Just stuff...

Seems like it's been awhile since I've done a post just to catch up on everything and journal...
It is Saturday afternoon, the boys are outside playing in the beautiful fall weather and Lars is watching the USU homecoming game on tv. So I will take this peaceful moment to try to get this done.

I guess I'll start with Ashton.

He is still doing great in school and loving it...he even comes home and wants to play school with Gunnar. Our family room downstairs has been built into a fort this past week (which if I'm honest drives me a bit crazy!), but it's hours of entertainment for them and I try to remind myself that someday I will wish there were 2 cute little boys pretending and having so much fun in the fort in my basement, when in reality they are all grown up :( Anyway they come down and I can hear Ashton actually teaching Gunnar things...and I found this paper that he'd even written down the schedule of the day...so cute!

He is such a good reader now and I love that he could spell most of these words correctly! Oh and I love that he is always learning new words. He cracked me up the other day when I was trying to get him to go get dressed or something and I told him to hurry up...He looked back at me as he was walking down the hall and said "Why, because I'm ambling?" haha!

He still gets up in the morning and happily eats his breakfast and agreeably gets dressed and ready for school. Ironically this morning when we told him we were going to take him and Gunnar to the parade in town...he had a complete meltdown because he didn't want to go!

Lars and I laughed thinking about how easy it is to get him off to school, but then when we try to take him to do something else "fun", he wants nothing to do with it! Gunnar on the other hand couldn't wait to go...all we had to do was mention CANDY and he got dressed and ready...even in cute clothes (which most days now is a HUGE battle!) He is still insisting on wearing his green kickball shirt Every. Single. Day.
I have to pry it off of him to wash it! Grrr...but once again I try to remind myself that some day I will look back at pictures of him in it and miss these days...

Back to Ashton...he is also doing fall soccer and doing pretty well. The field is bigger this year and a few of the games he's had to play the whole game, so he gets really tired, but overall he is doing well.

He still isn't one of the very aggressive ones, but he gets in there and tries hard, so that is all that matters as far as I'm concerned.

 I really hate to see sports get so serious at his age already! And I have seen some of that this season. These kids are only 6 and 7! Shouldn't it just be fun???

Yesterday at his school was the big Walkathon (the pta's one big fundraiser for the year). I got recruited to help out with all of it and it was a lot of fun! Ashton thought it was great...he was so excited to see how many laps he could do in their allotted 15 minutes. He estimated that he could do 6 and ended up doing 8, running almost the entire time!
(giving Oreo the Panda 5!)

Each lap was approximately 1/6th of a mile, so he did awesome!

I've also been going into his classroom once a week to help out with reading groups and that's been fun too. I love to get to know all of the little kids in the class and I know Ashton likes to see me come in too. So funny to see all of his little neighbor friends when I walk by their classrooms or see them in the hall...they get so excited and yell "Hi Ashton's Mom, or Hi Jessica", then I hear them telling their friends..."I know her!!"

One more picture I can't leave out...

I had put this pink shirt (that was a hand me down from a friend) into his drawer the other day...and was just waiting to see what he said about it. I really expected him to find it and freak out and throw it back at me, but to my surprise he thought it was so funny and immediately put it on to go to soccer practice!

 I love you Ashton!

Moving onto Gunnar...

Oh Gunnar...Mr. almost 3 1/2. How in the world did I forget this stage??

So so cute...but SO SO stubborn! I forgot how at this age they want to be so independent and do everything themselves and in their own sweet time...

Mostly with Gunnar it is a clothing issue right now as I mentioned before. He loves that he can dress and undress himself and I really try to not fight that battle, but once again if I'm honest...yes I like for my boys to wear the cute clothes I buy for them and yes it drives me crazy when they only want to wear that one oversized, neck stretched out, most of the time dirty shirt! But most days guess what? I give in and let him wear it. Only to school and church do I make him choose something else.
And oh the tantrums!!! It's a wonder we ever get out of the house some days.

Besides that, and well some just really rough mornings (he is SO not a morning guy)...he is still our sweet, funny little Gunnar.

Happy to go to preschool, loving it and can't stop talking about it and singing the cute songs they learn. He also loves that when I pick him up, if I park close enough to the curb, he can reach his door handle ALL BY HIMSELF!

He got these cute monster jammies from his Godmother Angie the other day...and I got these cute pictures of him wearing them before bed :)

Love them!

Then last night after I read to him, he was begging for more books, so I told him I would leave his light on for a few more minutes and he could keep reading to himself, then I'd come back in and tuck him in. Well it had been awhile and I went back in to find this...

So cute!
 He doesn't get too many naps these days with our busy schedule, so he is worn out at night!

Oh and this one that I had kind of forgotten about, but then as I was putting out fall/Halloween decorations I needed a picture to put in this frame and found it...

 It just makes me smile, one of my favorite pictures of him ever. I just want to squeeze that little face :)

Moving onto Lars...

It has been a little over 6 weeks since his second surgery and he's doing pretty well. He had his six week appt. down in Salt Lake on Tuesday and they said it's looking really good and they started him with a physical therapist down there. For obvious reasons we just feel more comfortable having him do it there rather than here.

So he finally goes back to work full time on Monday. I think he's glad...but I think we both kind of liked having him home and I know the boys did. Even when he was laid up they got to spend more time with him and as I told him a couple days ago there really are blessings in everything. As he was able to walk a little more, he got to take the boat out a few times, and on Wednesday I even got to go with him!

Thanks to Kelli for coming and watching the boys :)

It was a lot of fun...I never get to take a day off from my duties during the week!

The fishing wasn't super hot, but I did end up catching 3 nice fish and it was just fun to be out on the peaceful water in the boat with no one needing anything from me!

We have been having such beautiful weather!
 I keep telling the boys they need to get out and enjoy it as much as they can because our winters are SO long.

And finally a few more pictures I have to post...

Just to prove that life is so busy sometimes...

we got about an hour and a half away from home a couple weeks ago and I looked down at my feet to see that I had two different shoes on!

All I could do was laugh!

Also Ashton's door looked like this for awhile...

It's hard to be the little brother sometimes :(,
 but it did make us laugh...

Look at the smiling "Gunnar" holding up those socks!! hahahahaha!

Ashton is so funny! (and Gunnar really does sneak into his room and steal his socks!)

Like I've said before some days they play so good together and others it is non-stop fighting! So I will enjoy the good times and know that sometimes brothers just fight and that's how it is. I am still really so glad they have eachother.

The other night they sat in this chair for the longest time each reading a "Harold and the Purple Crayon" book...

I love these two so much!