Spring Break Part Deux

Spring break went by far too quickly, but we did manage to find some fun our second week as well. Shawn's scout troop had a family picnic day that the boys were supposed to plan, and decide what kind of activities we would be doing. Shawn wanted to feed ducks, but when we got to the park, his plan seemed to change. Poor geese!




Reagan and small Paul had fun at the park. He is so blessed to have so many older siblings who love him as much as he loves them. In the morning, he wakes up with a cheerful "Good morning Mommy, Good morning Emmy, I love you Emmy, I love you mommy!" Then he runs down his list - "I love Savannah, I love Shawn, I love Reagan, I love Michael, I love Shelby, I love Daddy" He is such a sweet boy. Every day I am astounded at just how over the top in love with him I am!








We spent a few days with animals this week. We have a feline rescue near our house where they have jaguars, tigers, mountain lions, ocelots, and wild peacocks running free (the peacocks, not the cats, they are safely behind bars) In Santa Clarita, about halfway between our house and Grandma Mathews', there is a great park with barnyard animals and the world's friendliest deer. He comes right up to the fence when kids approach, and tries to get his antlers through the gate to get the kids to pet him. It's awesome. There is a great, short hike up a hill, where you can see "wild" bison wandering around. The original herd was donated by Walt Disney, and now a new generation thrives there.




I really enjoyed conference this past weekend. I don't know if it was just what I needed to hear, but I felt like the emphasis on the importance of family was even stronger than usual. I love my family so much. Every day joys and struggles help me to see my importance as a mom, and the importance of the job I have been blessed with.

Spring Break Week #1

We get two weeks of spring break. Yes, I know, we are very lucky! We've been staying busy this first week, seeing some old standbys as well as a couple of new places!

Emily is very excited to have all of the kids home from school.



We started our week at Sea World with Uncle Curtis & fam. It was awesome! We love San Diego, but it is so much better with cousins.




Small Paul got to hang with Elmo...


Next we headed over to the Wild Animal Park - so cool! We saw elephants, rhinos, and lots of other animals, fed giraffes, watched a cheetah run almost 70 miles per hour, and got up close & personal with this bad kitty



Our next day was spent at the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana. They have an awesome Star Wars exhibit on loan from Lucas Films. Since we have two Star Wars fanatics in the family, we had to check it out.



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The Discovery Science Center was really fun. Lots of hands on activities, flight simulators, a giant dinosaur, a rocket, Diego, and a real bed of nails!





We ended week one with a sleepover with friends for all of the kids (well, the big ones). I'm tired.

Week two still lies ahead. What adventures will it hold??????? Hope you are all having a fabulous spring break too!!

Loved this

I have pulled together a preschool play group in our ward, mostly because now that Emily has arrived, it is much harder to take Small Paul to the park on my own. I am working on a field trip to the Skirball Cultural Center's Noah's Ark exhibit - a must see for little (and not so little) kids visiting Grandma Mathews. One of their temporary exhibits right now is called "Women hold up half of the sky" and it is all about empowering women around the world. It looks really interesting, but something that struck me were the remarks made by the President of the Skirball Center :

"During Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, hundreds of prayers are intoned. Among these ancient prayers, there is one that has always had special meaning for me. It takes place at the conclusion of the Day of Atonement. It is a prayer in which God is said to open the book of memories, and find there the fingerprints of every human being. The assumption is that in order for us to be listed in the book of memories, we must touch someone with good deeds. We are mandated to feed, clothe, heal, and counsel all who are destitute, struck down, impoverished, sick, young and old, men and women."

"There is much sorrow in this world, but there is also joy. Perhaps there is no joy greater or more glorious than having left our fingerprints by uplifting the downtrodden and the many strangers in our midst. We are commanded not to stand idle while our neighbors bleed. These are the teachings that have inspired the Skirball Cultural Center to produce the exhibition Women Hold Up Half the Sky."

"Fingerprints remain behind to stir our memories and keep us aware of the benediction to which our lives amount. It is my hope that the fingerprints we leave behind are powerhouses for good. For such power is meant to be everlasting."

