Life with 5!!

  Things stay soooo busy around here, and I have almost completely forgotten about blogging! But since this is the main place i write what is going on in my life, I should update it every once in a while!!!   We had a wonderful full summer of playing, swimming lessons and family trips!  

    We started back to school at the end of August.  Topher started 4th grade, Creedance started 3rd, and TJ is doing Kindergarten again.  After a couple of days we moved Toph up to the 5th grade.  He has been, i don't want to say bored, because he was never bored at school he just read so much that it felt like that was all he did there.  Fifth grade has been an adjustment for him. He stays busy with school work which he is having to get used too. He is still getting straight A's but has to work on paying more attention at school.  He does all the after school activities he can. I think he is signed up for like six of them. Although i am in trouble because he only got to attend the first part of his robotics after school class.  In my defense it seems like he stays every single day of the week and occasionally i like to see him and know how he is doing!!!!!!
   Creedance is on the dance team and loving it.  I was a little worried, but no problems so far.  I hated dragging her to ballet when she did it before, and although she still doesn't really like ballet she doesn't bawl to stay home.  She dances two days a week and tries to stay for after school things too.  But doesn't make it nearly as often as Toph. Thats ok i like her to come home.

TJ really wants me to sign him up for anything!!! He has begged and begged and i still haven't gotten him into anything!! He wants to do soccer, or dance, or ice skate, or swim, or basketball, or gymnastics.  I don't think he cares what he does he just wants something.  He has thereapy every week, and i tell him that is something but i don't think he really agrees.  He is loving school this year.  He has always been a happy boy and is great at making friends, but i think it is easier for him to understand and follow along this year. Hopefully i will eventually get him signed up for something, but kind of want to wait for the new year!!!

Pearson is ball of never ending energy and is very defiant!! Some days i love it and others i become completely overwhelmed!!! He will not potty train!  I have tried everything i can think of and he just won't!!!!!  We have tried punishments, rewards, and everything inbetween. No matter how hard or long i try he says NO!  Right now i am trying not to focus on it and hopefully he will do it eventually!  He is dancing this year and is enjoying it.  He has only had one performance, but he didn't dance at all!  He had an ear infection and i don't think that helped.  He still likes to give me loves everyonce in awhile and loves to just keep me busy!

Talmage, well Talmage is the baby.  We love having him around.  He is usually a very mellow baby.  Right now he is teething and has an ear infection.  It has led to a lot of crying and he won't sleep in his crib anymore.  He has never slept through the night but it is even worse right now.  He is soooo cute and has the cutest dimples on his chin, which means i can't even be mad at him.  Just love on him as much as i can and hope he will be back to his loving self soon.  OH yeah he started crawling about a month ago. I was soooo not ready for it but he was.  He gets all over now!!!  The boys like this stage though and love playing with him!

Life has been quite busy!

Thanksgiving was kind of low key this year.  We stayed home, and had dinner with Tyler's parent's. We had a much smaller group for dinner than normal.  Tyler's brother from California couldn't make it.  One of his sisters families were there and some of his parent's friends.  It was a delicous dinner though.  We did go to the Museum of Idaho to the King Tut exhibit.  Topher has wanted to do this since the day it opened.  We had a good time.  My mom worked most of Thanksgiving week but we got to see them a little bit. Even my brother Jake a little in the evening when we were over there. 
    Tyler has been way to busy at work lately!  When he isn't working he is thinking about it! They have a big project going on right now and it is fairly stressful for him.  But we can't  complain too much cause he has work.  Oh yeah he has finally started working on putting my shower back together!!!! I am soooo excited i can barely stand it.  Of course it will still be awhile but atleast it is getting worked on!!!!
  

Redfish!!!!

    I love our family tradition of going to Redfish every year!!!  I look forward to it for most of the year!!!  This year was just as awesome as previous years.    I even skiied!!  I was really worried i wouldn't be able to get up since i have put on a bit of weight with just having another baby.  But I did it!!! 

    Topher tried wakeboarding and skiing this year!  He got up on the skiies and i am sure he will get up on the wakeboard next year!!  TJ, Toph, and Creedance all kneeboarded.  I think they all tubed too, but i know Pearson loved tubing!!!  Pearson even jumped off the cliff at the other end of the lake this year!  That boy has absolutely no fear.  Tyler jumped with him and kept trying to talk him out of it but he would not be held back!!!  I was a little spoiled this year and didn't have to stay in a tent.  My dad got all the girls with small children a place to stay.  It was wonderful but i missed camping a little bit tooo!!   Toph and Cree ran with their cousins all week.  Just had to make sure they ate every once in awhile.  Tj had a hard time understanding why he couldn't just go as much as them but did pretty well over all.

 Pearson, well Pearson is Pearson,  he........ we basically played Where Is Pearson all week long!!!!!!  Anytime you turned around for even a minute he had decided to go on a bike ride, head down to the boat, go look for Jake.  That boy had fun but was sooooo hard to keep track of.  One of my brothers asked him what was wrong with him.  His answer was," I eat boogers!"  










  Talmage was an overall good sport.  He didn't really love it but he tried not to be to grumpy!!!
 

I think Tyler had fun, he kept busy most of the time anyway.  He had to work some and he had to keep the other 4 kiddos with him at night time.(only pearson was in the tent with him.)  But he tubed, wakeboarded, and skiied so we will say he had fun!!!!







   I am already looking forward to next year!!!

An Attempt at catching up!

 Talmage is getting so big!!!

 Toph is still my creative little boy! We now take pictures of all creations because Pearson loves to wreck them all!

 We love playing games with our cousins! (wish mom would let us do it lots more often)

  So I know i should do a full out catch up, but if I try to do that i will never get anything posted so I will do a little catch up and then just start with today!!  TJ had a birthday back in April!  These are some pictures of his birthday!!! I can't believe he is alreay 6!  My how time flies!  He also got a new foot since the last time i posted.  It has skulls and bones and is camo colored. He loves it! Hopefully i can get a pic of him and it some time!

We have been playing lots!  With each other and friends, but i lost my camera for 2 months so i don't have alot of pics.  We have been to my parents cabin with friends.  It was awesome other than the snow!! It kind of cut our trip into Yellostone short!

It is finally getting warm in Idaho!!  Maybe too warm!  I HATE sleeping in a hot house!!! Last night in the house it was 85 when we went to bed!!!  It does cool off at night, but still i hate it when it gets to hot!!!.     but the kids love to play outside in the pool!! and on the slip and slide! oh and they turn our regular slide into a water slide!!  There is a downside though it is always sooooo windy!!  They love it though and i love watching them play!!!  Hopefully it stays fun for them.  They start swimming lessons next week, and that will help keep them busy!! Then we also have lots of other vacations plannend for the rest of the summer!  I am hoping I survive!  It is alot of work to keep up with them all!!!!

A Most Wonderful Day!!

I can't believe my little girl is old enough to be baptized!!! It was a wonderful time for our family.  Creedance was so excited!! I don't think Talmage really cared but was good through his blessing and i have to say he sooo cute!

It was so nice to have so much of our family here!!! Thanks everyone for coming and spending this special day with us!!!  My Mother-in-law is sooooo awesome, she did the luncheon at her house since i wasn't really up to cleaning my whole house and getting tonz of food ready too! I think that things would have down hill fast if she hadn't been there for us.  Especially since i broke my toe the day before this too.

  It was a wonderful baptism and blessing and i am so lucky to have these wonderful kids in my life!!!

More Pic's of Talmage

So I got my favorite photographer(my hubby) to take some picture's of my baby last night!! Some of them turned out sooo awesome! Talmage was really good, but the other kids not so much! They were being pills and i didn't get some of the shots i wanted with them all looking at him. Cree put her head in front of TJ every single time! We did get them all to lay down for a second but it was still wild!! Feet. We tried to get a good tummy shot but the lights didn't go off half of the shots so this is the best one!!!

Talmage Val Hopkins!!!!!!! and other stuff too!

Born Feb 24, 2012 5:36pm

8lbs 4oz, 20 inches long

I am so excited to have Talmage here!!! The end of my pregnancy was not going really great! I know that it is suppose to be hard at the end but it still sucked. Anyway, Friday morning at 4ish my water broke, I was excited and scared!!! We decided to get the kids to school before we went to the hospital unless i started hurting to much. Sadly i wasn't feeling any contractions so we got the kids off to school. He wasn't born until 5:30 that night, probably my longest labor!!! But i am completely in love with him!!!!! I have a very hard time putting him down to get anything done. Just want to sit around and hold him and just i don't breathe him in. Which is not that easy with 4 other kids but they all really like him to so i have to share!!! Finally found my camera and was able to take some every day pictures of him too!!! Me and Tyler's camera are not best of friends.

Cree and TJ dressed up for Dr. Suess' Birthday. I think they are soooo cute and that Tyler did a great job on making her Daisy head Maisey Flower.

Cree's Birthday/ Valentine's Day

I am to pregnant this year to give Cree a big birthday party so she had two minature parties. We had cake and ice cream over at my parents sunday night. It was just us and the grandparents. Here is the Barbie my mom gave her!Today she got to invite one friend to walk home from school with her. They made the cake and cupcakes all by themselves. Then they did their own makeup. They created their own balloon families too. Somehow i didn't get pictures of this. I think overall she had a good birthday!!! I can't believe how grown up she is getting. Both time she had the hardest time blowing out the candles i guess 8 was to many for her. ..When they did makeup they got the boys too!! There was alot of goofing off with the camera too!