September 26, 2017

Ella gets shy to play her guitar for us, but as long as she can't see us then she's good!

All pitching in

September 25, 2017

When it rains and soccer practice is cancelled, everyone has time to help out in the evenings and we're not rushed.  I love looking around as I'm making dinner to see all three helping to keep the house running.  

Asher at age 4 is emptying the dishwasher (I asked Ella or Easton to do this and he chimed in that he wanted to do it all by himself and he is SO proud) and then he is setting the table which is one of his daily chores.

Easton at age 7 just finished his homework and is gathering the trash from all over the house and taking the bins to the street for Tuesday trash day.  One of his weekly chores.

and Ella at age 9 also just finished homework and is making all 3 of their lunches for school tomorrow.  She loves making lunches and I love that she literally makes it identical to how I would.  It's basically the same everyday....a sandwich or crackers with turkey and cheese, any fruit, any vegetable and pretzels or popcorn.  She doesn't always have the time, but when she does it's a huge help.

Each year the chores evolve and this year especially, it's getting more and more rewarding for the kids to be doing things that are not just on the list for the purpose of teaching them about work and earning money but they can do things that are a huge help to me and literally taking things off of my plate.  Some chores they earn money and some chores they do because it's their responsibility and part of living in our house.  At age 4, Asher is earning money for the first time and learning about his "give", "save", and "spend" envelopes.  

Asher rides his pedal bike!!!

September 24, 2017

Asher has been getting better and better on his balance bike and recently my sister sent video of Emma, Asher's younger cousin, riding her pedal bike.  Emma is also great on a balance bike and at 3.5 years old already started riding her pedal bike.  All of a sudden I saw a determined look in Asher's eye after watching the video and he said "Mommy, I'm going to ride my pedal bike.  And I want to go to Emma's house and race her!"  

So, we started trying it out a little, and just a couple of weeks later, he officially learned how to ride his pedal bike at exactly 4 years and 5 months!

He tried it himself using the slope of our driveway to coast down like he does on his balance bike and then he was able to start pedaling all on his own.  It was so fun for him and for us to watch.  I never would have known that watching my kids learn to ride there bikes would be one of my absolute favorite milestones ever!

Memory lane: Ella and Easton when they first learned to ride!

I've said this before, but I absolutely believe in the awesomeness of the balance bike.  All 3 of mine used the same little orange strider bike and they all learned to ride their pedal bikes at young ages, and they never once used training wheels.  It has seriously been the best thing ever.  I loved the strider bike specifically because it fit them great when they were really little and it still grew with them as needed.

^^Above, Easton still loves to try and hop on the balance bike every now and then...lol^^

Meanwhile, Easton tried out Ella's bigger bike and was immediately hooked.  He was flying by going so so fast and did not want to get off.  Looks like we have the perfect gift to add to his Christmas list this year!  

September Soccer games

Games have begun and we are spending our weekends on the soccer fields, but with only Ella playing this season, it feels like nothing!   We absolutely love watching her and her entire team play together and feel so blessed to be a part of this wonderful team with an amazing coach!

All of our girls were born in 2008 but they are playing up an entire year playing against girls all born in 2007.  It's been some great competition making the games really fun to watch as we see our determined girls fight hard each and every game.

September 9, 2017

September 17, 2017

 

September 23, 2017

September 29-30

Sleepover with soccer friends and an early morning game.