3 Months Old

Adam turned 3 months old on Friday the 19th. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. It seems like he's always been in our family, but it also seems like he just got here. I guess that means he's suppose to be apart of our family. Either way we're happy to have him and the entire family loves him and is enjoying having him around.

Adam's staying awake more, he's starting to interact with us more, and he's showing a little personality. He likes to smile, mostly at Mommy which bothers everyone else. I love sitting and watching him smile from ear to ear. He's also begun making those cute little baby noises. I'll sit up with him after the kids have gone to bed and hold him and talk with him. It's one of my favorite times of the day. His new found joy in me has made nursing him more difficult, he stops a lot to smile and talk to me, but I love it and can't complain.

Adam does enjoy the other family members as well. He smiles at Kenny from time to time and he's even smiled and Sarah and Hannah. Dan loves his little brother very much and tries so hard to be a nice boy. He'll pull the binky out of Adam's mouth just so he can put it back in, the loves to pat him on the head, and he tries to sit by him (on him) when Adam's in his bouncer seat. I really believe all these things are ways Dan's trying to be helpful to Adam. When Adam cries, Dan always turn to look and often goes to try and help. He'll grunt at me to get my attention. I know he loves Adam, he just doesn't know how to be soft yet. For awhile I worried about how much Adam would like Daniel. Whenever Adam hears Dan coming he tightens up and tries to move a little. Honestly I don't blame him. Sometimes when Dan comes charging me I tense up and try to move a little. The other day, however, we caught them together and Adam gave Dan a great big smile. It was very cute and made me excited for when they get older. Hopefully they'll be the best of friends.

Anyway, that's Adam's world. He's not rolling over, talking, or walking yet, but he's still cute. He's a chunky baby boy who gets a lot of love from his brothers and sisters. He sleeps well at night, about 7-8 hours most nights, and has been a real joy to have around.

Scissors Are ONLY For Cutting Paper!

I've felt very fortunate over the years because my kids have been so good with art supplies. Sarah drew a little on the walls with a crayon once, but once was enough and she learn quickly not to do it again. Gracie has also taken a marker to the wall, but only once and hopefully never again. We've been lucky with scissors as well. Sarah never cut her hair or anyone else's, I think she was scared to. Ben did cut a little of his bangs last year, but nothing bad at all and after a talking to, he knows not to do it again. Well, my good streak ended on Tuesday when I was cleaning the basement and Hannah and Gracie got a hold of the scissors.

Some of their missing hair. Hannah's is on top and Gracie's is on bottom.

Now, I have to start by saying that it could have been worse, much worse. I acknowledge that I got off easy, but I still wasn't pleased about it. Both girls cut their own hair and Gracie cut both pant legs. What stinkers! Here are some before and after pictures, or just after pictures.

Gracie showing off some of her cut hair.

Gracie cut more hair than is in her bag, but this was in a bunch and easy to collect so it's all I kept. I still haven't found on her head where the hair came from. It's definitely hers and not Hannah's, but we can't find the missing spot on her head. She's always had such uneven hair that whatever she did must have just blended in with the rest of it. Lucky for her and lucky for us. She did however, take the scissors to her pant legs.

They were my favorite pants of hers. Hannah went through them and I was so excited to pass them on to Gracie. I actually still make her wear them around because they're great pants and because we don't have the money to replace them. Besides when she's standing you don't really notice them.

Here she is hugging her legs with her cut hair in her hand. You can see the skin from her legs poking through.

Hannah cut a little bit more hair and we could DEFINITELY tell where it came from. Here she is proudly displaying it.

And this is what she did. Not my favorite, but as I said, I acknowledge it could have been much worse.

I tried to even out the cut and give her a swoop bang kind of look. When I was getting ready to cut it she asked if I could cut all of her hair, so I did. Now she's back to short haired Hannah with some, kind of, swoop bangs and a very cute tongue.

And here's her smile for the camera look. Nice!

I was pretty proud of myself because I didn't loose my cool when I discovered what they had done. They both got in huge trouble, but I was calm and didn't just yell and scream at them like I wanted to. They were both sent to naps without lunch and were told they would not be painting when Ben and Sarah got home from school like they were going to. This was devastating and I think it affected them more then our talk about why we don't cut hair. I think they learned a less (I really hope) and I doubt they'll be doing it again.

