Photo Every Hour: October 21st

6:32 It's an up-and-out-of-the-shower-by-6:30 kind of morning, which is why I forgot to take a picture when I first woke up

7:00 Breakfast is the only time I will play short-order chef for my kids. And it usually results making four different breakfasts, but that's totally worth it in my book to get them in the habit of getting a quality meal to start their day

8:00 Turns out you can spin dice like tops. Turns out kids really don't need all that many toys

9:00 Making noise and driving cars (and leaving Mommy alone, which is a-ok in my book)

10:00 The boys found a happy surprise when we stopped at the school to get some PTO stuff done!

11:00 You might not be able to guess from the toys and puppet theater and massive chalkboard, but we are at the library. Have I mentioned before how much I love our libraries?

12:00 Connor is working on word recognition; Matthew is working on letter matching. Win-win!

1:00 Mommy's break time while Connor takes his TV break

2:00 Prepping some playground balls to head to a park after school

3:00 Soaking up every minute of that late October sun while we can

4:00 This was a new playground since the last time we were at this park, and the boys loved it. Unfortunately, they had taken out the basketball courts, so we didn't really need our balls, but the boys played (mostly happily!) for nearly two hours nonetheless

5:00 You know it's going to be a good meal when we pull out the smoked white cheddar (which, for the record, didn't go on the zucchini #photostagingfail)

6:00 Iowa chops marinated in honey wheat beer and topped with smoked white cheddar and toasted walnuts, grilled zucchini, and roasted carrots. So good, and so grateful to have a husband who will prepare these meals

7:00 There may not be any October sun left to soak up, but that didn't stop us from taking advantage of the mild temperatures with a bonfire (and of course, s'mores--and plenty of playing with burning sticks in the fire #becauseboys)

8:00 Bedtime stories!

9:00 When a high school friend comes to town on the night you have a bonfire with your kids, you invite her out around the fire...

10:00 Share a few pints of beer...

11:00 Spend lots of time catching up...

And stay up entirely too late. Whoops!

Photo Every Hour: September 21st

6:30 Normally I screenshot my phone to start my "day in the life", but since these rugrats were up by 6:30 I figured I might as well include them in the picture

7:00 Garrett has been begging to gel his hair for school, so William wanted to follow suit, and then Garrett refused to cooperate for the picture. Go figure

8:00 I am really going to be sad when the days of these two going straight outside to play after dropping their brothers at school have to stop because it gets too cold. With them outside and the older two at school it makes for a rather enjoyable start to my morning

9:00 Of course, I really shouldn't complain too much about the weather eventually driving them inside--they're usually pretty good inside as well. Good enough that sometimes I can even sneak in a few chapters of a book!

10:00 That being said, taking breaks from the house definitely helps them play better when they are at the house, so this morning we headed off to an open gym to (quite literally) run some energy off

11:00 Still going strong at open gym--Connor had a blast given tractor rides to anyone who wanted one (and honestly, Matthew gets most of the credit for the idea to hook the wagon on to the tractor) and Matthew is living his best life in the car!

12:00 Fingernail cutting time, which has also become a high coveted screen time opportunity. Whatever keeps them sitting still works for me

1:00 Every day during nap time I get to play at least one round of Chutes and Ladders with this cutie!

2:00 William wanted to play violin in the orchestra this year, and he has been super excited to start, so since his first lesson at school is on Friday I decided to pull the instrument out a few days early to he could give himself a basic familiarity with it and the lesson book (mind you, he was absolutely not allowed to attempt playing it; neither Darrell nor myself know anything about string instruments, so we have made it very clear that he is to go at the pace of his instructor and closely follow her directions because if he tries to get too far ahead and gets stuck--or worse, wrecks something--Darrell and I will be no help in getting him through the problem)

3:00 Snack time!

4:00 Attempting to be productive while the boys are otherwise occupied (and currently not trying to kill each other or anything)

5:00 I take my sous chef role of "make sure the chef has a beer" very seriously

6:00 Taking care of a few things for my baking group in the church kitchen before chimes rehearsal starts

7:00 On to choir practice!

8:00 Man, I am so not ready for it to be this dark when I am leaving church after music practice

9:00 Making stellar progress (not) on Connor's five year post since I figured I should get that done before posting my September 21st post

10:00 I decided to tackle a fitness challenge for September to keep myself motivated to work out and it (mostly) worked. I didn't necessarily get the days done in order, but I got through them all!

I seriously need to figure out a legitimate way to get myself to go to bed earlier. I am soooo terrible at actually following through with getting myself to bed earlier despite how tired I typically feel in the morning when my alarm rudely wakes me up

Connor: Five Years!

