Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Life as of Late

Here is a completely random post of pictures that will give you a good idea of what life has been like lately!


We have been spending lots of time at the park, soaking up these end of summer/beginning of fall days. The weather has been beautiful.


Nathan loves to make Thomas laugh. He works hard to find what will spark a giggle from his little brother, then does it over and over and over again. With Ellie gone in the afternoons at school, Nathan has really taken over the "oldest" role.


On Mondays and Wednesdays we have 35 minutes between dropping Ellie off at school and picking up Nathan at preschool, and Jonah and Thomas take advantage of being the only two home by playing so sweetly together. I almost forget what it's like when my older kids bicker... Almost.


Of course we take lots of trips to the grocery store. I love this picture because it is a pretty accurate representation of what it's like to shop with all four kids.


Thomas likes to "help" the kids get their laundry ready to take to the laundry room.


As a family we went to the BYU-I orchard and picked a few apples.... I made tons of apple sauce and dehydrated even more. It took me a few days to get through this laundry basket, and Thomas loved to play with the apples and say, "ball."


I absolutely loved this picture I saw on instagram from ldsliving. The representation of our Heavenly Parents and all of their children is so beautiful.


And I laughed SO HARD at this picture. I'm not sure why... Maybe because it's pretty comparable to bed time at our house? That couldn't possibly be why....


Ellie loves to wear my shirts to bed recently. The other night I sent her in to pick out a shirt to wear, and she came out wearing this shirt and some heels. I thought it was funny how she had to puff her chest out like that to keep the V-neck from going nearly down to her belly button. She loves to wear my high heels all over the place lately.


Snot + Grass = Yuck! (but kinda cute)


Someone got a little bit sleepy! He was practicing his letters while I worked on homework... I guess the letter A is boring!


We have a neighbor that often brings over hand-me-downs, and Nathan was beyond ecstatic to get these ninja turtle pjs. He wears them pretty much every night. I have to sneak them out of his room to wash them.


I don't love this picture of myself, but hey, this is real life! Me in my granny night gown and Christmas socks in September, reading a book to my little guy who is only in a diaper. That book is "The Wheels on the Bus," and Thomas loves it. He dances along when I sing it to him by shaking his head back and forth and jumping up and down.


Before Jonah's haircut on Sunday we put it in a ponytail. It's the cutest little "man bun" that I have ever seen! Though it's much better now that it's short! (Ignore the hand towel hanging all weird on the oven...)


"Look Mom, take a picture of me crossing my fingers!"


Nathan's love language is definitely "Quality Time." He revels in the one-on-one time he gets with either Sam or me! Yesterday afternoon while the other two boys were sleeping and Ellie was at school he and I sat out on the back porch for awhile and he got his very own whole piece of gum! Pretty exciting stuff.


I don't know how to flip this picture, but this is Jonah trying to feed Sam some chicken over FaceTime on a stick he found. Delicious.


And a little video of my bathroom-cleaning helper singing "Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me." I missed the first part, but it still captured the cuteness of his little voice!

I love being a mom to these four cute kiddos!

Friday, September 16, 2016

Another Bookworm

My older three all love books, and I think Thomas is catching on too! 


He can pretty much always be found pulling the books off of the book shelf, and I don't usually stop him (unless he's ripping them or something, of course!).  I want him to always feel drawn to the books. I guess it's kind of like my mom says with her piano - as long as the kids aren't being rough with it, they are welcome to play it. I don't want to kill his curiosity by telling him "no" to touching the books. I want him to always be drawn to them. Besides, that's why we have a kid book shelf anyway!

(As I post this he's behind me emptying the bookshelf!)

Monday, September 12, 2016

Keeping it Real

Candid photo of me helping Nathan and Jonah clean their room. Sweet.

(Photography by Nathan, who was supposed to be cleaning. Also note that Jonah is nowhere to be seen.)

It's amazing how messy two little boys can get their room in one day. Good thing I love those little mess makers!

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Nathan's First Day of Preschool

Nathan started preschool yesterday after MUCH anticipation! Once Ellie started school it was hard for him to wait.

First Day of School Interview

I am 3 feet and 1/4 inches tall
I weigh 30.1 pounds
My favorite color is: blue
My best friend is: "Hammer" (his uncle, Hyrum)
My favorite book is: Almost Ready for Kindergarten
My favorite movie is: Little Einsteins and Blue's Clues
My favorite song is: The ABC Song
My favorite food is: "Candy Teddy Bears" (Gummy Bears)
When I grow up I want to be: a police man
My favorite thing about myself is: my eyes
The thing I am most excited to learn about in school this year is: about my name

Sam and I weren't sure if we wanted to start preschool with Nathan this year since he turns 4 in November, which means he still has 2 years until he starts kindergarten. But we decided to put him in this year because he was ready.

After getting all dressed for school I told Nathan that I was going to go grab my phone so we could take pictures, and I came around the corner to this:


He knew exactly where to stand, and he was already smiling. He's much quieter than Ellie, and sometimes he gets overpowered by her - so he was excited to have the attention all to himself!

Don't forget the silly pictures!




"Mom, take a picture of my backpack!"


I thought he would be shy and have a hard time heading into class, but he wasn't hesitant at all. He put his backpack on the hook, saw his friend from church playing with play-doh, sat right down next to him, and waved good bye to me. I think it was helpful that he knows his teacher and has been in the classroom several times to pick up Ellie. 

When preschool was over he saw me and ran right up to me, then jumped into my arms for a hug. That melted my heart!

He was so excited to show me what he made:


In his prayers last night he said, "Thank you I could go to school and we could paint with the dotty thing and play with play-doh." I guess you could say we are glad we put him in this year! He absolutely LOVED the first day, and I don't see the excitement wearing off any time soon.



 
Images by Freepik