A Father's Day Game.

Today, in honor of Father's Day, we played "How well do you know Daddy?"  It was quite entertaining. 

Me: Question #1 (to Samuel)- What is Daddy's favorite thing to do on Wednesday Nights when Mommy is at mutual?

Sam: I don't know (all the kids are prompting him to give an answer) ummm...wrestle?

Me: Correct!  Good Job Sammy

Me: Question # 2 (to Jacob)- Who are Daddy's mom and dad?

Jacob: ummm...his dad is grandma Wells...I mean grandpa Wells and his mom is grandma Morrill!

Me: No, do you need a hint?

Jacob: Yes

Me: His dad has the same last name as us.

Jacob: Oh...grandpa Morrill

Meaghan: Our last name isn't Morrill

Jacob: I meant grandpa Estock.

Me: Yes!  Now, who is his mom? Grandma.....Brom....

Jacob:  Grandma Bromell!!  (Everyone laughs, much to Jacob's dismay, Jacob starts crying and Dan tells him it's okay.  Knowing Mom's and Dad's are hard.  We all assure him that Adam and Meaghan probably won't get their questions right either)

Me: Jacob, Dad's mom is Grandma Bromley.

Me: Question # 3 (to Adam)- If Dad could only eat one food for the rest of his life, what would he choose?

Adam: I need a hint.

Me: guess first

Adam: I don't know

Me: Dad used to work there right after we got married.

Adam: (after LOTS of prompting from Meaghan) Pizza!

(I thought this was right, because Dan and I had had this conversation before, but Dan announced that Pizza was only number two on his list)

The kids guessed food after food, but never guessed the right answer, Oatmeal!  Who'd have thought.  I wonder why Dan always goes to work early when I make oatmeal for breakfast....

Me: Question # 4 (to Meaghan)- If Daddy could go to any one place and do one thing for vacation where would he go and what would he do?

Meaghan: He would go to Hawaii and go surfing!

Me: No and No.

Meaghan: He would go to New York and see the Statue of Liberty!

Me: No.

Adam: He would go to Disneyland and ride rides!!!

Me: No....(I start hinting about it being a state that is really far north)

Kids: Alaska!

Me: Yes, and what would he do?

Kids: Ski? Play in the snow? (I finally whisper in Jacob's ear) Fish!!!

Round 2

Me: Question #1 (to Samuel): Name one of Daddy's brothers or sisters.

Samuel:  (in a very low and serious voice)  Samuel Estock.

Me: Correct!

Me: Question #2 (to Jacob): Where did Daddy go on his mission?

Jacob: Hint!!

Adam: It's one of the York's.  But not the Grand Old Duke of York!

Jacob: What are the other Yorks?

Me: Is it New York, North York, or South York?

Jacob: I think it's the New one.

Me: Yes!

Me: Question # 3 (to Adam): Where is one city that Dad lived in when he was going to school?

Adam:  The only place that I know that Dad told us about was when he was on his mission in New York City. (We have a mini lesson on all the cities Dan lived while growing up.)

Me: Question # 4 (to Meaghan): Where was Daddy born?

Meaghan:  I can only think of the hospital of Rhode Island.

Me: Nope.

Dan: Meaghan, we were born in the same place!  I've told you that lots of times.

Meaghan:  Spokane?

Me: Yes.

Adam: I don't get it...

I think it is apparent that we need to teach our kids more about us, but it was very entertaining.




                 
Each of the kids DO know that their Dad loves them, that he likes to be silly and joke, he likes to wrestle with them.  He will help them whenever they need it.  He scoots over in the middle of the night if they are scared.  He makes doing chores a fun game.  He can answer any question.  He reads them scriptures at night and he loves being their dad.

I love him being their Dad too.

