The Bat Cave and NOPE! Those aren't tights!

Ethan got a Batman Bat Cave for his birthday a few years ago and he still loves it!

 He likes to share and play with Emma and Jackson too.

And as you can see from his expression...

 ...Jackson likes it too!

Mike went on a hike the other day and then mowed the lawn. When he took his shoes and socks off, it looked like he was wearing tights.

Nope just dirt. I sent him to the shower after laughing and then taking this picture and then laughing some more.

Emma set the table for dinner

Enough said!

Oh Jackson!

This little man loves his bath. He loves the duck Emma picked out for him too.

 I'm not so sure he loved me taking his picture while he was in his birthday suit!

 So HAPPY!

 He's starting to cause mischief too. He's figured out how to dump the basket of toys!

 and he loves it!

Won't be too much longer and he'll be crawling! I guess it's almost time to get the baby gate out of storage...where is it though...?

Ethan and Emma LOVE to paint!

We pulled out the finger paints yesterday! It was super fun, and not just for the two painting. It's fun for me to watch my kids take time to create stuff and it's also fun for me because they are entertaining themselves and not fighting!

Ethan is a cleaner painter than Emma.

His plate of paint

 Her plate of paint

 Again, messy

 Even her face...but she loves it so it's well worth it!

 Ethan's into Star Wars and painted a bunch of Star Wars characters

 From the top left...General Grievous, Darth Vader, the Emperor and the Emperial Guard

And notice, no paint on his cute face :)



Boredom busters

Anticipating summer coming, I got tons of fun stuff to do all together (in May) and was looking forward to a fun summer. When summer hit, we all were sick for about three weeks and it made me so mad I lost my groove!

As the summer had moved on, I have pulled out a few of the things I wanted to do and I put them in front of Ethan and Emma and they loved it.

Here are just two things we've done in the last week.

We froze princesses and super heros in cups and then the kids had to free them with their squirt guns.

Emma's princesses

 Ethan's super heros

 This was an awesome project and it kept Ethan and Emma occupied for over an hour, and they worked together and got along which made me a happy mom!

Today we had some errands to run, but Jackson needed a nap and he's more important than the family reunion I'm supposed to be making stuff for, sorry Grace and Mom!

Instead of errands, the kids pulled out paper, fuzzy ball things, pipe cleaners, glue, scissors and anything else they could find and went to work.

Emma spent more than an hour gluing and cutting and coloring.

 Awesome, right?

Ethan was determined to make a pirate patch, bandana, and hook.

 The hook

 ALL of Emma's mess!

I sure do hope I can get to the rest of my list and do at least some of the stuff on the list before the summer's over and I really hope next summer we won't be sick the first three weeks!

What we've been up to...

I guess it's time to update!

We've not been up to a whole lot, but there are a few things that have happened lately.

Jackson was super hungry all the time, so I started him on rice cereal.

Here's his first bite

 Ethan lost another tooth!

 (and the top front two are so close to coming in)

We celebrated the 4th of July all wearing red!

 (Jackson gets wide eyed when he sees the flash of the camera, hence the crazy eyes. But this was the best picture.)

We went to temple square with my family and Emma acted crazy when I wanted to take her picture!

 (She CRACKS me UP!)

Emma turned 3!!!

 She blew out the candles, but got a little too close and burned her upper lip. Luckily it didn't hurt her too bad, it just scared her and you can see it on her face in this picture.

 Jackson really wanted some milk apparently...

 For birthdays all the kids get a new shirt so everyone gets a present on every birthday.

Here are the kids in their new birthday shirts.

 I blow up a pack of balloons for the birthday person too. Emma got all pink balloons.

 Emma picked, with a little help from me and steering her away from McDonald's or Wendy's, for her birthday dinner, Pizza Pie Cafe. Mmmm, I'll lunch there with anyone, just say the word!

 Emma turned into a fairy princess when her present from Grandma and Grandpa Herrington arrived. She LOVES it and it looks so dang cute on her!

This little man makes me so happy. His smily is contageous and I can't seem to get enough of him.

Here he is enjoying a Scooby cracker! He loves 'em!

In other goings on...

I'm potty training Emma so she can go to Miss Janae's preschool next month. She is stubborn and doesn't want to try to go all the time and will put up a fight until I tell her I need to try too...I hope she catches on soon. I feel like a bad mom seeing kids younger than her already potty trained. What's wrong with me that I can't get my kids potty trained? I know she'll catch on and she won't start kindergarten in diapers, it's just that I know she will be much happier when she's in underwear all the time and not a wet diaper.

Ethan claims he's not exctied for 1st grade. I think he's going to love it. I always loved new school years, new adventures, and new friends. I think he's going to miss his best buddy from kindergarten who is moving. He's reading well and loving it. He's been participating in the library reading program this summer. He reads so much a week, and goes to a class where he gets to be with other kids and have stories read to them and then they make a craft relating to a story they read. It's good for him and the crafts are fun and cute and the best thing...it's all FREE! We will be signing him up again next summer!

Jackson is gaining weight and chunking out and I love it. He laughs just a few giggles for me, but Ethan can really get him laughing. My kids have always laughed better when kids made them laugh than when an adult tried to make them laugh. He goes to nursery with me on those Sundays that Mike can't take him (I go in and sing with the nursery kids) and does great. All the leaders want to hold him and he doesn't seem to mind at all. I'm hoping that the stranger anxiety doesn't set in with him. He's so social and makes everyone smile. I had two people ask me last Sunday if he was always as happy as he was at the time. I got to say YES!

Mike is working hard and loves his job and his calling. Though it's time consuming, the blessings out number the sacrifice.

I'm trying to stay sane and keep my kids happy until school starts. I'm looking forward to getting out and walking Emma to preschool or biking her with her and Jackson in my bike trailer. I'd bike more now, but Jackson isn't sitting up as well as he needs to be to sit up in the trailer. I miss getting out but can't stand how hot it is these days and my swim suit is still a little too snug on my "mommy tummy." My AC is working great and keeping us cool.

I'm excited for summer to be over, but I'm not at the same time....

Life!

*I'm tired!

*I have a headache-probably because I'm so tired!

*My house looks like a tornado has come through...all the time! Toys, markers, crayons, paper, stickers everywhere...constantly!

*I hear, "I'm bored!" "He or she hit me, punched me pushed me, etc" all the time!

*Sunday is not a day of rest for me. I get myself and 3 kids ready and out the door and on time to church every week. I then have to entertain them and keep them quiet...all by myself!

*I am EXHAUSTED after sacrament meeting every Sunday!

*I have very tired arms by 2:00 pm every Sunday!

*I hardly see my husband during the week!

*Ethan is complaining because he has to teach the family home evening lesson and he doesn't know what to teach.

*My house may or may not get vacuumed or mopped every week!

*Ethan forgot his Star Wars hoodie at school Friday, the only day it was cold enough to need a hoodie!

But I wouldn't change one thing!

*I'm tired because Jackson waked up in the middle of the night, just to cuddle with me. Then he wakes up about 6:30 to eat and goes right back to sleep.

*My house has had Tornado Emma rip through, but she does leave fun pictures.

*Ethan and Emma are bored, because I've been ready for the day by breakfast and instead of turning on the TV, I suggest games, legos, crafts, etc to keep us busy and spend time together. They get over their boredom quickly!

*Because Jackson wakes up at 6:30 and then goes right back to sleep, it gives me a chance to read my scriptures in a quiet house.

*Mike is in the bishopric and I know the Lord has blessed me, him, our kids, and our family as a whole because of his service and dedication to the Lord and to our ward.

*I have a ton of stuff in my church bag to keep the kids quiet...they love it all!

*I love to listen to Ethan teach FHE because it shows me how much he has learned, wheather from me or his primary leaders.

*When my baby is napping during the day, I like to keep things quiet and spend time with Emma while Ethan's at school.

*Friday's weather turned around by the time school was out and Ethan is so excited to come home that the little things may be forgotten.

If I weren't tired, frustrated, or live in a semi-unclean home, it would mean that I wouldn't have

him



or her

 or him

 and without him

*my life would be boring.

*I wouldn't know the joy of being a wife and a mother

*I wouldn't have unconditional love from all 4 of the above

*My life wouldn't mean as much to me as it does right now!