Fun with Gramma and Pa

 Grammy and Pa are here and we are so glad! We took them for a little walky-poo (which is what Pa calls walks) and it was a bit chilly. Fall is in the air! And while I promise Gramma was there and did plenty with each kid, this is the only picture I have of her. I need to be better about capturing her moments with the kids to!

I love seeing maple leaves. Fall is my favorite for so many reasons.

Duke found a mighty large stick that he carried for an extended period of time.

I love bundled babes!

We had a fire one night and I got to use my rainbow fire packets. They were actually really fun. Pictures don't even do the colors justice. 

Duke kept burning his marshmallows and he was really sad about it. Poor guy! 

Sprout just kept putting them in the ash....

Or sitting really far away while he cooked. :)

Gramma was nice enough to jump on the tramp with the kids. E's hair was something from a monster movie. :)

Duke's didn't stand up very far.

Pa was out front raking leaves and E went out to help him. It was so cute watching these two chat and work together. 

These two have a bond that is just so dang special. E loves her Pa and Pa loves his sunshine. It's been that way since before she could walk and I hope it stays that way forever! 

Roo got to have some Pa snuggles too. Just looking at his namesake. 

Breakfast of champions (cereal) with Pa. Sprout is also turning into Pa's shadow and it is so dang cute to watch!

A date to Savers with some very patient children!

Having company was excuse enough for me to make a cake. We went with a salted caramel cake this time and woah baby was it delicious! 

There was a semi nightly band practice with Karl and the Bouncing Tobler's and it was a highlight of everyone's evenings.

There were daily Home Depot runs and every time Pa would bring me back a sippy too. He knows the way into my heart fro sure. ;)

Patty cake! It was an awesome visit and we are so grateful that Grammy and Pa came!!!!

Back to School.... Again

 At long last Duke is able to go back to school part time. He will do Hybrid school (2 days in person, 3 days at home) for the next four weeks and then he gets to go back full time. I can't even begin to tell you how excited EVERYONE is! This is a really big deal as most schools around the country are still not opening.

A picture from his teacher.

In person school is a bit different this year. And by a bit I mean they had to change every thing the kids do. The children are socially distanced in the class room and sorted into cohorts. Those 6 children in each cohort are the only ones that Duke is allowed to get "close" to. They sit together, eat together and play at recess together. That way if someone gets sick, they only have to quarantine those six kids and not the whole class. 

 

They also have to wash their hands every hour and sanitize every half and hour. They walk down the halls like zombies to make sure they keep socially distanced. They wear masks every day. To minimize the exposure to the specials teachers, the kids not have the same specials for the entire week vs rotating every day. And even with all of the changes, Duke is SO happy to be back. It is 100% worth it.

He's our Super Hero! So dang proud of this boy!

When he's not in school, those days are still hard, but we are finding a groove. He's becoming more independent and some days I feel like I can let him work solo for awhile. Here he is doing some service for the family for one of his assignments. 

The following week it was E's turn and oh man was she excited. It was hard seeing brother go for a week before she got to go. (Grades k-2 went first, then 3-6 went the following week.) 

Everything is so dang new but I am so proud of the way the kids have adapted to everything! They are AMAZING! Shine bright my my loves!

First Time to Church

 

It was the first time that we have gone to in person church since March. Daddy stayed home with the littles while I went with the bigs. For those keeping track... that's a long time! It was strange as the young men passed sacrament with rubber gloves, there was no singing and the congregation was spread out, but as I listened to the hymns I felt the spirit and I knew that were were there for a reason. I felt so much peace and love from our Heavenly Father. Don't get me wrong, when we do home church right, it is amazing, but there is something special about gathering.

 

It was also SO NICE to dress up again. E requested that we match and I will NEVER turn down an opportunity to match with my girl. I have missed my dresses and heels! It was a wonderful Sabbath. 

