Cuddling in the morning with daddy - his lap is usually a favorite! He also
makes a great jungle gym :)
We all love to make Claire laugh!!
We keep this on our wall and I direct the kiddos to it often with I get the "Mom, I'm bored" (whiniest voice ever heard)
Everything she does has a little magic in it. This is her first Corn Dog! She didn't really care for the cornbread - she wanted that hot dog.
Landon's class from HGC got to go to the apple farm for a field trip - it was really fun!
I took the kids to Vancouver Lake to celebrate that last hot day of the year. We borrow kayaks and a paddle board from my parents and drove 45 minutes north to a beautiful lake I had no idea was even there before!! It was a beautiful day and we spent most of our time in the water. Claire loved splashing in the shallows and rolling in the sand. Cameron and Katey Jane truly enjoyed being able to swim and took turns jumping off the paddle board into the deep water. Landon had fun kayaking and playing in the sand. I even had a good time. Claire require my 100% focus since she has no fear of the water, but watching the kids have so much fun made my day. I was complimented by another lady there with her family. She said I am Super Woman and that my kids are so well behaved, helpful, and fun. It's nice to hear that kid of stuff and I couldn't agree more - my kids RULE.
Soccer Saturday again - this was Cam and Claire keeping warm at Landon's 9am game. Both boys pulled out a win.
This has been one of the kids' favorite games lately. I don't get it - Claire really drops hard on them and it hurts (I tried it once and best believe I am not getting back down there). I love hearing the giggles when they all play together and aren't fighting.....*cue choir of angels*
I took the kids to OMSI for Adventure Day and Chloe tagged along with us. We had a great time - can I just say how awesome it is to have big kids? I especially love it for Claire - she is so loved and adored. There is always a new person ready to play with her and give her attention. Its like she is an only child....uh oh. Cameron and Katey Jane get to experience what I did with my youngest siblings. I hope they remember it like I do....it makes me smile.
This is a totally random picture, but its the only one I got from the event. We all went bowling and arcading together Friday night. Everyone came except Dad (he was in Eastern Oregon). The bowling and arcading was fun, but the food wasn't that great. All in all a good time seeing each other and having fun together.
Soccer this week was awesome!! Landon shot at the goal 4 times and finally made a goal on his 5th attempt!! I am always doing the time and rotations so I don't have out my camera - this time I whipped it out and caught one of the misses - but it still counts in my book. The Navy Ninjas (Landon's team) won their game and The Sages (Cameron's team) had a tie in Scappoose or Scarpoose as Landon says. It was a tough game and our team played so well. Cameron is such a stud - he plays aggressive and fast. He gets right up in the players grill - no matter their size - and strips that ball. I LOVE WATCHING. Coach said "Wow Brooke, I don't know what the Carter family is like, but Cameron plays with pure Morin Oomph" I couldn't agree more....proud mama moment.
Doctor's check ups for my big three this week. Everyone passed with flying colors and is healthy. They all got Flu Shots and Landon was the only one with tears....I call that a success.
Everyone grew taller - even Cameron!! He was pretty excited about that, but he wasn't excited that Katey Jane now officially on record...is taller than he. KJ loved it though.
Landon was given a RC car by the family and Jerry gathered parts, built and painted it, and it finally was ready for Landon to bring it home!! He sat outside most of the day figuring it out and having a total blast.
I'll never understand why my kids choose to all cram onto the coffee table when there are two perfectly comfy couches for them all to veg......silly Carters.
We busted out the tea set and Katey Jane was very excited that her brothers chose to join her. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that cupcakes and cookies were the main food staple at this party. Tea parties are funny because they take so much time to get ready and set up and then they are over in less than 30 min. I feel bad sometimes that I don't get things like this out more often.....but come on. An activity that requires as much set up as this does should give me at least a couple hours of happy playing kids right? Oh well.....we live and we learn.
Soccer....Soccer.....Soccer..... I love it and so do the boys. GG came to pick up Katey Jane and stayed to hang with Claire for a little while. As you can see - Claire hated every second of it.
Claire loves to carry around her animal friends and tell us all about them. She has cute ways of saying all their names, "Bird" "Coo-kee" "Elmo" "Pooh"
Our week started with a trip to Eugene to visit family! Claire loved the swings! Cam, KJ, and Landon played with cousins until we dragged them to the car - we love our Eugene trips.
GG gave Claire a new nightgown to replace her Cinderella one that was a 12 month size nightgown - but we wouldn't give it up because she loved it and looked so cute in it. Now we have a 24 month size Belle nightgown and it fits perfectly.
We lay on Mom and Dad's bed before bedtime and read. Right now we are reading Winnie the Pooh and while the kids didn't think they'd like it....they are mesmerized by it. It makes my mommy heart sing to cuddle up with my babies in a big bed and enjoy reading together. Sometime we watch a show too - one of our new favorites is Magic for Humans. We swear this guy is a real life wizard and we are so sad there is only one season on Netflix.
