I Don't Remember.

I honestly have no idea what we have been doing this last week. I think just functioning. The kids did relatively well in church on Sunday except when Charley got away under the bench and then got taken out of nursery so he spent the whole 3rd hour interrupting Ben's lesson in YM. Oh well I guess, you win some and you lose some. Ben has been busy working late, Emmerlyn has been busy refusing to sleep, Charley has been busy running around testing his boundaries  and William has been busy going to school and planning his birthday party that is on Friday (he is BEYOND excited). The last couple of days have been really nice but this morning we work up to freezing cold super windy and snow. Yep it's still January.

I had to take a picture of this because it only happens rarely but this is Emmerlyn and Charley playing and sharing HAPPILY together.

 She is getting so big and her hair is getting so long. I can't believe how much she is growing up.

 The boys were playing downstairs the other night and it got really quiet at about 7:00 pm so we went down to check on them. This is what we found William doing he was out and cold (later he told me he had the couch cover off and was laying under it turns out Charley had taken it off of him.) Charley was in the sewing room busily cutting up my measuring tape into minuscule pieces. We had to carry William up to bed and Charley wouldn't even look at me because he knew he was in trouble but I could get mad because even though it is a little frustrating it was a little funny that he jumped at the first opportunity to do that.

 We painted her toes the other day while she was sitting on the potty. She loved it and sat still the whole time. (PS my bathroom floor is NOT as nasty as it looks that is just the way the tile is around the heat vent, it always looks dusty and dirty and it drives me INSANE!)

 Super tired baby girl lounging with her dad. She is super cuddly with him and always gives him the best hugs and kisses.

 SALSA. We love fresh salsa even the boys and they love to 'help' aka watch and ask every 2 seconds when it will be done. 

 Tablet time. After William does his reading on the weekends he gets to play with the tablet. he set the other one down for a minute to help Charley and Emmerlyn jumped at the chance to get it. She was having a blast 'playing' angry birds.

Have a good week!

William Says

I was talking to a friend at exercise group today and she works at the school and helps in classes when they are doing testing (it is report card time) and she was test William and another little boy whose birthday is 3 days before William's and she pointed out that the other kid was 3 days older then William and William said "yeah, and 3 days SMARTER".  She said she was trying really hard not to laugh. It is funny how he is trying to figure out this birthday/age thing. He is CONSTANTLY informing Charley that 5 is more than 3 so he is bigger and then Charley of course punches him and argues back that he is bigger or stronger (maybe stronger and bigger around :). William is frustrated and arguing with me about how Charley has his birthday in January but William is older with his birthday in February. He is starting to grasp the year thing. Hopefully he gets it soon, I feel a little bad for the guy.

Sick, Sick, Sick

That's what we have been up to this last week. Everyone but me that is. Charley has been ok, he had crud on his birthday. William, Emmerlyn, and Ben have all been sick and miserable. Poor things, they have been coughing and throwing up and William and Ben had fevers. Ben had it the worst of all and his is now just trailing off with a bout of Pink Eye. Way to start off Tax Season right :). Thankfully we are moving on. Nobody left our house Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Our Landlord called Ben on Monday just to make sure everyone was ok in here because he hadn't seen any signs of life. I guess there is a plus side to living in front of your landlord. The pictures from this last week are just a few because we didn't do a whole lot.

This is how William got off the bus the other day, yes his glove is in his mouth, he was running a little behind so he didn't have time to put his stuff on or even in his backpack. Poor guy, he got off the bus with a fever of 102. 

 This is what Charley was doing around noon the other day when he was supposed to be getting dressed. I don't know what to do with him sometimes.

 William wanted to show me his pirate ship that he built it looks pretty good to me. 

 Charley REFUSED to take a nap the other day and so he was running around like a maniac and fell apart when I tried to get him to eat dinner. After dinner I was getting Emmerlyn in her jammies and Charley was talking to me and then he stopped talking and I came out to this. He put himself to sleep at about 5:30 :). It was nice to have some one on one time with William later.

Emmerlyn has been busy as a little bee, her newest word is"ine" (mine) and she says it about everything that she wants. It was funny for a couple days but with her increased vocabulary she thinks she can be a little more demanding. 

After getting sent home from work yesterday because of his Pink Eye (thankfully he was able to work from home for the day) Ben is back in the office and starting to get his bearings back. When he went in for some antibiotics for his pink eye the provider told him that he probably had Influenza over the weekend so I guess on a positive note he doesn't need a flu shot this year. :)

William Says

When William was saying the prayer for Family Night he said "and bless Martin Luther that he can have a good time up at Your place." It was SO hard not to laugh.

