Adventures with the 'Family' Photo

My kind cousin-in-law has taken our pictures every year since we moved to Idaho. She is wonderful with the kids and does a fabulous job. But this year I was a little slow to schedule so I agreed to one of the last warmish days left that she had available. When I finally let Greg know when we were doing the pictures he told me he would be out of town. So we decided to just do kid pictures - they're the ones everyone wants to see anyway - right? The plan and would have worked great but Kate got sick the week before the pictures and was still in that less-than-pleasant mood. I had to force her outfit on (a pink dress I assumed she would love, but she still refuses to wear it) and stand in every picture with her or she would just walk away screaming. Even the candy didn't really help (at least it stopped the screaming). But we have some fabulous pictures of the three oldest kids. So much for the 'family' photo this year.

This is the only picture we have of all four kids without me in it - and Kate was trying to exit as quickly as possible.This face is almost happy thanks to M & M's.

Some of you might not have seen Natali in her new specs. She got the glasses the day before the pictures. She was so excited to get glasses that for a while I was worried she would fake her test just to get them, but I sat in on her exam and I'm pretty sure she needs them. I let her pick out the frames - she did pretty good huh?

Now just to contrast Kate, all of Mack's pictures look like he is straight out of an Old Navy ad.
Andrew loves cheese and you can't help but smile back.

Cristi managed to steal this brief smile at the very end of our photo shoot. But don't be deceived into thinking Kate was actually smiling of her own accord - I was holding her while I hid behind a tree and tickled her.

I am so blessed to have these crazy kids.

Pirates have green teeth - when they have any teeth at all!

Every year before Halloween the elementary school has their Halloween Parade. All the kids dress up and walk around the school showing each other their costumes. It is such a fun tradition and parents are invited to come watch. Well this year when Mack's teacher saw me she said, "Mack is really taking this pirate thing seriously." Then pirate Mack smiled to reveal a missing tooth. He was just beaming. Then when Natali walked by she freaked out telling me Mack lost his first tooth...I love that she was so excited for him.

Anyway, for the rest of the day he called anyone he could think of to tell them about his tooth. He felt like he had something stuck in his tooth and basically just pulled the tooth out thinking it was a popcorn kernel.
The best part about losing your tooth at school is the fancy necklace you get to put it in!

Happy Halloween

Halloween night the Eastons and Wilfords joined the hoards of kids cruising around our neighborhood. It didn't take long to come to a few conclusions 1- next year we are dividing into groups according to age. Then the kids that want to run door to door can do so without the trail of kids and parents crying behind them to wait up. 2- Review etiquette beyond just saying 'trick or treat' and 'thank you'. Be more specific like telling Andrew it is rude to scream "GIMME SOME" and don't ever say things like "What? Only one?".

After a few streets Val and I started home with Kate and Luke. We were still knocking on doors then I asked Kate what she wanted to do. Her simple answer, "Go home and eat it!". Overwhelmed with her quantity of candy she was happy to sit at home and feast. And she did! I think she ate more than half her candy that night. Natali was so disappointed that Kate chose to be Cinderella again, rather than the pink fairy Natali was when she was two. But Kate was determined to wear her "blue rella" dress and she loved wearing real lipstick.

Natali thought it was great being a witch. I liked that she wore the same witch costume all my sisters and I used as kids. However, the orange wig is a new addition from Aunt Val. Natali got lots of comments about her cool hair, but she removed it by the end of the night because she was too hot (such and nice night). You can't tell from this picture but I really think her favorite part was wearing all the make up she could find.

Mack really loved his mustache - who wouldn't.

Somehow we have no individual photo of Andrew. He was a T-Rex, which he made clear to anyone who mistakenly called him a dragon. Since all the other kids had make-up on he couldn't be left out so he had a speckling of dots on his face and he was happy. He really got into character; at every door he screamed "TRICK OR TREAT". You could hear it from across the street. Gotta love Halloween.

Katers says...

My favorite Kate quotes:

Whenever I give Kate a no answer her reply is "Later?". This cracks me up but got even funnier Tuesday when she handed me a DVD as I was picking her up for bed. I said no and was expecting to hear "Later?"but was surprised to hear "Friday?".

The other day Kate was frustrated with Andrew and suddenly yelled, "No, Anrew Reed!". She had never used his middle name before. Andrew and I looked at each other and just started laughing. He kept asking how she knew - she doesn't miss much.

