Santa's Got a Brand New Bag 2017

"Another year has gone by...yyy" Can't you just hear Celine's voice singing that. It's true Christmas '17 is well behind but it was a good one. We saw and met Santa Claus, made Gingerbread houses- which sad to say this but the boys no longer refer to them as "ginger batman houses." Which is a bummer. We also had a great Christmas morning. 

Let's highlight reel here: Santa Claus. We were at Target just getting ideas for presents mostly nothing particular, and I noticed there was a booth set up and it looked as if Santa may be there and I had the thought, "I didn't know Santa Claus was ever at Target." Lo and behold we turned the corner and Old St. Nick was walking down the aisle we were on, he came over to us happily-you may even say merrily- without any coaxing or asking from me he just wanted to stop and say "hi"to my boys, and took pictures with them. He was a the real deal. Both the boys I had with me didn't really care...but it was soo nice! And, Rowan was happy to oblige with a sweet Rowan smile. 

Jonah completely underwhelmed by Santa

The Christmas tree this year, please note in every pictures where the ornaments are. Yeah, that's right, about the mid line and above only and as the season went on they seemed to go higher and higher. Jonah, on a rampage with those things. This is the conversation I heard from Kaj and Josh as they decoration. This is verbatim. 

Kaj: mine says "made in China

Josh: (excitedly) Let me see. Wow China does a really good job! 😂 Yes, they do. 

science kit in progress.

Christmas morning was one of Legos this year- always- and science kits. The older boys seemed pleased- the younger two- didn't care at all about their presents. Ha! But, everyone was happy, and that's what counts the most.

odi's Christmas sweater

Sweetest, cutest 4 boys in Christmas jams 💙💙💙💙

Happy Halloween 2017

We had a very fun Halloween this year. We had our friends from the ward- the Black
Family ("why do have to bring color into this?" Sam's running joke)  move in this summer just a couple house down, and it has been a real treat having them so close. I love having friends for the boys right there, there are many nights a week we have impromptu play dates, and it has been nice. Naturally we planned our Halloween to be a group effort with both our families going together.

.

Pine Nursery Park

It wasn't long ago that I was reintroduced to a park, Pine Nursery. We had gone years ago and I am not sure why it did not have the same umph at the time, but I will say our recent visits have been amazing. The park itself is little and it is perfect for little legs, cue Jonah. Not only that, it is beautiful! This winter has been unseasonal. It has been so warm--which last winter 😳. Exactly, so I am fine with this. I can drive without anxiety and that's a nice feature.  We have had such warm days and our family does not hesitate to go out and enjoy. My boys live for this kind of thing. Their happy place is outside. Honestly... mine is too. It feels easy, and care free. It feels like I have pressed the pause button. I feel like I can look around and see my family so clearly and love us easily. I take intentional deep breaths and try to take mental pictures of those moments. 

This particular time we took Odi to his first dog park experience which was...interesting. It was clear he was the new guy, he tucked his tail between his legs and sheepishly ran away from all dogs. I was intimidated for him at times when he was surrounded by many a dog all sniffing in all the wrong places or the right ones? If you are a dog? Oh dogs. But, he needed to start somewhere.  

The Annual Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

We figured out the best pumpkin patch to go to a few years ago, and now there is not question. The pumpkin patch is one of those things that...I love. I love it very much, maybe more than my kids. I can feel myself getting annoying to Sam when the pumpkin patch opens up and I am insistent on deciding on the best weekend to go all under the guise of the boys need to going. Yes, they do ask to go, but I make doubly sure, is happens. It was a beautiful and warm day and it was not crowded, and if memory serves they did not charge us to go -to get our pumpkins, of course, but there was hardly anyone there that they weren't bothering to take tickets for everything. It was an especially fun year because Jonah was able to enjoy it in a more hands on sense. It is fun having these ages of kids where at least all are mobile. 

We enjoyed the different play areas, the big slide, the mazes and bails of hay, and picking out our pumpkins. We had a very comical scene unfold as we were walking back to pick out the pumpkins we saw this farm dog hell bent on chasing around this chicken, and like most chickens, relied on our family as a buffer from the dog. The dog persisted in stalking the chicken so much that Jonah met the chicken face to face in the end, and he was not happy about it. 

