Flip or Fort...

The girls have been asking to build a fort for a couple of days. For our part-family FHE tonight I asked Allie and Caden to help the girls build a fort (I was cleaning the kitchen, Parker was playing basketball outside and Bob was working late.) The big kids were acting like HGTV stars in the process. "Do you want high ceilings or more space?" "That's a load bearing wall. If we rip that down, the whole thing will fall down and we won't have any profit on this house." "Girls, we're going to give you an open-concept kitchen."

Allie told Sage that the addition they were working on was going to be expensive. With a worried look Sage asked, "How much? Am I going to have to pay for it?" 

"Yes. It's going to be 50 dollars," responded Allie. 

Sage ran upstairs and returned with a stack of fake money to pay for her new house. 

Allie lead them through a reveal when they were done.

They had a great time together and built an impressive fort. My heart was happy seeing them play and be creative together. Those big kids of mine had some pretty clever comments and tie-ins with all the HGTV shows we watch!

Caden - age 12 - 7th Grade

Caden turned 12 this summer and was ordained as a deacon in our church. He can pass the sacrament now (although he doesn't have to every week because there are 19 deacons!). He was pretty nervous about that new responsibility at first but he is getting comfortable with it now. He is actively involved in his Scout troop and deacon's quorum. He did MMA this summer with Parker but had to stop shortly after school started because of competing responsibilities. 7th grade is the first year in our district that the kids change classes and have to dress out for PE/athletics. It has been a hard adjustment for him as I hear it is with a lot of boys. He started the year getting up early to do cross-country at school. He did that for a couple of weeks until his knees and shins started hurting. He was diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatter disease. Basically (like his dad and sister before him) he has grown so quickly that his bones have grown faster than his muscles and tendons causing knee pain. He had to quit cross-country and has been doing physical therapy twice a week. The pain receeded for a couple of weeks but has returned at times. He wears patellar knee bands to help with the pain so he can continue to participate in athletics. He was heart-broken this week when he tried out for the school basketball team and did not make it. There were 80 boys that tried out and only room on the teams for 35.

Caden does really well in school. His grades are really good and he keeps up with his assignments well. Sometimes he gets anxious about a test or something that is due. The anxiety can be paralyzing at times. If he gets thinking about it too much and gets worked up, he will shut down. He has been going to neurofeedback twice a week since school started. We have seen some improvements with his anxiety and are hoping to see more. He also sees a counselor but she is only available once or twice a month. Anxiety is not our friend.

Caden is a really sweet kid. He is very sensitive which is a great blessing but can also be hard. He can be very sweet with his sisters, playing with them and taking care of them. He loves to play Clash of Clans on the iphone or ipad. He connects with some of his school friends this way. He loves to play games and throw the football with Bob and Parker (and me occasionally). He is in the band at school and plays the saxophone. He is in the 3rd band at his school and gets bored with how slow they progress. I think the 2nd band would be too stressful for him this year (they have a lot of recordings and assignments that are due each week). The perfect band at his school would be the 2.5 band or a normal 2nd or 1st band at any other school. He has been reading the How To Train a Dragon series and loves those books. Every night he likes to listen to an audio story before bed. Sometimes he listens to Adventures in Odyssey on oneplace.com and sometimes he listens to stories on storynory.com. It really helps him relax before bed. Also, Caden is as tall as me now. I'm sure he will outgrow me in another month or two. His feet are a men's size 9.5! He is a great kid and we love him dearly!

Right now...

We are moved in. We can find most of the things we need. I am loving the change so far. So many beautiful trees, walking trails and we are so close to everything we do/need.

My kids are giving me fits. Sage's favorite thing to say right is "You are stupid, (name of person she is mad at)!" She says it over and over again and hurts all of our feelings. Not sure how to deal with this/stop it. She poops in the potty by herself which is good except for when she gets off without wiping or puts her poo in the sink. Yesterday she went in her diaper at the pool - that's always fun!

Sydney is having clothing issues. She would be happiest to run around nude. Her panties bother her because they move so she'd rather go without them. She doesn't want to wear shorts, sometimes doesn't want shirts. She is making me crazy. I really don't care what she wears as long as she is covered!

The boys are picking on each other and their sisters. They aren't being very obedient when asked to do things. They enjoy dropping things off the staircase on top of people's heads. They are happy when active so we have been running or biking most mornings.

