Wisconsin 2019

Joseph's lockout at work kept going and going and going. I had to cancel my solo trip to Utah/Idaho because of it. I was sad about that as I've been counting down the months to it since last year. So instead, I decided to take the kids to Wisconsin. Not quite the same but it allowed us to get away for a week and see family. We hadn't planned on visiting this year but I couldn't fathom not seeing everyone for another year. Joseph's lockout actually ended a few days before we left but he stayed home to catch up on work and house projects.

We flew out bright and early on June 15th. Our flight was at 8:30 so we left about 5:45am. The kids did great waking up early and Gemma napped on the plane for some of it. We landed in Minneapolis and spent lunch and the afternoon there. We visited the Mall of America and went to the aquarium there. The kids loved it but we were feeling the effects of travel. We drove to my parent's home that afternoon, which is about three hours away.

Sunday was church day for us. I always enjoy visiting the Wausau ward and seeing all the familiar faces from over the years. We hung out that afternoon at home with my sister coming to visit for the day.

Monday was the only day my mom worked so I took the kids to the splashpad in town. It was much too cold for them so we rode the little train at the park instead.

Tuesday we ventured out to Rib Mountain State Park and hiked/climbed some rocks.

On Wednesday, we went up north to Jim Peck's Wildlife Park. We love visiting here and this year was no different. The kids had a blast. I anticipated Gemma being terrified of the animals all around her but she loved it. She fed all that she could and even ate some of the goat food too.

Thursday was a quieter day in Wausau and we visited the cool rocket park by the airport. Always a favorite of Tanner's.

Friday, we hung around the house and got ready for a family dinner that night. We had a delicious BBQ and s'mores.

Saturday was busy with sanding the front deck at my parent's home. After all the hard work, we went out for pizza at Sam's Pizza and played some arcade games.

Sunday was our last full day in town. We went to church again and hung out with my sister. My mom, dad, and Ashton went to a Frozen play in town that my cousin's daughter was in.

Monday was travel day again. We didn't fly out of MSP until 8pm so it made for a long night. We got home about 12:30am. The kids were up and at it at 7:30am that morning ready to get back to Texas life.

Gemma is 15 months

Weight: 23 lbs
Height: 30 inches tall. Continues to be the shortest among the three kids.

About 70-75th percentile for height and weight.

Comparatively, Ashton was 23 pounds and 32 inches at 15 months. Tanner was 27 lbs and 32 inches tall at 15 months.

Typical Schedule:
Wake up between 7 and 8. Closer to 8am and the more likely she is to make it with one nap that day.
Breakfast is milk with some strawberries and a piece of bread. She eats it plain and it's easy.

We spend the morning out and about. Gemma went to one nap a day at the beginning of summer so Tanner and her overlap every day. She almost always falls asleep in the van around 11:30 if we're out but then still naps later in the afternoon.

She naps from about 1-3ish. She still isn't quite there with marathon naps like Tanner but I'm hopeful she gets there soon-ish.

Bedtime is between 7:30 and 8:30pm depending on nap length

Vocabulary: Cat, cracker, dog, Dada, Mama, Papa, and then signs more and all done. Gemma understands a ton so I'm not worried.

Movement: Tanner was a mover and Gemma is a little slower comparatively. I am enjoying the break. Gemma prefers to stay close and doesn't wander. She is also a little more hesitant so chooses safer options. She does go up and down stairs very well except for when she fell down some stairs in Wisconsin. She's been walking for several months now.

Favorite food: spaghetti, pizza, strawberries, milk, and popcorn. Gemma knows where the popcorn bowl is and will bring it to you when she wants popcorn, which is several times a day.

Likes: Playing outside in the water table, milk/straw cups, reading books, playing chase with Tanner and Ashton.

Dislikes: Water/swimming. She loves baths with a little bit of water in the tub but has not enjoyed swimming or splashpads. It is making for a long summer. She loves puddles but just not spraying water. She also dislikes it when a sibling has a toy she wants. Also not a fan of long car rides. We'll see how that fares for us this summer with our trip out east.

Gemma is slowly getting out of the stranger danger stage. She lasts over an hour at the YMCA now so that is a wonderful relief. She actually did great for a babysitter we had a few weeks ago. In Wisconsin, she was quick to warm up to family and did well. I feel the end is in sight very soon!

Springtime in Texas

Spring has been a bit of a crazy time for our family. Joseph's work has been in a lockout for about six weeks now. This means the operator's union and Dow have not reached an agreement or a new contract. Until they do, the operators are locked out of Dow so Joseph is acting as an operator. He trained for this several months ago but due to the details of it, he is working a TON! He was stuck at work for ten days, working, eating, and sleeping there until it was safe for him to cross the picket lines. Now, he is working 5-6 shifts/week of 3am to 3pm. He normally gets Sundays and some Mondays off but when a co-worker takes a day off or has a vacation, Joseph works a lot more. We've been living in limbo as we hear good progress and then a relapse in the negotiations. We also are very limited in vacation days and times so we had to cancel some trips and adjust days off. We're hopeful there is an end in sight soon but it doesn't seem to be promising. Dow is prepared for this to last several months.

Tanner wanted his picture taken on the last day of school with Ashton. He is sad he can't go to school next year with Ashton. He does have speech therapy at the school so that helps a lot.

Ashton's last day of preschool. Her teachers, Mrs. Wallace and Mrs. Dunn were great for her! She learned a lot.

First pony tail!

We said goodbye to the Coon family as they move to CA. We first met them when our oldest kids were about 18 months old. Since then, we've both added two more kids and lots of memories made between the kids. Ashton and Collin are convinced they will get married one day.

Ashton's final preschool concert.

BYU Wind Symphony came to Clear Lake so Ashton and I went. She loved it!

Ashton's piano practice with her teacher. She is loving it!

One of our favorite pastimes is skyping with Nana and Papa. We buy the same books so we can read together.

Rough life. Napping on the grass during Ashton's soccer class.

Ashton did a little soccer class through the YMCA for a few weeks. It was alright. We felt it wasn't planned or organized as well as we would have liked. It was super cheap though so we didn't feel like a complete waste and it got the kids running around some.

We love visiting the Space Center.

Tanner's first FHE

Tanner received some armor from our former stake president and his wife. They live a few blocks away from us and moved away to serve as a mission president. The wife told Tanner that it was his armor of God like in the scriptures. Since then, Tanner has desperately wanted to teach Family Home Evening on the armor of God. This past week, he did just that. He conducted the whole event. I was surprised by how much he knew to do naturally instead of me instructing him. He knew to call on someone for a prayer and he chose a song right away. Then he talked about the armor he was given and we used a story in the scriptures to teach how the armor of God protects us. While it wasn't focused on Come Follow Me, it was still such a wonderful and simple message from our three year old.

Summer Goals

Summer is quickly coming and I keep switching between nervous with all three kids home every day to excited to have all three home all the time. This is the last summer before Ashton starts school. While I know we'll have every summer home with the kids, it still makes it bittersweet to see the end of all kids in our home. I've prayed and wished away the years for this to come and now that it is so close, I am sad. As a family, we've been working on our summer bucket list so here are our ideas.

1. Ashton to learn addition, subtraction, and reading. She does pretty well with adding and subtracting but I'd love to improve on it by involving numbers 11-20. We have started teaching her to read. With dual immersion, they highly recommend that she enter kindergarten able to read in English as they only teach reading in Spanish. She loves doing the daily activities to learn to read so I see it going very well this summer. She also wants to learn how to tie shoes. I need to work on being patient enough to teach her. Ashton will also continue with piano through the summer and I anticipate that going well.
2. Tanner to learn to write some letters and shapes. He still prefers to just scribble everywhere. He knows his numbers very well but his letters need to improve. I also want him to be able to dress himself by the end of summer. With three kids, it's often easier to dress him myself so we can go but I think this summer will be a good time to slow down and have him do it himself.
3. Go the beach! We haven't been to the beach closest to us yet since moving so I hope to spend some time there. It's nerve-wracking to bring the 3 kids myself so this will have to be a whole family outing when Joseph's schedule allows it.
4. Complete temple ordinances for my grandparents. Now that I don't have a nursing baby, I can get to the temple more often. I have a few ordinances left on my grandmothers and I'd love to get those completed by the end of summer.
5. Live it up in Gatlinburg! We are beyond excited for our trip to our first national park this summer. As a family, we hope to see as many national parks as possible while our children are home. Our first one will be the Great Smoky National Park.
6. Plant a garden. This was on Ashton's list. She misses our garden beds from our old house and at times, so do I. While we won't do raised beds, I think we'll do some large planter boxes.
7. Swimming at the pool. I'm hoping to take the kids swimming at our HOA pool at least once a week and then again as a family during the weekends.
8. Complete some house projects like replacing all our gold door knobs, staining outside furniture, painting some more rooms, etc.
9. Move Tanner and Ashton together in a bedroom and move Gemma to a crib upstairs. This won't happen until mid-August right before school starts.
10. Build a massive fort inside.
11. Visit all the local splashpads.
12. Make a slip and slide in the backyard when it's not a rainy week.
13. Go hiking. Not quite sure where yet but maybe Brazos Bend State Park.
14. We'll all do the summer reading program at the library again I'm sure. With that, I hope to read a chapter book/week with Ashton.
15. Visit the Lone Star Flight Museum. They do a cool reading/story time once a week and I haven't ventured there yet. I know Tanner will love going.
16. Visit the space center as much as we can. Since we got a membership, I hope to go there when it's super hot outside.
17. Visit Schlitterbahn or another waterpark in Galveston. We haven't been to Galveston with the kids so this is definitely on our list of a few day trips there once Joseph's work schedule goes back to normal.
18. Visit the Houston Dog Show. We did this many years ago before kids and really enjoyed it. If Joseph can get a day off, I'd love to all go.
19. Visit some new parks. Once Gemma drops her morning nap, I'm hoping we could get going in the morning before the heat sets in and check out some parks that are a little farther away from our home.
20. Be outside as much as possible. I know for many people, Texas summers are not "outside weather." I try my best to deal with the sweating and the heat and just enjoy it. I'm going to sweat no matter what so I am going to TRY to find the joy in the heat. I'll stock the freezer with popsicles to make it better. I really want to try to be outside at least three hours a day when possible. I have read a blog with a goal of 1000 hours outside each year. This averages out to be 2.75 hours/day. Right now, we probably spend 2ish hours a day outside so I'm trying to increase this. Some days are easier than others (rain vs. sun) but I can still be more willing.

CFM The Good Shepherd

I want to write down what we do for Come Follow Me each week. Then I can use these ideas again in a few years when we study the New Testament again.

This week, we're learning the Good Shepherd story.

Monday night for FHE, Joseph was gone so it was all me. We made sheep ear headbands and we learned about shepherds herding sheep. The kids were the sheep and I tried to keep them corralled in an area. We likened this to how Jesus Christ wants us to stay with Him and close to our brothers and sisters.

Tuesday we did something simple of just memorizing a verse. Ashton has a scripture for primary on Sunday so we memorized it together.

Thursday, we used the coloring page from the primary manual and colored the sheep and the shepherd.

Friday- I wrote "What makes you happy" on a piece of paper and each kid drew or wrote what makes them happy. Ashton drew animals, the sun (for the outdoors), some toys, and a few other things. Tanner drew rockets, peanut butter, bread, and some squiggly lines. It was a fun activity to talk about when we do things that make us happy, our Heavenly Father is happy too.

Easter 2019

Easter came and went again this year. Between Joseph's bizarre work schedule and our campout, we didn't do a huge Easter meal. Oh well. I am slowly learning that we can have different traditions than the ones I grew up with. Camping was a lot of fun but I was exhausted so the idea of cooking a huge meal only to have three kids not eat it didn't sound fun. Instead, I took a nap after church.


My sister made the girls' dresses and Tanner's coat jacket. His jacket has hidden dinosaurs ironed in it. He LOVES it! They were perfect for our kids.

Instead of doing Easter baskets, my sister-in-law shared this cool idea with me. I felt much better about buying this instead of spending money on junk for baskets. We've never done baskets so Ashton still doesn't know any different. I think that will change next year when she's in school. The kids have acted out the Easter story countless times and play with this all the time. I love hearing their conversations too. It was the perfect gift for our children.