A danger to himself...and others!!

This kid is crazy!!  Makai is now 20 months and a bone head at times!  He has a very intense personality.  This is a picture of Makai on a swing at the park.  When we get to the park he runs to the swing and swings until HE is done!  If I ask him to get out and he isn't ready the response is, "No, no, no!!" as he shakes his head back and forth.  He doesn't say it mean, he just says it in a way that is sure to get his point across. The past few weeks he has a few habits that are driving me crazy!  One I will mention.  He can't keep things out of his nose.  This week I've pulled out:  several legos, a rock, a piece of paper, a button, cereal...you get the picture.  I've been working really hard to get every 'little' thing(mostly legos) up and out of the way so they wouldn't go into his nose.  Well, today while I was busy cleaning the kitchen after breakfast he went over to the box of markers, took out a marker, bit the top off of it, and shoved it up his nose.  This was a broad tip marker so it was pretty big.  When I came down stairs I didn't realize what he'd done and honestly thought he'd just bit off the tip.  I took him to the bath(again, he'd already had his bath for the day), but as I washed his face his nose kept dripping red, and I knew it wasn't blood.  URRRR.  I went and got the tweezers which now sit out on my dresser for my daily fishing trip in his nose, but he had pushed it so far up I couldn't get it.  I had to enlist the help of Monty who thankfully is super strong  and was able to hold him down while we got it out.(He tried to get it out while I held him, but I couldn't keep him still enough.  It took a while, but finally we got it out.  He was pretty upset and after his bath he let me know by throwing up all over my church clothes and his.  I thought the lesson was learned, but tonight I caught him trying to put his french toast up his nose!  I have no idea what to do.  Like I said, this boy is humbling me!!  None of the other boys ever did this!!  He is also into hitting.  I watched at the pool this week as he hit a friend of ours little boy for no reason at all!  Today he slapped me across the face.  I was totally surprised by it because it hurt and he hit me with no reservation or warning.  This doesn't worry me too much because my other boys went through this stage too, however, the 5th time I'm less kind.  I slapped him back, not hard, but it got his attention.  He looked at me in shock and now we are working on "soft".  Boys...such rough creatures!
  He is kind of fun though sometimes.  Things he does that I love include always saying, "More please" whenever he wants more to drink or eat.  He also loves to run up behind me and stand right behind my back and have me say, "Where is Makai?"  To which he'll peek his head around and say, "There he is!"  He is also fun to read to.  He's just absorbing everything at such a fast rate.  It's fun to hear him try to say things like elephant, crocodile, pumpkin....  I love when he's napping because I know he's safe behind bars(although anything within arms reach isn't.  He's gotten Tyler's glasses a few times as Tyler's dresser sits next to Makai's bed, but thankfully they have always been fixable).  He is sleeping through the night and goes to bed like a champ, so I've got to give him that.   
I think this age is so much work!

We love you Makai, you are just a danger to yourself...and others!!      

Tear...cheer!!

Tyler 5th grade, Kyle 3rd grade, Kory 1st grade...and don't you love how they told Trey to hold up 0 fingers since he's still in preschool! 

 A new school year has begun and while it may have begun with a tear...it was soon followed with a CHEER!!  I love my boys more than anything, but keeping them busy all summer was not an easy task.  Toward the last few weeks everyone was needing some space.  This year the boys were really excited about starting school.  Kyle was the first one to vocally admit he was excited for school to start and the other two finally admitted it too.  The first week couldn't have gone better.  They all love their teachers, and are excited to be back with their friends.  Kory even said he hugged his friend Walter and Trey he was so excited to see them again.  Tyler has a male teacher this year and I think it's going to be a really good thing.  It's also his last year in Elementary school so he's feeling pretty 'big' as he is the top dog on campus.  I shed one tear as Kyle walked into his class.  He is my tender heart and stayed with me clear till the bell rang.  However, about 4 hours after I dropped them off, and put Makai down for a nap I heard something I haven't heard all summer...silence!!  I'm telling you...IT was golden!!:)  I actually slept for almost an hour with Makai.  CHEER!!  The boys have done great this week.  I think this might just be the best year yet! 

Visit from Candi

This weekend a wonderful friend that I met while we lived in Cheyenne came for a visit.  Shortly before we left Cheyenne, they moved to Utah.  It's been 6 years since we've seen one another, so a reunion was well overdue.  They were pretty easy to please.  Their daughter Chloe just wanted to go back to their hotel and swim and my kids were down with that idea.  It was a little crazy watching 7 kids at the pool, but we left with everyone.  Trey had a close call, but "Brandon Man" saved him.  I took my eyes off Trey of just a minute and it was the wrong minute.  Trey lost his grip, but Brandon saw him and pulled him up. Needless to say he is the new 'hero' of the family.  Trey became very fond of him, even before he saved his life.  I must say he won a few points in my book on Saturday.  He never once complained about hanging out with two women and 7 kids.  After the pool they were gracious enough to be entertained at the good old Rocky Mountain Raptor Refuge.  My boys were very excited to tell them all they wanted to know and more about birds.  That night Monty was able to get off work for a few hours and we had some dinner together.  We had fun talking but I'm sure the restaurant cheered when we left as Makai was a little on the crazy side.  Lets just say Makai is humbling me as a mother!!  Things my other kids didn't do...he does!  Sigh....

