Anna Kate is NINE!

Anna Kate is nine and oh so fine!

Weight: 59 pounds (30th percentile)

Height: 52 inches (45th percentile)

Wears size 10 on top

Size 8 on bottom

Shoe size: 2

Lost 10 teeth and three are wiggly.

Favorite color: scarlet

Favorite food: watermelon and mac & cheese

Favorite subject: Science

Favorite game: Ticket to Ride

Favorite sport: swimming

She wants to be an Olympic swimmer when she grows up.

She went to a new school this year and did great! She earned the Principal's Award all four quarters. She was the only girl in her class who did that!

She is an amazing reader! She reads books so quickly! She loved doing Battle of the Books. Her team got 3rd place out of all the 3rd grade teams.

She has read another Harry Potter book - #5 - and really wants to read the rest!

She is on swim team this summer. Backstroke is her best and favorite stroke.

She is an awesome author and is working on writing a chapter book called, "Crowded Life."

She started piano lessons this summer.

She has taken tennis and golf lessons. Basketball camp starts soon.

She is a good helper to mom!

She and Isaac play so well together.

 

Isaac at SIX

Isaac is six years old and is so much fun!

43 pounds

46.25 inches

Size 6 or 7 tops

Size 5 or 6 bottoms

Shoe size 12

Favorite animal: dog

Favorite food: corndog

Favorite color: blue

Favorite team: Seahawks!

Wants to be a firefighter and a football player.

Favorite sport: football

He took a football class and had fun learning about all the positions.

He is really into Legos, Star Wars and Minecraft.

He is a SUPER reader!

He graduated kindergarten and had awesome grades all year long.

He likes dinosaurs.

He gives the best hugs and sometimes he tricks us into giving him extra hugs at bedtime. 

Still only missing one tooth and no wiggly teeth yet.

He's SUPER cute!

He likes to spike his hair in the front. 

He has a really good memory.

He has tricky eye brows - he can raise them and make them pointy. We call it his football face.

He always tries to sit on our laps and is very cuddly.

He isn't shy. He likes to say, "Go Hawks!" when he sees other people wearing Seahawks gear.

He loves going to Disneyland and he is tall enough to ride almost everything except California Screamin'. His favorite ride is HyperSpace Mountain.

He took swim lessons again and is getting better at swimming.

He likes to "steal" his dad's glass of water every night at dinner. He thinks it is hilarious!

He also likes to "steal" my Tsum Tsum blanket even though he has his own smaller version.

Bedtime is 7/7:30 pm and he's usually up around 6/6:30 am.

Often we hear his feet pitter-pattering around in the morning as he goes to the bathroom, gets dressed and makes his bed. 

He is an artist. He loves to draw and create 3D art. We go through paper really fast around here.

Anna Kate at age 8

Anna Kate is 8!

Weight: 51 pounds

Height: 49.5 inches

Wears size 8 on top

Size 7 on bottom

Shoe size: 1

Lost 9 teeth and none are wiggly... for now.

Anna Kate is just as spunky as ever!

She is so bright. She finished the school year with a perfect report card.

She reads anything she can get her eyes on. She has read the first four Harry Potter books and is begging to read the rest.

She wants to be a paleontologist when she grows up.

Loves to play with Isaac. They can play for hours together and never fight. (They occasionally have their moments.)

She likes to be creative and make things

Loves using the iPad or our phones to take photos and videos. 

Swims like a fish! She is working on diving instead of belly-flopping!

Mac and cheese is still her favorite food.

She is very clever and comes up with some funny things.

Loves to cheer for the Seahawks!

She is excited to be baptized soon.

Definitely has her own style but I can still persuade her at times. 

Loves to listen and sing along to popular music, especially Kidz Bop albums.
Favorite color is scarlet.
Favorite animals are dolphins, seahorses and horses.

Isaac at FIVE

Isaac is five years old and as cute as can be!

38 pounds

43.25 inches

Size 5 or 6 tops

Size 5T bottoms

Shoe size 10.5

Favorite animal: dog

Favorite food: macaroni and cheese

Favorite color: blue

Favorite team: Seahawks!

