Ritchie Ralph

This sweet beefcake of a boy is a lot of fun and keeps us on our toes!  That nearly black eye was from a fight with the couch.  From there, he broke a mug. Then, a plate. While walking through Dillards that same day he quickly swiped  all the shoes off the display table he could get to before he was stopped. We also went to the library that day, where he threw books, toys, and pushed the computer keys while I was putting books on hold.  All in a days work for this stud! 

He's stopped taking naps, which is a shame.  Although I can get him to sleep in the car for several hours if I take him for a mid-day ride.  He has a speech therapist, Keri, who comes to play once a week.  He loves her and is showing more effort in forming sounds and using more words.  Love this kid!

Halloween

Look how cute these guys are: Mario, Dinosaur (or Yoshi), Princess Peach, Minecraft Creeper, and  Li'l Copy Cat.  I was shocked when Avery saw me making my Copy Cat costume and she suggested she wanted to do the same.  She always wears that grey hat with cat ears, so it was easy to iron on the letters to complete the costume.  Too bad the cat ears don't show up in this picture.  This was at the ward trunk-or-treat.  I wore my copy cat costume on actual Halloween and she wore a stitch costume that night.  I don't think I got a picture.  Halloween this year was COLD.  Our friends were so kind to host a Halloween soup dinner and trick-or-treating in their neighborhood.  There were tons of kids and it was fun. 

Henry's Cute

We went to Barnes and Noble last week for Avery to spend her money on LOL dolls.  Henry was in the car with us and asked if we could go to Barnes first.  There's an H&R Block near our home that we pass all the time.  On the way home from our Barnes and Noble outing, Henry asked if we can go to H&R one of these days.  Maybe it looks like a toy store to him from the exterior?  Maybe we need to get out more.  Anyway, that Henry is a sweet first grader that I kind of wish would stop growing up.  Side note, he loves to snuggle Ralphie.

A Day in the Life of Ralphie

Let's talk about Ralphie.  He is a busy boy constantly on the look out for trouble.  At least, that's what it seems to me!  We were all kneeling and leaning on the couch during family prayer when I hear Eric laughing.  I looked over and see that Ralphie had completely pantsed him!  Ralphie knew exactly what he was doing and was laughing!

Another time, Ralphie got into the fridge and dumped all the eggs out onto the kitchen floor.  When Jack, his little neighbor buddy, was over, Ralphie dumped an entire family size box of Honey Nut Cheerios onto the floor and proceeded to stomp them all into pieces.

Later I found him in the bathroom brushing his teeth with both his brothers' toothbrushes in the toilet bowl.

Not long after Finley had her top teeth removed, Ralphie was playing in the tub and fell onto the side and chipped his front tooth.  I'm really hoping that it doesn't get infected now or later like Finley's. 

Here's a picture of the markers Ralphie shoved into the steam mop recently.  I wonder if they weren't color wonder if they would have emited colorful steam onto my kitchen floor.

Anyway, the boy is fun and adorable and we love him to pieces, but man!  He is a handful!

Summer Visit

 On one of grandma and grandpa's visits, they came to Henry's favorite: the Home Depot Build!  It ended up being Henry and Finley eating all the treats while grandma and grandpa built their vehicles.

 Grandma took some cute family photos up the Rattlesnake trail. 

This is for me to remember all these months that our benches (and usually chairs, too) reside on top of the table to prevent Ralphie from pushing them around the kitchen to climb into things he shouldn't be getting into.  And the flowers were a pretty birthday gesture from Eric. 

Before and After

Fin chipped a tooth when she fell off mom's kitchen stool a couple years ago.  There was much blood and nobody saw it happen, but here we are years after with 4 teeth removed because of an infection that occurred as the teeth healed.  She's was a champ and the dentist and his team did good.  She was a little loopy on the ride home and sang "This is the best day ever!" over and over.  The week since the extraction has been rough with her being so emotional, but that's behind us now.  I think she's pretty cute!

Celebrity in our Midst!

One Friday this July I received an email from the composer of much of our primary music, Shawna Edwards.  The current Primary Songbook doesn't have any of her songs, so I bought them on-line when Rachael lived here and was the primary chorister because we all love her music.  So, I get this email and am surprised to hear that she's stopping in Missoula on a trip to bike in Glacier with her husband and when she saw that I was on her email list from purchasing music, she asked to stop by and visit our primary.  She wanted a low key visit where she could sit in the back, but we love her so much that this was going to be much more exciting than that!

