Halloween

The more children we have, the simpler the costumes. Great thing is, these kids were just as happy. Tanner was gone all day for our first Halloween celebration (our ward party) so I had to prioritize, which meant Eliza and I went without a costume. I let the big kids pick out their own costumes. 

Weeks before, Austin was saying that he wanted to be Batman. We have a Batman top but nothing else. Luckily the day of the party I was able to convince him that a pirate would be way cooler (I think the sword is what won him over) and thanks to our dressups, I was able to pull one together. The eye patch and mustache were my favorite. 

Chet knew he wanted to be a vampire bat and I was trying to figure out how to make his costume. After piano one day Chet had a costume that his piano teacher had made and said he could borrow. I wasn't going to complain about that. Chet wore it every day and got really good at being a bat. He even had the plastic vampire teeth but they made him drool all over the place so he only wore them for the pictures. 

Mariah knew she wanted to be a cat and with gentle guidance from me decided she wanted to be a "rainbow cat". That way I didn't have to make anything new for her costume either. I'm sure you all are seeing a trend here...

Earlier in the day we had to go to Sams Club to get cupcakes for the party so Austin skipped his nap. He was one sleepy pirate by the time we were heading to the church. 

The youth at our church did such a fantastic job with all the activities for the kids. There was a cupcake walk, slime making, ghost target shooting, and a Harry Potter room where the kids were each sorted, got their wand, made a potion and learned what their Patronus was. There also was Butterbeer. 

We carved pumpkins for FHE one night. 

 Mariah made an attempt at carving her own pumpkin but needed some help from me. 

 Mariah and Chet both wanted what they were going to be for Halloween carved in their pumpkin. And Tanner helped Austin pick his. Although his dad was a big influencer, Austin really is a fan of "West Virginnie". Whenever he sees their logo he points it out. 

 I dressed Eliza up Halloween night for this picture so one day she'll think I was a fun mom.We had just gotten back from the Children's Museum in Pittsburgh so I was in a little bit of a rush. But Tanner was able to be home in time to go trick or treating with us. Which hasn't happened in a long time. 

 Before we left, we had our first trick or treaters. When one girl saw the Reeses Peanut Butter Cups she said she was allergic to peanuts and began to walk away. Tanner said, "Hey Peanut Allergy! We have stuff without peanuts." Later on that night I saw a girl dressed up like a white, glowing jelly fish. I pointed her out to Mariah and said, "She's dressed up like a jellyfish!" Mariah replied, "No, thats peanut allergy.". We had a good laugh and then had to explain what a peanut allergy was. Maybe next time Tanner won't refer to someone by their medical issues. Someone's a doctor. 

Austin walked the whole time and at the beginning he insisted on carrying his own bag. But as it got heavier he handed it to Tanner and said, "you can carry it". 

 Their favorite part of the night was handing out candy.

The night of Halloween we let them eat as much candy as they wanted. The next day they picked out a handful of candy and then I told them they could trade the rest for a new book. I was planning on letting them pick out a book on Amazon but Chet said, "We can go to a book store and pick out a book?!" And after seeing how willing they were to give me their candy I didn't feel like I could say no. So we went to Barnes and Noble. It was really cute too see how excited they were. Chet and Austin each picked out $5 books until Mariah showed them other more expensive books (bless her little heart). Lets just say that was very expensive candy I bought from them. After looking the books up on Amazon and seeing that I could get them for  2/3 the cost of Barnes and Noble, I was able to convince them to wait two days for their precious books.  

This may be a new tradition, but next time we might go to the thrift store and pick out whatever book they want...

Five Months

I just love this age! 

•  She loves to have something in her mouth (almost anything will do, just don't you dare try to stick a nasty binky in there...). Her blankets are her favorite to suck on. She also tries to shove her whole fist in her mouth and has even been successful a few times. 

•  Her CCC (Chubby Crossley Cheeks) are filling in quite nicely. 

•  Apparently someone let her in on the little secret that most babies her age don't sleep through the night so she gave that up this month which made me real sad. We had some pretty awful nights (She can be a real princess and the pea type when she wants to) but she started to do better towards the end of the month. 

• Eliza got to spend time this month with her Grandpa and Grandma Young and aunties. She got some special one on one time with Grandpa Young where she wasn't afraid to let him know what she would and wouldn't put up with. "I wasn't really asleep! Don't you dare lay me down Grandpa!"
•  She got to go on her first flight. She did so well on the way to Las Vegas, not so great on the way home. For half the flight she was pretty fussy until I realized she just didn't want to be in the dark. Once I turned on the light she was a lot happier. She fell in love with a male flight attendant. She couldn't stop staring at him and when he walked away she cried. It was the funniest thing. She slept for a total of fifteen minutes the whole four hour flight, but we survived. 

