July 2018

Hyrum told the whole Senior Primary one Sunday when we were talking about happy families, “I'm grumpy 50% of the time.”

We were warning Hyrum about the chores he needed to do the next morning (Saturday), so he wouldn’t be surprised and complain about doing them, to which he replied, “I probably still will.” At least he is very self-aware!

Ivy has been saying a lot more words lately, including “ah-wa” which means Hyrum or Cora, uh-oh, “dah” which means stop, and uh-uh (no).

Cora likes to come with me when I go grocery shopping, and I can’t help but think when she comes that she’s like a little mini-me!

Cora wrote me a to-do list, and on the top of the list she wrote, “play with your children.” That’s always my favorite thing to do!

Grandma and Grandpa Martin came to visit us this month and took Cora birthday shopping!

Ivy loves Grandma Martin!

Here’s what Ivy got for her birthday from her Martin grandparents:

Ivy loves to give everyone else in the family “piggyback” rides. She’ll sneak under your legs so she can walk around like this (she thinks it’s hilarious!):

We have a little container garden on our deck this year, and in July we got 5 zucchinis!

Zane always likes to help his sister. When they were eating dinner one night he even told Ryan, “Ivy can have my ostrich” meaning sausage.

Zane likes to say, “Mommy? I love you.” Also, “I love you, but…” He is such a loving, cuddly boy!

Zane saw a car drive by and he thought it ran the red light. He told me I needed to talk to the car, and when I asked why he said, “because you’re Mommy!” I guess I am the enforcer of all rules!

Zane got to go on a date with Daddy to Fat Brain Toys! I guess it wore him out:

I told the kids we were headed to the library one morning after my shower. When I got out of the shower, it was oddly quiet in the house. Hyrum came in and told me that he had loaded all of the kids (with their shoes!) into the car by himself! You can bet I threw some clothes on very quickly! He is going to be a great babysitter and Dad some day!

Ivy likes to sing the song, “Try Everything” by Shakira, it’s super cute!

When Cora plays school at home, she is a very strict teacher. No one is allowed to move an inch or their name gets written down! Also, this hairstyle totally showcases her beautiful hair color- people lay a lot of money to get highlights like she has naturally!

We found this giant spider dead in our garage!

I love these kids so much! I have loved spending time with all four of them this summer, and watching them play together:

Never again will I let 3 kids have a little shopping cart at Hyvee while grocery shopping. Never, ever again.

To celebrate our 11th anniversary, Ryan and I went to the Street of Dreams! It had a street of brand new million dollar homes that we got to look through. There were also some really cute decorating ideas!