August 2013

Brookie and her bestie, "Cindy"!

More swimming lessons. This guy really loved it! He's pretty fearless with the water now! Props Mr!!

This guy is a little ham in front of the camera. He really did enjoy swimming lessons though. Playing, wandering, snacks and SWIMMING! Good times!

This one is a little hesitant. She was a bit of a stinker about trying anything new, but she really loved Miss Becky and I think she had a good experience.

Little fish

Becky got Brookie to "swim" this one time. It was a bit of an event and there was much screaming after, but she did it. This girlie is totally capable, just not super willing. :) Oh well. She had fun. She does love the water!

Thank you, Mr. Daniel! You were so fun! Coleman loved being with Daniel! He even invited him over to play. :)

Brookie and Miss Becky. She was so patient and sweet. We enjoyed swimming lessons!

Loads of fun building with these cool things! Cole and Brookie both loved making ships and towers and castles. Then after they built cool stuff, they wore some of it. :) These cylindrical ones made great arm cuffs for these two dress-up lovers! Cool toys! Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa! (And ok, I'll confess... I had a great time playing with them too!)

Our amazing dad brought treats home for the weekend! Krispy Kreme, YUM!!! Cole loves glazed donuts, the rest of us love ANY donuts! They're so so yummy! And the hats are fun too! Thanks Daddy for the fun weekend tradition and treats!!

Flint being a helper. Tyler being wonderful!

The last day of summer. We played at the park and went to McDonalds for lunch. These two seemed to have a blast. They love climbing on stuff!

This guy enjoyed it too. Notice the lunch all over his shirt... :)

First Day of School!!! I can't believe these two are in school! Coleman starts Kindergarten and Brookie is going to preschool! I'm gonna miss them while they're away having fun and learning lots! Tyler was home in the mornings (worked 11-11) this first week of school, so we all walked together and it was really fun! They were excited and I think the fist week went well tho we were all exhausted by the end! All day Pre-K and Kindergarten is a new theory for me. Not in love with it, but it seems to be working out ok. :)

My big 5 year old is going to school ! Where has the time gone? He's such a smarty, I know he will love it and will learn so much! Coleman, Daddy and I are so proud of you and the smart, funny, kind boy that you are! We wish you the best in your class with your fun new friends! Can't wait to hear all about it!!

Oh Miss Brookie! I can't believe how big you are and how grown up! I hope you love preschool and make lots of friends. Daddy and I love you so much and are so excited for you to go to school and make some fun friends and learn all sorts of fun things. We're excited to hear all about your new adventure!!

Coleman in front of his classroom. Pretty cool, Bud! His teacher's name is Mrs. Proctor. She's the teacher, they have an aide and a student teacher this year. It's gonna be great!!

Brookie in front of her classroom. Her teacher's name is Ms. Laura. She has an aide in her classroom too. It's going to be a fun year!!

This little guy and I are getting reacquainted. :) We have lots of time to spend together now. We can work on signing and we've read lots of books! So fun! He brings me so much joy! I think this is his first (or one of his first oreos). :) Rite of passage, you know. :)

Princess Brookie and I enjoyed attending high tea with our RS sisters for an activity on night. It was fun to spend some time with this cutie pie!I love her with all my heart! She loves to dress up, so this was a great activity for her! :) Fun night for both of us!

My cute princess! I love you Brookie - with all my heart!!

Brookie sitting with the other princesses at "tea."

After school snack with the brother. :)  He loves to be with her and loves when she helps him. They both felt pretty special to get to eat in the living room on a TV tray. :)

I couldn't resist capturing this little cave man dragging Raggedy Ann off to his cave. He LOVES her hair and just had to smash his face all over her and feel her fun yarn hair. It was pretty cute! This guy loves anything made from yarn. Guess it feels like his special blankie. :)

Our big almost one year old! Everywhere we go, people stop me to comment oh his beautiful eyes! I have to agree! He's a handsome dude!! Flint, you make me smile! You make my heart feel peace and joy. Your smile makes my day! You are learning so many things! I am constantly amazed at the things you're doing! I love the way you say shzzz (shoes), 'amma, uh'oh & buh (book and ball). I love the way you look so proud when you've accomplished something (like climbing up and down the stairs). I love that you hand me your sippy cup when you want a drink (so I can hold it for you). I love that you sign more, baby, cheese & milk. :) You never cease to amaze me! You put up with a lot, but you are always happy. I love you! You are incredible!

Beautiful Brookie! I love the way you like to wear stickers for earrings. I love that you "do" your own hair and that you love headbands! I love that your smile looks a little like the Mona Lisa - like there's something more your're thinking about.  I love that you are opinionated. I love that you are sweet to your brothers. I love it when you help me cook. I love it when you cuddle in my bed in the morning. I love watching you color and draw. You are a very good artist. I love listening to you sing! I love it when you ask me to tell you stories about when I was little. You make my heart happy kiddo! You are such a blessing in my life!

