Fall Break

I had a vision for fall break.  For the last few months I have been taking the babies to story/singing time at the library.  As I sat there I saw how fun it was, how much joy it brought (to the babies and me), and I also saw so many moms learning how to interact with their babies.  I thought "I want the "big kids" to come experience this with the babies".  So over fall break I dropped them off at the library and I had them take them to story time.  All 4 of them were nervous and didn't want to do it, but they all enjoyed it and said they would do it again.  

 

Eve was nervous but Noah was GREAT with her and took care of her and even got her to be involved a little.

I usually have big goals and plans for school breaks.  This break I didn't.  I even didn't make them deep clean their rooms... gasp! I made them do the library thing and I made us do one family activity (bike ride post coming next).  Other than that they did what they wanted.  (Except for Brock - he had a lot of missing assignments to work on and a lot of football)

Other happenings:

Madison took Zoe swimming in the swimsuit that her grandma got her for her birthday.  The girls also had a sleep over one night. 

We played wallball for the majority of fall break because Madison kept wanting to. It was fun because as you can see  Eve thinks that when you get a tennis ball you throw it at the garage. 

I took some young men to the temple.  They did baptisms while I did invitatories.  

Brock had a stake Halloween dance.  The dance was kind of far away (in a barn) and all his guy friends were out of town so he went with 2 young women, haha.  And not pictured was Noah going with David and Riley to his first "haunted house" (really a haunted forest).

We supported our niece, Alaana in her marching band competition. 

I did my usual outings with the babies and had random girls with me random times.  Madison almost always came with me.  Usually she roller bladed around while the babies played at the park.  On this day she read.

And that's about it.  A pretty chill fall break.

Potty Training and other grown up things

I really don't have pictures to accompany this post, you would think I would take pictures about milestones like this, but it turns out I didn't for my older kids either.  I tried to find a record for when I potty trained, moved out of high chair, moved to toddler bed, etc my toddlers and for all the record keeping I do - those things seem to elude me.  Regardless or record though these things need to happen and happen they have... sort of.

Dane is a different kids than my others.  There are so many factors that it is hard to know if he really is different, if I am different, or if it is just circumstance/situational.  While I do spend quite a bit of time contemplating these factors I recognize that it doesn't really matter which one it is, I have to figure out how to HELP HIM.

We started with potty training and that went pretty standard and a week in he was great.  But then he started wetting the bed at night and naps.  I knew consistency was king so we just kept going.  I tried every trick in the box.  Nothing worked.  One of the things we tried was moving to a toddler bed.  That didn't help at all, but only created another host of problems.  Eventually I surrendered and put him in diapers for bed time and naps.  He didn't regress during the day, which was great.  Noah went back in diapers for sleeping too, so I know it isn't a big deal.

Then the toddler bed.  It also worked great at first, but after a week it went down hill quick.  He was up and out of his bed constantly.  When I put him down, in the middle of the night, early in the morning and all morning long.  His whole personality changed.  Our relationship changed.  Some days I was over ly emotional about it - that didn't help.  But I really went a few weeks being calm as a cucumber, embracing this stage of my/his life and stayed consistent and loving.  That, also, didn't help anything.  After trying ALL the tricks, I, again, surrendered and we put him back in his crib.  He was happy.  But within about 2 weeks he discovered he could climb out.  It started all over again.  Currently I have him in a sleep sack.  He can climb out if her REALLY wants too.  But he doesn't.  So for now we have a happy toddler and a happy mom.  But I recognize a pattern and I am going to have to learn to be flexible with him.  He may be a two steps forward, one step backwards kind of person.  We will see.

Noah's play and Choir

Noah finally got to do a middle school play!!  He had been looking forward to middle school so he can be in the drama program and do the plays - but COVID stole that last year.  This year's play was "A Wrinkle in Time".  It was an unfortunate choice as there are only 6 kids with talking parts - the rest of the cast creates "ambiance".  Noah didn't seem to mind, he got "all in" and really liked doing  the play.  

He was supposed to wear "all black".  He went full boar and got all dressed up!  Way to go the extra mile Noah!

Noah's play went for three nights and we all split up going so he got stupported every night.  The Weisters, grandparents, Megan and mom went on opening night.  Dad and Madison went Friday night.  And Brock went Saturday night.

