Snow Day

Last week we got the kids all dressed up in their snow clothes so they could go out to play. It is quite the process to get snow pants, socks, boots, sweatshirts, coats, hats and gloves on all of the kids... It literally took about 45 minutes. That's why this was a picture-worthy occasion!

Aren't they cute?

I opted to stay inside and make hot chocolate for when they were done since I don't have any snow clothes that will fit my hugely pregnant belly. I took a few pictures through the window because it was so sweet to watch them all out having so much fun together. They really had a great time... Well, until Jonah refused to keep his gloves on anymore so we had to bring him inside. His little hands were so cold, but he was NOT happy that he had to come in. He cheered up after a nice nap, and the two big kids enjoyed their hot chocolate after they came inside awhile later.

All in all it was a successful snow day!

"Baby" Jonah

This little guy is such a momma's boy. He loves to sit and snuggle with me, tell me all about everything (in his own babble-y language), hug my neck/head with his chubby little hands, and generally just be close to me.

He's enjoyed the longest reign of any of my kids as the "baby," but with his little brother coming in a couple weeks he's about to be booted from that position.

Poor little guy. I feel a little sorry for him. His world is about to be rocked.

I just have to remember that he will survive, adjust, and even come to love his little brother very much. But until this new baby decides to come, I will enjoy every last cuddle from my "baby."

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

They sure love each other!

Decorating Sugar Cookies

Who doesn't love Christmas sugar cookies?!

Yummy!

Getting Excited for Baby

Ellie is getting really excited for her baby brother to come in January.

She was a great help when I was getting all of his clothes washed and put away - she folded all of the burp cloths, many of the onesies, and a few blankets. I am really excited to have her around this time  to help with all three of the boys. She really is becoming a great little helper, and it is making things a little easier for me. I'm really grateful for that.

When we had put everything away I taped the drawers shut... Hopefully that's enough to keep my troublemaker (but very cute!) boys out!

Puffy Coats

Nothing cuter than little boys in their puffy winter coats! I sure love these brothers!

3 Kids and Their Daddy

After cleaning the church building on Saturday:

I love this family of mine. I'm so grateful we get to add another member in 2 months! (And thank goodness Sam is strong!)

Hanging Out in the Dryer

This silly little boy has found a new favorite place to hang out. Luckily he doesn't know how to close it on himself!

"Mommy" Ellie

     My kids are in a stage where I just want to freeze time. Of course they fight often and disobey a lot, but they are just so cute and fun right now. Now that Jonah is old enough to join in most of their games, all three of them love to play together. And Ellie has recently taken on such a "mommy" role, especially with Jonah. If he is doing something he shouldn't, she will pick him up and bring him to me (which can be kind of funny since he is nearly as big as she is...). She is also good at comforting him when he gets hurt or sad. Sam told me that the other day when I was at the store Jonah had fallen down and started to cry. He looked around for Ellie, and made the "come here" signal to her that he does with his chubby little hand. She went over to him, sat down on the floor, he sat on her lap, and they hugged for awhile while Ellie repeated "It's ok, Jonah" over and over again until he felt better. 

     Also, this morning as Ellie was supposed to be cleaning her room, (not that it needed it or anything, right? Yikes!) Jonah brought a story over to her and she said "sit on my lap and I'll read it to you." I had to run to get the camera because it was a short book, and as you can see I barely made it in time! They were in the last page.

     So sweet. I love watching my kids interact with each other. And it is so fun to have a girl as the oldest because she takes such good care of her brothers. I can't wait to see how much she loves her new little brother when he is born!

Playing with Princesses

This girl is ALL about the princesses lately. A sweet neighbor girl gave Ellie all of the Pollys that she doesn't play with anymore, and they are definitely going to be just as loved by their second owner.

I love hearing her in her room making them each talk to and interact with each other. It is so fun to watch her imagination and personality continue to come out as she gets older. I sure love my girly little girl!

