My Crazy Boys And Blackmail

Okay so I think both Noah and Daniel will KILL me in the future....but right now they don't care, so I am going to post these pictures anyway!
Daniel LOVES to eat, always has! The problem is he tries to shove ALL his food into his mouth at once!

Kendall left brownies on a plate at a picnic, before we knew it, he had shoved as much in as could possibly fit!

I laugh so hard Every time I see this picture, in fact I'm laughing right now! We gave him a piece of pizza all cut up into nice little baby size bites for him. I turned my back for just a moment and this is what happens! He shoves EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE BABY SIZE BITES into his mouth, he couldn't even chew, his mouth was so full! I tried to take some out but he just screamed at me. I am just glad he didn't choke!

Then there is Noah, who loves to shove things in he NOSE! Darts, fingers, and today.....

balloons! He was trying to blow them up with his nose! Those were two balloons that went straight into the trash as I didn't want them getting put back in the bag of balloons to be blown up in the future! Oh well......boys will be boys! I guess there are worse things they could be doing!

Emma Rose Turns 4

Today Emma Rose turned 4 yrs old. She woke up with a tummy ache and was running a little bit of a fever. She very rarely gets sick, and I can't remember the last time she was sick. My family from Olympia were planning on coming up for a little party in the afternoon. They ended up still coming. Emma made a very quick recovery when her cousin Emily showed up to play! Emma requested home made pizza for dinner so that's what we had. Then we opened presents.

She was really looking forward to the whole gift getting part of her birthday!

She got a barbie doll from Emily.

Grandma Catherine made her a very cute dress up skirt and outfit, and a cute skirt and top. Emma loves new clothes!

We got her a baby doll, it laughs and sucks on a bottle and sleeps. Emma kept saying "I want to nurse the baby", which meant that she wanted to feed her the bottle.

Emma looking tired with her new hair things and dress up outfit.

Next up was pinata time!

The kids tried their best to break it.

In the end my brother Joshua had to step in and show them how it's done!

Emma wanted Angle Food cake and strawberries for her cake. I also made some yummy brownies. She was really cute when it came time to sing Happy Birthday she sang along with us!

She did a good job blowing out the candles....problem was she was busy sucking on a piece of candy from the pinata while blowing out the candles.....it was pretty wet, yuck!

Daniel really enjoyed the cake! Even though she was sick on her birthday she still had a fun time.

Noah

Okay, so last week I wrote about Emma and Daniel, but not Noah. It is really hard to get pictures of Noah as he never seems to be able to sit still long enough to get a good picture.
Noah started swim lessons a few weeks ago. He is doing so great! He has always been a little afraid of the water, but now he is getting really comfortable and will jump right in.

Noah is really into science these days. He wants to know how everything works and why it works. He has always been this way, even as a baby. He loves working in the garden and helps with the planting and watering. He is always snitching lettuce and chives to put on his food...it doesn't matter what he's eating, in his mind it tastes better with chives and lettuce!

Weekend At The Beach

Yesterday was Memorial Day. Some friends invited us to come for a BBQ at Kayak Point park (which is our new favorite park!). The kids set out to find some of these little critters:

They searched high and...

Low, and found lots of these, big and small.....

It was a really low tide and some of the older kids helped locate some very large crabs!

See what I mean about Emma having her Daddy wrapped around her little finger! Emma dragged Kendall all over the park!

We had some really good food. Some one left a plate of brownies on the blanket and Daniel took the opportunity to help himself! That boy can really eat!!! We had a wonderful time visiting and just relaxing.

Emma Rose

I got the camera out this morning and found Kendall had taken this picture of Emma last night right before bedtime. I had her hair up in little buns all day and she loves to look at her hair all curly after you take it out (The curls only last about 10 minutes, she inherited my straight hair.). Emma will be turning 4 next week. I can't believe it, where have the years gone? She is very much aware that her birthday is coming up and every time we go to the store she will point out something that she wants for her birthday. Thank heavens we don't have a TV and she doesn't see all those adds for toys and stuff!
Emma will finish her 1st year of preschool in two weeks. It's been a good thing for her to be away from me a couple times a week as she is so shy. She loves to play with her dolls, and brothers. She loves to have her hair done all cute and the stranger it looks the better in her mind! She has her daddy wrapped very tightly around her little finger and neither she nor Kendall seem to care.

In Case You were wondering......

Yes he still has attitude.
And throws fits and tantrums like a pro!

I think Daniel is going through a growth spurt right now. If he's not eating he's not happy. This morning he downed 3 large pancakes with yogurt and applesauce when Noah and Emma were full after one. He has mastered the tantrum and demonstrates his new skill for us every day, lucky us, huh! When he is not throwing fits and has just eaten he is a happy little boy and loves to play outside in the sunshine.