I took the kids to Pump it Up to celebrate our Not back to school day! We met GG for lunch at Red Robin after. Claire didn't really enjoy Pump it up - maybe when she is older. the other kiddos had a blast and found new ways to go down the slide. (KJ is wearing a cast because she was trying to balance on a soccer ball, fell, and landed hand first. She has a buckle fracture and has to wear the splint for 3 weeks)
This is Claire's new favorite bed mate - Pooh. The kids found him at the G-dub and brought him home. She is in love and carries him around the house. She falls asleep right next to him and just adores it.
We went to Oaks Park for Homeschool Day with some of our HGC families - they do a discounted rate for the day and we had so much fun!!! I have lived here my entire life and have never been - this will definitely be put on our list of must-do every year. The kids and I played the day away and rode ride after ride. Cameron used his own money to buy him and his bro/sis a icee. He is so kind. I might have snagged a couple swigs...it was so hot that day! They were all asleep within minutes of driving home - a classic tell-tale of a crazy fun day.
My mom found these shelves on facebook marketplace. I wasn't too interested at first, but now that they're here I can't imagine the room without them. We had to put all our seats in the van down and they barely fit! It has been so fun to decorate and organize my own house. I am feeling very blessed and happy.
Soccer season is still happening and we are having a lot of fun. Claire is beloved by both teams of boys and they welcome her onto their bench anytime she wishes. The big boys even give her the time of day and some of them make it a point to get down on her level and say hello in a cute high voice.
Both boys are currently undefeated (only one tie - WAHOOO).
KJ is really liking her hip hop class. She won't really show us her moves at home so I am very much looking forward to seeing the showcase at the end so we can see what she has been up to!
We had a busy week of soccer, math class, music class, and dance class! It was the last week for us before we started "homeschool". I'm trying a new schedule this year to hopefully give Halsy and I the best of both worlds. Mon & Fri (free days) Tu & Wed (school days & activity days) Thu (HGC day and rest). We will see if this alleviates my stress and keeps the kids on track better all at the same time!!
We live much closer to Katelyn now and she came for a visit and took Claire on a date!
I really love coaching my boys in soccer. This year I am assistant coaching both teams so it is a lot less involved and it is supremely lovely, especially with the amount and age of my kids. I get to just show up and love on the boys, encourage and help Travis or Darrin run through what they want to do. Claire likes it too - she toddles around the field, sits on balls, eats goldfish (fishies), and charms everyone. KJ really doesn't enjoy coming and she has started staying home. We got an Alexa so she could call me and I can call her - it makes me feel better about leaving her here alone for a couple hours. I am excited to be a head coach for Landon's team as they get older - they are a great group of kiddos. I'll happily stay assistant coach for Cameron's team. Darrin knows way more than I do and I am always learning new rules about the game from him and the boys even :) Landon loves to come to Cameron's practices and play with the big boys.
We have gotten to hanging pictures in the kids rooms! Katey Jane is so excited because she has been begging us to do it since we moved in! Their rooms look and feel like home now and everyone is excited to sleep tonight in their rooms.
We are SOOOOO EXCITED to announce that Claire's allergies have disappeared!! She has outgrown them ALL!!
WAHOOO!! - No more avoiding dairy, eggs, peanut butter, strawberries, or sunflower seeds!!
She was tested this month because she was not having reactions when she would accidentally ingest her allergies. They had to do a back prick test (not her favorite) and the poor nurse was on Claire's bad list for the rest of the appointment. Anytime the nurse entered to check on us, Claire would immediately cry and climb up my lap. the doctor was so amazed and super happy for us. He said we should feed her all of the "off limits" foods that we had been avoiding so they wouldn't return and we wasted no time! Ice cream, pizza, bagels and cream cheese, PB & J sandwiches, PB cookies, goldfish (fishies), Reeses PB Cups, Cows milk in her bottle, and so much more!! She has been enjoying her new foods and asks for Pizza often (a good choice I think).
It is so nice to not have to buy a separate list of foods, make a separate dinner, etc!! Now I just make food and we all eat it - it is a small slice of heaven.
Here she is enjoying one of her new favorite snacks - Fishies
Landon - our number three!! We are so in love with Landon. This little boy makes our home happy, crazy, hilarious, and sweet. One look from those puppy dog blue eyes and we are smitten. Happy Birthday Little Man
He Loves to:
Wrestle with his brother - or anyone unlucky enough to get caught ;)
Laugh
Read Books
Play with cars/motorcycles
Play games
Dream of owning a motorcycle
Avoid cleaning at all costs
Go swimming
Help me with Claire
Bother his big brother and get beat up in the process
Eat nutella, bacon, go-gurts, slushees, and spaghetti
Go hiking
Jump on the trampoline
Ride bikes
Play soccer
Sleep in the car whenever possible
He hates to:
Do anything that has to do with cleaning
Do too many things in one day
Be near dogs or any large animal
Go to bed
Be woken up
Have his turn skipped
