Eight is Great!

August turned 8 last month! As usual her birthday fell close to conference weekend so we had a great weekend with lots of family. My parents came up for the festivities and we also had Pam & Leon, Brooke & Reese, Grandpa Larsen & Grandma Peggy, and Grandma King (GG) over on Sunday to celebrate with cake, ice cream, and peach pie. The weather was so beautiful we had the party in the back yard. She got spoiled with lots of great presents and was thrilled to get her very own rollerblades!

Let's title this one "Baptism Bling"

Our best friends the Finlaysons! Wow it's handy having them next door!

On November 6th August was baptized. It was such a wonderful day. When we went in for her bishop's interview Bishop Lords told August that I would be crying that day because all moms do. :) I remember thinking, "nah, I don't think I will." Well we were both sort of right. I didn't cry on the day of the baptism, but I cried almost everyday leading up to it for a week. I just felt in denial. My "baby" can't be eight ALREADY! Ugh. She just seems so mature lately, she's a great helper, and an awesome big sister. It doesn't help matters that she got her ears pierced for her birthday (after the soccer season), and we gave her new scriptures for her baptism. Aren't those grownup things for a tiny, little eight year old? :(

We had a lot of family come up for the baptism. My whole family made it and Brandon's sister Penny and two of her boys made the drive up as well. Then we had Brandon's aunt Debi and uncle Donnie, Grandpa and Peggy, Grandma King (GG), and Pam and Leon. It was so good to see everyone! Our awesome neighbors and the girls' best friends also came as well as Rhett, Karen and their boys. The weather was beautiful again, so the kids were able to play outside all afternoon.

After our little luncheon we all changed clothes and spiffed back up and drove to Ririe to get our Braegger family pictures taken. Leon, Pam, and Penny & boys met us there. It was a great setting and the pictures turned out great. I'm so glad Penny was there to help with all the kids! The last time we had professional (non-wedding) pictures was before any of us was married, over ten years ago! Sheesh...time flies when you're having fun, and getting married, and moving to Las Vegas, and having babies, and changing jobs, and buying minivans, and buying houses, and selling houses, and ...well, you get the idea. Hopefully it's not another ten years before our next photo shoot! When I figure out my scanner I'll have to post the old picture with the new one. In ten years we've added thirteen people to our family! Stay tuned for a post on our basement progress...

Fall Futbol

We stayed busy with soccer this year. Both of the older girls played. This translates into two practices a week and two back to back games on Saturday mornings. That was a little stressful at times! (kind of glad we're done for this year.) I think both of the girls enjoyed it. August had a lot of her friends on the team and we had the same coach that we loved from last year. She is still pretty timid around the ball so we did a lot of yelling, "August run, go get the ball!"

Addison's team was fun to watch. She was one of only two girls on the team but that didn't stop her from scoring the first goal (and quite possibly the only goal) of the season. Addison's coach was great with them too. We also lucked out again this year with the weather. Fall soccer is always a gamble in Idaho but this year we had very mild conditions. :) (today it's snowing though...)

First Day of School

I'm just trying to play catch up for a few posts so that I can print my blog book at Christmas and not have it be two pages long. :) This year August is in 2nd grade and her teacher is Ms. Staples. She really likes her teacher and her class this year. McKay, her best friend from next door, is in her class. The school sends out letters in the summer letting you know who your teacher is and McKay, having already received his, waited as we opened August's. Wow! It was like they had won the lottery. I absolutely love that they are friends. It will be sad when they each think the other one has cooties! When does that happen anyway?

Addison started kindergarten this year. I decided to send her in the morning, and it's working great. She does tell me on a regular basis how she hates getting up so early, but she's been a trooper about it. Her teacher is Mrs. Christensen and we love her too. Addison loves learning to read. She is my kid that has always loved books. As a toddler she would sit in her little rocking chair and look through books all afternoon. (oh why can't the twins be like that?) She is reading well already and asks her teacher for more books everyday.

This year I have been able to help out at the school more. My friend watches the twins for me on Wednesdays so I can help August's class with writing and then I take them with me on Fridays and help with Addie's class. It has been fun getting to know other moms and the girls' teachers better. I feel like I'm slowly getting my life back as the little girls mature. Hey, it's only been 3 years, not bad!

We are still working on the basement and it's coming along. I'm getting so excited! I'm sick of dusting upstairs everyday. Hopefully we can get it done in time for Christmas. (fingers crossed!) I'll try to post pictures of our progress soon.

Summer Catch Up

Well, well...here we are less than 24 hours away from the beginning of the school year and still no summer post. Time flies when you're having fun, or chasing twin toddlers! (that can actually be fun sometimes) We actually had a great summer, much better than last year, with a lot of family adventures and fun times. Here are some that made our highlight reel. They include, but are not limited to: Brandon's BD, a visit to Grandma & Grandpa's (handcart rides included), Bear Lake and Lagoon. My parents also came for a visit on my birthday and brought my Grandma with them. She had never seen our home in Idaho Falls so it was fun to show her around and spend time with her. Of course I have no pictures of that...why do I even have a camera? My Mom came for 5 days a couple of weeks ago and we had so much fun starting quilts for the girls new bedroom. I think we hit every fabric store in town at least twice. We also ended our summer with a trip to Lava. (Also no pictures of this event, please someone e-mail me some!) My parents and every one of my siblings and their families were there, except Reese who was working. It was great weather and the kids loved it.

