Gender reveal!

We got to find out yesterday that our little tie breaker baby is going to be a boy! We're so thrilled. Richie and I were fine with either gender of course, but this means that we don't have to move the crib, so that's a plus. :) Miles is mostly excited he says, except for the fact that the baby will be crying in his room sometimes. Gwen and Lindy were hoping for a girl, but the candy and silly string I brought home seemed to soften the blow a bit. :)
Richie said he'd wait to find out what it was with the kids, but I accidentally let it slip while we were talking on the phone. But he played along when we revealed it to the kids that night. :) I bought blue silly string for the kids to go crazy with and it was such a fun, fleeting memory. It really only lasted for 5 minutes or so, but I looked back on the pictures and thought, "This is one of those moments!" Our lives are full of such moments and they just fly by! A moment that makes me stop and remember that I am a spiritual being, having a human experience. Birthday parties, fall traditions, telling your kids the baby is going to be a boy... it's all very human, and small, and important and fleeting. I'm grateful to have them.

First Half of October

Homeschooling seems to require constant change. On this particular day, we had to disrupt our normal routine and move school time upstairs to accommodate our need to get the tomatoes canned! If you weren't working on school, you were manning the tomatoes. It's always a little more chaotic that way, but it works. Hopefully it only enriches the schooling experience for the kids.


Benson and Dad snuggling. Super cute, except for the fact that Benson's been a little stinker about sleeping lately. Naps are such a struggle, and bedtime is no different. Sometimes Richie and I just have to completely give up any chance we have of spending time with each other that night, and laying down with Benson to get him to sleep.


The 2 littles, and Grandma Garner and I spent a lovely fall day collecting grapes. Mom has a friend with tons of grapes from whom she has been gleaning for years. There were so many! And even though we had already canned a bunch of grape juice, these were Concord grapes, so we couldn't pass them up!


Conference Weekend is always a treat to look forward to. Richie grew up doing a work project during the Saturday session, and the tradition continues. Which typically means we make applesauce while listening to the messages. We had so many apples, we ended up busting out all the apple cider as well! It was a busy, tiring, wonderful day.



Miles had his first concert with his uke band! He did a great job and it was so fun to see him perform in this type of venue. He is really enjoying the experience learning to play in this setting and making friends in his group.


I ordered a ladybug kit from Canyon Grove. We've done butterflies, I thought it'd be fun to watch the life cycle of a ladybug. It was a new experience for us all. I was expecting the release to be more magical though. We were getting ready to release them, and while I grabbed my camera, Benson opened their "house" and let them all lose in our home. :) We found a few, and snapped a few low quality pictures before releasing them outside. :)


The past few years, we've been selling the pumpkins that the Garners grow to help the kids earn money. Both years, the activity day girls have bought nearly all of them for a Daddy-daughter pumpkin carving activity. I'm in activity days now, so here's me hauling 17 pumpkins to the church! And those 17 are just for the girls in our 8-9 year old group. There's almost as many in the older group!


This last weekend was fun. We told some friends (The Andersons) about making apple cider and they wanted to try it. So Saturday they came over to the Garners and we showed them the ropes. It's such a perfect fall activity and the kids get along so well. That weekend the Lambs were also staying with us! They came up for my Aunt Kay's funeral and for their fall break. The kids were in heaven with their Lamb cousins to play with and I got to hang out with my sister. :)


My friend Sam came over with her little girl the other day and joined us in our yearly tradition of eating Apple Dumplings (Grandma Crosby's recipe) and watching "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". Can't go wrong with that plan!


I'm well into the 2nd trimester yet and haven't snapped an official picture yet. I actually put some effort into getting ready on Sunday and thought, "I'm going to have Richie take a picture for me", and then I never did. So here you have the classic bathroom selfie, at the end of the day, when I no longer look put together. Maybe I'll get another picture at some point, but this is here just in case! :) I had my first Dr.'s appointment the other day, and I'm measuring 22 weeks instead of 20 (best news ever), and everything looks good. Aside from the fact that I'm already huge and I'm kind of dreading the next 20-ish weeks. This isn't my first rodeo, and I know exactly how uncomfortable it gets. But for now, I'm in the sweet spot. Not too huge, not sick. So I'll enjoy it while I can I guess! I've started feeling baby move a bit, but it's very cushioned and slight. Apparently the placenta is in front, so we won't feel more defined movements till later.

