Funny Kids

A little background: Whenever we are bathing the kids, I always tell them they need baths so they don't have stinky bums, so today we had this conversation...

Me: "When we get home, I'm going to hop in the shower."

Austin: "So you don't have a stinky bum?"

(Jeff thinks this is TMI, but I'm still laughing about it)

A few nights ago, Kate was struggling to finish her dinner. In an attempt at negotiation, she asked, "How about I just have 20 more bites, then I'm done?"

Tonight, it happened again, but she must be figuring things out because she asked for only 9 more bites.

Decorating for Christmas

Since we had ZERO pictures from Christmas last year, this year, I will try to do some makeup…


Austin left, Scott right

Kate Dance

Kate is doing dance again this year and is enjoying it pretty well. This is her first recital right before Halloween.

First Snowman of the Year

Kate begged and begged, so finally, we went out and built this lovely snowman. I think we named him…but I forgot and Kate’s already asleep.

Kate also wanted to have a snowball fight. It was nice to get some of my pent up stress out, so I threw those snowballs as hard as I could. We had a lot of fun!

Scott got a huge kick out of being outside!

It really was the perfect day because everywhere else, it was still a nice fall day, but because our deck was shaded, there was snow.

Desert Fall 2011

We went out to the desert with the whole Lewis crew (extended cousins and everything). We had so much fun (other then getting off to a bad start with Scotty!)

Morgan took all the kids on rides ALL day long, they ate it up!

Someone brought this little truck to play with—Austin absolutely loved it, he just pushed it around all day.

Scott loved getting pushed around too…

Daddy gave everyone rides on the motorcycle—Austin

Kate

 

Scott

 

Austin and Scott have really gotten attached to these three girls. They get tons of attention and just eat it up! We had so much fun out there! Can’t wait to go again!

First Stitches

Scott got stitches for the first (and hopefully last) time this last October. It was SO sad! We don’t even know exactly what happened. Scott had split his lip earlier in the week a little bit. We were just getting ready to go to the desert (I’ll blog about that next) and were loading the car when I heard Scott crying THE cry (you know the one—where you know something is really wrong) and I went running. His lip was just gaping. We were about ready to go and tried to convince ourselves it was fine, but finally realized it wasn’t. We took him in and the nurses and doctor were so sweet. Scott was really brave too. They just numbed his lip and sewed him up without putting him under—he did not like that!

Then, they told me he would probably put up a fit at being held down, but he just laid there like such a good boy. We sang him songs and talked to him, and he was just mellow. It made me feel worse for him! The doctor did a great job though, and you can’t even tell anything happened!

Halloween and getting ready for Halloween

I just found this great little program to blog through on my computer, so I may be blogging more! By way of starting to try and catch up—here is Halloween. Austin is the green dragon, Scott is the blue monster, Kate was Sleeping Beauty. A and S were NOT excited about their costumes, but right at Halloween, they surprised me and put them on. That moment always seems to come when they find out candy is involved.
We also decided to decorate pumpkins this year. At one point, I had pictures from the pumpkin patch we went to pick out pumpkins, but I’m not sure where they are. Anyway, we got these potato head kits and are huge fans. I think they look so cute and very clean!

True to form, I think it took us about 2 hours to visit about 10 houses in the neighborhood, but at least the kids had a great time!

Spiritual Scott

Last night, we were at Grandma and Grandpa Lewis' house. The neighbor across the street has tons of Halloween decorations, so they all went to look. One decoration is a skeleton, Scott pointed at it and said, "Jesus is Silly." Not sure where that one came from...

At church the other week, Scott pointed to a man and said, "Jesus right there." I looked and sure enough, I could see the resemblance. The man had full facial hair and longer hair. We got a pretty good laugh!

Also, we just got some of our family pictures back. I loved this one of the kids. Austin is on the left, Scott is on the right. More to come!

Strider Bikes

I've been meaning to post about this for a while...I started selling Strider Bikes back in July. My sister went to Denmark about a year ago and all the kids were riding around on these little balance bikes. Well, for her son's birthday, she wanted to get him one, and after looking around she decided on these Striders. Her son loved it, then she called me on the phone and said, "you have to get these for your boys." After looking into it, we decided to become dealers together. These bikes have been a hit down here and it's been a lot of fun!

A couple cool things:

• 2 year Warranty
• The primary goal of these bikes is to teach your child how to balance. The Strider bikes don't have pedals, so the kids run with them and learn balance.
• The tires NEVER get flat, so they can ride them while camping, through dirt, around tracks, etc.
• They are really light--just under 7 lbs
• They come in a variety of colors: blue, green, pink, red, orange, yellow, and silver
• Here's what my conservative husband said, "I'm not one that likes frills or excess, so at first I wasn't sold on these bikes. What sold me is how fast Kate learned to ride her bike. She had no clue how to ride a pedal bike and, after using the Strider, she hopped on her pedal bike and rode first try."
• And the #1 feature: Your kids will nap beautifully after riding them all day. Those first few days when the kids were on them every waking moment were so great. I put the kids down for naps and they actually went to sleep!

I've tried to talk Kate into letting me get rid of hers since she rides a two wheeler, but she still loves her Strider and rides it about half the time. We've really enjoyed being able to go out and ride as a family around our circle and neighborhood. I've loved being able to hang out with my kids doing something they love.

Anyway, as Christmas approaches, I wanted to get word out, and if you're interested, I can give you a great deal on one of these bikes. If you live far away, I can also ship. If you have any questions, ask away!

No pictures, but a little update...

