Recent Cuteness

The latest cute moments are as follows:

The time when everyone gathered around Archer in the gym after church, and H, E, and S showed him off to their friends.

All the times when the boys carry Archie around like it's no big deal.  He's not quite half their size!

Like this time - when Ellis chose Archer as his buddy at the playground.  Ellis is really loving his role as Archer's caretaker, which is SO great for everyone involved.

Sometimes we call him Archie-boo.

The time Sam made this cute diagram to document the life cycle of a butterfly (at preschool).

The time (which is nearly every time) that Archie just looked at the camera/phone and gave the perfect smile.

The time Sam was in denial about summer, and he wanted to wear long sleeves and long pants every day, even though it was in the 70's and 80's.  So when I pushed him on it, he pushed back by getting in his winter gear because he was sure he would be freezing on this 78 degree day.

The time when Henry's friend Jamila put a Henry sticker on Archer's head.

And the time when Ellis and Sam took to pushing the baby swing like maniacs, and the boy in the next swing over was fascinated/jealous.

A Day in the Life

Since Archer was born, we have been trying to lay low and keep life simple.  So in recent months, we haven't been taking a lot of excursions our outings . . . and it has actually been really nice!  It feels good to have just regular days doing the things we do, and not feel like we need to do more.  Mostly, we have been savoring this precious time with three big boys and a sweet baby brother.  Here is just a flavor of our normal days:

After-school snack time.  Sam looks forward to this time every day!  A chance to catch up with "the brothers" and give them all the updates from his end.  As you can see, they are happy to include Archer - and happy to consume many processed snack foods.  

Yummy "purple heart" chocolates sent from my Aunt Leslie in a package.  You know, for the after-after-school-snack treat. 

Play dates that include (thanks to Serik's good influence) a little piano show-off time. 

Archer hanging with me and somewhat patiently enduring the madness that was me preparing for Family Game Night at the school. 

Henry's creations: Wookie finger puppets for cousin Valentines 

Discovered this in the hallway at parent teacher conference.  :) 

Finally a day warm enough for the park - and showing off a little hip! 

 LOTS of shirtless wrestling happening lately...

This was my family home evening lesson.  I was talking about the four pillars of a testimony, and using the blocks to show how important it is to have those pillars in place.  Henry caught on to the analogy and instantly swarmed in to add his own adaptations and insights.  Pretty soon, all three of the big boys had taken over my lesson and were adding blocks right and left and saying, "But what if.....?" 

 Henry has enjoyed having CitiBlocks - which he got for Christmas.  I was impressed with this trailer truck.

And then he made this castle, which was even more awesome (and Sam helped him with the fortifications)

 and then the boys all worked together on this tower!  Good times.  

 This is Archer's hand  - and my hair!  He pretty much pulls out at least this much hair from my head 2-3 times a day.  He is vicious. 

 Really proud of this cupcake I decorated at Relief Society.  Thanks for being my outlet for bragging.

 Ice skating outings always give Ben a good workout!  Actually Sam was pretty good, but he definitely depended on us for the first half.  He worked up to being quite independent and confident, and he fell a bunch of times.

Ellis, on the other hand, cautious and careful.  He didn't fall at all but took it really SLOW.  Both boys have their way of succeeding! 

 Walking home from school and trying to keep up with these boys.

 Ellis has been having play dates with his best friend Daniel nearly every Tuesday.  We like having Daniel around.

 This was the day Sam did a service by making my bed without being asked.

Brothers hanging out after school

 We started Archer on baby food!  When the boys saw Archie's face covered in purple, they all just about died of laughter!  I hadn't even thought about it looking funny because, you know, this is my 4th baby boy and all.  But if you're not used to it, man, it is pretty funny to see your brother covered in pear/blueberry purée!

Ellis wanted to make sure we got a picture of his crazy post-shower hair and the tattoos that didn't wash off in the shower.  Plus the crazy angry face. 

 Typical moment: Boys loving Archer.  Boys teasing each other.  At the same time.

Here is another recent obsession that has come up during play time.  The boys have been acting out Medieval Times, or the "knight show."  They take turns being the announcer, and they each come in with their medieval weapons and show off their moves.  Then two of them fight each other in a pre-planned, pre-choreographed battle.  Then usually the one who was supposed to die ends up turning around and fighting back for the win, which goes against the plan.  Actual real-live brother battle ensues.

