Oliver Turns Four

Today our Oliver turned four years old. He had his sister make him a calendar to hang on his wall and every night he would cross off the days until his birthday. He has been looking forward to this special day for quite some time and his siblings were so great about making homemade cards and wrapping little gifts for him a few days before the big day.

We started the day with pancakes at the birthday boys request, and just for fun I added a candle because this guy loves blowing out candles!

In the afternoon we headed up to the apple orchard and picked a few of the trees that were ready. We picked an apple-crab tree and the Sunnybrooks. Ollie loves being outside and helping with whatever we've got going on.

We picked all of the ones we could reach from the ground and then Grampa climbed the ladder and used his long arms to reach all of the apples that were too high for us.

 

We finished off the night with homemade pizza, angel food cake and ice cream. Oliver brings so much laughter and love to our family. He's always giving back rubs and hugs and has a smile that will light up your world. He has been wearing the same outfit for four days and often wears mismatched shoes outside to play. He is easy going and fun loving and we are so glad he's a part of our family!

 

Apple Jelly Time

  It sure feels like Autumn these days and I'm so excited about that! The boys and I went for a brisk walk this morning after the big kids left for school. The air is crisp and the leaves are slowly changing colors. I've been enjoying learning more about canning and preserving and today I got brave and made three separate batches of apple jelly. We found a bunch of frozen apple juice in the deep freeze that needed to be used up and I ended up making around twenty jars total. I did two batches of apple jelly and one batch of apple/cherry jelly. Both turned out delicious and all of the jars sealed! I call that a success. The kitchen smelled so great and the littles were so patient with me while I pulled hot jars out of the oven and filled them. After dinner we went through the bedtime routine and I tucked a very tired Sawyer into bed. Downstairs I gathered the rest of the children in the bunk room, lit a candle, and began a new read-aloud. They took a bit to settle in, but eventually the room grew silent as Ollie melted into my lap and the rest of the children snuggled under their blankets. The candle flickered and danced, capturing their gaze as they listened. It was a great way to end the night!

 

 

With Love

Dear Mr. Stannix,

After you all left this morning in Big Red for your four day hike, I sat down on the couch for the breather. The house definitely needed some work and it is my plan to have it organized and clean by the time you arrive home. The little boys played quietly in their room while Sawyer wandered around the house all morning. It was eerily quiet, but I wasn't about to complain! 

 

I wandered out to the greenhouse with Sawyer and picked the ripe tomatoes and peppers for a batch of salsa!

 

When I ran out of room in my bowl, I put the last few almost-ripe tomatoes in my shirt so that I could stick them on the counter for the next batch.

 

 The greenhouse looks like a jungle now! Once inside I got to work on chopping peppers and tomatoes and onions and whatever else.

 

 While I made dinner, the salsa simmered away on the stove. The house smelled amazing! All three little boys including Sawyer were playing hide n' seek in the basement. Every few minutes I would hear Sawyer's adorable voice exclaim, "Re-ady!" when he found a hiding spot that was good. It made me smile while I stirred the salsa pot.

 

I know your pack is heavy, please take lots of breaks! Take care of our littles and don't get eaten by bears please. I love you and hope you are warm! 

With love,

Your wife

(who wishes she was there with you)

Toddler Shenanigans

 This morning when I was in the middle of making bread, my naked toddler brought me a wet shirt. On my way to put it in the laundry basket, I stepped in drips of water and noticed they led all the way to the bathroom. The toilet seat was covered in water and sure enough, someone forgot to flush. It turns out he decided to drop his shirt in the toilet and then bring it to me! Ew. After waking up to screaming and fighting, I was just wishing I could have a normal day. 

 

Once the bread was out, I ran a gift to a friend, picked up some groceries and things for the hiking trip the littles are going on with their Dad, and came home to the sunshine. 

 

Sawyer helped himself to a few low hanging apples in the orchard while we picked peas and weeds in the top garden.

 

On my way back, I snagged a tomato for a sandwich! They are getting pretty big! I love the way they taste in comparison to store bought and feel prettty spoiled.

 

In the afternoon I made up three chicken pot pies. One for dinner and two for the freezer.

Then Sawyer spoon fed Ollie his dinner because Ollie refused to eat. It was magical. They were giggling and having fun and Oliver finished his plate for the first time in a long time! Sawyer did it without any prodding from me which made it extra funny. He just climbed up on that chair in his diapered bottom and picked up Ollie's fork. At least my toddler has some good sense to help his brother eat his dinner!

