Kids Christmas Party

The kids threw a party for their friends. We made gingerbread houses, played a few games, and made an ornament. We also asked the children to bring a new toy to give away to children who wouldn't have much for Christmas. We thought this way the kids could get in the spirit of giving. The toys ended up going to a branch in Mexico were the families are so pour they have dirt floors. Man are we blessed!

When they were playing this game the kids kept yelling,"The babies cheating!" Joseph kept "helping" both teams. It was so funny! The object was to get candy as much candy as you can into your bucket using only a spoon. Joseph kept taking the candy and filling the buckets. What the kids did not realize is that he was helping both teams relatively equal.

Joshua is 1/2 a year

6month milestones

*Joshua is now a real crawler. He still basically leaps forward and looks like a seal, he gets where ever he wants to go. He completely skipped army crawling. He is to big and strong for that.

*He weighs about 23 lbs and the last we checked he was 28 3/4 inches long.

*He has started to really jabber and every once in awhile it sounds like a real word.

*He can roll over both ways but prefers crawling.

* He had his first meal. He didn't like or dislike it. He was indifferent about the situation so I haven't really tried again. He does not really like the sippy cup so I am considering trying a bottle. Well see. I am not in a super big hurry.

*Joshua says Dadadad and bababa

Joshua did get to go with us to Universal Studios and I think he was so good. He is a little flirt and every where we go he demands smiles.Sponge Bob would not leave Joshua alone. At first it was funny then it was like, Ok, enough already!

Here he is getting ready to crawl. He looks like a bulldog when he crawls. We love it.

And here is that first meal. I was trying to feed him and take a picture at the same time so this is all I got. It's great!

Cute kid facts.

Joseph calls Christmas "prismas" He has almost single handedly redecorated my house. He has colored on my couch and walls. he has taken apart most of my Christmas decorations, with a little help from Emma. Basically the two of them have wonderfully curious minds.
Sarah is super aggressive in her Basketball. She will take down the players if needs be.
Jared's team is more serious. The parents get real into it. Jared is an awesome dribbler and great on the defense.

Emma is Five and alive

Emma was so fun on her birthday. She realized that she is now big and can do everything by herself. She refused to let anyone help her open her presents. She got a doll that had a hundred of those ties on them and she insisted on doing it all herself. After this experience I decided to let her decorate her own cake. She loved that. I layed the fondant on and she got to put on all the other stuff. She had a blast.

Cute things about Emma. She put on a Hawaiian dress she got from her Aunt Kaylee and she said, "Helloha" She is having a hard time understanding why she can't do what the bigger kids can do. She is learning to how to read and that has been fun for both of us. She has known all her letter and how to spell some words but she is finally understanding how to sound things out. She loves to look at books and I know she will be thrilled once she can read them. Most nights we go to tuck her in and she has fallen asleep with a book.

Emma was so thrilled to get a big girl bike.
Here is her masterpiece.She is blowing out her candle not trying to eat it/

She calls this hair do the Princess Lea hair.

Blogger is not letting me edit the last post so sorry for weird grammar and odd wordings. I'm glad you all love me anyway.

It the results are in.

First we all guessed were we thought they would go.

So they finally got their mission papers and my Mom and Dad are going to................Yeah, you thought I would tell you. Watch the video to find out.

It was such a wonderful experience to be able to be with them when they opened their call. My parents were both so touched as I think we all were. I am so grateful for wonderful parents that would set the example for our family. They have such strong faith in our Heavenly Fathers plan. They want to show us with not only their words but with their actions also. I wonder at the love I have been shown by being given such wonderful parents

Sarah and Jared's blogs

Sarah and Jared both have been keeping a blog. I think they love doing it. Their blog is:
Sarah's Homesweethome.blogspot.com
Jared's Jaredjustjared.blogspot.com

5 months of fun!

Joshua is 5 months!
*He now weighs 22 lbs. I think he is starting to slow down in his weight. At least I can hope right?

