out with the old!

A few weeks ago we got our new couch, and I love it. Well, we all love it, but I think I appreciate it the most. :) The delivery day was super exciting.  The kids got to stay up after lunch time rather than take a nap right away because they were going to deliver between 11 and 3... Perfect timing, right? Yeah right. Thankfully they called right at 11 and said they were on their way. The guys who unloaded it and set it all up were FAST. Watching and waiting for the first piece of the sectional to come...

The kids sat up on the futon while the rest of the pieces were brought in and set up.  For some reason it was completely fascinating watching them work.

The way our living room is set up has two windows on the front and side walls close together, then there is a large space on the long wall behind the couch with no window... That made it hard for me to figure out where to place the couch since there is room for Kina's bed on one side or the other...

Anyway, I decided on where I liked it after a few days, and now I love it. Kina likes her bed still in the living room, and I like that it's tucked away out of sight. Now I just need to get a taller and skinnier TV table so the kids won't break the only TV we have, hang up some pictures once we can afford some nails (sounds pathetic, but we literally have no money until Paul gets his first check...), paint the walls where the futon scratched it, hang some curtains, and then I will call the living room done!  Hooray!  And, the new couch is SUPER comfortable and big enough for us all to fit on it at the same time!

Oh, and I guess it's not really "out with the old" as I suggested in the post title, because we kept the futon and put it up in the playroom. I actually really love it up there. It's right next to the book shelf and although it makes the room a lot more cramped, it's better to sit on something other than the floor or a kiddie chair. :)

our neighborhood

Two of our favorite things to do in our new neighborhood are to go for walks, either to the playground, or to check the mail, or just to explore, and we also love to play in the cul-de-sac.  On our adventure...

At the playground:

I had no idea how wonderful cul-de-sacs were until we lived here. I never grew up with one, but Paul did and it was one of the things that sold him on this house. I'm so glad it sold him, because it's one of our favorite features now. We know all our neighbors and their usual schedule, so it's easy for me to work out in the garage on little projects while the kids ride bikes and skateboards.  Kina comes out with us too sometimes and she loves it just as much as the kids do.

We also play out there while waiting for Paul to come home if we know he has an early day. That means scooter rides!!

Poor Lulli wanted to be first, and had to wait. So sad.

ice cream

This is how Hawken prefers to eat ice cream. Straight out of the bucket. Naked. And getting his photo taken. What a character.  Really, whose child is this?

iPhone pics

Here are 19 iPhone pics of forgotten adventures...  Being silly eating apples and grapes for a snack:

After getting an I love you text from their cousin Mason, the kids responded via text:

Relief Society activity on how to make salsa. It was SO good. I need an excuse to make more of it.

Lulli woke up early one morning and played dress-up in my bathroom with me. Easy entertainment. I could tell she was still tired, since she insisted on dragging her yellow blankie with her, but she fought it to stay up and play with mommy.

Picture I sent to Paul of the progress I was making in the house, caulking all the trim. Quite the project when you have a belly in your way, and three helpers and a hairy dog...

A day she got a bad scrape on her knee and insisted on having daddy fix it. He was at work, so after I had to literally pin her down to clean it up and give her a bandaid, she called me naughty and screamed for her daddy. So I sent him this picture.

This was the day Hawken figured out how to swim in an inner tube. He had a blast.

Long walk on the train tracks on our way to the splash pad. It was our first time there, and we loved it.

Drinking chocolate milk as her treat for being SUPER good at the store.

Seeing World War Z with Laurel. It was a lot creepier than I thought it would be. Thanks for the nightmares!

Matix's millionth amazing Lego creation. He is always creating.

train track...

I was caught up on pictures for the blog and then I remembered I have a fancy phone, so I have pictures on there now too. Whoops. There are pictures on my phone from TONS of adventures and random fun moments that I want to post. Here is a picture of the kids' train track they built.

They all worked on this. Lullaby brought out the animals and dinosaurs. Matix encouraged her to fill up the "zoo". There are tunnels and "train homes" and special hidden places all over this track. They worked so hard and were SO proud of what they made. I was pretty impressed too. It kept them all busy for a couple hours, while I watched, and asked questions and smiled at my brilliant little engineers. :)

Bumblebee

This is a picture of a yellow car. Nothing special.  Unless you are Hawken, in which case, it is BUMBLEBEE the transformer. This particular car happens to have a remote start too, which makes him seem even more real. 

