Spring Stuff

Old Man Winter has finally gone, and Spring has sprung, bringing the wonderful warmth of sunshine and the sweet promise of new life. This long awaited changing of the season finds my children outside for hours at a time.

Hallelujah!

The kids are usually out the door by about 10 AM. They explore, ride their bikes, draw with sidewalk chalk, haul leaves down to the burn pile, drive their cars, pick flowers, move dirt, swing, play on their pirate ship (more on that later), and have picnics.

Did you know that a good picnic involves sidewalk chalk? Check out this spread...

Makes you drool, yes? Rocks and egg shaped sidewalk chalk. But wait, there's more!

That little girl in the bicycle helmet is feasting on the nastiest sponge she could scrounge out of the garage. Mmmmm!

Yeah, I had to make her toss that in the trash. My stomach couldn't handle thinking about how many cars that sponge has washed.

Elizabeth was in awe of her sister's fashion prowess and went off in search of her own hat. It seems that she might not have inherited the same warped fashion gene as Sarah Grace.

We have also been planting random stuff. Here they are prepping to 'bury' the seeds. Sarah Grace cracked me up with that gem of an observation.

For Earth Day, we planted a couple of packets of flowers. It doesn't sound all that Earthy, but it's the idea of teaching the kids to care for something. We're starting small. Shasta Daisys and Bachelor's Buttons. We are also transplanting a few 'trees'. The trees drop their acorns, the acorns take root, and when Spring arrived, there were possibly a hundred little trees cropping up all over the property. Most of them will get gone when the yard demands it's first trimming of the year, but we are saving a few to nurture in our buckets for a year or so before we give them permanent homes in the ground. It has been a great science lesson.

Why catnip, you ask? For this furry little member of our family! In my way of thinking, there is nothing so funny as a 'high' feline. Because I am sick and twisted like that, you know.


Looks like he's already been sniffin' in this picture. I apologize that my camera skills don't extend to good shots of skittish cats. Even ones who are sitting more or less still. =)

Elizabeth wasn't all that keen on getting her hands in the dirt to bury seeds. Ya'll know she didn't get it from me.

And in case you missed these colorful accessories my children are sporting, please take a moment as we all pay homage to the makers of shoes that children can put on their very own feet. Without the assistance of their Mothers.


Hallelujah and Amen!

Diggin' In Style

I love how children get excited about the things that aren't all that exciting. The other day, Elizabeth took some serious delight in helping Granny transfer some dirt from it's mounded spot on the ground into the wheelbarrow. I took some serious delight in sitting in the road and taking pictures of her wielding first a rake, then a shovel as she learned her way around gardening utensils.

Elizabeth worked diligently trying to gather up the dirt on her rake, happy to dump the few grains that balanced themselves on the tines into the wheelbarrow.

When she was given the shovel, she laughed out right and nearly did a dance at how much dirt she could transfer at a time.

Except when the dirt slipped off due to her not remembering to hold the shovel level.

She seemed surprised at the empty shovel, but just went back for more.

'I dot dit, Mama! I dot dit!'

Success!!

And this cutie sat in my lap the whole time, eating the camera strap, occasionally giving it a firm jerk to ensure that my camera expertise was disrupted.

Woah!

Because I am a curious sort, I utilize Google Analytics. Haphazardly, but still, I use it. I even check it occasionally. Like this morning.

My favorite part is the Traffic Source Overview. From there, I can find out what keywords people use to find my blog. Intentionally or unintentionally. Today, I was in for a surprise. A hugely laughable surprise.

Apparently some soul out there found our site by doing a search for....wait for it.....hot underwear.

I would like to tell you that I googled hot underwear, just to see what post this phrase pointed to. However, I have just enough computer savvy to understand that those two words alone could open up a whole new world to me. One that is perhaps not so family friendly as I try to pass off my blog as being.

Now, aren't you glad you stopped by today?

Finger Lickin' Good

Inside every one's nose lives a sharp toothed snail.
If you stick your finger up, he may bite your nail off.
Stick it farther up inside and he might bite your ring off.
Stick it farther up inside, and might bite the whole darn thing off.

~~Shel Silverstien

And this is what was recited to our children the other night at the dinner table. Why, you ask? Because my children are booger diggers of the highest order. Any time, any place, so long as the finger is working.

