Conner's a Preschool Grad!!

Last week was Conner's Preschool graduation. He has loved every minute of his 2 years in Preschool with his teacher Ms. Tanya. He just loves her and loved going to her house and playing with her dogs and his friends. He of course learned a lot of things as well. He can write his name pretty well for a 4 year old, and he knows his basic 123's and ABC's, he learned his colors and shapes, and some spanish, went on super fun field trips, and all sorts of fun stuff. We are going to miss preschool, but he is so excited to go to Kindergarten in August. Here are some of the highlights of his Preschool Graduation. 

Each one of the kids had a little part to play in the graduation...

Conner's was to lead everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance and he knew all the words and did a great job!

Then each child took a turn to tell us what they wanted to be when they grew up. There were some ambitious answers like Iron Man, Buzz Lightyear, Cowboys, or Astronauts.

 Conner said he wants to be a Policeman when he grows up!

Then his teacher called each child up and told something about them. She said Conner was such a kind and fun kid. He always wants to be first at everything... first to get his work done, first in line, first to sit down for circle time... he's like that at home too!!  :)  Then they got their report cards. He got great grades and is ready for Kindergarten!!

I tried to get a picture of his class, but this bunch of 4 and 5 year olds were kinda done with the picture taking... so this was the best I got. Conner loved all of the kids in preschool and would come home and talk about them and ask if he could go to their house to play. Lots of times he did get to go and play with them, and that boy loves to play with his friends!

One of the mom's found this cute idea to get a potted flower and have each of the kids/moms make a flower to go in it with a gift card inside as a Thank You to Ms. Tanya. It turned out great and she loved it! 

Thanks Ms. Tanya for a wonderful 2 years of preschool!!!  

Now he's 8 months!

Landon is 8 months old already! Really, how does that happen so fast!?!?

Here are some things about Landon at 8 months old:

*He army crawls all over... very fast!

*He loves to eat his fruit puffs and yogurt melts and can feed himself those things pretty well

*He has discovered the door stops and plays with them whenever he can

*He is quickly helping me know what in our house still needs to be baby proofed!

*He can sit up by himself, but hasn't figured how to go from sitting to laying very gracefully yet

*He is very ticklish on his ribs and by his neck

*has started to give "kisses" which really is just his little slobbery mouth wide open and landing on your cheek.

*He sleeps for about 11-12 hours at night

*He has discovered his... ummm.... "boy parts" (gonna keep this "G-rated") and his hand goes down there the instant that I take his diaper off. BOYS!!!!!

*He never sits still, not even to get dressed or for a diaper change

*He HATES Turkey Rice dinners... you would have thought we were killing him when we tried to feed it to him. That is the first food he has not liked!

*Takes 2-3 naps a day

*loves to play with the remote or our cell phones, he goes crazy if he sees one and can't get to it

*quickly spits his binky out if he sees you coming with his bottle

*kicks his little feet and talks if you ask him if he wants his "ba-ba"

*wears mostly 9 month clothes, but some 12 month ones too

*is still quite the little momma's boy and follows me all around

*loves to crawl into his brother's room and find things on the floor to play with and/or put in his mouth

*his hair is getting thicker

*still no teeth!

*loves to eat his toes... he always has his feet in his mouth

We just love this sweet little boy!!!!

Silly kids....

This week is the start of Brayden's last track break. 

He's home for the next month, which is a good and bad thing. I love not being in a rush in the mornings, but somedays he just really needs to be in school. He loves to be with his friends and keeping busy. So what does one do on track break you may ask.... 

Well this is what kept the boys entertained for a while today... It's Halloween in May!

The boys found some of their old Halloween costumes and begged me if they could put them on. I let them, in hopes of being a "cool" or good mom. They loved it!

Some things that I loved about it... Conner's 1 black sock, the Star Wars light saber as a weapon for the Power Ranger, and the Iron Man missile launcher as Batman's weapon of choice. 

Love these boys and their imaginations!

Patrick's mission...

It has been a little over 10 years since Patrick came home from his mission. It was shortly after that that we met and got married. Ever since we have been married, Patrick has asked me to make a scrapbook of his mission. Well, it only took me 10 years... but I finally did it! I spend all my extra time over the past month working on it. It was such a great experience to do this for him. Looking through all his pictures and listening to his stories behind them or experiences he had was kind of a testimony boost for me. Patrick served in a very hard mission and he was very successful there. He served in the Budapest Hungary mission. The church is not very big there, and the closest temple is in Germany. He struggled and grew a lot on his mission. He made lasting friendships with people he served with. It was a privilege to make this book for him.

