Kyler brought home this baritone horn and to be honest, when he practices, it makes me giggle. It always sounds like a big bellowing toot! I shouldn't say that! But it is so darn funny. Of course I would never tell Kyler that. He really is amazing and has great lung capacity. I'm very proud of him and can't wait to hear him in concert with all the other 4th graders bellowing away. Love that baritone horn. heehee.
Can you hear the noise in the picture? It may look innocent enough, but believe me I was ready to put in the ear plugs!
And it kept escalating...

...and escalating... (as those of you with boys know it does) until there was jumping and ballyhoo of every sort.
Malia looks to be in the path of danger. But she didn't even bat an eye as this was going on. Good times, good times. Love these crazy kids!

Lexi has found a love of baking. She has gone into the kitchen several times now, pulled out the cookbook, and made cookies all by herself from start to finish. They turn out wonderful every time! She likes to surprise us and not tell which ones she is making until they're done.

It is amazing to stand back and watch as a mom. Slowly kids start doing more and more on their own as they grow, but this made it hit home more to me that they really are growing up and can do so much on their own. A small part of my heart aches a little that I am not needed for so many things anymore. But it is also wonderful to behold the amazing people they are growing in to. I sure love this girl. And I look forward to lots more yummy cookies in the future!

Well, not actually beating Daddy, but giving him a good run for his money!
Porter has always been good at things like that. He is so smart and has always been a deep little thinker. I always remember when he was 3 and we were out looking at the stars one night, on lawn chairs and wrapped in blankets. He asked Dave, "Where does Heavenly Father put the stars when the sun comes up?" Such deep thoughts.
But there's always time to wrestle with Daddy. Porter is definitely a scrappy fighter and can hold his own. Until Daddy puts him up high. There's no competing with that.
Brenner can't get left out either. I know this post is about Porter, but I have to include this of Brenner. This is him. Full speed ahead. All the time.

And while Dave and Porter were playing Chess, Brenner and I played Headbandz. (Kyler and Lexi were at Scouts and Achievment Days.) We had these cards on our head and as soon as I would take a guess, like say "Am I an animal?" Brenner would blurt out, "No you're a spoon!" It made us all laugh. There wasn't much guessing going on because he just could not keep it in! It was too funny.
And then it was off to bed. Not as much whining about bedtime when you get to take a shoulder piggy back ride at the same time!Daddy is our superhero!

Brenner was a piece of cake to potty train. It was awesome! One day we just put him in underwear and there was no looking back. I hesitated potty training him in the summer when we were always out and about. I don't like public restrooms, especially when kiddos are little and just learning. So I waited until the kids were in school and things had settled down a bit.
He had wanted a scooter all summer. So I used to it to our advantage. I printed out a picture of a scooter and cut it into 10 pieces. Each time he went (#2) in the potty he got to put a piece of the scooter on the paper, and when all 10 pieces were on the paper he got the scooter. It worked like a charm.

It's so nice not to have to change his dirty diapers any more! So nice to have that mountain conquered. Hooray Brenner!

We walk with the kids to school every morning. It's about a 15 minute walk from our apartment to their school. Brenner usually rides his scooter and then we walk back next to the river, sometimes stopping at a playground for a little bit if the weather is nice. When it rains it takes us a little longer to get home because Brenner has to jump in every single puddle. Or if it's sunny but there is a small puddle of water he finds it with his trusty scooter.
When we get home he carefully washes off the wheels, every time, so he can ride it in the house. If it was a horse it would be his trusty sidekick. They are inseparable. It was a very worthwhile potty training reward.

My sweet baby is walking. She took her first steps a couple days ago and takes more and more everyday. She still crawls the majority of the time, but tonight she stood up and walked 4 tottering steps all on her own. She's my earliest walker, except for Kyler who walked at 8 and 1/2 months. All the other kids walked around 13 months.

She is also in to everything. Pulling stuff out of all the cupboards. Good thing we only have 3 cupboards. Taking all the cans down from the pantry shelves. Pulling all the books off the bookshelf. Climbing out of her high chair. All this mischief with a sweet little smile. Or jibbering some cute jibberish. She melts my heart. Love you little sweetie!










And I love this last picture of her hugging this doll. She played with them forever sitting on the floor, hugging them and kissing them. It was adorable.
Wish she could stay my baby forever!

