Rocking Horse Rides

One of Adam's new favorite past time is the rocking horse. He's too small to ride on it alone, but loves to take rides with Emily. He just grins and is so relaxed as he rides.

Swinging the Baby

These two love to lay their baby brother on a blanket, scoop him up, and swing him back and forth. He loves it and is either very calm or will sometimes squeal happily.

Indian Summer

Ashley went outside and after feeling the summer like temperatures got a sad look on her face and folded her little hands and prayed, "Dear Heavenly Father, please send Autumn to our home so we can see the pretty colors in the trees." Our trees are still green and she has been so looking forward to seeing them change. I felt sorry for her so I turned on our sprinkler and she cheered right up.

Book Club - Moffetts

We had our monthly book club meeting today. We were supposed to have a couple of new families join us, but it didn't work out today. The children had fun playing "Find the Moffetts House" and learning to do the "Sailor's Hornpipe." It's a dance that was in the book and I found it online and showed it to them. Then they all tried to follow along. It was pretty cute. :) After that we had snack time and then everyone headed outside to play and enjoy the beautiful temperatures. I'm so thankful we have such great friends with such high standards, sweet children, and similar parenting philosophies. It is a blessing and so wonderful that our children can be such great friends.
 

Literary Tea

My little girls LOVE having tea parties.  We have been having tea parties since 11 year old Alexis was a toddler.  Mostly we use pretend food and drink but every so often for a special treat we'll bake a little treat and use real ice water.  (We don't actually drink tea and the favorite beverage around here is water.)  ;)  A couple of months ago I read somewhere online about having a literary tea time with friends to discuss books you have been reading.  I knew my girls would love this idea, so we have dedicated Thursdays to "Literary Tea Time".  Every Thursday morning we bake a treat.  Then in the mid afternoon we put our fancy lace tablecloth on our table, have ice water or milk in fancy flowered mugs, and discuss books that everyone has been reading that past week. I also read a short story to the girls (usually from The Book of Virtues by William J. Bennett) and a poem or two. It has been so fun and everyone looks forward to it every week.

Flowers

Don came home one day after running a couple of errands and brought me these beautiful flowers . He said, "I saw these flowers and thought, 'She deserves flowers' and so I bought them for you." I'm very lucky to be married to this man. :)

Emily Rose is 9 Years Old

Adams First Tub Bath

I always give my babies sink baths for at least 6 months. It's easier for me and they seem to enjoy them and fit so well. Of course our kitchen sink could probably accommodate them until they are at least 3 years old, but our bathroom sink is where I usually bathe them and Adam has sadly begun to outgrow it. So he had his first bath in the big bath tub. He wasn't sure, at first, what to think, but he eventually got used to it and began smiling quite big.  :)

Outdoor Play

Today was a chilly Autumn day and we enjoyed the cool temperatures outdoors. Adam swung with Mommy on the porch swing and we sang song after song as the girls played. Ashley collected some little flowers for me to help her identify. She got chilly and came outside with her hat and mittens on. :)  I played baby with Emily and Ashley.  Today's game had Emily (Mommy) telling me (Sarah) that we were moving.  So, of course, I called Madeline and made great plans of how to stay.  Alexis, Emily, and Ashley also took a little walk together, enjoying the fresh air and sunshine.

Hatching Ducklings and Helping With Dishes

This morning Don took the two older girls to the Bishop's Storehouse to volunteer.  It was Emily's first time and she loved it.  They stopped by for ice cream afterwards.  At home I had Ashley and Adam.  We played some games and read some stories - including "Make Way For Ducklings" since it was letter D week and we made some little baby ducklings and put them in an Easter Egg with some grass.  Ashley decided she was the mommy duck and made a nest out of a blanket and hatched them.  (I was the Grandma Duck.)  We also made some cookies for Family Home Evening. I caught up on some dishes and had a little helper, who was very interested in the running water.  Later that evening after a musical Family Home Evening, Ashley decided to hide the cookies and everyone had to go on a treasure hunt to find them.  She was so excited to surprise everyone and the LOVED the cookies.

Playing on the Deck

The back deck is a well played area of our home.  Adam's swing is there, which he loves.  We also have a little folding seat for him and when he wants to get down we lay out blankets or our toy parachute.  He loves watching the girls play and bubbles.  Ashley loves playing make believe and exploring the yard and is really into her nature journal right now.  She collects little things from the yard and tapes them in her book and then draws a picture of them.  The older two girls and myself keep nature journals, as well, but we normally just draw pictures. But every so often someone will find something they want to preserve.  We also identify what we can, using field guides.  Alexis spends a good deal of time reading on the back swing and Emily loves playing house and exploring, as well.

Emily's 9th Birthday

Emily turned 9 this year.  She saw the old show Punky Brewster on DVD and loves it, so she decided she wanted a Punky Brewster themed party.  She just wanted a quiet party with just us and her grandparents.  I think she likes that she gets all of their attention and they all join in to play the games with her.  :)  We decorated the living room with rainbows, lots of different colored balloons and streamers, and pictures of Punky Brewster I printed off.  We played find Punky's Skate Key, Hunt for Brandon, and Punky Brewster trivia.  She received lots of lovely gifts including a mini American Girl doll and a Cinderella castle.  Emily is such a sweet girl.  She loves art and one of her favorite pass times is drawing and crafting.  She loves taking care of Adam and helping Ashley with whatever help she needs.  She has a very nurturing spirit and loves caring for others.  Her favorite games center around pretending to be a mommy.  She is really taking off in her reading and is reading chapter books now.  She's very shy when she's around people she doesn't know very well, but at home she's our little jibber jabber and can talk for hours.  We love her sweet smile and cuddles and are so blessed to have her in our family.

Crawling Around the Playroom

Little Inch Worm Crawling

Adam has slowly been becoming more and more mobile over the last few weeks.  It started with what I call time lapse crawling.  Where you would see him in a certain spot and then 5 minutes later you realize he's in a new spot, several inches away.  It has now progressed to definite movement - and he's getting fast.  I call him my little inchworm.  He kind of pulls himself forward with his arms to get to where he wants to go.  On this particular day the monopoly game the girls were playing had to be cut short because every time they would move him back to his blanket, he would quickly crawl on his tummy over to the game and even got into the money at one point.  Time for games at the table for a little while.