a history of tables

Our Chinese teacher at BYU-Idaho gave us our first table when Joe and I got married--almost 15 years ago. It was a heavy-duty, blond, round library table. It was also pre-digital camera, so I don't have a picture of it. It was plenty big enough for our little family of two, and we even had room to invite friends and coworkers over for dinner somewhat frequently. 

Three years and one child later we moved to a (maybe) 500 square foot cinder block apartment at BYU-Provo. We hauled that table up 3 flights of stairs and quickly realized it would not fit into our tiny, tiny kitchen space, so we took it to a thrift store and then went straight to Walmart to buy a $40 card table. That was a lot of money for us! Then we added Madison, and as you can see, it was a little tight. 

In 2007 we moved to Cleveland, Ohio to start life out of college. Our first real furniture purchase ever (and we waited until we knew Joe had passed the bar) was to buy a real table! We spent something like $800. We loved it, and we loved all the space we had for our growing family (Grant came right after). We moved that table across the country to Texas, and then moved it to two more homes (a total of four homes) and added two more kids (Ammon and August). We celebrated birthdays, made food, colored eggs, carved pumpkins, painted pictures, assembled puzzles, and created pinewood derby cars at that table. We now officially had more people than seats, and finding room for friends and family became a little tricky. 

  

We started to look for a new table, and sales clerks would laugh when I told them I needed a tough table--one that would allow fork gouges and permanent marker stains to add character. I usually start all our furniture purchases off with, "I have five kids." Eventually, I learned about this kind of table called a "farmhouse" table. As it turns out there are quite a few do-it-yourself plans online, but if you know us at all, you know that our do-it-yourself skills are pretty lame. Anyway, long story short, there is a guy about three streets away who is always making tables in his garage and on his driveway. We told him what we needed and he delivered it to our house this week. I pretty much had no idea what it would look like, and to make it even more exciting and suspenseful, I asked him to combine two different colors of stain, and this is what he came up with. 

It has taken me a few days to get used to the new look in our dining area. It seems like it's twice the size of our last table, and we are going to have to teach our kids to pass plates and food because it's too big to reach across. Someday I would like to find better matching chairs, but for now our old ones will do. 

The table isn't perfect, and there are already dings and marks in it. It is heavy duty, will last forever (hopefully!), and forks and permanent markers will only add to the beauty of the table. The bench is sturdy and can fit a lot of little bottoms on it. In fact, we can easily fit everyone at the table, and we can fit you, too!

Tonight as everyone was cleaning up after dinner (and Grant was sweeping the floor), I felt a little warm fuzzy as I realized that this is a place where we will make thousands of new memories. Food made and eaten. Hours and hours of math homework cursed at and completed. Games played. Birthdays celebrated. Friendships made. Good and hard conversations had. We will laugh and cry and pray and learn at this table. 

So anyway, make your reservations and get in on the memories.

separate identities

Yes, yes; it's been a while. I'm so far behind on the blogging that I don't think I will even try to catch up. The truth is that I'm too tired and too busy to use Auggie's nap time to blog. However, the last few days I have been made extra-aware that my children are growing up, and the memories deserve more than a facebook post.

1. Two of my wonderful, sweet babies kids have informed me that my van music (country) stinks. "Please turn it off, " they say. "It's giving me a headache." I turn it up louder so I can sing louder, but they just get louder, too.

2. This week Logan was personally invited to be in an after-school club. I am so happy. It feels like he's sort of finding his niche, and I think it's a safe one. Which club, you ask? The calculator club.

3. Auggie is nine months old. Gulp. It is happening way too quickly. Diaper-changing has turned into a battle over who can out-smart and over-power the other person. Sleep has gotten a little more consistent, so that part I'm ready for.

Well, that about takes up the 10 minutes I allotted to blogging. Back to the grind.

all things Auggie

I LOVE this age! Every day I find myself consciously trying to memorize the imprint of his body in my arms. I kiss his chubby cheeks and tickle his feet and I squish his fluffy thighs. He is happy and content and curious and fun, fun, fun. 

His first tooth is growing in nicely, and a second tooth is about to pop through. 

We started giving him solids at dinner time, and it makes him so happy!! Seriously, he physically jumps up and down in the high chair and moves his wide-open mouth to the spoon. The baby cereal says to start with a tablespoon, and I think we are giving him almost a quarter cup! He is sleeping through the night better, too, so that tale about solids and sleeping must be true. 

