Tuesday tidbits - except it's Friday

:: Corbin ::

1. Corbin is a really fast runner. He and Justin had a race last week, and Justin said Corbin totally smoked him. 

2. He is become a really good driver. We still need to take him on the freeway to practice because he turns 16 in two weeks and will need to take his final driving test!

3. We are letting Corbin drive our old van for his car and he is surprisingly excited about it. He says he's going to make it the coolest! 

:: Taylor ::

1. Taylor went to the orthodontist the other day and will be getting braces on in a few months. We first have to go to the dentist because he needs EIGHT teeth pulled (it would have been 9, but one finally fell out a couple of days ago!) Those teeth are STUBBORN. His appointment is next week.

2. He continutes to be such a quick listener. Any time we call the kids to come to the table (or anywhere) 99.99% of the time he is the first one there. 

3. He has such a great group of friends, really really good friends. The other day they decided that they are going to make a summer bucket list together. I am 100% behind that idea.

:: Levi ::

1. Levi is a good friend. Most days of the week he has at least one friend who wants to play. There has been up to six of his friends here at once. However, he does prefer a smaller crowd because it makes it easier to come up with a game to play. 

2. We had Parent/Teacher conferences this week. His teacher expressed her appreciation for Levi and what an amazing helper he is. She also said he just has a sixth sense for realizing when someone needs him or could use a friend. She was tearing up, which of course had me crying. She said Levi has grown up a TON this year and she just adores him.

3. Levi is now in Young Men's and loves it! I love watching our boys when they pass the sacrament (especially for the first time) He was very focused and nervous too.

:: Rudger ::

1. We pulled out this science kit that Rudger got from his birthday party last year and he loved learning about science. He taught me all about acids, neutrals, and bases. 

2. Rudger is REALLY getting into drawing. He got a drawing pad for Christmas and is contstantly sketching things out. Last night he found a how to draw youtube page and would have gone on until midnight if we let him.

3. He loves to write cards for people. He made a goal this month to be a better friend by making them some cards. He took one to our favorite neighbor friend and within an hour she came back with a card for him. Cutest. Thing. Ever.

:: Adeline ::

1. Adeline and her best friend Zach have started a little Joy school. Once a week us moms traid off and they get to play and learn! I love putting her to bed the night before because I tell her hurry and close your eyes because tomorrow you have school with Zach. She says, okay mom and closes her eyes and falls asleep! 
2. I haven't taken Adeline for a well child checkup in a couple of years so we finally took her this week. The doctor suggests we get her into speech therapy. She can't really say her S sounds. But it's kind of the cutest to hear her say things like..."dinnamon rolls", "I want to go ledding" (sledding), "I'm so dweet" 
3. She loves her brothers and wherever they are, she wants to be right there with them.  


Life right now is good. I, of course, am behind on so many things, but I'm not going to let them get me down. I've got this!

This month is the month of all the appointments. I'm nearing the end of braces journey (yes!!!!) But with that has come a lot of appointments. With my jaw surgery, braces, and dentist (I'm getting new crowns put on with my teeth implants). So lots of coming and going. Plus all the kids have appoinments. Today felt so good becuase I didn't have to go anywhere!!

For Christmas I finished the last few chat books from 2015 and gave it to our family (so embarrassing). I don't LOVE the chat books, they're cute and fun to look through, but I decided to make a family year book instead. (I love Mixbooks). So I started 2016 and I'm almost done with it!! YES!! (I kind of want to relive that year) My goal is to get 2017-2109 done througout this year...haha, and then be ready to work on 2020 by the end of this year! We'll see about that! haha

tuesday tidbits

:: corbin ::

1. This week Corbin is at scout camp. Monday to Saturday, that's a long time. He did take his phone and on his way to dinner we sent texts back and forth. I liked that. He told me it poured and all his things got wet. :(

2. Before camp, I took Corbin to buy some snacks to take to camp. He showed much gratitude for this.

3. At the family reunion last weekend, Corbin fell in love with paddle boarding. He has amazing balance.

:: taylor ::

1. The other day, while at Lagoon, Taylor started complaining about a headache. Within 30 minutes he was leaning over a fence throwing up :(  He was sick for almost two days after that.

2. On our summer hiking adventures, Taylor is usually the only one who doesn't complain. He might not love it, but he pushes through the entire hike without a negative word.

3. Taylor built up the courage to ride the rocket at Lagoon and LOVES it!

:: levi ::

1. Our neighbor came over last week and asked if one of our boys could water their plants. Levi excitedly volunteered first and has been very diligent and making sure it happens.

