Lincoln Turns FOUR!

 

New four year old in the house!  We had a quiet day together (quiet for us!) as only 3 out of 5 of the kids were home during the day.  Bentley and Jake were off at Scout camp, but we managed to keep busy without them.  :)  In the morning Viva helped Lincoln build a Lego Bday cake Daddy found:

  

Lincoln had a mid day visit over at Grandma Vicki's - he came home with a crown!

Part of the afternoon was spent working on Lincoln's requested puppy cake.  I enlisted Viva and Grandma's help, and Lincoln seemed very pleased!

Lincoln wants to go to the water park to celebrate his bday.  I told him we should go all together, so he settled on a run through the sprinkler.  Grandma was extra nice and hooked up the warm water to the sprinkler, but the wind outside seemed to entice Viva and Lincoln to stick close to the sprinkler!

Daddy came home early and the little people headed out for a park date.  Then Bentley and Jake arrived home, we had a pizza party with Tyler and Grandma Vicki, and it was present time! 

The evening wrapped up with a show!

After all the festivities Evan is VERY eagerly awaiting HIS birthday!  Happy #4, Lincoln!

Kangaroo Boy

 

I love this picture Opa captured of Bentley in flight!  For some reason he looks a bit like a kangaroo here to me.... :)  He is still loving the pogo stick, but not *quite* as much time has been spent with it lately.  Mostly because he is normally found hunting through our rocks for treasures.  When the original landscaping was done on our home fill rocks were brought in to surround our 101 coteneaster bushes.  Apparently that fill must have been rocks from different locations around the state, because Bentley has found some different treasures out there.  Fun times!

Words from Lincoln

Lincoln has a great vocabulary and lots of thoughts - I love hearing them as he's a funny little guy.

When we were laying on the couch together, staring at the ceiling:  "Mommy, do you know what I think whenever I look up there?  I wish I was on the ceiling!!!"

Admiring my new scrubbing brush in the shower: "Wow!  That brush is beautiful!"

Wandering up to me in the evening: "How many minutes until my Jake and my Viva and my Bentley will be home?!"

And a hilarous conversation on the drive home from a playdate with Grandma Vicki and the little guy (Coltan) that she watches:

Lincoln: "What do you think Coltan is doing now?"
Me: "I'm not sure, but I think it's probably his nap time."
Lincoln: "He is probably dreaming about playing with me because he misses me."
Me: "Welll... maybe.  Did Grandma Vicki tell you that's probably what he thinks?"
Lincoln: "No.  I was just thinking that is probably what he is thinking."
Me: "He probably does miss you.  You're a fun guy!"
Lincoln: "Yes.  When I go to Primary Mommy says "where is my Lincoln?! I need him!"

I love conversations with this almost four year old.  He's a hoot.

More Cookies x 3

Evan was very excited after church when he saw there were still three cookies left.  All on his own he decided to eat one, and told me he was going to give one to Bentley and one to Jake.  He is a big food sharer (and a bit of a food pusher, to be honest).  He is also very independent.  He saw the cookie platter, grabbed his chair, helped himself, and grabbed the last two to distribute - he knows all too well that as a youngest sometimes if you want results you have to do things on your own.  A good and a bad thing I'm sure.... :)

Sand Play

The kinetic sand is still a big hit around here.  I pull it out once a week or so.  We have two colors now, which means more play space and less elbow jockeying for the best position at the tray!

Twins' Baptism Photos

I have way too many cute pictures of the twins before/after their baptism.  But I justify it by telling myself that since there were two of them baptized it's okay to have twice as many photos on my blog about it.... :)  Makes perfect sense to me!  They were lucky enough to have a summer baptism so the light was great and the flowers are in bloom at the temple next to the chapel, which made for some nice pictures (contrast that to Bentley's January baptism.... !)

The Almost Four Year Old's Photo Shoot

Since we had the camera gear out we figured it was a good time to snap a few shots of the almost 4 year old.  This kid has a lot of attitude and makes the funniest faces.  I think he gets that from hanging out with his older siblings a bit too much?  We love you, crazy little man!  Your infectious smiles and super enthusiastic attitude about many things are a pleasure to behold.

Tent Groupies - Still Going Strong!

My type of camping (other than the lack of a soft mattress issue) - they're still going strong, despite rain and winds.  I'm impressed!  :)  

Rock Club!

The fourth Thursday of June Opa and I took our young rock hound Bentley to the monthly potluck of the local rock club, Chugach Gem and Mineral Society (CGMS). The other four grandchildren went out camping with their dad, but Bentley didn't want to go. I've had the monthly CGMS meetings on my radar for a while, but between cub scouts and karate Thursdays are already overbooked. When Bentley opted out of camping, I saw an opportunity and I asked him if he'd like to go. He was all for it--an opportunity to show off his rocks and learn more about them! (It's not easy to identify random rocks when you are a neophyte rock hound. We needed help!)

As soon as we arrived we were welcomed by many different members. This is one of the friendliest group meetings I have ever attended. Within minutes of arriving Bentley pulled out his bag of rocks and Joe, a very knowledgeable member, identified all nine rocks for B. Awesome! Joe and others told us a little bit about the geology of our area, but I and Bentley didn't understand half of what they said because our geology vocabulary is lame. We will study harder!

Bentley and a toddler were the only subadults present; most of the group was my age or older. Bentley received a lot of attention and three different people gifted him rocks. A couple visiting from Washington was there and they gave him a nice polished river agate slab and 13 large sized unpolished agates! Two other members gave him fluorescing rocks. 

