Zane - 13 months 2 weeks

End of January - Zane got a little more comfortable walking.  I noticed that slowly he preferred walking to crawling.  Especially when he can take my keys with him as he walked around the house.

Zane is such a happy baby - he always has a big smile for me when I pick him up from his crib.

He finds it really funny to hide under his crib.  

I just love his little hands. So chubby and cute.

Perfected the climbing on the table.  

He also loves taking out all the green moss balls out and putting them back in the bowl.

Jon's Socks

One of Allie's funny short stories.  Made me laugh this morning when I found it - especially that her dad does have an uncanny thing for wearing his socks out fast.

Jon’s Socks by Allie Harris

          Jon had 2 socks.  They were best friends.  Their names were So and Ck.  One day, Jon’s feet got so stinky that So and Ck almost died.  So and Ck begged Jon to put them in the wash. So Jon opened up the washing machine, poured some soap in, and hit the start button.

          In the washing machine, So and Ck heard a loud growling noise.  All of a sudden, a bunch of soapy water poured all over them.  It was nice and warm. The water kept pouring until it was all the way to the top.  Suddenly, the washer spun so fast that the socks passed out.  When So and Ck woke up again, Jon picked them up and put them in the dryer.

          After So and Ck got out of the dryer, they saw that Jon got new socks.  They got super angry.  So they left Jon’s house and found a new home at Kevin’s house.  Kevin was known for making holes in socks, but So and Ck didn’t know that.  A few days later, Kevin got So and Ck full of holes that they died.  

Randoms in January

...I know, I can't believe I am still posting things from January.  I can still remember the stories behind them...and I want to remember and not forget.

Taken just right after Maddie woke up - she looks like this most days.

Zane loves riding in this little cart.  Collin takes him around the house often.

One of Zane's toilet messes.  Luckily I caught him when he only had two things in there; he looked like he was going to take another thing and toss it in there.

 One of Collin's many sketches.  I really should take the time to scan them all.  They are good and very detailed.

This one is of sisterly love.  Maddie complained of an "owie" and Allie went to great lengths to make her feel better.  She made her a cast.

 The cast close up.  She had the rest of us sign it.

Maddie helping me make meatballs for our spaghetti dinner.  She is a good helper and formed them all into balls for me.

 I love this picture for two reasons or three.  One is that Collin is too big for the jeep - but what to do when the other two want a ride?  He is so good to these two littles - every afternoon when he gets home from school, he takes Zane ("Bug Jug") for a ride around the backyard.  Such a big help, that hour he takes him out to the backyard to play.  He is a super good babysitter.  Two, Maddie's smile says it all.  Or the outfit says it all.  Ha ha.  That's just how she is too - this must have been her 5th outfit of the day.

 I think Collin lost one of his front teeth, and this is what his mouth looked like when it fell out.  The tooth had been growing behind the baby tooth - but the baby tooth wouldn't fall out.  It kept hanging on like crazy, by a thread, literally for weeks.  So when it finally fell out, we missed out on a toothless grin!

Allie in her cheer practice outfit - which reminds me I haven't got one of her in her student council jacket.  I think this must have been a "test the lighting" photos.

 One of Maddie's super silly faces.  This is one she usually pulls at least 10 times a day.

January's Pack Meeting - the Wolves did a skit that I think was about a cub scout who was not scared all of these monsters and bad guys, but was scared of a little bunny?  I don't remember.  But the costumes were awesome, especially when it is not Halloween!  Collin is Darth Vader, seen here, scaring the cub scout.

Finished off the month by watching Allie's last home game that she cheered. 

Chore Punch Cards

Now that my two older kids are well aware of the list of things they need to do for each of the time blocks they earn points for (i.e., morning, after school, common area, night),  my 11-year old suggested that we use punch cards so it is easier to count points - really though I think she is always on the lookout for her point keeping system to be cuter.  It's all in the presentation.  So she designed these cards and I had them printed out as business cards.  I have a special puncher (smaller than a regular puncher) to punch these cards.  I think I need to redesign these so that I have twenty five places to punch (equal to 1 week's worth of punches) because business cards are expensive. But for now they are excited because they have a card to punch every day. :)

The daily punch cards which they turn in to our bank (or jar), we count up points and then they get paid every two weeks (at least for now that seems to be our schedule):

for boys

for girls

Easter 2012

Easter is coming up!!!  Preparations are under way for another wonderful week of learning about the last week of the Savior's life.  Our Easter Week Tradition is compiled HERE - scroll all the way down to the bottom (titled "Easter Week Preplanning") for instructions, and there is a daily post for day-to-day activities.  Enjoy!

