Luke's Birthday Present

I was changing Luke's diaper and Will and Jack came running in and announced they had the perfect idea for what we could get Luke for his birthday that is 2.5 months away. I asked what and they said, "A baby sister!!" 😳

Hot Cooker

Will and Jack were discussing cooking this morning.

Will: The thing about ladies is that they can cook really good.
Jack: Like Nonna. She's a hot cooker.

bahahahaha day made.

Day's Earnings

After prayer Will asked Patrick what rewards he had earned working today. Patrick gave him a few choices. Will chose and Jack asked about him. His was considerably less because he hadn't worked as hard. He was fussing and coming up with plenty of excuses as to why he hadn't worked as hard, but should receive the same reward. Seeing he was getting nowhere he gave up. As he was heading up the stairs, Patrick called out to him and said, "Jack you remember this Summer when you were out there working with me and how you worked for days to earn the money for a bb gun?" Jack without missing a beat, "Yeah, I was sweatin' like a dog out there!" 😂

"I needa take a nap!"

We spent the morning cleaning the house and getting ready for movie night. We still hadn't seen the new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens. Patrick was giving the boys a much needed haircut and I realized I hadn't seen Samuel in a little bit so I went to look for him. I found him all snuggled up in the floor asleep with all his blankets and stuffed animals. Sometimes when he's tired he'll say, "I needa take a nap!" very matter-of-factly. It's pretty adorable.

Ice Cream Sunday

I made some homemade hot fudge and caramel sauce for our treat. The kids decided they wanted theirs in cones with m&ms. I had mine with strawberries, fudge, and caramel. So good.

Sunday Morning

Will asks at least 50x a day to hold Luke. Unfortunately he doesn't get to hold him that much. He is gone at school or Luke is eating or fussy, so he doesn't get near the amount of snuggling that he would like. He asked this morning and it worked out just right.

This is what Sunday morning looks like at our house right now; Little boys in underwear, cuddled under blankets, and watching veggie tales. I couldn't resist taking a picture. I wanted to remember this moment so badly. All of my boys. In one spot. Happy to be together. 

Baby Tush + Jack & Luke

I just love the way little babies sleep with their tush in the air. Makes me melt.

Jack rarely asks to hold Luke. But he loves holding him and is so gentle and delicate with him.  Probably because he has heard me tell Will "no" so many times. Anytime I ask Jack he is always up for it. I need to slow down and remember to seek out this little moments. They are fleeting. But he loves holding him and is so gentle and delicate with him.

Everyone Wants to Hold Baby

Will's Baptism Day

Will had been waiting patiently for his baptism day. We had postponed it from November when my Grandma Miller had started to really decline. He had been looking forward to this day, and we had spent a lot of time at home talking about baptism and the covenants we make with our Heavenly Father. Will had some very special people come to his baptism, and some of them traveled pretty far just to be there. His Great Grandma Mary Hitchcock, Two of his Great Aunts, Terry and his cousin Mariah, and Great Aunt Marsha and Uncle Mike. His Aunt Julee and Uncle Dan drove all the way from VA to be there, and they brought two of his favorite cousin friends Ceseley and Natalie.

 A couple weeks before his special day, Will decided who he would like to speak and what music he would like to sing. I made a program in photoshop (I had never done that before, big learning curve for me!) and he approved it. :) He also asked me to make a few of his favorite cookies to share with everyone for after the baptism, devils food cookies, lemon chunk, and chocolate chip. 

It was a simple and beautiful service. Will's feet popped up and he had to be immersed twice--something he had said he hoped wouldn't happen. His Nonna spoke on why it's important to be baptized and that when are we are promising to do our best to be like Jesus and help others. And his Pa talked about how it feels when the Holy Ghost talks to us and how we can recognize those good feelings and warnings and know who those promptings are coming from. When the Primary President gave Will a chocolate bar with a red pencil scripture marking pencil. She asked if he knew why we marked our scriptures. Jack raised his hand and he said, "So you know which ones you've read, and you never read them again."  It was pretty cute and funny. 

