Crutches!

Mariana jumped out of the swing in full flight this weekend. She spent the weekend hopping and limping, barely able to put weight on or move her foot, and it was swollen. We thought surely it was broken, but when we took her in this morning nothing showed up on the x-ray. So it is either a bad sprain/twist or hairline fracture. Either way, she has to be on crutches for a week!

Stephen's question of the day

"Daddy, why did you decide to marry Mommy instead of being a saint?"

We all laughed for several minutes afterward, and he was so confused as to why we thought that was funny!

7 months old!

Our Sebastian is 7 months old today. He is rolling all over the place, scooting backwards (which frustrates him because he intends to move forward), and starting to sit up better. He sleeps from around 8pm to 6/6:30 am most nights and still takes 3 naps of around an hour. He is babbling a lot but prefers to switch up syllables a lot...ah, wah, bah, dah, mah, etc...so much so that I really don't know which one he said first! He has two teeth and is working hard on some more.

And a "selfie"

Last Ice Skating

Our two ice skating girls had their last lesson on Tuesday with tests. They both passed their levels, so Gloria moves on to Level 2 and Mariana to Level 4. They were very excited! We will pick back up with their lessons in January, once soccer and the holidays have passed!

Soccer Boy

Stephen is doing great in soccer and loving it, of course. He was so proud to wear his Mario character shirt that Daddy found for him...especially since Daddy was out of town for several days!

Butterfly migration

Austin was home this morning preparing for an out of town trip. He and the children discovered Monarch Butterfly Migration happening right over our back yard. We counted 130 butterflies before we gave up counting!

Tia Becky visit

We had a little visit with Tia Becky on Saturday since she was in town for the game. She managed to squeeze in some Sebastian snuggles!

Look alikes

We pulled Allia's baby album out yesterday to compare photos of her with Sebastian. They are definitely look alikes!

Piano Recital

The girls had their fall piano recital today. In addition to their piano pieces, the performed in a special introductory piece in which their teacher played "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" from the Frozen Movie, and they played some of the parts. It was fun to prepare for and to watch them perform! They both made a few mistakes on their piano pieces but recovered nicely!

Second Tooth!

Sebastian cut his second tooth yesterday!

 You can see his teeth in this one.

More Soccer

Stephen was bemoaning the fact that Manah usually brings clothes (instead of toys) last week when we were on our way home from Hot Shots soccer to meet them, as they had just arrived at the house. Much to his surprise, Manah had this Nike outfit for him that he loved! I guess clothes can occasionally be exciting for boys too. The girls are always happy with clothes, of course. He looked extra sporty out there today in his new outfit and liked the fact that the Nike swoosh on his clothes matched the ones on his shin guards!

National Night Out

We sort of went to national night out Tuesday. I kept the three sick ones in the car and watched the three well ones venture off to have fun at face painting, games, bounce houses, train ride, etc. Then, when nobody was near, we ventured over to get sno cones and back to the car. Daddy came and gathered food for us, and we ate a picnic in the grass by the car! It actually worked out pretty well, except that Gloria was among the sick ones and really wanted to go play games and jump! Sebastian and Anastasia were mostly content to hang with me...the sno cones helped, of course!

Sick baby

Several of the children, including this guy, came down with a nasty fever/cough bug at the end of last week. Sebastian ended up with wheezing and an ear infection, so he gets to be darth vader for the next week or two with the nebulizer. Don't be fooled...he doesn't like it at all. He is smiling here because we just started the breathing treatment, and Allia was talking sweetly to him behind me!

Hot Shots

Stephen has had 2 hot shots classes so far and is doing great. He has been looking forward to this all summer!

Pumpkin Time!

We made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. I meant to dress them up for it, but it ended up being a spontaneous trip. Austin has been working late all week, so we had pizza at the park for dinner last night and happened to be across the street, so we just couldn't resist!

A nice lady saw me taking photos and offered to take one with me in it. I am not sure that was a great idea. I don't like photos of myself these days...especially since I did about 2 hours of yard work today! Oh, well. It was really sweet of her. :)

Potty Training

Anastasia has made some great progress this last week! She has graduated to pull ups (she gets one per day, but if she wets or dirties it, back to diapers). She is loving this getting candy all day, so she is a very eager potty girl. And if one of the older children take her potty, they get to pick a treat too. It is a win, win deal for sure!

 After one of her successes, she asked me for a "smarshmellow." So cute!