Rebecca's Blog

When it comes to having fun, the Briggs and Mutter kids know how to have it in spades.  Get 11 kids of almost every age ranging from 1 – 14 together and you never know what will happen.  The amount of fun they can cram into a short amount of time is astounding and Memorial Day weekend was no exception.  You've already seen our beach trip and now I bring you …

SWORD PLAY!

Of course, to have sword play, we must have swords and trust me when I say, we were not lacking in swords.  We had an abundance of swords in every shape, size and color – all made from those wonderful building materials known as cardboard and duct tape.  Oh, and a little bit of wood trim – perfect for a stability and just the right amount of injury infliction.

Shall we begin?

Let me start off by introducing our lead knights: Benjamaster and Tylenator!  They save the world from each other's families.

Here's Sariah the Mighty.  With her slight figure she may look harmless, but that's only a guise.  You DON'T want to get this princess mad as her high pitched scream can cause unrepairable damage to the eardrums.

Looks like Christian the Brave may be preparing for battle.  Mighty meditation is the best way to clear the head.

Let the battle begin!

As with all sword fights, anything goes.  This proves the case when the 14-year-old pulls out a sword almost twice as long as the 11-year-olds. 

I wondered if such a stunt reeked of foul play, but luckily Queen Elizabeth proved to be up to the challenge.  She never has been one to back down from a fight.

Seeing his brother in such a predicament, Tylenator has decided to rush to Christian the Brave's aid, giving Queen Elizabeth a mighty wack on the back.

The Benjamaster won't stand for such interference, especially considering the already unfair position that his sister is in.

With a rush of adrenaline and the ferociousness of a tiger, Benjamaster rushes to his sister's side.

Thwarted, Tylenator flashes his most intimidating face in order to scare away the competition.

After much warfare, the battle is finally done and the victor walks away from the carnage.

Haha!  Seriously, the kids had so much fun eating lunch and playing by this nasty little stream.  The swords were Ben's doing.  He made one with his Daddy at home and brought it down with him to his cousins' house.  Once the cousins saw it, they all had to have one – even the 14-year-old, so Uncle Andrew took them all out back and helped them create an abundance of weaponry.  The cardboard and duct tape alone proved to be a little flimsy, so the wood trim was added to bring a little stability.  Well, hind-sight is 20/20.  As I mentioned, it also added a little more pain when it came to blows.  Once they learned to fight without hurting one another, they had a lot of fun.

Apparently I'm not doing my job as "Good Mommy," because I'm not keeping up with my blog, so – to appease the complainers – here is my next post.  Unfortunately, this post took place way back during Memorial Day weekend, so I don't have all that much to say, except that I was stupid enough to get into a bathing suit and I managed not to step on a sea urchin this time.  Seriously though, we had a fantastic time.  My kids were meant to be beach bums.  Too bad we live 300 miles away from one.

This outing was to Chrystal Cove – a beach off the Southern California coastline.  There's a bit of a hike to get down there, so it's less crowded and absolutely gorgeous!

Michael loved the sand and enjoyed letting it run through his fingers.

Ben loved playing keep away from the waves.

Elizabeth boogie boarded almost the entire time we were there.

Yep.  That's me in the horrid swimsuit that was WAY too big.  Can't believe I put this on here.  Don't expect to see anything like this on here again.

More boogie boarding.

OK, so Ryan's going to kill me for this, but there were just so many cute pictures of him and Michael on the beach.  They just HAVE to go up.  Let's face it!  If there are pictures of you with baby, they are subject to blog fodder.

This is the only close up I managed to get of Elizabeth.  She is getting more difficult to photograph as she refuses to cooperate.  In this one she is actually trying to run past me as fast as possible to try and make it so I couldn't get a picture of her.  What she hasn't figured out yet is that she can run, but she can't hide!

This picture made me sad.  There's a similar one of me as a teenager.  All this picture says to me is that my baby girl is growing up into a young woman.

When it comes to throwing sand, Josh is a pro.

I was so proud of this picture.

Remember when I said Michael loved the sand?  Well he didn't love the waves so much.

Not quite sure what she's doing, but she's cute!

