It's Done

After a year and a half of mostly being done-Corrine's loft bed is finally finished! We planned to make a bookshelf at the head of her bed, but it just never got done. Until now! Johann cut the wood and put it together, then Corrine helped him painted it. She is so excited to have her bookshelf done and installed on her bed. She went right to organizing it.
She has a shelf for her stuffed animals and dolls and a shelf for her books and drawing things.



When Rebecca moves out of her crib, we'll make the bottom bunk with a bookshelf for her.

Thanksgiving

This year was our 1st Thanksgiving ever with it just being our family. It was quiet, laid back and super comfortable. We really enjoyed the mellowness of the day. We went and visited Great Grandma Riddle, then came home and made dinner. We had all the fixings, just on a slightly smaller scale.


Johann really wanted a spiral sliced ham, but the grocery store was out of them the week before and they weren't sure if they'd get any more in before Thanksgiving. Luckily on Tuesday they were able to get some in and we were able to have some very delicious ham for dinner.


When Ammon found out we weren't having turkey, he got kind of sad. He asked us for weeks if we could "Please have turkey on Thanksgiving". We didn't want to make a whole turkey, but he really wanted some, so we got a turkey breast at Sam's Club. When we sat down to eat, Ammon took one bite of the turkey and said "It's slimy-I don't like it!" He took a bite of ham and liked that. So the moral of the story-sorry kid were just having ham next time!


A funny moment of the day. We sat down to eat dinner, and soon the kids were done eating and were off to play. Johann looked at the clock, then at me and said "18 minutes and it's over!" All that prep for 18 minutes sitting together for dinner.

Simeon and Ammon helped me make a completely from scratch chocolate mouse pie. Oh it was delicious. The crust was crushed oreos, and the filling was made from melted chocolate chips, fresh whip cream, sweet and condensed milk and more. Oh was it so good!!



It was a fun day to reflect on all we have to be thankful for, and we sure do have ALot to be thankful for this year. Having 4 healthy kids tops the list.

Bring on the Calories

We're on a mission to get this little girl to eat more calories in hopes of gaining some weight and crossing the 20lb mark by her 18 well child check in Jan. So what are we doing-she gets to eat pudding everyday. She loves it!! I added whip cream tonight and she only wanted the whipcream and not the pudding.


Why are we concerned about her hitting that mark? She was sick for 5 weeks and during that time there was concern she wasn't gaining enough and she was put on a weigh check schedule in Jan, which is also her 18 month check up time.
Over Labor Day weekend the girls all got sick with a stomach bug. Rebecca seemed alright after the weekend was over, but then the dirty diapers started at break neck speed. She could have 6-10 dirty diapers a day. Having that many dirty diapers did a number on her poor bottom. We were using every over the counter cream we could to no avail. We went to the doctor and got a steroid cream. They also did a test to make sure she didn't have a parasite-which came back negative.
The next week things got worse, to the point that one night she was in so much pain that the only way to hold her was the cradle her like a baby. We ended up laying on the bed next to her to cuddle since that didn't hurt her.
Monday came and her bottom was blistered and burned from orange juice the previous day. We now had a burn cream to use and more testing was on tap for later that week.
I started crying when she asked for a snack, because I knew it would hurt her. I didn't want to feed her because it would cause her pain.
Then it was gone. The orange juice which burnt her stomach and bottom, had burned out whatever was bothering her.
We never knew what she had that was bothering her stomach. He took every food away then started things back one at a time to see if we could find a trigger. We never did. We had a hunch though that orange juice didn't settle with her, but it was also the thing that helped.

FHE-Kids night

We've had some hard FHE's where we end of more stressed then happy, so we decided to hand it over to the kids. Simeon brought home a cookbook from the school library and marked about 2 dozen yummy recipes, so he became to treat maker. Ammon recently went to a sibling group at the hospital and made a fun turkey craft-so he was in charge of the activity. Corrine loves writing things down and planning things, and she gave the scripture in primary this week on giving thanks-so she was in charge of the lesson.
Corrine was very prepared for her lesson. She read us an ABC book about Thanksgiving, then she played a game. We reached in a pulled out of piece of paper. Each colored paper was a different question, such as "what are you thankful for?" or "what is your favorite thanksgiving song?"



Ammon taught us how to make turkey hands with feathers. He was very particular that we all stayed on the same step that he was on. We used red feather ends for the gobblers and the ends of the feathers for legs.