•  She gives the cutest shrieks when she is getting tickled and loves blowing raspberries. 
• She has started to be more aware of others and will either love attention from strangers or look at them for a while and then start to cry. 
• When she's sad she now says, Maaa. I'm convinced she is calling for me, no one can convince me otherwise. I'm starting to become her favorite which is so endearing and exhausting at the same time. 

By four children you would think I would have it all figured out but they all come so different that it is always an adventure. One thing I have learned is that everything changes so quickly so I try to embrace each stage because it doesn't last forever. 

Perks of Homeschooling

I am not claiming that homeschool is the best way to educate your children but just like there are some great perks to public school, homeschool has a few of its own.

For one we can take off and leave when we want. A few weeks ago I found out that the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh was having a free day. I was super excited because I have been wanting to go there ever since Tanner drove me by it when we were dating. I found out about it the morning of so I quickly packed a lunch and we headed out.

 There is only a small parking lot in front of the Conservatory and I really did not want to parallel park (the last time I was successful in parallel parking was during my drivers test...pathetic I know). I said a little prayer that we would find a parking spot and right as I pulled into the completely full lot a car was leaving. Prayers are answered people! 

 "It's as big as my face!"

 Probably the boys favorite part was the taxi in the Cuba exhibit

 Eliza was a little angel the whole time. 

Mariah had been learning about plants for a few weeks and one thing that she had been telling me about were sensitive plants and we were able to see some there. It was really cool to watch the leaves curl up every time they were touched. We also had recently learned about Venus Flytraps and Pitcher Plants which they also had. Made me feel like a real cool homeschooler. The place is huge and has so much to see. 

The morning of Halloween I found out that the Children's Museum in Pittsburgh was free that day (Obviously planning ahead is not my thing). The last time we went was two years ago (on another free day, frugality is my thing) and I was really wanting to go again. So we headed on up. 

 Mariah really wanted to get drenched but she tried to practice self control for my sake.

Eliza had two blowouts so she got to hang out in her diaper. It was pretty toasty warm in the museum.

We got to learn about circuits and build some of our own. They had a ton of fun in the interactive rooms going down the slides, climbing and running around. There were a bunch of chain reaction exhibits that they had fun watching as well. Besides some classes that were there at the beginning the museum was almost empty (total homeschool perk). 

And just because I have a ton, here are some of the funny things the kids have said lately: 

Mariah still struggles with eating some things (mostly vegetables), but she tries to be a good sport about it. One mealtime after everyone else had been done for a while she said, "Almost done, everybody cheer for me." 

One morning Austin took the lid from the Almond milk and dropped it into the dairy milk. Mariah was telling someone about it later and said, "Austin put the Almond milk cap in the milk that doesn't even have almonds!"

I don't remember the context of this one but I'm pretty sure I had the same goals as Mariah: "Someday I hope I have a husband who buys me ice cream."

While playing in the backyard, "I want to pamper myself. I've got a bucket of water to put my feet in and I'm going to put a mint leaf on my tongue." She really knows how to live it up. 

After watching the Hill Cumorah Pageant Mariah had to go to the bathroom so Heather took her. As we walked to the car I asked her, "What did you think?" meaning what she thought of the show. She then got really excited and told me how you flushed the toilets with your foot. Apparently that was a lot cooler than the production. 

After asking her what she learned about in church, "We learned about a war where the bad team were the Nutsies." For those of you who aren't well versed in the language of children she obviously meant the Nazis. 

Mariah's theory for how accidents happen: "Your bladder gets so full that it tips and the pee comes spilling out." Pretty creative. 

One day in school we were learning about Michelangelo and I showed the kids a picture of the David. Chet said, "He should have carved undies on him". 

Chet wanted me to pretend to be "spyers" with him. When I asked him what my assignment was he said, "You can be the mom who washes the dishes". He's a real feminist...

One day after talking about Grandpa and Grandma Young Chet said, "Why do they say young, when they're old?". 

When my mom was here Chet was talking about digestion, "I bet I can feel where the food is. Yep, there's the bowl." When my mom asked, "What bowl?" He said, "the bowl the food is mixed up in". Obviously I need to be a little more thorough in my explanations of the mechanics of the body. 

Tanner and I like to ask questions during scripture study and one night Chet said "yeah" to a question that obviously should have been no. After being called out Chet said, "yeah, I just guessed 'yeah' because I wasn't listening." At least he's honest. 

When Mariah said she didn't want to be a doctor, "What the heck?! Doctors are cool too because they get to see people's brains. They drill holes in their stomach and see it." Thats it, we are starting a section on the human body for school. 

