What a Month: Part 1

It has been quite a month for us so I'll break this up into several posts. After Lily was born we spent a day or so with Nana and Poppa before we headed back home. On a trip to wal-mart Adam was in his carseat and I was helping Emily pick out a new swimsuit Adam started screaming, it turns out Lydia, who was also in the buggy, was biting him. I took these picture a couple hours after we got back. Yes, she got in some trouble.

Emily and Jonas are really big helpers, they even got Adam down for a nap all by themselves.

We had a primary activity before Father's Day. The kids all made a little present for Dad and then played water games like a water balloon war between the Nephites and Lamanites and tug of war over a baby pool full of ice & water. Preston and Lydia weren't too interested in the water games but they loved the bubbles

All in all a great success, even Adam had a friend.

Cami mentioned our visit to Skye and Ryan for a few days. It was a lot of fun! That will be our next installment.

A Blessing and a Baby

This has been an eventful week. It started off Sunday June 1st with Adam's baby blessing. I never did get a picture of everyone, but with Jason were his Dad (Mike Guffey), brother Jacob, brother-in-law Grant, my brother-in-law Ryan, and our bishop. All the family came down from NC and Skye and Ryan came up from Augusta. We had a great time seeing everyone and the kids got to spend time with their cousins.

Adam's outfit was made by Ryan's mom, Donna, who is marvelous seamstress. He talked (cried) through the blessing because we forgot his pacifier, but there were some beautiful things said nonetheless.

Poppa Mike was able to enjoy some time with the man of the hour.

The kids last day of school was Thursday and we celebrated by letting them stay up late and watch movies.

And finally Cami had her baby today, Saturday! It's a little girl and though you will probably get the same info on Cali, Cami, and Mom's blogs I have the pictures first.

She went in a little before 6am, started having good, hard contractions and asked for an epidural at 10:30am.

And then we all rested easy for a few hours. Sorry I couldn't get my pictures to rotate the right way, I'll work on that.

Lily Jewell Guffey made her appearance at 3:05 on 06/07/08 ( I think that is so cool!)

She is 7 lbs 2 oz, 20 inches long, has reddish blondish hair (what little there is of it), and great lungs and vocal chords which she practiced using to their full extent.

The little family is doing wonderfully and Cami was so awesome! You would never know she just had a baby!

It's been a great week!

His Good Streak

Preston is the child that confounds me more than any other. For one he is smarter than any child should be (and I have children who read at a third grade level in kindergarten). There is nothing he can't figure out a way to get on or in, take apart, put together, sort, etc, etc. He is also very calculating and knows exactly what he can do to push the envelope and get away with. Now some of you may think I'm exaggerating, after all, he's only three. However, I believe he is "Dennis the Menace" in the flesh, sweet and well meaning, but at times exasperating. The other day was a good example.

Let me give youa little background first. We live in a very nice suburban neighborhood. The neighborhood is only a couple of years old and with the exception of one couple, all the families in our cul-de-sac have young children. I am the only full-time stay at home mom. The others all work at least part time but are generally home by late afternoon when the kids get home from school.

The kids were all out in force on this particular day playing in the cul-de-sac and each others yards which is normal. I had to go back inside the house for something but was keeping an eye and ear on them through the open front door and windows. As I was heading back out I heard screaming and Jonas came running in yelling at the top of his lungs "Preston's naked in the cul-de-sac!!!" My first thought was that I misunderstood him. I mean, Preston had already gotten in trouble once that day for taking off his clothes then wandering out to the front porch. Alas, there was no misunderstanding my wonderful, young son was standing buck naked by the mailbox surveying the other kids as they screamed and the mothers laughed.

I reacted the way I think any mother would "Preston Scott Guffey (notice the use of the full name) get back here and get your clothes on right now!" His clothes were in a nice little pile right where he took them off, on the porch of course. He looked at me smiled as big as he could then took off sprinting to the other side of the street. So amidst the yelling and laughter I walked quickly and purposefully after him already so mortified that I decided Iwas not going to embarass myself further by trying to run in flipflops in front of all the neighbors. As soon as he reached the sidewalk on the other side he looked back to see how close I was and made a hard left to circle around the cul-de-sac thereby passing every single house and child on the way back to home where he would probably go hide behind the couch. Unfortunately for him he was having such a good time and laughing so hard I caught up with him when he passed the first house. I scooped him up and carried him under my arm and about made another neighbor wreck as she pulled up did a double take and burst out laughing.

What he was thinking I'll never know, but we certainly know how to give the neighbors something to talk about. I can't wait till we get the back yard fenced.

