Sugar Cookies

We are getting ready to welcome February with our traditional heart shaped sugar cookies. It was the perfect thing to do on a cold day off school.

Unhurried

 Time always moves a little slower on Monday's. Have you noticed? Joe was the first to wake this morning, upset that Finley snuck out of their room in the middle of the night AGAIN to sleep in Camilla's room. We whispered in the dark until we heard Oliver's hand on the doorknob, trying to escape the confines of his room. 

 This cookie monster ate like five ginger cookies after breakfast...

 The children made approximately a million paper chains yesterday afternoon and my kitchen is full of them. Joseph is so proud that he can finally make them himself and went right back to work this morning!

 Ollie went for an early nap, and I made up a batch of bread dough which I turned into five loaves of fluffy white bread and over a dozen garlic cheese knots.

 After lunch we went to the chiropractor so that Dr. Heather could work her magic on Joe who has been totally out of sorts lately. He was so still and quiet and always feels more like himself after. I thought this sign was super interesting! Before our experience with Joe last year, I never thought about how important chiropractic care is for everyone, but especially kids! Dr. H sees a lot of kids and she is so great!

 The rest of the afternoon was slow and quiet. I love when I catch my kids playing quietly on their own. Ollie has recently become interested in cars and trucks. He sings and makes sound effects and likes his independent play. It's so fun watching him learn and grow! He is starting to babble a lot more now and say things like "day-doo" (thank-you) and "ut" (out). 

 Hyrum's teacher emailed me today to let me know that he had been chosen for student of the month. The school just started this program to recognize students who have a strong work ethic, growth mindset, positive attitude, respect, and a kindness for other students. We are super proud of him, and celebrated with pizza tonight!

These Days

 Today started bright and early at 5:50am with Ollie banging on his door and yelling "MAA!" I walked squinty eyed across the cold hardwood floor and crawled right back into the toddler bed. Ollie giggled and spent the next half an hour kissing my face all over and sitting on my head. Before long we joined the rest of the littles downstairs where we sat in a dimly lit living room watching cartoons until everyone woke for the day. 

We ate breakfast, signed reading logs and agendas, packed lunches, and practised musical instruments. Then we all gathered together for scriptures and family prayers. Since Camilla started school I can count on one hand how many mornings we have missed reading our scriptures. It's not always easy, but it's always worth it! Their day goes so much better when we begin it this way. 

We watched a little boy all morning, and Joe volunteered to make lunch again. He can pretty much make Kraft Dinner all on his own (I just have to turn on the stove) and he loves to dish it up and serve everyone their plates. He always makes sure that "the little ones can go first" because he can wait since he's bigger. 

 After lunch I put the little boys down for a nap. Ollie fell asleep in front of his door for the second day in a row. I could barely squeeze my arm in to grab a picture, and then I gently pushed my way in and put him into his bed. 

 While Fin and Ollie napped, Joseph helped me whip up a double batch of our favorite big soft ginger cookies. Half way through he told me that it would go much faster if we were both rolling (I was working on a lasagna for dinner at the same time). I took over rolling the balls and he covered them with sugar. Suddenly, it became a race to see if he could empty the bowl before I plopped another ball into it. He giggled so hard his face turned red, and I even had a good laugh. It was so fun to spend some one on one with him. 

 I absolutely adore his level of concentration here. That tongue sticking out totally adds to the cuteness factor. 

 We played "war" with a deck of cards (his favorite game) in between pans of cookies. Joseph's love language is quality time, so I always try and make sure I carve out some special time for him during the day. Lately it has been playing games together while the little boys nap. 

 I'm certain Finley's nose woke him up, because he joined us in the kitchen shortly after the first pan came out of the oven. He was quick to jump on the stool and help in any way he could and enjoyed eating half a pan of cookies when he thought I wasn't looking. Then they burned it off by running around the basement couch a million times with their toy airplanes, spit flying everywhere as they made the sound effects and animations.

 We managed to squeeze in a little bit of school before the kids got home. We worked on the "it" family today. He builds it, sounds it out, and writes it down. When I see how much he's catching on I can't help but smile big and get all excited for him! We are almost ready for our big reader and work book! 

The kids came home from school and ate half of the cookie jar and then gathered at the kitchen table with three decks of cards. Hyrum told me that my veggie tray would be the ultimate skate park (for his mini skate board) if it didn't have veggies in it. Ha! 

I made dinner while Fin played quietly at my feet with his toy motorcycle. His sound effects were the best and I loved listening to his narration as he played. I also learned that motorcycles can sometimes snore when they're really tired. Soon a fight broke out over cards, so the big boys went to play in the bath and Camilla and I started a valentine's craft while the bread sticks cooked. The boys have recently learned how to put their faces all the way into the water and they love to practice for swimming lessons. Joe just learned how to do it without plugging his nose and is the most excited little boy ever! Daddy came home to a house filled with music and the aroma of fresh bread and lasagna. The boys stood on the stairs and jumped into his arms for a hug while the puppy jumped around at his feet in excitement. Ollie called out to him from his booster seat where I had belted him in a few minutes earlier. There was shrieks of excitement all around for our favorite guy!

