A Long Needed Update

I haven't forgotten about the blog... in fact, I think about it often! This summer has been ENTIRELY TOO BUSY for our little family to stop. Now, I'm starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. It's getting cooler at night again, school is about to start (not that it makes a difference for us), and the fall harvest is starting to roll in. I'm excited about the changes that fall brings. I'm always so excited to be done with summer - just as excited as I am for it to start! So, a quick little update on our family and then I'll start back-posting everything. Perhaps I'll post links at the end of this of everything I get done so it's easy for you to pick and choose.

Austin - Austin has had a whirlwind summer. He still attend school, but we were anxiously looking forward to his month off in August, until... he got a new calling. He's now the 2nd counselor in our bishopric (the group of people over our congregation). It keeps him very busy, especially while he's still learning what is expecting of him. He's assigned to help with the Young Men, so he is even more involved in scouting than he was before. He just spent a week-long camping experience at Woodbadge, to get trained. He had a blast and I'm sure he'd love to tell you more about his "foxy" ways there (he was a fox). He's busy with work. Sometimes people wonder or are skeptical of Austin's doing so much. Honestly, he's just been given so many talents and he's so great at balancing all of them. If it wasn't given him what to do, he'd be doing either way. It's just who he is.
   He's still working for DNH, and also doing some of his own on the side. We often have loads of toys in our living room (in boxes) which the boys have a blast climbing on. They're good helpers.

 Amy - Wow! Had a serious nesting bug and sold everything. Three out of five rooms in the house will be painted. The boys have a new bed, we have a new bed. The boys have a new dresser... We are still missing any living room furniture and there aren't any curtains. BUT it's looking up. We have new carpet (which is divine!!!), which seems to make up for lack of seating. Seriously, we love to sit on it :) So 3 little boys (yes we're having another boy and I couldn't be more thrilled) in a 750 sq ft house and I went nuts! BUT we're learning how to better use our space and I couldn't be more grateful for a yard. You'll be seeing some house redo pictures soon (hopefully). I'm trying to get everything done while I still feel good before the 3rd trimester hits. Wish me luck (or come over and help!!!).
  Due to Austin's new calling, I was released. Being Young Women President kept me busy through a summer of activities. No new calling announcement yet. I'm doing so much for our family with how busy Austin is it's actually kind of a relief. I'm having a good time taking the boys to the pool and the park, redecorating, and encouraging their learning... more on that with the kids..

Cadence - Is keeping me so busy with his little learning. He gets to pick two chores everyday and we're adding to the list all of the time! Right now he likes to help fold towels, empty the silverware tray in the dishwasher, feed the chickens, gather the eggs, take out the bathroom trash, set the table, and clear the table. He knows how to open the fridge, which has given him some new independence. He is such a great helper and learns so quickly!
 The learning doesn't stop at his household chores. Just in the last week we've explored airplanes, paper airplanes, building a treehouse, planets (earth is his planet and it's his favorite), astronauts (and he finds a spaceship everywhere he goes), and making other paper crafts. He cut out his own circles and glue them on a "truck" he made with paper. He's so inventive and I'm feeding off of it. On our walk to the park today he was pointing out all of the circles. The closer I get to "homeschooling" him, the more I realize, we're already doing it.
 Right now he's also very interested in learning about prophets - from the Old Testament to modern day. His favorite song is "Follow the Prophet" and he has at least 3 or 4 verses learned by now. He's always asking to know more. He also knows most of the apostles and prophets by name. His favorite scripture story right now is Jonah. He's just interested, so we learn about them :)
  He's also learning to engage Kory in playing more. He loves to teach Kory new things. Yesterday, I had a bit of a melt-down and he started picking up his toys all on his own so mommy wouldn't be sad. I'm grateful for days like that.

 Kory - Our little climber. Now he can climb out of his crib, but mostly he's doing an okay job staying in. We had to start enforcing Cade staying in his bed after being tucked in, and now Kory's doing better. He's learned to push everyone's buttons. He plays with everything he's "not supposed to". He's also is fascinated right now by how things work. It's the only thing that keeps his mind occupied for longer than 3 minutes. He spent about 30 minutes at the pool the other day, just sitting with his feet in trying to learn how the buckle of the life jacket is put together!
  He loves to be outside! He'll throw his shoes at me, or bring me his swimsuit. He loves playing with the chickens and has recently discovered how much he loves raspberries. Unfortunately, he doesn't yet know when they're ripe so we've had some casualties this year. Still, it's fun to send the boys out in the yard for a snack, some chickens to play with, and a tramp to jump on. They both have a blast. He's still small. He's starting to bulk up a little bit but people still think he's much younger (so they're impressed with my genius baby). (as we speak, here come the shoes - good thing they're soft leather). For being so small, he keeps up well with Cadence, climbs all over the playground, and generally keeps us busy.
 He's starting to learn more words, which has kept him from screaming (yay!). Some are "truck", "bye-bye", "juice", "shoes", etc. He's not as coordinated with signing, but we still keep trying. We've had a lot of food fights this summer over me not knowing what he wanted. Talk about frustrating!! I think we're getting past that point now- phew!

Our little family is so busy, but we're having a great time together learning and growing. We're just so busy "doing" during this summer it's been hard to find time to record. But here we are, catching up! Hope you're all doing well!