From the one who has never taken lessons...."Hot Cross Buns"

October 2014

October was a fun and very busy month! This got out of order, but Ellie's hair is getting thick enough finally to do some fun things with! She wasn't too happy with dressing up for the trunk-or-treat the night before Halloween, so on Halloween day this was her costume. There was no school so we went to the Science Center where they had some spooky science activities.

Ellie is loving coloring/drawing, either with crayons, pencil, or markers, on a white board or paper. It all makes her happy and keeps her busy!

Ellie had her first real haircut! I've trimmed the ends a little when she was a baby to keep it even but it really need to be cut. The back was really long but thin.

The final product. I didn't even have to trim the front, it was so much shorter than the back. I was sad to cut it, and it's not as curly anymore, but it's much nicer and seems a lot thicker now that the scraggly ends are gone.

And, Ellie had a birthday!! (Her haircut was on her birthday, lucky girl). She picked out the sprinkles and helped put them on the cake. After we sang to her she started blowing. So we asked if she wanted the candles lit, and she said yes. Last year she freaked out when we lit the candles so we weren't even going to attempt it this year, but then she loved it! She had the first three blown out before John could light the fourth. And, she ate a few little bits of cake!

We harvested our potatoes. Not a lot for how many plants we had, but not bad for our soil that is hard as a rock.

Ellie's bear picture. She was the size of the bear when she was born, but skinnier. Now, at age 4, she's doing so well. She's made tons of progress with her eating and is starting to chew up foods! And willingly put them in her mouth! On Halloween she took her last dose of medicine for her delayed stomach emptying, in the hopes that she's outgrown that issue now.

Cleaning out the gutters is always a fun job!

The trunk-or-treat. Ellie was not happy to dress up. She kept the ladybug on long enough for the picture. Levi is the Cat in the Hat, Caleb a ghost, and Ian a mad scientist.

Our Halloween dinner - with a pumpkin shaped pizza to go along with it.

Also this month, soccer ended. All the boys did well. Ian loved being a forward and his coach let him play forward most of the time. He scored several goals! His school had an all school fun run the day before Halloween. It was a mile long and they could dress up. I felt bad for the girl who dressed up as Cindrella and tried to run in her fancy shoes......Anyway, each grade awarded the first 10 runners for both boys and girls. Ian did really well and was #11 of the 6th grade boys! He was sad he missed the first 10 but did GREAT!

We got a visit from grandparents for a few days. It was fun having them here. They helped out with several scout things. Ian organized a chess tournament with Grandpa, Caleb, Levi, and himself for his first merit badge. Caleb and Levi each organized some board games as one of their requirements for their Wolf. They were both awarded their Bobcat badge while their grandparents were here. Grandma was a mystery reader in Caleb's class at school. And we had a good time visiting!

September 2014

With the delay in the start of school, we had some extra days in the beautiful weather of September to have more fun. We went with friends on a tour of the fire station and on a tour of the Recycling Center. We went on a planets walk along the path near our town. And we found a place to pick blackberries! The ones in the front that were easy to reach were gone, so it was hard to pick. They are really pokey bushes! Even with spilling the bucket once, we got a decent amount. And they were so good! We made some milkshakes and jam with them, along with just eating them fresh.

Ellie had a great time with the rocks along the path where the blackberries were.

Ian, Caleb, and Levi share a room. They've had a bunk bed that is a twin on top for Ian with a double bed on the bottom for Levi and Caleb. They are short enough to sleep the short way on the bed. But they are getting taller and want their own bed. We had a bunk bed and twin we could use, but they would take up their whole room. My sister jokingly sent me a picture of a triple bunk bed, saying that's what we need. And, actually, it was! We found some plans online and John made them a triple bunk! Their bunk bed sold and was gone within 4 days of my posting it for sale, so they spent several weeks on mattresses on the floor and on the couch while John worked hard to build their new beds.

And, finally, school started!

Ian, the big 6th grader, starting at the middle school! He loves it!

