Last Minute Gift Idea

Are you looking for a last minute gift idea? A new boutique just opened in Eagle. It is called Lacelets. They specialize in custom made bracelets, anklets and shoelaces. The advertising campaign for the store has been intense and professional. Check it out if youre're in the area! It is owned and managed by the same little entrepeneur that founded and operates the Library Finn.

Secret Ad"Meyer"er

In the car the other day, quite out of the blue, Finn told me that he has a secret admirer.
Me - Oh really? How do you know?

Finn - Well today during recess, I had my head in one of the holes in the rock climbing wall on our playground, and someone came up and rubbed my back. When I turned around to see who it was, no one was there. So I think its a secret admirer.

Me - Wow Wee. Thats amazing (as I cover my mouth and Porter and I try not to laugh.)

Finn - Ya, I think it's Mrs. Meyer (the principal at his school.)

Me - Oh really? What makes you think its her?

Finn - Well her name is Mrs. Meyer - Like Ad - Meyer- er so I'm pretty sure its her.

Me - Well, that would make sense

Finn - (with eyebrows knit together) But why would Mrs. Meyer be running around on the playground?

Me - Probably so she could rub your back.

Finn - Yeah, probably.

Seriously I will someday write a book about Finn who could be Junie B. Jones male counterpart. He totally cracks me up! - BTW he told me the other day that when he grows up and gets married he is going to change his last name to Jones. I asked why and he said it was because he wanted to have a little girl and name her Junie B, but Junie B McPherson doesn't make any sense at all.

And that is how we found out that Finn has a secret Ad-Meyer-er

Camping with the Knittels

(not pictured is Griffin, who fell asleep poolside.)
(Totally exhausted)

The last weekend before school ended we decided to go camping. We loaded up our car and headed out for Indian Springs, a very fun little camping spot near where my parents live. Our great friends, the Knittels, were attending a play that night, but agreed to pack up their family after the play and come and join us. What great friends to pack up their family at 9:30 at night and go camping.

We arrived just after 10pm and started setting up camp, making smores, and running around with our friends. Finn and Labelle found a picnic table and sat down to catch up.

The next morning the kids played in the hot spring run off water (and mud) and then we all went swimming in the Indian Springs pool. I have so many memories of swim lessons, and family outings there from my child hood. I really hope that our kids will have some fun memories from this weekend as well.

Catching Up!

In an attempt to catch up on blogging, I am going to attempt write a new post every day until I get caught up. Our family did a lot of fun stuff this summer, and I am feeling so guilty about not posting any of the details.

Our Prayers Have Been Answered

Last weekend our fabulous friends the Knittels came to Boise for a visit. Right after they arrived we all sat down to dinner. Porter was asked to say the prayer and at the end he asked that we would have a great time with our friends, and that we would all get enough sleep to live.

I know it is irreverent to laugh during prayers, but we couldn't help it.

I am happy to report that our prayers were answered and we all got enough sleep to live - but just barely. We always have a great time with the Knittels!

According to Finn

I really think I need to create a blog just for the funny things my little Finny does and says. I don't ever want to forget them, but I am afraid that the other 5 kids will look back and think this is a little (or a lot) lopsided.

Until then....I can't help myself, this boy cracks me up.

The poop incident...

My kids take turns doing what we call jurisdictions. Basically chores. One of the jurisdictions is our back yard. They have to pick up all the toys, balls, and/or trash, and especially the smelly gifts our sweet little flower Daisy leaves us. ( A big golden doodle.)

While I was mowing the lawn Finn finished scooping the poop and then put it in a grocery bag and deposited it in a garbage can where I also put the grass clippings. When he closed the can he waved his hand in front of his face and said "Phew, do not leave that open." I said "It really stinks huh?"

Finn replied, "It WREAKS!" Then he took two more steps and added, "like my FEET!"

Please don't be concerned. He is clean. (mostly) and doesn't stink. (hardly)

Marshmallow History....

We have been visiting my mom and dad this past week, and completely LOVING the beautiful country living. Tonight the kids built a fire in their fire pit. (Yes folks, you heard it. I, Amy, the freakiest, most overprotective mother in the world sat in my chair many feet away and let Porter and his cousin start a fire. A major breakthrough!)

Anyway...Finn cooked a marshmallow but asked my mom not to make his smore without graham crackers. She said, "well Finn that is kind of against the rules."

He responded, "In all of marshmallow history?"

Fireside talk...

