a pet hat. But it totally worked. She hated hit so we only made her wear it for pictures and a short time at the Ward Trunk or Treat.
I was a witch. Original right? I was a bit cranky so I was even in character on Fridays Trunk or Treat ;)

Mr. My Own Style

2011-10-30T00:01:00.000-07:00

That is Porter. he no longer likes me picking out his clothes. He will get them ready each night. And he looks good. So far no skin tight PJ tops and cut off sweats. And his hair is his own domain as well. He has his own product and comb in the downstairs bathroom. He does not want it cut because he likes to "swoop" it. He gets it wet, gels it then combs i forward and swoops it back. It has a very Elvisish look to it. And I love it. I even forbade Brandon to cut his hair for family pictures so Porter would be able to showcase his style for them.

Family Pictures

2011-10-29T17:43:00.000-07:00

We finally hired some one professional to take our family pictures. I got a sneak peek and let me tell ya... I LOVE THEM. I had stressed and fretted over outfits for two weeks and came up with the simple color scheme that we did. And it was perfect. It was beautiful fall colors on the trees and the blues and yellows we used in our accent colors really were perfect. Our photographer KaraBeth was fantastic. She did Charlies newborn shots and did Laurie and Bryan's homecoming shoot. We love her. We headed out to Andrew Jackson State park. That is a gorgeous place! There was even a wedding going on in the back ground. She was so patient with the kids. She spent time photographing each child and she got great candid shots. I can not wait to see the rest of the pictures.

Once we all loaded back up in the car all of the sudden the kids were D.O.N.E. The tempers went from willingness to defiance and fighting in a lickidy split second. Andy was hellbent on making Charlie stop crying and would not settle down until she did. I was able to get a cute picture of her curls. We bribed them all with chicken nuggets and hot cocoa and headed home. I even donned Charlies headband to try and make them laugh. Didn't work. They are all now in bed snoozing, even Charlie. Wonderful end to a great day.

Dress Up

2011-10-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

We have been dressing up Larsen Style over here. Pretty much all that means is that the kids get to wear whatever and mama bear does not intervene. Currently the look is Halloweenish. Charlie and Porter both are loving the skeleton look. Porters skeleton outfit is a wee bit small, causing him a skelewedgie. Once Charlie is over that she changes into her Cheetah print. Makes things interesting around here :)

I got your back

2011-10-25T04:34:00.000-07:00

Ever since Charlie has been born Weston has been indifferent to her. He would do the obligatory hug or kiss when asked. He would occasionally ask to hold her then in record time pronounce he was done. For the most part I think he saw Charlie as another one of my babysitting kids that a mom forgot to pick up. But that has started to change lately. I think he understands she is here to stay and he finds himself enjoying that idea. He has taken on the role of her protector lately and I find it to be the cutest most darling thing ever. I would lay her on the couch for a minute and if I walk away he rushes to her side and braces her little body with his. "I hold her so she doesn't fall. I protect her". His words not mine. Seriously so cute!

Carnival

2011-10-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

Once in a while there is a small little Carnival that comes to town. It sets up shop in the parking lot of the little Monroe Mall. And everyone that drives by can see it. It is basically eye candy for the children who then beg and plead and bat their eyes to their parents to take them. So we did, and spent way to much money to go on rides but the kids LOVED it, therefor we loved it. They had a blast. We learned that Kenna HATES heights but loves spinning around. Andy is still our dare devil but Weston will most definitely give her a run for her money once he is 48 inches tall. Porter is teetering on the edge of liking the stomach churning rides and will do them if and only if his two older sisters are on them as well. Cotton Candy is to be bought AFTER all the rides are done so that no throwing up occurs. Late afternoon is the perfect time to go to these things because there are less crowds. And last but not least, no matter the amount of pleading and begging Dad will NOT be getting on the hurricane ride that basically spins you really fast while lifting you up in the air then dropping you. Nope, won't do it, not gonna happen. Don't ask.

