Little Biker

Kyle has been riding this little balance bike for the past two summers. He loves it & I love watching him glide around the neighborhood on it. He is on the verge of moving on to a two wheeler -- he can ride for short distances with no help, but still prefers the balance bike for now. I caught a little video of him riding in the church parking lot so I can remember him zooming around on his tiny bike before he moves on. (I don't know why the video is so tiny.. or why there is no sound??)

Read-a-thon

Neil's class at school just completed a read-a-thon where they were to read as many books as they could during a two week period. He was pretty excited about it but we got kind of a slow start because due to illness, etc. so he decided on the goal to read 10 books a day until the end. He is not always the fastest reader since he needs to stop and discuss.. And point out interesting things in the pictures.. And take all sorts of tangents. He stuck to his goal & was thrilled & surprised to find out that he had read the most books (80) and had won the grand prize. He won some books, but really it was just exciting to see how happy he was. It really helped to improve his reading & build confidence. He has a great teacher.. And a proud mom! He filled out a heart for each book read, so the picture is him with the list of books he read.

Kyle's Glasses

A few months ago, a friend from our ward asked if we'd ever had Kyle's eyes checked and said that he noticed one of his eyes drifting to cross eyed.  I half-heartedly watched his eyes, but didn't think too much of it. On Thanksgiving, my sister-in-law asked if we'd ever had Kyle's eyes checked and said that she noticed one of his eyes going cross eyed.  Starting then, I made a conscious effort to watch his eyes and decided we should really get him to an eye doctor.  Russ had an appointment with his eye doctor at the 1st of the year, so he added a check up for Kyle too.  So, in addition to having weakness in his left eye(hence one eye going cross eyed), he is far sighted.  He was prescribed glasses and also eye patches that we are supposed to use on his strong eye for 2 hours a day to strengthen the weaker eye.  I was worried about him keeping them on, but we picked them up this morning and he has worn them all day.  He takes them off occasionally to look at them, but puts them back on & even wore them all through preschool after he initially told me he wasn't going to.  If I ask him if he can see better, he smiles and nods his head.  His preschool teacher said that she could see an obvious change with the glasses-- better work, more excited, more vocal.  Apparently, the world has opened up now that he can see.  Josh & Neil have been very excited and concerned with this whole process.  They were all anxious to see him in his new glasses.  

So, this leaves Russ & me to wonder... are we bad parents for not having a clue anything was wrong until others noticed it?  His preschool teacher also asked if we'd ever had his eyes checked.  I have no idea at what point we would have realized there was a problem if no one else had pointed it out to us.  All of the people that pointed it out to us had family members with the same issue, so I guess I will now be on the lookout for little ones who cross their eyes.  I'm glad we got him started with the glasses now and can keep on it as he grows and his vision develops!  

Getting his glasses adjusted(you can see pretty clearly the one eye going cross eyed here)

Joshua is 8

We had a lovely weekend with Thanksgiving, Josh's Birthday and then Josh's Baptism on Saturday.  Thanks to those who could come.  A few pictures of the events:

Winter

Its going to be a long winter.  Jane loves to be outside & doesn't seem to be bothered by the cold.  Some pics of the storm last week.  Personally, I'm glad it all melted quickly!

Halloween 2012

Good times.. The boys wanted to be Ninjas (specifically Ninjago.. if you are part of the Lego world as we are at our house).  Kyle chose Buzz Lightyear, which was great since we already had that costume. I was pleased with my limited sewing abilities that I crafted Jane's Jessie costume myself.  We had fun.. and I'm glad that its over for another year.  Also glad to say goodbye to the Halloween candy that I've been snacking on for the last 5 days.  

Josh & his buddy Jerod at school

 The kids after the trick or treat.  Neil is almost invisible..haha.

 Jane & the bowl of Halloween candy

 Kyle

Baby Jane

We are loving this baby girl. I am looking forward to the routine that will come in a week when the 2 older boys go back to school.. I keep telling myself I will then catch up on laundry and be a better mother of 4 kids age 6 and under.. For now, I spend as much time as possible staring at this baby. Love her. photos by my sister-in-law Sarah Dickson (thank you!)