Drake is Four!!

My little Drake just had his fourth birthday.  As you probably guessed, it was filled with trains.  I made the cutest little train cake, that he loved and I must say I loved it too.  So, I have to show a few beauty shots. . .

I found the idea on Pinterest about a year ago, and thought I could pull it off.  It was easy and fun.

Now onto the real reason for this post - My awesome little Drakers.

He admired the cake.

He blew out the candles, with all the intensity they required.

Then he ripped open presents with great enthusiasm.  Most of them were, you guessed it, trains!!

He got two new train sets that attach to his Blue Mountain Quarry set, and three new engines.  His favorite being Talking Diesel 10.  It is much loved, and much fought over.

He has pretty much played with them non-stop since he received them.

(Please ignore my dirty floors. It was a busy day with more important things to worry about like wrapping presents and making awesome train cakes. : )  The floor got mopped the next morning.  I promise.)

Drake is smart and happy and super fun.  We love having him in our family.

October

October means a couple of things to me. 

First, getting out the Halloween decorations.  I started this month with a case of the flu, so this year, I only got out two things. . .

My favorite 2x4 pumpkins.

 



And the Halloween quilt that I made last year.  The boys still fight over it every day and it totally makes me happy.  I love it when all the effort I put into a quilt is appreciated.

I kept the decorating pretty simple and boring, but when you start the month with a fever of 102 that is how it has to be.

Second, October means the end of soccer season for my boys.  I am happy to be getting my Saturdays back, but a little sad, because I love watching my boys play.  Here are a few final shots of them in action on the field.

Jack waiting for play to start.

Jack at goalkeeper.  I am not sure that soccer is going to be Jack's sport, but it was only his first year, so we will see if he gets a little more into it next season.

Notice how the ball is heading the opposite way of the direction all the players are running?  That is because Thomas just made an awesome kick sending it rocketing back towards the opponents goal.  It was really cool and everyone in the crowd said a collective "Whoa!!  Did you see that?!!"

This is Dallin muscling his way into the ball.  He is a really good player and is not afraid to get physical with the bigger boys.  His team was amazing.  The coach had done a great job of drafting good players who worked really well together.  It was fun to see them grow together as a team and play some good soccer.  They were undefeated and were only scored on by one team all season.  Dallin is going to miss the games, practices, and all of his teammates.

Now, we are just enjoying the nice Fall weather and hoping that Winter doesn't decide to come too early this year.

Art

This is what I have been finding around my house lately. . .

A new wall mural.

A little work done on the dining room table.

A little something extra added to the print on my throw pillows.

A newly tattooed two-year-old.

After 5 boys and many years as a mother, I have finally learned to not sweat some of the small stuff.  All of my boys have gone through the phase where they have to write on everything.  Some have been worse than others - but at last I have learned to just take the pen away, try to hide all writing implements well, and when those smart little buggers find a way to get ahold of one anyway, (or when a big brother leaves something out), to just let it go. 

As long as the writing isn't anywhere too conspicuous, it is staying put until this phase is over and then I will give everything a good scrub down and get out the touch up paint. In the case of my family room wall, it needed some repairs and cleaning anyway. It's all good. 


This is my last little one that is going to go through this phase, and - if I am completely honest, there is a tiny piece of me that wants to keep this "art" around as long as I can, since, I know that all of the sudden one of these days he will be out of this phase and the days of writing on everything in my house will be over.  There is no new little artist coming up to take his place as resident graffiti man.

But don't get me wrong, there is an even bigger part of me that really looks forward to getting out the scrubbers and the touch up paint and having a fresh and pretty house again.  Until then, I am just enjoying my littlest being little and all the good and bad that goes along with it.

Picture Dump

I haven't blogged in almost a month, so, today, I am just dumping some of the random pictures I have taken over the last few weeks.

Dallin got his wolf award in Cub Scouts.  We are pleased with him and his enthusiasm for everything he does in life.

