Getting back on the wagon

Sunday the kids sat in the living room for a couple of hours reading through old blog books and laughing at stories and pictures of themselves. They really seem to enjoy things about themselves. But I realized as I listened to Andi read to everyone that I have been slacking on the blog majorly. So here's to posting more often with more conversations and every day stories.
The last few weeks we have been able to see lot's of Thads extended family. Grandpa Richards has been in the hospital and rehab facility all month, and all his kids, and even some grandkids have been coming to see him. It's been nice to see everyone, but we wish it were under better circumstances. Grandpa is 98 and it seems the miles are starting to wear on him. This is from one of our visits with him. We just love these sweet people so much.

We were able to go on our ward family camping trip earlier this month.  I don't have any pictures of the kids running around camp, but that is because we hardly saw them the entire time. Andi was leading a pack of "wolves" around the kids were just running from the moment we got there till they crashed at night. They were even up a lot of the night, seriously the longest night of my life. At one point Thad, Andi, Peter and I were all on the same queen size air mattress. It was bad. But everyone was up with the sun and running around again. We lost Peter more times than I can count, but were lucky enough to find him each time. We did get these gems on the way up to camp. We stopped for ice cream in Kernville and we just kept staring at the kids as they got messier and messier and couldn't figure out how they made eating an ice cream cone into such an ordeal.

We are half way through the soccer season now and Andi's little team has really improved. They are fun to watch because it's like something clicked and they understand the game and positions and strategy and working together. Sammy's team is fun to watch too, but for other reasons. There was a lot of time spent on the ground last game, almost like they were all practicing stunt dives and rolls. But there are a few aggressive players on his team that know what they are doing, and Sammy is just happy to be out there and apart of it all. And he really enjoys post game ice cream.

Peter is fully in the throws or threenager-dom. He's so moody. One moment he is smiling and lovey, and the next he's screaming rolling around on the ground for no reason. I've started taking pictures of his tantrums and texting them to Thad during the day so he can enjoy the moodswings too.
This tantrum brought to you by the lack of a costco hot dog.

And this one was because we didn't let him run around the chapel during sacrament meeting.

Here, he is offended to the core that I made him get dressed for the day.

And this one, I believe, was because I didn't wait for him to walk down the stairs.

I never get pictures of the ones that happen in each and every store, but know that they happen, every time.

And then he flips the switch and is so sweet you just can't stay mad.

Oh, he is also very particular, verging on OCD about a lot of things. He kept dumping his ramen noodles on the table at lunch and I thought, maybe he was trying to cool it down faster. So I gave it to him on a plate with no liquid, and he still dumped it off on to the table. Apparently ramen must be eaten off the table. Also, his daily lunch smoothie can only be consumed while sitting out back on the bench swing. And I have to sit with him. He makes me tired.

We have jumped back into project mode with both feet this last week. Okay, I jumped and pushed Thad along with me. I painted Peters room finally, and trimmed/painted the gun cabinet in our room.

Then I ripped out all the baseboards and flooring in the downstairs bathroom so Thad could put in tile and board and batten. The tile is done now, and it's on to the walls. But that's on pause because we also decided to finally get an iron gate on the side of the house, and just have to finish putting in the wood. I really like it.

The End of Summer

August went our with a bang this year. We decided to squeeze in as much fun as possible and went to the beach two days before school started. The kids were very excited, and even though it was just a day trip to Ventura, it was a great way to officially end summer break.  Andi and Sammy spent a lot of time in the waves, but Peter would not even touch the water. He spent the entire day like this.

They dug a huge hole and tried to build a wall to keep out the water, and it worked for a few minutes, but as the tide came in their hole turned to a pool.  Every time a wave would come in Peter would run out of the hole as fast as he could. But then once the water was still, he'd get back in. It was so weird.

And Sammy really wanted to buried. I don't know why anyone would volunteer for that. So much sand everywhere!

Thad same night soccer started. Both kids are playing this year. Sammy is enjoying it more than last year, and Andi really likes it.  They had their first game last weekend and are looking forward to the rest of the season. Of course the only pictures I got were after the game, so they are both a hot sweaty mess.

Then school started. Andi loves school, she always has. She loves her teacher, and being with her friends and usually gets her homework done in class before she even gets home.
Sammy is still getting into the routine of sitting still and not talking out of turn and doing homework. He hates homework. At back to school night I found his desk front and center right by the teacher. I'm really hoping by the time parent teacher conferences come around it won't be as bad as I'm imagining.

And this is how Peter felt about not being able to stay at school when we dropped them off.

But don't worry, every day since he just yells bye, see ya later as they head out the door each morning. We attempted potty training again when school started. Notice I said attempted. It did not go well. I tried every trick and suggestion I could find, and nothing. He wants nothing to do with it. Apparently it has to be his idea or something, so we'll see how much longer he'll be in diapers.
Sammy is such a carnivore it's funny. I roasted a whole chicken for the first time and there was a leg piece leftover that Sammy was immediately asking for, like for dessert after he had finished his plate. 

