B.O.Y.S. (very much in plural form)

For those of you still following this blog, we have a little bit of news to share. Yesterday we realized a few things...

First, that we have everything we need. And in all the right colors.

Second, that Jake will be one closer to his basketball team.

Third, that for six years straight, we will have a missionary serving in the field.

Fourth, that come April, I am going to be WAY outnumbered.

Fifth, that even though Christian thought "girl," he was thrilled with his blue Hot Wheel, as well as the news.

Sixth, that we are going to have three little boys running around. THREE. Whoa.

And last, that I love tiny babies in blue, and am thrilled to be having another one.

Last night for family night we each drew a picture of something we were grateful for. My card said "all MY BOYS" and had a picture of each of them, including the one growing in my belly. I am so blessed!

The ultrasound was so neat! I don't know what was different this time, or if it was just me that was different, but I was in awe of all the detailed features we could see. The fingers and toes, the spine, the beating heart, the profile of his sweet little face. He appears perfect in every way. I can't wait to meet him.

A sweet profile picture

He was opening his mouth and trying to get a finger in! So sweet!

I just love to see all those tiny toes.

Dear Baby Boy,

Now that we know you are a boy, it's easier to picture you joining our family. Christian already gives you hugs every day, quite literally as he attempts to only hug around my belly. Not my waist, just the front round part. He also tells you that it's him when he hugs you. I'm sure you'll recognize his voice the first time you meet. He says he's going to rock you when you get here. I think he's excited to meet you. Ethan doesn't seem to quite understand that you are growing inside me, but I imagine by the time you arrive, he'll know something is changing. The night before we found out, Daddy told me he'd decided you were a boy, and I know he's excited to have another son. You and him will be buddies, I'm sure. I feel you move every day and I love knowing that it's you--that it's your tiny foot or knee or hand or elbow moving around. What a miracle. Keep growing. We love you already.

love, your family

Grateful

I am grateful for so many things. Jake and I have been talking about how the commercialized Christmas gets earlier and earlier every year. It seems that each year the decorations in the stores are out a little earlier, and each year the Christmas songs begin playing on the radio a little earlier. It's like society is jumping from Halloween (a "give me candy" holiday) to Christmas (an "I want, I want, I want holiday) and completely disregarding the holiday that is all about gratitude, and being thankful for the MANY blessings that we already have. As I have been thinking about Christmas myself, and trying to get most of the shopping done now, I don't want fall into the same trap that the commercialized world has set. So may I take a moment each day and remind myself of just a few of the blessings I have been given.

1. Today I am grateful for my safety. And my children's safety.

2. I am grateful for people who have been a part of my life who are still influencing me today.

3. I am grateful for my extremely sore muscles, because it's evidence that I played volleyball last night and went to water aerobics this morning and had such a fun time. It's been years since I played volleyball, but oh how I still love it! We have a game tomorrow night and I can't wait!

4. I am grateful for the beauties of this world, including bright pink sunsets that cover the sky like we saw this evening.

5. I am grateful for a car that has been so reliable for us, even though yesterday we had to get the brakes fixed (for the first time). I am grateful for quiet brakes and honest mechanics. :)

We took these pictures back in August after a rainstorm. If you enlarge it and look close, you can see it was a double rainbow. We were all in awe. What a beautiful sight over Mount Olympus!

Yesterday during lunch I was talking with Christian about Thanksgiving, explaining a little about what we will be doing and why we do it--to remember all the things we are thankful for. I told him I was thankful for Christian and Ethan and then asked him what he was thankful for. We went back and forth like that and here are some of the things Christian told me, in his own words.

• I am thankful for Mommy and Daddy.
• I am thankful for lights.
• I am thankful to go to school and have fun.
• I am thankful to visit grandma and grandpa at their house.

I asked Ethan what he was thankful for as well and his response was "Daddy." How true that is. :)

Utah State Fair

Christian, Ethan and I went to the Utah State Fair with Grandma and Grandpa and the Kerrs. The weather was gorgeous, the crowds were very light, and we had a great time! We got to watch a live sea lion show, which the kids really liked, but my favorite part was the Hands-On Farm they had for kids. It was so cute, so fun, (even free) and they even got a little snack at the end! I couldn't get enough of little Ethan in his apron carrying his basket.

And here are the FFA's (Future Farmers of America) only my Dad referred to them as the "Former Farmers of AMerica." :)

Froerer Family Fun

Yard games, including croquet, Kubb and some intense Ellimination (or Lightning, or whatever you call it)

A fishing pond for the littlest ones in attendance, which provided bubbles and helicopters to entertain

The ever-so-famous Froerer family kickball game

We grew up playing kickball on this same grassy lawn on Sunday evenings as kids. The tradition was brought back as everyone participated, even Grandma!

Rocket building and launching competition...it wouldn't be a Froerer family function unless there was competition :)

Melissa, Dad and I created "The Seuss" (a.k.a. The lost sock of the Wicked Witch of the West) and Jake and I created the BYU-Clemson team rocket. The Seuss was pretty much a complete failure, as we taped two bottles together and the launch just completely blew them apart. But it was certainly aesthetically pleasing. The team rocket, however, flew like a champ and reached some serious heights. Jake would like to claim highest height award, but he did not receive that one.

Here is evidence of Jake's successful launch.. :) (Mostly because I know Christian will love to watch this on our blog)

Final Water Day of the Season

August 27, 2010

Watching Simon and Christian chase those butterflies with those long nets was quite entertaining. Simon caught one but held onto it's wings too long and it couldn't fly after that. Christian informed me that he had rubbed off all the butter, so he could no longer fly. :)

Thanksgiving Point

Back in August (I know, that's a long time ago. I'm still catching up.)....

We went to Thanksgiving Point a couple times on their "$2 Tuesdays" that they do through the month of August. All in all, we had a good time, but I learned a few lessons:

1. When a free or almost free day is offered, it's going to be a zoo.

2. Arrive the moment it opens and DON'T try to do more than one event.

3. Don't even attempt the dinosaur museum. I think that will be worth full price one day. Not yet.

4. When it's 100 degrees outside and your child is sweating like crazy, you can't play in the spash area for two more hours because that is your "scheduled" time, you just might have to let him get wet in the waterfall, regardless of policies. :)

I learned a few other lessons as well:

1. Christian is brave enough to let a goat eat out of his hand!

2. Floating wood blocks down a stream can provide hours of entertainment.

3. A BIG, long, green grassy hill is really all you need.

Singing, singing all the day!

Ethan loves to sing--in the car, along to the music, when the piano is playing, or just whenever he feels like it. It's so fun to hear him sing the best words he knows how! His repertoire includes "I am a Child of God", the ABC's, "Give Said the Little Stream," E-I-E-I-O, and many more than he is always surprising me with. Even when he doesn't know the words, he listens for a minute and then tries to sing along.

Christian loves to sing as well, and he is an excellent singer! He knows LOTS of songs, and likes to sing, especially at home. I rarely catch him singing in primary, but when we get home I realize it's not because he doesn't know the words. I think he's too busy watching everyone around him. :) He really does know the words to "I am a Child of God" but said he was trying to be funny. :)

This brings me great joy. :)

I love this second one at the beginning when the two boys look at each other. Priceless. The boys know this song really well, but they were having way too much fun. :)

Sweet Rides in Wallsburg

Christian loves to go to Wallsburg, and it's no wonder why! He gets to go on rides on the four wheelers and in Papa's "fast car!" Besides that, he loves to play with the awesome marble run that is there. He gets it out the moment we get there, every time.

K is for Kings

Fall Hiking

On Friday, November 5th, we went on a nice fall hike up Ferguson Canyon, without coats or jackets, and Jake even had on shorts and t-shirt! Although, it wasn't quite as nice as our clothes make it appear. :) As we got up the canyon further, I was definitely wishing for a jacket and I think Jake was at least wishing for some long pants and long sleeves! But the entrance to the hike really was that warm.

Christian was our little hiker, climber and leader. He led the whole hike and insisted he "wead" us back since he "wed" us there. He also insisted that we all whisper as we got up further in the canyon, because we were looking for a bear cave. I think he could have stayed up there all day and climbed on and explored among the big boulders.

Ethan rode in the backpack part of the time, but insisted on walking as well. He picked up a big rock about every five feet and would say "big wok!" Obviously, that slowed our hiking pace a bit, but it was so fun to watch him hike on his own two little legs. He really did quite well!

It was a gorgeous day and a spectacular fall view, that I can't believe still exists into November! And to top it off, we went home and grilled burgers outside. What a gorgeous fall we have had!

Firestation Fiasco

We went to the fire station last Friday in honor of "F Week" for preschool, although that was a month ago. Thinking Christian and Ethan would love it, we were all geared up for a fun morning! I should have known better. The moment we stepped into the garage, Ethan cried and whined and wanted his maya and mia. I had the mia, but not the maya. Mistake. I tried everything I could to distract him from his nervousness. I think he was scared it was going to be loud, or move, or something. Needless to say, he wanted nothing to do with the fire engines. Christian was much braver. The little boys all got to ride on their cool electric stretcher, while it went up and down. Christian wanted nothing to do with that. He stood behind our group the whole time to be as far from the fire engines as possible. Luckily, I was able to convince him to at least walk through the fire engine with the other little boys. I think Christian is just very unsure of anything that's new or unfamiliar. He acts this same way when I've taken him to little friends' birthday parties, wanting nothing to do with any of the activities. I'm sure he'll grow out of this. And then at the end of our fire station tour, the fire fighters turned on the siren, and Ethan never recovered until we left. I think we'll wait a few years until we attempt the fire station again. :)

Halloween Festivities

For Halloween this year we had a day full of fun festivities! (Of course, this all took place on Saturday the 30th, because Halloween fell on Sunday this year. We just called it Halloween, even though it was a day early. It was kind of nice though...it felt like we got one extra day of October!)

In the morning we had a fun little Halloween party that Grammy threw for our two little pirates. We played Halloween Bingo, did a Halloween cake walk (minus the cake), made "witches brew" with straws and Halloween pictures, had a mummy race to see who could wrap their mummy the fastest, and decorated "tombstones" to put in our graveyard dessert, which we ate after our pizza lunch. Thanks for a fun party Grammy!

Just before we headed home from Grammy and Papa's for naps, the boys had the pleasure of jumping in a GIGANTIC pile of leaves! This was a first for them, and as you can see by the pictures, Christian was THRILLED and Ethan wasn't so sure about it. If you enlarge the collage, you can see that Ethan seemed okay with the first drop, but his facial expressions change in the second. After that, he wanted nothing to do with the leaves. On the other hand, Christian didn't want to STOP jumping!

After naps, Grandma and Grandpa came over to have soup and breadsticks with us before we headed out for trick-or-treating! Despite the little bit of rain and CHILLY temperatures, the boys loved it! Ethan insisted on walking, and holding your hand while walking doesn't count. He has to do it all by himself. Since the pirate costumes aren't the warmest of attire, Christian eventually got a bit cold. (Plus, he insisted on wearing bare feet and flip flops.) So I gave up my long Halloween toe socks and put them on him, with his flip flops on top. He was stylin'!

The morning of October 31st, we had a fun breakfast of delicious applesauce muffins, eggs, and pumpkin juice! (aka orange juice)

All in all, it was another successful Halloween. I really love this holiday with little kids! I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween as well!