Another month (and a half, or two. I don’t even know anymore 🫣) has flown by. Quinn is still (mostly) loving school, and his first ever season of playing a team sport is in the books. Granted, it was a short season, but he did it, nonetheless. He played Sunday Soccer through Parks & Rec, a league I’m familiar with, having watched Greg’s four oldest kids play over the years. I’m betting Ash and Oliver won’t get that same opportunity because of the low turnout this year. The NM Junior Sports League also offered a fall soccer program, which is where the majority of kids signed up to play. I opted to go with Parks & Rec because of the lower commitment involved. Having been his first run, I thought one hour, one day a week would be a good intro. The other league is more structured and competitive. There were only enough kids for two teams, so we played the same opponents every week. The teams were coached by high school boys, whom I assumed played soccer. Our final week convinced me that wasn’t the case, though. Week five, which was our fourth time playing due to rain and mud the week before, was a complete shitshow. The coaches (a couple different ones that hadn’t been there before) weren’t communicating with the kids, allowing them to remain huddled in one corner of the field instead of going after the play when the ball was thrown in. I didn’t know I was going to be the mom who sat on the sidelines, yelling at her kid, but guess what? 🫣🙃. Now, I know you’re probably thinking that if I think I can do a better job, I should have volunteered to coach, and you’re not wrong. I would gladly do that, if I thought for one second that my child would listen to me. I didn’t want to deprive the other kids on the team of a quality opportunity while arguing with my child. Maybe next time I’ll give it a try. The first week went better than expected, but it was still bad 😂. That poor high schooler probably got more than he bargained for. We had tried to prepare Quinn for how things were going to go. Since he had been in school for a few weeks, I told him his coach was going to be like his teacher and would tell him what to do. He said he was excited, but when it was time for him to go onto the field, he threw a tantrum—screaming, refusing to go, etc. Philip and I both tried walking him out and talking to him. I eventually motioned for the coach to come over and I bailed, leaving him to it. He did a great job! He talked to him and started passing the ball back and forth with him. It felt a little wrong to put a teenager in that position, but I also thought Quinn would calm down and react the way he did. He is much better with other people than he is with me 🙄. He did a great job those first few weeks staying with the ball and putting in effort. After the break on the fourth week, week five was like starting all over. He acted like he didn’t have a clue what was going on. Like I said, the kids were all just standing around when the ball was thrown in, with no one telling them to move back. It was super frustrating. The following week, Quinn’s best friend from school was having a birthday party that overlapped his soccer game. Philip and I are both of the mindset that kids need to finish a season that they start, however, the week before was such a mess that we didn’t feel as though he was learning very much 😬. For that reason, we allowed him to choose which event he wanted to attend, and, of course, he chose the birthday party. They added an extra week to make up for the missed one, but we couldn’t attend due to Lincoln’s birthday party being at the same time. So, Quinn’s first soccer season consisted of only 4 practices and games (30 mins practice, 30 min game). We ended with a mixed opinion, because he said he liked it and seemed excited to play for the first three weeks, but then he said he didn’t like it after the bad week. Who knows if he’ll play again 😅.
⚽️ 🥅 😃
To be fair, he doesn’t like anything right now, so 🤷🏻♀️. Most days, he does like school, but we had one morning shit show that, I hope, left a lasting impression. He got up and got ready without incident, but right when it was time to walk down to the bus stop, Quinn decided he wasn’t going. He refused to put on his socks and shoes, despite my best efforts to force it. Unfortunately for him, I’m bigger and stronger, so he was going to the bus stop with or without them. I grabbed a pair of sandals that wouldn’t have been his choice, and off we went. He wasn’t a limp noodle, so he came on his feet, with me guiding him along by the hold of his hand. He was screaming the entire time, making quite a spectacle for the other neighborhood kids. As we neared the end of our block, Philip was coming home from his morning run and caught sight of us, so he secured Quinn’s other side. When we crossed the street to where the bus stops, I told him to put his shoes on. He said no, so I told him that was fine, I’d put them in his backpack and that I didn’t care if he wore shoes or not. That was the right reverse psychology move to convince him to put them on. He boarded the bus without further issue. I messaged his teacher later that morning to see how he was doing, and she said he was having a great day 🤦🏻♀️.
