New Bed

We figured since Emery was 5 it was time to get her out of a toddler bed (although she still fits on it great). She was so excited for her big girl bed. The frame we got was a XL twin, so we needed a headboard. Brad and I decided to make one, and it was 'fun.' We first used too big of staples and had to rip the fabric off and start over. Then we sewed one button on but when we went to staple the thread down so it was pulled in the thread broke. We tried again but couldn't get the needle back through the whole. We gave us and just used a nail to pull the button part in and hot glued the button on. I think it looks cute and Emery loves it, which is what really matters. 

Emery's 5th Birthday

Emery turned 5 yesterday. She was so excited for her birthday. The boys had the day off from school and I'm pretty sure they thought they got it off because it was her birthday. We usually do a party for the boys and by the time Emery's birthday comes around we just have cake for her. This year we let her do a few games with her party too. She was so excited and wanted an Adventure Time party. 

This is Emery last year. She really hasn't changed too much.

This is her yesterday in the Princess Bubblegum crown. She is a little taller, but not much. Emery is finally in 4T clothes though. Emery is all girl. She loves her hair done, makeup, lip gloss, dresses, nails painted, princesses... if it's girly she loves it. She is also very loving. She gives Brad and I kisses all the time. She tried with the boys, but they push her away. All she wants is to play with the boys, but they aren't into that as much. Emery has her own fashion sense and it is interesting some of the outfits she comes up with. She loves to help me cook and clean, in fact she asked for her own vacuum for her b-day. She is daddy's girl and knows she can get him to get her anything. The other day she wasn't feeling well. I was going out with a friend, so Brad was on dinner. I took chicken out for him to make whatever he wanted with it but his little girl wanted McD's. A sweet little smile and sad voice got her what she wanted. If that is genetic she got it from me, I think I mastered that with my dad pretty young too. Since the boys are in school, her and Jacks have become great friends. She likes being the oldest at home. Emery loves to dance and sing and will do it every time a song comes on that she likes. She is picky with who sings the songs. If it's a girl singing and Brad tired to sing it to she is quick to tell him he can't because it's just a girl song. Her favorite food is grilled cheese, color is black (not what I thought she'd say), tv show is Bubble Guppies, which she has watched like 5 times and I hate it, and her favorite toy is her vacuum.

For her birthday we played pin the fart on Jake, had a Lumpy Space Princess pinata, ate cupcakes and had Ice King ice cream. 

 Brad made the bags look like Jake and the cups look like Lemon Grab.

 This was Emery's special cupcake. She loved how pink it was. 

 These were toppings for the ice cream. They were meant to look like candy people from the Candy Kingdom. 

This is Ice King. Brad really liked making all the things for the party. He goes crazy when craft things are involved. 

 We also made crowns of Ice King for the boys and Princess Bubblegum for the girls. 

The blowing out of the candle.   

Here is the Jake game. It was fun to watch the kids play it. 

 Camden and Payton won the game. Cam was really excited he won.

The pinata didn't last very long, but the kids liked the candy part of it.

She got a vacuum, lots of girl legos, princess stuff, coloring book and movie for her b-day. She is in love with all of it and has been playing non-stop. 

This has been Jacks face since the party. He loves the vacuum too and thinks it should be his. Thankfully Emery has shared it with him. 

It was a fun time and most of all Emery loved it. Thankfully we are now done with throwing a party until May. 

Camden's Day

I love that we started these special days with the kids. They get so excited for them, and it's fun to just talk one on one with them. Camden's special day was on Saturday. He wanted Mcd's for lunch. We really need to work on their food choices. Although I remember thinking Mcd's was the best when I was a kid. We didn't want to do lazer tag again, so we game him $5 and we went shopping. It's fun to see what they will choose when they can pick anything. We went to the $1 store and he got a few good things. The nunchucks are his favorite. He's been carrying them around all weekend. He told us that he got up to Super Student. That means he was really good in class, at specials and at recess. He loves school, so we know he'd be a super student. Camden is more like me and doesn't really talk, unless you ask him the questions, but I do know he loves these days. I just hope they like them no matter how old they get. I know I still love going on shopping trips with my mom, so that makes me hopeful. Beck is already thinking about what he'll do on his night... in a month. 

Few Happenings

Monday we had an FHE lesson on watching what you say. First I had them close their eyes and I gave them different foods on their tongue. Some were good like PNB and others weren't so good, like balsamic vinegar. The point being that some words are nice and 'taste' good, while some taste bad. Then I had them race. They had to get all the toothpaste out of the tube and back in as fast as they could. They couldn't figure out how to get it back in, but it was fun to watch. The point being that you can't take back words you have said, once it's out, it's out for good. You never know with FHE is they are listening and taking it in or not. I hope they did on this one, because whether it's from school or from getting older, the kids have been saying mean things to each other and it is going to stop.  I didn't take pictures of them eating the food, but it was funny. They freaked out at first no matter what was eaten. 

 Preschool has been going well. I can already see her progressing. We were doing patterns and the one she was supposed to circle was a square, so I told her she was right and to circle the square. That didn't make sense to her, so she told me that she needed to square it. This one she is triangle-ing it. 

