The Lastest and Greatest

It has been awhile since I updated our blog.  Here are a few things that have been going on in the LaFroth household lately:

Archer
Baby Archer is trouble, trouble, trouble! 

I truly adore him, but I have to remember to remove the dog bowls when he is awake or I'll find him eating dog food and swimming in the water.  I have to remember to close the bathroom door or I'll find him splashing in the toilet.  I have to clear all horizontal surfaces within his reach or he'll clear them for me.  I have to be sure not to leave a glass of water sitting within his reach or it will be dumped.  Anything that can possibly be dumped will be dumped.  I have locks on most of my kitchen cupboards and drawers, but the few that aren't locked are quickly emptied.  He was sick this past week and I felt so bad for him, but I must confess I enjoyed him cuddling with me a little more than usual.  He actually laid his head my shoulder a few times which he hasn't done once since his fever broke!  He is busy, busy, busy and leaves a tornado in his wake!  In spite of the messes he makes, I love watching him explore.  He smiles all of the time and always makes me smile too.  His latest accomplishment is walking.  Here is a little video clip:

Tanner
Tanner had a birthday!

He is 5-years-old now and I can hardly believe it! For his birthday breakfast he requested crepes, bacon, and juice. As usual, we brought it to him in bed. You can see my big kids had just rolled out of bed themselves.

Love the hair!

He had corn dogs and cupcakes for lunch and we went to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner. It was a happy day! 

Tanner is such a pleasant child and I'm so thankful for him. He is going to preschool at 4 R's right now and I can't say enough good things about that place. He will be in kindergarten next year. I asked him if he wants to go to school or do kindergarten at home like the big kids. He said he wants to do it at home. I'm so glad because I would sure miss him if he was away all day.

Valentine's Day
One year, we made a turkey for Valentine's day and it made it into a photo book.  Now my kids just assume I'm going to make a turkey every Valentine's day!  Well...going out to dinner with my husband while someone else cooks and cleans up sounds a little more appealing, but it's fun to celebrate V-day as a family too.  My friend gave me a recipe for "bacon-wrapped turkey."  What a combo!  She said she put the bacon on a plate and served it on the side of the turkey at the table.  Well...the bacon never made it to our table.  You can see my kids picking the bacon off the turkey right out of the oven! 

I remember my mom making pink mashed potatoes and pink bread one year for Valentine's day.  I was planning to do that too, but I got so caught up in the turkey that I forgot.  It was a yummy dinner even with white mashed potatoes. :)




Tubing in Manufactured Snow
We took a field trip to Massenutten to go tubing.  We did not get any significant snow this year which was such a bummer.  Luckily, they manufacture snow at Massenutten so we were able to do a little tubing anyway.

The upside: You don't have to climb up the hill after you go down. You ride up on a ramp.
The downside: It goes very slowly and takes a long time. Once you get to the top, you have to wait in a line before you get to go down.

The slow ride up.

Waiting in line to go down.

We had a lot of fun together.  I love family outings because they are a break from the norm and they take me away from all the work that surrounds me at home! :)

Gettysburg
We went to Gettysburg last November, but I am just now getting around to posting pictures. 

Our first trip to Gettysburg was a couple of years ago.  My children loved running around and climbing on the rocks, but they didn't really appreciate the historical aspect of it.  This time we prepped them for a different experience.  We studied the Civil War in our history club; we watched several movies including "Gettysburg;"  the kids picked out their favorite generals and loved "re-enacting" at home; we bought a CD to listen to in the car as we drove around that would tell all that happened at each battlefield.  It was the perfect set-up for a grand historical experience.  Did we have it?  No, not exactly.  The kids really just wanted to play with stuff at the store and get to Little Round Top so they could climb around on the giant rocks.  They didn't care about the battlefields or history, but I guess I can't blame them.  They are kids after all.  Truth be told, even I got tired of the slow pace set by the CD.  We had a great family outing anyway and still want to go back! :)

Cousin Kyle came too and the three cousins had a great time.

Tanner

Tanner has been begging to make sugar cookies for awhile.  I've been wanting to cook with my kids more but they always want to do it when I have other things planned and even if I'm already cooking, let's face it--it's faster and less messy to do it myself!  I finally decided I needed a designated "cook with your child" day.  I rotate through the kids and give them each a turn to pick something they want to make.  I can plan ahead this way, get the ingredients we need, and mentally prepare myself for the mess! :)  When it was Tanner's turn, he finally got to make sugar cookies.  We did make a big mess but we both had fun!

He shared the cookies the next day with his preschool friends.  All the kids got to frost and decorate a cookie themselves. 