Decoding Da Vinci with Cami

We got some visitors on Monday in the form of my good friend Cami and her kids. Cami and I were friends all growing up and we've managed to keep in touch. She was kind enough to come up for a visit and we had a wonderful time. She arrived, with her 3 kids, about an hour and a half before Ben and Sarah got out of school. After about an hour, Hannah and Gracie finally got Julia to go downstairs and play with them. Julia's a year older than Hannah and she loved playing with her new friend (even though they've met before, they were still new friends.) Sarah Kate was so excited when she walked through the door and saw Samantha sitting on the couch. Samantha is a year older than Sarah and the two became good friends last time they came up. Ben was happy to see Daren. Last time Cami came she left Daren home with his Dad because Daren is 12 and Ben is 6. Those ages don't exactly play together on a regular basis, but Daren was playing the PlayStation when Ben got home. If there's anything that will bring a 6 year old boy and a 12 year old boy together it's video games. The two of them got a long very well. It was nice to have all our kids playing so nice together so Cami and I could talk and catch up.

We talked for a few hours and then headed of the the Museum of Idaho. They are currently having an exhibit entitled 'Decoding Da Vinci.' They have many replica's of the things Da Vinci designed, built, and painted. I was a little nervous about how my many kids would do at the museum and I'm happy to report that overall they did quit well (hopefully Cami agrees.) They had a lot of hands on things for the kids to explore and try and work. It kept their attention and saved them from being bored. I love hands on things for kids. I think it's a wonderful way to let them learn and explore. Here are some pictures from the museum. Thanks again Cami for sharing them with me.

They had lots of things to turn and pull and break. OK, my girls only broke one thing, but it wasn't really their fault, it was just bad timing. The string broke on a pulley, but don't worry it was fixable.

I always new Da Vinci painted and built things, but I never realized how much he did. It was kind of cool.

The room of mirrors, a favorite of the girls. :)

This was a war machine. It was designed to cut people in half and the picture telling about it showed just that. It was pretty funny and I tend to think not real practical.

Here's Ben trying not to wack himself with a ball.

Way to go little wooden man. Kenny would be so proud.

A tank. I saw them try to recreate this on Discovery Channel.

Julia is standing in front of one of my favorite displays. When I walked in this room I thought it was a man being hung.

Taking a closer look we discovered it's some kind of scuba gear.

Sarah and Samantha were trying to recreate a bridge designed by Da Vinci.

They needed a little help from me. I wasn't much help though and we finally gave up and moved on to keep the little kids entertained.

A water screw. Getting water from the bottom to the top. Very cool and the girls had fun with it.

After we finished the Da Vinci stuff we headed to the kids area. I love this area and so do my kids. It's a great place to climb, discover, dress-up, and just have fun. Here's some things we did:

Ben making a moose track.

Dan taking a break in the log cabin. He was a very good boy at the museum and stayed in the stroller nicely the entire time we looked at the Da Vinci stuff. He was really happy to get out of the stroller and explore the kids area.

Doing puzzles.

Sleeping in a tepee.

More naps. This is how she normally takes naps at home too. :)

Being scary with animals.

Cami tends to bring out the goofy side of me. I love it and I think it's a side I need to show more often. After taking nemourous shot of me making a fool out of myself, I told her we needed one with both of us together. Her son Daren took this one and for some strange reason he thought we were weird.

Sarah and Samantha dressed up and wanted their picture taken in all their outfit. Here they're mountain men and are joined by Ben.

Indian's outside their tepee.

Staying warm by their pillow fire. Very creative.

Pioneer folk doing some chores.

Wow that looks like a hard water pump to use.

The fake horse was a huge hit with my kids.

Just before we left Sarah and Samantha had to clean up the dress ups. They really wanted Cami to take their picture.

Very nicely done girls. I wish Sarah cleaned that well and that willingly at home.

After the museum we went to Arctic Circle for a quick meal and playtime before we had to head off the pick up Kenny. It was a bad end to a wonderful day. Ben was uncharacteristically grumpy. He was throwing tantrums and feeling very picked on because he couldn't have exactly what he wanted. It's times like these I'm reminded of just how lucky I am to have the kids I have. This was so unlike Ben that I was unsure how to handle it. I'm just grateful it not an everyday occurrence, it was very embarrassing.

