Over the Hill...?

Oliver was writing sentences for his homework the other day. One of his spelling words was "over". He said that he had a sentence for that already.

"My dad is over the hill."

I laughed.

He said, "What? He is 40, mom."

And so he is...



We celebrated Allen's 40th birthday with a "surprise" party on New Year's day. We invited the Texas Coleman families to come for a BBQ. That part Allen knew about - he just didn't know it was a party for him. The kids decorated the house, we made a cake, and birthday banner.

I debated whether to do a "over the hill" theme. After surfing the net I decided most use that when the person is 50. So I'll save it for then. We decided to do a "top of the hill" or "peak of perfection" theme instead. So I built a "hill" cake and put a studly hiker on top. He's on top - not over. Allen can enjoy this peak for a few years before beginning his descent.



The cousins enjoyed a long day of playing together. They spent hours outside, played games, made snowflake crafts and candy bracelets. The photo of Amelia is not of her sucking her thumb, but stuffing the bracelet into her mouth as fast as she could.



As we only have a few photos of New Year's Eve I thought I'd tack that event onto the end of the party. We went to a game night at church. Upon arrival we were quick to realize that it was probably a High Priest activity - ours were the only children there. We gathered around a table and played family games for a couple of hours. It turned out well, we had a fun time - had we been home we might have been off doing our own things.

Then at midnight the kids toasted in the New Year with eggnog and watched the neighbors light off their fireworks. It was simple - but the kids said it was great. Yay!

Gabriel Turns 15!

This kid keeps getting older and older each year - he keeps growing too - even though his mom has told him repeatedly to stop!


We did the whole trick candle thing on Gabriel's cake. He, and the other kids, got quite a kick out of it. I had made the cake earlier in the day but was a bit busy with the baby when the kids wanted to frost and decorate it. So Abagail volunteered. She did a great job! She frosted it with coconut pecan frosting and decorated with misc. Halloween candy. It was quite a sweet, crunchy cake to eat.


Our cousins, Ryan and Manissa, stopped by with their parents. They came in time to help us eat the cake!


Our Halloween dinner tradition is pizza. Over the years we have evolved this into making our own pizza instead of doing store bought. This year we added a new element: Jack-o-Lantern pizzas. The kids saw the idea in an Ad for a local pizza store - they thought it was cool that we could do it at home too. Of course we did it better because we added the olives and peppers. It went great with the fried rice Aunt Yaw brought - and I gotta say, no matter how many times I try, I cannot make fried rice taste as good as Aunt Yaw's.

After dinner we had our family night. For activity the kids got dressed in their Halloween costumes and opened Gabriel's presents. Photos of costumes are on the post "All Hallow's Eve".

All Hallow's Eve

This year Halloween fell on a Sunday. For us that means festivities must take place on another night. For the first time since we moved here, 8 years ago, none of our surrounding neighborhoods hosted trick-or-treating on the night before Halloween. That made the kids ESPECIALLY grateful for the trunk-or-treating party that our church held a few days prior.

So - this year for Halloween we had:

Gabriel - some sort of creepy looking thing, complete with claws he fashioned from paper

Katrina - an empress

Abagail - Princess Leah

Simon - a pirate

Oliver - Luke Skywalker

Amelia - Tigger

Joshua - a kitten

Most of these photos were taken on Halloween. Even though we didn't go out the kids still wanted to dress up again. So for our family night activity they put on their costumes and had a birthday celebration for Gabriel.

After opening presents the kids got dressed in pj's and headed for bed. I think they wore their costumes for all of 30 minutes. It was a bit of work for such a short time, but worth it to them for sure. Gabriel was the only one who did face paint. Then he tried to scrub it off with soap in the shower - with no mirror. This was professional face paint from my theatre days. So, #1 it was old and #2 it doesn't scrub off real well with plain soap and water. Better with a wash cloth, even better with Vaseline, best with special soap - which I no longer have anyway. But Gabriel insisted to do it his way. He looked a bit pasty and ill with dark circles under his eyes the next day or two at school until it finally wore off completely.

Story Time for Baby

I thought this was so cute. Amelia was sitting on her stool reading stories to "baby Joshua". Reminds me of a time years ago when a 2-year-old Gabriel was reading stories to his new baby sister as she sat in her car seat. (Pretty sure his book was upside-down too.)

Announcing Joshua Keith (Oct)

Sweet little Joshua Keith Coleman joined our family on October 25, 2010.

Holding that sweet little baby in my arms for the first time was a beautiful moment. Joshua was so alert - he opened his baby blue eyes and looked straight into mine. What an angel!



How Joshua Keith got his name:

We knew early on that we wanted to name Joshua after his uncle Keith. Keith is an awesome uncle. He loves to be with the kids. Every time I let him know another one is on the way he says, "So how many is that now...?" and he always knows the answer. Keith is also a wonderful role model for little Joshua. Keith is so kind and loving and gentle. He is able to find joy and laughter in life. I hope that Joshua will grow up to have these qualities.

