Sunday Surprises

This past Sunday as I walked into my church building with my family, a newlywed couple of just a few weeks also walked in. Levi and Cecil had gone ahead and hidden around the corner, and jumped out at us while saying "BOO!" Austin and I pretended to be surprised. It was pretty cute.

I could see that this newlywed couple LOVED it. I imagine they were thinking about how their family could have a moment like that one day. It really helped me to highlight that sweet moment. They happen all the time--especially with our fun-loving boys trying to scare us! Cecil regularly waits in the dark in the van to say "BOO!" to me when I put the younger kids in their car seats. It's so predictable that I think I would be more surprised if he didn't make a sudden loud noise when I open the door to the van!

That Sunday morning, I was stressed from the tension of getting 4 energetic young children ready for church and out the door, but this couple saw the adorable part. If it wasn't for them, I might not have seen it.

The whole time we walked down the long hallway to the chapel, our boys were being pretty cute just by being themselves, and it was wonderful to see it through fresh eyes. Lincoln stopped at the water fountain to ask for a drink (as he does) and Levi had to be told to walk in the church. All this could be seen as obstacles to getting to the chapel reverently and ready to worship, but seeing my family through the eyes of this couple gave me new appreciation for the enthusiasm and zest for life that children have.

Father's Day 2019

Father's Day started out pretty well for us. We went to Stake Conference, and the older boys handled the 2-hour meeting really well! It helped that we had new activity books for them with a special coloring mechanism (they're called Water Wow by Melissa and Doug and I totally recommend them for keeping littles busy! Lincoln even enjoyed them for a while!)

The password of the day was "Happy Father's Day!" and it was cute to see/hear Austin asking for the password and the kids' chorus of "Happy Father's Day!"

Austin has been teasing the kids for the last month that they'd have to fan him and be his foot rest, so this happened...

Neither Levi nor Cecil wanted to be the foot rest, but then Cecil suddenly volunteered. It was super duper cute. Right after I took the pictures, Austin thanked Cecil for being so sweet and told him that he didn't need to be a foot rest anymore. Levi made the fan himself!

Levi's recent accomplishments

Levi sewed this bag all by himself! I was patching some holes in the knees of his pants, and he wanted to try out sewing for himself. I showed him how to thread a needle, knot the thread, and that he needed to have all the sewing on the inside of the bag to make it look better. I also showed him how to sew on a button. Months later, he also repaired his favorite stuffed animal with no supervision from me. All I did was thread the needle and tie the knot; he did the rest himself!

Levi has also been honing his cooking skills! He cooks Pasta Sides (like Hamburger helper) all by himself! He regularly asks to be allowed to cook. He and Cecil love it. He also has made macaroni and cheese.

I am so proud of Levi for learning these important life skills. I look forward to teaching him many more!

Mother's day 2019

We had a nice quiet Mother's Day here. Lincoln was sick, sick, sick, so after church (Austin stayed home with Lincoln) we just lazed around and spent time together. I took some pictures with the kids, Levi gave me a card, Austin made the meals and also cleaned the kitchen, Cecil gave me a hug and said, "Happy Mother's Day!" and Lincoln gave me the best snuggles all day long (too bad it was because he's sick!).

We had some really nice family time on the couch. Levi has recently finished reading the first Harry Potter book (!!) and watched the movie, so he made a wand for himself and was casting spells on all of us. We took turns being petrified and levitated. Austin joined in and was pretty successful at sabotaging Levi's spells by either blocking them with his hands or saying words almost the same as the ones for the spell, but not quite. When Levi and Cecil working together were finally able to keep him from using his hands to block the spells at the same time Levi was able to say the petrification spell without being messed up, Austin fell down and the boys laughed with joy, and Lincoln even cracked a smile and let out a tiny laugh despite feeling so bad.

Cecil got out our baby doll and Austin had him hold it like a new baby. Cecil was very gentle and careful; it was so cute! Then he wrapped the baby in a blanket and carried it around for a while, placing it on the couch and re-wrapping it at intervals. At one point, he asked for a diaper, which I coached him on putting on the doll but he mostly did it himself. I told him that he was getting good practice in for one day when he's a daddy, and that seemed to make him feel extra special. 

