December update

For the month of November Macy's class earned feathers for their indian hat and then put on a presentation. They chose indian names and Macy's was Sundari, which means "beautiful". They had to write the indian name on all their papers and remember the other student's name. This was a presentation the class put on for the community. We are very proud of our beautiful little indian, she earned a lot of feathers and worked very hard.
Mark was helping me make cake jars for visiting teaching. Here he is holding one up that is all done with the ribbon on and everything. They are cakes that are baked and ready to eat, sealed in the can so will last a long time, and you can give frosting with them as well. Mark is a wonderful little helper. Lately he has been in the christmas spirit and is wrapping stuff for everybody. The day Mark and I were doing the cake jars Tyler got the family picture book, a movie, and fell asleep. He loves books, reading, and looking at the pictures of the family.
This suit is very handsome. I have a picture of Mark in it as well and it's about too little for Tyler. I had to get a picture with him in it before he couldn't wear it anymore.
Macy loves to get on this bar that is part of the swing set. She can now flip herself up on top all by herself and swing.


Both the boys love to play outside and despite the cold weather they still go play until I can tell they are froze and tell them to come in. Now when I tell them to come in Tyler says, "Mom, I frozen."

We have a new puppy, Jake, and the kids are really enjoying him. They are very responsible with him, and he has been pretty easy to potty train. He is a small dog and very mello, which is great.

We have been doing a lot in this month of October. Maranda and I took a little trip to Lincoln, NE to see family. We had a blast, then Maranda and Tariq came to our house for a couple of days. Maranda spent time with me for my birthday, and the kids enjoyed playing.

I had a great birthday!! I'm still on a birthday "high". Isn't that great? Chas made me steak dinner and got me a cheesecake, took me to St. Louis to go to the temple and a weekend without the kids. Thank you to my mom and dad and Kyrell for watching the kiddos, they had a wonderful time and Mark is ready to come back. I was spoiled by all my family, I love and thank you so much for making me feel so special.

This weekend is Halloween and Tyler will be a frog, Mark a cowboy, and Macy can't decide. Either a cowgirl or Sleeping Beauty. What a choice. Maranda is coming back down and I think Tariq will be a Dragon. We are all excited.

We have cutting trees on our property, splitting and stacking for winter. Chas has been working on getting electricity to our storage container and building a leanto (not sure how to spell this, but pretty sure this isn't right, ha ha) and getting all the outside stuff ready for winter. It's coming fast.

Macy and Mark are doing really good in school. Macy can count to 100 (you have to help her with the 40, 50 and so on), sings lots of fun songs, and is sounding out words. Mark enjoys learning, is talking better, can ride his bike with no training wheels and loves his new puppy. Mark is a great helper, he loves the sense of accomplishment. He loves to help mom or dad and get stuff DONE.

Tyler is keeping me busy, we are trying to potty train. I'm not too excited about it and he will tell me he has to go potty, but then sits there, doesn't do anything and says, "All done." Flushes the toilet, gets down, I put on his diaper and he goes in the diaper. I've potty trained two other children so I should have this system a little bit down, but I don't and I don't like the process at all. He did go the other day and thought that was cool. I'm not good at patiently waiting at the toilet. Anyway, Tyler can do a lot, say a lot, and his personality is the best. He is very pationate. When he is sad he's really sad, when he's happy it's great and his funny (now that's a show), his hugs and kisses, folding his arms, and helping mom and dad.

Tractor Show

Last night I looked out the window and saw my two boys sitting under the playground on the picnic table. I don't know what they were looking at but they were enjoying the time together and looked so handsome. Mark would scoot over and Tyler would scoot over by him.

We went to a Tractor Show and they had a lot to do. We had a wonderful time!

Tyler turned around, got on Dad's lap and gave him a hug. It was such a wonderful moment, I said, "Hold on, hold it right there."

On his hat he had a fake bird and the boys were just sure he didn't know he had it up there. They were very concerned for him, especially Tyler. I kept trying to get them to look at me, but that just wasn't going to happen so I took the picture.

They all took a turn pumping water.

Macy and Mark both did the kiddie tractor pull. They both did very well and had fun.

Mark patiently waiting for his turn to do the tractor pull.

This little train ride was fun. Mark's little car didn't have a horn so the driver found this one that he could hold. Tyler wasn't sure at first but he liked it.

Macy ran up to the first car and hopped in.

This is as they were leaving and Tyler was looking at us like, "I'm stuck now aren't I?"

Fun times!!

This past Wednesday we all went to a Royals Baseball Game. Chas' work bought tickets for all the employees and their families. We had a great time and the kids really enjoyed it. The seats were great and the weather was absolutely wonderful!

Mark was chasing, or trying to catch a geese at Powell Gardens. He would say, "Here duck, here duck. I won't hurt you." The geese must be somewhat friendly because he would get pretty close. I actually thought he might catch one.

We took the kids to my parents and as always the rode horses. Macy and Mark rode on horses all by themselves and loved trotting. Tyler loves it too and they don't want to get off. Chas and I went for a motorcycle ride that day and the kids stayed with my mom. They really wanted to ride while Chas and I were gone. Mom said they should wait until we got back so we could watch them and the kids said, "That's okay, we'll just ride twice."

At the baseball game. Chas took a couple of pictures and on both of them one of the kids is looking away.

These mule statues are at Powell Gardens. Chas' mom came to visit for two weeks and we took her to see Powell Gardens. Mark and Tyler enjoyed sitting on the mules.

This apple core is also at Powell Gardens.

On September 12th Macy turned 6. She is so big and had a great birthday. This is the second year Irene has been here for her birthday. Thank you for coming and being here for Macy's special day.

