listening in church

This little man started nursery this month. It has been my first chance to listen in two and a half years. Okay so Robert took him every other week and it wasn't that bad but I am feeling true freedom now. At least until December when our baby girl is born. But hey I am going to live it up and soak in Relief Society while I can.

Potty Training Bribe

My mom found a hamster cage, food, shavings & accessories at a garage sale for a mere 2 dollars. Before we knew it Grandma was promising Pepper that if she would get potty trained she could have a hamster. At first I wasn't to keen on the idea, but it worked! We had a chart she had to fill up with stickers. She got a vegetable sticker each time she went wee wee & a star sticker whenever she went poop. And she filled her book up in no time. There was a few accidents the first couple of days but then Pepper went 3 full days without an accident!!! Hopefully she keeps it up now that we have the hamster.

P.S. Pepper is much more gentle with the hamster then I thought a 2 year old could be. But we have been taking it out during Tabors nap time. That little man likes to grab!

hooligans

The noise level tripled in our house last week. 5 kids ages 2 or younger staying in the same house is a lot of chaotic fun. When we lived in Utah Pepper could not talk, therefore did not verbally argue with Korver. Now they argue a lot. Randomly Pepper will point me out to Korver and say "that is my mom" and just for the sake of arguing he would reply that I was his mom as well. It was a 6 day on going argument. Nobody calls me mom unless they want Pepper to deal with... she is a bit possessive (although she thankfully does allow Tabor the luxury). Anyway I am glad they for the most part verbally fight instead of physically. Even though they argue they still LOVE to be around each other. They did lots of singing, jumping on the trampoline, swimming, parks and soccer while together. Tabor and Pryson are funny little boys. They will both play in the sandbox and do there own thing, occasionally hitting each other but no crying because they are both the tough younger sibling. Baby Laine is here as well, and whenever his pacifier comes out there is always 4 young volunteers to shove it back into his mouth for him. He is such a good baby and very tolerant of his older cousins.

today

I was having a heck of a time keeping my kids entertained this morning. We went from activity to activity doing each one for only a minute or two until someone started arguing or screaming about something. In the top pictures I am trying to distract them with rolling the pool balls and they were happy for a small portion of time and then you can see Pepper hugged Tabor a little to tight. Shortly following this picture Tabor was knocked over and our crying fest re-began. We were suppose to go to a lunch-in and I almost cancelled so I could put them to bed but I decided I would go for a half hour just to make an appearance. When I got there, their demeanor changed. The change of scenery totally changed their moods. Now maybe when they are cranky instead of throwing them in bed, I just need to take them to the park. But maybe when I get to the park I will have wished I had thrown them in bed. Children... I wish they were slightly more predictable.

Ward Camp Out

I felt like nearly every family in our ward who had primary/nursery age children were at the ward camp out (although that is not many compared to previous wards). Rachel and Emily were in town so they came with their 6 children adding to the fun. It was at the Ensign Ranch which has a slip in slide, rope swing into a lake and river, so there was plenty of water to keep us entertained. My kids actually sleep really well in a tent. Yay for camping!

manners

Although it may look like my kids are trying to make scary faces they are actually just saying cheese. The little girl sitting next to them is the daughter of my long lost friend Sarah. She currently is living in New York but may be moving to Washington state soon. We will see. Cecily seemed a little overwhelmed by how aggressive my children are. If they want the fruit in your bowl, they will take it. They also don't hesitate to take toys out of other children's hands. And for those children brave enough to hold onto their coveted belongings my kids will wrestle them to the ground until their battle is won. I swear my kids really are not that mean... this is just a matter of having two kids about the same size right? The need to fight for what they want. Okay, we are working on manners. Anyway... we had a good time with Sarah and Cecily while they were in town. Wish we could have more play dates.

Amber decided for her birthday she wanted sorbet instead of the traditional birthday cake. Here is her decorated sorbet. (Decorated with Mr. Potatohead accessories, not sure what inspired that...)

Waterton

It wouldn't feel like I had been to Waterton unless I climbed bears hump.

My moms 5 grandkids

Skipping Rocks on Sunday Afternoon

Like father, like son

grandma taking the kids on a walk

cheese!

these are pull-ups, not swim diapers. We didn't plan on them taking a swim.

my traditional 4th

Growing up we squeezed all of my favorite activities into our fourth of July schedule. Robert pushed the kids in the freedom run and then we all sat down for our annual pancake breakfast at the church. Next we went swimming at my Grandpa & Grandma Newtons pool. We came home had a big dinner in the backyard and played "snakes & ladders" (an outdoor game throwing golf balls on a string, not the board game) with my Grandma Paxman. Pepper and Tabor rode their toy cars down the driveway until we went inside to get ready for fireworks. We went out on our boat in lake Sammamish and watched a firework show. My favorite activity ever! When the fireworks started Pepper kept saying "I want to go home" but after a minute or two she got over the noise and got excited pointing out the different colored fireworks. Tabor on the other hand just stared. It has been fun as the years by to incorporate my kids into old family traditions and to make new ones.

skeptical

Today the weather was perfect. 82 degrees, which was 20+ degrees higher then it hit yesterday. I have a fear the weather is not going to last so I packed a lot of activities all into one day. We played outside from 8-12 this morning. Had naps and then went to my grandparents pool. My grandma bought Pepper a floating swimsuit and she is able to swim on her own. I was impressed because all of the floating devices I have bought seem to keep her back afloat while her head is under water. This held her upright. Grandma found it at big lots for $12. Tabor enjoyed chasing the beach ball around with the noodle. He loves to hit balls with sticks, raquets, paper towel rolls, toilet brushes, whatever he can find. Anyway we came home had dinner and then went to launch the boat into the lake. We took turns driving the boats then went to the doc and threw rocks. Pepper wanted to swim... she didn't seem to notice the water was really cold. Next time I will have to bring her swimsuit. If the weather is good maybe we will do it all again tomorrow!

Rainy Day Recess

I grew up in the Seattle area, I like the rain. Not this year. It is June 9 and other then a sunny day here and another couple of sunny days again 2 weeks later all we have seen is wet. In church on Sunday we had to name reasons we like the rain such as it brings lushness, easier to pull weeds, keeps allergens down, we never worry about a drought, kids get to stomp through puddles and it smells good. This kept me optimistic throughout the sabbath but when week days came and I couldn't send my kids in the backyard I found myself being a pessimist. Mornings have been especially wet. Sometimes mere overcast allows us to dry off the slide in the afternoon and spend an hour out there. But for the mornings we are still coloring, reading books and doing puzzles.