Growing Up

It is amazing to me how we all say time goes quickly, then the day you realize it's true you are about to be a parent to a teenager!  Lexy is on her way to her last year of elementary school!  I can hardly imagine her in middle school, which will mean Apryl is starting high school...I could just cry!  Matt and I have truly been blessed with five amazing kiddos, but our oldest two girls are not just my kiddos any more.  We talk like girlfriends, hang out, go shopping, gossip.  There are still many things I choose to not share with them and save for my more mature audience, but I am having so much fun with them!  Apryl is giving me fashion advice, which I am really enjoying.  She reads Teen Vogue, and Seventeen, thinking I need to be doing the same things.  She will tell me my horoscope which she reads from a magazine, but no boy has revealed his crush on in quite some time so I don't put a lot of stock in it!  She did however help to lose the diaper bag purse and move on to greener pastures---literally!  I now have a much more stylish bright green purse which I love! She also encouraged me to buy my first pair of heels since lord knows when!  I honestly have no idea when I will wear them, but soon I hope!  Both girls are into make-up and nail polish, all these things have reminded me how much fun it is being a girl!!  I think being immersed in the world of raising little ones, I got busy doing things other than accessorizing.  Now that the children are slowly but surely becoming more and more self sufficient I can focus on me.  I have even been toying with the idea of taking some on-line photography classes.  Thanks to my girls for breathing a little life back in to their mom!!

Yes, I Love Technology....

It is amazing to me how well our five kiddos can traverse the world of technology.  I realize I am not ancient by any means but, the stuff these peeps are capable of far outweighs anything I can do!  I was just talking the other night about taking typing in junior high school...which I am always corrected is now middle school!  I think typing and a few computer classes were the extent of my technological background upon graduating high school.  Our three girls have been immersed in the technology world since kindergarten.  Apryl and Alexys have been doing student led conferences by power point since second grade!!  They have made brochures, done research papers, not to mention the countless book reports and numerous short stories they have written all on the computer.  More often than not, their work needs to be typed in order to be turned in.  This does not include the gaming devices and phones they are using each day.  Which brings me to our boys!  They can very easily make their ways through the world wide web (with parental blocks in place)!  They enjoy Hot wheels.com, Nickjr.com, and watching funny animal videos on YouTube!  Addy is a big fan of Barbie.com and monsterhigh.com.  She too can navigate her way to any sight she likes!  All three of our youngest kiddos can work the Wii, the DVD player along with the one in the car, the play station and VCR---yes, we still have one, and dad's pride and joy the TV.  Now when I am having difficulty getting the TV to do what I want, I ask Garhett or Brenden.  They know which input the TV needs to be on for whatever we are trying to do!  I was a little ashamed when Garhett yelled at me while I was trying to get the Wii started for them a while ago..."Mom! It's HDMI #4!!!".  Yikes!  I am happy to stick with what I am familiar with.  Typing!  If I need to figure out how to download Angry Birds I will ask one of our four year old boys!

Enjoying Being Beautiful

Each night we sit down to dinner as a family.  Keep in mind I use the word "sit" loosely!  However, many a conversation has been had at our kitchen table.  Topics usually range from who did what at school, silly jokes the boys have learned, asking dad over and over how his day at work was, making sure mom had a decent day as well.  Each evening is filled with as much laughter as noise.  The noise level can get so unbelievably loud that I am thinking about having Tylenol as one of my side dishes!  There are also the occasions where our youngest daughter says the cutest things just out of the blue.  A few days ago I noticed Addy was fairly quiet for a Morrison child so I asked her if she was alright.  She replied with, "I'm fine mommy, I'm just enjoying being beautiful!".  This statement made everyone smile.  Her older sisters repeated those few words to each other in jest, but I think it made them feel good too.  It was a pure and honest incite to how good she feels about herself!  Addy is our most soft spoken kiddo.  She enjoys her reading corner, which she also watches movies in, but the alone time is big deal for her.  Addysen likes to ponder things, and is a deep thinker even for five.  Just to hear her say something so cute and wonderful is all the reason I need to make certain sitting down together to eat is something that happens every night.  I wouldn't want to miss anything!!