Ah.  Brother and sister with their youngest children.  This actually took place first.  Actually, I believe all the pictures are in reverse order.  Oh well.

Like I said, we had a great time.  Can't wait to go again!

I love Easter.  It's a holiday where the kids have a bit of fun, but – most importantly – we are able to remember our Savior and the sacrifices he made for us. 

Our Easters are fairly low-key.  They start with the unveiling of the Easter baskets left by the bunny and the traditional breakfast of Easter eggs and sausage.    Every year the bunny brings something to remind us of our Savior and who we are – children of our Heavenly Father.  This year it was jewerly.  Elizabeth got a young women's values bracelet, Sariah – a CTR necklace and the two older boys received tie tacks with their favorite Book of Mormon heroes on them.  Being a little young for jewelry, Michael was given a board book about our Savior.

After all that, we headed to church.  Or course, that means they get to wear their highly anticipated Easter clothes.  Say CHEESE!

Ben, stop sucking your thumb.  Joshua SMILE!

Yeah, well, what can I say?  The more kids we have, the harder it is to get decent shots with everyone smiling and looking at the camera.  I gave up and decided you will be getting personality instead of perfection.  Personality is more fun anyway, right?

After church is the part everyone looks forward to the most – the Easter egg hunt at Papa and Gaga's house.  Even Elizabeth still enjoys this.  I love that you get a great view of the temple from their backyard.  Kind of appropriate for the occasion, don't you think?

All in all we had a wonderful day.  There is no better way to spend the day than with family.

I want everyone who reads this to know that I have a testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  I am grateful that he suffered and died for us that we may live again in the presence of our Father in Heaven.  I am grateful that he made it possible for me to have this beautiful family forever, not just until death do us part.

In March, Elizabeth had her second orchestra concert of her sixth grade year.  She was so excited, and, as she is reaching puberty, she wanted to look her very best for the performance.  Having been told by her friends that she would look good in loose ringlets – and the style being popular at the time with the girls around here – Elizabeth decided she wanted to give them a try for the concert.  Little did she know that it would take over an hour to complete as she has insanely thick hair.  Being the cool mom that I am, I assisted her in this endeavor, but, though she loved the outcome, she has decided that it's just not worth the effort.  However, she was glad she tried it once just so she could see what it looks like.  What do you think?  Was it worth it?

As soon as we were finished, we rushed her down for roll call – we were running a bit late due to the amount of time above hairstyle took – and I returned to get the family for the concert.  Below is the video for any grandparents who missed it and would like to see/listen to it.  Sorry for the poor quality.  In true Briggs fashion, we were late and had to stand by the entrance.  Unfortunately, Elizabeth was clear on the other side of the gym.  Also, I was wrestling two boys while filming.

I still call him my baby, but the reality is that “my baby” is growing up rather quickly.  Just a few months away from being two, Michael is a little tike full of energy and joy.  He is always on the go, always exploring and always loving.

As I was looking through pictures of this little bundle of joy, I was saddened to see how few I have actually taken of him since he was born.  Unfortunately, picture taking slows exponentially after each child is born.  Being number 5 in the line-up, we’re lucky if we take pictures more than once or twice a month.

That being said, I did manage to find a few gems taken early this year that I managed to gloss over during my rush to get caught up on my blog.  Take a look!

First Haircut – 1/9/2011

With Michael being only 18 months old, his first haircut was a bit of a trick.

I think we managed to get it looking fairly decent though.

Oranges – 1/20/2011

Michael loves, loves, LOVES fruit.  He will literally eat it all day long if I let him.  I’ve had to put a lock on the fridge so that we would stop getting into the fridge and grabbing out whatever delicious fruitiness he could find.  One of Michael’s favorites is the orange because, not only does it have juicy goodness, but you can play with it too!

Dirt – 2/21/2011

Michael has discovered the backyard this year and will spend all day in it.  In fact, playing in the backyard is one of the ways to get him to stop eating.  (This kid is seriously a garbage disposal!)  Anyway, here he is playing in the dirt Ryan brought in to expand the garden.  He’s definitely unafraid of getting dirty!

While in Utah in March, we met this little lady and her parents – my cousin and her husband – at a place called Jump on It.

