Any Ideas??

Yesterday Noah started swimming lessons. He was pretty excited (and a little nervous). We got there and he got in the water and started his lesson. He was doing really well but then his teacher called me over after about ten minutes and asked if he was sick, I told him "no, why?" He said he was shivering so bad and was having a hard time relaxing. This was an indoor pool and the water was a little cool when you first get in, but not so cold that it leaves you shivering really really bad! He said that it could be that Noah just has no body fat and so got cold faster then normal. I don't know what to do to fatten him up without feeding him junk all the time. I have tried putting extra butter on his bread and stuff like that. He eats normally, likes his fruits and veggies, I don't think there is anything he doesn't eat. So I guess I am asking if any of you have any ideas. He is really skinny and yet eats all the time! I would love to hear any ideas from you! Thanks!

Family Home Evening

So Last night we had our family home evening and I decided to use one of the new family home evening kits I recently purchased. I spent a lot of time coloring and cutting out the little characters that went a long with the story and game. I was really excited about this lesson and game! The lesson was all about manners. There was a very cute little story about a little fish and how he made up these "Ten Commandments of Having Good Manners". The kids listened to the story...it was nothing new to them (believe it or not). After the lesson and game we made popcorn for the treat. I think they broke all "ten commandments of having good manners" while they were eating the popcorn! Some of which were:
"Thou shalt not chew with your mouth open"
"Thou shalt say 'please', 'thank you' and 'excuse me'"
"thou shalt not burp, belch or release gas audibly in the company of others"
"thou shalt clean up thy messes" you get the picture.
Kendall and I were talking about it after they went to bed and he reassured me that it's in their little heads and someday they will remember and apply the rules....I sure hope so!

Day At The Beach

Yesterday was one of those rare sunny days and it was a warm 60 degrees so we decided to go to a new favorite spot, Kayak Point park. They have a great playground that the kids LOVE, and it's right on the beach. The kids had a lot of fun!
Kendall and Emma on the rope jungle gym thingy.

Emma on the playground.

Noah on the ropes. Noah loved this big rope tower thing. But he has inherited my fear of heights, and would get to a certain point and then freeze and back down to the ground he would go.

Noah and Emma on the beach.

Kendall and Daniel watching the boats.

Daniel playing in the rocks.

Noah and Emma found this little fort made of drift wood and spent about an hour playing in it.

The kids in the fort.

Work

I've heard that you should start teaching your children to work hard while they are young....

Maybe 14 months old is to young to teach him to mow the lawn. But he sure had fun trying!

This entry in the blog is more for me and remembering the small moments for my children.

Noah loves our garden. We planted oregano last year and this year it has come back and taken over a portion of our garden. (If there is anyone who lives close by and wants some for their own garden please let me know.) Noah has been picking it and putting it on everything he eats. Today he is trying to describe the oregano he has in a jar. He says "Its smell is so strong it's not liquidy, and it's smell tastes good. If you breath it in you can just taste it so strong, you don't even have to put it in your mouth to taste it!" I love how children describe things, it's all about taste and smell for Noah.

Only In Washington

It's only in Washington that you garden in the rain, and not be bothered by it. I didn't even bother to put a jacket on. I've come along way in that I use to hate the rain and wasn't sure I would survive the weather up here.
I finally got some plants to put in our front yard!

Weekend in Olympia

Last weekend I took the kids down to visit my Dad and Catherine. Olympia had a big art walk going on down town over the weekend. A lot of local artists were displaying their art in all the stores and they had a big parade on Saturday. My brother Joshua had some of his drawings and pottery in one of the stores too. I picked up me niece Emily on my way to my dad's house Friday afternoon so the cousins could have a big slumber party and play together. It was a lot of fun, but I came home exhausted! Having to keep track of 4 small kids in a busy crowed is a lot of work!
Having Emma and Emily together is like seeing twins running around. They both wanted to have their hair done the same way on Saturday and both had to wear dresses with flowers on them.

Emma and Emily posing for the camera

Daniel playing with the sea shells.

Everyone waiting for the parade. We arrived 2 hours early to save a spot on the curb. We chose a spot right across from the toy store. My dad would take two kids at a time to the toy store to keep the kids busy, while I stayed and saved our spot. The parade was a lot of fun and the kids really loved it!

They closed off all down town Olympia and had buckets and buckets of sidewalk chalk everywhere for people to just take and drawl on the street. The streets were covered in drawings, it was really neat! Emily and Emma standing next to their chalk outlines.

Noah's drawling.

My niece Emily.

Daniel being silly!

Daniel and Grandpa Bill.

My brother Joshua and niece Emily.