Leaf Rake

Hi, this is Henry. Things have gotten so crazy at our house that I have been enlisted to record some of the blog posts. It's not my fault that we are 6 months behind.(cue cool time machine music)

Raking the leaves is so much fun, especially when it's not 30° by November.

Sam has decided that jumping into the leaf piles is the coolest thing since skipping the actual raking.

Note how content Archer seems compared to Sam, who is just realizing how spiky dead leaves can be.

This picture was apparently taken after Sam had recovered from that last jump.

Archer was surprised when we took his picture, which conveniently made him look right into the camera.

He is so happy. Just look at that smile!

Archer's pure joy at playing outside.

I wonder what he thinks about when he stares into space like that.

Teamwork! Or, in other words, I pose for the picture while you pretend to be working.

Being outside is one of Archer's favorite things.

Sam did not expect the leaves to get in his eye.

And here are all the brothers, getting their outside screen time after a hard day's work.

Pokémon Halloween

The boys have been living and breathing Pokemon for most of this year.  They can't get enough!  I kind of love it because it has really unified Henry, Ellis, and Sam, and has given something to talk about, think about, and dream about together.  It's something that they all have in common.  That wasn't the case before Pokemon hit our house.  In fact, I'm giving Pokemon credit for helping us survive summer vacation with no one killing each other.

So when Pokemon was the unanimous choice among the boys for our Halloween costume theme, I resisted slightly, but had to give in because I feel like I owe Pokemon something for bringing peace and unity into our home.  Good job, Pokemon!

  Ben was unavailable to attend the ward Halloween party due to work travel, so we had to do the family theme without him.  We had all sorts of disasters with getting the costumes delivered on time (because all Pokemon-related stuff ships from China -- ack! -- which is not 2-day shipping.  And 2-day shipping is how I roll).  

 Archer's costume is a hack....a hack I am pretty proud of, I might add.  I found a clearance costume of a yellow dog from some Nickelodeon show, and I was able to turn it into Pikachu in two hours of mad scrambling, and I do think it turned out pretty cute - although you'll notice that it's a bit tight!

 Henry has a great smile on his face, but he was gravely disappointed that his Umbreon costume didn't arrive in time either, so he had to go as Ash, the Pokemon trainer.  He was a good sport.

 It was tricky to get Pikachu to stand in place for the pictures.

 Because he would prefer to be doing this!

 and this...

 and this!

He managed to stay in place when he discovered the incredible stash of sugary goodness that The Brothers were able to scrounge up! 

Post Script: Henry's costume arrived the next week, and he had an epic Umbreon moment to make up for the lost opportunity on Halloween.  He has also been using this hoodie as a "snuggie" to keep him warm around the house.  I won't let him wear it to school on a regular basis because it has a tail, and that would be weird. Control freak? Yes.

Random Fun with the Boys

One of my favorite parts of the day is just hanging back and watching this pack of boys as they walk home from school with their friends.

Sam's first soccer season was a smashing success. He's had a lot of chances to practice with his older brothers in the back yard, but since they have always been bigger than him he was convinced that he wasn't very good at soccer. It took a bit of pushing to get him to even go on the field for his first practice. But once he got playing, he realized that dribbling around these kids was way easier than trying to get past Ellis! In the end, he scored in almost every game of the season, and was the Sharks and Minnows champion of his team.

Ellis' main accomplishment this season was perfected some of his goal celebrations. And luckily, he scored quite a few goals so he could put them to good use!

The medal is cool, but Sam's mostly in it for the snacks.

I just like this picture of Sam.

And we can't leave Henry out of the fun! One of the best parts of kids getting older is that they start to become capable of putting together their own snacks. Here is Henry with his chicken nachos on a Sunday afternoon.

Rather than finding a way to get RSL players to sign his hat, Ellis decided it would be cool if he just signed it himself. Nothing could be more Ellis than that!

The Lion King Jr.

This is Henry:

 Me and Ellis have been doing a play (the Lion King) for a while and the day is finally here! Ellis plays Ed the Hyena(the comic relief) and I play Simba The Lion(the protagonist, for goodness sake!) and we are amped up for the final production, as you can see.

