Adie Rose and the Little Ladies

My cats have anger management problems.

2011-02-15T22:01:00.000-08:00

We have two cats. Two female cats. We did not get these cats because I love cats. Or because I love animals. Or because I need an outlet for my affection. We got these cats because I hate dogs. My oldest child has a very distinct bond with animals, and every girl needs a kitten, and I caved. I just try not to notice the cat fur all over the house, and go on with my life.

That was going well until this winter hit. With the cold weather, our cats were spending a lot more time inside the house and I had to take notice. I don't know who is more stir crazy, the kids or the cats.

The first time my cats ever totally embarrassed me was when we went to deliver christmas cookies to the neighbors. They all invited us in for a little a chat. Of course my girls behaved themselves very well, but the problem was that our cats followed us on our excursion and actually fought their way in to 2 houses on our trip. When have you ever seen a cat that makes house calls? I was mortified.

The other problem we have is that when the cats take issue with anything, like running out of food, or their litter box needs to be changed, or someone pulls their tail, they throw a tantrum and pee in my clean laundry. I have taken to closing the laundry room door ALWAYS, which always works until a child for no reason whatsoever opens it for the cat who promptly throws a tantrum in my clean towels. In fact, they will even climb in the dryer to pee in clean laundry. IT IS MAKING ME CRAZY!! I can't help making them mad... they are female after all. So, the solution, I know, is to never leave clean laundry out. Ahem. I do an average of 12 loads of laundry every week, and I rarely get the chance to fold and put away a load as soon as it is clean. Does anyone?

Solutions anyone? Two loving de-clawed fixed female cats anyone?

Going to the Library

2011-02-04T22:51:00.000-08:00

Also known as: I believe I deserve a medal.

Joe teaches piano lessons every Saturday afternoon, and I thought I'd take the chance to drop him off, then take the girls to the library since it is only minutes away from his lesson. I really wanted to get Square Foot Gardening. We were running a bit late, so it was 4:45 when we got to the library.

I thought that I had remembered that it was open until 8 or 9. Wrong. It is open until 5. But, we still have a few minutes. I just needed Square Foot Gardening.

Since we were running late, I didn't have time to fiddle with my stroller, and I couldn't get it to collapse far enough to fit in the back of the van. I had to put Sophie in the sling, and let everyone else walk. Which means I was carrying Phoebe and Sophie, and herding the other three like cattle into the library.

As soon as we got into the library, the announcement came that the library is closing in 10 minutes. "Please bring all your items to the desk in order to check them out." Hm. I just need Square Foot Gardening. I've got time.

In order to get to the garden section, we have to walk past the kids section, and everyone wants to pick a book or 5 or 12. I agree 2 books per child, subject to my approval. (I've seen strange ones like "When Daddy was in Prison" or "My Two Mommies" GIVE ME A BREAK!!!) Of course they each take an hour or so to decide on a book. I finally gather my herd and head to the garden section. I just need Square Foot Gardening. That's what I came for.

Then I catch a whiff. Someone in my arms stinks. Bad. They both start fussing at the same time. I just need Square Foot Gardening. I can make it.

I reach into my pocket for the call number of the book which I looked up online before I left the house. The call number is at home on my desk. "The library will be closing in 5 minutes. Please bring all materials to the check out desk." I just need Square Foot Gardening. I see a pod of computers ahead.

I approach the pod, and get lots of glares. Apparently people who use the library computers have a thing against crazy women with two stinky crying babies followed by a herd of small children. There was a sign on the computer anyway that said I needed my password and to register for this time slot before I can use it. Great. I just need Square Foot Gardening!

"Mom, they said they are closing. We should leave NOW!" I just need Square Foot Gardening. I looked at the shelf, and unfortunately there are about 3.7 million books on gardening, none of them Square Foot Gardening. Bouncing 2 stinky babies, whispering to my herd to keep quite. I just need Square Foot Gardening. I know it's here. The internet said it was here. AHA! On the other side of the aisle, there it is. I grab the book and begin to herd towards the front desk. We make it, the babies are calmer, and I have Square Foot Gardening.

The lady at the desk looks at me and my herd and says, "Haven't you figured out what causes all this yet?"

I think next time I'll pay $15 and buy it from Barnes and Noble.com

The little ladies (and their dolly daughters) have guests for tea.

2011-02-03T15:48:00.000-08:00

The Haws Ladies had a busy day. They cleaned the house, baked cookies and made tea. They were expecting company! The director of a local doll hospital and orphanage (aka Grandma) was coming with one of her orphans for tea. She was the one from whom they adopted dolls at Christmas just this last year, and they wanted to show their appreciation.

We had a delightful tea party, with Lemon Chamomile Tea, Snickerdoodle pinwheels, and lemon almond biscotti.

Best of all was the company and conversation.

Gotta love little girls!!

Project Hobbes

2011-02-03T12:10:00.000-08:00

My girls are really into Calvin and Hobbes right now. Joe has an old comic book, and they have been reading it four hours every day. This is great in many ways. It encourages Abigail to read and focus for a long time. It entertains the girls for extended periods of time. It has also sparked an interest in earning money.

Abigail and Olivia each want a stuffed tiger. I don't buy toys except for birthdays and Christmas, so I invited them to save their money and buy their own. Abigail asked me to look them up on the internet so she'd know how much to save. We found the one she wanted most, but it was $53.00. Her response was, "That's a lot of teeth! I'll have to wait forever!" (Her sole source of income at that time was the tooth fairy.) We found a tiger for the more reasonable price of $9, and I told her she could do some jobs around the house for money.

She and Olivia were very excited, and to prepare for our family meeting to make a plan about what jobs are money jobs, and what jobs are just the regular everyday chores, they drew pictures of their ideas to earn money. They wanted to earn money for the following:

checking the internet
learning to read
learning to add
sewing
playing with their little sisters
washing the car

I told them that I don't pay them for school work. Abigail came right back with, "Well, dad told me that at his work, he does adding all day long, and he gets paid!" We (Joe and I) decided that their paid jobs would be folding laundry, cleaning bathrooms, and cleaning the car (inside and out). They worked really hard the first day, and earned $3 each.

Zenna's idea was that she would "help" by doing a tiny part of the work, and then she'd get just a little tiger... we decided that this job thing is for 5 year olds and older. We'll see how she takes it later...

Yesterday we went to the toy store to see if there are any toy tigers here locally. Unfortunately no. When we walked out of Toys R Us, Abigail said she was totally bugged with the store 'cause they don't have any tigers. I would have to agree. Totally inadequate toy store.

As a side note, I have to say I have the best kids in the world. I walked into the toy store with 5 kids, looked over the whole store, walked out with no toys, and nobody was crying. That is a big deal for me.

I was hoping that this trip to the toy store would be very motivating (they saw lots of other things they were interested in buying after their tigers are purchased) because my upstairs bathroom really needs to be cleaned. Unfortunately not. At this point, our system of paid jobs is completely voluntary, and it looks like I'll have to clean the bathroom myself. Bummer.

Recipe Using Canned Beans

2011-01-25T17:23:00.000-08:00

After a day like today, where I did homeschool from 8:30-11:30, then spent the afternoon prepping and painting the schoolroom, dinner is the last thing on my mind. So, when the husband calls from 20 minutes away and I realize that in order for the night to run smoothly dinner must be ready in 25 minutes, I know exactly what to make. Here's the recipe:

Chicken White Bean Chili
1 can chicken broth
1 pint canned chicken
1/2 pint canned green salsa
2 pints canned white beans
1/2 tsp. cumin

Mix all ingredients in a pan. Heat over medium-low heat until warmed. (30 minutes or so gives it the best melded flavor, but less will suffice in a pinch)

There. Dinner done. And delish. Not often that dinner comes together so quick, with such great results!!

Canning Dried Beans

2011-01-22T14:30:00.000-08:00

When it comes to using food storage the biggest problem that we all face is that it's well... not instant. I've come to grips with the fact that I must grind my wheat before I make bread, must cook the rice for 20-30 minutes, not just 5. But, to soak beans overnight and then cook them for 1-2 hours just takes too much. So, I don't do it, and the beans go unused. I love beans, my family loves beans, and they are cheap! My solution: can them up. Spend a few minutes here and there throughout your day, and you have quarts of beans ready to eat!