*He acts like he wants to crawl. He is already getting up on his hands and knees and he never stays where you put him.
*He grabs at everything. It is very challenging to eat while holding him. It is so cute though because he enjoys toys and can hold on to them for short periods of time. He now loves his bouncy set because he can grab at the toys.
* Everything goes into his mouth. When we saw Sponge Bob at Universal Studies Joshua tried to eat his hands.
*I think I have really spoiled him. He wants to be held all of the time. Cute? yes! Hard to make dinner? Of course. I am still figuring that out.
*His sleeping patterns are pretty regular he only wakes up once during the night most of the time and wakes up around 5 or 6 for another feeding. My Dr told me I could let him cry through the night because he is so big but I am not ready to let him due that yet.
*Joseph loves when Joshua holds his finger. It's a cute bonding moment for them. The other night Ryan was putting them to bed and he let Joshua lay in Josephs bed for a while. Joseph was so excited and didn't move an inch for fear that dad would take his baby away.His hair is starting to grow in really thick. I am so glad we cut it.

My wonderful family!

What a wonderful weekend! Ryan's Papa John was baptized on Saturday and we were blessed to take part in that. It was so tender to watch him go into the waters of baptism. He looked so majestic. Tears filled my eyes as I thought of the wonderful ordinance he was partaking in. I take for granted all I have in my life. I have been blessed with such a feeling of God's love for me and my family. How do people survive without that knowledge and comfort?

It was so sweet to watch my father-in-law gentle take Papa John in his care and dunk him under the water. You could see the tenderness on his face as he wanted to make sure Papa John was ok yet making sure he made it all the way underwater. Then the sweet embrace followed by tears all around.

We then listened to testimonies by the older grandchildren. I am so blessed to be a part of this amazing family. They have such strong faith and knowledge of what is right and each one of them in their own way are trying their best to do what God wants of them.

The next day we went to church at Grandma and Papa Johns church. The confirmation was beautiful. What touched me the most that day was an amazing 16 year old girl. She seemed wise beyond her years. She couldn't understand why more teens weren't following the prophets council and doing what they knew was right. I remember feeling that same way when I was in college. I had finally gained a deep testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel and I wanted everyone to love and appreciate it the same way I did. This young girl gave me hope in the rising generation. I talked with her mom afterwards and she told me how this girl struggled for two years with what she believed but once she decided and committed she never looked back. I hope I can give my children that growing and breathing room. I truly am scared to raise teenagers. Things have gotten so much harder then just ten years ago. I can't believe some of the stuff I hear goes on with the youth. Satan is working so hard to make the teens feel worthless. I will teach my children who they are, truly. So that when the time comes when all else is crazy they will understand that they are a child of God. Right now that is all I can think to do. Just random samplings!

Then we had dinner at Grandma and Papa John's house. It was so wonderful. Grandma Ardee was so cute with my children. Joseph was clinging onto Ryan's arm when Grandma was trying to talk to him. He just hide behind Ryan. So she bent down and grabbed Ryans other leg. I think that got his attention. I also got to get to know My mother-in-laws sister Candie. She was hilarious. I really could relate to her. I felt like I had known her for years. I only wished I had more time with her. I drive home took three times longer then it should have. I guess it was a horrible accident. But all in all it was a great weekend.

Happy birthday!

My dearest Ryan,
I am so grateful you chose me to spend your life with.
To learn, to grow, to share with.
I am excited to see what the years to come will bring.
Since every day is a grand adventure.
I am anxious to learn what more you have to teach.
You have taught me so much over the years.
You are my one, my only.
You are my True Love

Yeah who's Da blogger now?

I know what you're thinking. Four posts in one day, how does she do it?

Ryan is playing a game of clue with some of the kids while the others are sleeping. We went out this morning to buy Ryan's birthday present while he finished up some work. Now he is all ours. That feels so nice. We all thought for sure that my parents would get there mission call this week so I had put all our plans on hold. We found out that it won't come for at least another two weeks. Since I had already decided that we didn't need to go to practices and Emma's game was cancelled due to the smoke in the air we have a free Saturday. What did we do when we had them all the time? I don't remember.