Gareth Christopher Ashmore

2011-10-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the world little buddy!

Brandon and I's newest nephew was born today. He weighed in at 8 pounds 9 ounces, and 21 inches long.

Mother in training

2011-10-21T05:57:00.001-07:00

Lately Kenna has really stepped up to the plate on her mothering training. For a while there it was more like a How to train your Dragon type training but last night we had a turn around. Even if it was just for last night I will take it. We had a lot to do as far as errands, ballet and general getting ready for bed type stuff. We got home and I was working on dinner. Kenna got both of her brothers in the shower, had them clean themselves, and got them ready for bed. All without me asking. And she was kind while doing so. It was FANTASTIC. I loved it. It took a huge load off me and made for a smooth evening transition. I may have rewarded her with a big fat chocolate cupcake suprise in her lunch today.
It is all about the rewards when you are training. ;)

Compassion

2011-10-20T10:44:00.000-07:00

We recieved an email early Monday morning before the kids went to school. It was from Andelyn's teacher. One of her classmates had lost their older brother to cancer over the weekend. He had struggled for the past couple years and finally passed away with his family by his side. This devastated Andey. Not because he was gone but because how it would affect her friend Tori. She didn't want Tori to be sad and miss her brother. So Andey went to school that day and came home with a plan. She had recruited several of her friends in her class and they decided to never let Tori be alone. To always be at her side and sit with her when she didn't feel like talking. They made up games to take her mind off things. One of them being the Zombie Dance. They do this apparently to the tune of Michael Jacksons Thriller.
Last night I went upstairs to tell the girls lights out. I saw Andey not reading but working on something on the floor. I was about to get upset with her when I saw what it was. She had made a homemade card for Tori and wrote a letter to her. This is what she said:

Dear Tori, im so sorry about your big brother you will know that i will always be with you and if you need me here is my phone number704-***-**** (I changed the number from what it really said.) im so sorry. At least familis are forever. from andeyln larsen SORRY.

Struggling

2011-10-19T06:38:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was no bueno in the Larsen household. 3/5 of our little Larsen's had struggled with something or other.

Weston has been sick. Very very sick. I finally took him in after a loong night of him struggling to breath. He has croup. He is actually on the mend but it made fora cranky two year old.

Porter was on yellow (big surprise I know) for dropping his drawers....his pantaloons...his breeches. To his defense, they needed a belt and in the rush of yesterday morning I forgot to get one. Still, hiney showing is a humorless offense (ok most of the time it is humorless) that we take seriously. Combine that the with kicking of a very large ant hill at recess and that landed him smack dab in the center of Yellowville. We had our consequences at home and they are always soooo pleasant to execute (sarcasm is literally oozing out of that sentence)

Kenna was written up on the bus yesterday. I was floored. My sweet Kenna had to have the principal come on to the bus and talk with her. Kenna has a nasty habit of punishing her younger siblings on my behalf. I in no way have ever given her authority to do so. She did this yesterday when Porter was messing around on the bus. She pinched his shoulder and pushed him down. The bus driver was not happy. So she called the Principal. And Kenna was crushed. I am hoping that this scared the beejeesus out of her enough to watch her actions a little closer.

Add into this whole mess of things a sick hubby and daddy and that pretty much sums our day up.

Here is hoping to a slightly better day today, because even that would be so much better than yesterday.