Big Cole Bud! You are my hero! I love listening to your stories. You are smart and funny and amazing! You have an incredible imagination! I love to watch you build things and figure stuff out! You remind me of your daddy and grandpa! I love that you are obedient and always trying to do the right thing. I love that you are kind and sweet to your baby brother and your sister. I love that even when you're sad or your feelings are hurt, you still act with gentleness, kindness and respect. I love that you give me butterfly kisses and Eskimo kisses at night. I love that you ask lots of questions and that you say thank you all the time! You are quite the man, buddy! Thanks for making my life wonderful!

Daddy and Coleman working on homework. This school thing is complicated. :) We're lucky to have a great daddy who will help us when we need help. I'm sorry Dad is such a stickler for good handwriting, Cole. You will thank him later though. :)

Brookie wanted to do homework too. :) She's pretty amazing! All of a sudden she's writing and wanting to read! Such a big girl!!

Having fun with balloons on Flint's birthday!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY BIG F! We had a nice day. Flint and I got the kiddos dropped off at school then we ran to the store. Flint enjoyed checking out the store and wandering around a bit. He picked out a ball and a balloon from the dollar store and had a blast! I love this guy!

When we got home from our errands he took a nap and I got some things ready. I made cupcakes and Brookie helped me frost them when she got home from school. She also helped me make a birthday sign. She's a good colorer and was happy to do it for this fun brother of hers!

After a very gourmet birthday dinner of hot dogs and grapes, we had cupcakes. :)

Flint liked the candle

He eventually figured out what to do with the cupcake. :)

After a minute he tried the matches too. :)

We opened a few presents and everyone helped build his slide! We all had a blast! It was so fun! Thanks for the the fun birthday present/activity Grandpa and Grandma! We all enjoyed it. Flint really climbed right up. He was so excited. Didn't even have to think about it. He wanted to get going. We've had so much fun!

He even climbed too fast for me to catch him in the act!

He had a nice day. He talked with Grandpa and Grandma Coleman and Grandma Neff and skyped with Grandpa Terry, Grandma Marilee and Uncle Trevor. Uncle Trent sent birthday hugs from Kansas and he got a package in the mail from Uncle Scott, Aunt Leanne, Addie and Eden. He got birthday cards from Grandma Great and Grandma Neff, Grandpa and Grandma Coleman and Grandpa Terry and Grandma Marilee. It was a fun day filled with lots of loves from family! :) I can't believe it's been a whole year! Wow! Time flies. Coleman and Brooklyn really made his day special. They helped with balloons, cupcakes and his birthday sigh and they played with him and just loved him! While we were playing and getting ready for bed, Daddy made it home to give the birthday boy a hug and a kiss. The perfect end to a fabulous day!

Tybee Island beach trip! What a fun day! We went on a day trip with some friends from our ward and  had a blast!! It was a long drive, but loads of fun! The sun, sand and water were warm and it was nice to be together as a family and get out to do something fun!

This guy was like a little fish. He moved all day long - swimming in the waves and building stuff out of sand. :) He had a great time with his daddy and with his friends playing and swimming. :)

This guy loved it all too. His first love was the sand. He was covered in it! He played with trucks and cups and just had a blast! He also got in the ocean water and had a fun time getting wet. :)

Sandy bum :)

Dad and Cole enjoying the water! Cole was so brave and swam so well. He had a marvelous time and it was fun to watch him!

Fun friends, the Klemenstons. :) Wish I had pictures of all our friends. I only took a few pictures. We all had a fun time!

This poor chickadee wasn't feeling well the whole time. She spent most of her time napping under the umbrella (good thinking Tyler getting an umbrella that morning before we left!)

Still a beautiful  beach babe!

All in all we had a fabulous day with friends and it was nice to spend time together as a family. :) A great trip! Thanks for inviting us Robinsons! :)

Cole has been working on remembering to patch and he filled this whole jar with marbles from each time he patched. He earned $10 for filling it. He paid $1 in tithing and took the rest to the store to buy some fun Skylander Legos. He was pretty proud and we're proud of him. Patching is hard, but he's really good about it. :)

Snow White and Flint wanted to be in the celebratory picture as well. :)

Flint - 11 months!

Wow! How the time has flown by! I can't believe our "Little Bub" is almost 1! He has grown so much and is such a blessing to our family! I just want to write down a few things about him so I can remember his "babyhood" :).

Flint is almost 1, is walking quite well, has 2 teeth, weighs about 17 or 18 lbs, has gorgeous big brown eyes with long eyelashes, is tan from swimming :), has longish light brown hair (a bit of a comb-over), and a very magnetic personality. He's friendly, but can be a little shy at first. He loves to flirt.  He is flexible and patient. Flint sleeps from about 8pm 'till about 7am - give or take an hour. He takes 2 naps, but the timing of the naps is flexible. Bless this boy's sweet heart. He's a wonderful 3rd child!