Here are the steps:

Open your bucket o' beans. You will use one cup of dried beans per quart jar.

Rinse your beans thouroughly (I do this in a strainer) then put them in a clean, sterile quart jar

Add 1/2-1 tsp. salt (if I try to go "low sodium" and add 1/2 tsp, I add more salt when I prepare the beans, so most of the time I go with the full 1 tsp.)

Add water up a little past the rim. Right up to where the ring will be.

Heat your canning lids in boiling water for a minute (or just follow package directions).
Put a lid and ring on each jar.

Put into your pressure cooker and cook at 10 pounds of pressure for 90 minutes.

DONE!

This all takes very little hands-on time, and you have beans on your shelf and ready to use. Very simple, and tasty! Ready for soups, tacos, refried beans, salads, anything you would use a can of beans for. This works with all bean varieties. I have tried navy beans, black beans, and pintos with equal success. I plan to try kidney beans soon, and I'll have to let you know how that works out.

I weighed it out this time, and each cup of black beans is 1/4 pound. Average price of beans right now is around $15 a 25 pound bag. That is $.60 a pound, $.15 per cup. A lid costs between 10 and 15 cents. Per quart of beans then, cost averages 25 to 30 cents. Last time I checked, that was way cheaper than any in the store. And coupons don't seem to cover beans very often.

Awesome! Just thought I'd pass this along. It's my favorite frugal/food storage/canning project!

Dishwashers

2011-01-19T09:04:00.000-08:00

These are my dishwashers. My mechanical dishwasher is on the fritz--again! It works sometimes. There must be a short in the control board (the one we've replaced 4 times in the 2.2 years we've had this dishwasher) because the start button doesn't always work. It usually works as soon as all the dishes are washed by hand. Of course.

My lovely ladies slaving away

I am taking this opportunity to teach my girls how to wash the dishes by hand. A skill everyone should know. They were super eager to learn, so I took advantage of this (relatively) rare occasion. They take turns rinsing and drying. I wash and put away. It actually goes pretty fast. We can do 2 meals worth of dishes in 30 minutes. Not bad, I say!

Zenna asked if she could help, so I said "grab a towel and join in!" Then she hesitated. "Actually, I have other things I need to play." As soon as the dishes were all finished and put away, Zenna showed up. "Look! WE did it! WE washed the dishes!" Ahem. I don't think so chick...

When we finished Abigail said, "You know mom, it's better when we have a dishwasher because then it doesn't take us ALL DAY to was the dishes. We have time to play when we use a dishwasher." I reminded her that now that we are done, she has all day to play (like 11 hours or so). Too funny.

The culmination of dish training came last night when I had finished making cookie dough. I put the dough in the fridge, and Abigail came and looked into the sink at my cookie dishes. "MOM! We JUST washed those!" I could suddenly hear some empathy with the plight of my life. (Insert Cruel Cackle) I LOVE IT!!!

Adding Dice

2011-01-18T14:31:00.000-08:00

This is one of my ideas of how to teach addition. One of the problems that I face is that as soon as home school tasks get laborious, I lose my power. There are no threats that will make a 6 year old do more addition practice when she doesn't want to. I tried to use my very favorite threat in this situation, but with no results. (My favorite threat: "If you don't want to clean your room, I'll do it for you. But remember, I clean with a garbage bag.") They don't care if you throw their addition papers in the trash. In fact, they would prefer it.

To counteract this powerlessness, I have come up with lots of ways to practice addition. Because lets face it, they need to drill addition. There's no way around that. So, we put the worksheet in a sheet protector, and they do addition with dry erase markers. We add on the chalkboard. We add using number magnets on our magnet board. Or, me favorite, we add using m&ms (we had to stop that one when the teacher ate all the teaching tools in a bout of frustration). This is another way to add, and my girls love this one. This also means that we are just a few months away from playing Yahtzee for math time, and I can't wait!! I rock at Yahtzee.

I give each girl 2 dice (we'll move to three later) they toss the dice, and write down the addition problem that results. They write the complete problem and the answer, and toss the dice again. They end up doing between 10 and 15 problems, and I am satisfied. It is great for beginning adders, with sums up to 12. It's great too because the little ones toss the dice and scribble on their papers "adding" just like their sisters, and I can nurse the baby in peace.

Try it. I know you'll like it.

Book Review: Dombey and Son

2011-01-18T14:13:00.000-08:00

I am going to start writing about every book that I read here on my blog. I should probably do Goodreads, but I never really got into it. So, here you go!

I have read this book before, and I didn't like it so well. It was in my Year of Dickens where I read every novel Charles Dickens published. I have been reading more while nursing, and decided to go for it again since it's been 3 years. I absolutely LOVED this book this time.

I love how Dickens takes a human trait and intensifies it in one character. While this makes some of his characters less plausible, it makes for a very interesting view of humanity. The character trait in this book is PRIDE. The stubborn, self-willed kind. The consequences are horrific. They are contrasted against pure sweet humility and undying devotion, so those consequences are heightened to the reader's sensibility. Makes for an incredible read.

The question that I have after reading this book is, can love die? The daughter of Paul Dombey, Florence, loves with all her soul with no return for years upon years. Then, in an intense moment of passion, her father strikes all that love out. She flees from his house, and doesn't return. So, I am wondering if love can truly grow with no return, and if it is killed, can it be revived?

I would say more, and am dying to discuss it with someone, but I don't want to give away too much of the story. Dickens is such a masterful storyteller that I wouldn't mar your experience for anything! So, if you have read it, please discuss it with me, and if you haven't, please do, and then call me!!

Once I can get the pictures off my camera, I am going to write a post about canning dried beans. The best way to use your food storage, if you ask me...

Back to the Blog

2011-01-16T21:13:00.000-08:00

I have rededicated myself to blogging. I am going to combine my blogging efforts, and in this blog I am going to include my experiments with Homemade Everything. I am going to try to share some of my homeschool ideas, and also share book reviews. Do all my friends want to know all this? Perhaps not, but I would like to document it all. So I, like others before me, am going to document it in a public forum in case someone does want to know. :)

So, till tomorrow...

She's Here!

2010-10-07T15:12:00.000-07:00

Baby Sophie Leuinna Haws was born 4:15 AM on September 24th! There are two pictures here. So, I'm super lame, and haven't got my pictures off my camera and got them up on the blog. I have five girls. Under 6. ;) I love it!!!

Best homebirth EVER! I'll give you more details later. After having a rough 8 or 9 months with very few happy things to say, I am so full of gratitude and joy right now I could bust!

I couldn't have asked for a better situation. I got everything I wanted. A hard labor, a quick recovery, an easy baby, awesome sibling adjustment, and steady emotions.

Now that I am finally blogging, my baby is crying. I must go. But I promise I'll be back!

Dirty Little Secrets

2010-08-13T09:29:00.001-07:00

Since I have been feeling pretty rotten lately (like for the last 8 months or so...) my sweet MIL has been helping my clean house a bit. We have also hired a girl from the neighborhood to help a few hours a week. Very nice. But, it means that some of those little secrets that have been lurking at the back of my cupboards have come to light. In the effort to "be real," I will share a few with you. If I am the only person in the universe with such secrets in my house, please just avert your eyes and feel sorry for me. If not, Share yours! It's very liberating. :)

There was an old deep fat fryer that I forgot to clean out the last time I used it... 4 years ago. I had just been avoiding looking straight at it during the last 2 moves.
I had coupons that expired two years ago in my junk drawer. In fact, I don't think I've used that drawer for two years, because everything in that drawer was at least two years old... wedding announcements, coupons, bank statements... I forgot that my cousin was married! Oops.
I haven't scrubbed behind the toilet since... sigh... I was pregnant with Phoebe. In my defense... little girls don't make nearly as big a mess around the base of the toilet as little boys. I had to clean up after my little brothers for years. EW!

I feel better now. Especially because we are slowly tackling all my dirty secrets. Pretty soon I'll have no more. Except all those quirks about my kids. Like Phoebe digs through trash regularly looking for snacks. The lid broke on our kitchen garbage, and it doesn't fit under the sink. I am always pulling her away from the can. Or that Zenna just came to me completely naked and asked if I could put her socks on. Her feet need to be covered. Or the fact that half of the days Zenna spends all day in her jammies. I try really hard to get her dressed before daddy comes home, but some days we don't even make it there.

