Olivia is 18 Months Old

I can hardly believe Olivia is 1 1/2 years old already! The last year and a half has FLOWN by! Olivia's baby-ness is starting to go away too. She demands to be included in everything the boys are doing ;)

Words:
Mama (or Meme)
Dada
Again
Ball
More
Yeah
Done

--She doesn't say a lot of words yet, but she understands a TON. And she is able to communicate very well by pointing, grunting, and making happy or angry coos. It's pretty entertaining to watch!

Favorite Activities:
Playing in the sandbox. (She does this on her own, as long as the boys are also outside. I can watch her from the kitchen while I cook/clean.)

Playing in the bathtub. (She loves to have the faucet running a little, then fill up & dump a cup out repeatedly. I have to be careful about saying the word "bath," because she will squeal and run to the bath tub, then start tapping it with her hand and grunting to be let in.)

Being outside. I am careful not to open a door unless I intend for her to come outside as well! She also likes to go up the the back door and tap on the glass when she wants to play outside.

She has just starting bringing books to me and then backing up in to my lap to listen and point to the pictures. I love it! She was ignoring us when I read to the boys before.

Playing games with Mom/Dad. (Monsters, funny faces, etc)

Playing with her brothers!

Favorite Things:
She loves, loves, loves her blue gel shoes her Granny Bee got her. She will bring them to me and demand that I help her put them on :)

Purses. She doesn't actually own a purse, but anything that can go around her arm (like a flip flop) becomes her little purse.

"Bracelets" - usually my hair bands. She will wear several at a time as bracelets.

Skills:
Climbing, running, (trying to) jump. Mostly climbing! She has been able to climb to the second story of our play area in the back yard for a few months.

Eating :P

Injuries:
Olivia falls a LOT. About a month ago, she fell at church (there is no padding, just concrete) and cracked her tooth really badly. We got it filled in so it looked better, but then that fell out just 3 weeks later. The dentist now thinks the tooth may be dying. (It is her top left tooth.) We are going to keep an eye out for an infection, but if there's not problems she may still be able to keep the tooth. If not, she will not have one of her front teeth until her permanent one grows in around age 8 :( We are hoping she can keep it, and when she gets older, we can fill it in again so it looks better. Poor, sweet girl!

We love you Olivia Ruth!

Our Hearts and Days are Full!

We have been keeping busy, and I like it. I think we need a lot of activities in our week to keep these active kiddos happy and Mommy sane ;) But, I also love, love relaxing family time. 

Here is what our weeks are looking like: (Although we are on a break from Classical Conversations until January.)

Sundays - Breakfast @ Cracker Barrel at 8:15, then the boys go over to Alan's parents for a while. Lots of cleaning done.

Mondays- Usually free. Schedule misc. appointments. Try to squeeze in some quality pre-school time :)

Tuesdays - Classical Conversations (for the boys, but I take Olivia too). Followed by playground time with the group. Then sometimes the boys were going to my parents' in the afternoon.

Wednesdays - Playgroups every other Wednesday morning, nap time (or quiet time), then grocery Shopping (Double discount Wednesdays @ Sprouts. Woot woot!)

Thursdays - I have been trying not to schedule anything on Thursdays so we can enjoy Alan's work from home day together. I absolutely love Alan working from home! (Every 3rd Thursday we go as a family to Alan's chiropracter - Also a family friend.)

Fridays - "Sporties for Shorties" (they do a different sport every week) followed by playground time.

Saturday - Relax in the morning (sometimes take a nap during Olivia's nap time while the boys watch a show). Then, church in the afternoon.

So, most of our activities are in the morning, then nap/quiet time, then getting dinner ready/cleaning house/dinner & family time in the evening when Alan gets home.

