In the morning, Tanner didn’t have school, and so we all got to stay home and hang out with Drew! Lucky for us, it also snowed about 6 inches that night, so we were able to go play (and it was great snowman building snow, which you don’t often get in Utah). Drew, being the warm climate baby he is, was not so sure about the snow, but loved being outside wearing “booties” and gloves. Don’t you think Drew could be my fourth child?

My kids, being the Utah babies they are, loved it, and probably could have played for hours.

The rest of the day we just hung out. Drew wore his “booties” all day, and at one point he traded his snow boots in for Natalya’s zebra striped boots. He also pushed the pink stroller around all day (something we can tease him about when he is older). Drew loves wearing his helmet, motorcycles and Handy Manny, so we heard a lot about those all day. The happiest moment was when Drew realized one of Tanner’s galactics had a removable helmet. Later that night, Ashley went out to a movie with her friends, and Trent helped Drew fall asleep by rocking him, it was pretty cute.

On Saturday Ashley and Drew both left in the morning, so we just did our thing until later in the afternoon. That night we had pizza for dinner, and then headed to Walmart for some fun shopping. We bought some yummy things for Sunday dinner, and also some motorcycle toys for Drew. After the kids were in bed, Ashley “babysat” while Trent and I were able to go out on a little date!

On Sunday we had church, and for dinner we had my brother Steven and his family over for dinner and to visit with Ashley and Drew. We had an awesome Cafe Rio style dinner (way better then Cafe Rio though) and doughnuts holes and brownies with ice cream for dessert. It was fun to watch the kids play, and we were able to sort of get a picture of them all (the the Fulkerson grandchildren minus one: Ariana). That night Drew came down with a really high fever, and we were all pretty worried. Luckily, he was able to sleep it off!

Also that night, the kids all played on the blow up mattress and had a blast. Tanner would jump and bounce the other kids. They were all giggling and laughing, it was so cute!

Monday it was time for Ashley and Drew to leave. The kids were all really sad. Tanner had a fun time with Drew (I think he was pretending he had a little brother), and Nadia loved Drew. By the end of their visit, Nadia was Drew’s shadow.  When Tanner came home from school that day, I think she thought it was Drew, she got really excited and then looked disappointed when she realized it was Tanner. She also loved Ashley, and actually threw a fit when Ashley put her down and I tried to pick her up!

We were so glad they were able to come for a little visit, and we look forward to our visit with them in just a few weeks!

The girls dressed up in their fancy clothes, we learned about manners, and how to talk fancy. We then went and had our T party and drank lemonade, ate chocolate chip cookies, and popcorn. And of course the girls had to twirl!

We also made train pictures (because fancy ladies ride trains).We also played Mother May I!. It is fun to be a girl!

On Friday Trent’s parents came into town. They wanted to take Tanner out for dinner, and he chose Tucanos. We have trained him well. It was very good, and we had a great time! Afterword, we came home and Tanner was able to open his presents. He got a beanbag chair which he has been wanting for a long time. He was very excited.

On Saturday morning, we were able to go swim in the hotel pool with Trent’s parents. I love swimming, and the kids seemed to have inherited that from me. The water was warm, which makes swimming even better!

Saturday afternoon Trent, the two older kids, and I went to the BYU Basketball game. We were very sad to see BYU lose by two points, but it was an exciting game. The kids were being pretty whiny though, so I think next time we will leave them at home. Saturday night I stayed up late and decorated a little bit so Tanner would wake up to birthday mania!

Sunday morning Trent fixed Tanner whatever breakfast he wanted: he picked egg-in-a-hole. We let him open one present from my parents before we left for Stake Conference. Tanner was very good, and patient, so when we came home we let him open the rest of his presents from my parents. He received some Star Wars galatics, a Toy Story lego set, and Star Wars Guess Who! For lunch we had some fun “bug” mac and cheese that Grandma Miskin had got him. Later that evening we had dinner with our friends Holly and Trent, who the kids like more then us. We had Tanner’s favorites: shrimp, salmon, fruit salad, asparagus and yummy bread. For Tanner’s cake I made him rainbow cupcakes and we sang happy birthday. We had a fun time that evening visiting and playing with Holly and Trent! They even brought Tanner a whole plate of chocolate chip cookies.