So now you know. More than you ever wanted to. I am just hoping that I am not alone in living on the very edge of sanity. But even if I am, I feel better confessing. :)

It's about time...

2010-07-26T09:46:00.000-07:00

Zenna is potty trained! I finally bit the bullet last week, and we have come a long way. I was determined that having three in diapers would be horrible, especially since Zenna is getting close to being three.

When Zenna turned two, we started talking to her about the potty. Here is a list of her statements in response:

"The potty just won't work for me. Diapers are just right."
She'd pat her diaper (especially when she'd fall on her bum or was riding astraddle a stick horse) and say, "This diaper is just great. I don't need panties."
"Don't talk to me about it."

She's always been a great talker, and we always laughed about this. A few months ago, she said that if we would buy her a pink Sleeping Beauty Potty, and Sleeping Beauty panties, she would learn to go potty. We were able to find a pink toddler potty (I swore I'd never buy one of those again... I hate them!) and plastered it with Sleeping Beauty stickers. We bought the Disney princess panties (another thing I swore I'd never buy) for way too much money. She put on the panties, and was all excited until we opened the potty. She said, "I can't sit on that! There's a hole in it!" We couldn't get her near it for another month.

I finally decided to buckle down last week. We were home from vacation, and time is ticking. It's now, or when I have a newborn... and that's no fun either.

Turns out, Zenna is a potty prodigy (as I was myself). Well, or after sitting in on all potty sessions for the last 2 years, she understood all about it. After the first day, she could tell me when she needed to go, and we were good. About the third day, she decided that she didn't want to do it anymore. Her solution, "It's ok mommy, I just won't pee pee anymore!" That didn't work. Next day she got back on track. Well, since then we've only had a few mishaps.

What a relief!

Although, it will still be a while before I'm not at all involved in the process, I am glad that she is at this point. Hopefully by the time the baby comes, she'll be all on her own.

There will come a day

2010-07-23T09:59:00.000-07:00

There will come a day when my floors will not be littered with crumbs right after I sweep.
And I will not trip over toys in every room.
And the toilet will always be flushed,
the laundry won't create mountains in my basement,
every surface of my house won't be covered in sticky fingerprints.

And that day, there will be no bumps and bruises to kiss better.
There will be no angelic faces smeared with dirt to clean.
No little tiny clothes to wash,
No more giggling screaming girls chasing each other around underfoot.

And that day I will be lonely.

So I will try to appreciate all the evidence that my life is filled with children who love and need me every minute of the day. This time will flee, and I never want to regret the time I don't spend loving it now.

What a fascinating modern world we live in...

2010-06-25T07:38:00.000-07:00

I like to take a step back once in a while and think about how my grandmothers did things. If they had something to say, they would make a phone call if it was local. If it was really important they would pay the long distance fee and call long distance. Otherwise, they would sit and their desk and write (in cursive) or type (with a typewriter) a letter. They would probable hand it to their mailman (NOT letter carrier) who they knew on a first name basis, and send it off to share their news.

The other night I checked my FB account one last time before I went to bed. Just to see if any of my 200 best friends had anything really important to tell me. Then I checked my blog list to see if any of the 100 people who I read about daily had important news for me. There wasn't anything really new, and I went to bed.

How silly really!

I am grateful for technology. It makes it easy to keep in touch with people we have lost, those far away, and those we meet out there in cyberworld who have similar views and interests.

But think of this... I announced my baby expectations to my family over the phone (they live 600 miles away), and to everyone else on FB and this blog. I didn't tell a single person (except my husband and children who don't read this blog) face to face. Soon, my entire social network knew (either firsthand, secondhand, or thirdhand...) my exciting news. This has it's pluses, don't get me wrong, but really? How weird!!

Just thinking about this makes me shudder a little inside. To be honest, I know more about certain avid and very public quilters than my neighbor who just had her first baby. I know more about a very bored and FB active old classmate than the family across the street. I don't even know who it is that collects and delivers my mail. In fact, I don't even send much mail! I've never even seen my garbage man!

I need to work on that. Do these facts creep anyone else out? Because they creep me out. So, I thought I would blog about them, and ask all my cyber friends what they do about it? Ironic.

Being a Mother

2010-06-22T14:56:00.001-07:00

Sometimes my girls talk to me about our cats. They think it's the saddest thing in the world that our cats will never be mothers. Their tender little hearts also ache for their unmarried aunts.

They ask me about once a week if our cats are sad that they will never be mothers. Am I sure they will never be mothers? Yes. Does that make them so sad? I am not sure. They think it a tragedy.

That has gotten me thinking about the summer 8 years ago. Joe and I were dating, and most of our conversations and plans centered around having children. How many, what they would look like, the benefits of our gene combination... When I went home one weekend, I told my parents about one such conversation, and my Dad looked a little worried. He said, "you have to promise me that you will marry this young man before any of these children come into being." I just laughed. We were so in love, and we wanted to have a family.

We were married in September, and for a year, no children came. At the end of that year, I began to feel sorrow. I prayed and prayed for the Lord to fill that empty aching space in my heart that can only be filled by children. I shed many tears, and felt a lot of pain. I realize now that that time was very short, and many wait much longer. I was young, and impatient, but my pain was real.

After we had been married 18 months, my prayers were answered. A baby was on its way, and we were thrilled! My heart stopped aching for a baby, but ached with all the tumult and worry of new motherhood. It ached because it was full. Every time a new life is put in my hands, my heart aches even more with joy and fullness. Now, more than 7 years later, every time that prayer is answered, I am honored and grateful.

Father's Day

2010-06-22T09:42:00.000-07:00

I was so glad when we got a phone call Saturday night that They would be able to manage without Joe on Sunday morning. The crew was going out at 3 a.m. to start cutting asparagus. Joe would be able to leave the field at 10, come home, get ready, and rush off to church to practice the organ for meetings at 11.

They did just fine without him there, and so he got to rest on Father's Day. We tried to make him feel like a king. We made blueberry pancakes and bacon for breakfast, showered with gifts and love, and let him take naps.

Isn't this what Father's day is all about? Napping with your kids!

The poor man took 4 naps on Sunday. He's been working way too much.

One more week...

2010-06-21T10:47:00.000-07:00

Until the asparagus harvest is over in Washington. At least in the field we are working in. Well, we really means Joe, the one who really works.

I haven't posted in a long time for two reasons: I keep misplacing my USB connector for the camera, and I have been in a brain fog.

Since the middle of February, Joe has been working about 70 hours a week, give or take a little. 12-15 hours a day, 6 days a week. Starting in April, he even had to put some time in every Sunday (usually only about 4 hours or so). To be fair, he got 2 whole days off in April, and it May he was able to come home for a few hours in the afternoon on a few occasions. It has been long. Really long. To be honest, for a while I'd wake up in the middle of the night startled that there was a man in my bed. Then I remembered that yes, I do have a husband (hence the 4.5 children...).

In that time, Joe and his dad have created this:
With three other guys.

It cuts asparagus like this:

Yum!

The only parts they didn't make are the driving tractor, the hydraulics, and the tires. Thousands of parts that came from Kim's head to Joe's computer, to the machinists programs, and out of the CNC milling machine and lathe. I know that was a really technical explanation, but that's really all that I understand about it. :)

It's an amazing feat. And though some of the skeletal elements are the same as last years model, the majority of the machine was made in 4 months at the beginning of this year. They have been harvesting in the field since April, and this is the best machine yet! They have had lots of chances for field testing, and made lots of progress in perfecting the mechanism. It's been a big year for the harvester!

But I am so SICK of the harvester. It is a long and hard road here at home. This is the longest that we've ever had this crazy time, and I am so excited for it to be over!!! Being without Joe so much really puts me in a fog. He is my mainstay.

So, since I couldn't really write anything without whining about being lonely and sick and tired, I have avoided blogging. But, I have lots of things I want to say... When I am out of whiny mode, I'll say it. :)

We took a peek!

2010-05-21T10:10:00.000-07:00

After much pondering, and going crazy trying to guess what this baby will be, I decided to get an ultrasound.

The first thing the ultrasound tech found was this baby's goods. Not very modest, I must say. He asked what we have at home. I told him 4 girls. He just started laughing. "Looks like you can just make that 5!" I couldn't believe it. Well, I could, but seriously?

