His Birthday post is long overdue but I know if I don't get it on here I never will. Vi's bday and Christmas are right around the corner.

This picture of Charlie from the beach makes me tear up every time I see it. This sums him up so well. I love everything about it.

My favorite things about Charlie include:
He offers to help. A lot.
He set a goal to hug me at least 5 times a day.
He'll still play "pretend" games with the other kids
He likes to work (not always, but he does)
He usually says sorry and tries to make it better, even if it's only because he doesn't want to get in trouble.
Vi loves him and he loves her. He welcomes her huge after school hugs.
He still prefers to be with Dave over most anybody.
He likes to make friends.
He's funny!
He's happy
He loves to play monopoly
He likes to try new things
He writes in his journal.
He loves stories
He pays attention when we read scriptures
He's thoughtful
He's aware of me and tries to take care of me.
He's my very favorite 11 yr old.

I kind of did a hack job on the bday video this year so we'll keep that one off the blog. Nevertheless, I'm glad we have it because I don't want to forget a minute of this kids life. We love you Charlie!

The goings on....

I've had a phrase from one of my favorite kid books rolling around in my head for days. "Time went by as time will do and as it went the children grew...." It's from the book, "the seven silly eaters."  I've read it a bazillion times but that line is the one that sticks. Probably because that's kind of my life at the moment. Time whizzing by and lots of growing kids. 

Charlie and tess started a new business venture and it's going swimmingly. 

Dave and I went to Kara's wedding in boise. It was beautiful, she was beautiful and we wanted to pick up and move immediately. 

          Grandma came to visit!!!! 

     Vi started posing weird for pictures

       Formal skeletons for Halloween

       Montessori halloween mercado pumpkin lovin' booth :)

Elliot finished up his very first season of soccer. 

  Vi discovered the joys of trader joes, I discovered the joy of her tiny jeans. 

6!!

It's really hard to imagine life without Elliot.  This boy can light up a room.  He's still crazy about superheros and legos and riding his bike. He just started soccer for the first time and I signed him up late, so he missed the first practice. We got an email saying he had been added to the team and we'll see him tomorrow morning at 8am. Wait what??? He's never even played, but he wanted to, so off to his game we went. Threw on his uniform and he hit the field like nobody's business. It was hilarious! Even almost scored a goal. When he's confidant nothing can stop him. When he's not, you couldn't pay him enough money to make him do it. Funny that way. He loves school in Ms Heathers class and is loving the inside works as much as the outside works now. He can read and his cursive is coming along nicely. I still miss him in the day. He was the BEST little buddy during the day. I will probably always miss having around all day. He keeps things funny and asks very curious questions. He told me that he's sensitive and still needs his dose of one on one with Momma everyday which tells me that maybe he misses me too. Currently obsessed with drawing and brings home tons of art from school.  His emotions are pretty close to the surface and he always wants to talk things out. Friends love him almost as much as we do. THere's just something about Elliot.

Happy 6 Mr. Man.

Back to school

I love the novelty of a new school year...we have lots of options in AZ when it comes to schools which I love/hate but mostly am grateful for. 

8th and 5th. Don't they look old? It's because they are! Charlie is loving mesa academy again this year. It really is such a good match. I'm happy he's happy. Macy is at highland jr again and is sorta happy. :) she loves her friends but could be a little more excited about her classes.  I think there's always ways jr high could be better though right? 

And these two little loves are at the Montessori school together. Tess is in 3rd and Elliot is in kindergarten. It's such a great program and we're glad they get to be apart of it. Montessori speaks to my hippie soul :) and so do Tess's moccasins. 

Catch up

It's never fun to play catch up. It been months since I visited the blog. We celebrates Elliot's birthday last Friday and I went back to look at the post about his birth and was so happy I had all that written down. It inspired me to keep on keepin on :) 

Summer ended in a hurry. We squeezed one last trip in to CA to visit the chamberlains. They never disappoint! Couple of beach trips and lots of cousin time is all any kid can ask for and we're lucky enough to get both in one shot. 

Bff's Vi and roscoe (or roxso if you're Vi) 

       Conga line in the parking garage at        the Getty museum. 

8 of the cutest people alive eating lunch :)

Me and Em at the beach. I love this lady. 

The big kids learned to boogie board this trip! 

And while we were there Doug took pics of all the kids...beautiful!! We love Doug. (And not only for his skills)

And finally.......

    Late night movie for the biggest girls

     Seriously, family is the best and we        couldn't love these guys more. 

Utah wrap up

While we were in UT we decided that the kids and I would stay an Dave would come back or work. 12 hours is a long drive....it was totally worth it. 

I got to spend not one but 2 days with Brooke and her kiddos. She's my cousin closest in age and always loved to have sleep overs when my family went to visit grandma Olson. She's the best!

We stayed 6 days at Grandma Olson's house. Would've stayed all summer if we could've. There's something kind I magical about her "dumb little house" as she called it. Without wifi and screens to distract my kids they just played and played and played. The highlights: dancing to records in the basement, finding 18 snails, dressing up in grandmas old jewerly, eating death by chocolate ice cream every night before bed and this trip up millcreek canyon with Brooke and her kids.  One for the books. 

Before heading out of salt lake we stopped by to see The Bateman girls. We can't skip this stop, there's nothing better than a good chat and chuckle with Val. One of the best things to come out of my college years was this friendship. She's tops, this girl. 

Last stop was Spanish fork. Carter, Erin and kids were the best hosts. They even had 2 additional cousins from Erin's family and they made all of us crashing their house look easy. We will be making a return trip for sure. 

Tess and Caroline at the museum. Sweet girls! 

The trip rounded out with a 2 day stop in Vegas to see grandma Terrie and Grandpa Charlie.....which I didn't get any pictures of, we must've been too busy swimming in the blow up pool and eating otter pops. 

As we pulled into the garage at home Violet started yelling "no! No! Grandma's house!!!" She wasn't thrilled with our chic to come home....until Dave came home from work. Then she couldn't have been happier. I'm pretty sure she just touched his face and giggled for like 30 min straight.  We were all soooo happy to see him....must've been time to be home. 

Change of plans

Every summer I find mysel scheming to get out of the heat. Usually a couple trips is enough to keep us all sane. This year the hope was to go to Seattle again , but tickets prices had other ideas. So plan b was CA in June, UT in July. 

About a week ago I got a call that grandpa buck had passed away. He was 93 and his mind was a sharp as a tack. He passed away peacefully in his room just minutes after he said good morning to his caregiver and she have him his paper. I guess it was his time. 

Plan C was quickly mobilized. UT in June for the funeral CA in July. So glad we were all able to be here and celebrate such a remarkable man and the legacy he left.  We love Grandpa Buck!!

Lately...... 

We've spent a lot of time at parks during baseball practices. 

And......

Playing for hours in a rice bowl, trying to find a rainbow eraser hidden inside. 

And also.... 

Trying to earn our keep. 

Snow cone season is here and kicking. You would've thought it was Christmas. He is serious about snow cones....and making money. Cheers to another long hot summer :) 

Member when the stake put on a daddy daughter sock hop? I do, this picture will be etched in my memory for ever. So awesome! 

Dave even danced....I love this so much. Tess can get him to do just about anything. 

Easter

Easter brought a whole new world of wonder for Vi this year. She couldn't get enough egg hunting......and then to see that they had surprises inside was more than she could've imagined.  We had 3 egg hunts this year so there was no shortage of wonderment for her. 

The kids hunted for their baskets on Easter morning. We decided to really switch it up on them and hide the baskets on the neighbors porch. The reviews were mixed. Little kids loved it. Macy was a little concerned about being out in the neighborhood when she just rolled outta bed.  I say it was a stroke of genius :) 

Tess provided our Easter lesson this year and did a fab job. However Elliot and Violet were complete chaos so perhaps we'll take another run at it next year. Thankfully the church put some amazing Easter videos out which totally saved the day. 

Happy Easter!!

Spring time brings lots of birthdays around here. Macy's, mine and Dave's.  This is how it went down... 

Macy- surprise bday party. FANTASTIC! The surprise was gift in and of itself. All the beehives from the ward came and one friend from school. It couldn't have been more fun! I loved watching all the girls chat and laugh, we took them out to dinner at oregano's and there was no entertainment needed. That's my kind of gig. My least favorite part about bday parties is the activities. This gives me anxiety!! Especially with the older kids. Eeesh. This totally fit the bill. There was enough chit chat to keep them busy all night. She was smiling for days after and wanted to talk and talk and talk about it. She's the best, and I'm glad we could give her a party she won't forget. 

I was up next. Brett, Jami, Kate and Zach were in town. They totally brought the party. We ate at Joes for my bday lunch.....mmmmm. I literally ate the best burger on the planet. Their visit was perfectly timed, weather was beautiful and we were all ready for a break from the norm. 

 

Ps Brett flew a WWII bi plane during their trip. It was kind of awesome. 

   This was the boys waiting for him  to finish his flight :) 

Last but not least....Davor! 

When he went to work that morning, there was a little surprise waiting in his truck. I had the kids write things they love about him ( I did it too) on squares of paper and taped them all over the inside of his truck. The ceiling, the dashboard you name it. There's a lot to love about this guy. He said it totally made his day and he left it up for a few days after.....which totally made the kids day. All around a feel good kind of birthday. 

4 birthdays down, 3 to go.