Allie is probably the easiest though she keeps butting in with snide comments when I am working with the boys. 

I really want to enjoy the summer with them but sometimes it is really hard to do.

Boys!!!

We put the kids to bed early on Sunday night. The boys had not had enough sleep, Sydney had not had a nap and it was just one of those days/nights where we needed to be "done" early. So a few minutes after we got them all down, Caden (who had been rude/disobedient a lot that day) came out of his room screaming. He claimed that Parker had punched him. As we do on nights when those two who share a room fight, we sent Caden to go to sleep in our room. Parker came out shortly after that wondering where Caden was. He told us that Caden had been singing and talking while Parker was trying to fall asleep. Parker told him to stop. Caden told Parker that he wasn't singing and that Parker was just hearing things in his head. And then Parker decked him.

While Parker was out with us, he was lamenting the fact that he has to share a room with Caden. We jokingly suggested that he could sleep in the storage room as it is one of the only rooms in the house with no occupants. We then sent him to bed.

Last night, after reading with Bob, Parker took matters into his own hands. He set up his fan next to the storage room, got a sleeping bag and pillow, and laid down for the night. Caden was not happy with this arrangement. He said he doesn't like to sleep in the room alone. So he set up a bed in his doorway across the hall from Parker. This worked for them last night. We'll see if they continue the pattern.

Predictions...

We saw some missionaries riding bikes today. He boys were talking and made predictions about where they want to serve their missions.

Caden - Colorado (not too far away, good weather)

Parker - Tokyo 

Boys' Birthday Party...

We decided to have an Amazing Race themed birthday party for the boys this year. We divided the kids into 5 teams of 2-3 people each. Then we sent them through a series of tasks to complete. Here are the teams ready to start (neighbor kids, kids from school and church). We let them paint on their faces and arms before we got started.

The first task was to run cups full of water from our yard to the neighbors' yard through our little gate. They had one big Dixie cup and as many small cups as they could manage. On the other side each team had a bucket to fill.

Caden was so intense when he would cross into our yard to get his next cupful of water. I loved seeing his competitive spirit and speed running back to the water.

I didn't get pictures of the next tasks. They had to make a certain number of baskets at the basketball goal from taped lines. Then they received a clue to come back to the porch to pop balloons. Inside the balloons were puzzle pieces to make a puzzle (a picture of the boys). Each team was supposed to pop the balloons in their color and then assemble the puzzle before receiving their next clue. We had the balloons in a blow-up swimming pool with a sheet on top. When the first team came to pop their balloons some of the balloons started floating over the fence into the front yard. Then one of the younger boys came over and started popping all the balloons (he didn't read his clue very well). I quickly realized this task was not going to go as planned so I gave them their next clue.

They had to count the boards on the fence between two pieces of BYU duct tape. There were 166. The next task was the eating task. One player from each team was supposed to eat all the cereal out of these little cups until they found a specially marked cup (smiley face at the bottom). They had to eat a lot of cereal to find the special cups. We let their teammates help after awhile.
This one was funny for me to watch.

The last task was to launch 10 water balloons past a certain mark in the road. 

 As always this part was a hit!

The green team finished first! Not long after they finished off the water balloons with a water balloon fight.

Then we had pizza, cake and ice cream, opened presents, and let the kids play wall ball and kick ball in the backyard.

I had planned a whipping cream pie part of the race that was a no-go when I over whipped my cream. I put the stiff cream in tins anyway and put them in the fridge. One of the boys found them there when he was getting water and decided it would be fun to cream Caden with one. The kid Vincent thought it was funny, Caden did not. Other than that, it was a great party.

We couldn't have done it without our great neighbors the Glenns. They let us use their yard for the water race and Michelle kept the little girls so we could do the race part of the party. Then they joined us for pizza, cake and the rest of the party. Aaron Legrand also came and helped Bob hold the water balloon launcher - couldn't have done without him either.

Funny Conversation...

Bob: I think I'm going to build Parker's bike tonight.
Caden: I think you can do it. I bet you can do anything with some tools and a few cuss words.

Ha!

P.S. Bob was able to build the bike with tools and NO cuss words. : )

PInewood Derby...

Bob and Caden worked on hard on his Pinewood Derby car this year. He won a certificate for Sportiest Looking.

