the nutshell

I'm certain I'm not the only one feeling like there is too much to do and too little time to do it this week. I'm a little late in posting this week as I usually do this on Sundays but here goes.

Rob had another busy week, but not quite as bad as last week. He is in the process of training a woman, named Carolina, to take over his current job. She is visiting from Costa Rica and we invited her over for dinner on Thursday evening. (Rob goes to Costa Rica in January for 10 days to continue the training... I'm trying not to stress about this already, but am. You may remember how horrible things were for me the last time Rob left the country. At least I'm not pregnant this year, right?). So anyway, Carolina is lovely. She speaks near perfect English (very slight accent), is very sweet, and gorgeous to boot. Well, Mr. Charming (aka Tosh) was right by her side the entire evening. He sang her songs, kissed her arm at random, smiled and laughed at everything said, and basically tried to get her attention by showing off all night. I just had to take a photo of them together because it was really quite funny.

Tosh is becoming more independent as well as self-reliant. Rob and I walked in the family room yesterday after church to find that Tosh had gotten a yogurt out of the fridge, grabbed a spoon, opened the yogurt, turned on the TV, and ate the entire thing without so much as a drop on his clothes or any mess to speak of. We were lucky to grab the camera just in time:

I gave Tosh a little trim today. I only cut an inch or so off his hair so it is still plenty curly. He is quite reasonable and cooperative about this sort of thing which is so nice (unlike his older brothers who aren't so reasonable when it comes to haircuts and nail trimming...). After Tosh saw the first short curls fall to the ground he said, "Not my CURLS!" For those of you that have seen "Shrek," it reminded me of the Gingerbread Man saying, "Not my BUTTONS!" And no, Tosh has never seen that movie...

I didn't take one photo of Liv this week. Isn't that a shock! My camera battery is near dead and I've been so busy. She looked all fancy for church yesterday as she wore tulle for the first time (baby shower gift). Her new trick of the week is saying, "ma ma ma ma..." All of my boys made the "da da" sound first. She also eats green beans which none of boys liked. She is once again back to sleeping through the night and we're on a very nice daily nap/feeding schedule. She is awesome. Can't say it enough. Love that girl!

Hewitt is doing great. I've decided that 5 is an awesome age. He has been so mellow and there are many times when I think he is going to get upset about something and he just doesn't. It's been so nice. He is becoming a great defender. If he feels that anyone in the family is being mistreated or is upset for some reason, he comes to the rescue and sticks up for them.

Tonight for Family night we talked about gratitude. I told the true story about how my Dad's house burned down when he was away at scout camp as a boy and how my grandparents were basically left with nothing. I also told the story that I heard many, many times growing up about how my Grandma Dunning owned two dresses. One that she wore to church, and one for every other day of the week. The point of the lesson was to help our kids (especially our oldest child) realize HOW MUCH we have and to show more gratitude for our many blessings. Hewitt was quite concerned as I told the story (asking lots of questions about what started the fire, etc.) and was having a hard time understanding that I was talking about my Dad as a child. At one point he said, "So Grandpa's house burned down and that's why they moved to Texas?" He was so sweet and concerned and I'm glad he didn't get upset or embarrassed when Burke and I couldn't help but laugh at his comment. Hewitt is such a tenderhearted sweetie.

Burke is out of school and it is throwing me off of my schedule a bit. He was really helpful trying to get the boys to do some chores with him today and loved my challenge tonight of only "expressing thanks" in our prayers instead of asking for things. He is looking forward to seeing Aunt Sue and Uncle Zach this week for Christmas and all of his "Dunning" cousins next week for New Years!

I am busy trying to get everything pulled together for Christmas. It is finally "Fall" here as the leaves are just now changing color and falling....into our pool! (the pretty trees that I like so much in my backyard are creating quite a mess) Besides leaves, our yard is full of weeds and I'm sort of missing the break from yard work that "winter" brings. We also discovered several dirt piles in our yard: gophers! That's a new one for us.

That about sums up the week. Have a Merry Christmas! We love and miss you!

special edition

I got Tosh singing on video today and thought you would enjoy it too. The very end really cracks me up. I think he was thinking of "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" and that's why he got confused/frustrated...