Ed never personally attacks my character in the play, but this happens enough in real life that we thought it should be an actual scene.

And here is the brave lion, strangling the weak hyena while his mom gets a picture.

Four Hyenas, attacking the camera while I idly stand by.

Awww, the evil hyena villains love each other, except for Ed.

No idea what song this is, but it sure looks exciting!

Make sure you stretch before rigorous exercise, such as dancing.

Nice moves, animals! 

Presenting... the edge of the picture!

Why so serious?

Lion makeup: really highlights your smile!

Note: this was not a particularly good day for me, as after we got dinner, I sprained my ankle and limped for the next 2 weeks. :-(

Savoring Time with Friends and Fall

This is Kelley Larsen, me, and Kristen Wood.  The worst thing that could have ever happened to our wonderful group of Chicago friends was Kelley leaving us.  I don't think I can put it into words, but Kelley is one of the most incredible people you'll ever meet.  She lights up every room she enters and makes everyone feel loved.  When I heard the Larsens were moving to Guam, I was pretty devastated.  And I determined to spend as much time with Kelley as possible before she left!

 This was a girls' night at Mindy's Hot Chocolate with many of the ladies who are huge fans of Kelley's (and who happen to love Chicago, rich dessert, and hot chocolate).

 Another group picture that is pretty much horrible of all of us except for Kelley - glowing right there in the middle.  :)

We also had a family going-away party for the Larsens at Gillson Park/Beach.  It was a really fun night.  My favorite was that Will (Kelley's husband) and his fellow musicians brought their gig to the park and entertained us with the most hip music ever that set the mood perfectly and made everyone else at the park jealous that they aren't as cool as us.

 The day after that party began another few days of savoring time with amazing friends.  Shug, Brittany, and Jacob (our lifelong friends, as you probably know) were all able to swing it and be here in Chicago for a handful of days.  Shug was expecting her third child...so we all wanted to get a visit in before her life would change drastically! I felt badly that I couldn't meet them at a more unique destination, but I had already been indulgent enough with the Newport trip, and for our family's sanity, I couldn't go anywhere.  So these amazingly flexible friends were able to come to me!

 Brittany was the instigator, and I love her for it, because time together is exactly what we all needed!

 These pics were taken on our Chicago River architectural boat tour.  I was just so happy that the weather was good enough to do something so lovely and outdoors.  I believe we even got hot on this ride.

 Of course, I didn't take nearly enough pictures of this trip because we were so busy having a good  time that I didn't even think about pictures.  Actually, we spent a lot of time (as we always do) having very good and important conversations.  One poignant topic was "What on earth will happen if Donald Trump actually becomes president of the United States?" Some of us were pretty worried about that.  I wasn't that worried, because obviously, there is NO WAY that could possible happen.  Right?!?

Okay, it's really lame that I don't have any more pictures.  But I was SO grateful that Brittany and Shug were willing to fly out, and that Jacob drove out to visit as well.  It's amazing how good friends have a way of staying connected no matter what.

Archie Cuteness

Here is a random collection of pictures that show just how cute Archer has been lately.  I think they give a pretty good summary of what life is like with our sweet Archie (Archie-boo, Archeroo, Arch).

We sat by our sweet friend Bavina at church, and surprisingly Archer happily stayed with her for most of Sacrament meeting.

If there's anything Archer loves, it's balls. It's all he talks about (maybe a limited vocabulary plays a role in that...), and apparently all he thinks about all day.

Case in point.

He is actually in a stage where he is starting to call almost anything "ball."  He definitely knows what a ball is and calls balls by their rightful name. But in an effort to talk about other objects he likes or wants, but lacking the words, he just reaches for the thing and calls/cries/whines "Ball!" He probably says "Ball" 200 times a day.  

He also says, "Hi!" about 30 times  a day.  So lots of talking...about two things.

And the toddler mischief has just begun!  Apparently it's time to train everyone to keep the cupboard doors closed and keep everything in sealed containers!