We had our church's Trunk or treat last night. I love to watch the kids get dressed up. There were so many kids in adorable costumes. Our kids were the cutest, not that I am partial. There were triplets in a bananna split stroller. The kids had on whipped cream and cherry hats. Very impressive.

Here is my night in shining armor. At first he was very overwhelmed with all the people. Once he got used to it he really got into it. We bought him a monkey costume and for some reason he refused to wear it. I remembered that at this age my kids didn't really like dressing up. For this reason I let him pick out his costume. He was very picky but he loved the monkey costume. He tried it on and I thought he would wear it with no problem. When we were ate the Disney store the other day I saw that they had an Edmund costume on clearance so I bought it for him for a dress up costume for Christmas. To make a long story longer.. he dressed up as Edmund.

"Trick or treat!"

He would say Tank you at first but then he realized it was a none essential formality.

Jared partaking in some of the festivities.

Joshua in the car waiting for the fun to began.
Here is the lot!
Ryan and I dressed up thanks to Kyle and Amy. It was so fun to dress up. I felt like a princess.

Ryan is our "Father"

People thought that we were all dressed like narnia characters. Sarah loved that idea and from then on said she was Susan.

I curled her hair and we had so much fun being girlie together.

A few random photos just because. I went to get Joshua from bed today and this is what I saw. So cute.

And here is our lot. It is so wonderful to see it being worked on.

Sarah's craziness!

Homeschool is great!

Jared is doing a report on octopus for school. I thought that going to the aquarium would be better schooling then just looking up pictures on line.

The aquarium had a lot of hands on stuff for the little kids. Everyone had so much fun, me included.
Here they learned about camouflage

And yes, I did put my kids in a cage.

The kids were able to learn about currant in this display.

How beautiful is that?

This tank was my favorite. They had some of the biggest fish I have ever seen.

You walk by these two whales when you come in. Joseph thought this was great.

And here is the octopus. That is so fascinating to me. I wanted to stay and watch longer. I was also fascinated by the jelly fish.

These kids loved that they could touch and play with the fake animals.

Nates Butt... I mean Bates Nut Farm

Ryan 's family has been going to the farm since he was little. When we moved away I was sad that we couldn't take our kids. So when Amy called and told us everyone was going I dropped everything I should have been doing and we were off. The kids had a blast. I also realized how well our new accountable kids program is working. The kids are earning tickets ever day for the things they have to do. Those tickets are worth a number of things from reading a story to going on a walk. They also earn allowance tickets for there extra job...dishes, laundry etc. So when we went I let them decide what they wanted to do because they got to spend there own money. There was no fighting or whining about wanting to do more then I wanted to spend. It was a win win situation. They get to learn how to budget and save and how not to throw money away on things they don't really care about.

Ryan took several pictures of the whole family in hopes that at least one would turn out.

Emma is pondering on how she can get Grandpa to give her more candy. (In reality it was me who told her to not eat anymore before lunch)

"People feed them, why?"

I love this look he makes. He can be so shy sometimes.

Sarah, Reeghan, and Kaylee feeding the sheep.

Sarah decided she wanted to throw the hay up in the air...

...Joseph was standing just a little to close.

Jared spent his money to rock climb. He said it was totally worth it!

Aunt Sarah got the coolest jogging stroller. She was gracious enough to let us use put Joshua in it. That is Paeton riding in the front.

Whats new with the Chaps

Joshua is now 4 months old. I can't believe how fast time has flown by.
The poor little guy has had a rough month. He is still battling with thrush. We had it almost under control then he had to start antibiotics because he has ear infections in both ears. The bronchitis is finally starting to clear thanks to the antibiotic. He had been sleeping really poorly. I could not figure out what I did differently to get him so off of schedule. Then he started having trouble nursing on one side. That is when I realized he had ear infections. I am grateful again to the medicine because he has had two 8 hour nights now.
Even through all this he was such a happy guy. He smiled all the time and laughed so easily. I am excited to see how he is going to behave once he has a clean bill of health.