Unplanned Time "In"

On Tuesday as we got into the car to take Ellie to school, I realized the car was dead. (The kids love to play with the lights and I forgot to check that they were off) Luckily school is only about a half mile away, so I got out the stroller for Jonah and the two big kids walked. Usually I would have been really frustrated that Ellie was going to be late, that the kids were walking slow, that our errands would have to be postponed, etc., but I decided that it didn't really matter too much. I mean, it's preschool, and being late one day is not going to be a problem. Besides, it was a beautiful morning. So the kids and I walked Ellie to school, and had a great time. (It did take almost an hour round trip because Nathan has short little legs... But that's ok!) On the way back Nathan told me everything inside his cute little brain, and pointed to anything remotely interesting for a 2-year-old boy.

When we got home we decided to make cinnamon sugar popcorn.

And I let the boys lick all of the sugar out of the bowl. They LOVED that!

Then we did puzzles and just hung out until Sam brought Ellie home after school and jumped the car for us. I was surprised at how well the boys cooperated doing the puzzle together. Usually Ellie takes over and tells everyone what they need to do.

I really enjoyed this time with my boys, even if it wasn't what I originally had planned for the morning! I think we will be having more "time in" while Ellie is in school instead of always running errands!

Funny Meltdown Moment

The other night Sam gave Nathan a book to read before going to down for a nap. Nathan asked what the book was called, and when Sam said "It's A Book" Nathan just completely lost it. Sam tried over and over again to explain to him that the name of the book was "It's A Book," but he kept asking "What's it's naaaaameee?"

Poor little guy! But it will be funny for him to look back on once he can read, I'm sure!

Harvest Time!

Our garden froze the other night so we picked everything and are hoping it will all ripen up.

The kids were really proud of everything they helped to grow! 

Determined Little Jonah

It cracks me up sometimes how DETERMINED little kids can be to do the things they want to do. The other day at the park Jonah was quite convinced he could get up on this thing. I thought it was so cute that I had to preserve the memory before I helped him.

But I did end up helping him up - I'm not that mean!

Sam Ran a Marathon!

Sam ran the Mesa Falls Marathon last Saturday. (That just sounds like way too casual of a statement for how amazing of an accomplishment this was for him!)

Getting ready to start at 6:30 am. 

The kids and I were lucky enough to be able to drive almost the entire course and cheer him along at stops along the way. The first 10 miles or so were on a dirt roads that they wouldn't let cars on, so we stopped and waited until he came out. Then we stopped every couple of miles and cheered for him as he ran by. 

This was at 11 miles I think. ^

17 miles and about to go up the big hill!

We entertained ourselves with plenty of snacks. Ellie was quite proud of how she could balance the apple on her tongue like that.

After we cheered Sam on at 20 miles, I figured we had better get to the finish line because I wasn't sure how close we would be able to park, how long it would take all 4 of us to walk to the finish line, etc, and I didn't want to miss him coming across the finish line! It ended up that we got to park really close, so we had awhile to sit and wait. Jonah was so funny because he just kept clapping. And Nathan kept throwing dirt on me... So that was fun.

Ellie used her "binoculars" to watch for Daddy.

There he is! 4 hours and 31 minutes. He did it!

Yay! Trying to stretch out his legs while the kids ran around eating all of the food he got after finishing... Typical kids. And of course Ellie had to wear his medal.

I was so proud of him for finishing! He was really sore for a few days afterwards of course, but he hiked Table Rock on Saturday with his scouts... So I guess he is partly back to normal. We will see if he wants to run it again next year! 

Almost Time for Preschool

I can't believe this girl is old enough for preschool this year. A few days ago her teacher brought by some homework for her to do before she starts in a few weeks. She was SO excited to work on it that she had been begging me to help her with it ever since her teacher brought it by, but we hadn't had a good chunk of time to sit down and work on it until yesterday.

She was very serious about it, and had to concentrate.

Then she finally looked up, said "I'm ready for a picture now!" And smiled.

The finished products:

(Name tag to wear the first day)

She had to count her brother in my belly in the sibling count. And I find it funny that she said her favorite food is green beans... I mean she likes them, but I definitely thought she would say something else!