While making dinner I had cut me finger so I had to put a bandaid on. When Chet found out what had happened he asked, "Is it just a little cut or did you cut off your finger?" When I pointed out that my finger was still there he said, "The bandaid could hold it on." 

In his primary class they were talking about Noah's ark and Chet informed the whole class, "If that happens again you should call my dad because he's done construction."  

Some of these stories about Austin happened at least six months ago and it is so sad to see how much they change in such a short amount of time. 

Austin went through a phase where he said, "teeny bit" while holding his fingers close together to show. When he was still in his crib he would tell me, "Me only get out of crib a teeny bit". Which usually meant at least five times. 

Austin had Ninja Turtle jammies and when he wore them he would tell us, "Me inja turtle". 

When someone was in Austin's way he would try to plow his way through saying, "scuze me!" the whole time. 

For a while Austin would point out the window and say "Robin Hood!". It took me a few weeks to realize he was pointing out Robins. 

After Mariah lost a tooth we were talking about baby teeth. Austin bared his teeth and said, "daddy teeth!". 

For a few months Austin would stand at the window and watch Tanner leave for work. On his sensitive days he would burst into tears when the car was out of sight. 

He went through a phase where he would say, "Me strong!" whenever he could reach something. 

Me: I like you

Austin: I like dad 

He sure knows how to make his dad feel good. 

Mariah: (talking about someone in a picture) She has really long eyelashes like you. 

Austin: (In an indignant voice) I not girl, I'm boy!

After dinner I asked him, "Are you full?" He pointed to his throat and said, "Mmhm, it's up there". Got him all filled up. 

Four Months

Eliza's fourth month was pretty exciting. At the beginning of the month her father gave her a baby blessing. Eliza cried all through the opening exercises of Sacrament Meeting but stopped for the blessing and cried the rest of the hour when it was over. Tanner finally took her dress off and she immediately stopped crying. I have a feeling this girl will be like me: dress for comfort not fashion. 

 We are so grateful for this dad! 

 Tanner has meetings in the morning before church so he leaves two hours before the rest of us. I knew that it would be very unlikely that I would be able to get any pictures of Eliza at home so I decided I would get to church a little early and take some pictures. This is about all we got. Not quite what I envisioned. I figured I could get some other good pictures after Sacrament Meeting. But after her reaction to the dress I decided it wasn't worth it. 

So happy to have that itchy dress off. 

Eliza is starting to get so fun! I love the stage of 4-6 months.

• Still sleeping through the night Which is just glorious!
• She really adores Mariah. We think the high pitched voice Mariah can do really gets her excited.

• She is becoming so vocal: coos, squeals, hums, she even has blown some raspberries.
• Naps are getting better. I can usually get at least one good nap from her, sometimes two. I think there are certain foods that make her gassy and not nap well. So far the list seems to be chocolate (I was in denial about this one for a long time, but it's hard to deny that it has an affect), beans, cabbage, and broccoli. Just a few of my favorite things; we'll see if I can survive without chocolate. 
• At the beginning of the month she discovered her hair, tongue, and fingers.

She wears her brothers pajamas...

• She has started to try to grab onto things but can only get her blanket without help from her siblings.

• She drums on her belly with her hand when she's excited.
• She really loves the one on one time she gets with mom and dad after all her siblings go to sleep. So much so that she usually doesn't go to bed until 10 or later. 

Tanner was trying to get Eliza to spit up on me. Oh how I love these two stinkers. 

Party for the Birthday Boy

I am not a party planner. So when Chet's birthday was coming up I was really hoping he would want to do a fun thing with Tanner and I like Mariah did. But he told me that he had figured out that if he had a party he would get more presents...I didn't think he would put two and two together like that. So we had a party.

Chet's birthday really snuck up on me. The weekend before we went on our little vacation and my brain is special and can only focus on one big event at a time. So as we were getting ready to leave North Carolina my sister in law said something about Chet turning five soon and I remembered that I hadn't bought anything for him yet...mom of the year over here. I frantically ordered his gifts on Amazon and prayed they would get to our house on his birthday, which was in two days. I know, I really am terrible.

Chet was very specific about how he wanted his birthday to go. Balloons needed to be hung up and he wanted all his toys greeting him on the couch first thing in the morning. Breakfast was to be chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream and berries, and he wanted a candle in them. Tanner got done early with didactics so he brought some doughnuts home to round off our healthy breakfast.

 Luckily Grandma Young had given me Chet's present when she came out in June so he had one present to open that morning. He was so excited about his new built with his name on the back. He ran right into his room and changed into his cowboy gear.

