Make a Memory

A dear friend of mine frequently gives the advice to "Make a memory". So Cher Bear :) this post is for you- we're throwing ourselves into this California thing and trying to make the moments count.  Here are the top 10 memories of the past couple weeks.


It seems that kids are experts at making most things "fun" and memorable. When you're a kid bathtubs turn into oceans, carpet into lava, and piles of laundry foam pits. The world is a giant playground until reality hits... right in the face... poor Rem.


#1: Hitting the coffee table head-on and a trip to the ER

Thankfully there were no stitches the Dr. decided to just use glue.

#2: Sharing a stroller and a safari ride

We were blessed by sweet friends last week that let us tag along with them to the Safari Park. We all had so much fun!! Thank you Hoffman's!

 

#3: Distracting Dad

Traever had midterms last week and so as always the kiddos provided ample study breaks for him. Impromptu dance parties:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yibUWxTd85Y&feature=youtu.be  and sharing the study with Thatchman:

#4: Meeting a Movie Star

The kids got to go to the local Children's Museum to play drums with none other then Curious George... sorry no picture. All that to say the kids didn't seem too interested in him they had way more fun playing pirates.

#5: A special visitor

The kids were beyond excited to have one of their favorite people from Illinois, Becky, come spend an evening with them! Sweet Becky watched the kids for us so that we could go on a date- which was much appreciated and it was so good to see her!!

#6: Baby bubble beard

Even Thatch likes playing bathtub barbershop.

#7: Farm Days

The kids have loved the couple of trips that we have taken to Bates Nut Farm. About a year ago the girls would have clung to me and cried like a baby at the site of most of these creatures and the last time we were there they were contemplating feeding them so we are definitely taking strides in the right direction.

#8: Thatch's first Fall

He loved crunching the leaves... sorry to say this may be all of autumn that you see this year :(

#9: Quiet mornings

I was blessed to have a few quiet mornings the past few weeks. Thatch has very recently started sleeping through the night more regularly and so it makes getting up a bit less painful :). I had a few mornings where I got out for a jog and I got to see the mountains and talk to the one who made them. A pretty great way to start the day.

#10: Shaking the sillies out and wiggling the waggles away

Thanks to Becky's visit we've had some Raffi songs stuck in our heads :) Here's a few more pics of the silliness that goes on here.

A First Time For Everything

There's a first time for everything and it seems that we've had our share of them recently.

Thatcher is finally getting his first teeth. His two bottom teeth just broke through the surface.

Remy just learned to pee (and poo) "like a normal human" as Traever says.

Adalai just started her first year of school. Which also means I just started my first year of homeschooling...Lord, help us!  Here are a couple videos of Adalai learning her history and science facts from our first week: http://youtu.be/CApULoz2kPY http://youtu.be/pRxgX2Qhghk

And Traever...he just got his first grey hair! It's like finding a needle in a haystack, but it IS there.

Our days have been full of "normal" stuff:

Waking up to a happy Thatch.

Adalai and I doing "Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred" and Rem with her beloved sippy.

Praise God for sisters. I don't know what they would do without each other!

Our spunky Rems always up to something...usually trouble.

 

Sisterly love...

        

    

Any excuse will work to interrupt Daddy's studying:

 

Traever's study is in Thatcher's nursery and the only thing that is separating the desk from the crib is an open Ikea bookcase. So one night I laid Thatch down to sleep. He was quiet so Traever assumed that he was in fact sleeping and so Traever continued to go through his Hebrew flash cards.  After a half hour he looked up to see this little thing just quietly grinning at him through the bookcase and the bars of his crib... who knows how long he was watching.

Traever with his Study Buddy

Books N bedtime.

Breaks from the Norm

YIKES! First black widow we've seen... right next to my side of the bed...right before going to bed. 

 

Highlight of the girls' week: Staring at the handyman as he replaced our back deck. Poor guy he couldn't escape these two. It's been a week since he left and the girls still ask about him on a daily basis.

Getting care packages from Grandparents and cousins.

And a little video of Rem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68pdLHQGglQ&list=HL1381001819

Time with Dad

Time with friends

The girls got to spend an evening with Tenley. Her parents Scott and Lindsay (Unsicker) Korljan and her are going to move away in a few short weeks to serve a church in Michigan. We'll miss you Korljan's!

And our field trip to the "farm"