Also, mornings (except Saturday) I do a 30 minute beach body workout with the boys (Or sometimes later in the day if I can't fit it in early.) I have finally lost alll of my baby weight. (I never lost it after the boys!) After the kids go to bed I get my quiet time in. I can't manage to get quiet time in in the morning, because the kids get up too early for me! (6:30) Then usually Alan and I watch a show together before bed <3 p="">

Family time is my favorite. Here are some pics from tonight:

 Usually in the evening after dinner (while I clean up), the kids sit on Alan's lap and watch him play Mario or Donkey Kong on the Wii U. Olivia actually starts hitting the chair to let him know it's time to sit down. Olivia will be 18 months tomorrow. She is getting so big. I'll write an 18 month post on her tomorrow (hopefully :P)

 I had to take pictures, it is too adorable when they all sit on Daddy's lap.

 Tonight they were actually watching Football.

The boys were getting tired & cuddling with Daddy. Time for bed.. :)

Working out with Mama

4 year old Matthew did every single move of my "Pilates Fix" workout (30 minutes) from the 21 Day Fix program. This is a first!

Here were some quotes:

"My legs are on fire. Do you know why? Because they hurt."

"My legs already hurt all the way to the top!" (These were during the "side series" that really burns out the legs."

"Daddy, don't workout all day, or you will get sore."

He also groaned through about the last 15 minutes. I was pretty proud of him for sticking it out though!

Quotes

Matthew: Does God have blood?
Me: No, He's a Spirit Being.
Matthew: Oh. What happens when he gets a boo boo?

Me: You can have some milk when you get home.
Adam: Ooo, yes! Milk! Milk is my favorite word. And booty.
Matthew: And butt! I like butt too!

Matthew (pretending to write a letter): Dear Grandma, I love you. I spent alll your money. Dear Grandma.

Day Camping

Beautiful day for some Day Camping!

 

 

Finally Four!

Adam and Matthew - the boys that made me a Mommy and Alan a Daddy - turned 4 this month! I can't believe it!

4 is an age I've been looking forward to. More independent play, more sitting still, more creativity more back and forth conversation, more listening to Mom and Dad, etc. I do love the stage the boys are in now. They are getting so smart, and they say new, clever things all the time. 

Favorites:

Activities: Watercolors, reading with an adult, reading alone (looking at the pictures), writing letters on the computer, using the paint program on the computer, using a screwdriver

Colors: Adam - Red

            Matthew - Blue

             (They will not accept a sippy cup that is not their color!)

Foods: Milk in sippy cups, yogurt, fruit, eggs, bread with butter (Matthew) or honey (Adam), honey & lemon tea, dessert of all kids

Personalities:

Adam: He loves affection, and is always asking for hugs. However, he is in a stage where he does not want kisses at all. But he is very generous with his kisses to us :) He's our sensitive one, and we often hear "You made me sad" when we tell him no. He loves anything outdoors and active.

Matthew: He is our servant hearted boy. He is first to want to help out, and Adam will ask Matthew to do his chores for him. Matthew will help Adam out, but I've been trying to make sure Adam does his own chores (putting his dishes in the sink, clothes in the dirty clothes, etc.) Matthew can get frustrated and lash out, especially at Adam while playing Mario Bros! 

Both of our boys are so loving, and we give them lots of love in return!

A few months ago, Alan let them play the original Mario Bros. on the old NES system. It has become their favorite thing to do. "Can we play the Mario game? Please? We really want to." So of course they wanted a Mario and Luigi themed birthday party. Matthew loves Mario, and Adam's favorite is Luigi.

We put up stickers in the dining room. The boys were so cute describing the scene to us.

"The shoot (bullet) is going to kill Luigi."

"They need to get the flower so they can boom (with the fireballs) the shoot."

"What happens when Mario jumps on the white bad guy (Boo, the ghost)?"

"Mario's losing his lunch!" (The mushroom is falling into the hole)

"The big green thing (Yoshi) is going to save the day!"

They also got to help put Mario and Luigi stickers up in their room.

 They were so happy to finally be four! This year they had been focused on their birthday for months! (Matthew in blue, Adam in black/yellow.)

 My mom and I made Mario and Luigi cakes that the boys really loved!

I made an obstacle course with pipes, Goombas (made from balloons with paper plate feet) and Bowser (Daddy).

 The  participants got a "Question Mark Box" with goodies inside!

Opening presents. They love their watches from Daddy!