4 MONTH MILESTONES

He weighs 20 lbs so we moved him up to the bigger car seat.
I do take pride in my well feed baby. His round cheeks are great.
He got his first hair cut by his Aunt Hope. He had some real long hairs on top and we shaved them clean off. Once we cut his hair you really noticed his round cheeks even more. I think he looks like Sarah when she was little.
He loves his siblings. Jared was holding him today and helping him to stand up. It was a sweet moment for me. They were both just happy to be together. Emma is also one who can always make him smile. When he thinks you are talking to him his whole face lights up. I should say his whole body.
He has a talent for making people smile. Everywhere we go you can feel people smiling at him. I think this boy is a charmer. Jared was also that way when he was a baby.
We love to watch him grow and learn. I realized today that he may never learn how to roll if I don't start putting him down more often.
<<<<update>>>>
He rolled over today for the first time. I was sitting with Sarah and Joshua. I got up to do something and when I came back she told me he had rolled over. I didn't believe her. I thought that maybe she had done it. But then he did it again and then again just a little while later.

Other fun Chapman family facts,
Sarah lost her first tooth today. She came running into my room as excited as one little girl could be. When I went to help her find her lost tooth I asked her and Emma if they were excited that a fairy was coming into their room tonight. They both got the cutest grins and had looks of wonder. Oh how fun to believe in fairy tales. Yes I have changed my tune. I thought I was relieved when Jared found out so that I didn't have to lie to him anymore but this is so much more fun. The girls are both so much into fairies right now. Disney has come out with some very cute fairy books. It started about Tink and then moved onto several other character's.

Joseph is talking up a storm. I was stating to wonder when he would ever be able to communicate with us. Then one day it just clicked. Today he kept saying "scuse me" as he was trying to get by me. He loves to use the word share. Only it doesn't mean share. It means, "give that to me, even if you had it first. I want it and I shall have it" Lots of times when he has said share and one doesn't, then the word share is followed by an ear piercing version of share. I think it is cute. The other kids usually laugh also. I have noticed that when I can laugh at something he does that might bother the kids, they will shake it off and laugh.
He loves his bubbles. Bath time is his favorite.
He is very tender and likes to comfort people when they are sad.
"Josha, Like it?" He will show the baby stuff and say that. The funny thing is that he will use a baby tone when talking to Joshua. He has started to want to give the baby food. Yeah that could be dangerous. He also tries to pick the baby up. It looks more he is trying to wrestle with him.
He is developing the ability to sit through a story and enjoy it. He will carry his books around and defend them to the death.
If the pantry is ever left open he has to go in and get him self a, "Shnak" He normally won't finish it but he likes the idea getting it himself.

I love the way he says his own name. "Jossa" Usually he is saying it when he is talking about something that belongs to him.

These kids are growing up so fast. I am loving my calling of Mother. I felt so overwhelmed the past month or so. I was letting Jareds schooling stress me out. Ryan has been so busy and I have felt like I can't ask for his help the way I used to. But I realized something this week. We watched the secret the other night and I was thinking about what it is I want when it hit me. ....I have everything I have always wanted. ...... I have a husband who thinks so much of me. He lets me know by his words and actions. We share deep thoughts with each other and we grow together. We have taught one another so much over the years. He appreciates who I am and he seems to truly love me. I only hope he knows how wonderful I know he is.
I also have 5 wonderful children. They are well behaved, smart, and so much fun. We have laughed a lot this week. I realized I was in a slump. I was forgetting to just enjoy the every day. Once I realized this we have had so many more joyful moments. I think Heavenly Father helps us to find what we are looking for and what I was looking for was joy. It was right in front of me this whole time in the guise of my family.

Christmas 2006

Here is the Christmas list for this year.

As Jared is my witness we did not rig it.
You can switch people in your family but that's it.

