William's Preschool Field Trip

William had a preschool field trip at the beginning of the school year.  He was thrilled.  I couldn't stay away--his class was going to a place that would also entertain James, and how could I miss William's first field trip?

It's a good thing the parents were welcomed, or I might have just followed the bus in secret.

Where did they go?  Our local apple orchard.  Now, this is not just an orchard.  The owners have built an entire enterprise here--there are games, food buildings, live animals, enormous in-ground bouncy pillows, and the list goes on.  

William and his class stopped for a photo before they went into the farm.  I am amazed they got all these four-year-olds to sit for the picture.  They all seemed pretty antsy to get in there.

After tasting some different kinds of apples, the kids were all invited to go on a hay ride.

A nice person in front of me volunteered to take our photo.  William is not smiling but he was having a lot of fun.  There were many fun things to look at, including a herbie volkswagen look-a-like.

We did a bunch of other activities, including those enormous bouncy pillows.  I've never seen anything like them, but they are much better than trampolines.  

Preschool was officially over, but the boys and I had to stay for some more fun.  

For instance, we had to do this:

It is exactly what it looks like--the most fun slide in the world.  The kids slide down on burlap sacks.  It is fast and fun and even safe.

It is, however, a long, steep walk back up to the top.  Even though I volunteered to help, James insisted on carrying his own sack by himself all the way up   You can see him in this picture about halfway up, the sack slung over his shoulder.

I think it is the ride back down that makes the climb all worth it.

We had some pretty pink cheeks when all was said and done.  I think we did this for almost an hour.

One of the other fun parts of this farm is the giant corn pit.  It is usually pretty crowded but it wasn't on this day.  We enjoyed the relative quiet and we didn't even mind getting corn kernels in our pants.

These boys are pretty good buddies.

Even Charlie was interested.

The boys' favorite part is the leaping.  There aren't too many places in their little worlds where they are allowed such unabashed jumping.

My favorite thing about Charlie, especially at this age, was how he'd always press his cheek against mine when I held him.  

But I love cuddles from my other boys as well.  We have so many kids in this house, I could cuddle all day if I wanted to.

Usually I do want to.  And usually my kids want me to as well.  But "getting things done" takes precedence (too?) often, for better or for worse.

I was glad to share this day with William.  He laughs all the time, is agreeable, and constantly a source of fun.  He sparkled with delight through the activities, especially when we finished our day with a fresh apple cider donut!

Obstacle Course--Keeping the Kids Busy

One beautiful evening in October, Joel was gone and the kids were getting punchy, so we set up an obstacle course in the backyard.  We played and ran on that thing for quite some time.  The kids got their energy out and as I recall, they all had a great night's sleep!  That sounds like a win-win to me.

William didn't seem too frustrated that he wasn't as fast or as agile as his older siblings, but he is almost ready to give them some pretty tough competition.

Everett really got into it, but that is no surprise--he is fully vested in any sort of competition.

Ashley loved it as well.  She just loves moving her body around.  

She especially loves moving like a cat.  Here she is traveling the course like a speeding feline.

She even convinced everyone to have a go at it, cat style, but I think that even though her brothers agreed, they all figured they would do it their own way anyway.

I think we'll do this again (at least, that is what I told myself on that day, but here we are almost three months later and we have yet to set up another obstacle course).  

But I really mean it this time--we will have to do this again!

Everett Turned 8

Everett had his eighth birthday in November.  He had been looking forward to this birthday for a long time.  

Joel and I made a deal with Everett back in July that if he read the entire Book of Mormon by the time he turned eight, we'd buy him his very own set of scriptures.  Everett was thrilled.  He and I read it together.  We didn't really dig into our reading until August.  We had to read multiple chapters a day in order to be on track to finish in time.  At one point, we had gone a few days without reading but a very timely facebook post from a friend of mine inspired me to keep at it with him.  We ended up reading 8-10 pages a day until two weeks before Everett's birthday, when we finished.