The books were some of their favorite presents! We actually had to pull them away from the books to open the rest of their presents.

The Kiddos! 

Our Family <3 td="">

Happy Birthday boys. We love you so much.

Descaling our Tankless Water Heater

This blog post is completely for me, unless any of you have an interest in descaling tankless water heaters. We have been meaning to do this for a while, but were hesitant to call an expensive plumber since all of the Youtube tutorials rave about how easy it is to do yourself!

I am writing this post so I remember how to do this next year when it's time again.

This is the youtube video we used. He explains it so well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4FaqGod3VU

Supplies:

4 Gallons Vinegar

5 Gallon Bucket

Submersible Pump 

2 Rubber Washer Hoses

Today I went for it, even though Alan and I are not at ALL "handymen". Alan was working from home, which turned out to be great, because even though I did all the research on how to do it, he seemed to know how to troubleshoot all the issues I encountered.

First make sure all water is shut off to the house, by turning all these red switches perpendicular. (They are on in this picture.) I didn't turn these off at first (I didn't hear it mentioned in the video :P), and got shot with cold water right in the stomach while trying to attach the washer hose to the cold water side. Alan mentioned it might be a good idea to turn the water off.

Turn off cold water coming into water heater, hot water going into house and gas. Leave electricity on.

Unscrew hose attachments and open up the valves directly underneath them. Let water from water heater run out. (Should not be very much. Unlike the first time I unscrewed them with the water still on...) Then take out pre filter and clean if dirty. (Our filter was stuck, I had to use a pair of scissors to grab it and get it out. Alan's idea.)

Pour vinegar into bucket and insert submersible pump. Attach rubber washer hose from pump to cold water side. Attach second hose to hot water side, and other side directly into vinegar. At first I couldn't get a seal, and vinegar was spraying across the garage from the cold water hose attachment. Of course I consulted Alan, and he added a second rubber sealer inside to fix it.) Do you see the pattern that Alan figured out all of the issues. Glad he worked from home today. :)

Turn on pump for 90 minutes, then close up everything in reverse (including washing the pre filter out again). And, done! Yay!

Did I mention 3 kids under 4 were all in the garage with me as I was trying to figure this out? I feel like I graduated to a real adult today :P

Gardening

This is the first year I've really been excited about our garden. Alan starts our garden every year, and every year I tell him I don't want one. (Because of the work involved!) This year though, the boys are really old enough to learn and understand the purpose of the garden, and (more importantly) to weed and water it. We make it an activity several times a week, sometimes during Olivia's nap time, and sometimes she crawls around and we have to stop her from picking the green tomatoes.

We have: (in bold are the plants producing the most)

1st Square Foot Garden

• 2 HUGE tomato plants 
• 5 Zucchini plants
• Green Ontions
• 2 small watermelon plants

2nd Square Foot Garden

• Red leaf lettuce
• Green lettuce
• Carrots
• Cucumbers (I think - they grew from the compost and we kept a few)

Containers

• Cilantro
• Strawberries

Other

• Corn
• 2 Peach Trees
• 1 Apple Tree
• 2 Blackberry bushes

The tomato plants are our stars right now. For the past week we have had 1 to 2 tomatoes getting ripe daily, and the boys are loving them:

The Zucchini plants are finally producing some good sized veggies for us! We have picked one big one so far, and cooked it for dinner.

The lettuce we planted later in the season, but it's coming along!

We've gotten around 15 strawberries, and our plants keep growing!

There's 1 to 2 corn on every stalk. I am not very good about knowing when to pick these. I've picked 3 and they have seemed just not quite ripe enough, so I'm letting these hang out longer. They are starting to blow around from the storms we've been having.

These 2 peach trees are pretty new and came with peaches on them. One tree is growing nicely, the other seems to be dying :(

We have been having fun with our gardening hobby. It gives me something to work on while the kiddos play outside. (They play really well when I am out there too, even if I am working on something else.)  Lately I have pruned the apple tree and the tomato plants, and trimmed the zucchini plants so they grow up instead of sideways (taking up less space!) We have had TONS of rain lately, helping out our garden a lot!