Thankful

I wrote this at the beginning of November and never posted it. I figured I would add to it each day....but I only got this far. :)

It's easy to forget how blessed we really are when we're worrying about money, kids, jobs, callings, responsibilites, etc. Sometimes, I feel like I can just sit there and think about all the negative in my life and become quite depressed. How stupid of me! I have so much to be thankful for. My problems are nothing compared to most of the world. Here's why:
1. I've been able to bare children. 4 beautiful, healthy children.
2. My husband loves me. He loves me a whole lot. And I love him just as much.
3. I have lots of sisters who I love. Brothers too.
4. My parents and Nic's parents are good people and they love me.
5. I have some great friends and neighbors who make me happy.
6. I've been given gifts and talents that I'm so grateful for.
7. I have a home. It's a pretty perfect one for me.
8. I have a healthy body that allows me to be active and happy.
9. I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It's my guide in life. It's my security blanket. It's perfect.
10. I get to stay at home with my kids. I'm here when they wake up. When they come home from school, and when they go to bed. I know I'm blessed to have this ability.

Now, I realize those were all pretty serious. Here are some more...not so serious ones :)
1. My CAMELBAK waterbottle.
2. My hairdresser. (Ashley Clark Nelson)(Perhaps this one should be on the serious side).
3. TV. Sick, but true.
4. Zumba.
5. Candy.
6. Yummy smelling laundry.
7. Kid 2 Kid.
8. Internet.
9. My pillows on my bed.
10. The laundry-folding husband.
11. My carpool for C & B's school.
12. The apples I just got from my neighbor's tree.
13. The Bumbo.
14. Coupons.
15. Allrecips.com, Jaimecooksitup & Ourbestbites
16. My phone.
17. A good bra.
18. The heater
19. Taco Bell
20. Holidays
21. The park down the street

Thanksgiving in St. George

My parents built a fabulous house in St. George. The builder worked like a maniac and managed to have it done in 5 months so we could spend Thanksgiving there. The coolest part of the house is the playroom. Pictures below. Nic is the genius behind this room. He came up with the idea to build these cute shops and he drew out the entire plan for him. The builder followed Nic's plans to a T. Coolest playroom I've ever seen. The kids spent the whole week in there. Here are the highlights of our vacation.
*Swimming the day after Thanksgiving and NOT freezing!
*Hot tubbing
*Watching Kendyl and Owen run around like twin besties.
*Playing at the fun park down the road.
*Going to the "Muppet Movie" and indulging in the best popcorn I've ever had.
*Doing Zumba with my sisters almost every day. I've recently certified as an instructor so I had fun being the teacher and practicing all my routines.
*Hanging out upstairs with the ladies while the boys played pool in the basement.
*After staying up til 1am the first night, we decided the children shouldn't sleep together in the playroom. They were asleep in our room by 8 every night after that!
*Making Thanksgiving dinner! It was so delicious and so fun to cook together.
*Listening to football in the background all week. Strange that this would be a highlight....but it is.
*Watching the kiddos perform their song....and Camryn perform her weirdness. (See video)
*Listening to Nixon cry and cry and cry all week. Poor, sick baby. Not a highlight.
*Sleeping in a King size bed. Oh how I wish I had one!
*The drive down when we had to stop 6 times to let kids go to the bathroom. Usually we pulled over and made them go on the road. Terrible. NOT a highlight.
*The drive home when we had to stop 6 times to let kids go to the bathroom. Yep, I'm totally serious.
*Relaxing, eating, watching movies, being warm and laughing.

Divas

Nixon is 6 months old!!

This little boy takes my breath away. It hurts my heart to see him get bigger and older every day. I love having a baby. I know how fun the next phases are though, and I can't wait to see what Nixon will be like. He's pretty on track for 6 months old. You know, rolling and rolling and rolling all day, playing with his toys, eating solids, etc. Here are a few things unique about Nixon. He's been able to stand (not balance, just support his weight) since he was about 3 months old. He LOVES to grab faces. The second you pick him up and look at him, he's grabbing at your face with both hands. He prefers being on his belly. He is LOVED to death by his big sisters. The twins have been taking turns trading beds with Kendyl so they can sleep in Nixon's room and give him his binky when he wakes up in the night. When he wakes up in the morning, they get in his crib and play with him and read him books. We are obsessed with this kid. I melt when I look at him. I told Nic that I don't even mind waking up with him in the night because I get excited to see that cute face and hold him in my arms. I know...it's sick. Love our Nixon Buddy, as Kendyl calls him.

New Header

This is our most recent family portrait. Thank you Camryn for drawing it for us. Don't see Nixon? He's in my arms. The little bees are the perfect touch. She drew this picture last month when the bees seemed to occupy our entire yard. Beautiful.

