Lesson in Listening (and Acting)

You would think by the title of this blog, and knowing that we have 4 young boys, that this post would be about a lesson for the boys. But no ... this one was for the parents.

As most LDS people know, this time of year means Tithing Settlement with the Bishop and today was our appointed time to go in with Rehn right after church. Rehn went through the usual questions and message, slightly abbreviated since our kids weren't paying a ton of attention, and as we were finishing up Grayson tells us he needs to use the bathroom. But since we are done, Rehn asks if we can have a prayer first before we leave. As he finishes the prayer, we look up and there is a puddle forming under Grayson's chair! And did I mention that Grayson was sitting behind the desk in the Bishop's chair?! Not much to do but laugh ... and hurry to find something to clean it up. I think the next time Grayson says he needs to go we will be a little faster at getting him to the bathroom. Lesson definitely learned!! And I can honestly say that today I'm glad Rehn is the Bishop!

Just like our home

Sorry, I had to do it. Since Thanksgiving weekend, we have had chirstmas music playing ... sometimes the entire day. So I thought it would be fun to add it on here. Now you can feel like you are in our home!! You just don't get the joy of hearing my kids sing along or seeing Connor bee-boop to the music. I had the boys help me pick out which songs to add (some are my favorites) ... you are lucky they aren't all Chipmunks songs! Rehn and I are about sick of hearing "Christmas, Christmas time is here ..." we at least made them learn the words. And it is better than "Jingle bells, Batman smells" which I haven't heard so far ... yay! Hope you enjoy the music and are enjoying this holiday season!!

The life of a 6 month old

Here are some of the things Connor did when he was 6 months old ...
Went from the baby bath tub to the bath ring. We were all excited about this since it is much easier to store and he loves sitting up to splash and play.

This one is for my parents. My dad got him this outfit. He does look pretty cute in it ... but I think he looks cute in anything!

This is Benjamin singing him the Tigger song on Halloween night. Sorry it is so dark ... I think you can still see Connor's face. He loved it!

Buddies!

Rehn called this his circle of trust. He was pretty good at sitting up, but I needed to cook dinner so the pillows were just in case ... and you never know which way they will fall! He loves being able to sit and play ... and I love that he can entertain himself while I get things done. This is a GREAT age!!

And finally here is a video of Bryant and Connor. He will laugh at about anything his brothers do and the boys love to make him laugh. I love watching them together.

I am so grateful that all of the boys adjusted easily when Connor joined our family. They instantly loved him and that has only grown over the last 6 months. Connor is such a sweet baby. He is a quiet baby (unless he needs something!) and very fun to have around. It is hard to remember what life was like before him. We love having him around and watching him grow and learn new things every day.

Just about 6 months

As he was about to turn 6 months, I finally got out the high chair. Actually, I just put Grayson into a regular chair without the booster and added the tray for Connor. Both were happy with the new arrangement and I like that it doesn't take up as much space as a regular high chair.

Sticking out the tongue ... again. I told you he was happy to have his own chair!

Grayson decided to entertain him while I was trying to get some dishes done. Of course I had to stop doing the dishes to get this video but the dishes will wait and this won't! If you listen you can hear Connor grunting ... that is the main way he talks/babbles.

I left him laying on this blanket while I went to do something and when I came back into the room, this is what I found. He doesn't do a lot of babbling, but he doesn't lack for personality!

Getting ready for church in his cute outfit from Uncle Ethan and Aunt Lindsay. You can't see it, but the tie and socks match. I love it!!

Once again I took advantage of his cute church outfit and took his 6 month pictures. This is actually the day he turned 6 months. This was my favorite "photo shoot" with him so far ... lots of fun shots to choose from. These are a few of the highlights ...

Catching up on Connor ... 5 months

I've realized that I have not been very good at keeping this blog up to date, especially with pictures of Connor. After all he is the one that changes the most. So I'm going to try and do a quick update on him ... and hopefully I'll get to the other boys soon. (It's good to have high hopes!)
These pictures were all taken when he was 5 months. Here he is in the exersaucer.

