Apples and Paddle Boards

This was another full week of school for Westin. Direct quotes from him:

"Ok, I think I like First Grade even BETTER than Kindergarten now!"
"I just love school -- some people go early and eat breakfast there. We should do that."
"At Bubble Up I said I love to play with my friends at school. I said that yesterday too. But it's just true every day!"
"I know what STEM means. But do YOU?!"
"I gotta wear my best shoes on PE day. I gotta be so fast."

And Bennett had his first days this week too! Monday and Wednesday, so that half the class could go at a time this week while they get used to things. This week he'll be into his regular Monday-Thursday schedule. He seems like a big kid when we go drop him of now since he's one of the older preschool kiddos this year. The first day another little boy came up and gave him the biggest hug and said, "Bennett, I missed you!" It was the sweetest thing. Bennett and I do some workbook and alphabet and speech stuff together every day but I love that he's heading to preschool to learn how to be a friend and feel big without us around. He's growing so much.

Camden had no accidents this week until a couple hours before writing this.... darn it! But really he's doing so great. He's an opinionated little soul who needs to relearn how to sleep through the night. But one night this week I was going through my old pictures on my computer to organize them, and Michael sat by me and we just laughed at cute tiny Westin and Bennett for a while. They are already so much older. Camden will be like that before I know it.

All our apple adventures have me so ready for fall. This is my favorite season change by far every year, and on all our 90-degree walks home from school in the afternoon, my pregnant self is just really looking forward to September and October.

We had so much fun catching up with the Bunkers when they passed through here on their way home from taking Trinity to BYU. I can't believe my Indiana activity day girls are heading to college. I'm so excited for them. 

Sweetest sleeping boy.
I always feel guilty when I get him up to go get Westin from school.
We're trying for earlier naps so that he'll still get a full one in,
but if it's too early he's not tired enough, so it's tricky.

Wednesday pool trip with dad while Mom got a bunch of shots at the doctor

Rupert came for two visits this week,
and Bennett played alllll day with that dog.

I love how much they color and create in this dining room that we never eat in,
because of all the colorings and creations that are constantly all over :)

Westin has been eyeing the last four gallons of milk so that he could save the lids for the wheels of this mail truck.

He saw it in Highlights and he's been determined to make one ever since.

I had a gallon of milk lead from our other fridge all through our kitchen....
Rupert licked up every drop.
Sometimes I feel like I really need a dog on my side around here.
Don't mind the potty that lives in our kitchen right now either.
I mopped all our floors Monday and rather than feeling good about myself I mostly just thought, "What was the point..." :)

Quick Saturday lake trip for some paddle boarding in the morning.
All three boys love it.

So content.

He was so proud of this claw he found.

I had about 20 pictures and videos that looked just like this after Camden reportedly played with my phone while I was out on the paddle board with Westin.

We are drowning in apples!
So many from our tree. We busted out our corer/peeler for a round of applesauce and Westin was loving it.

Bennett asked me to zip up his jacket and I couldn't stop giggling at his sunglasses.
He was ready for outside.

I made some biscuits to go with our applesauce and tried cutting them rather than drop biscuits for the first time.
But you can't tell because they very much turned out about as pretty as drop biscuits :)
We'll see if next time improves at all.

 

I heard a sad squeak outside and sent Michael out to rescue a baby bunny from Kitty's chasing.
He sent her inside and the bunny took a little rest on the deck and hopped away. 
She's such a stinker. Who could mess with such a cute little thing??

Ami! So good for my soul to see her.
We pulled in from paddle boarding at the same time they pulled up,
and it was so fun to eat lunch with them and catch up.

First Week of School

Michael:
went camping with the Young Men this week. All of Michael's stories from his Young Men's experiences growing up sound like he had the best leaders. It's fun that he gets to be involved in that now, and it would be really fun to be involved in all that when his own boys are big enough to come along. He made homemade apple cider today, no reviews yet because it's still simmering on the stove. Our apple tree made SO MANY apples this year. We don't know if it's an every other year type thing or if it's because we pruned it so much a few months ago, but it's really fun. They're small and delicious. The mornings are getting nice and cool here so that's when he was motivated to get this homemade apple goodness brewing, but it's an all day thing so we'll be taste testing it during our 90-degree afternoon, haha. But our house smells like fall and I am READY for it.

