Fallen

This afternoon there was a knock at the door, which isn't unusual. I assumed it was Jaylen, the neighbor boy, who comes over a million times a day to see if the kids can play. I almost didn't answer the knock... I'd already told him the kids couldn't play today.

So imagine my surprise as I'm walking to the door and notice there are branches out the front window.

I open the door to find a different neighbor boy standing there. He looked in shock as he told me he was just standing in his garage as the neighbors tree came crashing down into our yard.

The wind today has been crazy -- apparently it was clocked at 97 mph at one point.

Fun times. Good adventures.
Gram's happy it didn't hit the house... or any of the reindeer! ;)

{and the owners of the tree immediately got out their chainsaw and cleaned up the mess... tomorrow is trash day after all!}

Decorating the Tree

After days of kids whining to decorate the tree, we finally got around to it tonight. They were so excited!!

Naomi helped me put on the star...

She was excited about it.

Alice wasn't all that interested.

Our Little Fashionista

Since I had to re-arrange the kids closet to make room for Alice's clothes, Georgie can now reach her own clothes and get dressed without my help (hooray!). She's come up with quite the collection of outfits in the last three weeks. Every day it's a surprise to see what combination she puts together. Some days are better than others. I love that she's getting dressed without my help and showing a little of her funky personality to boot.

Today's outfit matches... there's pink. "See."

Working on Christmas Cards

Put the kids to work this afternoon. They helped get our Christmas cards all ready to mail by putting on the stamps and stuffing envelopes. Some of the stamps weren't on exactly right, but I didn't have to do it... and I like that!

Now I just need to get them to lick all 100 envelopes! ;)

***
It was a long night last night between Georgia & Naomi tag-teaming us with waking up... so this morning at 9am, when we should have been at church, our whole house was still asleep. Since John and I have been talking about checking out Gram's ward (they start at 11am) we decided today was the day.

They have a small ward compared to V1, but we recognized a lot of faces from our previous wards in the stake, which was nice. What wasn't nice was our dear, sweet Georgia Ann's behavior. She was awful... John had to take her out of sacrament and then spent the rest of the hour chasing her (while holding Naomi because she cried when he was taking Georgie out) around the building. She was even running in and out of the chapel. It was embarrassing. One sister (who I recognized from our old ward, but cannot remember her name) even grabbed her arm to stop her and then yelled at her. I was a upset by that, but at the same time... maybe someone else telling her not to run will help... too bad it didn't stop her one bit.

She has NEVER acted like that before at church. Hopefully it was all due to her horrible night and we can erase it from our memory as soon as possible.

And... hopefully when we officially start attending that ward people won't give us the stink eye and talk about how we have an out-of-control daughter.

Meeting Amelia Bess

Tonight we were able to meet Amelia Bess Wilde.
She was born yesterday, November 25th at 1:17am
She's absolutely perfect.

Alice was glad to be reunited with her best friend.

Georgie was too. She and Norah were so silly in their matching jammies made by Gram.

I was pretty happy to be with Meme too...

Gram's Reindeer

Started setting up the Christmas decorations at Gram's this weekend. Yesterday the tree went up, undecorated, and the outside lights.

Today... the reindeer.

(Gram still has to make and paint Alice's.)

Happy Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for...

most of all... each other!

Our day was pretty quiet with just the 6 of us and Gram.

Georige thought she'd be funny and throw up... once. And then she got right back to her bouncing off everything.

Georgie helped with the mashed potatoes (or tomatoes as she calls them-- and still refused to eat any.)

Of course they ALL ate dessert.

And Jacob finished up the day cuddling his baby sister.

Playin' in the Leaves

Heather called this morning about taking our annual leaf pictures and, of course, we couldn't miss out! It was my first adventure out with all four kids and I think it went pretty darn well. The kids had a great time!

Best Friends... Jake & Kyle

...Georgia & Norah

{Naomi, Jacob, Tommy, Georgia, Norah, Andrew, Kyle}

We sure have the best friends!

After everyone was done playing in the leaves (and Georgie had to go potty) we all loaded up in the cars and headed to the park to play a little longer.

It was the perfect way to spend the afternoon.

{almost} 2 weeks & {over} 18 months

Naomi and Alice had doctors appointments today, Na for her 18 month well check and Ali for her 2 week.

Naomi's stats:
weight- 25lbs, 1oz. (50th%)
height- 32 inches (50th%)

Alice's stats:
weight- 10lb, 10oz.
height- 22 1/4 inches

They're both growing like weeds!

Just another day...

We started the day cuddling in bed...

...and finished up making our annual hand turkey's for Thanksgiving decoration.

Alice slept through the tradition so Georgie took it upon herself to make Alice's hand. It was very cute.

Sleepy Sunday

Alice has spent most of the week sleeping... just as a newborn should! She's eating, sleeping, and dirtying diapers, perfect.