And here we are enjoying an early fall day at the park. We had some great weather all the way into November and we tried to take advantage of it. He loved swinging during this last month and it was great to have something to do with him besides sitting in the stroller or carrying him around.

Here he is with one of the many faces he likes to make. He did this tuck in the lower lip for several weeks. I always miss them when he stops.

Practicing sitting up. He was still pretty wobbly at this point so it took a good bit of propping, but he liked it. Much easier to enjoy a good book when you can sit up.

Swinging again and another silly face. This was one of my favorites. He loved to play with his tongue and whenever he was happy he would stick it out. Sadly, he hasn't done it much in the last month.

Since digital cameras, I haven't taken my kids in to get professional pictures taken very often, but I try to do some on my own to mark their stages. Here are a couple of the 5 month shots ...

Halloween ... before Thanksgiving

Okay, I realize that I'm really cutting it close, but I told myself I had to have the Halloween pics up before Thanksgiving. So here I am at 11pm Wed night, but hey ... I made my goal! The kids didn't have school on Halloween, so we had fun at home all day. We even went over to Cold Stone Creamery where they had $.31 cones for the day.
This first picture is on our way to get dinner on Halloween night. On the 31st, after 6pm, Chipotle restaurant, gives away free burritos to anyone who comes in dressed as a burrito (in other words ... is wearing foil). So here are the guys with foil on their heads and around their arms. I had a foil headband and bracelets. If you haven't seen their burritos before, they are huge and cost $6 each so it was a really good deal. The line wasn't too long and moved quickly and we got $30 of burritos for free!

After dinner we got dressed to go trick-or-treating. The older boys all wanted to be Ninjas this year. I wasn't sure what I was going to have them wear, but then I found 2 karate uniforms at a thrift store that were the perfect size for Benjamin and Bryant. I was so excited! Grayson used our Batman jumpsuit and we covered the Batman symbol. I quickly made some hats and baklavas out of fleece, added some sashes and swords and voila ... NINJAS! (If they were reading this, I would be corrected ... they were Shadow Ninjas.)

Connor was Tigger. He was so good while we were out. He just sat in the stroller watching everyone and didn't fuss once!

Benjamin and Tigger.

Checking out all the loot.

Benjamin was very happy about all the candy!
After trick-or-treating, and candy inspection, we jumped into our pjs and watched Ichabod Crane. All in all it was a fun Halloween.

Carving Pumpkins

Scooping out the guts ... this was the first year all of them wanted to get in there and get messy.

Watching intently while Rehn carved out the pumpkin.

Connor came and joined in the fun before he headed off to bed ... he liked playing with the top of the pumpkin.

This year we had each boy draw a face for the pumpkin. Then we took one thing from each of their pictures. We used Benjamin's eyes, Bryant's mouth and told Grayson we used his nose. He drew a picture, but it wasn't easy to distinguish facial features and he didn't want to pose for this picture. I just realized that I don't have a shot of the finished product. But it looked cool with it's vampire teeth ... at least until the squirrel got to it!

What do you say to that?

Last night, Rehn and I were upstairs and the 3 boys were playing downstairs. Soon we hear Grayson coming upstairs crying (he had been VERY whiny all day so we were not surprised). This is the conversation had between Rehn and Grayson.

R: What's wrong?

G: Bryant pushed me.

R: Did you do anything to him?

G: no

R: I'm not sure about that. Tell me everything that happened.

G: Bryant pushed me.

R: And what did you do before that?

G: I just put my booty in his face.

The conversation ended there because Rehn was laughing too much to say anything else. Grayson will always tell you exactly what happened. He may not see the error of his ways, but he will tell you about it! Now if I can just get him to stop saying booty ... and in case you need clarification, he did not mean something you put on your foot or a pirate's treasure.

The picture has nothing to do with this ... just a silly pic of G in one of his well picked outfits. I wouldn't let it fly if it was for daytime, but when it comes to PJs just about anything goes. I'm just happy he can get himself dressed and willing does it when asked.

