Curring Sunday boredom

I took the kids to the park because we all needed to get out of the house. Sunday's are really hard because Brady is at work the whole day, and we just need stuff to do since our yard is uselessly small and there's only so much tv and movie watching I can take. There was just enough wind to get the kites up without any trouble. It was a little hot, but as soon as the sun went behind the mesa, it was a little cooler. We stayed and played at the playground for a little while after it got dark. I love that the city park playgrounds have lights at night!

Gideon's first field trip

 We went with Gideon's preschool class to Gilcrease Orchards on the north end of town last Friday. We got a hayride out to the apple orchard, picked three bags of apples right off the tree, learned about honey and how to make apple cider and seeds. The above picture is blown up so you can see the burrowing owl. It is to the right of the hole, near the middle of the picture.

 Showing me his apple he got all by himself.

The hayride out to the apple orchard. They were a little nervous about it at first, but had fun eventually. Ayla loved that she could see the tractor driving. The apples are delicious, and we all had fun with him and his cute class.

Is it pink...or blue?

We are all really excited to add another little man into our family. He had a great ultrasound today, including great blood flow to the brain, heart, and kidneys, ten fingers and ten toes, and he loves to have his hands in front of his face because the tech couldn't get him to move his hands to get a clear shot of his face. I will admit, his face looked more like a turtle's on the computer screen....sorry little dude, it's the hard truth. I have to go in again next month for another ultrasound so they can try for better pictures of his face and mouth...but there is NO question he is a boy :)

Homework Central

Last night at the Lindsay's:
Gideon has a preschool homework packet that is supposed to last all month long. It's about 15 pages front and back. Well.....last night he got the ambition to do some and kept on going. He ended up doing the WHOLE packet in an hour and asked for more. When I informed him there wasn't any more to do, he said, "NO MOM! MORE HOMEWORK!" We compromised by having him re-color a few pages.
It's ironic because every day this month we have asked him if he wants to do homework. The first time he said yes, but only did one page. Since then it's been a big fat, NO every day. I wonder what made him change his mind?
And then we have the chaos...aka, Ayla. The chaos that was here during that time was so exhausting. Everyone needed help, and Ayla wanted to steal everyone's pencils and draw all over their papers. Next time, I'm just going to lock her in the high chair from the beginning until everyone is done. (She will be super mad at me for a while for how long I have to leave her in there, I'm sure). And for the record, in the photo Ayla is eating crayons while "coloring" on her own paper.

 

We had a nice rain storm today!

LOVE THE RAIN!!! And thankful for old shoes to get all wet in :)

Gid's new words

Gideon's teacher has been working really hard with him and the rest of the class to get them to say their names. Until yesterday, he referred to himself as "me." I heard him say, for the first time ever, Gideon when Ammon asked him what his name was. He pronounces it Geegen. It's soooo cute!!!

Ammon has been working with him for a little while to say Ammon appropriately, since Gideon has always called him "Danny"....and we have no idea where that came from either. At first Gid would say the syllables, and then when Ammon said, "Okay, now say Ammon" Gid would respond, "Danny." Also within the last few days Gid has started saying Ammon's name...but he only does it when prompted, and it comes out, "Ammom." If he isn't thinking about it, he still calls Ammon "Danny."

Since the summer break began, Gideon has been in a word explosion phase, FINALLY. He says full sentences all the time, still with lots of gibberish, but mostly we can understand what he is saying. He does mix up his sentence structure all the time. He absolutely loves going to preschool, often asking throughout the morning if it's time to go get his backpack yet. He has really bonded with his teacher, and he loves showing me the stuff in his folder every day. The first time I watched him empty his backpack so he could show me stuff from school I got warm fuzzies. He was so proud to show me his picture of animals he colored, and then told me all the names of the animals and what color they were. I sure love this kid of mine. He is doing so great and flourishing in almost every area. He has really come such a long way from when we started speech therapy with him last summer. Today he turned in his first homework assignment: making an example of himself. He loved using the glue all by himself to put the clothes on. He kept telling me he wanted a huge smile, and each time the smile I drew wasn't big enough. Finally I had to tell him I couldn't make the smile any bigger because it would go right off of the face. I have a picture on the camera of him working on his person...but I don't have it on the computer yet, and I also failed to get a picture of the final product. He put an Ironman shirt on his person, with blue pants because that is his favorite color. We did shoes with a blue bottom, just like his, and more Ironman fabric for the tops of the shoes. He loves his blue and red shoes because they remind him of Spiderman.

