MORE PICS

nice and cozy, ready for bed

my poor car.... going to the "doctor"

 (as jakob would say)

petting the deer

crazy girls!

walking with nanny

MORE COUSIN PICS

lorna- exhausted from taking care of the kids all weekend

lilly singing for american idol- in the basement

brooklyn and nico playing guitar hero

nico taking otto and brooklyn for a ride

all the grandkids and lorna

FUN WEEKEND!

what a fantastically fun weekend. it started out on thursday night when we took a drive down to rob and lorna's to see the nash's. the kids instantly were all best friends and had a blast playing. nico and brooklyn picked up right where they left off and annelies and lilly were inseparable. otto and sofia got along great and this helped ease the constant squabbles between otto and lilly. then there's little mya who everyone wants to play with, but won't leave poppy's side. he is her personal jungle gym!! jakob had so much fun playing and interacting with everybody and loved playing school with brooklyn and nico. all in all- everybody had a great time and nico got to spend the night at nanny and poppy's which was great for him  because he got to miss school on friday. saturday i went to pick nico up and we brought back lilly to play with annelies. they had so much fun. then on sunday rob and i volunteered to give nanny and poppy a little break, so we invited all three nash kids to our house to spend the night. so sunday night melanie and nanny and poppy brought the rest of the kids up to spend the night. before leaving, nico and melanie dueled each other at guitar hero and it was pretty much an equal match. on top of that rob was sick with a cold (how convenient), so i was in charge of all eight kids. it actually was a lot of fun and the kids did a great job entertaining themselves. brooklyn had several art projects going on and got as many kids involved as possible and nico and jakob took the rest of the kids and watched movies and played in the playroom.  then bedtime rolled around and everyone was just fine squeezing in the guest bedroom to watch a movie and fall asleep. monday morning we all woke up and i made everyone waffles and we all got dressed and ready to go to the yellow river game ranch. while waiting on aunt melanie and nanny to meet us at the house, the kids played outside on the trampoline, rode the mule and played with the chickens.it was so much fun and the kids did not want to leave! oh- did i mention my car broke down and had to be towed away. that was fun, luckily it broke down at home so we weren't all stranded on the side of the road. that would have been interesting. once we got everyone filed into the petting zoo, they had a blast petting all the animals and feeding them crackers, carrots and peanuts. it was sad to say goodbye at the end, but it was so good to see them all together again!

i wish so much that my kids could have there cousins live closer. they have so much fun together, but i guess it makes the time that they do have together that much more special.

MY JAKOB

what a sweet boy, yet so mean at the same time. there is a little girl in his class that apparently rubs him the wrong way or maybe he thinks she's cute, i don't know! anyways- i keep getting reports in his daily conduct report that he is hitting and scratching his friends. when i ask him about it he tells me every time that it was Angelica. poor little girl is going home with bruises and scratches almost everyday. his class has a 5 smiley face conduct method. he has been coming home with atleast 2-3 of those smiley faces turned upside down. one day all 5 were sad faces. i was not happy and explained this to jakob. so the next day after many talks and signing discussions, i sent him off to school with a morning prayer. that day he returned home from school with FIVE smiley faces and a report that said "jakob had a good day and at the end of the day he was so proud of himself and signed to his teacher- mom will be proud!" OH HOW PROUD I AM!! 

MONTH REVIEW FOR FEBRUARY

yet again we have had another great month. time goes by so fast and the kids are getting so big! we had a very eventful month of guitar lessons, basketball banquets, boy scout blue and gold banquet, a birthday and so much more that i'm sure i am forgetting. the kids did not have school on monday so me and some friends decided to take our kids to the indoor water park to help pass the time. it was a brilliant idea except for the fact that the actual water park did not open until 3:00, but lucky for us the kids were happy to play in the lap pool!

another exciting thing that is happening at our house is all the wonderful murals mysteriously being left on our walls and furniture! sofia is such a busy little, sneaky little munch-kin.  she is very aware that she is being naughty, but the act of making art is so much fun that she doesn't care. if you can't see the beautiful black markings all over the dresser, that is why i have a picture of this up. this is her latest masterpiece.... luckily the magic eraser made it disappear!

we live on about 2 1/2 acres and the boys are very curious as to what else might be living on the land with us! so with rob's help, they set out a trap only to catch an ugly, disgusting opossum! this thing was hissing and on alert the whole time we were observing it. the boys were so proud and nico even gave it a name. unfortunately we released it back into the yard and the boys were a little disappointed. apparently the opossum is harmless and is as scared of us as we are of them.
the kids got a surprising visit from uncle ben (my brother). the girls were so excited to have him spend the night and jump on the trampoline and do everything they told him to. nico made it his job to tell ben the dangers of smoking and anything else pertaining to the word of wisdom. jakob and ollie were just happy to see uncle ben and to play with them!

to finish up the month we of course had rob's birthday.... which was fun and exciting and the kids had so much fun planning for it. we also took the kids out of school on tuesday and took a road trip to alabama to say goodbye to my papa. it was so good to see my cousins and visit with family i hadn't seen in a while. my papa looked so nice and the service was just how he would have wanted it. unfortunately the weather was not cooperating and made for a very cold and wet day! the kids were all very curious as to what was in the wooden box in the room. so annelies being very brave, walked up to take a peak and came back quickly to report that she saw papa murphy in the box! it was quite funny how she said it. they all did very well and nico even kept his composure, which was surprising to both rob and i. 

all in all it was a great month and we did a lot of fun things! 

HE'S GETTING OLDER and GRUMPIER

hiding for dad's surprise

waiting for dad at his surprise party

rob's cheesecake that annelies made for him

well i am not too good at the birthday thing. rob is one to get himself whatever he wants whenever he wants it! (in moderation of course) so this birthday, just like every other birthday, fathers day and anniversary, i was clueless as too what he might want. i picked up on little hints now and then as to what he might need so i got those things..... like a new pair of jeans or a fondue kit to do with the kids, etc.... well those were apparently not what he wanted. oh, well. other than gifts, i think rob had a pretty good birthday. the kids and i woke up early and decorated the kitchen for a surprise party and made him his favorite applesauce cookies! the kids had been so excited to have a surprise party for him, so the night before they made a happy birthday banner and they each made a personal card for him. he was thrilled and enjoyed that the kids put such an effort into making his birthday special. Jakob was not too thrilled that it was somebody's birthday other than his own, but after some convincing and some "calming down" he was okay with it. that night rob and i went to dinner with friends and had a fun night chatting with them. i hope rob had a good birthday..... it didn't compare to mine, but all in all it think it was nice and relaxing!

AN ODE TO MY PAPA!

we have had a lot of things happen this week like the boys catching a possum in their trap or rob's 34th birthday, which i will post all about very soon. but i wanted to dedicate this post to my papa murphy. he is such a stubborn old man with the greatest since of humor. he loved my kids and ate them up every time we would visit. he loved taking annelies riding on his wheel chair or sharing his snacks with the kids. he was so excited to see us on our random visits. he loved visitors!!! my last visit was just me and my sister and i will never forget it. i am so grateful for this experience. i got to see a more tender side of my papa when they were visited by the local pastor. he shared with us scripture and sang my papa's favorite hymn..... which i regretfully forget, but will make an effort to find out. i got to see my papa touched by the spirit and the knowledge that death was coming filled his face with tears of sadness and joy. i loved my papa. he always looked out for our well being and even made an attempt to stop me from joining the church. he loves the Lord and on February 23rd my papa passed away and is back with family and friends and Heavenly Father. i will miss him, but i look forward to the day that we will meet again!!