Similar Sickies

2011-10-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

We have the sickies in the house. Specifically the boys (not Brandon) have the sickies. Maybe it is because they share a room and somehow have it driven in their little minds that they have to share EVERYTHING, not so boys. I would actually prefer you NOT to share every single thing. Porter is handling his fever a little better than Weston. He is still somewhat functional, just not as hyper. So normal for most kids. He missed church and wanted me to make sure to tell his Primary teacher that he wanted to go because he was going to act so good that day. Nice P-man, way to use your sickness as a cop out.
Weston on the other hand is not doing well at all. He is topping out at 104. I know that seems high but my kids have always run hot. After medicine and a bath to help lower the fever he was doing ok. He was sitting on the floor next to me while I was working on the computer. Then he vanished. I had images of the nail polish incident going through my head when all was quiet upstairs. I run upstairs to find him in my bed fast asleep under three blankets. Brandon had "closed his eyes for a moment" and was of course sound asleep. Weston crawled up next to him (because Dad is his favorite remember) and was out cold. It was so sweet and pathetically sad at the same time. Poor little dudes. He and his brother need to get well..... after tonight's bedtime, I am hoping that the sickies make for a super easy bedtime :)

An opinion all his own

2011-10-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

Weston has always had strong opinions, but lately he is starting to give you ultimatums. He may be learning from me. We do that here, except we call them choices. I think when Brandon and I do it, it sounds a lot less demanding.For example;

Us: "Weston you can either go up stairs and have your tantrum on your bed, or stop and stay down here"

Weston: "I will stay down here, and I want a snack." (Said in between fits of rage)

Us: "Weston you can wear these shorts and go to sleep or not wear them...and go to sleep" (See what I did there....sneaky)

Weston: Well he didn't say so much as he showed me his decision here. I went to get him up from nap and he was sleeping in the nude. Guess he showed me.

Doppleganger 10 years later

2011-10-15T08:17:00.000-07:00

This may be a mom thing but I am seeing SO much of Kenna in Charlie. I saw Andey in Weston and Porter has been his own little compilation of features.
Lately Charlie has been smiling and cooing a lot. And her cheeks are round and munchable. Very round. And so were Kennas. And I see that. You be the judge. :)

one goood day

2011-10-12T14:52:00.000-07:00

well we got a lot of bags of new cloths me and makenna got a lot of new cloths i got the most skinny jeans i love them.by andeyln

We love daddy

2011-10-12T11:15:00.000-07:00

Brandon is the childrens' hero lately. Which is totally fine by me because every child needs their dad to be their hero. With the girls he is their common sense sounding board. With Porter he is his wrestle companion. With Weston he is his best friend, and with Charlie he is her pillow/ Although with Charlie I am pretty much the favorite but I am also her meal ticket ;)

I love how each of the children will willingly cuddle up next to him and just sit. He is such a great dad!

Lessons learned the hardway

2011-10-11T08:28:00.000-07:00

Weston was sitting in his car seat on the way home from errands. Unbeknownst to me he had undone his buckles. Because he is a stinker like that. A car swerved in front of me causing me to hit the breaks really hard. Thus in turn causing Weston to literally fly up front and smash his face into the console in the van. I pulled over immediately to asses the damage. He busted his lip open, smashed his nose and has a GINORMOUS bump on his head. He was so hysterical. I was pretty upset. But through all of it he just wanted his daddy. And when daddy could not come he wanted his Papa. "Don't want it the Mommy!" are the exact words I believe he said when I asked if I could hold him. The remainder of the drive was safe and buckled. And now every 30 seconds I am reminding him that we stay IN our buckles or we get hurt. And he will get very very serious and tell me "I hurt my head, I stay buckled". Poor little guy learned a very hard life lesson today. Mom is ALWAYS right and I am smarter so LISTEN!

Charlies blessing

2011-10-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

We finally blessed Charlie. My dad said as long as we made it before she was in Young Womens we are good. We made it. Phew. I was getting worried ;)

Brandon, My dad, my brother TJ and my Brother in Law Jonathan were in the circle. My mom crocheted a beautiful white blanket and Charlie in tradition wore the same dress her two older sisters were blessed in. She was a champ. She even waited to spit up until after she was blessed.