After the smores were eaten Finn was burning off one of the roasting sticks. He pushed all of the burning sticks around and then invited everyone to come and stand around the burning embers to talk about his birthday tomorrow.

Potty Humor...

Tonight while she was busy playing with her cousins Livy had a wet pants accident. I was helping her clean up, and asked her if she had just gotten busy playing and didn't want to stop to go to the bathroom until it was to late. She said "yes."

While cleaning her up I continued and said "I understand that. It used to happen to me a lot when I was a little girl."

Finn had come up behind me and yelled out, "IT STILL DOES!!!"

I was laughing so hard that I couldn't remind him that he needs to keep that little piece of info secret.

Funny Finny

Finn has learned to read, and largely it has made things easier for him to understand. He will often read something and comment "Oh, so its The Home Depot. I thought it was just Home Depot." But Finn is still Finn and he sees the world through a Funny Finny filter that is hysterical sometimes. Here are a few recent examples.

While shopping at the grocery store Finn was sitting in the tiny baby seat - hilarious on it's own since he is not a tiny baby - He wanted to get his favorite cheese dip for our game party so I picked it up and handed it to him. He read the label and said, "Oh Good. No Germs - Trains Fat." WHAT? He repeated himself and added, "this stuff has no germs and it trains your fat."


"Trains my fat????" I asked. "Could it train it to act like size 2 fat?"

Sadly the answer was no, but he assured me that I was not fat. Are these boys going to make great husbands someday or what?

Next...Today we bought school supplies for Finn and Porter. When we got home the boys were organizing their stuff (are glue sticks and pencils this exciting for all kids or are mine totally freaks?) into back packs. Finn picked up his glue and read the label. "This stuff is washable, but you can't run with it." WHAT? "No, mom it says right here. No Run. You can't run with this glue."

I think that's right buddy. Definetely don't run with it. I wish I could be in the classroom the day Finn tries to inforce that rule. You know he will!


I hope Finn never loses his Finniness. It makes him so much fun to be around. Also I hope that he will always have friends who appreciate it as much as his mommy and brother Porter do. Also, I love the little look that Porter and I exchange when Finn does this kind of stuff.

Auntie T.

Here is Tracy in a stirring tribute to our men in uniform! How does she find the time to do so much? Do you think they would like this picture of you in Jordan Tracy?

Yesterday was my little sisters birthday. I am so sad that the days have passed when people ask us all the time if we are twins (I would so happily be compared to my beautiful sister now.) And for that wonderful 12 days in July we would say, "no, we're not twins, but we are the same age." HAHAHA our very funny little joke. I always hated that the 24th of July celebration landed during that 12 day period, and I was forced to race in the same category with my very athletic and impossibly long legged sister. She never rubbed in her victories TOO much though.

Tracy is funny, very smart, completely honest, unbelievably compasionate, and generous beyond description. She has always been my very best friend. (Even though Angie and Jill seem to remember us fighting - I don't know what they are talking about!) She is a fabulous aunt, and my boys LOVE their happy memories with Auntie T. When I moved from Georgia Tracy flew out to drive across the country with me and Porter (who hated the car.) I was expecting Finn and vomitted all the way across the country. I couldn't believe how patient and kind Tracy was in that not so ideal situation. She has always supported me. Listened to me.

I LOVE my little sister. I am so excited that she is going to have a baby this year. She will be a very fun mother, with a gorgeous baby, and my boys and I intend to spoil little baby Z completely. I hope I am as good an aunt as she has been. Those are some incredibly big shoes to fill. And I have all this pressure to come up with a really fun name for myself like she did. I am taking suggestions.

Happy Birthday Auntie T. We all LOVE you so much!

1 Year

Kirk and I celebrated our first anniversary this past Friday. I can't believe that it has already been a whole year since our wedding. And yet...a lot has happened this year. I can't imagine my life without Kirk. He is kind and adoring. He is a fabulous father, friend and husband, and I LOVE being married to him.

He made plans for us to drive into the mountains to a little town about an hour from our house and go to a little dinner theater. We got to see the musical Footloose under the stars with a beautiful wooded, mountain backdrop. It was awesome to be outside, under the stars, watching the show and just being together. I had never been up into the mountains beyond Boise, and it felt like such a departure from being in my little Eagle bubble. I LOVED IT.

I have to say I'm glad the first year is behind us, and I hope we have many, many more to come.

I Hope...

I was looking at pictures of a fabulous campout with the Knittles, and thinking, I hope my kids have friends like Jennecca, and that made me think about other things I hope for my children.

