Halloween

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays because it is just so much fun for the kids!  This year, Jaxton wanted to be a skeleton.  He had decided this a long time ago.  We found a costume on ebay and he was thrilled when it arrived in the mail.  He looked very scary!!  Cooper chose to be Captain Rex from Star Wars.  With his mask on, you could never tell that Cooper was inside there.  He was so proud to be Captain Rex.  Kaylee was a cute BYU cheerleader, complete with blue and white pompoms.  She was just adorable.  Dawson got to match Jaxton and was a skeleton too in skeleton jammies.

The kids got to go Trunk-or-Treating at the church parking lot which they made out big time there!  Their bags of candy were overflowing and heavy!!  They boys went around the circle of cars at least 2 times!!  Kaylee was getting the hang of how it all worked pretty fast!  She figured out that she needed to say "Trick or Treat" and then someone would happily give her candy!!! Of course she was thrilled to get one piece of candy and wanted to stop and eat it right then and there.  I helped her to suppress her craving for that one piece and keep trick or treating to fill her bag (which most of her candy actually went into mom's and dad's mouths :-)  

The kids also got to go trick or treating to the houses on Halloween night.  We went to the neighborhood nearby where both Danita's family lives, and Christian's family lives, both Simplx employees.  That was a lot of fun, but very cold!  What a fun halloween this year!

Kindergarten Fall Party

I am the lucky Room Parent for Jaxton's Kindergarten class.  That means I get to be a part of planning and organizing his class parties.  That is something I love to do!  At the beginning of the year, I thought that being the room parent meant I had a huge commitment to volunteer at his class on a regular basis.  I was wrong!  The room parent is in charge of 3 class parties for the year, and for teacher appreciation.  I figured that with Dawson, I could easily plan and organize parties!  So I signed up!

For the fall party we organized 4 stations of fun.  The first station was decorating mini pumpkins.  We got the mini round pumpkins from our nearby pumpkin patch and provided the kids with colorful sharpies and stickers to decorate with.  

The second station we did "pumpkin bowling" with 10 two liter soda bottles all decorated cute.  Another mom with cute artsy talent made these bowling pins and the kids tried to knock them down with a real pumpkin.  By the end of the party, the pumpkin was beginning to crack.  I was sure glad that it didn't break apart in the classroom and spill its pumpkin guts all over Mrs. Hensch's floor.

The third station was where we read the story "A Pumpkin Seed" in the story corner.  We read about a boy who plants a pumpkin seed, watches in grow through each stage of its life cycle, then picks the pumpkin, and saves some of that pumpkin's seeds to use the next spring.  Then, each child got a ziplock bag and put 2 pumpkin seeds on a wet paper towel to put in their window at home.  They could watch the seeds sprout.

The fourth station was the snack station.  Another mom drew cute jack-o-lantern faces on mandarin oranges and the kids got to peal those and eat popcorn.  It was a really fun party and I was so glad to be able to be in Jaxton's classroom and get to know his teach, his friends, and some of the other parents.

The Perfect Pumpkin...

As a Halloween tradition, we took the kids to the pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect pumpkins!  There were so many different sizes and colors and shapes of pumpkins, they were overwhelmed!!  I had $16 cash so I told the kids we could only spend $16.  Each pumpkin had their dollar price marked in sharpie on them, so the kids went around looking at the prices and adding the amounts together.  It turned out to be a spontaneous math lesson :)  Finally, they decided they didn't each want to have their own pumpkin, but instead settled on a very tall big family pumpkin for $10 and a smaller, yet still quite big one for $6.  We had to work together to haul them both onto the wagon and pull them over to the checkout counter.  

When we got home, a few days later, we carved our giant pumpkin.  The boys helped to get out the pumpkin guts, which they really disliked.  Then, they wanted him to look scary, so we drew on his face first, then cut it out.  We put him outside on our back porch.  They were very proud of their giant pumpkin!

BYU vs. Notre Dame

GO BYU!!!

