A Family is a Gift That Lasts Forever...
Sunday, February 22, 2015
Kaylee is Reading
We Love Daddy
Daddy is being smothered! They were all watching a cartoon on our big bed and I couldn't help but add Baby Nathan to the pile and snap a photo. These days when our kids are young will pass all to quickly. I love Nate and every last one of our crew.
Sweet Kaylee
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Brian Regan Live
Downtown Wabash was super crowded and most restaurants had a very long wait. We ended up at a small Mexican restaurant that was crowded to the max but had just 2 very busy waitresses trying to run the whole place. We felt bad for our waitress who was running a million directions at once. We only had time to scarf down chips and salsa, quest, and bean dip before our show was to start.
The show was awesome. Brian Regan is just so fun. He makes the simple occurrances in life seem so hilarious and funny. Towards the end he started doing some of his classic jokes that we remember from when we were at BYU. It was real funny to watch him do these live in person since in college we only ever listened to his CDs.
Afterwards we got some desserts and drove back to our kiddos. What a fun night out with my love. I'm so grateful for our date nights, which are so necessary in our crazy hectic and stressful lives. Thank you so much, Hun 😍.
Friday, February 13, 2015
The season for love
Valentines Day is always a fun holiday season. The kids got a package from Grandma in Utah full of hearts, goodies, and gifts. Opening Grandmas packages is like Christmas every time! It is so much fun for everyone!!
Kaylee made some tissue paper roses with Andrea and made a vase by stamping hearts. She was so thrilled to give it to me when I came upstairs after work. I love my girl!!
The kids made Valentine cookies with Andrea with cookie cutters and frosting! Yummmmm!
Monday, February 9, 2015
Our Family Tree
Jaxton studied our family tree at school. He gathered names and birthdates in relation to himself. He created a tree out of magazine rippings, and placed each name strategicly on the tree. This is very special for him to learn. Recently when getting on family search.org, I began searching around on the website for individuals within my family tree. The famous orphan on my dad's line has always intrigued me and sparked my curiosity as to how we could find that lost name. Apparently in family search.org many names have been recorded by others. I was actually able to do a search with dates to determine the father of the orphan. A little more research is required to finalize that we have the correct name, however it was pretty amazing to see the names and the dates match perfectly with the story that has been told by word of mouth and passed down through the generations. I sure hope that if I can find some free time sometime in the near future I can search with my kids and together we can seek out our family line! It is a very exciting work!
Kids Map Work
At Oak Farm, the boys are studying maps quite a bit. They are learning where we are in the world and what is around us. Over time they have been working on maps, starting from the entire globe, and working all the way down to the state of Indiana. They have learned the continents of the earth, they have learned the countries within north America, and currently they are learning about the 50 states in the USA. Jaxton has picked up the 50 states song that I taught him from when I was a kid in elementary school. Now each of them are working on details of a particular state in the United States. I am so impressed with their work. I love to put it up for all to see!
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Coopers Tooth
Cooper's tooth was literally hanging by a string. It would wiggle and flop it was really gross. Dad convinced him to tie a piece of floss to the tooth and yank it. He was nervous. But wiggling it with the string got it to fall outwithout having to yank it. Cooper is funny about the tooth fairy. He did not want the tooth fairy to take his teeth away. So he put it in a baggie and had us keep it hidden in our room so that the tooth fairy would not be able to find it. When he's ready he will slip it under his pillow for cash!
Friday, January 30, 2015
Downtown Indy Date Night
Nate and I got invited to an Indiana Pacers game with Nate's work friends, Andrew and Desiree Holy, and Jerry & Jamie Rongos. We took the kids to Aunt Melissa and Uncle Johns house for a movie, game and snack night. The kids had a great time, and even baby Nathan took a bottle and enjoyed the fun.
Nate and I enjoyed a fun fancy dinner at Prime 47 Steakhouse followed by a fun time in a suite box to watch the Indiana Pacers basketball game. The suite was complete with hot dogs and snacks and stocked with all kinds of beverages. Too bad we had just eaten a huge several course meal! The kids would have loved it, though. We will have to take them to a game sometime. But Nate and I had a really good time getting away and being together. We also decided to become Colts fans and Pacers fans because it would be a lot of fun to follow our states teams. Go Indiana!
There was a looming snowstorm /blizzard headed our way. They were predicting 10-15 inches of snow in Fort Wayne. We wanted to beat the storm, so we picked up the kids and headed home. Next time seven'll get a hotel and make a weekend out of the trip! I love my hubby. It's so fun to get away from reality sometimes and just enjoy one another!!
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Coopers cake
Cooper wanted a Spiderman cake. We found an idea on Pinterest. And got to work. Happy birthday Cooper!