Love this baby, LOVE that we have a sisters picture and LOVE LOVE LOVE that I get to be here mama :)

Perfect Fall Day

2011-10-08T10:28:00.000-07:00

We woke up earlyish....ok not really... to head up to the mountains and enjoy the beautiful fall weather we have been having. We also wanted to get in on some Apple Picking fun. We met the Moores at a phenomenal apple orchard called Stepps Orchard in Hendersonville, NC. They had hundreds of trees and just as many types of apples. The best part was being able to sample the apples right off the trees to make sure they were the flavor/style that you liked I must have eaten about 8 apples yesterday. The kids LOVED it. We hit the Jonagold jackpot and we ended up getting about 40 pounds worth of apples for $20. These apples were the BEST apples I have ever eaten.
After leaving the amazing orchard we headed towards the Blue Ridge Parkway to enjoy our fall colors. Not before stopping at a little mom and pop diner to get some good eats. The food was ok but the kids had a blast. We all sat at the bar, even Charlie, and ate. All of the other patrons were a little stunned to see such a large family and I was pretty proud of my kids. They totally behaved.
We drove the park way and headed up towards Mt. Mitchell. Once we started climbing in elevation the colors started to pop. It was fantastic. We stopped at the top of the mountain and got some family pictures. We actually were SUPER happy with the pictures until we realized Charlie was NOT in them. Nope, she was chillaxin in her car seat just out of view from the picture. oops.
We finally decided to head home. With a very windy trip down the mountain, and a not so quick pit stop in Marion we pulled in about twelve hours after we left that morning. Everyone of the kids were fast asleep so we just transferred them straight to bed.

It was a phenomenal fall day :)

Homecoming

2011-10-06T08:24:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night/Wednesday morning I had the honor the be at the airport for the Maddex family reunion. It was the best. Friends and family gathered to welcome the newest member home, along with his parents who have been gone for two months. To the day. They left August 4 and the returned October 4 (well midnight of October 5). I carpooled up with Gaga and Papa. I got to drive the kiddos in the Golden van. We left at 10:30. Ian never had slept but both Guy and Chase were able to get a few hours of sleep. Chase immediately fell back to sleep Ian was chattering for about 5 minutes then stopped mid sentence. He was out. Gavin was asleep until about 15 minutes before we arrived and all I heard from that point on was "See Mommy Daddy?". It took all I had to answer him "Yes you are buddy" without bursting to happy tears. My tummy was all nervous and excited. We walked into baggage claim and were able to spot the rest of our Pajama Party. And we waited. We had one look out person who was standing watch. Then all of the sudden our lookout comes running down the stairs proclaiming "THEY ARE HERE!" As soon as they were in sight we rushed them. Then we parted an aisle and this mom and dad dropped to their knees and their littles ran to them. And clung to them. And cried happy tears. And Zeke embraced every single brother. Chase fell into his dads arms and did not want to let go. He finally loosened his grip long enough to transfer to his mommas arms. Gavin had the BIGGEST smile on his face and held his moms neck with Hulk strength. Zeke was a social butterfly. He was giving Hi Fives to everyone. He loved being in his Gagas arms. She got a BIG hug. Papa and he immediately hit it off. Ian was constantly standing watch and didn't want to leave Zeke's side
There was so much joy in that room. It was tangible. I hired a photographer to document the event. She did AMAZING. She captured so many little moments that I am sure would have other wise been missed.
We finally all headed home happy, for the Maddex family to finally be ONE.

Preparation

2011-10-03T07:12:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow at midnight (Okay Wednesday morning really) my bestie comes home. She has been gone for two months. Away from her sons, away from her life, away from me. And I have missed her terribly. BUT she and her hubby are coming home with a new child in tow. And I get to be there for it. I get to be involved in the homecoming and I am so excited. Brandon has had to reign me in several times. I wanted it sky written across the skies that they are home. Brandon thinks it is a little much. So I told him I would settle for a Marching Band. Still to much. So I have my welcome home committees that are helping and we will do everything in our power to celebrate Zeke and Laurie and Bryan. And that will be good. Pictures to come. LOTS AND LOTS Of pictures to come.

