Belly Shots

If all goes according to plan, this will be the last baby to join our family. On one hand, 5 is a really good size, especially with one as awesome as Becca. On the other hand, Becca will not be getting any smaller and she's quite a lot to lift and carry. And on the other hand, what could be more perfect than 3 girls and 2 boys? Everyone has a someone! That's plenty of hands for me, not to mention the Lord's hand that guides us in everything we do and we really feel very peaceful and fulfilled and blessed beyond our capacity to receive it sometimes. :)

In light of this final adventure, I decided that rather than hiding from the camera all the time, I wanted to document this last foray into the unique experience of carrying another life for 9 months. And besides, hubby got a new camera and it's fun to play with new toys. :) So, without further ado, here are some fun shots of me and my nameless little fellow who is due to arrive in about 3 weeks.

Gracie's First Day of Kindergarten

It was the day we had all been waiting for! Gracie's first day of real school! She had endured a whole week of big sisters going to school and it was finally her turn! Her way of showing her nervousness and excitement was to be a bit whiny during the first part of the day, but she ended up being the picture of confidence. We decided together to save the matching dresses for Gracie's first day instead of the older girls' first day. They are what we have decided to call 'casual dresses' and the leggings underneath make playground playing much easier and more modest. :)


By the time afternoon rolled around, Gracie was MORE than ready to go. She picked ravioli for lunch with grapes on the side. School is supposed to start at 12:40 and we were done eating at noon. I dawdled as much as I could and finally got ready to take her. We were WAY early to the school because she was standing ready at the door with her backpack dancing around. We walked down the hall and took her picture by her door and she was like, "Bye, Mom!" I had to call her back to get a hug! :D As soon as she was in the classroom and we started to walk away Landon was the one to burst into tears. He cried all the way back down the hallway and outside. I tried to get a picture, but he was looking back at the school. Don't mind my weird face in that one. :D


So, she's there and happy and I'm not sure what I feel. I mean, I'm okay because she was so okay with the whole thing. She's SO ready! I just know she's going to have a great time and I'm crossing fingers and toes that she obeys and is kind to those around her. But, I have a really good feeling that even though she has slip ups and says things she shouldn't sometimes and doesn't always follow directions, that she will learn to do everything and show everyone the sweet, wonderful girl she is inside. She will have fun satiating her curiosity by having another someone to ask Why? Why? Why? to and she will make great new friends. Kindergarten is going to be GREAT! :D

Snow Plows in August and the First Day of School 2009

I looked out the window and what did I see?
A snow plow plowing up my road, Yippee. (NOT!)

The road in front of my house is a huge disastrous mess, but someday it will be nice and smooth again. I have to walk to the back of my block to meet Becca's bus and we haven't been able to park in the garage for a couple of weeks now. But the Jeff-Foxworthy-look-a-like construction manager man told me today that they are laying down the sub grade, which appears to be the layer of compressed gravel right before the pavement comes. Being the Murphy's Law abiders that we are, however, our house has "soft spots" in the dirt layer that's out there now that need to be reinforced first. So, they are laying big huge sheets of metal mesh and then the sub grade and spreading that around with the snow plow* and then compressing it down with the roller mill car. How's that for technical jargon?! :D Anyway, we're getting there and I couldn't resist walking down the street to take a picture of the snow plow* for you! You should be grateful... after the day I've had today I'm surprised I could even still walk! :D The urge to pry off my belly and stick it onto Geoff for a little while was very strong today.

*In case you have never lived in the White Mountains of Arizona, they often use road graders as snow plows. In fact, I never saw them use anything else. In addition, there were trucks that would drop crushed, warm, red cinders (sometimes called volcanic rock) onto the roads already made from red cinders to help melt the snow.

Becca and Emily had a super great first day... as far as I can tell. :D We walked to get Emily and she waited for us under a different tree than we were waiting under and I thought we had a replay of last year when she walked home by herself on the first day. :D She had corn dogs for lunch and was proud that her shoes were still white. :D They got to bring a favorite book and she brought a big wildlife book that we got her for her birthday and she said the other kids said that if they owned that book, it would be their favorite, too. :D We decided together that Becca and Emily would wear their second favorite outfits today and save the super cute dresses and leggings their Daddy bought for them until it was Gracie's first day, too. :D Emily's shirt was kind of Hannah Montana-esque and had a little vest sewn on the front with printed designs. Emily learned today that some of the designs were peace signs and she said that almost everyone in her class had peace signs on their clothes or on their backpacks. Hmmm, how 'bout that! :D

After collecting Emily from her school, we walked to the park to wait for the bus. I walked half way between the jungle gym and the sidewalk and sat in the grass. I didn't want to have to waddle-run the distance when the bus came. We waited and waited and waited. Emily ran home to go to the bathroom and came back. Gracie and Landon played and climbed and slid and played some more. I talked to a lady who lived on the Navajo Reservation near the New Mexican border, but in AZ. She knows where Show Low is. :D We waited and waited and waited. Last year, Becca used to get home around 4:30 some days, usually 4:15, so as it passed 4:30 and I knew she must have been on the bus for an hour already, I started calling. The school put her on the bus okay, so I called the bus garage and, again, being the Murphy's Law abiders that we are, the bus came down the street at that very moment. :D Apparently, she had had a couple of extra kids today and then a boy had thrown a very big fit and broken one of the bus windows with his head! Yikes! Becca was safe and extremely happy, though, so we trundled off home.