We also had many fun visits with Brandon's sisters this summer. We saw April twice, we got a 3-week surprise visit from Becka, and we saw Penny and her boys more this summer than probably the last 3 summers combined! :) Luckily they have posted great pics of their visits, because yeah I stink with remembering the camera. We have also enjoyed many backyard BBQs with Brandon's parents and grandma. They really do have a great backyard. The twins had their 2 1/2 year photo shoot with Papa and Nana and the pics look great as always!!

Now I just need to post about a few of the messes the twins have made for me this summer so I can make them feel sorry for me when they're older. I won't go into a lot of detail, I think a few key words should paint the picture nicely.

1. Red fingernail polish & carpet (really, need I say more?)

2. Broken lightbulb on bed (have you ever seen the pieces of a shattered lightbulb? teeny-tiny)

3. Chocolate pudding and a fan (I'm not making this stuff up!)

Well that's it for our summer. We're looking forward to fall and starting up with our schedules again. August is in 2nd grade this year and Addison is starting kindergarten. Crazy! Both older girls are in fall soccer and will start dance again next week. We are still working on finishing the basement. We're in the mudding and taping stage. We're getting there! Right now we're looking forward to the FAIR! Yahoo! Bring on the funnel cakes!

May Days!

Isn't May just a crazy month when you have kids? Here are some pics of what we were up to. They include a dance recital, a visit from Aunt April, a preschool graduation, a field trip, another tooth lost, and a weekend retreat for our 10th anniversary, now just add some destructive duo episodes of smearing themselves with vaseline, then desitin for an encore, and completely obliterating five years of financial records on the computer and then you have some feel for life around our house! :) Hopefully I can play catch up and get our summer blogged before school starts. Let's be realistic here, probably not going to happen...

Avery & Aiden Update

Okay, to satisfy the twin mother in me who cringes when I here "the twins" I will do a short individual update and then them together. I mean they are identical twins, they actually do have a lot in common. :)

Avery is very funny and pretty sensitive. She loves to say "Nnnnnnnno" dragging out the word like that when we ask her a question. Usually something like, are you ready to take a bath, go to bed, get in your car seat? She likes to make us laugh with her goofy faces and games. Avery is a great eater and she recently discovered she likes salad. She has preferences about which clothes she wears and which car seat she uses. Her favorite phrase is, "No, I don't want to!"

Aiden gets my attention by screaming "Mommy!" at me all day while hitting me for effect. I recently read that Aiden means fiery one or little fire, and she is living up to her name. Aiden tries to stop Brandon from going to work in the morning by blocking the door and she must give August a hug goodbye as she leaves for school or she's extremely distressed. Aiden gives the sweetest kisses and great big hugs.

Okay, now for the pair of them...they refer to each other as "Sissy." Isn't that the cutest? I absolutely love it. It's Sissy this, and Sissy that all day long. Aiden can actually say Avery's name...Avey is how it usually comes out, but Sissy is by far her favorite way to refer to her sis. They also have started tattling on one another and are constantly summoning Brandon and I to come check out the latest way their sister has outraged them. They love coloring, anything Elmo, watching Sesame Street & Caillou, and they could watch the movie Up all day long if I let them. They are starting to play really well together during the day. It's fun to catch them sitting side by side in their room holding their baby dolls. They are talking a lot now. They were a little slow getting started, but now they can always get their point across. Over Easter my mom gave them their first real haircuts. They had that baby hair mullet going on, so we took care of that. They look so grown up, like little girls, not babies anymore. At nap time they still curl up on my lap with their blankies to fall asleep. I love it! They are so much fun and I can't imagine our family without them. I'm posting pictures of their nighttime ritual...totally destroying their bedroom. I started tying the closet door shut and that seems to help. They just want to play all night, I don't blame them, being twins that share a room is like having a sleepover with your best friend every night. :)

Addison Update

Addison turned 5 last month and is in preschool and dance lessons. She still loves to sit on her bed and look through books. She is very interested in reading and is pretty good at sounding out words and has some of the sight words figured out. She loves animals and said she'll be a veterinarian if she can take care of "nice" animals.

