A little one on one time

After Ladies Bible Class on Tuesday we come home and immediately lay Gibson down for a nap.  Afternoon naps use to be a precious time for me because I could get a lot done but these days we’ve let Channing give up her afternoon nap.  We use to have her go to her room for quiet time but she’d play for about an hour and then sometimes go to sleep and sometimes not.  It’s normally during the time the boys are finishing up school and it didn’t seem to be that big of a deal that she was up so I began letting her skip her nap.  That means that Tuesday afternoons we have a few hours to ourselves.  Instead of working on the list of chores I need to keep up with we played her choice of pop up pirate.  She cheers every time the pirate pops up.  Pretty sure that’s the exact opposite of winning but she was having fun regardless.

New shirt

Vicki ordered this cutie shirt for Channing for Valentine’s Day.  This day I was at Linden’s game on my own because Stefan was out of town doing the Tough Mudder.  (He might need to share about that himself.)  It was beautiful weather and I was thankful.  3 children ran around the field while one played flag football.

As promised

Gramma Gicki and Pa have stopped buying gifts for our children (thank you very much, they don’t need a thing) and have instead planned quality time with them, it works because they live in town.  The boys were owed a date from Christmas and we finally had a weekend that they could take them.  The boys thoroughly enjoyed their time at Incredible Pizza and came home with lots of stories and good memories.

A big deal

Channing has earned these puppies, all it took was her pooping in the potty 5 times and she got them.  Today I went to Costco and didn’t have to buy diapers for one child.  That’s huge.  We’ve had two in diapers for a very long time, like years, like lots of years.  We just got a pay raise!

Heading to school

While the boys were waiting for Sarah the other morning I took a quick picture because they looked like they were moving they had so much stuff.  Since they are learning about the solar system Hadley had his telescope, backpack, lunch box and bag with his shoes for PE.  It looked like he was leaving for a long time.  I’m glad they came home.

I’m thankful

Thankful for the rain we had that kept me up all night and made for a PILE of muddy shoes by the back door.  I’m also thankful that my children remembered to at least take them off before coming into the house.  I guess I should also be thankful for the showers everyone was able to take after being outside for only 15 minutes because they needed them.

The stuff I rarely get to do

When I check out blogs about homeschooling I always think that some of the activities or crafts people do with their kids about their lessons are awesome and if I was homeschooling full time I’d be able to do that.  However, I probably need to be real with myself and know that having all 4 kids home all day every day would also wear on me and while school has been challenging this year, it’s been good for all of us.  The boys are learning about the solar system in school I saw this giant solar system cookie on a blog and I was sold.  Baking and teaching, yup, we’re doing it. 

Linden’s first game

Sunday was Linden’s first day at flag football.  It’s a little bit different program this time.  There are real coaches who teach the kids different drills and skills then they break into two teams and scrimmage.  It’s a perfect situation for Linden and he loved it.

You’ve got to laugh

Channing and I were going to costco and she found a sunscreen stick in the car and asked if she could put it on.  Sure, I guess it’s sunny outside, it’s not going to hurt anything.  A little ways down the rode I look back at her and it looks like she’s getting a good coating of sunscreen all over her face but then I do a double take and realize she’s got a marker in her hand.  Ummm…. not sure when she changed to the marker or why but we went into Costco styling with some yellow marker all over her face.

The game

The kids got a lot of new games for Christmas.  It’s been fun working our way through them.  One of the games is like charades for kids.  They pick a card which has a picture on it and then act it out.  Even Channing could play.  Here she is acting out taking a shower.

These two

 

Enough said.

The school project

While I don’t love the Family Keepsake Journal that we have to do at school, it does have some good features.  One of those is interviewing one of your family members.  Linden chose to interview Grammy so we skyped her.  It just happened to be a day of record snowfall in Seattle and the kids got to see all the snow outside via her laptop.  It was quite exciting and Grammy was a good sport to take us around her living room and show us the outside from each of her windows.

Sitting in my lap

I went outside today and saw Gibson and Channing like this.  I asked what they were doing and she told me Gibson was sitting in her lap.  The funny thing was he was gladly playing with some sticks on the ground while she was holding him like he was her baby.

Checkers

Thanks to youtube, we got a  tutorial on how to play checkers and had a very intense game.  I won, but barely.  I’m sure there will be a rematch.

