Lately

I haven't written much in the last 6 months and I don't know if I will ever get around to it.  But, for now, here is what is going on.
The girls are in school and they are doing very well.  They both made honor roll.  Eliza's reading is ridiculously high.  I mean the benchmark is 80 words per minute and she is at 189.  I'm pretty sure that is faster than I can read.  She is A-MAZ-ING when it comes to reading.  Kate is doing well with reading and has passed the benchmark as well (benchmark is 58 and she is at 62).  She is good at math and her handwriting is better than most in my mind...although her teacher said it could use some improvement since she is speedy and doesn't always try her best.  The girls love it when we (me and the kids or Daddy) come to eat lunch with them.  Unfortunately we haven't done it as much as we should.  It is really fun, but trying to get the boys to sit still (meaning not run around the cafeteria) and listen to me isn't always my favorite thing.  But then again, it isn't always about me.  I have been working with the girls on teaching them to cook/bake.  Nothing fancy.  Just reading recipes and teaching them how to measure and mix and stuff.  It has been fun for them and for me.  It makes the age gap seem less.  We're buddies when we cook. 
Eliza loves to be silly.  She thinks it is hilarious when I "talk" for Kelsey.  I try to make up things I think she would say if she could talk based on her facial expressions and what is going on around her.  I do it in this particular voice that is my Kelsey imitation.  Eliza always asks me to do it.  It is so fun to see Eliza crack up and ask for more.  She also LOVES it when we jump on the trampoline together.  It is really fun to do...especially if the boys don't see us out there so we can be a little more rowdy without hurting Tanner.  Today we did it for a while and I actually got worn out.  We were having so much fun playing and laughing.  I love that the girls are getting old enough to play with and joke with and not just watch, clean up after, and worry about their safety (although that is a major part of my day still).  She rides her 2 wheeler as much as we will let her and tries to race me when I am running.  That is also something I enjoy.
Katelyn is a character.  I don't know how to describe her exactly if you have never met her other than that.  She is so funny, clever, and spunky.  She puts together her outfits and they are so creative and quite unique.  She will put articles of clothing together that I would never think of and sometimes they really work.  I love her spunk!  Her teacher has 4 kids' desks put together facing each other forming a table of sorts.  The whole class is made up of these tables except for 5 kids.  Those 5 kids face the front.  Kate is one of these 5 kids.  I was almost proud of that.  Last year her kindergarten teacher said she was so shy she wouldn't talk to anyone but the teacher for the first half of the year.  Now she has swung the other way and follows in my chatty footsteps.  She is easily distracted and her teacher said that seating helps her.  I wish I could be a fly on her classroom wall.  She is quiet and shy at church in her class.  Quite the opposite from school.  Very complex young lady.  I had to take Kate to the doctor today because her hearing has been affected by a bad cold she had and now has fluid built up in her ears.  She is taking some antibiotics to help clear it up and if that doesn't work we will have to see a specialist and probably get tubes put in.  I'm praying that doesn't happen.  Her hearing has been so bad that you had to almost yell at her at times for her to hear and understand you.  It isn't quite that bad now, but it was.  Today after taking her first dose (and it is gross medicine) she came back inside and said, "Mom, my hearing is better now so I don't have to take anymore of that medicine."  Nice try.  She's such a fun, fun girl.
Nathan is the boy that will make me want to squeeze him cause he is so cute one minute and then make me want to rip my hair out the next because he is driving me crazy.  He loves to get random things like a tent stake and tongs and make them into his tools.  He will carry these tools around with him for days or weeks and find the most random uses for them.  It is very cute to see him in action.  He will carry them in the car, the bed...everywhere.  I love it.  He loves building things with legos right now.  He will build Voltrons or lions and makes exact replicas in triplicate.  So cute.  He also has so much energy that sometimes getting him to slow down so you can talk to him is impossible.  His eyes are looking at everything else in the room trying to see what is going on that he is missing while you are trying to have a discussion about him not sitting on his brother's head on the trampoline or something.  He is a snuggle bug and I love that.  His cheeks are still chubby even though the rest of him isn't as thick as it was.  I love those cheeks.  Speaking of cheeks.  I bought him some new superhero unders and he was wearing them today.  Daddy got home and he wanted to show Daddy his new Captain America unders, so he dropped his drawers and bent over, grabbing his ankles and smiling, so excited for his new stuff.  I had a good laugh.  It looked like Daddy was going to get mooned by his 4 year old.  Nathan is also very into ultimatums.  If you don't give me this then I'll...fill in the blank.  It drives me crazy.  I don't do ultimatums.  I don't know why he is still trying that out when it has NEVER worked for him.  His other thing is saying, "That's not fair, I never get..."  He has shortened it to "I never" whenever something doesn't go his way.  Tanner has now picked it up.  So I hear, "I never" all day long.  I'll say he can't have a treat or sleep in the girls room or go to the cousins right now and they go into the "I never" thing.  I hope it stops soon.  He also hates church.  I also hope that ends soon too. 