Cutie pie!

new tricks and treats

Liv is seven months old! She actually sat up for the first time on the 10th (see photo in green jammies). She was so happy and proud of herself! At the beginning of the week she was still sitting pretty slanted, but has already straightened out a ton and can sit for several minutes without falling over now. She is also moving around the floor like crazy and is tucking her legs up under herself like she is going to crawl soon. I'm hoping to at least have another month or two of her NOT crawling. Tosh was crawling by 8-9 months and walking by 10, so we'll see how Liv develops. Liv has suddenly been waking more at night too. Is it growing pains? Teeth? "Where is my Mom" anxiety? Who knows. I'm just hoping the long stretches return and counting my blessing that she's been such a great sleeper up to this point.

This week seemed so busy and I feel exhausted so I might not write as much as I would normally. Rob has been busier than I ever remember with work. He worked past 1 AM on Wednesday, did not come from work until midnight on Thursday (we were supposed to have the missionaries over for dinner on Thursday so I gave them "take out" chili and cornbread since Rob wasn't here). He also worked Friday night, Saturday night, was at a Stake choir thing tonight and has a work thing tomorrow evening that he still has tons of work to do to get ready for... His boss told Rob to take me out to dinner (up to $150) to make up for the long hours. Most of you know how frugal Rob and I are. I just can't imagine spending $150 on dinner for the two of us. Rob and I were thinking of going somewhere nice and then when leaving get a bunch of take-out to eat at home to maximize the money (the bill is going to be expensed, not cash). Our new thought today was to go somewhere where we can buy a gift card first thing so that we can get a few dinners out of it at different times. Are we pathetic or what?

This week's funnies:

Tosh has two Bears. We keep one hidden in case the other goes missing. The other day he found his "other" Bear, got so excited and said, "Two Bears!?! That never happens!"

Tosh likes speaking loudly and doesn't really appreciate when I try to get him to whisper or when I whisper to him. Even if he senses that I'm trying to talk quietly he will say, "No Mom, Say it loud!"

The Primary children sang "Away in a Manger" in Sacrament meeting today. My boys love this song and we have sung it at home a lot this month. Tosh, watched the children singing, "Asleep, asleep..." and yelled, "Wake up!!!" The people behind us and I were laughing so hard I actually cried.

This sweet boy, loud?




Hewitt returned to our bench after singing with the Primary kids and said, "I don't like choir practice." (Hmmm, not sure where he's heard that before...).


Hewitt was holding Liv yesterday and said, "I love real zero-olds!"


More photos of our favorite "zero-old" (and real) baby doll:

sunday "stampler"

I don't have much to say tonight; it was a pretty low-key week. The boys had their last soccer games yesterday and it was in the 30's outside which felt really quite cold. The upstairs in our house gets colder than our downstairs...I'm guessing we must have bad insulation or something. On Friday it was 62 degrees upstairs (it felt freezing) and I had Liv dressed in like 4 layers. Rob caved (he was here working from home) and ended up turning on the heat for the first time.

Anyway, I think I'll just note a couple of funny things from the week...

On Friday, Tosh and I were playing in our toy room and I used our stuffed "Mater" truck to lean against so I could nurse Liv. Tosh saw that I had Mater and asked me if he could play with it. I explained to him that I needed to use it for a few minutes so I could feed the baby. Tosh left the room and came back with a large pillow from my bed so he could trade me. I thought that he was pretty clever as I didn't ask him to do that, nor did I use the word pillow.

I've mentioned previously that Tosh says "be-tuzz" (because) all of the time now. His new thing to ask is, "be-why?" I don't know why he has tacked a "be" in front of "why," but it is funny and sounds really cute.

Tosh has never really eaten bread and has refused it since he first tried it as a baby. Today was the second time he has even tried the Sacrament bread and after tasting said, "Yum! I like it." He then leaned over the back of the bench, watched the cute 17-year-old girl sitting behind us take the bread and then LOUDLY asked her, "Do you like it?"

After moving here we got a membership to Sam's Club instead of Costco because it is quite close to our house. The kids love going there with Rob so they can walk around eating samples of all the food. I totally crack up watching Rob and the three Mini-Robs all "yumming" over sausages, cheeses, desserts, etc. The funny thing about this is that Hewitt calls it "stamples" instead of "samples." I laugh every time. "Are we going to go get stamples today?!" Do you understand the title of this post now?

I just heard Hewitt say, "out of bounce" instead of "out of bounds." This also made me laugh and when I pointed it out to Rob he said, "That's what I thought it was when I was a kid!"

And finally, here are a couple of photos of Tosh in pair of Rob's old glasses (the lenses are out).