To download the scripture list to put inside of the eggs, go HERE.

New Year Focus

Seems like I am getting behind on blogging!!  So I am starting where I should have - and write a big post starting with my New Year's focus (yeah, instead of "resolution") to PRIORITIZE.  I constantly am on the go, and I am so used to the hustle of things that when things are a little slow, you would expect me to relish it - but it does quite the opposite.  I get flustered and not know what to do with the seemingly "extra" time.  Boo.  I guess I am so used to the whole routine that I am out of sorts when it isn't.  Does that happen to anyone else?  Anyway, so I thought I need to write a big word on my forehead that says "prioritize" and understand it's okay if I don't get all the things done that I need to get done.  Ha.  It is now March, and I am flying by the seat of my pants.  I haven't blogged often because just when I was thinking how awesome everything was going, I got a new calling - visiting teaching coordinator, which in our ward, has been referred to as 3rd counselor, since our president has delegated that job almost entirely to that calling.  I love it! But my programmer brain cannot stop until everything has been organized, reports done to my liking, etc. etc.  Plus photography on the side (3 shoots in the last couple of months), preschool 3 times a week, and driving my 3 kids to their after-school activities.  I am not the busiest person I know, at least I do not have anyone in high school yet.  And I only have 4 kids.  Bless the mothers who have a bunch more.  I love my stage of life, and no, it doesn't get any easier when the kids are older.  Sure I have my own babysitter now so I can leave the rest at home when I run errands, but she isn't always available - so I still get to run errands with my two littles.    I do love that now Kevin and I can go out when we feel like it.

Zane at 14 Months

Barely getting to Zane's 14-month old portraits.  I was not as successful this time, since he would not sit still for very long!  I thought maybe to re-do them later, but he ripped our "14" sticky-belly sticker.  So that's it for the photo shoot!

Zane at 14 months:
*weighs 21.5 pounds
*says baba, mama, car
* loves to go for a daily ride in the little jeep
* he is a good napper, still takes 2 long naps a day.  I hope he keeps that nap schedule for a very long time!
* he loves baths, he wants to get in every time he sees the tub
* can walk down the stairs, holding on to the rails carefully as he goes
* he walks everywhere, and I think he may have mastered walking right after he turned 13 months.  now he's a pro, he even walks with his hands down.
* he likes to take things from room to room with him.  now things are always lost. and he can't tell us where they are. fun hide and seek for me.
* he likes his blanket and will cuddle it when he sees it.
* he got his first ear infection in both ears a couple of weeks ago.  he was not himself on that Thursday, Kevin took him to the doctor on Friday (I had to teach preschool, thankfully he was home) and found the infection.  he was on antibiotics for 10 days, and we found that he does NOT like taking medicine.
* he loves tickles but not toss ups in the air, and has such a fun laugh - just hearing him makes everyone laugh.
Love this little boy!

Almost a Beehive

Crazy...but we have a beehive, almost! ... in 3 1/2 months!  Allie is turning into a beautiful young lady before my very eyes - and I cannot believe it.  In January, we went to New Beginnings - she was super excited to learn more about the Young Women program (that's for girls ages 12-18 in our Church, the best program for teenage girls, if you ask me!).

Allie and her BFF Alexa, who is a Beehive.  Allie can't wait to be in YW.

The theme was Choose to Shine - "Arise and Shine Forth" and they did a beautiful job of using the Sunflower as a symbol for the YW following the Savior, and shining.  They introduced the new girls this year - and told a little about how they shine.  Allie shines in many things, and I don't mean to brag about her - sometimes it is good to write about the good things they are involved in though - it makes them feel very special. Allie is friendly and makes friends with everyone - she is talented, super creative, and loves to learn, and is a big help at home - she loves to bake and make sweet things.  What girl doesn't, right?  I realized that she is a super busy gal too - when I wrote about the things she was involved in: Student Council, Cheerleading, Piano, Guitar, and Dance, not to mention her unofficial creativity in Photoshop Elements and illustrating/design (she did a whole bunch of Relief Society Meeting posters for me last year even).
The thing is - she also put herself in all of those things (minus piano, since I put her in that a few years ago).  She enjoys all of it - and gone are the days when she fought me like mad for "signing her up" for things she didn't want to be in.  So I guess they go through a phase like that and if you stick it out patiently with them, the time will come when they will want to be involved in things.
I had a friend who told me her girl would be in everything if she let her, and I thought to myself - how I can get Allie to be that way - at the time mine didn't want to be in anything and fought to be out of things!  It passes, I now know.  With a little plodding in the right direction, and experiences at middle school, Allie just came to me one day and said, "Mom here is a list of the things I want to be good at."  It was a LONG list.  She thanked me (yes, thanked!) for making her practice the piano so she can be good at it.  I know, right?
So Allie, on her own, turned into the girl that wants to do everything - and now she cannot wait to take up classes on this or that, earn lots of money (ha ha, she is all about FAST money), and constantly planning things like where she is going to high school and what she's gonna do in college.  She begged to take guitar lessons - she loves to play Taylor Swift songs - and then one day she came up to me and asked if she could please sign up for dance classes, so of course she could.

