The big day...

Here are just some fun random pictures from the first day (except for Gabby & teacher--that was Fri.). There were a ton of kids from our neighborhood at the bus stop so hopefully we will have more friends soon. Andrew didn't seem nearly as sad as I was. He is happy to have more attention. It is Josh's first day too, but he declined my offer to take him to school and take pictures of him. I guess he's a big boy now. :)

Such a sad day for me. They can't really be this old yet.

You know you have...

spent a lot of time at Sea World when during family scripture study your 3 yr old says, "A dolphin is gonna whack Laman & Lemuel." He is also the one who is always chanting, "Shamu, Shamu!"

Focus on the Positive

Today I heard one of my new favorite songs on the radio. I now listen a lot to the local Christian station. It really helps me keep things in perspective. There is this great song that states, "My heart is torn, but I will praise you in the storm." It seems that as I grow older I am seeing more things happen that I could never have imagined earlier. Some good, but many are so sad... I know that the Lord is separating the 'wheat from the tears' so to speak but it just seems like everything in the Proclamation to the family is challenged to its limits lately. It is so depressing. I still believe in every word. When people (who think they somehow have the right to?) comment negatively on our family size we have learned to quickly respond that we love children and they are such a blessing to us. It is interesting the variety of reactions to that statement. What it has done for us is steal the thunder of most of those criticising. Suddenly, they become really positive and often even compliment us.

So my latest goal is to follow this quote "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...it's learning to dance in the rain." I am setting a goal to meet the negative with the positive--even if it is just in my own mind. Let that steal the adversary's thunder! Life is tough and it's not getting easier. As I have struggled with how to raise my kids I am learning that I cannot control their lives or their trials. But I can teach them how to have a positive attitute and hope of things to come. First, I have to learn this myself. I am a chronic complainer. (this isn't news to anyone who knows me) So, any suggestions and nice reminders would be loved. The quicker I learn how to do this positive stuff, the quicker my kids can learn it too. I wish Captain Kirk could just come down right now and "make it so".

UPDATE: I wrote this last night but this morning when I was doing primary stuff I found this on LDS.org. Elder Nelson is so GREAT!

http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/57744/Elder-Russell-M-Nelson-The-Family-The-Hope-for-the-Future-of-Nations.html

Josh has been bugging me to do the girls' hair in "alien piggies". You know, the ones that stick straight up and look hilarious. Abigail (top) wasn't thrilled, but Tasha was downright angry (she immediately removes all hair bows she can anyway). They looked so cute that we had to make it a photo shoot. Tasha is in the polka dots & Abigail is in flowers.

Some fun stuff

Abigail going for a ride while Natasha tries to hold her own bottle.

Dog pile on Uncle John! One day the boys put themselves down for a nap on the covered lanai. We have a ceiling fan that kept them cool and they were out for about 1 1/2 hours.

Nate's cub scout troop.

Nate earned his Bobcat already!

Nate was able to carry the flag in his first flag ceremony in his very first pack meeting. He was so excited!

I have been waiting to make a slide show from photo bucket, but I don't think it's happening any time soon. Here is the short version of the last couple of weeks. It has been a bit crazy helping Josh's brother move in and prepare all the complicated documents to get the kids in school. (you would think I was enrolling them in the FBI compared to the other 2 school districts we have applied to). Gabby loves that she shares a room with her sisters, but she can't stand to see them cry. We should have know that they didn't fall asleep that quickly on their own.

Here James & Gabby are reading books to the girls. I am so lucky that they have so many siblings to entertain them.

Gabby made this cake for FHE all by herself. She added the frosting with a special ziplock/hole trick from Aunt Ronny. (thanks!)

Abigail loved the cake. Sweet things have been the biggest motivator in trying to get the girls to feed themselves.

Tasha was practically giggling as she ate. She finished everything she could successfully fit in her mouth! --which was a lot less than what you see here.

Each of our twins has 1 top tooth started, with another about to come in. (this is Abigail)

Natasha is showing off her two lower teeth. We are really excited because we were told their teeth would come in with funky shapes and a strange order. So far, so good.

We visited the Orlando temple a couple weeks ago. It is very pretty and the kids loved to run around the grounds. Josh and I took turns going while the other had the kids. One morning I took all 6 to the hotel breakfast. It was wild!

Here is Josh and his Daddy's girl looking at the fountains on the temple grounds. They were fun to watch.

Here are the kids watching them also. Hmmmm. Not sure if we were supposed to be sitting on the wall...

I have had to get resourceful at times. We were at Sea World and Josh had taken the kids to see the flamingos.

I love family outings. They can bring out the best in all of us.

James made a Pavlova meringue that we saw in a cookbook for FHE one night. It was fairly complicated and took several hours. Here he is squeezing out the meringue from our trusty ziplock. He had a blast!

He was SO proud of his creation. We added whipping creme to each serving. YuMMy!

Here is Tasha bear rolling around until she can get into something forbidden. Together the girls have ruined/eaten about 4 kids books. The best news we have is that we have caught Abigail crawling 2 times. It is only the start but we are delighted! Hurray!!

I wish the summer would never end. I have had Josh with me most of the summer, and all my kids with me every day. I will really miss them in 3 weeks when everyone goes off to school.

They're doing it!!

They are only able to sit for short periods of time before falling (1-3 min) but they are able to sit. Hurray! Abigail does it correctly but if you notice Tasha on the right has her knees locked to keep up her balance. We have our work cut out for us with her PT!