Connor living his best life on the 1880 Train in Hill City SD

Connor's Birthday Interview

Age: 5

Height: 3 feet, 6.5 inches

Weight: 39 pounds

What is your favorite color? Rainbow, like all of my Sharpies (this poor kid is going to get to kindergarten and be soooo annoyed when he has to color with crayons. With two older brothers he's almost always had access to markers, and over the course of the past year as he has proved responsible, he's been allowed to use Sharpies to color at the table and that is ALLL he wants to color with anymore. So much so that Sharpies were on his Christmas and birthday lists--and naturally, we've obliged)

What is your favorite animal? Bronco--and all puppies (yes, my boys love dogs. Yes, my boys want a dog. No, Darrell and I are not really or willing to get a dog. End of conversation)

It may not be a dog, but this kid was pretty darn excited to ride a pony--and then an elephant--at the Shrine Circus this spring

What is your favorite book? Berenstain Bears, Little Critter, Curious George (love these childhood classics!)

Apparently this book was not a favorite though since it put him to sleep!

What is your favorite song? Animal Song (this one is a mystery to me. He described it as something like a song he sings with his animals, but it's nothing I've ever heard him sing. I have, however, heard him learn a song on the radio after hearing it one time and refuse to let me turn off the car until the song is over so he can finish singing along, but apparently he likes so many of the songs on the radio that he couldn't pick a favorite)

What is your favorite sport? Football, especially Augustana and Minnesota Vikings

What is your favorite thing to do with Mom? Play Chutes and Ladders (Every.Darn.Day. He asks to play everyday while Matthew is down for his nap, and sometimes he'll also ask before or after nap time. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't getting a little old, but I know it's good for him--especially as we continue to work on not pouting every time we lose or get behind. Which happens plenty because that game is so darn hard to cheat on to "let" someone win!)

It may not be his favorite, but I sure love hikes with my little buddy! His stamina on hikes is really good (most of the time, of course--he's still basically a toddler after all!) and it's been really fun to explore more and longer trails with the boys

What is your favorite thing to do with Dad? Play tackle and tickle games

I'm pretty sure boogie boarding at the beach with Daddy was up there as a favorite as well

What is your favorite thing to do outside? Ride my motorcycle on the motor coaster (motorcycle is code for his pedal bike--no training wheels!--and motor coaster is code for the "tracks" that he and his brothers make up to bike on: in and out of people's driveways, back and forth across the street, in figure eight patterns, etc)

It's very rare that we get a rain that is warm enough to play in without the threat of lightning (or crazy high winds), so when the opportunity hit I was willing to indulge the younger two. Even if they were still in their pajamas from school drop off

Where is your favorite place to go? Skyzone and Wings

A little surprised Thunder Road didn't make favorite since he picked it for his 4th and 5th birthday outings, but I guess Skyzone and Wings must be favorites of the places we more regularly go to

What is your favorite fruit? Raspberries, Strawberries, and Great-Grandpa's Peaches (Great-Grandpa always insists on buying a box of Colorado peaches when the local stores have them in stock, so we always end up with an influx of peaches late summer, and as much as it pains southern boy Darrell to admit it, the Colorado peaches are actually pretty darn fantastic when they are ripe)

And of course, in the fall, everyone's favorite is apples!

What is your favorite vegetable? Sweet Potatoes and Broccoli and Carrots (this is definitely not the first kid of mine who has had a hard time picking singular favorites, and since they one hundred percent get that from me I'm not even going to pretend to be mad about it)

What is your favorite cereal? Chocolate Pebbles, especially with marshmallows (we seriously just finished a box of this the day before his interview, which is probably why he was thinking about it, but he does definitely love any cereal with marshmallows)

What is your favorite treat? Cupcakes and other candy

With all the "stuff" he piled on here I'd say his gingerbread house definitely qualifies as "other candy"

What is your favorite meal? Tacos and Italian Spaghetti

What makes you happy? Playing with Mommy (except when I beat him at Chutes and Ladders. He gets very much unhappy about that)

I would also add "playing with bugs" as a favorite. It's hard to tell in this picture, but Garrett (in the background) has a caterpillar on his arm that they caught at my cousin's soccer game. And then they proceeded to play with (aka torment) it for the next hour. He has (on more than one occasion) caught grasshoppers at the park and then played with them on the playground equipment, "riding" down the slides with them and everything. His affinity towards bugs and insects comes in handy when I have some that I want out of my house, but I could definitely do without turning around and having a cricket in my face that he wants to show me

What makes you sad? Having bad dreams and getting hurt

Who are your best friends? Rose and Lucy, Jonathan and Harrison, Addison and Chloe (cousins, cousins, and granddaughters of our neighbors who will often come over to play when they are visiting their grandparents)

What do you want to be when you grow up? An artist (probably only as long as he can use Sharpies!)

He loved getting to paint on an easel like a real artist at an art class last fall!

