S(no)w

It snowed last week -- finally! And today it's just about all melted. But we had fun while it lasted.

Andrew: "Try eating the snowflakes as they fall from the sky, mom!"

Max the tall shoveler.

Selfie from my phone

Selfie from JB's phone. 

(With the double-shooter from Ben in the background.)

JB scooped that snowman together in record time, and James was so happy. He was super-involved in the process and so cute about it. 

In the backyard was the beginning of an igloo. Ben started it, and came back in all sad that no one was helping him. So I shoveled and packed a bunch together with him.

Millie wanted to be outside ("boots!" "Side!" "No!' (snow)) but she did not like getting cold or wet. Andrew plumb forgot his coat until I stuck one on him. Ben refuses to wear a coat, even on his daily dog-walking job. Max sometimes wears his coat inside because he feels cold a lot. And all those wet mittens ended up in a clump inside.

I feel like every other year we get either a ton of snow, or a bunch of warm stretches.  In looking back over the blog, I see similar themes. In this December 2012 post, Andrew also ate snow and Ben also wanted me to build an igloo. At the end of this December 2014 post, James is the same age as Millie and also had a love/hate relationship with the snow. In November 2010 we got lots of snow. I was very pregnant with Andrew and I remember walking to school to get Max from kindergarten and worrying about ice patches. A few months later, JB took the cutest pictures of the original four Richards cousins sledding near Jane and Emily's house.

December 2015 had lots of snow that went into January 2016. And in December 2009 My younger brother Seth went into the MTC and it was really snowy. We couldn't find our little brother's grave for a while. I think that was the winter I sent a picture to my sister of the snowbank by our house that was taller than two year old Benny's head.

I have also posted about warmer spells, like January 2011 when it got into the 40s and we felt like new people again.  And February 2015 when we went to the park a lot. I think we are due to go to the park again today! It's supposed to be 56 degrees.

Crocheting on the edge

I think winter time brings out the crochet bug in me.  And, new babies coming among friends and family and ward members makes me want to make gifts. Behold my growing pile of baby burp cloths and bibs.

I also have growing piles of baby things I am sorting through to give away or donate.  Things like baby toys, girl clothes, and books. I found the baby names book JB and I were given 13 years ago.

I also gave away my main book on breastfeeding, but I should have re-read the chapter on weaning. I can't seem to do it!

Anyway, besides the baby burp clothes, I have been crocheting around handkerchiefs for gifts. I like the tiny work around the edge.

I work on them while listening to Max talk about his day, or Ben talk about his Lego MOC, or while the littles play nearby.  I work on them instead of folding laundry right away (#PilestoFoldBeforeISleep), or instead of keeping my house cleaner.

It's a stress reliever for me and I am hooked on it lately. The phase shall pass and then I'll get back to other stuff I guess. Hopefully exercising! It's been nice weather and I ought to get outside on daily walks again.

Max update

Max is busy.

Middle school, ELP/honors classes, orchestra concerts, viola practice, the school play, basketball practice, basketball games, scouts, Young Mens, babysitting, neighbor housesitting, science fair, book reports....

I feel like he doesn't get much down time some days. One day he talked about a pain in his chest and I think it was totally stress-related.  So I am trying to talk to him about ways to alleviate stress and juggle all these things in his life. Some of them are phasing out now, so that's good. I don't think he should do this many things again at the same time, but he committed and is following through.

He continues to look for joy, though. Recently he and JB went to the scouts over-night Klondike winter camp.

He told me he had a great time. This warmer winter means it wasn't too cold up there.

This month, the youth in our ward went to do baptisms in the temple. JB and Max are on the back row.

We miss Max on his long days. He eats dinner by himself sometimes, so I sit with him to talk to him. I am glad JB is bishop right now in order to experience many things with our oldest boy. When JB is released, Ben will be moving up into the age group but Max will be there to help him I hope.

Ben update

Ben is a fun selfie-taker with me.

His hair was pretty perfect that day. He loves it cut a certain way, though after Gordon Hayward left the Jazz, we don't call his haircut that name any more. 

Ben is a quick worker. Whatever task he has, he does it fast.  Homework, Lego building, chores, etc.  He is busy lately on two basketball teams, Jr Jazz and Superleague. And he has a daily dog-walking job for a while for a neighbor who broke her hip. He used some of his earnings to order a new Star Wars set, and watched the front porch for days until it arrived.

Fourth grade ELP is going fine -- I think. He has a project due next month on basketball and says it's coming along, so fingers crossed. 

On Sunday, he made cookies and brownies by himself for the family. I am sure today he will be sad when he realizes they are both just about gone. I keep reminding him we are a family of 7, and we eat treats quickly. He likes to savor things for a while. 

Andrew update

Andrew was asked to give a talk on baptism earlier this month, at the beginning-of-the-year fireside for all the kids turning 8 this year. He just turned 7 in December, but no matter, he hopped up there and slightly-lisped through his talk we wrote together.

