My Marathoner

Drew participated in Marathon Kids again this year. He ran 26 miles between October and February. We went to a Finisher Event at a stadium in Austin to run a quarter mile "finisher" lap in the rain on Saturday and got his medal.

I'm so glad when daddy comes home

We all love it when Daddy comes home!

Dog piles and pillow fights are a great way to start the evening.

We love you, Daddy!

Let it snow!

We had our first Texas snow storm. The kids had an absolute blast! Dallin got out of school two hours early. I went to pick him up and waited and waited. He didn't think I'd know about the early out, so he just ran home. But while I was parked waiting, somebody ran into me. They were driving in reverse and just didn't see me so they sideswiped me on the driver's side. Too funny to get in an accident on a snowy day and not even have it due to weather conditions!

Dayton's class went out to play in the snow.

This was Devin's first snow experience. He wasn't interested in playing in it until he saw his brothers having fun. When I first put him out in it, he just sat down and cried.

We had a big snowball fight in the backyard with several extra neighbor kids. Dallin isn't in any pictures because he was off playing at the Brunners and all the snow on the golf course.

Danica liked the snow.

She and Drew built a snowman. She was in charge of the carrot nose.

Ta-da!

What a lovely snow ball.

By the next day, the snow was gone and it was a balmy 60's. The snowmen in the front yards were the only reminder of the snowy day!

Sweet kisses

Both Devin and Danica went up on the stand before church started to give their dad a big hug. Devin wasn't very happy when Dave returned him to me on the pew.

I made it through church for the second straight week. This is some serious progress! Devin seems to like nursery. He gets excited as we approach his classroom. He doesn't like me to leave him, but he doesn't cry very long. Today when I picked him up afterwards, he just lit up! He came running over, his bright brown eyes sparkling, face in a grin. As I scooped him up to hug him, he gave me four or five of the sweetest kisses. He doesn't hand out even one kiss often, so I felt smothered with love. Those are the times that make mothering worth it!

At 18 months, his vocabulary is: stop it (and he has to use it often being the youngest of five), Dallin, Danica, choo choo, stuck, dada, mama, all done, shoes (he loves shoes!), and he signs for "more". He points to any animal and says moo. Loves stories and playing outside.

Big Brother

I peeked out the window and found that Dallin had taken Devin out to play. Devin is such a lucky little guy. How many one year olds have a big brother that will take them outside to play just for fun!

When I saw them out together I knew I needed to blog this. Dallin will be on his mission by the time Devin's six. He won't have too many memories of playing with Dallin. Dallin is a wonderful brother and loves his little brother. Devin waves goodbye to him each morning as he bikes off to school. And he greets him each afternoon with a huge grin and hug!
Time with big brother is sweet, indeed!

Permanent Marker

Dayton was gathering the garbages when he called down the stairs to ask if I'd seen the mess upstairs. That's never a good question for a mom to hear. I was greeted with some lovely artwork done with permanent marker on the carpet. I was just sick. I said a prayer and started scrubbing. To my amazement, it actually came out pretty well. We'll always have a little keepsake of Danica's artwork upstairs now, but at least it's fairly faded. It was just that day that I had decided to turn the wall above where she colored into a Talbot Art Gallery. Looks like she just got a jump start on the gallery for me.

Vision Therapy Progress

Dayton just had his tenth (of 30) vision therapy appointment. Dr. Larsen retested him and found that Dayton is making huge improvements already. Dayton has worked really hard doing his nightly homework. Here he's working with his red/green glasses.

Somebody needs a nap....

Danica's just at the age where she isn't always tired by nap time, but if she holds still after 4 o'clock she checks out.

Why I love scouting

There are a few things I really love about scouting. Making smores in the middle of the week just to pass off something towards Bear is one of them. The boys were in charge of lighting the fire. Classic Dallin, our Life scout, said he didn't know how to make a fire. When I asked him how that was possible when he's this close to Eagle, he simply said that he's only made one just a handful of times. Gratefully, pyro Dayton was all over it. And soon they had a decent fire going.

By the happy look on this face, you can tell it was delish!
This chiminea has been a worthwhile purchase and has been used through the years! I don't think the boys will ever outgrow roasting marshmallows.

Assembling the delicacy.

Scouting

Drew raced another fast car at the Pinewood Derby this year. His car made it to the finals.

Drew won a lot of heats!
He also received his Woodworking chip and an arrow point. He's close to earning his Bear.

Dallin received his Computer merit badge and his Life--Way to Go Dallin! We celebrate rank advancements by making them a treat of their choice. Dallin got a pan of fudge.

We're sure proud of you, Dallin! You're well on your way to Eagle!

The Very Hungry Talbot

Because of David's bishopric callings over the last 1 1/2 years I've been sitting by myself at church. For the first time in more months than I remember, I managed to make it through the whole hour of sacrament meeting without taking the kids out. It only took 2 boxes of sweethearts, raisens, 2 slices of bread, a bag of popcorn, a bag of pretzels, and 2 bags of fruit snacks. It sounds like the book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Hopefully nobody ends up with a stomachache tonight.

Frozen cons

Dallin needed to do some research online yesterday. Drew was at the computer and offered to type the search in for him. Drew said that nothing pulled up on the search, so we went over to see why. I guess there's nothing on the "frozen cons" of nuclear energy! (pros and cons)

Popcorn buddies

Danica and Devin had a little popcorn party.

They shared with each other and had lots of fun...
until the popcorn ran out.

Boys Galore!

Our home has turned into the boy magnet on the weekends. Saturday we had 8 extra boys here to play...all at the same time. Dallin reported that yesterday we set a record by having 8 kids in the sandbox. Glad we built it big. One of the things we loved about this neighborhood as we looked for homes was that there were always kids out playing. I love that our boys have good friends and lots of 'em. Dave and I do have to laugh a little as we look at the state of our home by Saturday evening. Although we work the kids hard in the morning, by evening it could all stand to be redone. We laugh at how short the "peak of cleanliness" is on Saturday.

Jump Rope King

Dayton was a class winner in the jump rope competition. He took third in the fifth grade.

This week Drew's school hosted a jumprope competition. Danica, Devin and I came to cheer our jumper on.

Drew jumped the longest of all the boys in his class.
He moved to the Champion Circle to wait for all the other classroom winners.

These were the best jumpers from each class. They then competed for best in the third grade.

And the winner for the boys was Drew. He was crowned Jump Rope King for the third grade and got a bag of goodies. Way to go Drew!

His cheering squad was sure glad they had been in attendance.

Sunday

Sunday we enjoyed the day together as a family. There was delicious treats.

Dayton entertained Danica and Devin with a variety of activities while the rest of us played a board game. They were growing mustaches.

Drew helped Danica have a bath and Devin managed to get in as well.