Kid Update

Miles

*Starting school has been hard for you. You keep saying that you just want to play video games all day, every day. And here comes mean mom, making you actually work and learn. Geez! But after many pep talks, and some frustration, you have agreed to put aside the whining when it's time to do school. And you really do it! If I'm still in my room getting ready, and your learning show gets done, I can always hear you say, "Ok guys, time to turn it off. Let's go get our school done!"
* I don't know if I've ever mentioned it here before, but I always appreciate how you ALWAYS take your dishes to the sink after a meal, clean them off and put them in the dishwasher. It's harder for your siblings to remember this task, but you never seem to need a reminder.
*You're my little tender boy. You're always up for a hug or a snuggle and you never forget to tell me you love me. You express your love frequently, and I'm so grateful.
*You're obsessed lately with wanting your own YouTube channel. Your friend Colston has one, and you guys have made a couple of Minecraft videos to post. You have hounded your Dad and I to get your own. We talked about it at length and decided you shouldn't have one. We were so glad that discussion was finally over. Until last week. You have reignited this idea, and are so irritated that your Dad and I have the nerve to want to keep you safe on the internet.
*One of your trademark sayings is, "Can I help you with anything?" You frequently ask me if I need help when I'm doing things like carrying in groceries, doing dishes, folding laundry, making dinner etc. Sometimes I don't have anything you can help me with at the moment, but sometimes I do, and when I ask you to help, you jump right on it. It's so appreciated. And I'm so glad it's not just me that gets this treatment. I've had multiple people tell me you ask them that, the most recent being a teacher of yours at Canyon Grove. She thinks you're the sweetest.

Gwen

*You are our little night owl these days. You seem to have the hardest time, out of any of our kids by a long shot, going to sleep. We put you all to bed sound 8/8:30, but you frequently are up until 930 or 10, sitting in the hallway reading books, warming up your heating pad, putting more soothing essential oil on your neck... it just seems harder for you to calm your mind down enough to go to sleep.
*We went for a drive in the mountains to see some of the fall colors the other day for FHE. At one point, a fun song came on and Dad said we would have a family dance off, each taking 2 counts of 8 to show off some moves. :) We were just being goofy. But you were not feeling it. Honestly I don't blame you. Stuff like that is a little harder for me to get into too. But I had to smile when you absolutely refused to dance (in a quiet way) by sticking your "Anne of Green Gables" book in front of your face, and then moving it from side to side, just a little.
*I don't know how you survive on how little you eat! You're rarely a "clean-plater", and that's ok, it just surprises me how much energy you have for how little food you eat.
*You and I got to go on a date the other night to "Nickel Mania". You've been wanting to go FOREVER and we finally made it happen. It's always so pleasing to me how you kid's change your attitudes and open up during these dates, but especially you. We had a really good time together being care free. Maybe I'm over thinking this, but it seems to me that you're not as quick to share your feelings openly with everyone. You can be comparatively stoic and quite logical in your emotional responses to things. But when you get one-on-one with me, or with other people you have no problem showing lots of emotion and expressing love. Your Dad and I both have some major introvert tendencies (although some wouldn't guess it) and maybe you've inherited some of that.
*This morning, I started losing my cool. I wasn't totally losing it, but it was really close. When you came in from taking care of the animals, you brought me a small daisy and said, "Here Mom! It's probably the last one of the season!" It made me so happy. I knew you were trying to ease my stress.
*I think out of all you kids so far, you are my most easily distracted. You're frequently singing to yourself, dancing around the house instead of doing what I've asked you. Then you'll snap out of it long enough to take 2 steps toward the task, and then start dancing again, or just forget/become distracted by something else.


Lindy

*You are miss independent these days! You want to do everything on your own, and it's obvious you feel such pride in doing stuff that us "older folks" can do. No more checking your bum after potty, no more dressing you in the mornings, no more buckling you into your booster...And if there's a mess that needs to be cleaned up, you're the first to volunteer! I'll usually say, "Oh sweetie, you don't have to do that big job all by yourself." And you'll say, "I can do it Mom!"
*Dad and I decided that the best word to describe you is "meek". When you were tiny, I worried you would be overly angry and aggressive forever. :) You still have your little "hulk" moments, but for the most part, you are just turning into such a beautiful person. Full of generosity, concern, willingness to help, and such humility. Your humble attitude is an inspiration to me.
*You are a perfectionist! You have a really hard time if you don't get something right the first time. Especially during school time, if you don't trace a letter correctly, or you tell me there are 24 letters in the alphabet instead of 26. etc. I try and tell you it's no big deal, but you have a hard time with it.
*You are my treasure finder. You are constantly bringing me cool things that you've found outside. Things like: rocks, flower petals, leaves, pine cones...anything! I have little collections all over the place!
*We are having to treat you with kit gloves lately. You're very sensitive to ANY criticism. Even if there is no criticism, but you feel poorly about something (which doesn't take much) you usually burst out saying, "Nobody likes me!" or "I'm a stupid girl!" or you'll just run off to your room and cry for a bit. It worries me! Today at story time at the library, you were coloring pictures around a table with other kids. When you were done, you came and showed me your pictures with a very sad face on. I said, "These pictures are great! What's the matter?" And you said that the 2 girls coloring next to you did a better job on their pictures than you. :( Or later tonight, you accidentally spilled the pencil shavings out of the pencil sharpener. I wasn't mad, even a tiny bit. I said, "No big deal, I'll clean it up!" And you were in such anguish over your mistake. You felt so horrible about it. I don't know how to get you to calm down about these things.
*You LOVE coloring these days. Usually during school time when I'm working with Miles or Gwen, you just set yourself up with some paper, index cards, toilet paper squares, your notebook, whatever you can find. And you color endlessly! We have SO many beautiful pictures you've drawn. You love to color the entire paper, bringing the color all the way out to the edges. Erma recently gave you a coloring book, and you have been so thrilled! You color every single detail on the pages.