 Brinlee, Tanner, and Truman

By the way, we did a pre-school co-op with 3 other families this year and it was perfect.  It was only one day a week and only 4 children.  It was low-stress, low-pressure, and Tanner loved it.  Kayla loved when it was our turn to teach because she could help and be a little teacher herself.  I loved having the kids here too but I especially loved having Tanner gone one morning a week so I could do school with the older kids in peace! :)  It's amazing how much we could accomplish without him interrupting us.  I loved it so much that I've decided to actually send him to preschool next year.  I will miss him and I will miss the cute little kids that were in our group, but I think I will enjoy teaching my older kids for a few hours a week in peace.


While I'm talking about Tanner, I want to share a few things.  He turned 4 in February and I somehow missed writing about him. You never know how your kids will turn out when they get older, but I want Tanner to know that for the first 4 years of his life, he has been our little dream child.   There is a gap of 5 1/2 years between Hunter and Tanner.  We were hoping (and trying) to have children sooner but it just took a long time for it to happen.  As his birth approached, I got really scared about what it would be like to have a baby in the house again.  Things were getting pretty easy with 2 older children who could dress, feed, and entertain themselves.  We could go about anywhere and do anything.  I thought it would be a huge adjustment to go from 2 kids to 3 but it didn't feel that way at all.  It was just delightful. 

We have enjoyed every stage of Tanner's development.  Tanner has been easy in so many ways due to his mellow and easy-to-please disposition.  We didn't have to walk the halls with him at church because he would actually stay quiet during Sacrament meeting (definitely a change from our other children).  We were able to drop him off at Nursery at 18-months without any problem as opposed to Jason attending Nursery for 2 years straight with another child.  He hasn't thrown many tantrums in his life and when he does get upset, he isn't too hard to calm down.  He was even easy to potty-train!  He is an observer and loves to watch first, then jump in later.  He loves to build and tinker.  He loves to play with trains and cars and build with blocks.  He loves to give snuggles and my day isn't complete until I've had "morning loves," "afternoon loves," and "night loves".  He always delights me with the new things he is learning and doing.  Tanner is the kind of child that makes me want to have a dozen more children.  He isn't perfect but he is just right!  I love my little Tanner man!

Trouble with Tanner

Tanner, Tanner, Tanner. For so long he was my little dream child. It took us many years to add another child to our family and he was all the more precious to me because of the wait. He was my easiest baby and I was so thrilled when he hit the terrible twos and he wasn't so terrible after all. I remember thinking, "Wow, a 2-year-old who doesn't throw tantrums, how lucky is that?" Well....times are changing.

He has now hit the terrible threes and he is obstinate, head-strong, whiny, demanding, and so on. He had a melt-down at Staples today while I was waiting for things to be laminated (I must say the clerk took forever!). Tanner was tired of sitting in the cart and he desperately wanted to get out. I had already tried giving him freedom in the store but he wouldn't stay by me, he kept pulling things off the shelf, asking me to buy stuff, you know how it is. I put him back in the cart and would have strapped him in but the belt strap was broken. I was having a bit of a wrestling match with him trying to keep him in the seat as he was trying to climb out while screaming "I want to get out" and I was gritting my teeth and trying not to scream as I pushed him back in and said, "You need to stay in the cart." Everyone in the store was looking my way with disapproving eyes and all I could think was..."Please get those things laminated so I can get out of here!" The whole scene probably took less than 5 minutes but 5-minutes of meltdown behavior in public feels like 5 hours. We finally made it out without anyone getting hurt.

In the evening, I started my new calling as an Activity Days leader and I had to take Tanner along since Jason was working late. In the past, Tanner was the kind of child I could take along to things and he would sit quietly in the corner playing with his own stuff. Not tonight. He kept running across the room and trying to climb the stacked chairs while I was trying to have a discussion with the girls. I kept asking him to behave but he wouldn't. I thought "I'm never bringing him again, I'll get a babysitter next time, I've only got 15 more minutes to get through tonight.." As this thought was in my head, I saw him reaching for the fire alarm. "No!" I cried as I ran toward him. Too late. A REALLY LOUD alarm started filling the building, lights started flashing and people started evacuating. I couldn't believe it! What a perfect ending to Tanner's day of trouble-making!

This was a pull-my-hair-out kind of day with Tanner and yet, the day ended similar to the way every day ends in the book I'll Love You Forever. I love the way that book captures the essence of a mother's love for her child, regardless of that child's behavior. In the story, a growing boy drives his mom crazy throughout the day but she goes to his room every night to cuddle with him, sing to him, and tell him she'll love him forever. As I held my little Tanner in my arms at bedtime and sang to him, and hugged him, I thought about how much I love him. I couldn't blame him for not wanting to sit in a hard, uncomfortable cart for 45 minutes. I couldn't blame him for pulling that tempting, shiny, red handle at church. He didn't know the havoc it would cause. And so, to my little troublesome Tanner:

"I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be."