Tales of Isabelle

I have a few stories for Isabelle....

Most 1st/2nd graders have very typical chicken scratch-like handwriting...such is true for Isabelle.  Then you add writing in Chinese and it's for real chicken scratch. ;) All kidding aside, her handwriting and Chinese handwriting are looking great!  I've seen a huge improvement in her Chinese handwriting this year.  Last year, I often wondered how her teacher could tell any of the characters.  But she said it's normal. Looking good!

She has brought home a non-fiction book about animals every single week since Kindergarten. She LOVES animal books.  We have learned quite a bit about lots of animals.  It's always a surprise what she brings home, toucans, elephant seals, beavers, bugs, and all sorts of things.  I love her curiosity and love of nature. 

Soccer games, she is a dream to have along.  She takes the boys to the playgrounds and splash pads and keeps them entertained. We also worked on homework and reading together during the games sometimes.  

One of her homework pages was a crossword puzzle.  She had never done one before.  I was trying to teach her what to do, but she was arguing with me.  "No mom, you just put the words where ever you want!"  I kept explaining how the clues help and she wouldn't have it.  Finally I gave up and let it go and let her do her work, knowing this was going to come up again.  Sure enough Thursday night (it's due on Friday) she was scrambling to get it finished and couldn't get it to work.  We ended up doing a lot of erasing and she took a little advice and was able to do it.  It was just a funny moment watching her and trying not to laugh at how frustrated she was. 

Toddling Toddler

This cute toddler of mine is definitely one of my more difficult ones.  He's stubborn and destructive and doesn't think any rules apply to him. He has mastered a careful tantrum. He goes somewhere soft to flop or lays down carefully before the fake cry begins.  He talks really well for his age.  He still needs a translator but he speaks in very complete sentences and just gets everything we talk about.  He's the buckle police in the car and yells at people to get their buckle on.  He says "Ok mom." or "Ok dad." in the cutest way.  He has to give hugs and kisses to all his many grandparents before leaving and it's adorable and funny all at the same time. He makes us laugh constantly.  CONSTANTLY.  I'm so glad we have this cute kiddo in our family. 

A 4 Year Old Bat Party

I threw Luke a friend birthday party.  It was all things Batman and getting bad guys.  The kids all had fun and it wasn't too bad on my part. 

They decorated batman symbols to put on their shirts and masks and had their Bat Suits! Missing Wynter and Lewis in this picture.  

Water guns and bad guys on the fence provided a long time of entertainment. 

Joker wrapping up batman with crepe paper.  They took turns being the Joker and being Batman busting out.  

Pin the Batman symbol on the Batman 

Decorating cupcakes and a few other things I don't have pictures of. 

Luke had a good time with his friends and definitely enjoyed himself and all the presents he got. Such a funny morning watching these cute little ones. 

Boys will be Boys

We had an exciting labor day weekend. One night Spencer dislocated his elbow.  It took us a little while to figure out he was really hurt because it was late and he was tired and fussy in general.  When he wouldn't use his arm to suck his thumb and hold his blanket to his face, I knew something was wrong with his arm.  We called my little bro, Dr. Matthew, and he walked Mike over the phone how to pop it back in place. The next day, Michael ran into a parked truck during an intense game of hide and go seek with the neighbor kids causing a concussion so bad he was blind for a few hours.  Yes, completely blind.  Talk about panic parent moments.  They wanted to do some imaging, but he started to get some light back so they just watched him until it all came back. So they hung out at the hospital for a while. While Mike was at the ER with Michael (and my van full of car seats) Luke split his head open pretty bad. I decided it wasn't life threatening so we hung out and waited it out.  If it was still bleeding by time Mike got back he would take trip number two.  The bleeding slowed and finally stopped just after Mike got home. 

Me sitting on the couch with concussed Michael and the top of Luke's bleeding head.  

Because of all the new concussion science, we had some good restrictions.  You have to protect the brain during it's "concussed state" (The headache) so not to do brain damage.  He couldn't do anything to jostle the brain (run, rough house, etc) or stimulate the brain (school work, screen time, too much thinking).  SO. HARD!!!!  He had to miss a couple days of school.  We played play dough, lots of easy brainless games, legos, and I read to him constantly.  Michael's brain has to be busy all the time, so it was fun for all the time together.  He was super good at following the rules.  At one time Luke was watching TV and Michael turned around and asked Luke nicely to turn it off saying he couldn't watch it.  He also kept asking when he could run again. And was careful for a few days even after he was cleared for it.  So after a few days of trying to keep his brain relaxed, my brain was exhausted.  He made super complex patters with Legos, did some multiplication, asked to read "only ever other page." and play game after game after game.  I decided kindergarten curriculum would have probably been more relaxing for his brain. Haha! 

