Z is 4

This week we had fun celebrating Zade's 4th birthday.  He's been talking about it for months, so it was nice for it finally to arrive.  Unfortunately for him though, he got a really bad cold a few days before and was pretty sick the day he turned 4.  However, from the excitement on his face in these pictures below, you'd wouldn't know he was sick. 

Even though he's never really watched the show, he's been asking for some Transformers, so we got him some. Apparently some of his friends have them, and he thought they're pretty cool.  He especially likes Grimlock, the Dinobot.  Whenever we try to take a picture, he often replaces his natural smiles with these forced cheesy ones :)

We also got him all 3 Darn Squirrels books.  He was pretty excited.

For his party, he wanted a Minion theme from Despicable Me.  Fortunately, it wasn't too hard to make a Minion cake for him.

And we found a sweet Minion pinata.  The kids had a great time walloping it as we dangled it over a tree limb in our front yard.  It was fun watching it spew out candy with each smack.  Fortunately the kids didn't eat too much candy and saved some room to eat pizza.  (Here's the Minion before the beating)

He also got a some blocks and work station from his grandparents, which he's had fun playing with.

And here's our chunky little baby. Growing bigger everyday. 

Slow but steady

Aria got a weaving loom this week, which she's really enjoyed using.

Ryzen had his 9 month checkup, where he was 20.5 lbs and 30 inches long, which put him in the 44th and 90th percentiles, respectively. Compared to his older siblings at this age, he's a little taller, but a little lighter.  He's now got 5 teeth, with a 6th on the way. We love our jolly little guy.

Dapper Ryzen

Dr. Seuss Week 

Ryzen's favorite hobby: Feeding himself

All dressed up

Silly Kids

Pinata

As part of the battle against the winter doldrums, the kids decided to make their own pinata. 

Ever since Christmas (i.e., literally the day after) Zade has been asking how many days until his birthday. Then he begins going on and on about what he wants for his birthday, who he's going to invite, and how we should throw him a surprise party.  Right now he wants a minion themed party (from Despicable Me), so we have already purchased a giant yellow minion pinata that he brought to his preschool for show and tell.

First Word
Ryzen has officially said his first word this past week: "Momma".  He's been mumbling this for a few weeks now, but we've finally established that it's not accidental.  He's definitely a momma's boy, so it's no big surprise.  Here's a nice (unrelated) little video of him laughing as his siblings entertain him.

Pay for Performance
Over the past couple months the kids have been using an awards system to earn money each day.  We have a chart with 4 colored sheets of paper.  The kids get to take their clothesline clip and "clip up" to a different color every time they do something during that day that they're supposed to do.  The four things that they can "clip up" for each day include: 1) cleaning up personal things (toys, shoes, papers) 2) helping with dinner and setting the table 3) completing a learning assignment (like reading or doing math) and 4) doing a household chore (folding the laundry, mopping the floor, etc.). Each color that they "clip up" earns them 25 cents. So far the system has been fairly successful.  I like it because it encourages the kids do things we want them to do, but doesn't involve us having to nag at them.  Yesterday we took the kids to Target and they got to purchase their first reward with their money (after we calculated and put aside money for Tithing).  Aria bought a my little pony equestria doll.  Zade looked and looked for a suitable transformer and then decided that we would have to purchase one online because Target didn't have the one he wanted.  I think the kids also value their things more when they have to purchase them on their own.  I'm trying not to buy things for them now, (except maybe a small thing for birthday) and encouraging them to buy everything they want with their own money.