Kids Keep Growing

...well, getting older anyway. They have outgrown some jeans lately, too. So that's a good sign.

I haven't done a great job of documenting this year, so I thought I'd at least post some cute pictures of the kids at their birthdays. We'll go oldest to youngest...

Luke turned 11!

Earned his Webelos badge and Arrow of Light, and became a Boy Scout.

Cade turned 9!

Had a party with lots of friends. We played laser tag and went out for pizza, bringing along the homemade Pokemon cake and ice cream.

Cole turned 5!

But don't worry...he still gives the best hugs!

Sadie turned 1!

Had probably the cutest cake I've ever made.

And shortly thereafter (on December 3rd) took her first steps! Now she is a full-blown walker and practically jogs around the house. She progressed from rolling everywhere to army crawling to regular crawling to pushing a walker around to standing up in the middle of the floor and grinning to walking. A couple weeks ago at church she kept walking up the aisle while watching everyone around to make sure they were impressed by her amazing skills. They were. She is too cute to resist.

Busy-Crazy-Fun

So, here I go again writing what will most likely turn out to be an update that is way too lengthy to actually read and on a computer that doesn't have all my photos on it, so I'll either post it without pictures or wait to post it until I do add pictures several months later....I'll try not to be quite so lame as all that. Wish me luck.

So our summer totally flew by. Did yours too? But we did take time to play a bit. Luke told you about our trip to Blanding and Bluff, I think. We helped with a restoration project at the Old Bluff Fort historical site. They are rebuilding the original settlement of the Hole-in-the-Rock pioneers, and inviting descendants of the original settlers to reconstruct memorial cabins for each original family. I am descended from two of those original families, the Lymans and the Perkins. We got to help with some of the work like chinking between the logs and around the windows and doors. We also did some projects to help with decorating the finished cabins, like weaving braided rugs on looms. Mom and I even raided Grandma's fabric scrap cupboard and pieced a "pioneer" quilt to go in one of the cabins. We had a really good time learning about some of the strong and amazing people who came before us and gaining a greater appreciation for their sacrifice and ingenuity.

Lanny worked like a crazy man all summer long, and we got a "memo" that vacations were pretty much not allowed until their game was really and truly finished. So he was absent from the Blanding trip, which made it especially nice that my mom joined up with us. Thanks to Uncle Charlie for his hospitality too!

We spent some time in Idaho for a family reunion which was lots of fun, thanks to the careful planning of Michelle and Mom and others. One big hit was the box parade. It was almost like Halloween, but more creative and less sugary....So maybe even better than Halloween! The talent show was not as great as last year since Stacey and Chris were less involved, but the kids were outstanding as usual. The kids and I spent a week, with Lanny joining us for the weekend.

Anyway, we didn't get a FAMILY VACATION with all of us until the weekend before school started. We took a quick trip to Salt Lake and Park City where we did some sight-seeing and some relaxing. In Salt Lake, we went to Tracy Aviary and watched a bird show which the boys enjoyed, but even Sadie thought it was cool when a hawk flew right over our heads and landed near enough that she could get a good look. She was pretty excited. We spent some time on Temple Square, and even attended a broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word on Sunday morning. Then we headed to Park City where we spent most of our time at the pool at our resort. We also got a tennis lesson from Chris and Stacey one evening, which was way fun! They're great teachers. We got back home just in time to get some rest and wake up for school the next day! Nuts, huh? But worth it.

The kids are liking school this year. Cade is in 3rd grade, and Luke is in 6th. Luke has 4 teachers this year because they are doing class rotations. He is liking it pretty well. Cade is loving school, and thinks his teacher is the best! Cole is in preschool with Mrs. Veater. She is wonderful and Cole loves her.

Luke and Cade are both taking piano lessons with a new teacher this year, and doing well. It is nice to drop them both at the same spot right in our own city! Cole is in my morning Let's Play Music class. He is doing great in it this year...guess I found the right bribe. ;) We are not continuing karate, either, which has reduced my stress level greatly. I like having us be less overscheduled. A little down time is essential for the mental well-being of us all. Especially me. Which directly translates to us all, I'm sure you may know.

And so it's almost November, and on we go. Life is good. We are reminded so often of just how blessed we are as we listen to the boys giggle with their little sister, or when Lanny's work is growing and hiring in the middle of this crazy economy. To me nothing is better than having my family gathered close and remembering how much God has blessed us. I am SOOO thankful for my family. They make me one happy mama.