Go Fish is definitely a good brainless game.  This game of Go Fish has gotten some serious mileage the last few months.  It's one we play A LOT!  

I'm glad we got our "things happen in 3's" out of the way all at once, and only ended up with 1 ER bill (however the pediatric trauma unit isn't the place to save $$$. Haha).  My  heart rate took a few days to settle all the way.  I'm sure this wasn't our last dislocated something, concussion, or split open head with 3 boys in the house. 

Summer Sharko

This summer we hatched a caterpillar who got named Summer Sharko.  Isabelle did the first name, the boys did the second name.  We fed it leaves and watched her grow and then build her cocoon.  When we came home from Swiss Days, she had hatched and was missing.  We found her drying her wings in the kitchen sink.  The kids enjoyed playing with her until she dried out. We absolutely loved this experience.  We have done it before in Florida, and will do it again and again. SO much fun.  Isabelle was in bug heaven, of course. :)

Swiss Days

We went up to Midway for the famous Swiss Days.  Yeah, we won't be going back anytime soon.  It's pretty packed!  Like hearding cattle.  Lots of booths to wander and look at.  It would be a fun place to go with sisters and no children. Haha.  We bumped into Uncle Jon and he treated us to some snow cones. It was still a fun family outing with Mike's mom and sister's family on a beautiful day. Afterwards he had dinner at the fun train burger place in Heber. 

Bat Guy and Morning Adventures

Spencer also loves getting all the bad guys in our house.  But when he plays, he calls himself bat guy.  He does this cute thing with his hands and makes gun shooting noises  and says "I Bat Guy!" It cracks me up every time. 

With Michael in afternoon kindergarten, we go on morning adventures with the three boys.  Usually one a week or so. I love being outside with these three.  One favorite place to go is the Thanksgiving Point kid garden area attached to the museum. We are never there long enough.    

The Lukester

Luke turned 4 last month kicking off our birthday season around here. 

For breakfast he wanted scrambled eggs and peaches.  He thought it was so funny to have his candle in his peach. 

His actual birthday we did lots of shopping.  I got all the wrapping paper, candles, balloons, etc for all of birthday season so I could prepared. I tend to forget about things until last minute.  I made the mistake of letting him pick the chips for the dinner with grandma and grandpa.  We were in this chip aisle for over 10 minutes while he played "Any many miny mo."  I was in a good mood so it was funny, to the point I had to take a picture. Haha!  

We didn't do much else on his birthday.  I let him have a special lunch and picked a birthday treat at the store. Luke picked macaroni and cheese and hot dogs and peas for his birthday dinner. Another day Grandma and Grandpa came for dinner, presents and cake. 

It was all things batman.  He got batman jammies, a batman backpack for school, batman wrapping paper, batman cake. He sure loves batman.  

My cute Luke.  He is such a tender, sweet little kid. He is starting to play with friends at friends houses.  He gets along with everyone.  He is incredibly entertaining to listen to.  His story telling skills are awesome and enhanced with big eyes, big facial expressions and big hand gestures. You can't help but to watch and smile.  He loves yellow and orange.  He will eat absolutely anything. He's always the last one eating and will eat a second dinner with Mike when he gets home late. He loves to be close to mom.  He NEVER wanders in public places and follows directions well. He gets very upset when other kids aren't listening and I say, "Ok, see you later." He freaks out thinking I'm actually going to leave one of his siblings behind. He loves hugs and kisses, bedtime snuggles, super hero play (catching all the bad guys), and all sports.  He loved soccer this year and can't wait to play next year. I love our afternoons with just me and him while Spencer is sleeping and Michael is at school. 

Send her Over

One of Isabelle's best friends shares our back fence, Aerie (short for Arrington). These two are hilarious.  If they want to play, they climb on the fence and just yell for each other.  If after many attempts, no luck, then they run in find a mom and ask to send a text instead. The text usually involves something along the lines of "send her over."  Literally. over the fence.  They have some good systems.  Sometimes chairs, sometimes ladders, sometimes the tree growing on the fence line, sometimes just some good old fashioned bare foot fence climbing. So far no broken bones. :)  Aerie has 4 chickens, which Isabelle is obsessed with.  She has gotten to help tend the chickens when they are out of town and gotten to keep the egg loot. These two love to be outside, dancing, and are imaginative and so similar in personalities. While I would love a bigger yard, I do love where we live. Isabelle has the best friends. I love watching from my kitchen window these two cute girls and the friendship that has blossomed this year. 

(Pictures on Sept 2, 2015)