Mommy Tag

1.Typically, what time do you wake up? midnight, 1:30am, 3 am, 4:30 am, and I get up and get the school age kids up at 5:30am
2. On a good night, what time are your kids in bed? 7:30pm
3. How long have you been a mommy? 7 years, 4 months and 10days
4. How old were you when you became a mom? 21 years 356 days (almost 22)
5. What is your favorite kids T.V show? Bindi the Jungle Girl (the Croc Hunter Steve Irwin's daughter has her own animal show.)
6. What is your least favorite kids T.V. show? Don't even get me started, I could go all day with the ones I don't like.
7. What is your favorite chore? I actually have one! Vaccuuming. Getting to that point is what I don't like.
8. What is your favorite meal to cook? Sunday dinner. I pretend I'm a chef and do semi-gourmet meals (my kids call them fancy dinners). Example: Brown sugar and pecan crusted salmon, seasoned baked asparagus, buttery garlic rice, and dulce de leche tropical fruit salad with coconut.
9. What meal do you cook most often? Chicken stirfry and rice.
10. What is your kids favorite meal? Hot dogs with mac & cheese or pizza
11. What is your favorite thing your husband does with your kids? Taking them camping and hiking and reading bedtime stories
12. What are 5 things that make you smile when you’re being a mom?
A. spontaneous hugs and kisses.
B. Adrianna saying "youwa da best mommy eva!".
C. Listening to them laugh when Jason reads them Calvin and Hobbes.
D. Hearing them help each other when they don't know I'm around.
E. Having other people tell me my kids are well behaved.
13. If you could take your kids anywhere, where would it be? Some place tropical.
14. When was the last time you went out without your kids? I went shopping at wal-mart at 11:00pm Monday night.
15. What is your favorite pastime/activity to do with your kids? Go on "adventures"! (going hiking, camping, to zoos or museums) just doing things together.
16. Name one thing you said you would never say as a mother? "I'm going to count to 3..."
17. Name something you do, that your own mom did? Sing and read to my kids
18. What is your favorite quality your mom has? Her craziness
19. What is your favorite kids book? Skippy Jon Jones and Don't let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.
20. What is your favorite advice for new moms? Sleep
21. What is your most heartbreaking moment as a mom? Having other kids be unfair and knowing there is nothing you can do about it because you can't punish someone else's kid, then trying to explain why some people don't treat others nice.
22. What is your most joyful moment being a mom? Having everyday with them!
23. When was the last time you told one of your kids, “I Love You”? At bedtime.
24. When was the last time you were told, “I love you” by one of your kids? At bedtime.


Ok I actually did this and it only took 2 very interrupted hours.

This One is for Mom

I came across several old pictures the other day (any of you Brazil Bunch check the other blog) and I found treasures galore. Among them pictures of my Grandpa Doc. I haven't found any others and these were pretty blurry even though I tried to enlarge them some. He's on the far left. This was a family reunion labor day weekend 1996, just less than one year before he passed away. As part of the events/entertainment his group, which included my cousin Hannah, Uncle John and Aunt Nancy, and Grandma Louise, were dancing the macarena. Now the pictures don't do this event justice. There were serious inquiries into whether medical professionals should be summoned either for the ones unable to breathe for laughing, or Grandpa in case he threw out a hip. It was quite the spectacle. Mom, I do have the hard copies of these pics,. I'll give them to you this summer. Enjoy! This wonderful lady was my great-grandma Mildred Eppert. She was Grandpa Doc's mom. In the picture with her is her other son, Grandpa's brother, Uncle Ronald and my sister Hillary. I will always remember going to visit her at the old farmstead and how she always had flowers growing everywhere it seemed. Sunflowers by the garage, petunias, and pansies by the house, and a myriad of flowers for cutting in her gardens. She taught me how to make a doll out of petunias using the flower for the skirt and the leaves and stems for head and arms. I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. My mom, of course, has many more memories than I do, so, mom these are for you. Happy Mother's Day! (just a little late)

Mother's Day Gifts

Mother's Day is a very special holiday in our household. As a mother of young children I receive more poems, biometric art (that's art using hand prints, fingerprints, etc.), pictures, flowers, hugs and kisses than any other given holiday. I even receive a good bit of chocolate and unlike other holidays where I may receive similar gifts I also am pretty much guaranteed at least one meal where I don't have to cook or clean up afterward. This afternoon I got another bonus gift. NAP TIME. All of the kids went quietly and willingly up to their beds for nap time. At about the same time even (now that was a real bonus). I was able to chat with my Mom and Dad via the Internet and then before going to my room for my own nap checked on the kids of course. Some were sound asleep... Some were not....

and one made his own special little bed, just because he could. Preston actually slept there for two hours. I'm at the point where I like my comfortable furnishings and that includes a good bed.

Pictures (part II)

This will only let me put 5 pictures up at a time so I had to split the kids up, here are the others.I never did get a good picture of Jonas looking at the camera. He was having too much fun riding around on this bike that was much too small for him.

My sweet Odie Podie (aka Adrianna) was really trying to be brave after she fell and scraped her knee. She smiled through the tears. That's my girl!

I know, now I have no excuse for not posting updates more often.