A Birthday to Remember

Our little baby boy turned one!  One year.  365 Days.  Yes, it has truly gone by too quickly.  I think I finally understand now what all those parents mean when they say "Enjoy it while it lasts.  They don't stay this way forever."

Of course, Dakota is the quintessential baby.  Sleeps perfectly, has a happy disposition and he cuddles.  He cuddles a lot.

An abundance of unsolicited advice has come at me through the years, but none so much as I have received in the 6 short years I have been a parent.  Apparently, a few find me to be failing and feel it vital to my children's livelihood to pass it on.  Especially complete strangers...in stores.  It must feel good to tell people what they should be doing.  To see how it feels, I am going to pass on some unsolicited advice.  Maybe I will feel so empowered by it I will just keep it coming!

 Treat each baby as though they are your first and your last.

I say "your first" because, at least with Connor, there was this very incredible realization that life is a miracle only God, Our Heavenly Father, could truly create.  More miraculous is that He thinks we humans are capable of keeping one of these precious vessels alive and help them to flourish in a variety of environments.

Every time a new baby does something that shows their progression, it is something to celebrate.  Ooh and Aah over.  Call the grandparents and tell them just how amazing your baby is because they smiled at you...and it wasn't gas! Or the time they just stare at their hand realizing that they are in charge of moving it.  Your first baby humbles you.  Quickly.

Todd and I both feel as though our little family is whole now that Dakota is here and thus, we treat every baby moment completely different.  I feel bad for the girls as I was so busy trying to keep the house clean, perfect my calling, keep up with my hobby, and make sure I was disciplining properly I failed to just sit and watch and be amazed every day.

With "my last" I cherished the nights Dakota would interrupt my sleep with the need to fill his little tummy.  I would take him into the living room and keep him held close to me a little longer than necessary taking peace in thinking I would not have to do this again, and there was no need to get frustrated.  There would be time to catch up on my lost sleep.  Things don't bother me as much as they once did.  Maybe it is a sense of closure to this chapter in my life.

Anyway....I can honestly say that I have loved every 525,600 minutes of Dakota's first year on this earth.   Now I will prepare myself for the next year and all that comes with a toddler!

Happy Easter

Here are our little divas prepped and ready for this special Easter Sunday.  The morning meetings were cancelled, which meant I had Todd's help getting all of the kids dressed and ready for the morning..."oh the kind words we hear when mom's hot help is near."  We were all at church and seated 15 minutes prior to the meeting and I never raised my voice that morning!!!

Sacrament meeting was beautiful with our former Bishops sharing their personal testimonies of the Atonement and Resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ and the choir (which Todd and I both participate in) sang wonderfully as adorable little Carly sat in the congregation smiling at me and giving me the thumbs up sign.

That evenings, we dined on a yummy spiral ham and ever-so-famous funeral potatoes, "tastes like an angel" creamed corn, fruit salad and always perfect Rhode's rolls with my mom and dad and our good friends, the Purba's and visited well into the night, while our children sat in the living room, each playing on some sort of apple device laughing together.  Perfection (not the apple devices...although they are perfect, the whole being together part)!

On a completely different note, can you believe that our Little Baby Boone will be turning ONE on Thursday?  Not me.  I am not ready for him to move beyond the baby phase.  He is an ideal little baby.  I mean, look at him!  He is almost always this happy (unless he is hungry or slammed his finger in a door).

Then there is this big guy.....see what happens when the kids get a hold of my camera.

Conster Monster will be participating in a dual immersion program next year spending half of his day learning math and science in Spanish.  I am worried that some days he will come home from school and his face will look just like this out of frustration or over-stimulation.  Oh well, his young brain will soak it all up and he will be all the wiser for it.

I hope all of you were fed as well as we were this Easter, both spiritually and physically.

Family Tree

This week I will be teaching a mini-class for our monthly Relief Society meeting and my options were flower arranging or hanging pictures.  As much as I love doing flower arrangements, I don't feel like I have done enough to be able to give tips or pointers.  Hanging pictures is a very different story.  I LOVE working on gallery walls and have been hanging pictures much longer, so I began the process of putting together a lesson.

I went to one of my favorite websites, www.lds.org and began to search articles that talked about the importance of having religious artwork in our homes as the constant images can have a lasting impact on those who spend time within the walls of our homes.

The talk that I kept coming back to was from an article in the Ensign in 1973!  There was a paragraph that stated:
"Family galleries of photographs, artwork, and other visual objects can do much to develop attitudes of family unity.  Good times can be recalled while warm feelings about the family can be reinforced."