2. Levi loves to get his back massaged. When he's feeling really tense or upset, that seems to be the thing that helps the most.

3. Last Thursday, Levi got to spend the day with dad up in the mountains on the four-wheeler and then out to eat at Golden Corral. They both came home stuffed.

:: rudger ::

1. We got an email from Rudger's Kindergarten teacher (who's also in our ward!) telling the kids she is so excited for them to come to school. Rudger told me he wants to go back in time and change it to NOT excited, because he does not want to go to school. 
2. When we were at the reservoir on Saturday, Rudger LOVED the water! Water is his happy place.
3. Rudger's two favorite books are Green Eggs and Ham + Franklin Is Messy. I love listening to him read it to himself. He surprisingly has it memorized pretty good. 

:: adeline ::

1. Her obsession with Moana should probably be considered unhealthy. Every morning she begs to watch it. If she finds my phone she will run to one of her brothers to have them put the password in, then she'll take it back, swipe until she finds Netflix, then swipe till she finds Moana. She sits down triumphantly to watch it. 21 months old. Her favorites are MMnana and Heihei. 
2. If she doesn't see me as soon as she wakes up, she walks around the house saying, "where mum" "where mum"
3. "Daydees" (babies) are her other favorite right now. Especially cousin Henry.

tuesday tidbits

:: corbin ::

1. Growth spurts are starting to happen quite frequently right now. Pants are getting a little shorter and we had to finally go buy some church shoes because his feet were starting to hurt too much. 

2. The other day at school, he slipped on some ice and landed on the corner of his forehead. He got a huge goose egg and was happy he had a sweater that had a hoodie on it. He wasn't wanting everyone to ask what happened.

3. Corbin is getting really excited to plan his 13th birthday party! How is this even possible? He just can't decide between pizza or doing a hot dog roasts.

:: taylor ::

 1. Today Taylor went to JA City where all the kids get to pretend to be grownups and have jobs, earn money, buy food, and live in a cute little city. Taylor was the loan officer and got to sit at a desk with one of the most comfortable chairs in the city. :)
2. He is reading through books like crazy. Even reading two or three at a time...just like his daddy. He finished all the Harry Potter books, Ghostsitter, Hatchet, and right now he is reading The girl with the Silver Eyes and Wonder.
3. The other day, Taylor bought a Pokemon book from the book fair and he, along with all his brothers, pour through that book all the time. It is packed with information about every single pokemon out there. Very exciting. :)

:: levi ::

1. Each week, Levi looks forward to heading to scouts. He has the worlds greatest scout leaders ever. Like, the wife sewed little pouches for each of the boys and filled it up with boy trinkets. She's amazing. And those pouches had their names embroidered on them. Levi earned his bobcat and is on his way to getting his wolf.
2. He lives for shorts season, and as soon as he gets home from school, he changes right into shorts and happily pretends like it's summer inside. These few warm days that we have had this month have been his favorite!
3. I volunteered in his class room this week for the first time this year and will continue to volunteer until the end of the year. It makes my heart so happy that he is so excited about it!

:: rudger ::

1. Being in charge of the treat for FHE is a big deal. When I asked Rudger what he wanted to make, without a moments hesitation he said brownies. It was a proud moment for him when we pulled it out of the oven. And the batter was his favorite!
2. Daddy had Rudger clean up his room and was blown away when he saw how good of a job he did. Rudger had his toys just so, not a spot on the floor, and the way he pulled up the sheets on his bed was jsut adorable. 
3. Quote of the week - three different responses when I asked him to clean up.
"My legs are too tired to clean"
"I'm not rather to do that"
"My legs are telling me I'm too tired, they're telling me to play legos instead"

:: adeline ::

1. This girl has THE biggest fascination with the toilet. She grabs a wipe, dips it in the toilet and then gets down and scrubs the floor. We're all a little exhausted, and really grossed out :) 
2. It only took us until our last child, but we are getting in a good routine of getting her to bed at an early hour. And she knows the routine. Her favorite is reading a book or five and singing lots and lots of songs.
3. Speaking of singing. Adeline LOVES to sing. At church she stands on my lap during the song and sings and leads the music as loud as she possibly can. 

tuesday tidbits

:: corbin ::