 They put me in as the wolf leader about a month before he was finished. Now, I am going to get on my soap box here.  If you are in a bishopric, or primary presidency - please, please, please listen to me.  Do not do this to the poor woman that has a ton of boys.  It is like putting the woman with 20 month old quadruplets in nursery.  It is just mean.  I love my boys like nothing else, but sometimes they push me to the very edge of my sanity and patience.  Adding 5 more every week has caused my unbearable migraines to resurface.   So, I repeat, if you have anything to do with picking cub scout leaders, do not, do not, do not, do this to the woman with a bunch of boys. 

Okay - moving on. 

Sadly, our trusty lawnmower died on us, so we picked up a new one that came in this box.  Jack told me that I had to take a picture of  our own, real life Jack-in-the-box.

Then all the boys piled in and had to have a picture of brothers in a box. 

Have you noticed that Drake is almost always missing his pants or his shirt?  The child must get hot or something, because it is really hard to keep him fully clothed.

 My sweet Tad asleep with his Pooh Bear.

My favorite summer meal.  BLT's made with our own fresh garden produce.

The three little guys at the soccer fields last weekend.  I didn't get any pictures of Jack at his game, because the batteries died in my camera.  Crossing my fingers I will get something this Saturday.

Thomas playing goalkeeper in his game.  He did a good job.  I think he is best at midfield, but his coach usually makes him play goalkeeper at least one quarter and then puts him in at forward for the rest of the game.  His team is really young though, so maybe next year things will change a bit.

Thomas defending the goal.

This is the only picture I got of Dallin before my camera died.  He usually plays midfield, and occasionally forward.  He is a really good soccer player and is on a terrific team that is undefeated so far this season.  He is the youngest player on the team and is able to play and be competitive with all of the older players.  I enjoy watching all my boys play, but it gets more and more fun the older they get.

Well, that's it for now.  Hopefully, it won't be so long between posts next time.

Dallin is Nine!

Can it really be so?  Is my little Dallin really nine years old?  Oh my goodness, I don't know how I will ever forgive my kids for growing up so fast. 

Dallin had a great ninth birthday starting with an airplane ride first thing in the morning.  He then went to the Sweet Corn Festival Parade.  We had lunch at his favorite Pizza place in Snowflake and then went home, opened presents and had cake.  He requested a chocolate layer cake with chocolate frosting and gumballs.   Easy enough - but if any of you have a recipe for chocolate frosting that is fluffy and not too sweet, let me know, because I have been looking for years and have not found one that would satisfy me.  The one I tried for Dallin's cake was the most epic fail yet.  It was heavy, hard to work with and way, way, way too sweet.  Oh well, it got eaten anyway and I think Dallin had a good birthday in spite of the frosting fail.

Dallin is an all around great kid.  He is happy, athletic, smart, compassionate and confident.  He is a fantastic big brother and a big help to Jeremy and to me.  We love him with all our hearts and are so grateful that he is in our family.

First Day of Preschool

 

Yesterday was Drake's first day of preschool.  This may be the only year he gets since our amazing preschool teacher says she is turning in her mission papers in March.  I am happy for her, since this is something she has been working toward for a long time, but I am so sad that Drake won't get to enjoy two years at her school like my other boys have.

He was soooo excited to start preschool.  He has been looking forward to it for years as he has watched his brothers go and come from there and he has loved it when we have been able to visit.

He had a great day yesterday and last night at bedtime he came up to me with a big smile on his face and whispered in my ear "Mom, I am going to dream about school."

I know he will have a great year!!

Back to School

The boys started a new year of school this morning.  They were super excited to get back to school and see all their friends.  They were also excited since the new principal at their school is Mr. Hatch (their dad).

My little Jack is in Kindergarten this year.  He is soooo excited to be going to the same school as his big brothers.  He has the same teacher that Dallin and Thomas had and I know he will love being in her class.

Thomas started 2nd grade.  This is the first year that he does not have the same teacher that Dallin had for homeroom, but Dallin had her for reading and he loved her as a teacher, so we are sure that Thomas will have a great year.

Dallin is starting third grade.  This school is a K-3 school, so Dallin is one of the big kids this year.  His teacher is Mr. Rogers, a local favorite who says he is retiring after this year.  So, Dallin got in right under the wire.

It is weird to only have two kids at home for part of the day now.  The last time that happened was before Jack was born, so it has been quite a while.  We are all happy for a new school year to begin and we are hoping it is as good as all the others.