"Help You"

I feel like, for the past month, I have been cleaning like crazy and getting no where! I didn't realize that Lucy had been watching me. She saw me pull out the clorox wipes, and she took off running to get her "apron" and then asked for a "wipe" to "help you"! How can you turn that down?!

Quinn's Tummy Sickness

Remember how we all had the stomach flu and it was miserable?! Quinn just couldn't get better. He was up and down for 2 weeks. He had great days followed by terrible days. On day 16 of his pooping sickness, he started with high fevers. Thankfully, we were able to get him in to a doctor that morning, and he prescribed a z-pack (which I guess is the common treatment for walking diarrhea...?). He had a MISERABLE 24 hours, but the antibiotic did the trick! He seemed to get completely better within 48 hours. Lots of rest, snuggles and fluids have brought him fully back to normal!

We Love Dress-ups!

Quinn's Drawing

This is one of my favorite stages! Quinn has started drawing and being creative, and I love it! He drew a picture of Nephi shooting a turkey. (He is a bit obsessed with Nephi, which we fully support it!)

Grandma Robertson's Funeral

Scott's Grandma Robertson passed away earlier this month. There were sad moments, but more than anything, we felt so happy knowing she is free from pain and with her Lynn again! We were grateful that we got to attend her funeral and celebrate her life with family.

Lucy loves little babies. Well, she loves kids that are her size and smaller--she lovingly refers to them all as "babies". She followed her cousin Lily around for a little bit trying to hug her and love on her. We are still working on the being soft thing!

We had to skip Lucy's nap, and by the time we left, she completely passed out asleep in the van!

Top 40 Under 40!

Scott got an email a couple months back telling him that he was being nominated for Snow College's Top 40 Under 40! We were a little surprised, but they asked for a short bio, and they told us they would send us a magazine in the mail! Look at that handsome seminary teacher in the top row!

Cooper Falls off the Bus

Macey came busting in the door one day after school to tell me that Cooper fell and it's really bad--he is bleeding all down his face. These all sound like terrible things--which caused me to take off running. Fortunately, it was pretty bad, but totally manageable! 

When I got out the front door, I found our bus driver walking Cooper to our front door. Turns out the kids were all fighting and pushing to get off the bus. Someone stepped on the back of his flip flop and then accidently pushed him...which caused him to fall off the bus. His face hit the black asphalt. It stung for a couple days and bruised, but he is now all healed up!

Lucy's Fingernails

Lucy followed me into my bathroom one day, and she asked me to make her "toes piddy (pretty)". Of course, we had to paint her fingernails too. She picked the color, she held really still, and she was SOO excited!

Cool Dude.

Gooseberry!

The big field trip for third graders, is to go on a overnight camping trip/outdoor adventure for 2 days and 1 night at Gooseberry! Macey was SOO excited! We packed her bags and labeled everything, and we dropped her off when school started that day! 

With 4 other siblings to worry about at home, and with Scott having to work those two days, there was no way I could go and chaperone! Thankfully, they had a dinner for the parents and students and a short program that I got to attend! It was about a 45 minute drive from our house, but I made it and found Macey!

Macey talked 100 mph when I met up with her. I had questions I wanted to ask about her day, but I didn't need to! She had workshops all day long where they learned about nature and made crafts. We ate a quick dinner, and then she wanted to give me a tour of everything!

The big portion and event of the camp is the folklore of Annie Bangs. She was a girl--that happened to be their age--that got lost in the woods and was raised by wolves. When it gets dark, they herd all the kids into a field, and then someone dressed like Annie Bangs scares them and attempts to take some kids. It's a big horrific.

We had multiple, multiple talks about Annie and how she wasn't real. It was all fun and games...until night time came...

Another activity they had was line dancing with your parents in a field!

Then it got dark. Macey and her classmates listened to stories from Mrs. Gleave (their librarian). The music teacher came with her guitar and they all sang songs about Gooseberry. Then we were getting close to when Annie Bangs would come. Macey had a complete meltdown. Complete.