Coopers birthday party
Cooper had a fun birthday party at Jungle George's where they have about 10 bounce houses, an arcade, and pizza. We won a free birthday party at jungle George's through a radio station.He invited three church friends, Cameron, Joey, and Gabe. He invited for school friends, Jackson, Fernando, another Cameron, and Pierceton.
The kids were entertained by all the activities and they had a blast. Even Dawson and Kaylee couldn't get enough.
Cooper was very grateful that all his good friends could come. He made sure they were all having fun.it was a lot of fun. Happy birthday kid!
Saturday, January 24, 2015
Cooper is 6!!!
We can't believe that Cooper is seven! He is such a big kid! Here are some fun things about Cooper at seven years old:
1. Just last week Cooper lost his top front tooth. His other top front tooth is super news. For a while both of the front teeth would wiggle together as a unit. But one held on strong.coupe has a hard time parting with his lost teeth. When he loses a tooth he is worried that the tooth fairy will come. He does not want her to come and take his tooth away. So he has dad keep it protected in our bathroom. Maybe one day soon he will be ready for some cash.
2. Upward basketball started again this year just last week. Nate decided he would give coaching a try. He is coaching Cooper's basketball team for first and second graders. Cooper is loving every minute of it. He got new basketball shoes for his birthday. He is way into the sport.
3. Cooper loves to go to primary at church. Michele Metcalf always sit with me and the kids to be some helping hands. Cooper really likes Michelle. She has been helping him work on division problems.
4. Cooper is such a thoughtful boy. He is always concerned about what someone else feels or needs or wants. He can notice when someone needs help or is feeling sad. He is very sensitive to his own feelings and the feelings of others. He is very able to recognize when someone needs something and he is very confident in helping to meet others' needs. It is a quality that is so precious to Cooper.
5. Cooper is very hard-working. He is very determined. He gets that from his dad. He will work his heart out at something that is important to him and then he has mastered it. He does this with piano, schoolwork,yard work, and anything else that is asked of him.
6. Cooper is becoming a really good at the piano. He really really enjoys learning it. He is one that will practice and practice till a piece is perfect before he will stop. At first he was almost OCD about it. He would run through an exercise and if he messed up in the middle, he'd have to start over from the beginning until the whole thing was done from top to bottom without any mistakes. He's not quite as obsessive as when he first began, but he has a determination to succeed just like his dad. He hopes to be able to play like his cousin Jared someday.
7. Cooper really likes to cook. I love to cook, so I am always cooking different things for our family. Cooper loves to help. One evening, it was apparent that I was not in the best of moods. Cooper announced that he was going to make breakfast for dinner. He is such a thoughtful boy. I know that he noticed my demeanor and wanted to help. He is so much like his daddy. So he got to work and he would not let anyone help him. He wouldn't even let anyone in the kitchen. I't took a while, but he did the whole thing: scrambled eggs, fruit salad with marshmallows and cut up fruit mixed with yogurt, bread & butter, and orange juice. I came to check on him several times, and he assured me things were good and he needed no help. I really was so proud of him. He even set the table. The whole deal! He is smart as a whip! He is the most prone to spills than any other kid I've ever known, but he also can accomplish a dinner for 7!
8. Cooper is such a confident kid. His classroom at school consists of 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders mixed, with a total of 22 students. He is used to being the younger one (because of his brother Jaxton), so it was interesting when he gravitated toward a group of 3rd graders as his best buddies at school. Fernando, Jackson, Cameron & Cooper are such good buddies at school. They are great kids. I'm so glad that Cooper has a confidence about him that allows him to just be who he is with everyone.
9. Cooper has become a great reader. He can read so well. Its amazing how a kid can be taught to read, and then can teach himself by reading and reading and reading more. I remember trying out our reading lesson book with Cooper when he was barely four. He wasn't quite ready, but I thought we could try anyways, just for fun. He struggled with sounding out words. He couldn't blend the words. So we put the book away and pulled it out during his pre kindergarten year. And Alas! He could blend words. I learned that a kid can learn just about anything when they are ready. And now, Cooper is such a fluent reader and he loves to read. He is reading Harry Potter #1 and is almost all the way through. He knows the story because of the movie, so that helps him get through the difficult words and phrases that are way out of his reading range. Yet he can follow the story and is so proud of himself. Way to go, Cooper!
10. Cooper loves to wrestle. It is his favorite thing ever. He loves to wrestle until he's crying, and then he gets up and keeps going. He is such a fighter, such a determined winner. His drive is incredible. He is super strong. He is lucky to have 3 brothers to wrestle with. I don't know what he'd do if he was in a family of sisters. !!
Here are a couple cute things Cooper has said or done lately:
Cooper said, "in real life do dreams really come true??"