He also had us laughing this week. I asked him if he was walking home from the bus with his friend Ella/
S: "Not all the way home. I stop at the corner and watch her go inside, then I keep walking."
Me: "That's nice of you to make sure she gets home safely."
S: "Ya, and if anyone tries to steal her I will just tackle them and hit them."
Apparently he takes his walking home responsibilities very seriously.

July Camping

 A little more about girls camp. . . first I have to mention the stinkin cute banner that my banner committee made.  It was pretty huge, and our ward unanimously voted it best banner in camp. You can't see the glitter detail or the names of the girls on the boats, but trust me, it's all kinds of cute.

 We didn't get to spend a ton of time in the ward camp, but we did sit with our girls at campfires and they loved the fact that Thad participated in all the goofy songs. And I loved that they came to take pictures with us as we were leaving for our hike.

And greeted us as we came back from the hike. A little sweaty and gross, but happy to be back.

I told the girls that so many things that week I would only do for them. Like sleep in a tent, or strap on a pack, or spend an entire week with no make-up. But it was worth it. And this is my partner in crime with the miamaids. We're awesome.

 We were challenged to memorize The Living Christ before camp and recited it each night around the campfire. I'm so glad I took the challenge, and am grateful for the chance to prepare a few devotionals for the hike. If the girls learned half as much as I did during the week it was a success.
We had a week to recover before we left for Thads family reunion in Lake Almanor, CA. Technically we were camping, because we stayed in a campground, but it was much more my style camping. As in a cabin with a king size bed and the kids had their own room. Perfect. The first full day there was Sunday so we had a relaxing day around the camp and Tenille showed off one of her many talents. She painted everyone's faces. Even Grandma & Grandpa Richards let her paint their faces. It was so fun.

 We spent several afternoons down at the lake and we had a sweet set up. We were able to drive all our vehicles right onto the beach area and set up instead of dragging all our supplies from a parking lot. And we had so many toys! We brought the jet skis of course.

 Tanya & Billy brought their boat and pulled everyone around on the tube all day.

 That was definitely the highlight of the week for the kids. Tenille brought cute little Kayaks that they paddles around the lake on and we even had a couple blow up boats and rafts. Here's Thad taking out little Ashlynn for a ride.

 We may have killed the relaxation station though, I think Thad towing it in fully loaded may have been it's final voyage.

 Peter spent most of his time digging in the sand.He was just so happy to play in dirt for hours on end.

And throwing sand, though this did not end well.

 He ended up with sand in his eyes and was so upset he cried himself to sleep and had a nice 2 hour nap under the shade tent with me.

 The kids were filthy the entire week. I mean the second we stepped out the door they were somehow covered in dirt. This picture was taken at breakfast, so we had been out of the house for like 10 minutes. And he looked like that most of the time.

 The kids were also catching things all week. Bugs, birds, crawdads, frogs. . . anything foolish enough to move in their line of sight was caught and "loved" and eventually released. Some did not survive.  And Thad was right in the middle of critter catching. That's a crawdad that Tenille snatched out of the water with a little toy net.

 One morning we took family pictures in our cute matchy t-shirts. They turned out really good this year, not too much photo shop required! It helps that the kids are getting bigger.

 

 The boys went out to the lake to attempt skiing and wake boarding one evening while we girls took the kids to a park. I brought this giant "rubber band" and it was fun. You basically sling shot each other back and forth in the band. It's so funny to watch.

 And Tenille caught this cute shot of peter on the toys. I had not idea those swirly things were actually slides, but Peter just kept twirling right down them.

 We spent one afternoon at Lassen Volcanic National Park. Sammy could not get over the fact that the mountains were actually volcanos.  Blew his mind. The visitors center had a sign that said "ask a ranger how to earn a free bandana" so of course the kids had to do it. One of the requirements was to find a meadow, and through I can't remember the exact wording, it basically said frolic in the meadow. So they frolicked. I'm pretty sure there was some sound of music singing happening as well.

There was a stream running through the meadow and Sammy attempted to jump it. Obviously it did not go well.

 They also had to find a lake and run around the entire thing. We found a beautiful small one that was actually a glacier pond. No stream in or out, just snow melt.

We watched while the dads and kids traversed the perimeter.

 All in all it was a great week. Great weather, great food, tons of fun, and so so so many pictures! Thads mom and sisters now how to make sure things are well documented. And this is one of my favorites. Peter with his great Grandma Richards just hanging out. And 94 and 98 we're not sure how many more reunions they'll be attending, but we love having them with us.

 Side note: Sammy lost his first tooth a few days before our vacation. He was the last of his buddies to loose a tooth so he was very excited.