Zoo!

We took the family to the zoo on Saturday in honor of Eli's birthday. We wanted to go on his birthday, but the weather was too cold and rainy, so we waited for the weekend. We weren't disappointed! The weather was perfect. A little chilly in the morning, but sunny and beautiful while we walked around the zoo. The animals were active and fun to watch.

Eli has been a fan of bears for a long time, but he hasn't ever seen a real one. He tells stories of bears, he sleeps with a bear, he likes to makes sounds like a bear, he even wrestles like a bear! We thought he'd like the experience, so the first exhibit we went to was the grizzly bears! He was mesmerized. We spent more time there than any other part of the zoo, although I'm pretty sure they enjoyed it all.

The polar bear was also really active and fun to watch. The kids loved watching him swim up to the glass right in front of them. He was very playful!

 
Of course we had to take the iconic fountain photo at the zoo....

Calvin was such a sport. He and Zoey enjoyed the playground area. It was a nice break in between exhibits to let them explore and touch things. It runs as a splash pad during the summer, which is a great idea! We haven't been to the zoo since I was pregnant with Zoey. They've made many improvements. It was a great day trip for the family! We finished with lunch under the shade of a tree at "This is the Place" Heritage park.

Eli's Birthday!

Eli had been looking forward to his 3rd birthday since May when Jackson had his camp-themed birthday party. Nearly all conversations afterwords went like this: "For my birthday..."

We had a countdown chain put up when we finally made it to September, and it seemed SO long! Slowly the days went by and the chain was down to only 3 links, then 2, and finally the last day! He woke up as early on his birthday as he did on Christmas morning--6:45! He even asked later that day "Is it Christmas?"

He wanted a dump truck cake with candy. We made an applesauce cake with cinnamon frosting and lined whoppers around the bottom:

Jackson made this turkey hat last year in Kindergarten. I had saved it for him in may fall decorations, so when we pulled out the box this last Saturday to decorate, he was excited to see I still had it for him. Eli also fell in love with it. One night we were putting the kids to bed and couldn't find Jackson. We later found he had locked himself in the yoga room and was making the very same hat for his brother Eli for his birthday. He wrapped it and wrote "I love you Eli, Happy Birthday!" It was a well-loved gift! They've always made the best of brothers!

Mom and Dad gave him a wheelbarrow and Lego's. He was remembered by grandparents and Aunts and Uncles, and even our neighbor Betty. It was the best day he could have asked for! Just like he dreamed of over the last 6 months!

Some favorite things about Eli right now: 1) He's not too old for a nap, and still sleeps like he did when he was 9 months old 2) He is super forgiving- there are "hot" moments between siblings, but he's quick to forgive, say he's sorry and give hugs 3) He shares everything he has! He's very giving 4) He is thoughtful when someone else is sad.
 

The Boys' Trip

In our house, when the boys take a trip, it means mom and Zoey also get a bonding moment! Brian had promised Jackson and Eli a fishing/camping trip all summer. Can you believe summer came and went and it never happened? After several weekends of getting rained out, an evening finally opened up where they could go. Look at the leaves already changing! Yikes!

They had a blast... I could tell by the way they smelled when they walked through the door! After battling them to take showers, they told me of the fish they caught, where they camped, the adventures they had. It was great. I'm glad they have a dad who takes the time to do this kind of thing with them. It's a lot of work for one night- but the boys will have a great memory of it and that's the important thing.

Zoey and I (and Calvin- who is too little to camp yet) went to swiss days! We listened to a band play, had snow cones, shopped (It's Zoey who will ask "Can we just go buy something?"...is she a girl or what?).  We had dinner at a local Mexican restaurant called Don Pedros and Zoey begged for churros. I was amazed at how much she and Calvin could eat! After putting Calvin to bed, we stayed up and watched "Strawberry Shortcake" and had a good time together.

Brian and I both agree that taking time to be one-on-one with our kids is so important. And it's visibly seen how much they appreciate it too. It takes effort with having so many little ones close together to not make them feel just a "part of the crowd" but we hope they each know how much they are loved as an individual part of our family. Each one is so special!