Which means the dinner table is as good a place as any. In the middle of a meal.

And I don't know about your experience with pre-schoolers, but the overwhelming majority of the ones I have met don't just harvest the nose crop, but ingest them, too. Sad to say, my kids are not one of the exceptions.

There, I said it.

What was meant to happen was to make the kids giggle and then follow up with the explanation of how gross a habit this is. What actually happened was that Thomas' face crumpled and he started whining in earnest about not wanting a snail in his nose. We snickered behind our hands, and pressed on, insisting that he didn't want to find out the hard way if a sharp toothed snail actually lived up there.

Yes, we led our son to believe that this monster lived in his nose. Because that's the type of sick, twisted minds we, his parents, have.

The discussion has come up a few times since then, each time leaving Thomas irritable and fussy. We have reiterated that there might not be an actual snail in his nose. Then we follow it up with, 'Is it worth losing your finger over?'

It's a nasty trick, people.

It's a nasty habit, children.

Drastic times call for drastic measures.

Tidbit Tuesday

A handful of weekly randomness.

'When we run out of cups at this house, we can just sell it and get one with cups. Like maybe blue ones!'

~~~From Thomas at the breakfast table.



'Anna, baby, you'll feel so much better if you burp a bit.'

'bwwwwaaaaaappppp'

'There you go! All better, yes?'

Anna spits up all over the place and then grins really big.

~~~Mommy on burping Anna.