Joe is such a great dad. He just said, "Hey, I love all of our little girls! I'm excited to have more love!" He really enjoys being king of his castle, with all of us girls hovering and loving him all the time.

I must say though, that I am starting to feel panicked like the old time queens feeling frantic about producing an heir. I am trained in biology, and that should set me mind at ease. IT'S NOT MY FAULT! but, I still have vague strange feelings about producing an heir nonetheless.

It's the Haws Curse. Joe's Haws grandparents have about a million grandchildren. Well, only like 65 I think. Of those, I think that there are 7 boys who carry the Haws name. Of those 7 boys, there are 13 great grandchildren so far, and only 3 boys to carry on the Haws name. Two of those 7 grandsons will probably not have children, and three have only had girls so far! (If any of the cousins are reading this, correct me if I'm wrong... it's a lot for an in-law to keep track of!) We just laugh about that.

5 girls. In 6 years. GO ME!

Good heavens!

New Years Resolutions

2010-03-15T16:37:00.000-07:00

So, my camera is dead, and I can't find replacement batteries yet (as in, no I haven't gone through all of the batteries yet to find the camera ones, not as though they are impossible to find. i am sure they are in stores everywhere). Yet another post with no photographs of my cute kids. But coming soon, I promise. :)

A confession. When I read many blog posts at the beginning of the year about resolutions, I became overwhelmed. "Climb all local mountains higher than 1 mile high," "Live entirely on beans wheat and salt for a whole year, and make my family love it." "Lose the 5 pounds I gained when i had my fourth child (since I never gained any before)," "Scrub my floors with a toothbrush every Saturday," "Take my kids to every national monument twice, and write a book about each." OK, I will confess... these are exaggerated, but they seemed as reasonable to me as the ones I saw. As I read, they made me tired.

I made one goal. My New Years Resolution 2010: I WILL NOT GET PREGNANT.

Seemed reasonable. Simple. Attainable.

Oops. It lasted two weeks, and then we got the surprising, wonderful news. We are expecting Baby Haws Number 5.

In answer to FAQ:
Q: Are we crazy?
A: Of course we are!

Q: Did you plan that?
A: Of course not. How rude of you to ask.

Q: What are you going to do?
A: We have no idea. Just keep going.

Q: When will baby #5 be here?
A: Probably end of September.

Q: How do you feel about this?
A: We are thrilled. Nervous, but thrilled.

Q: How would you feel about 5 girls?
A: We could make another great movie about families of 5 girls, joining the ranks with "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Pride and Prejudice," and share our experiences marrying off 5 girls.

Q: What happens if it's a boy?
A: Joe breathes a big sigh of relief. The Haws name continues for another generation.

In the end, I have to thank Shannon, my sweet midwife. When I called to tell her the news (just 2 weeks after telling her there would be no baby this year), she said, with a big smile, "I guess God has other plans for you." That sums up how we feel. While it wasn't in our plans, we know it was in His, and we are happy to be part of His Great Plan.

Bedtime

2010-03-08T19:22:00.001-08:00

It's 7:30, Time for jammies! Oh wait, uh... half of my kids are in their jammies. Because they are very obedient and got jammied themselves? Oh no. Because I didn't want to fight the battle, and 2 of 4 have been wearing their jammies all day. Exploring the backyard in feetie jammies and snow boots when it is definitely warm enough to put the snow boots away. Another battle I haven't fought.

Please tell me I'm not the only one.

The Lost Kitten

2010-02-17T20:44:00.000-08:00

This is a story about Frances, our timid kitten. She is very careful, and very loving. Olivia got a new dolly stroller for her birthday. Frances, understanding that she would probably spend much time being swaddled inside it in future weeks, tried it out as soon as she saw it. Frances very rarely goes outside, and never goes out by herself. She sleeps with the kids every night.

Every night but Wednesday night. Wednesday night I heard some cat howling outside the front door and went to investigate (I have to mention here that Wednesday night was the only night that all four children slept through the night in 2 months, so I was not thrilled that the cats were crying outside). When I opened the front door, no cat came in. I saw two cats, but none came in, and I didn't wait or chase them down. I went to bed with two fleeting thoughts: kittens will come soon, or this is her first fight. You will be aghast at my callousness, but it was 2:30 AM, and I have four young children, and must therefor be excused for mid-night insensitivity to animals.

Thursday morning, I was hoping she would run in when Joe left for work. Nope. I was hoping she would cry at the door when the kids woke up. Nope. I hoped that she would come home before they noticed she was gone. Nope. I hoped they would just let the fact that she was missing pass without grief. Nope. By 10 AM, all three coherent girls were balling their eyes out.

I thought of a prayer. I told the girls that we should all kneel together and pray for Frances. I said a prayer asking Heavenly Father to help Frances come home, and to take care of her if she was lost or hurt. I must confess that I didn't have a lot of hope, but I hoped that the prayer would distract the girls and calm them down. After we got up, they all said to me with tears in their eyes, "I know that Heavenly Father will help Frances come home." They had such sweet faith.

Then came my lesson. We went downstairs, and there she was, just running up to the back porch. The girls burst the door open and smothered her with love and kisses. Then we knelt down to say a prayer of thanks, and haven't lost her since.

This is a picture of Callie. She is so used to being carried around in small spaces, she prefers them now, and we find her asleep in tight spots like this frequently.

The ER

2010-01-29T15:43:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had to take Phoebe to the ER. She has had a cold, and it went to her lungs. She was really struggling to breath--her chest was sinking in with every breath, and her respiration rate was over 60 breaths a minute. So, nothing to do but go for help.

They were very nice, and very helpful. They took us right back to a room, and got Phoebe started on breathing treatment right away. It was nice because I was able to nurse her while I blew the nebulizer in her face, so she took it calmly. She was a champ! They all thought she was so cute, and were very impressed with her smile and her chub. When it was time for a chest X-Ray, she sat up like she was getting her picture taken. The tech was quite impressed that she didn't scream.

The RSV test was negative, and though she has a little spot that looks like pre-pneumonia on her lungs, she checked out OK. They gave us a prescription for antibiotics, a steroid, and an albuterol. We went back today for a follow-up, and she looks a million times better.

So, my homegrown baby had her first taste of the hospital, and did great! I am grateful for the wonders of modern medicine. While I don't believe in overusing the powers of medicine, I am glad and willing to use it when I need it. And now my baby can breathe.

Many prayers of gratitude for that. Amen.

Homemade Christmas

2010-01-29T15:31:00.000-08:00

With a few old sheets, some fabric scraps, leftover crafting supplies, and some sute patterns, we had a very fun homemade Christmas this year. Thanks to the sales of some dolls I made, everyone got a store-bought gift too, so we had a great Christmas without going into debt! Although I realized after Christmas was over, that most people solve that problem by saving for Christmas. After 7 years, I figured out the secret, and plan to save all year for Christmas next year.

My cats make me want to say bad words.

2010-01-29T15:10:00.000-08:00

This is a post about our cats. They are driving me crazy. Here is a list of irritating things about our cats:

They hate cat food. Come on, it's NutraNuggets! They are always eating our food. They climb into the sink to lick our plates, they knock the butter dish on the floor so it opens or breaks so they can eat the butter. They tear holes in trash bags to get to chicken carcasses. On the upside, I have to be very prompt and neat around the kitchen to avoid being driven INSANE!
They destroyed my Christmas Tree, and half of my decorations. On the upside, I had very few glass ornaments to wrap and put away this year.
They love to sleep with the girls. At first I thought, hey, as long as they don't sleep with me... But, the kids hate it too. I get cries in the middle of the night, "Get the cats! They are on my bed!" And then I spend half an hour in the dark trying to get the stupid cats from under beds or out of corners. Then, when I finally have cats in hand, the girls won't let me close their door! If I lock the cats in a room somewhere, they mess on the floor. If I put them outside, they come to the door meowing to be let in a few hours later.
They use a lot of toilet paper. Apparently, the nice beds we made out of sacrificed movie blankets are not soft enough. The cats unroll a whole roll at a time, and then make a bed out of it. I can wash my dishes, and I can take my chicken carcasses out, but I can't hide the toilet paper! We have too many girls who gotta have toilet paper.

