Seattle cousins come to play

My brother Michael and family came to visit this past weekend. They live in Seattle, and I sure wish we lived closer to each other.  I think the last time these cousins got together was when we all went to Missouri in 2011. It was three boys each then. Or maybe they had another quick visit to Utah, I can't find it on the blog.
(I am linking more often to past posts, because it was discovered when my siblings were all together that many of them had no idea I blog. 8 years, folks, of writing for YOU to know what we are up to. I thought for sure I had sent the blog address around a few times).

Before that, in fall 2010, we drove to Seattle for a family reunion and stayed with Michael and Bethany. That's when we both had only two kids each.  Now we are up to four each, mostly boys, except for this DARLING baby girl that I couldn't get enough of during their visit here:

 Yummerific.  We now have some of her too-small clothes for our girl, and I will think of this pink sweetheart every time.

My brother Joe brought a tortoise and a lizard for the boys to all see.  We were at the park, and he should have charged money because so many kids came by to see as well.

 My brother Peter is a really good back-cracker.

Michael showed my boys how he does this spinny-game where the child becomes a corn cob he spins in his arms and pretends to eat.  I should have taken video, it's hilarious.  Boys need dads. And uncles with energy. They are physical and fun and adventurous.

There was also plenty of Lego building together.  When it was time for everyone to go, they spontaneously did this group hug.

The only times I want a bigger house, are when we have family all over at the same time. It gets loud and hot and crowded here. But what a fun time was had.

Um, free!

Ask James how old he is now and he says "free."

He lately is into dinosaurs, and asked for a dino cake.  I got a package of plastic dinosaur toys at the thrift store, and he helped me stick them into the cake.

With cousins after Sunday dinner celebrating this fourth boy of ours.

With the big room switch looming,  JB thought the two littles would do better in two toddler beds instead of the twin bed that we have and one toddler bed. Plus it would give more room in that downstairs spare room of ours.  He found a used fire truck bed listed in the online classifieds, and I went to pick it up last Thursday after work for James's birthday present.  I drove it around in my KSL car for a few days, including to the scene of a 3 alarm fire on Monday that I was reporting on. I kind of wanted to show it to the firemen there, but, they have real fire trucks that are much bigger and cooler....

Monday afternoon my brother Michael (visiting from Seattle) helped JB and the boys bring the bed inside the house.  The boys put a fire truck hat on James to celebrate. 

Andrew was a little jealous at first (Richards boys love fire trucks), and talked about maybe he could get a police bed for his birthday, but then he moved on.

James was so tuckered from his long day of playing with the Seattle cousins (next post), that although he said once that night, "I want to sweep in my cwib,"  he just laid his head down on his new bed in his new room and went right to sleep. He slept in until 8 the next morning. Unheard of.  Andrew handled the room switch great, too. He can still see James, which he likes, and I kept the same bed time routine.  We'll slowly move their clothes and decorations down over the next few weeks before this baby girl needs a girly room.

It's hard to tell which of James's characteristics and personality traits are due to him being a 4th boy, or being 3 years old now.  He is quick to lash out and strike anyone nearby when he is mad -- often it is Andrew who takes his ire, but Ben got some face gouges today. Timeouts a plenty. He has mostly stopped biting people though, after a few rounds of a hot sauce drop on his tongue.

But he can also be very sweet. He puts up with Andrew's need to always be holding his hand or sitting on him, and he likes to wrestle and hug and do nose-to-nose rubs. When he's tired or relaxing, he'll lean back, lift up his shirt, and rub his outie belly button.

He talks very well -- full paragraphs and descriptions and explanations/demands. He likes to run around sans clothes after a bath, but can't quite take his own clothes off yet otherwise I'm sure he'd be a nudist.

Favorite shows still include Daniel Tiger, Thomas the Tank Engine, and Paw Patrol.  His morning routine includes asking for "toast cwunch cereal" and "I want watch PAAAWW Patrol."

Favorite books include Clifford and Little Critter, and anything with trucks, helicopters or dinosaurs.

He's almost as tall and as big as Andrew, so he's hard for me to carry him as much as he would like. And it feels like the clothes I just put into storage I'm bringing out again for him. We have been given a lot of almost-new clothes from another family, and it has helped out immensely so that James doesn't look too ratty.

I get reports that he sings all the songs in nursery.  In the car, primary songs immediately calm him down.  He insists on buckling his top buckle by himself, and likes to put on his own flip flops (though he gets them switched).  Still no desire to potty train on his end or his parents' end.  Little Mr Independent!

End of the school year

Last day of school today! Preschool, 2nd grade and 5th grade are in the books.

Andrew was done last week and has missed his cheery teacher and all the high school helpers at the preschool program.  He is looking forward to kindergarten in the fall, though he has a poor concept of months and may feel like he has to wait a long time.

Max and Ben walked to and from school every day together this year, and would tell me excitedly if they saw each other in the hall or at an assembly. We are trying to teach all our boys to "be a brother, not a bully" and to stick up for each other and be each other's friend. Sometimes it has needed more emphasizing, but overall I am proud of this relationship.

Ben had the sweetest teacher, who didn't give much homework, and praised him lots. She also said he may need to test for extended learning next year -- his scores way high for reading and math.

Max also had a caring teacher, who stretched him and helped him grow leaps and bounds. He couldn't wait to tell us his SAGE (end-of-year testing) scores were all 4s -- the top.

Here is the post from the first day of school. It looks like they have the same shorts on in the pictures, but they don't.