Nate got the opportunity to go the the BYU vs. Notre Dame football game.  He went with the Gregory families (Abe and Austin; and Adam & kids) and with Greg Graham.  It was some great guy time for him.  They all got dressed up in their BYU garb and had a blast!  Brings back some great BYU memories!!  

F is for Fish & Fire & Forest

I had the opportunity to teach Cooper's Co-op preschool group.  This week was all about letter F and I chose to focus in on Fish, Fires, and Forests.  I came up with an idea to actually go purchase those 15 cent fish from walmart and let the kids feed them and touch and feel them.  When I brought out the 7 fish they kids were so excited!  They loved watching them and loved feeding them.  They got a little more comfortable with them that they began trying to catch them.  At first I gave them a paper cup to catch them in, but that was wayyyy to easy.  So then I just let them go at it with their hands.  I figured that if all 7 fish were still alive by the end of the preschool time, they could each take one home.  

At one point, they were all helping one of the boys, Cameron, to get all 7 of them in his hands at one time.  He had 5 of them, then 6, then all 7 of them cupped into his two hands squirming all around!! It was pretty funny.  They sure got some "hands on" experience here!  I doubted those poor fish had much longer to live...

Another fun activity we did was one I remember very well from my childhood.  I will never forget it, and I hope that it might impact some of these kids as much as it had me.  I found some whole tilapia fish, with eyes, bones, scales, fins, and all, at walmart.  The kids got to paint the fish all different colors and then we pressed a piece of long paper over the fish to make a fish print.  They are especially neat when the kids paint the eyes a separate color or the fins a separate color, the fish prints turn out so neat. You can even see the scales on the print.  The kids loved this.  You can see Cooper's concentration as he is painting this real live fish.  Needless to say we washed our hands multiple times throughout these two short hours! 

Another fun activity we did was fishing.  The kids helped to put together a fishing pole and paperclips clipped onto paper fish.  Then they each got to take a couple turns "fishing."  They loved this too!

The next preschool day, we talked all about fires.  It was fun to educate them a little bit on what to do if there is a fire and how to handle it.  We talked about STOP DROP AND ROLL and even practiced doing it.  Each child got to have a phone (old cell phones or play phones that were laying around the house - can you believe we have so many old cell phones! What are we supposed to do with all of them now that they are so outdated by apple!  They turn into toy phones for purposes like this! =-))  I helped them find the numbers 9-1-1 and we practiced dialing the number on our phones.  We then got to reenact a fire scenario.  One child got to be the one to yell fire, one child got to be the one to call the fire department.  These two also practiced stopping, dropping, and rolling. 1 child got to answer the phone call at the fire station, and 3 children got to be the firefighters to come put the fire out.  This was the biggest hit with this group of 4 year olds!  They wanted to do it again and again, and they wanted to switch roles and do it some more!!  So this game lasted a while.  It was a lot of fun.  The kids then got to Fingerpaint a picture of Fire.  (notice the play on the letter F).  They mixed yellow paint and red paint to create orange fire.  

We got out the kids treasured blocks as well as city pieces from their train set.  We found all the fire trucks and emergency vehicles we could find throughout our house and the kids built a city together with a fire department and matchbox cars.   This, they loved.  This went on for quite a while too and I was impressed by their ability to work together as a team building this city.  

The last activity was to go into a Forest for the letter F.  We are lucky to have a forest in our backyard to use for this preschool.  Of course that's why we moved here, so that we would have  a forest to use when I had to teach the letter F at preschool!  They each got a small bag to collect any nature items they thought were neat and I pointed out different things to see in the forest, like the different shapes of the leaves, the nuts and apple-like things that were falling off of certain trees, the sticks and branches, fallen trees and old logs, nests up high, and the different colored leaves.  

Teaching 2 days of preschool in one week is a whole lot of preparation and work.  But I really enjoy teaching and we always have a ton of fun!  It is always a memorable experience.  Cooper actually remembers very well things from the preschool I did when Jaxton was 2 and a half.  That means Cooper was only 1 and a half and he still can recall some of the things we did at our house.  Fun fun times!  We actually ended up stopping this preschool in November since 2 of the little boys were moving away, and the little girl in the group was going to join a formal preschool to prepare her for kindergarten.  That would leave 2 boys and so we decided to dissemble the group.  It was a lot of fun while it lasted!!

