Stillwater Sparks Come to the GF

 The Sparks made the 5 hour trek up north to hang out with our crazy family! We had beautiful fall weather and loved the company! 

 Who is goofier, Gramps or Cros? The jury is still out!

 One-on-one reading! 

 The boys got lots of story time with Mimi!

 Saturday morning the boys both had soccer games and each scored a goal! Then we came home to a Hawkeye game...and victory. But I didn't get pictures of those events. So here is a pic of the boys doing what they do. Random costumes and sword fighting! 

 I took Mimi out for a late birthday pedi. Girls Afternoon Out!!!

 On Saturday night we celebrated Crosby's birthday...again! He had been begging for a 2nd party because "Carter ALWAYS gets 2 parties". Well there you go, Cros. Dreams do come true!

Crosby's August-October 2015 Update

The college students LOVE Crosby:) 

 Chilling at our staff retreat! 

Cros: "Mom, can I wear this to bed...please??!" 

Me: "No hon"

Cros: "Awwww man!"

 There is a pedestrian bridge that crosses the Red River near our house. Crosby calls it "his favorite bridge" and asks to bike there often and throw bread out for the ducks.  

 "Mom, can I play baseball with this?" (zucchini)

 "Mom, will you take my picture?!" He was especially excited to hold a light saber with Elsa for some reason:) 

Cheese!

 Cruising on his strider bike. 

 Cros had his annual eye check-up and they said it looked great and we don't have to come back for another 2-3 years! 

He has been loving seek and find books lately.

Singing while playing

 And of course, selfies with mom! I've been loving all the extra alone time with Crosby this fall. He is so easy and wants to jump in and help me with laundry, cleaning, baking, etc. We played house the other day and I was the baby. I got to take a 15 minute nap! Life is good:)

Crosbyisms from the past 3 months:

-After I was singing along to a song Cros said:
"Mom, what is wrong with your brain?"
Me: "What???"
Cros: "You are acting sooo crazy!"

-At his 4 year check-up he weighed 46 pounds (97%) and was 3'7" (93%). Big boy!

-He loves to comb his hair after getting out of the shower.

-After his last hair cut, Cros cried for 2 days every time he looked in the mirror:(

-He loves play dates with Mason during the week. 

Carter's August-October 2015 Update

Wearing Tim's t-shirt from when he was in elementary school!

 My freckle-faced, muscular, athletic, smart, intense Carty man! 

 Hats and face paint. Carter still will dress up from time to time but not as much as he used to. 

Viking Pride awards!

 Gigi's wig! This picture totally cracks me up!!!

 Carter lost his front two teeth just days apart from each other.

Carter's little ditty. He sings this random song all the time.

Carterisms from the past 3 months:

-Tim cuts the boys hair and typically just uses clippers and trims them up. This past time Carter asked for hair like a "DJ-long on top and short on the sides". Tim asked Carter if he knew what a dj did. Carter replied: "No, but they seem cool!" No idea where he got that from.

-"Mom, how do you always know when I have to go potty? That must be your superpower!"

-While driving: "Mom, did you use your blinker? I always have to remind Tim to use his." Mr. responsible:)

-"Dad is the best in the west! And the east!"

-When I pick Carter up from school he is usually holding his student teacher's hand. She happens to be young and very cute:)

-Carter is progressing very quickly with his reading, spelling and math. He loves school so much!

-He also loves piano.

Cooper's August-October 2015 Update

 I forgot to post this one from Colorado that a friend took. Isn't he so cute???

 Cooper dresses himself everyday and is very creative in how he does it! Whether for school or in costume, he loves to layer things and trying new combinations. 

 Wearing Gigi's wig. When I showed this picture to Cooper he freaked out and wanted me to delete it. So I kept it and put it on the blog:)

 School! Cooper is doing great in school. He has gotten a couple of Viking pride awards and has loved being the classroom leader. I cracked up the other day at how different Cooper is from Carter. Carter always tells me right away after school if he gets an award but Cooper...he just crumples his and I find them at the bottom of his backpack:) 

 Chilling outside of the library. Cooper still loves to climb on everything and is constantly striking a ninja pose.

 He experimented with scissors one day on his hair. We had a good talk. I don't think he'll do it again:) 

 Learning letters and working on penmanship.

 Craft time

 

 Cooper has really starting to enjoy Kindergarten. He has a couple of close buddies that he hangs out with and his teacher says that he does great in the classroom. We were a bit worried so this is incredible! He still gives me a run for my money at home but it provides many times a day for both of us to come to Jesus and remember the gospel! Cooper loves legos, ninjas and wrestling. He is the most physical of our 3 boys by far. He is great at making friends and loved playing soccer this fall.

Cooperisms from the past 3 months:

-When he is questioning something he says, "For real life?"

-C: "Mom, do girls toot?"

Me: "Yes hon."

C: "What?? That is super weird!"

-He gets up a lot at night and has started having bad dreams. He always says they are about a witch:(

-He is always hot and sleeps with his shirt off and if possible will be in shorts with a shirt off.

-We brought Crosby in for a doctor appointment and Cooper asked the nurse if she would pray for Crosby. Then he asked her if she knows about Jesus!

-He runs and jumps into my arms when I pick him up from school!

-He still puts everything in his mouth.

-He does NOT like to be woken up in the morning for school.

-He came home from school this week and told us that he talked with a couple of his friends about Jesus. One girl didn't know much about Jesus so Cooper got to tell her all about how much He loves her.

Fall Cabin Weekend

Tim spoke at the Bismarck Cru's fall retreat last weekend so I decided to take the boys to my parent's cabin to enjoy the fall weather and get some help with the boys!

We had beautiful weather and enjoyed lots of time outside!

 Papa loves hats! And I think he loves when his family wears hats:) 

 Playing the Wii with Nana!

 Getting ready to hike in the woods to our neighbor's hunting tree fort. 

 Room to run and explore. A tree fort to play in. So much to see and enjoy. We had a glorious Saturday enjoying the Lord's creation and each other's company! 

 Papa took this picture. It was only 1 of 2 that he snapped quickly and look at that...3 boys smiling:) 

 I'm not sure why I am still amazed by the energy our boys have. Thankfully my parents have a huge hill down to the lake. I had the boys run that thing often throughout the weekend to let out some energy!

Thanks for a great weekend Nana and Papa!