In the final weeks before school came their programs.  Max tried playing the viola this year in 5th grade orchestra. He's on the back row below, third from the right.  He is still deciding if he wants to continue next year (I think it depends a lot on what his friends decide).

Here's Ben at their dance "informance." Dance majors from the University come and teach the kids science and geography concepts through movement. So, they dance like an elephant in the tundra or a fulcrum moving through space (or something).

And Andrew had Spring Sing (which Ben did two times; see these posts). His teacher picked one of his obsessions for his poem:

Green

The blues were unhappy, the yellows were too. 

They wanted to be the same, what could they do? 

They each took a partner and twirled round and round, 

soon they turned green and fell to the ground.

And he sang loudly, like we practiced. I love a ham.

Now, on to the summer and staying not bored and not hot and getting ready for a new baby!

Family updates

JB - busy. He has 3 full-time jobs basically.
-Busy as a bishop, on-call all the time and worried about the needs of our Ward.
-Busy as dad in the mornings while I am reporting, but also in the afternoons while I nap and James sneaks out of his room where he should be napping.
-Busy as a mortgage loan officer trying to make phone calls among the noise at home, and sometimes taking kids to appointments:

(It's James in the corner of the office at the recent closing of our friends' new home, with their girls Liz and Kat)

Me - tired, big and still spitting at almost 31 weeks along (got my diabetes test and Rhogam shot done recently). Had such a nice Mother's Day with delicious crepes, chocolates and cuddles. Trying to rush around getting my news stories done on time in the morning so I can be at home. Reading, crocheting and stepping on Legos. Piles of laundry.  Just got released from nursery and called to be a Relief Society teacher.

Maxwell - finishing up 5th grade with tons of end-of-year testing. Often shooting hoops in the driveway and always looking out for his younger brothers and how he can help me. He's the designated go-after-James-and-drag-him-back because I shouldn't lift that much. Listens in to adult conversations and reads the newspaper and asks questions that I sometimes am not ready to answer right away without serious thought.

Benjamin - finishing up 2nd grade with some end-of-year testing and wishing for more math homework (he eats it up). Can often be found adding to his growing Lego city building designs. We can hear him raking and rifling through the Legos downstairs for the perfect piece.  I get the nicest texts from other parents at playdates saying Ben is very kind to younger siblings of his friends and includes them.

Andrew - almost done with his last year of preschool. Always bringing Legos upstairs to work on them at the table or in his room, and dropping them like cookie crumbs in his wake. Often asking for a snack. Big smiler, also quick to fake-cry if Ben won't let him in his room to get to more Legos. Still loves green and alligators and Star Wars.

James - "But, I WANT it" is his go-to phrase. Also often asking for a snack, and pouncing on Andrew if he senses inequity or sees something he wants.  Little poops, big smells maybe 6-10 times a day. Not interested at all in potty-training. Learning to say prayers by himself.

Baseball Benjamin

Ben is just about done with this spring's baseball season. He is playing with many of the same kids as last year (Looking over that post, I see a lot of similarities to this year, like Max's helpfulness and Andrew's nose-picking).

Ben's swing is stronger.

And his throw is stronger and getting more accurate.

 

Those above pictures taken by JB, who is again helping in the field.  Here is a picture on my phone of my perspective during many games. James, then Ben, then JB.

 
Aprils games were often rainy or drizzly or chilly for two little boys. 

They are quickly running out of room on momma's lap.

I again thank my lucky stars for the years spent in a baseball town of St Louis.  I am helping teach the boys proper baseball vernacular.  For instance, when Ben makes it to second or third base on a hit he used to say "a two-base hit" or "a three-base hit."  Doubles and triples, son.  And he would come running up after excitedly to tell me about how many home runs he had. Just runs, son, the other batters batted you in. But high five, you ran so fast!

Next I'll teach them to say 6-4-3 for a common double play, chant "Hey batter batter batter!" and "We want a pitcher, not a belly-itcher," and "Lay off the high ones!"

Van, van, min-van

Mini-van owners. Us. Yup.

Remember 4-year-old Max's prayer years ago that we could get a minivan like his friends? We got a Honda Pilot instead when our third child came along.

I think this Instagram post sums up how JB and I felt.

 

We have changed our tune.  The Honda Odyssey is nice and roomy and will be so much easier with baby Richards #5 coming.  The boys LOVE it. They are obsessed with the features. Almost 3-year-old James wants to hit the door close button every time.  5-year-old Andrew wishes he could watch a movie even on short rides. 

I thought it was fitting that one of our first trips in it was a soccer carpool.

JB liked white; I had no strong preference. Though I would say that I automatically wave at any white minivan going down our street because I'm sure I know them. 

We have arrived.

Fambly

Nephew Daniel was blessed the first Sunday in May. My parents and two of my sisters drove out from Missouri and stayed the weekend. We met for Saturday lunch at my brother Joe's in Springville, then had Sunday dinner at my house.

Everyone needs a Max when they have a baby.

I believe I have mentioned that Daniel is sweet and soft.

My brother's place and my place get crowded inside for entertaining, so we were glad for nice weather to be outside.

We tried to get a picture of all the grandkids together (except for the Seattle 4), but James -- as usual -- wouldn't cooperate. He screams and nopes his way out of so many pictures.

The boys played well I thought with their cousin Havala. This was the first time they had met her. They introduced her to Legos.

My sister and I compared 28-week bellies.

I did not know my dad was taking the picture yet, and he caught me eyeing her tummy to see if her bun would be baked first.