I made this book for a few reasons. First and foremost: to preserve his memories of those 2 years in Hungary. His mission is a big part of his life so I wanted him to have something more then just pictures in an old school album. He was very good about writing in his journal while on his mission too, so that also helps to preserve those memories for him.

I also wanted to document his huge accomplishment of serving an honorable mission as an example for our boys. I hope they chose to follow in their father's footsteps and serve a mission as well. Patrick has told me time and time again that his mission made him the man he is today. I hope that for our boys as well. I hope that they will learn and grow and develop a greater testimony just like their father did.

I am so proud of him for serving the Lord for 2 years, even against many obstacles that were put before him before he ever even left home. I am so thankful that he served honorably and that he set a solid example for our boys to see.

Take a look at the book if you want. It's fun to see how young he looked back then and to see old friends from back in the day!

Click here to see it!

I am grateful for so many missionaries that chose to go and serve the Lord! But I am especially grateful for the one I married!

Crafty...

Well I'm not a super crafter by any means, but I really do like to do crafts once in a while. I got this idea to make these blocks for Landon's room way back when I was very first pregnant with him. My BFF Melissa made some for her girls room, and when I saw them, I knew that I wanted to make some too for my baby's room.

Melis is my crafting buddy! We used to be neighbors in Utah, and she is so dang creative and crafty it will KILL YOU! I miss crafting with her! But we still get ideas from each other and craft whenever we get together.

So a little while ago I finally did my own blocks! I thought they turned out pretty cute. Now to just find a cute little shelf to hang in his room to put them on... but for now they are just on his dresser.  

I wanted to embellish them a bit more, but couldn't think of anything "boyish" enough to put on them.  Flowers and bows just don't seem to fit into his room decor. (or lack of!) Anyone have any suggestions?

I scream... You scream... We all scream for ICE CREAM!

Last night we took the boys out for ice cream at the local DQ. It is a rare treat, so they thought it was awesome! They thoroughly enjoyed their chocolate dipped ice cream cones. This is the best way to spend the hot summer months here!

Landon was happy to tag along even though he didn't get any ice cream.

Maybe some fingers would taste good....

Ummm, but not as good as toes taste!  Delicious!!

He'll settle for eating his feet instead of ice cream! He loves to eat his feet!

Loved it!!

Today was just a normal day. I went to pick up Brayden and a neighbor kid from school since it is my week to drive the carpool. We dropped off my neighbor's daughter and then had to run Patrick's pants to the dry cleaners. (Landon so nicely spit up all over them yesterday in church, right before Patrick had to teach in Elder's Quorum! lol!) On our way home, I had let the boys roll their windows down. I'm a mean mom, and rarely let them do this because I find it super annoying that the wind blows my hair in my face while I drive. But today, I let them have the back windows open. As we were driving down the street, both boys were reaching their arms out the windows to feel the wind as we drove. As they do this, I hear Conner say, "Ahhhh, this is the life!"

I love how such simple things can make their day! 

It made me smile!

7 Months already?!?!

Yup, my little Landon is already 7 months old!

He is so fun!

I love this age. He has his little personality and likes and dislikes. About a month ago I told him he needed to stay this sweet, cute, and little forever. He's not really listening! :)

Here are some things about Landon at 7 months:

*He scoots/rolls/army crawls all over to get into things... he's going to be full on crawling any day now... yikes!

*He finds anything on the floor and puts it in his mouth

*He sleeps all night, but wakes up early (wish just one of my kids liked to sleep late!)

*He tries to roll over while you change his diaper

*He still loves his excer-saucer

*Still has no teeth, but drools like crazy... so maybe soon he will

*His hair is getting thicker and a little darker and sticks up on top.... I LOVE it!!!!

*He now loves to sleep in his crib, in fact he rarely sleeps if he's not in it. What a difference just a few months will make!

*He's learned to screech at the top of his lungs... it is really loud!

*He can sit up by himself.... but not for too long yet, he's still a little unsteady

*He is starting to wear size 9 month clothes... he's getting kinda tall

*He is ticklish on his ribs and will laugh pretty hard if you tickle him there

*He still thinks his big brothers are the most hilarious things ever!

*He gives his Daddy smiles when he sees him
*He can hold his bottle

*He always tries to eat my hair when I hold him

*He "talks" to us all the time. I wonder what he has to tell us??