Auggie has been rolling over for about a month, but in the last week or so he has discovered that rolling can get him places, and he can get from one side of the room to the other more quickly than I am ready for him to move! I fear that soon he will be crawling, which means we will have to get a baby gate for the stairs and keep the floor free of Legos and beads. He is sitting up pretty well, and we've started letting him sit in the grocery cart, which makes life so much easier.

Auggie loves to read; he paws at the books and turns pages, and apprently they taste great. He is figuring out how to play (pound on) the piano, which makes my heart go pitter-patter. He loves to drop toys on the floor. He likes to play with his toes. He loves to go on walks in the stroller. 

Auggie spends a lot of time admiring his hands and fingers, and I love to watch him as he places them in front of his face and twists and turns and bends them. I wonder what he thinks about his amazing body as he discovers the things he is capable of doing. A few days ago we were playing with feet and I showed him mine and wiggled my toes. He smiled big and wiggled his toes back for me, and then laughed when I praised him. 

We are working on taking longer naps. I think because our schedule is not super consistent (with running back and forth to school, play groups, and grocery shopping), he has gotten into the habit of taking several 20-30 minute naps during the day--usually in the car. I would really like him to take a shorter nap in the morning and evening and one long nap between 12:00-3:00 in the afternoon. 

Auggie is wearing 6-9 month clothes and some 12 month clothes. He's my tall, giant baby, and we all love him. 

Every time I try to take a picture of him admiring his hands I end up distracting him. This is the best I could get. 

August in September

Better late than never? Also, maybe someday I will come up with more creative titles.

At 4 months Auggie:

• weighs 16 lbs 1 oz
• is 26" long
• can roll from front to back
• has rolled from back to front a few times
• likes to blow bubbles
• likes to make spitting noises
• likes to sleep in his crib 
• falls asleep on his own
• is not sleeping through the night very often (insert very sad face)
• is a happy baby
• likes to suck on his bottom lip
• puts everything in his mouth

 Auggie at 4ish months

And just because it's fun, we were looking at old pictures last night to see who August looks the most like. Wow! Time flies! I love the different backgrounds, too, as they remind me of the many different places we were in life as each child was added to our family. 

Logan 4ish months in Rexburg, Idaho. Joe and I were both finishing our undergrad degrees.

 Madi 4ish months (Logan 2 and Joe 25) in Provo, Utah (Wymount!) for law school.

Grant 4ish months in South Euclid, Ohio. Joe was working for Roetzel and Andress.

Another Grant at 4ish months (Madi 2 and Logan 4). I had to include this one because Ammon was playing doctor with Auggie this morning using this same doctor set. Love!  

Ammon 4ish months with his great-grandma. Picture taken at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Pennsylvania. Joe had recently started his own law practice and we had just moved to a rental home in North Dallas.

Sooo.... who do you think he looks like? 

balls and babies

Our 8 yr-old computer is slower than slow and my phone freezes every 3 seconds, so basically my communication with the outside world is nonexistent right now, which is ok, I guess. I can focus on the important things. Like the notes I find on Madison's door. (I'm sure going to miss this stage in life where my kids leave the funniest writings scattered all over the house.)

You see, a few days ago Madison and Ammon were play-fighting with an orange hopper ball. You know--those balls with a handle that you can hop on. Anyway, Madison kicked it right on top of Auggie's face. Joe and I were right there and we both kind of gasped. Auggie did, too, and then he smiled this big smile like, "Hey, I think I just felt something!" We still had to reprimand the offenders, and Madison may have shed a few tears because she knew that she had just kicked a BALL on her baby brother's face. 

We spent the rest of the day teasing her about balls and babies, which apparently she did not appreciate. 

I will say this, though. Life is a lot more fun when you can have a good sense of humor. 

excitement

Auggie slept through the night for a few weeks and is back to waking up at least once. I found these skeleton jammies at Walmart for $5, and I'm glad I got them because they glow in the dark and make waking up in the middle of the night a little more fun. So fun, in fact, that at 3 a.m. this morning Joe and I were laughing together as we watched his skeleton body kick and squirm. Even though I do wish he would sleep more than 7 hours straight (or maybe I just need to go to bed earlier), he is a joy to be around. He is happy during the day and takes two long, consistent naps. 