Tosh in 15 years?:

post turkey recap

This week flew by. Probably because there were so many things going on and tons of things we didn't have time to get to.

Rob's birthday was fairly mellow. Rob had gone out to eat for a work lunch on Wednesday so he was absolutely stuffed and didn't really want to eat dinner that night. We had gone out to eat last weekend for his "birthday dinner" and since we were having such a big dinner on Thursday, we kept it simple and grabbed a pizza. We also had Rob's favorite chocolate cake for dessert. Burke and Hewitt spent a lot of time writing a book (with illustrations) for Rob's gift. It was about two kids (Kirk and Truit) that were celebrating their Dad's birthday. They also wanted to make Rob coupon books so we did one from each of the kids. My present to Rob was an electric guitar that he's been playing for a few weeks now... I wore my pink "Fender" t-shirt on Wednesday just so Rob wouldn't forget about his already opened gift.

We were thinking we were going to have our "first turkey" alone this Thanksgiving, but while I was visiting with some women from the ward at the park last week, someone mentioned they were going to be alone too. The second she said that, I "channeled" my mother and blurted out, "Why don't you join us?" It was funny because just the night before I was telling Rob that I wasn't going to invite anyone since this was my first time doing this "big production" meal and I was worried about it not turning out great... Anyway, they are a nice family (they have one 4-year-old son) and so it actually made it great that it wasn't a lot of other people to cook for, yet seemed to make the "work" more worthwhile. I had them bring a fruit salad and rolls. She also brought a frozen cranberry dish that was sort of like a sherbet. Burke LOVED it and told Rob, "It's like my new favorite food." Our turkey was really, really good. Very tender and moist. Everything else was great too. It seemed much easier than I expected, but I guess I make mashed potatoes and gravy enough that it didn't seem that different. I did chocolate mousse pie for dessert and we ended up serving Rob's birthday cake as well. I didn't do pumpkin pie or sweet potato pie because I was trying to keep it simple. I really missed them though so we'll add those in at Christmas. I didn't have a centerpiece for the table so I went outside and cut some hot pink and orange flowers. It seemed a little odd to be able to cut flowers for Thanksgiving but I thought it looked nice; festive and simple.

We spent Friday and Saturday doing things around the house and running some small errands. We played at the park on Friday afternoon and the boys got "too hot" playing soccer with Rob. It was a little warmer this week than it has been (upper 70's instead of low 70's). I put the Christmas tree up during the BYU/Utah game yesterday and having the Christmas stuff up does help me get into the season. I complained to Rob that my forearms were getting all scratched up and then I realized that I'm not used to putting up the tree in short sleeves. I have a goal to finish our stockings by Christmas. I've been waiting to do it until our four kids are all here.

Other notes: Liv is starting to bounce when she is happy. It's like she figured out how to do it in her exersaucer so now she does it while she is playing on the floor, nursing, etc. She is getting really funny and also does a "panting" noise when she is excited. I'm so interested in how her personality will develop. She eats three meals a day now and is starting to eat veggies and fruit as well as cereal.

Tosh calls himself "Toshie-Losh" a lot of the time now. If I call him Tosh Robert, he will say, "I not Tosh Robert, I Toshie-Losh." Rob's nephew Jake called Tosh that this summer and wrote "Tosh-a-Losh" on Tosh's paper cup... I don't know how Tosh remembered that, but he says it a lot now. We've also discovered that he knows how to add (single digits). He is always surprising us and making us laugh for one reason or another.

Hewitt figured out how to do front flips on our trampoline and taught Burke how. They land on their backs/bum for now, but I'm guessing that Hewitt will be landing on his feet soon. I think he would do really well in a tumbling class. His legs are so strong. He will hop on one foot on the tramp forever. Have you tried that? It's tough. His black eye is now very yellow so it's almost healed.

Burke enjoyed watching football with Rob yesterday. I think that he understands the rules better than me now (all the different penalties drive me crazy!). He is also very interested in learning Christmas songs. He pulled out the hymn book and our big book of Christmas songs and wants us to sing them all the time. He is so shy to sing in front of anyone else (he won't even sing in the primary program), so I hope he gets over that soon because he has a nice voice.

It was great to talk to both sets of missionary parents on Skype this week. Rob's name is "mulberryrob" if anyone else is interested in chatting...if for no other reason, you should call to talk to Hewitt. He is really funny on the phone. He got talking to my parents about Lego Star Wars and asked them if they have it. When they said no, he said, "Maybe Santa will bring it to you if Grandma has a baby!"