 Not the best start to today, but I was hit again. They (Brad) says women are bad drivers, well I have been hit twice and both times were by men and neither was my fault... just saying. This one scared me really bad. I was pulling out of Deseret Book and the guy thought I had gone and pulled forward, well, needless to say I didn't move yet. The noise it made was so loud. I know this is bad, but from the noise I thought it would be much worse. I still feel sick to my stomach, not sure why this shook me up so much more. I kind of felt bad again, it was just an accident, then the guy lit up a cigarette while I was getting his info. I guess he did say sorry for the smoke.... Ugh now we get to go through the insurance process again. 

The topping for the day is this morning when Jacks was taking a bath he did a #2 in it and didn't say anything and played in it for who knows how long. How did that not seem nasty to him? I think I'm going to go back to bed now, that or it's time to potty train him. 

Jackson

I think Jackson gets the most alone posts out of all the kids. He is the busiest 2 year old we have had. Jacks keeps us busy, but he is also a good boy. He is very neat and clean and is getting better at putting his dished away. He also loves to have a napkin when he eats so he doesn't get too dirty.  Right now he is freaking out because he ate something sticky and his hands are nasty and he wants a wipe. I guess it's a good trait to have. 

We now have a new rule, no socks worn to bed. This isn't the first time it's happened, but at about 1:30 am Jacks woke up freaking out. Was he thirsty? Fall out of bed? cold? Nope, one of his socks was falling off. How that woke him up I don't know but he wouldn't put it back on himself. He loves shoes and socks. We got him some super hero socks and he would wear them all the time if we let him. He is picky how they are put on too, but if that's genetic, he got it from me. I loved the socks with lace on them, but would 'fix' them 20 times while at church. The lace never lasted long because I was always pulling at them. Why do kids get your less than awesome habits... karma I guess. 

Preschool

 Emery misses the cut off for school by a month, so she has one more year at home. She loves to learn things though, so we do preschool at home. It's nothing big, we just do flashcards, write her name, go over a few letters and then a book of activities I found at Costco. She loves it though and looks forward to it all the time. Emery gets better every day. This year is going to go by too fast and then she'll be in kindergarten. 

First Day of 2nd Grade

School started this week and the boys were more than ready and so excited. This year they are in second grade and for the first time, they have different teachers. Beckham has Mrs. Martin. She has been a teacher for a long time and Beck was excited when he got home about all the things she does. Camden has Mr. Chandler. He was so exited to have a boy teacher. He seems newer but Cam seems to like his class so far. 

 Camden didn't like how he looked in the first picture, so he wanted another taken of him. They both still seem so tiny and young, but are already on their 3rd year of school!

 It is turning into a good tradition that Brad takes the first day off of school and we take the boys to school. Last year, when I was in school too, Brad also made a candy board for all of us. The boys loved it so much we decided to do it again. They were excited to see them when they got home.

Just like normal, the boys gave a few one word answers about how school is each day, but at least they are enjoying it. 

Sleeping

Our kids have always slept weird. All of the kids snore, they all move around a lot, Camden has walked in his sleep and they all have at least one stuffed animal to sleep with and a blanket. I finally just took the crib down and made Jacks sleep in a bed. So far he has done great. He usually won't leave his room until we come and get him. He will just get up and play with his toys until we get him. Having his toys in his room is nice, and also not nice. A few nights (and even naps) he has played with toys instead of going to sleep. The other night he got rid of his nice soft stuffed animal and traded them for 3 big cars. Oh well, I guess whatever puts him to sleep. 

 Emery can be a little dramatic. (Little may be an understatement, but she's a girl, what do you expect?) Tonight she was telling us that she can't sleep in her bed. Her bed hurts her back needs to sleep somewhere else. She is really just trying to get us to put her bed back with the boys, but that isn't going to happen. So to make her back feel better while she sleeps she chose to sleep in here. There are toys and costumes all over the bottom of this, and it is quite a bit shorter than her bed. Doesn't it look nice? 

(We did move her back into her bed.)

Fair Time

This week was the fair. We contemplated whether or not we should go, and finally chose to go. I learned this year that the fair never changes. I'm pretty sure even the rides are the same from when I was a kid. The kids loved it, and that's what matters. They thought putting their faces here was really funny, well at least the boys did, Emery didn't want to. 

 Poor Cam was too short.

 I guess so was Beck, but it just looks like he has a uni-brow. 

 Feeding the animals was their favorite part. The older boys thought it was funny to see them eat so fast. 

 Jackson loved all of it. He likes all animal and couldn't get enough of feeding them or looking at all the different ones around the 4H parts. 

 Emery liked it but kept her distance. 

 You could even brush a cow. I think Jacks should have been raised on a farm. 

All in all it was fun. We got out without having to go on any of the rides or do any of the game. Now that's over we can start school!

More Jacks

I'm pretty sure twins were easier than Jacks. That or I just blocked out all the boys did. Jackson was born to be loud and he hasn't stopped being loud or getting into everything. I have some Willow Tree figures next to the front door and he thinks they are there to play house with. He has the best imagination and was having a conversation between the people and the dragon. It was cute to watch, but not what I want him to play with. 

 The kids love to see Grandma Arrington at work. Working at a book store is fun for the kids. Jackson got two balloons, one to sit on and one to play the drums on. Maybe we have a musician on our hands.