On Monday Tanner requested waffles for breakfast. When Tanner went off for school the girls and I hit up walmart to get some last minute presents and party stuff. I then went to Tanner’s school for his school party and I brought mini ice cream sandwiches, which were a hit! After school just Tanner and I went out to lunch at Applebees (he had a free meal from school). He was so excited about this, and even picked my meal out for me. That afternoon our Monday friends (we hang out every Monday) came over, Becca, Eli, Leah and Noah. We finished off Tanner’s cupcakes, and they gave Tanner a Star Wars Lego set. That night we had a family party with my brother and his family, and Trent’s brothers and sisters (minus one). We had a fun time eating, talking, and playing. Tanner requested a star wars themed cake and said he wanted it to be of the scene where obi wan kenobi kills darth maul. I thought I did a pretty good job recreating it (thanks to Tanner’s galactics).

After cake Tanner opened his presents from us, and some fun stuff from his cousins, aunts and uncles. He was very spoiled. He received a light for his bike, more galactics, a cars movie car, stickers, candy, treats, money, and markers.Last year Darth Vader came to his party, this year it was Darth Maul! Nadia was not very happy about that. Even when the mask was off, she was a little unsure of the whole thing.

Celebrating Tanner’s birthday was very fun, but we are sure having birthday withdrawals today.

I think the thing that most impresses me about Tanner right now is is attitude about school. Granted he is only in kindergarten, but he loves learning and loves coming home to tell me all about the things he learned and show me all his worksheets or projects. He is excited to go to school almost everyday, and he throws himself into all the activities and extra things that go along with it. It helps that he adores his teacher and has made some good friends in his class. I love watching him get better and better with reading, flourish with numbers and math, and improve his comprehension skills. Tanner is very good with numbers When I went to his parent teacher conferences, his teacher told me he did over and above all the testing when it came to numbers, as far as counting, writing, and recognizing. With reading, writing and everything else he was right where he needed to be, or a little ahead in some cases. I was a very proud mom. His behavior is also something to be proud of. While he is not perfect, he is very well behaved in class, and only occasionally has to be “redirected” (as his teacher called it).

Along with the number thing, Tanner loves anything with numbers. He loves to do color by number or paint by numbers and dot to dots. He also likes patterns and colors. He plays with graph paper, and loves the colors of the rainbow and even knows the order of the colors (I think he learned it from mickey mouse clubhouse). So, he enjoys anything where he can create pictures with patterns or numbers and colors. He also loves money. He enjoys earning it all by himself, and will often save up for things he wants. He is excited to do more lemonade stands this summer, so he can earn “hundreds of dollars”. He told me the other day that someday he will get a job and earn lots of money, and then quit and open a store and make everything free. Then, when he runs out of money he will get a job again, and start over just like a pattern.

At home Tanner is usually a joy to be around. He really has been good about playing in his room by himself, but also enjoys playing with his sisters. Natalya and Tanner have developed a good brother/sister relationship. I love it when Tanner leaves for the bus stop and he gives both his sisters a big hug and kiss. He even asks Natalya about her day when he gets home from school. They also share very well, and Tanner always shares his treats with Natalya IF he has extras. They still fight and pick on each other, but they have so many fun and cute moments. Several times the kids will have a “kids club” and they will lock themselves in Tanner’s room and hang out. This is especially nice when they also include Nadia. Tanner is the older brother though, and likes to act like it by bossing his sisters around. Tanner also has been very diligent with his chores, and is always willing to help out. However, it is very hard to get him to bathe. I am lucky if i can get him to take a shower twice a week, and I usually have to bribe him.

Tanner’s favorite activities: playing with his star wars galactics, legos, coloring or creating, and listening to books on tape. Tanner loves books in general, and is really into the Magic Tree House, Star Wars books, and any non-fiction books. He also loves playing Super Mario Wii with me, or playing Lego Star Wars or Indiana Jones. He also loves to play lego Star Wars on the DS. Tanner loves being outside, and has been pleased with our mild winter. He loves to ride his bike or play games outside. Tanner is also really into board games right now. He loves candyland, connect four, battleship, and his new favorite star wars guess who. Tanner’s favorite tv shows are Max and Ruby and Team Umizoomi. He also loves watching the Star Wars movies, or checking out The Magic School Bus videos from the library. He will also watch movies with Natalya, like her Barbi princess movies or their new obsession: Mulan.

One thing Tanner does that I love is role-play or pretend play. He is constantly dressing up with things hooked to his belts like holsters with guns, swords, light sabers. He is always some kind of Jedi, Ninja, or cowboy. He has a very active imagination, and it is fun that he dresses up and acts it out. Tanner also loves singing, and learns songs very quickly. He learns a lot of songs at school, and it is fun to hear him singing them to himself.

As Tanner gets older his memory astounds me. He remembers things that Trent and I have forgotten. He has a very good visual memory, just like his dad. Tanner also still talks a lot and asks a lot of questions about everything. This is where my patience gets tested everyday. I can hardly talk or do anything without him asking me questions about it. Tanner also listens to adult conversations now, so when we are talking about something (like death for example), he brings it up and asks a million questions about it.

