Meg's Birthday

Meg turned six!  I can hardly believe it, and almost typed "five".  She was so excited for her birthday, and doesn't mind at all that it comes right after Christmas.  This year she wanted a watch and a globe, and was happy to receive them both.  She also wanted cupcakes because she doesn't like cake.  Meg adds such a flavor to our family.  She has the best giggles and loves to take care of her younger brothers.  She loves to dress up in her dance clothes and dance around the house.  She can be a spitfire when she wants to be, but also loves to have a good hug and cuddle.  She is loving having friends and being in kindergarten.  Every day she comes home to tell us about some new friend that she has made.  She also loves to draw and has enjoyed a new book that shows you how to draw all sorts of animals.  We love our six year old Meg!!

Ellie's Birthday Morning

Ellie had a great birthday year with all her grandparents in town for her baptism.  Her siblings were very excited to give her gifts.  They gave her big hugs and loved her lots.  We love our eight year old!  She is a busy reader, loves to make up stories, draw artwork, and do science experiments.  She is good at saving money, she likes to plan things for our entire family (FHE, activities, meals, anything that could possibly be planned!) and is always ready to share and make her brothers and sister happy.  She has been reading her scriptures, writing in her journal, and doing extra work at school for fun.  She has good friends at school this year that she plays fairies with at recess.  She tells me all about the weather and about how air works when she gets home.  She gets to go to ELP this year which means lots of extra projects that get her thinking about all sorts of things that I can barely keep up with.  She does math problems with Justin in the car, and plans on being an author one day.  She also has had her temper calm down this year, and is much happier to deal patiently with crazy siblings... unless she is reading a book, and then she doesn't hear them at all.  She continues to take piano and is passing me up pretty quickly... I won't be able to help her soon!  She likes rhyming, riddles, and jokes, and has inherited her Grandpa Wood/Grandpa Mark/Daddy's humor for saying strange word plays.  She is a treasure and we love her soooooo much!

Grant turns 4!!!

Grant has been waiting FOREVER to have his birthday.  He was so excited when it finally came, especially since he was actually feeling better after being sick all week.  The girls made him special presents. (Ellie sewed hers, quite the involved project.  She made him a blanket with a baseball on front wearing a pirate hat and patch.)  Grant is a fun four-year-old.  He loves his sisters and does his best to please them (even almost picking birthday presents they liked instead of presents he really wanted).  He likes to ride bikes, play swords, wrestle with Spencer, play Wii with Daddy, tease his sisters, and bust some crazy dance moves.  He's been begging me to learn to read (poor, neglected 3rd child) and so we will start working on that soon.  He loves to have a cuddle and give hugs and kisses, and makes our home a happy place.

Photos

I took these pictures of Ellie and Grant after I had taken Spencer's 1 year photos to have some nice updated photos of them.  (Meg had a ring around her mouth at the time, she sucks on her lips, and in the Winter that results in the red mouth ring, so she got to skip.)  Ellie is growing up!  I look at her and cannot believe it.  She will get baptized this year, and is so excited.  I am always extracting promises from her that she will love me forever and that when she is a teenager she will come home every night at 10:00 to play Uno with me instead of insisting that she stay out late with her friends.  She agrees... for now....  

Grant currently spends his time throwing toys at the wall.  When I tell him this in not okay, he tells me they are flying.  And since he actually believes they are flying, it is hard to convince him that he really needs to stop.  I have always planned on our landlords keeping our deposit (especially after Meg removed the wallpaper in the bathroom) but the way things are going, I may have to actually pay them to let us leave.

One Year Old Photos

I have pictures of all my children at 1 year old on my wall.  Ellie and Meg have matching dresses at a professional studio.  Grant is on the lawn at the park wearing clothes that clash with his socks... but he is cute and so I picked it anyway.  Today I worked on getting Spencer's photos.  He pretty much rebelled and wanted to eat the camera, but I gave him a bottle to drink and then let him play with the fingernail clippers while I took the pictures.  Fingernail clippers are really cool.  So, now you have to vote on which one I should print out for our wall.....

#1 - Actually this is just a good photo of the fingernail clippers.

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

"Look at this dumb place my mom made me sit..."

Honorable Mention:  "Please let me eat the camera, it looks tasty!"

School Halloween Parade

We went to school for Ellie's Halloween Parade.  I love when I can visit her in her classroom.  She won the bingo game that they were playing, which she was very excited about - even if her neighbor Nate had to point it out to her.  I guess that's what Captain America is for: saving the world one bingo game at a time.