Giggles

I took this video in the beginning on September, so it's a little old, but I've been meaning to post it and decided "better late than never" was true in this case. Connor definitely doesn't lay still that long anymore, especially not on his back, but his brothers are always making him laugh. I've really loved watching the interactions between the boys and Connor. Hope it makes you smile! Enjoy your day!

Fall Photo Shoot

Our tree out front is so pretty this year, we thought it would be fun to take pictures of the boys in the tree. Here are some of the shots I got.

For obvious reasons :-) I didn't put Connor up in the tree, but I didn't want to leave him out of this post. Our tree has lost all of its leaves now, but I'm hoping to get some cute pictures of him in a pile of leaves when we rake the yard this weekend (if the leaves are dry by then!). He's pretty cute all on his own, though!

I took a lot more, but I only have a few minutes and wanted to put up a quick post. I've actually taken nearly 300 pictures in October, and I will be putting more up here, but most of them will probably go to my Picasa web album. I'll let you know when I get that done.

Need Opinions

Hi everyone! I am taking a poll and would love to get your input. Our camera started acting weird this week, so it looks like we will be purchasing a new one in the near future. If any of you have one that you just love or have any suggestions, please add a comment to this post. We obviously know a bit about digital cameras and I know of several things that I already want, but I would still love to hear from any of you. Thanks!

I will be posting more pictures and videos later this week. Our camera may be acting weird but luckily it is still working, and I've taken a lot of fun pics over the last few days.

Stay tuned ...

Cute Conversations

I never know what is going to come out of the kids' mouths.

Today I was cleaning up in Grayson's room and he came in and asked:
"Mom, do you know how to say 'Fiddlie-I-Oh' in Spanish?"
ME: "No, how do you say it?"
Grayson: "Fiddlie-I-Oh in Spanish."
Then he walks out of the room without even a smirk! And no one put him up to it!

Yesterday, as we are getting ready to take the kids to a friends' house who so kindly offered to watch them while we were at a church dinner:
ME: "Benjamin, are you going to be a happier kid at their house? All I've heard this afternoon is pouting and whining and a very grumpy Benjamin."
Benjamin: "Yeah, that's all I've heard too. From me." (He was quick to point out that he wasn't talking about someone else.)

A few weeks ago we had a funeral to attend, and decided it would be good for the older boys to go. On the way there, we reminded them of the behavior we expected from them and they were great the whole time. After we got home, Bry was repeating some of the stories he had heard.
Me: "Bry, I'm so glad that you were listening to the talks."
Bry: "There wasn't anything else to do!"
At least he's honest!! (And thanks for letting me know how to get you to listen at church.)

This doesn't have to do with my kids, but it does involve Rehn and I loved it. This weekend marks one year of Rehn being Bishop in our ward, and apparently people are getting used to that. My good friend's little girl, Lucy (see previous post), really likes Rehn. A couple of years ago, I babysat her during the week for about 4 months and she always called him "Len." Well in the last few months, she has started calling him "the bishop." I guess that's good, but I miss hearing "Len." Anyway, we were at a party today and "Len" was talking to her mom and Lucy was standing there too. Her mom started teasing Rehn about something, and Lucy looks up, taps her mom in chastisement and gives her a look to say "I can't believe you would talk to the bishop like that!" Times have changed!

Random shots

This was the first sign of fall we saw from our tree. It was so pretty to look up and see this one patch of color with a clear blue sky in the background. The rest of the tree is changing now and it is gorgeous! I'll try to put some pictures up soon.

This is Grayson with one of his good friends, Lucy. Looks are deceiving, but she is only about a year older than him. And I'm sure you won't believe it, but I didn't pose them for this picture. I just told them to go stand by each other. We love it when Lucy comes over to play. They are so cute playing together.

And here are all of the boys together. I probably shouldn't have stopped to take this picture, since we were running late for church. But I knew they wouldn't look as good if I waited until after church. I just couldn't resist. They were sad I didn't take the time to take a picture with each of them holding Connor.

