Sledding

Yesterday's snow provided the perfect opportunity for us to get out of the house and PLAY! We love the snow. We love throwing the snow, eating the snow, building with the snow and especially sledding on the snow. While the first part of the day yesterday was spent shoveling the snow, we were finally able to break the sleds out and head for our favorite sledding hill after lunch.

Typically, the snow in the Midwest is very wet compared to the snow we grew up with out west, but yesterday we could have closed our eyes and imagined that we were in the Sierras. The snow was as good as any powder that we've ever skied on back west. Granted, there were no mountains or pine trees, but we were grateful for the great snow.

We had a great time having sled races and videoing our runs down the hill. At one point, we even took out an unsuspecting bystander, which the boys all thought that was the highlight of the day. Hopefully, we have not seen the last of the snow this winter.

Winter Wonderland

This morning we woke up to six inches of beautiful glistening snow! I love to see the freshly fallen snow early in the morning as the sun begins to come up. It hasn't been touched or disturbed and it looks so soft and inviting! I love how the light dances on top of the snow. So as always, I got my camera out and tried to capture the magical scene outside.

Tanner thinks the birdhouse looks like it has an afro!

I just loved the way the snow formed on the barbecue and doesn't the patio set look inviting!

Chad got to work right away this morning clearing our driveway. We still have our snowblower from when we lived in Michigan, so Chad pulled it out and went to work. I love having a snowblower. Here in Indiana we don't get very many big snowstorms, so Chad has mentioned a couple times that we should sell our snowblower. I always avoid that comment because I love having it on days like today. The snowblower did come in handy today. Chad and Kaden, along with some of our friends, spent most of the day going around to ward members homes to shovel their driveways.

Austin enjoyed watching Chad clear the driveway. I think he wanted to be out there helping!

The boys were very excited to see all the snow this morning. They couldn't wait to get out there. In the afternoon we were able to go to the sledding hill and have some fun. The snow is a lot of fun. We hope it sticks around for a couple of days. I mean if it is going to be freezing outside we might as well have something beautiful to go along with it!

Pizza Night

Friday nights have officially become our pizza night. We love a good pizza and Friday night is the best time to sink our teeth into one. It's kind of our celebration of the end of school/work week. We make our own dough, put on our favorite toppings, and get out the soda. At first, we all had our own personal sized pizzas. The boys put toppings on their pizzas and then they would each announce that their pizza was the biggest and the best! That was a lot of fun, but after a couple of months, I ended up making everyones pizza myself. I think it was a combination of homework and laziness. Whatever the reason, I decided to scale down and only make two large pizzas. Of course I still have to accommodate all of the favorite toppings. Chad loves pepperoni. All of the boys like pepperoni as well, but Kaden likes it the best. Tanner and Trevor like sausage. My favorite is ham and pineapple. Devon likes to make his own choice, but he likes all three kinds. Austin just gets excited to eat pizza!



Another choice we have on pizza night is the kind of soda we will drink. In our house there are really only two choices, Root Beer or Sprite. There are a couple of us that always choose the same drink every time. Chad and I like Root Beer and Kaden likes Sprite. Tanner, Trevor, and Devon go back and forth, but the majority of the time they will choose Root Beer. Kaden likes it when everyone chooses Root Beer because that means he gets a whole soda can to himself!



Pizza night is always fun and full of interesting conversations, jokes, and story contests. Tonight as I got the camera out to photograph pizza night the boys all excitingly told me to look at Kaden. When I looked over at Kaden this is what I saw:



What a little clown! Kaden lives to make people laugh. There is never a dull moment on pizza night. Just one more reason to look forward to the weekend!!

Our Little Guitar Hero

A little over a year ago Kaden informed us that he wanted a guitar for Christmas. This came as a surprise because he had never shown an interest in guitars before. We thought he would forget about it, but we were wrong. He kept telling us that he wanted one and he wrote Santa asking for a guitar. Since Kaden was a good boy, Santa gave him a guitar for Christmas. Kaden was so excited!



