Highlights of our Life... at least lately

So things have been pretty crazy around here lately!  Brevan started school and is loving it, although we are a little worried that he still doesn't know any of the kids names in his class, does that seem weird to anyone else?  But, he always comes home happy, except for this last Wednesday where he said he had a bad day, but wouldn't elaborate more than that.  But, I guess we are all allowed those once in awhile, right?

Brett has been in Price now for I think 5 weeks, maybe 6... I can't remember.  He thinks it will be at least another 3 weeks.  So we are on the downhill of that at least!  Hopefully anyways.  He is working 3 days a week now for 13 to 14 hour days, but at least he is home more often than not.  We are grateful for that.

My computer has decided to finally die though... what great fun we have had this past couple of months.  We took it in 3 times, and the last time the guy just said there was nothing they could do for me... that was after I had just paid them 2 days before to take a virus off the dang thing.  So, they got $150 out of us, and we get a new computer... if we ever get to order it.  Having Brett out of town has made it difficult, and I feel like we will never reach a decision.  I have been borrowing my mothers computer (her laptop), but I definitely need to get it back to her soon! 

The elk hunt starts this weekend, so we will be busy for the next couple of weeks, but we are excited to get out of the house for a few days!

The kids are growing like crazy!  The other day we were all brushing our teeth in my bathroom, when all of a sudden Sydney reaches up and puts her toothbrush under the water by herself.  Now I know that doesn't sound like anything, but I still remember not too long ago when she was whining like crazy if you didn't lift her up to rinse her toothbrush!  She could never reach and would become so frustrated!  Now she can "do it herself"... as she always tell me!  She is always reminding me that she can "do it myself."  And if you do it for her, you better find some earplugs quickly because you will be hearing about it for the next 5 minutes!  She is very, very independent and stubborn!  But, she is also the sweetest little girl!  She is always telling me thank you, and showing Madisyn how to do things,... like jump off the couch (that one includes Brevan doing the teaching.)  They love each other though, and it is fun to watch them show it too each other!  She loves to play, and she plays so well even by herself.  She will go outside and entertain herself for quite awhile.  She will ride her bike, play in the playhouse, jump on the tramp... she loves to be outside!  We have been going to the library for story time lately, and the kids love that too.  Syd loves to do the crafts after and is such a good little worker and helper!  All the kids love the train they have too.  It goes all the way around the room and through some tunnels.  They will follow it all the way around the room and wait for it as it goes through the tunnels.  They will pull up chairs and just watch and wait... it is so cute to see them all lined up like they really are on the train!  Syd loves to follow Brevan, and she looks up to him so much.  Anything Brevan does, so does Sydney.  They stick together!  She loves to help, and she is very smart.  She loves to sing her ABC's, twinkle, twinkle, her 123s, and any other song she can remember.  Today she was singing the Bare Necessities in the car... it was so cute!  She loves to read and color, and now that Madi is in Nursery with her, she has come out of her shell in there too!  She loves to talk and has come a long ways!  We are so proud of her!  One other thing she is into lately is taking pictures!  She has one of my old cameras and she will drag that thing around and pretend to take pictures like mom!  It is so adorable, I love it!

Madisyn is getting so big now too!  She can reach and put things on the table, as I was noticing today.  That seems like a feat for her!  She is a very curious little child, and you will find her in the funniest places.  She loves to climb on the table, has figured out how to push chairs over to the counter (hasn't been able to climb on that yet though, thank goodness), can push a chair in Brevan's room to his bed and climb up.  She climbs on the couches, my chair and then climbs to the couch from the chair.  She is always climbing, jumping, dancing, laughing, hugging, running, and talking.  She has the cutest little personality, and she makes us all laugh daily!  She is also very smart.  She understands so much!  She is learning new wordS daily.  It is amazing to watch her and listen to her.  She repeats so much!  She has learned, Grandpa(pretty much her first word), grandma, Taylor, Kelsey, Bree, Brevan("where's Brevan" is her favorite question every morning), outside, get down, juice, Christal, Brett, Sydney, Rella (Cinderella), candy, cow(even the horse is cow), she will name animals after you say them, and sometimes when she is being funny she will just repeat random things after you say them!  Here is a funny story about Madi! The other day Sydney was sitting out on the couch in her pajamas.  Her top is big and hangs loose.  Madisyn and I came to sit on the couch by her, and then Madi climbed up by Sydney.  All of a sudden she reaches out and grabs Sydney's nipples, and screams "BOOB!  BOOB!"  I have no idea where she heard the word, but she thought it was hilarious!  Of course, I had a good laugh about this too, after I removed her hand and told her no!  One other thing about her is that she is fascinated by Cinderella.  She has these little figurines and she will carry Cinderella around and say, "Rella, Rella."  Isn't that just adorable!  We also cut her hair the other day, I will post pics when I get my computer back!  She was in that mullet, curly on the bottom stage.  And, I just couldn't take it anymore.. so I cut it so it was even and gave her some bangs... and I love it!  She looks older, but she is still so cute!

Brevan is making new friends in the neighborhood, and he just started a 6 week gymnastics class.  He is loving it and can't wait to go the next week!  He wishes it was every day!  He is doing a good job too!  The first day he was scared and wasn't quite sure about it, but after they started, he loved it!  He is learning a ton every day, and it scares me how fast he is growing.  He had his first Primary Program this last week.  I learned his line a couple of weeks before, and every day we would ask him it.  His line was, "Be honest, and don't lie."  He would always repeat it back to us, and before long, so was Sydney.  It was cute!  But he did a great job when he said it!  He loves to sing too, and we love to wake up to him singing "I am a Child of God."  What a great reminder!  We are so grateful for his sweet little innocence! He loves his cars and books, and he would watch TV all day if you would let him.  But, he is a good boy most days, unless he is tired.  That is a whole other story!  He wants to be a dinosaur again this year for Halloween... that just changed 2 days ago from a ghost!  I am afraid to buy a costume for fear of him changing his mind again... we will have to see!  He is a little helper, and dad told him he is the boss while dad is gone.  He loves telling me that!  He is really such a great little boy, and I love him so much!

The other day, I went to get Sydney up after her nap.  We walked out of her room, and Brevan opened his door after his nap.  All of a sudden, Sydney and Brevan run to each other and they give each other the biggest hug.  Brevan says to Sydney," I love you, Sydney!"  and Sydney says it back to Brevan!  It was the sweetest thing, and I am so glad I was able to see that moment.  My children fight like normal brothers and sisters, but it was so much fun to see that sweet, tender moment of loving brothers and sisters!

I know I am a slacker, and I wish I would do this more often, but there are the highlights of our life... at least lately!