I assumed the reason for the meltdown was just because he wanted to stay home and watch tv, but I was wrong. I had a talk with him when he got home from school and he told me he didn’t want to go because they were doing hard numbers that he didn’t know 🥺. I told him that he doesn’t need to be nervous about going to school because he doesn’t know how to do something. They will teach him, or he and I could practice at home so he could get better at it. I asked him more questions so I could understand what they were working on, and the next day I made him an activity for him to practice with. He looked at it for a few seconds, and then told me he didn’t need to practice because they weren’t doing those numbers anymore 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️. So, when he’s 26 and can’t quantify numbers over 12, just know that I tried 😅.
My nice waste of stickers 🤪
He did actually like this math activity that I made for him 😊
For the record, he also doesn’t understand rhyming yet either. We think it’s amusing to tell him, “Quinner, Quinner chicken dinner,” to which he replies, “Mommer Mommer,” or “Dadder, Dadder chicken dinner.” 😂🤦🏻♀️. I even tried being funny the other day when Philip brought up that something he had just said rhymed, and said, “Yeah, like loop and poop! Did you hear that they sound alike?” He said, “Yeah, like bird poop!” No 😑.
He’ll learn eventually, right? And one day, he’ll flush the toilet after he’s used it, right? Right?! Surely, considering I make him come back into the bathroom and do it anytime I go in and discover he hasn’t 🙄🤦🏻♀️. I could do it for him, but that wouldn’t teach him anything. Same goes for all of the random shit they throw on the floor, especially clothes. I’m raising children who will one day live on their own, so they need to know how to not be slobs.
I know they say to pick your battles, but it feels like we have to pick every single one right now. Quinn is in, what I hope is, a very difficult phase right now, and I don’t want to normalize any of his undesirable behaviors. His negativity about E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G just might make my head explode. You can’t surprise him with something you know he’s going to like, unless you want your feelings hurt 🥲. It has happened so often lately that I’m about to stick to my promise I keep making him that I’ll never buy him anything ever again 😂. I know, I know, it’s hard to tell which one of us is the five year old with that last sentence. He came home from school one day, and Ash hadn’t gone to the bus stop with me, opting to stay home with Philip while he was on a break from work. When Quinn came in the door, he yelled for Ash and they gave each other a big hug, so happy to see each other. It was the cutest thing ever. The fuzzy feeling didn’t last long because a few minutes later, I gave Quinn a Spider-Man beanie and glove set that I had ordered for him that came that day, and he immediately told me he didn’t want it. It’s fine for him not to like things, but it’s not fine to be rude about it. I discussed that with him, and said I would just send it back, no big deal. He changed his tune after that, saying he did like it and wanted to keep it. He has worn the gloves several times since.
Another similar incident happened with his jacket. He has a black jacket that he says is his ‘police’ jacket that is a size too small. Ash has started wearing it, so I, again, surprised him with a new one in his current size. The jacket he had worn to school that morning was a size too big, which is important to know for this story. He came home from school, and before I showed the jacket to him, I told him I had gotten it and why. He said he was excited to see it, and then said he liked it when he saw it. I told him I wanted him to try it on before I took the tags off to make sure he liked the fit. As soon as he put it on, I could tell it fit perfectly, but he cried and said it was too big 🤬🤬🤬. Too big, despite being a size smaller than the one he already wore that day. I told him I would return it, and he, again, changed his tune, suddenly finding it acceptable. I told him I might let him have it later, but he wasn’t getting it right then because of the way he reacted. I didn’t give it to him until the next day, and if it happens again, he won’t get it at all.
I never have to worry about clothes not getting worn if Quinn doesn’t like them. Ninety percent of everything that Ash wears belongs to Quinn 😅. The only thing in this picture that is his are the pants. Those shoes were so big they looked like clown shoes on him 😂.
Quinn has been obsessed with wanting a pair of shoes with laces so that he can learn to tie them. Unless you’ve looked, you may not know that finding toddler sized shoes that tie, in a store, is next to impossible. We made a special trip to try to find some, but had no luck. I ended up ordering some on Amazon, but I got Quinn’s approval first. When they arrived, he was ecstatic, and told me I was the best mom ever, and thanked me many times for getting them for him 😅. I guess the key is letting him pick things out 🤷🏻♀️. We all like thinking we’re in control, I guess.