Birthdays

It's birthday week!  Clara's birthday is April 1st and Jacob's birthday is April 6th.  Clara and Jacob both add so much energy and fun to our house.  We wouldn't be the same without them.  I can't believe that Clara is already one.  It seems like her first year went by faster than any of our other kids.  Her first year was actually one day longer than all the other kids because of leap year this year.  She is the best baby.  Clara is very loving with all her brothers and sister.  She gets very excited when she sees them and they all love her so much.   

Clara Eileen Estock loves to play.  She loves her baby doll.  She loves food and sleeping.  Clara is a screamer...she screams when she is excited, happy, sad, mad, bored, and when we are not paying enough attention to her.  Clara is fun to play hide-and-seek with.  She is not fun to play Memory, Candy Land, or Apples to Apples Disney with.  She likes to read books and pull books off the shelves at the library.

Clara loves to smile at people, but she only wants mom to hold her.  (Just ask anyone who's tried)

Clara loves to go for rides in the stroller.  She is lucky because we walk everywhere...the school, the store, the doctor, the church, the park, the fair,...everywhere.

Clara has 10 teeth.  She has her four front teeth on top and on bottom.  Two molars just poked through and two more are trying to poke through.

Clara has a great sense of humor.  She laughs and claps when the kids do.  She loves to hear a good joke and loves when we are all laughing and happy...which happens alot because she is just so much fun!

(Can't you tell just by looking at this picture)

JACOB WELLS ESTOCK

Jacob is five years old today.  I still remember very clearly when he was a little baby.

Jacob was born with a full head of dark brown hair.  He has two competing cowlicks in the back which makes his hair always want to be a mohawk.  Jacob was born right on his due date (April 6th) which made me happy because of the significance of that date.  Jacob is special.

Jacob is the most rambunctious of all the kids.  He laughs easily and sometimes can't stop.  At least once a week he tells me his tummy hurts from laughing so much.  There are times he asks to kids to leave the room because just being in the same room as them makes him giggle.  Here are a few of my favorite pictures of Jacob's first five years...

Jacob sitting on Adam's lap

Jacob often has this look on his face...anticipating what fun thing is coming next

He LOVED taking baths in the sink

Jacob was only 17 months when Samuel was born.  When I would sit down to nurse Samuel, Jacob would sit next to me and we'd read stories.  It was special bonding time for the three of us.  One time Jacob fell asleep during our storytime and I couldn't resist taking a picture.

His grin is slightly crooked (like mine), but it rarely leaves his face.

 Jacob is helpful.  Jacob is strong.  Jacob is tough.  Yesterday, Dan asked Jacob to take to garbage outside and put it in the big container and bring the big garbage back in from the curb.  I honestly didn't think he would be able to do it.  The one kitchen bag was heavy and that was the easiest part.  I watched from the front window as Jacob walked out in the pouring rain lugging the big bag at his side.  He went to the curb, stood on his tiptoes and lifted the lid all the way off the big garbage.  Then he struggled to put the kitchen bag in the big garbage, put the lid back on, and slowly roll the garbage back up to the house.  I was so proud of Jacob when he came back in.  He had accomplished a really hard task without help.  He was proud of himself too.  Jacob likes challenging himself.

 

I carry Clara in this sling alot.  Jacob wants to carry her too and is sure that he's strong enough.  I'm afraid it would not turn out well.  Jacob wanting to, shows how much he loves Clara and how much he loves being helpful.

Jacob has been nervous about this birthday because he knows it means kindergarten.  He loves being at home with mom, Sammy, and Clara.  He doesn't like going places without me.  He gets nervous if I don't stay with him at friend's houses, and it's a struggle on Sunday with Primary.  (One of his best friends is Betty Williams- a sister in our ward who came to watch our kids one time. Jacob attached himself to her and she sits with him in Primary each week.)  So...last night before Jacob went to bed, he came up to me, took a deep breath, and said, "Mom, I think I will be okay going to kindergarten tomorrow."  and I knew my little boy was growing up.  Then I explained that he wasn't going quite yet...but when he does, he will be ready.

I love being Mom.