Any Ideas??

Yesterday Noah started swimming lessons. He was pretty excited (and a little nervous). We got there and he got in the water and started his lesson. He was doing really well but then his teacher called me over after about ten minutes and asked if he was sick, I told him "no, why?" He said he was shivering so bad and was having a hard time relaxing. This was an indoor pool and the water was a little cool when you first get in, but not so cold that it leaves you shivering really really bad! He said that it could be that Noah just has no body fat and so got cold faster then normal. I don't know what to do to fatten him up without feeding him junk all the time. I have tried putting extra butter on his bread and stuff like that. He eats normally, likes his fruits and veggies, I don't think there is anything he doesn't eat. So I guess I am asking if any of you have any ideas. He is really skinny and yet eats all the time! I would love to hear any ideas from you! Thanks!

Family Home Evening

So Last night we had our family home evening and I decided to use one of the new family home evening kits I recently purchased. I spent a lot of time coloring and cutting out the little characters that went a long with the story and game. I was really excited about this lesson and game! The lesson was all about manners. There was a very cute little story about a little fish and how he made up these "Ten Commandments of Having Good Manners". The kids listened to the story...it was nothing new to them (believe it or not). After the lesson and game we made popcorn for the treat. I think they broke all "ten commandments of having good manners" while they were eating the popcorn! Some of which were:
"Thou shalt not chew with your mouth open"
"Thou shalt say 'please', 'thank you' and 'excuse me'"
"thou shalt not burp, belch or release gas audibly in the company of others"
"thou shalt clean up thy messes" you get the picture.
Kendall and I were talking about it after they went to bed and he reassured me that it's in their little heads and someday they will remember and apply the rules....I sure hope so!

Day At The Beach

Yesterday was one of those rare sunny days and it was a warm 60 degrees so we decided to go to a new favorite spot, Kayak Point park. They have a great playground that the kids LOVE, and it's right on the beach. The kids had a lot of fun!
Kendall and Emma on the rope jungle gym thingy.

Emma on the playground.

Noah on the ropes. Noah loved this big rope tower thing. But he has inherited my fear of heights, and would get to a certain point and then freeze and back down to the ground he would go.

Noah and Emma on the beach.

Kendall and Daniel watching the boats.

Daniel playing in the rocks.

Noah and Emma found this little fort made of drift wood and spent about an hour playing in it.

The kids in the fort.

Work

I've heard that you should start teaching your children to work hard while they are young....

Maybe 14 months old is to young to teach him to mow the lawn. But he sure had fun trying!

This entry in the blog is more for me and remembering the small moments for my children.

Noah loves our garden. We planted oregano last year and this year it has come back and taken over a portion of our garden. (If there is anyone who lives close by and wants some for their own garden please let me know.) Noah has been picking it and putting it on everything he eats. Today he is trying to describe the oregano he has in a jar. He says "Its smell is so strong it's not liquidy, and it's smell tastes good. If you breath it in you can just taste it so strong, you don't even have to put it in your mouth to taste it!" I love how children describe things, it's all about taste and smell for Noah.

Only In Washington

It's only in Washington that you garden in the rain, and not be bothered by it. I didn't even bother to put a jacket on. I've come along way in that I use to hate the rain and wasn't sure I would survive the weather up here.
I finally got some plants to put in our front yard!

Weekend in Olympia

Last weekend I took the kids down to visit my Dad and Catherine. Olympia had a big art walk going on down town over the weekend. A lot of local artists were displaying their art in all the stores and they had a big parade on Saturday. My brother Joshua had some of his drawings and pottery in one of the stores too. I picked up me niece Emily on my way to my dad's house Friday afternoon so the cousins could have a big slumber party and play together. It was a lot of fun, but I came home exhausted! Having to keep track of 4 small kids in a busy crowed is a lot of work!
Having Emma and Emily together is like seeing twins running around. They both wanted to have their hair done the same way on Saturday and both had to wear dresses with flowers on them.

Emma and Emily posing for the camera

Daniel playing with the sea shells.

Everyone waiting for the parade. We arrived 2 hours early to save a spot on the curb. We chose a spot right across from the toy store. My dad would take two kids at a time to the toy store to keep the kids busy, while I stayed and saved our spot. The parade was a lot of fun and the kids really loved it!

They closed off all down town Olympia and had buckets and buckets of sidewalk chalk everywhere for people to just take and drawl on the street. The streets were covered in drawings, it was really neat! Emily and Emma standing next to their chalk outlines.

Noah's drawling.

My niece Emily.

Daniel being silly!

Daniel and Grandpa Bill.

My brother Joshua and niece Emily.