Emmerlyn's Stats

Emmerlyn had her 15 month well-check on Wednesday and she is doing great. She weighs 22.3 lbs in the 64%, she is 30.5 in and in the 44%, her weight for length is in the 71% and her head is in the 82%. So she is growing FINALLY! She is a sweet little thing for the most part but definitely lets her opinion be known. It is so nice that she is starting to get big.

A Charley Vent

That little 3 year-old has been just a little crazy these last couple days and I just need to write it down so I can laugh about it later. Yesterday the sweet little fella dumped out a large cup of juice, poured just a few drops of milk into my cup of water and then occupied himself with gluing my birthday cards shut all in about 30 minutes. Then he spent the rest of the day climbing on the table, taking EVERYTHING from Emmerlyn and dumping out literally everything in our living room, he did not leave a single item in it's place. Today it took me until 11:45 to get that kid out of his pajamas and poor William who has been home sick today has not gotten a moment of peace. Charley hasn't even stopped long enough to take a nap and he has climbed on William and taken all of his stuff and changed the movie. Poor William. Sometimes I wonder where Charley gets his energy. Maybe tomorrow will be better. . . . 

Birthday Time

*Sorry I will get back to blogging on Tuesdays starting next week. We just got home later last night and I was way too tired.

We headed over to Billings on Monday for Ben's test. I decided to go with him because Tax Season is now underway and if I want to see him I will have to get creative. The trip was actually pleasant. The kids were great in the car even Emmerlyn which was crazy. The boys slept great and were really good while we shopped and wandered while Ben tested. Emmerlyn didn't sleep that great but our hotel room had a rocker/recliner in it so I just rocked her for like 3 hours so everyone else could sleep and she could at least rest. I know it will get better someday and in the meantime it was nice to be able to just hold her close. I think the worst part of the trip was when we went to dinner (in celebration of my birthday) and Emmerlyn was like a wild indian and so that was miserable. Next year I'm picking Mcdonalds or else I am dropping them off at a daycare or something so we can go out. It was fun though and I will take what I can get. I am so blessed.

 Learning a good life skill. I loved that William was giving Charley a play-by-play of what he was doing and why and Charley was soaking it all in. It's too bad that peeling potatoes does not continue to be as enthralling for your whole life.

Yummness. I like to make treats to I can lick the bowl and so do they! This was some super yummy marshmellow frosting that I made for Charley's birthday cake. They got to enjoy some more on Sunday when I made brownies and homemade hot chocolate frosting for potluck. It was delicious and great for sharing.

 This is how I found her after her nap, she was super mad, I'm not really sure what was going on in there.

 Charley was helping himself to a snack. He told me he got a string cheese. Turns out is was a big chunk of cheese that he broke off the brick :). 

 Emmerlyn felt like she needed to get her big gear on to help me make the brownies on Sunday Morning (you betcha I procrastinated making something for potluck until then.) 

 Yay for finished projects! I have been needing a new apron Emmerlyn is sporting my apron in the picture above. Ben made it for me right after we got married and it was getting pretty worn and tattered AND I made a cute apron for my sister and I wanted one :). So I made one and I love how it turned out. I put some denim in the top piece too so it is really thick and stuff doesn't soak through. I got to test it out when we had the Missionaries over for dinner on last Saturday.

 I love how sweet she looked on Sunday. She was enjoying her apple right before we left and was DEVASTATED when I took it from her so we could leave. It was super cold on Sunday so under what you see she has on a pair of leggings, socks, and a long sleeve onsie. She stayed warm. :)

I think that this last year has been one of my favorites. I think that life just seems to get better. I have probably jinxed us now but we will just have to see what the next year brings!

Goobies is 3!

Wow, I can't believe this sweet little miracle of a baby is 3. That went fast. He is not a baby anymore or even a toddler this baby is now ALL BOY! A precious one. I wouldn't send him back for anything. This little fella could make your day in just a matter of minutes with is animated smile and his energy. He can go non-stop for hours on end and then sleep like a rock and be ready for more. I love to watch his little mind work. He LOVES puzzles, playing UNO attack, he is a pro at Candyland (I swear he wins every-time.) He loves to run and play with any kind of a ball. He can't wait to be big enough to play soccer. He loves to play on Ben's tablet. He has impressive coloring skills he can color in the lines and he likes to do it. His favorite food is cereal any flavor he especially loves to add sugar. He likes to have drinks in the fridge that he can get as he pleases and lots of crackers, string cheese, apples, and oranges available at all hours of the day. He loves a good treat and nap-time. He only naps on the couch while watching a good movie with a pillow and a blanket. He loves to sing. He can recite the first article of faith. He idolizes his big brother and he is working hard on being "big as William". He likes to do his "homework" with William and he is starting to recognize his letters and numbers he loves nursery. He likes to help me cook and draw and paint and sew and pretty much anything I am trying to do. He loves to try to sneak in an extra bath with Emmerlyn AND with William. He loves a good story and and to ride in the car with his new carseat "with balls on it, the lots of balls" (it is a booster seat that has baseballs, soccer balls, footballs, and basketballs on it). When he puts on his coat he says "it is my 'oisonous' (poisonous) gases coat watch out you don't get sprayed" (Picture him putting his coat on and then turning his little bum toward you and making a spraying sound kind of like a skunk.) "this coat "p'tect's"  (protects) me from the dangerous gases, it's my fireman coat" (you got that right?:).  He is really good to give you a kiss (especially Ben) on the cheek and then turn his cheek so you can kiss him. I have a hard time remembering what life was like without this little burst of energy but I tell you what he sure changed it. Even though I get tired as soon as he says "good morning mom!!!!!!!" I wouldn't miss it for all the peace and quiet in the world.