One More Writer With One More Game

OK. To start out this is Luke. I know this is a family Blog but I've been really dormant on writing posts. So to make it up to you I will also be doing the game on Carlisle McGaffrey's (Carlie's) Blog. Here are the rules:

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make! (Though I hope you will!)
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year. {might be a little while}
4. You have no clue what it's going to be. I don't even have a clue what it's going to be.
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did, win a homemade gift! It may not be great, but it will be fun!!* * *Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!* * *

Please also include your address so I can mail it to you. Thanks! So remember that and I'll see you soon!

(p.s. Notice that I've got my own blog on the list of links, It's a pretty awesome blog. Check it out for me, OK? Thanks.)

Handsome Boys

It took me forever to publish the last post because I was waiting to add Luke and Cade to the mix. They are my "cute kids" too. But finally I decided I'll just have to post that one (it waited in my 'drafts' folder for way too long) and create a new category for the bigger boys. Hope Cole's not jealous. He is already old enough to know that "handsome" is better than "cute." In fact, on a fill-in-the-blank mother's day card he gave me, it said "My mom is beautiful when: I think she is handsome." Later I was talking to the mom of the girl who helped him write his answers, and she told me that he couldn't be talked out of that one because he is convinced that handsome is the better compliment. That's what you get in a house full of boys, I guess. I love it.

So, it's been a while since I read Cat in the Hat or Horton Hears a Who now, so hopefully I'll be able to leave my Dr. Seuss hat off this time around. Sometimes I just can't help myself. An unfortunate condition, but there are worse things than an inability to keep oneself from creating meaningless rhymes, I suppose.

We have only a day and a half left of school. The kids have been counting down for a while now. We are all excited for summer! The weather has been playing the part this week, too. Today was the dance festival at the elementary school. Luke and the fifth grade boys did the "Haka," a Tongan war dance complete with body slapping and yelling. Perfect for fifth grade boys. Cade and the 2nd graders did a parachute dance. Cole, Sadie and I walked to the school to watch and then walked back home with Luke and Cade afterwards. I should walk them home from school more often. They are fun to hang out with.

Here is a picture of Luke dressed as John Taylor, the person from history he chose to be for the 5th grade "wax museum" project. He chose John Taylor since he is named after him, and because he happens to be his fourth great-grandpa. He makes a cute old guy with a beard, don't you think? Oops, I mean handsome....

Cade brought his classroom journal home from school yesterday, and I thumbed through it this morning as I was feeding Sadie. Most of his entries were more about drawing cool pictures than writing about them much. In fact, one entry said "I am a great artist" in cool lettering above a great drawing of a graveyard. It was around Halloween. Another couple nicely drawn and shaded pictures had nothing but the word "wow" beneath them in the space left for writing. I love that boy's confidence. But the entry that made me laugh out loud was this: "If I were my mom or dad and they were me or my brother for a day, I would make them do lots and lots and lots of chores." Sweet revenge. Little does he know that when he is the dad, he will have to do a lot more than clearing out the dishwasher and picking up his room. Lots and lots and lots more. :)

Cade had a pretty good crash on his bike the other day. He went on a bird-watching bike ride with his Grandpa and forgot how to brake, missed a turn, and went flying through a barbed wire fence and down a hill. He was remarkably unscathed for the most part. His helmet had 2 chunks taken out, but all he had was scratches. Here is a picture of his battle wounds. We are feeling like his guardian angels were definitely on the job that day!

Cade is in his final semester of the introductory music course he's taking, "Let's Play Music." He just performed a song he composed at his recital last week called The Monster Under My Bed. He loves tinkering on the piano, and has come up with several of his own songs. It is so fun to watch him progress and excel in music. I teach the same program (which is the best around!), but he takes from another teacher because I am only teaching 1st and soon 2nd year classes so far. He has learned and grown so much.

Luke is my big guy. I can't believe how fast he has grown lately. He's going to be 11 any day now, and l7 pretty soon after that, I'm sure. I can't think about that, though. He is probably the most excited for summer vacation of all of us. He's smart, and learning is not hard for him, but busy work is his arch nemesis. Staying caught up on school work is too boring for the likes of him. He would much rather read, draw, or even write his own comic book, as long as it's his idea, and nobody assigned him to do it. If anybody has any ideas on how to motivate kids to keep up with school work, I'll be happy to hear them!

Luke has joined a LaCrosse team and is loving learning to play a new sport. It's fun to see him so excited after practice. We start games soon, so we'll keep you posted on how it goes. Maybe. No promises, though. But so far, it looks to be a fun season.