As for the name Joshua...well...that took a bit more time to come up with. We had three boys in our family prior to his arrival: Gabriel, Simon, and Oliver. Each of them were named for different reasons yet they each have a person from the scriptures with their same name that they can emulate. I wanted the same for Joshua. His name first came to me when I was at Six Flags with the kids over the summer. I had HOURS to sit around while they swam and the name Joshua Keith was one that came to mind. Allen was in New Mexico with Gabriel camping so I had to wait a couple of weeks to run it past him...but I shared it with the kids and they all liked it. It took until after the baby was born for Allen and I to finally commit to the name...as is the case with most of our children. The prophet Joshua in the Old Testament is a good example for our little Joshua. He was humble and patient and obedient to the Lord - even when he didn't fully understand. Those are more good qualities I hope my Joshua will grow to possess.

The stats:

Born October 25, 2010 at 6:07 a.m.

Weight 6lbs 2oz

Height 19 3/4 inches

This was such an easy and enjoyable birth. We actually got to the hospital in time for an epidural...which makes a world of difference and I would HIGHLY recommend to anyone. (Last chance for one of those was with Katrina 13 years and 4 kids prior.) After Joshua was born I commented to Allen that it would have been great for all my deliveries to have been this enjoyable. Now that I knew it was possible I could do this again....He got a rather frightened look on his face and said very firmly, "No". So I changed my comment to, "This was a great way to finish". He liked that better.

I went into labor around midnight. The contractions came so suddenly and so strong that withing the first 30 minutes I felt like I was going to explode and have the baby sitting in the rocking chair. Guess my bag of water was bulging and could have burst. Thankfully it didn't. After arriving at the hospital things began to slow down, especially after the epidural. If the nurse hadn't documented my initial condition I doubt the doctor would have believed I was in progressive labor. Course, since I was already on the epidural it was too late to turn back. My contractions from there on were so sporadic and I was feeling no pain so it was actually a surprise when the nurse discovered that I was fully dilated and could allow this baby to enter the world. We both wondered how long I had been at that stage. Definitely not a "normal" delivery for me.

Joshua also broke the mold by waiting until almost 39 weeks to be born. He and Amelia were the only ones to do this. Guess the more I had the better I was at keeping them in longer. Since he was still so little I was grateful that he waited a bit before coming.

I loved this photo. I love the way the light hits his hair and his tiny fingernails and makes him glow.

I held Joshua for hours during our short hospital stay. He would snuggle next to me and sleep and I would just look at him. He felt most secure when he was all bundled up and he would hold his little fists closed tightly and up under his chin. (He's two months old now and still balls up his little fists to let me know he is tired and ready for a nap.)

Joshua had many excited, but very well behaved visitors to hold and love him! Amelia was happy when she learned we could take this new baby home. We had practiced being around other babies for a bit - but this one was actually ours and we could keep him.

Hanging out with his loving sisters.

The brothers - bringing the boy count to 4. As the boys repeatedly told me, that means that they win.

Surprise! (It's a Baby Shower) - Oct

I have wonderful friends and am soooo loved.

A couple of moms at church get together for a play group. They invite me too, but most of the time I haven't gone, due to appointments or being during Amelia's nap time.

One Sunday I was told there would be one more and would I like to come. It was on a Thursday, October 14 to be exact. One of the moms even went so far as to ask me to bring some supplies for a craft activity - cause if I have an assignment I'd more likely go, right? Thursday comes and unfortunately the night before Oliver comes down with a raging fever. Guess I can't go to the play group.

Since I did have an assignment I called about 15 minutes prior to the start to let them know I wouldn't be there. A few minutes later I got a return call from my friend and neighbor, Virgie. She said she was up at the church planning to hang out during the activity. Since it was the last one for awhile would I like to bring Amelia and she would come stay with Oliver. At first I didn't accept...I didn't want to share germs with another person. Eventually she persuaded me to go. So I hopped in a quick shower as she came over to my house to trade me spots.

When I got to the church I noticed an unusual number of cars there for a Thursday morning. I figured they had some sort of meeting going on....well, they did. I went into the Primary room and saw quite a spread of snacks for a play group...then I heard, "Surprise!"



So all those nice friends were there waiting for me - to help me celebrate the birth of our newest arrival...who was still name-less at that time. I'm sure that a bit of brainstorming took place in the few minutes between when I left my initial message of not attending and when Virgie called me to offer to watch Oliver. The room was decorated, food was ready, guests had arrived...but no guest of honor.

I was glad I called because I usually don't attend so I wasn't worried about not being able to go. I was glad I showered too, because I usually wouldn't have. Most of all I was very grateful to wonderful Virgie who planned the whole thing and then chose to miss out so that I could attend. What a sweet heart!



I really had a nice time. It was a true surprise. I certainly didn't expect a baby shower with #7. It may seem like such a simple gesture (though not to the one who planned it - cause I know it was a lot of work) but it made me feel sooo special! We had lunch, played games, got suggestions for baby names, enjoyed each other's company, and Amelia was my special helper to open gifts.

I feel so blessed to have so many people who care about my family and I. (And I know there are many others who were not able to be there that are on that list!)