A Very Special Friend

Monday's and Thursdays are very exciting days in the Linn household. Olivia and I are lucky enough to babysit - every week!

We are loving it.

My sister-in-law, Aubrey, had to go back to work after having her sweet baby girl, Addysen, this summer and her husband (Dan's brother), Adam started back to school a couple of weeks ago so that means we get to watch her! They think I am doing them a favor - but it is really me being selfish. I just love babies, and I really love this girl. She is so sweet.

Olivia is LOVING having a real live baby around. She is constantly worried about her.

"Addi is hungry."

"Addi is tired."

"Addi needs her paci."

"Addi is thirsty."

"Addi wants to play with me."

"Addi wants a babydoll."

"Addi wants me to hold her. Not you."

Thankfully there is no jealously with Olivia ~ just love. Plus she is really great with her. She is so kind and patient.

Of course, at 6 weeks old, Addi makes it real difficult to watch her since she does this all day:

 And this:

So lets see.... today is Tuesday ~ 2 more days until we get to watch her again.

Wanted

Wanted: Little Red Curls

Possible Suspect:

 Three-Year old Female.

Height: 40 1/4"

Weight: 35.2 lbs

Hair: Red (last seen with curls)

Eyes: Hazel (Blue? Green? Brown? depends on the mood)

Suspect was last seen with a pair of scissors.

update:

An arrest has been made.

The female suspect was apprehended by the front door of her home, apparently trying to escape. She had discarded the scissors while trying to make a run for it. Below is a copy of her mug-shot. Apparently the suspect tried to change her appearance by giving herself a mullet.

 After a fair & speedy trial. Olivia Kaye Linn of Gilbert, was sentenced to 3 minutes in time-out followed by a new haircut. All victims are recovering nicely.

Ethan's 9th Birthday

Hey everyone! This is Ryleigh my mom gave me the option to guest blog for Ethan's Birthday and I was more than happy to do so!

Ethan

Okay so I decided to do a little survey on Ethan and some of the things he is into here is some of the questions I asked.

1. What would you like for your Birthday?
A typical boy answer Lego's, Nerf-Guns, and a remote control car

2.What is your Birthday dinner?
Okay be prepared this dinner is a heart-attack waiting to happen but at least it delicious..... Hot Wings, Apple-Snicker Salad, Jalapeno Poppers, and Caesar Salad mom said that last one was a must.

3. What are you looking forward to most about being nine?
Mmmmm... ummm... uhhhh being a bear in Cubscouts.

4. What will you miss about being eight?
My Birthday from when I was eight years old.

5. Whats your favorite Movie?
Him: Transformers 3 Me: How can it be the 3rd when you haven't even seen it yet? Him: I don't know I just am pretty sure its a good movie. Mom: You need to pick a different movie because that really can't even be your favorite if you have never seen it. Him: Fine.... Transformers 2

6. Favorite color?
Red

7. Favorite animal?
A shark

8. Favorite restaurant?
Ruby Tuesdays

9. Favorite thing to do during summer?
Going to Sunsplash

10. On a scale from 1 to 10 how excited are you for your birthday?
Uhhh a 6... He said he is nervous for some reason he said it feels weird to turn 9 that's why it is a six.

Well we love you Ethan and hope your Birthday is wonderful!

Happy Birthday Ethan!

Another School Year

Another school year is upon us and I think I am the most excited of them all! Of course all the kids are pretty stoked but I.......... well lets just say it has been a long summer.

We will go in reverse order this year:

Ryleigh:

Oh my! Can you believe how beautiful she is? I can't. Of course I may be partial.... but still. I mean look at her! She is going into 8th grade this year, her last year of junior high school. I think she is pretty excited, but a little nervous. Last night we had the open house for her and while her teachers seem pretty good, she is disappointed (to say the least) in her selection of classmates. Apparently all the girls that are in her classes are all "drama", which Ryleigh has no time for {thankfully}. She tested out of Language Arts and only has English this year which means that she is lucky enough to have 2 elective classes. She chose Drama & Spanish. We learned that at the end of the school year the foreign language students get to take a trip to Europe, so we are keeping that on the list, and I am sure she is currently taking donations for that cause. She also signed up for accommodated PE this year. In this class she helps the kids with special needs do PE. We thought that is was pretty awesome of her to sign up for that ~ plus it was an application process and she was accepted. Yay! Also, her Science teacher, used to be an Elementary teacher and she had her Uncle Cory as a student once - we are hoping that doesn't hurt her! :)

Spencer:

Spencer is going into 5th grade this year. It seems like only yesterday that Ryleigh was in 5th grade! I am absolutely flabbergasted at the speed at which youth passes by.  Spencer was a little disappointed when he saw that he wasn't in Ms. Murray's class (his 3rd grade teacher made the jump up to 5th) but I am more than excited with his current teacher. Her name is Mrs. Ruhrer and she seems great! Super organized! Plus all his best friends are in his class - which means it will be a great year again for him. His best friends parents are super involved with the school so their kids always go to the class with the best teachers. I am thankful for that.

Ethan:

Ethan is in 3rd grade this year! I am so excited about this year for him. His teacher, Mrs. Stenson,  appears to be very very organized and structured. She has been teaching for 16 years so she is well seasoned. Ethan really thrives in a well organized classroom and I believe this one will be great for him. He is a beast though! He is one of the older ones in his grade because his birthday is at the beginning of the school year (next week) but he is at least a head taller than all the other kids. I bet the line at school looks hilarious.

**Olivia gets to be home with me for one more year!**

Hooray for school!

Swim Party

My grandparents are fantastic! They really love to be grandparents and it shows! They have so much fun planning things to do with the kids and then executing them. This last week my grandma threw her second annual lunch-date/swim party. It was just as fantastic as last year - PLUS we grew! They had a granddaughter move to Arizona since last summer so she got to have fun with us too!

Ethan Surf-sliding

Bela, getting Livy back for squirting her in the face earlier.

Check out Gideon's dive! I know your impressed.

They set up a little pool in the backyard and a slip & slide and the kids had a blast sliding on the slide and then going right into the water.

Then of course we had to have "after swim" treats.

Emery getting her ice cream

The party! They all played so well together and had so much fun!

It looks like we just had a bunch of ice cream but that wasn't it! Grandpa BBQed hotdogs for lunch and grandma made little sandwiches for the grown-ups plus we had chips and cupcakes, and great conversation.
We had an absolute blast and we are already looking forward to next year!

Skateland! ....say what???

A few weeks ago Dan's sister sent me a text asking me if my kids would be interested in going to Skateland this summer. Apparently there was a smoking deal on groupon. I pretty much laughed to myself - Skateland really? Who goes there anymore? I told her sure! Thinking mainly that it would be a nice afternoon where she would take the kids and I could be alone... in the quiet... alone....

The bummer part of my plan was that I have 4 kids! No one has enough room in their car for all my kids to fit, so I had to take them, and since Olivia was going too she asked me if I would stay. I said sure... but I must admit, I was not excited.

Okay - I had a blast!

Granted, I spent most of the time picking up kids from the floor or trying my hardest to dodge kids that were already on the floor. But it was so much fun!

 Olivia could actually skate pretty well on the carpet but the slick smooth rink was too much for her. She was a slippery mess. She always started off with high hopes, but by half-way through she wanted me to hold her.

Spencer took to skating pretty quick. He biffed it a few times in the beginning but really didn't have much of an issue with it. He did have some random girls ask him if he wanted to hang out.... aaahhhem! Back off girls - I will take you out!

 Ethan and Garrett were on the same level as far as skating abilities go... Lets just say the wall was a good place for them to hang out.

 At one point Olivia got one of this little "skate mates" but she didn't like it because you have to skate in the middle part of the rink with them and it was just too small for her.... maybe we should have let Ethan borrow it (below).

 Okay, so maybe Ethan was one of those kids I was trying not to trip over all afternoon, but to his credit he would keep getting back up again. Over and over. He was doing a lot better by the end of the day. He even went around the whole rink one time without falling.

 Ryleigh and the older girl cousins were pretty good with skating. They had a lot of fun too! Ryleigh even couple skated with ME! I was so happy because Spencer told me it would be embarrassing to skate with your mom....tear...

When Olivia got bored of skating she took to dancing. Sorry its so dark. It was during the laser show.

Feather Friends & a Freak

Back in the Spring a friend of ours offered to put a feather in Ryleigh's hair. Ry was super excited for a feather, and up to the adventure. I had never even heard of it. Since then I see them EVERYWHERE! They are the fashion statement of the moment. The one Ryleigh got in the Spring finally fell out and she wanted a new one. So rather than pay the $30.00(ish) per feather to put in, I decided to do it myself. So I bought the supplies and put one in her hair, and of course Livy wanted one too!

 

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On a side note, Olivia is a freak!

Think Sid Phillips

She loves baby dolls.... she has about 9 of them and each one has their own names, they take naps, they get hugs and kisses and she loves them all equally - however - she also tortures them equally.

Meet Gina: The legless baby...

and Babydoll: the headless baby...

Jenna: Stabbed in the heart...

She still loves them all, despite their handicaps that she has inflicted upon them. They get just as much use and some of the others.

 We are just hoping she doesn't need therapy someday.