I also mentioned that when the new baby is born, Cecil won't be big enough to change his diaper, but Levi probably could! Levi seemed pretty taken with that idea and wanted to get some practice in immediately, and changed Lincoln's diaper! He even thought to give Lincoln a toy to hold without me saying anything. I was pretty impressed! I don't think Lincoln will cooperate so well in the future, but this time he seemed so taken with the novelty of Levi changing his diaper that he just watched and listened in fascination.

Cecil was pretending the hat was Cappy from Mario Odyssey. That means you can control
whoever's wearing it, even if it's a bad guy!

Poor sick Lincoln showing the camera his nose (I'm not sure why...)

Levi wanted a silly picture! He did smile normally for later pictures, but for some reason my camera had stopped working, so you don't get to see those!

How to choose a career

I've been thinking lately about how to choose the optimal career (yes, I'd like to go back into the workforce someday). I'd like to live in a specific area of the country and find fulfillment and success in whatever career I choose.

When I was choosing my college major, I only thought about my aptitude and desired income. However, I have come to realize that there is so much more to this. Here are some factors I've considered as I've pondered my options:

1. Location. Some jobs are only found in the city,  others in the country; some are more plentiful in specific parts of the country or world, and others have demand almost universally.

2. Social interaction. Do you enjoy talking to others, or would you be happier being left alone for the majority of the day with periodic interaction with co-workers that you see every day? How comfortable are you with interacting with strangers, and on how personal a level?

3. Future demand. How much demand will there be for your profession in 10 years or more?

4. Current demand. Is the job market saturated with people in the job you're considering, or is there a high demand for it with few suitable candidates?

5. What standard of living are you willing to accept?

6. Is the subject matter you have to learn to work in the profession appealing to you? Is this something you'd like to think about for a large portion of your life?

_________________________________________________________

Since I'm interested in a smaller city than the one I'm currently in and have considered the town I grew up in, I had to think about which jobs are available there. The town I grew up in is very small (less than 10,000 people). I realized that in order to work there in a profession that would be mentally stimulating and provide the income I wanted, my choices were limited. The professions I came up with were: Something related to the school system, the government, health care, the law, or business ownership. There are almost no mechanical engineering positions there, and almost certainly very few tech positions, which is a profession I think I would be well suited for. So I'll probably have to choose a location that is close to but not in the town I grew up in.

I have to learn more about the opportunities in tech to know which specific position would most appeal to me, but I would love to have something with a reliable amount of social interaction and something with a lot of demand so that I can have a lot of choices as to which company I would work for.

The Big(ger) Boys

Here are some fun pictures of the older boys from February!

"My googly eyes are looking at you!"

The aquarium at the Columbia zoo (and a fish face!)

Even though the lighting was terrible, I couldn't pass up the photo op.
I remember having my picture taken in the very same place when I was a kid!

We didn't expect it to be so cold the week we visited, so we had to borrow heavy coats
from the girl cousins (and they were just the right size!)

At the penguin exhibit. The brochure next to his hand is the map, which both
he and Cecil were enamored with and referenced often.

The weinermobile was at our grocery store! We stopped for a quick tour and photo-op.
We have a toy version that Levi went bananas over when he was little, so it was extra exciting to see it in person!

When he finally came out. When I told him it was time to go, he said, "But what about the ride?!"
It was very spacious inside. I counted 7 seats, but there was room for a lot of other stuff if need be.

Cecil took this picture for us! 

Levi has had a bit more practice with pictures, haha

Choo-choo!

Lincoln repeated everyone and chimed in with his own "choo-choo!" It was pretty adorable, what can I say?  :D

 

I came downstairs to get everyone ready for church one Sunday and there they were, dressed all by themselves! They know that they get a free screen time on Sunday mornings if they get themselves ready for church (including breakfast). It had been harder for them to do it ever since we started meeting at 9 am at the beginning of the year, but there they were!

Lincoln's words

Lincoln has been a little bit late on learning words because of at least one ear infection that he had. Since that's cleared up, his repertoire of words has been growing quickly!

