Easter with the Ludlows

The boys are pretty excited about the fact that we've had Easter with the Ludlows for THREE years in a row now!  This probably happens because Easter coincides with our Spring Breaks, and the Ludlows keep planning trips in the same places where we happen to be.  :)  

This year, they took a trip to Nauvoo and St. Louis, and they were able to swing up our way for Easter weekend.  Boy, it's fun to have cousins around!

On Friday, they got here just in time to meet us for Blue Man Group and a visit to Giordano's for dinner.  The kids then had a blast playing together that night.

If you have been inside our house, you can try to imagine this many people (plus me and Kara) hanging out and sleeping in our house for a weekend.  It was an adventure!  Luckily the kids love sleeping in sleeping bags, so we packed 'em in wherever we could fit them.  

The Easter Bunny came on Saturday morning, and we enjoyed a little egg hunt in the yard.  

Unfortunately, the squirrels enjoyed the egg hunt before we did.  They tore open at least 6 eggs and most likely stole a few more.  Kind of makes my skin crawl.

The Easter Bunny neglected to warn me that he hid Lucy's basket in the oven.  This is what happened when I tried to preheat the oven for muffins!

It was kinda sorta warm enough for flying kites on the beach.

I was freezing, but the kids seemed pretty happy to play!  It was good to get out and have some room to run and play.

Lucy was absolutely obsessed with Archer, and she was a sweet little caretaker for him.

On Saturday night, Nate and Jessica babysat all the kids while the adults went out to dinner. It was super fun for us to hang out with Kara and Dave, and then come back and spend a long time talking about their new house plans and everything else!

On Easter Sunday, the Ludlows joined us for church and a quick dinner before they had to get on the road for their big drive home to Virginia.  If you look closely, you can see the three big boys sadly watching the fun come to an end.

And then they all decided to come out to the car to say goodbye.

'Bye, Ludlows!  

They came and left so quickly; it was hard to believe the fun was over...

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.

Latergrams: January - February 2016

King Archer rules our house from his Bumbo throne. And as an unrelated note, he has lost most of his hair in preparation for the blonde stuff that will inevitably come. We are taking this opportunity to give him a new nickname. #archibaldy #baldy#kingarcher

Insert clever Star Wars caption here. #fourthboy

Ice so good, they begged to go BACK to school to play on it.  #boyheaven #momsworstnightmare #chicagowinter

I'm loving having kids old enough that I can trust them to whittle on their pinewood derby. Real Alaskan pocket knife courtesy of @shug.rigg!

All was going well at our Mom-and-Sam hamburger date, until these "bad guys" arrived at the table next to us. Sam was so terrified that he cowered his head down under the table and was very near tears. Once I assured him that I was pretty sure they were good guys and most likely professional soccer players, he was fine and skipped down the street in the rain back to the car. When we got home, he proudly announced that he saw Kyle Beckerman and two other pro soccer players.#lovethissweetboy #samo #oneonone

Leaving all four boys in the capable, fun hands of Tanner and Meagan. This is our first time leaving all of them. What a treat! #datenight #auntanduncleaward

I say, "I wish I could make both recipes and try them side-by-side." He says, "That's what we're doing on Saturday. But we're going to make four different kinds." The brother who makes my dreams a reality. 😊 #chocolatechipcookie #searchforthebest #tanner

We now have Kaylee@nolarunrgrl living in Illinois (!!!), so a cousin get-together was mandatory while Tanner is here. So glad to have Kaylee and Josh to help vote on our cookie contest! #griffincousins #cousinparty #closestfamily

Three extra boys for an MLK sleepover while their parents are in Hawaii. Fingers crossed that they will sleep a bit tonight! #iverseversleepover#mysevensons

It's that time of year when we judge how cold it is outside by the thickness of the frost on the inside of the door.