Our spending limit is $15 -$20 per person

Ryan-Sydney
Susan -Travis C
Jared - Kai
Sarah - Lindsay
Emma - Orchids
Joseph - Tory
Joshua - Todd

Hope - Susan
Travis - Sean
Kai - Kobe
Skylar - Allie

Kyle - Joseph
Amy - Joshua
Kobe - Trent
Cade - Hope
Ethan - Sarah M

Trent - Ethan
Sarah - Travis S
Reeghan - Emma
Paetan - Tyler

Sean - Kaylee
Allie - Ryan
Sydney - Sarah Ann

Tory - Cade
Orchids - Amy

Lindsay- Paetan
Erynne - Tim
Todd - Skylar
Travis - Jared
Tim - Reeghan
Kaylee - Erynne

A day in the life of Me.

Once upon a time I was a good little blogger. I would notice the cute things my children would do and say and I would record it often. (Side note, I just realized I never mailed out Joshua's birth announcements I made over three months ago. At this rate they may go out with our Christmas letter.) Oh those were the days. My life just seems so busy and seems like I don't have a lot of free time. Just for posterity I think I will record a day in the life of A homeschooling-Mormon-mom-of-five-children-8-and-under.
I wake up around 7 to 7:30 I start out the day wishing I had gotten up earlier so that I could have gone running.
I say my personal prayers and try to get in the best possible spirits so that I can be the best me.
I then tell Sarah to get in the shower.
I start to get ready for the day.
I again tell Sarah to get ready and she acts as though I have never said anything.
I remind the other kids to look at there job charts to see what needs doing.
I wake the baby so that he is well feed for when I take Sarah to school.
We eat breakfast as a family, well whoever has not yet eaten eats breakfast.
I do Sarahs hair as we read or listen to scriptures.
I walk Sarah to school if she is ready on time but lately she has no desire to get ready on time. And then I will go run.
If I have time before Ryan has to start work I get to shower.
Ryan start works at 9 and we try to start school by then.
I give Jared his English to start on because I don't have to help him.
Then I wrap the baby up like a burrito and give him his binkie. He falls asleep really fast when I do that.
I then clean up the kitchen.
Jared is usually ready for something else to do so we sill start on math or science.
Joseph and Emma play pretty good during this time. If they start to get restless I have them watch The Letter Factory. This video is a great learning tool.
I try to get some chores done inbetween everything else. That doesn't always happen.
They all eat a snack at 10 or 10:30.
Joshua usually wakes up right after snack.
So I nurse him then...
Back to school with Jared.
Emma and Joseph will color or they will play with their toys.
About 12 we clean up school stuff and have lunch.
We are blessed to have Ryan with us almost every day.
About 1 is nap time. I will get the kids tucked in and then I will lay down with Jared. He starts out reading to me. Then I fall asleep and he finishes reading for about 1 hour.
When I wake up I stay laying down and read while I nurse Joshua. He more often then not will fall right back to sleep.
At 2:30 I leave to go get Sarah from school.
It is a mad house at her school because they have yet figured out how to direct parents in the best way to pick up their children.
We get home about 3 and then start on homework.
Jared finishes up any work left undone.
He then practices piano.
I try to use this time to do anything that needs to be done on the computer.
If shopping needs to occur I like to do it once Joseph wakes up.
On Tuesday Emma has soccer.
Jared has B-ball on Tuesday, Piano on Thursday, scouts and Labs on Friday.
I still have not been told when Sarahs B-ball is going to be.
We try to go on a date once a week and I would like to make it to the temple once a month.
I start dinner once Ryan is done with work so that he can help with the baby and kids.
We clean up and tell the kids to get ready for bed.
After we say prayers together as a family we tuck the kids in bed.
I try to get the house in order and then Ryan and I like to spend time together talking or reading.
Joshua has about an hour of fussy time around 8-9. So once he finally is out I am exhausted and Usually I get to lay down. I like to read my scriptures in the morning but if that doesn't happen I will read at this time.
I try to be ready for bed by ten.
Sometimes Ryan has to work late.
Sometimes we will watch a movie or something off the internet. (We don't have cable and I think it has been good for us.)

I think I have decided that I don't really have time for anything extra so scrap booking and blogging have fallen way behind.