I realllllllly hope Quinn’s negativity is something he grows out of because it certainly puts a damper on things that are supposed to be fun. I wish I could figure out the root cause of it, so that maybe we could help him change his mindset. I swear, it’s like he tries to have a bad time 😅. He has literally said, “Okay, I’ll go, but I don’t think I’m gonna like it,” when told we were going to birthday parties or festivals 🤦🏻♀️. We went to the Halloween Fest downtown one weekend, which had many activities available. My friend Holly’s daughter, Lilly, asked us if the boys wanted to paint a pumpkin as we walked by, but of course Quinn said no. I told her, “Sorry, we’re not into having fun 🤪.” There was trick or treating involved, so many kids were dressed up. Ash wore his Hulk costume and Quinn initially wore his Batman costume, but decided to take it off as soon as we got there. You know, the kid who lived in costumes for approximately three years of his life, couldn’t be persuaded to wear one at an appropriate time 🙄🙄🙄. Two weeks ago at school was Red Ribbon Week and there were themed days, but he wasn’t interested in letting other people tell him what to wear 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄. There just aren’t enough eye roll emojis in the world for me to express my exasperation with him sometimes.
Philip said to me the other day, “He really is the least fun person to be around right now.” It’s true. We love him so much, but man. I try to be mindful of being extra loving to him when I feel like it’s been a minute since I’ve had any positive interactions with him. I want to make sure he knows he’s loved, even when it’s hard to like him 🫣.
I suppose I should be happy for him that he’ll never have FOMO, but his resistance to any sort of conformity is exhausting.
Despite the fact that he turns my hair grayer every single day, we do have some fun conversations. He told me one day, “Lawson taught me bad words.”
Me: “He did? Like what?”
Quinn: “You want me to say it?”
Me: “Yeah.”
Quinn: “Are you sure?”
Me: “Yes, you won’t be in trouble.”
Quinn: “Well, like, shut up, what the hell, stupid, and damn it. Damn it is my best.”
Me: “Why is that?”
Quinn: “Because it’s the meanest.”
Me: 😂 “Oh, ok then.”
Quinn: “I don’t know the F word.”
Me: “You don’t?”
Quinn: “No, because Lawson doesn’t know it.”
Imagine my surprise a few weeks later, then, when we were sitting in my car, waiting to make sure Philip’s jeep was done getting the oil changed, and Quinn sang, “Rock and roll, Fucker!,” from the backseat. I calmly asked him to repeat what he said, and he did. I asked where he heard someone say that, he said he just made it up 🙄🤦🏻♀️. It was obvious that he didn’t know what he had said, so I told him, “You’ve been wondering what the F word is, and that’s it, so you’re not allowed to say it.” He was so excited when he said, “That’s the F word?! I know the freakin F word! I know the freakin F word!” 🙄🙄🙄🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️. I told him he’s not allowed to tell any other kids.
Apparently, he’s going to need a list of off limits words because he told Asher to piss off yesterday 😅. I held my breath when I asked him where he heard that, assuming it was from me 🤣. It’s my favorite dismissal for Sophie when she’s being a pain in the ass, but I try not to say it when the boys are within earshot.
I definitely don’t want Ash to learn phrases like that, because he will surely use them at the most inopportune time. He will most definitely be the child who embarrasses me in public. I don’t embarrass easily, but I’m just waiting for the day when he says something about a stranger. He announces anything that comes to mind whenever he sees someone, like when we were at the park and he told me about the man walking toward us and how he was wearing shorts and a hat. His favorite descriptors are huge and tiny, so I hate to think of what he might notice about someone 😳. A target employee spoke to me one day, and Ash asked who he was. I said, “Just someone who works here,” and he said, “I no like that man.” 🤦🏻♀️.
