Emma my grown little girl

Emma Lou is my #5 child and my second girl in the bunch. She is such a sweet little mama. She loves babies and basically anyone that is younger than her. She loves to help with babies and has been such a big help to me. He loves to make Matthew happy and give him anything he wants. Even if it means going against something I have said he can have or do. She can't wait for Kindergarten this next school year. She is true blue girl through and through. She loves shopping, makeup, getting her nails done, jewelry and anything that you would think that girls love. She is another one of my eats like a bird kid. I wonder at times how long one kid can go without eating. She loves eating healthy. She often asks is this healthy mom? Yes. Yessssss is her reply. Like she just accomplished something totally awesome. (I wish I had that mentality) She certainly loves junk food too though. She has such confidence in herself it is a bit scary sometimes. She said once mom, why were all the kids looking at me? I don't know honey. It must be because I am so cute she says. We had her kindergarten shots done and the doc asked her all kids of things and we spent 30 minutes just with Emma talking her ear off about various things. She has a sense of ease with adults but can play well with children her own age as well.
I have come accustomed to having her help me so much more since the baby came I don't know how I will manage without her when she goes to school. She is a little sweetie. She thinks she is my grown Emma when she really is my little girl Emma.

Mrs. Sarah

Sarah is #4 in the line of kids that came to our family and the first girl. What can I say about Sarah. She is the one child that has taught me so much patience. I am sure that every mother has to learn that as a parent and I have learned it having her. She is a fun loving little girl. She is very photogenic and I love taking pictures of her. When she is determined to do something she does it with all of her will. When she wants to do the kitchen the right way then let me tell you that kitchen shines better than when any other kid has the kitchen to clean. She is such a good little babysitter we discovered. She is more attentive to any baby around than my 11 year old is. When my sister was here and she had her twins she proved to be very good at keeping even two happy at the same time. She values her free agency and I know that no one can make her do anything she doesn't want to do. As long as we can get her on the right path then she will be fabulous. She loves to dance and sing and is really good at both of those. I really want to get her into some kind of dance class- she would love it!! She is not usually affectionate but when she is it is so nice. We really connect most when we have one on one dates with her. She actually tends to be more quiet one on one but is fun to be around. She is my little girl and I love her.

My sensitive Nathan

Nathan is my very complex child. He has sooo many personalities. He is sweet and loving and then he is loud and ferocious. He absolutely loves doing puzzles. He gets so discouraged when Matthew won't leave his puzzles along. Poor kid. There really isn't a good place for him to disappear into his puzzles like he wants to. He loves learning new things. He is in Connections at school which gives him more of an opportunity to learn at his pace and learn things they wouldn't normally get a chance to on a regular basis. He recently did a presentation of birds and he came home telling us all about the birds he had learned about. He is a very sensitive child. He is in the middle so we find him crying about things that hurt him to his very core and we don't know how to help him feel better. He is loud and can't be still sometimes. He doesn't understand sometimes the term "personal space" but in reality is asking for just a hug but doesn't want to admit it. He loves to be in the kitchen with me and is set to learn how to make something new. He says he is thinking about becoming a chef. I encourage him but deep down hope he finds a better money making career. (Unless he can become the next Emeril then thats okay) He is a good kid and I never worry about him getting into trouble at school and that in itself takes a load of my back. He loves to draw and make new things. He has changed so much it seems physically. And thats our sweet sensitive Nathan

Aaron bodaron

Aaron is my oldest and thus usually the most responsible. He is very loving and kind. He takes care of the young ones around him even though its not the cool thing to do. He is changing so much right now its just crazy. We have seen him try to "pull away" to show his independence. He is at that age that Primary is no longer cool and he is itching to get to YOung Mens. He loves Lemon yogurt and always has for as long as I can remember. He eats like a bird. He loves history and anything having to do with mythology. He loves having a scout leader who really puts his all into scouts. He went on a 22 mile bike ride a couple of weekends ago and loved it. He has several more bike rides to pass off a requirement and can't wait for those. I don't know if he loves scouts because its scouts or if it means that he is growing up and will be in Young Men's soon. He has in the past been very affectionate but as of late is acting like that is too young for him. It makes me sad but I see the wisdom in slowly pulling away from mom and dad because we couldn't handle all at once. We surely would die!!! I am so concerned for all of my children. We are constantly having to talk about things that kids at school tell them. I wonder if we are doing any good sometimes. It seems as though we are constantly bombarded no matter which way we turn. He truly is a good kid though and deep in my heart I feel he will be all right.

My quiet Daniel

My Daniel seems to be nonexistent these days. He already is so quiet and does his own thing that with the new baby I see him even less. Daniel is a stick to himself kinda guy. You never know where he is or what he is doing unless you really piss him off then he yells and its loud. That is pretty rare. That is so different from the kid that was in 1st grade. He was always so angry and hurt his siblings so much. It really is amazing what time and maturity can do to a kid. He loves to read and at times I have to take the book away to get chores done. I have countless times "caught" him in the closet eyes glued to his new book. He is a big lovable teddy bear. He was holding Eliza one day and looked pretty uncomfortable and she was crying and Sarah said Daniel pick her up and pat her back or sing to her. I said yeah thats a good idea Daniel. He said she is just so little mom I am afraid I am going to hurt her. He loves to be tickled. All our kids love tickle time but he enjoys it the most. He is like his Uncle Tim you have to be careful when you tickle because he could really hurt you when he is not even trying. He is a good kid. My goal is to take more pictures of the older kids because they seem to not get it as much because they are all off doing their own thing and aren't so much in your face all the time.

Cousins!!

Cousins= FUN!!!!! Anytime we get together with cousins, weather there are more boys(Porritt's) or weather there are more girls(Bond's) We always have fun. We usually know just the right amount of time that we can spend together before the newness of cousins wears off and kids start acting like siblings and start to fight. I just wish we could have both Porritt's and Bond's together. Best of both worlds right?!!!!!

Fun at the beach

I thought that this top picture was going to be good but I realized I cut Emma's head off. Its still cute anyway. The kids always have fun at the beach. The only bad part is that you always end up with sand in your car. But in the end I think that its worth it to experience the beach.