Along with his guitar, Kaden got an instruction manual with a CD. We got out my old stereo (the one I had in high school - it is gigantic!) and set it up in the boys' room. Kaden used the CD to take "lessons" right before bedtime. Usually Chad would take the lesson with Kaden - they both enjoyed learning together.

Somewhere in the middle of last year one of the strings broke. We tried to fix it, but it wouldn't stay tight enough. Unfortunately, this caused Kaden to forget about his guitar for a while. A little while later we got a new program on our computer called Garage Band. It is a really fun program that teaches you how to play a fewof different instruments - one being guitar! So the guitar was dusted off and fixed again.





The guitar is now in working order and Kaden is again interested in doing his "lessons" on Garage Band. Yesterday after school Kaden asked me if he could take a lesson on the computer. When I said yes, he quickly got his guitar and started playing.





Kaden enjoys playing and learning new things. He is getting a little frustrated because he is finding that his fingers are a little small and he can't go very fast. He is trying to have patience with practicing! I am glad he decided to try something new and has stuck with it. It takes a lot of courage to keep going when the going gets tough, but those are the things heros are made of right?







Keep up the good work Kaden! You are making great progress!!

Beautiful Womana

Brooke has a tough job. Don't get me wrong, our five boys are wonderful, but they are still boys . . . and there are five of them! All of us are grateful for Brooke. We are grateful for everything she does for our family, for the sacrifices she makes everyday for the rest of us and for her influence in our lives. We would all be lost without her. I know there are days when she feels invisible and there are probably other days that she wishes she were, but the fruits of her labor and sacrifices are visible everyday in the lives of our five little boys!

When Tanner was little, he began referring to Brooke as Beautiful Womana. Brooke quickly took a liking to the nickname and I think it is a perfect description of who Brooke is. Whether she is helping with homework, soothing our aches and pains or helping us see that there is a better way to handle the challenges in our lives, Brooke is always there for each of us. We love you Brooke!

Monroe WWF

Around our house things can get a little crazy. Most of the time it is the good kind of crazy though! One of the favorite activities is wrestling!! It can get a little crazy and a bit loud (with intermittent crying), but it is always a lot of fun.

The boys like to challenge each other. A couple of years ago Tanner was the timid one,Trevor was the aggressor and Kaden was always up for a challenge. Chad has commented many times that Tanner could easily win if he wouldn't give up so easily. Well, Tanner must have been listening because now Tanner will go as far as taunting his brothers into wrestling with him. He will say things like, "Are you chicken?" or "are you a coward?" At first I thought Tanner was a little bold, but then he showed us and his brothers that he could hold his own.



Kaden has always been up for a challenge. He will take all of his brothers on. He always has a smile on his face while he is wrestling (with the exception of the picture in this post). He is usually laughing the whole time.



Trevor is all business. He gets very serious and you can see it in his eyes when he is going in for the kill! Trevor uses all of his strength and that is usually how he wins. When his brothers are laughing uncontrollably Trevor moves in and takes them down. Trevor is starting to get a run for his money now that Tanner is more aggressive, but he isn't letting that stop him.



Devon just wants to take part in the fun! He can often be seen jumping onto the top of the dog pile! Once on top he holds on as long as he can. Devon is usually laughing just like Kaden!

Besides challenging each other, the boys love to wrestle Chad. They are always trying to get their dad to wrestle - even if it is only for 10 minutes! I love to sit back on the couch and watch all of the boys run at Chad. Once in a great while they get him, but most of the time Chad is one step ahead. Several times I have seen Tanner try to get the boys to stop and gang up on Chad at the same time, but the boys are usually preoccupied with carrying out their own strategy. Maybe when they get older they will see the wisdom in Tanner's advice. Until then Chad is always the winner! In case you were wondering, I do wrestle with the boys occasionally, but I am too much of a challenge for them! Check out this video of the boys wrestling with Chad.

Elder Black

A little over a year ago, we had a missionary serving in our ward named Elder Black. He was a great missionary and we were a little partial to him since he is from Pleasonton, CA (not very far from where Brooke and I grew up). He has now gone home and is working on an accounting degree at BYU.