Tanner is a small little thing.  I've never had a kid as small as him.  He isn't abnormally small, but all of my kids were bigger than average so when Tanner can fit into something that is 2T and he's 2 that surprises me.  He is a big time tantrum thrower.  He throws things and yells and hits.  He also gets up between 5 and 5:30 EVERY day.  I do not like it.  Luckily for me my husband is already up and getting ready to teach early morning seminary so he puts on a movie for him.  He is obsessed with his brown blanket and a certain toy that he drags around with him.  This toy changes from day to day or sometimes week to week.  Sometimes it is the lion and tiger, sometimes it is blocks.  You can hear him hauling it around in a bucket from the minute he wakes up to the time you tuck it in bed with him.  He is my little shadow.  If I am doing laundry, he is right there doing it with me.  He wants to help me pour the soap, put the clothes in the washer, switch them to the dryer, shut the dryer door, etc.  He is the same with cooking and cleaning.  He gets mad when I put the flour in the bowl or stir it first.  I think it is cute that he wants to help, but I am tripping over him all day long.  He doesn't know how to play by himself.  He is still very cuddly and I love that.  He adores Kelsey soooo much.  He always has to kiss her before naps and bedtime and as soon as she wakes up.  If I don't let him kiss her right away he throws a fit.  She is very tolerant.  I know he is going to be 3 in a few months, but I still think of his as such a little guy.  I think he is the cutest little thing.
Kelsey is at such a perfect stage.  She is so beautiful.  She has the biggest, brightest blue eyes.  She sits up on her own (and has for a month or so).  She rolls over.  She has 2 teeth that came in the very beginning of September.  She sleeps through the night.  She usually wakes up around the same time as Tanner, but last week I lucked out and she slept until 7 or even 8 one morning.  She has ear infections right now and is almost done with her meds for that.  She loves to be held and I am guilty of doing it too much (only according to the doctor).  I don't think I'm going to ruin her.  Heaven forbid she know how much I adore her.  I could stare at her all day to see how beautiful she is and listen to her babble and laugh.  She has started to make the "bababa" sound just yesterday.  I love it!  I love the way she lights up when she sees me.  She loves her food and does solids twice a day now.  She started those a little before 6 months.  She is also very grabby.  It is hilarious to try to play the piano, eat, or write when she is in my arms.  She won't let me rock her to sleep anymore, even though I did it for as long as she would let me.  The last 2-3 months she just wants me to put her down and toss the aden and anais blanket on her.  Today at the store I had her in the sling and she leaned forward and fell asleep right on my chest.  I wanted to stay there forever and not move just to savor that sweet moment.  Her head was right there where I could kiss it over and over and over again.  I love that little girl to pieces!
Nathaniel is teaching early morning seminary and I applaud him for that.  It is hard, but he loves it.  He is a natural teacher for which I am grateful.  He is going to the gym when he can and likes that.  He misses early morning basketball, but tries to catch the Wed. night games.  We have been called to be Ma and Pa for the Pioneer Trek in Jan. and are excited for that.  It is going to be hard to leave the kids, but it will be so fun to get to do it together.  He works in the felony division at work.  He wears a suit every day and looks dang good in them.  I do love that part of his job.  Not the scumbags he has to prosecute and all that, but he does look and smell very nice every day.
I am loving this weather cooling down and it gets me excited to be better about running.  It was hard to do much of any exercise in August and most of September, but I am determined to start up again.  I was doing so great up until July when I went on vacation so I need to rededicate myself to exercising and watching my calories.  It felt so good to see those pounds coming off.  Well, after taking a few months off, I'll have to run them off again.  Oh well.  It's a process.  I do love to go out with my friend Tyrel and run.  I need to try to increase my distance.  One of these days I want to do a half marathon.  I got up to 10 miles a few years ago and I'd like to get back to that sometime in the next little (or not so little) while.  Here's hoping!  I have been obsessed with green smoothies, honeycrisp apples, and microwave popcorn.  I have each of those pretty much every day.  Okay, it's not always honeycrisp apples.  Sometimes it's a gala.  But if honeycrisp are on sale, boy oh boy, they are my favorite!
Well, that's us in a nutshell.  The every day happenings and drama.  We love it here in Yuma and I love living a half mile from church and school.  It makes it fun to take advantage of beautiful days and go for a walk.  I love living 1.4 miles from my sister-in-law, Nancy.  We see them often and I love to be able to share babysitting and play dates with them.  I love having Nana and Papa and Uncle Josh and Aunt Becca in town.  We are very blessed and we know it.  I hope life continues to be this wonderful!