Oh my gosh, he's cute! 

Ammon started preschool today! He is very excited that it is finally his turn to go to school. I asked him if he missed me and he politely told me, "No, not at all." I guess that is a good thing.

So what did Auggie and I do with our 4 hours alone? We took a walk and played together for a few minutes. We whipped up dinner and made two extras to take to other families. We visited a friend who just had adorable twin girls. I can't imagine! Next time I will find someone to watch Auggie first so I can help her hold and feed her babies without him getting jealous halfway through. We visited another friend whose baby is one week younger than Auggie. We got the babies together and they just smiled and smiled at each other. Then we came home, ate lunch, and picked up Ammon.

I have grand plans for our two days a week alone. Volunteer at school, clean, eat lunch with Dad, serve others in our community, go shopping, go visiting teaching, maybe even go back to bed. I'm not sure how to prioritize because they all sound so wonderful!

Logan, Madi, and Grant are all doing well at school as well. I am especially excited about Madison's teachers because she's excited about school. It sounds like they are making learning a lot of fun by using music and videos to teach language arts and science. 

In all, today has been a really rewarding day. I know not everyone desires to be a stay-at-home mom, and not everyone has the opportunity to be a SAHM, but I am grateful for the choice, and I am happy with what I have chosen. I am grateful that Joe is happy with our choices as well, and thankful that he has the ability to support us. 

Speaking of Joe (this might embarrass him a little bit), but I think he's amazing. Sometimes we get so caught up on making it through the day by fulfilling our role, whatever that may be, that by the end of the day we are both exhausted, and when that becomes a habit I think that it is easy to take each other for granted instead of acknowledging and appreciating what the other person does. Sometimes, if you are like me, you don't even know that is happening until something changes. The last few weeks Joe has broken that cycle in our family by being extra helpful and loving to everyone, but especially to me. I've noticed that as he makes more effort to help me that I want to make more effort to help him, and by the end of the day we might still be exhausted, but it is a happy and fulfilling exhaustion. Anyway, I won't get too mushy, but it has been a great experience and lesson to me about how love and kindness motivates and changes people, and if you feel a desire to break the exhaustion cycle in your home this might be a good experiment for you to try, too.

Finally, this is the recipe I made today. I don't know if it will be any good, but if it is, it's a keeper because it looks fancy, will hopefully taste great, and is easy, easy, easy! (Isn't it funny that we always try new recipes when we give our food away? Scary!)

second day of school

I don't have time to write because for the second day in a row the boys are taking naps at the same time and I want to take a nap, too! So of course I decided to paint a dresser and read a book and now I'm running out of time... but first...

This is what my kids looked like on the first day of school. They look pretty cute, if I do say so myself. You would never guess (maybe) that I had to beg and plead with most of them to wear something nice. I was told more than once, by more than one child, that he or she was old enough to choose his or her own clothing. I promised that after the first day of school I wouldn't be so controlling. I just needed a picture, that's all. They complied.

Day 2. Sadly, I have no picture. But Grant came downstairs wearing some gray athletic shorts and a stretched out, wrinkled Spiderman t-shirt. I shared my opinion ("It looks like you are wearing jammies, Grant." "Mom, this is comfortable!") and then I let it go. After all, a promise is a promise.

As we were waiting for the bus he looks at me with some alarm and says, "Mom, I forgot to change my shirt!" Whoa, what? "Yeah, I slept in this last night!"

I did not say, "I told you so." I did not panic. And the boy went to school wearing the same shirt he slept in.

I suppose this is what happens when you have 5 kids.

sacred moments

There is a sacredness that comes with the last few days of summer vacation. The mornings stay dark a little longer and the sun goes down a little earlier. Sometimes, if you are lucky, the days will begin to be a little cooler. There are resolutions to hug your babies and big kids more often; there are moments that you swear under your breath, and the first day of school can't come quickly enough.

Last night was back to school night. This is a hectic hour where you drag around 100 pounds of school supplies, race from room to room, and you pray like crazy that your kids will make friends and learn much.

I will miss the sleeping in. I will miss the help with Auggie. I will miss the outings. I will miss my kids. 

Today was practice day. I got up at 6:00 a.m. to shower and get ready for the day. It helped that Auggie slept 11 hours last night!!! The kids got up and dressed and we left the house at 7:25 to get donuts. We brought milk, cheese sticks, and grapes and had a picnic breakfast at the elementary school playground. Then we played. 

