As of Late

Pep found a new favorite hobby (he loves it and asks to do it on a very regular basis)

AnDee finally got some friend time which included hours of Frozen play (which as you can tell by her face, didn't excite her at all)

And we got our art on.

( Andrew and I spent weeks cracking tiny holes in the tops of eggs, cleaning them and then saving them so that we could do this specific project. We filled the egg shells with paint. Gave each kid a canvas and let the throwing of eggs commence. It was pretty awesome, and a lot messy. I was covered in paint by the time we were done and had to rush in to try and get it out of my clothes. Even Andrews car got a little color added to it. )
The beginnings of our art collection...

The Ikester

He eats mud. A lot of mud. I think his two favorite foods are mud and chalk. He's obsessive about the mud and it drives me CRAZY.  Its not just like he sticks a little mud in his mouth and tastes it. Its like he puts handfuls in, chews and swallows. Its gross... but he still seems mostly healthy so I guess it can't be that bad for him.

Isaac is hands down my most rough and tumble kid I have. He hits, he pinches and bites and it all makes him laugh. A lot. He even laughs when you do it back.  He loves to be roughed up and you can be surprisingly mean with him and he still thinks its hilarious. I don't know what Im going to do with him when he gets a little older. He is already pretty strong and I can't get him to soften up! His poor siblings take a beating on a regular basis.
He is the biggest tease EVER. It's incredible how intensely he teases. He loves to walk up to Pep and grab whatever he is holding, yank it out of his hands and then run away laughing. Pep is his favorite person to do this to because he gives the biggest reaction. Full on throwing himself on the ground and screaming... Which just encourages Ike even more.
He is completely obsessed with reading. Its doesn't matter if I read to him for 5 minutes or an hour he has a complete meltdown every time I tell him we are done. Its actually pretty heartbreaking how sad he gets. He has memorized a lot of the books and jabbers along with me while I read or makes the animal/ bear/dino noises in the right places. Reading to him is one of my favorite activities as of late.

 This is how every day starts and ends. He wanders around the house dragging book with him and throwing fit after fit about no one reading to him. At moments he will get distracted and read to himself for a few minutes (he actually jabbers and makes the noises that fit) but after a few minutes he is right back at it... shadowing my every move and getting totally enraged when I don't sit down and read to him.

He isn't as verbal as my other two were at this age. He only uses a handful of actual words (mostly. "poopey" and "book" and the occasional "Oh TOODLES"!) but he communicates perfectly. No one ever has any doubt about what the kid wants, doesn't want, likes or dislikes. (if we are being honest he actually knows a lot of words but he always has a stinking binki in his mouth preventing him from using them.)

He's super bossy and is excellent at throwing fits... which drives us all completely crazy. But he is also so sweet and funny and a lot of fun. He loves to "help" me clean by putting random things in random drawers and his new favorite thing to do in the car is to wave and yell "HI!" to everyone and everything we pass. He is awesome during prayers too. He folds his arms and kneels (when called for) and always ends with and "amen!"
Im in love with this little fellow. He keeps things exciting and fun and challenging.

In the Mean Time

This boy...

Finally decided it was time to get out of diapers and start using the toilet. I know, I know. He is 3 and 1/2 but I had been warned about boys and how hard potty training can be and so I patiently waited until he was ready. Which was a pretty good idea because he pretty much just decided to do it and that was that!

Ninja turtles are a huge hit in our house right now. Im not completely sure why but Donatello is Peps absolute favorite. On occasion he will wear this nice purple (and manly) headband. At which point I am under strict orders to call him Donnie.

 Do you see this...???

I know, its adorable. I LOVE his hair long and shaggy and blond but at some point you have to suck it up and chop those baby locks so that your son doesn't go blind from being stabbed in the eye by his own hair.
Needless to say (See pics) The boy was not pleased with having his hair cut.

But he sure does have some beautiful eyes when you can actually see them, doesn't he?

We walk AnDee too and from school every day. And every day we have to stop at this really awesome rock so Pep can jump off of it. Right before I took this pick he was explaining to me that he is a "cool dude" cause he has socks like Dave. (yes... Dave ALWAYS wears black socks. Even in the shower)

The boy has turned in to SUCH a talker and my favorite part about listening to him is when he doesn't know a word. He is amazing at describing things so that you know exactly what he is talking about. On our way home from Utah (the first time. We drove) We were almost to Nebraska and he got all excited and started pointing out the window yelling "Mom look!" I wasn't sure what all the fuss was about so I asked him what I was looking for. "The huge spinning star!!!" Sure enough I looked out the window to find rows and rows of "huge spinning stars" also known as windmills.
A few weeks later we went out one evening to catch fireflies and there were fireworks going off in the distance. Again "Mom look!!" and again I asked what I was looking for "The flowers that explode in the sky!" He's cool.
The other fun thing about listening to him is that he still talks like a little kid. (Which I LOVE.) He still says things like "lellow" instead of yellow or "berry" in stead of very. The best part is that if you mimic him and say it the same way he will totally correct you... except its really hard for him to correct you cause he is not completely sure how to say it the right way, he just knows you are saying it wrong. Also if you try to get him to say words that you know he struggles (I only do this because I love hearing the way he talks.) with he will refuse. He does not like being laughed at. But its just so darn cute.
This kid is a hoot. As much as we all struggle with AnDee going to school every day it has been so fun to see him open up a little while she is gone. He is much more reserved when she is around but he comes right out of that shell when he feels like he has my undivided attention.
I love that he is rough and tumble and loves all things boy. We went to the park the other day while AnDee was at school and we were playing pirates on the toys. A nanny and two kids about the same age as Pep and one a little younger than Ike showed up a few minutes later. Ike was busy eating fish (wood chips) that we were catching out of the "ocean" and Pep kept falling in to the "ocean" and getting eaten by sharks. At which point I would have to save him. Im pretty sure the nanny thought I was COMPLETELY off my rocker. Here my 18 months old is eating wood chips and my 3 year old is rolling around in the mud (aka ocean) Both disgustingly dirty. The little boy started following Pep around and she quickly reprimanded him for getting dirty. Trying to lighten the mood I said (to the little boy)  something like "Yeah...Don't do what my kids do. Eating wood chips and rolling in mud is pretty gross" to which the nanny very seriously agreed with.  It didn't phase us though. We continued our pirate game which was way more fun than sitting on the side watching because you can't get dirty. All boys should get really dirty every day. It makes them much easier to handle and a lot less contentious. Plus its fun.