Harvest Time

It's September! I'm excited for it for a couple of reasons. 1) We have 9am church, which is a huge improvement for our kids! 2) Right around the corner is our yearly ritual of stocking up our shelves with canned produce. We've put away corn from the garden in our freezer and are gearing up for applesauce, peaches, pears, grape juice and tomatoes. Canning is a lot of work, but its worth the effort. Our kids love what we make. We've been completely depleted for months now and are feeling the effects. I miss having the ability to go to the basement for a jar of something we need. We'll have hundreds of jars to fill this year!

Last week, I did small batches of fun things: raspberry jam, peach jam, pepper jelly, thick and chunky salsa, apple pie filling, peach pie filling, and raspberry pancake syrup! It's yummy stuff.

I noticed Jackson wasn't eating his sandwiches in his school lunch and he said it's because he doesn't like store bought bread or jam. SO I made a batch of bread and made the jam and he's eating his lunch! And he's right- it's sooo much better! I have yet to make a batch of strawberry jam too, but I'm waiting for the right price. Someday, we'll have to grow our own fruit too!

We really don't need much of the salsa and pepper jelly but it's nice to have on hand. It might even be an every-other-year type of canning, but they are super great recipes! I found a new salsa recipe I really like that's loaded with spices and garlic and is super thick and chunky! All the veggies came from the garden! I love preserving what we grow!

I like using the pie filling for breakfast crisps/cobblers, as a topping on hot cereal, or rolled up like crepes. I'm hoping it will be nice to have on hand for the mornings we are rushed getting out the door for school.

Other recipes I want to try but am not sure if I will have the energy to do it this year is apple butter, pumpkin butter, pickles, and vegetable soup base. We'll see how much zest I have left after the REAL canning is done!

Back to School!

Yay! The kids have really loved going back to school, and so have I! It's great to be with just Eli and Calvin for a few hours...although Eli wishes he were in school too! Maybe I'll put him in a couple days a week next semester after the new baby comes. We'll see...

Jackson started the first grade. I took him to school and walked him to class and he gave me a big hug and told me I was the best! He is so sweet-- I was supposed to say that to him! It was sad for me to have him away at lunchtime (the first ever!) and I worried how he was doing at school, but when he came home he said lunch at school was his favorite part! He gets to play on the playground before school, has morning track time and afternoon recess. Those are his favorite times. His teacher is Mrs. Warnick and he seems to like her so far. He has several kids from his old Kindergarten class with him again this year, but he also made a few new friends the first day. He's looking forward to the school carnival and school parties!

Zoey has been asking me to teach her to write letters and numbers, and wants to learn to read. She's even asked for homework! She missed the cut-off to get into kindergarten this year, so we are putting her through an alternative Kindergarten program to prep her to be tested into the first grade for next year. It's at the same place she had pre-school last year, so she is excited to see her teachers again. If it doesn't work out, she'll still be right on track and well prepared for Kindergarten! Our goal is to have her reading, writing, and doing simple math by the end of the year. I wouldn't be pushing her, but she's asking to do it..so I'm excited to see how she does!

Berry Good

This is the second year for our blackberries. They have been doing AMAZING!! The bush has been COVERED in huge blackberry clusters, check out the size of them! We had to put netting over the berries to keep the birds out because they were eyeing the deliciousness too. 

Brian has graced us a couple times with the most delicious blackberry cobbler ever. Writing about it makes me want to eat one. The experience starts even while the cobbler is in the oven. The berries give the most wonderful aroma when cooking, and the final product is this gooey-syrupy-bubbly-sweet-an-tart dessert. It's so good, especially with vanilla ice cream on top that starts to melt over the warm cobbler! 

This is Calvin's reaction to the goodness:

 APPROVED! I think it's time to make another cobbler...

We came, we shot, we conquered...almost!!

We hurried and got the family ready, drove to the park at 8:30 am with the promise of doughnuts on the way home in hopes of capturing a spur-of-the-moment family photo...and we snagged this one in the first 3 minutes! We thought we were golden! Everyone was smiling, the lighting was perfect, record breaking time, perfect shot...it was all so exciting!!

Until we got home and blew the picture up on the big screen and noticed the camera was focused was on the grass, not our faces! It was too blurry to print! ugh! We'd have to try again....I was so disappointed!

So we did a repeat the next morning. This time, we couldn't get the kids to smile at the same time. What happened?? Typical story of family photos... 2 hours, hundreds of shots, people smiling at different times or not looking at the camera, progressively getting more frustrating as time goes on, etc., etc., ....here's a few funny shots, pay attention to the faces! I must have pulled some of these back in the day and am getting payback for it!