New York Girls Hit Vegas Again

I am realizing that it has been so long since I have caught up on my blog that I will just have to face the music that until I catch my blogs up they may not contain the detail or finesse (if I can even call it that) that other blogs have. So, let me now go back to October (doodle doodle do doodle doodle do doodle do -see Wayne's World) The 

New York girls- minus Terri who was very missed- were able to get away again! It seemed like such a miracle the first time we went and so this time it felt like an...actuality. That we can actually make this happen on a regular basis, and that is amazing too. 

Like, I said the fine details may be missing but as always we had fun. We saw a mind magic show, (😂what are those called again?) we visited the strip for a night and had some yummy food, went to the red rock canyon, did some swimming...now that I think about it- the running joke the whole trip was that we basically copy and pasted almost everything we did the before! Ha! Starting with going to the same exact location of food place as our first stop only with a different name where we got belligerently double flipped off by an employee. We did not flipped off this time, I mean not everything can be the exact same. Key differences. 

The heart of the matter is this: this specific group of women is very unique. There is a very genuine nature in the way that we care for one an other, the comfort level that we have no matter the time that has passed, nor the distance that we all live. We are nice. And we are funny. And we love each other.  There really is an ease when we are together. We can cry together just as as easy as we can laugh together. We are in very close quarters with each other for a few days after years of not being together and it like we have spent our lives being roomies. 

I love the New York girls. I feel like they uplift me, focus on my strengths, and accept my weaknesses. I hope they each know that I fully embrace them. I marvel at each of their strengths. I admit, sometimes I feel like I am just holding my breath waiting for them to realize that I don't belong. I am the "one of these things are not like the other" song. I just feel plain lucky to be a part of them because they are each amazing.

 We dream of a cult a sac. 

School Updates

We are officially rolling in school. We have our schedules down, and everyone is getting used to what their week looks like. We had parent teacher conferences a little bit ago and I was so proud of both my elementary boys. I was able to have a very long discussion with Josh's teacher. We talked about the class, and all the amazing qualities that Josh is showing. He is also above average in every area. (which I was not surprised-he is a smart kid) But, we also talked about Rowan. We talked about what it could like for him when he starts in Kindergarten and the challenges and also all the positive things that come from have a special child in a family. 

Kaj..I wasn't sure what to expect. He was not liking 2nd grade very much at the beginning. (that has changed not) and I really didn't know how well he was doing in school. She showed me his scores with reading, accuracy, and comprehension and he was above in those areas and he has also been doing great in math. She mentioned that his attention seems iffy at times. (no surprise there) but she said he is not disrupting and still doing really well in all his work so it is not really an issue. All in all very good reports. I have to admit even though Josh is great at school, he follows the rules, he does his work, and he is making a lot of friends he is having more of an attitude at home. I recall with Kai Kindergarten was a hard year of transition at home as well. I am not worried about it, but it is different. Josh was always my helper, my listener, my cooperative kid and it has been hit or miss. I suppose it goes to show how much I can rely on Josh at home cause it is definitely making an impact at home. But, he is a kid, and he is working hard all day long and I think he comes home and just wants to not be on. 

Rowan continues to do really well in preschool. His teachers tell me he is interacting with them more. He loves letters right now- and he knows all of his letters also. He gets really excited when he sees letters and he likes trying to write them. There is a lot in that little mind of his we just have to be patient so one day he can better tell us. But, in terms of language there is a lot more expressive language and I find he is understanding more complex requests now. 

Josh receiving his award 

school pictures 2017

Jonah is awesome. I really have felt so happy to have Jonah in our lives lately. He has such a personality and he loves being with all of his brothers. He wants to be a big kid, and I am realizing how quick he picks up on things. He likes to ask: "What's this?" and point to all the pictures on the walls. Jonah and Rowan seem to like a lot of the same things, and I love seeing them play together. 

Kindergarten school picture