Good Old Fashioned Update

These get longer and longer the more kids I have! And if you want to see pictures I guess you'll have to get on Instagram. And if you read through all of this- 50 points for you. The other night Lindy told me that she had looked on my blog for something and had ended up spending over an hour just reading through my old blog posts. It made me sad to think how much of Landon and Lincoln has not been written about compared to Matthew and Koyle. But that is just life and we will be happy with what we get.
Matthew: This boy is loving school right now. He especially loves his spanish class and I get daily updates of what they learned. His best buddies at his new school are Max & Henry. They are twins and apparently the three of them are quite the trio at school. We've been giving him a hard time lately because we found out he was playing a game with the girls at recess because he didn't want to play what the boys were doing. When we asked him what the boys were playing he said, "Freeze Tag." He can always make us laugh. He is reading the Fablehaven series right now and loving it. He always wants me to read his books with him, but he can fly through them so much faster than I can, and I usually have a reading list of my own too. But I try to read things together with the boys at night. He is so into music right now. He loves to turn music on my phone and carry it around with him. He got to start Boy Scouts in August and he thinks it's the greatest thing. I hate it when people complain and whine about scouts; I think it is a wonderful and much needed program for these young boys. Tonight he taught us a FHE lesson that he prepared all on his own. Matthew is a gifted teacher-at least when it comes to the gospel. I was reminded of a blessing Justin gave him a few years back that talked about him being a teacher. Someday Matthew will be an amazing missionary for the Lord. Of course his lesson tonight included a homemade game (with a game board), complete with interactive gospel questions such as 'Do you believe in the Godhead?' 'Share your testimony' and 'What was a time that God answered your prayers?' We are so blessed to have him in our family. He is seriously almost as tall as me; we measured the other night and he comes up to the base of my neck. What?!? He did not enjoy soccer this year but he is really looking forward to trying wrestling this winter. Hopefully he likes it because I would love for him to find one physical activity/sport that he enjoys to keep his body healthy and strong as he grows. He is into Ninjago these days, which means the other boys are too because they always follow his lead.
Koyle: There is never a dull moment with Koyle. He still a sports fanatic and has developed quite the reputation for it. People love asking him questions just to get him talking about stats and schedules and games. Justin even admitted the other night that Koyle knows more about college football this season than he does! (Which is really saying something for Koyle, and about Justin right now.) He loves school but the work is easy and a little boring for him. Every day he gives me an update about who got in trouble that day in class and why, and how many minutes long recess was. He's a champ at sitting and doing his homework with me every day. He has started piano lessons this fall and is progressing quickly. Sometimes it takes a little motivation to get him started because Koyle is easily overwhelmed by tasks, but once he gets going he learns his songs quickly. His reading is getting better and better, but it's still a bit of a fight to make him sit and read sometimes. He likes books and stories, he just has 'more important things to do' than sit still with a book. Koyle is my most helpful kid around the house and will do a hundred little tasks I ask him to do. You can motivate him to do pretty much anything if sports are on the line. He is growing up before my eyes and transforming from little boy Koyle into a full blown kid.
Landon: He is great. He's really a pretty easy kid to have around. He plays great with his brothers, or by himself if he needs to. He's happy to help mom do her housework, and loves to bake cookies with me. He has been doing a joy school preschool group and he loves all the things he is learning. We go to a little music class on Wednesdays and he is a bit of a grump while we are there and pretends not to like it but I catch him singing the songs all the time at home. He loves watching Wild Kratts, Wreck it Ralph, Nemo, and Brave...really he just likes watching movies but those are a few of his favorite go-to's. He is still a fishing fool and will convince Justin to take him fishing "at the ocean" (the pond by our house) any chance he can. He adapts so well to whatever his brothers are doing. If he's on his own he likes to play animals, or Wild Kratts, or house (I attribute this to the fact that all his friends from church his age are girls). He is happy to play basketball and football with Koyle. And he loves doing Ninjago or Star Wars with Matthew. His stubborness has been less strong lately but his sensitivity has been high. If I say something even remotely mean or sarcastic, or if I use my angry voice, he will break down in tears. Tonight I had asked him repeatedly to throw something in the garbage and he was ignoring me. So I said, "If you don't throw that away I am going to throw you away." He melted like a little puddle on the floor sobbing because he didn't want me to throw him in the trash. Sweet little boy. I am trying to be more careful of the things I say to him. I love the preschool age and Landon and I are happy together all day.