After tucking in the kids I went around the house to do a quick tidy. I grabbed the two light sabers I had been side-stepping in the kitchen all day, the stray socks that are all over my house, the blocks that somehow ended up on the floor by my bed, and the clothes in the bathroom from the boys. My windows and mirrors all have circles on them from the boys' suction dart guns. There's still an arrow suctioned to the big window in the living room. No body can reach it, so the boys are just waiting for it to fall down. I am exhausted and looking forward to snuggling next to Mike in front of a fire and favorite show.

Lunch Date

 Today I dropped the little boys off at a friends house for an hour and took the big kids out to lunch! They have been coming home saying how much they miss home and Camilla even told me that she wished she could call me every day from school. The two phone calls I got from her last week were complaining of a headache and soaking wet clothes after she spilled her water bottle (which turned out to be just a bit on her pants, but she NEEDED me to bring a change of clothes pronto). I packed them a snack and a note, and they were so excited when the lunch bell rang, and even more surprised when they didn't see the boys in the car. It was fun to spend some special time with them mid school day. They are both getting so darn big! I think I will have to make this happen more often.

Muah!

Almost

 These days are pretty near perfect. Sure there's fighting and frustration, but there's also sweet little moments of peace and contentment if you look closely. Watching Ollie run across the kitchen bursting with excitement at the sight of his Dad first thing in the morning is a treasure. Finley followed a few seconds after, crashing into Daddy's legs and wrapping his arms tightly around them in a squeeze hug. It melted my heart to see it.

 I braved the grocery store with these three monkeys this morning. They were being so cute as we got ready to leave that I couldn't pass up a picture! 

 We spent the rest of the morning in the kitchen making monster cookies! I love that they have no flour and are jam packed with m&m's and chocolate chips. 

 I lost count of how many pans came out of the oven. It always makes a tonne! I threw half in the freezer for school lunches, knowing they wouldn't last long in the cookie jar.

 This sweet boy almost made it to his bed at nap time. Ha! After tucking Finley in for his afternoon snooze I peeked in to check Ollie and found him sleeping like this. I scooped him into bed and cozied him up with a warm blanket. He was pretty tired!

 I started a batch of artisan bread last night before bed and put it into the oven while the little boys were napping. 

It doesn't always turn out this nice looking, so it had to be documented. I love listening to it crackle as it cools on my counter! We enjoyed it with our white bean chicken chili for dinner. Yum!

Hands On

 Joe loves to learn, but he doesn't love to be taught. He expects to just know things without being told how to do them. While he enjoys his workbooks most days, learning to read has been a struggle. He just wasn't ready, and I wasn't going to push it. Last week we tried to learn some sounds and small sight words and it ended in frustration. 

 I recently saw this "build a word" thing on pinterest, and thought I would give it a try! Joe is a super hands on learner. He's smart, and his mind sometimes moves too fast for him to keep up. Manipulatives have been a huge help for him. So today I took out our little blocks and wrote out the "at" family words. He sounded them out letter by letter while he built them, and then he wrote them down. When I noticed that he was just memorizing their position, I rearranged them and had him read them again. It seemed to help, having something tangible to hang onto with a sound attached to it. It was incredible watching him finally catch on!

 The blue sky begged us to go outside for the afternoon. We wandered over to the park and spent some time swinging. It was lovely to get some sunshine and fresh air!

I finished off my night bathing the little boys who jumped in the tub one after the other. There was water everywhere by the time they were through! Sometimes I wish life would just slow down so that I could soak up my time with these growing kids of mine!

Day of Rest

Happy Sabbath!

Spiritual Enlightenment  HERE.

Warm Winter Days

 The morning brought us outside to enjoy the warm winter weather and sunshine! We walked down to the pond to enjoy the sled hill. The boys took turns going down and over the jump. Finley giggled the entire way down, running into the bushes at the end. Joe rescued him at the bottom and lugged the sled back up the hill like the good big brother that he is. Ollie toddled around the wide open space, up and down the hill, looking like a marshmallow. I sat at the top of the hill on a cement block for quite a while, with the puppy perched on my lap, watching the scene unfold. My heart swelled with joy as the sun warmed my cheeks. Slow days are the best days. 

Double Trouble

Sleep has been scarce around here lately. When one kid finally sleeps through the night, another one decides to wake up three times in the middle of the night. We've played a lot of musical beds and I've even spent a few nights curled up in the toddler bed with a sad teething baby.

While I started the bread today, Ollie helped himself to the box of shape cards. He was happy and quiet, so I let him have fun for a while. He also has the best side-kick a boy could ask for! These two are quite the pair around the house.

Sitting on the counter next to Mom always makes a teething boy feel better...

"That" is one of the few words he actually says. So when he points to the bananas in the fruit dish and says "Dat!" you listen. This boy is a bottomless pit and could eat all day long. His cuteness is balancing out his throw-himself-to-the-floor tantrums these days. I'm sure it's a survival mechanism! I adore this boy of mine.