Immediately I got excited remembering a project I had started at my Mother-In-Law's many years earlier, but for some lame reason, I never finished it (what kind of daughter-in-law am I?).  I called her up excited to see if she still wanted to go through with our original plans and she said yes.  So I enrolled the help of an incredibly handsome artist I know and told my MIL we would be over that night to finish what we had started almost 6 years ago (I know, nobody is going to ask me to help with a project ever again if I do things this slow).

So, with that intro, I am excited to show and teach you how to do your own gallery wall/family tree!

First, you must find that blank space just longing for some company.

Poor mom had pictures just scattered about on this wall (because of my procrastination) for a while.  They looked so lost and out of place.

Then take all of those pictures and move them around on the

ground until they look somewhat cohesive and happy...

keeping in mind the whole time that a tree is supposed to be

growing somewhere amongst all of them.

Now you must gather all of the tools necessary to begin the layout on the wall

which can then lead to the incredible free handed tree.

1. Pictures.  You and those looking at the wall will probably be happiest if the pictures have one unifying element, in our case, they were all done in a sepia tone.
2. Newspaper or kraft paper to tear out templates of your frames.  Believe me, it is easier to move these around then pounding a bunch of holes into the wall after.
3. Masking or painters tape to tape the templates on the wall.
4. Pencil for drawing a little tiny dot where you think the nail should go, after the tree is painted, of course.  Thankfully, with this kind of gallery precision is NOT key and eyeballing it is good enough.  You will probably use it to draw the tree too.
5. Scissors to cut out craft paper in case tearing along edge of frame doesn't go smoothly.
6. Cell phone to carry on hilarious text conversation with friend from Hawaii, it's good to laugh during something like this.
7. Bottle to keep baby occupied, however, the newspaper will do a better job.
8. Paint and various sizes of paint brushes

 Now it is time to tape those templates onto the wall.

This is where my artist came in handy.

At this point he sauntered downstairs and after a brief description

of what I envisioned for this family tree, he effortlessly penciled one on the wall.

Then you take a paint brush and start at it.

Todd did more of the detailed stuff like the intricate ends of the branches and the leaves

with a very thin brush and I just swabbed on all the bigger branches,

my leaves turned out to look like "paddles," can you guess which ones were mine?

The last and most exciting step of all is nailing just one hole per picture into the wall,

hanging them up and then standing back and smiling from ear to ear

because it turned out better than you had expected.

If I might remind you of the paragraph above;

"Family galleries of photographs, artwork, and other visual objects can do much to develop attitudes of family unity.  Good times can be recalled while warm feelings about the family can be reinforced."

What I appreciate the most about this wall is that many of the pictures show the kids smiling and participating in activities with their family members that have "developed and attitude of family unity" amongst all of them.  I am so blessed to be a part of the Riches family and spend time in this home where love abounds and laughter is always present.

Time to Change Nests

Todd needed an office.  A room that he could escape to when the world had given him a thumbs down, a room that he could feel like the Doctor of Architecture that he is (the profession hardly seems to notice).

Seeing as how Carly now shares a bed in space with her brother, the basement bedroom was free for the taking.

I had a hard time surrendering the space as I was in LOVE with the little tree and birdies that had made their home down there.  I tried convincing Todd that they would only be there to whisper words of encouragement and possibly inspiration, but he wasn't feeling it.

 On Friday, I found a new home for the nests and birdies.  Does this room look familiar?

Yes, the birdies had to undergo a type of reconstructive surgery AGAIN, but they have all adapted well. However, the occupant of the human nature continues to inform me that she wants her walls to be purple.  Maybe I can dangle that  carrot over her head when she isn't "acting as pretty on the inside as she is on the outside."

Todd is slowly putting together the office and someday when I find the right shade of gray we will paint his cave and he will truly feel inspired and the whisperings of encouragement will, instead, come from art on the walls that hopefully he has drawn.

When I Grow Up

When I was around the age of 12 I loved babysitting.  I had read all of the Babysitter Club books and had even made myself a babysitting kit full of krafts and games and treats.  I knew that I was going to incorporate these skills into my future job as mother.

I was going to be the worlds best mother.  Let's see if I have satisfied the twelve year old babysitter inside of me with a game of THEN & NOW.

THEN:  Daily practice of Sacrament Meeting.  15 minutes sitting quietly on the couch daily.
NOW:  Connor prefers to sit with a beautiful sister in our ward whose husband is in the Bishopric so she sits alone.  Todd gets Dakota, as there is some magical quality Todd's arms possess and the baby falls right asleep in them, as if he were in my own arms, sleep would never come.  Therefore, I am left to deal with the two sisters who rarely play well together.  I spend sacrament settling fights over who gets to pretend to be the pink pony and who gets to color with the light purple versus the dark purple.

THEN:  Regularly scheduled naps/quiet time
NOW:  The twelve-year old is very proud of me.  Do not disturb this household between the hours of 1pm and 3pm.  Dakota and Carly nap while Connor and Abi read or do homework.

