AUTUMN IS HERE!

Having lived in AZ for so long I ALMOST forgot that there are real seasons in other places.  Not really but it's been so long since we've had the actual  colors of fall that I'm really enjoying it so far this year.  I could do without the howling wind but since it doesn't blow everyday, and when it does it blows all the leaves out of our yard, it's not so bad, yet.  Our boys raked themselves a leaf pile on Saturday and had a great time doing it and then of course jumping into it.  It must be a naturally occuring event because they came up with the idea on their own.  It's so stinking cold in the mornings that there is ice in the horse's water and the grass is literally frozen with little icecicles hanging off of our fences but by afternoon it warms to the 50's or 60's today and yesterday R came out wearing shorts, I don't know why I was surprised but I was.  Look at my sweet Levi, so cute in his layers this morning!  He was actually mad because AJ and he were fighting over the tree swing but he loves having his pic taken so he was having a hard time staying mad. 

HE DID IT!!

No more padding in his shorts, this little man is potty trained!!!! He actually has been for a couple of months I think but our trip sealed the deal. I was a bit worried that he would have accidents while we were driving but he was super about holding it until we could find one of the many gas stations we stopped at along the way. Towards the end of the trip he became a pro and we had to stop less and less. He has now mastered peeing standing up, although he still favors standing on the toilet to do it, oh well, not really a big deal. He discovered the joy of peeing at the same time as his brothers and of course, peeing along the side of a deserted road, of which we traveled many last week. He is now a full fledged toddler, no longer a baby and I am DONE changing diapers. LOVE it. We've moved from the stinky pants to the "moooommmmm, come wipe my butt!" bellow from the bathroom but I'll take it happily. YEAH Levi!

GROWING UP BOY

My little boys love to shower with my big boys for some reason. Last night I let them mostly because I was too tired to bathe them myself. Levi showered with Jake and afterward Jake put a diaper on him and then dressed him just like himself... in a robe. He came down the stairs like a boxer going into the ring, sound effects included. He was so funny, I swear I could hear the Rocky theme playing in the air. A friend asked me awhile ago if I think I baby him or treat him differently or protect him more because he is the baby. I don't think I do, I don't think I need to. He is certainly capable of defending himself. Growing up the youngest of 4 boys he has to be and they are preparing him well for a rough world.

FOLLOWIN' IN DAD'S FOOTSTEPS

I was watching my friend's sweet little girl last week and AJ was instantly attached to her. Unfortunately He and Levi were equally enamored with her and this caused a great deal of arguing. I'm certain this won't be the last time they fight over a girl. She was completely oblivious to the attention and happy to go wherever they took her, in the back yard, on the couch to watch Dora, into their room to play... you get the idea.

My fave was when they sat down and he very casually put his arm around her and she didn't even notice/care.

RODEO TIME

We love to go to the rodeos and the boys have been begging to go since October so we went on Saturday night. My spectacular husband arranged for someone to cover part of his shift so that he could come with us since he usually misses things, like the campout the night before. It was so awesome to be together doing something as a WHOLE family! It was Levi's first rodeo where he was old enough to actually follow what was going on and he was enraptured! He hardly moved the entire time and couldn't take his eyes off the action. It was Caleb's last mutton bustin' as he is getting too big, now he wants to ride the calves up in Wickenburg, we'll see. He was determined to ride it to the other side of the arena but his sheep didn't cooperate, he laid down in the chute and as soon as he got out the gate he laid down again. Caleb didn't let go though, it was pretty fun to watch, it was more like sheep wrestling than riding. The clown was great and the drunks around us provided ample entertainment harassing him and a great lesson for the boys about how stupid people look when they are drunk. It was a great weekend! Until Sunday, but lets just leave it at that.

NOW HE ENUNCIATES!

Levi starts pretty much every word with M or N. It makes it quite interesting trying to decipher what he is trying to say sometimes. Anyhow he is still potty training and today he "mooped" in the toilet and was telling Ryan his accomplishment. The best part was he actually said "poop" instead of the usual "moop" I said good job, you said it right. Probably a huge mistake because after that he said POOP POOP POOP. over and over and over again laughing deliriously. That I'm sure will come out in church!

