YES GIRL

The last couple of days, Ben and the kids have been enjoying asking Kate questions. Her answer? Always a head nod to the affirmative. The game starts with questions like,"Do you want some milk?" And quickly progresses to "Do you want to go to bed?" once the boys realize every answer out of her is the head nod "Yes!" This morning Ben went straight for the big guns, just to test her. The question was "Can I smack you on the face super hard?" She gave him a little smile and nodded that it would be okay. He put his arms around her and said, "Of course I would never do that!" But it's nice to know she would be up for it.;)

I love these kids and watching them with our little Kate melts my heart. They look out for her and cuddle her and she trusts them to take care of her. She is learning to tickle and tease and play chase while they are learning what a special responsibility it is to be an older sibling. Olivia knows what a special relationship she and Kate will have since two sisters always stick together. She comes home from school and asks to go get Kate up from her nap. She talks about how she's going to take her shopping when she is older. Yesterday she was very surprised when Kate called her "Sissy" for the very first time. It was cute. Kate and Nic's relationship has really been growing lately and I am surprised how often they seek each other out. She can rough and tumble him and he just laughs. But then he can cuddle her with all the lover and tenderness in his heart and enjoy every second of it. Ben and Kate are two little buddies. Ben gets her out of bed every morning and brings her downstairs to watch cartoons with him. Often he gets her breakfast and they eat together. He chases her and she screams around like something is going to eat her. He lets her play (aka destroy) in his forts and has taught her to build blocks. He is so patient and shows his love for her in everything he does. I love it!

HOMEWORK

Kitty was "helping" her Sissy with homework tonight......XO

GRATITUDE

We are starting something new this year for the month of November..... A gratitude tree! Sure, it's the 11th already but we can catch up. I am hoping that it will give us a visual reminder of all the many blessings we enjoy every single day. We cut out a million leaves last night and the kids practically jumped into the leaf basket when it was time to get started. Nick kept saying "I just have so many things I am thankful for!" BINGO! I am thinking this tree will work out nicely.;)

First leaves of the season:

Nick- The 3 Godheads
Olivia- The weekend!
Ben- Water world
Jenn- Chris' yummy Sunday breakfast
Chris- Dr. Pepper

HEALTH NUT

While the rest of the kids are begging for sugar cereal and pop tarts, this little one has chosen a healthier diet. Ben and Nick had Sugar Puffs and peanut butter toast this morning... Kate fed her sugar puffs to the dog. Instead she had a scrambled egg, plain Greek yogurt with fresh raspberries, Kashi cereal and just a dash of honey. Other days she fights for MY breakfast, egg whites with spinach and peppers. Other than an occasional slice of turkey bacon, she doesn't eat any meat. And she loves Almond milk....

HARDWARE

In the last two weeks, both Olivia and Nick have entered the exciting world of orthodontia treatment. Unfortunately for both of them (or us, really) they have their mom's big teeth and their dad's tiny mouth. Olivia has a couple of years worth of work and then she'll be done forever. Little Nicky will have a longer road and wear braces twice. Both will be done by high school though so that's pretty nice. Of course they have been complaining about all of this but I know they are excited. Olivia's first comment to Ben after her expander was put in was, "Hey Ben, lemme show you something cool" as she opened her mouth and threw her head back. Nick couldn't wait to choose the colors of his bands today when his braces were put on. He went with the 49ers colors of red, black and gold. I think it's cute. I remember making retainers out of paper clips and thinking I was the bomb. (Then when it came time to actually start wearing headgear, that bomb exploded....;) Ask me where my retainer is today.... I have no idea.) The fun does wear off and Sissy had some sore days and tears last week but she is doing great. And the beautiful smiles they will have once it is all over will be worth it!

ADDENDUM: It's been seven hours since I wrote the post above....and the fun has officially worn off. Nick spent a good portion of his afternoon curled up in a blanket in his underwear, wailing. Apparently the kids at school made fun of him because he talks funny now and he is certain that, because of the low expander bar now in the roof of his mouth, he is going to starve to death. That worry didn't last long though.....he's already broken a brace off and I came home tonight to his expander in a plastic baggy. Heaven help this child's mother.....