He wore this suit from his Nona that first went to an older brother but now fits him. He gets called junior Bishop and he loves it.

Andrew gets the giggles easily. He sees the happy in life. He and I were reading books last night before bed, and started in with the voice of Pigeon Toady from "Storks" (bruh!) and we both laughed until we had tears in our eyes.

Andrew asks if Millie can just stay downstairs in their bedroom. He insists she would be fine, and he would take care of her if she cried at night. I am tempted...

Andrew loves a good selfie.

He does need encouragement to finish his homework at night, and get dressed on time, and finish his chores on time, and get his shoes on, etc. I find the kitchen timer works well in keeping him on task.

James post

It's time to see what the boys are up to. 

Jamesy growls and roars his demands/prayers/requests, but I see more sweet moments emerging from the grumpiness.

At Millie's doctor checkup, he was really worried she would cry, so he reached out with one finger and petted her hair. Usually he just sternly says, "Don't cwy, Miwwi."

This was on the day they made gingerbread houses at preschool. He was SO proud of it, and Andrew tried to eat it but James blocked him out. And slowly picked at it himself.

He loves any sort of grabber arm, hook, tow cable, fishing hook, etc.

His Lego creations remind me a lot of Ben's at this age. Like Ben at 4, James also won't take no disrespect from nobody. We are working hard still about him tackling Andrew or pulling on his clothes or hitting him. I wish he would use his words more - "Andrew, I missed you at school, I want your attention, please play with me." And I feel like we are always saying "Gentle! GENTLE, be soft BE SOFT" about how he treats Millie. He just takes her down sometimes in a hug.

But I get good reports back from his church leaders. Phew! He listens and behaves and wasn't phased by the switch to afternoon church. He gave a talk recently (with help from me) and prayed last week in primary with no help from me. Though his voice did turn into a growl by the end.

He is fascinated by dinosaurs still. Every library trip includes getting more dino books or old favorites. He also still loves Batman and Spider-Man. Many of his clothes are these two characters. He is asking for the Indominous Rex and a Spider-Man tower for next Christmas.

Oh yes, he wants Christmas to come again ASAP.  We had to ban toy videos -- Andrew figured out how to get to YouTube on the smart TV and watch EvanTube toy reviews, and both boys were getting whiny and saying their life was unfair.

18 months

This girlie had her 18 month checkup today. She gave scowls and crusty looks to the nurse and the doctor.

She did NOT want to sit or lay down on the baby scale at all. Finally, the nurse had her stand on the big kids scale, and she said it read as 23 pounds 2 ounces. That's 33% on the CDC chart, but my doctor likes another chart that includes babies worldwide and therefore includes more breastfed babies, and it's 50% on that chart.  She is 32 inches tall, and 61 percentile there.  So she is growing great and eats like a champ (and I love our doctor. She thinks it's awesome that Millie is still nursing -- in fact, she is still nursing her 15 month old. We have shared stories of being working moms).

But she had an ear infection! I feel bad I didn't realize, but it makes sense, because she had a cold for a long time and has been having rough nights. 

I took the boys with me this afternoon to Costco to pick up her medicine. This is not the picture from that trip (imagine four boys hanging onto/off of the cart, reaching over to kiss her cheeks, and fighting over their shared drinks), but it is one when she went one morning with daddy. Sits up so big girl now.

The autism screening went perfect. She also has lots of words, and James (who was with me) helped remember many of them to tell to the doctor, like mama, llama (she loves Llama Llama Red Pajama), Dada, baby, "Boss Baby," ball, NO, yes, Ax (Max), Dee-do (Andrew), duys (guys), dat, dis, side (for either outside or other side when; nursing),more, and plenty of demonstrative squeals.

I feel like she is ready for her own baby stroller. I borrowed the one from the church nursery one day over the break when we went to the church gym for a nerf gun battle.

She liked this baby at Walmart. But she has her own baby and carrier (that we gave to then 2-year-old Maxwell when baby Benjamin was coming). She does so-so with baby dolls still. I don't want to push it, I feel like I don't have to stereotype or force her to be a certain way, but....after four boys I kind of really want a girl to play with dolls! There, I said it.

This girlie still loves books.  She toddled away from me before getting her jammies on one night and went right to her favorite book-reader and demanded "Ah! Ah! Dat! Dat!"

I think most of his mornings are spent reading to her.

Oh how she loves getting her ears cleaned. Look at that joy!

She loves wearing jammies and a coat over them. That's good, because she hates blankets. She kicks them off completely. She fell asleep on the kitchen floor one day over the holidays when she was sick, wearing her favorite outfit.

JB will get her dressed for the day, but soon she will bring him her jammies and want them back on. So sometimes she just stays in them because it's warmer for her closer to the floor, right? 

She LOVES her brothers. She needs to be right by them, even tucking herself into bed by Andrew  (she doesn't do this with James however -- he gets mad at her and pushes her out!)