Halloween Craft

 It time to make things festive in the house and what better way to do that than with a craft? The only one who was excited was E but once the boys saw how much fun we were having, the decided to join in too. I absolutely love Sprouts little kitty cat.

 Tada! I new bunting for my mirror and I am obsessed! I love how perfectly imperfect it is with the kids little designs. AHHHHHH! So dang cute!!!! 

Mama's Pumpkin.

Duke's Skeleton. 

E's Frank.

Sprout's Cat.

E's Mummy (pizza).

Duke's Bat

E's/ Mama's Witch.

These we so dang fun and I'm in love. They may be my new favorite Halloween decoration!

11 Months

 + Redd loves to spit and blow raspberries. He does it ALL. DAY. LONG

+  Bum changes/ getting him changed are the WORST part of the day. Home boy rolls all over the place, a literal alligator. he also is an immediate wiener grabbers and you have to watch those hands! 

+Roo wants to walk SO bad. He has started toddling all over the place. He will is always grabbing someones hands and matoring. He has started going one handed and I'm sure he'll be vertical in a few weeks. STOP GROWING UP SO FAST! 

+He can now crawl up and down from the couch without help. It is so cute watching him turn his little bootie around and scoot down. Be still my heart. 

+He is ALWAYS smiling! You say his name and that baby just glows!

+ If his Daddy walks by and he doesn't pick him up he just crumbles down and cries. He loves his DAddy!!

+ He is so whiney when he's around me. I have no idea what it's about. He is fine when he is around Jakob, but the second he sees me it is like he is in pain. Oh sweet boy. 

+ He loves his blanket and his moose and his fox. He takes a sue really well now. 

+We are about done our nursing journey. I am not making hardly any milk and he only nurses a a couple of times during the day. He still wakes up 1-2 times a night to nurse. It is so bitter sweet, I feel like when he is nursing it is the only time of the day that he is still. I love his snuggles.

+My favorite time of the day is right before he goes down for nap or bed. I toss his blanket over my shoulder and give him is sue and he immediately puts his little head on my shoulder and cuddles. Sometimes for a long time, other times not for long at all but it is perfection.

+He is all about making messes. We have turned to corner in the DESTROY MODE. Roo leaves a trail of destruction in his wake and it is endless. I am always picking up after that boy. He doesn't play per-say, just messes.

+He loves books. I find this interesting because he will (at times) sit still and read with you. He likes to garb and pull on the books, but he loves the pictures and to sit and read. 

+You guessed it... STILL LOVES DORY!

+He will eat anything and EVERYTHING! He loves meat, chicken, beans, rice, fruit, grapes, cookies, crackers and whatever is in your bowl! He is all about the food.  

+He is always wanting to take our phones. H just wants to throw and suck on them but he's a pretty bit fan. 

+ He says Mama all the time. He will at times switch for Papa, but if he's saying words, it's usually Mama. 

+ He has the cubbiest legs and pudiest little fingers and they make me swoon. He's got erfect little dimples and eyes that twinkle. This baby is the whole package.

+ He is waking up around 7:30 am. He eats right away and then he plays until 10:00/10:30 when he goes to sleep. He's up between 12 & 12:30, eats and plays. He goes down again at 3:00 till 4:30/5. We play, have dinner around 6:30 he does tub time with Daddy and then he goes to bed between 7:30 & 8. He wakes up to nurse around 3/4 and at 7:00 but will go back to sleep most of the time.

+When he's excited about something he usually throws himself back and smacks his head. Poor kid. If he's in my arms, he will kick on little leg like a wagging tail. It's hilarious. 

+He LOVES to be upside down. 

+He doesn't clap his hands often but when he does it is the CUTEST THING!!!!

+Redd has cut both of his bottom and both of his top teeth. He didn't seem very upset about either which was nice!

I love this baby with my whole heart. I can not believe he is almost one?! WHERE DID THE TIME GO? I'm just going to sit here and cry for a bit. Roo you are so loved!