Licorice...

Heading out on a 3 1/2 mile brisk walk tonight...

at 11 PM...

donning our reflective vests.  Lydia in the stroller...

Shane and I in desperate need to get in shape for trek this summer.

And not enough time in the day to fit  it in... {thus the 11 PM walk}

And Shane goes to his truck and says...

"Do you want some licorice for the road?"

???????

Possibly why we need to get in shape for trek???

And if you're curious I said "NO" to the licorice...

for BOTH of us!

Lydia and herTonsils...

Our poor little Lydi had her big ugly tonsils and adenoids out Tuesday.

Lots of strep throat, tonsillitis and antibiotics...

it was time.

I was so upset to find out that we wouldn't be able to even arrive at the hospital until 11 am.

Which meant no food or drink after midnight.

Cruel for a 2 year old don't you agree??

So we kept her up late...

She got some late night time on Saige's phone. :)

And we prayed really hard that she would sleep in.

And she did!

Didn't wake up until around 9:40 and of course started asking for "waffles and chocolate milk."  Poor kid just looked at me like I was crazy when I told her that we didn't have any.

So grateful they called to say we could get there a little early.

She was so cute and only cried for a second when we told her she couldn't have a drink from the drinking fountain.

She thought that the PJ's they made her wear were very strange.

And obviously didn't have a clue what was going on.

Around 11:30 they finally came to get her.

She went right to the anesthesiologist... no tears.

After he told us that he had never seen anything like it.

He layed her down and she just closed her eyes and kept her arms to her sides while he put the mask on her.  No fighting it at all.

I think she was thinking, "If I close my eyes maybe that strange man will go away."

And then after being nervous parents waiting and praying for our little angel... and after the Dr. came in to tell us that both her tonsils and adenoids were huge and that they really did need to come out... they brought her to us.

Groggy and disoriented... but she never made a peep.

Just snuggled and purred like a little kitty.

And then gobbled up her Popsicle and juice.

It's amazing to me how well she has done.

The pain medicine doesn't sit well with her stomach.

Saige can vouch for that since she was the one that caught the brunt of it and all that juice she had been drinking all over her lap.

So we switched to just Ibuprofen/Tylenol.

And by the evening she was up running around.

And INSISTED on eating pizza with us.

I was sure she would want ice cream... her slurpee Deon brought her etc. etc.

But no... she ate almost a whole piece.

She has a seriously high pain tolerance level.

Possibly because her throat was so swollen most of the time anyway.

And she never ever told me that it hurt.

I could just tell by the way she would talk that those darn tonsils were infected again.

We sure do love that girl.

And are so so grateful that it all went so well.

We're trying to take it easy and make her rest...
but not much slows this little one down!

Random Busyness...

There's been a lot going on.

Like a successful soccer season that is coming to a close...

                                 There's some determination in that girls face!

Missing a few girls but most of the team.

Jadyn is much more aggressive than last year.

(and that little tongue of hers is hanging out the whole time she plays.)

 And getting a pic of her scoring this goal was the highlight of the season for me. :)

The best "weather" soccer season yet.  It didn't snow for one game!!  Amazing... I can handle a few games with rain... snow not so much.

And if we have time for fun at the park AFTER a game it's even a better day for the littlest ones.

We had our 1st "Movie Night" in the basement.

And of all the things in the basement I think the girls were most excited that we used our new popcorn machine.

And Lydia makes herself right at home in her "box" in the couch.

She's cute, that's true.

But she had a few extra baths this month...

She's not all that cute with poop smeared all over her hands.

(sparing you the picture but it was a doozy!)

I texted my family the picture...  with the caption...

"Bet my day is "poopier" than yours."

Good thing she is cute...

oh so cute.

And when she looks up at her daddy with complete trust and love...

We take the poopy stuffy.

Shane spent a few hours in the ER...

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning.

He was using his "carpet tear out machine" in a non-ventilated area.

He dragged his worker out after he collapsed...  He ended up in a hyperbaric chamber for several hours.

Shane being non-compliant but feeling dizzy and head-achey.

Waited several hours, went to a soccer game and FINALLY was convinced by a doctor in our ward to go get his levels checked.

He's one stubborn man.

And have you ever wondered what scoliosis looks like?

Here's Tayler's spine...

creepy looking!

But she looks awfully cute with some skin on her!!

She's growing up too fast.

I was totally excited that she would be getting her driving permit soon...

until this little incident.

Yeah... for real... Tayler hit that pole.

While driving a 4-wheeler (with me in the back)...  hauling a small trailer to the greenwaste drop 3 blocks from our house.

She saw a "cop car" (that wasn't).

Got nervous... so I calmly told her to slowly pull over and wait for it to pass.

She QUICKLY swerved the 4 wheeler past the sign...

and forgot about the trailer.

It was hilarious...  yet I DID NOT LAUGH at all!!

I had visions of wrecked cars flying through my head.

I now wish that old honkin' grand Safari station wagon that we mortiphingly had to drive to school was still around!! (Minus the fact that it only got 5.9 miles to the gallon...)

Her reply to this incident was...