I love her drawings of the buffalo "poking someone in the bottom" in Yellowstone. I think the picture on the don't get close to the animals flyer stuck with her a little too well. And it was fun to watch her explain how to draw the huckleberries - they had to be purple and have "the little poky thing" sticking out of the top.

It is so fun for me to see her excitement for preschool, and I can't wait to see how she grows this year!

Jonah and His Whale

Books!

Jonah has started LOVING books recently. He will bring a book up to us and say "na?" (That's pretty much how he asks for anything...)

And he loves looking at books on his own, too. I really love the stage he's in. It's just so cute.

I just need to keep the library books out of his reach, though, because sometimes he's a little too rough when he's turning pages!

New Room-Cleaning Charts

It has been an absolute nightmare trying get the kids to clean their rooms lately. Since I want all of us to maintain our sanity throughout their childhood, I had to come up with a different way to go about it.

I read this article the other day and thought it could really help create more of a structure with how the kids clean their rooms: 

(Ignore my not-so-good artwork)

I made a very non-fancy chart for each of the kids' rooms with each step written down and a picture to help them remember (and hopefully be able to do it with minimal help one day).

I made a big deal of the charts and asked each kid where they wanted theirs on the wall in their room, then we taped them up and I explained the steps to them. After that we actually got to work. I have to say that it made a huge difference for Ellie! (I have yet to try it with Nathan) She knew what step we were on, which helped her know what to pick up next, rather than me endlessly pointing at objects and asking her to put them away. 

I'm really hoping that this will make a permanent difference in helping my kids learn to clean their rooms, and that it will give them a pattern to follow when cleaning any other room in the house.

Wish us luck! 

Fruits of Our Labors

Some of the veggies in our garden are ripe, and the kids love to go out and pick them! So far we have had snap peas, shell peas, lettuce, and strawberries (as long as the birds don't get them first), but I think the thing they are most excited for is the carrots! Every time we go outside I have to remind them that the carrots aren't quite ready to be picked since they run right to them.

It's amazing how the kids love to eat the vegetables that they have helped to grow in the garden so much more than the ones we buy from the store. 

Even this little guy loves to eat veggies from the garden! But he especially loves to play in the sandbox. Every time the back door opens he makes a beeline for it, and he could stay out there for hours at a time. That's probably why he is so tan!

I told Sam last night that I never want these summer days to end!

Snacking in Bed

Apparently while I was taking a nap (and thought the boys were napping too...) Nathan thought Jonah needed some raisins. I wish I remembered how full the jar was before...

I do NOT look forward to changing this little man's diapers tomorrow!

Brother Poop Shenanigans

Why does motherhood have to involve so much poop? During nap time Nathan decided to take off his poopy diaper and put it in Jonah's bed... And then Jonah thought it would be a good idea to eat it. (Ew!) Luckily he didn't get sick from it, but seriously. Gross.

(And I promise my kids usually have sheets on their beds...)

He was happy because he got a bath out of the whole ordeal. And like I always say, at least he is so dang cute!

Ag Days

Yesterday we went to "Ag Days" at the college, which is a free activity the agricultural department puts on to teach about farming and cows and stuff. It turned out to be so fun!

This little man just hung out in the stroller looking handsome.

I tried to get a picture of the kids by the tractor wheel, but none of them were going to have that...

Ellie and Nathan enjoyed looking at the cows and horses. 

And they thought sitting on the tractors was pretty cool!

Although Nathan was a little worried about how high up he was.

The kids both really liked milking the fake cow. I kept telling Ellie that she was milking a cow, and she kept saying "It's water though, right Mom?" 

After they "milked" for awhile, we went and did some other activities. When we came back around to this cow, Ellie said, "Mom, can I go do the pee again?" Ummm...

There were lots of treats: ice cream, pancakes, homemade French fries, bread and honey (bonus that Uncle Joe was giving out the bread!), and TONS of candy, but the kids' favorite treat by far was the otter pops. Even Jonah sucked his completely dry.

It must have been a successful day because all three of the kids fell asleep on the way home! We will definitely be going back next year!