Family Cheer

Nic can take credit for this great tradition. I think it started one night when they were out of control and he was trying to round them up and get them focused on something. I just made that up...but it makes sense to me. Anyway, since a 45 minute bedtime routine wasn't quite cutting it, we're proud to say that we've added one more thing! We used to just say, "Ohhhh, 1 2 3 Clarks!" Now, the girls get to choose what we say. We've had everything from "Veteran's Day!", to "flower" to...well just see for yourself.
(youtube video "family cheer")
And just for the record, I'm NOT on the phone all day. Camryn just wanted to make me look bad ;)

Mowgli

Sometimes Camryn is Mowgli, the little boy from the Jungle Book, that's what I call her when she gets wild. She usually takes off her shirt (she claims she's hot) and jumps around like a WILD jungle creature. She's currently headbanging and chanting "underwear", wearing nothing but....her underwear. Oh goodness, Kendyl just joined in. She eats like a wild animal too. If there are ever food remains on the counter, Camryn laps them up like a dog. Flour, cinnamon, pancake batter, and the grossest one I've ever seen.....hotdog juice from the package, and she loved it.

The Babes

Sometimes, I have to pinch myself.

Last walk

We go on walks just about every day when the weather is good. Sometimes it's just around the block. Sometimes we go to the park and have a picnic. It usually takes at least an hour to get home because we get to talk to all the neighbors outside. We decided we'd get bundled up and go on one more walk yesterday. Nixon just chilled in his cute new OSU hat (Thanks Nana & Ash), Kendyl had her little toys, Brooklyn walked backwards most of the time so she could read the babes a story and show them the pictures, and Camryn rode her bike. It was nice. I SOOOOOO miss these walks in the winter. Being couped up inside for 5 months is TORTURE!!

Applesauce

My neighbor has a granny smith apple tree. I went over there and picked 3 bags full. We've been having applesauce galore. Thanks Ash for the good idea. Just sliced apples and cinnamon in the crockpot. The smell is probably my favorite part. Nixon might be the happiest about the applesauce. Way better than the crusty rice cereal. I've decided to post this so I'll remember to go back to her house and pick more next year!

Bowling

The girls were pumped at first....by the end, the majority of their interest was in the candy I brought. Nic and I were a bit rusty but we busted out a few strikes.

Snow Day

It snowed a lot today. Nic, aka Best Dad Ever, picked the girls up from my parents house during the shower I was hosting. Why were they at my parents' house? My brave, crazy parents invited Tammy's, Holly's and my kids up for a sleepover! Super Awesome Grandparents. Anyway, Nic took them to McDonalds, then brought them home and played with them in the snow. They made a fort and a Nixon snowman.

Kendyl

This girl says some funny stuff. Here are a few from this week.
To me: "You are so good at that! You are so good at talking!"
To Nic: "Daddy, what are we going to do with you?"
To me: "I'm sorry the train is comin. It won't run over them. I don't want my people to die." That one was strange...
And something she DECLARES all the time is, "Best Mommy Ever!" But it's not always mommy, replace that with dinner, table, lunch, movie or day. So cute.
And last but not least; she is PUMPED about her birthday next month. She will tell you that her birthday is on December 5th and that she's getting a Bitty Twin which she will name Sally.

Sweet Brooklyn

Brooklyn is my tender daughter. She wouldn't dare do anything wrong and she truly cares about people. She would do anything for her siblings, even if it meant giving up something important to her. Nic, nor I would claim to be "tender hearted", so we don't know how she got this gift, but we're glad she got it. We love our Brooklyn! Here she is reading Nixon a story the other day so I could get my hair done.

Camryn WON!

At least that's what I told her when I got the form letter, thanking her for entering the coloring contest at Rhodes Bread. She got a coupon for a FREE bag of rolls. You would have thought she won the lottery. It was adorable seeing her get so excited. We got her a bag of Rhodes cinnamon rolls and she can't WAIT to make them. Cute Camryn. (Can't believe she didn't win though- contest was rigged for sure ;) )

The Table & Chairs!

It's finished! A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into this dining set;). Nic caved and helped (a lot) with the chairs so they could be done in time for a baby shower I had at my house today. That's why he got to be the first one to sit at the table and eat a bowl of cereal ;) I NEVER want to sand, paint or stain ANYTHING again! Haha. I actually have 1 chair left...so I guess my "never again" will only last until Monday :) I sold my old 4 chairs for $40 on KSL and bought these 6 at DI for $36. Woohoo! A lot of hours went into this project, but it was super cheap, and I'm pretty excited about it :)