'Ant bites.'

~~~Elizabeth as she hands a scab she has picked off her foot to her Mommy. Ew, ew, ew!



If anybody cares, I am on a half-hearted low carb diet. Cookies don't count as carbs, do they?



My husband literally does not have a pair of jeans that are decent to wear in public. I need to take that boy shopping.



I don't drink coffee, but the older I get, the more I wish I could foster me some coffee love. The caffeine couldn't hurt my meeting of daily demands. But since I don't do coffee, I resort to chocolate in the form of almond snickers and peanut butter cups. No carbs in those either, right?



I don't know how to use my nifty new iPhone properly. I am in desperate need of some i-tutorledge. Anybody wanna come share carb0-less cookies with me while they teach me how to utilize this gadgetry?

Bouncy, Trouncy, Flouncy, Pouncy, Fun, Fun, Fun, Fun, Fun!!

This weekend, we loaded up all of our little people and headed to the Bloomin' Festival. One double stroller, one Moby wrap, one Baby Bjorn, one pack of baby wipes, a handful of diapers, three sippee cups, two Klean Kanteens, four sweaters or jackets, two pair of sunglasses, one bottle of hand sanitizer, one nursing apron, two changes of clothes, one burp cloth, one bib, one camera, and a ten minute drive later, we were there.

Anna enjoying the kaleidoscope of activity.

We unloaded everyone from the van, handed out marching orders and were off. We had barely begun to drift around, enjoying the atmosphere, when Sarah Grace piped up.

'Mommy...I need to go potty.'

Sigh. I took Sarah Grace by the hand and headed off to port-a-potty alley. She looked a bit dubious when she saw the tall, blue, plastic stalls and gripped my hand a little tighter. When I opened the door to one, she balked.

'Iiiiiieeeeeeeeeee!!!! Mommy, dat's stinky! I don't want to go in there! No, Mommy, pwease, no!'

Now, due to major progress in the chemical industry, the place did not stink. Well, of chemicals, perhaps, but not, you know, bodily functions. This kid had no idea how good she had it!

'Mommy, I want to go in the grass.'

Why, yes, my daughter did just ask to urinate in the grass. Welcome to Alabama, ya'll. Where our well mannered children believe it is an everyday thing to go potty on the lawn of some random location.

I have no idea what the ill mannered children do. That just might be the one potty talk that we do not have on this blog.

I laid it on the line for Miss Priss. She could either go on the potty (which Mommy would cover thickly with paper towels for her delicate bummy) or she could wear one of Elizabeth's diapers. No, honey. Your not being punished, but those are your choices.

I was secretly hoping she would opt for the diaper. It somehow seemed more sanitary...

She pouted and thought for a few seconds, sucked it up, and declared she could use the potty. And so she did, then off we went to join the rest of our family. And use a good dousing of that hand sanitizer.

We resumed our roaming for all of maybe fifteen minutes before I heard the second request.

'Mommy, I need to go potty.'

Since only two of my children are potty trained and only one is a girl, I will give you only the one guess to figure out which little lady made this remark.

Joshua and I eyed one another over the children's heads and made the decision that everyone was going potty. We headed back towards potty alley, got everyone taken care of, and issued hand sanitizer to all.

And that concludes this portion of the story.

Can I get an Amen?!?!?

We made it past all the yummy smelling concessions, promising the kids that we could come back for a treat after lunch. At this point, I felt we had already run a marathon, so I suggested to Joshua we go ahead to the inflatable toys and let the kids burn off some energy.

I handed the girl a bill to pay for our precious children's admittance to the play area, and she looked at me dumbly and said something about needing a calculator to make change. I took pity on the teenager, who was sitting in the hot sun (a lovely 72 degrees) and helped her out by telling her how much change was due to me. She floundered around in a box of bills that was in no way organized and asked if she could get my change to me later.

Um, no. Here, just give me a ten dollar bill and let's call it even. She looked like I had cheated her (when I actually overpaid by a buck) as she handed me the bill. By then, my kids were already shoeless and sockless and ready to go. I thanked the girl, sent up a quick prayer for her day (it wasn't even eleven yet...she was doomed!), and headed off to play with the kids.

The kid with her tongue hanging out? That is Elizabeth. She thinks she is a doggy.

The kids bounced and ran about joyfully in the grass in their bare feet. I stood back and watched their goings and comings and hoppings and slidings while Joshua snapped pictures. At some point, Anna demanded some attention and some food, so I went and sat in the shade of a tree and obliged. Apparently, this is what was going on whilst Anna and I were chillin'.

Those feet belong to my son!!
The guy in on the right, he belongs to some other family. Not ours.

That smile belongs to my son, too!

That barefooted cutie, she's mine!

When Anna finished, I popped her in my wrap and we joined the rest of the crew. The kids were winding things up, having played for quite some time. They were hot and thirsty, so we planted the older girls in the stroller, gave Thomas a bit of freedom (meaning he didn't have to hold our hands or the stroller), passed out sippee cups, and took off.

We meandered about for a bit before deciding it was time to eat some lunch. On our way to the food tent, we passed a kettle korn booth, making a mental note to revisit that spot! The food tent was set up with several long rows of tables. We snagged four chairs at the end of a row and let Elizabeth eat from the stroller. The older couple sitting across from us were super kind to our kids, and regaled us with stories of their children, grandchildren, and great-grand children. It was a very enjoyable visit.

