E is 6.5!!

E turned 6.5 last week.  Crazy how fast half years go.  We measured her today.  She has grown 2 inches in the last 6 months.  She's been eating like crazy.  We knew she was growing, but it was fun to see her grow more in the last 6 months than she did for the entire year that she was 5.

E is a fun girl.  She's growing up more and more all the time.  Reading is still her favorite past-time.  This morning she had made a few bad choices and to keep from making any further mistakes, she pulled out a Babysitter's Club Little Sister book and read the majority of it while she was waiting for Aunt Stacey to come and pick her up.  It did keep her out of trouble.

She loves playing with her brothers...she gets frustrated with them but she leads them around in their pretend games.  It is fun to watch.  Both boys are a little lost when she's not around to give them their marching orders.

She LOVES pie.  She ate 2 pieces of raspberry pie on Thanksgiving and begged for another piece.  I think it is probably her favorite food.  She's lucky to have a g'ma that loves to make her pies.

She's moving more and more away from 'little' girl things.  This growing up business is for the birds.  She enjoys time to herself each day to do her 'own' thing...whether it is reading or playing with her doll in her bed or creating a masterpiece from her legos.  She loves that she can write and draw better.  It is impressive to see how her skills are developing.  Just yesterday, we were waiting for the Whitaker's to come and so she sat down and wrote a story while she waited.  It was cute.

She still loves to cuddle up on G'ma's lap and watch movies with her.  The kids spend a lot of time with Mom this fall as we were demolishing the house and we almost always came back with E sitting on G'ma's lap watching TV.

Pretend play is one of her favorite things.  She loves making up plays for the boys and herself to preform.  She loves acting out stories with our homeschool group.  She loves acting out things in Jr Worship at church.  Her creative juices are working all the time.

Age 6 has its challenging moments...there are defiant attitudes and mean behaviors, but overall we are enjoying the year.  Watching children grow is an amazing and wonderful experience.  I'm glad I get this opportunity.

Extreme Home Makeover Continues...

Our contractor had a group of guys out to the house for the first time today!!!

Yahoo!! The professionals have arrived!!!!

Now, we still don't technically own the house...we are waiting for the surveyors report and township approval to split the parcel...but before the month is out...the mess we have created will be ours and we'll have an even bigger mess!  But, we need a mess to get what we want...so bring on the mess.

It was amazing to see how much the guys got done today...you could tell that this wasn't their first rodeo.  They seemed a bit more proficient than Jut and I.

Life with E

E was reading her Bible today in the car. I asked her what she was reading. Her reply was "Judges". We chatted about it for a minute. I asked her how she chose Judges. She explained that she started in Genesis and just kept reading. I was pretty impressed. It has been a couple years since I picked up the Bible to read it cover-to-cover.

Then it dawned on me, that meant that she had read Leviticus. There are some things in there that aren't really appropriate for six year olds. Well, let's be honest...there is a whole bunch of stuff in the Bible that isn't particularly appropriate for six-year olds. But, how do you tell a child..."Yeah, I don't think you should be reading the Bible." That just seems crazy...but I don't know that she really needs to read it all either.

So, I asked if she had any questions about what she read...she didn't. I dropped the conversation. However, I may have to rip out some pages if she gets past Ecclesiastics.

It was Time

 We haven't had a 'professional' picture taken of the family since C was born.  So, this was our first experience as a family of 5.  The kids cooperated somewhat...and the photographer had a quick finger and so the brief smiles C gave, he captured.

Funny things that I notice...C has Diesel 10 in his hand, which I knew when the picture was taken.  Again, the photographer did a pretty good job of capturing C when it wasn't in front of his face.  The thing I didn't notice until we got the pictures back was that E was wearing a very green ring.  I guess I didn't check wardrobe close enough.  But, it does add character to the pictures.

I think this was the best one of the kids.  C was not cooperating at all for these pictures.  I was amazed how well that they came out.  But, it is a great picture of X.

This one was the best of C.  I love his expression.  He's just too adorable.  It is great of X as well...even though it isn't so flattering to E or Jut.

It was a fun experience.  We'll have to try it again sometime.

Halloween Antics...

The second most anticipated holiday of the year...Halloween...costumes are discussed for the ENTIRE year leading up to the event.  I can't even begin to describe how much the kids love Halloween.  I don't remember ever being as excited about Halloween as my kids are...(but I probably was even though I don't remember).  Unfortunately for my kids, I don't get nearly as excited as they do about it...so they are left to create their own costume concoctions.


Well, for all the discussion...not much gets decided about costumes until the day of...In the morning, E was going to go as a bride.  We even picked up my veil from Mom's so that she could wear it...then she changed to a sparkle fairy...then it was a panic because it was 4 and she didn't know what to be.  It was a cold, rainy night this year.  So, I suggested wearing a full body red leotard to keep her warm...to keep her modest we hunted through her dress-up clothes and pulled out her lady-fairy costume.  We pulled off the wings...and deemed her a 'lady-bug monster".  She found some red netting that we put over her hair and a pretty ribbon to help secure it to her head.  The finishing touch to her costume was some wolf ears to make a 'true' monster.  It was quite the costume.  She looked very pretty and not very much like a monster but in her mind she was a monster...so a monster she was.

Thankfully, the boys were so much easier.  X was very content to be a cow...no discussion or changed minds...just the costume on and off because it was too hot to wear indoors for very long.  C didn't really like that whole 'dress-up' idea.  He had the bumblebee costume on for about 5 minutes and decided he was finished with that crazy idea.  However, once he found out candy was involved, he had a whole new attitude about his bumble bee outfit.  He loved the candy...ate more candy throughout the night than I would have ever allowed the older ones to eat.  He just unwrapped what he wanted and ate it...the little stinker.  I am probably very fortunate that he wasn't up all night with a stomach ache!

Just for comparison...here they were two years ago when C was just 4 days old...

Thankfully, X has grown into the costume a bit more...and maybe we need to get a bit more creative for next year! However, my prediction is that C will be wearing that cow next year...everyone needs a turn as a cow!!

Haunted Houses...

 The library sponsors a few contests throughout the year.  In October, they hosted a 'haunted house' contest.  As soon as E saw the display for it, she was ready to make hers.  We got a bag that she could place her 'decorations' in as she finished them.  Then, Jut found her a box to use.  She was ready like a week early to turn it in.  She was so excited.  She had her vision for what she wanted to do and she did it.  She named her house "The Pink Ghost".  She was incredibly proud of her work...(I did try to make some suggestions but she wasn't taking any of them because she thought it was perfect already.)

Jut decided to make one too.  They were going to work on them together...but mainly Jut worked on his after the kids were in bed one night.  But, to E, they were doing it together and that was awesome.  He called his, "The Original Ghost Busters".

So, they submitted their entries...and the patrons of the library voted for their favorites.  There were a lot of entries in the children and adult categories.  I think there were around 10 kid entries and even more adult ones.  E's entry was obviously done by a six-year old without adult 'help'.  There were many of the 'kid' entries that looked like they had substantial adult assistance.  There was another entry by a 6-year old that was completely covered in perfectly cut felt in coordinating colors.  It was a pretty house, but my 6-year old couldn't have mastered that!  By anyway, I digress...Jut got the call that they could come pick up their houses.

He went over and the ladies at the library told him to let E know that she had taken 4th place in the kids' category.  E was so excited to know that she took 4th when she was up against so many older kids.  She was ecstatic to know she did so well.  The library workers have all complimented her on her house as they have seen her since and congratulated her on her 4th place.  It makes her feel so proud of her work.  I'm thankful that people saw an honest 6-year old's work and appreciated the effort that SHE put into it.  It made my mommy's heart smile to see her hard work recognized and appreciated.

She's already got plans for next year's house.  She's hoping for 3rd place!  :)

X is 4!

X turned 4 on Saturday.  He and C had their b'day party that evening.  It was a good time.  Aunt Jenna, Lydia and G'ma Daron arrived on Friday evening.  So, they got to spend the entire day with us.  Aunt Stacey came to our house Saturday afternoon to take the b'day boy and E out on an errand...and they managed to weasel donuts and a trip to the park out of their generous aunt.  It was a wonderful day for my little guy.

Let's see...things that I want to remember about X at 4.  He is a wonderful older brother.  He has so much patience for C's antics.  They are playing together more and more.  It is fun to watch them together.  X is a good younger brother too.  He and E typically get along very well and have lots of fun with with their imaginative play.

This summer the kids started digging holes in the back yard.  I don't think our landlord will ever believe us that we never had a dog here.  There are so many holes out back.  X loves digging the holes.  After he gets it deep enough with a shovel, he brings all his construction type toys over and plays in the dirt.  He is undoubtedly a boy with his love for dirt!

X also decided that standing on his head was fun this summer.  He loves to run to the couch or a chair and pop upside down and stay there for a bit.  I thought it was kind of weird but I read in a book that it is a 'normal' phase for boys.  Go figure.

He learned he could climb the fence to climb into the cherry tree this fall.  He loves being up in the tree with E...but he can't get down.  So, it does lead to some issues.

The boy is still completely obsessed with Star Wars.  G'ma Daron got him a millennium falcon for his b'day and he loves it...although, he loves his Thomas and the Shark too...he'd been waiting for that for a LONG time.  So, although he loves Star Wars, Thomas is still a huge favorite.  The boys spent forever playing with their new play sets today that they received for their birthdays.

School is a favorite time of day.  Lately he's been asking me, "Mom, how can I be helpful today during school?"  That means, "I want something to do."  He has a dry erase maze book that he loves..but he enjoys the math manipulatives of tangrams, pattern blocks, unifix clubes, etc.  He can generally write an "A", "L" and "X"...so, we'll get his name one of these days.  He memorizes scripture with us...he can recite the books of the new testament.  He loves to add.

He's still my cuddler.  He wants morning cuddles.  Climbing into bed in the middle of the night still occurs.  He is just the sweetest little guy.  Whining is sometimes an issue, but we continue to work with it.  Its difficult being stuck in the middle!

We started 'commision' jobs this fall.  X is so reliable.  He does his jobs every day.  He always earns his full commission.  He is a dependable guy...and he likes to make mom happy.  But, I love his willing attitude to be a helper.

We'll see what age 4 brings us!  :)