This morning I came out from getting dressed to find the twins had taken their clothes & diapers off, gotten the strawberries off the counter and piled them onto the front entryway rug. As soon as I turned the corner Asher said, "Look at big mess Avery did, mom!" #neveradullmoment #strawberriesaretheirfavorite

"All better now!"

As we were waiting in the doctor's office yesterday Avery kept saying, "Mom, what da heck...you have hole in yo knee!" Haha. I love the things toddlers say.

This was the follow up with the orthopedic surgeon. She was really looking forward to her appointment with her "good doctor." Ever since her surgery she kept saying "the good doctor helpa me!" And every time we drive past Riverton hospital she says the same thing.

Her elbow has healed up great since the surgery and getting the cast off, and she now has the ok to jump on the tramp again! She was pretty scared but wanted to try, and slowly worked up the courage to get on it yesterday. #facingfears #nomorebrokenbonesplease #terrifictwos

Back to school for the big kids!

The kids went back to school this week!
Halle is now a 2nd grader and Luke is a 4th grader!
Halle has been planning her outfit for days, especially the choker necklace which are very in style right now (just like when I was in Middle school!).
Luke was happier than the look on his face shows...at least once he got there and saw his friends :).
Both kids were pretty reluctant to go back and dreading summer being over, but they both love their teachers and have been happy about going since the first day.
As for mom, I'm ready to get back to routines and earlier bedtimes but not ready for them to be gone all day! Summer went too quick!










The twins had fun saying bye to the kids at the school and then we stayed and played awhile on the fun big kid playground.





These two are going to miss Luke and Halle being gone all day! They have all had so much fun together this summer! Luke and Halle have been so cute to include Asher and Avery in playing with them this summer, whether it's playing make believe games down in the basement, or playing outside, or playing at the park or museum or water park (or whatever other activity we went to do). I am so grateful for these kids and so happy they all get along so great and take care of each other! And I'm sure proud of Luke and Halle and what kind older siblings they are!

Back to school!

These twinners are getting too big! It's been fun having more time with them now that the big kids are back in school.



Here they are swinging. Asher would swing all day if we let him. And only mommy can push him in the swing. No one else! They can't even touch him or he gets super mad.

Avery is still pretty scared of the swing but she will now sit on this one and let me push her if it's so soft and slow she's barely moving. And if you see her lately, she'll most likely have pink or red smeared all over her mouth, haha. "My lips so pretty, mom!" Her and Halle both love lipstick!

Cast-free!

And the cast is off! It was a hot month to have to stay away from water but I think we'll make up for it between now and when school starts! Avery is still being really protective of her arm and won't use it but we're hoping she gets used to it soon. She keeps talking about it and saying "the good doctor help-a-my arm! And it's all better now!" The kids have been really cute with her and careful with her and her arm. She's such a cute girl and has been so good and patient through this whole thing!

Draper suspension bridge hike. It was so hot and the twins wanted to be carried most the way, but still worth it! Last year I about had a panic attack crossing this bridge and the kids still laugh about it...I blame it on that I didn't know it would shake and that it's so high up! This time I'm happy to say I was able to cross it fine and help Avery across who was a little scared (she's two so she has a good excuse 😉). Loving enjoying the outdoors as a family this summer! ❤️

Ice cream!

A cold, windy summer day yesterday called for some McDonalds play place time, happy meals, and of course ice cream cones!

Baby

Everywhere we went today baby & stroller had to come along 😊💗. Avery loves this baby and pushing her all around the house. We call her a little mom, not only because of how much she loves this baby but how she kind of tries to "mother" Asher 😂.

Sometimes she'll load the stroller up with dozens of little things along with the baby to push around the house. I caught her the other day talking to each thing as she put and took them out of the stroller. So cute! She is such a smart little thing!