I was pleased that Everett really absorbed what we were reading.  He thought that the way the oldest son was valued back in scriptural times is definitely something we should continue with today in our family.  He loved the strategies of Captain Moroni and Teancum.  He was touched when we read about Jesus visiting the people.  He was disappointed when the Nephites, time after time, reverted back to wrongdoings despite knowing better.  

When we got to the final chapters, which talk about spiritual gifts, I asked Everett what he thought a spiritual gift he has was.  "I have the gift of knowledge," he said confidently.  Hah.  

And then, when we got to the famous "Moroni's promise" passage, he and I knelt down together while he said a sweet prayer to know if the Book of Mormon was true.  He didn't receive a huge, immediate answer, but Everett already knew the Book of Mormon was true.  He had already borne his testimony, to me and at church, of that fact.  Everett knew it was true because he felt peaceful and happy when he read the words.  

If I were to ask him again today, he'd say the same thing with equal conviction.  

Even though Everett really didn't need extra motivation to finish the Book of Mormon, Joel challenged him to a reading race two weeks before Everett finished.  The winner was to buy the loser a shake.  Everett was sure Joel didn't stand a chance because Joel was going from the beginning of the book.  But Joel read and read, and steadily caught up by the time Everett was finishing the last chapters.  Joel had a lot of fun going into Everett's room at night and saying, "I think I'd like a nice raspberry shake. . ."  And Everett had a lot of fun replying, "Well, just so you know, I'd like a nice raspberry coconut shake, and you have to buy it."

Everett, too competitive to ever consider losing a challenge, was thrilled to actually beat Joel.  He left Joel a special message to rub in his victory.

 

From Your Favorite son

I Beat ya with the Book of Mormon.  YOU OWE ME A SHAKE!  Wahahahaha

I think this challenge was one of Everett's favorite parts of his birthday this year.

Another favorite part was having a birthday party.  He invited some buddies from school and church.  We invited a few girls but only one showed up.

This was the first full-blown party I've thrown for one of my kids.  It was crazy.  All the activities I planned were over in about a tenth of the time I planned for, and I realized I was wrong when I thought that having an energetic eight year old gave me pretty realistic expectations.

The noise.  I can't even begin to describe the noise.  It was way beyond what I thought it would be.  I realized that Everett is not abnormally loud or active, after all.

It was a lego-themed party, so we decorated lego-themed shirts.  I painted little lego guys in advance and they got to personalize them.  I forgot to tell the parents that the shirts shouldn't go in the dryer, so I'm sure most of them were ruined after one washing.  

Finished shirts.

Cupcakes.  I dyed almond bark yellow and painstakingly filled lego guy shaped silicone molds.  No one liked the lego guys.  

I was smart enough to not make cupcakes from scratch, though.  This was good because barely any of the kids ate one.  

We also had a small family party.  Everett opened some fun presents and then got to dig into the cake he requested:  Vanilla cake with vanilla filling and raspberries and blackberries, frosted with vanilla frosting.

Everett makes our time together exciting.  He still loves to spend time with his family, especially one-on-one.  He has taken it upon himself to be William's private lego tutor.  He keeps Ashley company and he keeps James and Charlie safe.  

Everett loves any kind of game.  He anticipates winning and he hates losing but has generally learned to deal with it well.  He is very sensitive but loves with everything he's got.  Everett loves school and loves his classmates and really does his very best at everything (except with spelling and handwriting--I probably shouldn't complain).  One time Everett's friend referred to himself as a pencil monster at school, which Everett found very funny due to circumstances of the situation which I don't remember.  When Everett told me about this, I asked him what kind of monster he would be, and without missing a beat, he said, "I'm the kind monster."

Whether or not this is true 100% of the time, I am glad Everett wants it to be.  We are so blessed to have him in our family, and to have him lead out our little caravan of kids.

After School

I snapped this picture a couple of months ago.  