One last summer outing.

From there we took Logan to the middle school for a 6th grade orientation. He received a locker, we picked up his gym clothes, and he learned about being a 6th grader.

The counselor (the one I posted about a few weeks ago) talked to us for a bit and explained that 6th grade would be the last year where parents would be the most influential person in our child's life. 

Terrifying! Scary! No! No, I'm not crying right now.....

The counselor also said that studies show that this generation has a better relationship with their parents than any other generation. 

Logan is so ready for this. He showed me how to open his locker. They ran out of the adult small shirts so we bought him a medium--and it doesn't even look that big! I look at him and he looks so tall, mature, handsome. 

Look at her long, long legs! Won't be long before she is as tall as I am.

I love these pictures. They are all in different places, and Logan is taking off. I am so in love with them, and grateful for the meaning they have brought to my life. 

One more year with this boy before he leaves me all day. 

Madi selfie. I love my boys, but I'm so glad I have my girl!

on my mind

Last week we took a quick day trip to see Joe's parents who live about 3 hours away. We told the kids that when we got there that there would be no screen time; they would have to be creative about what they would do while we were there, especially since playing outside in August in Texas is pretty much a no-go. About 30 minutes into our visit there was some whispering about ipods and ipads and a comment like, " Mooom, what can I doooo?" I advised this child to talk to Lola (Joe's mom). "Talk about what?" "Well... Lola didn't have ipods and ipads, ask her what she did when she was your age during the summer."

I was lucky enough to be part of the conversation, and what I heard got me thinking. It turns out that Lola got up early and worked all day picking cotton. In the heat. I'm not sure why I was surprised; we have summer vacation precisely so that kids can help on the farm.

I know some of you live in the country and the summer really is a busy time full of hard work, but most of the people I know (including us) live in the city, and somewhere along the way summer has become our opportunity to:

sleep in
go swimming
stay up late
go to the movies
play with friends
take vacations
visit museums
make as many memories as possible
fun!fun!fun!

I have had a whole week to think about this, and I've come to the conclusion that we--I, my family--need to have a summer readjustment (I guess for next year, since summer is basically over). All of these things are fun, and even good, but I feel like what I am teaching my kids is that our life goal is to focus on ourselves, and to have fun instead of the goal of working hard and becoming productive human beings who make the world a better place.

I'm not sure what to do about this, because the truth is that I like to have fun and working hard is, well, hard. I can teach my kids to sweep and mop and cook and clean, and that is all good (and I am attempting to do these things), but I feel an increased desire and urgency to change our goals to something other than "having fun." I think we can make even better memories by working hard together and serving others.

I just have to figure out how to do that (hopefully indoor).

confessions

It's 9:45 p.m. and all the kids are finally in bed. This is not to say that they are asleep (or even really in bed), only that they are upstairs and I am choosing to pretend that they are in bed by ignoring the thumping and occasional conversational noise above my head.

They went to bed a little later than usual tonight because we just celebrated Madison's 10th birthday by inviting 5 pre-teen girls over. After friends left for the night I rushed my own children through the nightly list...teeth brushed, family prayer, jammies. You know the routine. Sounds simple, right? As I reflected over my almost 12 years of parenting (33.3 years if you add all the kids ages together), I couldn't help but notice how my parenting has changed. 

11 years ago routine: child takes bath, parent reads child book, sing a song together, brush teeth, cuddle, family prayer, check on kids before I go to sleep, comment about how cute and precious they are.

These days routine: yell at kids to get their pajamas on, ignore the fact that they are still wearing the same clothes they wore all day (did they wear it yesterday, too?), fast prayer (Ammon!), give them a hug and tell them to go to bed, warn them about crazy-mom if they come downstairs again.

Sometimes people ask me what the difference is between 4 and 5 kids. There's not a huge difference, besides the fact that babies are a lot of work balanced by the fact that the big kids are great helpers. I'm just worn out. I don't want to walk up the stairs at 9:30 at night to sweetly tuck everyone into bed. I don't have the energy to keep telling kids to put on pajamas. 

It's enough to just pretend they are in bed, asleep. Fake ignorance is bliss. And if you think I'm a horrible mom--keep it to yourself, thanks. 