Tanners favorite foods: bread, especially fancy bread, seafood (shrimp, salmon and clam chowder are his favorite), pizza, mac and cheese, chicken strips or nuggets, chips, root beer, fruit punch, chocolate milk, regular milk, doughnuts, chocolate chip cookies, cereal, and pretty much any fruit. He also claims he loves broccoli and asparagus. He hates carrots, raw broccoli, and anything that has green in it.

We love our Tanner, and cannot believe we have a six year old already!

I heard someone say not too long ago, that everyone should have a one year old in the house. I completely agree with this. One year olds are so much fun to watch explore and learn. They are also very naughty, so they keep you on your toes.

One thing that makes Nadia different then the other kids is she doesn’t really play with toys. Unless by toys you mean my cell phone, Trent’s cell phone, Trent’s laptop, wires, remotes, or any other electronic device. She also enjoys playing with anything the kids don’t want her getting into such as markers, legos, barbies… She loves going through our bathroom drawers and reorganizing things. She loves sitting in “Dad’s chair” and pretending to play on  his laptop. The other day Trent was setting up our new desktop and she just stood over by him pointing and jabbering the whole time, like she was giving him advice or pointers. While the other kids would get distracted by the TV at this age, she acts as if it isn’t there. She has never sat and even watched a second of it. Though, if there is music on she will get her groove on.

Just recently she has learned to push the kitchen chairs around the kitchen in order to reach things. This has allowed her to eat all of our valentines m&m’s and get into our fruit bowl. She also likes to help me out when with dinner, and will stand next to me on a chair.

Nadia is the worst teether. She screams and cries and throws fits. I will be so happy when all her teeth are in. When she is not in pain she is a happy content child. When she is in pain she is a monster. This also applies to her when she is sick. It is like we have a completely different child in our house! One nice thing is she is almost always a good sleeper. She actually gets excited for her naps and for bed time. She will often go over to her crib during the day and beg to be put in when she is ready for her nap. Natalya was like this too.

Nadia is also very independent. She likes to do things on her own, and gets very frustrated if she can’t. She likes to be held and cuddled, but only if she wants you too. This definitely applies to Natalya and Tanner. If they try and hug her or hold her when she doesn’t want it, she lets them know. She is a hitter too, she will swat at you if you are doing something she doesn’t like. However, she does adore her older brother and sister. She loves to laugh with them and is always happy to see them after naps or when she wakes up in the morning. She loves dogs too, she gets pretty excited when she sees a picture or a real dog.

Nadia is our picky eater. She still doesn’t like spicy food, but she seems to be a little more tolerant. She loves eggs, any kind of bread, granola bars, all fruit (but her favorites are bananas and oranges), beans, chips, graham crackers, fruit snacks, fish crackers, spam, cheese, yogurt and peanut butter. She isn’t a big meat eater or vegetable eater, and if you give her something she doesn’t like, she just throws it on the ground! She is getting better at using a spoon and fork, though I would rather her just use her hands because she makes less of a mess! She also gets really excited about breakfast in the morning, and gets quite angry if she doesn’t eat soon after she wakes up

Some words she says now: Hot, baby, yeah, mom, dad, what’s that, cackcack (which means cracker or milky), moe (more), ball, hi dad, and about 100 other words that we do not understand, but she seems to. She jabbers a lot! She also nods her head yes or no, which I think it hilarious. If she is getting into something she shouldn’t, and you say “Nadia”, she will start shaking her head no because she knows she is being naughty! She also points a lot, which is okay when you are a baby, people think it’s cute!

We keep wondering if Nadia will be as girly as Natalya. It is hard to say because personality wise, she seems more like Tanner (really into electronics, a climber, curious, loves to be outside and talkative), but she loves to have her purse on her arm, or jewelry on. She also loves it when we put dress ups on her, and loves me to put lip gloss on her. I guess we will just have to wait and see!

My parents arrived late Tuesday night, and we let the kids stay up to say hello! In the morning, Tanner had school, I had to go to a parent teacher conference (which went awesome), and I had to help for about 30 min at the school, so it was already busy morning. Grandma and grandpa were even in charge of getting Tanner to the bus stop! However, the rest of the day we just hung around and rested, and also shopped a little bit nearby. That night we watched the Olympics and the BYU basketball game while we ate pizza hut and kfc.

On Thursday we had to basically push Tanner out the door so we wouldn’t miss school. We did surprise him though, by picking him up a little early and going into Orem to do some  shopping. The kids played with grandpa and the mall playground, while grandma and I were able to shop around. That night we met up with my brother and his family at Tepanyaki. The kids love this place, so they look forward to is whenever grandma and grandpa come..

On Friday we kept Tanner out of school and we spent the day in Salt Lake City at the Gateway. The kids, grandpa, and dad spent the day at the children’s museum, while grandma and I (and Nadia) were able to shop again! Although it was a little cold, we still enjoyed ourselves. The kids had a blast and completely wore themselves out! That night we met up with my brother Steven again, and had dinner at The Red Rooster Waffle Company. We then headed home to enjoy our last night with my parents.

Natalya is really into fashion these days. She went to target with grandma and picked out several pairs of shoes. She also loved dressing up with grandma’s jewelry and shoes. At one point she told grandma, “Grandma, your coat is not fashion”.

We had a fun time, shopping during the day, watching Olympics at night and just spending time with each other. Unfortunately, Nadia was sick the whole time they were here. She had a virus that lasted 5 days, and the only symptom was a fever of about 100. She was also very angry and grumpy. She would not let anyone but Trent or I hold her, and if anyone even looked at her she would cry. This was not fun for grandma and grandpa who did not get to spend very much time with her. The nice thing was she just wanted to lay around all day, which she was able to do in the stroller. Everyone would comment on how good and mellow she was. I felt  bad for her, but she was the happiest just sitting in the stroller snuggled up with her blanket.

The girls also wore their cute Valentine’s outfits from Grandma Fulkerson.

After the party I was watching a friends kids for a few hours, and we had heart shaped sandwiches!

Then, even more exciting, we received a package from Grandma and Grandpa Miskin filled with candy, homemade Valentine cards and little presents for the kids. In the evening, our babysitter came and Trent and I went out our traditional Chuck-a-rama Valentine’s date, while the kids and babysitter had heart shaped pizza.

Saturday morning the kids received their little Valentine’s treats. Each got a book and some candy, while Trent and I both bought each other yummy dark chocolates. Our plan for today is heart shaped egg-in-a-hole and a fancy homemade dinner! Check out my food blog, The Hungry Homemaker, for a post about our dinner if you are interested.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

On Friday of this week, they had a “Fancy Nancy” valentine party, and they had to wear their fanciest clothes. Tanner was very into this, and picked out what he thought was the fanciest clothes he had. He looked so handsome!

Then when he came home, he was wearing this:

I love that Tanner loves school and his teacher, and that they learn so much, but have fun doing it too!

It was fun to meet an author is such a relaxed setting. We were able to talk to him and take pictures. We each had one book to be signed, Tanner had Pingo, Natalya had Candy Shop Wars (fitting since she loves candy) and I brought the first book in the Fablehaven series. He talked to Tanner a bit, asked him how old he was, and if he liked the book. He loved Natalya. He said he had a 3 year old daughter too! He asked me if I had read Fablehaven before. I laughed because I have read it several times. I said, ” I have read all your books, and made my husband and all my friends read them too!” He just laughed and said he thought it was great that adults have been interested in his books too! He was so nice and polite, he seemed genuinely excited to be there. We also got a signed poster for the last book the Fablehaven Series. Brandon Mull mentioned that he was really proud of himself to have actually done a five book series!

Megan and and Taylor were actually able to go to the school earlier in the day when Brandon Mull did a workshop for one of the grades. Megan and Taylor were both able to meet him then too, and have their  books signed, and Taylor said they didn’t even have to wait in line! Megan mentioned that he talked about writing stories and how important it is to have good characters and develop them properly, even before you have a setting. I think it is great that Brandon Mull has not been swept away by his popularity, and that he still takes time to teach and meet with fans.

Along with the book siging, the school also had a lot of activities going on for the kids. There was a station where you could draw Pingo, a place to make book marks, scrapbook pages, do Fablehaven trivia, a book walk, and a Cat in the Hat story telling.

There was also a backdrop they made so people could take pictures. They had a drawing of Pingo and of the hag from Fablehaven. It was a really fun night and I am so glad we were able to go!

One of my favorite parts was listening to Tanner and Taylor in the back seat. Taylor is ten years old, but treated Tanner like a peer. I was really impressed with how nice and friendly she was with him! They talked about all sorts of stuff, heaven, horses, prisons, police men, school, St. George,  and they told each other scary stories. I sort of wish I had a little tape recorder so I could have captured it all!

There is a certain little girl in our house

She has been a drawing maniac. Here is a taste of her work.

The big guy in the middle is Dad, the little one on  the right, holding “Dad’s” hand is Nadia. The one on the top towards the left corner is Natalya.