TUTU

Kate wore this skirt for the first time today:

It was a very special day for me, seeing her little body dance around in the living room with it on. I screamed and cried nearly exactly two years ago today, when we first opened the wrapped box that held it. The fluffy pink tutu meant we had a healthy, perfect baby coming to our family. A miracle really. There was a time when I didn't think we would ever get our little angel. This little girl is our tiny, sweet, sassy beautiful girl and I don't know what our family would be like without her. I cried a few silent tears today as she fell asleep in my arms at nap time. Her little bare feet were crossed at the ankles like they always are and her hands were wrapped around the neck of her stuffed pig. Her little lips are perfect and her eyelashes are so ridiculously long. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father. She is His little one and because of His love, now she is mine too.

"CHURCH DAY"

This morning, Nick came down and asked if he had to shower today. I told him yes, it is Wednesday. (FYI, he is contracted to shower on MWF and SUNDAY.) Amost immediately, Ben blurted out, "Well I'm just glad it's not Sunday. I don't like Sundays! I don't like music games. I don't like to be quiet. I don't like to wear church clothes and I DON'T like to listen! I just like the candy....."

EIGHTEEN MONTHS

Little Miss Kitty is officially 1-1/2 years old! She is as sweet as ever, giving away kisses and loves any chance she gets. She is spending a good portion of her days getting into absolutely anything and everything she can find.....bathroom drawers, pantry snacks, dog food bowls, computer desk, you name it! She is screaming a lot, too, not because she is sad or mad but because it's fun! Her favorite place to be is outside wandering around and she has LOVED the hikes we have done as a family the last couple of weeks. Kate can out-walk the big kids! Her diet is completely meat-free, despite all I have done to try to get her to eat it. She'll even snarf down my spinach mushroom eggs before she'll touch a slice of turkey bacon. Today she was eating red pepper hummus and I wasn't sure what to think! She loves oatmeal with applesauce for breakfast, cheesesticks, chips, apples, oranges, bananas, crackers, chocolate milk, blackbeans, rice, Raman noodles, etc. so she is certainly not starving!

Her vocabulary is growing quickly, too. Her words at 18 months:
Dada
Momma
Hiiiii! (Hi. Used to greet everyone, including moving cars and strangers)
All done (either sign language or screaming)
Nana (banana)
Hot!
Pup pup (puppy)
Woof woof
Lo-la (and accompanying song)
Baby
Ewwww!
My! (mine!)

LOVES: Lola pig, dancing, going for walks, babies, hats, sitting in mommy's bathroom sink, wearing bras/undies like dresses, teasing her family whenever she gets a chance

HATES: going down for naps, being brought back inside the house, getting her hair fixed, being taken off the kitchen table or computer bench, anyone trying to feed her, washing her hair in the tub, when Charlie eats her cheese stick right out of her hand

I love this little sweetheart. As busy and sassy and independent as she is right now, I still wouldn't trade her for the world! She is my little buddy and seeing her smile and all those little teeth everyday just make me so happy!!

RUN

Tonight the Relief Society did a 5k walk/run/crawl. I started jogging about six weeks ago and had a goal to complete this baby without having to walk. I was smoked by several marathoners and an Iron Woman, but these legs kept on movin! It was a perfect night for a jog and I was glad I did it. Olivia was my cheerleader and held up a sign at the finish line that read, " YOU MADE IT!"

BREAKFAST

This morning when I came out of my bedroom, Ben said to me, "Mom, I made you your favorite for breakfast! My heart melted when I saw my toast, with banana slices so carefully arranged on the peanut butter. What a sweetheart. That boy knows his momma well. LOVE YOU BENNIE!!

LABOR DAY

This afternoon we met up with some friends from church and did a great hike. It wasn't far from our house and just BEAUTIFUL!! The rain stopped just as we were heading out so the weather was perfect. 

 There were tons of kids and everyone that passed us on the trail looked at us like we were crazy! "Kitty- the-hiker" had to walk her little legs off before she would even THINK about riding in the backpack. She scaled over rocks and tripped over logs but just got right back up and kept at it, happy as could be. It was about 2 mile climb up so eventually she did wear out!

