Fort Strong

Today in honor of the boys being home we made a huge fort in the family room. The kids had a great time...for about 5 minutes.Then came King Connor.

He was pretty happy with his path of destruction.

Luckily the side he destroyed was also the side the TV is on...

So they stretched out in the fort and watched a movie. Good times.

School for the Blind

The boys were off school today and we went on a little field trip that a friend had planned to the Texas School for the Blind. The kids got to see Braille books and feel them. They also got a Braille card so they can practice at home...we'll see if that ever happens. They had fun walking around and seeing some of the kids at the school. Here is Savannah trying her hand at Braille...Connor Update: Connor wouldn't take a nap yesterday, but fell right asleep at bedtime with no fuss at all. He slept the whole night with no pacifier!!! He fell asleep in the car on the way home today and only got a 20 minute nap, so I'm feeling good about him being exhausted tonight too. Yeah!!!

Valentine Heart-Attack

I've been promising Savannah that she could cut out hearts for Valentine's Day decorations. Yesterday she was in heaven. I drew the hearts and she cut and colored them. Dallin even joined in when he came home for lunch...When Zach got home he was so excited. This kid loves to do art projects, and also fill up our wall space with it. He and Savannah sat together for 2 HOURS straight. He would cut and draw a pattern and then sit there while Savannah colored it in. Then he would do another one...one at a time. Two solid hours of them not fighting at all...it was bliss.

Zach loves it when I let him decorate this massive, blank wall in the kitchen...

Lots of lovin'...at least for 2 hours.

See ya later pacifiers!

I've been wanting to take away Connor's pacifier for months now. But there was always something...going on vacation, being sick, etc. This week I'd been debating which day to start. Well last night Connor went to bed but was just talking in his crib. I figured he wasn't tired yet and got him back out. Biggest mistake of my life. He cried all night long and wanted to watch T.V. or have us hold him. Once we figured out that's all it was we just left him in his crib. And he cried. And cried. And cried. This has happened before.

I went in to his room the first few times and gave him his pacifier, which he immediately threw on the floor. This morning I decided they were gone. He suffered through the whole night without it anyway, so now is as good as time as any. Naptime has not really happened today. I think he slept for a few minutes in between the shouts of "Ire! Ire! Out! Out!" Ire = Pacifier

It's gonna be a long few days (and nights), but I'm actually happy to finally be getting it over with.

Family Fitness & Fine Arts

On Monday for FHE we went to the school for Family Fitness & Fine Arts night. We got to meet the boys' art, music, and P.E. teachers (although they don't call it P.E. - it's called "Wellness"). Dallin took Zach & Savannah with the kindergartners and Connor and I went with Jacob. The P.E. section was definitely the most fun. We had a blast and I'm so sad I didn't have my camera...for things like Connor trying to jump rope and hula-hoop. They had plasma cars, which were by far Savannah's favorite thing. It goes forward when you move the steering thing back and forth.

In art we learned how to draw hearts for Valentine's Day. Connor didn't last too long in music. After the opening dancing around and singing they wanted us to be quiet and listen...by then it was Connor's bedtime. So we met up with the others back at the gym. It was a fun time!

Saturday morning Star Wars battle

This morning Zach decided to make a starship out of our couch and the laundry basket (the cockpit). It had lasers and everything. He was nice enough to let Savannah be the co-pilot. A few minutes later I heard Dallin in there leading them on missions to get the Empire...

Snowman!

No, it didn't snow enough for a snowman. We've actually had nice weather this week. On Wednesday we had Savannah's music class at our house. For the craft we made snowman faces and then sang snowman songs. She loved using all pink and purple buttons...of course. She named it "Savannah Snowman."

Dino Pit

Today the kids and I went to the Austin Nature & Science Center. We hadn't been for a few months and I've been promising them we'd go. They had a great time, especially in the nice weather we've been having this week.

Jacob & Savannah convincing Connor to enter the little cave...

Playing by the little creek

This was Connor's first time being able to play in the dino pit. The last time we went he was still confined to his stroller. He had a blast running all around in the sand and trying to dig. He loves to mimic Jacob in everything he does...

Jacob is very serious about his digging and gets a little frustrated when the other kids don't want to search for fossils...

Lovin' life!A sand fort, complete with moat and a drawbridge...Savannah immediately claimed the pink shovel...Then we visited the animals...this is a rabbit I think. The raccoon was terrified of the kids.

We've been saving things from nature that the kids find interesting (snake skin, seashells, acorn top, etc.). They can give it to this lady and tell her what they know about it. She awards them points and they can pick out something else. Jacob got some volcanic rock, Zach a new seashell, and Savannah a pink rock.