Wants to be a firefighter, a dad and a dentist when he grows up.

Missing one tooth and no wiggly ones yet.

Loves his sister - they are the best of friends.

They will play for hours just making up games and stories as they go. They often play with stuffed animals. They also love to play and create with cardboard boxes.

Loves Mickey Mouse and going to Disneyland. His birthday wish was to have breakfast with Mickey Mouse on his 5th birthday so that is what we did!

Talks all the time! 

Often asks, "right?" after everything he says. And he will keep saying "right?" until you respond.

Or if you respond with "Wow!" or "Cool!" he will say, "Oh, you didn't know that."

He is SO SO SO obedient. He wants to help and please.

Says "thank you" to inanimate objects like, "Thank you towel for drying my hands."

He has an excellent memory and brings up details from long ago.

His favorite place is on his daddy's shoulders. He will climb up at any chance.

Has to have his Mickey blanket to go to sleep.

Happy all the time!

He can be super sensitive and his cry breaks my heart.

Says he doesn't like tickles but we still tickle him because he has the best laugh.

He is learning how to read. He knows all his letters and sounds and can sound out small words. We are working on some sight words.

We think he may be color blind like his papa! Red, green, orange and brown all look very similar to him. He also confuses purple and blue.

He tells us he loves us all the time or he shows us "I love you" in sign language.

He is getting braver in the pool and we are working to get him back to where he was after swim lessons last summer.

He is very percise in his words and expects the same of everyone else. He will correct you!

He is pretty good with numbers. He can count to 100 by 1s and 10s.

Loves jokes and riddles. He likes to make them up too.

He draws some pretty awesome pictures! It is so fun to see how he sees things.

His preschool and primary teachers always comment on how good he is.

He loves to play games but he also loves to win! One of his favorite games in Uno.  

 I often say that Isaac is good to the core! I love my sweet boy!

Christmas Morning

I set up a tripod this morning and had my camera take a photo every fifteen seconds while the kids opened gifts. Here is our 15 minutes of opening presents in about 6.5 seconds:

Merry Christmas!

Anna Kate at 7 years old

Anna Kate - Age 7

Height: 47.5 inches
Weight: 47.5 pounds
Clothes size: 7 or 8 for tops and size 6 for bottoms
Shoes size: 12.5
Has lost 7 teeth
Favorite color: scarlet
Favorite food: mac and Cheese
Favorite animal: horse
Wants to be a paleontologist when she grows up.
Isaac is her best friend.
Plays with Audrey at school.
Tested into the gifted program at school.
Is a SUPER reader and will read anything and everything she can get her eyes on.
Likes to color and draw.
Favorite ride at Disneyland is Tower of Terror but won't ride Space Mountain.
Loves to swim and has turned into a total fish!

Isaac at age 4

Isaac - Age 4

Height: 40.5 inches
Weight: 34.5 pounds
Clothes size: 4 or 5 for tops and size 3 for bottoms
Shoes size: 8
Favorite color: blue, orange and yell-ow
Favorite food: mac and cheese
Favorite animal: dog
Wants to be a fire-fighter when he grows up.
Anna Kate is his best friend.
Wants to learn how to read.
Can write his name with capital letters but sometimes the "C" is backwards.
Knows most of his letters.
Can count to 20 except he always skips 15.
Likes to color and draw.
Draws the cutest stick people.
Favorite ride at Disneyland is Mickey's Wheel.
Favorite thing to do: Cuddle!
Favorite cuddling buddies: Mickey Mouse and Yodel the dog
Likes to play with stuffed animals and legos.
Runs to the playroom every morning to see if it is light out and time to wake up.
Still working on potty-training.
Talks about Washington and Disneyland all the time.
Loves to play board games and card games.

Family Home Evening by Anna Kate

Anna Kate created an object lesson for FHE tonight and it was too sweet not to record so we can always remember it!