Cooper's Pre-K Field Trip

Cooper had another chance to go to a pumpkin patch called Autumn in the Country with his Pre-Kindergarten class and Mrs. Kruse.  It was a fun time for me and him to spend together.  Kaylee got to go to her friend Carter's house and she was thrilled for that.  So Cooper and I got to spend some one-on-one (with Dawson in the sling).  Here we are on a hayride riding through the large pumpkin fields.  Cooper noticed that the pumpkin vines looked strangely similar to our garden's pumpkin vines: brown and wilted leaves.  He suggested that maybe this pumpkin patch has squash bugs too!!  But why were their pumpkins still thriving, while ours had all died off?  We have more to learn about growing pumpkins!!  

At this farm, they make apple cider.  The lady took 20 apples and put them into some kind of apple grinder with their cores and all.  She asked the kids how much apple cider would come from 20 apples. The grinder would grind up the apples and then smash all the pieces up and any apple juice would be pressed out into a jar under the machine.  Well, hardly any juice came from 20 apples.  It must take a whole lot of apples to get much apple juice or cider at all!

They also had a fun maze made out of big hay bales.  The kids took off into this maze while I waited outside of it.  I heard squeals of laughter and running feet as I waited patiently for Cooper to find his way out.  He loved this part!

The final part of the field trip was picking out pumpkins.  Each child got to pick out any pumpkin they'd like.  Cooper examined many pumpkins.  He knew that the green ones would soon ripen and turn orange, because that's what happened to the green pumpkin we saved from our garden before the squash bugs got it.   He decided on a perfectly round, perfectly orange small mini pumpkin as his choice.  It was sweet to see him examine them and find the one that he thought was the absolute best!

What a fun time!!

Hilgar's Family Farm

Cooper was fortunate this October to go on lots of trips to different pumpkin patches around town.  We first took a field trip with his Co-op preschool group to Hilger's Family Farm.  It was a family owned farm that opens up in autumn time and decorates their entire farm with fall fun activities for kids.  They had a real corn maze, playlets made out of farm equipment and hay bales, a hay pit with a tire swing in the middle to swing around and fall down into hay, and many other fun areas to play.  Cooper's Co-op preschool consists of Cameron Stump, Emerson & Sebastian Lewis, Aaron Greene, Mikey York, and Cooper.  Its been a fun group of kids!

Towards the end of our time at Hilgars, the owner of the farm read a story to the kids. It was called "The Pumpkin Seed" and was about a little boy who planted a pumpkin seed and watched it grow all summer long.  It was a neat story and the kids enjoyed her storytelling! 

We took a hayride around the pumpkin fields.  This was probably the biggest hit!  Cooper is such a great big brother, too!

Even Baby Dawson got to come along!

Our Chaos

We thought that our household was chaotic with three children.  We didn't really know what chaos was, I guess!  Now we know chaos!  But it is wonderful chaos!  Its amazing to think that just 6 years ago, life was so simple with just Nate and I going and coming as we please.  6 long years later, we have created 4 miracles that have drastically changed our lives.  Everything we do now is for these 4 miracles, and less and less for just ourselves.  We are blessed to have this chaos in our home.  We are blessed to have such beautiful healthy children who teach us so much each and every day.  I have learned more about myself through being with my children than I have every before in my life.  I am so grateful for my kids and for the simple joys they bring into our home.  Our home is a very busy place.  Someone is always needing something; and often all four are needing attention at the very same moment!  It is challenging, but the challenge is one that is rewarding at the same time! 

A Newborn Baby

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).


