Thomas Goes to Kindergarten

Today my little guy started his great journey into the public school system. He was quite excited, not at all nervous. He is a very social and outgoing boy, school is a great thing for him. 

It was so cute, he laid all of his stuff out the night before.

                                                                                     Off he goes! 

Look how little he is.

Sissy gave him a hug and then wished him well.

I just love getting to see Thomas grow. He has such a zest for life and he loves learning. He is good and kind and tries very hard to choose the right. He has a natural gift of making friends and I know he can be a real force for good in this world. Of course I got a bit misty eyed saying good bye and watching him go. It seems cliche, but time really is going by so fast! I've put a lot of hours, tears, love and prayers into that boy. We just love him to bits.

 

Theo at 4 months

This little cutie is getting big. Too big. Too fast. If I could manufacture his sweetness I'd be the wealthiest lady in the world. He is beyond adorable and is quite the delight in our home. He is a very pleasant, mild mannered and loving little soul. He is happy, smiley and very social. He is very easy going, and he is a good sleeper. On occasion he will sleep through the night, though not consistently yet.  He has become quite the mama's boy at quite an early age. I don't mind, I love snuggling this chunky little monkey.

He makes the cutest little cooing noises, he is just such a little sweetie 

 Thomas put this little cape on him and called him "super baby!" Thomas and Caroline are still pretty enamoured by him. The get so excited by his little accomplishments and milestones. He started rolling over from his back to his tummy and the kids were cheering and clapping. He has some good cheerleaders in his corner. 

 

 We did learn recently that young Theodore does not care for long car rides one little bit. After coming home from bear lake, Theo cried for over an hour straight. It seems the little fella has taken a liking to he song, "Lavenders Blue" 

 I just want to hug that little bug. 

 He is getting playful and curious.

 And my goodness he is as cute as ever.

 Caroline loves hugging him. She always says, "mama, Theo likes me!"

 Theodore, we love you more than anything and we are so glad you are part of our family. Such a perfect and wonderful little boy.  

 

Bear Lake

 

 

We took our first little trip as a family of five to Bear Lake this weekend. We drove up to 

Logan, had a little picnic (which was immediately crashed by a hundred mosquitos), visited the temple and stayed in a hotel for the night. The kids love staying in hotels, we could have just left after that and they would have been satisfied. Two beds to jump on, a tv, a mini fridge and a telephone, what more could you want? Oh and a buffet breakfast of course, with fruit loops to boot. Caroline was carrying her bowl of fruit loops and tripped, spilling her cereal all over the breakfast eating area, which of course brought about some  tears. While Clint was cleaning up the mess, and I was comforting Caroline, Thomas went and got her a new bowl of cereal without anyone asking him to. He is a little sweetheart. He said, "I just thought I could help my sister because she was in trouble." A stranger saw Thomas's act of service and came up to him and thanked him for being so kind. He got very bashful, but afterwards was just beaming. I hope he can remember that feeling. He is such a good brother.  Anyway....back to our trip... So the next day we drove up to the lake where we enjoyed a nice, relaxing and carefree day playing at the beach.

The kids wasted no time getting into the water. 

 

You can't be surrounded by this much sand and not play with some trucks. Thomas and papa started a serious construction project.

The lady, after playing in the cold water, was perfectly content to just stay bundled in a blanket. Meanwhile mama took a nice nap in the sun with the baby bear.

Still working hard.

Still bundled up.

Ah! Finally warmed up. Time to get back to play.

Theo was having a nice time as well. He is such a pleasant little guy.

I love snuggling that chubby little baby boy.

Two of my favorite people right here.

The finished project! 

The proud foreman. In the background you will see a little boy who was just aching to demolish Thomas' sand castle, and he ultimately succeeded. But luckily Thomas wasn't upset about it and joined in.

Thomas making sand Angels 

My beach beauty

I really like these people! Our trip was a success! After the beach we went and got some raspberry shakes. Except for the children who opted for chocolate chip instead and if course ate about five bites and ran away. We hit the road and headed back home and we learned something new about young Theodore. He is NOT a fan of long distance drives. After about an hour and a half of some serious screaming we were happy to pull into our driveway. The kids were incredibly patient during this drive and never once lost their temper or got frustrated with Theo. When we got out of the car Thomas exclaimed, "that was the longest drive of my entire life!" Meanwhile we carry in Theo, who has a very red, very puffy, very tear stained face. And once he is free from the car he just can't stop flashing his 100 watt dimpled smile at everyone. Silly little guy.....

Caroline's 3rd Birthday

The little lady loved her Cinderella cake

 She wanted to decorate for her birthday, but Thomas was sick, so we couldn't leave the house. So she and I made these crowns together.

She helped me make Pizza, her favorite meal. 

Grandma Allred made her this cute mermaid doll 

 She loved her jewelry box.

 Silly lady got into my lipstick

 Clint took her on a daddy daughter date to a Temple Square and to get ice cream. He doesn't get a lot of one on one time with Caroline, because Thomas is pretty demanding, so they both had a grand time.