We Have a Hole!

Ok.  So this may not seem exciting to anyone but us.  Mind you, this simple step of moving dirt has been 3 months in the making and we are more than excited to see some action on our lot. 

Wyatt’s 7th Birthday

Wyatt got to celebrate his birthday Moes family style aka:  stretched out for a couple of days. We all went to Olive Garden with several of the Grandparents.   He got to celebrate with Grandma and Grandpa Langston and the family on Thursday and finally when Dad was home on Friday he got to open his presents from Mom and Dad.  It was a Transformer, Lego and airplane birthday.  Happy birthday, Bubba.  Love, Dad

Colton The Great

Colton has one great magic trick called, “The Disappearing Act”.  Whenever you take your eyes off of him for just a split second, he quietly disappears.  He’s there, then without a trace or sound, he’s gone.  He doesn’t make any noises or sounds since he is non-verbal, which makes him incredibly hard to track.  That is exactly what happened today at church.  We arrived our usual 15 minutes late and while waiting for the doors to the chapel to open, Justin turned his attention away for just a second and Poof!  Colton vanished!  Where had he gone?  After looking in numerous classrooms, the bathroom, and up and down hallways, he was no where to be found!  Colton decided to wander  into the chapel and up onto the stand where the Priests were serving the Sacrament bread.  He has a knack for finding food.  Especially food he is allergic to.  And can’t have.  Luckily, one of the priests picked him up, sat him on his lap, and a neighbor brought him out.  Mind you, we were still looking for him in all the nooks and crannies around us.  Another story of “Colton the Great” keeping us on our toes. 

I missed most of the excitement.  I had to run Matti back home because she had worn her Nike sandals to church with her pretty dress and I didn’t notice until we got there, so she had to go home and change.   Good thing we don’t live miles and miles away.  There’s never a dull moment in our household. 

Cruisin’ on a Two Wheeler

“I just can’t believe it mom.  I can balance on a tw0-wheeler.  I just can’t believe it”.  Another milestone has been hit with this little bundle of energy.  This weekend Matti has been practicing her newly acquired skill of riding a bike without training wheels.  She went from wobbling  and falling in the grass to cruising in just a few hours.  All she wants to do is ride her bike every waking second.  Her coach and cheerleader, Britney, is seen here cheering her on.     

Breakfast of Champions

The kids had cinnamon rolls for a special breakfast treat today.  Well most of them had cinnamon rolls.  After the children left for school and the dust settled, I found these leftovers on the counter.   Nothing like cinnamon roll frosting as a healthy way to start the day.  Yep.  This one had been licked clean.  Would you like some cinnamon roll with your frosting?  

Parenting 101

I am learning it’s just as important to learn what not to do as it is to learn what to do.  Today, I learned not to leave the trampoline too close to the deck, or play set, or anything at all.  The landscaper that takes care of our lawn moves the tramp around the yard to keep the lawn healthier.  Today while I decided to sit down at my desk to catch up on some computer time,  Matti closed the blinds so I could not see outside.  She kept running in from outside saying, “Mom, you’re still there?”  I knew she was trying to hide something, so I opened the blinds and caught her climbing on the deck railing ready to jump over the safety net onto the trampoline.  I asked, “Matti, have you been jumping off the deck onto the tramp?”  She of course blamed her older sister saying that it was “Brooklyn’s idea yesterday.  She double-dog dared me”.  I can expect this from an 11 year old, but a 5 year old?  She’s fearless, to say the least.  

It brought back vivid memories of jumping off the roof of our childhood house using a garbage bag as a parachute.  (It didn’t work very well, but there were no broken bones) or my big brother, Casey,  lowering our nephew  from the roof of our house tied to a rope.  (Mom was shocked to look out the window and see her toddler grandson dangling in front of the window).  It’s so hard to get mad at because we did the same stuff when we were kids.  I just have to laugh and be thankful that I caught it before anyone got hurt.  Not in the mood for an emergency room visit.   

The Window Watcher

If you drive by our house, you will most likely see a cute little face peering out the window.  Looking out the window is one of Colton’s new favorite past times.  But that’s not all I want to share about this story.  You see, there’s more.  Brooklyn went to let Colton out of his room after quiet time and he was soaking wet, from his waist up.  We couldn’t figure it out at first.  Did he pee straight up?  Where did all the water come from?  Justin went to his room and found a wide-open window, screen missing, nightstand and carpet soaking wet.  We looked outside, found the screen on the ground along with Colton’s 2 favorite blankets.  Apparently it wasn’t enough to watch the rain.  He felt like playing in it too.  I had cracked the window an inch or two so he had some fresh air.  Big mistake.  He is so strong that he pushed it all the way open and pushed the screen out too.  I’m just glad he didn’t break the glass and fall out. 