Brandon, Candi, Chloe and Sophie.  Our special visitors for the day. 

  Sunday Morning before they headed out I was able to get in one last short visit with them.  It was so nice to see you guys again!  Thanks for stopping by and putting up with us for the day!:)  A great memory!!

Save a Life!

So, a dear friend of mine is in need.  He father has been given one year to live if he doesn't get a liver transplant.  Although he is a hard working man he doesn't qualify for health insurance because he suffers from Chron's disease as well and insurance companies don't want anything to do with him.  Anyway, her family has started a blog in hopes to raise money to get her dad a transplant.  I thought I'd post the link to the blog...every little bit helps.  www.aliverformurray.blogspot.com  Thanks!!

Always a Project

 Tyler is an amazing kid.  This summer we've called him the Muffin Man because at least 3 times a week he makes us muffins in the morning.  Last week he got creative and decided to color the muffins with food coloring so we could all have our favorite color.  He also wanted to see if the food coloring would make the muffin taste different.  They were almond poppy seed and all I can say is they were good in both the colors I tried!

Tyler with his favorite color--yellow!

 Another thing Tyler does in his free time is fold origami.  He loves origami and sometimes I even have to ground him from doing it because he gets so wrapped up in it, his mind can't focus on anything else.  He's kind of funny because if I hand him my grocery list for example, I get it back folded.  He can't hold a piece of paper and not start to fold it.  I totally admire his talent.  He's helped in Kory's class to teach kids how to make origami and I've even taken him to Young Women to have him teach them.  I am always amazed at his ability to teach and how perfectly he does each step.  So sweet are the days I'll find an origami flower on my dresser!

Some of Tyler's creations. (first row) a stingray, a flower, a macaw, a star, a boat, (second row) fish, a box , a owl,(third row) a moth, a turtle, a butterfly.

McQueen

Who would have thought that this little innocent car would make Sacrment meeting a living nightmare.  So, Makai is REALLY into McQueen these days.  The past few Sunday's I've brought his McQueen and Mater for him to play with through the meeting.  Well, today when I was packing the Sunday bag I purposely decided to bring some generic cars and not his McQueen and Mater.  He was happy and content.  I was so proud of him as during the Sacrament he actually sat on my lap and we looked through a book.  Then disaster hit.  The boy in front of us had, you guessed it, McQueen!  Suddenly Makai started screaming, "Queen, Queen, Queen!"  Of course, the day I don't have his Queen!  So, I took him out.  After a while he calmed down so I brought him back in.  Um...yeah that lasted about 2 seconds because once he saw McQueen the screaming began again.  So, this time I took him out for the rest of the meeting.  It just wasn't going to happen with a McQueen in the room.  So, note to self...next week McQueen will be the first toy in the bag. 

Apatate

Trey is really into ninja's right now.  His new favorite show is Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.  A few days ago he started telling me about this thing called 'apatating'.  "Mom, you have to close your eyes and think and if someone talks it makes it had to apatate.  I was confused so I told him to show me!  I instantly knew he meant meditating however I find it cute so I still haven't corrected him.  Anyway, yesterday I decided all the boys need hair cuts and since Summer is almost over I wanted to give them one last 'summer cut' before I have to start combing it again.  Trey wasn't on board until I told him it made him look like a ninja.  Well, while he was getting his cut I needed him to sit still because he kept jumping off the stool and doing ninja moves so I told him to 'apatate'.  I started laughing so hard when as he was apatating I heard him say, "Don't worry.  It will grow back."  Today he apatated through the sacrament.  Heck, I thought it was great.  He could have apatated through the entire meeting in fact, but he didn't.  He spent the rest of the time crying for fruit snacks.  It was nice while it lasted. 

Stairs

Their growing!!  And don't they resemble stairs.  I know it won't always be like.   For all I know Makai could end up being the tallest, but I think it's cute right now.  When Makai saw I was taking the picture he walked up the stairs to take his spot in line.  Thanks buddy. 

So, I was prompted to take write this post after a few nights ago when Kyle came over to give me a hug goodnight and almost knocked me over! It hit me, literally, how big he was getting.  He is one solid kid!!  Whoever has to play sports against him in the future I wish you the best of luck!

Anyway, it's also the beginning of a new school year so I decided to measure them all for my documentation so I can remember how tall they were at this age and then to see how much they grow this year.  So...for my record:  Tyler is 59inches tall and 81 lbs with a size 6 1/2 shoe, Kyle is 53 1/2 inches tall and weighs 80 lbs with a size 6 shoe, Kory is 47inches tall and weighs 45lbs with a size 1 shoe, Trey is 41inches tall and weighs 36lbs with a shoe size of 11, and Makai is 32 1/2 inches tall and weighs 28lbs with a shoe size of 7.

I haven't done all the math, but know that Kyle and Tyler only weigh 1 lb different.  In fact, they wear the same size short a 10/12 with only 1/2 a size different in their feet.  I have a feeling that as Kory and Trey grow the same thing is going to happen.  We'll see if I'm right.  I think Trey will have the same build as Kyle and Makai...like I said before he might just prove to be the biggest of them all. I feel so blessed to have 5 handsome and healthy boys.  We are blessed!