Geoffrey- eoffrey- eoffrey

Don't forget to go look at Landon's big boy bed on his Daddy's blog.

And while you're blog hopping, check out Geoff's new photography blog, too! He loves comments, even short and sweet ones, so make sure and let him know what you think! ;)

Growing UP

Growing up as in Tall

We do a lot of this at our house! All of our kids are above-average in height, which isn't surprising given the height of their parents. I have noticed some hemlines raising lately and it's not due to haute couture, but rather because the occupant of the clothes has lengthened their legs. Those tags they put in clothes with the size on them are suggestions, really. If I want to cover my kids modestly, I usually have to get them a size ahead. I just moved Ethan up into 6 to 9 month clothes because the 3-6 were too tight and short. He just passed 3 months old a couple of weeks ago. Landon has been wearing 3T since he turned 2 and it's not limited to the boys... the girls all wear a size ahead, especially in dresses to get them the right length. I don't remember if it was this way for me when I was a kid, but I know now that if my pants do not say "long" in the size, they will not be anywhere near long enough!

Growing up as in Old

I have always said that it is not my birthdays that make me feel old. It used to be my siblings. My sister is 21 months younger than I am and, without fail, every time she has a birthday, I'm like, "Aren't I that age?" Nope, about to turn the age that is 2 years later.

Now, it is my kids. Becca is about to turn 10! WHAT?!! When did this happen? She's going to have double digits! Emily turns 8 this year and WOW! Talk about a wake up call! Being LDS, 8 years old is pretty special. When Becca turned 8 we did things differently and it was a difficult time to wrap our head's around. Now Emily is here and even though we won't miss the 'milestone' of Baptism this time, I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. I remember being 8! If I mess things up for her, she'll REMEMBER it!! Maybe that's a silly thing to worry about, but there it is! We went to a special little meeting yesterday that was focused on the kids getting Baptized this year and it was so neat! They listened to talks and went around to 3 different chats about different aspects of Baptism that they got to raise their hands and participate in. Emily really felt like a million bucks when it was all over! It will be really neat to invite family to our special event in June.

So, even though growing up doesn't actually mean gaining more height for me (thank goodness!!), I am constantly amazed at the rate in which time passes and my enduring hope is that I can keep up! I want to remember all of this! I don't want to miss important things because I was focused beyond them or even behind them. I want to be here... present... for all of the exciting things my family and I are going through. Especially in this year of double digits and Baptisms! :)

How goes Project Simplification?

As a small update, my goal to simplify is going really well! Unlike so many resolutions that end in ashes in January, I'm determined to make this part of my personality and the way I do things. I have already cleaned several areas in my house with a mind towards getting rid of things I don't need. I have also simplified the way I spend my time and focus on those things that will make me happy and nourish my spirit. :) So far, so good!

Simplify

This is the one and only resolution I am making for myself. Simplify. I am only going to do the things, keep the things and think about the things that will make me happy, keep me close to the Lord and make my family stronger. My mind has already been reeling with things I can do (or stop doing) in order to accomplish this and I figure the best way to be held accountable is to openly declare my attempts and hopefully results. :)

The first thing that came to mind was simplify the way my house looks. There are many ways to describe how it looks now... lived in... broken in... an obstacle course... sanitary clutter (my favorite). You see, it does get cleaned regularly and I even get down to the scrubbing, vacuuming and disinfecting stages of things. But the clutter, well, now the clutter just keeps on creeping in. No matter how many times I put it away, it ends up right back on the floor. I often say in exasperation that I wish we had less stuff, but I never actually do anything about it except to keep right on picking it up and putting it back away. My goal for this year is to get rid of unnecessary things if only to avoid the laps they make from the shelf to the floor and back again. I would love to be so magnanimous as to donate them to a specific cause, but in light of simplifying, I will just hope that the good people at D.I. will price them such that someone who really needs them will be able to afford them easily. :)

An interesting thing happened to me during this past Christmas season that has driven my perspective on simplifying my life. I love to sew a lot for Christmas. It does tend to save money, but it also gives me oodles of time to think about the people that I am sewing for. By the time I have finished their gifts, I have imagined their response to the gift and reminisced on our shared experiences and thought about how much they mean to me and why I am spending my time on them instead of my money. However, this year I decided that I wasn't going to panic if things weren't finished on time and sew until the wee hours of every night right up until Christmas Eve. I wanted to enjoy it and all of the other things I sometimes miss out on when I sew obsessively. Instead, I prioritized my list with the things that definitely mattered that they were done early, such as those to be sent far away, and the things we had decided would be the "big" gifts for our kids and so on. As a result, I didn't get everything done that was on my list in time for Christmas morning. *GASP!* And it was okay. *Gasp! Choke! Bug eyes!*

I stopped sewing during the day right before my kids' first day of Christmas break and only sewed at night after they were asleep, making sure I went to bed at a good time. And you know what happened? I was happy. I enjoyed my kids while they were home (for the most part... I'm not THAT patient). I baked and made dinners that had thought behind them instead of "freezer surprise" every night. And I didn't hear anyone complaining Christmas morning. I don't sew for people in order to stress myself out and this year I made sure that didn't happen.

I really want this to work and with 5 kids it's just got to work or they will grow up remembering a stressed out, disheveled, screaming Mommy and that is just not an option. They grow up way too fast and I don't want to miss it! Wish me luck! ;)