Dr. Gary was worried he would be categorized the same way whenever I took Ash for his 30 month well check. Ash was born with a ‘cyst’ on his nipple, that has always just looked like a pimple to me. Dr. Gary has been keeping an eye on it, but it had gotten bigger and looked like it was ready to be popped, in my expert opinion 😉. I asked him about it, and he said he could do it, but they traumatize kids enough at his office, and it would be purely for cosmetic reasons, so he wouldn’t recommend it. I said, “That’s fine, I’ll take him home and traumatize him” 🤣. He laughed and gave me advice on cleaning it 😆. Ash wasn’t very happy about it but it popped easily 😊.
He is getting so big, it makes me sad. Ever since I had my sciatica pain, I haven’t carried Ash much because it put too much pressure on my hips. I think I’m finally healing and have started holding him more in the last couple of weeks. I forgot how much I love holding my babies. Like, not for extended periods of time because they’re heavy 😅, but baby hugs are the best. I know it won’t be long before he’ll stop asking for me to pick him up very often, and I hate that I missed out on that time. He got used to me telling him I couldn’t pick him up, so he started asking me to walk him to bed. His little voice saying, “Can you walk me?,” whenever I told him it was bedtime just, ugh 😩. So I’m trying really hard to savor these fleeting moments, as well as actively working on not being the ‘angry mom.’
Quinn has really drained my bucket when it comes to patience, so I have very little left for Ash. Luckily, they have very different temperaments, and Ash is usually a happy, go with the flow kind of kid. He has his moments, too, though. He can be an instigator when he wants to be, and his incessant questioning can drive me mad. Sometimes he just pushes to see what will happen, I think. He was in the bathtub one day and asked if he could drink the water. I said, no, of course, but if he did, what was I going to do? He didn’t like that answer, so he just. kept. asking. 🤬. You get to where you’re like, I don’t care, drink the dirty butt water, ya know? 😅.
He even does it to Quinn. He asked him repeatedly one day if he liked him jumping on his bed. Another day he asked me 1,000 times if he could put on the costume that he knew hadn’t come yet. I was finally like, “If you ask me again, I’m returning it whenever it gets here!” 🤯.
It finally came, and he was happy with it for about a day, but then Lori gave us two costumes Lincoln had outgrown—Ironman and hulk. All I had heard for over a month was how he wanted to be Venom ⬆️ for Halloween, so I got him the costume. Then Quinn got upset because he wanted a Venom one, too. So I got him one, too. Halloween night, Quinn wore his, but Ash went as Hulk 🤦🏻♀️.
He says and asks the most random questions and I don’t even know how to respond. Like, “Are gorillas real?” Yes. Easy. “What kind of gorillas are real?” Umm, real ones? I don’t freakin know. He overwhelms me in the car, especially, because he has so many things to talk about. Between the two of them, I’d prefer to never take them in public together 😅.
For that reason, I try to get any errands I have to do in person done Monday-Thursday while Quinn is at school. Ash and I were driving to Lucky Duck one day and I asked him, “What are the rules when we go into a store?” He said, “No hitting Quinn.” I laughed and said, “Yes, that’s true when he’s with us. Stay right by me, no yelling, and no touching all of the things.” Ash said, “Got it.” Impressed, I said, “You got it? You’re a smart boy.” He told me, “Quinn a smart boy, too.” I agreed, “Yep, he is, too.” Ash said, “You a smart boy, too.” I said, “Thank you, but I’m a girl.” He corrected himself, “You a smart girl. And Dad’s a smart dad” 🤣.
He is a very smart boy, and is so perceptive. One concept he doesn’t yet get is object permanence. He and Quinn both constantly try to hide and then ask if you can see them. Quinn is a little bit better at it, but Ash just closes his eyes and says, “Can you see me?” Sometimes it’s funny, but after the fiftieth time, it’s obnoxious 😑.
Good thing he’s cute 🥰.
😂
Quinn woke up before Ash one morning, so he and I were already downstairs when Ash came down. He was so confused and kept asking me, “Where was I?,” and “Where are my chips?” I kept telling him he didn’t have any chips and that he had been upstairs. He finally told me, “No, I was in the woods!” 😅 Quinn and I laughed and I explained that he had been dreaming he was in the woods.
He makes me laugh, but he is such a shit sometimes. He likes sneaking snacks into the living room to eat, knowing full well he isn’t supposed to. Whenever I catch him and ask him what he’s doing, he’ll tell me, “Nothing! Go into the kitchen.” Excuse me? 🙄.
