Independence Day in Huntsville

The 4th of July is my second favorite holiday. I never cease to be moved by the flag passing me or the Star Spangled Banner. After living in another country, thinking about this country always gets me emotional.

Tim and I did a 5k to start off the day. It was awesome. Then breakfast at the park, looking at the booths, and watching the parade.

We were SOOOOO lucky to have both our Grandpa and Nana AND our Papa and Nana with us this year!!

Bret and Joyce brought Ella whom they were babysitting and watched our kids and cheered for us while we ran the 5k.

The Calders know how to watch the parade! The right side of the street, in the back of the truck, under the umbrellas, in reclined chairs. Awesome.

The kids have lots of fun at Grandpa's house. I especially love when they play together, like Hadley and Ainsley here.

My Daddy always taught me, when it's the summertime, you fill up the pool for the kids...

The kids had so much fun. Trent loves to wear his goggles and is the temperature of water doesn't cause him to hesitate. Hadley is more apprehensive but eventually gets all in. Ainsley loves the water. She loves it so so much. These floaties made the pool pretty full pretty fast, but the kids were so happy. We realized we didn't need more than a 10 foot pool to make everyone happy.

I've got all I need right here in this square.

And do you think Trent has the same genes as his Grandpa? Look who started a water fight?!!

Grandpa couldn't stop talking about the water fight all weekend. He was so excited to have a partner in crime just like him.

This nightgown that Ainsley is wearing is one that I wore as a baby. And Ainsley looks a lot like me, almost exactly like my baby pictures.

She gained her walking independence just in time for Independence Day!

Grandpa's always the life of the party.

We even helped Grandpa with his chores! Putting away the boat!

A Day in the Life: Ainsley

Where have nine months gone?

Ainsley has gotten a lot louder lately. She has been raising her voice to its utmost capacity in order to get our attention. Not yelling, according to her, but wow the volume! And who can blame her. I've trained her to do that because if she doesn't, she pretty much gets overlooked. Is this what happens with the later children? Sweet girl. 

She has been threatening to crawl for more than a month, so I've been trying to keep her off the ground. Cruel mother I am. Once she's going, there's no stopping her. I know from experience. So I'm procrastinating.

Today I set her down in the middle of the room and within ten seconds she had scooted to her bookshelf. What? It's begun.

She scoots, then pulls up onto all four, belly flops back onto the ground, then scoots and repeats.

I dread the day she learns how to transport herself on all fours, and fast.

Ainsley is such a smiler. Her smiles feed our souls.

She has been sitting up for a month now, so she'll sit up with her toy basket and "get to work".

When we interrupt her, she seems a bit pestered as she is "busy" and has stuff to do. 

She sprouted two bottom teeth in the last few weeks.

She makes us so happy! As Hadley proclaimed, "Mom! I don't want a different baby! I want Ainsley for forever! 

Somehow Hadley must have thought we had Ainsley out on rent.

A Day in the Life: Hadley

Hadley will soon be four. 

Lately we have been watching Wreck It Ralph a lot! On that show, a "glitch" is something you don't want to be. It is very sad and people are mean to you.

We are driving down the road and Hadley slices the air as she swipes her hand across in front of her and proclaims,

"Mom! I am never, ever, ever a glitch! Don't ever ever ever say I am a glitch. Okay?"

Uncontrollable adorableness right there.

This morning, Hadley said, "Mom! I love our Ainsley so much! I love our baby!!!…

I don't ever want to get any other baby! Just have our Ainsley forever!"

Hadley is in love with the crossed arm pose. She always does it. Not sure why.

This week, our ward is living off of the food storage we already have in our home. (Luckily we had done two huge grocery trips that Saturday before the surprise announcement in Sacrament Meeting. So it's not gonna be too rough for us.)

In Family Night, we explained to the kids that we would need to ration the milk because the Bishop asked us not to shop for seven days. The kids always getting themselves cereal in the morning, and usually using too much milk, instigated this announcement. And a teaching moment of course.

Sometimes I have to tell the kids we can't make our breakfast shake, or we have to have a little milk with our cereal. And I couldn't make cookies for family night that week because we wouldn't be able to drink milk with it.

This morning, Hadley said the prayer for breakfast:

"And please bless that we can buy milk when the Bishop says we can go shopping again."

Sigh. She busts us up.

Hadley has a new short bob haircut because her untrained mother should never have picked up the scissors to apply a simple trim. I'm surprised she's made it through almost four years of life without cutting her own hair herself. Luckily, she has never complained. She's darn cute.

That's our Haddles.

A Day in the Life: Trent

Every single person we meet, Trent says this right off the bat, 

"I was four. But then I had a birthday and now I'm FIVE."

Every. Single. Person.

Last night at dinner, Trent proclaimed: "I never want to be fat. Mom, how do people get fat?"

Me: "Um…If you eat a lot of candy."

Five minutes later I take some candy out of the candy jars to eat them.

Trent innocently inquires: "Mom, do you want to be fat?"

Two days ago:

"Mom! I love you 95!!"

"And I love Dad 99! Cause he's the awesomest!"

When we arrived at gymnastics and I told Trent to run in cause we were late, he asked me:

"Mom, are we late 99?"

Last night at dinner:

"Mom! I love this dinner 90-10!"

Trent cheers for Dad in Dr. Mario and wants him to win!

On the way home in the car today it had been raining, and this is what Trent told me:

"Mom, I want to find a rainbow and then when I get under it I'm gonna dig and dig and dig and then find a shiny gold coin…cause the lady at Freddy's Playplace told me there was a man under the rainbow with a gold coin I could have."

"Okay. But did you know no one has ever found the end of the rainbow?"

"Well I want to."

(Oh boy. I hope one day we aren't chasing the end of a rainbow for two hours in the minivan, but we might!)

This morning Trent said to me, "Mom, when we go to gymnastics, I want you to watch me the WHOOOOOLE time. And not talk."

Haha. "Well, I need to talk a little bit. It's not nice to not talk to people."

Trent: "Oh. I will tell you what you can do…You look, then talk a little, then look, then talk a little, then look."

I am happy to report that I did my very best at watching Mr. Boo (Trent) and after gymnastics I got my reward. 

"Mom. Thanks for watching me the WHOOOOLE time."

Worth it.

(Trent posed for all these pictures on his own and asked me to take them by request.)

That's our Trent.

Protests

For some reason, I still think a good cry picture is adorable...

I mean, look at that! 

Agh! I want my little girl back!

I just want to pick her up and hold her!

She's used to my paparazzi ways now.

A protester turned diva.

Munchkins at Four Months

Name that Four-Month-Old Munchkin…

 

How'd you do?