At church, Hawken and Matix were asked to fill out a "spotlight" on themselves and bring to class so everyone could meet them and get to know a little more about them. They loved answering the questions.  One of the questions was, what is your favorite color? Matix is still loving blue, but Hawk switched his from green (like it always has been) to yellow, like Bumblebee. Ahhh, of course. Then another question was, what will you be when you grow up? Matix answered, "A daddy, and a firefighter, and Iron Man." Hawken answered, "A superhero, and Bumblebee." I love that they really believe they can become things like superheroes, and transformers... So innocent and sweet. I hope their eyes always see things the way they do now.

Despicable Me 2

We went to the movies, a rare delight, to see Despicable Me 2. We have the first movie and the kids love it. I had heard from tons of people that the second movie was just as good, and it was. Even Paul and I caught ourselves laughing a few times.  Paul had the morning off and we love doing things all together as a family.  As much I love hoarding Paul all for myself, I love watching the kids fight over him. Who gets to sit by him, who can get his attention for the longest, who gets to hold his hand in the parking lot... All coveted things to do. They love their daddy.

We found a theatre near us and went there last minute.  The kids had the best behavior and sat so nicely, even Lulli, through the whole movie. We had popcorn and laughed and the boys kept saying what a good day it was. So fun.

good dog

So we buy a new couch, and still the best seat in the house for watching a movie is on the floor on top of Sakina...

singing

The kids have all been really into singing lately. It's unclear still whether they will inherit my poor singing voice or Paul's good one... But right now, they are so stinking cute it doesn't really matter. :) The words are always slurred because they are rushing it or don't really know the words. I love it. Here they are.

potty time!

Our youngest (for a few more weeks) has been potty training herself. She has been interested in it for a long time, but not very consistent in actually going ON the potty. And frankly, with a new baby coming soon, I just don't have the energy to reinforce it that much...

Well, that was until this week when she started pooping only in the toilet, not in her diapers. Maybe it's easier for her to recognize that feeling? I don't know, but it's been nice not to have to wipe a poopy diaper bum.  She loves all the attention she gets when she goes potty. The boys sing and dance and praise her for doing a great job. Paul and I do too, of course, but she loves it when her brothers do the most. :)  I don't know how crazy I will get with the potty training right at this moment, but I know as soon as I get on board, she is already there. Considering she won't be two until a month or so after the new baby gets here, I'm in no rush.  Good job Lulli! We are SO proud of you!!

bored.

Tonight I am bored. The kids are sleeping, and have been for a while now. Paul is working the night shift, and won't be home until 7:30-ish tomorrow morning. I have already played a game on my phone. Boring. Arranged and rearranged the pillows on my couch to see where they looked the best. Boring. 2 loads of laundry, washed, dried and folded. Boring. Dishes. Boring. I vacuumed the first floor of the house. Boring.  I took the trash out. Boring. I did some reading. Boring.  I knew I would never be bored when I married Paul, he is never dull, but I didn't know that now everything without him is sooooo painfully BORING.  Paul, please hurry home, even your presence makes my life interesting.

party!

Saturday evening the kids and I went to Richard's 4th birthday party! Richard is the son of one of Paul's colleagues. Here is Matix with the birthday boy!

This balloon baby was the happiest girl.

The party was Spiderman themed and rediculous. They bought a million balloons, and everything Spiderman. The cake was HUGE and professionally done, there was a bounce house, a clown came to do magic tricks and make balloon animals, all the tasty food you could eat, a piñata... The list goes on. Seriously, this party was amazing. The kids had SO much fun.

We stayed there WAY longer than we should have. I only noticed it was getting late because it started getting dark... What? The kids are usually in bed at 6 (Lulli) and 7 (boys), far before the sun goes down... They were wiped out but sugared up enough on candy to be happy until we got home.

Richard's mom, Lluvia, also sent me home with a box full of maternity tops. I don't fit some of them, but some I do and they are ALL super cute. I wish I had more than just 3 weeks to wear them all. :) Thanks Lluvia! And thanks for the invite to the party of the year. :)