Sick Kids

We have had such a sick fall season. It's so hard having 5 kids in school. That's 5+ classrooms full of other kids and germs. It's near impossible to keep on top of. I feel like we are just living in a never ending cycle of sickness. We just pass it on to each other--no matter how well I clean or make kids wash hands. We are in close proximity to each other. Sickness happens.

My four youngest are, essentially "pandemic kids". They have a really basic immune systems, because we tried to keep them safe from COVID, we inevitably kept them safe from everything else. Now we are playing catch up...and to be completely honest, it stinks. But...here we are!

In September, Lucy got hit with the strep stick, and Harper and the boys had ear infections. Antibiotics all around. Years ago, I would have told you I could never bring 4 kids under the age of 5 to the doctor by myself. I mean, it's not my favorite thing to do, but we have a great clinic in town (that knows all of us by name) and they are so good at working with us in groups. At this point, sleep was scarce, many kids were cranky, and I was so, so grateful for a solution!

Drive thru slushies from McDonalds while we wait for anitbiotics to be filled! (McDonalds for the win!)

Beautiful Macey.

 

For assemblies at school, the student's get to dress up in their best professional gear. Macey is always so excited to dress up, and I am always reminded how old she is getting! She is so beautiful, and she holds herself so well!

Jemma's Ram Card!

Jemma got some fun mail! I'm so proud of her! Teachers can send home good mail (signed by the principal!) for good deeds they see the student's doing.

Macey Musings

 I stumbled upon this in a notebook upstairs, and I thought it was profound, so I snapped a picture!

Macey's Activity Days!

 

Macey's activity day group went to The Red Barn for some BYU Creamery ice cream!

Church with Twins

What is church with 2, 17 month old twins like? (And a 2 year old on top of that!)

Busy. Sometimes crying. Sometimes fighting. A lot of time giggling. And not a lot of paying attention.

Another Garden Post

We moved into a house with several fruit trees. Because of a couple later frosts, we lost a lot of blossoms/fruit. We had one peach tree that produced. It was such a blessing! Cooper braved the top of the tree, to pick the high-up peaches! 

Macey and Quinn helped me pick tomatoes!

Lots of green beans this summer! Little hands took this picture as I was bottling beans!

Macey (Shades)

 

Macey got these sunglasses for free from the Homecoming Parade. She LOVED them for a solid week. They went to school with her, and as soon as she stepped out of the van or the school, they went on! I went to pick her up from middle school one day, and she started walking to our van with them up--it made me chuckle! I had to steal a quick picture!

Twin Teamwork!

 These boys figured it out! They used teamwork so they can unlock the gate to the downstairs. Charlie undoes the gate and Owen pushes the gate open. It was so fun to watch them work together, but as soon as they learned how to open and close the gate, we decided it was time to teach them how to go down the stairs!

Harper, the Starfish

 

Harper is in that interesting age for sleep. She is a pretty good sleeper, but she also has moments that she just wants to snuggle with mom and dad. Generally, she will just cry until she gets to. On really long, tired nights, Scott or I just toss her into bed with us. We got a king size bed, so we have plenty of space to spare...unless she sleeps like this! I got out of bed one morning to find this. It made me laugh, so I turned and snapped a picture. She was sleeping completely spread out, like a starfish!

Owen, the Climber

 

I was busy with housework one morning and I kept hearing Owen moaning a little bit. I finally went to find him--only to find that this new climber had climbed up and gotten stuck! (He quickly learned that it is easier to climb up, and harder to climb down.)

Charlie Prays

 

Charlie started to pray with us at about 17 months. (Owen caught on soon after!) I had to snap a quick picture--cute boy!

Super Dad!

 When dad picks Lucy up from dance, we protect the dance shoes and use our muscles to do it!

Macey Plays Volleyball!

Macey played 6th grade volleyball, and she loved it! It was fun to watch her confidence boost and to watch her skills grow. I'm glad she had so much fun in the process!

Macey's volleyball games happened on Tuesdays--during the boys' soccer games, so we had to divide and conquer. Scott and I would split up the kids to accomplish this! She played for a couple months, in September and October.

 

Homecoming Parade 2022

 High School Homecoming was a town affair. The elementary school kids and middle school kids all watched the parade from their schools. High school classes basically shut downScott was able to meet up with us! (Jemma had just gotten home from Gooseberry, so she got to come along with us!)

Cooper and Quinn's Soccer Season!

Quinn played soccer again this year! He really is good (and he is about a head taller than everyone)! It takes him a little bit to be aggressive. You can see his hesitancy written all over his face. Aggression just really isn't in his nature. He loved playing (and he especially loved the treats that were given out after each game). (If you need help finding him in the pictures, he has bright orange socks!) 

Cooper played soccer too! He played for 1 hour, and he was hardly pulled out. He ran the entire time--I'm not sure how he did it! Cooper started to learn footwork this year and how to dribble the ball down the field. He was a really good defender, but he loved running the ball to the goal too!

The whole crew spent Tuesday and Thursday nights at the soccer field for 6 weeks! We welcomed the end of soccer season, but everyone loved running around and cheering while it happened.