Abigail said to me the other day, "Mom, we should get rid of the cats. They mess a lot of things up." I told her that now they are part of the family, and we have to take the good with the bad. And, I must confess that seeing a cat patiently being wrapped in blankets and wheeled around in a dolly buggy all afternoon gives me a tender spot. So, while they make me want to swear frequently (for those of you who know me well, know that is a BIG DEAL!), they will be here a long time.

Until we have a chance to get them fixed, I am just praying that we don't end up with kittens. Heaven Help US!

Goodbye again... for now.

2009-12-14T10:53:00.000-08:00

I just said goodbye to some very dear friends. The angel Agnes Wickfield and her dear friend David. As well as the Micawbers. And poor little Emily. We have been together for the past 2 weeks, and it is sad to see them go, but I know they are not really gone. They are just waiting for me to pick up the book off the shelf and visit them again. In fact, I have visited them so many times, I can call their words to mind almost anytime.

Only Charles Dickens does this for me.

Life

2009-12-12T10:44:00.000-08:00

This is a story that doesn't include pictures. Sorry. I still need to post about Abigail's birthday, and the Christmas decor, and all those things. But I am putting it off to tell you a story, that will tell you a lot about my life lately.

Yesterday at 4:30 I showered to get ready for the evening. I curled my hair, and carefully chose my outfit. A sweater and blouse with khaki pants. This evening was special. The regular option of pink lounge pants, or black yoga pants was out of the questions. I put on my sparkly earrings (the really expensive ones the DH gave me for Christmas last year). While putting my make-up on, I decided that tonight was the night for Strike-a-pose Rose. I have been hoarding my last Mary Kay sample of my favorite shade for a special occasion. This was it! I was pleased with the results, with only a very small sigh for my pre-baby body. Then, I remembered that I forgot to brush my teeth! Dilemma! I had NO MORE lipstick... So, I grabbed a stick of gum.

Then we went to the Ward Christmas Party. I delivered my ham and Mormon Potatoes (I heard a rumor that those have made it into a recent Jewish Cookbook, under that name...) We got all the kids in a pic with Santa, and ate our ham and potatoes and green salad and rolls with much relish. At least I did, and it was great to see the kids polish of their dinner, and realize how many dishes I didn't have to do as a result!

Then came the program! I found out when I got there that they needed me to lead the entire group in Christmas carols. Did that, and then Joe and I sang the closing number, Silent Night. We sang a Capella, and there was one part I always messed up. I hit that square! But, of course, unintentionally rewrote two measures in the third verse. Overall, it went well though. I think it was the lip stick.

We came home, got the kids in bed, and I had to go to the grocery store. Then came home to watch It's a Wonderful Life while I embroidered for Christmas. But, I couldn't even see straight after the store, so we just snuggled up to watch a movie (the first movie night in 2 weeks!)

The End.

Well, until this morning. When I told the girls that we have a baby-sitter coming tonight, they misunderstood. They thought I said we have a baby sister coming tonight. I had to stop their joyful prancing and correct them. Heaven help me! I love babies, but if I had a baby tonight, I think I would have a mental breakdown!

Why I homeschool

2009-11-21T21:37:00.000-08:00

I have been asked frequently lately why I have decided to Homeschool. The answer is: I KNOW that it is the right thing for our family. I feel very strongly that I need to homeschool my kids.

I began feeling this summer that I need to start this school year, even though Abigail will be old enough for kindergarten next year. I wondered how I was going to do it, what I would teach, how I would get them to listen to me...

I was very afraid, because Abigail's natural response to anything I tell her is that she doesn't believe I have the answer. I might be right, I might be wrong... She'll find out herself. Which, in a lot of ways, is a great thing. However, there are some things you just have to trust me on. Like that letters go in a specific order, and must be arranged in lines on a page in order to be words. She didn't take my word for it on that for a long time. How could I homeschool this kind of personality, so different from mine? And yet, I knew that I had to do it.

When August rolled around, I began to ponder about what to do exactly. I had a 2 month old baby, I was in the middle of canning... life is busy! Things just fell into place for me. Phoebe gave me a good 3 weeks of sleeping through the night. I had the mental acuteness to develop a plan and begin writing my curriculum (a favorite part of teaching, I must say). When we started, the girls loved it! Who wouldn't, really? They get 2 hours of my attention, playing games, reading stories, writing letters... And at this age, I am still really cool to them.

The girls still ask me every day what we are learning in school tomorrow, and they look forward to mondays when we are going back to school. It is working out great, and they are learning a lot! I find that every time I know there is a concept I need to teach, but I don't know how to approach it, the answers just come to me as a work with each child individually. I felt that when I taught public school, and I believe all mothers feel that frequently, if not constantly.

While I know that I won't be the coolest person to them forever, and homeschool won't always be as easy as it is now, I know I'm off to a good start. If only there was a way for them to ride the bus AND do homeschool, they would think life was perfect. (They envy all the neighborhood kids who get to ride the bus to school.)

So far, my favorite lessons have been:

The Chicken Polka
Painting giraffes
Bean Collage Butterflies
Insect Hunt
Heart anatomy and physiology (the best use I've yet found for all those textbooks I didn't sell back)
Making a kite (well, that's in a few weeks, but I'm so excited!)

What treasures I have, and how exciting to be their teacher and coach as they discover life!

Things I am thankful for.

2009-11-16T14:09:00.000-08:00

Today I have a full heart, and have been thinking of random things I am thankful for, and thought that I should post.

In no particular order:

Laundry baskets. I think I have 15 in my house. They are so useful! Hampers, laundry carriers, toy boxes, toy cars, toy trains, kitty cages, suitcases, random stuff collectors, dirty diaper carriers... I love laundry baskets.
Polka dots. Zenna has a favorite outfit that is pink with lots of polka dots. In fact, we have two of the same outfit (from two different hand-me-downs). Whenever she puts it on, she says, "Look! I have spots!"
Machines. Dishwashing machine. Clothes washing machine. Vacuuming machine. Carpet cleaning machine. Clothes drying machine. Sewing machine. What a marvelous modern world we live in!
Homeschool. Must confess that every day it is not so so fun to prepare and execute an hour or two of lessons, but I am grateful for the chance it gives me to be the mom I want to be.
Toothless grins. Phoebe's smile makes me happy, and even more happy is the fact that she still has no teeth!
little thank-you's. Olivia is very good at thanking me specifically for small things. Like today: "Thank you for cleaning my room mommy... I love to have a clean room!"
Big Girl Birthdays. Abigail is turning 5 tomorrow. We have discovered that this gives us a lot of leverage: 5-year olds don't carry around ratty blankets, or whine, or leave food on their plate, or refuse to clean up their rooms. Abigail has been preparing herself for this very important day. (She is the one who came up all these things that 5-year-olds don't do.)
Help. My MIL came over today to help me get my house back in order. It is wonderful!
My Animal Diversity Professor. He taught us all about Toxoplasmosis and its dangers. He made us all promise that we women would never change a cat litter box while in our childbearing years, and made the men promise they would never let their wives change a cat box. This is a threat we take very seriously at our house. ;) thanks Joe!

Because you just never know.

2009-11-06T14:03:00.000-08:00

I just had to share a funny experience that I had today. I have been very very tired, and pretty emotional the last few days. I have also had a very keen nose, and these are things that in combination send me running. To the drug store.

I stopped by Walgreens on my way home today. I unloaded all the kids, and put Phoebe in the sling, and held the hands of two, and one was trailing behind. I dashed to the Pregnancy tests, grabbed the cheapest one, and headed to the counter. The cashier looked at me, looked at all my girls, looked at the test and back at me. She just shook her head and said, "Oh no!"

It was negative, of course. I hope I am not the only one who keeps the industry in business with all these unnecessary purchases, but you just never know. And if a girl can know for sure, she should!

Let your soul delight in fatness.

2009-10-28T19:09:00.000-07:00

My soul certainly delights in this fatness! Mommy's got the good stuff apparently. Weighing in at about 18 pounds at 4 months, this girl is chubby! But we love our chubby bubby! They are so fun that way.

I just can't help but smooch this baby all day! She is such a happy baby. She is very patient with her sisters. They love to hold her and talk to her, and sit on her... She smiles and giggles and coos. She has the cutest little pink tongue that she spends a lot of time exploring. She loves to such her thumb, but will suck any finger she can get. In fact, I can tell how hungry she is by the number of fingers in her mouth. 4 fingers is very hungry--mommy better feed me NOW! Just the thumb, and she could take it or leave it (of course she always takes whenever food is offered).