He also got 5th place for speed against 23 cars. They were happy with how things turned out (although I know they hoped to win!)

Conversations with Sydney...

Sydney: Caden told me to say, "Oh my poop!" to Daddy.

Me: That's not very nice. I don't like that he taught you that.

Sydney: I think it's funny. It makes me feel happy. It makes me laugh.

Battle of the Books...

Allie and Caden were on the winning Battle of the Books team again this year. They won their school competition (against ~ 18 teams) in January. They competed in the district competition this week and won by just 1 point (they missed 2/20 questions). There were 13 teams in all. It was a nail-biter for us parents watching!

Allie read all of the 10 books 3 times each and a couple of them 4 times. Caden read almost all of the books and re-read 1 or 2. As a team they were more prepared than they were last year I think. 

One of the other librarians asked our coach/librarian Mrs. Jurgens how she was able to get her team to win twice in a row. She pointed to Allie and said, "You see that tall girl over there. She's the reason we keep winning." Reading is definitely Allie's "thing". We are so proud of both our kids' hard work  this year!

Caden - age 9

School: Caden is in the 4th grade this year. He is really motivated to read this year and finish books. I don't know what his teachers are doing, but it is working. He is reading longer chapter books, preparing for the Battle of the Books competition, and logging more reading time than he is required to. Math seems to come easy for him and I am excited to have him compete in UIL Number Sense this year. His teacher recommended that he be tested for the gifted and talented program at our school. He just finished testing and will find out in a couple of months if he qualified. He really hopes he did. Mrs. Baker teaches him math/science and Mr. Mahler is his teacher for language art/social studies.

Activities: Caden loves to play in the backyard with the neighbor girls (and boys when they come over). He loves to organize team sports in the backyard. Caden is also a bear in Cub Scouts. He loves going to Cub Scouts with the boys from church. They meet on Tuesday nights from 7-8. It is late when he gets to bed and we sometimes wonder if that late night makes the rest of the week harder for him.

Piano: This is Caden's second year of taking piano. At the beginning of the school year we switched from Mrs. Connie to Mrs. Verzello. Mrs. Verzello teaches in our neighborhood less than 1/2 mile from our house. Switching has been so convenient and we're happy with the new teacher. All the kids have lessons on Friday afternoons and he usually takes the middle spot.

Friends: Caden is a great friend. I am proud of him for being friends with all the kids even kids with special needs. He plays kickball at recess with a bunch of kids and comes home upset at times when he doesn't think things are fair. He likes to win and gets upset if he is always on the losing team.

Chores: At times Caden can be easily distracted from doing his chores. He loves to do chores with Mom or Dad and talk, talk, talk. If left on his own, he procrastinates his chore work. Lately he has been really helpful with doing the dishes. He doesn't complain but just gets right in and does a great job. He can fit more dishes in the dishwasher than anyone. His chores include: unloading the dishwasher, setting the table, doing dishes, putting away laundry, helping with Sydney and Sage & cleaning bathrooms.

Quirks: Caden follows in his father's footsteps in one key way that we are noticing right now. He likes to see if can fool/trick people. Some people in our family call this lying but to them it is a game akin to fishing I hear. Recently we went to Wal-Mart and Caden bought a Lego set with his own money. He came home and told Parker that I had given him an early Christmas present. He likes to see if he can get a loud/upset/large response from other people.

Halloween: This year for Halloween Caden wanted to be something gory. We found these wound tatoos, ripped a white shirt and found him this hat. We were calling him a gangster zombie. At the church activity he was having his picture taken when another kid (in a group of 3 older boys) made a rude comment about his costume. Caden heard them. It upset him to the point that he hid behind the piano for the whole activity. Nothing we could do or say would convince him to come out. When he did emerge a few people saw him and made positive comments about his costume (in this case Ewww! was positive). On Halloween night he got positive feedback as well and it ended up working out.

Future: Right now Caden says he wants to be an engineer or a doctor when he grows up. He also talks regularly about being a store manager. He is good at solving puzzles and good at arguing. He is good at doing math in his head.

Love & Laughter...

I went to get the mail with Sydney the other day. I ended up chasing her down the street a ways (she loves to run down the sidewalk away from me right now). When we got back to the house, Caden and Sage were playing in the front yard. Caden was pretending to sneeze and Sage was laughing her head off. It was so cute! I ran in the house to get my camera so I could get a picture of these two cuties.

