A good laugh

This is mainly on here so I won't forget it.  While doing homework tonight Michael was telling me the games kids play at school.  He told me lots of the boys play guns at recess but he doesn't play that cause he knows I don't like it. (which made me really proud).  But then he said some kids play "justin beaver".  I laughed so hard, then asked him what kind of game that was.  He had no idea.  I asked him if he knew what a "justin beaver" was.  He still had no idea.  I'm glad he doesn't know.  I admit, I know who Justin Beiber is, but I'm not even sure what songs he sings.  I just told Michael he was a singer that sings songs on the radio and he said, "Oh, okay".  Seriously, kindergartners these days aren't like there were when I was in school.

Michael turns 6

Michael is now a 6 year old.  Seriously, now that I have kids I understand when people say, "enjoy them while they are young because it goes by in a flash".  It really does.  I can remember the day Michael was born like it just happened.....and it was a crazy day so it's funny to think back on it.  Michael loves to hear his birth story and so do the other kids because it is definitely the most interesting one of the four.

6 Things I Love About Michael

1. He is a thinker - Michael can give detailed lectures on just about any subject.  Even if it's something he doesn't really know that much about he thinks about it and what makes sense logically and then can talk about it for a long time, especially about animals.
2. Michael thrives on praise.  His face just lights up when he thinks he's done a really good job.
3. Michael is becoming much more brave.  He now loves kindergarten even though it was a rough start.
4. He is very athletic and can run like the wind
5. Michael has the most tender heart.  He is quick to apologize when he's done something wrong.
6. Michael has a sweet testimony of Jesus that he likes to share.

We love you Michael !!

Michael makes funny faces for the camera.  He is also really into dinosaurs so he got a dino cake.

We Love Fall

I feel like we didn't get very much of a fall this year.  We had a few weeks of that wonderful, crisp, cool weather with beautiful leaves and then it got cold and snowed.  It snowed early enough that not all the trees lost there leaves, which is always a mess.  But we had a few good raking days where the kids piled up the leaves and jumped in them repeatedly.  Something about playing in leaves never gets tiring.  Also, Halloween costumes were pretty simple this year: cinderella, baseball player, cowboy, frog (same frog that Christopher and Michael were when they were little).

Jacob is such a ham lately.  I'm afraid we have a really silly boy on our hands.

Happy Birthday Jacob

I can't keep up this time of year.  We have 3 birthdays within one month.  We didn't plan that very well when we had these kids.   But our little baby Jacob is now 2 years old.  Not a baby anymore.  We had a pretty low key birthday but I think he had a good time.  Who wouldn't be happy with presents, cake and pretty much getting to do whatever you want all day long. 
Jacob is such a sweet little guy.  He's still not talking very much but what he does have to say, he says loudly.  He probably has to do that to get a word in around here.  He calls everyone Mommy, in a very loud voice, even if you are daddy or Christopher or Michael or Anne.  I've come to realize that Mommy is his word for me, but it is also his word for, "Hey you, pay attention to me!"  He is a picky eater, he runs everywhere, he loves to be outside and take baths.  His laugh is hilarious and he screams, "oggie" any time he sees a dog.  He loves to snuggle and give hugs.  He gets away with pretty much everything (typical youngest child....wink), but we love him tons.  Happy Birthday Jacob-bug.



Bottom left - Jacob totally got the "blow out your candles" thing. 
We didn't have to help at all.  He just blew a big puff and they were out.



Catch up and Annie's birthday

Here's some current pictures of my cuties and all the fun we've been having. 

Annie turned 4.  It was a fun day.  Zoo, presents, cake, Relief Society Broadcast (I let her go with me).   I love my only little girl,  and by little I mean it.  She still fits in some of her 2T clothes.  She'll love this petite thing when she gets older.  She is so imaginative and fun to play with.  She is pretty fiesty and somehow she gets away with not doing her chores half the time cause her brothers will do them for her, but we love her tons and are so glad she is in our family.



Annie's birthday fun



Day to day fun

Big 7 year old Christopher.  He's growing so fast.

Annie tells me this is her Tangled smile.  She kind of likes that movie.

I asked Jacob to give me his Flynn Ryder smile and this is what I got.



The boys like playing baseball.



