Buddy Squirrel Factory Tour

We had an awesome playgroup excursion on Thursday.  We toured the Buddy Squirrel Chocolate Factory.  Talk about mouthwatering.  We all got delicious goody bags afterward which Bridget and I promptly enjoyed.  :)  Marshall showed amazing self-control and didn't finish eating his until last night.  I could take a lesson in this.  Maybe after the baby...

We all got to wear some pretty awesome hats during the tour.  Thanks to Karisa for documenting our fantastic looks.  It was a great time!

Bowling Antics

On Friday Karisa (28 weeks pregnant) and I (38 weeks pregnant) took our kids bowling.  We dragged four kids ages 5, 4, 3, and 2 into the bowling alley on a rainy Friday morning.  We had a great time, the kids loved it, but by the 9th frame I found myself on a chair wondering why I was so exhausted.  And then I remembered...hello...here are two pregnant women helping four little kids bowl.  I am so glad that Karisa took all of these pictures.  This is a morning I want to remember.

Cole spent probably half the game perched right here.  Fortunately, no injuries were sustained.

How do you watch your bowling ball roll down the lane?

Celebrating a spare.

Priceless.

Best group picture ever.

Bridget Update

Oh Bridget, you are at a fun and darling age, but sometimes you are a bit too emotional for our liking.  :)  But regardless of your emotions (I can relate) we love you.  Here are some fun things we always want to remember about you at this age...

*You have finally gotten over your binky being gone, which happened about six weeks ago!  You are much better now about happily going to bed.  Every night I tell you to go to bed happy and you say, "No no crying."  Exactly.  :)

*You LOVE ranch dressing and would eat it all day if we let you.  We only let you have it once a day.  :)  You dip everything in it but vegetables, ironically.  

*You have started holding your own with Marshall.  A couple of weeks ago you even tackled him; he was shocked.

*When someone is in your way instead of saying excuse me you say beep.  I honestly have no idea where you came up with this, but I do love it.

*Your vocabulary is coming along.  You can now put three or four words together.

*You have mastered your letters and you know most of your shapes and colors.

*Numbers are a different story.  You think the way to count is "two, fee (three), two, fee, two fee".  This is a daily argument between you and Marshall as he tries to get you to count the right way and you YELL, "No!  Quiet!  Two, fee, two fee!"

*Sadly your naps lately have just been 50/50.  I pray this is just a phase.  Fortunately though, you are content to happily play in your crib for an hour or longer so I still get a break.  :)  After that though you start yelling, "Mommy!  Come out!  Happy!  No no crying!"

*You are still in love with Jake and all of his pirate friends.  You practically have all of your pirate books memorized and say the words along with me while I read them to you.

*You just got your first hair cut ever last Saturday.  You whimpered the entire time!

*You hate to feel the baby move.  Her movement is the thing that gets you off my lap the quickest.  :)  You love babies, but you get very possessive of me when I am holding one.  My how your life is going to change in three weeks Bridget!

The before picture.

Obviously traumatized.  Such a sad face despite the sweet car and movie she was supposed to be watching.

Blurry after pictures.  I'm a fantastic photographer.

And lastly, a video of Bridget reading herself a book.  Even though she knows her books forwards and backwards, when she reads by herself she just repeats the same one or two words over and over again with each page just changing the pitch in her voice.  The first time is always a high pitch, the second time is low.  Richard and I get a kick out of it.

Marshall Update

With baby #3 set to make her appearance within the next three weeks I want to document some things about these two crazy kids we currently have running around.  

Marshall has had one fantastic summer.  I am so proud of him and all of the new things he has tried and succeeded at this summer.  A few weeks ago he had a "Jump Start to 4K" class.  It was eight days for two hours each day.  It was held at our local elementary school and he got to spend each morning in his future classroom with his future teacher.  He did an excellent job and I was so proud of him every morning when he eagerly let go of my hand to hop in line with his classmates.  His teacher gave him a glowing report that put my concerns at ease.  I am now much more assured that he is ready for 4K and will definitely succeed.

He is also taking a soccer class once a week with his friend Benson.  Marshall took the same class last year and only benefited from the last three classes out of nine because I bribed him.  The rest of the classes he spent glued to me refusing to participate unless I was with him.  Fortunately this year has been a night and day difference.  He is on the field kicking the ball before class even starts, he listens well, plays the entire time, and again, I couldn't be more proud!