ANSWERED PRAYERS

Yesterday started out basicly like most days. Get the big boys off to school. Ryan is sleeping since he has to work tonight. AJ and Levi are vying for my attention and I'm trying to get things done. Thankfully Wednesday is playgroup which gives all of us something to look forward to. We went to playgroup and came home and Levi was still crabby but I figured it was due to a bad nights sleep the night before and we were both due for a nap. I put him down and went to lay down with Ryan but he awoke screaming and grabbing his stomach only 30 minutes later. That kept up the rest of the day with him playing one minute and crying and grabbing his stomach the next. Long story short after deciding to take him in to Good Night Pediatrics, LOVE THEM, we ended up at children's hospital in the ER. Here is where the Lord's hand became more obvious. The first Dr. who saw us at GNP was sending us home when while we were waiting for his insurance to be verified, he had another fit. The dr was standing around the corner and saw and heard and decided we should go to the hospital immediately. We did. Once at Children's he was immediately triaged and put into a room, immediately seen by a nurse and Dr and an ultrasound was ordered to check to see if he had intussusception. I've never seen everything go so smoothly. He was getting his ultrasound immediately AND immediately the radiologist was in the ultrasound room giving me the results. Immediately after that he was in a different room in xray getting it reduced with an air enema. Again the Lord's hand is clear, it worked, no surgery needed. Levi was not happy about the enema but since he doesn't understand the alternative, oh well. He woke up this am screaming don't and no and kicking and punching me poor guy but other than that, you'd never know that last night he was in the worst pain of his short life and only a short while from bowel surgery. I'm so thankful for the Lord's watchful care. It couldn't have gone any smoother, no delay anywhere. No waiting for Dr.'s to be called in. No waiting for tests, no waiting for a room, no waiting for anything and best of all... NO SURGERY! Today he is running around and causing problems and eating again! I was so relieved that I couldn't avert the tears last night as we went back to his er room after it was over. I'm so thankful for answered prayers especially the short and quiet ones last night.

Anticipation

MMMM cookies. Levi couldn't wait for them to come out so he stood at the door and watched them cook. I love him!

Here comes TROUBLE

At least he wears a helmet right? I have never been a big fan of skateboards, I'm still not. It took alot of work on me to agree to the boys having them. Now they all have one thanks to a couple of gifts from neighbors and friends. Once Jake and Caleb got them, the little ones had to have them too and their friends obliged. Thankfully no broken bones yet. So here is my daredevil Levi following in his brothers footsteps.

THE LAVA TUBES

On our way home from UT we stopped in Flagstaff for a night. I LOVE camping, it's so relaxing and free for the kids to be able to play and make noise and run all over and just be boys. That being said, a night in a hotel was welcome after sleeping with spiders for 3 nights. The next day we went to the Lava Tubes. This was as far as AJ would go even with flashlights. It didn't help that it was downright COLD in there and we were not prepared for that.AJ had plenty of fun climbing on the rocks outside of the cave in the daylight.

Caleb loved it.

Jake loved it too.

My Sweet Broken Levi

Wednesday morning started out great! The older boys, all three of them slept in until after 8, unheard of in our house! I got up with Levi and got so many things done early. The boys got up and everyone was in a good mood and everything was going great. Insert the ominous tones here... Levi was at the table with his older brothers getting breakfast and was standing on the bench reaching accross the table for the cereal or milk, I'm still not sure which, when he stepped off the edge of the bench and landed HARD on the floor. He didn't try to catch himself and so landed straight on his side, knocking the sand AJ had dumped over his head earlier, onto the floor. He screamed immediately and I immediately knew he had broken his collarbone. I was right. I didn't know he had also cracked his L humerus. We were all still in our pajamas and I was trying in vain to console him and figure out if I could get a bra on before I took him to the hospital. Ryan was sleeping. It was 9 am. Ryan woke up and drove us to the ER and took the 4 older boys home after he chastised me for not waking him up for the emergency and thinking I could take all 4 of them to the ER with me alone. I told him it was better than waking him up. I love him and all but he gets grumpy when he is tired. Anyway, as you can see from the pics, he may be broken but it's not stopping him and is barely slowing him down. He was still fast enough to get into my makeup and cover himself with blue eye shadow while I was getting unders out of the dryer. He still jumps into the pool to go swimming and still fights with AJ. He just does it with Motrin around the clock. The t-shirt splint is what Dr Sochaki told me to do when Caleb broke his collar bone when he was 2. It works like a charm!!

Summer Hike

Jake is working on his Wolf and wants to have it done by the end of the summer so for his hike yesterday he got to do the flag ceremony to finish one of his requirements. I am so proud of him. We got up at 430 to meet the other scouts at 530 to hike. AJ and Levi and Caleb went also. We hiked about 2 miles I think. Another testament to the incredible people in our ward, even with AJ whining the whole time, despite promising beforehand that he would walk if I let him come, noone was nasty and so many people offered to carry him and Levi so that I wouldn't have to do it the whole time. The boys all had a great time climbing and socializing. Caleb asked if we could go again today... NO. it's TOO HOT!!! I'm still glad we went. It was worth it. In all the times I've been hiking there, this was the first time we saw wildlife, we saw 2 large mule deer. They were awesome, not at all afraid but very aware and watchful of us watching them. Maybe they were just too hot to run away out of the shade!!!

NIFTY FIFTIES FUN!!!

