the last two weeks and one day since I went off the blogging grid

(second) cousins party!!!

 kevin loves anything that involves more kids poking him in the stomach...

 lots of little granny visits, and one of them we found these awesome sunflowers that lasted over a week! (someday we will have less meltdowns and I will manage a pic of the great granny with all her great grandkids!)

 Lo requested chicken and waffles for lunch the other day. for being the littlest half pint in the family he sure is a good eater!

 Little A started the online (government sponsored) preschool they have here in Utah. It is 15 minutes of a computer program every day and we got to go into Provo for some training a few weekends back. Also she found a "special rock" (there's about 20 in her bedroom) and they gave her a star for completing the pre-assessment. We even went grocery shopping after which she was thrilled about because she didn't have to share a shopping cart with three boys!

 met up with dad for lunch at the park

 finally saw some action in our backyard! New neighbors, can't wait for you to come! (really, I cannot. There is now a cliff in our backyard and I want it filled stat!)

 the journal I made it through approximately 2 entries before calling it quits. See previous blogpost. Now it's my workout log! Ha!

 "portrait of our home" by little A

 THE BIG (BACKYARD) DIG

 water table is requested every day. and I only give in like every other day. who would have guessed that table would bring so much happiness?

 Lan saw me taking a pic and leaped out so he could get a pic with Sally

 Like so. He is the cutest! I am loving the Cars phase right now!!!

 the kids had their last yoga class together (A will be taking it solo from here on out while D is in school)

 and it was the day of the eclipse!

 we checked out little d's second grade classroom... #123 with Mrs. Smith! Yup. I thought it was made up too but it wasn't!

 also I made the littlest littles wear rompers on his first day of school because... babies. they are still my babies! And so cute in them!! (gotta get away with it while I can!)

 reading after school... and me figuring out the range on my baby monitor (all the way to the bus stop for the win!)

 and on the second day of school... he finally lost his first tooth!! Little d has been complaining about the pain from his tooth for weeks, so when he finally offered to let me tie it up with floss (not the first time) and give it a yank, he was so relieved! He kept saying that he felt so different without his tooth. He even got a dollar for it!

 I finally got brave enough to go back to the art museum with all my kids (and no other adult help) and managed not to lose anyone. It helped that Wit and Whimsy was a fascinating exhibit for adults and kids. Oh, right they also had donuts.

 (D's favorite sculpture, its a man in the shape of a race car!)

 (bunny for anna, obvs)

 The activity they had was placing characters and props in a scene and Lo just LOVED it! He had so much fun and I promised him we would come back and do it again.

 (Squirrel for Astrid!)

 (A's favorite painting)

 (Lan's favorite quilt and A thought it looked like something our Ohio friend E would love!)

 Now that Drew is going to the gym at 6am (two weeks in a row now!! I am so proud of him!), that means we are back to childcare and morning trips to the gym. But what with little d leaving for the school bus at 7:30, we make it to the gym at 8 and are out doing fun stuff like checking out Dory and Nemo at the Rec Center play area by just after 9. Sometimes it feels crazy to all be up so early but it has made bedtime a bit easier because we are all so pooped out at the end of the day!

 and on days like today when I really wanted to wear them out, we then made a quick visit to Drew's work, then the library, and the "favorite park" and then lunch and to a friends house before little d came home (followed by swimming before dinner!)

 little a is really getting into her role as big sister when little d goes back to school. I guess she knows when to step in after taking the summer off (and letting little d take the reigns)?

Life is good. The kids are good (but when they are bad...). We are more active as a family and I think I am happier as a result. We have to get creative until we have sidewalks that aren't covered with construction stuff, or a playground that is within walking distance. The first day of school little d had one other person ride the bus with him!!! I couldn't believe it. But houses are getting done all over the neighborhood so he should have lots of friends soon! Aside from that, he is happy (and so am I!) to see that Utah uses the same GoNoodle, GoMath, spelling words and tests and reading programs that he was used to. I know people give a lot of grief over what is wrong with the current public school system but kind of like being able to go to any church and know the curriculum is the same, it is nice that even though we moved across the country, little d still has a really good handle and is learning the same things that his little friends in Ohio are learning. Lots of silver linings in this playbook.

turning 31 today

my 30th birthday last year was pretty epic and this year did not disappoint because:

1) Drew was in town. Not traveling (even if he did have to work)

2) Sushi for dinner (second year in a row!)

3) I wasn't breastfeeding (or pregnant!! not too many birthdays in the last decade that I can say that), so my mom watch the 3 littles from 12-3:30 and I even got to go to Target BY MYSELF!

4) It has taken me a solid year (go me!) to lose 5 pounds. And while that feels ridiculous, I am so much stronger and happier (and more sleeping at night!!!) than I was last year. I still have 9 to go but still... closer!

5) My babies are no longer babies. Which is good and bad: BAD: little d abandoned me for school and then playdates till bedtime. That about broke my heart but we had a good talk about it. I'm certainly struggling with parenting him the most, because it is easier to parent the younger 3 together, and he sticks out as the anomaly because he is not independent and needs constant entertainment (the littests are the opposite) and is rarely interested in anything these days that does not involve electronic stimulation. I hate that. BUT. GOOD: The twins are loving on me and those littlests still think I am fun and cool to play with even if big brother does not, and going to the park today with the 3 of them in 60 degree weather was everything. My kids are amazing little people and while they still pitch fits like crazy, for the most part they are so fun and entertaining with little brainpower effort on my part which after my experience raising little d basically as an only child for 3 years, is absolutely a breath of fresh air. Even if juggling 3 small kids for singing time at the library is crazy and involves a lot of running, they were happy and we all enjoyed playing there.

6) Pre-8pm bedtimes for every little!!!

7) The holy trifecta of I MADE IT TO THE GYM, I GOT A SHOWER, and I GOT ALONE TIME.

8) Texts and phone calls from friends and family!

9) Did I mention a long lunch alone with Drew in a cute new bistro uptown? Followed by Graeter's, obviously.  I didn't have to make lunch OR dinner (that never happens!). I haven't touched anything in the kitchen all day and that is awesome. (and still relatively clean!)

10) I got to hang out with my mom. It wasn't as long as I would have liked because she was a bit under the weather but just being able to have her there in my house (and a few weeks earlier she took me on an epic post-partum shopping spree!) and have her be with my kids was awesome. They love her so much and I love her so much and I did miss my dad, but thankfully he will be back form his work trip tomorrow.


and BONUS-- I get to see my siblings next month!!!

TGIF!

Holy cuteness, Batman. I HAVE BIG HAIR LIKE BRAVE MERIDAAAAA!

I have never seen so many people stare and smile at us the grocery store before. (and I get a lot of stares and smiles!!) But this little firecracker seriously OWNS that big red hair.

 werrrrrrrrrk

 One of my favorite parts of living in Ohio is getting to visit my grandma, especially now that the kids can all okay nicely while we are there. She lives in a (relatively small) apartment, so before we come she arranges the furniture in the large gathering area of the retirement home she lives at (so no one escapes!), babyproofs it, and fills it with toys. Every time we come my kids are entertained and happy and always look forward to visiting with grandma joanne, since it is fun to see what new things she adds to her toy collection! Today it was a coloring book for little d, a magnetic doll dressup activity for little a, and little stuffed animals for the babies. Sometimes the things she gets them are to stay there (like foam blocks, markers, and other assorted toys and little things) and occasionally they get to take them home.

 I try to visit her a few times each month but we don't always make it. I never regret coming and I would love to (and am working on trying to) make a weekly habit out of it like I did with Granny when we lived in Utah. Tricky part about that is every week is so different, so I just take it one week at a time. I just love how she lights up watching the kids do their things (until Lo finds the 500 piece puzzles and starts dumping them out!). Then she always ends their visit with a handful of animal crackers... grandma sure knows how to make my kids keep wanting to come back!

We had a lot of rain the last couple of days and I would be lying if I said I didn't secretly love it. I mean, those clouds...they sure do make me miss DK!!

 and our backyard... SO GREEN!! (pardon the mess) Having lived in utah for 7 years, It really makes me appreciate intense color of the autumns out here. And springs. And big heavy rainstorms (my kids are still getting used to those though!)

 we tackled home depot for a bit today. Didn't find what I was looking for but of course I didn't walk out empty handed. HD easily wins super brownie points in my book because everyone is so helpful and makes my experience (in an arena where I feel like I know nothing) super easy and enjoyable. Hobby Lobby, Joanne Fabrics, basically everywhere we frequent, could really learn a thing or two from them. Also they currently have a lot of construction going on outside of their store, so my kids were THRILLED to get out of the car and get a closer look!

 and a quick trip to Kroger since I decided last minute to do Cafe Rio for Conference weekend!
I am sure it was a random pick, but my grandma picking out a cat (Lan is OBSESSED) and bird (Lo's favorite thing EVERR) was a superwin! They snuggled those things the rest of the day!

 It used to be that I would put on a show for the big kids while I got the babies to bed when Drew was out of town... since our internet got out of whack on the wii (and naturally I am worthless to fix it), we can't do netflix or hulu  on it and there's nothing on the basic tv we have that the kids would be interested in. So the last few nights I have been giving them some markers and they have been coloring up a storm.

 PLEASE LET THIS PHASE LAST FOREVER.