They Had Birthdays

This post is extremely belated, but, yes, Amelie and Calder had birthdays last month. A wonderful photographer friend of mine took their pictures and we got our favorites printed up for the birthday party, but I’m still waiting for her to get me the CD of images so I can post them on here. We decided to do a little Western theme. I do have a couple from the shoot that I can post, but they aren’t my very favorites. I’ll post those as soon as I have them. In the meantime, here are a couple to enjoy.

My favorite 7 year-old.

My favorite 7 year-old.

How does it feel to be 7?

I don’t know.

What’s your favorite color?

All of them.

What’s you favorite thing to do?

Go swimming. Actually, go to Disney Land.

What’s your favorite thing to do when you’re on your own?

Watch movies.

What’s your favorite food?

Pizza.

What’s your favorite dessert?

Ice cream and doughnuts and cake. Well, actually I just like ice cream and doughnuts.

Who’s your favorite princess?

It is Mulan.

What’s your favorite book that we’ve read?

James and the Giant Peach, that we’re reading right now.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

An artist. Because I’m trying to get better at drawing.

And my favorite 5 year old.

And my favorite 5 year old.

What’s your favorite color?

Blue!

What’s your favorite food?

Uh…cake. Carrot cake.

Have you ever had carrot cake?

Yeah, it’s yummy.

What’s your favorite animal?

Cheetah. Because it’s fast and it’s cool.

What’s your favorite movie?

Hotel Transylvania.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Someone that makes stuff? Toys.

Where’s your favorite place to go?

Disney Land.

Haymond-9337

Happy Birthday, my loves! You are growing up way too fast.

The Anatomy of a Cry

When Liam gets sad, it’s pretty pathetic. He has fantastic pouty lips (like all of my children). Here’s how it usually goes down.

You know what? I think I might be feeling a little blue.

You know what? I think I might be feeling a little blue.

Yeah, definitely a little sad.

Yeah, definitely a little sad.

In fact, I think I feel that lip starting to push out now.

In fact, I think I feel that lip starting to push out now.

Here it comes...

Here it comes…

Wait for it...

Wait for it…

SAD!!!

SAD!!!

Oh, well hi, Mommy! You mean you were here the whole time?

Oh, well hi, Mommy! You mean you were here the whole time?

 

New House Week 7

This was the week of windows.

Windows.

Windows.

Windows.

Windows.

And more windows!

And more windows!

I love all of our windows. This week, they also got the electrical wiring, HVAC stuff, and plumbing in. We’ll probably have our 4-way walk through next week. This is when we go through the house with our building superintendent and make sure everything looks right before they start the next phase of work.

 

 

 

New House Week 6

Okay, are you guys ready for this?

Last week:

week 5.3

 

This week:

Isn't it amazing?

Ta da!

We were absolutely stunned to see the progress from last week to this week!

Lots of the framing done.

Lots of the framing done.

The back of the house.

The back of the house.

This week the house has really become a reality to me. I’m so excited!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-0-F0YDfZk

Click here if you can’t see the video above.

 

30 Things My Kids Should Know About Me – #12

I really want to finish this list, so here we go for prompt #12:

Describe a typical day in your current life.

This is a little tricky to answer because we do different things on different days of the week. So, I guess I’ll just pick a day to describe. How about Tuesdays? And I have to preface this by saying that most of my days don’t go exactly as planned.

Calder is our early riser and usually stumbles into our room around 6:15 in the morning. I tell him it’s too early and to go back to bed. Ten minutes later, he’s back, wondering if he can come out yet. This goes on, back and forth, until I give in around 6:45 and get up for the day. Easton wakes up a couple minutes later and usually asks for crackers and a show. And then Amelie, my sleepy head, emerges sometime around 7:30. I get the kids breakfast, feed the baby, and try to get a shower in before Bryce leaves (doesn’t always happen). I let the kids play on the iPad or watch PBS Kids for a bit while I go through email and basically get ready for the day ahead.

Around the time that Liam goes down for his morning nap, around 10 a.m., we do school. We’re homeschooling for the next little bit until we move. We start with a song and then do scriptures together. Then Calder and Easton go play while I do math and language arts with Amelie. If we’re doing history, Calder will often stay and listen to the day’s reading.

On Tuesdays, Amelie has art class in Murray. There’s a great historical farm just down the road from her class, so we’ve been going there for a picnic lunch before class. The kids love the ducks and farm animals and there’s lots of space to run around. Then we take Amelie to class and I usually bring the boys back to the farm to play some more. Pick Amelie up after an hour, admire her lovely work, and it’s back down to Pleasant Grove. Easton usually falls asleep in the car, since he’s missed his usual afternoon nap.

Most days, we do chore time around 4 p.m. The kids pick their 3 chores for their day and, if they’re feeling motivated, they get to do 2 extra “Golden Ticket” chores. They earn a little money for these. I’ll have to write a separate post on this topic. I do chores, too, and we try to get the house looking nice for when Daddy comes home from work. Around 6, we’ll have dinner. Some days we all eat together as a family, some days I feed the kids and then Bryce and I eat later. It just depends on what’s going on that day. After dinner, the kids get ready for bed and I read to them for a bit and then it’s into bed.

Once the kids are in bed, Calder usually comes out a couple times for various reasons. At some point, he decides to actually listen to us and stay in bed. This is when I either go to the rec center for an exercise class, watch a show with Bryce, or try to do some reading. Haven’t been getting enough reading in lately. Around 10:30, Bryce and I usually head to bed. During the night, I’ll probably wake up a handful of times–to feed Liam, or soothe Easton. And then it’s Calder stumbling in and the day starting all over again.

That’s just an idea of a typical day. But, as I said, each day varies a bit. Some days we’re right on track and get lots done. Other days it feels good to just play and watch movies. And there’s usually a smattering of fussiness, begging for fruit snacks, big hugs, and cuddling. It’s a busy life, that’s for sure!