Kindergarten

Its no secret that I hate school. Always have, always will. Its not that I hate learning. I love learning. I just hate learning in an environment where someone else dictates how and when and why a person should learn. If we are getting down and dirty with this subject I feel like the public school system failed me. I struggled. Badly. Reading was next to impossible and math wasn't even on my radar. And because of the way the public school system was set up, I continued to fall further and further behind until I just gave up. I was a pro at faking sick in elementary school and by the time I got to high school I skipped more classes than I attended. I have no idea how I graduated. The only thing that even kept me going was the fact that I had to maintain a passing grade average in order to play soccer. What a pathetic experience it was for me. And so... as I said before, Its no secret that I hate school... Unless you are my  child and then it is a HUGE secret. As far as AnDee is concerned, I went to school every day and loved every single minute of it.
Before AnDee was even born Andrew and I had many extensive conversations about if we would send our kids to public schools or not. In the end we decided that we at least had to try. Maybe the system wouldn't fail our kids. I know for most of my friends it worked perfectly and they have good memories of attending school. AnDee needs the social end of it and she is much more intelligent than I ever was.
And so on August 19th we sent this cute girl off to her very first day of school.

She did great! And I didn't even get misty eyed in front of her (I did however have a good cry in the middle of the night, the night before) I put on my best most excited happy face and wished her good luck on her first day of school and off she went!
If we are being honest it isn't her favorite thing. She loves the other kids and is making friend quickly but she struggles to leave home and all things comfortable in the mornings but we are working on it and she is doing awesome. We have to give her a little bit of a break too because if we are being honest this little ladies life has been a bit of a whirl wind the last year or so. I can totally see why she would be a little anxious. She is working through it though and I couldn't be more proud.

Home

We obviously made it home... about a month ago actually. We tried really hard to get back in to the swing of things but if Im being honest... its been crazy. I was called in to Young Womens as soon as we got home and have been trying hard to get Buggy ready for school. Im pretty sure I had no idea what was going to be expected of us in that category. We have had doctors/dental appointments left and right, not to mention getting clothes and supplies (We spent $70 on supplies that the school required! Im pretty sure we bought enough supplies for her entire class)
Just as things were winding down and I was getting to the bottom of my to-do list, we received the news that Andrews Grandma Elder had passed away. The news was obviously sad and a little upsetting  but she was so ready. So ready to finally rejoin Grandpa Elder and to move past the limits of her mortal body. It was hard to say goodbye but it really was a really good experience. We got to fly to Utah for a few days for the funeral and I can honestly say it was fun (stressful but fun) preparing for the funeral. I know thats not what you normally hear but remembering her, her life and all of the hilarious and awesome things she did/was, was fun. I got to go through pictures from her entire life and it was just an awesome reminder of the person she was before she got so sick. Im super jealous of her fashion sense too. She was gorgeous and always dressed to the hilt. She was fun and playful and full of life and most of all... Her family ADORED her. She left behind quite the legacy and I feel very lucky to have had a small part in her life.
Going out to Utah was unexpected, especially just days before AnDee's very first day of kindergarten but it was so fun. Fun to see family and friends and to eat good food and to just let the kids play endlessly with cousins. It was so hard for AnDee to come back. She is really struggling with living so far away and with starting school in a place where she knows no one. I feel her pain. And some days I have the exact same pain but Im excited for her. She will finally have a chance to make friends her own age and be a little independent.
We did manage to do a few fun things in between our Utah trips. We discovered an awesome (and free!) zoo that is just minutes from us. We did lots of fishing and firefly catching (fireflies may very well be my favorite part about living here). We went to Savers and bought awesome dress up clothes and cheap toys. We drove our neighbors crazy and played in the rain/mud. We rode bikes and climbed trees (and used Peps head as a stool. I believe AnDee's exact words were "No Pep! Just let me step on your head!") We wrestled (the boys love to sit on peoples faces. If you lay on the ground  you will get a bum in your face) We went to the splash pad. (where the kids were terrified of all the fountains except the one little wimpy one that barely bubbled out of the ground.  Ike discovered the joys of nutella and we made a giant ball of yarn, which made him really happy. He also suckered me in to buying a stupid stuffed dog for him. He pined over it for weeks and weeks. Every time we went in to hobby lobby he would snatch it up and cuddle it. I couldn't resist.

 As I mentioned before, while we were in Utah I ate way too much comfort food and we spent lots of time with family and friends... And I got next to no pictures of any of it.

I know... Way too many pictures. Please forgive me in my sad attempt to get all caught up on all the things I have been missing.