She toddles around the house and hollers "Duys!" or "Boys!" Then she scoot-swooshes backwards downstairs to be with them.

Max has become our main baby-sitter now for when we go on a date or run errands. But a couple of times when JB has to go to a morning closing or appointment and I am not quite done with work, JB has tried to leave her with our neighbor Sherida -- a wonderful woman and the cutest grandma. Millie cried. And two weeks ago, Nona came over to help JB out in a pinch -- Millie cried the whole hour. This made me so sad. Nona is so nice and wants to be a friend to all her grandkids, and Millie won't give her or Papa the time of day.

I'm thinking her first opportunity to go to nursery this Sunday is going to be a big fat crying NOPE.

Basketball fans

These pictures have been sitting in draft form for a while. JB took each boy to a basketball game within the span of a weekend or so in December.

Andrew went to a home Utes game. Look at that proud face. He really seems to be liking the U.

Max went with JB to a late home Jazz game. I think these were Andrew's Jr Jazz tickets, but it was an 8:30 start. That's too late for a 7 year old. So Andrew went to the Utah game and Max went to the Jazz game.

And these were Ben's Jr Jazz tickets to a Jazz game, too. Upper bowl.

Ben is on a Jr Jazz team again this winter, as well as the older boys' super league team.

Andrew's coach was out of town last Saturday because of the holiday weekend, and they asked JB to help coach the 1st graders, but JB was already committed to helping Max and Ben's super league team (the Stars) at the same time. What would this family of boys do without their talented dad?

Andrew starts basketball

I can't believe we are back at the same gym where it all started. It seems so long ago that Max and then Ben were at this level of Jr Jazz beginning basketball, and it is so much fun to watch Andrew out there.

He hustles well and holds his hands up and looks at me for approval sometimes.

We told him it's ok to chase after the ball and go for the ball, even if someone else is. Sometimes kids at this age are too nice (and they are taught to be nice to others) but they give up the ball or back off when another kid is more aggressive. 

Andrew is so social. He knows lots of the kids on his team and on other teams from school and likes to chat away.

Millie and Jamesy play on the sidelines. It's their life as the youngest siblings!

Long winter break

Our school district had two full weeks off for winter break. The boys finally went back to school on Monday, January 8th, while their cousins went back several days before.


We went to the zoo one day with the Richards cousins and had a great time. But this is the only picture on my phone from the whole experience. It was crowded and I was anxious about losing sight of the kids.  So I took this in the parking lot when JB was teasing the boys that we were able to bring a wild kitty-cat cheetah home with us.

She loves that coat. It came from our neighbors. 

Like last year, we had to find things to do to keep the boys from fighting. Lots of movies. Lots of games. We got Exploding Kittens for Christmas from my sister Rebekah, and the expansion pack Imploding Kittens, and this has been a great hit. Though it went into time-out for a day after some tears about who was picking on whom (cough cough Ben and Andrew).  Max learned Scum at Scouts and taught us that (I played at BYU but forgot how much fun it is). We also did Slapjack, Spot-it and Uno.

Most of the kids have had a bad cough/cold they couldn't shake for most of the break. Baby girlie is having some rough nights. Ben sounded like a seal. James has constantly chapped lips. Max's hands are super dry.

BUT, it was nice weather for several days, so we tried playing outside.

I had New Year's Day off of work, but then it got really busy when Senator Hatch announced his upcoming retirement...and then even busier when President Thomas S. Monson passed away. 

That was a tender, bitter-sweet kind of day at work. We did a lot of prep work over the past couple of years, but it was still sad. I spent Wednesday morning from 5am-9am reporting live from Temple Square as I found different people to talk to and share their memories and feelings.

New Years Eve 2017

Our tradition continued this New Year's Eve when the Peters invited us over again to celebrate. We LOVE this evening of great food, games and lots of fun chat.

The 3 older boys played the Wii downstairs, and James played in this box.

We had to keep reminding them to let James play some video games, though competitive Ben said it messed up their scores.

Millie would not cooperate for a picture of her darling new unicorn knee high socks.

She did like going to the stairs and yelling "Guys!" then sliding down to see them playing.

Around 8 or 9 PM we got out the noise makers and hilarious glowing glasses.

This family is our favorite and we are so glad we are friends. It was fun to talk to Katie about BYU!

Outside we did poppers forever. Each one of our faces just cracks me up -- and look at Andrew's hilarious pose below. Who taught him that?

2016 party (with the long-lasting Stormtrooper balloon)
2015 party (with the long-lasting R2D2 balloon)
2014 party (when I changed their clocks afterward)
2013 party (with mustaches) (probably the first official NYE get together with them)
-I can't find any specific NYE posts for 2010-2012, but I know on December 31 2010 we had a two week old baby Andrew so we didn't do much
-related: 2010 January party with Peters (in which I show off my gaming skills)
2009 January resolutions (some still actually are on my mind)
2008 Dec 31 post (about going to bed early)