We finally parted company with the sweet couple, and as promised, took the kids back to the kettle korn stand. By this time, Joshua was wearing a sleeping Anna, and he stood on line to get our popcorn. The kids and I detoured to the back of the booth where they could see the corn popping in the kettle. I allowed Thomas to stand in the front seat of the stroller while I hoisted Sarah Grace up on my hip so they could watch what was going on. After the first round was finished, the fellow started a second round, and Elizabeth wanted to see what was going on.

I jerked back the umbrella to the back seat, and sent Thomas sprawling. I didn't realize that he was steadying himself by holding the umbrella! He came up with a wounded look on his face and I felt wretched. The guy manning the corn kettle chuckled a bit and I told him I would appreciate his vote for Mother of the Year. He laughed outright and went about his work.

Once that batch of corn was popped, I saw that Joshua was at the front of the line, and we went to join him. The folks handed each of our kids a small bag of kettle korn, and a big one to Joshua for the two of us to share. At that moment, someone tapped me on my shoulder. I turned to see the popcorn man holding out a bag of kettle korn to me.

'You've got my vote as Mother of the Year. Here's your Gold Star.'

I laughed and thanked him and happily munched on the yummy kettle korn.

We made our way to the lemonade stand and grabbed up fresh squeezed lemonade for everyone. While I transferred lemonade to the girls sippee cups, Joshua made his way over to some steps and sat down with Anna and Thomas. I got the girls lemonade under control, then pushed the stroller over to the steps.

Joshua looked up at me, an odd look on his face.

'We need to go home. I have ripped a huge hole in the butt of my shorts.'

He stood up, turned around, and sure enough, there was a gaping corner tear in his shorts, showing off his blue underwear.

And that is hopefully the last I will mention of my husbands underwear on this blog.

Because we had promised the kids a ride on the train, we made off to the 'train depot', where we loaded up on a train car, and asked the engineer to take a family picture of us before he headed back to the John Deere engine.


We rode around, the kids waving the Disney wave to anyone who was or wasn't paying attention. After the ride came to an end, we opted to be done. We were two hours past nap time, and the melt down was beginning.

We made it to the van, where I managed one bad shot of the aforementioned shorts, but promised not to post it. Because I love my husband, I will not be showing you the very blurred picture.

I didn't say a blessed word about showing it to IRL visitors. Ya'll come on by now, ya hear?

Dental Engagements, Chocolate, and Chalk

Finally, finally, finally!!! A warm day with no rain! The kids were ecstatic and spent all afternoon outside playing. Beautiful, people. Just beautiful!

Our morning began with a trip to the dentist, where I successfully got there with all four children ten minutes before the appointment was to start. Hooray! The kids were pretty angelic and cooperated easily with the folks doing the check up.

There are televisions mounted to the ceiling playing Go Fish videos. The kids were entranced!

Elizabeth kept close to me, unsure of all this activity. While she didn't have an appointment, the dentist asked to check her mouth quickly. She cooperated well. And by well, I mean not at all, but we accomplished what we set out to do.

She shrank in as close to me as she could get, considering that I was wearing Anna in the Moby wrap, glared at the dentist, threw her head back, and opened her mouth wide.

And screamed for a full twenty seconds.

Despite the noise, Dr. N declared her mouth to be in great condition, but that she was our most likely a candidate for braces. Thanks, Dr. N. Something to look forward to!

We finished up at the dentist and zipped over to Wally World where we picked up some basics: toothpaste, toilet paper, razor blades, sidewalk chalk, and Snicker's bars. It was a pretty mundane trip, with the usual gawkers and squawkers as our little brood made our way from aisle to aisle. The kids were super!

Well, except the part where Elizabeth started eating the ham through the packaging because she was, 'Hungee, Mamma, hungee. Eat wunch.'

So we came on home to eat our lunch. And put the ham in a zipper bag since Elizabeth had gnawed a hole in it. Then I shooed the kids off for nap.

Once they woke up, they scarfed down some kind of snack, grabbed their prized sidewalk chalks, and ran out the door. I was busy for several moments getting Anna situated in the bouncy seat and hollering out instructions as to where they could draw.

Sarah Grace, the artiste, and her finished master piece...a flower!

I sat on the front porch enjoying my chocolate bar and watching the children quietly draw all over the driveway and realized I wanted my camera. A quick scan of the yard and neighbors yards told me there were no doggy's lurking about, and I jumped up and ran inside for the camera. It took me all of two minutes, and when I came back outside, Elizabeth was arranging all of her sidewalk chalk around Anna in the bouncy seat. She held one piece of chalk in her hand, poised over the top of Anna's head, looking for all the world like she was about to doodle on the baby's head! I called her name and she guiltily started gathering her chalks back to her bucket.


Whew! Mini-crisis averted. (Ya'll like how I call sidewalk chalk a crisis?)

Things To Work On

