May 23 - Uno

Yesterday, Bryan taught the kids how to play Uno.  They played for a good 45 minutes last night.  Over and over and over.

This morning, someone woke up an hour early and the first words out of his mouth were, "Mom, can you play Uno with me?"  So we played for half an hour in our still kind of dark, quiet house before anyone else was awake.

And as soon as she stepped foot upstairs, Andlie was recruited by him.  And then every spare minute for the rest of the day was filled with a quick game of Uno.

Except for Nora.  Her spare minutes were filled with mischief and running around the house with a big grin on her face.  And finding Andlie's piece of watermelon from lunch and not minding if she does!  Nora loves her some watermelon.

May 22 - Book Nook

Since we've had kids books, we've had a book nook behind the rocking chair.  And every one of our babies love the book nook.  They take turns sitting quietly behind the chair thumbing through books - sometimes giggling or squealing.  It makes my heart happy.

Andlie got her very first yearbook today!  She had fun looking through & finding pictures of herself and her friends!

Tonight we went to Costco.  Daddy stopped to look at new glasses so naturally, we all followed suit.

While we were in our quiet house at the end of the day, Bryan & I flipped through Andlie's Kindergarten journal again.  We found a favorite: "I am from Seedr Sidey."  Made us both smile.

May 21 - Porch

Nora took a seat on Andlie's skateboard this morning.  And then she started moving her little legs so she would roll around.  Smart cookie.

While Nora was busy with her favorite outdoor toy ("chok"), me & Hazey played some baseball/hockey/golf/tennis with his baseball bat & baseball.  He's got a pretty mean arm!

I guess playing outside for a while is kind of tiring because Nora needed a rest for a minute and chose the porch as her resting spot.

Andlie brought her Kindergarten Journal home today!  It was so much fun to look through it with her!  She remembered things from each entry.  She kept saying, "Mom, this is the day that we had a substitute," or, "Mom, this is the day that you helped in my class!"  It was fun to see her spelling and writing improve through the year.  Mostly, it was fun to see how proud she was while we read through it together.  I'm so proud of her.  So proud to be her Mom.  So proud.

May 20 - Reading

Me & Haze gave each other some sweet tats today.  He got a heart on his ankle and I got a monster truck on my wrist. 

We read stories tonight and Nora was loving them.  After I had finished reading, she picked one up and took it over to Andlie.  Andlie flipped through the pages with her and let her point out every "boo-dee," (birdie) every "duckie," every "ba" (ball) that she wanted.  Nora adores her siblings.  Totally adores them.  It's not hard to see why.

May 19 - Color by Numbers

Haze finished his first color by numbers artwork today!  He didn't fully understand that you get to paint the entire shape with the number in it, but he definitely understood to paint each number a certain color.  I love how there are just dots of color on the numbers.  I love him.  I love this beautiful artwork.

While me & Haze were busy painting, Nora was busy with a project of her own.  I should have known she was up to something when it got so quiet.  As you can see by her face, she's very remorseful about it.

We spent the day inside because of rain.  So after dinner, we got the heck outta dodge and went to Riverwoods!  All three kids had so much fun playing at the play place tonight!  Andlie and Hazey even helped Nora go down the slide a few times - which she L.O.V.E.D!  So blessed to have such happy, healthy, wonderful babies.

May 18 - Popsicles

As soon as the air is even a tiny bit warm, it's popsicle time!  And all of the kids know it.  The front porch is one of the best spots to sit & eat popsicles.

I can't believe I'll soon have a Kindergarten graduate!  Hazey & I have a lot of fun hanging out while we're waiting for Andlie to come out of school.  He's my little buddy.

We take starting contests serious around here.  (Especially since our classmates have taught us how serious to be.)

Tonight Nora watched as Andlie & Haze changed in to their jammies.  And then she thought she wanted to try.  She came up to me & said, "Ah, ah, ah!" while she held her arms up.  So I took her shirt off.  And then she tried pulling down her own pants & diaper.  With a lot of success, might I add.

Andlie wrote Daddy the sweetest little note tonight.  We're saving it forever.  It says, "I love you, Daddy.  Thank you for everything you do.  I love you."  And then she drew the sign language for each letter of the alphabet.  Cute little sweetheart.

May 17 - Sick Nora

 Poor Nora stayed home from church sick today.  She was awake all night last night.  I guess that's her thing - when she's sick, she stays awake.  Poor girl has a runny nose and a little fever.  She seemed much better when she woke up and had fun just hanging out by herself while everyone else was at church.  You can see the little tiny doll in her hand.  Those have been her favorite toys lately.  She gathers them all up (there are about five) and carries them around.  She calls them, "Da das," which means, "dance dance."  She bounces them up & down on the couch & says, "Da das das das das!"

I took Andlie & Hazey to Sacrament meeting today.  Then Hazey & I went home so we could switch Daddy.  On our way out, we noticed a worm, so we had to stop & look at it and make sure it had adequate water for its needs.

Hazey & Andlie came home from church with Daddy.  Haze came in sporting his big ears!  He learned, "I am Thankful for Ears!"

Nora slept a bit better for her nap today.  But I think she got a bit wild at the end since she woke up with her arm through her head hole in her shirt.  At least she slept.