We finally got one that would work, we might get some editing done on it still, but it'll work!

We also got a chance to snap some fun family shots...

Winding up summer!

Next week, school starts! Jackson will be going into the first grade and Zoey will be attending her second year of Pre-School. We've had some busy days the last few weeks winding up swim lessons and finishing things we wanted to get done this summer (like getting a blue flavored snow cone)!

One of these projects has been decluttering the house and taking a few toys to the trash and other items to DI. That always feels good!

We also redecorated and changed around the kids' bedrooms. Zoey now has her own girl room and Jackson, Eli, and Calvin (as soon as the baby comes) are together. The new baby will get his own room so he doesn't wake others up during nightly nursing and daytime naps. I'm happy with the changes. Zoey has been sleeping better on her own and she's closer to the bathroom. Eli sleeps better with other people in the room and likes having Jackson as a companion AND sleeping in a bunk bed.  It's a win-win for everyone.


The boys' room is now blue and gray with red accents and a pirate theme. They love the blue! It's very boy-ish!

Zoey's room is lavendar and pink with a flower, ladybug and butterfly theme. She loves having her own space. I have a reading corner to put together and wall decor to hang in her room still, but it looks really nice so far.

Another project has been updating our family photos. We have some cute kids, I think! Love them all! I love taking their pictures each year and gaging how much they have changed over the year.  Around school time starting and end of summer seems to be a good fit for our family to get it done.

I threw a party...

I had an ultrasound a few days ago, but Brian was unable to be there, and I wanted to find out at the same time as he did....so....we celebrated with our family yesterday finding out if we were going to add a new baby boy or new baby girl to our family. I thought that since it's our last one, I'd try to do something fun and creative.

The decorations were fairly simple to get together: the gifts were actually wrapped blocks that I made for a RS birthday dinner centerpiece, the "onesies" came from a baby shower I did for a sister-in-law, the flowers came from our yard )I tried to do a pink vase and a blue vase- with as blue as mother nature can get)! I made the diaper cake (half pink half blue) and cupcakes...added berries and paper products and wa-la!

We did a "fiesta" style dinner with enchiladas, homemade guacamole, chips, fruit salad and cilantro-lime butter rubbed corn. It was good, but I was anxious to find out!!

 The letter held the "Secret" we'd all been curious to hear. We casted our votes as team "girl" or team "boy" (I love the action shot of the boys with Calvin pulling off Eli's hat). We were just being silly.

The letter held the "Secret" we'd all been curious to hear. We casted our votes as team "girl" or team "boy" (I love the action shot of the boys with Calvin pulling off Eli's hat). We were just being silly. 

Turns out team "boy" won the vote... much to my surprise! It's actually been a very hard surprise. I guess I wanted to say I was fine either way, but I really had my heart set on a girl  (and felt positive it was going to be a girl). So, I am working through feelings of hopes and dreams for the future that I'll never see, like Zoey having a sister, or using the name Paisley in our family, of holding another baby girl and seeing those cute baby girl clothes again... and other personal emotions and feelings. I didn't think it would be so hard, but saying goodbye to those thoughts is almost as hard as losing the child itself.   

Calvin's Babbles

Calvin is trying his tongue at talking! My favorite babble sound he makes is "baba-dee" but he has now grown into making sounds that are starting to sound like actual words. It's exciting. I'm amazed at how much he's grown the last few months.

His first word was "daddy", but close behind came "bird" (which stands for any animal, but he definitely knows a bird when he sees one) and "thank you"... and just so I'm not left out, he can also say "mama" but not very often. What's up with that?!?

He has started to say things (that probably I am the only one who knows what he's saying when he does) like drink, cheese, shoes, Jackson...but the sounds he makes for them are too hard to replicate in typed format. It's cute and fun to hear him communicate. 

He is also getting really good at communicating what he doesn't like by the most annoying sound in the world--screeching! He's so loud! But we know when he doesn't like something (just wish the kids would learn what that sound means too- they tend to bring it on)! Can't wait until he starts to learn how to express his dislikes verbally!

 He's gearing up to give up his place as the baby of the family, but for now, we'll keep him there and enjoy it while it lasts.