Only one more week until school starts!

3ish months

Dear August,

You recently passed the three-month mark and you no longer look like a newborn, but instead you are a 15 pound baby! Your cries are beginning to sound different; sometimes you screech or whimper, other times you wail, and every once in a while you really let loose. You babble and make the cutest little noises. You are a great eater (did I mention you are 15 pounds?!) and you get hangry if I try to rush you or cut your feeding short. You like to look at me and smile while you eat, and I am thankful that I have this special bond with you. 

You are becoming a better sleeper. On Madison's birthday we put you to bed at 8:00 pm and you slept until 5:00 am, which made me so, so happy. You will be sad when all the kids go back to school (they love you and entertain you all day long), but it will be nice to get you on a good schedule so that you can take regular naps, especially since you now nap better in your crib than on the go in your car seat. 

You like to make a face that we call "bug eyes." It's really pretty funny. You don't like to be poopy or wet. Your brothers and sister are getting better at changing your diapers. You like to go swimming and you love baths. 

You can roll over from your stomach to your back, but it might actually be accidental because when you get tired of being on your stomach you put your head down and the rest of your body flips over. You are beginning to prefer mom over others (awe, you do love me!). You are starting to drool (I hope it is many months before you get teeth) and you constantly and frantically suck on your fingers.

Your nicknames include Cinco (Dad's), Auggie Doggy, Auggie Froggy, Guster, and baby.

We love you Auggie!

crazy bug-eyes

awk-wArd

The kids are all registered for school. Yup. I dragged 5 kids, ages 11, almost 10, 7, 4, and 3 months (almost) to two different schools and registered three of them for school. Piece of cake. They were so well-behaved and I'm sure our new schools are going to be so happy and blessed to have them there. Good thing it was first thing in the morning (before they all get tired of being around each other); also I bribed them all with a piece of gum.

We started at the elementary school and then moved on to the middle school. As we were finishing up at the middle school I asked if we could take a walk around the school. The lady helping me said, "Sure, let me get the 6th grade counselor to show you around."

A few minutes later a nice-looking and obviously in-shape older man walks over to us. He is tan with spiky hair, has tattoos on his arms and around his collar. He introduces himself, shakes our hands, and invites us into his office. Then he starts talking and he's so nice... like counselor nice...which was kind of weird because his conversation and his appearance were so incongruent. He asks Logan if he's nervous for school, and Logan (who didn't really want to come in the first place) kind of shrugs, so to break the silence I say something like, "Oh, it's Mom who is nervous!" The counselor looks at me and says very seriously, "Let's talk about that, Mrs. McGregor. What are you nervous about?" I try to deflect the question with some non-funny joke mumbo-jumbo, and he starts talking about how hard middle school is and how important it is to find the right friends and he suggests getting involved in clubs. He asks Logan what clubs he might be interested in. Logan shrugs. So I ask if there is a chess club. The counselor kind of looks surprised, and Logan gives me a look. Again, a moment of silence, so I say, "He always wants me to play chess with him." Logan gives me another look and says something that sounds like denial. 

We talk about something else for a minute and the counselor leaves to get something. Logan looks at me and says, "Really Mom, chess??" I start laughing as the counselor returns and asks why I am laughing. I say, "Apparently the chess club is a no-go." Logan gives me another look and says, "Really Mom?" The counselor shows us a form, reads through it with us word-for-word, and explains that if Logan needs help he can fill out the form and submit it anonymously. It includes things like anger management, bullying, trouble at home, etc. I almost choke on laughter. Logan looks at it like, "Why are we here?" 

Anyway, I don't know if this sounds funny to anyone else, but when we got home and I called Joe to tell him about the morning I started laughing so hard that tears started leaking out and the kids got a little alarmed. This always happens when I have mixed emotions, and it's always kind of at inappropriate times. It must be some sort of defense mechanism. (By the way, when I told Joe about the chess club comment he kind of groaned, "Oh, Jenny, really?" Am I becoming a smother mother?)

The truth is, I am kind of excited for my kids to go back to school. But every year is kind of scary. Starting a new school is kind of scary. Middle school is terrifying!! Growing up is terrifying!! And to be perfectly honest, I'm not sure I'm ready for this, and I sure hope that the kids are. Time: Slow Down! (By the way, we did eventually get to tour the 6th grade hall.)