—Uri D. Herscher
Founding President and CEO, Skirball Cultural Center

It may be just me, in my sick kid & husband induced level of exhaustion, but I think that is a beautiful message, and has inspired my next family home evening.

Would you like to meet her???

It's been almost two months since Emily danced into our lives.
She has added so much, that we didn't even know we were missing.
We all love her so much and our home is filled with her sweet little spirit.




She's an excellent sleeper, thank goodness, just the occasional monkey noise during the night. I can only assume she is dreaming, but of what?





Everyone is enjoying her, especially now that she smiles and is trying to laugh.
She is really peaceful and mellow, we hardly ever hear her cry. She is very curious about what all of the kids are doing, and likes it when the girls hold her.




Amazingly enough, a big surprise... curly hair!!! She makes up for quantity by having overcome the super straight Mathews' hair gene. Emily may not look like me, but I did manage to leave my genetic mark on her after all!



Seriously, how cute is this little pouty face?

Emily & Paul like to play the "tounge game" every day. Paul sticks his tounge out, Emily smiles and sticks her tounge out right back at him. He sticks his out again & she tries to laugh. Anytime Paul holds her now she assumes this is what they will be doing.

I am totally in love, once again. Becoming a parent fills your heart with so much love, it doesn't matter if it is your first, or in this case, your seventh. Welcome to the family Emily Elizabeth, we are so glad you are here!

Hooray, she is here!

Well, I am so excited to be sitting in a hospital room tonight holding my sweet, beautiful, and sleepy baby girl! I will post pics soon, but right now she looks like Small Paul did at about a month, which makes sense since she stayed in a month longer than he did, for which I have already forgiven her. Her hair is as dark as Reagan's though, which is a surprise, but fun, because she has kind of a lot of hair...

Getting her here wasn't too tough (I may have said something different yesterday). She wasn't coming on her own so I was induced yesterday afternoon. The pitocin didn't do much so my midwife broke my water, which was a game changer for awhile. After I got stuck for a few hours and was getting tired, I agreed to an epideral in hopes that it would help me to relax a bit. I had one last time and not only did it hurt going in, it didn't work very well :(. This time was different, thankfully! It didn't hurt, numbed me nicely, but made me throw up as soon as it went in, which was sad. After I threw up for a bit I was able to sleep, which was nice! I napped for about 45 minutes and woke up throwing up really hard. I startled Paul who had been sleeping, and he knocked something over, making a big bang! I told him the baby was crowning, but he didn't believe me. The nurse came in because she heard the commotion, I told her the baby was coming out, she moved my blanket and sure enough, Emily was out all the way to her tummy, the nurse turned to grab gloves and Emily slipped out the rest of the way! Paul believed me then!

So, our very special girl, was born in a special way, on a special day, 11/11/11! Not only will she get to take her birthday off from school because of Veteran's day, her Daddy will be home from work for the holiday too. The kids are excited that Harry Potter 7 part 2 was released on DVD on her birthday too. I'm just glad she is here, safe, sound, and healthy in my arms and in our family!

Dear Emily...

Please come out, soon. I've enjoyed feeling you dance around inside of me. Your Daddy has enjoyed feeling you kick, toss and turn, and hiccup. I think it is time for us to meet. I think you agree because I have gotten the "this is it" feeling when I have been slammed with contractions every 2 1/2 minutes for several hours, but then you seem to change your mind. Is it because you hear all of the kids and their insanity and it scares you? Is it because of Rusty's horrid habit of barking All. The. Time? Is it my need to blast the stereo and sing along when I'm in the car? Whatever it is that is holding you back, we can work through it, but first you need to get here. We are nice, the rest of the family is awesome too, and your Daddy doesn't know how to say "no" to anyone, which may help explain the insane behavior from the kids, and Rusty. Anyways, think about it. Today is a good day to be born...

Introducing Zed...

This is Zed. No, he is not a mouse, he is a sugar glider. We did not have a sugar glider before, so we needed him. He is very sweet, and it is lots of fun watching him play. We love him!