Art Project

The other day Jaxon received a flyer from school telling them about Reflections. I was excited, since I had won Reflections in elementary once and wanted him to have the same experience with Art. The them however was "Diversity Means..." I asked him what diversity meant and I got the blank stare and a random guess. I kept pushing the issue and we even got an idea until I found out each student has to explain why their project goes with "Diversity Means..." He had no idea and I was bummed but we decided to make it a family art project. The boys and I went downstairs with our canvas, crayons and hairdryer. At first we were going to do each canvas one color, blue, yellow and red. Until we realized how mundane peeling labels off crayons is. So we combined our efforts and each boys picked a color, peeled their crayons, and got to help hot glue the crayons onto the canvas. The best part was using the hairdryer to heat up and melt the crayons and watch the action. I was so proud of them and it was so much fun for me, as their mother, to see them get excited about art. I am in no way artistic naturally, but I am a good copier and I loved it when I was little. My mom's uncle was an artist and I remember copying his drawings for hours on end. Mostly they were of old houses and the countryside but that's when I started to love to draw. Unfortunately that talent wasn't used and it disappeared. We are hanging it up in the boys bedroom and we now just need a couple more projects like that to have it all decorated. Man I love my boys!

Where did October Go???

The month of October brought nothing but sickness for the whole month, we are still recovering.  Halloween is around the corner and we are hoping that we all stay well through the holidays to come. During are well moments we were able to get garden all cleaned up and enjoy the last fruits of our labors. Its sad to see those juicy tomatoes go but the more pregnant I get the less motivated I am for bottling. I was somewhat glad to see it go this year.

We finished up our soccer games and have been to the cabin quite a few times soaking up the beauty and mountain air. I have begun our holiday shopping, hoping to keep the craziness of it all in check so I can relax and wait for this sweet baby to come.

We are settled into our school routine and both the boys love to go and tell us all about it when they get home. After this last storm I am trying to think up new ways of entertainment for the boys since its too chilly outside to play.
Our latest is an art project, which was originally going to be for Jaxon to do for Reflections at school but the theme was Diversity Means... and you can't get a six year old to explain and understand what diversity means. So we ended up doing the project with all three of them and it was a lot of fun. It reminded me of when I was little and loved to draw and was pretty good at it. I don't know where that talent went to, I must have stopped doing it and it left me. This brought back a little spark.

We sadly had to say goodbye to our babysitter Kristina she has watched the kids consistently since Jake was 8 months old. She was like a second mother to them and she knew exactly how to handle each of my kids perfectly and was perfectly patient, like our own Mary Poppins but younger and so much cuter!!! She is expecting in November and now its her turn to be super mom, which we know she will. I love her like a sister and always will. She threw the kids a Halloween party to get them all excited about the holiday and it did it! We are on a sugar high at our house and the holidays are just beginning.

Hunter is Two

I can't believe my baby is two years old. We celebrated on Sunday with our traditional breakfast party. On the day of each child's birthday they get to choose their favorite breakfast and we make it and light candles and have our little family party. Hunter is the complete opposite of the other two and only likes eggs for breakfast. He will tolerate some cereal and maybe eat a pancake but never indulges himself unless its eggs. We had a party that night with the whole family over and he was so cute. Maybe its because he has watched so many other birthdays of cousins but he totally understood what he was doing and what came next. He is my photogenic kid too, so I ask him for a picture and I get exactly what he is feeling in that picture! We had an airplane party because he is amazed as we watch them in our front yard and he can hear them coming and we always have to wait and find it. All I can say is thank heavens for the internet, I found some great tips for an airplane cake. I think that is my favorite part about birthdays is helping the kids figure out what kind of fun cake we should do and then we go for it!

 Breakfast Party!

This was from a McQueen car he got.

Happy Cake Eating!

I'm in love with his reactions!

Hunter we love you for so many reasons the list could go on forever, but if we had to choose just two:
1) We can't resist you dimpled smile no matter what you are doing or saying it melts our hearts and your brothers and you usually get whatever you want!
2) We love your excitement for life, no matter what it is you are our example of embracing life as it comes no matter what changes. You like to gallop to whatever is next whether its breakfast in the morning or galloping out to the car for a trip to the park. It makes us smile and helps us remember that its the little things in life that really give us joy.
Happy 2nd Birthday to our Joyful Hunter!!! We love you!

Fall Soccer

Its that time again! Fall soccer has started and our Saturdays are filled with games. This is Jake's first year playing on the little fields and I see potential in him, still a little timid when he sees a big guy coming up fast. This past Saturday he did awesome defending the goal and stopping some shots. Jaxon is in the U8 division and is now on the bigger field. I like to actually watch the games now, they get to touch a ball a lot more and his coach is really awesome and has taught them a lot of things. This is also his first year of having practice on a different day than his game. It has been an adjustment for me to have him gone each Monday till 6pm, but thankfully I have some good friends that have boys on the same team and they are great to carpool with! Go Broncos and Red Dragons!

First day of Preschool

There is something so exciting about the first day of school. It is the same for my kids as it was for me. You just can't stop counting down the days, you hardly sleep the night before, you already have your new school clothes picked out  (the ones you mom wouldn't let you were for months now),  you are up and ready with chores done in lightning speed. This is how Jake was this morning. He was so pumped to go! He is especially lucky because he gets to ride his bike to preschool. When we met his teacher we went through the whole routine of stopping at the stop sign, waiting for his cousin, staying close to or on the sidewalk and watching for cars. We followed him, much to his dismay, and he just took off without us. He came home so excited to show us the chicken dance he learned, his "kissing hand" (I love that book!), and that you can only run outside not inside! He made it all the way home without me and I am so proud to be the mommy of this handsome funny guy!

Cooking

Each one of my kids has loved to help in the kitchen and its about at 2 years that they actually get what is going on and I love it! The older boys were out playing and Hunter and I were alone to make mint brownies. He was such a good helper to dump it all in. And who doesn't like to lick the chocolately bowl at the end. I love it that he is starting to talk so well. This day he looked up at me as I was starting and said, "Me help?" How could I resist that!

Abscessed tooth

I week or so ago Jake started complaining about his mouth. Coming from a family that constantly gets canker sores I figured he had one and tried to get him to just let it get better. I also knew he was due for a dentist appt. soon and it could definitely be a cavity with this kiddo. The next day it hurt him when we brushed his teeth and he was screaming at me. He wouldn't tell me exactly where it hurt and I couldn't see anything wrong. He just kept screaming and then I started losing it because I felt helpless that I couldn't fix it for him. We had to run a quick errand and he fell asleep at 10am, so I knew something had to be wrong. He woke up screaming and holding his face again so I gave him some Tylenol and he fell back asleep for 3 hours. That night I was dreading but he slept all night. However when he came into our bed in the morning his face was huge and swollen and he had a fever. I had no idea what it could be. We called the dentist and they told me it was an abscessed tooth. The kid was so patient to wait till the afternoon when they had an opening for him. We know his dentist pretty well and I trust him so much. He looked at the x-ray and said the tooth was abscessed but there was no reason why and we would have to pull it. They sedated him and the Dr. said when he went in there was so much pressure behind it it burst all over. (Sorry kinda graphic) He was hurting that first day and so out of it, but the next day he was like a new kid even though his face stayed swollen for four days afterward. The dentist gave him a cool little tooth carrier and the tooth fairy came to visit us for the first time. What a brave kid. Hope is doesn't happen again though.