Annie' Purse

Annie is very rarely seen without a purse of some sort.  What does she carry in there you ask?  Well, it might not be what you think.  Today I made her dump it out so I could take a picture for memories sake.  This is what she had in there.

• an apple name tag from library class
• a stack of drawings including her drawn map through the woods
• her cinderella necklace and bracelet
• toy horse
• little person
• tractor
• 8 squinkies (or squishies as she calls them)
• bee eraser
• bug clip
• 55 cents
• 2 eraser tops, broken off from pencils
• two scholastic book orders
• christopher's first grade picture
• 4 princess pencils
• temple cards on ring
• a pass along card

Annie likes to give people things. The other day she gave the librarian a penny. (Since she is used to seeing us give money to poor people she likes to do the same, even though she is often mistaken about who is needy. She usually thinks someone is needy if they are old). She says she has the pass along card in case she wants to give it to someone. Isn't that cute. :)

Mt. Evans

Colorado is home to America's highest paved road.  I guess back in the late 1800's the road to the top of Pike's Peak (near Colorado Springs) was completed.  The mayor of Denver didn't want to be outdone and  so the road to the top of Mt. Evans was begun.  It was completed in 1927.  You can drive (or bike if you are really in shape) to the parking area at 14,130 feet.  Then you walk the last 130 feet to the summit at 14.264.  This was an amazing drive.  The road was very narrow at spots with sheer drop offs on one side and no guard rail.  Jeff was quite nervous as he isn't crazy about heights. :)  But the views were amazing.  Once you get past a certain elevation you notice all the trees are gone.  It's just rocks, dirt and grasses.  We actually noticed the elevation in being a little light headed.  I don't know how people climb Everest and live.  There is also an observatory at the top that has the highest telescope in the world.  Michael was determined to see the animals that live up there (mountain goats and big horn sheep mainly).  We didn't see anything on the drive up but we hit the jackpot on the way down.  We saw two different groups of mountain goats, one of which we got out of the car and walked right up to.  We also saw a group of big horn sheep but they appeared to all be females and babies....no males with huge horns.  (We did see one of those on the side of the road on one of our Utah road trips though)   Mt. Evans was an amazing experience.  One more mountain added to our list of ascents.  Definitely a fun Saturday activity.



View of Summit Lake from the drive up.





At the top.  I think the sun was too bright for Michael.




You can see the observatory behind us to the right.





There was a building at the top that used to be a tourist cabin with food and such. 
There was a propane explosion in the late 70's that ruined it, but some of it is still there.





The baby goats were so cute.




Throwing rocks in the lake.





Notice the purse.  You'll never find Annie without a
purse of some sort......even in the bathroom.



New School Year

We're already into our second week of school here.  Seems like it started really early, but then they get out by May 18th so that seems early too.  Christopher is in 2nd grade and his teacher reminds him a lot of his teacher last year so he is really enjoying himself.  He's already made friends and is having a blast playing kickball at recess.  Michael started kindergarten and he's had some rough days but he is starting to like it, making friends and really likes his teacher.  His only complaint is that they haven't taught him everything about dinosaurs yet.  :)  I really like their school...Mark Twain Elementary.  You can enroll in any school you want here so I did my research and picked this school.  I hope we can buy a house closer to the school.  Here are some first day pictures.


Christopher's first day of 2nd grade- August 15, 2011.  He was just a little excited.





Showing Jacob all the stuff in his backpack



Going into class

  

After school ice-cream at McDonald's



Michael's First Day - August 17, 2011



Working in the classroom

All the kids.  I promise Jacob isn't getting choked here.



This is how Jacob feels about the big boys leaving him at home with only Annie to boss him around. 
Just kidding, they get along good.  Sorry about the creepy red-eye.

 

Colorado Parks

Colorado is full of fun things to do...mostly outdoor things which is what we like. I admit we didn't take advantage of it as we should have this summer but let's face it...it's been a crazy summer.

Colorado has great parks. They are all over the place, have walking paths, big green grassy fields and nice playground equipment. We found this really fun splash park. It has fountains and also a man-made stream where the kids can plan. It also had the coolest climbing structure ever.

Where have we been...on the road, that's where.