Most of his words are basics like "Mommy" "Daddy" "Levi" "Cecil" uh-oh, whoa, etc.

Two of my favorites are "please" (peas) and "excuse me" ("me-me" and it's adorable). It warms my mommy heart to think of him already learning polite habits. Even though sometimes it seems like they may be misused. One of his favorite things to do is to move the kitchen rugs to the hall (which is what I do when I sweep), but I like having them in the kitchen to stand on, of course! When I first heard him say "excuse me" it was because I was standing on one of the rugs, working in the kitchen. I felt a little tug at my feet and heard a tiny "me-me." I had to let him take it; it was just too cute! He also has said it at church, while walking along the pew to get from one end to the other.

He's also learned a lot of body parts, especially on the face. He's pretty good at volunteering "nose," "mouth" and "eye" and will repeat "ears" and "toes."

His food words include "choc-choc" (chocolate), banana, and cracker. He will also say "more," "please," or "another one" if he wants more food.

Lincoln's most used word is probably "light." He loves turning on and off the lights around the house. Recently, he said a sentence! "Turn on the light." He also says a lot of other things that I don't understand when talking about lights. If the sun is in his face while we're driving around, he'll whine, "liiight;" if he's excited about the furnace being on in the garage when we come home, he'll say with interest, "the light!" One time, our back door neighbor's outdoor light was on during the day, and he said, "light," pointing at their house. He talks about "the light" all the time, and sometimes I don't even know which one he's talking about!

It has been fun getting a small glimpse into what he thinks about and enjoys.

The rainbow is from a crack on my phone's screen...gotta get a new one!

Happy birthday, Lincoln!

We had a small at-home birthday celebration for Lincoln. He LOVED the dairy free cake and his fun Buggly Wuggly toy. He'd never used a ride-on toy before, but he got the hang of it pretty quickly!

He loved the cake, of course!

Levi helped Lincoln with his special birthday toy. Lincoln was in heaven!

Another clip of Levi helping Lincoln:

And one more video, because Cecil wanted to be like Levi and it was super cute!

Store

Levi and Cecil were playing store today. Daddy kept asking if he could buy a hug, but Cecil said the store didn't sell those. Cecil kept offering food instead. Eventually Daddy ordered a sandwich.

Later, after Daddy had time to be doing something else, Cecil asked him what he could get him from the store. Daddy said, "I would like some solitude, thanks." Cecil quite cheerfully and confidently says, "Oh! I can get you that!" and runs off to his store.

Baffled, I wait to see what he says when he comes back with the order. Cecil runs back to us with his hands cupped. "Here's your solid food, Daddy!"

Daddy took it graciously and then he and I broke down laughing. Oh, I love these kids!

Here's the store! The truck in the front is their cash register, and the magformers are the money.
I didn't even try to get C to make a normal face!

January

Hey guys! It's been a while, but I love sharing my life with you, and I'm looking for an alternative to Facebook. Hopefully I'll find this to be a better way of sharing my life with my family and friends.

Here are some pictures from January:

Big L did a science project to see what size balloon has the most potential energy. He hypothesized that the biggest ones would have the most energy.

We used the balloons to propel a straw along a string and measured how far they went. The big ones went the furthest, just like he hypothesized!

I've had to cut short little L's naps ever since our dear carpooling friend moved away. He used to wake up as soon as I opened the door to his room, but you see that he's still soundly sleeping even though I turned on the light as well. We've worked it out so he gets more sleep now, but there were a couple weeks where his naps didn't work out so well.

Little L figured out how to open up our doors! Since the knobs are an unusual shape, I had to make the knob covers myself. I found some examples of crochet ones, made up a pattern, and whipped out a few during a movie with Austin (Ant Man and the Wasp). This photo comes to you courtesy of C, who loves to take pictures with my phone anytime he can.

Big L recently started the gifted program at his school. On his first day, they made "brain focals!"

Eating frozen blueberries makes him look like a monster!

Sitting in the toy box

A was asleep, so the boys got a hold of his glasses

Lots of cuteness ensued!