I was thinking about what to do this summer.  Will is in his last week of school before summer break and I kind of wanted to make it a relaxing non stressful summer with not much scheduled.  But last year we had a schedule and the kids thrived on it and loved it.  Everyone got a long better and I was able to teach them and have learning times without them moaning and complaining about it.  They were excited to follow the chart.  So I was thinking maybe I'll print out the same schedule and do it 3-4 times a week.  I still need to think about what days I'm going to do it and what days will be breaks.  But I've been looking over my pictures and journal entries from last year and I thought I'd post them here.  It has been a motivation for me to do it again.  Here's what I wrote from last summer:

Tues, May 24th:
The kids got dressed so fast and put a sticker on the chart!  They were so excited.  After breakfast it says clean up time.  They all brought their bowls and spoons to the sink and helped clear the table.  Then Tessa washed the table while I did dishes and Will and Adalynn cleaned their room.  It was awesome.  I think this was the first time they ever cleaned their rooms on their own w/ out me having to guide and direct and push and yell.
Again they received a sticker and they were able to see what we do next.  Tues was Will's graduation so we switched it up a bit and went to graduation.

When we got home we wrote and cut out all the letters of the day, and talked about vowels and consonants.  We made little pouches to put them in so we could draw them out every day and then we hung them up.  We also opened the fridge letter builder, and Will played with it for awhile spelling out one word after another.
For Reading time: learned 3 new flashcards from Bob words, then Will read accompanying book.
For math time the number of the day was one, we found one something around the house.  Then we got all the balls in the house (there was like 10 of different sizes) and we lined them up biggest to smallest.  We talked about big, bigger, biggest, small, smaller, smallest, first, middle, last...
For arts and crafts we made hand trees.  The best part was gathering the materials.  We went on a nature walk and collected grass, leaves and little rocks.  Then we came inside and set our supplies on the table.  I painted their hand and arms brown and they made the hand/ arm stamp on the paper.  The top where their fingers are is where the leaves go.  We put glue down and they decorated the tree with leaves. Then glued grass and rocks at the bottom.  They had lots of fun.
After that was reading time- me read to them.  Then they watched some tv during nap time.  After nap time they went swimming outside.  We had a very fun, eventful day full of learning and nice quality time.




Wednesday, May 25th:
The schedule is still exciting and working great.  They get dressed and do the things they need to do quicker and they are so much more helpful.  Will loves going to the schedule and announcing what comes next.

After each meal it says clean up, and I've told them that that means they bring their plates to the sink then either help with dishes or clean up toys.  Never has my house been so clean.  After each meal they brought their dishes to the sink, I rinsed them, and they put them in the dishwasher themselves.  There was not a dish in the sink all day and the rest of the house kept pretty clean too.  It was amazing.
For singing time each of them picked their favorite songs then I chose some fun ones.  I think they were My Hands, and then 3 little alligators.  Then we did songs about all the seasons.  Summer- fun to do, Autumn- It's Autumn time, Winter- Snowman, then Spring- Popcorn Popping.  Then we did rain is falling (spring), snow is falling (winter), leaves are falling (autumn), and sun is shining (summer).
For letters and writing time they were all able to draw their letters for the first time.  Adalynn drew the letter of the day, Will drew a vowel and Tessa drew a consonant.   The letter of the day was T.  Consonant: D, Vowel: U.  We couldn't make any words out of that, but we did find many words that started with a T and D and we wrote down some words that started w/ a u and some words w/ U as the middle sound.  I wrote down 3-4 words for each letter on the dry erase board, then Will picked a word from each letter.  With the three letters he wrote this sentence:  The dog played tag and jumped.  Will and Adalynn also practiced writing the letter(s) of the day using neatness and correct formation.  They did great!
Our fun activity with the letter of the day was to write the letter T outside with sidewalk chalk.
After that they had play time, then lunch time, followed by a quick clean up.
Math time the number of the day was 2.  We found 2 of various things on us and around the house.    I drew shapes on my crayola board and they named the shapes.  This was more for the girls.  Then for Will on the dry erase board I wrote numbers 1-10 with 3-4 blanks and he had to fill in the blanks.  He loved it so we kept going till we filled the board.  When we had one line left I told him if he could count to 60 then he could count all the way to 100!  And on the last line we counted by 10s.
For Art time they played with Play dough.

Thursday, May 26th:

Our letter of the day was A, Will drew E for the Vowel, Tessa drew M for the consonant.  They wrote the letters and then we came up with 3-4 words from each letter.  Will circled the ones he wanted for his silly sentence and came up with: The Flying mat with a cat both get wet.  We fixed grammatical errors and worked on neatness.
Our fun activity for the letter of the day was to make an A with beans, rice and sesame seeds.  We helped them glue it in the right shape and then they chose what they wanted to use. It was interesting to see their personalities manifest in their art.  Tessa just grabbed everything and basically poured it all over the paper.  She has a get 'er done and do it however is fastest personality.  Adalynn lined the beans up nice and neat exactly on the lines.  Very proficient and precise, she likes things just so and is organized like me.  Grandma Fenter says Tessa is like her.  Will did his neatly but did a cool twist to it.  He did beans on one side, sesame seeds on the other side (of the capital A) then rice on the lowercase, making a nice artistic pattern, which was very fitting to his personality as well.  It was fun.
For Reading Will is really loving the bob books.  We learned 3 new words with the flash card, then read the accompanying book.  We finished the first set- Book 3.
For Art time I think they did water colors.

Friday, May 27th:
Half day, so we didn't draw a letter, I think we just played with the letter phonics, sang the Starfall song, we reviewed all the Bob Books- so Will read the 1st 3 in a row.  And he did great!  He is becoming a really good reader and is getting excited about it.
For Math: Sorting- by size, color or category.  Everyone had their own thing. Foam shapes- triangles, squares and circles, Stars (for jewelry making), and pom pom balls- the soft ones of different colors and sizes.  They really liked this activity too.
I don't think we did an art time, but they might have colored.  We finished before lunch.

Mon, May 30th:
It was a holiday and we were all a little sick, so I told them no school.  Although Will did find all his old school books that I've saved and some of the new ones.  He colored the new ones and then we read all of them.  There were six and he read them like a pro.  That was about all we did for school that day though.

Tues, May 31st:
ABCs: Letter of the day: R, Vowel: O, Consonant: N.  This was the first time we were able to make a word out of any letters: on and no.  They wrote their letter(s) using correct formation and neatness, then I wrote down some words on the dry erase board, 3-4 per letter.  Will circled the words he wanted to use for his sentence and came up with: I ran with my net and I caught a mouse and the mouse wunted to mop all the houses in the world.  (So typical of him to say ALL in the world- lol)
Our fun activity for the letter of the day was that I drew big Rr's in (big block letters) on construction paper and they painted them.  Tessa's paint filled the whole paper + more and you couldn't see an R anywhere in there, but Will and Adalynn painted their Rs nicely and did a good job.  Then on a white sheet Will wanted to paint a rainbow.
Will read book 4 in the Bob Books.
Math: I drew the shapes, they tried to name what shape and color it was the fastest, then I had Will pick a shape and Adalynn pick a shape and I made a pattern out of those shapes.  Will identified what pattern it was (ABAB) then Adalynn told me what comes next, we did this a couple times then they made their own pattern out of the patterns we discussed.
Art: I Spy bottles.  They loved gathering a bunch of little things to put in there.  We poured some rice, put in some toys and stickers (rub in rice) then poured more rice.  They have looked through this many times to find all the items.

Wed, June 1st:
ABCs: Letter of the day: N, others: O and Y.
Wrote letters, Will's sentence was: I ate noodles that were orange and they made me yawn.
Activity: Printed out big N's from the computer.  It came with 4 pictures of things that started with and N on the bottom, so they cut those out and glued them to their paper with the letter N, then with the big N's they filled them with stickers and it ended up looking really cool.  I was really surprised at how good Tessa did with this.  She put the stickers on all by herself and put them in the lines.  She filled it up the fastest and loved it.  I thought she'd put them wherever and get bored with it but she really surprised me how good she did.  Adalynn was the one that lost interest so me and Will helped her fill it up.  Will cut his N's out and glued it to construction paper, then he had a theme going on with his stickers.  I love seeing how the kids work (their methods).  This was a big hit!  :)
Reading: 2 Bob books.  They have 3 books in each set, and they are color coordinated.  We've gone through blue, and today Will wanted to finish the purple books.  He wants to hurry and get through the kindergarten set so we can get through the first grade set.  So he wants to read 2 a day.  (His choice he seriously is excited about these books.)  So we finished purple and then not too long after that the mail carrier delivered a package.  And what was it?  Bob Books for 1st grade!  The kids seriously jumped up and down and yelled "The Bob books!!!" They were so excited.  Will wanted to look through all of them.
Art:  stuffed art

And that's where we are today!  So far I am so happy that I decided to do this with them.  I love it.  I feel like I'm teaching, spending quality time with them, showing them organization and scheduling... they are learning about helping out and doing "chores" except it's not considered a chore- it's just we all work together to help keep the house clean.  I love seeing Will love learning, I love seeing his improvement from when I was working with him when he was 3 and 4.  I love seeing the things the kids come up with and do.  And they are really thriving on this schedule.  They seriously get excited to see what happens next and to put a sticker on the chart, and to do the next thing.  They are having fun and getting along better.  It seems like when I just let them play there are many fights, but when I give them something to do like an art activity or a board game then we have lots of fun together.  So things are going well.
I feel like a mom and a teacher.  I have done so much research and spent so much time on what I am planning to do.  I have written lists, typed lists, organized documents w/ pictures, read arts/ activity books, made "lesson plans" and it is worth it.  :)

When Will grows up...

Will is so talkative.  Today he told me he wanted to be a spy, so I talked to him about what a spy would do and he said he wanted to look for clues to get/find the bad guys.  So we decided he wanted to be a detective.  He wants to get the bad guys and tell them to choose the right.  Then if they don't choose the right, he'll put them in jail.  He wants to give them a chance to be good and change first.  So it sounds like a combination job:  detective, police officer and counselor.  I told him he should write that down b/c 10 yrs from now he might like to read it.  He asked why, so I told him that when you're older, you look back at what you wanted to be when you were a grown up and it's funny b/c you might change your mind later and want to do something different.  He said, "I'm never going to change my mind b/c I'm going to get it stuck in my head and never let it out, and if it wants to come out I'll do this (covers head with arms) and I won't let it out."  Haha!
He also says when he's a grown up he wants to build a house that looks like him.  I guess it'll be shaped like him or have a picture of him at the top.  And he wants to build his own car and a special jail to help the bad guys.  But this is not going to be a job it'll just be something he wants to do.  In the past couple weeks he has also told me he wants to build a playground like the ones the squinkies have- for kids and he wants to build bridges.

A New Year! Off to a good start.

So Adalynn said something cute today, and I thought I need to write that down.  So I decided to come to the blog.  Now, this is not a New Years Resolution- I know I'm not going to keep this up b/c it's not one of my prioritize right now, but here and there I like to document what's going on.
So, let's start from the bottom (or the youngest) or sweet little Jaren.  We are SO SO glad we have him in our home.  He makes us all happier with his cute little claps when he accomplishes something, his happy smile around the dinner table, his cute little walk, his sweet hugs.  At this stage everything he does is cute!  I just watch him all day and he is continually bringing smiles to my face.  He loves books now.  He will bring me book after book.  And if it's one he doesn't like he'll right away loose interest and go get another one, if it's one he does like he'll want to read it over and over and over again.  Like at least 4 times in a row.  It's very cute.  He doesn't say much (dada a lot, mama sometimes) but he is trying to communicate.  He'll point, he'll clap, he'll reach toward me or motion and he also kind of grunts.  When I'm playing with a shapes toy or stacker toy with him and I say "This?" He'll try to say this, more of the sss sound, and if I say Again?  He's say Da!  And kind of bop like Yeah!  So he is trying.  He is a joy.
Tessa is in Primary now.  What a big girl.  And she is still doing her busy bee class too.  We had the winter break and she is excited to go back now.  She kind of laughs whenever we talk about it and says "I love my busy bee class!"  She can be so helpful and sweet and loving, but she can also flip to the other side pretty fast.  Something will set her off (and you'd think she'd of learned by now) but she'll just scream or throw a full on fit.  I really hope that gets better soon b/c I don't like time-outs all day.  I love it when it's just me and her though and we do puzzles and play games, or sometimes she just helps me do the dishes or clean the bathroom and she's really sweet about it like she actually enjoys helping me!
Adalynn is such a sweet, nurturing and kind little girl.  She is very sweet with Jaren.  She plays with him and brings him his pacifier or a toy she hugs and kisses him.  She makes him laugh.  She is for the most part just a happy and sweet girl.  She is well mannered and likes to give us hug and show love.  She really has learned compassion and how to spread the love and happiness.  Today, she showed me her drawing that she made in her class (CTR 4 at church) At the top it says I can CHOOSE THE RIGHT... by helping my mom and dad, and keeping the commandments.  She said she helped with that answer.  Then she drew a picture, this is how she described it, "This is You and Daddy, and Jaren, and me and Tessa and Will, and we are picking up toys and putting them in the toy box.  And on the back it's a picture of me going to the temple and I'm going to get married and then be a mommy."  And I told her how proud I was of her that that's what every mom wants to hear.  What a good girl.
Will is much more mature this year.  When I go to his school Stacey at the front desk talks so highly of him and how much better he's doing this year and how much she likes him.  Mrs. Eaton says he's smart and I think she enjoys having him in class... but she does mention that he gets in his own world sometimes.  I of course notice that at home too- we have to tell him to do things over and over again sometimes b/c he doesnt pay attention.  But he is a good boy and is much happier (fits hardly ever now) He plays well with others and is helpful.  He is really into super heroes lately.  He loves spider-man.  If there is a level 1 or 2 Spiderman book he'll want to read that one to me every night in his spider-man pjs...after he has worn a spider-man shirt and watched the cartoon during the day and then acted it out... He also has been watching He-man lately.
We got some new games for Christmas and over winter break we have played Sorry and Guess Who many times as well as our old games- Zingo, Crazy Eights, Candyland...
So, as far as the new year goes the kids are off to a great start with their manners.  I have started doing a manners jar for each of them and if I hear them say Please, Thank you, or Excuse me or if they are just being really polite and kind they get a marble.  If they scream or whine they get one taken away (b/c that is not good manners).  They have been much happier and more polite since we've started that.
As for Billy and I our New Years Resolutions are to improve our spirituality and physical health.  We are starting a year of P90X and a lifestyle of healthy eating.  We have come to realize that we are the type of people that can't really do the occasional splurge on the weekend or holidays or once a month b/c a day or weekend turns into a week or a month of eating unhealthy and then we go back to those same food addictions and we crave the fast food and the sugary junk.  But we also have realized that while it may taste good at the moment it makes us feel awful and is not worth it.  Not only do I feel guilty, but as I get older my body can't take that food.  I get heartburn and stomach pains and worse every time I eat junk.  I just CANT do that to myself any more.  No excuses.
So Mr. Tony Horton has suggested a plan to cleanse yourself of this bad stuff and to figure out how your body reacts to one thing at a time being taken away.  The first week is no processed food or sugars.  The second week- no gluten, the 3rd week- no dairy, the 4th week no meat.  So at the end you are pretty much a vegetarian for a week.  We will be eating a lot of fruit, salads and soups.  We have completed week one and it feels so good to be eating whole foods and to be eating so healthy.  We have had some things from a can (like tomatoes, broth, and beans) but we look at every ingredient to make sure it has no bad stuff or sugars.  We have been strict and have been eating really good, and let me tell you- It feels good!  No more heartburn, bloating, digestive problems.  No more guilt... I feel good about what I'm putting into my body.
In the church we have always heard that our body is a Temple- a gift from God.  Well, think of those beautiful Temples that we love to visit- those holy places.  We do not allow trash and uncleanliness in the temple.  That is God's home, we keep it up b/c we love God and we love his house.  Our body is a temple.  We should treat it like one.  We should not put junk in the body that our Heavenly Father gave us.  Our body is a gift.  Also another thought with exercise.  Exercise is part of the whole thing- treating your body right, and it's hard but worth it.  Every time I start exercising after a long time obviously I'm sore and it's hard but I was thinking along the terms of cleaning the other day.  (of course I clean a lot so I think about it a lot and I've been thinking a lot about this healthy lifestyle so it makes since in my mind) I was thinking about how it's nice to keep my house clean.  With exercise, if you do it every day and get into the habit of it and keep it up not only do you benefit in so many ways, but you don't have to catch up and start over again and rededicate yourself- you just keep it up.  I have things that I do every day- laundry, dishes, picking up toys, and then on certain days I'll do the bathrooms or the floors.  If I slack, there's more to do later and it's harder.  If I keep up with it I feel better and more relaxed, it's enjoyable to live in that clean environment, I don't have to catch up on a huge project later- I just maintain.  So I totally see the parables of a clean house and a body that is taken care of. And our friend Tony said, "Remember: Choose wrong and here come the problems, sooner or later.  Life is not about instant gratification.  One of my mantras early on was Short- term pain and discomfort can lead to a life-time of excitement, wellness, happiness and joy.  Short-term pleasure can lead to a myriad of problems."
I could end there, but let me just tell you a little about what we have been eating... Let's see:  Fruit Shakes, scrambled eggs (with spinach and tomatoes cooked in), and homemade all natural granola for breakfast, we have had some chicken breast lettuce wraps with vegetables on the side for lunch, as well as soup, salad and one day we had a delicious lunch of Talapia, a good sized portion of California blend vegetables and Quinoa.  Mmmm, that was good.  For snacks we've had a lot of fruit and some hard boiled eggs... and for dinner we have had some of the same stuff we used to have like Chicken, brown rice or potatoes and vegetables and some new stuff.  In Tony Horton's book he has a great recipe for this Fresh Tomato Zucchini Pasta that is really good.  It's a rice pasta with a homemade sauce that has a bunch of vegetables in it.  It's good.  We also made a really great vegetable soup that was delicious and completely natural and homemade.
We are off to a good start this New Year!

The busy non blogger mom

So I've been thinking about updating my blog lately.  I've only done one post since last October, so I almost felt overwhelmed to try to catch up, but I have some time right now (it's nap time!) so I just clicked on my blog and I've been rereading my old posts.  It's fun to remember some of the stories I wrote down and see how the kids have grown.  So since Jaren's been born it's obviously been a busier time.  It was actually harder right after we had Tessa b/c Will was 3 and Adalynn had just turned 1, so having 3 kids 3 and under was exhausting.  This time Will was in school the majority of the day, and when he was home he's 6 now and is much more independent and easy going.  And Adalynn and Tessa are 2 and 3 and a lot of the time play nicely so it is not as hard as it was adding #3 so close to each other, but it is still another child to take care of and it seems like there is always SOOOO much to do.  I feel so overwhelmed sometimes.  I feel like I have to do laundry and dishes and pick up toys and clean the floors every day to keep up with it and if I miss a day it gets so hard to catch up.  There are times when I feel like it's such a juggling act- I'll be doing laundry, dishes and cooking dinner all at the same time while trying to talk to multiple kids and keep them happy.  It does have it's crazy times.  And Jaren has been the hardest baby to try to get to sleep on his own.  All the other kids we trained them to sleep on their own.  They were going 8 hr stretches by 8 weeks and 11-12 hours at night from 3 months on.  They have been great sleepers!  And I thought it was b/c we knew what we were doing and how to get them to learn to sleep on their own.  I had read books and articles, and done research and I thought we had it figured out.... Then comes Jaren.  We did all the same stuff but still he would wake up during the night.  Even when he was past the stage of wanting to eat at night, he would wake up between 12-4 every night for the longest time just wanting to sleep in bed with us.  He didn't care to eat, he just would wake up crying and if we held him he'd go back to sleep but if we put him down he'd wake up again, and rather then being up all night w/ him holding him and putting him back down I just took him in bed with me and if he was close to me he'd sleep till morning.  There were many months where he'd slowly start sleeping longer and longer on his own and just when he was sleeping through the night he'd back track and start waking up during the night again and we'd have to work toward getting him to sleep through the night again.  So finally now he is sleeping through the night.  He is actually a really good sleeper now- FINALLY.  He just turned 8 months old and for the couple of months he's been sleeping through the night.  I had to work on putting him down asleep, then work toward putting him down drowsy, but now I can put him down awake and he knows how to go to sleep on hs own.  Which is so great.  Nap times and nighttime sleep is longer for him now that he can self soothe and go back to sleep on his own.  It's nice.  And he's been crawling for a couple months now so he is actually really easy now.  He sleeps good and then when he's awake, he just wants to crawl around and explore on his own.  He even feeds himself (bottle not baby food).  So it has gotten a lot better. 
It seems like we have made it through the hard times of having little ones and it is getting easier.  Not only is Jaren a good, sweet, easy, happy baby now, but Tessa is having fewer and fewer fits and is much better about "using her words" and not fighting so much.  She is sweet and funny and happy.  And Adalynn and Will seem so big lately.  They both just had birthdays.  Adalynn turned 4, Will turned 6. 
Adalynn usually has a pretty calm personality, and gets along well with others.  Will has been so sweet with Jaren.  It seems these two boys have had a special bond since Jaren was  a little baby, maybe even before then.  Even when I was pregnant Will was SOO excited to have a brother.  And when he was really little he'd want to hold him and help out with him.  He'd say cute things like "Oh, he's so little/ sweet/ precious."  or "Look my hand is as big as his leg." or "He's as cute as an elephant."  It was so cute to see him so enthralled and excited about Jaren.  Then when Jaren got big enough to smile and then laugh, Will was able to make him laugh pretty easy.  You can tell that Will is one of his favorite people.  I loved hearing Jaren when we'd pick up Will from school.  When he'd see him get in the car, he'd kick his legs, flap his arms and squeal and laugh.  It just made me laugh with delight to hear that excitement from him.  We have also started (for like 3 or 4 months now) girl baths one night, boy baths the next night, and Will loves his time with Jaren in the bath.  Jaren gets so happy to be in the bathtub (with Will).  He slaps and splashes like crazy.  So these 2 brothers are pretty close, and it makes me really happy to see Will be so loving with someone else, and to be so excited that "the boys" are going to do something together. 
Will graduated from kindergarten.  The day before I was able to go to his school to help out with their fun pizza party and water day.  Will had a great time.  They had a shaving cream pool, a soap bubble pool, a blowing bubbles pool, sprinklers, a pool with just water, and they got the big slides wet.  Then we went home together.  The next day we all went to the graduation, even Grandma Fenter came.  Will was really proud to get his diploma and to be a first grader.  For the last couple weeks of school he kept talking about what 1st grade was going to be like.  One day he said, "In 1st grade you don't get snack time, and we didn't have a snack today so it was a little bit like being in 1st grade."
He's so talkative and passionate and smart.  And he's been SO happy lately.  Like the happiest he's been since he hit the twos. lol.  I think he's really happy to be home for the summer.  He's been loving and sweet and helpful.  We made a chart that has a school schedule for the summer and I think I'll update about how that's going in the next post.  So far so good!  :)
Sometime I might even give an update on my Dad if I feel like going there. There have been some big things happen recently... but another time.... Oh and Tessa's eye surgery. We actually had 3 surgeries in the family within 2 weeks. But for today- this is long enough! lol

FHE

Well, this new year we had an enrichment activity where we made FHE charts.  I love ours!  The kids have been so excited about family night since we got it.  They love seeing who has what assignment and moving the names.  We've been so much more consistent then before now that we have this.  It's just been a great way to start out the new year. 
Of course when it says prayer for Jaren's name then whoever is holding him gives the prayer and when his name is under treat or activity then that means we decide as a family what it's going to be.  So it's worked out- and someday he'll really be able to participate.  But it's been so fun. 
Here's how some of our family nights have gone:
Our first lesson was on Our Family and how our family is unique and special.  We sang Love at Home, and I talked about some things I love about our family and how I love each one of them individually and why I love them (their talents, personality strengths, etc.) then each person went around and said compliments about the other family members.  It was a great way to start off our family home evenings.  We really felt the love and spirit in our home.  Our family really felt bonded and everyone seemed so happy.  Then of course they love having all of us sit together with a special treat.  It was just a really nice time and it made the week go so much better.
The next week we had a lesson on The commandments and we talked about obeying rules and that if we keep the commandments we will be happy.  We made it very simple.  Then at the end we did a treasure hunt for the activity that was so much fun for the kids.  Will had the activity this time and I suggested a treasure hunt b/c it was perfect for the lesson.  He loved that idea.  So we went to the computer and found pictures of a bed, a computer desk, a bathtub, a table, the crib, a dressor, a couch... then we printed them out and will cut them up and we set them up around the house.

So after the lesson I told them that we were going to practice following a rule to find a treasure.  The rule is to follow the pictures, and I gave them the first clue (picture) it was of a bed.  So they ran to Adalynn's bed and then there was a picture of a bus.  Their tent bus was out and I thought they would have fun crawling in there to get the next clue.  They did.  :) Next, it was the computer desk, then the crib, etc...
They loved it.  The last spot was where I put the "treasure" a gallon of ice cream!  It's what they wanted for their treat so it worked both ways. 
After they found the treasure, I told them that Heavenly Father’s treasure for us is happiness. His commandments are the clues or rules we must follow to gain his treasure of happiness.

It was a great time!

Here are some other shorter recaps of our lessons:  Adalynn talked about our heritage and Jesus heritage.  She had magnets with pictures of Mom, Dad, and Me then pictures with Heavenly Father, Mary and Jesus.  And she did great putting them in the right places and explaining them.  Then she had other pictures about the life of Jesus which she did a great job talking about. 

Tessa talked about "I am a child of God."  A real short lesson.  She did great.
Will did a lesson on what to say in a prayer and we had 2 bags.  He helped me to think of things that we are thankful for and things that we would ask for.  We put pictures of the things we would ask for in one bag.  Like a picture of a kid flexing muscles for healthy and strong, etc.  Then in the thankful bag he put things from around the house like an article of clothing, a picture of our famly, a toy, a book, etc.  He loved the bag part.  And I let him draw some of the pictures, so he really liked that too.
Billy talked about contention one week, I talked about evidence of our Heavenly Father's love,
and one week we went to the temple and I talked about the temple on the way.  That took a lot of time to go there on a Sunday night (we can't do mondays b/c of Billy's work) so we did the lesson and treat on the way there. 
Here's some of the activities we've done:
The scavenger hunt, game night (uno), coloring (Adalynn picked Art), Hide and Seek at the park (Tessa's pick), the Temple (Jaren's pick), Movie night, art time again, charades, and on spring break we went to the zoo and counted that as our family activity.  We came home and watched a movie together and had root beer floats.  So that was a fun family day.
All together we are so happy we are doing family night now!  We feel so much closer as a family,and love how the kids look forward to this special time every week.  :)

Family update

I am so blessed.  I have such a wonderful family.  Billy is now home and won't have to work again for 3 months.  Yay for 12 week paternity leaves!!  We LOVE it.  He is still gone in the morning for school but then it is so nice to have him home the rest of the day.  He is such a good Dad.  He actually wants to hold that sweet little bundle and have his turns.  He actually changes diapers and takes turns feeding him.  We also take shifts at night.  I sleep from like 9:30p- 2am and he sleeps from 2-6:30 and during our shift with the baby we sleep here and there.  It's working out pretty good.  Anyway Billy is so wonderful and I love him so much!

Will is on Fall Break this week and it's nice having him home.  He has been so sweet and nice and loving lately.  He has been playing really good with his sisters and it actually seems like less work having him home then more b/c he has been entertaining is sisters so well.  He has come along way since school started with his socializing and sharing, and learning to obey and accept answers.  Things that normally he would have tried to argue about in the past, he just accepts that that's the way it is, and it's so nice that he is so sweet and has such a good, fun personality. 

He has had his problems in school since it started.  He has gotten sent to the Principal's office numerous times and we have even had to pick him up and bring him home twice b/c of his misbehavior.  I think school has just been a big adjustment for him and he acted up at first and didn't always want to do what the teacher asked him to do.  He would get a frowny face or the OK face almost every day at first.  But these last 2-3 weeks we have seen an improvement.  He is doing the work and coming home with mostly smiley faces.  So it is a relief that things are improving at school, and before I had Jaren I was volunteering once a week for the 2nd half of the day at his school.  I want him to know how much I love him and that I want to spend time with him and be with him.  I think it was really good for him that I came to his school.  And I love how he is so young that he is actually proud of me as his mom.  When I come to his school he hugs me and wants to hold my hand and be by me.  So anyway, I am able to see first hand what they are working on and how he does in school.  And I think I have a very smart boy... but he needs to listen and follow directions so his teacher can see how smart he is.  She will hand out worksheets and while she's going over the directions he just starts coloring or drawing on it.  Sometimes he'll try to do the work but if he doesn't know what it's all about he doesn't always do it right.  So when I was there I could stand by him and tell him to listen and explain things to him.  At home I sit RIGHT next to him to work on his schoolwork/ homework and I know he knows his stuff.  The only problem is he doesn't always show it in school.  His teacher sent home a progress report that had mostly N's- needs improvement and -'s (emerging).  There were columns such as letters (capital/ lowercase), letter sounds, patterns, writing, identifies numbers, shapes... some of him he got emerging (like a C) others he got Developing (a B).  Will has known his letters since he was 20 months old!  And when he was 3 he learned capital and lowercase very quickly.  He should have gotten 100% on that part.  He knows all the rest of that stuff too.  I know b/c I've been working with him for years, and I still sit and work with him on his school work almost every day.  During this fall break we've been putting in an hour or 2 every day.  I've done letters and letter sounds with him- and he knows every one of them, I've printed out worksheets so he can do different letters, I've worked on his high frequency words with him, I've done patterns such as 1 circle followed by two squares then I say what comes next?  And he'll draw the rest of the pattern and then I will say and what pattern is that? and every time he knows the answer.  There are 4 choices: ABAB, ABB, AAB, and ABC.  He has gotten it right every time... So I know exactly what to go over with him and I know he knows it.  I just hope he starts showing that he knows it in school soon.  He's a good kid and very smart and he is improving a lot in school I just hope it continues to improve so his teacher can see what I see. 