 We are so proud of him and the good young boy that he is. I know the Lord is proud of him too. Will is very caring and wants everyone to be happy and safe. He is almost always smiling and he really does try very hard to do his best and make good choices. Love him to pieces!

 Love these two best of friends

Brothers

This one just makes me smile. I love how Will is holding Sam's face to look at the camera.

Teamwork

They are beginning to grow out of this building with blocks and cars and trucks and alll that type of playing. Makes a momma's heart a little sad when I think of all the hours they've spent on there knees and the miles and miles those trucks, rescue vehicles, and equipment have covered. It took some encouraging to "go play!" but they remembered pretty quick how to do it and why they have loved it so much.

My Favorite Boys

The boys were very helpful with cutting down some small trees and cedars, while I helped Patrick with putting up the fence. They did a great job of helping us start a fire to stay warm and clear out brush. They paused to take a little break and snuggle up with there favorite big pup.

Movie Night

The boys got the movie Inside Out for Christmas. So we invited the Blatter's over for a movie night. We made popcorn, and I tried to get rid of lots of our Christmas candy. Ella was a big help. She came and sat in my lap for a while during the movie, and I let her eat all she wanted. :) The movie was really cute and we had a fun night visiting and playing.

Tornados? In December?

We have had some crazy warm weather this December, but tornado warnings a few days before Christmas is just ludicrous. We had some strong storm fronts that moved through tonight and we grabbed the kids out of their beds and shoved them in the closet. Remarkably they slept, but we did hear the occasional elbow, leg, or head hit the wall. Kinda cracked us up. And thankfully it just rained really hard and that was it.

Gingerbread Houses with Jack

One of my favorite Kindergarten traditions is making Gingerbread Houses. I was able to do this with Will when he was in kindergarten and was so happy that I'd be able to do it with Jack too. He had his own ideas of how to decorate it, and went along with a few of my suggestions. One of my favorite additions he made was to build a fire pit out of fruit loops just outside the house.

I love getting to spend one on one time with my boys, and it happens way less than what I'd like. He convinced me (shock shock) to check him out and let him come home early after we were done. Love this little firecracker.

How Do You Spell Exhausted?

I guess he got tired (literally) of waiting for me to come and tuck him in...poor thing. 

Tie Blankets

Every Christmas I try and think of ways to remind and encourage our boys to think about others,  and especially about those who are struggling with either health or financial obstacles. This year I was so excited to learn of an opportunity to help some homeless children in our area that Will and Jack could physically be able to do something. A local charity hosted an event where kids could tie fleece blankets that would be distributed to homeless children. The boys learned a new skill and had fun playing and working with other kids in our community.

How to Prepare a Turkey

According to Jack:

Science Kid

Jack loves all things science and always is wanting to do experiments. My Dad arrived yesterday to spend a few days with us to kick off his Thanksgiving visit. He brought gifts for the kids for their birthdays. Will got a Pokemon case to store his hundreds of cards, and Jack got a science experiment kit. Sam also got a little blue car that he has loved playing with.  Will put all his cards in the new case that night, but since it was a little late Jack wasn't able to do any experiments. The next morning, he didn't waste anytime recruiting Poppa J to help him build a volcano. He loved every second of it!

Just a little Nap

Poor Jack has been sick most of his Fall Break. He's had some good days, but mostly not felt up to doing much. He has gotten lots of naps in and I couldn't resist his sweet face today, and I had to try and capture a sweet moment of quiet and rest.

Scavenger Hunt

The boys have been no so patient about this "secret" I have been keeping from them! They have begged and begged for me to "just tell us!" But I stayed strong even though it was super tempting. I made a little scavenger hunt and hid them around the house to see if they could guess what the surprise was. I had them run all over the house to different rooms and find clues.

I think they were a little less than thrilled, party poopers. I think they were thinking, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, sooo about that puppy??" ;) And so it goes living with boys...so hard to get a reaction or any excitement out of them with these kinds of things.