This place is kid heaven.  It is covered wall to wall with trampolines and bounce houses.  The only down part is that when you have five children, they go in five different directions, so it was very hard keeping track of them all.  They had a blast, though, so it was worth it.  Even Elizabeth liked it.

I think the funnest thing for me, as mommy, was watching Michael.  This kid has no fear.  From going down slides to jumping on trampolines, Michael was determined to do it and do it by himself.  See the upper right-hand picture in the collage below?  That’s Michael not wanting to wait for Elizabeth any longer and deciding to go without her.  Scared Mommy half to death, but he loved it and did it again the next time around.  (See lower left-hand picture.)  The kid looks like a baby doll that’s been thrown down the slide.

Wanna know the funnest part for the rest of the adults?  …  Watching Michael’s mommy freak out over what Michael will do next.  They especially got a good laugh when I frantically “ran” across really loose trampolines to save Michael from jumping off a platform onto the trampolines.  I just barely made it too him, then fell twice trying to get back with Michael in my arms.  These things were the lowest sinking trampolines I have ever seen and impossible to walk on, let alone run.

I am a terrible, terrible aunt/sister.  I have neglected my post of adoring aunt and glided right over a very important event in the Ord family.  Although I hope they will forgive my poor record keeping as it is not only this that has taken me so long to write about, but my own children as well.  This whole blogging thing has all but gone out the window for me thanks to my growing lack of time.

ANYWAY, no excuses.  I am making up for it now with an entire post dedicated to just this special event.

So, in December, my brother, Chris, and his wife, Triana, had their second precious addition to their family.  That makes blood nephew number 2 for me.  This little bundle of joy entered his mortal existence just days before Christmas, enlarging the hearts of all those who meet him.  He is definitely a much desired blessing.

That being said, I would like to introduce you all to Anders.

We met Anders when he was 3 weeks old.  The girls just adored him.

Big brother, Gavin, loves him too and holds him as often as his parents will let him.

The first weekend in March we were able to travel to little Anders’ baby blessing.  We loved getting to stay with my brother’s family and spend some quality time with them.  They are a beautiful little family – and a lot of fun.

My brother’s family.

Thank goodness for church things like blessings and baptisms.  Without them we may never get photo opportunities like this.  Pictured above are all the Ord grandchildren plus one little princess who wanted in on the fun.  Notice how they’re all looking one direction?  I don’t know what we wouldn’t do without Aunt Annelise at times like this to perform the now famous shark song and dance.

This year was a big birthday year for Sariah.  My second oldest baby turned eight and got to enjoy all the celebrations that come from turning such a wonderful age.

Of course, with every birthday comes the inevitable family party.  We had dinner of Sariah’s choice – lasagna – and cake and ice cream at Papa and Gaga’s house.  To make it all the more special, Uncle Chris and Aunt Triana were down with their kids and Great Grandma and Great Aunt Suzy came, so it was a nice size celebration.

A couple weeks later we had the friend party.  Sariah decided she wanted a mystery party.  At first I was at a loss as to how to have a “mystery” party, but it turned out great.  A “rich client” came to visit us at the SBI (Sariah’s Bureau of Investigation).  Dressed to the nines and completely decked out in all her fancy duds, she threw her coat at me and told her story to the agents in her hoity-toity voice.

Not two days before, she threw a garden party.  While having the time of her life, someone stole her precious jewels.  She had to have them back.  She entreated the agents to PLEASE solve the case and return them to her as soon as possible.

Once our client left, we went to work.  I quickly gave them all the evidence – information about the guests – and showed them pictures of the various suspects.  Then, partnered up, the agents searched the crime scene looking for further evidence.  They needed to find out who did it and where they hid the loot.

This “loot” turned out to be the makings of their treat bags – bead necklaces and ring pops.  The rest of the time was spent decorating cookies, eating cupcakes, opening presents and starting a movie.

Finishing off the celebrations was a very special occasion.  Having turned eight, Sariah was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Family came from California and Utah to celebrate this momentous occasion.  We had a lovely luncheon afterward, spending time with many we don’t get to see as often as we’d like.

