Monday, October 31, 2011

Halloween 2011

Halloween this year was busy and full of sugar.
Wesley: Davy Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean
Austin: Angel of Death
Isaac: Knight
Levi: Camoflauge hunter
Jared: Cowboy
Adrienne: Medusa

We loved the church trunk or treat and the weather was warm! The Souder's had a spookylicious Halloween party, including a costume parade and fear factor (where Wesley tried dog food, tofu and said NO to a live cricket).

Carving pumpkins the NIGHT of Halloween! It was a bit stressful, but Jared did a great job and the boys were excited about their happy and scary faces. I really loved our spiderweb lights outside and Mr. Bones hanging from the doorway.

Trick or treating in the neighborhood with the Ashton's was fun too. We strolled from house to house and I kept telling Jared, "Look at us! We are here with our own little family...doing it all for them and creating memories!" I sometimes have those "reality checks" where I see myself as a mother of FOUR and think, "How did I get here?" We indulged on sugar cookies, counted up the candies afterwards and went to bed WAY later than normal.

A good Halloween.














Thursday, October 27, 2011

catch up





Levi:
Hazel eyes, very alert, sweet double chin, drooling, naps on belly, loves to smile and coo, 3 months about 15 lbs, size 2 diaper, not sleeping through the night, first few tears when cries.

Isaac: potty training (again), loves to repeat words...anything you say! He recognizes colors. Loves to wear anything that is like a superhero "green: Hulk, red: spiderman, etc" Listening to music at night that has a violin reminds him of Woody, and the drums, Diego. Serious meltdowns in the morning and after naptime. LOVES his Superman toy and takes him everywhere, with his trusty sidekick, "lion." Today he kept telling me, "I want lunch!" but I couldn't figure out what that meant! Quesadilla? Sandwich? Cheese? Cereal? no....he kept crying...we settled for "toast."

Austin: Stubborn or sweet! Wanted to get rid of him at the local Goodwill yesterday. Told him to change his attitude or I would leave him with the workers. He got out of the car, climbed into the Goodwill truck and sat there! That was not supposed to happen! He is supposed to be scared of doing things like that. Told him I would sell him for 3 bucks. He didn't mind!

Trying to find things to motivate him to STOP talking at school and getting on "yellow." This week, it meant putting up a "No talking" sign on his desk and the reward? A badge that says, "good student." Ironically, by making that sign he stayed up later, 9pm...so the next day he got put on yellow for doing the "chicken dance" during math time...a result of not sleeping enough! :(

Wesley: Thinks mom is sneaky these days b/c I ate one of his donuts over the weekend. He was in big crocodile tears b/c of it saying that, "Just b/c you're the mom, doesn't mean you can eat whatever you want! You didn't even save me a bite!" I was caught red handed and didn't know it was his!

Recently he told me has "no friends" at school. That broke my heart. Now we are working on how to "be a friend" and invite others to play with him at school. I see Wesley's good heart and I know he is a sweet boy...but, that doesn't mean that he shares that with others at school. He did make principal's list with straight A's! He is also really excited for baseball season...and beating kids at tetherball is a daily goal.


Adrienne: busy busy busy; having four kids has thrown me off a bit. The expectation of TRYING to be a "good mom" is really hard at times. I am doing my absolute best to do all of the "check off lists," yet I still feel so scrambled up: Give the boys one on one attention daily, do family prayers and scripture study, sit down on the floor with Isaac and listen to him talk about Hulk, or how he is "strong" (as he takes his shirt off), help them with homework, give them fresh air and exercise outside, make homemade meals, comb their hair and help floss, wash their clothing, smile at them and give them kisses, etc. It's all so much all the time and all so demanding!!! Sometimes I just want 10 min. of SILENCE and no one around so I can get my thoughts together.

This morning for example, as Isaac is screaming over Austin touching his toast at the breakfast table, I am trying to stay patient and read the scriptures. "Learn about Korihor and why faith is so important!" I was yelling out over Isaac's meltdown cries. All of this is happening while I am also trying to make Jared's turkey wraps for lunch, feed Levi on just one side (no time for both), give Wesley and Austin a little bit of "spiritual" food, and not lose it emotionally!

