Fun with Friends: Daycare

Daycare has been going great, and I feel like I am settled back into my Monday, Tuesday, Thursday routine again.  The kids are having a blast together, which makes my job so easy!  I love how excited Brigham gets in the morning while he waits for his little friends to come, and it's also fun to see that friendships have formed between the other kids as well, especially the girls!  They all love it when Boston gets home from school & the energy level in the house sky rockets.  I usually spend that last hour or two of the day saying 'Not so loud! Settle down!  Some one is going to get hurt! Does anyone want to play the quiet game?!'  :)

I started letting the older kids take turns being my kitchen helper!  It was their idea, and is a huge hit for the kids and for me!  Here is Oaklee showing off the fun apron that I let the girls wear.  Owen didn't think the apron was manly enough, so when it was his turn, he went without one :)  

So far their favorite part is wiping up the counter and chairs after everyone is done eating & being in charge of putting the cups up next to the name tags.  This is another new thing I started, and the kids just love it.  It's the little things!  After they are all done helping me clean up after lunch, they get a tip.  

A piece of candy!

Guess who's idea it was for the girls to have their names on pink paper?!  Miss Kinli :)

A few Monday's, Otto fell asleep on the floor while the other kids were still playing away & reading books.  He must have had a rough weekend, because the kids were so noisy & he just snoozed right through it!

About 30 minutes before nap time, the kids can either sit and watch Sesame Street, or sit quietly on the couch and read books.  This gives me a chance to get everyone's diaper changed and nap spots ready.  This particular day they all chose TV :)

These two have been playing with the girls a little too much.. their new favorite thing is to play hair salon and 'cut' each others hair!  Ha!

 Bronx giving Kinli some smiles!

Poor Alliana wasn't so sure she liked it at auntie's house the first few times she came back after my maternity leave..

Finally got some smiles out of her! Her & I sat outside on the deck while the other kids were napping.  I miss the weather being nice enough for this.

Bennett & Kinli brought donuts for us one morning!  

Bronx gets lot of attention from the kids!

Otto reading Alliana a book.

 Mason reading to Brigham.  Listening to little kids 'read' books is so cute!  I just love to hear what they come up with.  Sometimes they look at the pictures and make up a story, and other times it has absolutely nothing to do with the picture!

Brigs & Bennett.  Ya never know what Bennett will show up with in the morning :)  One day he came decked out in ALL camo!  

These two are such good friends!

Making a Frankenstein craft!

Alliana has warmed up to me!  We have lots of fun waiting for her daddy in the afternoon while the other kids nap.  This particular day I put pig tails in her hair :)

10-29:  Daycare Halloween Party!  

Oaklee was getting her feet cleaned after making her Ghost Feet Craft!

The kids thought having their feet painted was tickly!

Watching Toy Story of Terror on the Disney Channel!

 The whole crew today!  

 We had Spooky Mac-n-Cheese, Bloody Sandwiches (Cut Out Halloween Shaped Bread w/Jelly!) & Eyeballs(Grapes)!

I continue to be very blessed by all these little ones & their families!  

Bronx- 3 Months!

While Derek was in Denver, I sent 2 of the 3 boys to Grandpa Ron & Grandma Lisa's for a night! Brigham has only spent the night there once, so I was a little unsure of how it would go.  He did fine, so I am hoping it went well enough that they keep having him stay the night!  It was nice to have some one on one time with Bronx!  Bronx was 3 months old on October 9th.  He still isn't sleeping the best at night.  The mild cold that he had seems to have cleared up, so it's time he figures it out again!  I've been trying to get him to drink more than 3-4 ounces every 3 hours, but his little tummy just doesn't like to take much more than that yet.  Unless he is tired or hungry, he hardly ever cry's!  It's made having daycare kids around 3 days a week, very easy. He is very content in the morning when he wakes up!   He doesn't wake up ready to eat, so he usually just lounges on the floor and plays or watches cartoons.  He does a lot of 'talking' too.  I've also noticed that he has two little birth marks!  One is on his upper arm near his wrist, and another on his ankle.  He continues to look more and more like Boston, and his hair seems to be coming in darker.  He has the cutest giggle, and will just randomly start laughing at me.  Just melts my heart!

He looks so adorable in this little hat!  

3 Month Photo Shoot

He didn't care for having his picture taken..