Well I never plan on pulling a trailer... so....

it shouldn't be a problem.

{HELP ME}

We survived "Screen Free" week at our house.

And had fun at the "dragon run."

This next pic is Shane's mom...

who never lets us take a picture of her.

This one is a treasure!

We did lots and lots and lots and lots of yardwork.

It's still early enough in the spring that it's enjoyable.

But once again...

WHAT WERE WE THINKING HAVING SO MANY PLANTER BEDS?????

(Lydia took this one of me... Amazing the pictures I find on my phone from that 2 year old! :))

This week was teacher appreciation week at school and hats off to teachers!
Seriously...
I spent 2 hours at the school this week helping with class parties.
And each time I do I realize I could NEVER in 10,000 years be a school teacher!

Tayler had her awards assembly at school.

We're pretty proud of that girl and how hard she works.

She's setting a great example for her sisters.

And finally I never posted pictures of Kenna and her tumbling.

She's amazing.

And now taking a little break.

We learned a few things about tumbling.

It's 50% mental and 50% physical.

And when mentally you have a setback...

well then your body won't do it.

After months and months of practice one day she couldn't do anything that was "backwards" anymore.  No more backhandsprings, backflips, back tucks etc.

So we are taking a little break.

But we sure are proud of her and hope she gets it back...

if and when she wants to.

Love you Kenna.

Mother's Day...

...so grateful for these beautiful girls and a pretty awesome hubby.

I was pampered in the morning with a surprise breakfast, flowers, lots of cute cards and little gifts.  And a big gift {my new camera} that they re-wrapped for me since I have been using it the last few weeks. :)

After church a BBQ with my wonderful Momma.

And the sprinkling of other family members around.

{sadly, more family away than around though...}

I love my mother.

More and more every year that I am a mother.

And I love being a mother.

ALMOST everyday... :)

But especially today.

So grateful to be a mother of five girls.

(And I will forever count my sweet niece Paige as a "6th daughter".)

 She fits right in with my girls who normally look and act more like this when they get together.

She's just an all around fun girl to have around.

And this will forever be my favorite photo of her and her Poppa!

Motherhood is a challenge...

All good things are.

The other day after a soccer game, Kenna and I chatted about how she badly wished she had scored a goal.

I pointed out that she is an amazing defender.

And rarely do defenders score goals.

But their part in the game is vital.

I made the analogy that a mom is like a defender.

I don't think she really got it.

But I did.

Mom's don't always get cheered on for scoring the goal... {or for driving their children all over town, cleaning the house, reading stories, helping with homework, cooking meals etc. etc.}

But the family couldn't win without a defender.

My mom was my defender.  Her mom was hers... etc. etc.

and I hope my girls think of me as their defender...

Sometimes as mothers we get distracted.  And the ball gets by us, even in the goal sometimes.  And we beat ourselves up.  But we shouldn't should we?  We should just be quicker to get back in our position... hold ground...  and try our darndest to not let another one get by us.

When my older ones were little it was easier I think.

I had more control I guess...
It was busy yes, but my heart didn't hurt so much when they came home discouraged

As they grow we appreciate their independence and wish that the world saw them as unconditionally as we do.

And it's emotional a lot of times.

I get all "momma bear like" when things don't go their way and their little hearts are hurting.

I get all weepy at their accomplishments when I know they gave their all... and then just a little bit more to make their momma proud.

Like this girl, who today ran her little heart out in the Greenville Mile.  Finishing 10th in the 3rd grade.  I had sunglasses on so I don't think anyone saw me tearing up and not able to cheer for her when she crossed the finish line.

But I was there as her defender.

And I always will be.

Motherhood is about being a defender.

Plain and simple.

I love you mom... thanks for always being my defender.

Dance...

So I may have mentioned before that Dance is a pretty big part of our lives.

It might not feel so overwhelming if it was the only thing they were involved in.

But seriously getting girls to dance for 10 lessons a week...

RIDICULOUS!!

But they love it...

so what do we do?

Well we do competitions...

Performances...

and lots and lots of dancing around the house.

My mom and dad remind me that I danced and leaped all over the house growing up.

But I'm going to venture a guess that it's not the same as at our house.

They had boys too...

Often I heard the phrase, "no throwing balls in the house."

That is rarely mentioned in our home.

Phrases such as this are more common...

"Get out of your headstand while we are reading scriptures."

"Look before you do toe touches...  then you won't kick your sister in the head."

"Only one of you can have music playing in the same basic area!"

Or just plain...

"HOLD STILL... EVERYONE... PLEASE!"

You could say my movements have come back to bite me {5 fold...}

I might be biased but I think some of that constant motion is paying off because they are pretty good. :)

The following are Saige and Tayler's Competition numbers.

Saige

Domino

Walking with a Ghost

Saxobeat

And Tayler...

who is now a Tuellerette.

THAT is crazy!

This dance always wins for best technique.

One of my favorites for sure.

1000 Years

Girlz...

Do Something

{Oops...  thought I filmed that one. But I guess not!}

I told you they were good. :)

So I guess the dancing will continue at our house.

So... Keep it up Girls!!