11/5/15

September

 Wonder if it's legal to kill one of these wild turkeys if theyre in your yard. Hm......
 More trips to the cabin.  Adam has been up there almost every weekend, busy with SO MANY PROJECTS. 
 We joined daddy for one of his trips, so we could check out the progress.
 Getting super dirty and building bridges over daddy's trenches.

 Ava was super nervous about coming down the hill. 
 Noah got a bigger cello, and I got Mary's to learn with Noah, so now we have 3 cello's hanging out in our living room.  These are NOT small instruments. 
 
Noah's new cello came in this box that looked just like a coffin. 
 The kids were asking to watch a movie, so I told them they could if they could hold a handstand for 10 seconds.  They practiced for over an hour.  After a few minutes they forgot about the movie and were completely focused on seeing how long they could hold these.
 The kids wanted to use their chore coins to got to a pottery painting place.  Grant picked a tea pot so he could pour his own water at the dinner table.

 The finished products.  Our coin system has really brought out their saving habits.  Noah is my saver - when it comes to buying something, he usually opts out and decides he doesn't need it.   Ava is my carefree spender and earner - she doesn't really care about earning or spending her coins.  Grant is my spender to the max - he wants everything and usually has no coins because the minute he gets them he wants to spend them.  He's usually got a loan out to Ava when he really wants to do something and has run out of coins. Ha! 
 My first born had a birthday in September.  9!!!  Can't believe it's been that long.  Started with the birthday breakfast of choice - poached eggs and toast for this boy.
 
Opening presents.  He got this little RC car (broke 2 days later, because Ava put it in the pool) and some binoculars.
 Charlotte made him this little adventure pouch and also a prairie dog tail.  He thought it was pretty awesome.
 He took chocolate crinkle cookies to his class.
 One of his favorite dinners - crab legs and biscuits.
 No fancy cake this year.  Instead we opted for Dairy Queen Ice Cream cake.
 Sure love this boy of mine.  He drives me crazy a lot of the time, but that makes his snuggles and sweet times that much more enjoyable.
 We were so thrilled when Aunt Emily said she wanted to come hang out with us for a few days.   We got to meet baby Jack and play with Ollie too.
 It was so fun having a baby in the house, especially one that I didn't have to get up at night with.
 Jack fit perfectly in my old, now Ava's, baby doll crib.
 Grant loved seeing Ollie at kindergarten pick up.
Trying to capture a smile.
Lots of extra hands trying to capture that smile.
Ollie, I don't think that's going to make him smile. :)
We treated ourselves to a little custard and italian ice.  Not quite the same as Luna's, but still good.
Got to finally use my big kitchen sink for what it's made for, bathing babies.
Jack sure was loved while he was here.


Their Saturday chore reward was a reptile show in Sac.  Em was thrilled, I'm sure.  She's got 3 boys now, so she'll get used to this stuff quickly.  My kids loved it, of course, and wanted to bring one of every creature home.

Doesn't this creature look like a real dragon?!


Cutest little turtles
For my mom - pretty amazing butterfly collection.
Noah holding a millipede.
Noah holding a stick bug - cool bugs.
Freaky bat




Em did a cute scavenger hunt for the kids after they got home from school.  Grant was mad because Noah got to the clue first.  It was like this at every clue. :)
The prize was Kripie Kreme donuts - because supposedly my kids are deprived because they rarely get donuts.   They were more than thrilled. 
Sad our visit had to come to an end.  Dropping Em and the boys off at the airport.  Thanks again for coming.  We LOVED having you!!!
Adam and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary in September.  I don't really care for cut flowers, and he usually sticks to plantable flowers, but it was a nice surprise.  He also brought home a yummy chocolate cake for Ettores.  We had plans to go out to dinner sometime, but still haven't.   It's been a busy few months. 
Ava's class does a themed activity day each month, so I went in to help for Septembers Johnny Appleseed day.  My station was an apple smile (apples, icing and marshmallows), caramel apples and apple cider.
They made apple hats, made an apple book, apple craft and 1 other station I can't remember.  So glad my kids have such amazing teachers. 




4 comments:

mammasweet said...

Now, Summer, Nobody took a picture of you! I can't believe you are learning Cello with Noah. Who practices more often? Baby Jack is just precious. I saw him for a minute in her arms here in Hurricane. Some people just get the boys! Jana and Beth just get the girls!

Ty * April said...

Love it! I didn't know you were learning Cello too. That's awesome. Loved the flowers. I am starting another chore chart. Give me the run down again on your chore chart. How they earn coins, etc. Also what is a Saturday chore reward? I need to know it all. I want to see how your system is compared to what I have concocted in my head and I don't think my kids are responsible enough to have real money yet (except Madi) the coins will work so much better.

ateaspoonofsugar said...

I miss my sister wife tremendously. Thanks for letting us bombard you!

Mary said...

Looking at pictures of Noah's birthday reminded me that I missed Grant's. Sorry Grant! You have awesome kids. And I'm glad to know that Emily makes visits and shares her babies with you. All these kids--so loved!