Colton takes baby-proofing to a whole new level.  Here’s what’s on our list to “Colton proof” Colton’s next bedroom (and I’m totally not kidding):  Shatterproof glass with blinds between the panes, solid wood door, no bifold closet doors for him to pull off the hinges, baby monitor with camera (so we can keep a better eye on how he is creatively and destructively entertaining himself), and probably a pull-string light switch that he cannot reach to turn his lights on and off at 2am.  This kid definitely keeps us on our toes.   

Rivalry Week

Little did we know the history-making game that was about to occur when we snapped this pic.  Utah had the widest margin victory against long-time rival BYU, winning by a whopping 44 points and we were there to personally witness it.  Justin and I were surrounded by BYU fans that were disturbed by their own team’s performance.  All I care about was that my husband got his money’s worth out of the tickets he purchased for this away game and that he came home a very happy (Utah) man. 

BFF’s

Meet Cam’s new friend, Bridger.  He is in Cam’s 6th Grade class at school.  Don’t adjust your screen.  I did not photoshop anything.  He is 11 years old and he really is that tall.  When Cam brought him over, I ran downstairs to introduce myself.  I was certainly surprised when I peeked behind the door and had to look up to say, “hello”!  I asked him if he was the tallest kid in class and he said he wasn’t!  It made me realize that sooner than later, Cam will hit a growth spurt and I will be looking up to talk to him too.   

One, Two, Buckle Your Shoe…

I try to buy kids watches with faces so they learn to tell the time.  I bought Matti shoes with laces so she would have to learn to tie her shoes.  And this week, she did.  She is so proud of herself.  The sad thing is that I think she can tie shoes better than Cam.  My fault for buying him shoes with velcro all these years…

Reading Buddies

As moms, we can’t do everything ourselves.  I’ve tried and I just end up burned out and overwhelmed.   All of our children are required to read (or be read to) 20-30 min each night for school.  In my case, I can’t listen/read to 6 children every night.  I know how to run a large classroom, and that’s what our household often feels like, so I often incorporate strategies I used in my classroom at home.  

Every Friday I had the 6th graders help with my 3rd graders taking turns reading to each other.  Both groups benefited from this interaction; they made new friends, gave service and I got to be efficient with my time.  So, why not put this into action in my own home?  This week I started having the older kids take turns reading to the younger kids.  We started out with a 15 minute time limit (they weren’t super-excited about my hair-brained idea) and read short stories from Highlights Magazine or our church magazine, The Friend.  When the timer went off, they surprisingly kept reading.  I sat down and supervised to keep them on task and listen in, but how awesome is it that I just saved a ton of time, my kids get to build relationships with one another and they become better readers in the end?  

A New Milestone

The one who used to not care about what was going on in the world around him now cares.  As soon as the big yellow bus pulled up in front of our house, he turned to go the other way.  Colton did not want to get on the bus to go to school.  You can see it in his face!   

His teacher couldn’t believe how much he had grown over the summer.  She thought he had gained at least 10 pounds.  Not only did he grow physically, Colton also grew in awareness of what was going on around him which is huge in his development.  We have been working on this with him for 2 years.  At 20 months old, when I met him, Colton was oblivious to what was going on around him.   We thought he was deaf because of his lack of interaction, eye contact and response.  I took him to get a hearing test, and he passed with flying colors.  We then tried animal therapy.  Every Friday he got to go horseback riding to help get him out of his own little world and increase his awareness of what was going on around him.  His progress has been slow, to say the least.  

He is finally getting pickier in his food choices, when once upon a time this glutton would eat whatever he was given.  He has wants.  And he cries and gets upset when he doesn’t get what he wants just like any normal kid.  We took the kids to Olive Garden for lunch one day.  Colton was so upset that he couldn’t have a breadstick.  He wanted one so bad.  The rest of us were eating them.  He reached for one over and over.  He didn’t understand that because of his Celiac’s Disease that he couldn’t have one.  But the point is that he wanted something and pointed to it.  His favorite (annoying) toy needed new batteries.  He brought it to Justin for him to fix.  Justin put new batteries in it and Colton couldn’t have been a happier boy.  He points to go outside, and there’s no getting through a drive through leaving him out when everyone else gets a treat.   

So, I guess the moral of the story is to be careful for what you ask for…you just might get it!  Although this new awareness has opened up a lot of challenges, his teacher assured me that as soon as he figures out how to get what he wants, he will go back to being his mellow, sweet self.  In the meantime, we are happy to see Colton hit a new milestone.