If only Zenna would learn to be gentle with the baby... She can't wait for Phoebe to grow up so she can have a playmate to boss.

We love baby Phoebe. Can't believe she's 4 months, but at the same time, can't believe she hasn't been here forever!

Daddy, will you play Star Wars?

2009-10-27T19:26:00.001-07:00

Lately, the girls have been very intrigued by Joe's Lego Star Wars game. It's like a movie for them, only they don't have to wait until Friday. Zenna loves Darth Vador. She calls him "Darfa Fader" and on her birthday, asked if she was getting darfa fader for her birthday. All day she reminds me that when dad gets home, she will ask him to play star wars. And when Joe walks in the door, he is greeted with squeals of delight, loves and kisses, and requests that he play Lego Star Wars so they can watch.

Luckily, though he has not been blessed with sons, he has been blessed with girls who are receptive to Star Wars.

Tonight, Abigail wanted to play with him. This was the scene:This was the dialog:
Joe: Over here! Not THAT way!
Abigail: Giggle
Joe: NO! Follow ME!
Abigail: Giggle giggle.
Joe: The OTHER way... turn around!
Abigail: Rolling on the floor with laughter.

She plays like her mom.

Kittens

2009-10-27T19:15:00.001-07:00

For those of you who know Abigail, you knew it would only be a matter of time. We had a cat when she was a baby, and they were best friends. When we moved, we gave Jack to a neighbor (from whom he eventually ran away, and that was the end of Jack...). Since living in Washington, we haven't had a cat. About a month after moving, I noticed some very pleasant changes. We no longer had cat hair all over our clothes. I no longer had to tell Abigail to stop eating cat food (she set up tea parties with Jack, serving up plates of cat food for everyone to eat). We didn't have a litter box to empty (although, to be fair, Jack almost always did his business outside, and not in our yard...). With all these pleasant things, I was very glad to be rid of pets, and thought perhaps we'd keep it that way.

Then, Abigail began to realize that pets are very cool. For her fifth birthday, she wanted a puppy and a kitten. She began telling us this in July. She finally asked Joe point blank if she could have a dog for her birthday. He said no. She asked why (or why not... her very favorite question). He said that they were slobbery, and stinky, and messy, and loud. But her friend has a dog. Her friends dad likes dogs. She saw his point. "OK. I'll get a cat." Hm... not exactly the way this conversation was supposed to end.

The next day we got a call from a lady in our ward. Her daughter had kittens she was trying to place in a home. They wanted to get rid of two. We decided to go for it. They were delivered on Friday. The rest is history.

They are named Callie and Frances. They are very very loved. If they survive this love past kittenhood, my life will be more peaceful.

Happy Happy Birthday Zenna Dear!

2009-10-27T18:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Zenna's Birthday. She had so much fun. The girls sang "Happy Birthday" to her about once every 15 minutes all day. She wore a marker lid on her finger all day pretending it was a birthday candle. She practiced blowing it out all day long. She got to eat tortillas for dinner. It was a great day to turn 2!

For Mommy, this birthday was a little stressful. It had to be a birthday made out of what we had on hand. So, Homemade Birthday, here we come! I made a skirt our of some fabric scraps, and a set of fabric balls also out of scraps. I made a "Family Picture Memory game" using some chipboard squares and scrapbook paper. We had a lot of fun playing that for her birthday party. Then came the cake. I had to make a cake from scratch. No pressure.

This was the cake process: As soon as I took the cookbook from the shelf, I had a swarm of little people join me in the kitchen. "Are you making the cake?" "What kind of cake?" "Can we have chocolate cake?" "Will it have sprinkles?" "Can it be a pink cake?" "Will it have sprinkles?" "I want chocolate chips!" "Can I have a taste?"

Once they realized it would be a while before edible cake emerged, they left the area.

Then the oven timer went off, and the swarm returned. "What kind of cake is it?" "Is it done?" "Will it have sprinkles?" "Can I have some?" "Don't forget the sprinkles." "I want chocolate chips!" "I want sprinkles." "Can I have another taste?" "I want some sprinkles." "Will it have sprinkles?" "Don't forget the sprinkles!" "Can I taste the sprinkles?"

Minute by minute my sanity was slipping away... The swarm was getting louder... Phoebe was crying, so I escaped to go feed her, the girls left the area, and peace was restored.

I was a little ashamed of the cake (which tasted fine), because this is the kind of cake I grew up with:This is the cake my mom made for Olivia's birthday this year. A huge hit, and much more beautiful than mine. I am ashamed. I must learn those made cake decorating skills soon, so that my girls can have lovely birthday cakes...

Got White Trash?

2009-09-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

Our front yard has been a picture of white trash for the past 2 years.

Overgrown bushes? Check!
Can't see the house? Check!
Weeds? Check!
Dead car that hasn't run for over a year parked in front of the house? Check!!

Well, we are slowing making the transformation from white trash to suburbian normalcy. Joe has cut down four trees, pulled out three giant Pfitzer Junipers, and we just towed off the dead car. While my weeding is not yet under complete control, and my roses need to be trimmed, we are improving our yard.

The problem now is that with so much space in the front, we have to plant something new... and considering my record for yard upkeep, what to do? Is it WT to have grass all the way up to the house? At least you can see the house...

We love homeschool!

2009-09-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

The biggest event of my life lately is that we started homeschooling at the beginning of September. We have always planned to do this, and decided this is our year to begin! Abigail will be 5 in November, so her kindergarten year is next year. I decided that if I get a year head start, I will be in a good routine, and not feel overwhelmed the year it "really counts."

I am writing my own curriculum, and I am combining the standards for preschool and kindergarten outlined in the Utah State Core Curriculum (the one I can most readily find, and am most familiar with). We spend about 2 hours per day, four days a week. Friday is Library day, and the day I plan my lessons for the next week or so.

The girls are having so much fun! Every night before bed, they ask me what we will learn about tomorrow. They are so excited about everything we do. While I don't kid myself that this will last forever, it is an encouraging beginning.

Here are some pictures of our activities last week.

Working on assignments

Our art project this week:
This was part of our "bugs" lesson

Ward Choir

2009-09-21T21:09:00.000-07:00

I was called to be the new Ward Choir Director at the beginning of August. This has been interesting. As we began choir practice in earnest (we took the month of August off), we had to figure out how to make this work. Since Joe is half the tenor section, having him stay home with the kids was not an option. And, since I also had to be there every Sunday for rehearsals, we decided to make it a family affair. The older girls sit at the back of the primary room while we rehearse (in theory), and I hold Phoebe in the sling while I conduct rehearsals.

What really happens is that the oldest two are trying the entire time to sneak out and explore the empty church building, Zenna is trying everyone's lap to see where she will be most comfortable, and Phoebe (good baby that she is) falls asleep to the swaying and singing.

Well, yesterday was our first "performance" in Sacrament Meeting. I almost forgot all about it. Then, when I remembered, I of course freaked out. But, considering that my back is to the congregation the entire time, it really wasn't that intimidating. I have not looked at my backside in a long time, so I have no reason to worry... what I don't know won't hurt me. :)

The number went well. I held Phoebe, Joe held Zenna, and we left the other girls under the charge of the Wings--very kind and capable people who sit behind us most weeks, and good rapport with the kids. I just hope that we are not becoming the ward freak show... I've never seen two kids in the ward choir before, but the church is, after all, about family, right?

Fox in Socks

2009-09-01T22:04:00.000-07:00

Joe is the best daddy. He reads Fox in Socks at least twice a day to the girls. Zenna is the one who is totally in love with it, but they all quote the book frequently. I love hearing them tell each other all about the tweedle beetles battling in a puddle in a bottle on a noddle eating poodle.

Abigail and Olivia have recently developed an aversion to Fox in Socks. When they see the book in Zenna's hands, they usually ambush her and steal the book. Then they hide it, and she screams at the top of her lungs until they realize they aren't getting away with anything. When that fails, Abigail will be bold and try to steal the book from Daddy. That doesn't usually work either, as he is so much stronger. Her next tactic is to scream "No Fox in Socks! You can't read this book!" at the top of her lungs until the book is over.