Simeon made from scratch strawberry shortcakes. Did I mention it was from scratch-biscuits, strawberries and whip cream. Oh it was GOOD!!! He was really excited to make them, so when he got home from school he got all his after school chores and homework done and didn't play so he could get them made.

I didn't get a picture of Simeon with the shortcakes, because by the time I sat down with mine and the camera, he was already done and downstairs watching the Chargers on Monday Night football. He was so excited they played on Monday so he could watch the game. We had a deal that he could watch the game after FHE was over, if he didn't say anything about it during FHE. He was very patient not saying anything during FHE, but I did catch him looking at the clock a few times.

Rebecca was so cute tonight. She took the bowl from Corrine's game and was wearing it on her head. She is getting lots of curls, especially right after a bath. She also thought the strawberry shortcakes were super "yum", as she says it.


The kids had such a great time planning FHE. We are going to do this more often so that they know how to plan, organize and act when someone else is in charge.

Twins

We have been so blessed to have kids who like (for the most part) to be with each other and dress like the other. Simeon and Ammon have a few identical shirts that they will wear on the same day, but with the girls and their age difference it's been harder to get matching clothes for them.
This morning Corrine was already dressed for school when I got Rebecca dressed. Rebecca at the time wasn't wanting to get dressed, so I told her how she was going to wear jeans just like Corrine. She took her jeans over to show Corrine which chilled her out. When I got Rebecca's shirt out, Corrine said she had one that same color. Corrine got a pair of boots when she went horseback riding last month and she wears them everyday she can. Rebecca has the cutest pair of pink ugg style boots that she also wears almost everyday. So they both put on their boots to finish off their matching outfits.



These girls have so much love for one another. They draw together, go on picnics together, read books together and when Corrine's cleaning up their room Rebecca helps by pulling things out for Corrine to put back. Corrine is going to make such a great babysitter when she's older and a wonderful mom one day.

I'm a BIG kid now!!

Tonight Rebecca discovered what to her was one of the greatest things on earth-a step stool at the bathroom counter, and a paper cup and the bathroom faucet.
Oh was Rebecca in heaven tonight. I kept filling the cup with just the slightest bit of water and she would gulp it down and point for more. Each time I'd say "Do you want more aqua?" So would either say back "Awa" for aqua or "peas" for please to get more water.




The funny thing is normally she doesn't like to drink water in a sippy cup, but in a paper cup like her big siblings she'll drink it all night long.

Tonight the big kids were all having a slumber party on the boys floor. Rebecca wanted to join in on the fun. (Don't mind her naked belly. She got her shirt wet drinking water and before I could put her pj's on, she was off with the big kids, and I hated to pull her away.)

She loves to be read to, and to read books to us. She was so into the story Corrine was reading to her and Ammon. (I am so impressed with how well Corrine is reading now. She struggled at the beginning to get going, but now she reads so fluently.)

Then she wanted to "read" on her own.


I love to listen to her "read" to us. She has the sweetest voice and makes all these different sounds and she gets her lips really into the action.

Rebecca

I love the playful, fun stage that Rebecca is in right now. She laughs so freely, plays with her siblings, follows the big kids around, chases the big kids laughing, plays nicely by herself, jabbers all the time, says understandable words, gives BIG hugs, loves looking at books, LOVES to color and draw, figured out stickers (or "stickies" as she calls them), and is learning quickly what her body can do. Really she's having such a great time being Rebecca!


She can sit in the corner of the front room toys playing quietly for half hour or more. When I go in to check on her, I usually get a BIG bright smile. The big kids helped load the corner with toys. She was in heaven surrounded by so many toys! She's really into the big dollhouse in the picture. He favorite things in the house are the crib, highchairs, swings and the babies.



Peek a boo-I see you!! She is so into peek-a-boo right now. She plays it running around the couch with Simeon, covering her eyes with Corrine, covering her head with a blanket or even through her legs with mom. She is getting so playful right now and it's so fun.


She also has such a LOVE for baby dolls and stuffed animals. She's been requesting to go into her crib where the big kids fill it with stuffed animals and dolls. She plays happily in there with her friends for along time. This picture I had put her down for her nap when she grabbed both of these animals and held them tight. It was such a sweet picture of my Rebecca.

I LOVE this kid!

Ammon has always been such a sweet kiddo. Last year I had so much time with him and Rebecca, and this year he's in school and I miss him. I miss his cute little sayings, holding his hand, big hugs and eating lunch with him.