Just Being Boys

I admit it may have taken me just over four years to figure out how to photograph our boys, but over the weekend I tried some new tricks...and they worked!!  First off, look at those wonderful smiles!!  I did not get those by asking them to once again say "cheese".  They are laughing and smiling so awesomely because I told them to call each other dorks!  They would get into their usual poses and boringly say cheese like good boys, but to no avail my picture would be less than stellar.  Saturday I said, "call your brother a dork!", they laughed hysterically and mom got priceless smiles!  It was a win win situation.  I would take this silly, fun, natural looking photo any day over a forced smile picture.  I already have plenty of those!  Scouting for new places to take pictures is half the fun.  Olde Town Arvada has some wonderful places to use as backdrops, and I plan very soon to make my mom come with me to help take more pictures of my five favorite subjects!  Let's just hope "dork" holds out for a while before I have to use "dumbass"!!  :)

Visiting Great Grandpa

The boys and I try to make it to visit my grandfather at least once a week.  He is in the Alzheimer's unit of a nursing home.  He is very comfortable there and seems to enjoy himself.  Each visit is a unique experience.  Garhett and Brenden are convinced that great grandpa lives at his doctors house.  They like to help themselves to the snacks that are available for the residents, which I think they earn due to the numerous other residents that approach them.  Our boys are often asked if they are twins on every trip there.  To which they reply...NOTHING!!  They don't choose to converse with anyone other than grandpa.  Today, a lady named Pat was trying to tickle Garhett and as she crept closer and closer in her wheelchair, he moved farther and farther away. If he could have climbed inside my shirt to hide from her, he would have.  They were throwing an exercise ball back and forth and hit a few people in the back of their head just a few times!  Lucky for the boys that most of the people they hit were asleep and if they had been awake probably wouldn't remember what had happened.  Visiting grandpa is new adventure each time as well.  They have been offered money to help certain residents escape, they have been asked if they can help people get up, I heard one nice lady ask them if they knew what was for dinner.  Most of the other residents seem to be happy just watching the boys play.  It must come from a place in their minds that holds the memories of their own youth.  Remembering those distant memories must make them happy.  I see them sitting with smiles on their faces and hear them say goodbye to the boys as they pass by.  Taking a couple of four year olds to what most people see as a final stage in ones life allows a little bit of life to breeze back in, even if only an hour at a time.  I sit and listen to them tell me stories of twins they knew, or how they are a twin themselves.  The boys bring back memories of their own children.  Garhett and Brenden do much more than play...I think I'll keep that part a secret!

Picture Perfect

Not every picture is perfect.  I have a particularly difficult time getting what I feel is an acceptable picture due to the fact that I have more than the average number of people in each shot.  Our girls have become pros at sitting and smiling for the camera, the boys on the other hand are still testing the waters, especially Brenden!  B-Man has an amazing smile and not to mention the cutest little face, but lately all I get from him is his mouth wide open with his tongue sticking out!  I do enjoy a silly picture every now and again, I even encourage it, how can you not with five kiddos?  All I need is one with EVERYONE looking at ME one time!  That is like pulling teeth, or so I would imagine.  The boys like to look at the pictures and see themselves looking crazy or hitting one another, turning around to show me their bottoms, putting their shirts over the others brothers head, pushing or pulling Addys' hair, you name it!  A picture where they are just sitting nicely with their arms around each other is boring and basically a figment of my imagination!  It is quite a challenge to get a picture with two little boys waving at you and running back and forth.  I guess they forgot who their mommy is, because I am up for that challenge! 