*He's noticed the cat! He just freezes and stares at the cat as she walks by. He would probably give anything to touch her, but Maggie won't have any of that!

*He sometimes plays in his crib when he wakes up, and has gotten his feet stuck in the bars a few times, then he gets pretty mad! 

*He still melts my heart when he smiles at me... we just love this little man!

(Don't mind that Landon is in the same outfit for the last few posts!!  :)  I just realized that. The funny thing is he has only worn this outfit twice... and he got lots of pictures taken of him each time I guess!)

Better late then never

Today I finally got the boys dressed in their Easter clothes. Between General Conference and a few weeks of sick kids, we haven't been to church to wear the new outfits. So today I finally got them all dressed up in their Easter clothes and took their pictures. (Much to their dismay! I don't know why they hate to get their pictures taken so much. Is that a boy thing???)

Such handsome boys!!! I love being their Mom!

Landon's 6 month pictures

Last week I took Landon to get his 6 month pictures taken. I loved how they turned out. Here are just some of my favorites...... 

So Serious!!!  lol!!

In this picture (below).... he looks IDENTICAL to my older brother Russ's baby picture. I guess this is the "Shumate" side in him! Such a cutie!!

I just love this little boy!!! He's too cute! How can you NOT just love those big eyes and sweet smile!?!? And I absolutely love how his hair sticks up!

I can't believe how fast he is growing!

Shark Reef Field Trip

Last week Conner got to go with his preschool to the Shark Reef. He was so excited. He has gone a few times before, but he was still way excited about seeing some sharks. He has been really into sharks lately, and had even just got a book from the library about sharks, so his excitement level was pretty high! Landon and I even got to go along. It was a fun day!

They got to see lots of different fish. Even some piranhas! Those were pretty cool, but man, did they look mean!

Here he is pointing to a Zebra Shark, that was his favorite shark he told me.

They got to touch sting rays. Well If they got close enough to you that is. Conner was very disappointed that he didn't get to touch one. They wouldn't get close enough for him to reach them. He's touched them before though. The last time we were there it wasn't so crowded, so we were able to spend more time at this spot.

My favorite part is the jelly fish. I just think they look so cool! My camera didn't do them justice, they were glowing! It was so awesome!

Conner thought these alligator skulls were pretty cool. They were in a classroom that we got to go in after our tour of the shark reef. In here they talked to the kids a little more about sea animals and let the kids look at different fish they have in there, feel what things would feel like if you touched them, and they even had a snake in there! Yuck!! Why that was in there, I don't know... I kept away from it, but Conner went over and checked it out.

They got to make their own sea turtles! Conner's turned out so cute. I wish you could see the cute little face he drew on it. It was in a really light color of crayon, so it was hard to see, but it was super cute!

Landon enjoyed his first trip to the Shark Reef. He just hung out in his stroller and loved looking around at everything. He was so good!

Little did I know that poor Conner had pink eye. That is why his right eye looks a little swollen and pinkish. It kept coming and going for several days, and it was just kinda red sometimes. So I just thought it was maybe allergies or something in the air. By the end of the week, his eye were both so red and gross, and he had a fever, that I finally took him to the Dr. on Friday, and the poor kid had double ear infections and pink eye! I had no idea. Don't ya hate it when that happens??? He's all better now....

BUT he was kind and generous and shared his pink eye with..... ME!!!! How annoying! No worries though, the Dr. gave us plenty of extra eye drops for any of the rest of us who get it in our family. Hopefully no one else will get it!

All in all it was a fun day with Conner and his preschool at the shark reef. We had such a good time. Conner just loved it. We topped off the day with lunch at McDonalds, and he thought it was a great day! I love being able to go on his field trips with him.

BINGO!

Last week in Primary, the boys got "Conference Bingo" to play while they watched General Conference this past weekend. We let them use their jelly beans from their easter baskets to mark their spots. Each time they heard certain things like the word "Prophet", "Jesus Christ", "Family" or several others, they put a jelly bean down. They didn't do so hot at first, but after a while (once they realized they actually had to listen to put a jelly bean down) they were really doing great! In fact, before conference was over, Brayden had eaten so many jelly beans he asked if he could stop playing because his tummy was starting to feel sick. Silly kids...

This was a great idea! I don't think my boys have ever listened so intently to conference before. We will be making this a new tradition for conference to help keep the kids attention during the sessions.

Thanks Sister Lea for the game! :)