A few weeks ago we made little snack bags for people in need at FHE. Chet was so excited to get to help people and prayed every night that we would find someone to give some of the food to. I took the kids to Chick Fil A for lunch and took the long way home. I had forgotten about school starting at the University so what should have taken ten minutes took about an hour. But at a stop light I saw a man with a sign and was able to give him one of our food bags. He was eating some of the food before the light turned green. I told Chet Heavenly Father answered his prayers for his birthday. Chet had the biggest smile on his face. 

When we got home the birthday presents hadn't arrived but we usually don't get the mail until the afternoon. The kids stood watch for a good twenty minutes outside and when I heard the UPS guy pull up I was sweating bullets just hoping he would have Chet's presents. And he did! Another of Chet's prayers answered on his birthday. We got him Legos and a Bow and Arrows and he has played with them all every day. 

He requested homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. I had to go to mutual that night but they got ice cream with dad and played with the birthday toys some more.

We had his birthday on Friday when some of his friends didn't have school. Chet really wanted Chewbacca cupcakes but I really didn't want to spend an hour decorating something that would be destroyed within seconds. I've seen my mom do it too often. So I let the kids make their own Chewbacca cupcakes. Squirt some brown frosting, slap on some candy eyes and call it good. And Chet was so happy!

 Chet created a three-eyed Chewbacca and was quite proud of his handiwork.

Eliza was a little dear and slept through the whole party. 

I'm so grateful for my Chet boy who is so easily pleased. Here's hoping he stays that way! 

Smoky Mountains

We had been planning a trip to Williamsburg for several months and the kids were so excited. But then Florence the Hurricane decided to change our plans. We were able to get a refund from our hotel and two days before Tanner's days off we decided to go to Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

Right when we got to the Smoky Mountains we decided to stretch our legs with a hike.

The whole hike ran alongside a beautiful creek. 

 Austin did so well on this 2.5 mile hike and only had to be carried a little ways at the end. 

 Though the Smokey Mountains are smaller than mountains out west it still felt good to be amongst mountains again.

After our hike we went to the town of Cherokee, NC. It was such a cool little town. All the street signs were written in Cherokee and English. We were sad to see that the Cherokee Indian museum and Village closed at 5 pm. We got there about ten minutes after five. If we ever go back to the Smokey Mountains that is definitely something I want to do. There were some men that were doing Native dances on the street and the kids had fun watching them. We learned that Eliza does not like drums. At the end of their dances they asked if anyone wanted to dance with them. Mariah was the first up on their little stage. Austin would only go up if I went with him and Chet flat out refused. It was so cute watching Mariah concentrate so hard on dancing in perfect time with the drum beat.

On the drive back to Gatlinburg we saw these big guys. These Elk were way bigger than the ones we saw in Logan, UT. 

The next day we decided to splurge and go to Dollywood. 

 They have an old fashioned coal powered engine that went all the way around the park. Besides being covered in soot at the end it was pretty fun. 

 Austin even took a power nap on the ride.

 Although it was hot and humid Eliza was pretty content the whole day.

Sometimes it's hard being two at an amusement park. Austin wanted to go on all the same rides as Mariah and Chet and was pretty sad he couldn't. I don't know if Dollywood purposely hires the elderly to work at their parks but they were all so cute. Most the little kiddie rides were manned by these sweet little old ladies who would say things over a microphone like, "What does a duckie say? Wave to your meemaw and papaw!" All in the sweetest southern accents. That was probably my favorite part of the whole park. 

Mariah and Chet's favorite ride was the river ride. They were soaked at the end but they thought it was pretty cool. 

There were two roller coasters at the park that Mariah and Chet were tall enough to ride on. Tanner took them to the first one and they had no desire to go on the other one after that. So I guess they aren't quite ready for the big kid rides. 

The water park was already closed which was a bummer but Mariah and Chet still managed to get soaked at their little splash pad area. Austin still isn't a fan of water being splashed in his face so he steered clear of the water and played with the giant blocks instead. 

At the end of the day we went to their bird show and got to see all kinds of different birds and learn so much about them. They had the birds fly right over our heads. It was pretty cool. 

The next day we began the drive home but right before the exit decided to brave the storm and go to Greensboro, NC to visit the Hiltons. They were so welcoming to us even with only a three hour heads up. I wasn't planning on us being away from home on Sunday so Mariah, Austin and I borrowed church clothes and Tanner and Chet went in shorts. It may have been the first Sunday where Tanner didn't change right when he got home from church. 

 We love being with family!

 These guys loved Molly

 Jack is nearly 2 months younger than Eliza and almost the same size as her. The Crossley boys don't mess around. 

Mariah and Annalie were so excited to be twins on Sunday. 

It was fun to see the Smokey Mountains but even better being with family.