When it snows…

…this is how your day goes. 

First this:

Then this:

Repeat. 

Snapshot of Elsie right now

- She requests we listen to music all of the time. She’ll say “ic on!” which means “music on!” She likes to dance too. The tunes begin and she says “Dance Dad” or “Dance Mom” and we’ll dance together. It’s the best. 

- When she hears a loud sound from outside she’ll say that it’s an airplane. Then she’ll want to go look up at the sky for it. 

- She loves to wear hats. “Hat on!” is a favorite phrase of hers. 

- She has names for certain books we read at night, some of which include: 

Mr Brown Can Moo = Moo

Good Night Moon = Moon

The Very Hungry Caterpillar = Pop!

Noah’s Ark = Boat

Spot Says Goodnight = Boo!

Chika Chika Boom Boom = Chika or ABC

Grover Goes to School = Bus

- She loves to wear a doggy backpack. She loves to click the buckles on it and will say “Buckle!”

- When we says it’s time for a bathtub she smiles and says, “bubbles!”

- She loves to sit and draw little circles on paper with markers or crayon. She’ll concentrate and do that for a long time. We’ve had to limit the marker use, however, because she had a stage where she loved drawing in the wall. I think, I hope, we’re out of that stage. 

- She loves to make fists and clench them hard as we say “strong girl!” She’ll then point to each of us and say “Ollie (or Ansel or Ian or Mom or Dad) do it!” and she will watch us with delight as we each take turns being strong!

She is such a fun age, such a fun girl. 

“I want to be an actor”

Last night, while Ian and Elsie played in the bath tub, Ian declared to me that he wants to be an actor when he grows up. The kid is doing accents better than me and he’s five. This could happen. 

These two

These cute littles are good buddies. Elsie is in the phase where she copies everything you do and everything you say. As such, she’s doing a lot of what Ian does because they play together lots. Yesterday, Ian decided to become hulk and ripped his shirt off. Elsie wanted to do the same. Once her shirt was off, she headed to the toilet and acted like she was going, just like the boys do. There’s going to be some disappointment down the road in that arena. Actually, she probably won’t even care. With all of the new info she’s taking in, her vocabulary and ability to do many things is growing exponentially. 

She’s even closing her eyes during prayers and using a spoon. Ironically, these are two things she actually does better than Ian. Haha! 

Halloween

Halloween was full of lots of goodness this year: pumpkin patch, witches at Gardner village, witches brew, donut party, soup dinner, classroom parties, and Halloween night! It’s a great time of year!

Elsie at Gardner Village, she loved the witches. 

Pumpkin carving contest remnants. 

Oliver’s friend sent this to us as he and his friends started trick-or-treating. His costume was Mr. A Propper man. He was a professional bystander. Ha!

Ansel was Dog Man (from the books) and we put together the costume. Fun!

Jess dressed up as Ian as requested by Ian. He specifically wanted Jess to have a whale shirt like he does (but not pictured).

Elsie was a lamb (and I had a matching hat, both of which were made by my sister) and Ian was Kylo Ren. As a side note, Ian has decided what he’s going to be for the next five years of Halloween. Every time he had a free moment of thinking, he’d declare, “I know what I’m going to be next year for Halloween…a pumpkin.” Grimm reaper, skeleton, and Boba Fett were also on the list. 

And no Halloween is complete unless you’ve danced with, hugged, and kissed your new alien friend. 

Onto November!

Rattling thoughts

I’ve had something I recently read repeating over and over in my head and that is:

In family relationships LOVE is really spelled TIME. 

Reading books, playing Hot Wheels, listening to the latest discovery in Minecraft, talking about why the Office is so dang funny. It’s these times that my kids will remember. I know this because one of my most vivid memories with my mom is sitting in the chairs on the porch talking about anything ranging from friends to rainy days to what’s difficult in life and why people do or act the way they do. I get teary just thinking about the TIME I spent with my mom. Sure, she was busy sometimes and had lots of stuff to do, but she always made time (and I am a talker, so it was a lot of time, ha!). 

Sometimes I’m busy, tired, exhausted, or really not interested in what obsidian you may have mined in Minecraft today, but I have to push all those feelings aside and give the time, the effort, a listening ear. True, there have been times where I say “can we talk tomorrow?” or “okay, it’s time to go to bed!” but I feel the best when I’ve given the time. 

And while we’re at thoughts rattling on in my head, here’s another statement I read and enjoyed:

Until it’s my turn, I will keep clapping for others. 

What does this mean exactly? Can we cheer for others when they are trying something scary, hard, or even easy? Can we cheer when they are succeeding even if we are jealous or feeling inadequate in comparison? I sure hope I’m doing a good job at supporting people when I’m not in a big role. Still, that isn’t to say I haven’t felt good when the cheering is for me. I like that place. But cheering for others is a good place too. It’s a place where you have to get comfortable with not being the best. You have to let go of your insecurities and be patient. You have to not feel sorry for yourself. You have to really care about others.

I’m still thinking about how I can be better at both of these things: time and support. I’m thinking about how I can teach my kids to do these things too. I think I may need to spend some time in some chairs on the porch. 

