Kellyn and Belch

THIS charasmatic, beyond-loving girl turned the BIG 5 on OCTOBER 5!!!!

She had a good birthday party with a flower piñata,

two friends bearing presents,

cupcake making and some snacks.

Miss Kellyn Pat is quite the original. Brooks will always say the word "Millions!" daily to me after an exchange with Kellyn. Meaning..... WE ARE LOSING MILLIONS not having a video camera directed at her every moment! (Actually he is DEAD serious and even looked up cameras and all that stuff when I had to put my foot down with the whole I-don't-need-cameras-in-my-house thing!!!!)

Kellyn and Everly share a room so for nap time I put Everly to bed first, wait until she falls asleep and Kellyn goes in. Quite often Kellyn chooses to fall asleep other places while waiting for Everly, but on top of a box...?...... that's a new one for me.

The girls regularly put their own shows on. One girl will perform whatever comes to their mind and the others sit and watch. Then they take turns. Here is a clip of Kellyn's performance......it went on forever and WOULD HAVE had the girls not started clapping to try to get her to finally end.

video

Kellyn also talks to herself or whoever she is seeing in her head. Like today at church....for a whole speaker (20 minutes) she was just mouthing words and moving her hands as if she were having a conversation. Kinda like the video below.....I have 3 minutes straight of her just doing this. The family was watching a church broadcast, she wasn't making any noise, but she WAS doing this....It's so funny.

Her own world video

With Kellyn, we kinda just sit back and enjoy the show.....thinking of all the $ we are losing. ;)

One day Kellyn caught a frog. She was so pleased with herself.

I told her she should kiss it to see if it would turn into a prince. She said she liked him just how he was and didn't WANT a prince (she'll make a GREAT wife one day).

Kellyn really was NOT going to kiss that frog.

I told Everly to kiss the frog.....she considered it....

And decided to do it.

                        There was no prince but the frog DID surprise Everly with his quick departure.       Evie kisses the frog

Not wanting to be one-upped Kellyn decided to kiss the frog. #peerpressureworks

Still no prince.....and it MAY have been the kiss of death since the poor thing didn't last through naptime....and all the dropping of him. :(

EVERLY (or "Belch" as her siblings call her) has become four times more loud lately as she's been trying out her beautiful screeching singing voice. Thankfully she has become a liiiiiiiittle less sneaky and will usually have her hand on her hip when you talk to her.

AND she told me she has one friend here: Aaron, who happens to look like her boyt-twin.

Belch (the bodily funciton QUEEN) will not wear footsies pjs too small or pants too small but by golly, she WILL keep wearing this 18 month sized Superman shirt for 2 years!

I just have to post another.....this girl is too cute and fun.

She picks one sibling in the family to be her "bestie" for the day and everyone (teasingly) always asks her to be her bestie. It's usually Camden that wins, and then they share their treats with each other. 

If there is a dilemna she rarely asks for help, she solves it herself (which is where most issues happen). I'm telling you, this girl is a PROBLEM SOLVER! 

Like when she had a bloody nose and didn't think to tell me.

#genius

Daddy Campouts

Once in August and once in September Brooks took some of the kids camping.

The first time he went to a State Park on a lake here in Arkansas. Bronson was out of town so he took Camden, Emerson, Aleeya, Iris and Royce. 

(apparently there was nasty seaweed stuff to swim in.....yummy)

Just using their tires (thanks WA!) for chairs.....maxin' and relaxin'.

They stayed two nights......long enough to get quite a bit of sun on your cheeks.

I love how the fish bait/tackle box is mixed in with all their dinner and food on the table. That right THERE makes it obvious I wasn't there. :)

Brooks is under strict command to take and text me pictures when he goes (you know, because of my FOMO and the need to document).....but sometimes I get ones like this:

When I zoomed in a little on Royce..... I noticed the kid playing with the lighter. Admittedly my first thought was, "That's better than him playing with the hatchet last time Brooks took them camping".

Then I get another picture of Brooks, Camden and Emerson on the boat they rented to fish.

