Happy Birthday Kathryn

She started early by staying up to see the clock read the minute she was born. Keep in mind this is AM!

Then she waited a minute and hopped in the picture "just to prove" (she said) that the minute had gone by.

She was OFFICIALLY eleven!!

We did a little shopping for some new sneakers and were suprised to learn that ten's are now too tight... eleven's were a little big (though I tried to convince Kathryn that wearing the same size as your age was cool. At least for now... can you imagine what that would be like when she's fifteen??). So we crossed the aisle and found a men's size 9 that worked great. Pretty snappy, don'tcha think?


We also browsed the racks and found this cute smock on a super-dee-duper sale. Love it!!












Kathryn's grandma Gail (who she's named for) was big on having birthday pictures taken ON THE DAY. So, we've tried to continue this tradition. Though I must admit to failure on at least two occasions. But, with five kids (even if one hasn't had a birthday yet!) I do my best not to feel too guilty. Grandma only had two to keep up on.















We try to make sure we take good "posing" pictures, either in a studio or on our own. The digital age has made this so much easier!

Kathryn is so lovely and we are lucky to have her be part of our family. She is kind and thoughtful and a big helper both at home and at school. We are grateful that she's a good student and loves learning, and is becoming a good citizen as well.

Finally it was time to party!

I don't know why it won't let me rotate it, but here's Kathryn's cake

She's loving BSU football these days (thanks to Uncle Chris) so blue and orange

seemed like the right color scheme

Kathryn made a wish and blew out her candles in three tries

A Rubik's cube from her siblings (please allow us to excuse Emily who was getting some beauty sleep at the time this picture was taken)

A cool bookset, similar to the Inkheart series Kathryn is devouring, and several new outfits for her American Girl doll ~ all from Grandpa Evans and Grandma Karolyn

And $20 from Grandma and Grandpa Freeman ~ new Plecostomus here she comes!

All in all a super fun day. Kathryn's looking forward to having some friends over next week when break is over. She's now into her last year in Primary and is already showing signs of a slight case of "SeniorPrimary-itis". One more year of Activity Days and a Faith in God award to earn yet. Go Go Kathryn!!

Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime

If posting is about life, then having life get in the way of posting is acceptable, isn't it? We've been having so much fun this past week, getting ready for and enjoying Christmas. Now we seem to wander through the kitchen a little more often, stealing more fudge or a cookie or a handful of our special Christmas cereals; We have watched our new movies; we have spent time with friends and family. Today we're taking down Christmas in preparation for Kathryn's birthday tomorrow. She will be ELEVEN!

Here though is a more complete recap:

We made candy ~ a Freeman Family tradition!

Kurt's mom remembered to take a picture of those
of us who are taller than 5'0"

Santa got a new helper

We made cookies.
Hey Krista can I trade you a tree for a snowflake??

We opened Freeman name gifts. Emily got lucky!!

Nathan was caught developing a plot to take over the world

Thankfully he was convinced to give up the plot and come play trucks

We made graham cracker houses....Liz's turned into a porta-potty

When Melissa was asked whether she'd rather have a never ending VAT of ketchup or her birthday every day, she chose ketchup. Thankfully, Santa paid attention.

In fact, Santa was pretty generous this year

Emily got some one-on-one time with Grandma Karolyn

Grandma and Grandpa hosted a sleepover for all of those munchkins.

Somehow they convinced her to let them stay a second night.

Here's Liz, literally with an "L" on her forehead!!

Somehow all of the happy got sucked out of this picture..

Oh good ~ more presents

That brought some of Nathan's happy back. Though that look in his

eyes says that there are some new plans for taking over the world...

Happy 2009!!

Naptime Wars

Ever since Nathan learned how to climb out of his crib, getting him to stay IN when it's time for sleep has been a battle. Before this though he'd been such an awesome sleeper ~ 12 or so hours at night and then a 3-4 hour nap in the daytime. Maybe we touted him to friends and family one too many times, because boy are we being tested!!

