What's Up?

Not much.

Its been awhile since I've done an update, so I thought I would. We'll start with the littlest...

Bolton. He is 1, which is crazy. I took him to his 1 year check up and he weighed 22 lbs. 4 oz. Yes, that means he has slimmed down a ton. He dropped from the 75th percentile to the 40th. Yikes. He is running all over the house. He has about 4 teeth. He loves to eat just about everything (not bread so much, unless its a pbj). He jabbers all day long and laughs lots when people talk back. Its really quite irresistible. We all adore him to bits.

Eliza. She is 3 now. I need to put pictures from the big day up, I know. She is coming out of her shell. She has the tendency to be quite shy with new people, but she is opening up more quickly and easily now.

We also started the dreaded potty training this week. The first day we didn't get pee in the potty at all! Day two, we had more hits than misses... wish us luck for day three!

She has such a sweet little voice and uses the most excited inflections in her talking. She loves to sing and sings all day. Not songs, just whatever she is saying. For instance right now, upstairs she is singing, "The baby lion can talk. The baby lion can talk." She does little dance moves while she sings, its adorable. Love her so much.

Levi. My goodness he's 5. He starts Kindergarten next month and he's excited. He is growing in to being a fantastic little helper. I asked him to pick up Eliza's room yesterday (I needed the boys separated and they each needed a job, that was the only room left for him). I was shocked when I went in to see it! He had folded blankets and put them away, put laundry away, and picked up all the toys and trash. He didn't need any supervision, he didn't ask for any help. It was awesome!

Saturday he earned $1 to go garage saling with (by helping clean the playroom). He was so cute at each garage sale, he would go up to the person and say (very quietly), "How much is the big bear?" and the sweet person would always just be so nice to him and say something like, "I'll take a dime for it." My goodness that kid came home with so many new "pets." He's branching out in his names too, his bear is Cinnamon Sugar, his cat is Vanilla Pudding, his dog is Brownie, and his snake is Snakey. Do you see a pattern?

We are hoping to get him to stop sucking his thumb this summer... any advice would be greatly appreciated. I've noticed him go to put it in and stop, so I think we're making steps in the right direction. He is the sweetest snuggle bug, just so full of love and so eager to share it with us.

Jonas. I've said it before and I'll say it again, six is not my favorite age. I'll start with the things that I love and am excited about... he is getting more comfortable reading. He still has some room to grow in his confidence, but if he would just believe in himself, I know he could be a great reader. I've got to take him in to Doctor Daddy for an eye exam to see if he really is struggling to see, he tells us things are blurry but I know he wants them to be blurry so its hard to say.

He has been more willing to show affection lately. There was a time when I couldn't get him to give me a hug. I don't know what the deal was, but I'm glad he's over it! Now he'll come and sit on my lap and give me hugs while we talk. I love it. He still has the most infection laugh. So much fun to watch movies with.

Now for my plea for help, the boy is just not a worker. When I hired the kids to help with the play room for garage sale money, they had 1 hour. He came up a half hour after the deal had been made. Then he walked around picking up maybe a handful of things. If I don't tell him exactly what to pick up and exactly what to do with it, he does nothing. Its making me crazy! I don't know what to do. AND even if I tell him to pick some things up, he will often say things like, "but I didn't put it there!" or "I need help!" or "Why do I have to everything?!?" And if threats are made to pick it up or I'll throw it out, he is just fine with it getting thrown out. He won't just work on a job, he starts and then "wants a drink" or some other random distraction that takes him away from the work and then he finds himself playing with his siblings instead of cleaning. He just doesn't seem to care about anything! I'm going nuts! Please help! OK, enough about that. I love him. Lots.

Bryant. He continues to be a great helper. In fact, we had a babysitter the other night and she told me several times what a good helper and older brother he is. He works hard (if the price is right) and he's eager to learn new responsibilities (like changing diapers). He spent a week going to Cub Scout Day Camp and loved it. I think it was exhausting for him but he loved it. He got to shoot BB Guns and Arrows every day. They did a skit. He learned how to catch ant lions (and even bought a bug sucker~that was a new one).

He still loves to play video games as much as possible, but our wii remote stopped working so he hasn't been getting his fill. He is reading big books that I enjoy reading too, so that's been fun to share.

He gets to go to a new school this year, the Intermediate Elementary. He's pretty excited about it. His name was in the newspaper for being on the A Honor Roll. He was excited about it, but when Ethan asked if he wanted to keep it he said, "Nah." So, obviously he's not much of sentimentalist.

As much as he helps, he also causes his share of drama. He pushes everyone's buttons throughout the day. In fact, on our drive home from Utah I had to put Ethan in the back seat and Bryant in front just to get him away from the others. That was the most pleasant 2 hours of our drive. He also wants, more than the others, to be entertained... video games, computer, movies, books. He doesn't just go off and play like the others. Good thing he can handle his own entertainment... and its nice that he can entertain the others. I don't know what I'd do with out him.

Kim. I am really enjoying my kids this summer, more than I expected. For those of you that have known me a long time, you know swimming hasn't ever been a fun thing for me. Let me tell you, I am absolutely loving having a pool! Jonas even taught me how to do a front flip in the water! I told Ethan I might be ready to attempt a diving board (something I've never done!). The kids and I have really had fun swimming more days than not and I might actually be getting kind of good at it!