Make ya wonder who was watching Aleeya, Iris and Royce huh. 😂

Luckily they all seemed to have a blast

and they all came home safely.

Oh, one more, I love this picture.

On another trip Brooks took the older four on a fishing trip to the Little Red River. Leading up to it Brooks had an expert-fisherlady from work give Brooks all her trout fishing tips.

So with lots of marshmallows (it's a trout fishing thing), they missed a little school, loaded up and left.

The kids all said how cool the fog was on the Little Red.

Everyone was actually catching fish!

I guess it was a little bloody getting this trout's hook out? (So glad I had already eaten by the time Brooks texted me this picture)

But THIS one is my favorite of the whole trip!!!! How DREAMY is this?!?!?

When outdoors it's like some magic descends on my kids....there's no fighting, teasing or arguing. Everyone gets along....ESPECIALLY when fishing. Not sure what it is about it, but these trips are proof of the magic.

Aleeya and Iris

THIS little lady......my oldest girl turned 10 in October and wanted an Emoji party.

For some reason (I think out of mercy) she always seems to pick the easiest piñatas for me to make.

(sitting on one of the new reclining chairs Brooks and I bought and picked the fabric out for. My first new chairs. WHAAAAAT?!)

If Aleeya wants an Emoji party, well by golly I was gonna dig deep into my professional art skills and draw some emojis on some balloons. (One looks like it has a bloody mouth and the zipper mouth guy looks like he's smoking. But regardless, she liked them)

Her party ended up being on Brooks' birthday......his big 40th by-the-way. But since he doesn't like being celebrated this worked out. I wasn't about to have him stay in a house with THIS much estrogen on his birthday night

(and yes, I drew emoji faces on yellow $-store plates. #imsofancy)

so I shoo-ed him and the boys out the door to go to a football game.

By "boys" I mean the older two. Emerson went to a friend's house and Royce.....well, he's usually clumped with the girls anyway. 

The two girls (twins) on the left are our neighbors and spend every day here usually. They were so helpful cleaning up everything and playing with the younger girls. We love them.

On Aleeya's actual birthday she got her junkbox from us (she's so easy to excite)

She also wanted a messenger-bag/purse, a soccer necklace and a Sonic giftcard.... her favorite.

She also likes Shopkins.....think she got enough?

(I had to test how the cookie cake came out, right? Pretty sure she won't notice it)

Aleeya also has been on a travel soccer team this fall. She tried out for the A team and got on. They don't have a NON-traveling soccer team in town. Weird. 

But ol' "Wheels" made us proud.

Aleeya ALSO now shares a bed with Iris.....every morning when I go to wake them up I find them spooning or turned into one lump under the blankets. I took THIS picture because it was unusual to find them somewhat separated. haha

Iris makes friends super easy and lucky her, there's quite a few girls her age in our church!

BIG DEAL ALERT!!!!

Iris was old enough (8) to go with Aleeya and me to the General Women's Conference Broadcast in October. Here we are at Ruby Tuesday's (their pick) before.

Sure that above smile is quite awkward and makes you think she's super excited......she's actually just super uncomfortable. She was SO embarrassed to go into a public restaurant all dressed up because "people will look".

And at the table, still quite fidgety and uncomfortable. 

Iris LOVES corndogs (#facepalm) and so THAT'S what she ordered there. I'm about to offer some experienced advice....do NOT order Ruby Tuesday's corndogs (as IF you were tempted....), Iris said they awful.

Iris also played soccer this fall. She only played goalie once so I snapped a picture.

Soccer kept Aleeya and Iris busy.

The other times they were home they opted to play 4-Square and Jump-over-the-Toilet-Snake

#redneckstatus #DEFINITELYwouldntwantittotouchyou

Emerson and Royce

Emerson Emerson Emerson...... like all my kids, he's an original. 

But really HE IS!!!!!

He's got so much...... moxy...... the first two weeks of his new school riding his sister's pink/white bike to school everyday, for example. "I'm confident in my manhood". Emerson ALSO has his own likes.

