Jax

 

Can you see it? This guy is growing up. He is looking so much older to me recently. He is figuring life out. Making connections. Listening and commenting on our conversations :) Reading really well. He is starting to read books to the younger ones before bed - we started reading books at night when Jackson was about Caleb's age. Jackson reading is motivating Maggie to learn. He is excellent at math. He very rarely complains about doing his homework although it can be hard to get him to focus and finish it. It's not all that uncommon for 20 spelling words to take him an hour! He spends his free time playing with the girl next door :), playing on the computer, building with legos, and playing with his siblings. He has an amazing but occasionally frustrating personality. I am excited to watch him grow and change as time goes by!!

Sleepy boy

 

I love to sneak in and take sleepy pics every once in awhile. It helps me remember how little they are even when they act so big while awake :) He has a pacifier and a blankie just like Jackson did. Maggie did too but definitely was not as attached to her blankie. Hailey sucked (still sucks) her thumb - she also had a blankie but is pretty much been over it for awhile now. Jackson still has one of his blankies around. It still makes an occasional appearance where the girls don't care anymore. For naps and bedtime I gather up his accesories and a sippy cup (I usually do water but sometimes juice) then I take Caleb in, lay him down and walk out. However, I am the only one that can put him down. He freaks if Matt tries. I think he is the winner right now - of lasting in the crib the longest. All the other were in toddler beds by this age because they either started to climb out or a new baby was coming :) Hailey moved out of the crib when we moved out here. I don't really have any plans right now to move Caleb out - we will just wait and see how things go.

Halloween 2

 

I think this round of costumes was actually for Trick or Treating :) We also had a church party and a school party thrown into the mix along the way. Trick or treating around our neighborhood was kind of crazy. This was our first halloween in this house so we had no idea what to expect. Some friends had warned us that a lot of people come to this area for trick or treating. We bought a lot of candy just in case. It was wild. There was a long line of cars coming into the neighborhood. Tons of people. The neighborhood watch and police were out monitoring. The streets were crowded. Most people just sat out on their porch with candy to hand out because it would be insane to go to your door a billion times for that many kids!! There are not very many subdivisions around here so everyone congregates at the few there are. Wow. The kids loved it.

Funny kids

 

 

 

We had absolutely beautiful weather in October. The most consistent nice weather I remember since moving out here almost 2 years ago. We enjoyed being outside a lot!! One day we were talking about the pictures that you are supposed to find out what's wrong with it and Jackson wanted to try it. Maggie just wanted her picture taken :) and then there was another attempt at all 4 kids in one frame. All 4 in the picture - success. All 4 looking and smiling - failure :)
The last few days have been rainy but warm. That is still so odd to me. It's gets warmer on rainy days here. The opposite of what happens in the West. I think the nice weather is coming to an end.

JUMP JUMP JUMP

 

Caleb can now jump on the trampoline by himself. He can get both feet off again and again...... He loves it. I love to watch him :) I'm not sure the older kids like to watch very much since they have to do it from the sidelines. Caleb does not appreciate getting knocked down over and over :) I can't believe that he will be 18 months in just a few weeks. It has gone by so fast this time around.

Halloween 1

 

 

 

October was a very busy month. The kids had 4 chances to dress up!! These pictures are from Jackson's cub scout halloween party. It's so much fun to watch the kids decide what they want to be and dress up. I used to think that I needed to get "halloween" costumes but I've now realized that even if I buy new costumes there is a very good chance they will just pick an old standby from the costume bucket. It's very well stocked thanks to Gram, Goodwill, DI and yardsales :) They love to look through everything and try on one after another. They play dress up all the time so I'm always a little surprised how they can be so excited for Halloween. Kids are amazing!

Apple cups

 

I showed Matt a picture of apple cups in a magazine...... that night before dinner he decided to make them. I was impressed! He doesn't go domestic on us very often :) Putting in the effort to do something cute and fun for the kids - aww, I was so proud! The kids were impressed - cups you could eat! with apple cider in them.

Dancing

 

Maggie has wanted to do a dance class for a very long time so we signed her up for a creative movement class at a nearby college. The class is for ages 3-5 so Hailey goes too. Maggie was a little disappointed that it wasn't a regular ballet class but she is having a lot of fun! I thought it would be a good start to see if she was interested in staying in dance. I don't know that we will sign her up for classes yet but I have a feeling it will be in the near future :) These two cute little girls and fun and flair to our lives everyday!!

Fall leaves

 

1 trampoline + 1 pile of leaves = lots of fall fun. This kept the kids better for a good hour or more. It kept me busy too - I had a lot of fun attempting to take focused pics of them :) I love to see the kids discover new things around them. My favorite thing to do is watch/listen to them as they play outside.

Fire station open house

 

The fire station near us had a open house recently. We went to check it out for a little while. Hot dogs, lemonade, halloween candy and a firetruck ride!! Excellent. The kids loved buckling into the seats and putting on the headsets. We won't mention the spilled lemonade, dropped hot dog, and 3 trips to the bathroom - ahh, such is life with little ones :)

Princess night

 

Each year the Chik Fil A here does a princess night. This is the second time we have gone. The girls absolutely love it. It's a pretty busy night but the crowds don't seem to bother them. Each of the princesses is there. They do a carriage ride with Bill - the horse. We made crowns, played games, and went wild with princesses everywhere.