Sunday Best, Sunday Chaos

Joel and Taft picked their Sunday clothes. We've got a plaid/striped theme going on. They wanted to wear their suspenders like Papa Nelsen. I also love the drawstrings sticking out of their pants. They are funny boys. They look like they're getting ready to be awesome engineers someday. Or maybe they are hipster?

Last Sunday felt a little chaotic. I'm not sure why...Somehow Joel took a nap through the chaos on the couch, but I captured everyone else's chaos. Five kids is super fun but I will say adding the fifth hardly seems like adding one more to the mix. It has been a whole new level of adjustment. I think part of it is everyone is a little older and though that is helpful, it also means there are more independent needs. I can't just group everyone together and hope they all got the attention they deserve. It is time for some individualization around these parts!

 

Weeding the Grass

Taft has been worrying about the weeds in the grass. He decided to do something about it. He rounded up some gloves and tools and his brothers they went to work. They do an excellent job of pulling to tops off. It turns out the dirt is really hard and the roots are stuck fast. But they try their best!

Taft also got to operate the garbage truck arm. You can hear about it here:

Taft's Garbage Truck Experience

I don't think there has been a happier boy in awhile! And now Joel is hoping for his own turn soon!!

 

Snapshots: Sibling Symbiosis

Our kids have a beautiful symbiotic relationship. They look out for each other, help each other, spend all day together, and live happily together. I hope their relationship will only grow and flourish from here and that they will always enjoy the love and comradery that they enjoy now.

Taft earned enough money to by a garbage truck - which if you have video chatted with him in the last month he has told you about. He finally got it and they all put it together. We ordered it the day after he paid his tithing on Amazon and the price had dropped $5! 

These two sat outside with me during a baptism following church on Sunday. They ran around the grass. Kent started yelling "Joe(l)! Joe(l)!" in their play. They are silly and have fun together.

Boy Bathtime with Bubbles! These 3 are crazy in the bathtub. More water is usually on the floor when they are done and it is often a very loud time as they all try to claim their space in the small tub.

The library had a take home craft the week of Halloween. It was a little cat luminary. Alyssa helped everyone make theirs. Having Alyssa home all the time is a game changer around her. I was not brave enough to take her out of school just because homeschool sounded great, so I am grateful for this excuse of the pandemic that I had to start homeschooling. She is so much happier being home and I think she and the boys get along better because she is always here. 

(Christina, you're right. Homeschooling is the celestial kingdom on earth.)

One afternoon when I pried my eyes open after a nap, this is what I found:

And a couple of other photos for good measure...

We make pizza often. This pizza had a GIANT bubble in it and it was super delish!

Kent is funny. He likes to put things on his head. On this particular day he found the panda headphones. Doesn't he look great?!

And on this day, Erik dressed him in Native American headwear and a Peruvian sweater as we were having a Pow Wow to celebrate the end of our Native American studies and Alyssa's Native American project.

 

Snapshot: Frontiering Imagination

Snapshot: Frontiering Imagination

I see four best friends outside in their fort of sorts, being adventurers, frontiersman, and hunters. I want to remember that many of our mornings are filled with these four playing together outside, foraging for "wheat" (grass gone to seed), "mashed potatoes" (small seed pods from a tree), and nuts. I want to remember that Taft was a hunter, hunting bears and dragons for them to eat. I want to remember that Alyssa set up house or store or whatever she needed to to make sure everything was organized. I want to remember how Joel and Kent just loved to be a part of it all. I want to remember the unity that they kids displayed that they joy they felt in running around, accomplishing their tasks necessary for survival. I hope this is contributing to their future relationships with each other for good. I hope that, though the formal education may be a little elusive, these beautiful children of mine are gaining exactly what they need to meet their potential in the future.