Last night I got to spend some time with him and Rebecca. We played some Wii, then went out to get McDonald's. On the way there he said "I like when people take me for a drive at night time." I asked him why and he told me "because I get to look for bats!" We then talked about if bats stay in Iowa during the winter or fly somewhere warmer. We decided we didn't know where bats were in the winter time.
When we were eating our dinner, he had picked the top of his bun off, then when I looked back a few minutes later the entire hamburger was gone! I asked him where his hamburger was. He looked at me so sweetly, pointed to his stomach and said "it's in here!" It was one of those sweet moments I want to remember. My sweet innocent little boy being my little boy.
This morning he told me he wanted a mustard and pickle sandwich for breakfast. I asked him if he wanted anything else on it and he said some ham. So he made himself a mustard, pickle and ham sandwich for breakfast. Johann said he kept saying over and over "this is the BEST sandwich EVER!!" and he was walking around holding it with 2 hands eating it. We have decided there are sometimes when having a pickle, mustard and ham sandwich works for breakfasts and sometimes when it doesn't and today was one of those days it worked.


Today he and Corrine went to sibling group at the hospital. Corrine wasn't feeling good, so I went and got her early. When I picked Ammon up he asked if he could get a present for Corrine. (They always get a present at the end of group.) When we got home, he took Corrine's to her before he even asked to open his. He is so loving and kind.
At group they made turkey's and wrote what they were thankful for. On his he wrote his little sister. He loves Rebecca so much. He lovingly calls her his "Doodle Bop". She loves to lay by him in bed or snuggle and watch tv together. He is a great big brother!


This afternoon I was in the front room working on my lesson when could here someone in the kitchen. When I asked who was in there, I heard Ammon's sweet voice say "I'm in here and I'm making you some orange juice." And he did-from frozen concentrate. He was so proud that he did it all without help. There was a little orange juice on the counter and a few small wets spots in front of the fridge.
He's been really into drawing pictures and writing letters. He will make us a picture, then put it on our pillow. It's always so much fun to find a picture waiting for us on our bed.
The other day I happened to look at his right hand and saw his scar from the multiple attempts it took the nurse to place an iv when he was in the NICU. No on else sees it, but I do. I'm grateful everyday that I have this time with him. I'm grateful that Heavenly Father knew that his earthly mission wasn't ready to be done when he was so little-that he had so much more to do.


He loves to be just like dad and wear a suit to church each Sunday. It's so sweet to see how much he looks up to his siblings and parents, which also makes us need to be better so that we show him the right things to do.


I love this kid so much!! Ammon I'm so glad Heavenly Father sent you to our family.

OUCH!!

This afternoon felt so weird. For starters it's only Thursday, but the last day of school for the week, it's finally feeling like fall, and dad took the afternoon off. Our backyard tree has finally started to loose it's leaves-thankfully. The last leaf pickup is next Friday. In the fall you get 3 leaf pick up days. The city turns their trucks into big vacuums that come by and suck up your leaves from the curb. If it decides to snow early and they switch the trucks to plows-then your out of luck.

Johann was out blowing the leaves and the kids were outside 'helping' him. Really they were playing. Then what happened next was even stranger then the rest of the day felt. I was talking pictures of the kids in the leaves, and running around having fun. Ammon was wearing his new Night Fury costume (after Halloween sale-we also got Hiccup and Grunkle costumes.)


Then Ammon stops running in the middle of the yard and starts to cry/scream. No one and nothing is near him. Johann goes over to him, and asks what's wrong. Ammon points to his face. His nose is bleeding, he has a welt across his cheek and by his right his eye is swelling up fast.


We get him inside and put ice on his eye and gave him some tylenol. His nose stops bleeding, but the area around his eye is so swollen that it's hanging over his eye. He's not in any pain and there is no broken skin. We test his eye and it's working fine. Relief!


Ok so what happened. Johann was using the electric blower with 2 extensions cords to blow the leaves into a pile. He needed more cord, so he pulled on it. It was stuck on something, so Johann pulled harder. When he pulled harder the cords came apart and the end of the cord hit Ammon across the face as he was running around the yard. He was in the perfect spot at the perfect time for it to happen. Or you could say he was in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Anyway you look at it, it was totally by accident that the cord and his face were in the same place at the same time.