Geoff ordered us pizza and we have kind of been taking it easy since then. I'm toying with the idea of bringing along a camp chair to the park tomorrow. Sitting on the grass and leaning back on my arms was only fun for a few minutes, if you know what I mean! :D So, anyway, here are some fun pictures of Becca and Emily's first day! :D Enjoy!! ;)

Landon's pic is also on Geoff's blog, but in case you can't tell he is holding a "Tato bug." :D He is actually quite careful with them and they can usually still walk after he sits them down. :D lol

Hopefully you can kind of see Becca's cute outfit. The colors are SO bright! :D It's little pink leggings with an orange skirt/shorts thing and a really bright yellow shirt. I'm not sure I would have picked it out had I done the shopping, but it is really quite cute. :)

Yes, that's a Pop Tart in Emily's hand... Geoff's Mom assured me that they have about the same nutrition as cereal and they are portable. :D

Stay tuned for more "first day" pictures on Gracie's first day of Kindergarten next week! ;)

Five Star!

Gracie has reached a QUINTessential milestone! She is 5 and will be going to Kindergarten in the Fall. Ready or not, here she comes! :D

How old is Gracie?!
(Btw, now that you've seen what I look like early in the morning, I'll have to shoot you!) :D

New shorts made by Mommy... she hasn't taken them off since! :D

Fun school supplies and candy from sisters, brother and Mommy and Daddy... there was also paper to practice letters on, pink pencils and more candy. :)

She was REALLY excited about the pretty hair decorations from Grandma and Grandpa Lee!

Grandma and Grandpa Lee know just what a new Kindergartener needs! A new back pack! And they packed it with fun things to do... stamps and ink and containers to organize everything in. I'm not sure how I'll feel watching the back of this back pack walking away from me, but for now it is super exciting! :D

This is Gracie the purple unicorn, perhaps you've met? :)


Baked by Mommy, iced by Daddy, blown out by Gracie, enjoyed by our nearest relatives...


Gracie, Bella, Daniel, Andrew and Landon.
Apparently, Andrew is super interesting. Your guess is as good as mine! :D


Karina, Emily, Becca and Gracie.

Happy Birthday, Gracie!
This next year is going to be full of so many new, fun things! We love you SO much and if you never forget that, you'll be alright. ;)

Landon's Two

Okay, so he's been two for a month, now... does it really matter? HE didn't yell at me for not blogging about him on his birthday, so I'll have no judgements from you either! ;)

It's July and it's hot and Mama is the size of a small hot air balloon, so we didn't as much GO anywhere as spend time together at home. :) These pictures are from the great 'opening of the presents' event that happens on Mom and Dad's bed on Birthday morning. Rest assured however that every picture of him you see posted here until next year is of him being 2. :D

He got a bunch of matchbox cars... individually wrapped of course... from his sisters and Mommy and Daddy.

Here's the unwrapped version.

This book is from Grandpa and Grandma Lee... his favorite page to date is the one with a big gerber daisy on it. He calls it a "thlower" and will turn the pages back and forth to find it. :)

This is possibly the coolest puzzle ever... also from Grandma and Grandpa Lee. It has different metal locks on each little wooden door. He can now do all but one all by himself and he does them over and over! :)

Happy Birthday, Buddy Boy! We sure love having you in our family!

(In case you forgot or are wondering where the Sagers fit in, I only have to look out my back windows to remember this.) :)

See you in the funny papers!

Tonight at dinner we were, once again, cajoling Emily into eating her food. Gracie seems to thrive on this and enjoys eating hers even if she doesn't like it that much, mostly for the bragging rights. One of our old standbys is to tell them that when they serve missions they will have to eat whatever is placed before them. After one such pontification directed towards Emily, Gracie piped up, "On my mission, you know what I'm going to eat? Cheetos, squid, ham-boogers and purple kool-aid!" I'm not sure where that is, but it sure sounds interesting!

Later on in the conversation, the girls and I were relating to Daddy our discussion from lunch. The topic was Wine vs. Water while taking the Sacrament. Of course, in Jesus' time they used wine as they did when the Church was first restored, or rather "grape juice." During lunch we had called Daddy and asked him, on speaker phone, when they had received revelation to use water instead of wine in order to avoid alchoholic beverages. Wanting to show off my smart, wonderful children and my smart, wonderful explanations I encouraged them to tell Daddy what we had learned about the whole thing. After a brief (and smart and wonderful) explanation mostly by Emily, Gracie said, "But where did they get the water?" To which our smart and wonderful Daddy replied, "They grew it in big fields... of water... some people called them lakes." I almost did a spit-take and was laughing so hard, it probably made the baby inside me feel like a milkshake. I could hardly breathe I was laughing so hard! I mean, it was funny! And besides, the girls just looked at him like, "Hmmm, okay, that makes sense." :D

Top this all off with a very spirited rendition of "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" complete with choreography of Irish step dancing caliber by Landon and you just experienced a Sagers Family Home Evening! :D