After hitting the floor hard one day while trying to climb out of his crib, Kurt switched Nathan to a "Big Boy" bed. We hoped he'd feel so cool that he'd WANT to stay in. Silly us. Silly, silly us.

So I wage a battle every day I feel up to it: the battle to get Nate to hold still long enough (could be as little as 30 seconds) to fall asleep. Really, if he just stops moving, he'll tip over. Hmmmm, I wonder who his mother is, or where he might have gotten that from. Melissa does the same thing. Could there be a sleeping gene?

Anyhow, the battle usually entails sending him back to bed again and again. And again.

First with warnings, then stern warnings, then loud warnings and while I'm willing to admit trying corporal punishment, it doesn't work through a diaper or

seem to phase him, so I try not to go there.

Sometimes he wins because after two hours of battling, I have something else I have to do ~ like pick up a sister from somewhere. Of course putting him in his carseat forces him to hold still, and yep he's out before we leave the subdivision. So cruel, but true.

Here would probably be a good place to say that Nathan doesn't do this to his dad. Kurt MAYBE has to send him back to bed twice before he stops coming out. Sigh.

So today after several (much more than two!) attempts and still no success, I heard him come out of his room and instead of charging right up the stairs with a

"you are in the wrong place!," I waited.

Nathan came down the stairs slowly, talking quietly to himself. Proud I'm sure of how sneaky he thought he was. I ignored.

He sat on the bottom stair, just breathing. Still I ignored.

What must have been about 30 seconds later, I peeked around the corner to find him like this:

Mommy Wins!!

First Snow

We got what you might call our first "real" snow of the season and Kathryn constructed this snow man just as fast as she could get outside. Pretty cute! The mountains have been dumped on, which is just the perfect place for all the snow as far as I'm concerned. Keep it off the roads! It's melted a bunch this afternoon and the roads are pretty dry, which is good for getting back to school and work tomorrow. More is expected at the end of the week. How much fun would a White Christmas be??!?

Remembering Quincy

We are remembering our beloved friend, Quincy Bahbah Rahrah Whohaha Pickle Freeman tonight. We found him this evening lying peacefully by the fence out back as we were buttoning up the house for the night. He was last seen this afternoon.

Quincy was born on July 19, 1999. Our friends the Bennions had the litter and Kurt wanted a dog. We got Quincy in August and he spent the first several nights in the bathtub. He was a tiny guy then!

Quincy grew bigger than we expected him to. We learned a bit later that Labradors (which Quincy was a pure-bred) are descended from Newfoundlands and every once in a while a more classic-sized Lab would pop up. Quincy was one of those. Unfortunately his size was a detrement to him. We knew we might not get to keep him as long as we otherwise might. Quincy turned nine this year.

Quincy will be missed for being our favorite throw rug. He always found that perfect spot on the kitchen floor where we were sure to trip on him when we were making dinner. We'll miss his enthusiastic willingness to come in and clean up the morsels the kids had dropped. We called him Hoover (like the vacuum, get it?) for that.

I appreciate Quincy's gentleness with our children. When Melissa was little I remember a day when she was crawling over Quincy and around him and over him again. He let her do all her climbing and when he had had enough, simply rolled her off of him by shifting himself to his side, then got up and walked away. I know he knew what he was doing. Otherwise he'd have just stood up and let her fall to the floor. She was more important to him than that.

As the girls took in the news, we talked about where Quincy is now and I was able to tell them I felt strongly that their Grandma Evans is tending to his needs. She was such a dog lover ~ I've always thought she was needed to run the Animal Shelter in heaven and that's the assignment she received when she got there. Should all of that be true, Quincy is in great hands.