Boston finished up with football last weekend.  They won their last game to win the Rose Bowl :)  It was starting to get pretty cold in the mornings, so I was glad for it to be over!  He ended up loving it and made us very proud!  He played so good in his last game!  He pulled lots of flags, ran the ball well, had an awesome fake play, even I thought he was carrying the ball, and kicked in a field goal!   Boston continues to try and pull one over on Derek and I.  One day this week we told him he couldn't wear shorts to school (it was 40 degrees!) so he changed into sweat pants, but much to our surprise those shorts were underneath and when Derek picked him up from school he came out wearing them!

Here's a video of Boston and his team mates getting ready to start the game!  Boston runs down towards the end of the video.

Me in my winter gear!

 Team prayer after their game.  

Boston's first Starbucks drink!  If I can't get my husband to drink coffee, I will just have to get my boys too ;)  Don't worry.. it was a non caffeinated strawberries & cream!

Boston had grandparents day at school this past week.  Grandma Glady, Grandpa Les, Grandpa Ron & Grandma Lisa were there to make his day special.  He had to fill out a questionaire on each of them.  Here is a picture I took of his form on Glady.  His lower case b's and d's are giving him some trouble, because I am positive that Glady did not mention 'beer' for any of her answers!

Brigs continues to test my patience several times a day.  He is just down right naughty!  I'm hoping it's just a phase he's going through, but so many people keep telling me it's 'the middle child' syndrome, and the poor kid is always going to be the middle child..

Thursday morning, he woke up with a diaper around his ankle, and pee everywhere.  I threw all of his laundry in the wash, including ONE of his blankets, and the kid bawled for an hour even though I left one pee smelling blanket out for him!

A few weeks ago I came down with a bug of some sort.  I was dizzy, queezy and my ears were plugged!  It was very bizarre.  That went on for a few days, then I had got a migraine and slept an entire day away, and then a few days later came down with a bad cold.  Not sure if they were at all related, but right now I am just battling a nasty cough.  Derek says I have maxed him out on health bills for myself this year, so I continue to 'toughen up' and hack away :)  He has resorted to sleeping in the basement because the coughing is so bad at night, and did finally give me the ok to see a doctor today.  Isn't he sweet?!

Me and my sweet baby snuggling up when I wasn't feeling well.

  

Special Birthday Surprises!

On Friday, October 4th, I was a part of two very special birthday surprises!  Derek's birthday was on the 6th, so I surprised him with a trip to Denver to see one of his best friends.  I was hoping to surprise him just a few days before he left for the trip, but ended up telling him a month sooner.  It's a long story.  He & Evan only see each other a few times a year, so Derek was SO excited to get to spend a few days with him!  Derek flew out early Friday morning, and returned late Sunday night.  They golfed at a different course each day, went to a hockey game, did a lot of eating, went sight seeing and drank beer.  A perfect guys weekend! So glad he could have a weekend away from work and the kids & I.  It was a well deserved trip for him! Next time, it's going to be a couples trip because these picture he took are amazing!

My grandpa Harold turns 80 in November, but he and my grandma spend their winters in Texas so we celebrated his birthday a little early this year.  On Sunday, the 6th, we had an Open House celebration for him in Colman, but the birthday surprise for him happened on the 4th too!  My grandpa's best friend (and cousin) Curt passed away almost 7 years ago.  Curt and his family have always been extra special to all of us, so when we decided to have a special party to celebrate grandpa's birthday, I made sure Curt's children knew of the celebration.  His son Tim, who lives in Oregon, decided to come to SD and surprise grandpa!  It was such a fun thing to witness, and my heart was so full seeing my grandparents so surprised.  We all were so appreciative of Tim taking the time to make the trip to SD.  It had been 38 years since he was last year, so he enjoyed seeing my grandparents old farmhouse, how things had changed in Colman and reminicing about all the fun that Tim's dad and my grandpa had.  Such a fun weekend!

Friday evening, Oct. 4:  Grandpa answering the door to his surprise!    

He was so shocked that it took him a minute to figure out who it was!

 Grandma in tears.

 I think I finally impressed my grandparents with my much improved cooking skills!

Grandpa's Birthday Open House was on Grandma's actual birthday, so it was really a party for the both of them.  Love my grandparents SO much!

 My mom, her sister Karla, my grandparents, and my mom's brother Kelly. 

 Tim with the family!

 The community center was full of little ones running around.  There are lots of great-grandchildren, and more being born in 2014!

 Tim & I with my crew of boys!

 Brigs & Holdyn

 Bronx was full of smiles for his great grandpa.  It was so cute watching these two.  Bronx just kept cooing away!

 The boys sharing more cake!

 Aren't they cute!

 Grandpa & Tim

 Grandma & Grandpa took off for Texas the morning after the party, so the great grand kids got to take all the balloons off the tables & let them fly away outside!

 So much excitement!