Entertaining Connor

I was hearing this while I was in the kitchen washing dishes after dinner and I had to come in and take a video of it. I love the look on Connor's face. He's trying to figure out what in the world these crazy brothers are doing.

And here's a different view ... the singing and dancing are awesome!! I think we heard this song at least 15 times that night.

Summer Time Fun ... part 3

It feels like summer has been over for a long time, but the calendar says that today is actually the last day of summer. Either way, I thought it was about time that I posted the third and final installment of "Summer Time Fun." There were lots of memories made this summer, but I think for this post I will stick to those included in the collage. You can probably tell that this is all about SWIMMING! My boys LOVE to swim! Lucky for me, Minneaplis has a lot of wading pools and community pools (most of which are free).
There are a wide variety of experiences to be had depending on where we go. One pool we go to has no water features and is only about 1 1/2 feet deep, but the boys often request this one. I think they like that it is the same depth everywhere. Then there is the one with a 10 ft. rock in the center with water spraying in all directions from it (sorry no pics of that one this year). They also love the Splash Pad, which has no standing water but arches, fountains and sprays all over. We also have one a few blocks from our house (the one with the mushroom waterfall in the middle). The kids really liked this one because the workers (not lifeguards) there are often their Tball coaches and they usually had water fights with them. And it was great to be able to run up there on the spur of the moment.
This year we also made our first trip to the Crystal Cove pool; it is the community pool for our neighboring city. The kids have been dying to go there because we often drive by and they've been taunted by the water slides they could see but had never been on. So I finally broke down and paid to go. The first time was so fun, we ended up going a second day. And I've told the kids we will probably get a season pass next year, so we can go all the time. They are very excited! Both Bryant and Benjamin can go down the big waterslides by themselves and there is a little slide for Grayson. It's also great, because so many friends from church or school have passes so you usually have someone you know there to play with. Even Connor got to play in the water at the Crystal Cove and he thought it was great.
The other nice thing about most of these pools is that they usually have a fun park right beside them. So after swimming for a while the kids could go over and swing, slide, run and climb.
I guess that about sums up August ... lots of swimming and playing at parks. We even made it back to the Chutes and Ladders park during the last week before school started. I didn't take pictures this time, but this is a cool aerial shot (just scroll down a little to see). Hope you enjoyed reading about our summer fun ... and hope it tempts you to come visit us in MN! We love to have visitors!

A Trip to the Dentist

Our last week of summer included a trip to the dentist for the boys. It was Grayson's first time and he did great! He loved getting to ride in the chair and was happy to show the hygenist how big he can open his mouth. He loves his new toothbrush and flossers, but our dentist also lets the kids pick out a toy if they are good. This is always a highlight of our trips to the dentist.

Bry is an old pro at the dentist now. He loves to get his hands on any of the equipment she will let him try (usually just turning on and off). You can't see it well in this picture, but this instrument had a neon blue light that looked really cool. He really wanted to try this one, but it was not to be. Even with a little extra time in the chair this visit, he still had a good time. (He had sealants put on 4 of his permanent molars; that's what the blue light was for.)

Benjamin has a before and after shot for his dentist visit. Before we went he had a couple extra teeth. The two in the front were getting wiggly, but taking their time coming out. I was glad we had this appointment so the dentist could take care of it for us. (The same thing happened with Bryant.)

And here is the after. Benjamin was so excited to have the dentist pull his two teeth. I walked back to check on him after filling out papers and they were already out. They put them in a fun little treasure chest for him to take home and that went under his pillow. Of course, first he misplaced one of the teeth, so we had to leave the tooth fairy a note to let her know it was suppose to be 2. She just had to look inside his mouth to see he was telling the truth. This first time customer was very pleased with the tooth fairy. Five year old boys don't get a dollar bill every day! (I was afraid he would lose that too! So far, so good.)
The best part of the trip (for me) is the report of "No Cavities!" Hopefully we will have a lot more visits with the same report, but we will see. Grayson has really deep groves in his molars ... if we could only put sealants on those teeth. But they don't do that for baby teeth. At least he loves to brush his teeth.