Fall Part 2

We decided after much prayer and discussion that I would homeschool the girls for preschool this year. All three of the older kids all went to several years of preschool. But when I started looking for preschools,  I just didn't feel good about any of our options for them.  After talking to my mom who is retiring from teaching this year and my dear friend Nicole Nelson, who

Ainslee climbing to get the moon! 

Audrey climbing for the moon!

At our favorite library!

The man sorting the apples on the machine handed the girls small apples through the window!!!

Apple day! Bonus Apple slushies and a swing!

Painting the horse!

homeschools all three of her children, I was armed and ready to take on this wonderful experience of teaching them and getting them ready for kindergarden! Pinterest of course helps! It has been an absolute joy! I love the opportunity to take what we are learning in school throughout our day in everything we do! They have loved the projects, the games, the songs and the science projects! They pretty much love all of it! Around the same that we started a new branch of our library opened! It has an early literacy area for the kids...it is AMAZING!!! The girls wake up in the morning and it is the first place that they ask to go. There are so many educational toys and it gives me an opportunity to use tools that we don't have at home! I also get to load up on all of our books for the week!

Ainslee is doing amazing in school! She is so excited for kindergarden and she is so anxious to read! She loves horses and all animals, but horses the most! A few weeks ago Livia was invited to a birthday party at a horse stable. We went to pick her up and Ainslee was able to pet all of the horses and they even got to paint them! It was incredible and Ainslee was in heaven! Ainslee loved going to the pool all summer and still asks if we get to go back any time soon! She loves singing and dancing and playing pretend with her sister! She is a protector, even at just four years old. She always wants to make sure that everyone around her (especially her little sis) know that they are safe! She is an amazing little girl and we are so blessed to have her in our family!

Sensory play!

Audrey...well this little one is definitely the youngest of the group! She is our little princess in every way! She loves anything princess, girly, dolly and glittery. She is shy on the outside, but may randomly break out in song if handed a microphone. She memorizes songs like nobody's business! She loves music and loves to dance! She is loving school too! She is so excited to see what letter we are working on and she loves going around the house looking for that letter or finding things that start with the letter! She still loves to snuggle and be with mom all the time (which I am not fighting at all!)!

I am one lucky mama to be able to hang out with this crew everyday! My days are field with joy and love and laughter (and laundry and dishes and driving!)! I am having a blast spending my evening preparing for preschool and I am even tossing around the idea of starting to offer art classes in my area! At the beginning of the summer I started a program called Whole 30! It was AMAZING!!! I lost about 35 pounds and felt amazing. I stayed strong for about 54 days until we were in Utah and then kind of got off track. But I am determined to meet my health goals for the year so I started looking for an exercise program a few weeks ago. I tried Crossfit to begin with, but I could only go to the class at 5 am and some mornings that didn't even work. I girlfriend told me about a place just down the street, so I have joined that. They have a great spinning class and yoga class. The days in between I run on the treadmill which has been really fun! The child care area has been really nice and the girls look forward to going everyday (which helps mom stay on track!)! I just signed up for Livia and I to run a 5K in November!

Caterpillars! 

I should mention Tad in all of this craziness too! He is doing well! He is in heaven right now with all of the soccer, football and a great season of fantasy baseball! He loves going to all of the kids soccer games...love isn't even the right word for it...it is stronger than that! He plans out the weekends all week and looks forward to the games almost more than the kids do!

Everyone is happy and healthy! We are so blessed to have one another and live in such a beautiful place. We have faced trials that are more than we ever imagined, but I think that it has brought us together even more and even closer to our Savior and we are so thankful for that. Happy fall to everyone! Go out and get something pumpkiny!

Fall Part 1

I try not to discriminate against any one season, and I am pretty sure that at the beginning of each season I proudly exclaim to my family, "Yay it's _______, my favorite season"!!! But truly, I adore fall.  I love everything fall...pumpkins (and any dessert that it can be put into), leaves, colors, back to school, jackets, open windows, the smells...oh I simply love it all! The welcoming of fall was different for me this year. Summer was very hard for us, hard is putting it mildly.  I am not ready to write about anything yet, but fall was exactly what I needed to pull me and my family out of a very hard experience. I loved this quote by Lauren DeStefano  "Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale."   Fall also brings around crazy schedules!!!