While a few of my other kids were playing different sports this fall, Emerson found something he was EXTREMELY passionate about...... Cooking Classes.

The thing is, they were quite a bit more expensive than most extracurricular activities. So we showed him the budget and he had to analyze it and present his ideas as to how where the money could come from and the reasons/benefits why we should sign him up. I will say, he was most convincing.... and enthusiastic. 

He rides his bike to the classes once a week. 

Did I mention he loves it? 

(pics from his teacher)

You can just tell how much he loves it!

At the end of each 4-week session they have a Kids Iron Chef competition. Emerson's team came in 2nd. Next time he's going for 1st he says. 

(the kids love Food Network shows as much as I do)

One night we let him cook a few of the recipes for the family. It was delicious.

Twice he has gathered sticks and asked our neighbor for all of his and built his own bonfire. He's one of those kids that has an idea and is going to do it.

Emerson is EXTREMELY passionate too. Which is what makes taking him to games to entertaining.

Not the actual game, watching HIM watch the game is my favorite part. We went to a high school football game and Emerson got as into it as the 40-year long-time fans here.

Even when most people sat down, Emerson was still up cheering on the Cyclones.

He's also the kid that runs down right in front of the cheerleaders to catch all the goodies they throw out. This super-fan got a shirt and a few footballs. He's hilarious.

Emerson also tried out for the 6th grade Quiz Bowl team. They were only going to accept 10 kids out of the 25 who tried out. I logically pointed out to Emerson the odds weren't in his favor. #bubblepoppingMom.  The day they announced the kids who made the team they did it in alphabetical order. His name was the LAST name called and he audibly let out a cheer in his class. :)

He retains information quite easily. As smart as this kid is, he readily admits that the reason he wants to be on Quiz Bowl Team is because of the snacks. :)

Him admitting that reminds me of something he did at the first of the year. Emerson had to pick some extra class (either art, band, choir, etc) for his school schedule. It was a no-brainer for him, he picked choir. His brothers giggled and asked him why he picked choir and he said, "because that's the class where all the girls are."

When I went the first week to finish getting him signed up for things the counselor told me it was an all-boys choir. 😂😂😂I couldn't help but think what a shock THAT would be to him.

Needless to say, he chose to transfer into art. (Bummer, because he can actually sing)

And he's still a big ol' Mamma's-boy. I love that.

SPEAKING of snuggle buddies...... (and probably my biggest one)........Royce. 

This fall he played on an 8 year old baseball team (he's 6 and was the youngest kid on the team). He batted 5th in the batting order and played third base. Baseball is his passion......unless he has money. Then the concession stand is where his heart is.

On "Crazy Hair Day" at school he was also voted the "Terrific Kid" Award in his Class. There's only one per class for the 1st quarter. 

His speech still isn't as understandable as other kids his age but that doesn't seem to slow him down in school at all. His teacher says he participates, is respectful, always does his work and stays on task. I love these pictures from his teacher. 

Who COULDN'T love that face?!?!?

I went to a parent's day thing and his teacher was reading a book at the front of the classroom. Royce is on the back row concentrating and listening so hard. 💓

The oooooooooooooonly thing about the whole school mornings with Royce is he's SO picky about his socks or shirt or backpack or anything that touches his skin. If his socks are lumpy, or shoes don't "bend right" it's kind of an ordeal. Which is why, I also choose to STILL not bother with the whole underwear battle. He's such a rebel. Maybe one day he'll get on board with the whole undies-wearing trend. I'm figuring it'll be about the time there's locker room PE classes.

Once every tactile item is in place though he's the most pleasant kid. He also loves to ride his bike to school with Brooks on his way to work. Camden and Emerson usually ride with Brooks but now Royce has been doing it a lot and there's just something heart melting about a little kid speeding down the road on his bike.

Please enjoy the picture of the ONE time he wore a helmet because it was required at his school bike day. Again, it doesn't quite "feel" right to have a buckle strapped to your chin. 😂😒 I took the helmet back to the store and got a refund :)