I hope... they learn sooner than later that having brothers and sisters is one of the greatest blessings they have been given.



I hope...they never get tired of playing in the mud.

I hope...they get a good education.

I hope...I am teaching, disciplining, and loving them enough.

I hope...they learn to value hard work.

I hope...they respect their elders.

I hope...they will have their own testimonies.


I hope...they will always love to read.


I hope...all the boys will marry girls as wonderful as my sister in laws, and that Livy will marry someone just like her daddy.


I hope...they will get married in the temple.


I hope...they will get to have the incomparable experience of being parents.


I hope...they won't ever forget how much I love them.

Kindergarten Graduate

Finn Graduated from Kindergarten.

He loved every minute of his first year of school. He made good friends. Loved his adorable teacher. Created amazing crafts. Learned to use the computer. Learned to read. Got inspired by his school library, and created his own version at home. Lived for chocolate milk Fridays. Climbed the monkey bars constantly. Formed a recess ninja club, and then disbanded it when it took up to much of his monkey bar time. Hatched and raised some baby chicks. Had pajama day. Ate lunch at school. Created a kindergarten city. Chased girls. Ran from girls. Endured substitutes, who were probably great, but just not as great as Mrs. Skelton. Stood up to a bully, (actually asked me to.) And came home smarter, bigger and more grown up every single day. Next year he will be gone at school all day. He will eat lunch there, and spend more hours of the day with his teacher than his mother.

Finn graduated from Kindergarten.

Obviously I cried.

No one will be shocked to learn that Finn almost wet his pants during the graduation program, and I had to run up and get him and take him to the bathroom. Poor kid with his mothers bladder.

He refused to wear his church pants because he said that the teacher told them they didn't have to wear church clothes, but they could wear a shirt and tie if they wanted. So my stubborn boy just knew that church pants would somehow be against the rules.

I wanted to interupt the program and tell the teacher that Finn stuck his tongue out at me, but I thought it might be childish.

Finn doing "First Grade, First Grade" Sung to the tune of "New York, New York."


I sure do love this little guy.

The last song included instrumental time during which the kids did the robot. Finn was on the front row and was fabulous at the robot. Seriously a lot of people came up to me afterwards and said how great they thought he was. I was proud, and a little shocked, I mean, he is usually pretty shy in front of other people.

Airing My Laundry

By far the biggest difference between having 2 kids and having 6 kids is the amount of laundry. I start washing on Monday and finishing folding on Wednesday. Very fun! There is something great and theraputic about the nicely stacked clean laundry, and getting to check this task off my list until next week...

Now if I can only get the kids to put it away without just jamming it in their drawers!

Picnic Program

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Recently Livy had her end of preschool picnic program. She goes to an adorable little preschool in a lady's home and the program was held in the park across the street. It was so fun. She is fearless. Never afraid of strangers or social situations, and LOVES to see her preschool friends. She has one very best friend, Claire, but loves the others as well. Interestingly, there are two little girls named Brynnly in Livy's class. It cracks me up that she calls one of them Brynnly and the other one, the other Brynnly. To her face! She is an adorable little girl. The other day Finn said, "You know whats weird about Livy? When we go to the park she always just plays with people (little girls her age) that she doesn't even know. (This is unfathomable for Mr. Shy.) She is spunky and fun and I love being her Amy! Also...to illustrate how strong willed my little lady is, please notice the adorable pink sweater (her very favorite) worn on a 90 degree day. She loved how beautiful she looked and never took it off until we got home. I love a girl who knows what she wants!

Funny Brothers

One of the best things about our new family is that Finn and Brandon are only 6 days apart. They are adorable little friends who love to play and imagine together. They do sometimes argue, but it is more common for them to get in trouble for talking after bedtime (or laughing, or swining from their bunk beds, or jumping off their bunk beds into a huge pile of snuggle animals and pillows.) Recently when Finn was gone visiting his dad Brandon really missed him. Everyday when I would pick Brandon up from school, he would ask, where is Finn. And he told me several times "That brother is AWESOME." I am so glad they are friends. I love to watch them laugh and play together. I hope they will always enjoy each other so much.

That final picture cracks me up. It was their special invention so they could both swing together. I don't know how they decided who would swing in which position, but it seems to me that the guy on the bottom is getting a bum deal.

Ah Summer!

Nothing signals the start of summer better than a ripe juicy watermelon. The beautiful bright red fruit, the juice running down your arms, and that wonderful sweet taste. Summer is here, and I hope I will see a lot more of these adorable boys with or without their shirts on, running around outside with watermelon all over their faces and running down their arms. I love being a mom, and I LOVE these little reminders that dispite the trails we all face life is pretty great!