I'm excited to have Luke around for the summer too. He loves when I ask for help with cooking or with the baby. And he is getting pretty good at holding down the fort if I have a few short errands to run and don't want to drag everybody with me. Also, his lawn mowing skills have become quite excellent. But he is not only good for lots and lots and lots of chores...he is also quite witty and fun to be around. I love his sense of humor and laid back nature. He is a good friend and a great kid.

Cute Kids

So we have some pretty great kids. And cute too. Don't have much clever to say today, but thought I'd share some cute pictures. Here's Sadie--she's cute when she smiles and also when she scowls. She has a little worried furrowed brow thing that she does pretty often. It's an inherited trait...a proud tradition passed down through the women in my family. :)
It's kind of a sad commentary, perhaps, but this is the picture of Sadie that looks most like my baby pictures. The one with the best scowl. But here are some more cute but less frowny pictures, too.
And here are her little twinkle toes. Cole made up a song today, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Toes," while we were tickling her feet.
Here is my Cole boy. He make us happy all the time. He is a happy-all-the-time kind of kid. Wouldn't you say?
He is happy at Pack Meeting with a Rice Krispie treat.
He is happy at our outside-inside picnic when his cousins come to eat.
He is happy as a frog.
He is happy in a wet hug.

Cole is happy in the store.

Cole is happy on the floor.


Cole is happy on a chair.


Cole is happy on a stair.
Cole is happy here
Or there
Cole is happy anywhere.

We're Lovin' It!

This is the life! Lanny and I often find ourselves staring into our sweet little angel baby's smiling face, and wondering out loud, "What could be better than this?" The same thought occurs when we have all our boys gathered around for dinner or family prayer. We have such great kids! We are just loving life! And in honor of Valentine's Day, I thought we'd provide you with a few of the specifics. Here are some of the top "loves of our lives."


LUKE LOVES

• To read when he should be working, or when he should be playing, or when he should be sleeping, or even when he should be reading...especially a good mystery!
• To make us laugh, and often does with his comedic efforts. For example, the other night he left several conspicuous notes around the house reminding the tooth fairy that she had promised to treat him well.
• To wow us with his magic tricks and coded language notes.
• To fix delicious pancake and egg breakfasts since his mom is usually a slacker in the breakfast department. And when she's a slacker in the dinner department, he also loves to help out there as well! We love Luke!

CADE LOVES

• To be the smallest and the smartest all at the same time, and to be recognized for his greatness. He recently got first place at the science fair, but then he reminded me that, "Mom, there were only two second graders." I think that makes me great, too, for letting him bug me enough to help him complete a science project two years in a row before it is even required! I love Cade's enthusiasm for learning!
  
• To figure out recognizable classics on the piano, especially Pachabel's Canon and Fur Elise, or compose his own piano music. He even wrote an original song for Sadie with the sweetest lyrics.
  
• Having a little sister to giggle with and be sweet to. We love Cade!
  

COLE LOVES

• Clone Troopers and Lego catalogs forever and always.
• Pretend play that involves plenty of shooting, light sabering, falling, and other fun kinds of violence. :) But he almost always has pretend friends along with the pretend enemies, so hopefully he doesn't have too much of an "overdeveloped sense of vengeance" to quote a well-loved movie.
• To keep Sadie happy, smiling, and talking by getting right in her face and happily smiling and talking. And usually it works!
• To be a friendly, happy, huggy, sweet kid! We love Cole!
  

SADIE LOVES

• To eat, but not from a bottle.
• To sleep, but not in her crib.
• To be spoiled by 2 parents and 3 big brothers.
• To entertain us with her sweet smiling, cooing, and jabbering.
• Bringing that special, newly-arrived-from-heaven innocence and sweetness into our home. We love Sadie!

LANNY LOVES

• Being the dad of this amazing bunch.
• Watching a well-made film in high definition on a widescreen TV with surround sound.
• Finding new ways to make explosions, lasers, water splashes, and energy shields look amazing.
• His iPhone.
• His lovely wife. (He had just urged me to add that this list is not in order of priority. Just to clarify.) We love our husband and dad!

MARIANNE LOVES

• Being the mom of this amazing bunch, and being a 'new mom' again.
• An occasional afternoon nap.
• Shopping for miniature-sized dresses, sweaters, shoes, and hair bows.
• Hanging out with my main man.
• Having a wonderful support network of extended family and friends.

WE ALL LOVE YOU!