She started off by telling us great things about Jesus - how he helped people and how he loves us. Then she told the story of how the grown-ups were listening to Jesus but the children wanted to see him. The grown-ups said that the children couldn't see Jesus but Jesus said he wanted to see and bless the children. (Mark 10:13-16)

Anna Kate had prepared a bowl of Captain Crunch Berries. She told us that cereal was like all the grown-ups but there was one purple crunch berry in the bowl. That purple crunch berry was Jesus and we needed to find him. She had us close our eyes and feel around the bowl to see if we could "find Jesus." We each took a couple turns to try to "find Jesus" all while trying to keep the "don't eat Jesus" jokes to a minimum. I finally found Jesus (but was accused of not stirring the bowl with my hand before I found the purple crunch berry). 

She was so cute with her lesson and took the whole thing very seriously, well, until she ate the purple crunch berry! I loved how she taught us and then came up with a fun activity all on her own. What a gal!

Isaac's part was helping us sing "I am a Child of God" and "Give Said the Little Stream." He did a great job leading us with a measuring cup! :)

Easter 2014

Oh Isaac!!!

Isaac has been saying some funny things lately:

Isaac: Do you want to play a game?
Me: Sure.
Isaac: Let's play my favorite game. Its called... CUDDLE!

Isaac: Can you get Baby Bear for me?
Me: I don't know where he is.
Isaac: I know where he is.
Me: Where?
Isaac: He's right where I left him.

Isaac: I'm getting bigger everyday.
Me: Yes you are!
Isaac: I'm almost going to wear Daddy's clothes.

Isaac and Anna Kate were racing in the pool for the shark toy.
Anna Kate got it first and Isaac screamed. Anna Kate was very nice and gave it to him.
Isaac: I'm the winner and Anna Kate's the loser 'cause I got sharky first."
(We're working on not being so unkind.)

Gilbert Temple Open House

The Gilbert Temple has been open for a couple of weeks for visitors. We had tickets to see it next week but things changed and Saturday was the best day for us to go. We ended up getting in line with all of the rest of the people who did not have tickets. We ended up waiting for about an hour. The kids aren't use to sunshine yet so they were trying to hide in my shadow and complaining they were hot. It was 65 degrees! This summer should be interesting.

The temple was beautiful! The details were great. Anna Kate loved finding all the different places there were flowers - in the tiles, the ceiling, the door handles, the pews, etc. It was a fun family day! 

First night in a big boy bed!

Isaac slept in his big boy bed for the first time last night. He was so excited! We bought some pool noodles and put them under the sheets to make it a little harder for him to roll off. He wanted the lights off and the door closed. He went right to sleep. He woke up at 6:20 am and we heard his cute, fast, pitter-patter run into our room. He went to the window, pulled open the blinds, looked out the window and said, "It's almost morning!" Then he ran back to his room, shut the door and climbed into his bed. By the time I caught  up with him he was curled up on his bed, pulling up his blankets and telling me to close the door because he needed it dark. I'm not sure if he went back to sleep but he didn't come back out until an hour later. He's growing up! 

Anna Kate is 6 and a half!

Anna Kate chose to make cookies for her half-birthday treat!

Anna Kate at 6 and a half:

• Height: Just about 46 inches
• Weight:
• Shoe size: 11-12
• Clothes: 6 or 7 on top and 5 or 6 on bottom
• Her favorite color is scarlet and sometimes red and pink too.
• She is missing 7 teeth and has 1 wiggly one. Still waiting for some of them to grow back in. She has quite the jack o'lantern mouth.
• Anna Kate loves to read. She's read all the Junie B. Jones series, most of the Judy Moody and Magic Tree House series, and a bunch of Roal Dahl and Beverly Cleary books. She would read all night if we let her.
• She usually goes to bed 7ish and reads until 8ish.
• She has a lot of things she wants to be when she grows up - a paleontologist, singer, artist or eye doctor. But she wants to stop whatever she is doing when she is 35 so she can be the first woman president of the United States.
• Anna Kate is doing great in 1st grade and she likes her new school. 
• Her new teacher, Mrs. Tropea, recommended her for the gifted program. She is already having her attend the small group for the gifted students since the testing isn't until January.
• Her teacher at Fruitland, Mrs. Lee, compared her to Anne of Green Gables - a happy, clever girl.
• She is often silly and loves a good joke and puns.
• She is picky eater. Mac & cheese is her favorite food. She orders it no matter what restaurant we go to.
• She's also picky about clothes. She doesn't like buttons - she says they smell funny. Ugh!
• She still loves to watch TV but I'm wondering if she's just about ready to grow out of the cute Disney Jr. shows.
• She is growing her hair out. The deal is she can't cry when I comb her hair but I haven't fallen through with it - there seems to be a lot of whining.
• She is starting to let me try new things with her hair which is fun now that it is getting longer.
• We recently saw the movie "Frozen" and she loves to sing all the songs. She also loves that one of the characters is named "Anna."
• Loves to listen to Taylor Swift. 
• She's done pretty well with the transition to Arizona. She had one meltdown and she really wanted to move back to Puyallup. She was most disappointed that she hasn't seen a rattlesnake.
• She's an awesome big sister. They have so much fun together and rarely fight. 
• She invents all kinds of imaginary, dress-up games with Isaac. It's really cute!
• She is getting close to riding a bike without training wheels. (Benefit of living in warm Arizona during the winter!)
• She has her own ideas for everything and looks at everything with a unique perspective. 
• Loves to color, paint and draw.
• We still have her in a 5-point harness car seat. She is so embarrassed by it. She undoes her seat belt before I open the door for school and she makes sure the door is closed before she will get in her seat. 
• She became quite the swimmer over the summer and is looking forward to our swimming pool warming up so she can swim. So far she's just waded around in it.
• She is becoming quite the lego-maniac!
• She can't think of anything she wants for Christmas - I think she has more than she could ever want!
• She won't spend her money but doesn't mind spending ours.

Isaac is 3 and a half

Isaac helped make his half-birthday cupcakes!

He made sure we followed all the directions!

Isaac is three and a half! Here is a little bit about him:

• Height: about 39.5 inches
• Weight: about 32 pounds
• Shoe size: 7
• He LOVES Anna Kate!
• He loves his sleep. He goes to bed about 7 and gets up about 7. He asks all afternoon if the sun has gone down yet so he can go to bed. He says he's tired from about 3 pm on.
• He really likes to play games. I love to play "Go Fish" with him! So cute!!
• He says he wants to be a firefighter when he grows up.
• He loves the song, "You've Got a Friend in Me."
• Likes to be read to and has a few books he likes to "read" to us.
• Asks to go the park all the time. (Good thing about living in Arizona - we can go just about any time.)
• He asks to go home to Washington often. :(
• Before we moved he kept saying he wanted us to put a lot of balloons on our house and move it to Washington like the movie up.
• Does a lot of imaginary play. He makes his stuffed animals and cars talk. It is VERY cute!
• We made his bed into a toddler bed but he's had to sleep in a pack-n-play since we moved and he barely fits.
• He is really excited to get a new bed. He hopes it will be a bunk bed. He has a whole plan about sleeping on top on a "bed with a gate" so he won't fall off.
• He loves to cuddle and I love having a cuddler.
• He speech has really improved the last couple months but we have a testing appointment coming up to see if he qualifies for speech services through the school district.
• His favorite stuffed animals are Baby Bear and a dog named Yodel.
• We didn't bring a big stuffed bear he named "Beary" to Arizona. He brings it up all the time - how Beary is lost and how Beary loves berries. 
• He talks about going to Disneyland all the time. (I'm excited that we are going in a couple weeks.)
• He keeps saying he wants a "dog with wheels" for Christmas.
• He is very obedient!
• He still isn't potty-trained. I put it on hold with the move. He just isn't interested...
• He wants to help with everything. 
• He doesn't like to have spiky hair. It makes him so mad! He doesn't want to get his hair cut because he thinks the hairdresser will put gel in his hair and make it spiky.
• He likes to build with blocks and these cool magnet toys Grandma gave him.
• He is very ticklish. You don't even have to touch him, just pretend to tickle him and he laughs like crazy. His laugh is so cute too!
• He can navigate the iPad or our phones like nothing else.
• He is really shy at first. It takes him a long time to warm up. He was at the park and a little boy kept trying to play with him. The boy asked him over and over what his name was and Isaac didn't respond. Then the boy started tapping on his shoulder asking him. Finally Isaac started spelling his name in the air! It was so funny. The rest of the time at the park he hid from that boy.
• He's gotten so independent lately. He gets his own snacks. He washes his hands after meals. It's great but it also means my baby is growing up. 
• We baby this boy way too much. He still wants to be carried every where. I forget that he's three and I treat him like he's much younger.
• He likes to where hats and sunglasses... he's a cool kid!
• One of those hats he loves to where are his Mickey ears! :)
• He's a pretty good eater. He likes mac & cheese like his sister. He likes everything until he hears Anna Kate say she doesn't like it. :( 
• He often says his favorite food is "yellow ketchup" aka mustard. 
• He likes things to match and be in their spot. (OCD???)
• He often refuses to look at the camera when we take photos... drives me nuts!
• He is the sweetest boy and he makes our family fun!