One day, to be camouflaged so a bird wouldnt see him, he put his boots on backwards facing behind him. 😄
Friday, January 16, 2015
Sledding
The kids took advantage of the snow outside. Amy is to enjoy the snow without getting too cold too fast. The big boys got sleds from grandma Routsong for Christmas. they were excited to use them. Dawson liked the snow, but as soon as he fell in it he realized he was too cold. But he enjoyed watching the kids from the window.
Jaxton's winter job is to plow the sidewalk to the porch. He also plows the upstairs patio and the downstairs patio and will earn a little money for his hard labor.
We've had two snow days so far this year. Hopefully it will be nothing like the 13 snow days we had last winter. A little snow is fun.
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Kaylees birthday party
Kaylee decided she wanted a frozen birthday party. So we decorated with light blue and white everything. She invited her little friends Lily, Chyler, Jaslene, and Mia. We started off the party with me again the story to the girls. They listened to that story and 10 Lee. They all knew all the answers. After that. The girls put Blue white and silver beads on an elastic string to make Elsa necklaces. Then we dad and ice experiment with crushed ice.
They sprinkled "snow" aka baking soda on their ice. The girls used droppers to drip blue colored vinegar water on their crashed ice. It fizzed and sparkled.
Next we painted the girls bases with blue glitter snowflakes on their cheeks. They felt like princesses. The girls and snowflake sandwiches and snacks for lunch. Bright blue cupcakes with white glitter frosting were next. We added for candles to one of them and saying happy birthday to the birthday girl. After cupcakes each girl got a pair of gloves to be like Elsa. They went down to the basement stayed and danced away to their favorite song, "Let It Go."
Happy Birthday Kaylee!
Here is the kitchen we made for Kaylee. I got the idea off of Pinterest. We had 2 old nightstands taking up space in the garage, leftover breadboard and old black shelves. Even the phone was an old magic jack phone. The boys helped to paint it and sew the curtain. It was a family project and all the kids play in it!
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Kaylee is 4!!
Kaylee is 4!!! Happy Birthday Girl! Here are some fun things about Kay at 4 years old:
1. Kaylee’s favorite food these days would be “chocolate
granola.” She actually picks out the
dark chocolate pieces, and leaves the rest, exclaiming that she is full. Somebody has her mommy’s chocolate weakness.
2. Kaylee’s favorite
little friends these days include Jaslene, Lilly, Carter, and Chyler. She talks about these kiddos often. It is really fun to have her friends come
over to play because she gets into her girly element.
3. Kaylee loves to
create “projects.” A project for her is
taking toys and items from all different categories and putting them in piles
or boxes all mixed together. Sometimes
she “wraps” things like gifts before adding them to the pile of nick knacks. I cannot get into her head to understand her
reasoning as she piles up her things, but behind it all, there truly is an
organized process in her mind of what she is doing. If Dawson or I touch part of her “project,”
she gets very concerned. She likes it
exactly the way she created it, even though it looks like a mess from my point
of view. So sometimes she will keep her
“project” out for a few days before we decide it is time to clean up her
room.
4. Kaylee loves to sing.
She will sing all the time. She
loves to sing to her baby brother, and gets a thrill when her singing “puts him
to sleep.” We were watching American
Idol one day and she announced that one day when she was bigger, she would be a
singer just like the ones on TV. I hope
that dream of hers comes true. She will
be a beautiful singer.
5. Kaylee loves her little baby brother to pieces. And he equally loves her. She can make him grin and laugh. He absolutely loves her entertainment. She certainly lives up to the stigma of
“little mommy” in our house. She has
learned how to feed Baby Nathan baby food and she loves to do it. We will lower the high chair so its right at
her height and she will feed him all his food.
Its darn cute to watch her with him.
As if he is a real baby doll.
6. Kaylee is a little drama queen. Her brother Dawson gets quite the kick out of
watching her drama in action. He will
push her buttons (and he knows exactly which ones to push) to get her to give
him a mighty scream or two or three. He
loves the thrill of her screams. It is
kind of funny to watch. I try to teach
her that if she won’t scream, rather if she’d ignore him, then he would lose
all fun in doing it. But she can’t
understand that yet. So the two of them
will go off and play together really well, until Dawson decides its time to
push those buttons. They love to play “backpacks”
and “store.” They are becoming such good
friends.
7. Kaylee is a Sunbeam at church! I can hardly believe it. She is so darn cute. She has a great group of friends in her class
at church, and her new Sunbeam teacher just happens to be her old Nursery
teacher. That makes the transition super
easy! I’m so proud of her going to
Primary and sitting up front. One week
recently, she got real nervous for some reason about Primary. So I asked Cooper if he would sit with her
for a little while, and he did. He is
such a sweet, helpful, and thoughtful boy, and I know how much Kaylee adores
him, and all her brothers.