He gets mad at me every time we drive over railroad tracks and says, “Mom! You shaked my head!” 😂. I’m like, “It’s your job to hold your head still, I can’t help whenever the road is bumpy” 🤦🏻♀️. Philip drove the other day and Ash saw my head move whenever we hit a bump, and he said, “Mom, Dad shaked your head!” 😅.
He repeats all kinds of things he hears, even when he doesn’t understand them fully. He’s been doing a great job at cleaning up lately, often without being reminded, so I’ve told him that I’m proud of him many times. He asked me if got new shoes the other day, and when I said, “Yes,” he replied, “I’m so proud of you!” I wish everyone’s bar was that low 😅. He told me that again the next day for wearing a shirt. I mean, I’m not a nudist so this isn’t abnormal for me 🤷🏻♀️. I’m glad he appreciates my efforts though 😆.
Ash is in his changing clothes every five minutes era, which drives me crazy. Especially since no one wants to go upstairs by themselves 🙄. I usually task the boys with going with each other, but I’m out of luck while Quinn’s at school. I took Ash up to his room and asked what he wanted to wear one morning and he said, “I want to wear this shirt. It’s amazing!” 😅. It was just a smooth dry tech like pull over. I told you his standards are low 😉.
In classic two year old style, whenever he wants something, he wants it right now. He has learned an important word: patient. When I start getting frustrated with his repeated asking, I tell him I’m not going to get it if he doesn’t stop. He always replies, “Okay, I be patient.” 🤣. If only that was true.
I remember being frustrated by Quinn at that age whenever he would try to get between me and whatever it was that I was trying to do. Ash doesn’t do it as often, but whenever he does, he’ll tell me, “Give me some space!” Like, no, dude, you just squeezed yourself into my business, I’m not giving you space 🤦🏻♀️.
Lucky for him, he’s pretty cute. He would eat ten bananas a day if we’d let him. I usually give him half at a time, but lately he’s been asking for one “with the wrapper on.” 😂. I love when he doesn’t know the proper word for something and just uses one he has in his vocabulary. Like when Quinn was trying to trick Ash by tapping on his shoulder and Ash said, “Don’t knock on me, Quinn!” I laughed so hard. I’ll be sad when he stops doing that, and whenever he starts pronouncing vampire without an extra P, saying “Vampiper.” Quinn still says, “Once uponce a time,” and I hope he never stops 😅.
Every day that Quinn gets off of the bus, Ash asks him, “How was school, Quinn?,” and I hope he never stops saying that, either. However, I do hope his auto reply of “Quinn hit me,” stops yesterday because Quinn gets blamed even when he isn’t here. If Asher cries, that’s the answer he gives whenever I ask what happened, regardless of the truth 😑. It makes it hard to properly punish because Quinn’s standard answer (when he’s here) is, “No I didn’t!,” regardless of the truth 😑. They wear me out 😵💫, especially right now because I’m sick. We had a good run, making it several months without sickness (sciatica and allergic reactions to bee stings aside). Last Thursday I got a call from the school nurse, who said Quinn was complaining of his ear hurting, and she took a look and it was pretty red. I picked him up and took him to EZ Care, where he was prescribed an antibiotic for an ear infection. He never once told me his ear hurt. I always feel weird whenever he has one because it’s always raging red before I know what’s going on. His teacher’s aide told me whenever she brought him to the office that he never complains about anything at school, and they only knew he was in pain because they saw him tearing up at lunch and asked what was wrong. That’s when he said his ear was hurting.
He had just gotten his perfect attendance award, and then got sick. Oh well, I think there are more important things to award than that.
I would guess I also have an ear infection, thanks to all of the mucus residing in my face 😪. There’s never a good time to be sick, but it’s preferable on a long weekend when Philip is off work so that I can get some extra sleep, at least. Being sick after having kids sucks so much worse 😅.
Where we’ve been:
We spent an afternoon at North Bend with the boys’ older brother and his family ☀️
Ash and I got to visit the PC fire truck for fire safety day at Story Time. It cracks me up that the tire is taller than him 😆. He dressed as a tiger on another visit and looked at a super cool dinosaur book with a friend ♥️.
