What's been happening.....

I  keep up this blog, and don't write nearly as much as I used to, in years past.  But then when I do write, I'm not sure that it is about enough of the things that are going on.  Sometimes I wonder that, if the boys were to look back at this blog, and the books I've made of our little family history, if it would accurately portray the life that we have been living.

Anyway, things are busy and bustling and with the fall weather hitting us hard in the last week or so, I've realized that the year is almost over and panicked a little.  I probably do a little panic dance every year around the first week of October, so this year is like all the others.

The boys have been super busy with soccer and school.  Ross busy with work and scouts.  Me busy with some sewing projects, all that mom stuff, and all of my church calling as well.  Quinn has been busy being a cute little monster, throwing fits and protesting all aspects of his life that don't involve carrying around a kindle and watching videos of gorillas on YouTube.

So, for the sake of a quick but maybe not so quick recap - here it goes.

Elliott:
This kid has been a true gem lately.  Maybe it's the whole, "I'm turning 8 in a few months and tired of being 7 because being 7 sucks" phase he's finally moving out of, but I cannot remember the last time this kid got in trouble.  He asks super smart questions about savings and loans for houses and cars, is saving his own money to buy a red ipod touch (he's up to $140 dollars).    We talk about missions and temple marriages and eternal life.  We talk about why it is important to make good decisions, and save your money, and be kind to other people.  We talk about being tough, and how some of the kids in his dual immersion class are "salty spitoons" and ready for hard work and hard things and how some are "weenie hut juniors" and are afraid of being brave and doing hard things (Thank you SpongeBob for the best analogy this kid and I ever could have created.)  Elliott starts all of these conversations, and it impresses me.  This week, he was one of the spotlight kids at school.  He and I sat down and made a poster together, and he even let me add a few artistic touches.  Elliott is really starting to wrangle all his restless energy and is so good with Quinn and Jack, taking care of the little twiner brother/cousins.  He writes real letters and e-mails to Uncle Willie, he knows how to text, and he tells pretty dumb and funny jokes.  He cannot spell, but he is very good at math.








Wyatt:
Starting kindergarten was just the best thing for Wyatt. His teacher, Mrs. Woolf, is wonderful and he has made some great friends at school. Not that he wouldn't though, this kid is too cute and too social to not have a herd of friends, boys and girls (lots of girls), trailing behind him at the end of school everyday to tell him goodbye.  He is doing so well, and it's just awesome.  He loves to come home, show me all his papers, and believe it or not, sit right down and do his homework - may he always have this attitude.  Unfortunately for Wyatt, he seems to have lost his spine lately, and with it, his ability to sit up...school seems to take everything out of him and when he gets home, unless it's to build Lego's, he cannot sit up for the rest of the day.  Wyatt though is funny and happy and coughing all the time.  He is also, completely unintentionally, pretty destructive lately, with the piece de resistance being completely destroying a cupboard a couple weeks ago while climbing down off the counter.  But, he did say he was sorry.  Wyatt is doing great at soccer, he draws fabulous pictures, and he is such a good little self-starter.  I don't think I've ever known a kid who can play and invent so much just with a few little Lego's and some markers.  And, he's pretty fun to watch Lego Chima with, too.








Quinn:
Man alive, this kid turned two and he turned into a beast.  He is a jabbering fool and talks non-stop all day long.  He loves to say, "my don't want it", and "my OK" whenever he isn't interested in something whether it's food, a bath, a ride in the car or a haircut.  He is obsessed with animals, mostly gorillas and has figured out how to find netflix on my kindle, and then find Disney's Tarzan.  Usually, when he's lost, he can be found in my room, on my chair, watching Tarzan.  Or, some animal killing another animal on YouTube.  He seems to manage to find a lot of that stuff, too.  Quinn knows the name of probably 100 animals, from elephant to Okapi.  He loves to eat bacon and Cheetos and pizza.  He loves to dance!  He actually just discovered dancing (go figure) but if we watch, acknowledge or join in, he gets embarrassed and runs away.  Just this week, after a couple of weeks of fights in the car, we gave in and got him a new car seat.  Basically, I wrestled him like a WWE fighter so we could take the boys to school and after they were dropped off, called Ross and told him that Quinn and I were headed to target and we weren't leaving without a new seat, and I'd stay as close to $100 as I could.  Quinn calls his new seat his new car and so far, so good....no major car fits.  This kid though, he is as cuddly as ever, and seems to always want to be perched on my lap, which 85% of the time, I'm totally down with.  He's been pretty sick lately, but finally seems to be back to his normal wandering jabbering self, which couldn't be better.











I always am reminded of that line in Ferris Beuhler's Day Off.

"Life moves pretty fast.  If you don't slow down, you could miss it."

Our lives are moving so fast.  These boys are growing up faster than I can keep track.  I don't want to miss a second of it.