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.

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!

Q:  What do you get when you combine several months of no blogging with hundreds of stored pictures?

A:  A picture heavy post.  And that’s what this is!

Last Fall we were lucky to be able to spend quite a bit of time with Ryan’s family.  We had a lot of fun and some good adventures.  Unfortunately, my son broke my camera, so we’ve gotten kind of lax taking pictures.  Fortunately, I have a father-in-law that take stunning pictures, so he’s the one to thank – or blame – for this very picturesque post.  Lucky for you, since there are so many pictures, you won’t have to hear much from me on the subject.

September 18, 2010 – Mt. Charleston

I know, I know.  You’re tired of hearing about Mt. Charleston.  We spend a fair amount of time up there, so you’d think we’d be over the whole picture taking while we’re there thing, but this was my in-laws first time up there, so it had to be documented.

I must say we had a lot of fun showing them this little piece of greenery in a sea of brown desert.  The kids did fabulous on this hike categorized as super easy – a hike that climbed nearly 1000 feet in a little over a mile.  I don’t know how that qualifies as easy, but we made it up and down safe and sound.  That’s what counts.

At the end of the trail, there was a small bit of a waterfall that the men and Elizabeth had fun trying to climb.

Then, of course, there’s the necessary family picture to prove we all made it.

Apparently Sariah decided she was going to be a mountaineer when she grows up – or perhaps she already is one.

A family photo reminding us how hard it is to actually get Elizabeth to pose for one.  When she finally agrees, she can’t help but be silly.

Down, down, down we go.

Michael enjoying angel food cake after a long and exhausting hike.

September 25, 2010 – Little Corona

The end of September took us down to California for a baby blessing.  While there, we spent a warm September Saturday at the beach.

We had smilin’ babies…

Dirt throwin’…

Hand washin’…

Fortress makin’…

And cousins.

Lots of cousins.

Grandma was there, along with Grandpa.  He took the pictures.

But, if you ask Elizabeth, aside from the cousins, the best thing was the boogie boarding.

Check her out!

In fact, it looked like so much fun that Josh wanted to give it a try too!

But where was I?

Here.  Sitting.  Doing nothing.

Why? … Because I stupidly stepped on a dead sea urchin – an injury that would keep me off my feet for a month before it healed completely.

What will we be purchasing before we head back to the beach?  …  Water socks!!

October 30, 2010 – Oak Glen and Halloween

Halloween was a five day weekend for us last year, so we headed down to California once again, thinking it would be fun to spend Halloween with the cousins for a change.  You know what?  IT WAS!

Growing up, October was never complete without a trip up to Oak Glen.  A couple years ago, I introduced this little tourist trap to the in-laws and I guess they liked it ‘cuz we went again this year!  We picked apples and had a picnic.  I must say it was a really nice day.

Before we go on, I must point out the bandannas.  At some point during our trip up there, we all had one on.  No, we don’t belong to a biker gang.  The fad got started somehow last time we went so I guess the tradition stuck.

YEAH RIGHT!!  It’s always him!

Michael with Uncle Jared.  He looks scary (Jared), but he’s really nice.  How scary can he be when I can beat him in arm wrestling?  (Bwah hahaha.  Love ya Jared!!)

This is how the younger kids got back to the car.  It was a bit of a hike from the car to the orchard.

The farmer and the dell, the farmer in the dell…

11 our of 13 grandkids.  We missed you Sam and Owen!!

The Briggs Clan minus 4.

That night we went to a trunk o’ treat with the cousins.  We didn’t get a whole lot of pictures, but here’s a group shot.

Notice the quality difference?  Yep.  These were taken on Ry’s camera phone.

And the cutest costume award goes to MICHAEL!!

He wishes!!

Well, I probably ought to end this little post.  If you’ve made it this far, well, I’m honored.  It was quite long.

First, let me reassure you all that, yes, my family and I are still alive.  We have been since birth and plan to continue to be for a number of years to come.  However, due to our increasing numbers (no I’m not pregnant, I’m speaking in general terms) I find that I no longer have the time I once did to spend time writing blog posts, no matter how much I’d like to.  I do plan on writing more, though.  I have much to catch up on and aquaint you with.  Having said that, on to my post.

