Tuesday, October 2, 2018

August- Calvin and Alden's birthday and school starting

On our way home from Utah.  Dad drove home with me yet again.  He is a trooper to drive all of the way home with me and then just fly back especially when he really is scared of flying.  He always buys snacks for us and helps take all of the boys to the bathroom at stops and will gas up the car.  He really is a big help and I would have to say that this is probably his favorite part of these trips which is also helpful and that is rocking the babies while he sings them songs.  All of my kids have been rocked many a time by him while he sings hymns, songs in German, and other classics.


Baby ducks! We came at the right time to see the baby ducks that had just arrived not many days prior.  This was their first adventure outside.


Roslyn is becoming quite the mover.


First Day of school was the day after we took my dad to the airport.  It was a great summer and now we are all excited to start the new year! It was a busy first week, getting back into the swing of things, starting new piano lessons, and I just got a new calling to be over the young women in our ward; but we made it through and it was a great week!


The water is nice and warm now in the pool, so this little one has liked getting into the water with us.  She is such a sweet, happy baby and we enjoy having her apart of everything we do.
One of our summer goals this year was to help Benson learn how to ride a bike.  The summer was hot for one and we were gone a lot of it so it didn't really happen.  In the first week/ weeks of school we went for a walk most days and I'd walk with him on his bike then let go more and more and really within a few days of going for walks he was off on his own.  It is always so much fun to see one of my little ones accomplish a new skill, there is so much joy in learning and being able to do new things.  Once he got it he just wanted to go for walks every day to practice and enjoy using this new found skill. 
Roslyn in her car seat.  Michael and I both love to get her out of her car seat because when we do she just gets so excited and will start kicking her legs all over in excitement that we are going to get her our.  She is a fun and happy girl.



Calvin's birthday! Everyone was ready for a birthday and especially for Calvin.  Calvin is well loved by all of his brothers, he does a great job making sure to play with each one, and help each one feel special. Benson had wrapped a present with a number of his special things that he wanted to give to Calvin...he had wrapped it weeks in advance.  Alden worked for days making a scavenger hunt with Egyptian codes and hidden messages and then had made a comic strip at the end that he had made since Calvin likes comics.  Calvin had a great day playing roller coaster typhoon eating his favorite foods and going to Peter Piper Pizza.




Friday is art or activity day and this one activity I really enjoyed. Everyone had a string with glue on it that they let down on a piece of paper they then had to make that into an animal using other art mediums.  I loved the creativity and the things they chose to use for their animals and the best part was them telling about their animals.  They really made these animals come alive, their were ways to tell if it was a male or a female and different traits that each possessed.  They told about where the animal lived, what it ate and who it's predators were.  They also told what it did to deter predators and the life cycle.  If it was a mammal, bird, fish, and why and how it was categorized the way it was.  It definitely was a fun project for me to watch them do and I think they may have enjoyed it as well! :)

Alden's birthday!! Another fun and exciting day.  One of the perks of doing homeschool is that birthdays are automatically made holidays! The boys love having the day off and celebrating and doing anything they want to.  Alden got a new game and like Calvin spent the majority of the day playing rollercoaster typhoon.


Friday, September 21, 2018

2nd half of July- my family reunion


Extended Family reunion on my Dad's side.  My sister-in-law did an amazing job putting together a fun little song for the grandkids to sing for our talent.  It was fun to see them all singing and to see them all together.  It was neat to get to see and visit with my cousins, aunts, uncles that I hadn't seen for many years.

My immediate family reunion.  We found a cabin that all of us could fit in quite nicely.  We had a great time being together and making fun meals from all of our missions.  In this picture we are having a math competition trying to complete a number of math worksheets that my mom had saved.

Roslyn got to spend time being held by many of her aunts and uncles and nieces.





One activity that I thought would be neat was to pair up an older cousin with a younger cousin and have them read that cousin a story.  It worked out great and at least I thought it was a good activity.  It was fun to see the bigger cousins sitting down with one of their younger cousins reading them a story.



Roslyn with one of her cousins.









This is the van we have had for 8-9 years.  It was given to us by one of Michael's older brothers when they needed an 8 passenger van.  It was a great van and has worked really well for us.  It had 237,000 miles and finally gave up. It was going to cost more than it's worth to repair so we sold it for scrapes and got another van while we were in Utah.




After the reunion we spent some time at home with my Mom and Dad.  A lot of the time (2 days really) I spent buying, selling, and fixing our van.  Once done I wanted to do some fun things with our boys.  We went and visited Liberty Park, played and rode on the rides.  It was nice to enjoy the nice weather.









This is another one of the outfits I had as a baby.



Uncle Andrew always seems to find time for my boys.  He took all of them on different activities while we were there and made sure to read to them.

ReeRay. I probably spelled that wrong but this boy always makes me smile.  He seems to always be happy but has gone through so much.  He is a refugee here that can't talk or hear but just a great guy.


Going to hear music and the spoken word and visiting temple square.





Cleaning up the apples on the ground in the back yard.