The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

--Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Grandma Hutchinson

We were so lucky to have Grandma Hutchinson come out to visit when Baby Dawson was born.  It's special for her to be able to come for a new baby since she lives so far away and cannot spend lots of time with her Indiana grandkids.  So to be here for a new grandbaby is a special occasion.   She was a wonderful help with the boys and Kaylee allowing me to spend time with Dawson.  Of course the kids adore her and all her fun activities that she does with them.  She got to spend the most time with Kaylee since she doesn't go anywhere to school yet and Kaylee really got to know Grandma well. They painted together, colored together, read lots and lots of books together, and sang songs together.  She would request Grandma to put her to bed and woke up in the morning asking where Grandma was.  Its wonderful to see her little personality and her desire for her Grandma.  

Grandma and the boys love the dollar store!  She took the boys there one afternoon to spend $5 each.  This is what Cooper came home with =)  He was a pirate from head to toe!  Thanks Grandma for all your help and support.  We love you and appreciate you coming all the way to Indiana to be with us and to get to know Baby Dawson, your 8th grandchild!  

A New Brother

Jaxton loves babies!  He has enjoyed watching Kaylee grow and learn new things.  He is super gentle and soft and cuddly with his new brother.  He is proud to have a new baby brother and was telling his friends at school about Baby Dawson.  He is also very able to help take care of him and calm him down if he's crying.  When he wakes up in the morning, the first thing he wants to do is usually spend some time with Dawson who is always awake and happy about the time the kids wake up.  Sometimes he will even forget his morning chores because he is talking and playing with his new brother. :-)

Dawson is Cooper's MiniMe.  Their baby pictures are identical.  By looking at the newborn pictures of both of them it is very difficult to figure out which is which.  These two looked subtly different at birth than Jaxton and Kaylee.  I imagine that Dawson will look a ton like Cooper as he grows older with blond hair like his brother, but probably blue eyes like his sister.  Cooper was a little bit indifferent about his new brother at first.  He didn't seem to notice him very much and his little world didn't seem to change much.  He definitely likes to hold his brother and he is very very good at putting in his pacifier. It bothers him when Dawson cries a lot.  It's sweet because Cooper feels sentimental towards him and genuinely is concerned when Dawson can't be calmed down.  Dawson is very lucky to have such wonderful big brothers as his example throughout his life. 

Kaylee is absolutely thrilled to have a real live baby in the house!  She is not one bit jealous of this new bundle of a baby.  Rather, she is just excited to help take care of him.  She loves to "Change You Dawson" and she loves trying to put his pacifier in upside down.  She always wants to hold him and touch him and smother him with love.  Sometimes I will lay Dawson down on her bed while I'm getting her ready for bed and she will want to lie down right next to him and snuggle him to pieces.  He is her live doll!  When he gets his diaper changed, she wants to get her diaper changed right next to him on the floor.  So I often do double diaper duty, two at a time.  One time we were at the YMCA and Kaylee was in Childwatch.  I had Dawson with me, but I always keep an extra pacifier in the diaper bag.  The workers at Childwatch couldn't get Kaylee to be happy, so they found an orange basketball pacifier in the diaper bag and gave it to her.  The funny thing is, she took it!  So when we came to pick up the kids from Childwatch we find Kaylee with Dawson's orange pacifier in her mouth.  LOL.  It was just way too funny.  She hasn't had her pacifier since she was just barely 1 years old, at least 8 months ago.  She knew Dawson takes it when he is sad.  So since she was feeling sad, she willingly took it!  Too funny!  Dawson is also very lucky to have such a loving big sister who will always take care of him!

Flag Football

The boys were in flag football this fall.  They're not super into football, but its important to at least know how to play the game.  And once they learned some of the rules, they actually really enjoyed watching BYU football on TV because they better understood what was going on.  Jaxton was reluctant at first to play until I assured him that he would have a "tail" called a flag and that instead of tackling him, the players would just pull off his "tail."  He was ok with that!  But I did tell them both that they would actually be very good at tackle football, seeing how they tackle one another in their daily wrestling matches at home. :-)

 The boys were practicing their quarterback catches and running a touchdown!

 They played on a YMCA team called the Wildcats and their team color was purple.  Jaxton was #1 and Cooper was #2.  They loved their team huddle where they put their hands in and yelled "Gooooooo Wildcats!!"