At the very top, we climbed a million stairs to the Devils Head Fire Lookout. The view was gorgeous! There we met this little old man whose job it was to live in a little cabin up there and hand out little cards to everyone who climbed the tower. Chris told the guy he had the best job in the world and went on and on about how he would LOVE to have that job. Seriously, sitting alone on the top of a mountain? I couldn't handle that for a day....

By the time we made our way back down, we were all tired and every one of the kids had an injury of some sort. We  did see some great wildlife on the way out of the park...our car stopped twice to check out a huge herd of Elk and the car in front of us watched a baby black bear scamper up the side of a hill. We met up with the crew at  Chick fil a for dinner and then headed home. It was a wonderful afternoon with our new friends!

SCHOOL'S COOL

The kids have been back in school for a month now and they are really loving it. Olivia is adjusting to her very early start time of 7:25am.....nearly an hour and a half earlier than last year! She is doing really well with all the new responsibilities of middle school and the homework that goes with it. She loves her friends and lunch. She just got back from a three day outdoor education trip that the entire 6th grade class attends at Snow Mountain Ranch. It was her first time away from home and she had a blast!

  Nick is loving third grade, too. He is in one of two all-boy classes this year so that has been a little different for him but he likes it. (He just likes the ladies, too....) His teacher is absolutely amazing and has "her guys" as she calls them doing all kinds of really cool projects. They play "Reading Bingo" each week and the boys fill in a bingo card as they read in different places. In the photo above, he had to read in a bathtub with socks on in order to fill in his bingo spot for the day.

Kindergarten is treating this little fella well....look at that smile! He is ready to go with his handprint name tag on every single day. He is very serious about school and most days, reports back to me what he worked on in very good detail. He his learning quickly and loves homework. This picture was taken the morning before "Crazy Hair and Sock Day" when nothing but a mohawk would do.

While the big kids are in school, this little girl and I are buddies. I love it. She is so fun to haul around to the gym, grocery store and where ever else we need to go. She is happy and chatty and says hello to everyone she sees. On the days when we are at home, she just wanders around in her jammies, looking for snacks and things to get in to. Lola Pig and Charlie are her best friends.

ESTES PARK

On Saturday morning, three days after all the kids have been quaranteened for Whooping Cough, we were getting a little stir crazy. With nothing going on and no church assignments, we decided to hit the road. Chris booked a hotel room for us in Estes Park, we threw some clothes in backpacks and were outta here.

 The drive was a beautiful and one we hadn't taken before. We knew it was going to be a good time when we saw this little black bear on the side of the road. We also realized Chris really is the Wildlife Specialiest he claims to be since he spotted this guy. Too bad our car startled him and he took off!

 After we checked in at the YMCA of the Rockies, we headed to Rocky Mountain National Park. We found this beautiful lake and spent an hour of so walking around it. Little Kitty was the biggest hiker in the family. She wouldn't ride in the backpack for anything and those little legs walked miles by the time the weekend was over.

 It was getting close to sun down as we left the lake and the Wildlife Specialist was sure there were elk to be found. We came to this strange little unmarked dirt road and he said, "Right here. I need to turn here." I was thinking he was a nut case until we came around a bend and there was a little coyote near the road. The van exploded with excitement. And just past the coyote was a huge heard of elk. Seriously. He didn't need encouragement. Now the kids think he is magical.....

 We had dinner in town at a great little place. We were starved after hiking and all ordered cheeseburgers. The lady brought us a brand new bottle of ketchup when our food arrived and it wasn't even ten minutes later and the bottle was empty. These guys eat ketchup on their ketchup! After dinner we found an ice cream shop and then headed back to hit the hay for the night. The next morning we were up early for breakfast and the kids signed up for all kinds of adventure classes. That is what is so great about the Y...all these fun things are included with your room! Ben is crazy for crafts and loved his rock class and an animal tracks class, Nick and Liv did Archery and a compass orienteering class and then they all met up for a survival basics class.

 In between classes, we grabbed lunch and played a round of mini golf. Nick was in heaven.