What was your favorite part about last year? Coloring with Sharpies (seriously. My family was all very dubious when I told them my four year old wanted Sharpies for his birthday, but the kid knows what he likes and has more than proven himself to responsible enough to use them. If only they didn't get so gosh darn expensive)

Not only did he love coloring with the Sharpies he got for his birthday, but he was also very happy to share them with his cousins

What is one thing you want to do this year? Have fun at school once I get used to it (for MONTHS he was convinced that once he turned five he'd start kindergarten immediately. He's obviously figured out that didn't happen, but I honestly don't think he has any concept of the fact that it's basically a whole year before he will actually start kindergarten. And as much as he talks a big game about being nervous about starting it and needing to get used to it, I'm pretty confident he will be one hundred percent fine. Between his older brothers and my PTO stuff he's at the school all the time anyway and he already knows quite a few teachers--plus Garrett still prefers that I get out and wait with him on the playground until the morning bell, so Connor gets plenty of exposure to at least one element of the busy chaos of school life--so I'm sure that by the time next August rolls around he'll be chomping at the bit to get started with Kindergarten)

And I haven't been the best about keeping up with this with his brothers, but at five, Connor's bedtime "stuff" consists of his star (baby) blanket, lambie, and how ever many other animals we will allow him to have (when we aren't at home we usually limit him to traveling five--sometimes fewer--but at home his bed is a mess of stuffed animals). 

For the most part, lambie (the blue one) is always a staple, and then there is always one pretty consistent (for a month or so) secondary animal (in this case, "little lambie", which was actually an animal Matthew got for his baptism, but I'm pretty sure Garrett and Connor have played with and slept with it more than he has) (Also, I think I mentioned at four that he was basically done napping, and that's still mostly true, but every once in a blue moon he still has a day where he needs a little afternoon recharge. And you won't find me complaining if he does so on my lap)

I'll be totally honest--I basically have no notes about Connor at five. And that isn't to say there's nothing to say--because there is SO MUCH to say--but as the years go by I find myself struggling with how to portray the fun and goofiness and wonderfulness that is my boys in a blog post. Connor is just all silly and giggles and wild and sweet and cuddly and opinionated and all the things that no number of pictures or eloquently used words could embody. The only real note that I have is that his number sense is scary good. He can add (and often, subtract) the numbers one through ten in just about any combination (especially if one of the numbers is below five). He can also add quite a few multiples of ten, and is starting to pick up on some basic multiplication (2x3=6, for example). He's slowly starting to pick up on and show interest in some pre-reading skills, and as much as Darrell and I want to push learning how to read on him because we know it will just open a whole new world, we're trying really hard to go at his pace. He'll get it figured out soon enough. For now we're just enjoying him for who he is--our favorite Connor. (That being said, his lack of ability to read the words hasn't really stopped him from "reading". He is perfectly content to entertain himself with a stack of books, including chapter books that he borrows from his brothers. It's great and all, but he rarely finishes a chapter book in one sitting, and even more rarely goes back to a book once he's started it, so we end up with books with random bookmarks in them all over the place. And of course, as soon as you take a bookmark out he throws a tantrum because he was "just about to finish that book and now he can't because he lost his spot and he doesn't want to start over"

 

Glad he still tolerates twinning with his brothers!

Lake hair don't care

He wasn't too confident on his pedal bike when he got it for his birthday last year, but it didn't take long this spring for him to pick it up. He's been cruising around the neighborhood all summer with his brothers--and poor Matthew is left trying to keep up with them!

And it doesn't matter if it is the lake or any other body of water, this kid is part fish for sure. By the end of the summer he was independently swimming short stretches in the city pool (in water that was over his head, no less) and he could not get enough of it. 

Connor started the half-day Little Vikes program this summer (Garrett and William were in the full day Leif Ericson program, although thanks to #COVID Garrett had to miss the first few days of camp) and he definitely had some initial nervousness. However, his cousin Rose was in Little Vikes with him, which definitely helped, and immediately once the two-week session was over he talked non-stop about camp next summer and how he would get to be the "big" camper when his other cousin Lucy started her first year of Little Vikes, so safe to say he enjoyed himself 

I'm pretty sure s'mores are the most frequently photographed food item in this family, and it's one hundred percent because they are quite possibly my most favorite food items ever. You can't go wrong with chocolate, marshmallow, graham cracker--and of course, a bonfire

Connor receiving his Story Bible at church at just over four (and the photo was taken AFTER the service, mind you)...

versus Connor at the VBS program a few months shy of turning five. He stood up there the whole time, he smiled, he did (most) of the actions (although only on a very small scale--his hands never left his waist) and he even moved his mouth a few times like he was singing the words!

We did have a pretty significant parenting first this year: even though we've been parents for 9.5 years (and to boys, no less!) this summer was our first urgent car trip for stitches. Still no broken bones (knock on wood!) but Connor got bounced off Garrett's bed and hit his head on the corner of the dresser, and even though it wasn't super deep, it's proximity to his eyebrow made it really hard for us to close the wound securely at home, so glue at urgent care it was

Love you my sweet five year old! (Although I would be remiss not to note that at bedtime tonight he insisted that he loved me more, which seems a little hard to believe, but I'll definitely take it)