Last Saturday when I got out of the shower August informed me that she couldn't find Addison anywhere. Hmmm. We started yelling for her and looking in all her usual hiding places. In the meantime Brandon came home and Brooke came over. We sent August to the Finlaysons to see if she had gone over to play, and we kept looking everywhere else. Well, August came back crying saying that she wasn't there. At this point it had probably been 15 minutes of this. Brandon was heading out to cruise the neighborhood, and I looked behind the couch again. As I knelt on the couch I felt movement under the pillows and guess what...there was our sweet, adorable,severely in trouble, Addison! I wanted to kiss and spank her at the same time! The funniest thing was that August kept telling us the last place she saw Addie was on the couch. Well, that was accurate! Brandon made Addison apologize to August because she was really upset. While we were looking August kept walking through the house yelling (while sobbing), "Addison, please come out! You won't be in trouble." I can't believe she laid there so still and for so long, and that nothing we were saying compelled her to show herself! That's a good story to illustrate Addison's personality. She usually does what she wants, when she wants, regardless of the consequences! Sigh.

The other day Addison told me she wants to take guitar lessons. I think that would be cool, because I actually want to take lessons too! Maybe if I go to her lessons with her I can figure it out. She said that she won't complain about lessons like August always does. I thought that was funny. Does anyone know the right age for starting guitar lessons? Or a good teacher?

Addison's best friend is Anaya from next door. They are so funny together! They play dress up and like to make up songs and dances to perform for us.

Addie lost her first tooth on Sunday and that sort of blew our minds. Is she old enough for that to happen? Of course she is, but for some reason she is stuck in my mind at about 3 yrs. old. Nope, she'll start kindergarten in the fall. Yep, we're old!!

So long old friend!!!

Today we said goodbye to a piece of furniture that has been a part of our home for the last 7 years. Our crib...that's right, our daredevil 2 yr. olds have consistently climbed out of their cribs all day today. (Our second crib was on loan, and is now heading back to Grandma's.) No naps today! If that isn't bad enough, I'm really nervous about bedtime. How is this going to work? I soooooo look forward to bedtime! Our other girls never attempted climbing out of the crib, and they were both older before transitioning to big girl beds. For the time being we're just going to let them sleep on their mattresses on the floor. When the basement gets finished they'll inherit the trundle bed from the older girls.


Update: I started writing this yesterday and last night was a little crazy. Initially they didn't want to stay in the beds, but we (when I say we I mean Brandon, I needed a break. Thanks Bran!) used Super Nanny's technique of not talking to them and sitting on the floor in their room until they fell asleep. That probably took about 10 minutes because they were so tired. Brandon works tonight so I'm flying solo. I hope I can do as well as he did! This morning we heard them wake up and start playing with their toys at 5:30am. I'm thinking I should start hiding the musical toys before they go to bed. :) Then there was a stretch of quiet and then Avery came into our room at 6:40. I went to check on Aiden and I found her asleep on Avery's bed...sort of. (refer to picture) Notice the state of their room, it was clean when they went to bed. Good thing they are so sweet because sheesh...change is hard on me. Talk about some major adjustments! My babies got rid of their binkies, turned 2, and started using big girl beds all within a couple of weeks. Sniff Sniff :(

P.S. I finally quit being lazy and found the cord for my new camera, hence pictures shall be coming in the future. I know some aunts that will be happy! :)

Update #2: Just got them to bed tonight by myself! 5 minutes flat!!! I love Super Nanny...and it didn't hurt that they were t-t-t-tired from getting up too early and not taking naps today, yet again. Oh well, I'll take what I can get!

Animoto.com

August Update

Instead of back-tracking too much I decided to spotlight each of the girls in the next few days...or weeks. We got a blog book for Christmas and now we'll be doing that every year. It's awesome and eases my guilty conscience concerning the documentation of my children's lives!
So basically this is for my posterity and anyone else this interests. :)

August turned 7 in October. Is it just me, or does 7 seem a lot older than 6? She is in 1st grade and loves it. She has never had her clip pulled (equivalent to having your name on the board) in her whole elementary school career. She likes to remind us of this on a regular basis. I'm a little concerned about what will happen when she does. Can you say perfectionist? She is mini-me I'm afraid, and I feel like my life has come full circle. The things she says I remember saying, and the things I say I remember my mom saying. Yikes! August is our little comedian. She has a pretty mature sense of humor. She likes to banter with Brandon when he teases her and she comes up with some pretty witty responses. At parent-teacher conference her teacher told us that she can always count on August to understand and laugh her jokes even when it goes over the other kids' heads. August still loves anything creative. She loves to design things and paint and color. We are trying to get our basement finished this year and on one of our trips to home depot we were checking out light fixtures. August spotted one and commented that she really liked that one because it had a lot of detail. I just agreed and tried not to laugh out loud. She totally caught me off guard with that one. What a character! We recently started chore charts with the older girls and August loves it. She's all about marking things off and getting credit where credit is due. She is still in dance lessons and I started teaching her piano lessons a couple of months ago. She is doing really well. I think it's more fun for me though. August is a great big sister and a big help to me. She is always giving us hugs and telling us she loves us. Just so people don't think this sounds too good to be true, I'll just say she contributes her fair share of drama to the Larsen home but we'll take it because the good far outweighs the bad! Love you Auggie!