My first attempt at French braiding, to make "Anna" hair. Thank you, YouTube.
The handsome birthday boy after Kindergarten.
Succulent thighs.
Preparing for the big Lego birthday party!
Asleep in the swing.
Pleased with her new swimsuit.
I got to attend Sammi's preschool field trip to Hogle Zoo. She loved having my full attention, since it's really hard to come by with other siblings around.
Can you spot the sea lions behind her?
Cozy little burrito.
Sisters sitting up together.
Sweet little face, unsure of that dang wind. I could kiss those rosy little cheeks all day.
 This picture pretty much says it all.
 Lego cake for celebrating with Grandma and Grandpa J.  Uncle Brad was pretty jealous he didn't have a cake like this. :)
 I cannot believe I have a SIX year old!
 We went on a little family outing to Spanish Oaks Reservoir.  It has a nice little beach for the kids to play on, and an concrete sloping wall all around to fish off of.  Everything was going really smoothly with the kids playing in the sand, tormenting the fish that Daddy caught (which they named Glubby) in their little manmade moat...until Emerson went over to help Daddy fish, and he stepped on some reservoir goo and slid into the water in slow motion.  Ben of course ran to the rescue, slipping on the goo as well and flailing in slow motion while trying to scramble back up the bank with Emerson climbing up him.  This led to Tyler (our friend and fellow resident) trying to save Ben and E, and all three of them going in.  Meanwhile, I was loading up some stuff in the car to get ready to go, and then spotting the trouble and trying to run across the beach with Maddi in my arms.  Luckily, there was a big strong man and his son who had just finished working on their life-saving merit badge for Scouts.  Addie threw the white life-saving donut to the boys, and the Scouts pulled them all to safety.  We were so glad everyone was ok!
 Before the reservoir goo incident.
We had a very wet and cold Daddy and Emerson after they fell in the reservoir.  It just made me glad the kids are taking swimming lessons as we speak.

 This boy is 6 years old!  He's like a legitimate big kid now.
 He was lucky enough to get a friend birthday party this year.  It was Lego-themed.

 We colored Lego pictures with Lego man crayons, made our own mini pizzas, played pin the head on the Lego man, and built little Lego creations that doubled as party favors.  It was a fun little party, and E was pleased, which is what I cared about.

Happy Birthday, E!  You are the sweetest, silliest, smartest, and most creative boy I know.  You are such a good example to your younger sisters, and I appreciate when you are my big helper.  You always try to do the right things, and are quick to confess when you have done something naughty. :)  We love you to pieces.  Lego pieces, in fact.

 This beautiful little girl is 6 months old!  The time has flown by.

And you drool, a lot.  You have entered the lovely front-of-the-shirt-is-always-wet stage.  Being the third child, you unfortunately have to be woken up from naps a lot to either take older siblings places or pick them up.  You take it all pretty well in stride though.

You love to be outside, listen to your own loud and cool voice, and to roll around to where you want to go.  You learned to sit up by yourself just in the nick of time before your six-month well child visit. :)

This little girl has gotten to be quite the little mover.  She can't crawl yet, but she has gotten really good at rolling.  I'll look away for a few seconds, and she has rolled into another room.  She is also a really smiley baby, but of course I couldn't capture that.

She was thrilled to have green beans.
It has been nice to have Emerson around to be able to give her a bottle once in awhile.  Sometimes life just gets so busy and everyone is hungry at once and I need an extra helper. 
 Speaking of Emerson, he got into a little bit of trouble one day at school.  Apparently he was making another boy laugh and eventually got sent to sit in the hall.  Imagine how, as a teacher, I was mortified to have a little Kindergarten delinquent, and so I quickly helped him decide how to apologize for making his teacher's job so hard.  He made this card for her, and I hope it melted her heart as much as it did mine.  He drew his Pooh Bear on the front because it is his dearest possession.
 Here is what it says: "Sorry I was notey. (naughty) I love you.  I will try to be good.  Love, Emerson

Sweet girl all bundled up for a brisk walk.
 We love visiting Grandma and Grandpa when Dad has to work all weekend.  That means movies, and fun toys!

Here is Maddi flashing her gang sign in her high chair.
She thinks she is one of the big kids now.
Mid-roll
Don't you just want to squish her!?
We got to have a visit from our cousin Rowan when Aunt Ashley and Uncle Scott brought him to Utah to celebrate his 1st birthday with everyone!  We love cousins.
 Aren't those the most succulent thighs!?
 She loves to roll over to the toy box tags and suck on them.  Little weasel.


We, like the rest of humanity, purchased Frozen the day it came out.  We had a Del Taco picnic in the front room and sang along to every song.  It was so fun.
Here is Maddi's Instagram profile pic.  She has a lot to say, and it quite witty about it.  (This is a joke that my brother Brad and I came up with.  I might actually do it one of these days though.)
Baby neck!  Nom nom nom.

She has two new razor-sharp teeth.  She likes to run her tongue over and over them all day.
We are keeping busy with work, school, and play.  I play chauffeur most days to school, swimming lessons, and playdates, and Maddi is a good sport and spends a lot of time in her carseat.  Poor third child.  The kids have their really great days of getting along and getting lost in their magical world of play, but we have a lot of days with many ridiculous fights and a mom with low tolerance for shrieking.  We have fights most days about getting homework done, not eating candy for breakfast, (like it's a surprise EVERY morning that I won't let them...) and not laying on/squeezing their baby sister. 

We have been trying a new behavior chart with stickers, and when they fill it up they get to go pick out a new toy.  They have been working really hard for the whole month trying to fill up their charts, but the rule is that if they ask for a sticker after they do something good, they don't get one.  It gets pretty funny to hear them come up with innovative ways of asking without asking.  They will do something nice for me and say something like, "And what does that mean, Mom?" with a winning smile plastered on their cute little faces.  I'm hoping the positive reinforcement will train them to do nice things, and that I can wean them from needing a reward at all, but we shall see.  It has at least helped them recognize that they appreciate when people do nice things for them, because when I do something for them they say, "Oh Mom! That was so nice.  You should put a sticker on YOUR chart!"  Silly kids.  They make me so exhausted, but I love them to pieces.