What a Drag

This blog post is way overdue. This is pretty much how I will begin all future blog posts until my computer is fixed. I am writing this post from our super old desktop. It gets the job done, it just takes it a lifetime to do so. But, I shouldn't complain. Since the demise of my laptop I've gotten a lot more done around the house and pinned a lot less on Pinterest.

Ava entered her first ever science fair back in February. It was a schoolwide event and our little miss placed SECOND in her category (which was the largest of all the categories!). For her project, she wanted to determine which type of paper airplanes flies the farthest. After much research online, she chose three very different planes. She threw each plane 10 times, measured and recorded the distance then analyzed her results. She learned all about "drag" while preparing for her project and took it into consideration when coming up with her hypothesis. She was disappointed that her hypothesis was incorrect (mine was too) but was excited to research her results.

Ava was one of only three kindergarteners who entered the science fair (it's not mandatory) and was the only one to place. She dropped her project off the morning of the science fair for judging. That evening, the science fair was open to the public and the judges decisions were revealed. I was the first to notice the red second place ribbon on her project (everyone got green participation ribbons) and excitedly pointed it out to Ava, who had no idea what it meant. When I explained to her that the red represents second place she was shocked, then immediately ran to tell Daddy and G-Pa (who had come up from Phoenix). I think Andy was the most proud of all. He's always assumed that Ava would take after me and lean more toward the English and writing disciplines. Now, he has a glimmer of hope that maybe she'll be a scientist or math nerd like her daddy.

We're so proud of our girl and the hard work she put into her first-ever science fair project. Here's to many more1

Spring???

Ava and Andy are supposed to be back at school and work today after a weeklong Spring Break. SUPPOSED TO BE. Instead, on this day before the official start of spring, they are home for a snow day. That's right, SNOW DAY! It was 71 degrees here Friday, today's high is supposed to be 37. In the past two days we've gotten well over a foot of snow. Crazy! Crazy, but so fun! After church yesterday, our little family bundled up and went outside for some good ol' fashioned snow fun: we had snowball fights (just for the record, my dear sweet husband TAGGED me in the face with a 90-mile fast ball... just throwing that out there), made snow angels, ate snow and, of course, built a snowman who we lovingly named Lute (Wildcats understand).

Eden ate some snow and generally looked around in wonderment (or she was just frozen that way) before going in the nice warm house for a nap while the rest of us played outside until our noses could no longer handle the cold.

We're heading over to Grandma and Grandpa's today to sled down their big hill. Better take advantage because before we know it, summer will be here!

Snapshots

 The kids are always stealing my camera. I can't tell you how many times I turn it on only to find 50 new pictures of someone's little feet or eyes. But they're not all random...

Jax's self-portrait

 Jax took this one of Ava...

 ...and this one of her wiggling her loose tooth

Not sure who snapped this one, but it's from a little person's perspective nonetheless

  mmmm.... cereal milk

 I took this one at the kids' request

Jax snapped this one of his beautiful big sister!

 Jax and Eden through Ava's eyes

 Courtesy of Ava

While I'm always surprised to find pictures I didn't take on my camera. I can't help but take the time to look at each one, not only because there are some real gems in there, but it's fun to see things through my kids' eyes.

Little Scooter

Our sweet Eden adores her big brother and sister. She watches their every move and smiles as soon as they enter a room. She giggles when they play and does her best to involve herself (if she's close enough). I think she may be getting tired of her lack of mobility preventing her from being a part of the fun because she has taught herself to scoot to her desired locale. She gets up on all fours and rocks, trying so hard to crawl, but she's still not there. So scooting it is. For about a month she mainly moved in reverse, which always led to a fun game of "Where's Eden?" I'd put her on the floor, walk out of the room briefly and come back to find her in a completely different spot. As entertaining as this was to me, it frustrated our baby girl. So, she's learned to scoot forward and sideways and now her big brother and sister, who have been so anxious for Eden to crawl, are getting just a small taste of what life is going to be like when she's fully mobile. She is into EVERYTHING! She has a special fondness for paper, which she first attacks then drools on until it's a big mushy clump. It's pretty gross. She also prefers Jax's monster trucks to more girl offerings, much to Ava's chagrin.

 Push ups!

I remember when Ava was a baby, being so excited for her to move. With Jax, I was excited, but didn't mind any delays. But to be honest, this time around I'm a little less anxious. I'm not sure I'm ready for three mobile kids! It's not the actual moving, it's the constantly having to make sure Barbie shoes, puzzle pieces and crayons are off the floor or at least out of baby's reach. That'll be a full-time job in itself!

But, on the other hand, I am looking forward to Eden really being able to include herself in all the fun things her older siblings do.

Boys Night Out

Monster Jam comes around once a year and it's a must for Jax. This year though, rather than dragging the girls along, Andy and Jax enjoyed a guys night out with most of the Kleinman boys. These kids are OBSESSED with monster trucks!