1. Corbin is in a college and career class at school and right now they are on the cooking section. The class had a pancake war and his group of four boys won first place! So naturally, he made breakfast for us the next morning. Since we didn't have parsley for the final touches, he went outside and cut off the green tops of our carrots.
2. There was a huge science test last Friday, which is one of three that is worth 90% of his grade! Justin and I felt like he had not studied enough and were on his case BIG time Thursday and Friday morning. When I picked him up Friday afternoon I was dying to find out how he did, he casually mentioned that he got 100%. 
3. Last night, after I gave the little brothers a bath, I came into the kitchen and the island had been cleaned off and wiped down. Corbin had a tender smile and I gave him the biggest hug. Service is definitely my love language :) 

:: taylor ::

1. Taylor has a group of friends at school that love to sit around at recess and make up funny lyrics to songs. I am so happy he has found some good friends at school.
2. Some of the very best hugs are given by Taylor. They feel so genuine. 
3. Taylor was the first to get his Halloween costume. I laid it on his bed and when he came home from school I told him to go downstairs to put some things away in his room. He came upstairs so excited (I even got one of those really good hugs) and he wore it the rest of the day. 

:: levi ::

(he got into the fancy pancake decorating too)

1. Not sure if it's a third grade thing, but Levi is starting to get into Pokemon. We haven't bought any, but he has had a couple of generous friends who gave him one or two. We also printed off some pages of Pokemon to color. My favorite though, is when he and Rudger opened a pack of fruit snacks and they turned the Halloween characters into a Pokemon game :) 
2. Levi is a spunky one and sometimes I am exhausted by it, but I have had many people from teachers to coaches that tell me Levi is one of their favorites :)
3. Out of the three older boys, Levi is the only one that really enjoyed Soccer...and will be the only one that continues after the spring season. He scored his first goal last week and I think the smile stayed on his face all day. (he also told me that it wasn't as hard as he thought it would be)

:: rudger :: 

1. Rudger is obsessed with little stuffed animals right now. 
2. Four years old is one of my favorites right now. Almost every word that comes out of his mouth, I just die. Like when he said "Mom, strong is adorable and I'm adorable." 
3. He has a bad habit of staying up a little later with mom and dad. We really need to end it, but Justin and I love the time with this boy.

:: adeline ::

1. Oh this girl, to say that we are all head over heels in love with this girl is definitely an understatement. She is learning new things everyday and are favorite right now is every time someone says hi, she waves. Also, clicking her tongue.
2. She is walking everywhere!! She started taking a few steps just over a month ago, but that was about it. Then two weeks ago while I was sick, she decided she would just take off. The boys were so excited when they held her doll out and she kept walking for it around the island. She made it to 64 steps and they told everyone.
3. For almost her first year of life she was the biggest mama's girl. But in the past week things have changed. It's all about dad. As soon as he gets home, she walks as fast as she can, and as soon as she is a couple of feet away, she gets down and crawls backwards to him. Yesterday I was standing next to him, so when she backed up, she backed into me. She looked up, crawled forward a little and then  tried again to back into Justin. We were dying laughing. And he of course picked her up and gave her the biggest hug and they both went into the kitchen to eat something, because that's what they do.

tuesday tidbits

:: corbin ::

1. Corbin is coming to the end of 6th grade. He is almost done with testing and then it's pretty much a party at school everyday.
2. He has been helping our cute next door neighbor with yard work. He planted Petunia's yesterday with his good friend Mikaila.
3. Pajamas are his most favorite thing to wear...obviously.

:: taylor ::

1. Taylor loves reading Harry Potter. When it's time to go to bed he is always the first one to go, because that's when he can climb into bed and have an amazing reading adventure.
2. Piano recital time is just around the corner and this kid has been working so hard on his song.
3. Lately Rudger constantly says that Tay is his best buddy. Taylor is so good to him.

:: levi ::

1. Levi loves Mario. The good old fashion Super Mario. He is the one that passes all the really hard levels.
2. One of his good friends at school is the cutest little girl from the Philippians. They got to play on Friday and seriously, she is adorable.
3. To say that he is obsessed with Adeline is a huge understatement.

:: rudger ::

1. Rudger thinks its the greatest to use markers. On his face, on the wall, on his arm, and all over the bathtub. I really hope this phase passes really fast.
2. This boy lives for milk. He loves it in a sippy cup and warmed up 39 seconds. Yes, that is the exact amount. Few seconds more or less and it is not right...and he can tell by the touch and then refuses to drink it if it's not right. I know.... 
3. But when he smiles and his eyes twinkle like they do...I am putty in his hands.

 :: adeline ::

1. Adeline is sitting up so well now. She can go a good minute before she tips over :)
2. Biggest mama's girl there ever was.
3. She loves to reach the top of her head and then slide her hands down towards her face bringing the headbands with her. I continue to put the headband right back on her head. I am so mean.