Halloween

It's become tradition for the Wallworks to join us the night we carve our pumpkins.

 

 
Dallin totally got the gist of trick-or-treating after the first house or two.

 

 

Ashley couldn't decide between a princess or a cat.  So she's both.

Cleaning lesson....

After immediate discovery, Windex will help most of Sharpie artwork come off a computer screen.

Most.

Not all.

Other Randomness

I never posted pictures of the completed treehouse!  Completed in June with a trap door and a rope ladder.

 Ashley started ballet and tap.  As shy as she is, she was a little hesitant at first.  But now she enjoys it.

 Spirit week, including crazy hat day and crazy hair day.

Bryan and a buddy competed in a canoe, mountain bike, trail run triathlon (the Jailbreak) and took third place in the mens division.

My dad made some banks for the kids over the summer (with compartments for savings, spending, and tithing).  They had fun painting them.

Here Comes Trouble!

This has been one of my most frequent sayings lately.  Ashley has picked up on it, and often calls Dallin "Trouble".

I found Dallin in the bathroom like this.  The first time he was dry.  Every time since then (multiple!) the water has been running.  He just sits there.  With the water on.  Chewing on a toothbrush.  Getting drenched.  His new favorite thing.

 

Dallin was sporting a mullet for quite a while.  We finally gave him his first hair cut.

Before

After

Whenever I pull out the camera to try and take a candid shot, like him coloring (which he does everywhere, every time he gets a pencil/pen/crayon, which is often) I get a cute "cheeeee" smile.

Car Wash Help

What a good little helper.

May Highlights

Dance Recital (with other girls from church, in two separate dance classes):

Backpacking the Fiery Gizzard trail with friend Jon:

Cicada invasion:

Building a tree house:

Sienna spends a lot of her free time during summer break writing stories.  She also loves playing games, reading, and going swimming.  She finished soccer and dance and is taking swim lessons.

Colby loves playing basketball, or any sport for that matter.  He finished a strong season of soccer and is also taking swim lessons.  He loves playing computer games, watching movies, and having playdates.  He is becoming a good reader.
This was Colby counting today: "Infinity and ninety-niiiiiiine...... infinity and beyond.... infinity and beyond-one....infinity and beyond-two.....infinity and beyond-three...."

Ashley loves playing with her baby dolls, listening to stories, playing with Dallin, and trying to keep up with the big kids.  She knows her letters and almost knows all her sounds.  Bryan asked her today if she had any more bloody noses (she's been waking up with them at night).  She replied, "No, only a yellow one."

Dallin has an adorable 4-teeth grin.  He loves being outside, playing in the water, and any kind of possible mischief.  He started walking full time this month.

Bryan enjoyed a 4 day bike trip with the Young Men from church.  They rode along the Natchez Trace (a National Park Scenic Highway).  The highs were in the mid to high 90s every day.

I'm trying to be creative with finding entertainment for the summer.  But mostly it involves going swimming somewhere.  One of the highlights for me was going to see Les Miserables with Bryan.  It was fantastic.  I also had a great Mother's Day and am a very blessed mom.

New Dictionary Word

Here is a new word for the dictionary: "whobody"

Kind of like "somebody", or "nobody".

Used in context:

"Whobody will push me on the swing?"

I like it.

News from April

April began with a few attempts at April Fool's day jokes.  I tried making an April Fool’s Day dinner that I read about on blogs from last year.  Something like this, with cupcakes for dessert (mini meat loaf with colored mashed potatoes and a cherry tomato on top).  The kids were mostly just confused about what was going on, but it was still fun seeing their reaction and figuring out what things were.  Ashley’s reaction was the best.  She is a very picky eater.  So she was delighted with a cupcake on her dinner plate.  She went right to work taking off the wrapper.  When she finally discovered it wasn’t actually cake her world just fell apart.  She collapsed in a pile of tears and wails.  It took some persuasion to convince her to try her peas.  I never thought I’d hear myself say “Eat more of your cupcake if you want some more peas!”

Easter was nice.  On a whim I bought some material and stayed busy during the week making simple matching skirts for the girls.  We dyed eggs, had Easter egg hunts, and had a nice Easter dinner with two other families before Bryan took off for Washington D.C. for a conference.   

Dallin is pretty good at balancing and can take many steps in a row, but he still prefers crawling.  He loves being outside playing with push toys, chasing after balls, picking petals off pansies, eating dirt, playing in puddles, etc.   

Ashley is breaking out of her shell, bit by bit.  I had to drag her out of the car for her annual doctor appointment this week.  But by the end of the visit she was actually conversing with the doctor.  Progress!  

Colby loves playing on his soccer team.  He has also been playing a lot of basketball in our driveway and is getting pretty good.  I volunteered him for an education research study today at Vanderbilt.  He was supposed to wear this cap with a lot of wires and electrical nodes everywhere that measured brain waves while he played a computer game.  He liked the computer game, but not the cap.   

Sienna is learning to sing “Bring Him Home” from Les Mis, with Bryan accompanying.  She likes writing stories, poems, and songs.

Dallin turned one!

This week I celebrated my first birthday.  I survived a whole year!  Hard to believe with the brother and sisters I have.  I'm typically a happy kid, which is why Mom made me a Happy Face Cake.  She tried to represent my bottom two teeth with raisins, but when Sienna said it looked like nose holes in the wrong place she got rid of them.

In honor of the special event I'd like to share a few of my favorite things:

1.  Helping load and unload the dishwasher.  I sometimes get the two tasks mixed up.  OK, most of the time.  Mom thinks its a big help and she's trying to train me to work faster.  She often moves me to the far corner of the house to see how fast I can crawl back to help.  My speed is really improving.  The top rack can be tricky, especially when my feet get stuck on the poky things on the bottom.

2.  Emptying the sandwich baggie drawer.  Mom tried to trick me by moving them up a drawer.  I confess, it had me confused for half a day or so.  But it helped me discover the place mat drawer also.  Now I can really cover some square footage on the kitchen floor!

3.  Toilet water.  The closed lids used to be an obstacle, but not anymore.  I've been working out.  If I was any more manly I'd have hair on my chest already.

4.  Peek-a-boo with the shower curtain.  You'd think Mom would learn to not get me dressed until after she takes a shower.  She always has to change me into dry clothes again. 

5.  Toilet paper rolls.  (Bathrooms are just so much fun!)  Sometimes it takes me a little longer when the rolls are turned backwards, but I figure it out eventually. 

6.  Arts & Crafts.  Mom was so nice to vacuum the floor for me right before this picture.  I like having a lot of work space.

7.  Foam darts.  Dad keeps trying to take them away from me because sometimes the ends come unglued.  Mom has given up.  I just like having one hanging out of my mouth as much as possible.  I'm a chain-darter.

8.  Easter.  Wow!  What a great holiday!

9.  Exploring the upper range of my vocal cords.  I've heard that glass can break when you get up super high.  I'm trying to test the theory.  Dinner time is best.  I just don't like being left out of the conversation.

10.  Going up and down stairs.  Walking (short distances).  Eating and playing in mud.  Chasing balls.  Walking with push toys.  Swinging.  Emptying bookshelves.  Eating.  Sleeping.  Normal one year old stuff.

With all of these wonderful attributes is it any wonder my Mom & Dad love me so much?  Sometimes Mom goes overboard on the kisses and squeezes.  But I don't mind so much.  I love them too.