These kids were pretty good waiting.  Until Spencer wasn't.  Until he wandered around the class trying to eat the plugs, the CD players, the books, and everyone's dropped goldfish.  In the spirit of survival, I let him eat goldfish off the 1st grade classroom floor.  I am such a good mother, it is amazing.  Still, while he did momentarily have the plug for the CD player in his mouth - I did take that away.  Gold star.  I know.

Spencer

Spencer is growing up.  Obviously.  Now he crawls, pulls up to things, has temper tantrums, and chooses outlets over toys when it comes to having a good time.  I had to take the picture below because it reminded me of one we have of Ellie.  I've included the original of her also.

Justin doesn't get a chance to play his guitar much, but the kids sure love it when he does play.  Below is our blond-haired, brown-eyed cutie.  I think his hair is getting darker again.  Maybe someday he'll pick an actual hair color.

This is what Spencer does when he's mad:

Yes, he bangs his head on the ground.  I suppose he'll someday realize that does him more harm than it does me.  He also rolls around in anger and wacks himself against the wall.  He has zero listening ability and I am thinking he may turn out to be trickier than Meg.  She at least listens, and then decides to ignore.  Spencer skips to step two.

Two Children

How did this brown-haired baby morph into this blond-haired cutie???

Soccer

Remember this:

This is Grant pretending to be nice when really he was just screaming because I would not let him out of his stroller during Ellie's soccer - because he just ran on the field.  (Also, notice how Spencer already has more hair than Grant at 1, and he's on Round 2 of the hair-growing business.)

Or how about last year, when I had to keep pulling him off the field during Meg's game.

Well, finally it was Grant's turn!!!!

He totally picked the ball up with his hands, just like Ellie.  I always forget to give the soccer rules speech to my sport delayed children.  But he was very excited that it was finally his turn to be on the field.  The girls were a little irritated I didn't sign them up this year.  Oh the tragedy of belonging to a family of siblings instead of a family of one!

Lately...

I completely forgot I had these awesome photos that Emily took of E and her Dad on Lake Cascade:

Obviously she is braver than me.  Yay for E!

This is the first time Justin had been water-skiing since a work trip when we were at Sports and Dance Camps (9 years ago!).  Apparently he was excited to get to meet me outside of the office, but very surprised to find out that I did not attend.  Ha!  Me and water-skiing??? Not so much.  

*****

This weekend GQ decided he wanted to try the whole "potty" thing.  So, off we went to purchase underwear.  Now, I have always said I think boy clothes are pretty lame-o compared to girl clothes, but let me tell you... boy underwear is much cuter than girl underwear.  We stocked up on Buzz Lightyear and Thomas the Train underwear and then waited, waited, waited for Monday. 

Then we began.

Then we stopped.

Says GQ:  "Mom, I want to be a baby like S.  I want my diaper back. I do not like going potty."

I considered forcing the issue since he is 3, but then I considered what forcing the issue would mean: yup, me cleaning up potties all over the house.  No, thank you! 

So, I folded up the cute underwear and put it away.  I am sure he will be potty-trained by the time he's 12.  Never fear!

*****

Since getting married, I have never lived anywhere longer than two years.  So, pretty much the idea that we are staying here is driving me insane.  I like so much to go through everything we own and try to THROW IT ALL AWAY.

This - by the way - drives Justin insane.

I told him that when we "really" move - after school - I am renting a dumpster to put outside our home so I can get rid of everything I want.

He said that is renting a Pod so he can put all of his stuff in it before I start.

(Like I wouldn't find the keys to the Pod.)

So, anyway, this summer I decided I would go through every room in my house and get rid of anything I possibly could.  Since swimming lessons are over, I began that this week.  I have currently de-garbaged the kitchen and the living room.  It is so nice.

Justin is concerned, and is hiding all his headphones. (Don't even ask how many that is.  And don't EVEN ask about the new pair he is saving up for.)

*****

I want a yard.

*****

Baby S has decided that whenever I lay him down and walk away I am doing a great injustice to the world.  Whenever he hollers, the image that comes to mind is from the A&E Pride and Prejudice when Darcy's lovely Aunt says something like:

"Is this to be borne? Are the shades of Pemberly to be thus polluted?????"

While the content is obviously different, the indignation is about the same.