Have I mentioned how much I love our ward? Just in case I haven't... It's the best ward EVER!! Last night we had a 50's dinner at the diner complete with a classic car show in the parking lot. Our boys dressed the part. Aren't they awesome? The entertainment was stellar. I'm not sure what was my favorite part of the evening, they were all so good, the girl group singing "You Don't Own Me", the swing dancers or April and Amy with their husbands singing "I Need a Man". I think it was probably the hula hoop contests. The Bishop, Brother Proctor and and Brother Lindsay were awesome. Caleb was also in a hula hoop contest. When he was finished I said, "Caleb I didn't know you could do that!" He said, "I couldn't!" His grin was awesome to see. I love his smile. All the entertainment was so great, as you can tell by Levi's, AJ's and Jake's rapt attention. I love our ward. I love our town. Where else do you get tractors at a classic car show? Where else do you get horses riding down the street in front of the church afterwards? The food was great, the party was great for kids and adults, the cars were awesome. We all had so much fun, we stayed up way past the boys bedtime but when we left I asked if they all had fun and got a unanimous YES from the back seat.

MMMM Bagels!

Fridays are Bagels at Darice's. I hardly get to go but now that Ryan is working nights again and needs to sleep in, I think we'll go more. In case you can't tell, Levi loves bagels too. He likes to attack them head on, or should I say cream cheese first. Who needs bagels, he wants the cream cheese. Look at that wonderful face! AJ and Levi love to play with the other kiddos and mom's love to sit and gab for a short while. Thanks Darice for hosting us every week!!!

Oh Soooo Dirty

So I'm upstairs bathing AJ and calling for Levi and Caleb to come upstairs for bath/shower respectively. Levi finally trails behind Caleb and he is covered in dirt from head to toe, and I do mean covered. Caleb swears that Levi dumped the dirt over his head himself and he had nothing to do with it. Now I know that Levi loves the sandbox but hmmm. I made Levi wait to get in the bath until I had AJ out since I didn't want to rewash AJ. I had to wash Levi's hair twice. I had to wash his body twice. I could hardly see his feet through the dirty water which I of course let out for round 2 and rinsed with clean water again from the faucet. Notice the capsized rubber duckie, I'm pretty sure the dirty water did him in, he is blue after all. HOLY COW! It's a good thing tomorrow is Friday, the day I clean the bathrooms. The brown ring left behind on the tub is only slightly more disgusting than the dirt left in the tub when all the water was gone. Levi was of course delighted in his mess and reminded me of Pigpen from the Charlie Brown specials I watched when I was a kid and love to watch with my kids now. I'm glad he had fun, that's all that really matters when it's all said and done. Well that and nobody died. Sometimes that's how I guage how good or bad my day was. As long as nobody died, or came fairly close, it's a good day.

AJ is so serious

So, AJ is finally at the age that he can comprehend some manners and etiquette. As most any mother can attest, it's difficult to go to the bathroom without an audience and you can only hold it for so long. Our bathroom is jack and jill style so when I lock one door he runs around through our bedroom to the other one. There's nothing quite as exasperating as a kid crying at each door because they can't get in. Poking toes under the door can only entertain them for awhile. He finally gets that mommy needs privacy. Anyway AJ's vocabulary is expanding quickly but not always politically correct. So he locked me out of the bathroom then bellowed for me to "wipe my butt". I said, "I can't the door is locked, why did you lock the door?" He said, " I need my privates" I think that is my favorite AJ quote. He is also a great listener/mimic. My mom's line when the boys are misbehaving is "look at my face, I'm not smiling, I'm not laughing." Last week Levi was doing something AJ didn't want him to do, I missed what since I was making lunch in the kitchen at the time. I walked into the room in time to hear AJ say to Levi, "no no Levi, look at me face, I no smiling, I no laughing." After I managed to not laugh at his completely serious chastisement I thought to be ecstatic that he wasn't beating him up like usual. He is such a joy and I love them all so much. I make sure to comment on his loving behavior to his brother and tell him what a good brother he is, yesterday he told Levi, " your such a good brother Levi". At least when he is reminding me of what I do wrong he still reminds me what I do right. Besides his darling personality, how do you not love his fashion sense?

