I realize now that I didn't know many of Larry's strengths when we got married- they have slowly emerged as the challenges of life, marriage, and children have stretched us both to become more. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father opened my eyes to see Larry as my future spouse!
And anyway, who could resist this studmuffin...
Kara has big beautiful gray eyes, short dark hair, and the cutest smile. I'm afraid she inherited my "Sam Donaldson" eyebrows, but I think she'll live. She is also growing a ton- she's just over 3 months old and she's already fitting nicely into 6-9 month clothing. Kara has a really pleasant personality so far. She loves to look at the kids and smile, hoping they glance her way. She is quite enthralled with batting toys and looking at books. She has even started laughing, and it is adorable. One of her best traits is her ability to fall asleep amidst screaming children. I don't think she's too deeply asleep, but she gets her little naps in during the day and sleeps soundly at night. We sure love our Kara!
Life is speeding up as the Larry and I multiply and the kids get older. I usually enjoy the busy-ness of it all, although it has taken a while to adjust since having Kara. (As one friend put it- #5 breaks you!) I think it will get better when I don't have 3 different groups of kids to get ready in the morning. All in all, family life is enjoyable and I like working hard- so life is good.
Here is little Kara. Another girl clone, almost. It's a good thing that I enjoy babies, cooking, and cleaning (when there is time). I still love to read- although most of it is church-related, parenting books, or organizing books. I had fun in the garden this year- until the weeds took over. I also enjoyed working out at the gym up until Kara was born. I have only recently returned in the mornings and I LOVE it! I think I experience a lot of endorphins or something.
I recently celebrated my 31st birthday. I went out shopping for myself and got some great jeans, a sweater, and slippers. Larry got me an I-pod to listen to while I work out. I also got a great plastic snake that grows when you put it in water for 4 days and some jelly beans. I'm looking forward to my massage (thanks, Lori).
Other than using many many sheets of paper a day to color and write on, she also loves to dig into the recycling can to get materials for her projects. In this picture, she is a robot with toilet paper tube hands. She has also made sandals, clocks, teddy bear houses, leprecaun traps, castles, travel games, and more out of our garbage.
Miranda is in second grade this year. She loves art, recess, and writing. Math is her least favorite subject. She likes to chase her friends and play on the monkey bars. Her favorite things to eat for lunch are: leftover potato soup, noodles, pretzels, and peaches.
Miranda loves to jump on the trampoline and elsewhere, swing on the swings and jump off, and go under the trampoline and play spies. Miranda likes to wear interesting combinations of clothes. She really loves to wear skirts and bright colored shirts.
One of Miranda's big obsessions right now is her dog and teddy bear collections. She loves to carry them around and has even secretly brought some of them to school in her backpack. They are her favorite toys and accompany us on our long trips to Utah. Some of their names are: Diamond, Crystal, Sparkle, Golden, Cupcake I, Cupcake II, Sprinkles, Cherry, and Heart-y.
Miranda is usually very helpful with Kara and Lindsey. She will entertain them both if I am cooking or cleaning (especially if I'm making potato soup). She sometimes rebells against responsibility, but is usually just looking for something fun to do. In every prayer she asks to "have a fun day". That's our Miranda.
Here is Derek playing Othello with a complete stranger. Anyone is a friend who is willing to play games with him. Derek has a few very close friends, but doesn't seem to care that he has no close friends at school- I think he is thinking to much to worry about other people most of the time.
Derek started Kindergarten this year--finally! He is very advanced in many ways- especially in reading and math. He can just figure things out. Larry taught him how to multiply in a few minutes, he can add large numbers in his head (even though no one has taught him how to do it on paper, etc). It is funny to hear him use words in his vocabulary that he has heard in his books. For instance, one day he said, "Mom, that's criminal!" ( I don't think he was referring to my cooking). Anyway, He can memorize and recall things so easily, it is amazing to me. He goes to reading time with the first graders this year, and from what I understand, he will "float" from different classrooms in the future for other subjects as well. Derek's only problems in school are letting the teacher move onto a different subject (because he wants to keep asking questions), listening, and the occasional meltdown when something illogical happens.
Derek also learned how to play the piano this year. He went through about 4 sets of piano books in 7 months. We haven't gotten back to it since Kara's birth, but we will soon. Derek also loves spaghetti, tacos, pizza, and applesauce.
We discovered two more interesting things about Derek this year- he is almost completely colorblind and he needs to wear glasses! He is excited to have these distinguishing traits, and doesn't mind the glasses at all. In fact, I think he's quite proud of them...
Here is Spencer doing one of his favorite things- making the applejuice in the morning. He just loves to use the sprayer. He is quite handy, really- and I think he feels like a big kid doing it. He also loves to turn on the hose outside.
Favorite foods: Spencer loves fruit and will often eat only fruit for at least one meal a day. I think his favorite is watermelon. No wonder he is such a slender dude! He also likes yogurt and hot dogs.
Favorite toys and things to play with: He is growing out of his train building phase a little. Most days he wants his tinkertoys (to make robots, space ships, and swingsets), and big Legos (to make houses and jails). He has become quite a problem solver. I think his favorite thing to do is to make clubhouses in the living room out of tents and tunnels and blankets. He usually spends little, if any, time actually inside the clubhouses. He also likes to make up games for me to do. For example: He made a game where we had to kick a balloon up the tunnel and see if we could make it come out the top.
Spencer is in his last year of preschool and has a lot of interest in the alphabet. I think he sees Miranda and Derek reading for pleasure and wants to join in. He can also do some math. Spencer is the quietest child in our family and is quite sensetive. He likes to cuddle and westle. He also enjoys cutting up pieces of paper and making things out of paper- like a vacuum out of a brown paper bag and a ziplock bag put together with tape. He also tapes things he has cut out onto his wall.