Mornings are spent at the gym, running errands, doing play dates or cleaning. I find that my afternoons/evenings are packed with homework, supplemental "mom" homework (reading or Saxon math workbooks), teaching a piano lesson or two, trying to motivate WESLEY to practice piano, calming down a mad Isaac (with a Buzz Lightyear movie), prepping dinner before 5pm (feeding missionaries once a week), just ended soccer/football season and starting up a baseball "coach pitch" season with two practices a week, doing my Spanish class once a week, trying to maintain sanity between all the taunting/fighting/crying/tattle telling that happens with three active boys, NURSING, and the list goes on and on and on with dishes, vacuuming, laundry, etc. My poor blog is suffering, not to mention the nagging feeling of wanting to catch it up!

Jared: started new job with Merrill Lynch and is studying full time daily for a huge Series 7 insurance test in a few weeks, ward mission leader and busy doing mom's honey 'do' lists at home, purchasing things for our home and breaking up boy fights! lol

Monday, October 10, 2011

Oceanside, Cali

For Fall Break this year we squeezed in a quick trip to the beach, Oceanside California. I sure did feel like a parent in many aspects...as we were constantly feeding, packing water in a stroller for thirsty boys and disciplining in public.

Day One: packed up our tight fitted Highlander. Levi was a MESS driving with for the 6 + hours it took to arrive. Granted, we did stop in Yuma for some lunch and several potty breaks on the side of the road, but our GPS took us the LOOOONG way to the hotel. Seriously! Levi ended up nursing and sleeping on me in the front seat. Made me SOOO nervous, but we could only handle his screaming after 30 minutes until we caved in and let him loose. We arrived at the local Wal Mart to do some shopping for our food. The boys were starving and we got some necessities; yogurts, milk, eggs, tortillas and lunch meat. I remember feeling out of place as we all had on flip flops (fresh from AZ heat) and everyone else had on long pants and jackets.

Day Two: Played in the sunshine and then hit up the local Mario's Donut Shop. INCREDIBLE donuts to say the least. Jared's traditional "Daddy Donut Date" was a hit with the boys. They love having their treat with dad, and I just loved sinking my teeth into the homemade goodness. I am still craving one!

We went to the San Diego Safari Zoo for the day (while we waited for the Boley's to arrive). Admission was free for kids during the month. It was such a huge area with animals roaming freely amongst each other. We loved seeing the natural beauty of these safari animals! I carried Levi the ENTIRE time b/c we hadn't prepared with a carrier. Good thing he is still under 14 lbs and a good baby. The weather was perfect, the boys were hyper and had an occasional meltdown. We were prepared with tortilla wraps and snacks, and I hope they will remember what it was like to see a real Cheetah racing, or a rino hanging out with the giraffes.

Met up with the Boley's for some pizza. Took a walk on the boardwalk. Chilly weather, beautiful waves, intimidating dark pier (I was afraid the boys would fall over the edge!), crazy teenagers running a muck and my favorite dulce de leche frozen yogurt.

Day Three: Went to an LDS church meeting. Took up an entire row with all 8 boys and 4 parents. Then... OCEAN! SAND! SUN! Played hard all day on the beach. Took naps in the chairs. Lots of pictures and boogie boarding. FREEZING water (not like I would know! I stayed dry with Levi on my lap). Leslie's yummy Chicken White Bean Chili for dinner after a splash in the hot tub to warm up. Talking until 10pm. SO FUN.

Day Four: Morning fun at the ocean, until lunch time. Quickly ate some left overs, packed and cleaned up the condo, sprayed off the boys from all their sand and headed back to AZ. A long drive back with a crying baby Levi, and a miscommunication with Jared and I over his phone charger...and lots of DVD's for the boys in the back seat.

Road trips are awesome! I feel so lucky to take the boys on vacation and I really like parenting with Jared amidst all the crazy ups and downs and free flowing schedules :)










r