More From "The Finninator" (self titled - as in "Who wants to play with THE FINNINATOR?")

Today in the grocery store Finn asked me if he was holding up his right hand. I said yes, and then he told Brandon that he was right handed, but left toothed.

What? I asked. He explained that he is right handed, but chews his food on the left side of his mouth, so he is left toothed.


Also...

I was driving Finn to school today and he was bouncing in his seat. If any of you know him you know that my first question had to be "do you need to use the bathroom?" He did, but there was something else.

"I just can't wait to get to school. This is going to be a great day! It's Friday you know."

I know Fridays are very special because its the day they get chocolate milk for snack, so I say "Chocolate Milk, huh?"

"Yup, chocolate milk and chickens!"

His kindergarten class hatched some baby chicks from an incubator and today they were old enough to be touched. Finn proceeded to explain that they had finally started to grow some wings which was very exciting. I asked him if they could fly, thinking they probably learned that chickens don't really fly. "No." he said, "they haven't learned to fly yet, but when I get my turn to hold one I'm going to throw him up in the air to teach him to fly!"

YIKES! And he is the farm boy in the class. I talked him out of it, which is incredible since he is never wrong in his own mind. He thought it was a brilliant, and nurturing plan, to teach these poor motherless chicks how to fly.

My little sweetheart nearly suffered the fate of one of my friends who accidentaly threw their kindergarten class hamster on the floor when she got frightened of it grabbing her sweater. The hamster died, and she was branded a killer for the rest of elementary school.

Spring has Sprung

I have loved watching Spring spring up all around us. The trees and flowers are blooming. The new grass along the river behind our house is that gorgeous spring green color that I love. (I once painted my kitchen that color.)

And there have been other fun surprises. Here are a few photos of what spring has been like at the Waltons'.

Of course I knew that we owned a chicken costume (thanks Jennecca.) And I have seen Finn ride a tiny clown type bike many times, but it is Finn's magical ability to combine things that I expect in a very unexpected way. He rode around our house and cul-de-sac like this for hours, and every time I would laugh or a neighbor would comment he would react like "what?" Don't you ride around in a chicken suit? What else can I say. This boy is fun and adorable in every season!

The Doctrine and Covenants Gets a New Name

Finn to me: Did you know its not the Doctor Ninn Covenants?

Me: Really what is it called then?

Finn: Its called the Doctor and Covenants.

Is it wrong that I didn't even try to tell him what its really called because I think its so cute. Also if you know Finn at all you know that he wouldn't listen to me anyway. Once he gets it in his head it is totally, well, scripture!

More of the World According to Finn

Yesterday while riding in the car Finn says to me, "Mom, did you know that the younger someone is, the hotter they are?"

"Really, Finn?" Wow, what the heck, this boy seriously understands the way the world works.

He proceeded to explain to me that young people have more skin than old people. As people get older their skin gets smaller, and sucks in. It gets weaker and colder and skin gets gone and comes away and you get colder. Then when the skin gets weaker and older the person just dies. Thats why kids don't really need jackets, and old people are always cold.

Totally makes sense! I love this guy!

Library Finn

Several months ago a new Library opened in Eagle Idaho.

It is very clean and organized.

And it has the nicest, and most helpful librarian.

I love that the dress code is so casual. The staff even wears gorilla jammies. And you get the best smile at checkout.

Finn absolutely loves running his library. He spends a lot of time creating original works of art to display and sell there. He also sells clothing that he has outgrown, and toys that no longer interest him. Recently when his school library had a book fair, so did the Library Finn. We got to purchase books during the book fair. The prices were based on the size of the book. A fact I didn't know until I purchased a huge art book for $200. Luckily I have 5 million in my library account. One time Finn asked me what book I was going to check out next. I picked one and told him I would come back and get it when I finished the stack I was reading. A few minutes later he found me and told me that there was a long line outside the library and that he was afraid all of the people were there to get my book. I rushed to the library and he led me in. I was so disappointed to find that the book I had been planning to get next was missing from the shelves, probably checked out by one of the invisible patrons. I expressed my sadness, but then Finn took me to the front of the line and opened his special librarian cabinet to reveal that he had put the book aside for me. I was overjoyed. If only I had realized that the painful c-section I went through to get Finn would also mean I would someday have special privileges at the library, I may have endured it more happily.