Isaac at 2 and 11 months old

I've missed a few months... BUMMER! Here we go again!

Isaac at 2 and 11 months old:

Weight: about 30 pounds
Height:
Shoe size: Still fitting into 6's but moving into a 7
Diaper size: 4

• Not at all interested in potty training.
• Wants to be "little" or a baby.
• Doesn't like it when I call him a big boy. He says, "I just little."
• Talks ALL THE TIME! 
• He has a great memory. He often talks about things that happened months ago. 
• I can tell he's almost three because he is getting ornery! He gets upset if things don't go his way.
• Wants to cuddle if he isn't getting his way.
• Refers to everything that happened before today as yesterday, but he says, "le-her-day."
• Can count correctly to 12. He tries to keep going but all those teens mess him up.
• Wants to do everything himself.
• His favorite songs are: "ABC's," "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," "Give Said the Little Stream," and "I am a Child of God." He claims them as his songs and loves watching videos on You Tube of those songs. 
• He will weigh himself on the scale in our bathroom and say, "Look! I'm 3 inches!"
• He can identify all the capital letters and a lot of lowercase ones.
• He can identify numbers 1-10.

Clever girl

I went to check on Anna Kate before I went to bed. Instead of finding her tucked in, under her covers like I left her, I found her on top of her made bed with an outfit picked for tomorrow!

So close to SPRING!

We had a great afternoon in the sunshine!

Loose Tooth

Anna Kate's top right tooth is really loose! So much so that it is hanging down a smidge lower than the one next door. When it finally falls out I'm expecting a lot of drama (as usual) and a new smile.

Tonight...

A couple of things from tonight...

• Isaac said a prayer all by himself! He said, "Heavenly Father, thank you day, thank you blessings, bless us, name of Jesus Christ Amen. It was so sweet and it was just as sweet to see how excited Anna Kate was for him. She immediately said, "That was AWESOME Isaac! You did it all by yourself!"
• About 10 minutes after I laid down Isaac for the night I hear him crying. This never happens. He's crying like he is hurt so I run into his room and ask him what's wrong. He hollers, "I wanna go to Disneyland!!!" with tears running down his face. I told him we would again some day and he said, "I'm too small!"
• Anna Kate was an awesome helper tonight. She is known for dawdling and being slow-poke but she cleaned up her room, Isaac's room, the playroom and got in her jammies super quick. She also was the first one kneeling for family prayer... that NEVER happens! I often get frustrated with her being distracted and having to repeatedly give her instructions so I was thrilled to see her not only follow directions but also be so helpful. I made a big deal about it and we talked about how she felt so good inside. I think she might be finally "getting it!"

I want to "cuggle" on your bed!

Isaac came to me and said, "I want to 'cuggle' on your bed!" meaning he wanted to cuddle. I put him on my bed with some pillows and blankets and he immediately asks where the iPad is and tells me he wants it "right here" on his lap. How could I resist?! He knows exactly how to navigate the iPad. He found the app he wanted and started doing puzzles.