Our Four Boys:

Life is moving along. My legs are mostly healed. I do have a lump on my shin. Our HT is an ER doctor, so I'll ask him if it's normal or not. Nothing new has really happened this last week. Cub Scouts, homeschool, introducing solids to Jackson (going very well), nursing, planning my next girls' night (chocolate fondue party), renewed our temple recommends, listening to Rilie and teaching him new words... all in all, it's been a good week. Nick and I are in the phase, where the weeks blur by and pretty soon the month is gone and a new one has started.

Last pack mtg, Alvin received his pinewood derby car. He is very excited about that! He is about one week away from getting his Wolf Badge (plus two pins). I'm trying to let him take the lead... it's been anxious for me! Not that he's behind, he's just so close and decided he wanted to take a break from it.

Last Sunday, Alex and I attended a fireside for those turning 8 this year. He was nervous and excited. The stake had us meet in the chapel. The Stake Primary President spoke briefly, then we heard from three children who were baptized last year. Afterwards, we broke into wards. Our bishop spoke to the children about their baptism day and their interviews with him. Our bishop is great at connecting with children. At first, the kids were anxious, but after he spoke to them they were beaming with pride. The next stop was walking through the locker rooms and baptismal font. Then, they heard a talk on the Holy Ghost. A sister gave each child a piece of felt and talked about how it felt (warm and fuzzy). She told them to keep it in their pocket, as a reminder to keep the Holy Ghost with them and how he would feel in their hearts. When we got home, Alex put the piece of felt in his scriptures.              

Rilie is enjoying dress up. His favorite is the cowboy get-up from Grammie Ivey. 

 

I finally bought sleds! All three boys are enjoying sledding. 

Nick was taking a nap and I was taking care of Jackson... so Rilie could not go sledding.
You can see how he felt about it. 

He got over it quickly, and we found other fun games to do. 

This is his impression of Arnold from Magic School Bus. 

He goes around the house with his hands on his cheeks saying, "Arnold, oh no!" 

Arnold upgraded to being a cowboy! 

Surprise, surprise!

Hilarious Video:

Alvin and Alex taught Jackson how to scream... for fun! 

Nick was not please, but Jackson thinks it's great. 

Rilie discovered his shadow: 

Finding Our Groove

We are finding our groove again. 

Jackson is preferring a schedule, so I am learning how to keep one. He wakes up about 7am, then naps 2.5 hours later. He naps again around 2pm, unless there is a car ride before then. He goes back to bed at 7pm. He feeds at 12am & 5am. As for growth, he dropped in percentile, again. His nurse has decided not to be concerned. He has great color (skin), he is active, social (very social), meeting mile stones, etc. She just asked us to offer 3 meals a day and snacks, via solids (on top of nursing). He prefers real food, but will eat some baby food. For breakfast, we share a bowel of oatmeal together, if his brothers are eating something he can enjoy (an orange or banana), he gets his own to eat and play with, etc. At dinner, he's eating shredded meats (something I put off as long as I could before). He loves the world of food! This is a picture of him watching Alex with his new game. The light rushes from one side to the other. You have to squeeze the ends together when the light is in the middle. Jackson loves to watch the lights flash by, and the boys love the competition.

 Rilie is enjoying boxes. The last 6 weeks has been full of new things. He is learning how to get undressed and eat at the table. Lately, he loves oranges! He is singing songs; Jingle Bells is his favorite. (Still working on catching that on video). He enjoys soothing Jackson: He will find him fussing, get on Jackson's level, pat his head, and shush him. It's really cute. He is beginning to color with crayons, rather than eat them. He is talking much more. His hearing exam was last week. They weren't able to complete it. Her informal diagnosis: he can hear speech just fine. She wanted us to come back and check on tones though. He missed a lot, but there were some distractions going on. People seem annoyed when I bring all my kids to appointments... you try finding someone to watch four kids at 8am!

Alex is enjoying life... in general. I love his enthusiasm to run off and get lost in his own games! He enjoys all the breaks he gets from a mommy seeking balanced: "Time for math! Wait, I need to feed Jackson.", "Time for reading! Wait, Rilie has a poopy diaper", "Let's finish history! Wait, it's lunch time and I need to do the dishes first.". By the end of the day, we do complete all our assignments. He just expects these breaks. Before I finish my sentence, he is already off and running onto something else (usually Legos). He loves being read to. This week, we finished Treasure Island (adapted for young readers). He loved learning all the pirate phrases and he added the Jolly Roger to his viking boat for history. It has snowed a lot, and he has reminded me about their need to be outside. He has built several snowmen and an igloo. We started the igloo at a park, then we had to pick up dad from work. They asked to go back and finish. Dad thought it was a great idea. Nick has pictures of it on his phone. Hopefully, I can transfer them on to here. 

One of his Lego projects. He took the picture too.

Alvin loves reading. We are very proud of him! He still isn't at grade level, but he is reading at HIS level fluidly! There is an amusement park up north, Silverwood. They give free tickets to students who read 10 hours between now and March 15. School assignments do not count, it has to be "reading for fun". My nightly readings do count though. Last night, we started the Chronicles of Narnia (Christmas presents from Grandma & Grandpa Anderson). Afterwards, we marked our sheets. I encouraged the boys to take books to bed, so they can read (instead of just looking at the pictures). It was their choice, but I could mark it on their sheet if they were actually reading. I checked on them every 15 minutes. Alvin read OUT LOUD for 45 minutes. He enjoys the Frog & Toad series. In Cub Scouts, he has earned 3 beads. He's on his way to earning his Wolf badge by Blue and Gold. 

