photo highlights of the week(end)

I love how Liv was sitting at the piano with her legs crossed:

On Saturday after soccer games, we joined our stake for a "Day of Thanksgiving" and went to Mesa to walk around the temple grounds (and for lunch at a nearby church). The kids enjoyed climbing trees outside the church building and being outside on a beautiful (and windy) fall day.

Tosh has felt a little under the weather this weekend (has a bit of a runny nose and cough)

After returning home from the temple, we took the kids to a nearby park:

These two are always pretending something or other...

Burke was very focused on practicing some soccer skills with Rob

My parents finished their mission on Thursday, and arrived from Texas just before dinner this evening. The kids were outside waiting for them when they pulled up (my younger boys had been playing "pirate" and that is why they are shirtless).

We were all so happy to see Grandma and Grandpa!

first day for tosh

Tosh was very excited about his first day of preschool this morning.




He requested a Capri Sun in his lunchbox today, and was a little bummed when I explained that preschool would be finished before lunchtime and so he wouldn't be bringing lunch. (Just for the record, I let him have a Capri Sun as part of his lunch at home.)

I think he is looking so grown-up (at almost 3 and 1/2).

I wanted to capture his current signature before starting school:





I left a little early to pick him up and was able to watch the class doing gymnastics (donkey kicks and somersaults). When it was time to go he seemed a little tired, but said that he had fun. On the way home he asked, "Did you know that you can paint with your fingers mom?!"




Good work, Tosh!

p.s. Liv and I accomplished so much while Tosh was at school this morning: we emptied the dishwasher and cleaned up the kitchen, vacuumed out the car and cleaned the car windows, went to the grocery store (where we filled the entire cart), and unloaded the groceries before heading back to the school. It was a productive morning for EVERYONE!

finally fall

Autumn has found its way to Phoenix (yup, mid-November). I'll highlight a little fall activity around here:

I pulled out our costume box for the first time since last October and Tosh and Hewitt had a blast trying on various costumes and acting out characters.



(I laugh at this one...Hewitt trying to get Tosh to smile at the camera)

We're needing to wear sweaters and sweatshirts in the mornings and evenings now:

(Liv rarely looks at the camera so I just had to post these photos of her eyes.)

Liv is so snuggly in her fuzzy jammies. She has some awesome bedhead in the mornings (with help from pigtails the day before):

(She's had a bit of a runny nose and chapped cheeks this week, but no fever. Could be teeth or change in temperature.)

The kids were out of school for Veteran's Day and Burke was so happy to eat his favorite lunch: Campbell's Chicken Noodle soup. I should really buy a Thermos so he can have it at school (he's gotten so picky).

Rob spent much of the weekend (Saturday and Sunday) in various church meetings, so it was mostly me and kids hanging out. It is so nice to be able to enjoy taking walks and going to the park again. Burke scored two goals in his soccer game (new record!), and Hewitt scored the only goal on his team. It's the perfect weather for playing sports outside.

I am trying to get my laundry room cabinets reorganized before my parents arrive this next weekend (hooray!), and I'm also rededicating myself to finishing my Christmas stockings...I'm hoping to finish at least the kids' stockings by the end of the month so they can hang by the chimney with care.

We are getting very excited for Thanksgiving and to see grandparents and cousins next week. The kids are also very excited about Rob's birthday (on Thanksgiving Day this year). The boys and I had a great discussion about Rob's birthday last night. We were brainstorming some ideas and Hewitt and Tosh offered some very sincere and wonderful suggestions such as buying him a new car and inviting Hewitt's kindergarten friends to a party for him. Hewitt had a very specific idea in mind and explained, "Let's buy a toy guy at the store that looks just like Dad, only he can be wearing a Blazer's basketball jersey with a teeny-tiny orange basketball and we can put that on top of his cake!"

The boys were so excited to talk to some of their friends (Zac, Abbi and Carter) via Skype yesterday. As soon as the call was over they rushed to make letters for them. I loved Hewitt's letter to Abbi. A four-page book:

Page 1: Abbi, DO YOU like me?

Page 2: Say yes!

Page 3: Its nice!

Page 4: Thank you.

Burke wrote a poem last night and then sat down at the computer and typed it and printed it out. He mentioned that he wants to submit it to a magazine (I forget the name), so I thought I'd share:

Stormy Night

Thunder Wakes me up late tonight,
Thunder makes a boom and gives me a fright.
Lightning lights up the spooky night,
As I sit in bed late tonight.

Tosh starts preschool tomorrow! I had signed him up (the teacher is a woman I know from church) last spring, but I felt he wasn't ready when school started in July. Now that he's potty-trained and ready to go, I called to get him in in January and they said that they had an opening and I could start him right away. The school incorporates gymnastics and karate as well as academics (it's held at a dance studio) and is on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. He's really excited and I expect that he will do great and have a blast.

18 months!

Things I want to remember about Liv at 18 months (in no particular order):

• She loves to snuggle. She will rest her head on my shoulder, pat my back and rock from side to side.
  
• She gives great kisses.
  
• She is an awesome sleeper (12-13 hours a night) and naps around 3 hours on average. One night this week she slept over 14 hours and I finally peeked in her room at 9:30am to make sure that she was OK.
  
• She doesn't talk much. Her most frequent words are "bun" (bunny) and "mo mo" (which seems to mean more, mama, and 'I want that').
  
• She still sucks her middle fingers when she is tired.
  
• She drinks well from a regular cup and likes to feed herself (and is getting neater all of the time).
  
• She can be somewhat dramatic and has started flopping for emphasis.
  
• She loves her brothers and likes to be around them (I think they spoil her more than her parents do).
  
• She always gives Rob a very warm reception when he gets home from work, including running into his arms for a big hug.
  
• She follows commands very well such as, "Go climb in your chair," or "go get your shoes."
  
• She likes accessories and "girly" things (shoes, jewelry, dresses, etc.).
  
• She is a climber! I am constantly pulling her off of the tables and counters.
  
• She loves watching herself dance in the full-length mirror in my bathroom. She will also climb up on our kitchen table and and watch herself dance through the reflection in the sliding glass door.
  
• She is itty-bitty and still fits into lots of 6-12 month size clothing.
  
• She scoots down the stairs on her bum, or holds on to the railing and walks down.
  
• She is a sweetie pie! We love her so much and are so thankful to have her in our family!

diamond birthday

I want to give a shout out to my dad. He celebrated his "diamond" birthday yesterday; 75 years young!

Here is my dad as a baby. Isn't this the cutest photo?(Hard to believe he would never allow us to have a pet growing up...)

And this has always been one of my favorite photos: My Dad; the lone boy in a tap dance group full of cute girls. Isn't he dapper (and skinny)?

Love you Dad!

Other notables from the week:

I gave Tosh a trim that ended up a little shorter than originally planned, but it looked better to me on day two. When it is combed straight after a bath/shower it looks he has the hair of a 50 yr-old lady (no offense). He fell flat on his face during a "trunk or treat" last Saturday night and had a little scab on his nose all week.

Liv found some of my hair elastics and wore them around as bracelets one morning. Here she is admiring her reflection:

She is starting to walk around in my shoes and is pretty good at it I might add (no photo unfortunately). She still loves shoes in general and these hot pink pair seem to be her favorite.

While we were waiting for the boys' ride to school one morning (I carpool with a neighbor), we heard a VERY loud sound above our house. It sounded as though a huge truck was scooping up some gravel or something. All of a sudden a hot air balloon floated directly above us. The basket was so close we were able to talk to the travelers and greet them hello. I ran inside to get my camera and by the time I came back outside, it was quite a bit higher and across the street. The boys thought this was pretty cool.

Hewitt was able to go on a school field trip to a farm on Thursday. Here he is in his class t-shirt and the pumpkin that he picked out:

Burke has been learning about light in school this week. Just for fun on Friday night he created a way to reflect an object using a box, some plastic wrap, a flashlight and a pair of socks. He explained that, "What it does is make something look like it is there, when it really isn't." It was really pretty cool and kept him busy for an hour or so.
Burke fell down at the end of soccer practice on Wednesday night and hurt his arm. I was at the church for a Young Women activity and Rob told me that Burke wanted to go straight to bed after practice. He woke up once crying during the night and so I gave him some Ibuprofen and told him that we would check it out in the morning. The next day he said that it felt better and it didn't appear to be swollen or anything. We began to notice on Friday that he was still favoring his arm, but he was acting fine and said that it didn't really hurt. He was really hesitant at his soccer game on Saturday (although he scored his team's only goal!) and didn't want to straighten his arm. We decided that we better take him in to an urgent care clinic just to be sure it wasn't broken. I felt bad when the doctor showed us that the arm was indeed swollen (his arms are like pencils so it's hard to tell), and they did an x-ray. It isn't broken thankfully, and we were instructed to ice it a few times a day, elevate it at night, and to make sure he continues to use it so the muscles don't weaken.

Yesterday we made our traditional monthly donut run to Bosa's donuts (yummy), and Rob a I attended ward temple night last night and went out to dinner afterward with some friends.

I made pumpkin bread this afternoon and we took a loaf to a couple that moved in across the street a few months back (better late than never, right?). After I had mixed up the batter (I even tripled the recipe), I realized that I had only 30 or so chocolate chips instead of the three cups I needed. Rob and I raided the Halloween candy and I ended up chopping all of the chocolate bars (Crunch, M&Ms, plain Hershey's and even Snickers) to use in the bread. It actually turned out really yummy (especially the bites of Snickers) and I explained what I had done to the neighbors so they wouldn't be alarmed to come across bits of green and blue from the M&Ms. After delivering the bread, we went on a walk around the neighborhood and discussed what kind of trees we should plant in our front yard to replace the few we've lost. The weather is glorious right now and it was great to be outside and see other neighbors that we've hardly seen all summer.

I can't believe that it is November already. I even wanted a jacket last night when I was outside; love it. My folks will finish their mission and be here in two weeks! We're so excited! Let the holidays begin.