It was a fabulous day and I'm so grateful Cami made the long drive to see us. It was so fun to watch our kids play together and it was so nice to catch up. There's something about the comfortableness of long time friends that's so wonderful. I've needed this day for a long time. Thanks again Cami!

Halloween Fun

We did a few fun things this Halloween and were able to let the kids dress up a couple of different times. First was a Halloween party at the neighbors house. Only Sarah and Hannah were invited and poor Ben was devastated when the boy in their family, who he always plays with, didn't invite him. The girls had fun and Ben (and Kenny and I) eventually got over the sadness of not going.

Next was our ward Trunk or Treat that was held on Tuesday the 26th. Due to the fact that we currently go to church in a building that's the stake center for a different stake, we don't have a lot of say in the days that we do things. Because of this we had to have our Trunk or Treat on Tuesday night. This became our deadline for having all the costumes complete and we made it with about 45 minutes to spare. I didn't get any pictures of that night. It was dark and very cold, but we all had fun anyway.

Next was the Spooktacular at the school. This year, thanks to the Trunk or Treat, we actually had all the costumes ready before the morning of. That didn't stop us from being late though. It takes a long time to get 4 kids in costumes that and I forgot the Spooktacular tickets and had to drop Kenny and the girls off and then go back and get them. The kids had fun at the Spooktacular. They played games, got prizes, and roamed the halls with friends.

Sarah the cowgirl walking the halls during the costume parade.

Ben the bat having fun at the book walk.

Hannah the Jedi and Gracie the scarecrow playing a dice game.

Next came Trick or Treating. Because we live in a largely Mormon community, Halloween was celebrated on Saturday the 30th. We got the kids dressed up and sent them out in the neighborhood to get candy. At first we let the 4 oldest go alone and then when it got darker, Kenny joined them for the last of the neighbors. They had a lot of fun and enjoyed being together. Hannah and Gracie came home early, they were cold, and they had a great time answering the door and seeing all the other Trick or Treaters. It was a great Halloween complete with great costumes, great kids, and great times. I love Halloween.

Ben and Sarah taking the little girls around the neighborhood by themselves. They did such a great job, Sarah even carried Gracie's bag for her, and had a lot of fun. It's both cool and sad that they can do a little Trick or Treating on their own.

The kids headed to the next house, alone.

The kids Trick or Treating to their own house. This was fun for me. Normally I'm the one that goes out with them, but this year they wanted Daddy. I enjoyed staying in and having them come to the door.

It's Pumpkin Time

All 6 pumpkins lit up and ready for Trick or Treaters.

We actually carved our pumpkins before Halloween this year which is a real feet in this house lately. I've been really bad with holidays lately and not getting things done. I have a goal to keep getting things done and not putting them off. Hopefully not being pregnant all the time will help with that. Anyway, we carved pumpkins on Saturday the 30th. It worked out prefect and allowed us to have freshly carved pumpkins for the Trick or Treaters that night. Kenny and I opted out of pumpkins this year and I think we'll be opting out of pumpkins for the next many years. I personally think 6 pumpkins is enough to carve, what do you think? So instead of carving our own, I helped Adam with his pumpkin and Kenny helped Dan (OK we really designed and carved them ourselves, but we gave all the glory to the little boys.) So, here's our pumpkins from this year. Enjoy the many pictures.

Sarah

How is it that my little girl is getting so big?

Sarah really wanted the great big, huge pumpkin that was decorating our entryway.

Ben

Ben drew his pumpkin himself. Kenny modified it a little by making the fangs go down into the mouth instead of up. Other than that Ben drew it himself and he was very proud of it.

Of course, Ben had to have a silly picture.

Hannah

Hannah wanted her pumpkin to have a sweet face, but still have it's tongue sticking out.

And Hannah, being the child who enjoys hugging everyone and everything, had to hug her pumpkin.

Gracie

Gracie and Daddy designed her pumpkin complete with its big nose. I think it goes perfectly with her messy, moppy hair.

I just loved this picture. It's so Gracie.

Dan

Dan/Daddy's pumpkin. Kenny's so creative with pumpkins. I think I'll nickname him the pumpkin king.

Dan sure thought it was awfully cool.

Adam

Adam got stuck sharing a pumpkin with me. That's OK by him though. Maybe next year he'll care, but not this year.