Last night I heard the older girls plotting. Abigail was coaching Olivia, "Go out there and be naughty! Tell him we won't listen to Fox in Socks anymore!" Olivia agreed, and timidly went out and whispered that they wouldn't listen anymore. Then she ran back into her room and reported that he was still reading it. She doesn't have her heart into committing someone else's wickedness. They then decided to camp out in their room until the book was over. Which they did. When the book was over they came out cheering.

Zenna still loves the book, and took it to bed with her tonight. Whether just because her sisters hate it, or because she has a genuine appreciation for ridiculous tongue twisters, we'll never know.

Little Girls!

2009-09-01T21:40:00.000-07:00

I think this picture expresses the feeling very well. What fun!

Matchmaker, Matchmaker

2009-09-01T21:33:00.000-07:00

We decided to watch Fiddler on the Roof as a family on a Sunday afternoon. The girls were captivated. After the movie was over, Abigail wanted to be married. This is her version of the Jewish wedding dress. The Orange blossoms circling her head, the veil, the dress... even shoes.
She is trying to convince Olivia (who is pretending to be her daughter) to marry her. Oh the innocence of children. Not realizing how totally unnatural their pretend affections are.

The next day, I was missing several pillowcases and a few small blankets. I found the girls hanging them out to dry and singing "Matchmaker, Matchmaker, make me a match..."

Phoebe

2009-09-01T21:22:00.001-07:00

Phoebe is exactly what I needed right now... a mellow baby. Of course, all my babies but Abigail have been mellow, but she's keeping up the trend. The Lord knew exactly how to hand that situation, and luckily, it's the way I wanted too. Here is her on her blessing day. The picture of love and innocence in the dress that Grandma Wilson made for my girls.

Phoebe is a thumb sucker. Since she was newborn, she would suck on her fist, but always kept her thumb tucked under her index finger. Within the last few weeks she has been able to suck her thumb consistently. Zenna has a thumb-suckin' buddy!

This is Phoebe with her best friends, the dangly toys. She smiles and coos at them every time she sees them. They buy me lots of time as I prepare meals. Now if I can only get her to smile and coo at me as much as she smiles and coos at her toys...

The only trouble we have with Phoebe is that from sad experience, she cries whenever a sister comes in her view. So, when I am not holding her, she attends me in her carseat on the kitchen counter, out of reach.

We LOVE the Mall!

2009-07-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry, there are no pictures for this post, but I had to write it down. First of all, I want to thank my mother for not allowing me to "hang out" at the mall when I was in Junior High. I would now be very embarrassed. There was a group of "very cool" junior high kids at the table next to us in the food court last night, and I was embarrassed for them.

Last night, Joe took all of us girls to the mall. When I told the girls that daddy was taking us out, Olivia jumped up and down and said, "Oh! Oh! Oh! I LOVE daddy!" They were all very excited. While I went shopping for some new shirts, Joe took the girls to the play area. They love it there, and even Zenna was running around and playing. It was very cute, because Abigail was keeping track of her sisters very closely. When we switched off, and Joe went to look for shoes, Zenna ran off. I was nursing the baby (of course!) and took a few minutes to get up to chase her. Abigail and Olivia were right with me. She was headed for Penney's when we found her. On the way back to the play area, Abigail took one of Zenna's hands and Olivia took the other. They kept telling her, "Don't ever run away again! You can't leave! You have to stay where mommy can see you! Don't ever run away!" It was so funny to see them give the lecture they've heard, we won't say how many times. :)

The last time we all went to the mall was pretty funny too. When we pulled up, Zenna was very excited. She kept shouting, "A twinkow! A twinkow!" We didn't know what she was talking about until we looked up at the building. We usually park by Macy's and she was looking at the star in their logo. When we got out of the car, she was singing "twinkle twinkle little star."

When we got to the food court, a local elementary school marimba band was performing. At first both Abigail and Olivia covered their ears. After they grew accustomed to the noise, they started recognizing some tunes. After a while Abigail turned to Joe and said, "Dad, this sounds kind of like music!" We had to agree. It did sound kind of like music. Not exactly, but kind of. :)

Then we went to Old Navy. While Joe was trying on jeans, us girls were waiting outside the fitting rooms. There was a large display of flip-flops that was pretty picked over. When I turned to find Olivia, she was going through the display, straightening everything out. She put all the flip flops back into neat little rows. I am sure the staff was grateful.

Maybe we are off to a bad start... with four girls who already love the mall... What's a girl to do?

Four girls... whew!

2009-06-29T15:24:00.001-07:00

My four girls hanging out on my bed. Right now four seems like so many... Crazy crazy household now!

For example... yesterday morning (Sunday) I dragged out of bed at 7 after 3 hours of sleep. Phoebe was hungry again. Olivia stopped me and said, "Mommy, you need to make me breakfast. I'm hungry. How about pancakes?" Zenna tugged at me and said, "Mommy, could you help me? I lost my blankie." (Yes, she said that whole phrase... she's quite the talker!) After I got breakfast ready (toast and bananas, no pancakes today!), I went to wake up Abigail. She growled at me and told me it was too hard, she couldn't wake up today. Then I had to get them all ready for church. I was not up to going yet, but Mum and Papa Haws took them (daddy was playing the organ). We made it! After they left, I laid down to nurse the baby, and slept for 3 hours! I was so grateful for a nap! Wow!

I thought it was hard to have one baby. Motherhood is tough.

I thought it was hard to have two babies (15 months apart). That was busy.

I thought it was hard to have three little ones. I still got a nap every day.

It is hard to have four... for the first time, I don't have the chance to nap with my baby. I am exhausted by 8 every night. When the kids go to bed, I am ready to crash!!!

All that said, I love it! We are still adjusting, and thankfully Joe is taking care of the dishes every day. Pretty soon though we'll be in a good groove. Life is good. We love being in the four girl club! We are now one of three families in the ward with four girls. One family came over just the other day to "welcome us into the four girl club." They are great.

She's Here!

2009-06-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

June 15, 2009 Phoebe Elise Haws was born at home. She was born at 10:53 after a pretty quick and uneventful labor. Only 5 hours of uncomfortable labor, and 1-2 hours of hard labor. She was 9 lbs. even, and was 21 inches long. She is beautiful!! I finally have a way to transfer my pictures to the computer, so here they are!

Laboring at home... the best thing ever!

Being weighed by the Midwife.

One day old. Sporting her homemade cloth diaper.

What a face! She looks an awful lot like her sisters...

Asparagus Harvester

2009-06-15T15:09:00.000-07:00

I don't have any of my own pictures to post, but there are lots of pictures included in this article written in the local paper.

It has a lot of good information in case you want to know what the harvester is all about, and what they are doing this year. After so much work, it is great that the harvest is almost over! This is the last week!!!

Playin' on the Porch in our Jammies

2009-05-28T21:36:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures of a typical morning after breakfast. I think they are just so cute! Zenna had put her kitty on the pillow, and covered it with her blankie, but by the time I pulled out the camera, she'd picked it up.

The baby in Mommy's Tummy

2009-05-28T20:58:00.000-07:00

I thought I would dedicate a post to the new baby. Here I am showing off my very pregnant belly.

Abigail and Olivia draw many pictures every day. Lately they have been drawing pictures of Mommy with a baby in her tummy. This is Abigail's rendition of me:
Here is Olivia's rendition (she made sure to point out the really cute hair):
I love that the baby is floating right under my chin. It feels like that some days...

The cutest thing that happened was when Zenna came up to me the other day insisting on seeing my belly button. She is at that age where the belly button is a very important part of everyone's anatomy. When I showed her, she poked my belly and said, "It's a brudder! Wight in dere!" I thought that was cute, cause she'd seen her sisters do that. Then she thought for a minute and put her eye up close to my belly button and said, "I see him?" She tried to clean my button out with her finger so she could get a better view, but she never caught a glimpse. I told her she'd have to wait until the baby came out to see it.

Abigail and Olivia get really interested once in a while. About a week ago, they both came up to me and spontaneously started rubbing my belly. They had such a twinkle in their eyes, and they started chanting, "It's our brother, it's our brother." I thought maybe they were having visions and premonitions that I should heed. But, yesterday they were talking about how cute the new baby will be, and therefor it must be a girl. I asked, "What if it's a boy?" they replied that we'd get a boy next time. This time it's a girl. So... we know nothing.