Friday morning and the blood is now leaving the original spot and moving into his eyelid and the corner of his eye. He is getting a black eye. We had parent teacher conferences this morning and by then he had a very noticeable black eye. His teacher asked what happen. He didn't remember what happened at first until we reminded him. Then he was able to tell her the story. We also pointed out the green bruise not far above it front hitting his head on grandma's floor a few days earlier, and that his legs are covered in bruises. Oh he is a 5 year old active boy!!



It's times like this that we realize just how strong Ammon is. He cried for a short time, then was back into life. And just for the record-Ammon has the hardest head EVER!!

Who Knew...

That a bag full of cans fresh from the grocery store could hold so much entertainment and new discoveries?

Today we bought 40 cans between chicken broth, cream of chicken and fruit because of a great sale. I was tired when we got home,(I've been sick with a cold for days, but had to shop while the 3 big kids were in school.) and hadn't put them away yet.

Rebecca started helping me put the fridge things away when she discovered the cans.
At first she was just pulling them out of the bags. Then I started stacking them and she started bringing them to me faster. She was even adding to the top of the tower. She got scared when they fell over, but quickly starting building them again.



After another fall she started to stack them, but saw me sitting on the rug, so she decided to bring them over to me. I am amazed what she can pick up with just one hand. She was stretching out her fingers so wide so she could pick up the cans. We think she is double jointed because of the way she can move her fingers, especially her thumbs.



She tried to get 2 at a time. She tried a couple of times getting one with one hand, then reaching down to get another. Each time the 1st one fell on the floor.



Once she had them on the rug, I moved to the other side of the kitchen to watch her. She started putting them in front of her, when she accidentally knocked one over and it rolled across the kitchen. She just sat there are staring at it. Then she pushed 2 more over and watched what they did-and they rolled too. Then she was pushing all the cans as quickly as she could to make them roll.


Who knew that making cans roll on the kitchen floor could be so entertaining.



She started picking them up and dropping them to see if they would roll. I showed her to set them down and push them. Soon we had cans rolling all over the kitchen, and an VERY excited Rebecca.



Watching her learn all these new things today was amazing. I can honestly say I saw the wheels in her head turning as she discovered stacking, trying to pick up 2 cans at a time, and then that they roll. I love this little girl and all the one-on-one time I get with her. I feel like I'm doing things for the first time with her, because I have the time to just sit back and watch her more. With the other kids I was so busy taking care of multiple kids at a time that the sit back and watch time was not as often.
I know this is the last time I'll have to watch a little one grow and learn, so I think I am also savoring it more because of that.

Ammon's Artwork

Ammon has been having such a great time in art class at school. The teacher Mr. Jones started there last year and he is awesome. All the kids just love going to art.
Today Ammon came out of class carrying a 3-D bug jar he had made. He was so excited about it.
I love the bright colors of the bugs. They look so friendly and happy.






A few months back Ammon brought this oil pastel masterpiece home. He made an animal collaged on it. He was so excited about using oil pastels. When he discovered that we had some oil pastels at home, he was in heaven and was making more art projects to share.



He has also been very into drawing pictures and adding words to his drawings. This one he made/drew for his cousin Tanner in Idaho. He is very into vikings and dragons right now, and they seem to find their way into most of his drawings right now.

He regularly sends things to his Nani & Papa in California, and his preschool friend Christopher that moved to Washington over the summer. He is making guest appearances to cousins in Wisconsin and Idaho. We are trying to work on letters on Sunday mornings, so hopefully he'll have more to send. He loves to draw and write and sending them to others makes them even more special, and getting a letter back in the mail makes his day!

I am loving watching Ammon discover how to spell new words and watching how his drawings are changing and getting more detailed. He is learning so much at school and just soaking it all in.

What happened to the pumpkins?

I walked outside today and saw all of our pumpkins laying in the flowerbed. My 1st thought was "Who would come by and knock all of our pumpkins down?" This wasn't something I would expect to have happen in our neighborhood.


Then I got to thinking-Ammon swept the porch yesterday, maybe he knew something. I asked him if he knew why the pumpkins were in the flowerbed. He told me simply "I put them there so the squirrels could get the pumpkin seeds out easier."
What a sweet boy he is.
A few days ago I had told him about when Rebecca and I had been watching a squirrel out front. It would disappear behind Simeon's pumpkin and then come up eating a seed. It was reaching through the pumpkins mouth and pulling the seeds out. Ammon remembered this when he was sweeping the porch and decided to help them get their snacks easier.

Focused

This afternoon I walked by my room and say Ammon playing a Thomas game on the Leapster. He was so focused on it that he didn't even notice me taking his picture. I love how he can get so into things.






He's in his new Toy Story pj's that he picked out at the store today. He came home tried them on and didn't want to take them off. They must be comfortable!

It's been a tooth losing day around here

This afternoon Simeon was playing football with dad and our neighbor Joe, when I heard "It's a good thing you caught it", but it wasn't regarding football. Simeon had thrown the ball to Joe and it hit him in the mouth. It was a soft ball, but with Joe's tooth being so lose, it knocked it out. Tooth count for Joe: 8



Then while eating dinner Simeon started to hold his mouth and said "My tooth fell out! A chip got stuck between it and the next tooth and it pushed it out." He hadn't been saying much about this tooth being lose, so it was a surprise to us. He currently has an adult tooth coming in behind a tooth on the other side, but this tooth hadn't had much attention.

Tooth count for Simeon: 5

Warm Fuzzies

When I was a child I remember our home teachers coming over and talking to us about "warm fuzzies" and "cold pricklies". The warm fuzzies were pom poms about the size of a ping pong ball that had googly eyes and big feet. They were the funnest things with their big feet and the softness of the pom pom. The cold pricklies were warm fuzzies that they had gotten wet and frozen. They had spikes of fuzz sticking off of them and they were cold to hold.
The lesson was about how we should give others warm fuzzies and not cold pricklies.
I still remember those warm fuzzies more then 20 years later.

A few months back we tried to earn warm fuzzies as a family to earn a trip to the water park. I bought the shiniest, brightest pom poms I could get my hands on! We'd stick a warm fuzzie in this big jar when we did something nice for another. Well the jar was too big and we lost motivation for it after a few weeks. The good behavior continued and the trip was still earned, but the warm fuzzy idea went on the shelf.

Recently we've had some undesirable behavior from one particular child that needed to change. We instantly thought about the warm fuzzies. Warm fuzzies bring thoughts of happiness, cuddles and positive things. Warm fuzzies could be the reward for changing the undesirable behavior to desirable behavior.



And it worked! Everytime this particular child did a positive thing, did their chores the 1st time, stayed calm when upset, used kind words and was nice to others they earned a warm fuzzie. The jar (which was smaller this time) was filling up fast and the undesirable behaviors were fading.

Then all the kids wanted to earn them because they were fun and exciting. So now all 3 big kids have their own jars to collect warm fuzzies in. Not only are they fun to earn, but the are so pretty to look at in their jars. It's like a rainbow of smiles in a jar!

Rebecca loves them too and if she sees someone earn one, she needs some too. She always needs at least 2 warm fuzzies-one for each hand. She will walk around with them in her hands for a long time. She smells them, plays with them, and exchanges them between her hands. If we need to change her clothes or diaper she has to hold them the entire time, switching hands as needed. If she has them at bath time they have to sit on the toilet seat where she can see them, and as soon as she gets out of the bath, she needs them back. She has even tried to take them into her crib with her.



The big kids get to trade their warm fuzzies in for prizes. Some of the prizes include notebooks, little toys, a package of sours, extra Wii time, playing a game with just a parents, or an extra book before bed. We've had to experiment with the exchanging of warm fuzzies. Some kids were good at saving them up for bigger items, while others wanted to spend them as soon as they could. We have a "store" that is now open Friday afternoon after they have gotten their weekend chores done.
Also this week we have started collecting the shoes, toys and other things that they leave laying around and they have to buy those back from us. Shoes can be bought back any day, not just on Friday.

Each child has different ways they can earn them, and then there are ways they all can. A few of the ways they can earn them are: I do 'surprise' checks on bedroom floors, backpacks, and toothbrushes in the bathroom.
Corrine can earn them by keeping her thumb out of her mouth, and by beating the clock when she does the dishwasher. Simeon can earn them for remembering to take a step back from Rebecca and for being positive, and Ammon can earn them for listening the 1st time and doing things quicker. Some of the things they all earn for are: pushing their chairs in at the table, and clearing their dishes without reminders, listening quietly during scripture study, and keeping their weekly rooms clean.

It's fun to see the joy on their faces as their jars fill higher with bright shiny warm fuzzies, and when they exchange them for their prize. The best part though it that the harmony and peace in our house has increased. We have to give less reminders, they will sometimes do things before we even ask, and they look for ways to do extra things to earn more warm fuzzies.



I'm so grateful for the lesson about warm fuzzies I learned when I was my kids age, and how that lesson is helping our family today.