Naughty Words

There has been a increase in bad language around our house recently.  Our boys have picked up a bad habit of calling each other names that are not too nice.  Dumbass is definitely their favorite go-to insult for just about every situation.  I'll admit, I agree with them more often than I should, however, that does not make it okay.  It's obvious where they may be picking up this type of language, so I am doing all I can to say four letter words in my mind only!  Don't get me wrong, it's not as if I have the mouth of a trucker, but once in a while nothing seems to fit better than something my little ones maybe shouldn't hear.  For example, the bloody nose from being elbowed by my son, situation.  S#*T felt really good then...darn just would not have cut it!  There is also another level to their "dirty" mouths.  They have become mildly obsessed with pee and poop, only the words!!  Every punch line to every joke they tell ends with pee or poop.  "Knock, knock" jokes always end up with mom saying, "poop who?". This sets them off laughing and laughing.  I have instilled a new rule because of all the mayhem.  I have told the boys that this is "bathroom talk", they can talk about anything they desire as long as they are in the bathroom.  It's working somewhat so far.  I can hear them screaming the "naughty" from down the hallway..."PEE!!!"  I only hope I can curb this attraction to ugly words before school starts! 

Our Favorite Things

Every child while living home at one time or another starts to share in his or her parents likes and dislikes.  As seen in the picture my kiddos have chosen wisely!  It could also have something to do with the fact that I put away the laundry and they seem to only find their Bronco gear come game day!  HA HA!  Besides, the blue and orange brings out the color of their eyes.  Anyway, lets be honest, they do know a winner when they see one.  These kiddos had a much better time cheering on Peyton than they did the "phish".  Just ask Alexys, who tried all season long to bring spirit to her dad's beloved team.  Each week she watched the Dolphins suit up and jog on to the field only to watch them hang their heads an hour later while walking back to the locker room.  The rest of our gang was at home with mom watching our new hall of fame quarterback take us to the playoffs!!  This next season is going to be as promising for us Bronco fans, not so sure what to say about the other guys.  Maybe this off-seaon their QB can learn the other teams in his division!  Love you Mattie~

Dare Devils!!

After having three girls and getting to know how they work, it has been a daily adventure to get to know our boys!  There is not much they are fearful of.  Hurting themselves is the least of their worries!  Last night I turned on some music for "dance time" which lasted for about three minutes, Addy was quite unhappy with such a limited amount of dance time!  Her brothers felt the music was more for riding their motorcycles through the house.  They then encouraged one another to jump off the bikes, stand on them, push each other while standing on them, jump from one to the other, so on and so on!!  Inevitably, the biggest boy in the house also thought this was a fun idea, and sharing in their enthusiasm for dangerous activities went ahead and helped them create new stunts!  If Matt could have found a way to help flip backward off their bikes he would have!  He was enjoying his role as stunt coordinator which means I get to to enjoy my role as nurse!  If last night was any indicator of what is to come, I will need a good heart surgeon because this is a heart attack in the making!

It Runs in the Family

 Recently Alexys was chosen to play a coveted roll in her 5th grade play about colonial times, then she ended up playing a young boy!  Anyhow, she embraced the role change with grace and dignity!  She ended up playing "Jackie" who was supposedly George Washington's son, maybe from his maid not sure...just kidding!  Lexy was so funny in her role as Jackie, she received many compliments from other theater goers and much praise from grandparents!  It was nice to watch her having so much fun on the stage, it was like second nature to her.  I had the fortunate opportunity of rehearsing lines with her and finding a costume, so I guess you could say she couldn't have done it without me!!  I look forward very much to the next play and in the meantime she is taking some acting classes to keep herself well oiled in the acting craft!

It's About Time!

Having been gone for some time now, it would simply take too long to go over everything that has happened since I last wrote.  My goal is to once again write posts a few times a week, given my children are able to provide me with enough material!  :)  It was probably good we were gone during the holidays. Our family was hit HARD with virus after virus after virus.  Not something everyone wants to hear about over and over.  Our boys have turned four, Alexys lost another tooth, Addy had to move her pin in class due to excessive talking, and Apryl is closing the gap in height with her mother!!  I imagine a time when I may be the shortest person in the house!  Writing this first blog after such a long time I a reminded why it takes so long to get out only a few paragraphs...my boys!  One has an empty soda box on his head while the other is calling him a "trash monster" and hitting him repeatedly with a pillow!  No quiet time for mom...one can dream!