Aurianna decided after attending a basketball camp at Fairfield Union in May that she wanted to change schools. Many of her soccer teammates attend there and she really liked the school and the smaller feel of it. She open enrolled and was accepted. We went in to meet with the school counselor a couple weeks before school started so that we could get a tour and get her schedule. We sat in his office to begin with so that I could fill out some paperwork and he could ask Aurianna some questions. He had her fill out a paper all about herself. It was a simple task, but two things happened in just those few moments that really show so much about who Aurianna is! When she finished and the councilor was reading it, Aurianna leaned over to me and said, "Mom, you know I love you right?" And I said , "of course." She said, " it asked me who I go to when I need help on things and I put Dad, but I come to you a lot too Mom and I love you." I chuckled when this happened and my heart swelled with the love that Aurianna and Tad have for each other. This is something that I dreamed of my entire life, that my daughters would have a father that they could be daddy's little girl.  I quickly wiped away the tears in my eyes as the councilor started asking her questions. He looked up at her and said, "It says here that you want to be a special education teacher. I don't think that I have ever met a seventh grader that knew that they wanted to be that. Can you tell me why?" She explained that last year she had some opportunities to get to know some of the kids in her school with special needs and that she found that she loved helping them and that they became wonderful friends to her and she knew that that was something that she wanted to do with her life. She had told Tad and I this during the year, but when I turned to look at the counsilor that I noticed wasn't saying anything, he was crying. He said that this subject was dear to his heart and that he could tell that she was an amazing young lady and would do amazing things in her life.  

  This councilor has turned out to be pretty amazing himself. He took it upon himself to talk to the special education teacher at the school and let her know that during Aurianna's free period that she would like to help. How cool is that?! She loves those days that she gets to help! She is loving her new school! She loves her classes and her teachers and she loves her friends there! I love the small town feel to the school and of course that she loves it makes it better for all of us! Aside from school Aurianna is heavy duty into soccer season right now! She has practice Mon-Thursday most weeks and then games all weekend. She has had two tournaments so far. Practice is, well, I don't think that I would last ten minutes! Her couch is an ex army helicopter pilot...go ahead, next time a helicopter flies over head, ask her what it is...she can tell you; if they don't get it right during practice they have to run! She loves it though and she is doing so well! She is amazing out on that field and I love watching her with the ball at her feet! She is also starting to train with Tad in the mornings for basketball try outs that come up in November! Aurianna is also working hard on her Young Women Personal Progress. Right now she is working on her ten hour project on Family History! She is having a lot of fun on familysearch.org. This is her Uncle's calling in his ward, so he is giving her some tips and then also has a lot of names for her to take to the next temple trip! 

1st day of school!

1st day of school!

Livia is loving fourth grade this year. She was sad to leave her Miss Allen, but she is really enjoying her new teacher! She is excited to move over next year to Fairfield Union and be in middle school with her sister! She is shining in school, as always and we get notes and texts every other day from someone that she has helped in some way or another. This girl has the biggest heart and just wants everyone to be happy. She reminds us every day that she is almost ten. I would be totally ok if it started going in the opposite direction once they started going in the double digits! But we are having a blast planning her party and that puts a big smile on her face! She is in her second year of travel soccer and LOVING it!!! She is on a new team this year and it has been awesome! Last year her team won...a lot, but she wasn't having fun. Her team is doing great, but even better is that her coaches are awesome and the girls on her team all get a long so well! She loves going to practice and even attends Trey's practice on the nights that she doesn't have her own! She loves to cook, read and do art. My mom explained her so wonderfully this morning when she said that Livia just loves to be doing something all the time. Last night as I was singing to her, she was coloring. Do you remember those pictures that you would draw with the continuous line and then fill in all of the spaces with a different color? That is what she is working on right now! I used to love those!!! It is fun to see what she is creating! She is reading a ton as usual...I can't even keep up with her and the books that she is flying through! I am so proud of her and the amazing girl that she is! 

Trey....Trey is 8 and I think that my sister-in-law Katie said it best over the summer...emotional 8. Love this kid through and through...and yes, he very much has me wrapped around every one of his adorable little fingers, but I tell ya...some days! Everything has to match and in no way can anything be embarrassing!  He got Miss Allen for third grade (Yay...the crowd go's wild!!!)! He has loved having her and he is doing AMAZING this year! He has gotten 100% on all of his spelling tests this year and is doing fabulous in math! He is even enjoying reading more which is so awesome to see because he wasn't really having it last year! He loves going to school and of course loves hanging out with his buddies playing flag football and kickball! Trey is in his first year of travel soccer and it has been awesome! His coach is great and Trey has had a great time so far! It looks as though he is going to take after his oldest sister and play Left Mid! He thinks this is pretty cool and takes every opportunity for Aurianna to show him what she knows! She loves this of course! Trey was able to start Scouts this last week! He is so excited...seriously, beyond excited!!! It isn't like in Utah where it is part of the ward so that was a little tricky. We lucked out to have some fabulous friends the Smiths! Their grandfather offered to have Scout's for our boys every week! I can't tell you what a blessing this is to us right now! Trey asks me every day if he get's to go to Scout's...it is pretty awesome!!!

1st day of school!

Ok...I know this is just the three oldest ones, but I kind of wanted to make a post all on it's own for the younger two! It has been an exciting fall for them also with lots of changes and all kinds of fun! The older three alone keep our evenings going from one thing to another...I will have to do a "day in the Thornton house" by times and who is going where. Sometimes I dread it, I won't lie...but I know that one day I am going to miss it like crazy, so I am just embracing it and trying to LOVE it!!! Fall part 2 will be on its way!

Grandpa Paul

Story time! I have a ton of posts that I need to get up from our summer fun, but I wanted to share a story from our Utah trip while I wait for the pictures to download! I think that conversations in the car are the best! I feel like a fly on the wall sometimes when my kids start talking in the backseat and they forget that I am up in the front listening! Sometimes I am involved in the conversation and it just turns flat out funny! This moment took place as we were driving from Sandy to Provo to meet family at Seven Peaks water park. I love history and I try to take advantage of every opportunity to teach my kids about their family history! My Grandmother and her parents grew up in Pleasant Grove. I have told the kids countless stories about PG and the Strawberry Days Rodeo, my great Grandma Winnie's rose garden and creepy cellar. On this day as we drove by the gigantic G on the side of the mountain, I told Trey that his Grandpa Paul (whom he is named after) was the first person to paint the G on the side of the mountain. I watched in the rear view mirror as Trey sat a little taller and asked, "Grandpa Paul! The cowboy?" "Yep." I replied. "I have his cowboy hat." He stated proudly.  "Why did he get to paint the G on the mountain?" "Because he was the mayor of Pleasant Grove." I told him. Then out of the blue he asked, "Is he still alive?" "No buddy," I said. " He has been dead for a long time."  "How did he die?" said Trey. "Well, he died in his sleep." There was a long pause until Trey said, "Oh, I didn't know you could die from that. Does it hurt?" I told him that it didn't hurt and then I asked him, "how did you think that people die?" "From getting shot and in accidents and stuff." He replied. To which Livia, who had been listening this whole time quietly spoke up and said, "He was the mayor Trey, not the President of the United States of America!" At which point the sip of water I had just taken came out my nose!  Can you tell that she learned about President Kennedy this year? 

I swear to you that I have the best job on the face of the earth!!! I love moments like this and I love blogging about them, because even though I think that I will never forget, slowly my memory starts to fade and I can't remember the details. It has been a rough summer, but it is moments with my kids and my family that keep me going in the direction that I know is important. Thank heavens the stories to share just make my smile wider and wider and that makes everything worth it!

Let the Games Begin!!!

So a few months ago while I was editing a senior photo shoot that I did, I accidentally left my photo card in my computer. This is usually something that I never do, but one time is all that it took and two or three year old hands discovered it along with another bigger slot in the same computer. They decided that jamming it into the DVD drive was a brilliant thing to do. Along with that they put in a target card and who knows what else. When I took it into the apple store they told me that I needed to back it up…something that I had been meaning to do for forever. I have been working on this backing up process now ever since. 26,000 pictures. That is what I have from the last 4 years. I have been cleaning them up and I am finally done!!! I have really enjoyed blogging this last week and I get all giddy inside thinking that I am going to have the things that I know that I am not going to remember documented! Anyway, Monday the computer goes into the shop and hopefully in won't take too long! Now that all of the pictures are organized, I am ready to make photo books of the last few years…like 9 years!

Anyway…onto the games! Trey and Livia participated in Upward basketball last year and they have been looking forward to starting again all year! Because Trey and Liv are so close in age, Livia gets to cheer for Treys team! They love it and we love that we don't have to go to another game at another time, especially because Aurianna has her games on Saturday too! They both did great today! It is so fun to see them learn and grow. My favorite part though happens behind the scenes. Aurianna loves to teach, and really it is one of her gifts. She is amazing at it. She taught Livia how to multiply before Livia was even in kindergarten. She loves taking her sister and brother out onto the field or the court and teaching them the things that she knows. She works with Trey all the time on the court. She makes up these fun games and the kids all love it! Tad has been working a lot with Aurianna over at the church (when I say a lot, I mean everyday), every once in awhile Trey and Liv will go to and it is amazing to see how much they have all grown! Aurianna glows when she sees Trey do something out on the court that they have been working on. Or Livia out on the soccer field! And Trey is always excited to learn something new! They love their new uniforms this year too! It is going to be a great season! Ok, now for the pics!

Two kids

The other day I was driving in the car and I asked all the kids what they wanted to be when they grew up and how many kids they wanted. I ask these questions every so often just to see if their answers have changed.  This is how the conversation went…

Me: Trey, what do you want to be when you grow up?
Trey: A Fireman.
Me: awesome! Livia, what do you want to be when you grow up?
Livia: A cheerleader, like a professional one. Then I want to be a doctor, oh and a fashion designer. And of course a mom. Yep…thats what I want to be!
Trey: Wait, I want to be a fireman and a pilot. And I want to be a Dad, I really, really want to be a Dad!
Me: Aurianna, what do you want to be?
Aurianna: A professional soccer or basketball player!
ME: Livia how many kids do you want?
Livia: Six, except I don't want six if after I have the first one I decide that it hurts too bad. Then that number is going to change for sure!
Me: Trey how about you?
Trey: Four kids, two girls and two boys (spoken like an only boy who wants a brother but absolutely adores his sisters!).
Me: Ainslee how many kids do you want?
Ainslee: LOTS!
Me: how many is lots?
Ainslee: (holding up her five fingers) Five!!!
Me: Audrey, how many kids do you want:
Audrey: 3
Me: Aurianna, how many kids do you want?
Aurianna: Two, one girl and one boy and that is all.
Me: Two, you only want two?
Aurianna: (in very hushed tones) I used to want lots. Then you told me how the babies get in there, and now I only want two. And two is pushing it.

Well at this point, lets just say that I was laughing, hard! I was trying not to laugh, really I was, but I just didn't expect her to say that at all and it caught me off guard. Can you tell we had the talk recently? One day when Aurianna has three or four kiddos running circles around her I will bring this story up and tell her what she said! I am so thankful for my five blessings that put a smile on my face every day and look forward to what they say tomorrow !!!

Milana

The Sound of Silence

I have an odd sound in my house and as I was finishing loading the dishwasher, I found myself doing something, something that doesn't happen, at least not in the middle of the day. What was it you ask? Finishing an entire thought in my head. That's right folks…this little lady was able to start a thought and finish thinking the entire thought through to the end. Why, do you ask, can you not do this on a regular basis? Interuptions…don't get me wrong, they are lovely little interruptions. Tugs on my pant leg to ask for a glass of milk or an apple. A hug around the leg asking me if she is the prettiest pink princess in all the land. Maybe someone is missing a shoe, or wants to know what time bball practice starts, or where her book is or if she can play with so and so. But none less, sometimes, the wonderful conversation that I was having with myself inside my head gets interrupted and usually is unable to finish or come to a conclusion. So why is today different? Aurianna is at a friends house planning the (quotations here-remember keyboard is busted) BEST SLEEPOVER EVER! Trey and Livia are at another friends house and the two little ones each fell asleep on either side of me during a very exciting cowgirl bubble guppies episode (well at least I thought it was exciting…probably because it is one of the only bubble guppies episodes that I haven't seen yet…them not so much since they did fall asleep after all!).  Pure silence…WOW! That silence led me to a thought about my last blog post. All of the sudden I remembered something that I had written about Tad being home all week and that in parenthesis I put AHHHH! All of the sudden I realized that when I typed that AHHHHH it was meant to sound like loud hallelujah cheering from the roof top that my husband was home all week and part of this week with no interruptions…completely 100% mine (and my kiddos!)! And I began to wonder if someone out there may have read my AHHHH as YIKERS, I have to spend a whole week with my husband home. So I thought I would post now about that Ahhhh (and a little about wonderful interruptions I guess)! There are many things that changed when we moved to Ohio. Although, we have lived here long enough now that I can't remember all of them. But one of the  changes that I still every once in a while miss is the fact that my cute hubby has to go to work every day. He has always been a very hard worker, we wouldn't be in Ohio if he wasn't, but when we were in Utah he worked from home. Yes, he did travel, and those weeks were very hard and we missed him  like crazy, but when he was home he was just upstairs! I never had to call to ask a question or see how his day was. His lunch break was spent with us and his commute time was AWESOME!!! So, as much as I love the fact that he doesn't have to travel anymore, sometimes I miss seeing his cute mug around the house in the middle of the day!
That brings me to this marvelous week and a half! Oh how sweet it has been. All of my family home everyday at the same time. No practices or games or activities, no work or meetings or early morning appointments! The girls came down with ear infections and pink eye, but we just stayed home and snuggled like crazy! We have played games, built forts, played dress up, watched movies, taken naps, colored, finished projects, read books, tickled, called family, made cakes, watched the ball drop, stayed up late, gotten totally off schedule and loved every single second of it! I tend to get a little anxious thinking that I need to plan a ton of activities/outings/projects when everyone is home, and I will admit that it took me a good day to come to terms with the idea of all of just staying at home during the holiday, but as I look back at our time together it really has been a glorious week filled with memories that will last forever! My kids (and Tad) keep laughing at me as I randomly walk up to them and hug them, but I know that in just a few days they are all going to be back to running a million miles an hour.      I am sensing just a few more minutes of silence, so I better wrap it up!   I hope everyone had a wonderful New Years Eve!

Milana