Buddy Walk 2011

2011-10-01T17:59:00.001-07:00

So Bryan and Laurie could not make it to the 2011 Buddy Walk because they were a mere 5193.1 Miles away. Yup I googled it. So I did not want Chase or the rest of the Maddex clan to miss one year. So Brandon and I made the executive decision to temporarily adopt three extra children for a day an go. So we had 8 kids, for those of you who are counting, between two adults. And we ROCKED it!! I hijacked Laurie's Golden van (so dubbed by my children)and Brandon and I caravaned up to Freedom Park. That alone was fun. We arrived a little later than planned because parking was difficult. We should mention real quick that we drove around FOREVER trying to find a parking spot and finally lucked out that someone was leaving. After that we gathered our flock and started the loooong trek to the Festivities. Luckily a poor golf cart driver showed pity on us and we loaded everyone sans Brandon and the stroller onto that cart, while he jogged behind it to keep up. Oh, and Chase was driving. For reals. The super nice lady asked him if wanted to and there was not even a seconds hesitation for him to shove me out of the way and start steering.
We arrived just as the walk was starting so the golf cart lady and Chase drove us all the way to the walk. It was pretty funny, we were four wheeling it up on the hill and around the people, all the while Brandon was running behind us.I honestly don't think he expected the cart to keep going once we got to the park. He was a wee bit winded once we unloaded the flock off the cart. The walk started and stopped and started and stopped. Same physics as when there is a fender bender. One family taps on the breaks and by the end of the line it is dead stop traffic. We held the banner with pride (I should also mention here that Teri Leyton an friend of the Maddex's ordered a new banner for them and I picked it up yesterday) The new name of the team is Welcome to the Madd House. Chase rode on my shoulders waving like a king in a parade and Gavin pushed Weston in the stroller. Weston was pissed because he did not want to be pushed but we learned really fast that letting Weston out of the stroller meant chasing him against the stream backwards. In a huge crowd. So he was buckled while his super cool buddy pushed him. Ian would not let go of his brothers (we walked for Zeke too) banner and was proud as a peacock. Once we made the loop around the lake it was play time. Ian, Porter, Andey, and Kenna disappeared only to resurface to ask for their tickets for a hot dog. Brandon took all the littles and had them play to their hearts content. I sat on the hill with Charlie trying to keep her warm. It was cold. After our fair share of games and hot dogs and slides and treats we loaded up the crew and made the loooooong walk back to our car. There were no golf carts to help us this time and I heard the phrase "my legs are too tired to walk" no less than a gabillion times. Once we were all loaded up into our respective vans we headed home, exhausted and happy to have been able to go to another fun Buddy Walk.

another sick girl

2011-09-29T03:42:00.000-07:00

well another girl sick 100.1 feaver well itleast it will help with all the getting ready so kenna at campthunderbird porter at school and andey home sick and dad at work and at last mommy at home with day care kid's oh and weston also home with momMy so kenna is coming home on friday from andeyln larsen.

Life through Westons Eyes

2011-09-28T16:20:00.000-07:00

He will move his not so light toddler bed across the room so he can talk through the door and still be in bed, therefore still following the rule of "Don't get out of bed"

He still sits on Porters head while Porter is sleeping. I have no idea why he does this.

He told my friend who just adopted a little baby the same age as Charlie "I LIKE dark babies!"

Likes to eat dinner au natural. (I have a picture of this one but this is a family blog. Suffice it to say his little nekkid bum is adorable)

It's a BOY!!!

2011-09-27T05:04:00.000-07:00

Laurie and Bryan are bringing Danil home. That is all :)

12 years and 5 kids later

2011-09-25T04:19:00.000-07:00

We are still going strong. Now if we switch that to 12 kids and five years later...

Happy Anniversary to my Mr. Larsen