8. Kaylee has been loving her preschool group. She has some good friends in the group, and
she is learning so much! Its hard to say
whether she picks up on things from her older siblings, or if she gets it at preschool. But she can write just about every letter of
the alphabet. She is picking up reading
really well, and she knows all her sounds.
We have started the “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons” and
she loves to do her reading lesson. We’ve
taken it slow because its often hard to fit into our day, but wherever we leave
off, she is quickly able to pick up and move forward. I LOVE teaching my kids to read. It is so rewarding. She will be reading before we know it!
9. Kaylee is surrounded by boys in this house, but she is
the most girly girl I know. She loves to
have her fingernails and toenails painted all different colors and
sparkles. She asks if she can use my
makeup, every time she sees me put it on.
I always tell her she can , when she’s 12. She will look forward to that day!! She loves to wear chapstick, and often wants
to use some of my sparkle lip stuff. She
is a princess through and through.
10. I am so grateful
to have a daughter, such a beautiful one at that. She is just gorgeous. Her big eyes with dark lashes and blond
hair. I always imagined having a little
blonde girl, but I never imagined I would have such a beautiful, cute, fun,
little girl to do fun girl things with together. I received a pedicure gift certificate for my
birthday and one of these days Kaylee and I will go get our manicures /
pedicures done together. That will be
memorable. I am so grateful for my
darling girl, with her huge heart, and her fun personality. I love you so much Kaylee!
Happy Birthday to our Girl!
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Gingerbread houses
We got a gingerbread town with five little gingerbread houses and buildings. There were two little cottages, one toy shop, one miniature house, and one store building. Each kid got to put one building together with frosting and decorate it with candies. It was a lot of fun.
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Christmas 2014
Christmas was a lot of fun this year. It is so magical when the kids are believers. It was also so much fun planning presents for everyone. For the kids, for Nate, for cousins and extended family. I really enjoy that part.
This Christmas, like all other Christmases, we spent Christmas eve ease down in Lafayette with Nate's family. We spent the night and then spent all of Christmas eveenjoying each other's company. On the 23rd we went bowling together at Purdue University. It was a first for Kaylee and Dawson. It had been a very long time since we have gone bowling with Jaxton and Cooper. Everybody had a very good time. I think Cooper won his game!
Christmas eve we had our annual family testimony meeting followed by massive present opening. That cousins exchange presents starting with the youngest and on at. The teenagers and adults did our annual favorite things exchange. I brought jewelry for my favorite thing and I got it back in the end! Nate is so good to me and we work together to get the presents we want. We said goodbye and headed home for our own family Christmas eve. We watched the nativity with the kids and read this story in link of the first Christmas and baby Jesus. The kids were sent off to bed and they could not get to sleep quick enough for fear that Santa would not leave presents if they were still awake.
Christmas morning was just magical. Santa did come. He Brett the presents everyone had been asking for and their stockings were full of breakfast goodies. Jaxton got a giant Lego set. Cooper got his long awaited remote control monster truck. Kaylee got her doll that looks like her. Dustin got a new year toy set. And that's all night and got some spoons and bibs so he can eat more solid food. The rest of the presents under the tree where fun to open and enjoy. All the kids got books to read and power toothbrushes. Jaxton got more Legos, Cooper got a camera, Kaylee got lots of kitchen supplies, and Dawson got Duplo legos. Nate got me a cricket! I am very very excited. I got him a weight set and stand to start his home gym. The kids exchanged gifts to each other, we opened more gifts from Utah family, and it seemed as ifthat presence would not stop. It was just magical. Dustin was a little bit overwhelmed by the craziness and excitement.
After a while we went caroling like we have been going every Christmas day for the past two years. We went caroling at a retirement home where many individuals are lonely from their families on Christmas Day. I hope that we were able to sing for then and Bring them a bit of joy on this Christmas day while they are probably missing their loved ones. The kids know more and more Christmas songs and it is very fun to have them get involved in the singing.
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
5 months old
Nathan five months old!!! Here are some fun things about our little guy at 5 months old:
Eats oatmeal and loves it
Rolls across the room
Pounces fist one on top of the other
Loves to talk
Always always smiling
Always reaching out to touch you or to touch anything in his reach
Jumps up and down in his exerciser bouncer
His eyelashes are getting longer and thicker
He sleeps almost all night long and wakes up maybe once or twice
He takes his first nap almost every day at 10 o'clock
He wiggled and arched his back so far that he Flipped in his swing
Smiles at his siblings
Absolutely adores kaylee, and she equally adores him
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