We went to Autumnfest, where they had a great time playing in the deer corn bin, jumping on the inflatable monster truck, and eating cotton candy. There was way better food there than that, but what can I say, they have bad taste 🤷🏻♀️😅. Ash and Quinn swapped roles and Ash was the stubborn one who refused to take a pic with me 😑.
Mr. Danny kept us entertained at Regatta Fest with the bubble wagon. 🫧
We took the boys to the haunted trail at the 4H grounds. They watch zombie shows all of the time, and they weren’t scared at first. Ash actually said, “I not scared of you!,” as we walked past the first teenager laying on the ground. He lost his brave when we encountered the walking zombies, later up the trail 🤣. We had to end our hike early.
Quinn and I went to Boo at Bruce. Ashy wasn’t feeling well and fell asleep right before time to go. Quinn was a good big brother and shared his candy 🥰.
We went to the Halloween playgroup and both were pretty pissy about getting their pictures taken 🙄. They only complied because Miss Megan promised cupcakes afterward 😅🤦🏻♀️.
Quinn had his first Pre-K class party that included a costume parade. His friend, Elsie, twinned with his Spider-Man by dressing as Ghost Spider 👻 🕷️. We saw Harper while her class was parading and we were waiting for Quinn’s to come out 💜.
I spent a stupid amount of time making these for Quinn’s class party 🤣. I won’t make that mistake again. I thought they would be easy! They were, just time consuming. Quinn liked them though, so I guess that’s all that matters.
We went trick or treating with lots of our friends! L to R: Quinn (Venom), Merritt (Iron-Man), Rowan (Tigger 1), Harper (Tigger 2), Ella (Scarecrow), Lawson (Michael Myers), and Luna (Wonder Woman). Ash, again, with the refusal 🙄.
Quinn had been bugging me about wanting to go to the exercise park by our old house, so went up one evening. Ash likes to hang, and with his Hulk muscle suit, he found out what it’s like to have big boobs 😆.
We went to Merritt’s TMNT birthday party, who is Quinn’s friend, yet the only pic I got was of Ash 😆.
We also went to Chance’s birthday party, after the Halloween Fest, neither of which I took any pics at. It was a stressful day 🥴.
We went to Lincoln’s birthday party, but it was a week before his actual birthday, so on the day of, we visited him and make homemade slime. He said he had never made it before, despite the fact his sister is an expert slime maker. He says Kate never let him do it, which may or may not be true 😂. I’m choosing to believe him though, so that I can feel good about giving him that experience for his 9th birthday 😅.
Harper and Lawson’s combined birthday skate party was earlier the same day as Lincoln’s party. Quinn did a great job skating and didn’t fuss like he did at Ridleigh’s party a few months ago.
We took Lincoln on his very first trip to Sam’s Club. He said he had always wanted to go because he’s seen people go there on YouTube 🤣. He loved the samples and the food at the cafe. Our children behaved better with him along, so win win 😅.
Before we left, these three stacked themselves into a pile of cuteness 🥰.
I finally got to catch a 14U soccer game, the last one of the season 🥴. Lincoln gets to play up, and he’s a good little player against those bigger kids! He and Kate love to pretend like they don’t want to take pics with each other 🙄.
I attended a three week course at WVNCC called Intro to Photography. It’s considered a fun, community engagement class and you don’t have to be enrolled there to take it. You just pay the fee (which was incredibly cheap!), and go. Larry Tackett is an amazing photographer, and if you’re interested in photography, I highly recommend keeping your eyes open for when they offer it again! I have had a DSLR camera for years, and I could’ve learned about it on YouTube, but taking an in person class made me commit time to doing it. It was a great experience! Newly inspired, I had several photoshoots with the boys and Harper 💜.
While I was in class, my husband sent me this terrifying photo of my children and since I had to see it, so do you 😂. Sweet dreams!
#1 Spider Man and Hulk take on NM
This one just makes me laugh 😆
Despite making this ‘lens pet’ to look like Sophie, I still couldn’t get Ash to look at my camera most of the time 🥴.
#2 Zombie and werewolf apocalypse.