Also, just this last week he started swimming lessons.  I was especially nervous about this one because he HATES getting his face wet.  :)  But again, he willingly went with his teacher, participated, and had fun.  The first class he blew little bubbles by just getting his lips in the water, but nothing else.  :)  Each day he made a little more progress.  By Friday he completely went under the water multiple times and kept his head back the entire time his teacher was helping him with his back float.  I was elated!  The first time he went completely under the water I clapped; I just couldn't contain myself.  :)

In other Marshall news he has made huge progress in writing his name; I think it looks great!  I think he and I started working on this back in January.  He can now write all of his upper-case letters (the s is still tricky for him) and he has figured out how to spell some simple words like dad, mom, and of course BYU.  :)  

Just in the last week he has picked up on addition just by figuring out 1+1, 2+2, etc. all the way up to 5+5.  

This kid has become a question asking machine.  Holy smokes, I really think I answer 200 questions from him a day, okay, maybe that is an exaggeration, but not by much!  The other day I asked him if his favorite question was why and he replied by saying, "Yes, I like to ask why because I don't know a lot of things."  Marshall had Richard's ear most of Friday night and peppered him with all sorts of questions.  After about 30 minutes Richard looked at me like he was going to go crazy and I said, "Welcome to my day with Marshall!"    Just today on our 20 minute drive home from church Marshall asked me questions on the following topics:  

-Why is fire different colors?

-How do smoke alarms work?

-Why did fire engines used to be pulled by horses?

-Why do firefighters wear masks?

-Are Indians real?

-Why did they use arrows to kill animals?

-Do people still kill animals today?

-Why are bullets fast?

-Why can't things stay in the air forever?

-If you dig a hole in the ground and fill it up how do you make the ground flat again?

Really, that was all in a 20 minute conversation and I didn't even write down all of his questions!

Last week Marshall discovered his scapula.  He was completely enamored with it.  That discovery brought a host of questions with it like,
-What is the scapula for?

-Why does it stick out the back of my body and not the front?

-Why is it so big?

-Why doesn't it rip my skin when it pokes out?

His mind is obviously going a mile a minute; it is hard to keep up with him!

And lastly, he LOVES to feel the baby move.  Just tonight he was in a giggle fit just feeling all her little kicks.  I hope this is a positive sign that he might adjust to her better than he has adjusted to Bridget!  Last week he was with me at the store in the baby aisle and started listing all the things our baby will need.  He told me to show him the diapers to get and he would put them in the cart for me.  He was such a good little helper; I pray it will continue!

We love you Marshall!

Celebrating Halloween in July.

Last week in Primary the kids were asked to draw a picture of something they can do to make their family strong.  Marshall drew giants.  :)  His reasoning, giants are strong.  Very true Marshall, very true.

Marshall's full name.  Sorry it is sideways; I am too tired to change it!

Havenwoods

A couple of weeks ago for playgroup we went to Havenwoods.  It is a small nature preserve smack dab in the Milwaukee ghetto.  We have been there a few times before to hike around and it is beautiful.  This time though we were lucky enough (at least the kids were) to spend about an hour in a classroom with a teacher to see some animals.  We got to see and pet a toad, snake, and turtle.  They also passed around turtle shells, a snake skin, and have a couple of books read to them.  I should note that I only touched the turtle shells; I could not bring myself to handle anything else.  Fortunately my kids were braver than me.  :)

Athletic Prowess

Just some videos of how Marshall has been spending his evenings with Richard.  This kid has better hand-eye coordination than I've ever had.  He's not perfect, but holy smokes, he really does hit that baseball better than his mom.  The last video just cracks me up because of the athletic apparel Marshall has dressed himself in. These videos also feature some brief appearances by Bridget.  :)

Bayshore Fountains

Last week for playgroup we went to cool off at the fountains at Bayshore Mall.  Bridget was her usual self, avoiding the water, but Marshall had a fantastic time.  

These next two pictures make me laugh.  Great picture of Marshall, Benson looks worried.

Fantastic picture of Benson; Marshall is pulling his usual smile, no eyes.

Wonderful Milwaukee friends. 

The future Mr. and Mrs. Max Hassell; a match made in heaven.