Big Brother Frankie

Note: I wrote this back in November 2019 and just found it in my drafts. I guess I forgot to hit publish. 

Frankie has been an absolutely fantastic big brother for Olivia. He is a huge help with her, never hesitating to get me a diaper or burp rag when I need it. And he often keeps her entertained for long periods of time by singing to her or dancing/playing while she watches.

When it comes to pictures, though, it is still apparent that he's a recently replaced youngest. If he's in the room, it's hard to get a picture of Olivia alone. Here are a few examples of him photobombing pictures.

These were taken on the day of Olivia's baptism. We wanted a picture of her in her dress, and the only way we could get one was to take one of Frankie as well in the same pose:

Do you want to make a snowman?

Olivia's favorite movie is Frozen. I am thinking she has maybe watched it a few too many times between the cold weather, my morning sickness, her influenza/ RSV and the family getting Covid. 

She can often be found doing this when one of her siblings is locked in the bathroom:

 

Recent Quotes from the Myhre House

Frank: How do we never run out of money?

Me: Well, Dad and I get paid for working and we use that money to buy what we need. We make sure to save some of the money and not to spend more money than we make so that we don't run out.

Frank: Oooooooh! So that's why you guys always go to work. (Apparently he though we were just going for fun.)

Olivia's dictionary: 

• "Be cow-it!" = Be quiet
• "Seek & hide" = Hide & seek
• "Hokey, hokey!!" = "Hold me!" 
• "Not soup" = oatmeal (She called it soup once and then realizing it wasn't quite soup, she renamed it "not soup.")
• "Chocolate tea" = Hot chocolate

Charlie: When I was little, I really didn't like Jesus...just because he had long hair. (I'm happy to report he has gotten over this)

Olivia: Hey! I can't see my eyes! (after I turned out the lights to go to bed)

Frank: (to Sam) Were you made on a farm? (he meant to ask if he was raised in a barn)

Hey There

 So it's been awhile. Lots has happened. Here are a few highlights.

• We're having another baby! Due date is August 8th. All the kids are super excited so that's nice.  I am super excited to hit week 13, which is when my morning sickness typically eases up. I have been pretty sick with this one, spending about 70% of my time on the couch, which is one reason this blog has gone without attention for so long.
• Christmas happened. These are the only pictures we got - both from Elena. I was way too nauseous all of Xmas break even to take a few pictures. The boys looked great for Xmas Eve, too, despite the lack of evidence. I went to bed early on Christmas (as I have been the last 2 months) and Seth conked out with Olivia on the couch. Fortunately Elena was still up to bring Olivia to bed. She was unable to wake Seth, however, who ended up sleeping on the couch until 3:00 AM. 
  
  
• Seth and I went to an Eric Church concert in Sioux Falls. It was our first night away together since Olivia was born. Sam had to put Olivia to bed and he took over my usual job of holding her the better part of the morning. When I came back, Sam told me he "feels really sorry for me" for having to deal with Olivia all the time. We had a great time at the concert! With a little help from Zofran, I managed not to throw up during the concert. 
• Olivia got hit with influenza A and RSV simultaneously. She got sick on the last day of Christmas break so on top of dealing with morning sickness and going back to work, we had a sick toddler at home. St. Ed's had a slightly longer break so Sam helped watch her for a few of those days.
• Not long after, I woke up with a headache and low-grade fever. I took an at home COVID test, which was negative so the doctor told me to go ahead and assume I also had influenza A. They're short tests so they didn't bother to test me.
• The next day, Frank went down with similar symptoms. The next day, Elena was dealing with the same plus a cough. Oh, did I mention Seth was gone on a 4-day trip to the cities right when all of this went down? And Sam was gone for 2 of those days for a wrestling tournament. Charlie had a mild cough and Olivia was fussier than normal, although I chalked that up to her not liking me not being able to do anything with her. 
• We got hit by about 10 inches of snow while Seth was gone. Between our brother-in-law and Seth's dad, we got plowed out. Seth's mom also went to the local restaurant to pick up some food I had ordered right in the middle of the storm, got locked out of her truck and walked through the snow all the way to our place to bring us our supper - without boots! 
• Once Seth and Sam were back, I noticed that for one day, I couldn't smell Olivia's dirty diapers (very unusual while pregnant) and my taste was a little off (not so unusual while pregnant) so I took a 2nd COVID test and it came back positive. 
• So we got the whole family tested. So far Elena, Seth, Sam, Frank and I are all positive. We're still waiting on results for Olivia and Charlie. The younger 3 are largely unaffected. The 4 oldest of us are TIRED. Every time we think we're doing better, we suddenly need to lay down again and take another nap.
• Charlie turned 9! We celebrated his birthday at home alone as it was after we realized we had been hit with COVID and had to quarantine. Grandma Langer came through and got him a few gifts and a Dairy Queen cake so I wouldn't have to cook one. Seth's parents have also been coming to the rescue with grocery store runs. We sure are grateful for family!

"Precious" Moments (captured by Seth)

 This video was taken in August after we went to the Sounds of  Summer in Marshall and he heard this Blondie song performed. It doesn't take Charlie long to memorize the lyrics to a new song! 

Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Elena and Sam were both in the high school production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat this year. It took a bit of convincing to get Sam to try out as you can tell from his write up, but he was glad he did it by the end. 

They had a blast performing and the audiences loved it. They both did a great job. Here are "a few" pictures and a couple of short video clips at the end. 

If you want to see the whole thing, you can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycxl8ZOd1Tg

This was one of the girls' favorite parts to play:

And these were some of Sam's best dance moves. Unfortunately he was way in the back where he was almost impossible to see. He's the one with the wicked dance moves. But if that's not clear enough, he's the one in the back right with jeans and no wig. 

Boundary Waters Trip

I am finally going through and printing off photos from January all the way through October of this year. In doing so, I found several photos (taken by Elena) from the Boundary Waters trip that Seth, Elena and Sam went on with several of the cousins, uncles and Grandma Myhre. They're a little late, but here they are. I don't have much for stories on the trip. They all survived and had a lot of fun!

Elena also happened to catch a video of Sam falling in the lake pretty much as soon as they arrived. She didn't even notice it happening so you can barely see it.

I also never shared any pictures from Sam's summer baseball season. He did a lot of pitching, which was fun to watch.

And as long as I'm on the topic of Sam, he's also mastered the art of making omelets!

October Happenings

We were able to celebrate my dad's birthday with him. Our gift was bringing all the kids over to help clean up the garden and lawn in preparation for winter. Although, in hindsight, it wasn't much of a gift since he ended up paying them for their work....

Their favorite job was blowing the leaves out of the gutters with a leaf blower. Not only did they get to use the leaf blower, they also go to run around on the roof. Win-win!

Elena also gave him this painting. You might have to read it a few times to get it:

And of course, we finished out the month with the Saints Day Costume contest at St. Edward School and Halloween. Now that Elena is in high school, she was not in the Saints Day Costume and she stayed back to hand out candy with her friends rather than trick-or-treating. (They still dressed up, though).

Here are a few pictures:

St. Francis (Reed), St. Anthony (Noah) and Moses(Charlie)

Blessed Stanley Rother and St. George

St. Joseph

"I'm a monster! Raaaawr!!"

Peter Parker (as opposed to Spiderman who would have to wear the mask)

Olivia LOVED trick-or-treating. She giggled with excitement every time someone gave her a piece of candy. It was pretty dang cute.

Boxelder Bug Days

 We were able to enjoy a normal Boxelder Bug Days again this year. The nice weather even decided to show up for the weekend! I am happy to report that despite increasing numbers of COVID in the area, there didn't seem to be any major outbreaks as a result of Bug Days. I am sure it helps that everything is pretty much outside. 

The highlight of the weekend was when Frank won a wagon after the kiddie parade. We got lots of use out of it right away on the weekend.

He even took a nap in it!

Olivia had a great time on the bouncy houses. She enjoyed the music just as much!

All the kids other than Olivia ended up being in the parade this year. Elena was in the pep band (she's on the edge with the black pants):

Sam and Charlie rode in the ambulance with Seth (if you look closely you can see Charlie's head sticking out on the passenger side). 

And Frank rode in this giant wagon as the winner of the little wagon. That's his head and arms sticking up over the edge.

And Olivia was more than happy to be the official "candy getter" of the family.

"I do it myself!"

We've entered the stage of Livi wanting to do everything herself. Sometimes this is helpful, like when she picks raspberries with me (as long as she doesn't spill the bucket).

Sometimes it's entertaining - like when she does her own hair, gets herself dressed or does her own accessories. (She still adamantly refuses to let us touch her hair ever - bath time is a total screamfest when I wash it)

And sometimes it makes for a lot of cleanup, like when she rubs an entire tube of lipstick all over her legs:

Or when she feeds herself just the frosting of her cupcake:

                             

As much as I love holding and cuddling her, it is nice to see her progressing towards independence!