Wyatt

Here's a little treat for Grandma - picutres she didn't have to beg for! I have twisted my ankle and am somewhat chairbound (just what a pregnant woman needs, right?) and so I was looking through old pictures and found some of when I went with Wyatt's preschool to a local pumpkin farm last month. It was so fun to go with just him. He is so social and talkative with his peers. He is very physical, loving to hold hands and skip or tackle depending on the friends.
I think he considers Ryan "best bud numero uno" and can't go to sleep without him in the room, wonders when he is coming home from school and prefers to do just about anything with him over Mia's style of play. He is the most likely out of all my children to say, "No" when asked to do anything and doesn't really feel a huge desire to please his parents, but siblings are another matter (most of the time). He is probably our most stubborn child - least likely to cave in the face of impending punishment. He is also one of the silliest and we often hear his giggle around the house.
He struggles with remembering basic sight words and names of letters, but has (by far) the best handwriting of any of our children even though he sometimes doesn't know what in the heck he is writing. He is a little bit of a perfectionist in that regard, erasing anything he doesn't consider stellar work, even if I say it is fine. He is our token "southpaw" and loves cutting paper and basically being destructive. He spends hours designing and building lego ships with firepower. He has the funniest potty dance EVER. He is by far our most adventerous eater and has had potty problems more than once by eating too many tomatoes in one sitting. He loves to be dared to do something (scary, I know) and loves praise, but not a lot of cuddling, hugs, or lap sitting. He loves to go go go, always wondering what we are going to do next, where we are going to go, who are we going to invite over, etc. Most of all, he's super fun and I am glad he is ours! I love you Wyatt!

Halloween 2010

This year's Halloween fell on Sunday so we did not take the kids out trick or treating. They had fun getting their camping chairs out and passing out candy. We borrowed a couple of Star Wars costumes from a neighbor (the boys are very much into Star Wars these days). Mia borrowed several costumes from several different people and then decided she didn't really want to dress up to pass out candy. She did dress up as a Halloween Fairy for the ward trunk or treat but I was working so we didn't get any pictures. Halloween is always such a source of stress for me as I don't like any store bought costumes (that I can afford) and am not creative/talented enough to come up with fun ones. Mia is reading over my shoulder and she says, "Write that we had A LOT of fun!" So I guess that no matter how much stress holidays are to parents, it is good to know that no matter what , they usually have A LOT of fun!

The actual passing out of candy by kids was pretty great for us parents. No getting up and down every time the door bell rang and we have a ton of kids every year (I don't know anyone who doesn't run out of candy by 7pm). They had quite the system. Wyatt ended up at the bottom of the driveway, yelling at kids who would be across the street to come and get candy, then direct them to Ryan a little further up who would give them another piece of candy, who would then direct them all the way to the door where Mia was. Never make anything simple - that's the Carlsen way.

Carving Pumpkins

We did our annual pumpkin carving FHE extravaganza. It was made much easier this year with the discovery last yuear of cookie cutter like shapes with sharp edges that you pounded into the pumpkin with a mallet, producing fun shapes. Easier for a five year old to pound with a mallet then wield a knife. We only had a bat shape and a star shape, but the kids has fun anyways.

Readers

I love that the kids love to read. I do it more than I should (to the exclusion of other things that need to get done) and my kids, especially Mia, share in that. This last pic is this Sunday morning when everyone had grabbed something and gravitated towards the couches. (I had the Sunday paper before I looked around and picked up the camera). Ryan has Spiderman comics, Wyatt has the Toys R Us Christmas Toy Catalog, and Mia is reading Don a Ballerina book. I do love Sunday mornings!

Hair today...gone tomorrow

In sunnier news, Mia got a much needed haicut. Her hair is so fine and straight that it is always snarly and tangled. We are growing out her bangs and she is in self style mode. She has more fashion sense at 5 then I will ever hope to have...ever. The "earrings" picture was taken a couple of weeks ago (she would LOVE to have her ears pierced, but I am holding out for a few more years). The second two were taken yesterday. I love the new pixie cut and she seems to too. Or maybe it's just all the attention she is garnering. At any rate, the mornings go much easier and she can spend more time picking out her clothes (she picks out each outfit with care).

HSP

OK - the first thing you will notice about this blog is that despite living in near proximity to Brent for the last few years, I did not inherit any photography skills. In my defense, these were all candid quick shots. Ryan was recently diagnosed with Henoch Schonlein Purpura - an infammation of the blood vessels that is either not a big deal or really really scary depending on which internet comments you read. You can read more about it here:
http://www.medicinenet.com/henoch-schonlein_purpura/article.htm

We have been dealing with the intense lower joint pain that will make it suddenly really hard for him to walk, nausea, and a rash that covers his lower legs. Luckily the rash isn't itchy. Unluckily on the nausea front, I don't know how much more not eating his little bod can take. He was already skinny and I think I might have to go stock up on high calorie shakes in order to get him through the next month (we really need to perfect some fat transferring process so that he can take some of mine). My guess is that we will be starting the prednisone treatments and possibly some anti -nausea meds upon a followup dr's visit. Sometimes he does really great and we hardly notice anything and sometimes he feels like death is imminent. On the plus front, he is feeling so poorly today that all he can do is watch a little TV - thus giving me an opportunity to blog (which is RARE). We have to look on the bright side, right?

First stop = Phoenix

Where do you go when you don't have much money and even less time for a family vacation? Phoenix in summer! This was the kids request since we had done it the previous year. Castles and Coasters had about 10 rides - 5 the twins would actually go on (over and over and over and over and over...you get the picture). Ryan's favorite was the log ride and a ride that shot you up and short distance then back down again. They all thought the park was awesome and we pretty much had the park all to ourselves - can you guess why? Hint - AUGUST in MESA...

Results!

After the picture of the green grapes stayed for so long, I figured I would have to put up the fruits of our labors. The sweetest little purple grapes ever! The kids had so much fun picking them and we were suprised by the harvest after less than one year!

Phoenix Children's Museum

Probably the kids favorite stop of the trip, the Children's Museum was three floors and all kid fun. We started with a giant climbing structure and a vacuum tube that would suck up and spit out scarves that would then fly through the air for the children to catch. It was fun to see them jet through the clear tubes and guess which opening they would come out of. There were painting rooms, bike rooms, fort building rooms, play kitchens, a giant noodle forest, ball room, and more. We stayed there for 7+ hours before we dragged the kids out. At least it was air condidtioned...

Sea Life Aquarium

This was MY choice of stops during our quick Phoenix vacation - the new Sea Life aquarium that just opened in the Arizona Mills Mall. I loved it and it was very interactive. Unfortunatly it was also our last vacation day so the kids were somewhat pooped. Still glad we went!

Found: One lizard minus tail

My disclaimer is this: I did not come upon the scene until the lizard was already in the bowl. I am assuming that the tail was harmed in the capture since the tail was present - but I do not support the maiming of said creatures.
We see lizards ALL THE TIME. Big, small, quick, lazy-- but this was quite a distinctly patterned one and so they decided to trap it and have a closer inspection. After an afternoon of observation I casually mentioned that his family might be missing him so they let him go. Later that evening I find the tail next to the fruit bowl. Charming.

First Day of School

My oldest started first grade today. He is a pro and I am not worried about him one little bit. I am surprised about how much quieter it is around the house with one less almost seven year old.