It's November Already?

I guess the rest of October slipped by before I could get a new post on. But I guess once a month is better than nothing. We keep asking ourselves, is it November, really? That means we have a birthday coming up quickly, followed directly by Thanksgiving, then another birthday, which will then lead us into Christmas....wow. I'm not ready. I guess my work is cut our for me.

We had a great visit from Grammie and Grandpa Crowley this last month. We're still crying that they left. Emery is still wanting bum-bumpers from Grandpa, but will suffice with me doing it. It's just not the same though. They got to come to some soccer games with us and watch our soccer stars in action. Carsen has been scoring lots of goals, and Tanner has a great team too-they just can't seem to get a win. We hit the school carnival, and filled our quota of shopping. We are confidant we can find them a winter home here!

Emery has coined the phrase, "by you" since their visit. She pats the seat next to her and tells you-by you-which is her ordering you to sit by her. She has also learned her own name and likes to remind us who "Emmy" is by pointing to herself. She is the proud new owner of a pink baby stroller, which surprisingly is popular with the boys in the house too. That darn stroller has gotten a lot of mileage since Grammis and Grandpa brought it. We hope it will make it to the New Year. And we are continuing with the "melmo" phase. Elmo is everywhere once you have a toddler with Elmo radar. "Unee" is coming in a close second on the favorite list, in stiff competition with "dawees." But of course none of them matter if she doesn't have "MOM!"(said in a loud, demanding voice) All sugar and spice.

Soccer Mom

After a busy, busy week, this is about how we all feel. Soccer season is in full swing here-and that means I get to be an official soccer mom-minivan and all. Sweet. Tanner is playing Under 8 league this year, and his games are getting exciting. The boys are catching onto the whole playing positions, and passing techniques. Carsen is in the Under 6 League, and they are just cute to watch. The girls tend to worry more about their nails they painted in school colors, and stay as far away from the kid rushing the goal as possible. Forget defense! It makes it a challenge for Carsen and the other boys that are out there to win-but what do ya do? We have soccer practice for Tanner Tues. nights. Practice for Carsen Thurs.-followed by Tanner again right after. Plus all the other regular necessities of homework, etc. It makes for a tired mom. Thursdays are officially pizza night until the season ends.
Emery has a new passion in life-Elmo. She walks around all day saying, "Melmo, Melmo." We have a short sing along with Elmo that she is captivated by-and she's figured out how to turn on the TV, and then she sits and waits for it to start, whether it's actually coming or not. When it comes down to it, her favorite things these days are; Melmo-Elmo
Bahbee-bottle
D-blankie
Dawee-Dollie
Nanee-Tanner
Dadee-who else
Mom-of course!
Gwee-drink
We love her vocabulary! We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Grammie and Grandpa Crowley this next week! Fresno is a pretty exciting place, they might not want to leave....

Mental Block

First think in the morning-Emery and Tanner takin' it slow after they just wake up. He is pretty much the only one she'll sit with for her bottle other than me. She loves "Nanee."



A gentle plea to all Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and anyone else wanting to spoil my boys-This is where all Bakugans end up once they arrive here. We now have Bakugan buildup, and spend countless hours looking for lost ones. If I hear, "Mom, do you know where my Bakugan is?" one more time, I'm going use them to throw at the obnoxious bluejay that squaks in my window every morning. Please, no more Bakugans!!


Carsen's was missing Tanner this week one morning, so he decided to set up their game before he left for Kindergarten.



A moment I had to document-Carsen came in my room to show me how he's being Cat in the Hat. Lovin' it!

I am suffering from a lack of inspiration with keeping up on my blog. It's not that there's nothing going on in our lives, it's just that when I sit down to make a new entry, my brain flat lines, and I have no idea what to write. So instead I do what I do best-ignore the problem and decide to think about it another day. Well, today I have no excuse-the house is clean, (as clean as it gets...) the kids are out, and all is quiet. I could take a nap, but I just finished my Route 44, so that isn't going to happen. I am looking foreward to some cooler weather this week, and maybe that will bring new inspirations along with it. My brain doesn't function well when all my concentration is focused on fooling my body into thinking it's not hot and sweaty. We shall see.

Come on!

I finally got around to getting a new post up, and it won't let me put any pictures on! man. So now it's just this boring text-but it will have to do for now.

This morning I put together a yard sale to get rid of some of our junk that surfaced when we moved. It was a small lot-but I did get $60 out of it, which is enough to help, since soccer is starting, and school, and it's that time of year when I feel like every time my child comes home from school there's another person that wants our money. Every little bit helps. The boys even made a pile of toys that they were willing to part with, so they each made $1.50.

We are anxiously awaiting the first day of school to see how Carsen does with the first day. I'm mentally prepared for him to just bolt from the door-in which case I'm going to have to run him down and drag him back. So I figure if I'm ready for that, anything less will be manageable. Tanner of course plays it cool, and says he's not nervous. He might get a little quiet on Monday, but that's usually the extent of his nerves. My goal is to not cry when I send them off. Sunglasses will help.

Becca and Bryce were here last weekend, and we need them to come back NOW. I'm pretty sure they were meant to be our neighbors, so Jeremy and Bryce can eat their stale peeps and Good'N Plenty's together while Becca and I go shopping. They brought the boys new backpacks for school-Bakugon ones of course-and the boys are officially spoiled by them! Bryce caved in the toy aisle at Target and got them a new package of Bakugons, he's so easy!

"Nanee" is the word of the week. E keeps track of where he is at all times, and calls out "nanee" when she wants him. She's also started "hello" and "bee," which, I'm not even sure why she know that...

The boys have gotten their last few days of freedom in, with swimming and partying and Grandmas, and repeated viewings of Space Monkeys. A movie you couldn't have paid me to watch by just telling me the title-but it is actually pretty funny.

So we say adieu to summer vacation, to late bedtimes, to long days of entertaining children at home, and hours of video games and arguments. whew! We made it. But I also have to send them away for hours every day, and I always miss them when they are gone. Emery will miss them a lot. I think this is why the first day of kindergarten is hard-I'm used to having my buddy with me all day:( We'll just have to work on getting Emery to stay little!

Virginia is For Lovers!

We are definitely lovers, of Virginia, the beach in North Carolina and most of all, we love those East coast Crowleys! I feel like I'm finally starting to come out of the haze after a whirlwind trip. That 3 hour difference in time really does me in when we come back home! I am ashamed to say I really didn't get many pictures while we were out there-so this is a call for action, send me your pictures -Rich, this means you, Gabe, Melanie! But of the few I got, we have good memories.

By the end of the week I kept noticing there was no Tanner around stirring up the other kids into a frenzy. It was just too calm. I found him here-in the hammock. "I just love this hammock"-he told me. "I love being outside. Wouldn't it be nice if we could live by the beach all the time?" he says-uh...ya!!! I told him I'd work on that. I got a few moments gently rocking, listening to the sounds of the ocean with my boy, it was great! Tanner spent some quality quiet time out there, something I didn't ever think he'd enjoy until his adult years! amazing.


Emery wasted no time making herself comfortable at Grammy's house-she quickly marked her territory by biting off the foam drawer pads on the insides of the drawers-an obvious sign to Lottie and Audrey that this area of the house was HERS!


We spent a few hours at the Air and Space Museum. I suppose my boys have trained my eye to the things that I know will keep their attention-this was the only picture I got of them there with Lottie.*sigh*


Tanner and Carsen got join in the much coveted Saturday Breakfast Club in the 'Pep, a privilage that I have not proven myself worthy of yet. They made a trip to the park afterward where Tanner made this find-the biggest caterpillar I've ever seen. We were all very impressed, we didn't want to touch it and let it crawl around on us like Tanner, but we were very impressed!


This wasn't in Virginia, but it was too cute to pass up. A long day of playing for E, and a long 2 months of working and studying for the Bar for Jeremy=a perfect cuddle moment.


*I do have a few more pictures of the beach, but I'm counting on LOTS of pictures being sent by my peeps (especially the ones that I look extra cute in-not those ones that were taken when I was lookin' homeless...thanks!)*

another post.....

Here I am, bloggin' away, and I stop and realize that this is another Emery filled post. I think I'm having a not so shocking realizaton that Emery has indeed managed to make it all about her. But there are a few that manage to get in a picture.

Daddy and Emery spending quality time together. Jeremy really knows how to show a girl a good time!


What would a day be with out a little snail. This is the way I prefer them to hold the snails-as opposed to when the boys liked to put the snails on their bellies and let them slither up to their neck, leaving behind a swarthy, slimy trail of snail "stuff."


It's nice to know that Emery at least has the time to stop and smell the roses.


We told Emery she needed to get out and meet some new friends at our ward breakfast-that way Jeremy and I didn't have to. She did well, she found a few babies to poke in the eyes, gave the bishop a firm stare, and found a few unsuspecting folks to flash her daiper at. She's got the mingling thing down.
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She and Lindsey are BFF's. It took a day for them to bond, but Emery hasn't been the same since Lindsey left.

Workin' Her Way Up

Well, our little E is turning out to be quite a cheeky little thing. And in her best efforts to keep up with her brothers, she has quickly become a climber! Tanner and Carsen were never climbers, they were more into emptying out my kitchen cupboards. I have to be on my toes now and think ahead of anything E is going to take a quick trip up in the house.
She REALLY is pleased with herself when she can get up the boys bunk bed ladder before I get to her.




She has now claimed the rocking chair as her territory. She flips up the cushion, brings her blankie and a good book, and is nestled in for a good read. She's gonna love the beach!


When she first started climbing on the rocking chair, we couldn't fight her constantly to stay off, so we opted for the alternative-let her get a good fall off of it, and that'll teach her! She's totally onto us, she has yet to fall off!


Anytime is a good time to brush your teeth, or brush the counter with someones toothbrush, or maybe just suck the toothpaste off the counter that big brothers always leave crusted there. *notice the toilet seat is up-where is this girls mother, and why is she setting herself up for tragedy?



All in all, we are all slowly being wrapped tighter and tighter around the pudgy little finger of our E. We don't even mind that she has learned the word "no" and knows how to use it. She really works her magic when she starts into calling for "da-dee" and walks around saying, "waa-yooo." We all come running! Man, she's good!