We started out the year with a wonderful kitchen leak and general plumbing craziness. While I wasn't thrilled with the decommissioned kitchen for 2 days and the expense, I am totally thrilled with the new faucet, which looks so fancy when that area is clean :).
Makenzie has been asking to start 'Mom school' for a while, which we have started with other kids around their 3rd birthday. She is learning about the letter M with marshmallows :). She also enjoyed learning about Mozart on Youtube ('It's a movie about this dead guy!').
And what did this helper do while his sister was sitting with Mom? Dump out a bag of rice onto the ground and 'wash' his hands for 10 minutes :). Hunter is impossible to keep up with, but I love seeing his little brain solve his problems. He was so concerned with the rice stuck to his fingers, but not at all concerned about the rice covering the entire kitchen.
Right after the first of the year I also started a new adventure, going back to school. I am going through Arizona State University's online Biochemistry program, and totally loving it. We are all adjusting to my need to be online for 6 hours a day (at least), but the kids have enjoyed watching my lectures (especially when stuff gets blown up) and completing my lab experiments with me.
The next few pictures are just of random events. We drove through super crazy fog going down to Lewiston one morning, this picture is as we were driving into it. We were going down a fairly steep hill, and for a while we couldn't see more than 5 feet in front of the car. At the bottom, it all just cleared and we were able to drive around town completely under the fog. It was like some science fiction movie of a disappearing city (Brigadoon maybe? Although that's totally not science fiction)
What happens when the kids get to choose dessert? Ice cream topped with homemade Chex Mix of course :) They all loved it, and wondered why I insisted on separate bowls for mine.
We have a video of this (which will never make it in here, so I won't even pretend that it will), but Hunter has been finding new and creative ways to drink his milk and clean up his tray :)...we should stop him, but being the fourth child has its advantages!
Another not-so-fun change lately has been Hunter's many screaming fits when his Dad isn't home. Hunter loves Alex, as most of the kids have at this age, but he is really insistent that Alex should be home all the time. When he leaves for work, and every ten minutes until he gets home at 5:30, Hunter goes to the front window and cries inconsolably. I wish I was exaggerating about the amount, but it was about a month of straight screaming. One lovely distraction from this was the day that Hunter found an ant. He carefully picked it up, carried it around with him, and talked to it for about half an hour before he loved it a little too hard. It was so nice that I didn't care in the least if we had an ant issue.
Makenzie's childhood innocence officially ended this week when she realized that the dad in the Lego movie is also Buddy the Elf. She was quite confused, 'But when did he stop being an elf? Is he bad now?' We shouldn't have watched those movies within a month of each other, but I'm still unsure why she hasn't figured out that most of the Pixar characters sound alike :).
Above is Makenzie driving a train to Grandma's, and below we have Carter's first unprompted sentence :) He worked so hard sounding out all the words, which read 'My legos are in a bin in the playroom.' This kid doesn't love to work on command, but he loves to analyze, count, and manipulate things, so Legos are a huge hit. I'm really proud of his independent spirit and hardworking attitude!
Walmart runs always include a stop to see what bakery treats are on a second day sale. This particular day I picked up some mini chocolate cupcakes for an after school treat, but I had no idea how confusing they would be! Apparently we haven't had mini cupcakes before, or at least not for a while. None of the three younger kids knew what to do with them at all. Hunter and Makenzie refused to touch them, instead eating them strictly with their mouth, and Carter smashed the entire thing into his mouth and then couldn't speak for about five minutes while he chewed...it was a treat gone right :)
After 18 months living in Pullman, I finally found a Zumba class! My friend Adrianne told me about a Sunday afternoon class that has been a really fun addition to this spring :) This picture is from a 2 hour Zumbathon at a local Elementary school which was also a great time.
A couple pictures of kids on different days helping me with my Chemistry labs. The first is about properties of chemicals in solution, and the other about melting temperatures for different kinds of compounds. They are really patient about watching without touching, and love when they get to help with part of the project.
Apparently Miss O gets her selfie skills from her mom...I didn't even know she was capable of having a double chin! I don't mean to brag, but mine is much more pronounced :)
I found this when walking through the school one day. It says 'My Favorite activity is ice skating because I like to dance on the ice. I like to glide on the ice, and have fun with my cousins.' It's important to note that the experience she is writing about is from Boise when she was 4 years old. She has quite the elaborate memory of her gliding and dancing skills.
We have lots of normal activities that keep us running throughout the week. This year we limited the kids to one sport each, plus piano for O, but when they each chose their sports we were still running 4-5 days a week with Olivia's gymnastics, Carters sport of the month through parks and rec, and Makenzie's dance. I'm glad we have another year or so before Hunter adds his schedule into the mix!
The biggest snow this year was over Christmas when we were in San Diego, so when the kids saw their first snow at the end of January, I let them bust out full snow gear and sleds. We were already replacing the grass this year, so I figured it didn't matter what they did. Besides having a few loads of muddy snow gear to wash, I was correct. They managed to tear paths of mud for the sledding run, but they had a blast doing it.
When they were all done, wet, and freezing, we came in for some cuddling time and introduced the kids to Star Wars. We didn't know it yet, but we started our own chapter of the Star Wars fan club, and we have watched episodes IV, V, and VI many times since. Olivia and Carter can't wait until they turn 13 and can watch the rest of them :).
Just a picture of SuperDad over there, teaching shoe-tying lessons while successfully wrestling another kid :) He rarely has a moment without someone hanging off his body, but I think he loves it.
And finally, I never want to forget these moments of after school homework time. Everyone has a snack, then sits at the table working until the older kids are done with their homework. Just for a moment, they are quiet and peaceful :).
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