I had a moment yesterday (while I was pulling out the Christmas decorations), when I felt an overwhelming feeling of gratitude, love and happiness. I have so much to be thankful for and am blessed to have such a great life and family. Just thought I would share that.

Anyway, here are a few photos from the week. I even got some of ALL of my sweeties. It's actually much harder than it seems:

a thankful turkey

Hewitt came home from preschool today with this:

pete report

It seems like there is a lot to say, but now that I'm sitting down to "say it" my mind is drawing a blank. Hmmm.

Let's start with Liv. Is anyone tired of me talking about what a great baby she is? Her new trick is clicking her tongue (it's uber cute). She is also scooting forward on her tummy a bit and getting closer to sitting up on her own. She is still going to bed early and waking only once to eat around (5AM). Today I had to wake her up twice (once at 8AM to take Burke to school, and then again at 11:30AM to pick up Hewitt from school). She is so easy going about it (she wakes and gives me a big smile), and when I'm ready to put her down I just simply put her in her crib, walk out of the room and never hear a peep. I've never had a such a great sleeper, eater, and all around "dream baby." Liv is the "tops" and I am so, so thankful for and enjoy her every minute of my day.

Tosh, Tosh, Tosh. He is quite the character and cracks us up all the time. His new "trick" is jumping off of my bed and doing a rolling somersault right as he lands. This was one of those things where Rob yells, "Tamsen you've got to come and see this!" and then Rob says something like, "I know he probably shouldn't be jumping off of our bed, but it's awesome..." Tosh is really interested in trains and so we've been spending a lot of time setting up tracks and watching them run lately. He is officially addicted to milk and would only drink milk, eating nothing else except "candy Halloween" if he had his choice. We even gave him some pudding tonight for family night treat and he had one bite and then wanted milk (granted he was tired). He starts most sentences with "Be-tuzz" (because) and talks all the time. He still gets lots of attention wherever we go and I have all the Young Women begging me to let them babysit for us. If only we had places to go and money to spend, right?

Hewitt had a rough week (physically). A week ago Sunday we had dinner at some friends' in the ward and the kids were in the backyard when all of a sudden we heard this horrible "thud" sound. Hewitt ran straight into their sliding glass door. It looked and sounded absolutely horrible (I repeat) and we were thankful he wasn't injured. Then last Tuesday evening Hewitt was running and tripped and hit his face on the ottoman. His cheek swelled up immediately and he got a horrible black eye! Ouch. An' THEN last night he jumped from the couch to our black bench and jumped too far and ran his head into the wall. Another huge goose egg on his forehead. It's good his hair is long right now, or we'd be getting a call from the state for sure! He must be growing or something to be a little "off" on his coordination. You can really see the bruise pretty good in this photo:

Hewitt and I were chatting during half-time at his soccer game on Saturday and we got talking about how old Liv is. When I told him that she is six months (and reminded him there there are 12 months in the year, etc.), he laughed and said, "Liv is zero and a half!"


I love these photos of the three younger kids. These two love on Liv almost all day long:



I sure don't have many photos of Burke compared to the others lately. He does not like having his photo taken, and let's face it he isn't around as much. When he is around he is wanting to play soccer in our play room or is reading books like crazy (Any book suggestions anyone? He has read almost all the Magic Tree House series, Junie B Jones, Captain Underpants, Jigsaw Jones, A-Z Mysteries, etc.). I'm looking for something more challenging, but not too scary. Ideas?

Burke has been saving his money forever. He took a dollar to school the other day because they were selling pencils ("Smencils" really; pencils that smell) and he wanted to check it out. He came home with his dollar and said, "I decided I didn't need a pencil. I'd rather save my money to buy a game, or actually I should save it for my mission. I can't wait to go on a mission!" This something new that Burke is talking about. He is also getting excited about being baptized which is great because just a year or so ago he told me that he didn't want to be baptized and that he wasn't going on a mission because he never wanted to move out of our house. (My mother would probably like to insert here that I promised my mother at one point that I would never move out or leave her). Anyway, it is nice to see some growth and maturity in Burke.

So here is Burke's school photo (pre-glasses) and his soccer photo. His soccer photo is pretty funny (goofy). We didn't think it was possible for Burke to have a double chin...