Cast! And eating Mac & Cheese off the ground

Avery got her hard cast on Friday. She had been saying she wanted a purple one but when she was shown the colors she loved the pink and quickly decided she wanted that color 😊. It matched her outfit perfectly! She was very brave but of course getting her temporary cast cut off was a little scary and her poor little arm was shaking and she said it hurt 😢. Poor sweet girl. The nurses were good and got the new cast on pretty quickly. I held Avery the whole time and helped her feel better. As we walked out and started again saying "the doctors help-a-me!" which is what she has been saying through this whole ordeal. She's such a sweetheart.

Since we were downtown at Primary Children's hospital we stopped at daddy's work and he came down to the road to say hi to us and to see Avery's cast. After that she was worried about where Asher was (she doesn't like to be without him for long and gets worried about him) so we hurried back to grandma Lori's house to see him and show him her cast 😀. Here she is on the way home.



Lately when Avery gets hurt or worried and Asher isn't around she says "I worried about Dashy" or "Sashy" (she calls him both). They aren't apart very often but since she has hurt her arm this is the third time she has had to go to the hospital without him and she is always concerned about him. I think it's so cute and it's usually when she gets sad that she says she's worried about him and that he might be sad too, and I always reassure her that he's ok and that we will see him soon 👫💗💙.

This was the day before, but it was so funny. They had been eating Mac and Cheese for lunch and Asher accidentally spilled his bowl, but it was no big deal. They just started eating it off the floor! Haha! I about stopped them but then thought, oh why not. The floors are pretty clean 😉.

Riverton Days parade

Tonight we went to the Riverton Days parade! It was hot but luckily we got a shaded spot.
Luke and Halle had fun collecting candy and were nice to share the candy with the twins. I think they had a lot of fun running around and driving for taffy :).
Asher loved playing in the dirt on the corner we were standing by. He would play in the dirt and then if something came by he was interested in he would run over (motorcycles, firetruck, train, horses) watch with us for a minute, and then run right back to the dirt.
Avery was very interested in the horses that came by and the princesses (Riverton City royalty). She also loves the bus and the train.





I love nights like these where we get to spend time together! Although we were hot and sweaty and had dust and dirt all over us from Asher playing in it we had a great time! Love this sweet family of mine ❤️❤️❤️.

Aquarium!

Luke and Halle are still in California with Grandma and Grandpa so today we went to the aquarium for a morning activity and it was fun to spend a little time with just the twins! We missed having big brother and sister but it's fun for mommy to have a little time to pay close attention to these little cuties.
They love the aquarium and get so excited to see all the fishies! They run to each new tank and point out each fish to me and to each other. I have so much fun taking them places! They are at the cutest age where everything is so interesting and exciting. And they were so well behaved today, even when it was time to go they were good about it and I put their little backpack leashes on with no complaints and we walked out to the parking lot (I don't dare take them into big parking lots without them in case one of the babies decides to run!).
Such little loves! So grateful for them! 💗💙👫

Mimi

Avery calls Milly "Mimi" and has really started paying a lot of attention to her lately. She loves to pet her and says things like "I love a Mimi!" The other day Avery said "I let Mimi use lamby Mom, look!" (Lamby is Avery's favorite stuffed animal lamb she sleeps with. She actually has two). She showed me how she set lamby next to Milly and was sharing it. It was really sweet. The she said "take a picture, mom!" So I did 😊. Cute girl.

Ice cream!

A cold, windy summer day yesterday called for some McDonalds play place time, happy meals, and of course ice cream cones!

Lipstick girl

Looks like we have another girl with a lipstick obsession. Avery spotted the tube on the counter and got so excited pointing and saying "dat, Mom! I love it!" over and over. I handed it to her and she knew exactly what to do 😂 (I don't wear lipstick all that often but Halle sure does so I'm sure Avery caught on). When I asked her to smile she somehow knew a subtle closed lip smile is the thing to do with freshly applied lipstick😉💄. Our cute, sweet, girly girl!

Summer shenanigans!