BOYS!!!

The boys were being ridiculous on Sunday afternoon. Bob got tired of them and locked them outside while the babies and I were taking naps (he was trying to nap too). When I woke up I was sure the neighbors were over playing outside with our kids. When I looked out the window I was SHOCKED to find that so much noise was being generated by just these two boys. They were throwing balls, chasing each other and eventually doing this:

 

 Mud pies, mud throwing, mud in the hair, washing off, more mud pies, digging in the mud, etc.

 They were filthy and happy!

When it was time for dinner, Bob had to hose them off before they could use a towel, come inside or anything.

Creative Reading Spot...

 I found Caden perched on the laundry room tables this afternoon doing his reading!

BTW - It seems that Caden is really starting to enjoy reading. He has finished several books this school year and often goes over his 20 minute daily requirement. Reminds me of me - I started to like reading in 4th grade too. I would hide in closets to read my Babysitters Club books!

Swim Team...

Swim team is keeping us busy so far this summer. Every day we drive 30 minutes to Trophy Club for practice and we have a meet each weekend. While the kids swim, the babies and I go running/walking to pass the time. I like that we are all getting regular exercise.

At the first meet all of the kids got ribbons. Caden got 3rd in the backstroke. Allie's relay got 3rd in the freestyle relay and Parker got 2nd in backstroke and 3rd in freestyle. Both of the boys are the oldest in their age group which helps I think. We think they are doing really well especially for their first year. At practice they are learning to dive, & do the butterfly and breaststoke. 


This picture was taken after the second meet. I took my little camera along but never got any real pictures of the kids swimming. I made them get out of the car before we left to at least get one good picture. We think Caden got 1st place in the backstroke at this meet and the boys were on a relay that got first (out of 2 teams). Caden and Allie both got a bad start on backstroke but were able to make up some time swimming. Allie's relay placed 4th and she PR'd in freestyle. I am interested to see the final results to see if they all improved their times. Parker accidentally had to swim with an older age group so I don't think he placed as high as an individual. The boys are REALLY excited about the blue ribbons they are going to get for the relay!

Sage and I attended the entire swim meet with the big kids. Bob and Sydney came for about an hour but she is crazy at the meet and they went home after the kids swam backstroke. I think I will stay home with the babies this week and let Bob go to the meet alone. Allie took this picture of Sage sleeping on the towels on the floor in the hall of the natatorium. We covered her up with a team shirt since we didn't have a real blanket. She was a trooper at the meet. 

Why 8-9 year olds don't babysit...

...and why I should know not to trust mine with the care of a mischievous toddler.

Caden is home from school today. He is slightly sick and so he is home.

This morning I went running with the babies. When we came home, Sage was sleeping and so I thought it would be a good time to clean up. Caden was watching TV and so I asked him to watch Sydney while I took a quick shower. When I got out, I went to check on them. Caden was watching TV and Sydney was nowhere to be found. Caden found her in the office with scrapbooking ink all over her fingers and lips.

A few minutes later, I left Sydney and Caden in the office playing a computer game. They were both sitting on the chair entranced in the game and again I thought things were safe for a few minutes. I went to the laundry room to start a load of clothes and fold a quick load that was ready. When I came out, I went to check on the kids again. Caden was still on the computer but Sydney was nowhere to be found. I found her in my bathroom lathering her tummy with globs of sticky hair product. I tried to take a quick picture of the mess she was in then, but she was not cooperative.

I gave her a bath and changed her clothes because she was really messy. A little while later, I decided to try to get some work done for Cub Scouts. Again Sydney and Caden were on the couch watching Sesame Street while she drank some milk. I thought I had locked all the doors to the rooms and that things were safe again. I finished sending an important email and went out to see what the kids were up to. I could tell the TV was paused and so I thought they must be playing together. Nope. Sydney was in my bathroom looking like this.

She's been a mess today. This afternoon she uprooted my cilantro plant in the garden and ran around pulling her diaper off.

"I'm a pretty girl!"

When we came home from Battle of the Books, Caden immediately went upstairs and put on this get-up. I'm not sure why but it was pretty funny when he came down singing, "I'm a pretty girl! I'm a pretty girl!"