The birthday boy. Unfortunately he woke up sick this morning but with a little motrin in him he was able to feel better enough to celebrate his big 3 birthday.

 His snowman cake. It was yummy. 

 His sweet nursery teacher from last year and the lady that does our library storytime (also they are both my visiting teachers) stopped by at lunch time to bring him is OWN piece of cake and a bag of marshmallows because they are his "FABRIT!!!!" which they are. He was super excited. They have been great teachers for him. He gets SO excited for nursery and whenever he sees her he runs over to talk to her and sit by her which I think is great for both of them.

 His real fishing pole from Grandma and Grandpa Rydalch "William don't touch it! It's mine!" 

 Emmerlyn was our professional gift carrier and she giggled the whole time (yep we sure do wrap our gifts in blankets and towels "reduce, reuse, recycle" Thanks Bob the Builder for that valuable life lesson that you have ingrained in my boys! That they tell me ALL the time and point out the recycle symbol on everything and tell me to recycle it. I would (maybe) but there isn't anywhere to do it in this town, ah too bad. And. . . . I forgot to wrap them which has happened for pretty much every birthday we have had in this household :)

Seriously Grandma and Grandpa Allen the opening of this box was as good as a pinata you can see William and Emmerlyn springing into action at the sight of the candy William yelled "whoa it's CANDY!"

 I love his facial expressions in these.  

 Puzzle. 

 Getting ready to blow out the candles with a funny little look on his face.

Happy Birthday Charley! We love you, we can't believe how fast you have grown and we are excited to see where life continues to take you! Never lose your energy or desire to be good.

From the Mouth of Goobs

After putting on his fleece jammies he was rubbing his hands all over himself and was rubbing down the back of him and informed me "back here is so curvy where the bum is." Silly fella.

The Calm

We haven't been up to a lot this week which has kind of been nice. Ben has been studying his brains out in preparation for his test next week so we haven't seen a lot of him. On Friday we went to our ward movie night but we ended up just sitting in the nursery letting our kids play with some of the other kids and William kept going back to get more food he is a hungry kid these days. On Saturday we went for a long drive and it was nice the boys colored and Emmerlyn slept so it gave us a nice break. Sunday was church and our kids were HORRIBLE! They were SO wiggly I wanted to just get up and leave and put all 3 of them in time-out. Emmerlyn ended up falling asleep in the middle of the floor in Relief Society with 10 minutes left and it was so nice to have her craziness out of my arms for a minute because they were so tired. One older lady commented about her falling asleep and then said "she isn't even two yet and she already lets everybody know how she wants life to be". Yep that's her but she does have pretty sweet little smile so I will keep her just on probation we will have to see how it goes, we might be sending her to nursery next week. Charley was so energetic I feel bad for his nursery teachers (it might not be fair to them if I send both crazy kids). He is funny we are going to help William learn all of the Articles of Faith with the primary this year so we have been saying them over and over and William and Charley have the first one down perfectly and Charley always adds heavy emphasis on "and in. . .  .the HOLY GHOST!" He is so proud of himself. William is doing good getting back into the rhythm of school he really missed it I think but now I miss him so I guess it's a trade off. In brief that was our week. It was good one and I hope the ones to come are just as good.

Pretty Tree

I'm not really sure why but I kind of have a love affair with this tree that we used to drive by all the time. I have wanted a picture of it for awhile and Ben finally reminded me last time so I got one. Unfortunately it wasn't a very good one so we will have to try again another time. Maybe in the spring. . . 

Just For Me.

These are just for me to remember. 

 Emmerlyn and our cousin Makayla in their matching dresses

 She was in such a silly mood that day and poor Makayla was sick. We will have to get more pictures another day.

 A bunch of these were on our Christmas card but I will not always have that so I want them in the book.