This boy found out that life is a lot more fun when you can see the world. And now blankets, play mats, and bouncy seats are incredibly boring. And so this is how I'll be making dinner for the foreseeable future! #babywearing #bebamour

I think Archer may be the best thing that ever happened to Ellis. He is just the audience Ellis has been looking for! #brotherlylove #readingtobaby

Just landed a role as Captain Hook! He couldn't be more excited.  #peterpan #broadwayjuniors

Just getting a few decorations (drawings of knights) ready for Sam's birthday, which is in five short weeks. He was going to wait until it got a little closer, but then he couldn't resist. "I'll just write Sam on all of them today, and the day before my birthday, we'll do the tape."  #birthdayobsessed #dontblamehim

Check it out: the Dune Raider took 2nd place at the pinewood derby today! I think I'm starting to figure this race out a little better...good thing because we've got a lot of cars in our future.

This boy is now going to bed nicely at 6:00pm every night, which has changed our lives drastically (!!!) BUT he's killing me during the day! He naps for 20-30 minutes most of the time, and then lots of the time when he seems perfectly ready for a nap, I put him down and he just cries and cries. And then he falls asleep in the car seat later. For 20 minutes. 😞 #babysleepproblems #advicewelcome #sweetestboyanyway

Somehow, it never crossed Henry's mind that if you bribe the tooth fairy with candy she might leave more money.  A note doesn't hurt either. #ellisthenegotiator

We are going to miss the class parties this year, so we're getting these ready ahead of time. All three boys wanted to do army guy Valentines, and they decided immediately. Boys keep things simple. Love them.#armyguyvalentines #sundaycraft#pinterestprintable

Thank you, Captain Literally, for hanging up your shirts just like I asked. #ohhenry

This is where it starts to get really fun! Can you see how much personality is in that smile? #fivemonthsold #archerbythemonth #archergriffin

Mosiah 4:9 #ibelieve #bookofmormon #chalkspiration

Sam has definitely had the hardest time adjusting to a baby in the house. It's never fun to get demoted from your reign as the cutest. But he has his good moments with Archer and was excited this morning to discover that their shirts match!  #bigbrother  #wecandohardthings #brotherlylove

Ellis is the king of tedious work! He loved every step of this 100th Day project: bookmarking his 100 favorite super heroes, taking photos of them, cropping the photos on the computer, and now writing all their names. What career will this child have?#100thdayofschool #100superheroes #ellislove

This picture is cracking me up. #posterchild #floatinghead#100superheroes

Prepping for Family Game Night with Archer. #lessthanhelpful #butstillcute

Proud of my boys who worked way harder than I expected them to work on their New Year goals. They filled up the jar quickly, and now tonight: milkshakes using the "hard things" as mix-ins! I think it helped that they got to eat one every time they put one in the jar!  #instantgratification #anythingforsugar #evenputtingthetoiletseatdown #wecandohardthings

When winter is long and your brothers are at school all day, you might have to play the part of both teams, plus the announcer. #soccerboy

I kind of love having a winter project, and I also really love being done! Most of all, I love our school community and the 400+ people who came out to support and make a memorable night. #lincolnwoodfamilygamenight #pta

I tell you, I'm going to be bald by the time this child is weaned! #hairpuller #handfulsofhair

Guess the U.S. President (or color, animal, or Newsies character), and get an underdog! The game we must play every single time we go to the playground. 😊 #yestergram #50degrees #feelslikespring

These two adore each other equally. Makes my life so much easier, because they keep each other happy! #sundaysnuggles #brotherlylove #archerandellis

Just your everyday riveting conversation about quarks, electrons, and Brownian motion. #nerdy #periodictable #myboys

I can't believe this boy is five years old today! He was my sweet little baby for such a long time. I still think he might be one of the sweetest humans I know.  #samo #samturnsfive #iadorehim

I've been putting off baby food as long as possible, because it takes time. And because our old highchair was nasty and way too big for our already cramped space. $20 IKEA highchair for a fresh start. Archie is thrilled about it! #babyfoodtime

Channeling his inner Jackson Pollock as he tries out his new birthday gifts: table easel and new paint! This painting was made with squeals of delight. #littleartist

This morning, Ellis confessed that the reason he has needed to to go to the bathroom so much this week is that he was so excited about the package coming in the mail today! They pooled their money for Machi Koro, apparently the coolest game ever. Perfect for a play date on a snowy day! #machikoro #raisingamazonprimeaddicts