Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Funny Maris

 She tries to give long kisses on the lips, saying "mmmmmuah!" She copies absolutely everything we say and everything Owen does!  For example last night at dinner Owen was dipping pieces of food into his water cup before eating them, so she was trying to take off the lid of her cup so she could do the same!  Then he got out of his chair and was eating standing by the table so she did it too!  Silly.
She loves to try and do chores if the kids are doing them.  She wants to put on her own shoes.  She says "sorry mom!" if I ever say ouch for any reason, and if anyone seems upset she goes up to them and pats them and says "iss okay, iss okay." She calls bunnies "bummies" and her favorite game is motor boat "butter boat" and Eric purposely asks her to say those things all the time because he says he "never gets tired of hearing it." 
She is pretty much an adorable ray of sunshine.
Here she is riding a horse-- for a couple of weeks she would do this for at least 20 minutes a day, slowly walking around and a round the main room, so funny.
 Sometimes she is just so dang cute that a I have to take a picture of her immediately.  She is getting good at this cute smile for pictures.

And apparently I think she looks cute in that shirt because here is another one haha.
She has also started grabbing a big book and sitting real close to someone who is reading/playing on a tablet/watching something and "reading" outloud to herself.  So cute.

First Quarter Random

We finished this "mud room nook" project in the laundry room and I LOVE it.
The kids listening to Grandpa Jamie tell stories when we saw him briefly in January.
Owen and Maris having a snack and being cute.
Our early riser!  Whitney was always up before Eric left for work this winter!  Until he started going at 6am in February. Then we missed him!
a quick getaway in Salt Lake as part of a work retreat.
The day I learned that Maris could use a gluestick :)  (at preschool)
Aunt Jenae visited since she is at BYU Idaho now!
One day the power went out right when we were about to watch a movie, so they watched somethingon the tablet, and this is how they ended up.  So adorable.
the park on a cold day.
I asked Eric to cut a piece of PVC pipe into 3 pieces for relay batons.  He eyed it for about 1 second, made his cuts, and the batons ended up IDENTICAL in length!  He's like "how's that for engineering skills!" It was so funny. 
That one time when the kids were hapily doing chores without being asked!  Whitney chooses to do her own laundry even though she's not 8 yet because she doesn't want to help sort everyone's.  Which is awesome for me!
And Katelyn loves to clean the bathroom, hooray!  And bonus, she thinks it's fun to let the little kids "help" her, which keeps them entertained for me!  It's the best thing ever.
FIrst rainstorm of the year that was worm enough to play in, and they were out there!


We were randomly invited to go with our neighbor to the fire station, it was awesome!  
Owen LOVES fire trucks!!

during "March Break" we went on our first bike ride/run on the river trail of the year, and fit it all in the van, yay!

Super Owen's Birthday

These pictures tell the story of Owen's birthday.  He is getting so old and grown up.  He loves to play fight with any kind of weapon.  He sings his "theme song"- of which there are several versions- when he is playing really hard or when he's on some sort of mission.  It is the cutest thing ever and I'm sure that's one of the biggest things we will all remember about 3-4 year old Owen!
He is also a goofball, he likes to say random things like "toothpaste pizza?!?" and then laugh hysterically at himself, and in the process he makes us all laugh.
He is mostly still super sweet to Maris, and he is learning surprisingly quickly how to deal with her stubborn almost-2-year-old-ness when they do start to fight.  I only have to tell him something a few times, like "Just distract her with another fun toy and she will give yours back" and he learns the trick.  And since he is so nice to her, she is learning by example to be a compassionate and shareing person. Win, win, win.

Anyway here's his birthday morning present opening:

Lunch at Dairy Queen.

His favorite birthday present!  A bow and arrows "like Hawkeye".
New superhero books from Grammy.
The cakes!!

The superhero training obstacle course setup:
Leaping tall buildings, punching through brick walls, crawling through tunnels, 
knocking down bad guys with Captain America shields, and crawling over a minefield of balls!
We also had a laser maze to climb through, separately.
Owen, Robbie, David, Brian, Jenna M and Jenna P!  Not pictured but present were Danny, Camden, and Cleo.

Whitney, Katelyn, Natalie, and Caleb were great helpers!




We also did bomb-diffusing, aka poping balloons to get gumballs.


And we played spiderman tag with silly string,
Grandma got in the line of fire!
Ready for cake!

The adorable birthday boy!! (Who finally decided on a Captain America costume after changing more than once!)


flying photo booth:

Opening presents:
More of the decor:


Swimming after the party!




We love our Owen!!