Favorite Fall Moments

Over the summer we were talking about how we don't really see pretty sunsets here in Virginia-not that they don't have them, but there are so many trees everywhere that they cut off our view.  Then one September evening, we saw a pink light coming through the window and we all bolted outside (I'm sure the neighbors thought we had some kind of emergency) to catch this gorgeous view, which was much more brilliant in person. Heavenly Father's art is truly the most beautiful.

Also loved collecting these...not raking them so much:)

Jumping off 'the rock'...

Porter and I ran in the Stake Food Fun Run 5K as part of the Virginia Day of Service.  I couldn't even see Porter ahead of me for the first 2 miles and then we caught up to finish together.  I was very proud of him especially when they told us at the end that it was actually 3.8 miles!

After running Jane exclaimed "Mom, your face is red...like a blueberry!"  Silly Jane-

she later corrected herself:)

Sidewalk chalk self portraits...

The little boys and I ventured out with some friends to Clark's Farm for some Fall fun.  Each of the kids have been here at some point over the years but I think this is the first time I've taken my camera with me.  It's close by and not too expensive and geared toward preschool ages.

 We probably spent the most time in this corn box where Adam held onto his shovel with a death grip.  We're working on sharing and taking turns, but at this age it is challenging and I usually lose.

 The donkey was pretty friendly...maybe a little friendlier than Adam:)

 Rootbeer tasting!  Muna and Papa found quite a selection of rootbeers at a country store in Arkansas while they were visiting Papa's mother.  Each one had a distinct flavor so it was fun to vote on our favorites.  

 Adam really tried to get all of the flavor out of his little Dixie cup each time and about half way thru it looked like this, and being the 2 year old he is, refused to get a new cup.

 Leo didn't really care about the rootbeer but he sure had fun making faces with Papa.

The Heavy Weight Title

We would like to declare that the Kulbeth baby heavyweight title goes to Leo Roger!  Ever since our little guy plumped up, the big boys have been wanting to know who the 'winner' of our chubby babies is.  Jane and Adam weren't the avid eaters that Porter, Andrew, and Leo were (and my back thanks them) so we knew it would be down to these 3 boys.  I decided that the 6 month weigh in was probably the height of chubbiness since once babies start crawling around they tend to slim down a bitnh m.  So Leo wins at 19lb 6oz and Andrew comes in second by a whole pound.

This little guy started on some rice cereal and I think he's going to be our first baby to finish an entire box of it.  So far the only thing he doesn't like are the green vegetables.  I'm crossing my fingers that it lasts!

He also enjoys a nice mouthful of paper now and then.

This is Porter as a little tyke...

And here's Andrew on the couch...

I think Leo definitely has Andrew's mouth and maybe Porter's upper face.  Isn't it funny how a first child gets to be themselves and then subsequent children are puzzle pieced versions of their older siblings-poor kids!  We love our Mr. Chubs!

Keeping it Real

I have had thoughts for a blog post about this for months, but I'm not very good at putting my thoughts into coherent communication all the time, so forgive my ramblings.  Here we go!  I love being a mom, but I have such conflicted feelings about what I expect from myself and what I'm able to do. And I realize I can improve a lot if I am more consistent with the children helping out (putting their shoes, backpacks, toys, dirty clothes away, etc away--having a 5 min cleanup before going up for bed, reminding them to do their dinner jobs) but I get so overwhelmed sometimes that I just give up.  More often than not, I feel buried in messes.  Anywhere I clean up only stays cleaned up for minutes, sometimes hours if I'm lucky and by the end of the day, my steam is gone, so I always wake up to a mess.  So here we will document what life "looks like" with small children because people are always telling me I'm going to miss this phase of life.

I love the kids art and I want them to be proud of what they create, but stuff gets knocked off the fridge every time we walk by.

It's important to me to make homemade meals, but that takes time and by the time dinner is done Leo is done being confined so this is always waiting for me in the morning.

 The 'collection' at the top of the stairs-their bedrooms are only inches away from the stuff, but for some reason we can't quite get it all the way in there.

 The big boys room-a lot of days there is less of the floor showing, so this one isn't that bad.

 Do people really make their beds?  I think I do maybe twice a year and I won't even expound upon the clothes that have to lay out all over because they are too dirty to put back with the clean clothes, but not dirty enough to go in the dirty clothes basket yet.  

 Ahh, clean clothes...I admit sometimes we just come down stairs to get dressed after they've been sitting on the couch for a day or two.  

And this is a normal day in Jane and Adam's room.  I've removed most of the toys from their room (in an attempt to keep it cleaner) but Adam has taken to ripping all the Sunday clothes off of the hangers at bedtime.  Call me crazy, but I'm not sure that I'm going to miss some of these sights.

