I think the most repeated sentence in my life is "Life is Crazy" or maybe "Lantz is a menace". I think the latter may be the reason for the first statement! Life is Crazy for our family but mostly in a very good way. Here are some highlights for last month.

John took both of the boys to the Father's and Son's camp out. John was willing to take Lantz, and Zak wanted him along so it worked out great. They had a fun time sleeping in the tent and drinking homemade root beer. Zak loved widdling with his pocket knife and then he lost it there somewhere. I guess I don't have to stress about it anymore! Makelle and I had a fun evening hanging out at a dental school picnic by ourselves, then grocery shopping and we ended with a McDonald's ice cream and a sleepover on the bean bag. Then next day we had a great time yard sale-ing and found some great stuff we didn't need but it was way to cheap to pass up. Makelle bought herself a Barbie fishing pole and she was in heaven. I realized it is really fun and relaxing to have just one child and even shopping is enjoyable!

Last month John and I decided we needed to start having family councils with the kids. We weren't sure what to expect from the kids but they LOVED it. It has been so fun to have them with the kids. They get so excited to have a meeting with Mom and Dad. They are so used to us going to meetings that they feel so cool to have one with us. They get their pens and clipboards and start drawing pictures and writing things down. We each take an uninterrupted minute to talk about things we want to have happen in our family. The first week Zak wanted us to all do better picking up our clothes. Makelle gave a big long talk about how God loves us and how he helps the world. It was great! Last week Zak decided they needed to help more around the house. This week I had dishwasher and laundry helpers all week. I love the things they come up with. It gives us one more night to take time to be as a family to sing and work together to make our family better.


Another big thing for September was the "Ball on the Bell". It will get its own post later!

Now for the latest pictures of the crazy crazy kids!

Makelle loves to do hand stands anywhere and anytime even in the car!


Makelle is just pullin Lantz around.
Lantz wanting to be like Makelle. Of course Zak knew he would get in trouble so he didn't paint his nails, just his brother's.
Stinker!


Lantz loves to put things in his ears. Before I get mad at him I first have to take a picture. It is a little funny and dangerous!

Silly kids!

Here are some random pictures I uploaded a while ago and forgot to post!
Zak was proud to be matching his dad.

A stinking cute cowboy!
Cute kids ready for church.

We had homemade doughnuts for Family Home Evening and they were MESSY!


Did I mention they were MESSY?!

Too Big!!

Goodbye Crib, Hello Big Boy Bed!! Crazy I know especially considering what a stink he is. He kept getting his legs caught in the crib. So despite thinking it was a bad idea I took the crib down. So far he is on his 6th day in his bed and NO problems! Wahoo!!!
Silly boy posing for the camera!!

HAIRCUTS

After a fun filled day yesterday we ALL came home for haircuts. Of course John was the barber! Makelle didn't want to be left out so she decided she wanted to look like Mom. She said it will just grow again so she wanted it cut off.




I was shocked to walk into the garage and see locks of Makelle's hair on the ground. She got 8 inches cut off! She looks darn cute! She asked all to call her by her middle name, Ashlyn, since she looks just like me! She wants us to do our hair together the same everyday! She loves it, loves it! Don't they all look so big and cute? Seriously John needs to make a career change. I had two more people stop me last month and ask who cuts my hair. Funny stuff!

Zak's love note

Zak is liking school more. He loved it at first then started to not like it. He is one shy boy in big groups. The have observation window were you can watch the classroom without them knowing. It is so sad to seem him playing by himself or reading by himself. Outside at playtime he was doing the same thing. It is a sad thing because you want your kids to be happy but it has to be their choice. Happiness and success have to come from within. We would talk everyday about maybe why he didn't like it or he was bored. I would give him ideas. I am happy to report he thinks it is great again and he has several buddies he talks to and plays with outside. He still isn't himself in the classroom yet but I am hoping for great things! He has been learning about living things and the food chain. He loves when he comes home and can teach me and Makelle new things. One day he came home with a picture. Makelle asked what he drew. He said I didn't draw it a girl did and gave it to me. I asked him about it and he said a girl he never talked to drew this for him. Here it is!

WAY TO GO ZAK!!! He gets so mad when we tease him!