She left her schoolmates, who were singing and having fun, and she said over and over, "Take me home! Take me home! I'm scared! I'm scared!" And these weren't whispers...this was Macey right out loud...during the program where kids were singing happy songs about Gooseberry...in the middle of her schoolmate's parents.

It took about 20 minutes to talk her down. We went through everything. We whisper sang "I Am a Child of God", we said a prayer, we repeated about 35 times that Annie Bangs wasn't real--and she knew that but it still scared her, I told her that I heard Annie Bangs was an old man with a beard that had a voice like Donald Duck, and then I looked her straight in her eyes and told her I wasn't taking her home. She did not understand why I wouldn't take her home, and maybe I was being mean, but I knew that she would regret it! She would miss the entire second day of activities. She would miss the experience of a giant sleepover with her whole grade. So I made her stay.

When it came time for all the kids to go to the open field for the Annie Bangs experience, Macey and I hung back and didn't go. I had just calmed her down, and I couldn't risk having to talk her down again! We looked at the stars in the sky, and Macey pointed out constellations she had learned about--we even saw a shooting star!

All the other kids finally came back sobbing and crying...and then Macey wasn't alone! We went to her cabin, and I helped get her ready for bed.

Scott and I felt so bad that we couldn't stay overnight with her, so we got her a beanie boo (her favorite thing in the world) and we wrote her a poem. When I gave it to her, she just cried and held me.

I got her all ready for bed, and the teenagers who played Annie Bangs we complete jerks and stormed Macey's cabin twice...right after I told her they weren't allowed in her cabin. Awesome. One of the teenagers even picked up a girl and tried to carry her, screaming, from the cabin. I was one of the last moms to leave...but I felt like I left her at a calm point. One of her friends' moms who chaperoned offered to let Macey sleep on the floor next to her, and that calmed Macey for the night.

This was the girls' cabin!

I didn't get home until about 10:30 that night, and I worried about her the whole night and next day. When I went to pick her up the next day, this is the girl who stepped off the bus! She looked a girl who had a rough Annie Bangs experience while camping. I got laughing so hard, I had to take a picture before we got in the car!

Wind Gust!

A couple Sundays ago, we had a big gust of wind. We looked out the window to find this gigantic branch had fallen in our yard. It's a good thing we were all inside, or it really could have done some damage! We have such amazing neighbors that within 20 minutes, we had 3 offers to help us take it down, cut it up, and haul it away. Literally, 2 days later the entire branch was all gone! (The hard part was keeping the kids off of it for 2 days! Luckily, Cooper only got stuck up the tree once.)

Dad's Big Helper!

Scott had to fix the lawn mower blade, and Quinn was with him the whole time. He was such a dedicated little helper, that he stood on the handle bar for a solid 10 minutes so Scott could underneath!

Puddles

Lucy and the Shopping Cart

Lucy is growing up! With all our other kids, by her age, we (usually) have a 7 month old baby. That means they would get kicked out of the front seat of  the shopping cart so baby sibling could sit there. Without a sibling, we have been able to convince Lucy to stay a little longer. She has finally decided she is a big kid, and she wants to walk like everyone else. She is so cute, and she is pretty good at staying close to the cart like everyone else!

Quinn's September Preschool Camp!

Quinn is 3 years old, and for our older kids, we have put them in 3 year old preschool. Our amazing preschool teacher retired, so we looked all summer for another teacher for Quinn. We just couldn't find one! We did find out that Ms. Stacey is doing a preschool camp for 3 year olds. She meets once a month for a couple hours to learn about a topic.

In the month of September, Quinn learned about apples! He was beyond excited to go to preschool, and then the time came, and he froze! When Quinn is nervous, he turns silent. That's exactly what he did. I was REALLY nervous I wouldn't be able to convince him to walk inside the doors and down into the basement, but he did without turning back! 

He had so much fun! He painted, read books, played with blocks, sang songs, talked about shapes--all in two hours. He has been begging to go back ever since!