Quincy died with a very long name. A name he aquired throughout his lifetime. Our good friend Bridger, when he was very small, called Quincy "bahbah" or "rahrah" and soon that stuck. The "whohaha" matched and was stolen from Finding Nemo. One year I came back from Girls Camp singing the Pickle Song, which seemed to make Quincy dance. Just the word 'pickle' Quincy seemed to love. This was his nickname from then on. So he died Quincy Bahbah Rahrah Whohaha Pickle Freeman. I wonder how we're going to fit all of that on his headstone. Funeral services are pending.

We will miss him!

Another Quick Summation of Another Long Day

The parts of the day that have to do with me cancelling my eye doctor appointment and having a lovely visit with Carolyn Wixom during our knitting and crocheting group aren't the important parts. But they contributed to the busy day we had today.

We saw the fabulous Dr. Shilt after a 45 minute wait in his office. Having an appointment late in the day will do that.

He took a look at Liz's x-rays and wasn't at all concerned with a growth plate break. She can start to put weight on her booted foot as soon as she feels comfortable doing so. Hopefully that's sooner than later because her arms are killing her thanks to her crutches. "I'll be so buff" she's said, trying to look on the bright side of her pain.

The doctor will see her again in a month to re-x-ray and make sure she's healing or healed.

Otherwise, he was calm and reassuring and have I mentioned how much we love this guy?

A Quick Summation of an Awfully Long Day

Elizabeth was cleaning the kitchen Tuesday night and while wiping up a water spill with her foot, slipped and her foot hit the fridge.

We iced it but she still couldn't walk on it Wednesday.

Today we went to the urgent care clinic, even though it seemed like she might have just tweaked it because it wasn't swollen or bruising...or so I thought.

She took off her socks so the PA could look, and her foot was puffy and her fourth toe all purple.

An x-ray showed her foot is broken in two places. One of the fractures looks like it might be through a growth plate, so we have an appointment tomorrow to see an Orthopaedist. No, we have an appointment to see THE Orthopaedist... the same one we saw for Emily's hips. That is a bright point in all of this. He is wonderful and brilliant.

Liz got a fancy new shoe, which will make sure she doesn't whack her foot on the stairs (again ~ she's done that once already), or do any more damage.

Four hours in the doctor's office, with Nathan and Emily in tow (or, should I say TOE?! LOL). Made for a very long day.

It's important to note that the moral of this story is NOT that cleaning the kitchen causes undo harm to children. Even though she'd like me to think so, and never make/let her do it again.

The better part of the day (and the reason for the dress in the picture) was tonight when Liz got to go to the Temple for the first time. She couldn't do baptisms, but was able to participate in the confirmations. She came home glowing, which is about as good as it gets.

The Merry Days of Christmas

Thoughts on Thanks

We've enjoyed a lovely weekend celebrating Thanksgiving. Kurt's family gathered and ate and played and shopped and ate some more. We've stayed up late and gotten up early (for Black Friday, of course!). The boys got to see BSU *squeek* by Fresno Saturday, Kurt from the schmancy sky box even! (he was working as one of the EMT's)

At dinner Thursday everyone shared five of the things they are most thankful for. Grandma had challenged us to make lists and we were prepared! I find it easier to think of things when I consider what my life would be like without something. Makes it easy to get specific (think: lightbulbs and toothbrushes).

Of course family was in everyone's top five, as was the Atonement and the Gospel. Warm homes, reliable vehicles and good jobs also topped our lists. Our eyes went blurry when Grandma expressed her gratitude for Grandpa. Yes, this certainly might have been our first Thanksgiving without him. But by the grace of God...

The kids were thankful for good food and I added appreciation for kids big enough to do dishes. I'm also so grateful for epidurals and having a stamp when I need it. Oh the little things!

We are transitioning now into December and planning a decorating party tomorrow night for FHE. We've already had some carols coming from the piano and CD players. Love that Voice Male!

Happy memories have been made this weekend. What a wonderful time of the year!

Three Months Old Today

The girls are home for Thanksgiving Break and were happy to watch the clock this morning to ensure that our pictures were taken at exactly 10:33am, the minute Emily was born, three months ago. She wasn't in the mood really for pictures, but I managed to snap one semi-happy one. Kinda.

I might try again later...

Kurt had Emily going yesterday morning. She loves talking to her daddy!

CostCo Special

This is not a joke. While at CostCo today, we had not one, not two, but THREE of the CUTEST and most sincerely ADORABLE grandma and grandpa-esque couples look at Emily riding in her carseat in the basket and ask us something to the effect of, "Where do we find one of those??" When I agreed that she was quite a find but then lamented "she was the last one on the shelf" or "she's not returnable" or even "she's awfully expensive", some of the grandmas still wanted her. One thought we were being greedy when he heard we already had four others at home. "We only have two," he said. Sorry!
Em was in a great mood and smiled for all three couples. What a doll.

Funny though that they all used the same line...is there a class that teaches that somewhere??

She's three months old tomorrow. Big pictures coming. And giggle video. Oh my lanta ~ her daddy really got her going.

July in November

This is one of those "better late than never" stories. Tonight we took Elizabeth out for her birthday dinner, a birthday that took place the end of July. We're a little behind this year, but if we catch up next year, Liz only has to wait 8-ish months for her next special dinner with mom and dad! Super great!!

Liz chose Red Robin as her meal of choice. I told our server we were celebrating her birthday ~ a TEENAGE birthday even ~ and she winked and said, "Happy Birthday!". A little while later a big group of employees came around and started making a lot of noise clapping and cheer singing. All for a girl named Alexis who was celebrating her seventh birthday. Liz turned red and said she was embarrassed for Alexis, and PLEASE don't do that to her. Muwahahahaha....she was too late! Our little plan was already in the works.

A few minutes later it was Liz's turn.

Liz was especially glad to get to wear those balloons on her ears.

Dinner was great as all dinners as Red Robin are. Liz had a huge-mongous chicken burger, fries and a rootbeer. Yum-o!

Beautiful Inside and Out

We got to see more of Emily's hips today, and can now tell you for certain (not just from a proud parent point of view) that she is gorgeous on the inside as well as the outside. I wish I could show you the pictures. I got a copy of her x-rays but the pictures are at an angle that shows a little more information than we feel comfortable sharing. So you get to take our word for it :)

Can I just say again how much we love our Orthopaedist? He takes his time and he obviously loves what he does. Between him and the blessed anesthesiologist who got an epidural to work while I was in labor ~ thank goodness for them!

His evaluation of Emily's hips today was that her angles are just right. "Perfect" is the word he used. (too bad you can't put that on a resume, huh? "I have perfect hips per Dr. Jeffrey Shilt, MD")

He would be happy to see her in a year, but based on the data today, he felt like there is no reason why she won't continue to develop normally. Yay!

We mentioned that we've been referred for her muscle tone, and he was kind enough to tell us that based on his experience Emily was still within normal development range. He said he'd be glad to stay in the loop on all of this, which we might take him up on. We haven't heard anymore from our Pediatrician's office regarding when our appointment will be with these other specialists. But that should be soon. Since our appointment Friday we've noticed that she'll hold her head up sometimes, and catch her weight on her legs a little. I realized that it doesn't seem as though she can't do these things, but that she isn't too interested at this point. She seems content to snuggle in, which is awfully hard not to love.

So, we've ended one thing just in time to start another. And while I can find myself concerned with the what-ifs, more than that is gratitude first for Emily and the addition she is to our family, and second for modern medicine and the early intervention we are blessed by.

Nathan's Big Find!

Maryhelen has been bugging me to post these for a while, so I had some time today, and thought I would get it done. I saw one of these land at Washington Elementary earlier in the morning for Veteran's Day, and I was going to take Nathan over to see it. While getting him ready, he said "airplane!" He loves the airplanes and helicopters that fly over our house (we live close to an airport and helicopter training school), and he calls them all airplanes. Sure enough, he had heard one and we went out to see and low-and-behold it was another Apache landing by our house at one of the local Charter Schools. He was very excited to go and see.

He got to see the pilots and actually touch the Apache. I even had him saying "Apache" for a second. Later that day, another Apache flew over Grandma's house and landed at another local elementary school. Nathan got a kick out of watching that also.

Twelve Weeks Old

Our dear Emily is twelve weeks old today. Twelve weeks!! She is lovely and bright and we are so lucky to have her in our family.

We paused today to snap a few pictures. She's learning how to cheese for the camera already!

Super Smiley Lady!!

She has put her weight on her legs a little tonight as well as held up her head. Maybe she heard the concern we have for her and is going to help us though. You go girl!

Special Thanks

I'm sending a great big THANK YOU into the bloggosphere to the person who turned in my purse tonight after finding it left in the cart return at WinCo. I appreciate so much your kindness and honesty and being spared all of the ~ well, everything ~ that I might have had to go through should someone else have found it and decided to run away.

May the good karma you've created come back to bless you!

Our Precious Skinny Chicken

We've joked that Emily doesn't seem like she's filled out any, but has gotten longer. I stumbled on my measuring tape the other day while she was close by so I decided to take some measurements. I found that she was between 25 and 26 inches long, which means she's grown two or three inches since birth. But I also found that her chest was still the same 15-inches it was when she was born. So we were right! She has gotten longer, but not filled out any. Her head is a little bigger ~ 16 to birth's 15 inches.

The camera was also close, so I got these pictures. She looks so much like her siblings, except for her whole body is different. :)

Precious precious girl!

We Saw the Doctor Today

Emily saw her terrific doctor today for her 2-month check. She was of course about as happy as she's ever been, just in time to ruin her day with three shots. This seems to be what happens any time we've taken our kids for their immunizations. Go figure!

Are you ready for this? She weighed 11lbs 3oz and is 25 inches long. Just for reference, Nathan weighed 11lbs 6oz when he was SIX DAYS old. But we are adjusting to this new kind of creature, and Emily is just right for Emily.

All during her exam, Em was talking to the doctor ~ seemingly trying to tell him everything he was asking about, all by herself. I finally quit talking for a moment so she could say what she had to say. Pretty adorable!

We've marveled at how long Emily has stayed infant-like ~ still curling up and not quite gaining control of her head or losing her startle reflex. I noticed when she was born that her grip was soft. She's stayed "little" longer than we remember any of the other kids doing.

I had started to wonder (in a try-not-to-worry sort of mommy way) whether she was having trouble with her muscles ~ her inability to hold her head up or support her weight on her legs, and mentioned it to the doctor today.

He found that she might have a little bit of a low tone to her muscles and has referred us to a group of evaluators who will check Emily's abilities and perhaps prescribe some exercises or therapy. We'll see them in a few weeks.

Developmentally Em is right on schedule. Her conversation with the doctor and her ability to see him and smile for him were right where we'd like her to be.

So another adventure to begin! How grateful we are for early diagnosis and intervention, that we might address these issues (like we did her hips) now and avoid troubles later.

Pictures coming soon!

We Voted!