Our big boy

I’m looking over the week and am realizing that I took a lot of pictures of Hadley which doesn’t happen often so I’m posting them all.  On Sunday while Stefan was watching football, Hadley climbed into his lap.  It was a really sweet moment and it struck me because he’s our big kid and he fights me when I kiss him goodnight or show him affection but there was not a moments hesitation when crawling into Stefan’s lap just like he did when was Gibson’s age.  At the same time it won’t be much longer and he won’t do it anymore.  Consider yourself lucky Stefan that he loves you so!

First basketball game

Hadley had his first ever basketball game this Saturday.  He did awesome and while having practice on Tuesday at 5 stinks, I really like the program.  He played hard out there and loved every minute!

Pretending to be dead

He can put on a good show.  Too bad the grin gives him away. You can get a good view of those big boy teeth though.

Shaving

She has watched the boys shave with their shaving kits over and over again and recently she has taken to shaving with their stuff by herself.  While I was working on dinner she was calling for help because she needed a towel to wipe off the excess shaving cream she had spilled.  Stefan found her like this and ran back for my camera. 

Caramelitas

Um, quite possibly one of the best desserts I’ve had in awhile.  Thank you pinterest and Linden for helping me unwrap all those caramels.

 

Caramelitas

32 caramel squares, unwrapped
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
Combine caramels and cream in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until completely smooth; set aside. In a separate bowl, combine melted butter, brown sugar, flour, oats, and baking soda. Pat half of the oatmeal mixture into the bottom of an 8x8" pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over crust. Pour caramel mixture over chocolate chips. Crumble remaining oatmeal mixture over caramel. Return to oven and bake an additional 15-20 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting.
*A stint in the fridge will help them cool off if you're pinched for time. They shouldn't be served cold, but all of that molten caramel takes a long time to cool down. They should be stored and served at room temperature.
**To make a 9x13" version, simply double the amounts.

Still getting some use out of them

Yes we are.  We are getting our money out of them for at least the 2nd time if not the third. He might like cars almost as much as Linden did.  He also really likes balls the way Hadley did.  And the shoe thing…. it’s all Channing I guess. 

All bundled up

The weather these days changes from cold to hot and back to cold again.  Channing got a new hat and coat from my parents for Christmas.  Doesn’t she look cute all bundles up?

A whole team of help

Troy showed up at 8:30 in the morning ready to start the day building.  He and Stefan worked until a little after 4 but when it came to decking one side of the treehouse (because this is just one side of it) the boys were ready for their chance.

Surprise delivery

 

No we are not building another story, this is wood being delivered for the tree house Stefan is building in the backyard.  We were working on piano and heard a truck outside.  I thought it was down the street but Hadley looked out the window to find it in our driveway.  Stefan had just forgotten to tell me they were delivering the wood.  When you “need” this much it’s a lot easier having it delivered than picking it up from Home Depot!

Poor parenting

Uh huh, that’s us, we let our 4th child get down from the dinner table before everyone else is done eating.  Tonight he decided to hop back to the table and give Linden some love.

Fort building-it’s not just for boys

 

She has learned how to build forts well and can put one together with the best of them.  The only problem is that she regularly drags her blankets outside and has left them out there a time or two. The other day it was big baby and of course it rained that night.  Believe it or not, she didn’t cry about it and big baby is still drying in the laundry room.

First basketball practice

Hadley had been asking to play basketball for awhile and I kept putting it off hoping he’d let it go but he didn’t.  Here he is ready for his first practice, styling in those new basketball shoes.

It shouldn’t surprise me

 

We went for a bike ride at the park and this time Channing wasn’t all that into it so after we did one ride around the park, Stefan took the boys back around while we played at the park.  Gibson wanted nothing to do with the smaller slides, he was all about the big one and continued to climb up the ladder only to come flying down the tall slide. 

Say what?!?!

I did it?  I actually accomplished something that I set out to do and blogged a picture for 322 days out of the year!  I’m proud of myself and I think I may just try again.  How about we start today?  Great.

I hadn’t taken a picture yet and this boy was wearing me out and looking oh so cute in my headband so I got out my camera.  I’m not sure what his deal is at the moment.  He hardly slept at all last night since it was like a war zone outside our house with all the fireworks going off.  We would have enjoyed them had I not had a little guy yelling “boom,boom” from his bed and not sleeping.  He’s still a little terrified to go to bed at the moment thinking that fireworks are going to be going off.  It took him a little over 30 minutes to go to sleep tonight.  Sheesh.  It’s hard not to feel sorry for him and I know he’s tired but he’s making life rough.  It’s a good thing he’s cute (headband and all).