 After wailing that tiny little ball several times, Dad stepped in to help Livi with her swing.

 And Kitty just hopped from rock to rock, swung her plastic baby golf club all over and picked up our balls a million times.

 Later on we spent some time at the playground, where mom amazed the family with her skillz on the playground bars. Still cameras were not allowed at the performance.

 We found out Kate loves beavers. Especially ones that don't move and let her rub her hands all over their fur. And eyes.

The happy camper crafter let me know early in the day that he would need a picture by this thing.

It was amazing....we were only gone 24 hours but it felt like a week-long vacation. Everyone was happy. It was adventurous and relaxing and just what this crew needed. We drove home through the park and saw some amazing views at nearly 13,00 feet! The mountains were absolutely breath-taking and we can't wait to get back up there soon!

SEVENTEEN MONTHS

Little miss Kitty is 17 months tomorrow. She is SUCH a doll! She has found her sassiness and isn't afraid to let it show. She has figured out that a high-pitched scream gets everyone's attention really quick so often times she just lets it rip for fun. She knows a little sign language but as of late has decided she likes to scream for whatever she needs instead.;)

She wanders all over the house, getting into the Tupperware drawer, the bathroom sink, Charlie's water dish and mom's make up several times a day.

She just started crawling up on things... The kids aren't too thrilled that she can now make her way up onto the computer bench to sit/bother the heck out of them while they're playing!

She loves her Charlie and Lola pig and even started singing the "Lola" song this week. She gasps at things that make her happy- which is pretty much everything-and it is the cutest thing ever! It makes my day if I walk into a room and she gasps with excitement like, "Oh, there you are! What a surprise!"

Just today I was doing laundry and she was trying on clothes.... But ONLY the underwear and bras! At one point she had Chris' undies around her waist and was toddling around the house. Later she had two of Olivia's bras on and was getting mad that they were all tangled around her. I have no idea how she finds the undergarments like she does but almost daily she is wearing someones's unmentionables!

This week Olivia got out one of her old baby dolls and Kate has been playing with it almost nonstop. The baby is almost as big as her and she gets SO huffy when that baby won't sit in the stroller the right way. It is absolutely hilarious to watch her play and fuss over that little doll. Yesterday I tried to move the stroller out of the way and she got upset me with for touching her baby! Goofy girl.

For as sassy as she is, she is just as sweet. She is very cuddly and sweet and gives away kisses to just about everyone. Everyone except Nick, that is. It's a rare day when she will give him a kiss!

LOVES: bananas, books and climbing stairs.

HATES: getting her diaper changed, getting out of the tub, and going down for naps.

WORDS: dada, momma, Lola, "numa numa" (drink or sippy). She talks all the time, we just don't know what she's saying!!

HAIL

We have had two totally crazy hail storms this summer. The first one was in June when Chris was out of town. We were trying to Skype with him during the storm but the hail hitting the roof was so loud he couldn't hear us. Fours hours and a tornado warning later and it was over. It cause all kinds of damage (new roof, new paint for deck and windows, new gutters, etc.) and many hours of yard work so we weren't too happy to see the second one. Even the kids said, "Oh man, that means A LOT of yard work....!" It was however fun to see them playing in it and to look out and see the trees and yard just as white as if it were snow! Ben filled bag after ziplock bag of hail and attempted to "store" it all in my freezer to make ice sculptures....it was a sad day when the hail got tossed out!

BEN

This little fella has been such a stinker the last month or so! He is as cute as can be but NAUGHTY! I think it must have to do with the big kids being home for the summer...it has thrown off his life a little. We have been running to keep up with their schedules and he just gets drug along. So to entertain himself, he has mastered teasing Nick to the point of tears, is driving Olivia crazy and whining/lying/not listening to me the rest of the time. I am going to try to give him a little more personal attention and see of that helps him to feel better. He is such an easy going, happy boy that it is hard to see him so out of sorts! Momma loves you Benny Boy!

Gem of the day: Tonight, while out to dinner, Ben turns to Nick and says, "Your face looks like your butt. No offense." See...NAUGHTY!