Right in the middle of 4-lane highways and stores of every sort there is the Queens County Farm. It really seemed to be miles away from the craziness of the city, when it's actually right in the middle of it all. We went last Saturday to find some pumpkins for Jack-o-Lanterns. The patch was crowded. The pumpkins were picked over and super expensive. We didn't buy any. But we enjoyed looking. And we took a hay ride around the farm. And we went to a park after and played. We swang. I even swang. With Brenner, in a spider. It was so fun. I leaned my head back and looked at the sky as we soared through the air. I haven't done that in forever. And Brenner was laughing so hard that he snorted. Then I couldn't stop laughing. The kids decided Dave gave better underdogs than me. Only because he can get them higher. Malia's eyes were huge in the swing so we couldn't push her very high. She looked scared to death, but liked going just a little. That was one of my favorite evenings we've had for a long time. Carefree. I always try to overshedule our time together to make sure we get in all the fun things and experience it all. Our family needs more unscheduled moments like that. To be unhurried. Relaxed and carefree. Just to laugh together. I'm trying harder lately to live in the moment. When I remember to stop and just be, it's magical actually. And so good for my soul.

Okay, so to wrap up Dave's break . . .

The first weekend we left the big city and went to Hershey, Pennsylvania. On the way we stopped by the Crayola Factory but the tours were closing early so we didn't get to see how crayons were made. We did get to go to the gift shop and see the World's Largest Crayon.

Then we found out the Hershey Park amusement park was closed for a couple weeks due to flooding a few weeks ago after Hurricane Irene. Bummer! We should have done a little more research as to what was open this weekend! Luckily Hershey's Chocolate World was still open and it was a lot of fun. We learned how chocolate is made from cocoa beans and Kyler is convinced we can now easily make it at home. We watched a fun 3D movie with the kids reaching out for flying Hershey kisses, and then they got to package some Hershey kisses at the Hershey Kiss Factory. There was an amazing huge gift shop we spent quite awhile looking at all the fun treasures. It was my 35th birthday and was fun to be surrounded by all that chocolate!




The next day we toured Amish Country in Lancaster Country, Pennsylvania. It was fascinating. The kids didn't understand why the Amish people would want to live without electricity. Everything was so well-kept and beautiful. I admire what hard working, friendly people they are. I asked some nice Amish girls if Lexi could get her picture with them and they said it wasn't allowed, so I had to be content taking pictures out the car windows.



This past weekend we drove to beautiful up-state New York and crossed over into Canada to see Niagara Falls. We were hoping to see the fall foilage we've heard so much about but everything was still mostly green, with just the hint of orange. I bet in 2 weeks it will be on fire. Too bad we can't go back to see it. Maybe next year. We found a Groupon on an amazing hotel in Ontario. We stayed on the 38th floor and woke up to see the sunrise over Niagara Falls.

We stayed up until almost midnight swimming in the pool. That was what the kids were most excited about was going swimming. They wanted to go again the next morning before we headed out so Dave swam with them while I held a sleeping Malia. It was fun watching Dave flip the kids into the water. They were so funny and were loving every minute! They were very worn out and had red eyes from the chlorine from so much time in the pool.

Then we went to see Niagara Falls. It was amazing! I can't believe how close the railing is to the upper part of the falls. It is massive and swift as it rushes over and crashes below and I wanted to hang on tight to my kids!


I didn't realize there are different falls making up Niagara Falls. This is 'American Falls' on the American side and the small one on the right side is 'Bridal Veil Falls.'
This is 'Horse Shoe Falls' on the Canadian side. It is gigantic when you get near. That small dark blob in the water is a boat going into the mist.

The funnest part was taking a 'Maid of the Mist' boat ride right up to the falls. Before the boat started going a lady took our picture but the camera wasn't zoomed out and cut off Brenner at the bottom.
So she tried again and got us all in the photo. The blue rain ponchos crack me up. Porter took his to school this morning for show-and-tell.

When we got close to the Falls the mist was so heavy it was just like it was raining. It was funny! Everyone was shrieking.

Malia was in a little tiny blue rain poncho and she didn't like the mist. She laid her head down on my shoulder to escape it and fell asleep in the middle of it all.


We all felt like Brenner after this trip. Plum tuckered! It's nice to get away for awhile and put your life on hold for a bit isn't it? But it's also nice to come home and get back into the schwing of things. I loved so much having Dave home and I will miss him again. But I will square up my shoulders and pick back up this burden and we shall carry on. Dave is fighting his hard battles and I am fighting mine. Some of them overlap and then it's nice to help each other. We can do hard things right?