Maddie:
survived potty training round 3. Camden is doing totally great. He has had one accident since Tuesday, and he made it through two hours of church today. He's feeling so big. I had fun spending one on one time with Bennett this week while Camden was down for a nap and Westin was at school. He loved doing his workbook with me and it's fun to see how much progress he's making in speech and learning through all his hard work. I had so much fun with the boys this weekend too -- we went swimming, and delivered cookies to friends, and went to the library. We're taking little short outings to keep testing Camden's new skills. I'm excited for Bennett to go to school this week because it'll be so good for him, but I just really loved this summer and felt like it went by so fast. It's really fun to have my kids home. It's almost harder to be home alone with Camden then to be home with brothers and Camden :) I'm feeling so big and pregnant -- my hips are falling out of where they're supposed to be and it just feels like I'm in such countdown mode even though 28 weeks is supposed to be the feeling great stage. I've still been knocking things off my to do list though to get ready for baby, so that feels good.

Westin:
is such a sweetheart. He had a really hard first day of school, which none of us expected. Sounded like a combination of some things feeling too easy and some things feeling too hard and not a great friend experience at recess and missing his old class and teacher. But I feel like Westin and I just get to know each other more and more as he gets older, and I knew he just needed patience and time to feel what he feels and a little help finding the positive to focus on. I read extra books with him that night and laid by him longer than usual, and in the morning the first thing he told me was, "I liked cuddling with you last night, so much." He just needed a little help through a transition that we both expected to be no big thing. The rest of the week went well though, and I feel like he has a great class and teacher and school waiting for him.

Bennett:
is so easygoing and sweet. He never complained dropping Westin off at school and having to come back home. (Even on Monday when I fully thought it was his first day of school too, but learned it's actually NEXT Monday.... ha). We went and toured his classroom and met with his teacher on Wednesday. Each day this week I spent time doing his Pre-K workbook with him and working on some speech flashcards and doing some activities. He's making progress and I sometimes don't see it as much as other people do because of how much I'm around him, but he is such a focuser and worker. He loves that Camden is potty training and is a great cheerleader. He asks questions about more things lately that give fun glimpses into what he thinks about. I think he's been on the quieter side for a while because of his speech but I think/hope that's fading as he has a desire to communicate more and is getting better at it. He's just so sweet.

Camden:
seems like such a big boy and a little champ this week! I'm so proud of how well he's done with potty training. It's such a beast of a task but it's also such a fun way to see how they learn and how they respond to conquering something. Such a cute age. He was my little buddy all weekend when Michael was at his campout and it gave me a glimpse into what a residency Camden would have been like. We would have done just fine, but boy does he love having Michael around :) I stayed with him through nursery at church and I don't see him staying there by himself for a while, but with just potty training him now it's fine that one of us will be with him on Sundays until he gets really good at being able to tell someone he needs to go.

These boys are so sweet.

Bennett is allllll ready for school,
which starts next week and that classroom is empty.
Haha we're blaming potty training for me mixing up those dates in the emails.

Bennett's official attendance photo haha, he's not in the most natural smiley stage.

Stickers in the mail from Grandma Miner is always a happy day.

A little chilly after our neighborhood pool trip but he totally loved it!

Potty Training & Wrapping Up Summer

This week was meant to be our low-key last week of summer, but somehow it felt so full!

 On Monday we got a call that Westin was drawn last minute for a spot in the Larimer County Fair Rodeo mutton bustin' rides... haha so Michael rushed home from work and saved notes for the next day, we ate a quick dinner, and took Westy boy to the rodeo for his cowboy debut. He was so excited to wear Michael's old cowboy hat and "be just like you when you were a boy right daddy, because you used to ride horses!" Sheep are almost the same thing. A year or so ago and up to that point I NEVER would've thought that cute kid would be up for something like this. He has gotten so much more confident and brave and open to new things, and it's just really fun to watch him grow up.

His ride might not look like much from the video, but he was proud of his 81 points and second place spot! The winner got a 4-foot trophy and I'd be lying if I wasn't grateful Westin got second place when I saw that thing. All the little mutton busters got a Culver's gift card, so Westy is thrilled to have some ice cream money burning a hole in his pocket. Camden was a stinker to entertain in that stadium seating during that super late night, especially after his late nights in Keystone all weekend, but we managed -- partly with help from the sweet older couple behind us who made him and Bennett laugh quite a bit. We learned later they go to church in our same building.

Tuesday the boys started swim lessons with their new place & new teacher -- 30 minutes together in a class with the two of them. We've got some major ground to cover before these boys don't drown but they're at least both way more comfortable in the water and having fun. Hoping these weekly sessions show some progress!

Wednesday was Michael's day off and we packed it full -- first my glucose test (my doctor told me to choose fruit punch instead of orange, which is the first time I did, and I'm sad that I learned this tip just in time to never need to take another glucose test. Oh well... at least it was the yummier choice for the fourth and final time). I found out the next day that I passed, woohoo! Keep the ice cream coming. After that I took the boys shoe shopping for school, and then we put Camden down for a nap and I picked up a babysitter so that Michael and I could do a temple trip for the first time in a LONG time, before the temple closes for maintenance until October. We did sealings and then drove out to Windsor so I could pick up a rubber leaf tree I found on Facebook marketplace out there. Then we stopped for an early dinner and came home to put the boys to bed. They had a blast with their babysitter. I don't take those outings for granted with a cute nursing newborn heading our way soon.