Our little dude would have enjoyed any trucks, but he was especially excited that his favorite, Sonuva Digger was on the lineup. He and I even made him a special Sonuva-Digger shirt the day before.

Andy says Jax could barely contain himself for most of the show, his excitement was just bursting out of his body! The boys got home around 1 am. Jax was asleep when Andy brought him in, but as soon as he heard my voice the little dude popped right up to tell me how "really awesome" his night was and to show me the new monster truck DVD Daddy bought him (which he slept with).

I love that Andy and Jax got to have this special time together and I think a new Guys Night tradition may have been started. If nothing else, this night only strengthened Jax's desire to grow up and become a monster truck driver.

Catch Up

Now that we live back home and close to family, I find I don't blog nearly as often as I once did. So, now I'm playing catch-up. So much has happened in the past month or so, much of which needs it's own post. That will come. Eventually. For now, here's a glimpse of what's happenin'.

The little dude is a Sunbeam! What?! In our church, the January after a child turns three he/she moves out of Nursery and graduates to the Sunbeam Sunday School class. It's kinda a big deal. Our little guy isn't the biggest fan of church. Well,  it's more the sitting he isn't fond of. But, he's been so excited to move into Primary (the children's Sunday School program) that Andy and I have noticed a huge improvement in his behavior at church. Not that he was bad, just impatient... and bored... and that can sometimes lead to him running toward the front of the chapel, giggling and taunting Daddy... while the bishop is talking. But, no more. Not our little guy. He tries so hard to be reverent during sacrament, loves to say the prayer in Sunbeams and comes home ready to tell us what he learned or what scripture story they read.

Our teeny baby is now six months old and has been introduced to the wonderful world of solid foods. There's not a fruit or vegetable this girl has met that she hasn't liked. I've been working on sign language with her, to help her tell me when she's hungry or wants more, but she hasn't quite caught on yet and much prefers to yell at me when I'm not shoveling her food into her mouth fast enough.

And our big kindergarten girl was named Kid of Character for her class this week (it's like student of the week). Each week, all the teachers in the school choose one child from their class who has exhibited one of six character pillars (trustworthiness, fairness, respect, responsibility, caring and citizenship). There's a bulletin board near the front of the school that displays pictures of each of the kids of character and the character they exhibited. Ava's teacher said she couldn't choose just one for Ava so next to Ava's picture it read: "Ava couldn't choose just one character pillar to be good at. She's good at all of them! Way to go Ava!" She was so excited when she saw that and thanked her teacher. It makes my heart swell with happiness to know that the things we strive to teach her at home, and the things we see her often exhibit in our home, she carries with her at school too. We're so proud of our sweet girl!

A Unique Sense of Style

I have a hard time relinquishing control. There it is, I admit it. Before I had kids, I knew this woman whose son would only wear swim trunks, snow boots and t-shirts. So, every day that's what he wore. With the exception of Sundays, when church attire was necessary, the kid had a standard uniform. While it was quite the conversation starter, I remember wondering how in the world she could let her son out of the house looking like that. I just knew that when I had children they'd always be dressed adorably. Their outfits would match and people would comment on how cute my kids look. I would have control of their appearance.

Funny story. I had kids and lost control. Well, atleast of their clothing choices. Jax most days will only wear a shirt with a monster truck on it. We have about 20. Every time we go to a clothing store he is sure I browse the racks for monster truck shirts.

On occasion, he'll forgo the monster truck shirt for Ninja Turtles or Star Wars, but that's about it. Usually, his pants aren't a problem but he has an odd affinity for a pair of blue galoshes that look like sharks WHICH he likes to tuck his pants in.

And Ava, my sweet little girl who I dressed so adorably in her early years is now a little fashionista. Each day she chooses her own ensemble, right down to the accessories. And we get something that looks a little like this:

Let's go over this shall we? We've got the pink scarf that actually belonged to Andy's grandma. Ava found it as we cleaned out Grandma's house after her death and just HAD to have it. Next, we have the butterfly rhinestone shirt and a color block skirt. Not too bad. But look closely at what's below the skirt, those, dear readers are blue leggings with large sunflowers on them. They're Ava's favorite leggings. Next, we have a pair of purple Fancy Nancy socks (if you've read the books, you know why these socks are so appropriate) and brown Mary Janes. She LOVES this outfit! It's a pretty accurate representation of what she wears on a daily basis. Initially, I had a hard time letting her choose her outfits. It's one of those things I wanted to have control of. I mean, my kids' appearance is a direct reflection of me, right? Did Ava's outfit make it seem as if I didn't have it together. Is any of this important. NO! Because, when I realized the confidence it gave her, when I saw her admiring her ensemble in the mirror before school, I was okay with losing control. My little girl is growing up. She's developing her own sense of style and using it to express herself. I love that. One day, she'll be a teenager, she'll be obsessed with her appearance and clothes. I'll long for the days when she was little and carefree and happy to wear this:

 

 Or this: