March & April Picture Palooza

I have been feeling so overwhelmed by the pictures I have to blog, that I decided today would be the day.  The March/April Picture Palooza Post would eliminate all the pictures I had poking around in my brain and would catch me up so I could {finally!} get around to answering everyone's awesome questions about life in the bush.

So enjoy a little of this, a little of that, and a taste of Marshall spring!

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Guess & Go:

We have a writer!

The boys and I have been working hard in homeschooling on "Guess & Go", sounding out words and learning to read.  Today Jack knocked my socks off when he gave me this  note that he worked on completely independently.

"Mom, this is our

plans.  First we will have a dance party

Then we will go

outside."

I absolutely love this stage of development and am looking forward to much more writing in their future.

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Weather:

Unfortunately for Jack, he and Logan are running fevers, so even though it is 45 degrees outside right now (!!!) we won't be going outside this afternoon.

One month ago, it looked like this:

 Snow, wind, cold temperatures...

And now it looks like this:

The sun is rising near 7am, and not setting until after 10pm.  

This is in stark contrast to the darkness we had this winter.

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ABC Mouse:

The boys have really gotten into ABC Mouse on the ipad Josh bought them.  While I do reading with one twin, the other gets to do ABC Mouse.  They are able to earn points and "buy" things for their ABC Mouse avatar.  They can be read stories, play games or do puzzles.  I love it, and so do they!

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My boys

 

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More Babies?

 I asked Wyatt the other day if he thought we were going to have anymore babies and he goes, 

"Nope. We're done."

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Bubble Boy:

The boys love bath time, which is nice when this mama needs a break.

Jack called me in to show me something last week and I found him making bubbles.

 He was so proud of himself!

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Saturday Mornings:

Saturday mornings are my morning to get up with the boys.  We usually watch cartoons while playing Legos and eating dry cereal on the rug in the living room.  They're so cute that I wanted a picture, and they were yelling at me cause my flash was too bright!

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Nap Time:

I wanted to capture a picture of Wyatt going up the stairs with his taggie at nap time.  This is a beautiful time of calm in our house.  The four of us read together upstairs on the couch in my room.  Then the twins do silent reading (separately) while I lay Wyatt down in his room.

 We are thinking that this summer we will give up Wyatt's nap... and while it makes me sad selfishly (no more quiet afternoon break time for me) it also gives me an insane sense of freedom.  We have been slaves to nap time for nearly six years.  I am ready for the day to be a day, not dictated by the clock or a cranky toddler.  

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Memory books:

 The boys take turns having their silent reading in my room and the playroom.  When they are up in my room, their preferred books are the memory books I made on Shutterfly.  

 After I lay Wyatt down, I often take a stroll down memory lane with them, looking at the books and talking about all the fun memories.

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Saturday Social:

The boys LOVE Saturday Social.  All eligible (well behaved) students get to come on Saturday from 10-12pm to play in the gym, go on computers and get slushees and popcorn from the student store.

The boys love the scooters best and have such fun on those things!

Week before last we missed because everyone in the village was sick, and I was hoping to avoid the boys getting it. Well, we caught it anyway, so I guess we missed it for nothing!

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Bears!

There has been a few brown bear sightings in town, so we are all on high alert.  It (we think the multiple sightings are of just one bear) has been spotted at the old airport, and also by the bridge near the new airport.  

This is the time of year that's most dangerous because it's warmer, so the bears are waking up, but the river is still frozen, and no berries have grown yet... So what you have are some very hungry, very grumpy bears!!!

** Josh just got home and told me that it's a mama and baby bear cub!!!

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Uncle Peter:

The boys have an honorary uncle here in Marshall.

 Poor Peter is such a good sport.  

These boys (my three, plus the boys' buddy Michael) practically maul him whenever they see him.

Here they have tied him up and "taken him to jail"...

Wyatt's favorite thing to do with Peter is to race and crash into the walls of the gym.  

Those boys adore him.  

And I'm always grateful when he runs them out of energy for me!

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Saturday Social:

Saturday Social means treats for my boys...

Usually a slushee and a popcorn.

But sometimes there's a line...

And patience is not their strongest virtue...

 Ha!

Even though they get rowdy, I love Saturday Social. I love the chance for the boys to run, jump, play and be with other kiddos.

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I don't know if you remember, but a while back, maybe a month or so, I was struggling, really struggling, with parenting.  The boys were tantruming, fighting every direction and breaking every rule, and I just felt exhausted!

Well the last few weeks have brought with them some brotherly love, and I couldn't be more thankful.

 You know I pour myself into my kids, thinking about them even after they are asleep, hoping I am doing right by them, making changes I think are necessary and praying for guidance to raise them up right.

So when they are mean, angry, unkind and disobedient, I feel as if I'm failing.

On the flip side of that coin, when I see glimpses of kindness and selflessness, I cheer inside, feeling proud that the lessons I'm teaching are getting in.

It's nice to be seeing some of my hard work paying off lately!

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Little brother is officially a big boy!

 This is a picture of Wyatt's first meal at the table with us!

We have since gotten rid of his high chair, and he is eating with us exclusively.

 The transition was really smooth,

 and he loves being part of the family at meal times.

He is also fully potty trained now, although to be safe I have him in Pull Ups or diapers at bed or nap time.  But he hasn't had an accident in probably two weeks!  We gave him Candy Corn as an incentive, and let me tell you, it worked!

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Monday Josh was home because I had a migraine.  As the afternoon wore on, my headache lessened and I wanted to take advantage of Josh being home. I remembered that I had wanted him to see if the side could come off Wyatt's crib turning it into a toddler bed. 

So we moseyed upstairs and he pulled the side off no problem.  

I guess I had thought it wouldn't work because once he took it off, I was like, "Oh! Are we doing this? Right now!?!" But we figured there's no time like the present, and we aren't sure yet what our situation will be this summer, but if we need him to sleep in a big boy bed, it would be nice to train him here at home where he's most comfortable.

He only got out of bed one time that night at bedtime, and twice in the night.  The next day he wasn't allowed to watch Despicable Me 2 (his favorite movie of all time) since he didn't stay in bed. And you best better believe the next night he stayed in bed!!!

{Jack}

 I swear to you, this child is the reward for all the painful work we did with the twins.  Taking away his binky, the breast, his high chair and then doing potty training and now sleep training in a toddler bed have all been so easy!!!

{Logan}

I'm not sure if Wyatt has actually been challenging, but in comparison to the twins he is easy, or if because of Wyatt's easy temperament, things have been actually better... All I know is that I feel lucky to have done it this way. With the twins first and the singleton second!

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Daddy:

We love daddy around these parts.  He's been super busy wrapping up his second to last class for his masters degree, working on the yearbook and doing state testing at work.

The boys have missed him.  So when he's home, they are like moths to a flame!

Josh and I are both excited he only has one more class, and we are excited that summer is coming (38 more days!!!) and along with it a much deserved break for him.

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Decorating for Easter:

 My sister-in-law, who doubles as my bestie, sent me amazing Easter decoration our first year up here.  Each year we enjoy decorating the easter egg tree she sent.  This year the boys did it completely independently.  It was really cute!

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Nice weather:

 With the arrival of nice weather, we have been spending a lot of time playing out.

 

 We've also enjoyed beautiful, icy mornings.

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Saturday Social (again):

Wyatt & Josh heading up the back stairs Saturday morning before Saturday Social.

 Jack waiting for Daddy, who has the key!

 The view from the back door we go in to get our shoes on in Josh's classroom.  It's so amazing to me (still) that we live here!!!

After Saturday Social, Josh usually stays to clean up and I take the boys home.  Last Saturday we walked home with Leah, my Marshall bestie!

I heart that girl!

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Haircuts:

 As I've mentioned before, I am the resident hair stylist in the Cunningham household.  Normally I use the clippers to cut the twins and Josh's hair, and use scissors to cut Wyatt's.

 But this is the last haircut I have Wyatt with scissors.  Last week we transitioned him to a big boy haircut, complete with clippered sides.  

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My clean sink secret:

 Softscrub.

Use some softscrub on a warm, wet sponge, and your sink will shine like nobody's business!

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My crafty boy:

 Jack has been really into crafting lately. I love it.  His favorite is to use my glue gun.  It doesn't matter what he's using it for, he just loves that thing!

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Child photography:

Logan loves taking pictures like his mama.

These two are courtesy of him.

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Technology:

The boys love to use my phone or the ipod or their pretend phones to send texts and emails.  They usually say "poop" or their brothers' name, plus poop.  Classic.

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Painted Frames:

I can't remember where I got these wooden picture frames... I either bought them this summer, or Josh's mom sent them.  Anyway, the boys had fun painting them and then choosing the pictures they wanted inside.  After they were dry, I hung them over Jack's bed.  He was thrilled!

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Mommy:

 I am so excited to work on getting the blog caught up. I'm not too far behind, but I really wanted to share all these pictures, so thank you for bearing with me.

 Looking at these pictures today, gathering my thoughts and remembering all these moments shared with my boys reminds me how blessed I am.  What a charmed life I live.

~