Yeah I think that's everything.

Greg Brady dating a 28 year old?

SO where do I even begin?

Barry Williams AKA Greg Brady

I went to my ten year High school reunion last night. I wasn't sure I would be glad I went, but I was. I had resigned to the fact that I would not see anyone I really wanted to see. So when a really good friend showed up I was so pleased. Leah Hardstark and I spent a lot of our high school days together. We started our relationship with her mooning me across the field. Her ex liked me and so she hated me. I am not sure how things evolved from there. She is doing what makes her happy. She works for Sony pictures. She takes still pictures for movies and then they put them into the computer and do all kinds of cool tricks with them. She has credits that include Narnia and Spiderman. It was good to see her loving where she is in life. Her boyfriend and Ryan got to talking and so the time past nicely for them as well. I was worried Ryan would be bored out of his mind.

As we were eating Lee leans over to me and says, "Is that a Brady behind you?" I looked behind me and saw some old guy and had no idea what she was talking about. I was thinking in my head, "I guess I don't know who she is talking about," thinking she meant someone from our class. Then later Ryan points out to me that Greg Brady is sitting over my shoulder. How weird is that. I think the guy is like 50 and he was making out with a girl I went to highschool with. I am not one of those star struck people so it just made me laugh inside. I felt sorry for the guy. The girl he was with was dressed up like she was at a Hollywood party. Later in the night he came up to me and started to play with Joshua. "What a cute baby" or something like that. He then asked his name and informed me that yes he is Barry Williams, cause I asked? Then he asked my name and then he gave Joshua the top of his head to play with. Joshua looked at his drunk head with a look that said, "Are you crazy?" I think he thought we should feel privileged to met him. OK? I was glad he was there because I got a good laugh out of the whole situation.

I talked to Penny and she is married trying to have a baby. She counsels with kids. Lauren Maddocks greeted me with a "Wholly Crap!" but in less classy language. And that was about the extent of our conversation. Her energy was so dark I just stayed away from her. Who else? When I went to the bathroom to nurse the baby I overheard a funny conversation. Let me first say at the time I had no idea who any of these girls were because I was sitting in the stall. 1st girl, "I feel so big and pregnant. My stomach is hanging out over me pants, aghh!" 2nd girl, "My husband is such a tropper. He said I could get as drunk as I want and he would be our driver. He has only had like 2 bears so he is good." I am so curious who is saying this that I finish Joshua up and step out. Danielle Faulk was the drunk one. She was so excited to see me and to play with cute Joshua. We were never friends so it struck me as funny. Nicole baum was the pregnant one. She has never struck me as a happy person and her energy was still the same. I think she thinks life is to be endured not lived.

Lee told me that her ex-boyfriend, Will over dosed about 10 months ago. That was sad to hear. You hope people will grow up and learn how to live happily. What drives a person into such addictions?

Other then that how did things go? I ran into both my old boyfriends. I was hoping I didn't really have to talk to either of them but they both had other things in mind. Kevin was eager to tell every one he was in Broadway and hoping to be in Broadway again soon. He is married and has been for less then a year. It was so funny cause as I am leaving he said to me, "Wow, it was so good to see you." Now, was it? Whatever!
JT and Lisa flagged me down as we were leaving. I guess a whole bunch of people didn't want to pay the money so they hung out in the bar just out side and waited for people they wanted to talk to. Lisa looked so good. She seemed like she is happy with life. She is not married but is hopeful and she is excited to have kids. I guess Jt lives close by me. Yeah, that will be weird if I ever have to run into him.. It was strange to see him. My life in highschool is so different then who I am now. It was good to see that and close the door on that chapter of my life. I realized that I am exactly who I hoped I would "grow up" to be. I am a stay at home mom to 5 wonderful children. I have the most wonderful husband who deeply cares for me and shows me on a daily bases. I feel loved and I feel secure with who I am and the choices I have made. As Ryan and I got to the car I just kept telling him how thankful I was for him. I felt like one of a very few grown-ups in a room of people not sure how to grow up themselves.