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.

Everett's Injuries

Everett had a couple of interesting injuries this fall.  First, he had a freak accident when he ran up the stairs with a blanket on his head, tripped, and busted his face on a door frame.

I can't imagine how it would have looked without the blanket cushioning the blow.  Of course, then Everett would have actually been able to see where he was stepping and the whole thing probably wouldn't have happened.

But I had to get some pictures.

The swelling looked much worse in person.  His bashed his forehead and lips in a big way.

Everett had a good story to tell at school, and I never received a concerned phone call ("I ran into a door" is the oldest cover-up in the book, right?), so I figured we were in the clear.

Then, a few weeks later, Everett was playing tag during recess and split his chin open during some sort of bench-jumping maneuver.  

I picked him up from school and took him to get stitches.  Everett was very interested in the process.  He hadn't been to the hospital since before he was two.  The doctors were great--they even put a Star Wars dvd in for him.  

The hospital is five minutes from Joel's work, so Joel came down just in time to see Everett get his stitches.  Everett was thrilled, especially when we told him we'd take him out to McDonald's.  He even got a McFlurry.

On the way back home, I suggested we just go home since there was only 45 minutes left of school.  Everett insisted on going back.  I'm pretty sure that was only because he wanted to show off his stitches to everyone.  The excitement of the stitches quickly dissipated when Everett discovered that a deep gash actually does get sore.  The doctor who stitched him up suggested that we keep some kind of ointment on his wound around the clock, so I sent a tube of neosporin with Everett to school.  The school nurse called and said he was not allowed to apply it in the classroom, and that she was only comfortable with applying it twice a day, as per instructions on the package.  My assurances that the pediatrician specifically said to apply it constantly fell on deaf ears.  

Fortunately Everett felt better after just a few days or I would have had to fight the nurse on that particular issue.  I had Everett keep a tube in his backpack anyway, because I want to teach him to keep rules (har har).  

If you were to ask Everett about his stitches, he'd glow as he described the experience.  He is proud of each and every one of the four stitches he had.  I didn't have the heart to tell him that four stitches is not really that many.

Charlie is 10 Months Old!

 Our Charlie is ten months old.  He is a lot of fun.

These pictures were taken when Charlie was eight and nine months old.  He had discovered crawling in a major way and loved coming over to the kitchen.  There are always crumbs to be found in my kitchen.

It entertains him for a long time.  

He is our little vacuum cleaner.

Once, Charlie got caught in a stool and couldn't figure out how to get out.  The chairs are much easier to navigate.  He grins delightedly when I peek in on him, then he often abandons his quest for finding interesting things and scurries over for some kisses.

The kids love manhandling, er, holding Charlie.

Charlie has started to wisen up to the pattern of attention.  Now that he is highly mobile, he generally prefers to be left alone.

He cannot hang out--in whatever wacky position he is choosing--on his own for too long before someone comes to scoop him up.

Charlie is usually pretty trusting.

He does like the attention.  The kids can get quite a bit of laughter out of him.

Charlie is not as trusting of James.

Even though James shares his prized possessions with Charlie, 

Charlie will loudly complain when James gets too intrusive.

Everyone loves to teach Charlie new tricks.

 Now, at ten months, Charlie is even more mobile and even more fun.

 He can race up the stairs.  He loves to cruise along the furniture.  He knows how to open all of our cupboards.  He delights in reaching the keys of the piano and turning random knobs.

Charlie laughs very easily.  He is a joyful little guy.  He also gets scared easily.  He hates loud noises.  We have a train toy that creaks loudly and Charlie panics every time he hears it.  He has recently gotten over his deadly fear of the vacuum cleaner, but for a while he'd bawl, horrified at the noise and commotion, and shout "Mama!  Mama!  Mama!" while escaping from the room as fast as he could.  He'd settle immediately when I'd pick him up.

Charlie also hates baths.  He cries if I bring him to close to a sink or bathtub with running water.  He gets nervous when I take his diaper off for more than a few seconds.  And he screams and screams for as long as a bath lasts.  I've gotten good at dunking him and washing him quickly.

Charlie has learned to clap, much to the kids' delight.  They encourage him for longer than his attention span lasts.

Charlie is a really lean little guy.  He is in the 25th percentile for height and head size but only barely got back on the growth chart (to the 1st percentile, wahoo!) for weight.  He is always moving, and he must have a hollow leg because he eats constantly.  I think Charlie would live on graham crackers if we'd let him.  

He looooooooves table food.  He eats whatever we are eating and protests very loudly when we don't share with him.  Charlie will not accept crackers or cheerios when he sees the rest of us eating something different.

Joel and I recently took Charlie with us on a lunch date.  Charlie spent the entire time at the restaurant shrieking despite my shoveling food in his mouth as fast as possible.  He ate two graham crackers, a nutrigrain bar, and as many bites of my food as I could give him.  Joel and I rushed through our lunch and got out of there as fast as we could.

He also loves it when we cover and uncover his mouth repeatedly.  He shouts out and loves to hear his vocalizations go on and off with the movement of our hands.  If we pull our hands away, he pulls it right back again so he can hear more of the noisy trick.

Charlie is a big Mama's boy.  He is also a great sleeper.  He sucks his little thumb all night long, and often during the day.  When I pick him up, he leans his head close to mine, puts his left hand along my shoulder and his right thumb in his mouth.

He is always game for snuggles.  He leans all the way into me, his head on my shoulder and his forehead against my cheek or neck.  I love feeling his soft little belly go out and in with his breathing.  When he is breastfeeding, he loves to stroke my face.  

I have a huge soft spot for this little guy.  I admit it.  I can't help it--he always laughs at my jokes!

He has taken to a fleece quilt my grandma make him.  He strokes the edge and rubs it against his face.  Charlie is our little Linus.  He loves cuddling but if he can cuddle with me AND have his special blanket, he is set for a very long time.

Charlie loves going to Joel, too.  He loves to come in bed with us and crawl over to his papa.  

We all love Charlie.  He is doted upon and cherished.  I think he's in a pretty good spot in life.  We will see if he says the same when he is old enough to resent everyone telling him what to do!