So I have now made this very long but I hadn't written anything about Will and how he's doing in school yet... SO as for the rest of the family- Adalynn and Tessa seem so big now.  They play well together (most of the time).  Adalynn very rarely throws a fit- but Tessa has pretty high emotions right now.  Although Tessa can calm herself down by going in her room and laying on her bed.  She just comes out when she's ready.   Tessa is talking in complete sentences and says everything- she is getting easier to understand too.  She is a funny girl and always wants to do something- and do it fast.  She is busy and fun.  Adalynn is very talkative lately.  She is my little copycat.  She just wants to repeat everything we say back to us.  Like I'll say "Jaren can't talk b/c he's a little baby."  And she'll say, "Yeah, Jaren can't talk b/c he's a little baby."  Instead of just agreeing she'll say the whole thing back to me how I said it.  Or if I'm saying something to Will or Tessa she'll repeat what I said to them like she's trying to be the little Mommy.  She also talks a lot about what will happen when she's a grown up.  And she sings a lot- she knows a lot of songs!  She's a good, sweet girl and can be very cuddly and mild mannered. 
And Jaren- he's a good baby!  I think he is the easiest one so far.  He still just wakes up once during the night to eat.  We feed him during the day about every 3 hours (more or less) and at night he goes about 4 hours sometimes more.  We usually feed him at night at 10:30 (Billy does that one) then 2:30 (my turn) then 6:30- I usually do that one.  So really it's not too bad.  He has a good amount of awake time during the day and wants to sleep all night.  He is really calm and sweet, he wants to be held most of the time still but I usually don't mind b/c I like staring at him and feeling his special spirit.  He has such a little cry, doesn't spit up or have any major problems.  And he just went in for his 2 week checkup and the doctor was very pleased with his weight gain.  Usually but 2 weeks it's good if they've reached their birth weight.  He went in for his check up at 12 days (b/c the doctor was going on vacation after that) and he has surpassed his birth weight.  He is now 7 lbs 3 oz.  At birth he was in the 10-25% and now he is in the 25%.  So he is doing wonderful. 
So as you can see- I LOVE my family!  I am so blessed!  And I'm so happy our family is complete- it feels so good.  It just feels right.. oh and we just got a van so I am SOO happy about that too- now we can all fit in the same vehicle and no one is squished or feeling claustrophobic.  :)  It's awesome. 

Jaren Andrew Fenter

Our sweet baby boy has now joined our family, and it feels so good to have him here.  We love him so much!  I was scheduled to be induced again (as I have every time).  They scheduled me for 9 am on the 28th but of course they called and said they had no beds available and we could call back later for an update.  A couple hours later I anxiously call, and still no beds- but they said they were predicting early afternoon. 
We were pretty impatient- Billy and I had woken up that morning and gotten ready before  the kids woke up and then after they woke up we excitedly told them it was Baby day! and we were going to get to meet there new baby brother.  Will stayed home from school... I got them all dressed in nice clothes... my mom and brother had the day off work and my sister was able to come.  Everyone was anxious, excited and ready... but still no room in the hospital.  As it got later in the day they said they would be able to get a room that evening but my doctor would be gone in the evening and she wanted to be there to deliver the baby... SO they told us to come in at 3 am.
So 2 am rolls around after a short, light nap and we get up and go to the hospital.  I tested positive for Strep B and they wanted to give me 2 doses (4 hours apart) of the antibiotic before starting the patosin.  So they started the first dose and then we waited... and slept... and waited... I progressed slowly but surely.. Around 10 or 11 I was at a 5 and around 1 My mom and sister and Billy were looking at my contractions saying you are having them right on top of each other- they look pretty intense.  I had an epidural but could still feel a little.  I told them that I felt like something was going on and that maybe we should call the nurse..it had been awhile since they had come in.  Then my doctor and nurse came in, checked me and said "You are +2"  It was just funny how I went from a 5 to +2 without them checking me.  It's a good thing they came in when they did b/c he was RIGHT there!  They prepped as fast as they could and then she said "ok, you can push."  I pushed (like half a push) and she said "OK. Stop!"  And there he was. 
I held Billy's hands as tears streamed down my face.  There was our baby boy so sweet and perfect and beautiful.  Our little boy whom we felt so much love for right away, the one that now completes our family.  They placed that little bundle in my arms and I studied him and fell in love with him.  He had dark curly hair and a combination of everyone it seems- yet he is his own person.  He weighed 6 lbs 15 oz... although he peed on the doctor twice right after he was born and once on me when they gave him to me, so she said if he hadn't done that he would have been 7 lbs.  haha.  He was 21 in. long. (our tallest one so far- although Will was close to that).
He is such a good little baby. His siblings love him so much and want to watch him do everything and hold him and help feed him. He doesn't cry that much- really only during diaper changes. And he's so far our best sleeper at night. He actually sleeps at night- we haven't had one night where he is crying and up and won't sleep. He sleeps- even if it is restless and he wants to be held. And he goes 4-5 hours between feedings at night (on his own- I've had to wake him up to eat before). He is very calm and sweet and we are so happy to have him in our family.



                                   

Day 1- the first time his brother and sisters saw him.

Day 2 at the hospital.

Tessa wanted to hold him and be right by him wherever he was.  It was so cute.

Adalynn holding Jaren.

Will loves having a brother!

Daddy can't get enough.

Going home.