Kurt got home this morning and we decided to tag team our voting, rather than potentially go with two small children only to wait in line in the Health & Welfare building where there's nothing fun to do, except get into things and places that aren't meant for small children to get into.
So after feeding the baby (my timer, dontcha kno) I took off and got there to find a line down "the wall" (where there were signs up telling voters to stand next to). I brought my journal and my scriptures with me ~ childlessness doesn't come often and I was terrified of just standing there for a long time. But just as I was reading an old entry, a woman came out of the room we were all waiting to go into and said, "anyone A through F?" I was the very last person in line, so when everyone in front of me said "no", she started to turn and walk away. I thought to myself, "wait! I'm an F!!!" So I jumped and walked in front all these other people waiting and went in to the little lady sitting alone behind the "A to F" line. I GOT RIGHT IN! So now, my hands were full of scriptures and my journal that were just extra baggage, getting in the way. geesh.
I showed her that I was who I said I was and she directed me to the second line where I would get my ballot. After picking it up, I walked to one of the open cardboard dividers that help us have some privacy while filling in completely those little circles. Here's where I appreciated being childless most: friends from the neighborhood and from church were there with their tiny people and it was of course chaotic to keep track of people and make sure the little guys were all attached at the leg to the appropriate tall people. One little boy got separated (looking up from the leg he was holding only to find that that was NOT his mom!), and was quickly ushered back to the right place. Thank goodness.
As I was filling in my little circles, I was close enough to the line where people were turning in their ballots to hear the "announcer" lady. You know the one I mean ~ the lady that says, "Ben E. Hanna has voted!" when you turn in your ballot. I was taken back for a moment to a time when I must have gone with my mom to vote. At Wilson Middle School. (you know that was a long time ago when it isn't even a middle school anymore) My Social Studies teacher, Mrs. Cummings was the "announcer" lady. And she did her job with gusto. This morning, the lady was quietly making her declarations. Mrs. Cummings would have had none of that. "BOB DENVER HAS VOTED!" Mrs Cummings would say while holding up Bob's ballot before dropping it in the box. I remember as a goofy kid, seeing my teacher there, feeling kind of awkward about her being so loud. Her voice filled an otherwise pretty quiet library. And then, being sort of embarrassed for her, she of course recognized me and acknowledged me by name. Now I was embarrassed that the loud announcer lady knew me. Funny how memories come when you might not expect them. Mrs. Cummings was a grandma when I had her and now I see her headstone at the cemetery near my family. She was an awesome woman...probably worthy of a post all her own someday. One quick memory was how she always used to call Joel Cano (Joe-elle Kahn-o) "CANO!". Especially when he took off down the hall with her prosthetic foot one day.

So back to voting. I was able to finish my ballot and get back home in less than 20 minutes. Kurt went and was back more quickly than that. There wasn't a line at all for him. And he found the little "A to F" lady all by her loney self again. Maybe we'll have to make her some cookies or something, poor dear.

Lines are around the block, around the building today in other places. Boise polling places are showing that there can be multi-houred waits. I'm so proud of people who are moving past the apathy we've seen in past elections. And prayerful that things will turn out well for everyone.

Happy Election Day!!

Happy Halloween!

I'm happy to present our little candy mongers. With three trick-or-treating this year plus our WAY overshooting how much candy we'd need here at the house, we are comfortable that at least now we have our year's supply.

Everyone had a great Halloween I think. Special thanks to Kurt, who got to take care of EVERYTHING again because mommy was down with strep throat.

We'll start with the youngest.... recapturing the love that Elizabeth shined with on her first Halloween, may I present Emily as Minnie Mouse.

She wasn't thrilled about the ears but tolerated them. She was adorable and smiled for Grandmas and Grandpas.

Moving right along to the boy and another recycling of an Elizabeth costume. This version though is not the Dalmatian Liz was. HE is a Firedog!

Nathan had the best time and we even got him to

say "trick or treat" once he learned there was candy on the other end. He can down a roll of smarties like a pro! He'll also eat mom's banana Runts for her without complaining.

Melissa is next. She put together her own costume to go as Word Girl. Who is Word Girl you ask? She's an awesome, crime fighting, vocabulary-building superheroine from PBS. Word Up!

Kathryn was a mighty fine looking Cowgirl. Don't ask when she got so big....it surprises me every time I look at her. She'll trick-or-treat next year for the last time.

Finally we have Elizabeth. She went to a friend's house for a party and decided to go in a costume. She came up with it herself. Pretty creative I think!

Just a girl in sweats and a mortarboard? Nooooo.... notice her pants

have something stuck on...those are packages of Smarties.

This is Liz as Miss Smartie Pants!!!