We have recently moved to a new computer, so I haven't got my picture organization figured out yet, but I will post new pics soon. These little kids change so much in two months though, I thought I better post an update:

Kate

• Cannot wait for school to start, she is counting down the days (only 1 week to go!)
• Is loving her dance class
• Helps me pick raspberries, and seriously picks about 1/4 of them. She is also very diligent about not eating too many so we can save them for jam
• Vacuums the kitchen floor regularly and recently started vacuuming her own room
• Helps me remember to get dressed each day :)
• Loves playing with her brother most of the time. They run around, laugh, play babies, and ride bikes
• Rides her bike as often as she can, especially around the block
• Is constantly writing/illustrating papers for the family. She recently mastered writing Austin, so we get papers about once a day of all the names in our family written along with pictures of each. I will definitely be putting a picture up, priceless!
• Loves writing/receiving letters in the mail.
• Loves to type on the computer. Her and Jeff do this, they each use half of the screen. It's cute.
• Likes "reading books" to brothers and anyone else
• Is starting to sound out words. My favorite is when she will sound out a word like sip, she'll make each sound for the letter, then say something like SHOE excitedly. It is a work in progress :)
• Favorite Foods: In her words, "Chicken nuggets and broccoli and noodles", she also likes fruity candy (Starburst), popcicles, and isn't a huge fan of chocolate and ice cream (where did this girl come from!!)

Scott

• Is so laid back, he rolls with the punches really well
• Seems like he is laughing and being silly a lot
• Which can be bad--nap time is really rough. Most days, Scott keeps Austin up for about an hour (even though Austin is saying how tired he is)
• says "I love you mama" in the sweetest way, it melts my heart
• was feeling sick the other day and kept walking up to me and said "Love me"
• Can recognize A, S, and K and refers to each as "Austin's letter, Scott's letter or Katie's letter"
• Learning counting, shapes and colors pretty well
• Makes friends with random people wherever we go. He especially loves boys a couple of years older and wants to be like them. He really loves his cousin Stockton. On a recent outing, he wanted to hang out with Stockton the whole time.
• Surprisingly though, Scott is the one that misses us when we go on a date.
• Enjoys singing and music
• Loves trucks and especially tractors
• Also loves airplanes and helicopters which we get to see a lot since we are right on the flight path.
• Likes PB and J every single day for lunch--boy after my own heart
• Favorite Foods: Chicken Pillows, raspberries, ice cream, popcicles, and bread

Austin

• Has taken on the role of baby of the family--he loves to be cuddled and held
• Is all of a sudden eating better. It's so nice, meal time was so stressful. I love that he'll eat a little of most everything. I guess continuing to offer really does work!
• Loves riding around on his bike
• Is talking so much and has this adorable little lisp
• Has this adorable smile he does where he squeezes his eyes shut. I think he knows it's cute because he does it at just the right time
• Recognizes the letters A, S, and K
• Counts pretty well
• Knows shapes pretty well
• Knows colors alright
• Can whine with the best of whiners
• Loves to sing and can often be found singing random words as he does anything.
• Is obsessed with his BYU hat. He always is wearing it and even sleeps in it.
• Favorite Foods: Ice cream, pizza, waffles, popcicles, toast, Mac and cheese!!!

All three

• LOVE babies. Anytime someone brings their baby, they all crowd around and want to love that baby. I keep telling them they will have to get their fill from other people's babies for now!
• Love riding bikes as a family around our circle and neighborhood. We do "races" back and forth and take turns saying "ready set go." It's pretty fun!
• LOVE the BYU Cougars (I don't think Jeff and I have anything to do with that!) We have taken them to two games this year and they did so good. I have been so surprised! They have just been a lot of fun and really have enjoyed themselves.
• Have started blaming things on each other. This is mostly Austin and Scott. I'll ask them who did this and automatically, they (usually Scott) will say "Auzzie did it" or "Scott did it". One time they went back and forth about 5 times. I thought this only happened in movies. I had to try hard no to laugh on this one.

These kids are so much fun. Life isn't perfect, but it is sure interesting. I love that these three are little buddies. Each one brings their unique little bit of fun in, so grateful to have my little kiddies.

No Training Wheels!!

Kate learned how to ride her bike Friday, July 22. It is so darn adorable I can hardly stand it. (And just fair warning: If you don't want to hear me brag, probably should stop reading now--I'm a proud parent!!)

Anyway, we tried a couple of months ago, and she wasn't even close. We got our Strider balance bikes (I may post about these soon) and after a couple of weeks of having them, we tried again. Kate rode on her first try about 100 feet!! (and since I'm prone to exaggerate, maybe 50). I just started laughing my head off. She's been all over the place ever since. It's been so fun! Bikes are everyone's play thing of choice right now, we've been loving it!

Happy 4th of July

We had such a nice Independence Day weekend. We went up to Idaho Falls and spent the weekend with family and had such a great time! My brother and his family were nice enough to put us up for the weekend. I watched my first episode of Glee and I loved it! We played a little Wizard (so so fun) and just got to visit. I love my family so much. We're all different, but accept and love each other the way we are. I feel so lucky to be part of it!

We came home on the 4th and did fireworks with our neighbors. It was a lot of fun! This is Scott. He loved!!

Austin

We did a bunch of sparklers, but Scott never participated. Finally, near the end he did. I looked away for a second and next thing I knew, he was running full speed at Jeff and threw his sparkler on Jeff. You can see the evidence on Jeff's shirt. So funny!! (There were no skin burns)

My brother built this awesome teeter totter--the kids loved it!!

Austin Scott

The boys shared a bed, I had to take a picture (Austin Scott)

Grandma Packer treated all the kids to lots of carousel rides in Rexburg. I went on it as a kid, so that was so fun!

Kate and Sasha buddied up all weekend

Brian brought these suckers, we were so happy about it. (Scott)

Austin

Austin

Scott

Splash park

Scott

Such a fun one, loved spending time with the family and seeing the kids play!