When summer turns into fall

A beautiful sunny day today, but if you step outside you definitely need a jacket. This is truly when summer changes to fall and I start baking (which is loads of fun especially after I thoroughly cleaned the oven): wheat bread, pizza, chocolate chip cookies, cornbread, spaghetti squash bread, cinnamon pull aparts. What is it about turning on the oven, warming up the kitchen, and smelling the aroma? It’s just so cozy. 

Lately, we’ve been up to a few things, like eating green peppers like apples. 

And, learning to oil paint (hard but neat and inspiring!).

Which lead to seeing the everyday filled with beauty. These clouds!

We’ve been waiting to pick up Oliver and Ansel from piano, which means we have to entertain ourselves by opening the sun roof. 

Or listen to good music when we pick up Ian from preschool. 

We’ve been trying new things, including insisting on getting up high and swinging on the monkey bar swing. 

We’ve gone on walks. Ansel was kind enough to push Elsie up the hill after she’d truly enjoyed going down the slope around our block. 

And we’ve lifted heavy things, including two younger siblings at the same time!

We’ve used the treadmill on those rainy days. Ian asked to do a full .25 miles one morning. Good job!

And we’ve visited fun places like Park City. Elsie was the only one up for a walk (the boys were with cousins and couldn’t be bothered), but we had a great time looking at all of the old, renovated, and new homes in the neighborhood. 

Sometimes we buy stuff with our own money, ask everyday when the package will come, and then, once it gets here, build it with only very little of mom’s help. 

We go hiking in a make-shift Sunday outfit and see the beautiful leaves. 

And waterfall!

It’s pretty awesome to enjoy autumn and eat all of the juicy apples we can get our hands on. 

Adding to her vocabulary

Elsie is in a stage where she adds new words to her vocabulary at lightning speed. The other day she pointed to a “boat” as she said the very word while on a walk around the neighborhood. She picked up  “fish” at the museum, saw the “sharp” scissors today, loved the “bubbles” in the bathtub, and says “milk” and “cheese” on the regular. It’s fascinating because I know she is picking up stuff without my even realizing it and she’s very proud when I recognize that she’s learned something new. Her mirror neurons are firing on all cylinders and it’s amazing. 

What’s more, she is doing stretches with me, dancing like us, folding her arms, and blinking like it shows in a book of hers. She sings songs and knows our walking route when she rides her plasma car, again, at lightning speed. 

She’s growing and learning and I’m just in awe at the process of it all. 

Adding a new state to the kids’ list

We recently visited Jackson Hole. The kids were excited to add Wyoming to their “places I’ve visited” list.  We had a great time.

Did you know that there are four of these arches made of antlers? I’ve seen photos of this very arch a number of times, but didn’t realize there are four of them at the park in the center of town. We visited this spot for the Farmers Market one morning. The town gave off a Park City vibe.

We visited Grand Teton National Park and couldn’t believe that views! The kids kayaked. 

We hung out at Jordan Lake as the kiddos played in the sand, rocks, and water. 

We swam in the warm and toasty pool at the lodge. Elsie loved it. 

Jess and the two older boys went whitewater rafting. They had a blast!

We took a ride on the gondola at Teton Village. It was really fun. The kiddos liked this more than I expected. Elsie was in awe the whole time. 

We took a family photo up top. If I don’t get around to taking another family photo, blog readers, you will see this on our Christmas card. Ha!

It was a wonderful trip surrounded by such beauty. We joked that we really didn’t see any wildlife, so I guess that will have to be saved for next time 😉. 

Birthday boy and school!

This kid just had a birthday! He asked for vanilla cupcakes with strawberry frosting. 

He wanted a walking dinosaur for his day and was pretty excited about it. The roaring sound on the dino stopped working 2 minutes after installing the batteries, but it still walks, so I call it a win. 

Ian is a ball of energy and such a fun kid. He’s always ready for a good time and says the best stuff. For example, we were recently on a road trip when the older boys wanted to watch Napoleon Dynamite. About 20 minutes into the movie he asked me sincerely, “When are they going to find the dynamite?” Needless to say, he was not entertained and asked 20 times during the movie, “Are we there yet?” His smile lights up the room. He’s a mighty kid, no doubt about it. 

Now he’s off to preschool. He couldn’t wait!

Ansel was excited for school to begin too! He mentioned that he feels like when he wears stripes, he looks a lot older.  I just think he’s looking older all of the time. He’s loosing teeth at an alarming rate and holding tight to the bag he leaves for the tooth fairy to see if he can catch her in the act and determine if she is real. Ha! 3rd grade here we come!

Oliver was looking forward to school but not thrilled about homework. I’m pretty sure that’s every 7th grader’s thought. He’s a 12 year-old with 15 year-old growth stats, taller than me with no signs of slowing. He always asking me to make more chat books because he loves looking at photos, especially on Sundays. 

Now they’re off and fall is on its way. Elsie’s home and isn’t sure what to do with all the quiet during the day. She’s growing lots too (why are all of my kids doing that so much lately?), and learning a gaggle of words. Dada and Mama are prominent, especially since “mama” seems to be used not only as my name, but to make requests for things she wants. 

Where’s my phone?

As we were prepping to leave church last Sunday, I couldn’t find my phone. After a few minutes of “it has to be somewhere,” I found my third son with it giggling with delight. My camera roll was evidence of the fun.