What you see is our after school, after dinner routine.  James is playing off-camera, Charlie was probably napping (but wouldn't be these days), and Joel is helping Everett with Math.  Everett doesn't actually need help with Math--he completes his homework in 30 seconds or less, despite my desire for him to take the time to write neatly.  Joel loves math and just can't keep himself away, even from second grade math.  I know people complain about common core, but the way Everett's teacher goes over the material and the curriculum she uses really works for him.  He loves doing math in his head, the way he is supposed to after having gone through the curriculum.

It works for Ashley too, but since she doesn't have much homework from her first grade class, she is working on an art project in this picture.  Our neighbor majored in art in college and has been giving Ashley lessons.  I thought Ashley would love the opportunity because she loves drawing and creating, but mostly she is frustrated by the lessons because she only wants to draw what she thinks of.  She doesn't want to take the time to work on someone else's ideas and techniques.  However, technique is good for her because it will allow her more freedom of expression in the long run, so for now, we are fighting the good fight.

William discovered drawing and coloring in a major way and is doing some of that here.  His preschool teachers say that he is a perfectionist.  He never likes to leave a project until it is completed in the way that he wants it to be.  This is really funny to Joel and me because up until the week before preschool started, William would have rather stared at a wall than had to color or cut and paste.  Suddenly a few days before preschool, William lit up with interest about all things coloring and has never stopped.  He especially loves to cut out his creations.

Fall Hike

People around here rave about a local state park, so we decided to take the kids in October so we could see some great fall colors up close.

Well, much to my chagrin (Fall is my favorite season), we were too late for the fall colors.  We did have a lot of fun, however.

I don't remember a whole lot from this day other than that all of Iowa seemed to be visiting this particular park at the same time we were.  We had to drive through a one-way lane where a little stream crossed over at several points.  The kids thought this was magically fun.  I know the rule about never driving over running water, but the road was made for that purpose and everyone else was doing it. . .with logic like that, how could we go wrong?

It was a gorgeous fall day.  I loved seeing the sunlight streaming through the trees so I had to take a few pictures.

Charlie spent the hike in the baby carrier.  I love the moby wrap but Charlie doesn't now that he is more mobile.  This one worked pretty well.

William enjoyed using Nature's potty.  Everett did as well.  James, as I recall, was surprised and disapproving.  

Crossing fallen logs is one of the best parts about hiking.  Joel and I searched for a while until we found this one.  I was surprised there weren't more.

It is more exciting if it crosses a ravine, but that would have given Joel a heart attack so I was glad we found this one.

The stream was probably the highlight of the trip.

We let the kids wade in it and get as wet as they wanted.  This was at the end of our hike and we were glad to be so relaxed about having wet clothes.  James was not interested in crossing by himself so Everett was kind enough to be his buddy.

This was definitely not the most impressive scenery we've seen in our parts of Iowa, but it was pretty nonetheless.

Joel and I were glad we went, and I think the kids were as well.

It was a wonderful family day and a great way to kick-off fall, even though no one really liked the healthy carrot-zucchini, low-sugar muffins I made to snack on.

Primary Program

We had our annual church Primary Program in October.  The kids prepared well for their lines and for the first time ever, all the kids memorized and delivered their lines well.  It is almost a little disappointing when none of the kids does anything crazy, like the year Everett was a sunbeam and kept grabbing handfuls of leftover bread from off the sacrament table.

We practiced together enough times that James picked up on some of the lines and would wander around, repeating them for all to hear.  "What does baptism symbolize?" He'd begin.  

I don't know whether he was disappointed or not that he couldn't be up there with the big kids.  Since James is now in primary, he can experience the primary program first-hand next fall.

Our neighbors, who graciously came to watch the kids, took a family picture of us.  It turned out pretty well.  Joel looks at this picture and immediately says, "How did we get all of these kids?"

I don't know (I do--don't worry about explaining it unless you really want to), but I am glad we have them.

They are all pretty fun.  We have a really neat mix of personalities in this family.  Each child is very different from the others.  We have an energetic extrovert, a private introvert, a child who is constantly preoccupied with upholding his sense of justice, and a child who is happy-go-lucky unless, on a rare occasion, he feels victimized.  It puts a little challenge into this parenting gig (gag?) Joel and I have going, but it is fun and I am glad we get to do it.  