Everyone attending was offered their choice of a small black peat agate from Chicken, AK, so all three of us received one of those. They had a drawing for six rocks and Mark won the first one and I won the sixth one--so Bentley picked up two more nice rocks, petrified wood from Utah and apophyllite from Sand Pt, Alaska. 

At the meeting a member gave a report on their last rock hunting trip. It was a two or three day trip and they went to lots of great rock sites north of Anchorage. Bentley was super impressed with the list of rocks they collected--he knew a lot of the names. He wants to sign up for a rock hunting trip with the group as soon as possible. (Most of the trips are local, but someone wants to set up a trip to the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan which is where Mark and I attended college and met.)

When Opa asked Bentley if he liked the meeting and would he go again he said "Of course! The only thing I didn't like was the eating part. Why do they have to waste time on food? Can't they eat before they come so we have more time?" 

Bentley was very happy with the rocks he was given and he was happy to have his bag of rocks identified. I think the CGMS has a new member!

Karate Cuteness

I know that karate and cute don't always belong in the same sentence, but I think they definitely do in this case!  It is fun to see the boys helping their sister out with her katas.  I'm not sure how long the three sibling karate madness will last, but while it does they are triple the cuteness.... :)

Belt testing for lower belts is in just a couple weeks and I've told Bentley and Jake to get their sister "up to snuff" for her first belt test.  First comes yellow, then orange and blue.  Once you're a blue belt you can attend the 2nd hour of karate classes in the evening and not just the first - which will give some more flexibility back to our evening schedule!  Keep your fingers crossed for Viva....  

On the other hand, Bentley and Jake are lobbying to have Lincoln start karate.  So who knows... perhaps I had just better get used to the return of the two hour karate block.  It could be here to stay for a while!

Deck Tent Time!

We have the tent set up on the back deck currently - we'll see how many nights  the kids want to sleep in it.  So far neither wind nor rain has deterred the twins!  On night one it was just Jake and Viva - we had some winds that kept gusting through and my Bentley was convinced there was going to be an Oz experience and opted out after reading time.   That same night it started raining towards morning, but luckily our Coleman tent held up to its "weather proof" claim of fame.

Night one of camping was hard core with just their blankets and pillows on the hard ground - I was reluctant to invest too much time in the endeavor so to test their resolve I told them they could camp out but I wasn't doing any set up besides snapping up the one minute tent. Last night I added some extra cushion (a nice thick memory foam mattress pad) to the bottom of the tent to soften the wood deck  and Bentley and Lincoln joined the twins.

Tonight my buddy Lincoln was more than a bit on the cranky side from his late night to bed and early morning to rise adventuring so I sent him back to bed with Evan in his room.  So Bentley, Jake, and Viva are heading back out!  I'm liking all the extra reading time the kids are engaging in so I think it's a win.  Tomorrow they're off for an overnight with Grandma Vicki, but perhaps they will be back to the tent after?  We shall see!

Cookies x 3

Apparently we bake many cookies around here.  Looking through the pictures on my phone I have many many cookie shots.  :)

Here are three shots from three different ccokie making times in the last two weeks:

Do you think we have a cookie habit?!  In my defense, the older three are getting better at completing the dough portion of the project all on their own.  They just require a bit of help with the oven still - mostly because I'm the nervous type.  I'm sure Genevieve would tell me she could handle that all on her own too.... !

What we do like?  Chocolate chip is the very favorite, of course.  A classic!  We put oatmeal and cornflakes and coconut in our favorite recipe.  Sometimes we make a chocolate cookie, and once in a while peanut butter.  No bakes with Nutella instead of peanut butter are another big hit.  So many cookies, so little time.  Good thing we have 10 in the house to eat the sweets!

Photo Shoot with the Princess!

We didn't go as crazy as I have in some years (think 5 dresses in one photo shoot), but we did manage two dresses!!  Genevieve has a little bit of spunk but she is also very sweet and helpful  I like to think I can see all of those things when I look at these pictures of my newly minted eight year old!  We're so lucky to have her!!

 

Photo Shoot with Jake the Great at Eight!

My Jake has the best expressions--when he isn't busy plastering his biggest best fake smile to his face--he has a gorgeous grin and I love the way his eyes twinkle.  You can see some real personality in these expressions!

Jake & Viva's Baptism: Part 1

Jake and Viva were baptized this past Sunday.  It was a fun day which has been a long time coming!  Jake told the Bishop, in his baptism interview that he had been waiting for this moment for more than a year.  He has been very excited about it ever since he attend his older brother's baptism and it has been fun to see that excitement.  Genevieve and he had a countdown going for the last two weeks or so!

The twins turned eight on Friday and had their baptism on Sunday.  It went very well and we had family, friends, and missionaries there to help us celebrate their choice.  More pictures will follow in another post but for now here is one of Bentley manning the reception table:

And last, but not least, a video of their song!  Jake played piano while Viva and Bentley sang and Opa accompanied with ukulele.  :)

Sand Dunes Adventure

Earlier this week we decided to check out the sand dunes at Kincaid.  It's part of my summer plan to be slightly adventurous.  That's not  part of my nature so hopefully the children are appreciating my planned spontaneity... :)  We printed out directions and headed out.   We made a slight detour to the rock store as there was a particular book that Bentley had been pining for.  Then we attempted to follow the "short hike" directions with little success.   Luckily we found some helpful fellow hikers who redirected us, and we eventually achieved our sand dune goal.  Unluckily the wind was going crazy and we took a quick look and then went scurrying back the other direction!   Ah well.  It was a nice nature walk and next time we have a sunny calm day we'll know right where to head!

On the way home we stopped for ice cream - Grandma's idea.  She's the fun one!  I rule the afternoon a success!