That evening we went to dinner at Papa and Gaga’s house for Chinese food, seeing more of the Ord cousins and jumping on Papa.

Then and Now:

I can’t believe my little baby girl grew up so quickly.  I remember watching my little newborn in her crib, thinking how perfect she was and praying that she would live a long and happy life.  I pray every day that this sweet little girl will remain close to her Heavenly Father and that she will always be safe.  I am so proud to see that she is already choosing to make the decisions that will help her to receive all these blessing.

I love you, Sariah!!

Every year at Christmas, we have an entire week of activities planned, starting with Christmas Eve and ending New Years Day (or a day or two later depending on what days of the week the holidays fall on).  This last Christmas season was no different.  With spending time with my family Christmas Eve and Day and going to California the week after, there was nothing but fun to be had.

Unfortunately, our schedule of events wasn’t quite what we had anticipated, so, instead of a blog outlining our schedule of outlandish fun, we’re going to outline what really happened with some blips of fun mixed in.

2010 Holiday Schedule

December 20-22:  Clean, clean, clean in preparation for Santa’s arrival.  He doesn’t come to dirty houses.

December 23: Michael has stomach flu.

December 24:  Last minute Christmas shopping.  There was a mistake made in a purchase that didn’t get caught until the night before.  After nap time, head to parents’ house for annual Christmas dinner of fried shrimp and egg rolls with the extended family.  Have a really nice program of scripture reading and caroling.

December 25:  Wake up 5:30 am thanks to the discovery of a new friend, Venus, at the house.

Parents, having had 2 hours sleep, shove kids back in room and tell them they have to wait to do anything until 8 am.  Kids grumble, but relent.

Once it’s a reasonable hour, go downstairs and open gifts, followed by traditional breakfast of apple oven pancake, sausage and the cruddy sugar cereal Santa brought the kids.  Play.  Eat chocolate from stocking.  Nap.  Head to Gaga’s house for additional gifts, dinner and dessert.

December 26th:  Josh and Sariah get stomach flu.  Illness lasts half a day.  Go to Gaga’s and Papa’s for left over dinner.

December 27th:  Travel to California.

December 28th:  Ryan and Benjamin get stomach flu.  Open presents from Grandma and Grandpa B.

December 29th:  Elizabeth and Mommy get stomach flu.

December 30th:  Grandma B. gets stomach flu.  Grandpa B. and our family go to see Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader in 3D.  (It was quite good and there’s definitely eye candy in it for the females.)

December 31st:  Mommy and Grandma B. go shopping.  Have a pizza and pie party for New Years.  Stay up late watching movie.

January 1st:  Mommy spends day in bed with a gall bladder attack.  (For those who don’t know what a gall bladder attack is, it’s about 1000 times worse than the stomach flu and as painful as contractions during labor.  In fact, I would much rather be in labor than be having a gall bladder attack.  If you want to know how truly terrible one is, ask me.  I’ll tell you, but I’m not going to gross out the readers with gory details.)

While Mommy is sick, Daddy takes kids to the park to finally play with the cousins they’ve been dying to play with all week long.

January 2nd:  Mommy has second gall bladder attack, delaying the drive home one day.  Severly dehydrated, Mommy goes to ER with Daddy when, at 10 pm, the attack shows no signs of ending.  Mommy learns to love pain and nausea medications.

January 3rd:  Trip home delayed again due to bad road conditions.  Mommy does laundry and recovers from illness.

January 4th:  Go home.

Bet you wished you spent Christmas with us!

I feel so bad.  I completely glossed over the fact that last November Elizabeth turned 11.  I really don’t know where the time goes.  How I have a kid that will be in young womens by the end of this year baffles me.

Anyway, we did celebrate – first as a family and then she got a party with a few friends a couple weeks later.  Unfortunately for her, she was sick on her birthday so she wasn’t able to blow out her candles on her whole cake.  We just crammed them onto a single piece instead so that the rest of us wouldn’t get sick.  I don’t think it worked, however.

For her friend party, Elizabeth has reached the age where she just wants us to supply the food and then stay upstairs out of their way while they watch movies and play games.  I find this to be both sad and a relief.  It makes life easier, but it shows my little girl is growing up.