Aside from being a great missionary, Elder Black impressed everyone in the ward with his musical abilities. One of his more unusual musical skills is his ability to play the piano backwards. He is pretty amazing to watch. Today we learned that he performed on the Ellen Degeneres show (ironic, I know). Take a look:

Teething Troubles

The last couple of days have been hard days for our sweet little Austin. He is having teething troubles. He is working on cutting four molars right now (one on each side of the top and the bottom). The poor little guy is really uncomfortable. The only time he seems to feel better is when we are standing up holding him (and that doesn't always last that long).

Today we had church and I knew it was going to be a struggle (partly because Chad was at another ward this morning). Austin did pretty well for the first 10 minutes or so, but then he started to get uncomfortable. I told the boys that I had to get up with Austin and reminded them to be reverent and then I got up. Standing didn't really help to calm his crying, so instead of standing at the back of the room I had to go out into the lobby. After I got Austin settled down a little I looked through the window to check on the other boys. The Lord really blesses us when Chad is away - I saw one of my young women sitting with my boys. Another one of my young women was sitting behind the boys and she was also helping to watch the boys. What a blessing that was. I didn't need to worry about the big boys, I could just focus on Austin. The poor little guy wasn't getting any relief so I decided to take him home after Sacrament Meeting and give him some medicine and some milk. I asked my good friend Ie Mei if she would watch out for the other boys until I could return to pick them up. Being the wonderful friend that she is (another blessing), Ie Mei told me to take Austin home and put him to sleep and she would bring the rest of the boys home. I felt a little bad because Ie Mei has a baby Austin's age and three other children. After a lot of insisting I consented and thanked her. Austin was so worn out that he fell asleep on the drive home and is now sleeping comfortably in his bed.

As I watched Austin struggle to deal with his pain I saw a parallel to how our Heavenly Father sees us. He sees us struggle and just like me as a mother, he tries to do what he can to ease our pain. Often times Austin doesn't know what he wants so he will just lay on the floor and cry. I am always close by. It is the same with our Heavenly Father. He is always there blessing us and watching over us even if we don't know it. I am thankful for the many blessing that Heavenly Father gives me daily and especially for the ones he blesses me with when Chad is away. Thank you to all the wonderful people who help us on Sunday. You are the blessings the Lord is sending our family!

Tahoe (the dog)

Almost three years ago, we all (except Austin) took a ten hour drive to northern Ohio to buy a dog. We had done a lot of homework and found a reputable breeder with a brand new litter. When we arrived at the breeder's home, we spent a few minutes getting acquainted with the puppies. It didn't take us too long to pick our puppy and Tahoe quickly became one of the boys. Little did he realize back then what life had in store for him.

Like all parents, we gave the boys the "responsibility" talk before we picked up Tahoe and like most kids, they had no idea what it really meant for them. Over the past three years, the boys have learned a lot and Tahoe has been a great dog. One of the funnest memories we have of Tahoe is watching him gradually outrun everyone as he grew bigger. First Devon, then Trevor, then Kaden, Tanner and finally Mom and Dad.

Tahoe might be the most patient dog in the world. He lets five little boys push him, pull him, sit on him, feed him snow and use him as a pillow. Today, we even found that one of the boys had used him as a repository for their used gum and he just sat their calmly as I tugged at his fur to remove the gum. Don't get me wrong, he is not perfect. He gets way too excited when guests come over and he will still occasionally bolt out of the front door and run across the street to see if the neighbor's dog can play. I guess being too friendly is the only thing keeping him from being the perfect dog.

Of course, dog ownership isn't just about fun and, with a little reminding, the boys do a good job taking care of Tahoe. They all take turns feeding him and filling his water bowl and Trevor brushes him every day when he gets home from kindergarten. Giving Tahoe a bath is family activity.

Tahoe really is a great dog. Although he'll never make a great watchdog (he would just follow the trespasser around begging the intruder to pet him), he brings a lot of love into a house full of energetic little boys.