Asher bonked his head and was sad so my kids came up with idea of drawing a face on the watermelon and making him a "watermelon guy" to cheer Asher up 😂. It worked! Asher wouldn't look at the camera but his tears were gone. Loving these lazy summer mornings and having my older two home. They play so cute with the twins! 😊

Grandma Lori

Today is Mother's Day, and of course it gives me an opportunity to reflect on my mom.
"All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my mother." -Abraham Lincoln.
This could not be more of a true statement when I think of my mom. She is the best in every way and we are so lucky to have her!

Finally asleep

When out of town and you refuse to sleep in your pack and play because you want to sleep together. Yes, they fell asleep like this! Twins 😂❤.

Almost done!

Last night Cory and I had the capstone dinner for his Executive MBA program. I can't believe he's down to his last three months (hallelujah!!) It's been a busy two years but he's loved the program so it's made it all worth it. I'm so proud of him and all his hard work juggling the program, work, and our family, and he does it all so well! He's tried very hard, and I'd say succeeded, to still be present as much as possible so he can be around and involved with the kids and I, even with how busy he's been. We'll be glad to have all our weekends and nights back with him! ❤

Almost done!

Last night Cory and I had the capstone dinner for his Executive MBA program. I can't believe he's down to his last three months (hallelujah!!) It's been a busy two years but he's loved the program so it's made it all worth it. I'm so proud of him and all his hard work juggling the program, work, and our family, and he does it all so well! He's tried very hard, and I'd say succeeded, to still be present as much as possible so he can be around and involved with the kids and I, even with how busy he's been. We'll be glad to have all our weekends and nights back with him! ❤

Avery is just so sweet and adorable, we love her so much and she brings us so much joy! She has gotten to be so enthusiastic! I think she gets more excited about things than any of my kids ever have at this age. She'll do things like, whenever I say we are going to go somewhere, no matter where it is (the store, Costco, music time, the museum, etc.) she'll respond with, "ok, mom! Gate!" (Great 😊) Or "yay!!"
Whenever I suggest something like let's read a book, or play with blocks, or whatever it may be, she also comes back with the happiest, enthusiastic little responses like "ok mom!"
I think it's the cutest thing, and I must say her happiness and enthusiasm for life is contagious! When she gets so excited I can't help but be excited, too :).
She also gets super excited when we see something driving that makes her excited, like a bus or a dog or something like that.
Tonight it was so funny, we were driving to the store and stopped at an intersection when she said very excitedly "oh, look mom! A rock!" I looked to the side of the road to where she was pointing and sure enough, there were a few larger sized decorative boulder type rocks on the side of the road. I thought it was so cute and funny she would get so excited about a rock, but that's the way she is - she seems to find happiness and excitement in even the little things! Love this about her. Somehow I don't think she will grow out of this enthusiasm for life, it just seems in her nature. I think she will always be full of happiness and life and enthusiasm, which I love! How lucky I am to be this sweet, smart, busy, happy girl's mom!

Visiting Grandma Jojo

Last night we went to Jojo's house for Sunday dinner. The kids love visiting her and couldn't believe when I told them she is 79 years old. They told me she looks like she's in her sixties. I told Jojo that and I'm sure it made her night 😀. I told the kids it's all the vitamins she takes 😉. Luke is already almost as tall as her! She is really cute with the kids. She's one spunky and fun great grandma.

Future chess whiz

Yesterday Asher was quiet for awhile in the basement while I was in the other room. I came out to find he had taken Luke's chess set out and stood all the prices on the board all by himself. What a smart little guy! He must have been observing Luke. Asher is very observant. A chess whiz in the making 😉



So I sent the picture around to my family (grandpa Sheldon, grandma Lori, brothers and sisters, etc) and grandpa Sheldon responded back with this picture of Avery he must have take the other day when they were at my house (the twins love to steal their glasses) and said "looks like he's getting ready to play this girl." Haha. Love this cute kiddos!

New Years!