Sneak Peak

Mom and Becca shot some family pictures on campus the night before Avery's birthday when my folks first rolled into town.  Thankfully, we also got her birthday ice-cream that night before she got sick.  These photos are raw and only the ones from Ma, so there's more to come, but I thought these were pretty darn cute.  

Also, Big Dipper makes a mean black licorice ice-cream! It turned my mouth and teeth black, and I didn't realize until I looked in a mirror that I ran around town that night with a black drip going down my chin =)  Henry just wanted yellow ice-cream (his favorite color because it's the color of a banana), Avery got bubble-gum, her go-to flavor, but she said she wants to try something new next time.  Tate is always a vanilla boy. And Eric is a chocolate man, but he tried a delicious chocolate cherry Oreo flavor with marshmallow syrup atop.

Avery Turns Seven

Avery woke up at 7:15 on her birthday, which is sleeping in for her, making her the last of the kids to awake ON HER BIRTHDAY! So I knew something was off from the start, but it appeared to be a cold with a cough and sore throat.  However, we had already invited 14 little girls to our home for a 10am party!
Half of whom are from her school and I don't have the parents' contact numbers.  Avery really wanted to carry on with the festivities, so we did and she was a trooper, although definitely not her usual party animal self.  When the party ended at noon, she crashed on the couch and has been there since.  Poor thing.  Her temperature has reached 99.3, and sickness has been going around =(

I'm so happy she agreed to birthday donuts instead of a cake.  Fun fact, these Albertson's treats are named "yeast rings" on the tag instead of donuts, which is not quite as appetizing =)  I was so happy to have grandma and grandpa make the quick trip to help celebrate Avery.  They also helped with the party.  Shout out to my friend, Ashley, too, who took Henry out with her little guy to free my legs up for the party since he was clinging to them.  We painted pumpkins, played Bingo, decorated paper haunted houses, had mummy races, and my personal favorite-human pinata!

Avery has a great group of little friends.  I loved that everyone dressed up and hope that we can make her party Halloween themed every year.

This and That Mid-October

Finley likes to brush her hair with Avery's doll's brushes.  It's adorable. She also decided that she doesn't want to stay in shopping carts anymore.  She tested out and loved the car cart at Albertson's this morning.  Earlier this week at Walmart, she spent some time among the TP and paper towels with Henry.   

Eric and I realized that he can make a matinee movie on a weeknight and we can go out for only $11!  This is very exciting for us movie goers, although the expense of the babysitters keeps our enthusiasm at bay a little bit =)  We watched Tim Burton's "Ms. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" because we were late for "The Magnificent 7".  It kept my attention, but felt like a kid movie, except for the disgusting part about monsters.  So, I rate it as OK and probably more of a target audience of teenagers who like gross stuff.  

Avery's birthday is coming up next week.  I can't stand to leave anybody out, and it will be cold outside.  So, that means our house is going to have a couple hours of crazy with lots of kids.  It will be fun and I'll see if mom will take some pictures because there's no way that I'll have time for that! 

Henry started speech therapy at the elementary school yesterday.  So, he gets Keri on Monday mornings in our home, and Jamie at school on Thursdays.  He's still hard to understand, but has made big improvements in the last 8 months of therapy.  With even more help now, I'm hopeful that he will be graduated by the time kindergarten rolls around in 3 years. 

And finally, it's really cold.  We got a tiny bit of snow that didn't stick this week.  Avery squealed and said "It's Christmas! Well, like Christmas."  That's the first time she's corrected herself with snow not actually equalling Christmas and visa versa.  She's growing up =)  Also, she lost a front tooth last night.  It's lost.  Maybe she swallowed it?  That's a gross thought, but have you heard that we swallow many spiders in our sleep over a lifetime.  I've heard that several times and choose not to believe it, just as I will choose not to believe that she swallowed her tooth!

Tate's Birthday

Tate is nine!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe how grown up he is.  We love this boy.  He is very tender hearted and smart.  He loves the Wimpy Kid series, and Nate the Great, and the Bad Kitty books.  He loves books with great humor and comic strip style.  He likes to ride his bike and play with his siblings and the neighbors.  Tate also loves science toys and fiddles with his Legos and magnet kits.  Probably his favorite activity is visiting grandparents and cousins.  He very rarely sleeps in the car on road trips and can be very helpful =)  He wanted a candy cake so he let Avery and Henry help him decorate his vanilla cake with chocolate, gum, and Reeses Pieces.  We also went to a movie and Fuddruckers and enjoyed bike riding and Conference this last weekend.  I am so happy to have the Tater-Nater in our home!

September 2016

September was fun.  Finley started sweeping the house for me.  We visited family and friends in Kennewick.  I got this great blackmail photo of Lane.  Although I don't think he got the "embarrassed" gene so blackmail is pointless.  Finley became a shopper!  I took Eric ziplining for his birthday, too, but we didn't take pictures.  Next time!  Now fall is here and I'm excited to ride the bike I snagged for a great deal at a yard sale.  It's been like 25 years since I've ridden.  So when I took it around the block, I couldn't stop smiling.  Gnats were flying in my teeth and eyeballs, but it was fun!  Now to explore all the local paved trails.  I'm not ready for roads or rough terrain yet!