Halloween!

It is too bad I am so far behind, because the charming details I'd like to remember about events like Halloween are lost to me.

BUT!  I still have pictures.  They are worth a thousand words a piece, right?

We have a snow leopard, three dinosaurs, and Darth Vader.  It was a great Halloween.  I only had to sort-of make two of the costumes, and there was no actual sewing involved.  The kids had a great time dressing up this year because our city hosts "beggar's night" when the kids get to go trick-or-treating the day before Halloween, and then we got to have a party at church on actual Halloween night.  

Everett caught wind that someone we knew was generously lending out their Darth Vader costume, and he jumped on the opportunity.  Even though he doesn't talk too much (meaning, as obsessively) about Star Wars these days, he had a lot of fun being Darth Vader.  It was his first year as a villain.

Everett had fun trick-or-treating with his best friend from down the street.  He really collected a lot of candy, much to his delight.

Ashley talked for months about wanting to be a snow leopard.  I tried not to cringe--how on earth was I going to make a costume like that?  Then, magically, Walmart started selling cheap fleece sets in the girls' department.  A little paint later, a glued-on fuzzy belly, and some eyeliner on her face, and Ashley was a real, live (as far as she was concerned) wild cat.  Wearing the costume didn't (and doesn't--she still puts it on frequently) increase her cat antics, but it sure heightens her enjoyment of them.

William wanted to be a parasauralophus (duckbill--I have to write the real name because William uses it).  I had no idea how I was going to do that, but we figured it out.  William loved how the costume turned out so that is all that mattered.  He still loves dinosaurs and occasionally wears his costume.

William was so excited to go trick-or-treating.  He stayed out for about an hour.  He also loved our church's Halloween party.  He loved it so much that when he waited, and waited, and waited to go to the bathroom and finally decided to make a run for it, he didn't quite get there in time.  One of our friends found him by the mens' room door.  "I peed in my costume," William said to him sadly.  

Joel and I didn't complain.  I was partially in charge of helping with the activity so that meant we were able to get home without helping more with the clean-up.

James was thrilled to wear William's costume from last year.  He is in a major dinosaur phase right now too, thanks to his older brother.  James was almost three years old by the time halloween rolled around, so he eagerly anticipated the night of free candy.  He practiced his "Trick or Treat!" with much enthusiasm.  

He walked around with Joel for an hour and even went to the neighborhood haunted house.  He talked at length about the skeletons in that haunted house.  "The skeletons were scary," he'd say, "But don't worry Mommy.  The skeletons aren't real."

James's favorite part of Halloween was amassing suckers.

At one point on Halloween night he had four suckers in his mouth at once.  We finally wrestled them from his grasp and sent him to bed with the other kids.  

When I thought I was in the clear, I began to dig into the candy stash (the kids all gave me their almond joys, but I was looking for a little variety).  James happened to creep down at the moment I had a few candies in my hand.  He was horrified.  "Mommy! Why are you eating our candy?!"

Explaining the "parent tax" works well for the other kids but not for James.  I tried to change the subject (to no avail) and just sent him back to bed.

Charlie was a delight in his (borrowed) dinosaur costume.  He did not go trick-or-treating, and he did not eat any candy, and he did not stay in his costume for more than a few minutes for pictures, but he sure looked cute while he was wearing it.  

I put Charlie to bed and enjoyed a quiet house while Joel took the kids trick-or-treating.  This was the first year I have stayed home by myself since being a Mom.  It was pretty nice to have a little solitude.

Usually I just let the kids gorge themselves for a day or two until they get bored with the candy and we can get rid of it all, but with four kids going out this year, we had way too much candy for shenanigans like that.  I hid it and our determined little James didn't ever rest until he discovered where it was.  

We started a new tradition this year of making milkshakes with candy from the halloween stash.  We did it a couple of nights after halloween, which was good timing because almost all the good candy was gone by then.  

I think it went over really well.