Our Latest

Noah has changed a lot and stayed the same. He is growing and growing. At his 5 year physical (in April) he was 47 lbs and 47 inches tall. Nowadays I don't know how tall he is or what he weighs but he has moved up in sizes over the summer so the growing continues.

He no longer starts every sentence with "instead," appropriately, or not, as was the case most frequently.

M: Noah, would you please put this down the laundry chute?
N: Instead, instead I will just put it down the laundry chute. (His stammering as a conversation place-holder continues off and on.)

Noah still only wears jeans. Anything else is worn only under extreme duress. Luckily, he knows the drill with church and doesn't argue. I was happy to get 9 more pairs at the Children's Resale at the beginning of the month.

He has never been one to color, draw or write. Consequently, his coloring skills prior to K-5 were, well, a bit lacking. I mean not hugely, but really, there was no effort made to make a colored picture anything but big slashes of a single color that hopefully satisfied whatever adult thought to make him color a picture.

The first day of K-5 he came home with a paper colored just like all previous colored pages. The second day he came home with a picture and all the scribbles were in the lines. I commented on it to Noah and he said "Yeah, that's how my teacher told me to do it." Guess that makes me chopped liver.

Since then, his pictures come home beautifully colored and his pictures look like things. His favorites are whirlpools and tornadoes but there is a pretty fair sprinkling of family members in there.

As for reading, Noah struggles to put sounds together into words and a new font can throw the letter recognition off a bit. But I love how he continues to try even when frustration wants to win.

Noah has finally caught on to how the mouse and clicking on things works on the computer. He (and Ian and Sage) love Starfall.com.
He is a social animal after he comes out of his shell. He makes friends easily and other kids like to be with him. During activities at school he greets and is greeted by everyone he passes.

I wondered what form "the world" would take when Noah started school. So far it seems to be in the mode of play. Noah spends a lot of time as a robot or transformer that cuts, slashes, rips apart, hits, kicks, etc, etc. I am not totally thrilled with this but I also realize that it could be much worse. Knock on wood.

"Not fair" is now commonly heard in our house, as well as my consistent response "Fair is where you go to see the pigs." And in case you didn't know, "if you are bad you don't get to see the pigs!" At least according to Ian.
Ian is not a big sleeper but when he is tired he does something his sleepyhead older brother would never do. He puts himself down for a nap.

Ian has caught on to reading and it comes easily to him as he sounds out all the words he can find in his world. On signs, in books, in magazines, on DVD covers. Anything! Since he is only three it poses a bit of a threat to Noah but we try to encourage him and his new found love of the written word.

He is enrolled in two-day a week preschool and he really loves it, which is good since it was mostly just for fun. Just like Noah did last year, he heads for the train table first thing upon entering the room. But he also comes home with lots of projects so I know that he participates in other things as well.

I often forget that Ian is three. He seems bigger and older. When the whining and complaining come spewing out it usually takes me aback as I have to re-realize that he still is young and has a lot of learning and growing to do.
Lately, he has been speaking in exclamation points that aren't really all that respectful a way to address someone. Sometimes it irks me but sometimes I have to hide my smile.

"Remember! You are supposed to get me yogurt for lunch!" or "Mommy! You were supposed to turn on a show for me!"

Ian and Noah continue to be best friends and best enemies. I like the best-friends-days the best (though they seem a little fewer and farther between since Noah started missing naps all week for school), like this one where Noah used his tools to fix Robot Ian so he could move and work again.
Sage is just about the cutest thing ever! She loves to be outside. She will be 17 months old tomorrow.

She loves to accessorize. Anything she can find is meant to be worn or carried. Totes, diaper bags, purses, backpacks, lunch bags, briefcases-all meant to be worn on her arm. Bracelets, necklaces, medals are put on and modeled around. But it doesn't stop there. I have spotted on more than one occasion Ian's underwear (clean, raided from his closet) up her arm like the most fashionable of arm bands.
She is my first child to be right on target for clothes. 9 months old wearing 9 month clothes, 12 months old wearing 12 month clothes. But she is just like her brothers in her ability to grow multiple teeth at what would be considered an early age. Her current project: all 4 canines. (Hopefully, after that we will be done for 6+ months!)
She has an adorable beauty pageant "screw in the light bulb" wave. (To bad it is all for naught! Chris has declared "over my dead body" to any Toddlers and Tiaras bid. Ok, fine, he didn't but that was definitely the gist:)
Sage is a daddy's girl, through and through. It has been a bit of a challenge at times, especially at church. He passes by to sit on the stand and she makes sure that the whole ward knows that she is in the building and that he is well loved. She also gets a bit jealous when he gives me a kiss in greeting. If she is in his arms she leans up insistently for her own kiss. Sometimes we enjoy a kiss fest and trade kisses between the three of us. She always leans up for her fair share of lovin'.
She still snuggles in at bedtime for some singing. She likes it best when I lean my cheek over onto the top of her head. And if I move it away she will lift her head up till it meets my cheek again. It is truly irresistible.

To everything there is a season. This season of our lives has it's challenges. School, work, bishoping (a verb meaning to attend to and magnify one's calling as bishop). (Ian expressed the family's feelings on Chris' calling best when he said "My happy time was that daddy is the bishop and my sad time was that daddy is the bishop.") But the joys are so sweet that it is wrong to complain or even seem ungrateful. The Lord's signature has been made manifest in our lives and we can do anything with Him alongside us.