If you’ve been my internet friend for a while, you may have wondered if I have parents.  You may have observed that an awful lot of posts revolve around adventures with Ryan’s family, but not much is said about my own.  Let me put your curiosity (if you have any) to rest.  Yes, I do have family.  In fact, I have a mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law and two little nephews (one brand new).

Now, before you jump down my throat for rarely acknowledging them in my posts, let me explain.  My lack of post equality arises not from lack of seeing my family, but rather the opposite.  You see, my poor parents live but 20 minutes away from us, allowing us to wreak havoc in their lives almost once a week.  Unfortunately, this close proximity causes me to forget to document time with them, thus the oversight in the blogs.  Ryan’s family, however, lives 4 hours away, so much ado is made about visiting them and documenting these visits.

Now, I’m not making excuses or saying it’s OK.  It’s not.  I fully accept responsibility for my neglect.  In fact, to even the score a little more, this post is dedicated to them – proof that I do have parents.  Unfortunately, I can’t take credit.  These pictures were taken by my dad in July of 2010.  I just received copies of them a couple of weeks ago – thus the lateness in posting about them – and, of course, since he was the one to take them, there are no pictures of him and only one of my mom as he was focused on capturing his grandkids.  I will try to do better in the future.

SO, if you are curious about what a typical day with my parents looks like, continue on.

Mt. Charleston

When my brother and his family visited in July, we thought it would be nice to show them some of the surrounding area.  Despite the fact that Chris and Triana had been married 5 years, she had never seen some of the nature type places that surround us – and we thought it about time she did.  Thus the picnic to Mt. Charleston was planned.  Unfortunately, in true Ord spirit, we were quite late and arrived up there just in time for the picnic areas to all be closed.  Thus our picnic turned into tail-gating.  It was still a lot of fun, though.

Swimming

One of my kids favorite things to do in the summer is to go swimming at Papa and Gaga’s house.  On this particular trip, not only did Sariah finally learn to swim, but my dad (Papa) got out his under-water camera and had some fun with the kids.

This year I learned an important lesson:  the key to a good party is not how much you spend, but about imagination.  This year I spent only $10 on Ben’s party and it was by far the best party I’ve ever thrown.  Just ask the kids.  It was 1 1/2 hours of jam packed Jedi fun.  Here’s my secret:

Of course every successful party must start with the birthday boy waiting anxiously by the door for his guests to arrive.

Of equally great importance is immediate Jedi activities.

Now, for this party, it is of great importance that each Jedi produce a treat bag of his or her own making.  It is part of their training.

Josh was well aware of the gravity of this assignment and was at the table far longer than any of the other kids, ensuring that his bag was done right.

Now, of course, once the treat bags have been completed and presented to the Jedi master for inspection, they must be filled with special Jedi treats.

Unfortunately, upon inspection of the Jedi treasury, all that was found was a note from Obi-wan Kenobi saying that the Jedi treasury had been raided by a bounty hunter.  Obi-wan had left to discover the identity and location of the bounty hunter and return the treasure to the Jedi temple.  Of course, he needed help, so as younglings, we were to follow his clues and catch up with him.

Unfortunately, Obi-wan was injured, but we did manage to find the perpetrator.

Once discovered, a mighty battle commenced, resulting in Darth’s beheading and other bodily harm.

Fortunately for our younglings, they were well trained in combat and recovered the Jedi treasure without incident or injury to themselves.

After such a tiring mission, it is essential for all Jedis to refuel and what better way than to feed on a Star Wars cake and ice cream.

Of course, all this must be followed up by the exchange of Jedi gifts and exclamations of “That was AWESOME!” from visiting younglings on their way into their cruisers.

THE HOW

Aside from the cake mix and the candy, I did not purchase anything for this party.  It was created entirely from stuff I had on hand.  I was just so proud of myself, that I had to share how I did it.

