Obedience

Today Rick got to give a talk in church on obedience. (He did a great job!) We had lots of fun conversations about that topic this week. As I was trying to put Liza down for a nap this afternoon, my eyes caught this paper that has been taped to the wall since the summer of 2009 in the boys' room and it made me giggle. It was so fitting to notice after thinking and talking so much about obedience this week. Lexie & Joseph wrote these rules before she started 1st grade when they would play school. They are a pretty good list of rules.

Joseph says #13 is the most important. Lexie says #13 is her favorite. We couldn't agree more.

Also, on a side note, we're grateful for great neighbors. We have such a great neighbor out in Maryland who takes good place of our house out there. We were super nervous about hurricane Irene & the possibility of our basement flooding if the power went out. When Lexie was a baby there was hurricane Isabel when we were living in our apartment in DC. We went up to visit my sister for the weekend in CT & it was a good thing because power was out for a few days & it's just nicer to have power & such with a new baby. Well, during Isabel, the house we bought in Baltimore flooded a bit because the power went out & the sump pump couldn't work. So, we were a bit nervous about that happening again. Last night our neighbor, Lisa, called to see if we had a cell number for our renters so she could go over & plug our sump pump into her generator because again, the power went out. We're so grateful that she did that for us & prevented any possible flooding out there. Lisa is an angel. I don't know what we would do without her & her thoughtfulness for us.

The Game Station

A few weeks ago the kids spent most of a Saturday afternoon in the basement working on a surprise project. They planned a party & set up a Game Station with a box full of wadded up pieces of paper with games written on each of them.

Since then, we've periodically taken turns picking a piece of paper out the game station box to see what our family activity for the evening will be.

Thus far we've played Cadoo, Jenga (but a bug one), & Stare so far. Today we played Life.

We had a really good time with lots of giggles. Joseph was hilarious! He really got a kick out of the doctor career card. Good times!

Eliza had a great time playing with lots of different toys in the basement. She was particularly drawn to the kitchen with the baby doll in the high chair. She talked to the baby,

and then she even tried feeding the baby some soup. It was so nice of her & fun to see how she mimics things we do. She's such a good little helper.

We thoroughly enjoy watching our kids creativity & thoughtfulness. We're so glad they like to play games with the whole family. We can't wait to see what they come up with next.

All Tuckered Out

Why wouldn't she do this in her crib?

Little Notes

On Friday the kids asked Rick & I to stay upstairs until they finished getting breakfast ready for us. It was very cute. They worked hard at making breakfast & then setting the table & Joseph wrote us cute notes on our napkins. They made us smile.

Today at church, Joseph decided to pass Rick a note. Their exchange sure made us smile as well.

10 Months Old

Lexie thought it would be so fun to have all the girls dress similarly for church today in honor of Eliza being 10 months old. It's fun that Lexie loves to be "twinners" with everyone & even more fun to watch how much she loves her sister (& brothers).

Lexie is a wonderful big sister!

Building With Dad

Andrew was thrilled to get working on building & painting one of his birthday presents.

Days are always much more fun when dates with Dad are involved.

"My Rocket Ship Birthday!"

This little squirt woke up super excited to be FOUR! ("Just like Preston is 4." We heard that a lot today.)

He started the day off at Joy School & got a great Thomas the train book from Jen.

Then a quick lunch with mom & off to preschool with Dad. Then we got his rocket ship birthday cake decorated.

He was super excited to see it!

He spent most of the afternoon protecting his presents from Eliza. Whenever we came in the room holding her he would beg us not to put her down for fear she would take all of his presents and he would have nothing left.

We had a great time opening presents & then we had some friends over for cake. Andrew got lots of bug & safari stuff & after cake all of the kids all went out searching for bugs & had a grand time of it.

One thing I've never noticed any of our other kids do before is how Andrew opens presents. He opens one, leaves the mess, gets another and moves to a clean spot on the floor to open it. Then the process continues. Hence the floor looking like this. It was rather comical to watch. Rick also asked Andrew how it felt to be four & he replied with, "Happy! Happy just like Preston!"

Here he is before blowing out his candles while we sang to him.

Happy Birthday, Squirt! We hope that being 4 is as exciting and happy as your birthday was! We love you the most & you love us the most! Hey, we're twinners! Jinx!

Feasting Upon the Word

About a week and a half ago Lexie & I walked in and found Eliza eating Lexie's scriptures. Lexie, quick little whip, said, "Look, she's feasting upon the words of Christ. Great job, Eliza!" I just laughed! I didn't have the camera then & have waited for her to do it again (which she has) so I could snap a picture of it (which I have not been able to do-bummer).

But I do catch her often playing with them & thumbing through the scriptures & babbling to them. It's very cute.

Hopefully, she (& her siblings) will always have a hunger (& thirst) for the scriptures.

Andrew's Preschools

Andrew started Joy School today with Miss Jen & loved it! We love Joy School & we love her. She does such a great job with the kids! It's great that she lets me come and help in the class each week as well so I don't miss him too much.

Yesterday we also went to the Elementary School where Andrew has preschool to help with his speech & saw his classroom. It's the same as last year, so he was very confident heading into there. He'll start class there tomorrow.

We're a little (okay a lot) bit nervous about sending him to 2 preschools, but know we can change things if we need to with him if we see there's a problem. We really want him to have more help with his speech & really want him to have Miss Jen, so basically, he gets to have them both. He had an awesome day in class today & have no doubt he'll be able to keep it up.

First Day of School

After only 2 short months of summer the school year has begun! (sigh)

Lexie started 3rd grade today

and Joseph started 1st grade today!

Yesterday Lexie was nervous beyond belief (& a little bit today but more her cautious/observant self). Joseph on the other hand is my confident little guy who has been looking forward to first grade for what seems like forever surprised me by getting all nervous once we got in line to go into class. I needed to go find Andrew who ran off with a friend to play & said, "I've gotta run & find Andrew, are you going to be okay, Joseph?" Joseph got this sad look on his face & said, "No, I need to go home & spend all day long with you again." I was shocked!

Andrew & I had a fun afternoon though & Andrew got to play with his buddy & help me make brownies. They really enjoyed licking the beaters and being goofy.

Finally, the school day was over and the kiddos came home. :) They survived the day & had a blast in their classes. Joseph has Lexie's kindergarten teacher as his teacher so we are excited about getting to work with her again. And Lexie's teacher seems really nice as well. Here's hoping the rest of the school year goes as well.

Music to Our Ears

She loves to play on the piano & is often found here tinkering on the keys. She thinks it's so awesome that she makes the piano make the sound. It's awesome! We're excited for Lexie and Joseph to start taking lessons this fall & have lots more music in the house.

Monkeying Around

We went to the park this morning and had such a great time. Well, except Eliza. We put her in the swing and at first she tried to figure out what was going on...

and then, well, she didn't like it at all.

But, she really did have a great time at the park otherwise. The kids call this the "extracise park" and love to run and round & climb for their workout. Today I was shocked when Andrew "walked up" the poles. I had no idea he could do that (it was his first time trying & it was a success!)

Andrew just walks right up on his feet while Lexie and Joseph wrap their legs around the pole and climb up. It is so fun to watch!

And sure enough, he made it all the way to the top without any problems!

After lunch we played in the backyard. The kids like to play "brellachutte" with their umbrellas of course. They don't open them all of the way and when they jump off the porch the air pushes them all the way open. Too funny!

And here is Lexie posing with some beautiful flowers.

I love summertime & having the kids around. Monday is going to be a sad day when they head back to school.