We miss you all and will be thinking of you this week. Happy Thanksgiving! Much love, Tamsen

six month check

Liv had her 6 month well check-up today.

Head: 20%
Weight: 25% (14 lbs. 11 oz.)
Height: 40% (25.5 inches)

She is still a little thing but is getting taller (at 4 mo. she was only 25% for height)! She has some reflux issues, but never cries or seems to be bothered by it so the doctor isn't putting her on medication. We are going to start doing rice cereal twice a day instead of once. She is rolling across the floor and is getting close to sitting up on her own. She slept 12 hours straight twice last week (I actually had to wake her up one morning because I was dying!). She does lots of "raspberry" and cooing sounds. And did I mention that she is darling?

progress

For over a year now, Hewitt has been saying just about the same prayer every time it's his turn. There is always an expression of gratitude for the day, and a blessing on the food (even at bedtime). I'm not sure of the reason (he was clearly not feeling well and was extra sensitive tonight), but his personal prayer tonight was notably different. He was still thankful for the day and for the food, but ALSO included, "Help me to not get so mad, (pause), to find my way, (pause), and to follow the prophet and Jesus..."

This is certainly my prayer for this sweet (and sometimes sour) child every day.

mid-week comments

A lot has already gone on this week and so I thought I'd write about it.


I was driving home (from visiting teaching) on Tuesday and our van suddenly started making a HORRIBLE sound like there was a wire hanger scraping inside or something. We ended up having it towed to a place that was recommended by some people in the ward. It ended up just being a rock that got stuck in the wheel or something (can't remember what the guy said exactly), but there were some other major problems with it including broken engine mounts, leaking shocks, etc. etc. etc. The "damage" is over $2200! Ouch. I guess the "rock" was a blessing of sorts as we needed to get these things taken care of. I had a very long conversation with the guy at the car shop. He is from New Zealand (is LDS) and was very friendly and chatty. He asked why we moved down here and when he found out that Rob works for Intel he told me that we should go to New Zealand when Rob gets his sabbatical (in three years). I told him that we would love to, but can't afford it now that we have to pay him $2200!


Last night we did our "dating" night with the youth. Rob sang a song (with guitar) about dating standards that went off really well. Rob and I wrote lyrics to the melody of a song that Rob had already written. It was a great way to keep things entertaining but still touch on some serious stuff. After the song we were asking the kids to talk about some of the things that were mentioned in the song and when "french kissing" came up, one of the darling Priests said, "Oh, that's gross." Rob and I thought that was pretty wonderful to hear.


The Young Women's President arranged for her son (that just got off his mission last month) to babysit our kids last night so we could do this dating thing. The older boys had soccer and so while Rob was at soccer with B + H, I gave the two younger kids baths and got them in bed so the babysitter would not have to worry about them (and so I wouldn't have to worry about the baby either). Liv and Tosh are seriously such good kids. Liv was down by about 6:15pm and Tosh was down at 6:30. While I was getting Tosh in bed he said, "Close my door!" He must have been very tired. Our two younger children are both SO good and easy going! I love it. The older boys got home at 6:30 and hurried to shower so they could play with the babysitter until bedtime.


Burke woke up acting like he did not feel well at all today. He was stuffy, had a dry throat and felt a little warm. Tosh and Liv have both had minor colds so I figured with all the H1N1 madness that I should probably keep Burke home (that and the fact that I have no van and had no way to pick Burke up from school if he got worse anyway). He was begging me to "homeschool" him today so I printed off a bunch of worksheets: multiplication, story problems, etc. He also read books and wrote a long story. It really makes me feel like he probably learned more today than he would have at school. I think that if Burke was my only child maybe I would homeschool him. He is so motivated to learn, loves to be challenged and loves calling me "Miss Dunning." He is so funny.


It is overcast today and is a nice 76 degrees out (I threw that in for the weather lovers out there). I made soup on Tuesday and I'm doing a roast with mashed potatoes tonight. I'm acting as if it's fall even though it doesn't feel like it. Now off to make some hot cocoa.

My turn

Well, Tamsen asked me to write this week's update, so here I am. I'm sure you're thrilled about becoming acquainted with my narrative tone and color.

So, this week...

Let's start with today, since I can still remember that. The McQueen 2nd ward primary program was today. Hewitt and Burke both did admirably at their 'lines' - had them memorized, which was exciting for us - but song participation left a little to be desired. Hewitt was in the front row (where speakers sit for sacrament meeting), and moved his mouth up and down every time there was a song to be sung, but didn't appear to be really singing any of the words, or singing at all. Burke held a program (I think it had the words to the song in it?) in front of his face for each song, until the last one I saw, so we couldn't see him for the entire program. It was just as perfect as I had imagined it.

Other than the feel-good feelings that come with the primary program, the best moment was after the first song. Remember where Hewitt was sitting? Well, in that position, all we could see was basically Hewitt's head. At any rate, as the kids are directed to sit down by the chorister, I see Hewitt's head disappear, followed by two legs and feet sticking up in the air where his head just was - for maybe 5 seconds (until a nearby primary teacher noticed and helped him get unstuck). It was classic. You can picture the folding 'sacrament speaker' seats and imagine exactly what happened, huh?

Yesterday at Burke's game some of the parents got pretty heated. One of the kids on our team took an elbow from a player on the other team. The mom of this kid proceeded to yell at the ref (for the non-call) at the opposing player ("I'm not afraid to take down a seven year old") and her son ("Go get him, Cam! You take him out!"). Her obedient son played the 'man' rather than the ball immediately thereafter, going arm first at the other team, and pushing anyone in a red jersey. The ref stopped the game at that point until everyone settled down, but there were yells from both sidelines. I'm not sure I'm ready for that next competitive level of sports...

The mom apologized - I think a little embarrassed - this morning right before sacrament meeting started.

Tosh is talking more all the time...of course I can't remember what he said this week, but I'm sure at the time I told Tamsen that "...you should put that on the blog." Sigh. But he really is hysterical - honestly. BTW, BTP is over my shoulder and he had me change that last description of TRP from hilarious to the word you see. Love that kid.

Liv is cute, and a really good girl. She doesn't wake up too much in the night, but I'm still excited for November 10, when she is officially 6 months old. That's when Tamsen and I get to stay up watching some show in the middle of the night and crank up the volume when Liv's cries are too loud. Any suggestions on what we should get (you probably recall that '24' got us through Tosh's nights)?

I love my wife and kids!

We had a game night on Friday night at our house with 5 other couples from the ward. Good food, pretty fun game (played Scum - biggest group I've played that with, but it worked) and great company. We're getting to know quite a few people in the ward, but total comfort takes time, I suppose.

At any rate, life is pretty good. I really like the weather here a LOT. Even when it was super-duper hot this summer (which it was), I surprisingly didn't mind because relief is 10 steps out the back door. Burke is telling me he did mind, but he's always been a bit sensitive to the heat. Anyway, right now it's as wonderful as people told us it would be. I am Rog's son, having dedicated an entire paragraph to the weather (and the sad thing is that I want to write more about it, but I'm stopping), aren't I?

OK - that's enough for now - things are pretty nice in AZ and we welcome visitors at any time!

the pete report

Here we are at the end of another busy week. I was just thinking about how much Rob and I "divide and conquer" all the time. For example: Rob takes older boys to soccer practice, I stay home with younger kids. Rob and Tosh go to Burke's soccer game, Liv and I go to Hewitt's game. I stay at home (with sleeping Liv) and pass out candy, Rob takes boys trick-or-treating. I guess we are just at that stage of life.

We all went to a Halloween party yesterday afternoon. Rob decided to change up his costume (since he had shaved his head and couldn't do the great 50's look as well) and went as a Russian dancer. This was a costume Rob wore when he was 14! It was pretty tight at the shoulders, but still fit. Rob and Burke ready to party:

I was able to volunteer in Burke's class on Friday afternoon to help with the "Fall Festival." The school did not allow the kids to dress up for Halloween, but had them wear school colors instead. Burke was also able to go a birthday party on Friday so he has certainly had a good week. Burke went through sort of a "quiet" stage this spring/summer, but is back to talking or asking questions constantly (well, when he isn't reading that is). Just tonight he has been asking Rob all about former NBA players, wanted to know all about Australia (the year it was discovered, who discovered it, what the boat was called, etc.), was asking all about grapples and how they work, and is now reciting the alphabet backwards as I write.

Hewitt's preschool had a Halloween program and parade on Thursday. Hewitt dressed up as a Power Ranger for the preschool program (see photo below) and then as Spiderman yesterday (the Indiana Jones costume he wore last weekend was my favorite of the three). Gotta keep it interesting, that kid. He is reading and spelling better all of the time and has fallen in love with writing books. He draws and writes in notebooks and then likes to read them to us at bedtime.

Tosh must be growing. He fell asleep on the couch yesterday afternoon and it took us about an hour to wake him up to go to a neighborhood Halloween carnival. Tonight he fell asleep on the couch the minute we walked in the door from church (around 4:15pm) and slept until 6:00. He woke up, had a little bit to eat and told us his legs were hurting (poor kid). At 6:30 he said, "I want to go in my bed." And he went right to sleep. He had a blast with all of the Halloween fun this week so maybe that helped wear him out too. These are photos of Tosh sleeping WHILE we are getting him dressed in his costume. Can you say tired?


Liv is rolling a bit more and is becoming more aware of whether she is being held or not (she is already "working" Rob with the sad cry so that he will pick her right back up if he tries to put her down). She is also starting to play in the excer-saucer a bit and seems to like that. Liv is still very content and easy going (and I'm so thankful). On Halloween night she was exhausted so I put her down at 6:00pm and she slept until 8:00 this morning (waking twice to eat). That's pretty good I think.

Some favorite photos of Liv taken this week:


I like taking pictures of Liv, can you tell? (and she can't run away from the camera so that helps.) The boys are already starting to talk about Christmas and I still can't believe it is already November! The weather is faking me out, but it was really nice that it was 70-75 degrees while the kids were out trick-or-treating. It was down to 40 degrees a few mornings this week. I am so glad we brought our sweaters and warm clothes with us! Our house got down to 65 inside and it actually felt wonderful to be cold.

a video for your viewing pleasure

This video was taken last week just after we got home from picking Burke up from school (the reason Liv is still in her car seat). Hewitt and Tosh spend much of their day trying to entertain Liv and she just eats it up.

Enjoy!

a "random" p.s.-
Rob was just asking me if I had read a story on the Yahoo homepage today about the "World's Strongest Five-Year-Old." Burke was listening to our conversation (as usual) and asked, "What? The world's strongest person is a five-yr-old?" And Rob replied (to my great amusement), "No. The world's strongest five-year-old is a person."

odds and ends

After having a "break" of sorts for the last six months, I now have a calling again. I am the Mia Maid advisor and I'm so excited. I sensed this may be coming... I haven't been in Young Womens (as they say) since we lived in Oregon over nine years ago. Teaching weekly and attending a weekly activity will keep me busy, but I'm at a good stage of life for this (Liv is just starting to eat rice cereal and goes down by 7pm AND no more sick pregnancies to worry about).

I checked out a DVD of the "Muppet Show" from the library. I was surprised at how much the boys like the shows and am surprised at how much of the humor they get. I made a comment when Kermit came out to do a number in a tuxedo about how he was "all dressed up," and Hewitt said, "Well at the beginning they said, 'It's time to dress up right,' Mom." (Remember the opening song, "It's time to put on make-up, it's time to dress up right, etc...") That made me laugh. Funny Hewitt.

I'm sure you've noticed that Liv sucks on her two middle fingers. A lot. Well, the boys are starting to call this "the Spidey!" You know, like what Spiderman does to spray his web.

Tosh pretty much refers to Burke and Hewitt as his "brothers" all the time now. He says things like, "I want to play toys with my brothers." or "I want to go see my brothers." The way he says it is so cute. The three of them have been playing so well together and are always giving each other horse rides, playing "puppy" (that totally reminds me of Jake and Joseph) or acting things out together, etc. I'm glad they are such good friends and are getting better at looking out for each other too.

growing up

I'm noticing some changes with Liv.

• She is more aware of "strangers" and cried yesterday when someone at church held her.
• Her cry (though still rare) is getting louder and has a hint of drama now (is this my imagination?).
• She is napping less often, but her naps are getting longer.
• She still likes and will take a binky, but will usually pull it right out after I put her in her crib and sleep with two fingers in her mouth.
• She still adores her brothers, and is becoming more and more interested in her Daddy (so now there are five of us fighting for his attention--ha!).
• She will fall asleep in Rob's arms which she won't really do for me.
• Her complexion seems more fair than any of our other children and I'm starting to wonder if she is going to have freckles in a year or two.
• Although she is still plenty bald, what is growing in seems to be bone straight (and stick straight up).
• She seems very interested in what we are eating and I think it's about time to try some cereal for the first time (I'm hoping this will help her to spit up less too).
• She goes to bed around 7pm and often does a nine hour stretch.

She is still sweet and happy and adored by all of us.