Lincoln: This little boy has recaptured my heart lately. He is entering my favorite stage and every day gets better and better with him. He is so much less clingy than he used to be and is generally happy to toddle around the house with me. I can turn the corner without him screaming bloody murder...as long as he is close behind or I don't stay out of sight for too long. He LOVES his gray shoes and has to wear them all day every day. If I try and put other shoes on him he will scream and throw a fit and kick them off. If we have to take our shoes off at someone's house he will cry and cry about it. In the morning he will look for his shoes first thing and carry them around following you until you put them on. What are we going to do when he grows out of them? His latest trick is shooting people. He makes the gun noise and points something at you and if you react like he got you he will laugh and laugh. He also loves to make growling animal noises and he will say the vroom vroom sound when he drives his cars. He also knows Moo for cows and woof for dogs and meow for cats. He can point to his nose when you ask him and his head...other parts are hit and miss. He loves taking baths. He has to have a fork at mealtimes and hates wearing a bib. I recently got a new bib that has a snap instead of velcro so he can't pull it off. He gets so frustrated whenever I put it on him because he can't pull it off. He loves to play with balls, especially marbles. If I go down to the basement with him he enjoys playing in the toy room, but he won't stay down there without me. None of my kids do though so I'm not expecting that to ever change. He loves his blanket and is still a pretty snuggly kid, always running over to me every few minutes for a hug or a quick hold. His naps are all over the place right now. When we are just home he prefers taking one good nap in the afternoon. BUT, most days he falls asleep in the car when we go pick the boys up from kindergarten and preschool so he gets a little morning nap (cause I leave him in the car to sleep a lot when we get home), but lately he won't always lay down later in the afternoon for a second nap which just makes him super cranky come evening. Problems of a 4th child; there's really nothing I can do about it except just give it more time. He loves playing outside on the deck and I just know he is going to be so sad when it starts snowing and he can't dawdle in and out. He makes all of us smile and laugh and he brings us together as a family. He reminds me to put aside the list of chores and get down on the floor and play. I sure love him.
Carissa: I can finally say I am in a good place right now. I finally am feeling settled and have some stable friends. Since soccer ended our days have been calm and for the first time in months and months I feel like we are a functioning family and able to do those little things that make a big difference. I have time to just sit and listen to the boys talk and tell me all the random things they want to say. We have time to follow through with things they ask to do or need to finish up. We have time to be mindful about how we are treating each other and what we are doing with our time. It has been a much needed rest from the rat race of treading water that we have been doing since moving to Pocatello. I painted the boys bathroom this week and it makes me so happy every time I see it. I hated the color that was in there and now it is fresh and bright and I even got some cute decorations for it. I recently did an overhaul of the play room and got rid of a bunch of toys and moved some shelves around and rearranged things. It functions so much better and I think the kids have liked the change too. And something about empty shelve and empty spaces makes me so happy. I don't like having stuff shoved in every space. I am really enjoying serving in Young Womens as secretary. The girls have been a great blessing in my life and I am always refreshed by their youthful energy. Justin has been home more the past two weeks and it is amazing how quickly his presence in our life buoys me up and makes all my troubles disappear. I can do anything with him by my side. It is nice not to feel isolated and alone all the time. And sleeping together on a regular basis has it's perks too. Oh...and I almost forgot to mention one really big thing! Justin and I have decided to go to Peru on a medical service trip this March. We have always talked about doing trips like this together and reminded ourselves that there is no time like the present to do the things you want. There will always be a hundred reasons not to go, so you have to find the reasons TO go. This trip just happened to come to us and fit perfectly. Minus the fact that neither of us speak spanish! But it falls during an elective rotation month for Justin and he hadn't set anything up for it yet. It also happens to fall exactly during our kids 2 week spring break so we can take them to grandma's house, etc. and it will be so much easier to arrange help with them not in school. The trip is definitely expensive for us right now but with Justin able to start moonlighting this fall we will be able to make what we need to pay for the trip without having to really take anything out of our normal living budget. We are also kind of calling it our ten year anniversary celebration which will be in January. I'm not going to lie, the thought of both of us going on an international trip right now was really scary to me at first. And still is a little if I think too much about it. But my mom told me to stop being crazy and I listened. Peru is a pretty safe place in terms of world destinations right now. I got my first passport in the mail the other day which was pretty exciting!
All in all life is good at this moment in time. We are ready for the holidays and all the fun and joy they will bring and looking forward to hosting Thanksgiving and Christmas at our house.
Justin: Maybe I should try harder to thing of things to write about him. He is just working right now. I could brag about him and say that he is doing awesome and people who work with him tell me all the time how great he is and how much they prefer working with him over some of the other residents. Things like that make me happy because I know he's awesome and I love when other people see that he is awesome too. He got to go on a week long hunting trip with his dad and Troy a few weeks ago. He didn't get anything but two others they were with did so there was still some good hunting action and plenty of hiking and hauling involved. He just does his work without complaining which I am grateful for. He tries hard to create moments with the boys and spend one on one time with them. He's a champ and we all love him. Even Lincoln has learned the sound the garage door makes when it opens and he will run down the stairs to meet Justin in the garage every night when he comes home. And the few times he is awake in the morning when Justin leaves he will cry and cry. Landon always has to give dad a hug and a kiss before he leaves for work.