Every night we do a fun activity with the kids after they get their charts done. On this night I chose the activity and I was practicing a game for my YW activity. Now it one of the favorites and they beg for it every night.

John chose the egg game and they love it now too! What silly kids. Our neighbors probably wonder about us in the backyard every night carrying eggs with spoons!




Makelle was excited to start Joy school with me but it looks like it will just be us instead. She wishes she was five and in Kindergarten. The first few days of school I was really missing Zak's help around here. Now Makelle is learning to be a great help. She says everyday she is practicing to be a mom!

Lantz is a stink!!!! My days are endlessly filled with cleaning up his messes. He plays in the trash, dumps the cereal, plays with the toilet paper, the toilet, and his favorite is dumping cups of water. SERIOUSLY he is a STINK!!! Good thing he is so dang cute and fun or I would call it quits lots of days. He is learning songs now and his vocabulary includes lots of words. He loves sitting on my lap and reading books.

I started school, seriously what was I thinking? Life is crazy busy and I am going to school!! No, it is crazy but I am actually liking my classes. It is fun to learn more stuff and actually have something to talk about with John! He has never seen me get excited about learning stuff before so he likes it. As strange as it may sound I get lots more done when I have lots to do.

John and I went boating with the youth on Saturday. We had a great time although now I feel like I got whiplash. Oh the things we do for fun!

New Pictures

I have wanted pictures taken for a long time but just haven't gotten to it. LaDonna was nice enough to let use her camera for some photos of the kids! Here ya go!




























They are some crazy kids! As you can see we had some success on the individual ones but with all three of them it is IMPOSSIBLE.

2nd year, 8 years, 1st Day, 1st TIme, and 2nd Pet!!!

What?

2nd Year of Dental School
John officially started his second year of dental school and he is a sophomore. The first couple of days were frustrating but by the end of the week he was getting excited for his classes. This is supposed to be the toughest year so we'll prepare for the worst and hope for the best! Crazy that next year he will be in the clinic working on patients again! He has missed working with and on patients so he is excited.

8 Years of Marriage
It has been 8 great years that John and I have been married!! We actually had one of our best anniversaries ever and neither one of us bought anything or planned anything! I spent the morning getting some tomatoes ready to can. After we got done friend offered to watch my older kids while I took the younger kids home for naps. I got three hours of quiet all to myself. As if that wasn't great enough she also had planned a date for us not even knowing it was our anniversary! We went to the temple ate at our favorite restaurant and got to spend a great evening out with friends. The babysitter was also provided and dropped off at my house. I was feeling spoiled and it was fabulous!

1st Day of Kindergadrten
Zak had his first day of Kindergarten, CRAZY!!! He was not excited and very nervous. We had a family home evening about education and then he got a father's blessing. His attitude did an immediate 180. He was so excited! We went to his school to meet his teachers and look around. He was excited to learn that his class pet would be a Guinea pig named Rosie. He walked into school on his first day and waited by his door all by himself. He came out of school and said, "Mom, why didn't you sign me up for all day Kindergarten, this place is great, and I want to stay all day!" How wonderful was that to hear?! It was a great day and I never even thought about crying. Someone asked if it had been a hard day and I realized maybe it should have been, but it wasn't. I don't know if I am detached emotionally or if I am just excited for Zak to be growing up! It did hit me a couple of months ago that I was getting old, he was getting old, and he would be leaving my safe home and be vulnerable to the world. But all is well and we are excited for this new adventure!

1st Time in Nursery
Lantz is in nursery!!!! Eighteen months is one of my favorite ages, (ok it is my favorite) because of NURSERY!!!! YAY!!!! He does ok as long as he has his blanket, snacks, and books! He is also officially done with his pacifier so we can call him a big boy!!!!!!! Can you tell I am excited for nursery?

2nd Family Pet
The other exciting news for us our latest pet. We went to the lake again yesterday and on the ride home we found a baby turtle. John picked it up and we brought it home. We took care of it for one whole day. This afternoon the kids were disappointed to see that it found its way out of the box and ran away. At least now we can say we've had two pets, a scorpion and a turtle. Both of them were free and we didn't have to keep them long! That is my kind of pet!