Allie and her friend Audri

Cheerleaders!  She is so sad the season is over.  Their team lost their playoff game. 

They did a dance routine at halftime.  Sadly I didn't have the right lens for the big group shot.

Allie and I the day of the playoff game - my friend and I took our girls to lunch after. They were bummed the season was over!  Last weekend, one of the cheerleader friends hosted a sleepover party - and for Allie and her friend Alexa it was a late night.  Kevin and I waited up for her to come home - and we realized this was the start of a new chapter for us - I never thought the day would come this fast when he and I would be waiting up for our girl to come home from a party.  She was of course, still all giggly from the all-girl party when she walked in the door.  I am sure the giggles go away too?!

She is getting to be very responsible.  She babysat her siblings while Kevin and I went to the temple last month, and she had it all planned.  She had put everyone to bed before we got home.  It was sweet, and she earned money to go towards Time to Blossom in the summer. I took these photos of the day she officially babysat for us:

The movies she planned to show

The setup outside the movie room

Funny showtimes

But this one tops the cake:

This was her checklist.  Oh Allie loves lists. to do lists. She makes them all the time. The writing in Blue is Collin's.  He was her assistant and made sure every thing was done.  Guess who "destroyer boy" is?

New Reader!

Miss Maddie is pleased as punch that she is now reading simple c-v-c words.  She had been dying to use our pink boxes at preschool for the longest time - sometimes she would get a box out only to put it away because she was having a hard time trying to sound out the words.  But last week, she got them out, asked if I could NOT please help her, because she could do it herself.  So I watched from the table while I gave another his reading lesson.  

She did the first box, slowly sounded out each letter, then blended them together!  I was so excited! and so was she!  She worked on a second box, then a third - she got tired in the middle of that one, but all in all she read 15 words, and matched them to the right object.  She couldn't wait to tell Allie and Collin when they got home from school, and showed her new feat to Kevin when he got home from work.  The next preschool day, she did the same, just super into her new-found skill.

The thing with Maddie, is that I haven't really worked with her all that much.  True, she has been in preschool the last two years, but oh she is so stubborn and wants to do everything with NO help from me.  A few weeks ago, she passed off the first 26 Spalding phonograms (there are 71 total), earning herself a "Phonogram Expert" award and candy bar in preschool (we have a challenge in preschool to recite all of them without any help from me).   That one I didn't really do more than just have her recite the phonograms with the preschoolers 2x a week.  Sometimes she gets bored and she doesn't want to participate.  But she obviously was taking it all in, and just listening quietly did its job! She is really good at it.  She is also at the right window for writing - she writes like crazy and has recently taken to writing letters and numbers all the time.  

I love this stage. The magic age of 4 - the age they burst in knowledge and application in reading and writing!  It's a whole new world, and I can't wait til she can get to reading sentences.    I think this age is my favorite - next to newborn goodness, of course.  So cool! And Miss Maddie, of course, you did it all yourself, (with a tiny bit of help from mom)!

Zane in January

So I am super behind on posting, but I have got to get these up here - lil guy is getting bigger and taller every day, and so here are January photos of Zaney - I cannot believe February is almost gone again, and I have so much to blog about, but so little time.  I know I need to because when I don't blog right away, I usually forget all the little things I want to remember forever.  At least I have photos!  

I miss taking photos of lil man every day!

 More breakfast photos

 Another messy face shot - I love that he loves to eat breakfast, his biggest meal of the day!

The big messy pile of books is still in our theatre room, waiting to be housed in that wall of bookcases. 

Zane is very good at climbing and scaling anything at home.  Scary at times for me.  He cannot be left alone.

Zane likes to put things back where he thinks things go.  He saw a pile of shoes by the backdoor and a trashcan that didn't have feet to go back up to Allie's room - pretty soon he had all the shoes in the trash can. Then he got them back out, and repeated the whole exercise.

There are his two top teeth.  This was the best I could do: