Projects

Around our house many projects are started . . . few are finished. I suppose I could blame it on my husband, but it's not always his fault. Other projects begin to take precedence, life gets crazy, kids get in the way. Whatever the reason, things remain undone. We started painting the house about a year and a half ago and the kids bathroom, my bedroom, and my bathroom have yet to be finished. The problem is now the other rooms all need to be touched up as well. In February we started another large project, the floors. We had carpet in the dining room and it just wasn't working with four small children (can't imagine why). For a couple of years I had been wanting to take it all out and put down laminate flooring and we finally did it. Well, Glen did it and he did a great job, but like most projects, it remains slightly undone. It's just the baseboards and the transition strips, but I look forward to the day when a project is done completely. Though not finished, I absolutely love the floors and we put them in just in time. Preston now feeds himself and one-third of his food always ends up on the floor. It was interesting teaching piano lessons in the entryway while the floors were being worked on, but I managed. Here are some slightly unfinished pictures and hopefully some day soon I can put a completely finished picture. Of course there are still the curtains I need to get, the accessories, the . . .

The before picture. It's hard to see, but there are stains, everywhere!
Light carpet + Kids = Disaster

Pulling everything out and realizing that we are going to have to put in a sub-floor to match the kitchen and entryway.


The kids thought it was a blast, except for Preston who was confined to his high chair most of the time.


Glen was hard at work pulling up the linoleum, that stuff can sure stick!


Great job on the sub-floor, Glen! And the floor is coming along!


The almost finished project! We love it!

Crazy Life

Is it just me or does life seem to be flying by and I'm holding on with the tips of my fingernails? This summer was too short and crazy, but I'm actually glad that school is back in. I feel like I'm better organized when the kids are in school and consequently I have more free time rather than less. Weird. By the way this post is especially dedicated to my darling cousin Cara who keeps reminding me what a slacker I am. Hee hee, thanks Cara. OK, so here's a quick update because I have the Kindergarten carpool today and it's early day out. Glen is alive! This may sound weird, but he has been pretty sick lately and it's been quite the medical mystery. After multiple cat scans, ultra-sounds, a colonoscopy (fun!), an endoscopy, and lots of blood tests, they think there's something going on with his gallbladder, but it's going to stay in for the time being.
I'm back with all my piano students, plus some new ones. I'm up to 15 now and I'm hoping I can manage. With two little ones at home still and all the running around that accompanies kids in school, soccer, and dance, I stay very busy. I do find some time to read, play the piano, and hang out with friends and Glen which is nice. I have a new friend from Chile and I've been able to dust off my Spanish and surprisingly it's not quite as bad as I thought!
Isaac is in the second grade and loving school again. He still loves playing with friends more than school and homework is just not fun, but he's doing well. He continues to be an amazing reader and speller.
Ella started Kindergarten and she loves it! She loves drawing, coloring, and playing with new friends. She loves writing her whole name and other random letters that she likes. She's still in dance and says that dancing all day is her favorite thing to do.
Ammon is a little lonely with Isaac and Ella in school, but he tries to play with Preston. His trains are his ultimate toy and we have train tracks going down the hall on a daily basis. He is still very forceful and energetic and yet very sweet too.
Preston is getting bigger, although he is definitely our smallest kid. I think he might have hit 20 pounds finally at 13 1/2 months. He has quite the little personality and loves to make people laugh. His big brown eyes draw the attention of many strangers and I think he really likes the attention.
Check out our latest pictures! These are in no particular order.


On a fun scavenger hunt with some of our friends.

Ammon coloring in the tent at the Hardy Family reunion.

Isaac looking very handsome in his new suit.

Ella's first day of school.

A Daddy and kids sandwich!

Little Preston who just loves to have his picture taken.

Preston again, playing on the couch.

Ella's first day of school.

Isaac's first day of school, which was actually a week before Ella's. He's in a portable that is right next to the playground, sweet!

Ammon and Preston playing and actually getting along.

What happened to us?

Wow, it has really been a while since I blogged. However, today the washer is broken and so I can't do laundry which means I have a couple extra minutes. Actually I should really be showering since it's 11:01 and I'm still in my pajamas, but oh well. I'll give some quick updates and then plug in some pictures.
Glen - has been a little under the weather and he's also trying to lose weight before April 1st or he's out of a job. We're not too worried because they really need him, but it's always a little scary. His job has been fine. He took off almost the whole month of December which was nice, but I'm sure he and I both wish he could have gotten more things done around the house. The projects just keep piling up, but it's hard to do things when the kids want to spend time with him. Now we're back to the feast and famine. When he's teaching, he leaves before we wake up and sometimes doesn't get home until after the kids are asleep, then he'll have like four days off in a row. We've learned to adjust pretty well.
Me - Still as busy as ever with kids and piano lessons. I set a goal to read 20,000 pages last year and I didn't reach the goal, but I still managed to read over 12,000 so I felt great. I really missed reading and it got me back in the habit. One of these days I'll list my favorites for suggestions. The holidays were great and once again Glen surprised me with a gift that was not in the budget, but he'll figure out how to pay for it (anyone want to buy a gun?). He bought me a new Mac laptop and it has been nice to be able to check things on the Internet in the kitchen where I can keep an eye on the kids. You would think I would have been able to blog more too, but I still have to keep my sessions on the Internet quick.
Isaac - Continues to love school. His teacher decided not to come back after she had a baby over the Christmas break so he came back to a new teacher, but after a few kinks, I think things are going well. He continues to be more independent every day and loves to go play with friends. He walks home from school with a couple other kids and although he takes a lot longer coming home, I think he really enjoys the freedom. He's lost two teeth so far and thinks it is just the coolest thing.
Ella - Oh, our little princess! She had a blast at her dance recital and cracked us up as she ran from one side of the stage to the other. We think she stole the show during her number. Glen cut her hair a week or so before her recital and even though I thought he was just going to trim it, he asked her how she wanted her hair and she said like Snow White. Two seconds later she said Sleeping Beauty instead, but the damage had already been done and Glen had chopped it into a bob. It looked very cute, but Ella was extremely upset. I assured her that it would grow back and we wouldn't cut it short again so she could look like Hannah Montana (her other favorite). Well, the day after her dance recital we went to some friends house for dinner and their son came running up from the basement to tell us that Ella had cut her hair. "Yes, we know." "No, Ella cut her hair!" I'm sure all you parents can understand the panic that set in as we stood in shock wondering how bad it was. She came upstairs and her bangs were gone . . . gone. "Don't worry, Mom, it will grow back.", Ella calmly told me. From the mouth of babes. It is finally starting to grow back and one day we'll look back and laugh, but needless to say I haven't wanted to do family pictures so Christmas cards are going to be really late . . . maybe they'll be Easter cards.
Ammon - Loves his baby brother Preston, maybe a little too much. I am constantly dragging him off of Preston as he loves to lay on top of him or gets right up in his face. He is still a bit of a bully and watch out when he pulls out one of his push toys. Isaac and Ella run screaming from him all the time, despite the fact that they're bigger than him. He is also the biggest sweetheart. I think we named him appropriately because of any of my children if he were told to protect some one's sheep he would definitely chop off some people's arms and then teach about Christ. He'll be a great missionary. He loves to talk and he gets better every day.
Preston - Just keeps getting bigger and cuter. He loves to puff through his nose and thinks it's hilarious. He had some ear infections and that kid does not like medicine. The minute I would even take it out he would purse up his little lips and refuse to open his mouth. He loves his siblings and his Dad so much. He lights up when Glen comes home. He still wants to be held 85% of the day which makes things interesting, but he's also figured out how to drag himself around on the floor. It's not quite the army crawl and it takes a great deal of effort, but if he sees a toy he can usually pull himself over to it. He's rolling over everywhere too, but still not sitting up on his own. Of course if he did sit up, Ammon would probably knock him over. He also likes to say Dadadada and can squeal and shrieks louder than all the kids combined.
Overall we're doing well and looking forward to warmer weather. First lost tooth!
Cute with bangs!



Our solution to no bangs.
My happy boy!

Preston's Baby Blessing

Having a baby makes you realize just how precious and wonderful life is. Preston is such a sweet and special part of our lives. I'm grateful that Glen was able to bless him and although these pictures were taken after the fact, I don't think there's anything much sweeter than a baby in white. My little angel.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Preston is asleep and Ammon and Ella aren't fighting at the moment so here's a really quick update on life. Having a fourth child has really blown my world out of whack. I feel like I am always behind and running to catch up. Preston is now three months old and I am finally feeling like I'm getting a handle on things, most days that is. For the first 2 1/2 months of his life Preston wanted to be held non-stop and since he's so cute, how could I refuse? Unfortunately, it meant little to no sleep for me and my house in utter chaos. It is a good thing I love my kids so much.
Isaac is loving the 1st grade and doing really well. They tested his reading and they can't test him as high as he can actually read (whatever that means), but I'm glad he's doing well. He has been much more social and gets mad when he can't play with friends everyday for hours.
Ella is still our little blond princess. She is actually very smart and can write almost all of her letters and she recognizes them all, but boy does she play the "dumb blond" part to a tee. Where does she get that? Hee Hee.
Ammon is so full of life it's infectious. He is the most boisterous kid I have ever met. He loves his baby brother and Preston just loves him back. I just need to teach Ammon that squeezing Preston till he squawks is not a good thing.
Preston is such a happy kid. He loves to smile and laugh and does it whenever anyone gives him attention. He has been rolling over from his back to his stomach, but not on a regular basis. I want to slow him down, but I know I'm going to blink one day and he'll be walking. Why does it happen so quick?!
Glen is still teaching an MI course at Camp Williams and he's great at it. He misses jumping out of planes with the 19th, but I don't miss him doing it.
I have recently started running on a treadmill to get rid of this baby weight and I actually enjoy it. I'm crazy I know, but it has given me more energy during the day to chase after kids.
Well, there's the quick update on us. I would have loved to put pictures, but we recently realized our 4 year old computer only has 80 gigs of storage and we were running out, so Glen took all the pictures off.
Uh-oh, Preston is awake so I'm off.

Cleats and Leotards

I am officially a soccer mom. Isaac started soccer and he is loving it. He's still learning what the game is really about and he needs to be a little more aggressive, but he's doing well and having fun.









Ella is also branching out and started a creative dance class. Her second week when I told her to get ready to go she asked me why she was going again. I guess she figured it was a one time activity.

Baby Preston

Sunday, July 27th I woke up at about 5:15 and knew that it was finally the day for our newest addition to arrive. After convincing Glen it was, we called my mom and told her to pack her bags. My friend Kendra came over and helped get the kids ready for church and as my mom and the kids headed off in one direction we headed another towards the hospital.

We may have jumped the gun a little because when we got to the hospital, the contractions all but stopped. I guess I was a little overly concerned about having the baby in the car. The choice was to go home or break my water and get things going. Because I was already 6 days late we opted to keep things going. Things still didn't progress very quickly, but finally after what I called my hardest labor and Glen called my easiest (how could he possibly know?) Preston was born at 6:41 pm.

The stats:

Preston Michael Black

Sunday, July 27th, 2008

7 lb 7 oz

19 1/2 in

He looks a lot like Isaac did as a baby so now we're half and half for family likeness. The kids were all very excited and all the worries about how Ammon would act have disappeared. He wants to hold him and take care of him more than Isaac and Ella. Isaac is being a great big brother and when he talks or sings to him, Preston quiets down really well. Ella loves him, but I think it's just one more brother to her. She is not really the motherly type yet. We feel extremely blessed to have him in our family and though I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed, things are falling into place pretty well. If I could just get Preston to go to sleep before 2 or 3 in the morning it would be great. Check out the pictures my dad took at the hospital, there will be more to come soon.

Here's a couple from home 5 days old.