Friday Phone Pics

Not to much excitement over here this week. I haven't had all four kids so it's been rather quiet. I started the week not feeling so good. I am still really tired but feeling better. Here are my favorite phone pics from the week.

We made puppets yesterday and IJ was very proud of his. He helped and everything.

Apparently IJ really needed to stand there because he moved the bottom rack off the dishwasher himself...

One night I went in to check on E before I went to bed and this is what was lined up along side his bed. He is so funny.

The weather was nice enough we even got to swing outside for a bit...Ethan spent his time driving his tractor around. He sure loves that thing.

Hope everyone has a great Friday!!

First Time...

Last week for the first time I left Isaac for 26 hours. I had to go to Portland for a quick trip. I left Monday at 630 pm and returned Tuesday at 1030 pm. Jon took off work on Tuesday to stay home with the kids. They both loved having Jon home all day to them self, I don't think I was missed all that much. But that is a good thing.

The trip was ok, I get nervous traveling by my self so my stomach hurt almost the whole trip. I flew on one of those small planes with propellers. On the way there is was a smooth flight but I was sitting right by the propeller so my chair vibrated the whole time. My rear end was numb when I got off lol. On the way back I sat on the last seat of the plane, that was special. At one point it was so bumpy I almost landed in the guys lap next to me. luckily he almost ended up in the isle, so it was okay.

This was my rental car haha. It was so small, my dad is longer than the car. Shoot...I am longer than this car probably. I had to bend down to look out the windows. I went through a large mud puddle on accident and I thought the car was going to drown. It made me laugh every time I thought of the car though. And I drove all over without getting lost (we wont mention I brought our GPS haha). But all in all it was a good trip. I survived.

The boys loved being home with Jon all by themselves. They built trains and Jon took them swimming at the Y. Such a good dad. It was nice to know they were being taken such good care of.

15 Months

It's really hard to believe Isaac is 15 months already. I sure do love this stage though, they are so cute, full of energy and love to learn new things.

• Talking, I thought Ethan was a good talker at this age...so I pulled out his scrapbook and his list is about 1/3 of Isaac's lol. I can't believe how much Isaac communicates. We did more sign language with him so maybe that is it. But we just talk to our kids and have conversations with them, I think that is a lot of it. This is words he says regularly..not words he will try to repeat if you tell him to (because he does that too)

         Words: Momma, Dadda, Bro-bur (Brother), Grandma, Bapa, Maddie, Bubby (Brady), Papa, hot,
         please, thank you, share, no, eat, cheese, milk, water, baby, nanna (banana), ball, help, uh-oh,
        oh-no, amen, Jesus, choo choo, shoes, here go (for here you go), stuck, yucky, football, bye bye,
        wave, bath, hi, all done, sorry and blanket.  That is 38 words!!
 
       Amen and Oh -no and two of the cutest ones.

• He knows where his head, tummy and feet are
• He can give high fives and knuckles
• Loves the water and loves swimming. Bath time is his favorite time of the day.
• Loves to play anything Ethan is, especially trains
• Eats about 5 times a day. (And I mean 5 meals, this doesn't include snacks he sometimes asks for)And if anyone is eating he will join you. He doesn't like to be served different food than anyone else either. He always looks at our plates to make sure we have the same thing. If we don't, they he doesn't eat his food and he wants yours. He tries everything and anything. Nothing like Ethan. He has a sweet tooth and loves desserts. He had his first sucker on valentines day and he is pretty sure he should have one every day.
• Follows directions very very good. He will throw something away if you tell him to, if you tell him to bring something to daddy or mommy he will.
• So very curious, he is into EVERYTHING! Toilets are his favorite, especially if he has time to put toilet paper in the toilet then pull the paper out and smash it on his head or the wall. He throws remotes in the trash, opens every last drawer and cupboard in the house daily and loves to play in the pantry while I am cooking.  Right now he is throwing his basketball in the trash can and saying uh-oh so Ethan will come get it out. :)
• He watches everything we do and amazes us with how he tries to copy. Jon always uses q-tips every morning...now Isaac has to do the same thing.
• Loves to play basketball with Ethan and daddy, especially when daddy lifts him up to put the ball in the hoop.
• He is finally a good sleeper. Only took 13.5 months lol. But now he sleeps about 11 hours. WAHOO!
• Is becomming more and more of a daddy's boy. Loves to have daddy get him up in the morning, I do it all wrong now.
• Loves his bro-bur a lot. I love watching these two play together. 
• Wants to go outside all day long. Even if it's windy and 20 degrees. 
• Must sleep with the same blanket, and asks for it. 
• Still sleeps with a pacifier, but he has to go to bed with one in his mouth and one in each hand.  
• Gives kisses and hugs if you ask for them.