The first couple of nights she wanted to nurse every hour on the hour, but since then she's cluster feeding in the evenings (which makes dinner/bed time a little stressful) and sleeping in 3-5 hour blocks at night (which is really nice!).

I cannot believe that she's 11 days old today. Where have those days gone?! Time goes far too quickly. I really hate that about the newborn phase, it goes by in the blink of an eye... and I love this phase. I love cuddling with her and watching her sleep. I love kissing those soft little cheeks. I love smelling that sweet newborn smell. I love how peaceful she is. I love this time. I love that the other kids are so attentive to her and her needs (and I know soon enough it'll be just the opposite, especially once she starts getting into their things!). I love watching them hold her. I love watching John with her. There's something so tender about a Daddy and a newborn. I don't want this time to end. I want to freeze these precious few weeks and hold them in my heart forever.

(Not to worry, I've felt this way about each of my babies newborn phase...)

Parent Teacher Conference

This morning John and I had the opportunity to meet with Jacob's teacher for Parent/Teacher Conferences. We've been looking forward to this meeting and wondering how Jacob is doing in school. We figured that he's probably right where he should be in most things, but he's been talking about how each morning he goes to another teachers classroom for reading group and we just wondered where he really is academically.

As we met with Mrs. Halstead she had lots of good things to say about Jacob. She is very impressed where he is academically, he is more than prepared for kindergarten. His school district uses a Standards-based Report Card with: 1 as Below Basic, 2- Basic, 3- Proficient, and 4- Advanced. Mrs. Halstead mentioned that at this point in the school year we should be expecting 2's, but Jacob has mostly 3's... and that's probably because he hasn't been tested further -- Mrs. Halstead expects he's more likely in the 4's, but she doesn't test for that this early in the year.

We are very proud of Jacob. Not only is he a sponge when it comes to learning new things, he is kind and helpful in the classroom. Mrs. Halstead appreciates that he comes in and gets right to work, he encourages the other students to do their best, and he 'gets it'. She told us that Jacob makes her feel validated as a teacher because he seems to really understand what she is teaching. (I remember having students that made me feel like all my hard work was actually worth it too!)

Jacob loves to learn.
We hope that thirst for knowledge never leaves.

He's in the highest reading group and his reading teacher, Mrs. Mowry, has been so impressed with the kids in the group that she's started working on 1st and 2nd grade standards with them. Jacob came home from school the other day, heard Gram's soda make a "swoosh" sound, and said, "hey, that's onomatopoeia". We all laughed, but were super surprised that: 1) he knew that word and said it correctly, 2) he used the word correctly, and 3) he recognized it right away! The freshman classes I taught had a difficult time with that word/concept! ;)

Before we left, Mrs. Halstead talked with us about sending Jacob home from school with the list of sight words for 1st and 2nd grade also, since he already knows all the kindergarten words.

Not only is Jacob doing well in Language Arts, but much to my surprise, he's excelling in Math as well.

I've always thought Jacob was a smart boy, but it's nice to have a teacher tell you just how well he is doing in school. We are very pleased with him and his dedication to learning, as well as his attitude toward it. Like he says, he "chooses to choose the right answers" and we appreciate that! He's a good example to all around him.

I love quilts. I love having lots of them. I love that each of the kids have special quilts that have been made for them. I love that both Jacob and Georgia use their baby quilts everyday... still. I love that Jacob, Georgia, and Naomi know which quilts are theirs and who made them for them and they are territorial with them. They do not share their quilts with each other. And they all know the unspoken "touch it and pay" rule.

They have been a little more accepting of Alice using their quilts, but I decided it was time for Alice to have her very own.

Today I finished hers.
I'm pretty pleased with it. There are a few mistakes and I wouldn't look too closely at the binding, but it's special for Alice. It's hers and hopefully, as the years go on, she will love it just as much as the other kids love their quilts.

This evening we had a special visit from a few of the Activity Day girls I work with at church. They brought dinner and the sweetest notes of kindness for me. It was fun to visit with them and introduce Alice.

{Mikki, Sage, Katherine, Zoe with Alice, Shelby, Francis, & Evelyn}

Meeting Meme

Meme was supposed to be at Alice's birth but she was too sick to come. We were both very sad that she couldn't be here... and then that her stinkin' sickies lasted forever. But today, one week after Alice was born, she was finally well enough to come and meet baby Alice.

Meeting Aunt Donna

While Jacob was at school Gram, the girls, John and I went to visit my Great Aunt Donna. She is my G'ma's older sister. Aunt Donna is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. She has always been curious about the events of my life. She's always been encouraging and interested, she's like a quiet cheerleader always rooting you on and hoping life has the very best in store for you. She really is amazing.

Everything about her is amazing.
I feel very blessed to have her in my corner.

As she got to know Alice, Georgie and Naomi played with the drawer of toys and visited with her as well.

The time to go came all too soon.

But we thoroughly enjoyed our visit with her.