And Caleb and Levi, starting 3rd grade. They're back at the elementary school this year, with the arrangement that they come home to eat lunch. The office lets them sign themselves out and back in, so I don't have to go get them every day.

And, two new Wolf Scouts! There were no scout meetings in August so they finally got to go to a Cub Scout meeting, after working hard on their Bobcats at home during August.

And then there is Ellie. The first week of school she asked all day where her brothers were. She missed them! She does have fun playing by herself, too. She has her friends all lined up and built the road for the cars. The Little People princess that is second to the end of her line has red hair. She, on her own, decided that the princess is Ellie :).

And, soccer started! Caleb and Levi got put on separate teams, but at least they play on the same night. Ian plays on a different night, and they all have games on Saturday as well. This is Ian's last season in parks and recreation soccer. One night during Ian's game it rained for a few minutes and then this beautiful double rainbow appeared.

September is also County Fair month. And what a great fair it was! Caleb drew a picture and got a white ribbon, as well as entered his 4-H Cloverbud book. Levi wrote a poem and got second place, and the silver award. He even got some money for it! He also entered his Cloverbud book. And Ian decided to enter the King Arthur Flour Baking Contest, there was a certain recipe to make. And, he won first place and best of show! He won some money and a gift card to King Arthur Flour's catalog. Even I entered some peaches I canned and got a red ribbon.

And, the finished product! A triple bunk that only takes up one wall of their room. It's an awesome bed!

And, last but not least, in September we finished our miles for the summer. We made a goal to go 75 miles. Most of them were biking miles. By the time school was supposed to start in August, all three made the 75 mile goal! So, we kept on, trying to get to 100. By the time school started two weeks later, Ian was at 118.5 miles, Levi 100, and Caleb 102!!

August 2014

At the very start of August we made a trip to visit John's family. He was in charge of their family reunion this year. We had planned to have it at our house, until it became apparent that Grandpa wasn't going to be able to travel. And, why have a reunion when the patriarch (and thus Grandma, and several others) couldn't come? So, we moved it to their place. Everyone was super kind to pitch in and let us use their houses and help plan activities. And, John's brother-in-law who is a bishop, arranged it so Caleb and Levi could get baptized there. I did a whole post on that earlier. We stayed at John's sister's house and our kids love it there. They rode scooters and bikes, roller skates, played ball, pretended to be super heroes, you name it, they did it. Their cousins are great.

One afternoon of the reunion another of John's sisters let us use their slip and slide and trampoline, it was fun! Ellie wanted nothing to do with it, but the other young kiddos - and even a teenager and 20-something cousin - had fun.

Back at home, a kind couple in our ward let us come pick cherries, as many as we wanted. We picked 26 pounds, and she'd already had 7 families over to pick! Plus what they picked for themselves. And there were still more after we left. So, we pitted a lot of cherries. Thankfully I have some good helpers. We canned some and made jam.

And Ellie painted.

During August we went to the cheese/ice cream factory with Daddy (his first time), to a park or two, to the train park, bowling, to a National Park where the boys became Junior Rangers, hiking with friends, and back to the cheese/ice cream factory with the same friends. And we rode our bikes on more, longer rides. We even went on a few 5 mile rides! School was supposed to start near the end of August. But, there was a little problem with the bathrooms in every school being torn out and not finished, so, they delayed school for 2 weeks! So, we had even more time to have fun.

July 2014

July was spent teaching Barton to play the piano,

helping cook,

being cute,

swimming at our aunt and uncle's pool,

being Garfield,

and celebrating two boys turning 8!!

We also got to help celebrate Grandma and Grandpa's 50th wedding anniversary! We had a reunion at the same time and it was so much fun. Because the anniversary party and reunion were at the beginning of the month, this was the first time ever that Levi and Caleb did not spend their birthday with their Grandma, with whom they share the big day. They were sad about that, but had a fun birthday at home. They're so excited to be 8, to get baptized, and to start Cub Scouts!