Okay, so I'm sure no one even reads my blog anymore, but I'll put this out there anyway.  We are now living in Colorado and loving it.  We still do miss New Jersey though.   It was familiar and exciting and we had friends there and it was so green and beautiful (when you got out of Hudson county that is).  But when we drove into Colorado there was this sign that said "Welcome to Colorful Colorado".  At the time we thought, "What!"  Eastern Colorado is actually very flat and a little boring.  But as we got closer to the mountains and the longer we live here we are starting to realize what they mean by that.  The weather here is awesome and there is all kinds of scenery here.  Driving into the mountains is beautiful and the skies change colors all throughout the day.  They actually have monsoon season here where is rains in the afternoons in July mostly.  The thunder and lightning is amazing and the rain gives you nice cool evenings.  We can't wait for fall and winter here too.  We've been back and forth to Utah several times already and the drive is not bad....okay, it's still driving 8-9 hours with 4 kids which is never pleasant, but oh well. :) 

So  much has happened but I'm giving you the Reader's Digest version of only 8 pictures for now. :)



The drive cross country.  Yes, they wore their pajamas all day one day because we left so early in the morning.




Stopping at Adam-ondi-Ahman.  The best kept secret of church sites.  It was amazingly beautiful and special.  Everyone should go there.




I know this picture is terribly blurry but how do you get a non blurry picture of kids on the trampoline with their cousins.  There may or may not have been a cousin with a bloody nose at the end of this crazy tramp session. ;)




Part of the wild storms I mentioned earlier.  It hailed HARD for like 5 minutes....in JULY




Having fun with grandma up Provo Canyon.  Annie was having fun...I promise. :)




Aunt Tatia and Annie love each other lots.




Coloradians (I'm not sure if that is the correct term or not) are serious about their
outdoor sports, especially biking.  They have these great trails all over the place. 
Most neighborhoods are broken up by open space with dirt trails or paved trails. 
This one is right by our place and the kids had fun exploring, even though it was like 98 degrees.




See ya later!





Here we go...

So, if you haven't heard...we're moving to Colorado at the end of May.  Good bye East coast.  We have loved you...... will actually miss you more than we thought......I think I will actually cry when we leave.......I might cry right now just thinking about all the people and things I will miss.  But for many reasons we are heading back West.......and it really is exciting and we are happy about it.  So, the dejunking starts.  It is way too expensive to move and it would cost more to move most of our junk than it is worth.  So I spend my days sorting things between the garbage bag and the donation bag.  What fun......not!

So, if anyone ever comes through the Denver area please look us up and come visit !  I probably won't have time to post for a while........not that I had been lately anyway. :)   See you on the other side of the country!

Oh, and here is Christopher's cute spring school picture.  I think it's funny they do fall and spring pictures here.  But this one they don't have to wear their uniform so I think it's cuter. :)

Boo Hoo Stitches

So, any guesses on which child became the first to have stitches in our family.  One of the rambunctious, big boys you say?  No, then maybe our dare devil, petite little Annie?  Nope, wrong again.  It was our sweet little Jacob.  Poor little guy...he stood up and slipped in the tub and got a good cut right over his eye.  Luckily Jeff got home from work about 15 minutes after it happened and a sweet friend came over and put our other kids to bed and stayed with them while we went to the ER.  After a long wait, Jacob got some stitches (I think it was 6).  It was no fun to watch since they had to wrap him up in the papoose to keep him still.  They gave him enough pain killer I'm sure he didn't really feel it, but he was sure mad about being wrapped up.  But once the doctor was done and I could pick him up he was fine as could be.  It wasn't fun to watch him be so upset though.  Now it just has to heal up and then we get the stitches out in a week.  I imagine that will be about as much fun as the intial experience. :)

It's never too early

I learned to knit and crochet from my mom, who learned from my grandma and my great-grandma who was born in England......and so it goes back through the generations.  My mom would let me work with her even when I was little.  I don't think I was actually able to make anything till I was about 8 years old, but I thought it's never too early to start teaching Annie these homemaking skills.  She had so much fun and she's even holding her hook really well.  I discovered years ago that I knit and crochet in the English style (which make sense since my great-grandmother was English).  When I saw people working in the American style I couldn't figure out how they were able to make anything holding their needles/hooks upside down.  Anyway, I will be passing on the English style on to Annie. (She's making slippers here, just like I was making) :)

 Oh, and I forgot to post a picture of Michael after he lost his first tooth.  Between both of the boys we lost teeth 3 nights in a row and I think the tooth fairy was tired of coming to our house.