THEN:  Game time each and every day
NOW:  Though it may not be everyday, we play games!  Lots of them.  Hide and Go Seek is my personal favorite as that is when my kids say and do the funniest things.  "Yodelay-Yodelay-Yodelay-Hee-Hoo.  I'm in the bathroom (or closet or bucket)" always stated by Carly.  The other day I was hiding and when Abi quickly found me she said "Mom, that's not a very healthy hiding place."  I was by the couch, I think she meant "good hiding place."  Connor:  "You're not doing it right.  You are supposed to not be peeking!  That's it.  I'm not playing with you (said to Abi)!"  Rocket man is another favorite of the smaller group as my weak legs can't flip Connor over my head so easily.  Red Light, Green Light, throw in a Purple Light or Pink Light.

THEN:  Regular story time. Me sitting on the sofa with kids sitting perfectly round me feet on the floor.
NOW:  Somebody cries because they don't like the story soandso wants to read, I only have two sides and four kids wanting to see the pictures so two kids end up crying (usually Dakota because I have to put him somewhere that pages can't be ripped and Abi because she isn't willing to push her way to my lap).  Stories do get read, but I prefer one on one.

THEN:  Daily singing time, The Wheels on the Bus, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Primary Children's Song Book
NOW:  Oh yeah, we sing EVERY day!  "You..make..me...feel like I'm living a...teen...age...dream"  When I heard those words come out of my 4 year olds mouth I quickly made a station on Pandora that is strictly for kids full of Disney songs and feel good music.  Perhaps the sweetest moment came on Sunday when I sat down at the piano and began to play "I Am A Child of God."  Abi stood by my right side and sang the entire song so perfectly.  Then Carly came in to join on the second verse and tears came to my eyes knowing that these little girls know this song better than any they may hear on the radio.

THEN:  Dancing has always been important to me, my girls would tap.
NOW:  The dances my girls prefer doing have been taught to them by the Dancey-Dance Bunch or Angelina Ballerina.  They don't love it when mom tries to teach them a shuffle-ball-change or buffalo, but as long as they dance and the moves are appropriate, I don't care who teaches them!

THEN: Most importantly to me was the daily craft.
NOW:  I like to think I am crafty, and a daily craft is still very important to me.  TO ME!!!!  I do need to have a daily craft, that I complete, by myself, in the confines of my corner in our unfinished basement.  A little bit of me-time or therapy.

The mess, the melt-downs, and the fights that ensue when trying to incorporate the 4-8  children I may have at any one time in my home has turned me away from the dream of regular craft time.  My poor childhood dreams, CRUSHED by none other than me.

Sidenote:  I just got off the phone with my sister-in-law who mentioned how she wished that she did as many projects with her kids as I do with mine.  Ha!  I quickly assured her that she had a skewed image of me and would soon see after she read this blog post.


Thankfully, with the help of a few friends and a family member who possibly has the same dreams as I once did (however, fewer or no children) came to my children's rescue and presented to me the idea of some crafts this week.  They provided the materials, I just provided the location and most of the children.

First, my friend Jessi who has two very boyish boys and home-schools her brilliant 6 year old came over with a science experiment of creating structures using only marshmallows and spaghetti.  Here are the successful images from this moment-o-fun:

The crafty project was suggested by my sister and she knew the kids would love to make these.  She was right.  Those kids with paintbrushes in hand, had a fabulous time.

Thanks to the women who have fewer children in their lives and think to do these projects, otherwise, they might only be completed on a quarterly basis around her.  Heck, I might even consider two projects in one week just as good as getting crafts out of the way until August (wow, that makes me sound kind of bah-hum-buggy).  Don't get me wrong.  I do love me a good craft.  I do love seeing my kids enjoy their creative works-of-art afterwards.  Connor was placing mini-egg treats inside of his chicky and each egg had an important part to play.  One was the brain, one was the tongue, one was the spit and the other egg was just an egg (curse you Suzy...Connor just asked if we "could do an activity, like build some Easter Bunnies").

In defense of myself, each of these kids has been blessed with very creative brains and daily, they do things and create artworks out of ordinary objects in the home.  THAT is what brings me the greatest joy, seeing their little minds at work by turning an ordinary egg-carton into a laptop or using their body as a canvas for a self-portrait and even teaching their pillow-pet to read.

My craft times might not be as awesome as the ones I have starred in my google reader as "to do someday",  with those twelve-year old plans still there in the back of my mind.  But, the kids are doing great and amaze me daily with the things they come up with!  I can't take any credit for that, but I will do my best to keep encouraging  their individual attempts and most importantly encourage my self to "be" more and not worry about "doing" more, as we were encouraged during General Conference.