I literally don't have time to keep up and this definitely affects my mood even when I try not to let it.  I feel like I can't control my emotional responses to the constant disarray.  And then I get mad and then I feel guilty.  Why do I think every other mom with young kids has a spotless house?!?  I know it's ridiculous, but I know it's something I need to work on also.    Older people are ALWAYS telling me to enjoy my kids while they're little and how much I'm going to miss this phase of life.  I guess we'll have to wait for my blog post in 20 years:-)

My Babies

These are the pictures that hang above the crib in our baby room...all of my babies between zero and four months old. They are probably my favorite pictures of each of them.  I have done a lot of nursing in the D.I. rocking chair we have in this room and I love to look at all my babies while I rock. 

Being the mother of five children has no doubt pushed my physical and emotional limits to the max and we're only 10 years into this eternal commitment!  But looking at my babies, no matter what mood or state of utter disappointment or maddness or other mommy emotion I'm in, it is impossible to feel unhappy with the child rearing 'career' I've chosen when I stare at those precious and completely dependent baby faces.  Sometimes I'm rocking while Porter and Andrew are doing more dancing and less teeth brushing than they are supposed too, or when Jane and Adam are running up and down the hallway screaming over a toy they both want, and sometimes it's in the middle of the dark night when I'm so tired I sit there long enough for my legs to fall tingly asleep-dangerous!  I love that those faces remind me of my purpose and how each of them started so fresh from Heavenly Father.  I love that they give me motivation to keep going even tho I often have no idea what the best way is to approach talking back or sleep walking or eating vegetables or a myriad of other parenting dilemmas.  Being a mom is hard, but it's also exactly where I want to be.  

Double Digits for Porter

Amazingly enough, this little guy we brought home from Orem Community Hospital all those years ago turned 10 years old on September 26th!

 Porter was such a good sport this year.  We ate chocolate cheerios birthday cereal for breakfast and let him open one present (a bag of unshelled peanuts which he requested) before heading off for school.

In 5th grade this year, they are giving 'non-reports' where you have to present something you know how to do without writing a report to go along with it or read from.  Porter came home so excited the first week of school to tell us that he had traded presentation dates with a couple kids so that he could do his on his birthday.  Just in the last year or so, Porter has grown to like being in front of a crowd and that is something he definitely didn't inherit from either one of his parents.  We were truly surprised.  So I took his stuff for showing how to make pancakes to school and stayed to watch (without my camera of course-classic mom!)  I was very proud of how well he engaged his classmates with questions and helpful hints as he did his demonstration.

 Dad surprised us by coming home early, so Porter could open the rest of his gifts.  Then we had his requested dinner, hot wings, tater tots, cornbread (made without sugar because mom was hurrying too fast) and cauliflower.

 Next we were off to scout pack meeting and stayed up a little bit late to sing happy birthday and eat ice cream sundaes. Porter is a fantastic oldest brother!  He has always loved babies and is so helpful with Leo.   He also sleeps with way too many blankets and stuffed animals because he likes to be cozy.  His 2 newest crazes are Harry Potter and crystals.  The kids spend hours outside under the back deck cracking open rocks with bigger rocks and looking for anything shiny or sparkly.  They also like to call their uncle David who graduated in geology to come inspect their findings and tell them how valuable they are.

May your days in the double digits be pleasurable Porter!

Two Little Boys

Since Jane has started school, we're back to having 2 little boys at home...which is right where we started.  It's funny because we attend playgroup at the same parks that I took Porter and Andrew to when they were these ages and there's even another mom that comes that has boys Porter and Andrew's ages so we started playgroup together and then her 3rd child is about Adam's age.  So we like to reminisce and talk about how old we're getting.

 Leo really wants to start moving.  Sometimes he rolls a few times to move but mostly he tries to scrunch his legs up under himself and screams at the floor.

 Adam doesn't really give Leo a lot of attention.  He wants to hold him once in a while (which is quite amusing because Leo is almost as big as Adam) and he does get concerned when Leo is crying.  He usually runs up to him yelling "It okay Yeo, it okay Yeo, it okay Yeo!" over and over an inch from his face.  The rest of us say that to Leo also, but in more soothing tones and with a bigger personal space buffer than anxious Adam.

 They are certainly a different combo than Porter and Andrew, but we wouldn't want too much predictability in our life, would we?  Love our little boys:-)

Jane turns 5!

After months of little girl anticipation, Jane turned 5 years old!  She started the day off with her favorite treat cereal-a fun Kulbeth tradition.

 Jane was extra excited this year since she got to have her first friend party.  Her favorite preschool gals and neighbor friend joined us for a few hours to make cat collars, play pin the tail on the cheetah, smash a pinata, swat some balloons, and eat a turquoise cake (her favorite color at the moment).

 As you can imagine, we are use to a lot of boy noise around this house, so it was especially fun to hear all the little girl giggles while they played games.

 One of the girls brought this color-in playhouse which they immediately set to work on.

 We are so thankful to have our one of a kind Jane in our family!  Jane has been on the move since before she could walk and she still loves to run and jump.  We often have to remind her not to climb on the furniture and to jump on the little trampoline instead of the couch.  She loves play phones, new shoes, wearing her BYU shirt (because it has a cougar on it), and having her back scratched.  Jane is kind and funny and exactly the girl we need in this family.  We love our Jane!

And here is our cheetah runner, who inspired this cheetah party...