This is Mallie's cousin James who lives down the street. They are 10 months apart and when he was little Mallie used to try to hurt him on a regular basis. Crazily enough for the last 4 months or so these two have been inseparable. When we get together these two always go hide out and play together. In Nursery at church they don't talk to or play with anyone else. They are the best of friends and it's so cute!
For Veteran's Day we made the 8 hour drive to Wisconsin to see Jeffrey and Debbie. This is one of the only pictures I got that weekend and only includes the oldest 5. Lucy and Molly are about the same age and Debbie and I are both pregnant again due just a couple weeks apart. We joked as we walked into Target we were quite the scene with 7 kids under the age of 6 and two pregnant women. It was the most fun weekend we have had in a long time! You know the people you can visit and their is no pressure to go and do anything because all the kids are happily playing and you're content to just sit and hang out? That was this weekend. Then at nighttime the board gaming ensued. Once again Debbie and I teamed up for Pictionary and lost BAD 4 games in a row. We're just a little competitive and a little pregnant and we couldn't believe the boys would just decimate us without a second thought. But they did and I may have been a little bitter about it for a good 30 minutes. But we love the Wisconsin Jakes and can't wait to see them for Thanksgiving!
This was one of my better Mom moments this month. I wonder why I spend any time pinning ideas for the kids on pinterest instead of just letting them be kids. They were emptying out the water hydrant in front of our house and even though it was 48 degrees outside I let the girls go crazy. They ran up and down the gutters splashing for a good 30 minutes before they froze. I have to remind myself that an extra load of laundry is 100% worth it!
Kindergarten update:
At the beginning of the year I was less than impressed with Ashton's teacher. I almost pulled him out at the end of September. It's her first year, there are lots of naughty kids and quite frankly I think she was overwhelmed. Ashton would get in trouble and not know why and he felt like his teacher was upset at the class a lot. After a full on pregnant, hormonal melt down in the Principal's office things turned around rapidly. The teacher got her act together once she knew parents were watching and Ashton is now happy when he comes home. I've been pretty vocal lately that we don't see public school in any of our kids' futures long term but for now Ashton is really happy. When we went in for the parent conference he showed us his desk and the bucket that held every one's boxes of supplies. All the other kids had haphazardly thrown in their crayons, pencils and glue and Ashton's box was perfectly organized. It was a proud moment for David when he saw every single crayon lined up in the box and every little thing had it's place. Then he showed us where they turned in homework and remarked about how the last person who turned in their homework had forgotten to write their name and how that was not good. This is David's mini me and I'm positive academics will be his thing. His teacher then told us he is the best quiet example, he is cruising through everything, and she sometimes has not to call on him because he is always raising his hands with the right answers. It made us super proud and reminded me this kid needs to continue to be taught at home because public school can't keep up with him. I'm not so naïve to think that we breed braniacs and this is how it will be with all our other kids but for now I'll relish in the fact that I get to raise my husbands' clone and that is pretty awesome.
October has been good to us! Next up Halloween!