The Darth Vader Pinata:

This was by far and away the best thing about the party.  Darth’s head was all I originally intended for the pinata, but once I discovered how much work and time it was taking, there was no way I was going to let the kids smash it to pieces.  That’s when the concept for an easier to smash body came into play.  Ben now keeps Darth’s head on his dresser in his room as a decoration.

I started Darth’s head by cutting out shapes and taping them to a balloon to create his mask.  The only thing not shown here is his pop-out eyes.  I had originally intended to paint them on.  Once the mask was, completed, however, I saw how much it needed the definition of the eyes and added them on.

Next, I added 2-3 layers of paper mache, adding a little definition around the vent on his mouth and the bridge of his nose.  Then I added black and gray paint, and gray cut outs for the bolts at the three corners of the vent.

For the body I simply covered a shipping box in black card stock, then cut out shapes and glued them on to make his limbs, light saber and buttons.  Finally, I cut a trapezoid out of black fabric and attached it to the back for his cape.

The Star Wars Birthday Cake:

The cake was simple.  I layered two round chocolate cakes together, covered it with blue homemade frosting, and sprinkled yellow start sprinkles on top.  The various Star Wars ships on it came from our Star Wars Battleship game.  They were perfect.  They had stands and everything!

The Jedi Scavenger Hunt:

For this, I just came up with a story and wrote clues for it.  Here they are if you’re interested.  I’m going to type quickly, so please ignore any mistakes.  The green indicates the next clue’s location.

Clue 1:  (Inside Jedi treasure box)

Younglings,

This is Obi-wan Kenobi.  I disaster of galactic proportion has occurred.  Despite all the security measures put in place, the Jedi treasury has been broken into and raided.  All clues suggest that the thief is on his or her way tot he Empire’s food source.  I am on my way there now, but I need assistance.  Unfortunately, all Jedis and Padawan Learners are on other missions.  Please join me there so we can confront the thief together.

Be Careful.  And may the force be with you.

Clue 2:  (Attached to the garden entrance)

Younglings,

I’m sorry I could not await your arrival.  Upon close examination of the head gardener, I have discovered that our thief has taken the treasure to the Forest Moon of Endor and is moving fast.  There is no time to waste.  I am heading there now.  Please Join me and may the force be with you.

Obi-wan

Clue 3:  (Hidden in the corn)

Younglings,

As bad as the news of the theft is, it gets worse.  Upon arrival on Endor, I was immediately ambushed by storm troopers.  Our thief has powerful friends.  I just barely escaped with my life.  Unfortunately, I lost my light saber.  The only good news is that I was able to secure a tracking devise on our thief’s ship.  I looks to be heading toward Naboo.  Their festival of Music is in two days.  My only hope is that I can get there in time.

Join me there and may the force be with you.

Obi-wan

(Younglings find Obi-wan’s light saber on Endor before moving onto the next clue.)

Clue 4:  (Hidden on the stereo)

Younglings,

All sources indicate that Naboo is not under attack, but simply the meeting place for him and his employer.  I was able to intercept his communications and have discovered that their meeting time is scheduled for tomorrow.  In the mean time, I plan on restocking my supplies.  I have been on pursuit for several days and have run dangerously low on water.

Please hurry and may the force be with you.

Obi-wan

Clue 5:  (Hidden near the kitchen sink)

Younglings,

I have finally discovered the identity of the thief and his employer.  I caution you to travel as secretly as you can, for they are none other than the bounty hunter Jengo Fet and Darth Vader.

As far as I can tell, Jengo has transferred his prize to Vader and left.  I plan to track Vader even though he plans on traveling through an astroid belt.  I hate flying.

Obi-wan

Clue 6:  (Hidden in the rocks out front)

Younglings,

Prepare yourselves.  I have confronted Vader and failed.  Badly injured, I have had no choice but to abandon my mission and seek medical aid.  Please continue on and finish what we have started.

Beware.  I sense an imbalance in the force.  The dark side has grown strong.  I fear a battle soon.  As you travel, do your Jedi exercises and whatever you do, confront Vader together.  Good luck on your journey and may the force be with you.