I love Sundays

Well I haven't mentioned that last week during Jake's birthday party our second counselor called and asked if my husband was home... He came over after the party and called us BOTH to be in the middle nursery. Ryan said, "I warned you if you sub'ed for them this would happen. I think he was surprised he got called in with me though. Anyway, our ward has a HUGE primary, there are 2 of many classes and 3 nurseries. We are very blessed. I admit at first I was not as happy about the call as I should have been, I was looking forward to going to relief society. I changed my attitude and I'm enjoying my calling and I'm enjoying having Ryan in there with me. He is great with those kiddos! He knows all of them by name and plays with them and can calm down the criers easily. He is phenomenal. I love him so much and I admire him. I am enjoying watching him with all of these little angels. Today was a great Sunday, although it started out a bit rough. Getting 4 boys ready for 8 am church takes a great degree of organization and preparation. I wasn't as prepared as I usually am simply because of the baptism yesterday. I didn't have time to rewash and iron the boys white shirts so they had to wear short sleeved ones instead. Also I overslept which wouldn't have been an issue except I had to dress more than myself. Thankfully Jake and Caleb are older and immensely helpful. AJ wants so much to be like them that he does his best also. Levi has at least 4 teeth coming in, those are the ones I can see, so needless to say he was crabby but after church we all took naps and that was delightful. The evening, post nap, went happily. Jake made dinner, it's for his Faith In God award. He was so proud and cute with his mac and cheese and peas on the table that he even set. I LOVE MY FAMILY!!! I can't even attempt to count my blessings, my basket is overflowing.

SOME GOOD DIRTY FUN

Today I was trying to clean up and get some stuff done so when AJ and Levi went outside to play in the sandbox I was content. That lasted for about 2 minutes until I heard the water come on. I quick ran outside but it was too late, AJ had the hose in the sandbox and was "making mud". I decided that it was too late to stop the damage so I let them play and planned to hose them off when they were done, thankfully it was a warmish day. I did make him put his underwear back on since he being AJ, was naked again and jumping into the mud hole. I remember when I was little, playing in the mud with my brother and it was good fun so who was I to rob them of the fun?

WHAT A DAY!!!

Well... Risa has decided she isn't going to be mother of the year. I'm pretty sure I won't either. Up until now I have managed to avoid stitches for any of my boys, we have had some close calls but today was the closest. Levi was sitting in my lap at the computer while I checked my email and looked up a recipe. Quicker than any adult could be he reached up and grabbed the cord for the speaker for the computer. Ryan had put it up on top of the hutch to listen to a cd earlier. Anyway, he yanked and in less than a blink the thing came down on his forehead. It's actually pretty small but it must have hit him just right because it split his forehead open and like all head wounds, blood started gushing. My old lady reflexes weren't fast enough to stop the chain of events but I jumped up for a towel. Jake and Caleb saw the blood running down his face and started screaming, "He's bleeding Mom!" Now Levi is screaming, Jake and Caleb are screaming and I'm yelling at them to calm down. I got them calmed down and they each got me the wet towel I had asked for, what good helpers, since the paper towel was already bloody. When I got the blood cleaned off it was just a little cut, long story short, I put a steri strip on it to butterfly it. I figured that would be less traumatic for him than taking him in for what they would likely only close with dermabond. It seems to be working. Anyhow, while I am holding pressure, did I mention head wounds bleed ALOT, Jake and Caleb went outside to play with their new Nerf dart guns, thank you uncle Sean. AJ as usual had stripped naked and went into the bathroom to get his pants on so he could go out also. I'm still holding pressure remember. I notice that he is much too quiet and has been in there for a couple of minutes so I sent Jake in to investigate. Good thing. He had seen Ryan's razor, I'm not sure how that transpired. He decided to shave. Jake brought him out bleeding and holding his face. Here is where I had to hold it in and not FREAK OUT!!! Seriously two toddlers bleeding from unrelated causes. WHAT THE FREAKIN' HECK!!! This is where the magic mom hands come into play... still holding pressure on Levi's forehead which had slowed to an ooze finally, I cleaned all the blood off of AJ and thankfully, he had only cut his lip. We had to talk about why Dad shaves and he doesn't. It looks like the steri strip is doing it's job and you can barely see AJ's cut lip now. Does this stuff happen to other people? Other than the late afternoon excitement, it was a good day. Seriously.

OUR NEW YEARS

Well New Years came and went. To be honest, I'm not all that excited about staying up to greet the new year. I'd just as soon greet it in the daylight. I'm much more excited about a good nights sleep and that seems to happen about as often as a new year frankly. That being said you can imagine how excited I was when Jake and Caleb informed me that they wanted to stay up and "cheers" for the new year. I had mostly put them off until New Years Eve when I couldn't avoid it any longer. Mom called and said that she would come over and toast with them, sparkling cider of course, so I agreed to let them stay up. Ryan of course was working and had no idea of the eve's events unfolding at home. Mom came over all right. Levi was asleep at normal bedtime. A "I no go bed, I no tired"J fell asleep finally at 10 on the couch in my arms wrapped up in his towel of course. This is my mom, asleep on the couch at 10:30. Although she swears she was not asleep, she slept right through me taking this picture, including the flash and through me talking to Ryan about her being asleep on the couch. She did however wake up at 11:45 to toast in the new year. So, I stayed up for the first New Year's toast since Jake was born. Mom promised to get up early with the boys so that I could sleep in but since Levi was up early as usual and she isn't who he wants I was still up early. At least the boys had fun.