Lessons in snow shoveling

We had the most wonderful weather in November and December.  A little snow, but not enough to stick to the roads; a few days of thick frost that made all the trees bright white; a few days of springlike warm weather; and most days very mild winter conditions.  In the beginning of January I was beginning to hope that we actually might make it through an entire winter without a major snowstorm.  Naturally, the day after that wonderful thought we woke up to white.  It snowed all day and night and the next day and the next night.  In just a few days we got a winter's worth of snow.  Dan normally loves to shovel snow and always keeps our driveway clear.  This winter however, he broke his foot and could not shovel.  Well, it's a good thing we had boys to help fill in while Dan could not.  It was so fun watching them shovel we had to get a video of it.  Hope you enjoy!

A Calm Mommy

     Friday night was game night in the Estock house.  We got a lot of really fun new games for Christmas so we played Wits and Wagers Family.  It is so funny to play games with the little kids.  Jacob doesn't really have a concept of numbers yet, so he had some great answers to the questions.  We had a lot of fun and Meaghan and I tied for the win.  After the game Adam wanted to look at some of the question cards, so he grabbed the whole stack out of the box and ended up dumping them out all over the living room floor.  It was an accident, but I got after him for taking the whole huge stack out of the box.  As soon as Samuel saw that I was upset at Adam, he ran and got my new head massager. (It looks like a whisk with the top cut off...I found it in my stocking on Christmas morning and I love it!)  The head massager only works when my hair is down and it wasn't down friday.  My hair was in a ponytail, but that didn't deter Sammy.  He came up behind me and started trying to cram the massager down on my head.  It really took some doing because the wires had to get under the hair that was in my ponytail.  Sammy knew that as soon as that head massager was firmly on my head I would be feeling great, so he kept pushing.  Dan was laughing hysterically watching Samuel trying to work the massager onto my head.  The other kids were watching pensively to see if Samuel would be victorious in his quest.  After Samuel finished he took a step back, clapped his hands in achievement, and said "Whew!"  He had single-handedly made me so happy because now I had my new massager attached to my head.

    

A Simple Meal???

Wednesday evenings are always a little hectic.  I have mutual on wednesdays so dinner has to be on time if I want to eat with the family (which I do).  I generally try to make a simple meal.  Last night it was beef stroganoff and salad.  If all you could see was me making dinner it would seem a very simple task.  Zoom out a little bit and you can see Clara standing up holding onto my legs crying wanting me to pick her up.  Zoom out a little more and you see Samuel sitting at the computer yelling for me to help him on PBSkids.  Zoom out a little more and there is Jacob crying and wanting me to hold him because he has a tummy ache.  Zoom out more and Adam is trying to read his homework story to me. (three times in a row!) (he is reading very loud because he is competing with Clara, Samuel, and Jacob)  Zoom out even more and there is my sweet helpful Meaghan asking me to get her the dishes down so she can set the table.  It's amazing how complicated making dinner becomes when you add 5 kids to the equation.  Yet, I wouldn't have it any other way.
~maria

Welcome to bloggerhood

Woohoo!  I have a blog.  I am new to this, but I really enjoy reading other peoples blogs and I have so many things in my head that I want to write this seems like a fun way to do it.  I titled my blog Snapshots of Motherhood because that is how my brain works.  I don't think in essays...just snapshots.

This morning I smashed my little finger in my bedroom door.  I haven't done that since I was twelve years old when one of my friends slammed her car door on my hand.  I forgot how much it hurts.  My little finger started throbbing and I cried out it pain.  Immediately my sometimes sweet* 3 year old Samuel came running to my aid with not one but two wet kisses for my finger.  His love really did make my finger feel better.  I love being a mom!

~maria


*It may seem harsh to say that Samuel is sometimes sweet, but for those who know Sammy know how true this is...I love him so much, but he is often in a rotten mood and he lets us know it.  I am grateful for his sometimes sweetness.