Noah is the best.  (Brock took this picture of him... it doesn't suck that Brock has a camera)

Two weeks later Noah had a choir performance at the school.  He did not want to take choir and I tired for a few weeks to transfer him out.  Now it is his favorite class and wants to be in High School choir.  They sang "Homeward Bound", which is a family favorite.  The girls got really involved in his choir songs and were excited to go see him sing.  I am loving how the kids are supporting each other.  

 

Grandparents Come!

Grandma and Grandpa Hanna came and spent a whirl wind of a weekend with us.  Most of the kids (3 of them) had activities going on that weekend so they came in to watch and support them in the fun. It was a lovely weekend, both in weather and in happiness.  I love when people come visit, but I don't know if it was the ages of my kids, the activities we had going on, my state of mind, or the fact that they stayed at a hotel (sigh) but this was one of my favorite trips that they have taken out here.  I feel like memories were made, relationships were strengthened, and love was felt.

We started out vacation with a trip to Brock's football game.  This game ended up being a turning point for Brock's football career.  When my parents planned to come I warned them saying, "just so you know, Brock doesn't play".  But Brock had been working hard and praying hard and this was the first game that he started playing, he played almost the whole game and after this game he started, then he started and played first string the rest of the season!  Brock has always loved (and played his best) when people come watch him.

Then they watched Noah's play at the middle school.  He did "A Wrinkle in Time".  

On Saturday morning we all went to Maddie's soccer game.  As per her usual Madison scored a bunch of goals.

The week before my parents came Megan accompanied the primary children in the primary program, playing "I am a Child of God".  My parents missed it, but during second hour we snuck into the primary room during singing time and they let Megan do it again so her grandparents could listen.  She did awesome, again.

It was so great having them come and share in the joy, accomplishments, and hobbies of my kids.   Besides coming and going to a lot of events we also played hard. 

Dane LOVES his grandma... sometimes a little too much.  He doesn't leave her side the whole time she is here and is saying, "grandma read me this book", "Grandma, play soccer with me", "Grandma, you wanna play trains with me?"  It is adorable.  They came a month ago and he still asks if we can go pick up grandma from the hotel.  

Eve wasn't quite as warm, but she did warm up eventually. 

On Saturday my parents treated us to a whole day of fun! (literally).  They got the kids all day, unlimited passes to Main Event.  It was thrilling.  We all went for a few hours, and then Jason took the babies home to nap and we stayed a few more hours, and then my dad took just the kids back at 9:00 at night and stayed until 11:00! They plated while he watched "the game" (who knows which one) on the screens - my family is usually a little frustrated when they come to our house because we don't "get the game".  Afterwards he took them for fancy ice cream.  On a personal note I realized that those 2 hours of just the 4 kids playing together and doing something "big" did more for their relationship than all the discussions in the world about "loving each other" can do.  It helped me create a vision about how to help these 4 through the next 5 years of teenagedom.  We need to drop them off and  things and just let them create their own relationships without us there.  At home they are mostly all in different parts of the house, doing their own thing, so we need to drop them off at an activity.  I am grateful my dad  came and was willing to take them, it was an answer to prayer and helped me see my next steps. 

Grandma won bowling.  My mom loves bowling.  She loves any type of game or competition, it is one of my favorite  things and strongest memories of my mom.  Surprisingly I took second, I am normally a terrible bowler, but today I was feeling it.

Megan

Brock

Brock may or may not have used the little kid slide to ensure a spare.

 

Noah

Madison

Jason - Bowling with a baby like a boss!

And Dane was NOT short of helpers!

My dad hung out with Eve and she came to love him

They also played laser tag together.

They also did a high ropes course.  This was exciting for Noah and Megan.  They both get a little nervous at stuff like this (can you see it on their faces?) But especially for Noah, he had been unwilling to do the ropes course the last 2 times he had opportunities, despite really wanting too, and trying a few times.  But he did it today and was very proud of himself.

Megan

Noah

Madison

Then we played a bunch of arcades. 

And last but not least (always my favorite)  they took us out to dinner to Red Robins. It was fantastic.   

We crammed a lot into 5 days, but it was so fun. I am so grateful they are always willing to come out and build special relationships with my kids.  Going to their house is fun, and important, but it is different when they come here.  My kids are blessed with good grandparents on both sides!