We have been talking a lot about how mommy has a baby in her tummy but lately if you ask Kate, "Who has a baby in their tummy?" she will respond, "me".

Mack Is 6

For Mack's Birthday we stayed home and watched conference, but I think he loved it because it was a birthday party all day long. He opened his first present before conference started and spent the whole session drawing on the marker board from Grandma Dame. (She also gave him a large pad of paper that he had filled up less than three weeks later- most pages front and back.) Then after the session was over he opened more presents. He loved his hammer and Bakugans - I can't really figure out what these are but he loves them.

When conference was over we had dinner of his choice - cheese rice - to Greg's horror. Then he decorated his cake. I'm sure his skills with a pencil are better than with a tube of runny frosting but you can still tell it is a football field. But sadly you can't really see the 'Y' or the symbol of the Mountain West Conference that he took great pains to include. He had a great day but it is still so hard to believe that my little Macky is really 6 years old. We love you Mack!

My Office

Before I got sick with this pregnancy we moved the boys room around to make room for their new dresser (with drawers that actually worked). Their room has a totally bizarre long narrow space it it and after moving the furniture we ended up with nothing in this space but an old night stand. Mack looked at it, pulled up a chair, and claimed it at his office. He moved all his prized possessions into the space and it has been his office ever since. He sits back there at night before lights out and draws and draws. In fact I don't think that he can actually get to the desk anymore because the floor space has been filled with drawings. I love how he immerses himself in his drawing. He will get an idea, go to his room, and come back an hour later with little 5 inch football players made with paper and tape dressed in the colors and helmets of different college teams. He is so amazing.Well it came as no surprise that Andrew needed an office of his own. So we brought in the folding table and another chair. He immediately piled his table with books. While Mack draws Andrew makes trip after trip to the bookshelf. (Too bad he hasn't learned how to put them back on the shelf.) Although, he has started to ask Mack to draw him pictures and then he will color them.

Their offices are usually in a state of disaster, but it sure is fun to watch them each at their own desk enjoying themselves so thoroughly and peacefully - it can't last long.

Fall In A Flash

Well fall has almost come and gone and I have spent the best of it indoors. Baby number five has proved to be a little more difficult than the previous four and has sucked most of the energy out of me, along with the usual meals. But thanks to a wonderful mother, sister, and extremely patient husband we have all managed to get through the first trimester. The kids have been somewhat deprived of attention as evidenced from comments from Natali, "Mom, why don't you move anymore?" or from Andrew, "How does the baby tell you that it is going to be sick if you don't eat soon?" We are all grateful to put the last few months behind us.

In the meantime school is off and running. These pictures are a little late in coming but they were actually taken on the first day of school. Natali's 1st grade teacher moved up to 2nd grade with her and that has been good. She is doing great and loving school as usual. She even started reading Harry Potter tonight- I can hardly believe she is old enough. Mack is loving kindergarten. He goes in the afternoon but spends most of the morning asking if he can go to school yet. He doesn't say much in class because he saves it all for me; when he gets home I love to hear all about everything that happened. He is doing wonderful and soaks up anything his teacher offers. She even said that he has started raising his hand in class, a good sign that he is getting comfortable.

Andrew has started preschool and it has proven wonderful. Last year he had no interest in letters, numbers, or writing/drawing or any kind. Suddenly he recognizes letters other than A, tries to make rhymes, and asks what letter words start with--he also tries to count to 100 and can actually be found coloring and trying to write. I guess he just needed more time and I am so excited to see his new interest; but don't be too worried he still corrects everyone in class if they say anything about animals that isn't correct.

Kate in the meantime has learned that with everyone else gone she can usually do whatever she wants, which usually means watch a show. She misses the big kids and is often asking if she can "go too". Since I have been sick she really hasn't bee out much, and misses it-especially the bike rides. Toward the end of summer Mack surprised us all but learning to ride his bike with very little effort from the parents. So I got a bike and trailer for my birthday and we spent the early part of fall enjoying the nice weather and taking a lot of rides. Andrew and Kate loved it. Greg even bought a bike. Now five or so flat tires later we are still loving it. So with baby, school, bikes and football fall has flown by and we are all excited to try and figure out where we will put the baby when we ride next fall.