I am working really hard too. Trying to get my body back to a good place. I went to see an exercise physiologist on base to see what my problem is. Even a year ago when I was running 15-20 miles a week, I didn't lose much weight. We think its because my heart rate doesn't get high enough, so I'm working at having my heart rate up for 40+ minutes each workout. I have to work really hard to get it there. I'm also reducing my calories (and keeping an honest count using sparkpeople.com) so hopefully with those two changes to my routine I'll see some changes in my body. Wish me luck!

Ethan. He is working hard. His clinic is doing more work now than it has for several years and he is excited to have it working as efficiently as it is. He is currently in a leadership workshop/class and has enjoyed learning lots of different things that can help him in his career, with our family, and in his church callings. He just got called to be a Cub Scout Den Leader and he's excited for the new adventures that await him. He'll be over the Bears and he's going to be fabulous.He told me I talked him into staying in the Air Force. So, I think that's the current plan. We'll see what happens with the residency. The application is due the first week of August and the board meets on September 8. There are at least 5 people applying for it and there will be only 1 selected with 1 alternate. We are still really hopeful that he gets it and would appreciate any prayers and thoughts you could lend our way.

His eyes are getting better, slowly but surely. He can see about 20/25 in one eye and 20/40 in the other. He is getting some pretty bad double vision still and struggles with glare but tells me its getting better.

We have been able to have some good times together this summer and I'm so thankful for him. He is the best best friend and I sure love him.

So there you have it... if you made it through all of my humongous family you get a gold star. We are having a great summer and hope you are too!

That's All I Need

About a year ago, we had a whole bunch of stuff given to us from someone moving. One of those things is kind of like a Game Boy, but its called a Pokedex. It has games and trivia about Pokemon characters. My kids have loved playing with it. Recently they started sneaking screw drivers into their room and taking it apart and putting it back together. Then they thought it would be fun to mess with the wires. Well, today they totally demolished it. So, they decided to do what any 5, 6, and 8 year old boys would do, they decided to build a robot.

Bryant came out and asked for some glue. Sure, I can do that.

Then Jonas said to me, "Mom, can I have a hammer? I just need a hammer, a drill, and a plasma torch. And that's all I need."

Birthday, Birthday Coming to Earth Day

After 9 days without their dad, the kids were super excited to see him on Friday, the first. He flew in Thursday night, but they were already asleep. This was greeting him when upon his return...

Friday was also a special day for Bolton. Can you believe that this little guy is 1 year old already?!?!? It sure seems hard to believe to me. He is such a sweetheart. So eager to give loves and smiles. He's so proud of himself walking around (of course, now he runs). He loves to eat big people food now that he has some teeth (he has 4 now). He was lucky enough to spend his birthday in Utah with lots of loved ones around to help him celebrate.

We actually had a double party, since Levi's birthday is the 4th. It was Bolton's magic birthday, so we had to go all out. :)

We had a carnival theme party. Complete with a "Knock 'em Down" game... check out Levi's wind up...



We also got this awesome bouncy slide. It was set up around noon, so we had some fun before the guests arrived.

No carnival is complete without a ring toss, right?
You can insert your own funny caption for this one.

We didn't even have to hire a juggler! He just showed up! Pretty spectacular.
Lots of yummy food. And fun family to share it with.


And the grown ups liked the slide too.
Ethan showing off his mad skills.
Another crazy picture of Kim having fun. I need to stop having so much fun... these pictures are just going to haunt me.

I just love the tradition of the first year cake. I think Bolton really liked it too. What do you think?




Since we were celebrating Levi too, he got to blow out the candles on the group "cake." He was pretty excited.
Balloon cupcakes. Not too impressive, but fun. You can't really see it in the picture, but I used pull 'n' peel licorice as ties for the balloon bouquet.
Bolton got left with his cake, here he is when we took it away. "What?!"
Not to be outdone by his dad, Bryant had to show us his moves too.
I don't know what it is about these Woodbury boys, but Grandpa Woody also showed off his mad skills. Unfortunately my mad skills as photographer missed the flip... bug Jane if you want to see it.
I just love that these grandparents weren't afraid of a little fun! And I love Jane's face.
You really need to enlarge this one to appreciate her face... priceless. At least I'm not the only one have way too much fun!
Eliza loves ice cream. If she asks for some and you tell her no, she will emphatically say, "But I'm hungeree!"
Ron even came with Chase! He's so cool.

After everyone had a chance to go on the slide while it was dry, we turned the hose on it. This is the line up of kids eager to get soaked.
Jeni was sweet and brought the girls down to celebrate with us after a long day traveling back home from their vacation. We were so happy they came! They were the only cousins on Ethan's side that were able to make it.
Yum.
Sweetest picture of the trip. Hands down. Absolutely love these wonderful people.
See what I mean about him being such a sweetheart? He snuggled with Jeni...
... then wanted to give Ari a turn. She was a real trooper, he was quite a mess.

Are is such a lovey little cousin. I love how she and Sophie play with the little ones. They are going to be great babysitters!
Everyone got a box of Pop-Its! They were a real hit.
"Snap!"
We were so busy having fun that we just about forgot to give presents. Grandma Jane and Grandpa Woody gave Levi this fun little game.

Look at that, Dave even got a little Bolton love. Another trooper.
At the end of the party, Bolton played in these balloons and had a great time. Really. This is the only picture I have where you can actually see his face, but all the other ones he was smiling like crazy.
It was a magical magic birthday. Too bad he won't remember any of it. Good thing the rest of us will. It was a blast!