We spent the evening packing for the hiking trip commencing the following morning.  We tried to pack the minimal amount for everyone. One pair of warm jammies, fresh undies, extra socks, a sleeping bag, and dry food. Mr. Stannix took most of the food and the little burner and gas to cook. He couldn't fit the entire tent in his pack (and honestly it was already far too heavy for one man) so it was decided that they would split it up. Camilla put the poles in her pack and Hyrum took the fly. After we had everything all packed up, we sent the kids on a walk to the end of the lane and back. As I watched Hyrum walk away I was busting a gut at his pack size. The poor kid was carrying far more weight than he should be given his body size, and the pack was a little too big to begin with. Camilla turned and said, "I don't see how this is funny. You're torturing a child to carry a zillion pounds up a mountain!" I love her wit and sense of humor. They all went to sleep a little bit worried about what tomorrow will bring!!

Park Play

 This month is flying by! It's hard to believe that Summer is almost coming to a close. We ventured out to a park for a little while this morning. It's been so long since the littles have been on a slide or swing set and they enjoyed their time! Until somebody decided to start throwing rocks... then we had to leave and it was sad. We have been keeping busy with the garden and enjoying farm fresh eggs!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evening on the Lake

It was over thirty degrees here today! When Daddy got home from work we ordered a pizza, hooked up the boat and headed to the lake. We were all desperate to cool off in the water! We didn't spent many evenings on the lake until we went out with friends a few weeks ago.

 Camilla, Fin and Ollie had the first tube ride of the night! The little boys are sometimes more daring than their big sister on the tube and giggled away! After anchoring the tube near the shore, we took off to the middle of the lake and did some swimming. It was so refreshing and nice to jump in the water! Sawyer was unsure for the first few minutes, but eventually warmed up to the idea when he discovered how much fun it was to splash Dad and Mom. 

 

I had forgotten how nice the lake is at that time of day. The littles enjoyed watching how the lake magically calms down as the evening goes on and the wind goes away. After an hour or so on the boat the wind was completely gone and the water turned to glass.

 

 

The older two took turns knee boarding and are getting so good at it!

 Sawyer loves being on the boat and it's so fun to watch him!

 

 

Daddy got in a good knee board just as the water was calming down. Joseph turned to me and said, "We have the coolest dad ever!!" 

 

Ofcourse, after seeing how calm the water was, Camilla wanted another go at the kneeboard! She was doing 360's like crazy and had a blast until she got swallowed by the wake on her way back in. As we spun the boat around she gave us a thumbs up and was laughing by the time we got back to her.

After watching how much fun Daddy had on the skis, I decided to give it a try! I haven't been on a pair of skis for quite some time! Mr. Stannix was kind enough to help me into them, which wasn't an easy feat with my bump and a life jacket in the way. I yelled "Pin it!" and popped out of the water right away! 

 

 

It felt so good!! The water really was perfect and I could have gone all evening, except that my arms were getting tired.

 

The light just kept getting better as the evening went on. I love watching a good sunset! Hearing the "ooh's and ahh's" from the littles was the best. 

After we had our fill of skiing and boarding we made our way over to the shore to grab the tub for one last ride!

 

 Sawyer was giggling at his toes beneath the towel and kept sticking them out and saying "Hiiiii!" That scrunchie nosed giggle of his is my very favorite.

We had a crazy thing happen at the end of the tube ride and I am so grateful that it all worked out okay. After stopping the boat, the tube started tipping backwards. Mr. Stannix was on with Ollie and Fin and yelled to start pulling them in. I leapt to the back of the boat and began hauling the rope in as I slowly watched the front of the tub tip up to the sky. He fell off the back, grabbed Ollie and then yelled, "Where's FIN!!!" Without thinking I jumped out as far as I could and rushed to the overturned tube where Fin was trapped underneath. Luckily he had found a little air pocket where the seats are, but was still sputtering a bit when I pulled him out. We all swam back to the boat and were able to laugh about it, thankfully.  Ollie was the only one who wanted to ride the tube back to the  dock, but we were able to convince the older two to hop on for an easy ride.

 

The sky, the lake, everything was beautiful in that evening light! But this time we left feeling extra grateful that everyone was together and okay.