Favorite Foods: Flint seems to like everything (well, almost). His first food was pizza and that is definitely a favorite still. He loves all kinds of pizza but I like to think he's partial to Costco pizza. He'll eat the peppers, sausage, onions, pepperoni, mushrooms - everything! Way to be Pal! Flint also loves smoothies! And I do mean LOVE! He will go and go on a smoothie, green or otherwise. :) Smart guy!  Flint also likes crackers, graham crackers, PB&J, hot dogs, spaghetti, cheese (even extra sharp cheddar), quesadillas, ham, chicken (the real meat - not the baby food),  oatmeal baby cereal or wheat baby cereal, pancakes, milk, formula, juice, chocolate milk (mommy shouldn't have, but she did), peaches, bananas (probably his favorite fruit), applesauce, babyfood of all types, but especially fruit. This kiddo has only 2 teeth, so we're pretty impressed that he eats all these things!

Favorite toys: Flint is easily to entertain. He can find something to do with everything! His favorite real toys right now are his gumball machine, cars (he makes the cutest car bvroom EVER), blocks, books, anything with buttons that make noise or even look like they should make noise, anything that fits in his mouth, musical instruments - especially the ones that shake.

Biggest fear: Being left. Flint is a little attached to his family. He likes to be with everyone and if he feels like you've left him, he gets really upset.

Favorite non-toy: This is a tough one, but probably most favorite is my cell phone. He also LOVES remotes, kitchen knives and wooden spoons. He likes to play with plastic lids too.  He also likes all afghans and Nuk binkis. He doesn't like binkis as much as Brookie, but he's a pretty big fan. His most favorite entertainment non-toy is other people. He's quite a people person and loves to make faces and noises at other people. :)

Favorite games: Flint likes to play chase. He runs or crawls away really fast and you grab him. That's a fun game! He laughs so hard! He also has recently learned a new game: "u' oh!" He drops something and says u'oh and you pick it up. Lovely game. :) I guess "u'oh" is officially his first word.

Soothers: Binkis and blankies. He LOVES his afghans, but he will also cuddle with other soft things, including crocheted scarfs and washcloths... :) Funny little guy! He can also be calmed down by distractions of almost any kind. He is so interested in everything that's going on around him he will forget to be grumpy on the rare occasions he gets grumpy to begin with. He also loves music. If he's sad the kids will sing to him (usually I Am a Child of God) and he calms right down. He also likes I've been working on the RR.

Favorite places: Right in the middle of everything! Flint loves to be with other people. He wants to be where the party's at. :) He loves the stairs, sneaking into the bathrooms, the bathtub, pool (really anywhere wet), under chairs and tables, in Mom's and Dad's arms. Flint is so easy going. He enjoys being outside, inside, crawling through the fountain at the park, playing in the sand, sitting at your feet banging toys on the kitchen floor, on your lap watching a few minutes of a Signing Time movie, cuddling in Mom's and Dad's bed, visiting Dad at work, playing at the grandparents' houses, playing at friends' houses, church, you pretty much can name a place he's been and he's a fan. All sorts of new stuff to explore all the time!

Mischievous things that he does: Flint is not too mischievous. Or maybe our standards  have been lowered by our previous kiddos. He does like to throw food off his high chair and he likes to twist around in the stroller. No sitting still for this guy.  He eats off the floor and sneaks big kid food like raisins and nuts from the big kids. He opens and closes cupboards, but has not yet started emptying them. His most mischievous pastime is dipping his hands in the toilet. He likes to sneak into the bathroom and play with the water in the toilet. YUCK!

Least favorite things: baysitters, sitting through church, and washing his face.

Favorite people: Dad, Mom, Cole, Brookie, Grandpas and Grandmas, all family, friends, Jenn (his bestie from church who played with him all the time during YW), pretty girls or anyone else who will have a friendly exchange with him. He gets a lot of attention everywhere we go and he loves every minute of it. Everyone comments on his beautiful big brown eyes! We think he's pretty much a cutie!

Flint, we're so happy you're in our family. Your cute personality and funny sense of humor bring such joy to all of us. Your mom and dad adore you and are so thankful for you! Your big brother and sister think you're "the bees knees!" You have such a sweet spirit of peace and patience. Since you were a newborn baby people have asked about you and said how sweet they thought you were. People have commented many times about how you carry a special feeling with you and I agree. You radiate peace, patience, love, kindness and gentleness. You are a wonderful example to your family and all those who meet you! You are destined for greatness! We are so proud of you and the wonderful things you're learning! Thanks for being our special boy and making our day every day with your contagious smiles and laughs!