I am 36 weeks... after June 3rd I am 37 weeks, and can go at any time. We are so excited!!

Joe's Birthday at the Shop

2009-05-28T20:44:00.000-07:00

Since Joe has been working crazy hours for the past few weeks, we decided to take his Birthday Party to the shop. The girls love to see the Asparagus Harvester, and since they hadn't seen daddy in 3 days, they were totally excited.

We had birthday cake and pizza, and then they got to roam the shop.

I love seeing the girls wander around the shop. I was not so happy that I forgot to leave Zenna's blankie in the car. It was black when we got done.

Here is a picture of the Harvester. This is just the skeleton. We'll post more pictures when it's complete. They are getting so close... any day now and it will be in the field!

Motherhood lesson #4,319

2009-05-23T14:22:00.000-07:00

Don't let your kids chew gum in the bathtub.

The other day I gave Olivia a piece of gum because she spontaneously came in the kitchen and cleaned everything off the floor (the one job that is almost impossible for me right now). She popped it into her mouth, and then it was bath time.

While the girls were playing in the tub, I heard Olivia burst into tears. (Yes, I confess I do leave my children semi-unattended in the tub. I never leave hearing range, but I don't spend 15 minutes sitting in the bathroom while they play.) When I went in to see what was the matter, she told me she had lost her gum and wanted me to find it. Well, I "tried real hard" to find the lost gum (nasty!) and told her it was gone for good. I helped her calm down and get dressed. When I pulled Zenna out of the tub a few minutes later she looked at me with a mischievous look on her face and said, "I find gum!" and kept on chewing. I hurried to get her out of Olivia's sight, and she swallowed the gum before anyone else knew about it. Not only ABC gum, but ABC gum that was floating in bathwater! It still makes me gag to think about.

I am a firm believer that such exposure increases immunity. I have to think that or else I'd go crazy.

Yummy Chokwit!

2009-05-20T20:20:00.000-07:00

I made chocolate pudding for dessert on Sunday. Zenna is a huge chocolate fan. In fact, she learned the word "chokit" very early. So, after dessert Sunday, she was saying over and over, "yummy chokwit" and licking the bowl clean.

Milestones this week

2009-05-20T20:05:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast the girls are growing up! They are so much fun, and we just love seeing them grow!

Abigail is "too big to take naps." So, as you see... she will never lay in her bed at a regular naptime, but about twice a week she will get her blankie and lay down on the couch. Not to go to sleep, of course. So, actually this week Abigail has NOT reached the milestone of no afternoon nap. But she did learn to write a lowercase "g" today. She still doesn't understand that in order for anyone else to read her name, she must put all the letters in a row. Instead she writes all the letters of her name randomly all over the page over and over. But, we are still working on it. I am definitely a novice home-school mom. :)

Olivia has reached an important milestone this week. She can now completely self-dress! Here she is in her purple flower jammies that she put on all by herself! She can take off her shirts all by herself, put on her footie jammies by herself, and tuck the lining back into her shoes to put them on by herself. I am so proud of her, and so relieved. With two who can totally self-dress, life is a little easier now. :)

Zenna learned this week how to go up and down the stairs by herself. She had never even tried before. We never had to put up a gate or anything, because she never even tried to go down. I found out she could do it herself when I left her blankie upstairs. We were going to see Joe at the shop for lunch, and I told her she had to leave blankie at home. When I was getting the other kids in the car, Zenna disappeared. Pretty soon I saw her coming down the stairs by herself, blankie in tow. Nothing could move her to try, except blankie... If only I had the same power. I decided if she was determined enough to brave the stairs, I would let her take blankie on our trip.

Bunk Beds!

2009-05-20T19:54:00.000-07:00

Last week I set up the bunk beds that Mom and Dad gave us when they got a new bed and all the beds moved down. These are the bunk beds Hilary and I had a teenagers, and if I remember right, we put them together when we got them. So, when I discovered that after three moves, we had lost the hardware to put it together, I was able to figure out the bolts we needed. The girls and I took a long trip to find the right bolts and one mattress. Mom and Dad gave us the other one.

After hitting a few retail stores that don't sell mattresses for less than $100, and hitting 4 thrift stores that didn't have any twin mattresses, or they were selling them for $50... we found the perfect mattress for $15! We brought it home and put the whole thing together!

They spent the entire first day in their beds. The house was very quiet that day. I have to say I got a lot done that stayed done since they didn't leave their bedroom. Abigail even requested to take a nap! The second day, Olivia got brave enough to climb up to the top bunk. She wanted me to put her up there. Besides the fact that I am almost 9 months pregnant and can't lift a 40 pound kid four feet in the air... I told that it wasn't safe for her be up if she couldn't get down by her self. So, after a few trips up and down the bottom two rungs of the ladder, she made it to the top. Then she went up and down freely!

Now that it's been over a week they are settling down. They went to bed at 11 o'clock for the first week. They just stayed in there playing forever. Once things calm down, Zenna will get to sleep in with them in a toddler bed. She loves the "big girl bed" but I think she still feels more comfortable in her crib. She always reminds me that she wants to sleep in the "cwib" in "Zenna's Woom."

Random pictures

2009-05-11T20:47:00.001-07:00

Since I just started this blog, I will include some old pictures that are my favorites.

These are the girls on Halloween.

I just love that bunny tail!

Here is Olivia helping Daddy tune the piano:

Here is this year's model of the snowman:

Zenna frequently walks around with her hands held behind her back like this... she has since she started to walk. I think it's cute. She also frequently walks around without pants on. Also cute. She is sporting her favorite cloth diaper. :)

Mother's Day

2009-05-11T20:31:00.000-07:00

For Mother's Day, my girls gave me a wonderful gift. They made it through Sacrament Meeting without major interruption. That's a big deal, because since Joe is the Ward Organist, he goes to church at 7:30 to prepare and play prelude. He usually joins us after the sacrament, until the intermediate or closing hymn. The girls are good most of the time, and yesterday they were very good.

Zenna is always so excited to see Daddy at the organ. Yesterday, before I know what was happening, as soon as the Sacrament was over, Zenna jumped into the aisle and ran for the stage, yelling, "Daddy, daddy!" She had to dodge between the young men who were just leaving their bench, but she found him. It was so cute! I get the feeling we are one of those families that keep our quarter of the chapel entertained during meetings.

They also let me get this picture of all of them in their matching dresses. I decided to make them Easter dresses this year, and of course I had to pick the pattern with a full pinafore! They were very simple, but there were 6 of them! If baby #4 is a girl, that means 4 matching Christmas dresses... Whew!

Simple Joys

2009-05-09T11:40:00.001-07:00

The other day I had a few moments of joy and satisfaction that I wanted to share.

I decided that the two most satisfying things in my life right now are:

Hanging a load of homemade cloth diapers on the line to dry in the sun.
Feeding my kids a lunch of peanut butter sandwiches and apple sauce. Homemade whole wheat bread, homemade jam, and home canned applesauce. It's their favorite lunch!

So simple, but to me... that's what life is all about!

I'm going to do it!

2009-05-09T09:28:00.000-07:00

I decided to take the plunge and become a blogger. Not because I believe that everyone wants to know all that's going on in our family all the time, but what a great way to document! And for those few people who do want to know what's going on in my family all the time, they can check. I don't have to feel guilty about not sending an update email every week (since I haven't done that for almost a year now).

So, let me introduce our family: Joseph (Joe) and I (Adrienne) have been married for almost 7 years. The 7th anniversary of our first date is coming up soon... and since from first date to altar was only 4 months, we are almost there! What a whirlwind! Since then, we graduated from BYU, bought (then sold three years later) a home in Layton, UT, moved to Eastern Washington (where we now live) and have had three kids! Abigail is four and a half, Olivia is three, Zenna is 18 months.

Right now we are about 7 weeks away (or 6 or 8 or 5... who knows?) from welcoming Baby Haws #4 into our family. We aren't sure if it is a Baby Benson, or a Baby Sophie. The family is divided on predictions at this point. Joe remains aloof from all speculation, the rest of us can't make up our minds. Our opinions shift frequently. Whenever all the girls are getting along well, Abigail will say, "We can wait and have a brother next time. I think it's a girl baby." When they are all at odds, they agree that they want a brother. Either way, we are excited!