Obi-wan

(Younglings do jumping jacks, run in place, etc. to warm up and prepare for their confrontation with Vader before searching for Vader.  A great battle commences once he is found, with candy as victory’s reward.)

On September 11th, our family was in desperate need of getting out of the house.  We were all so tired of being cooped up that we were really grating on one another, so we headed to the library to find some much needed books and then decided, while we were out, to drop by the park next to it – which just happened to have a splash pad.

Now, being a spontaneous activity, we were unprepared for such an activity, but if you’ve been reading my blog long enough, you know that doesn’t stop us!  Oh no!  We just get wet anyway!

Apparently there is no age limit for this activity, because Elizabeth was having the time of her life.

I think this was Josh’s favorite place to be.  We have several pictures of him here.

He did manage to squeeze in some time to get wet, though.

Yep, he’s on it again!

Sariah was a little hesitant at first.  She was worried that, due to the color of her shirt, she would have issues with modesty once she got wet.  It took quite awhile to convince the poor thing – who most desperately wanted to join in the fun – that her shirt was of a thick enough material not to be a problem. . . and it wasn’t.

Yay! With a smile finally on all our children’s faces, our mission is complete.  Five more minutes and it will be time to go home!

In September, Benjamin celebrated his 6th birthday.  The day of his birthday was a school day, so what better way to start the day than a present found in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa B.?  He was just a little bit excited with what was inside – a Star Wars Clone action figure!  By his face can you tell he likes Star Wars?

I think he liked it.  In fact, I regretted letting him open it that morning because it was difficult to get him away from it and get him to school.  Thankfully there was excitement to be had at school as well, for Mommy had made him awesomely decorated cupcakes with dinosaur sprinkles for his entire class.  Can’t miss that!

Later that evening we had Gaga and Papa over for a dinner especially picked by the birthday boy himself!  I loved that he picked hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill – it made Daddy do the cooking!!

Of course, after dinner was the most important part… the presents!

Poor Michael wanted in on the action.  Much to Benjamin’s dismay, Michael kept sitting on his presents while Benjamin was trying to open them.

Gaga and Papa got him the highly coveted Razor scooter.  It was such a popular gift that it had to be used right away … in the house!

Finally, what birthday would be complete without cake and ice cream?  Gaga and Papa took Ben to the store and he got to pick out his very own cake … and red vines … and frosting filled cookies … and chocolate milk … and ….

Benjamin was ecstatic.

The cake ended this very full day of birthday celebrations.  It was a good day, but there is much more to be said on the subject of Benjamin’s birthday, for there was a friend party as well.  Stay tuned for part II!

This year is a big year of changes when it comes to school.

Elizabeth graduated elementary school and became a dreaded middle schooler.  Mom was quite nervous about the change, seeing as how she is having to let go of her daughter a little, but Elizabeth is loving it and is quite involved with various school activities.  She is in the school orchestra, learning the viola, and is loving participating in student government.  It’s kind of weird how little we see her this year.  She leaves quite early in the morning and then often stays after school for her extracurricular activities.  If we see her this little now, I don’t even want to know what it’s going to be like when she’s in high school three years from now.

Sariah is now in the second grade.  She has an awesome teacher and an awesome class.  I guess everyone in it is above grade level, so the teacher says she is teaching at a higher level than normal.  The teacher is also very sweet and Sariah loves her, which is always a plus.

Benjamin is our other very big change.  He started first grade this year, taking him away from home for a full school day now and leaving me with only two at home for the majority of the day.  This change was the other one that worried me, especially after the rough year we had last year.  (Remember this? Scroll down to the section on the new school year.)  That one section on Ben’s first day was only one of the many episodes last year.  Ben says he hates school and can be quite difficult to get to school.  I didn’t know if he was ready to spend the entire day at school.  He’s doing great, though, and we’ve only had a couple of minor episodes – and one major (which I will post about later.)

Josh is in the picture because he wanted to be included.  I missed my chance to get him into a preschool co-op, but we are trying to remember to do Mommy preschool.  He’s really a smart little lad.  I need to be better at making sure we do it.