Also tonight Brady helped him with his first homework page. He was sooooo excited to color the page and find all the letter "a's" on the page. He doesn't know what hand to use for writing yet, so he switches back and forth. I hope he keeps up his enthusiasm for school!!!!

School Started Today!

 FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!!!!!! Zenock is in 2nd grade, Gideon in preschool, Ammon in 4th grade. They are so excited.

Gideon insisted on having a lunch box lunch like his brothers. On the way to take them to school he put it in his backpack and took it with him. When it was lunchtime he asked for a sandwich in a bag and a juice box put inside the lunchbox so he could have a picnic on the floor. After lunch he gets to go to preschool and ride the bus home. Hurray for a regular daily routine again!!!

Playing and goats... and an update on the puking morning sickness

 These two kids loved playing on the swings. Ayla could sit in the baby seat and be pushed all day. Gid is on the teeter totter thingy having a good time.

 One reason Ayla was always covered in dirt, she couldn't stop throwing it!

 Goats graze behind the yard. Kids loved throwing fallen apples to them to eat. Ayla got licked a few times by a goat and loved it. Every time she was done throwing and apple she would run to another tree to find more while shouting ME, ME! I think she was saying it was still her turn to feed them, or she was doing it by herself. I can't be sure.

And that concludes Idaho pictures. I was finally starting to feel better from morning sickness, only being really plagued for a little while in the afternoons. It was SO NICE to not be confined to the couch or my bed anymore!!!! And since coming home I have gotten even better! As long as I keep eating something every few hours, the nausea stays away and I can be a normal mom again. The kids are loving that I can help them with stuff, and I know Brady is happy to have his wife back. I have also had the energy to get back to making crafts!!!! I am working on some decorations for Halloween to teach at my next craft class in a few weeks. I was able to break in my new sander and work table from my parents. The jigsaw is next :) Friday night I sat at my sewing table and made a pillow case for a kid's birthday party and mended some things for Brady. I realized that I have not only missed crafting in the last 2 months, but sewing as well. I love using my talents in those areas. It provides a great deal of satisfaction for me, not to mention how nice it is to be busy and have productive things to do.

Craft night is coming again!

 These two projects are what I have been working on the last few days. I love how they turned out! I am teaching these crafts for my class in Sept. I love crafting, and I am so happy to finally feel back to normal so I can do this.

IDAHO!!

 They went outside and played in the dirt almost every day before they would eat breakfast or get dressed. All 4 of them loved playing outside, especially Ayla. I don't know how many times I had to wash dirt off her body and scrub out of her hair, but she was happy and having a blast.

 Ammon LOVES driving the lawn mower. He doesn't weigh enough yet to engage the blade for mowing, but perhaps next year he can be Grandpa's helper and mow the lawn for him.

 After watching Ammon have a ride, Gideon was begging for one. And when he was done, Ayla was INSISTING she also have a turn. They all loved "helping" Grandpa mow the lawn.

 And what's a trip to Grandpa Deitz's house without some riding of the four wheeler?

 Or "helping" Abby give her dog a bath?

 Photo opp for Ayla's 2 year old portrait....she's adorable!

 The ZOO!!! One of my favorite things to do with the kids when we visit.

 This guy was rawring like crazy.

4th of July Party

 We went swimming and had a delicious BBQ at a friend's house. It was the first 4th holiday that Brady wasn't working, which was awesome! We loved having him home all day. After the swimming and the eating and the swimming some more, we enjoyed fireworks at Brady's sister's house. We all had a good time and were very thankful to do something out of the house.

 She loved swimming with Ryan and the rest of the kids.

Snazzy new shirts the kids made.

Craft classes I held in June and July

 We put masking tape on canvas any way the boys wanted. Then painted it and took the tape off to reveal the cool design.

 Yes, Gideon did most of the painting by himself. I helped with the tape.

4th of July shirts we made with sponges and fabric paint. Three of these are the Hedden's kids. They all did such a good job doing their own shirts. I did the white one for Ayla to match a cute skirt Brady picked out for her.