Alvin's snowman. He took the picture too. 

Merry Christmas!

Being away from family, and the hub-bub that we are used to, was challenging this year. We miss loud parties that happen just because you all decided to crash at each other's homes. We miss cousins running around and grown-ups trying to talk over them. We miss "experimenting" with someone's new recipe and telling the kids how awful it is, so we can eat more. We miss those crazy times! We miss all of you!

Even still, we did enjoy creating new memories. We spent this month doing new activities: viewing Christmas lights, meeting Santa Clause on his North Pole ferry, getting to know Great Grandparents better, learning magic tricks with Alvin, sowing with Alex, reading a Christmas Carol (original version), drinking fresh cider, teaching Rilie songs, and decorating a neighbors door (only to find out they moved the week before, but hey! it was a good effort!).

Here are some fun pictures of the excitement!

Christmas Breakfast with our ward. 

Alvin & Alex were shepherd in the nativity play.

Alex sowing a puppy.

Look at his stitching!

 Alvin has made many snowman and forts.  

The snow is wet and packs well.

Jackson enjoying the rattles Grandma Joel'lene knitted. 

Christmas bows are fun too... they crinkle! 

Soft blocks from Aunt Sam and Aunt Andrea. 

Beautiful bracelet from Joel'lene.

Doesn't this picture make my arm look freakishly long... and broken? 

 Christmas hats!

Santa brought Rilie a 24 inch T-Rex!

We have all sorts of fun with it!

Sweet Alex!

Alvin took this pictures. He's getting better!

Alvin show casing my new stroller, Graco Sit and Stand. 

It has a seat for Rilie to sit or stand on in the back. 

Jackson's car seat clicks into the front. 

Jackson enjoys oranges.

Beautiful quilt Joel'lene made. 

It's missing something...

  

THE BABY!  

Eagle Cruise

 Great Grandparents Welsh wanted to take the boys on an eagle cruise. They gave patches to those in Cub Scout uniform. Great Grandpa Welsh has two large blankets hanging with patches all over them!

Great Grandpa Welsh teaching how to play an electronic fishing game, while we wait int he port. 

Great Grandma Welsh, Nick, and Rilie. 

Thumb War!

Future Cub Scout.

Tired daddy... early morning!

Rilie enjoyed running around, but was very upset he couldn't jump into the lake.

Where are the eagles?

Beautiful Coeur D'Alene. Northern Idaho is so pretty!

SQUIRREL!

An eagle!

Two more... there were lots... but this is my favorite picture.

Cub Scouts & Holiday Fun

I wish blogger would let me upload pictures! 

Cub Scouts

Cub Scouts is going great. They have a robust program here, and I get overwhelmed keeping up with it. Between the Bears and Wolves, we have 9 cub scouts in our den. They are an awesome group.

So far, Alvin just finished his Bobcat badge and ALMOST his Wolf badge, 

along with a gold and silver arrow point.

Together, we've made an emergency phone lists, paper airplane collection, 

a kite from a paper bag, gone on field trips, and more. 

Alex has enjoyed this as well. Alex really likes the emergency phone list. Whenever I need to call Nick, he runs to the kitchen and reads me his number faster than I can look it up in the phone. 

Holiday Fun

We've enjoyed baking (Joel'lene's brownies, at least weekly); buying and wrapping gifts (this is the first year the boys have made/bought gifts for others); and time with friends and family. 

The boys have been so blessed with so many presents in past years; this year, we've decided to focus our budget toward holiday activities. Don't worry, they still have a tree stuffed with gifts from family (and us)... but instead of adding even more tangible gifts, we thought it would be more fun to do activities that aren't typically in the budget. 

Neighborhood Light Tour - Tonight, we drove around looking at many decorated homes. It was a lot of fun! I'm amazed at how festive our neighborhood is. People have life size cut outs of the Nativity, Santa, reindeer, and blow ups of other characters: Snoopy, Abominable Snowman, Frosty, etc. We even found a home where the lights are choreographed to music broadcasted on a radio channel. That was the boys favorite. 

Ferry to the North Pole - This is something we're really looking forward to. In Coeur D'Alene, they have a ferry ride with festivities, including Mister and Misses Claus. It floats around the beautiful lake, where locals have decorated their homes, businesses, etc. in Christmas splendor. There are estimated 1.5 million Christmas lights. We stop at Santa's workshop, where there are gifts for all the children on the "nice list". 

Down Town Carriage Ride - This is actually FREE! During certain times on certain days rides are free. The horses are decorated in Christmas best and children receive a free candy cane. 

Santa's Workshop - Yes there will be two stops to separate ones. There is a Santa's Workshop for children. All gifts are $0.50 - $8 (only for children 12 years old and younger). An "elf" will help the children pick out that special gift for someone on their list. 

A Green Bluff Christmas - My favorite farmer's market. Different farms have Christmas tree "orchards", hot cider, hay rides, fresh pies, roasted chestnuts... I could go on... 

While I am excited for these new adventures, it will be a different Christmas away from family... I miss the regular get-together with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. 

Making Cookies and Cowboy

Blogger is being buggy for me... these were the only pictures I could get up.

Making cookies together. 

He thought it was great to blow into the cup and have it puff the flour everywhere. 

Cowboy

He loves Toy Story and is excited to dress up as Woody. 

My mom hand sowed the vest. 

Hopefully, I can get more pictures up of our other children.