The other day while driving home from school I asked Macy what the best part of her day was and she thought for a little bit and said, "Mom, my best part was getting to come home." Now I know that could be taken several ways but it really hit me. I was so thankful that she wanted to come home, loved her home and wanted to be with her family. I hope she always wants to come "HOME". I love her so much and she is growing up so fast. After her birthday she kept saying, "Mom, I don't feel six." She is doing great at school and learning a lot.

When Grandma came we also went to Branson and this was at Silver Dollar City. We were there all day watching shows, riding rides and eating great food. Thank you Grandma!!

School!!

This is the kids eating their breakfast and watching TV for the first day of school. Macy was ready to go and very excited, after the second day of school she cried and wanted to stay home with Mom. At one point she told me that she knew her color red, she knew how to count, she knew her letters and didn't want to learn anymore. This week, which is the third week of school she is doing much better. I am very thankful because it was very draining to have two kids crying for an hour every morning that they didn't want to go and then clinging to me when we got to school. I just tried to remember the song It Won't be Like This For Long. And it didn't. Mark is crying a little bit but doing better. I have started to car pool with another mom and I think that will be great. It helps them when they have to tell me goodbye at the house. The picture of the kids on the back steps says a thousand words. Macy was excited, anxious, and very happy to wear a new skirt she had gotten. Mark was undecided and not happy he had to get up early. Tyler thought we were all crazy for getting up early and was still in pajamas when we left to take the kids to school. The first day Tyler would not get down and play by himself, he wanted me to hold him the whole time. He really missed them. When Mark came home on the bus he got very excited and they gave each other a hug.

The picture of Tyler in the hat is funny. I had been sorting through all the kid's clothes that day and he had just had a bath. Mark was doing a puzzle on the table and amongst me cleaning their room found this hat. He put it on and was galloping around the house. (note: Tyler doesn't have to have a hat or any reason to gallop, he does it all the time when he is running) He sat at the table as if he was going to help Mark. Mark was trying to keep the puzzle away from his so he wouldn't lose any pieces. The camera was handy so I told Tyler to smile and he gave me this grin, as if to say "I'm a sly one! I wasn't going to touch anything, See, I'm holding my hands right here."

The past two days Mark and Tyler have been sick to their stomach. I'm exhausted from the extra laundry and I hope today they feel better. I feel so bad when the kids are sick.

Butterfly Conservatory!

Tyler had a great time in the sand. After we got home, took a bath, I layed him down for a nap and he was ready.

For this picture I said,"Mark, give me a nice smile." He put his finger in his mouth and was making a funny face.

Macy decided we should bury her. I convinced her to let us stop here. I told her she wouldn't be able to get out. She informed me that she was very strong and this would not stop her.

This is my favorite butterfly picture, I have one of this same butterfly looking at the back of it and it is blue on the bottom. Very pretty and to Jenn L, I'm loving photography, would love a better camera, but this one isn't bad. I'm really enjoying taking pictures and I know absolutely nothing about taking pictures.

School starts tomorrow and the kids and I are busy cleaning, organizing and trying to stay busy as Macy and Mark seem to believe it will never come when they get to go to school. I took them to Powell Gardens, they are currently having a butterfly conservatory. I thought the kids would think it was awesome and really enjoy the butterflies, they thought it was okay. They were more excited to get to the sand box and play. I was begging them to hold on for a minute so I could look at the butterflies. (ha, ha) Macy is trying to decide what outfit to wear that will look marvelous. Last few weeks she always wanted to look "Fabulous!!". I'm not sure which disney or barbie talks about looking fabulous or marvelous but it really is humorous to hear her talk this way. Mark stuffed all his school supplies in his backpack, they wouldn't all fit since his teacher asked for 4 boxes of kleenex and and 4 bags of wipes. he couldn't get them to fit so he asked Macy to put some in his. Tyler is getting very fast, I mean running, the terrible two's have hit. He has started to scream once in awhile. which is very frustrating because he can talk really well. I think I have noticed he does it when his belly isn't full or he is tired.

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE!!! I'm excited for the kids to start school but definately having issues with my babies going off to school.

More pictures

Mark was enjoying the water as well. He is holding on to the ledge waiting patiently to swim with me or Kyrell.

Beautiful Macy. It was a very hot day and her cheeks were very rosy. It was very nice to go swimming, all the kids love the water. I was holding Tyler in 5 foot water, I set him on the ladder and he jumped off, I had my hand on him and so I caught him, but he had no fear and was going for it. I have to keep my eye on him. I even jumped off the diving board and dove in. It had been a long time since I jumped off a diving board. So long ago that I don't remember the last time.

Tyler was exhausted and very much enjoyed Uncle Kyrell holding him also waiting for ice cream. Tyler really enjoys ice cream, he can say it and will ask for it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He is very serious when he eats it too, don't get in his way.

After we went swimming we took the kids to get ice cream and this is Macy patiently waiting. I cut her hair and we are all adjusting. When I cut it she was sad that it wasn't long like a princess and that my friends would talk about it, yes, she was worried about MY friends talking. It is cooler for the summer and I told her it would grow back, but she cried the whole time I cut it.

Tyler found this deer at Grandpa Bob's!

Update

We took a litte trip and helped my sister move and Tyler found this deer in the neighbor's yard. It was quite humorous and even though I explained that it is not a horse and not ours he still cried when I got him off of it. Then we took a trip with my dad and brother to Nebraska and had lots of fun. Thank you to all of my family for making that possible for me to come along.

Needless to say the kids did really well traveling. It was three hours to Maranda's and 8 to Nebraska. This moment of them all sleeping at once is rare and wonerful. We went to Cody Go carts and the kids did go carts, a train and bumper boats. The next day we went to a park, went swimming, those pictures to follow soon.