Ash didn’t want to be a zombie because he said Quinn’s clothes were dirty 😅
🧟♀️ 🧟♂️
Harper is quite the model!
She did such a good job taking direction!
And it was her idea to lay on the rocks 😆. She’s all in. I love it 😍.
#3 Fall on the Farm
Quinn said he was a scarecrow, but really he was just resisting doing what I wanted him to, which was sit up by Ash 🙄. At least he cheeses good.
It is absolutely impossible getting 5 children to look in the same direction, at the same time, and smile. I refuse to believe it can be done 😝.
Little boys on a mission. I wish Pepper, dog #3, would’ve been beside Ash and then this pic would’ve been perfection 🫶🏻.
Cooper 💙
Dory 🩷. She’s in my top ten all time favorite dogs
Butterscotch. She doesn’t really have a name, so I’m going with this one 😜.
She’s so beautiful. I hope they don’t eat her 😂.
The boys gave up on me, but the girls were game for modeling. Harper and Iris 🩷 💜.
Look at that sass 😍.
I can’t choose a fav, but this one is hers.
Such a mood. She’s truly so good at this!
So photogenic!
Iris loves bubbles and wanted everyone to play with them with her, so we got to take a cool bubble photo, too.
🫧😃
I may not have been able to get 5 children to cheese at the same time, but the Toppe Jennings family sure know how to do it! We love visiting their farm during this beautiful time of year!
What else we’ve been up to:
The boys had a blast with that super messy, ooblek sensory bin. It’s fun to hear Ash say ooblek 😉.
I made our own deer corn sensory bin, which has been an expected, very big mess 😑.
We made some art by coloring on aluminum foil with markers, lightly spraying it with water, and then pressing the paper to the foil. It created a cool effect on the paper.
I painted pumpkins for the boys and one for Iris. Quinn was supposed to take the mini Spider-Man version that he helped paint to school, but some miscommunication lead to it never making it out of his backpack. He decided he didn’t want to send it to school anyway, so it joined the big one outside. Ash’s was going to be Hulk, but I messed up by painting it all green 🤦🏻♀️. I asked if he’d like a ninja turtle instead, and he said he would. It helped that this was right after Merritt’s ninja turtles themed party 😅, so it didn’t take much convincing.
We carved them after Halloween. I had some growing in the backyard, but I started them too late and they didn’t get completely ripe. That didn’t matter to the boys who just wanted to chop them up anyway 😑.
Quinn has mastered writing his first name pretty well, so he’s been working on writing his last name at school. Today he asked me how to spell Asher, and he wrote it, too ♥️.
Ash has also been sharpening his fine motor skills lately. He makes very intentional scribbles on dry erase pictures. He has impressive control, in my opinion. He created a colorful sunflower by placing small pieces of cellophane on contact paper. He loves playing with stickers, so I gave him a do a dot picture to practice placing dot stickers. He did fairly well, and tried relocating ones that he didn’t stick perfectly the first time.
Nana gave the boys her change collection, so we sorted and wrapped the coins, and then I deposited them into their savings accounts.
Quinn got his very first big kid haircut at a salon. It was kind of a last minute decision, so we didn’t have time to schedule anywhere. Will at the Walmart salon was great with him, though! He sat still very well. He looked so adorable with it spiked up, but he says he doesn’t like it like that now 🙄. The inspiration for getting it cut was because he was having school pictures last week, but he wouldn’t let me spike it for them.
He still looked cute though 🥰. He asks me to blow dry his hair every day 😂.
Sophie pupdate 🐾:
When she had her yearly vaccines with Dr. Meckley, Ash kept asking me if he could go pet the vampiper dog, and I had no clue what he was talking about. Of course he had spotted this whenever we walked in 😅. It was back a hallway and I missed it.
She’s always available and willing to “help” with any task 😑. She wasn’t in the way at all while I was painting picture frames 🙄/s.
She’s still the biggest baby ever.
💜
Quinn sure loves her 🥰🐾.
Idk who sleeps in weirder positions, Soph or Ash 😂.
Our welcoming committee whenever we come home and the kitchen windows are open and she hears us 😂.
I swear I’m gonna get it together soon and start writing these posts closer together 🤞🏻