On Thursday Michael had a long day at work plus a meeting afterwards with some other dentists in town, and he didn't get home until 10:30pm or so. This would have been a very normal day in residency, and I can tell you that I am not made of what I was made of during residency anymore. That is a muscle that you use to keep, and I have really enjoyed not using it the last year. Having Michael home so much more is no small thing! 

Then on Friday Michael rode his bike home from work in time to meet us at the school for Westin's First Grade open house, then he had to ride back to catch up on notes from the busy week that had stacked up. Two dinners and bedtimes alone this week -- I was really disgusted with myself at how hard that felt!

So on Saturday to prove to myself that I still have some tough in me, I decided it was Potty Training Weekend. Michael took Westin and Bennett on some adventures -- out to the church farm to pick sweet corn, Costco for paddle boards (we're so excited to put these to use!), a Japanese restaurant for lunch where the boys tried Octopus and had ramen, and to our neighborhood pool. 

I spent the day crying with Camden and staring at him for any and all signs of peeing. It feels like the LONGEST days when you do nothing but stay focused on your toddler and try to catch all the limited teaching opportunities a day holds, even when you're pumping them full of juice. The first morning he peed on me multiple times and screamed when I tried to move him to the little potty. I showed him lots of videos of little songs of babies using little potties and it seemed to click, until by lunchtime he peed and pooped in his potty and felt so proud, before we both went down for a well-earned nap. Then he had some more successes and failures after his nap but wasn't so terrified of the potty again. Sunday morning he was mostly just so mad to spend the day naked again, and it was fun to start the day at 6:30 with 45 minutes of screaming... I seriously wonder about what our neighbors seriously wonder about us. We're doing our best over here but it still involves A LOT of screaming from this little guy. Breakfast finally calmed him down and he's only had one accident today and lots of successful trips to the potty. It feels like my next "shift" is coming up fro nap time to bedtime and then we'll have 48 hours of potty training under our belt. 

Tomorrow is the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! So hopefully Camden can handle his first short commando outings and the boys are really excited to see their friends and teachers and start a new year. I'm bummed they'll be in masks, because this is preventable now. But we'll keep doing what we need to do to give them as much normalcy as we can in a pandemic that allllllllmost felt over. I bluffed and asked Westin if he'd like to do school at home on the computer or at school in a mask, and he immediately said, "Mask at school!" So now he feels like he's getting a bargain when really the computer was not a choice, but, he's feeling just fine about the situation now :)

We'll spend the night eating dinner and doing Father's blessings and packing Westin's "get to know me" bag, and putting extra masks and snacks in back packs and here we go into First Grade and Preschool. And Potty Training continued.

It's a lot of work to get little people into functional big people! But it comes with a lot of love and rewards too.

"I made an alligator, and fish! And he's eating them up!"

So intrigued by the cows and horses at the rodeo

Vest on! Little toothless cowboy!

And a legit helmet.
We were feeling grateful that he lost his two front teeth BEFORE this experience,
or it may have helped with the process and added some traumatizing parts to the experience.

We got a solid 10 minutes of entertainment out of my sunglasses, so that was good.

Loading up!

Camden, Bennett, and I watched from the stands.
We were so proud of him!

Finally starting to put some things on shelves again after ripping this all down in April.
Red circles are where I told Michael to find some plants for,
because I'm not allowed to have fake plants in our house. 
I told him I'd put real dirt in the base of a fake olive tree and this only further offended him.

Camden is loving our apple tree!

When you finally get out on a date with your husband,
but the new tree gets to ride shotgun.

I did an intense Costco pantry stock up this week and I almost couldn't push the cart by the end....
These boys.

Then I did some pantry reorganization and it's feeling like full on nesting over here.

I'm saving this just in case heaven forbid I can't have dairy someday.
I bought it for when Becca was here last week and I've actually been loving it.
Still though, dairy and I belong together.

The new tree is bigger than I thought....
so it needs a different home than I originally thought.
But we like her.

Always wrestling.
Usually all 3 of them now.

Just brushing up on a book I never thought I'd read and reread and highlight and review.
Motherhood.

Our house is a little more challenging than Fresno for potty training...
so many rooms and stairs to follow this guy around all day.
But luckily our carpet is verrrry old so I've just told myself when all boys and future dogs are potty trained around here, we'll get it replaced, and all will be well.
It sounds far away, but it's going to come fast I'm sure.

Even potty training has to pause for the garbage truck.