Benson

*You have this thing lately, where you love to be covered with pillows whenever you're sleeping. I don't put them over your face, obviously, but you like to have one behind your head, and two over your body. Sometimes with stuffed animals in both arms. Very, very cozy.
*You are starting to understand your bodily functions a little more. We may be looking into potty training soon. ??? You've gone poop and pee in the toilet several times now. No pushing from me, just maybe sitting you on the potty before baths. It's clicking a little for you, and now you'll tell me when you're getting ready to go number 2, so we've been able to catch it a couple of times.
*You still love reading books. If someone had read a book to you, even just once, with enthusiasm, you remember the story the next time it's read to you, and you "read along" out loud, putting the proper inflection and sound effects where needed. It's such a hoot! The other day, the older kids were out with Dad somewhere, so at bedtime, you made yourself a little "nest" out of the pillows on mom and dad's bed, and got all snuggly inside them, and had all the "Piggie and Gerald" books pulled out, and told me to read them to you. I have never read these to you, but someone must have. Because you knew all the fun parts! It was such a treat for me.
*Your big loves these days are books, cars, trains, pillows, and dinosaurs-or saur-saurs-as you call them. Your least favorite things are fireworks and thunder and when it gets dark outside. You are absolutely terrified!
*You're starting to phase out naps and it's killing me. You've gone through phases like this before, and then gone back to napping, so I'm hoping you'll get back into a groove. If you're really going to be truly done with them, I think you'd be my earliest to quit napping. Insert crying face here. It really, really tries my patience. Today you wouldn't nap again. I fought you for more than an hour. You finally fell asleep 10 minutes before we had to get in the car to pick up Miles and Gwen from school. You slept all the way there, and then I left you in the car in the garage once we got home and you slept for at least 30 more minutes. I KNOW you're tired, you're just being a stinker about it. Boo.
*You LOVE "PJ Masks" on Netflix. Your favorite character is "Gecko". When you have something you want to do that require effort or strength, like pushing someone out of the spot you want, or trying to take off your shirt, you'll grunt and say, "Super Gecko Muscles!" It's adorable.

2nd half of September

Perfect home school moment- They don't happen very often, so it's nice to have it documented. Gwen practicing piano, Lindy reading to Benson, Miles working on the kiwi crate.



We raised some more butterflies! It's always such a treat to watch the whole process. They didn't stick around as long this time when we released them, but it was still pretty cool.


Gwen and Lindy have friends who are also sisters and the same age. We had them over for a play date and they orchestrated this whole tea party. I love that all it took was me cutting up some apples and cheese and arranging them in a fancy way on a plate, and saying, "Madams, your snack is here.", and it totally made their day.



Miles and Gwen were at the farm with Richie one morning so Lindy and Benson were my canning helpers all morning. We worked on chilli sauce all day. They were such good helpers, and they loved helping. And I loved that they loved it.


One of the best ways to practice spelling words we have found is using them to play tic-tac-toe. Sometimes Miles and Gwen have almost the same spelling words so they get to play each other. :)


For FHE the other night we drove the Alpine Loop with the kids. We got to see some gorgeous leaves and had a surprisingly nice, long car ride. My favorite moment was when Richie instituted family dance off, in counts of 8. Everyone got 2 counts of 8 to show their moves and it was hilarious. That plus dilly bars at the end made for a pretty memorable evening.


How could I not snap a picture of this! Benson has been having a hard time falling asleep at night. It's a little maddening. This night, he eventually zonked out cuddled up to Miles.


We bought some actual popcorn, still on the cob and popped it the other day. Kind of a fun mid-school snack!


Lindy got to come with us to a Canyon Grove field trip the other day. It was a show at the Planetarium at BYU. I thought I gave us plenty of time to get there, but I should have factored in the time it takes me to get lost and then find my way back again. Even with directions written down, and my gps, I still got lost. Yep. And when we got there, we couldn't find parking! We were running across campus, the 4 of us holding hands and my pregnant belly bouncing up and down. I'm sure we were quite a scene. At one point Miles said, "Well, if we miss the star show, at least we had fun getting there!!" :). We get to the building, hop in an elevator, and get stuck. The door won't open, and it won't move. We hit the emergency button which proceeded to blare loudly in the elevator, driving us all crazy. After what seemed like forever, and one child threatening peeing, the kids suggested we say a prayer. We did, and a few minutes later the door opened. To which Miles's responses was *Huge sigh* "Thank you Lord!" :) :) :)


I've wanted to go see a BYU volleyball game ever since we moved to the SLC valley. We finally made it happen! It only took us 6 years! Richie was sweet and asked me all sorts of questions about the game to prove that he was really into it and having a good time. I loved feeling knowledgable and sharing that part of my life with him. One day, I'm going to get my skills back up to snuff.


That same night, Richie's home ward was having their annual reunion dinner/party at the park. We tagged along for the free food and excuse to let the kids burn off more energy. Besides Benson getting stuck in the bathroom, it was a good night. Especially the face painting!