Sam-o and the Brothers

These two are alike in a lot of ways.  So many things about the way Sam looks and acts remind me of Henry at this age.  He loves cars and books and singing.  He is a pure delight, how he walks around the house singing, all day long.  I remember Henry being so similar.  I love how this picture shows Henry and Sam, both surrounded and captivated by books.  I think I might have a picture of Henry surrounded by books for every year of his life -- he has always been like this and probably always will be.  It will be fun to see if Sam continues with a thirst for books like Henry has.

I won't say Sam is unlike Ellis, because he does share a few of Ellis' interests.  Sam loves to mimic whatever Ellis is doing - performing "on stage," running around screaming like a crazy man, or reciting the presidents.  Because of Ellis, Sam has learned most of the U.S. presidents' names, and he loves them about as much as he loves cars!  He was pretty excited about opening this Christmas gift from Grandma Whitesides:

"Lincoln!"

Uncle Dan Comes to Town

We got lucky, and Uncle Dan-o had another work training scheduled in the Boston area!  He stopped by just long enough for a dinner in the North End, a night on our couch, a chance to help Ben in his Nursery calling, and a quick Mother's Day lunch before heading on his way.  It's so fun to have Dan pop in for a visit every once in a while.  It almost makes us forget that he lives 2600 miles away from us!  

Maybe someday we should try living closer together so we can see the rest of your family every once in a while, hey Dan?  Still, we'll take you whenever we can get you.

Conference Apprentice

Let Sam's Conference adventures begin!

Best Friends (?)

When you ask Henry who his best friend is, he says that he has two best friends: Ethan (friend from school) and Sam.  He says it right in front of Ellis, and Ellis doesn't seem to care.
When you ask Ellis about his best friends, he says that his two best friends are Henry and Sam . . .

which is kind of funny, because Henry and Ellis really do play GREAT together 85% of the time and fight 15% of the time; Henry is sweet and plays wonderfully with Sam 100% of the time; and Ellis is HORRIBLE with Sam at least 80% of the time - takes toys away from him, knocks him over on purpose, thinks it's really funny every time Sam falls down and cries.  I can no longer trust them alone in a room together.  Sometimes I just want to punch Ellis in the nose!  But then he claims that Sam is one of his best friends.  And he has sweet little moments with him like the one in this picture . . . let's say, 5% of the time.  

Oh, please tell me there is hope in the world for my sons, especially my 2nd born, the one who currently is testing every virtue I used to think I had!  

He looks so sweet in these pictures.  Do not be deceived!  This mirror has two sides.  One minute he is adorable, hilarious, silly, fun, and calm - telling funny jokes, singing sweet songs, setting up his Tabernacle Choir or building his giant Mount Rushmore with all the presidents.  The next minute he is knocking his baby brother over, having a 45-minute tantrum, or running around the house pretending to have a gun, saying "I'm John Wilkes Booth -- I'm gonna kill Abraham Lincoln!"  That one really broke my heart!  

Let's just say that right now I'm using up LOTS of my prayer time on him, praying both that he will turn out to be a decent human being some day (and please, not an assassin), and that I will not suffer from a mental breakdown in the meantime.  And would it be too much to ask that Sammy come out of this unscathed?

Winter Treats and Toys

Henry and Ellis have been doing some fun things to stay busy this winter.


Henry was inspired with the idea of making these snowmen cake pops, which turned out to be pretty cute and very yummy.  I love Henry's constant flow of fun ideas!


Ellis has been playing a lot with his landmark toys that he got for Christmas.


I am delighted that he recognizes and loves the Taj Mahal, the Parthenon, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa (I thank The Little Einsteins for 99% of this).


And this is the one that makes me REALLY happy: my boys love each other, play together, and have lots of adventures together (that's not to say it doesn't always end up in fighting with each other - but we enjoy the happy playing while it lasts!).  Ellis and I both rejoice when Henry is sick, because it means he gets to stay home and play with Ellis!  Henry had two days off school last week, and the two of them had such a good time together - playing with cars, setting up little imaginary projects, etc.  In this picture, they were setting up a birthday party for Francesco.


Lastly, the boys were very pleased to be able to go out and spend some of the money they got as Christmas gifts.  Henry chose some paper airplane Valentines, which are pretty cool . . .


. . . but Ellis' "Barack-o-rama" magnetic dress-up set was the biggest hit!


I feel only slightly uncomfortable seeing our President wearing boxer shorts and a wife beater -- a feeling that is accounted for by how cool he looks as a super hero.  :)