 I had already asked Ruby and Max, 13 year olds in the ward, to sing one of her songs in sacrament meeting the following month, so I contacted them and asked if they could sing in 2 days instead when Shawn was here.  They were good sports and agreed even though they had a temple trip the next day, which is a 3 hour drive each way (to Spokane) so they only had one evening to practice.  Max showed up Sunday even though he was sick.  They sounded so great and they even matched- Ruby in a violet dress and Max with a violet tie the same shade!  Matching wasn't on purpose and made me so happy because I'm crazy about matching.  Anyway, it turned out that there was a marathon in Missoula that Sunday morning so there weren't any available hotels for the Edwards.  They stayed several hours away and missed the sacrament meeting performance, unfortunately.  But, they showed up for Primary and we sang all her songs we know for them and she graciously shared her inspirations for each song afterwards. 

Avery brought Hope to church that day and they had their picture taken with her.  It was such a spiritual meeting and so much fun to meet the famed Shawna Edwards!  We really missed Rachael, who moved away last year.  We told her all about it.  It was also fun to talk to Shawna about Aunt Diane and Uncle Ben, who she knows in Utah.  The whole thing was just a really fun surprise!

Fancy Fun

 Last week was the perfect excuse to party!  We love the PBS period British drama Downton Abbey and the movie was released in theaters last weekend.  So we invited friends and dressed up and enjoyed fancy dinner and a movie.  It was so much fun!

But first, I couldn't pass up these free balloons on facebook marketplace, and the kids wanted to have  a party, too, so we had a tea party Friday.  It was fun and after school when the kids arrive at different times, so we just let them have a play date and eat in a staggered way.  Next time I'll have everyone sit down at once.

 When I got this table last year, Kristen told me to name it The Downton because we could host such a crowd at it.   How fitting to host a Downton party here!

 We had to set up a couple extra table because we had a great turnout.

 One of the best parts of the night was the help.  Avery, Tate, Hope, and Soel were the maids and footman.  They really stayed in character and were so helpful!

 I cannot get over how period perfect and fantastic everyone looked!  Look at these sparkly dresses and headpieces!  Here's Becca and Emma's friend (sorry,  I forgot her name!). 

 Jake, Nissa, and Dawn.  The other amazing part of the night was the food these friends brought!  Nissa brought the giant amazing salad and Dawn made such a good ratatoulle!

 Here's Carly, who had most of the awesome outfits people borrowed, and Michelle and Molly.  Michelle made such a beautiful trifle that I never got a chance to taste, booo, and Molly brought this fancy cheese and cracker and nut and veggie tray thing that has a fancy name I don't remember.  Can you tell that food is my love language?!

Greg and Carly!  Greg made the coconut banana chocolate layered cake, which was also delicious and beautiful.

 Here's the beautiful Kristen, my co-consipirator, and Chad, the birthday boy. 

 What a handsome footman!  So cute. The gloves!  He agreed to help out if I paid him with a piece of caramel.

The whole gang!  I wish that I had made people take photos in small groups as they entered so you could truly appreciate these outfits.  I still cannot get over it!  This shot was after dinner as we went to the theater all gussied up and took up a couple rows.  It was a good movie and the whole night was just really fun.  I really have the best of friends here!

Now to think of an excuse for the next fancy dinner party!

 Some of the cutest little fancy girls at the tea party - Cinna, Daphne, and Finley.

Playing Catch Up

Pretty sure that I forgot to post about Kennewick this summer.  We went as soon as school got out in the beginning of June.  Then, we returned in July en route to Portland.  I think that's what these pictures are from.  A little fun at grandma and grandpa's home and then some frozen yogurt before headed back home.  I love summer and traveling back to Washington.  I love family time, too!

Hand on Hip

Finley's relaxed pose includes this sassy little hand on hip that I love. 

Last week Ralphie got into the bathroom and emptied my make-up into the sink.  Then he hopped into Henry's bath water with all his clothes on.  Finley could tell that I had my hands full as I took care of the situation.  She sat on the pot and announced "I have to pee, but I don't need privacy." 

She told me in the car ride to the Y last week that "stinks one of my problems.  It makes me grumpy."  She's such a funny kid.

Scream

The other day I was looking for something under my bed and as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I thought I saw Avery hanging upside down from the other side of the bed smiling at me.  But she was creepy and unblinking and last I checked she was on top of the bed watching cartoons.  All these thoughts led to my blood curdling scream because "how and why was Avery doing that?!".  I was too freaked out to look again at what could only be some decapitated upside-down head under my bed so I made the kids look.  They didn't see anything scary and just smiled at me like they felt sorry for their mom who finally lost her mind, although there was no surprise in their expressions, which I would appreciate because they're not supposed to know how near I am to insanity, but I digress.  When I finally summed up the courage to peek under the bed again, I recognized my own face on a rolled up large print from a couple winter ago.  Imagination, you old tease!