I can't wait to see what kinds of trouble this kid has in store for us. He is smart, quick and sweet.

Happy Birthday Ethan

We celebrated Ethan's 5th birthday this weekend. It was a nice party with just my family and Jon's family. He wanted a Lego party so that is what we did. We kept it pretty simple, all the decorations I made from paper. He got a Lego rocket, a Lego trash truck, a Lego airplane, roller blades, a volcano making kit (he is fascinated by volcano's), fire man boots, mickey mouse rocket (which he love love loves), some clothes and Jon's parents spoiled him with his own driving tractor. He was very spoiled for his birthday this year.

This and That with the Cousins

It's been a while since I talked about all the kids. Things here are going really good. I finally feel like we have a good routine and Isaac is done nursing which is so helpful. I am doing some preschool with Ethan and Maddie while Isaac naps in the am. I have a feeling his am naps are about over so I will have to get creative. I like being able to help them and sit down with them. Ethan will start school this fall so I am trying to help him be ready. So far he knows all of his letters and he knows the sounds of almost all of them as well. We are working on numbers now.

Isaac and Brady and quite the pair. Some days they play really good together, others they steal toys and give each other dirty looks ha ha. Isaac is making up for the fact that he is the littlest one in the bunch and is usually the one stealing toys or knocking people over. I think he is going to give me a run for my money.

I keep seeing other blogs with pictures on Fridays. Someday I will have the time to actually figure out what instagram is. I use my phone to take pictures of the kids all the time and they go no where but other peoples phones. I don't have a smart phone...I call mine the dumb phone lol. But since I quit work I can't quite justify the additional money each month. So I thought I'd share my low quality highlights of our week. It will be a good way to remember all the fun we have during the day. And if the low quality bothers you...feel free to contribute to my new phone fund. :)

Scene One: On Wednesday morning I was making breakfast and Brady started pointing saying "I-Zak..I-Zak..I-Zak"-

...

Scene two: I went to find Isaac and found him hiding in the bathroom eating a banana he stole from Brady's plate lol lol lol. It was hilarious. He had to go give it back.

Tuesday lunch together. Don't judge my paper plates, I had already run two loads through the dishwasher that morning...

Ethan wanted to address his own birthday invitations. So he wrote every ones names on the envelope and I added the address...

If you have been to Krispy Kreme lately there is a truck parked outside and part of the word doughnuts is missing. So it reads "Eat Krispy Kreme Doug". My dad finds this very funny and sends pictures of it all the time. So I made him his own hat lol. Oh his name is Doug if you didn't know that. :)

Ethan had to get a filling for a tooth that came in with a defect. I am so proud of how well he did. We have been taking him to the dentist since he was two and I am glad because he does really good. After we left he goes "well that wasn't so bad mom...it is still not a lot of fun, but it wasn't bad". I think that sums up every ones feeling of the dentist.

And this silly boy...just cause he is cute. :)



That was so much fun. I love looking back and the pictures from my phone.

The North Pole

For the last three years we have been able to take the boys (well it was just Ethan the first year) on a train ride to the North pole. It's become one of Ethan's favorite Christmas traditions. The first year we went with friends and the last two years Jon's family has taken us. It's become a nice tradition. Ethan actually talked to Santa this year. And he was very impressed with Ethan's list because Ethan had very specific details on what he wanted lol. I know it is a bit late...but it's still worth remembering.

Ethan wanted his picture right up by the train wheels lol. He had to inspect them first though. And we had to hurry because you're not supposed to get that close. Although the train was not on or anything so I don't see why it was such a big deal. But I suppose there are always irresponsible people out there.

I am one lucky girl...

Ethan is so good with Isaac. I love this picture...

Helping brother back...

It was such a nice time. I hope we can do it again next year.

Trouble

Trouble is this kids middle name lol...He is always getting into something. Wouldn't trade him for anything though. Here is some proof: