2014...so far!

We rang 2014 in with a bang!

We started by going to a party hosted by a family in our ward. They're basically evil geniuses who (starting at 4:00) set all the clocks in their house ahead 4 hours, party hard for 4 hours, and then ring in the new year at midnight (8:00) by banging on pots and pans and pretty much just making a ton of noise. Then they get their kids in bed by 9 (geniuses, I tell you)!!

We got home from this party around 9 and I got the girls in bed by 9:30. One of the perks of not having a 'baby' anymore is that none of my kids were crabby or frustrated staying up that late (which I kind of expected from Sammie, but she handled it so well)!

After about an hour at the party, Clayton caught on to the deception. He wears a watch all the time now, and couldn't be fooled because he knew that his watch was right and the other clocks were wrong (smarty). Fortunately, we convinced him not to ruin the secret for the other kids. It made him feel like such a grown up to be in on the secret. He melts my heart. For real.

Because Clayton was on to us, he knew that it wasn't actually after midnight when we got home. Justin and I agreed that Clayton and Noah could stay up until real midnight if they wanted. They both wanted. So the four of us ate pizza rolls, read a few chapters of Percy Jackson (we're reading The Lightning Thief - such a fun read aloud for our family), played Imaginiff (which was a really fun game to play with them), ate ice cream sandwiches, and counted down to the new year.

I can't remember the last time I actually celebrated the new year (shoot, I can't remember the last time I stayed up until the new year). It was a lot of fun though, and I so look forward to making this a new tradition!

A few pictures from our new years:
Noah decided to ring in the new year in a very zen state.

He was meditating everywhere. Not sure he found his inner calm, but it sure was entertaining to see all the places he meditated.

Me and Sam. She had been sad about something (see the tears in her eyes), but getting the camera out made her smile.

 Me and sassy Miss Jos.

 Clayton's face here cracks me up. This kid is seriously the best!

The four of us who made it to midnight. It's hard to take a picture of a group of four. In hindsight I'm thinking we should have used the automatic timer, but this way was more entertaining!

On the first day of 2014 we got busy taking down Christmas (which is always sad, but I feel like my house always looks so clean and uncluttered afterward). We were gearing up for the polar vortex which was making its way over to us.

For those who have been living under a rock, the polar vortex is a massive cold that hit the Midwest and New England earlier this week. We experienced temperatures in the -30 to -40 range for two whole days. Schools were closed (for 3 days actually), roads were considered hazardous and closed to everyone except emergency vehicles and first responders, and just about everything was closed (not that you could have gone anywhere anyway). It was bitter cold. It was so cold that even Disco wouldn't go out to go to the bathroom! I would open the backdoor to let him out and my lungs would burn - and I wasn't even outside the house! Thankfully we were prepared and were able to spend three cozy days just hanging out.

The big freeze hit our house on Monday. The Sunday before, it was not too cold outside (mid 30's) and snowing like crazy. Church had been cancelled so we went outside for some backyard fun while we had the chance!

Umm, let's talk about how adorable this baby is. Seriously, she kills me.

The snow was too soft for a proper snowman, so the kids an I made a snow turtle. Noah named him Sheldon. Get it? 'Shell'-don! Ha!

We then turned our deck stairs into a mini sledding hill. It wasn't our best sledding ever, but the kids had a great time with it!

After a while, they realized they didn't actually need the sled and could go down penguin style. We were laughing pretty hard!

Monday and Tuesday we stayed put. We hunkered down and road out the big freeze together and had quite a bit of fun.

Justin worked Sunday night. He was also supposed to work Monday morning doing C-sections but because of the weather, they cancelled all non-emergent procedures and sent home everyone who wasn't absolutely necessary. When Justin got home he couldn't get his car into the garage because of the amount of snow that had fallen (even though he'd shoveled the drive the day before so he could get out for work). So my poor babe had to shovel the drive. In -40 degree weather. He assured me it wasn't as bad as I thought it was, but it sure looked cold!

We weathered the big freeze with some movies, some games, some reading, some cleaning, and lots and lots of playing.

This makes me laugh. The girls had disappeared and were playing quietly when we heard Sam cry. Not a hurt cry, but cry nonetheless. Justin went up to check on her and called "Ari, come up here! Quick!" I could tell by his voice that it was going to be funny so I grabbed the camera. Sammie had tried to climb INTO her crib and had gotten stuck. She wasn't too happy about it, but it made us laugh (**side note: we are wondering if she's ready for a big girl bed. I vote no. She's my baby and there are just some things I'm not ready to let her do.)

We played some checkers. It took some time for the boys to figure it out, but once they got the hang of it they loved it. Clayton's actually not too bad. It won't be long before he stars beating me on a regular basis!

Finally, on Wednesday, the roads were deemed safe for travel. School was still closed but at least we were able to get out! We went to the gym (I was in desperate need of serious physical activity) and the boys gymnastics and karate classes were on. Clayton recently got his yellow belt. Yellow is the third belt (after white and orange). He's pretty proud of himself (and we are pretty proud of him too)! He's loving karate!

On Thursday they opened the schools back up (as I type this, the Hallelujah Chorus is playing in my head) and the boys went back to school. They were excited to get back but not excited about waking up early (here here).

Finally, today, I went on a field trip with Clayton's grade. We went here:

This is part of the Studebaker Museum and Northern Indiana Museum of History. It was a fun field trip, but if I ever have to chaperone a group of 11 fourth graders again, it will be too soon. My favorite part was being with my guy:

 Ha! Check out his long tongue!

This one's my favorite. On the bus ride back from the field trip, he hugged me and told me how glad he was that I came and how he always wants me on his field trips. This is exactly why I do this. I don't particularly love field trip chaperoning, but I most definitely love Clayton. I would do this a million times just to feel his tight hug and hear his sweet thanks. Man alive, this kid's the best!

So now we're back to normal around here. Schedules and routines and all that goes with raising this brood. It was nice to get those extra three days of vacation (especially since Justin was around for most of it - that was one of my favorite things), but I'm glad that we're returning to normal now.

And here's a picture of Sammie. Just because she's adorable and squishy.

Our 2014 has gotten off to a great start! This is going to be a busy, crazy, and exciting year for us. I can't wait! It's going to be a good one. I can feel it!

Proud

Guess which two boys rocked their second quarter report cards?

If you guessed that it was these two hams, you'd be right:

These two goofy boys were all business at school this past quarter. Two boys - two near perfect report cards. Justin and I are so proud of our two silly scholars. They each got a new Skylander as a reward for their academic excellence this quarter. Great job Clayton and Noah! Keep up the great work! We love you!

Just in case...

...you were wondering what the current obsession around our house is (well, besides the obvious nose picking):

This is why...

...you shouldn't wrestle with your brother after bedtime...in the dark:

Clayton, in the dark, with the bedpost - 1

Noah's eye - 0

(**We didn't realize this had happened until the next morning. Noah was very defensive of Clayton because he didn't want him to get in trouble. Neither of them got in trouble - other than a stern talking-to. We figure, boys will be boys and Noah's black eye is the reminder - at least for now - that wrestling in the dark is probably not the best idea.**)



Snow Day

I looked outside today and all I saw was this:
The view of the house across the street (which I can usually see perfectly).
The neighbor boy's car.
As soon as I saw this I changed whatever plans I had for the day that were going to take me out of the house. Being Saturday, I didn't have many plans (phew) and I figured the kids and I would just hunker down inside the house and watch/wait out the storm. Coming from Vermont, we're no stranger to storms, and truthfully, Indiana storms are more tolerable than Vermont ones (those Nor'easters are brutal). However, I'm not a fan of snow - in any form - and do whatever I can to avoid spending time in it.
My boys had a different opinion. "It's snowing!" Clayton screamed when he looked out the back window this morning. "I'm going to go change so I can go out in it!" "Me too! Me too!" shouted Noah (a.k.a. - Repeat). In record time, both boys were dressed and ready for the snow. When Disco saw them thundering down the stairs all excited and looking for snow clothes, he too got caught up in the excitement. He started running laps from the back door to the closet with the snow clothes, encouraging the boys to be faster so that they could all get outside! As I helped my little men put on snow pants, sweaters, scarves, hats, mittens, coats, etc. I told them that if they were going to go outside they had to be out for at least 10 minutes (I have a strict rule that if you are going to go play in the snow, you have to be out there AT LEAST double the time it takes me to get you into your gear). "Okay, but what if we want to be out there longer?" asked Clayton. I told them that they could stay out there as long as they wanted (feeling confident that they wouldn't last the ten minutes).
I was wrong. The three of them (I'm including the dog) bolted out the door and proceeded to have the time of their lives.
The snow came up past Clayton's knees. He loved that!
At first, Noah could hardly walk in the snow. He didn't let that stop him though.
Clayton and Disco taking the first ride down the slide. It was so full of snow that they did less actual sliding and more pushing the snow off the slide. Fun either way!
Noah and Disco got the second trip down the slide (a smoother ride for sure)!
The bottom of the slide.
Disco was going CRAZY! The boys would throw the snow and he'd go nuts chasing it all down. It was very entertaining to watch.
The boys ended up staying outside for about 30 minutes (much longer than I'd anticipated). Noah came in first because he'd lost a mitten (and I'm not about to go out there and find it), and Clayton followed shortly after. What better to help you warm up after playing out in the snow than a nice cup of hot chocolate!?!
So now everyone is warm and cozy inside the house while the storm continues on outside. Today I'm thankful for a warm home, delicious hot chocolate, and two little boys who are able to see the fun and adventure in a storm that would normally make me cringe.

Swimming Lessons

In order to attempt to get caught up I need to post a little bit about the boys swimming lessons this summer. They took swim lessons for four weeks and did much better than they did last year. I don't trust them in the water by themselves by any means, but hopefully in one more year they will have finally caught on.

With the exception of living in Vegas until Clayton was 2 we've never lived in a place where learning to swim was considered a critical skill. It's not as if Vermont and Indiana are exactly full of pools. I think it'd be a little more important for them to learn to rake leaves and shovel snow.

However, they did take swimming lessons and I'm proud of them. They each handled their lessons in their own style. Clayton was full of anxiety that he was going to drown and, while he did make progress, there were some days where I wanted to pull him out of the pool and just forget about it. He is careful to a fault in this case. Noah is the opposite. He had to be constantly reminded to join the group and pay attention. He just wanted to do his own thing his own way. Unfortunately, his own way includes a lot of recklessness which is no bueno in a pool. So I had one kid who was clinging to the instructor every second that his feet couldn't touch and one kid who would get distracted in the middle of the pool and have the teachers hurry over before he fell off his noodle.

So that was swim lessons in a nutshell. I'm hoping that we'll be able to find an indoor pool to practice in over the winter. Otherwise there's no telling what they'll forget by next summer.

Here's the pictures (these are in no order other than Noah's first):
Noah loved to go down the slide, off the diving board, etc. Once he just decided that he was going to go down the slide. There was quite a scramble as teachers/parents rushed to get to him before he landed in the water!
Trying to backfloat with Miss Andy. Miss Andy was a really great teacher, but I didn't approve of her swimsuit. Just so you know. Also, Noah is an amazing backfloater in the bathtub, but he didn't like being told to do it in the pool. Typical Noah, if it's not on his terms, forget it!
He always looked so happy in the water. I think if he would learn to swim without the noodle I would never be able to get him out of the water! He's a fish!
I love this picture of Noah, but as I said before, I do not approve of Miss Andy's swimsuit. He was in a class with some friends from church, Daxton and Chloe. It was nice that he had friends in his class!
I didn't realize until just now that I don't have as many pictures of Clayton swimming as I do of Noah. It's probably because Clayton's face looked like this so much of the time:
That's his anxiety/concentration face. I love how careful he is and how badly he always wants to follow the rules. It's such a great skill, unless you're learning something new that doesn't come easily to you (cough cough, swimming, cough cough). Sometimes you have to - literally - jump in and learn as you go. Unfortunately for Clayton, you can't learn to swim before you get in a pool.
However, by the end of the four weeks, he could backfloat by himself for 10 seconds at a time AND when we took our trip to Wisconsin right after swimming lessons had ended, he was able to swim completely unassisted almost halfway across the pool! I'm so proud of him, especially because I know how hard and scary this is for him. He really did try his best and that's all I can ask of him!

I'm not going to be sending the boys to the pool alone any time soon, but I'm proud of the progress they made this summer! Good job boys!

Take Me Out To The Ballgame...

The boys started baseball this week. It was so fun! I was such a proud mama watching my little men play ball. They loved it and I loved watching how much fun they were having.

Noah plays on a t-ball team with other three, four, and five year olds. Clayton's registration somehow got mixed up and they had him on a coach pitch team for 6-8 year olds. Since he's going to be six so soon, the parks and rec people gave him the option of switching to the younger team or staying with the older kids. Of course Clayton wanted to stay on the 'big kid' team. I was nervous because we've only been practicing with a tee, but he completely surprised us! He knocked those balls out of the park!

The teams are more like intermural teams. There is no score kept and every kid gets two turns at bat. I like it because it eases the boys into the sport and it's especially good for Clayton's anxiety to know that he will for sure get a turn and that he will 'win' no matter what. The only thing I don't like about these games is that they are back to back for an hour apiece. Since they either start at 5:30 or 6:30 this makes for a long night for Miss Jo who, unfortunately, doesn't get to play in either game!

Okay, on to the pictures. Since I won't be taking my camera to every game, I figured I'd load up on pictures to post now:
Noah's team is called the Bluebirds. It's a really cute mess. There are as many dads on the field as there are kids! Here is Noah getting ready to field the ball:
Getting a good word from one of the coaches after making it to first base. My favorite part of the games was watching these little guys run off in all directions when the ball was hit. So cute!
Best action shot of the day. Noah was a powerhouse hitting that ball. He's such a little slugger!
Noah's two biggest fans watching him play.
My sweet Noah after a hard played game! Doesn't he look so happy!
Clayton's team is called the Green Snakes. Here he is getting ready for his game.
Ready to field some hits.
Throwing the ball back to the coach.
Getting some batting tips from Dad:
After he'd made his second hit, the coach had to keep reminding him to run. I love watching little kids learn something new. It's so fun!
Running home.
This cute girl had a great time watching her big brothers play ball. It got a bit hairy toward the end of the second game but I was pretty impressed with how well she did. Plus she looked so adorable in that hat that even when she got crabby it was still pretty cute!
My new favorite picture. I love these boys and I'm so proud of them and how well they played today!
So that's baseball. It's pretty much going to be consuming our evenings for the next month, but after seeing how much they loved it, I'm okay with that!