Thanks to Steve Green, our children have several Bible verses that they regularly sing to us. It is of particular delight to them when they get to hear these verses out of their musical context. So tonight, when one of those verses popped up in relation to our evening devotion, the kids were thrilled!

In fact, Thomas was down right proud of himself when I asked him to repeat the verse that he recalled all by himself.

And then I asked him to say it one more time, just because I wanted to hear the hilarity of it all one more time.

'You knit me together in my mother's mom.'

Psalm 139:13

More Happy Thoughts

Besides the fact that this picture is entirely too cute, check out that hair! Piggy-tails!!!

The Post That Woulda Happened Yesterday...

...if we'd had power. Not that I am bitter (a whole day offline!) or anything.

Yesterday was eleven years of 'us' for Joshua and I. That is officially over a third of my life with this guy I call my husband. Seriously, not that I am complaining. It's just a statement of fact.

Understand, this is just a 'since we started dating' anniversary. It is still such a special day to us, though. And here are a few shots of us growing together over the years.


First comes love...



Then comes marriage....

Then here we are with a baby carriage...
Or four. And you know what? I would do every single bit of it again.

Happy Easter

You've Got Me Feeling Emotions

THIS made for a good day, plus it made me laugh and feel loved.

This made me slightly frantic:

These made me content.


But there all gone now. (Note: I did have help with eating the muffins.)

This made me happy.

And she still is.

More On Elizabeth

I am two years old...

...and I am very independent.
...and I love baby carrots and green beans.
...and I am very attached to my 'bwankie' and still suck my left ring and middle fingers.
...and I am so not interested in potty training.
...and I love to have my brother chauffeur me around in the Cadillac.
...and I love to go on Mommy Dates or Daddy Dates.
...and I have the bestest belly laugh ever!
...and I am intent on rubbing all of my food through my hair.
...and I love to have hair bows in my hair, but if they are there, I can't stand to not be touching them. Then they come out, and I want them back in.
...and I love to take showers with Sarah Grace.
...and I am a cuddle bug.
...and my favorite phrase is 'What daa-aat, Momma? What daa-at?'
...and I will repeat anything you say. If I am in the mood, that is.
...and I love to sing.
...and I test my boundaries more than either of my older siblings did at this age.
...and I am great at making animal sounds. If I am in the mood.
...and I think that brightly lit Mexican restaurants are 'Miss-miss lights!'
...and I will repeat the same phrase over and over and over and over until somebody acknowledges my observation.
...and I have an hilarious little sense of humor.
...and I can melt my Mommy's hear with my sweet, 'I wuv you, Mamma.'
...and I am very concerned about where the members of my family are at all times.
...and, my, my, my, but I do have a temper!
...and I could sit all day long and hear you read the same book to me over and over and over again.
...and I am so very helpful. 'Help yooo, Mamma? Help yooo?'
...and I have a penchant for squirreling things away in bags, drawers, or boxes.
...and another phrase that garners lots of smiles is my sweet 'Oh, pwease, Mamma? Oh, pwease?'
...and I love to draw on the Magna Doodles.
...and I love to play Memory Match with the big kids. But my rules are different from theirs!
...and my favorite little person in the world is my sister, Anna-Nanna.
...and I still nap about two and a half to three hours every day.
...and I love to eat Nym-Nym's (M&M's)
...and I enjoy dumping the pieces out of the puzzles. Putting them back doesn't rank quite as high, though. Although I will work at it for a bit.
...and I am quite the little conversationalist.
...and my Mommy & Daddy call me Sunshine, because I have such a fun and sunny disposition, with a dash of sass and pepper thrown in!

On Elizabeth & Fishy Cakes

This little person turned 2 years old today!!!


It seems like such an incredibly long way from this:


While my other two speaking children decided within a week after their last birthdays what kind of cake they wanted this year, Elizabeth has waffled around on me for the past month or so. First it was cow. I had a bit of trepidation about how my artiste skills would hold up to creating a cow, but was assured it was a cinch.

Then she decided giraffe. I began to imagine how to best create the long necked thing from chocolate cake. I had a pretty good idea of what direction I would take when she scrapped that idea, too.

'Fisheee-cake.'

And it stuck. Then she had to decide what color fishy she wanted. It changed several times, but finally, after I had the icing mixed up, I asked one last time.

'Yea-woah. Geen'

I sent her to nap, dropped in the food coloring, and began painting the cake. When all was said and done, this is what we stuck candles in:


It's gone now. I miss it. A lot!

But I got to keep this:


Happy Birthday, Sunshine!!

In Which Irony Abounds

Yesterday was a busy day. A very busy day. Due to the busy-ness, lunch was not only eaten out, but in the van as we were driving from one destination to another. When fast food comes into play, as you may have guessed, we turn to That Cow Joint.

We went through one of the craziest drive thru set-ups I have ever been witness to, although it was amazingly efficient. The food was passed through the window, distributed to the girls, and we continued on our way.

A couple minutes into our prestigious lunch, Sarah Grace piped up.

'Mommy, I don't like to kill chickens.'

'Hmmm?' came my reply. She had caught me off guard, so I wasn't sure my ears had heard her correctly.

'I don't like to kill chickens. We shouldn't kill any more,' she stated as she took another bite of her chicken nugget.

'Well, where do you think the chicken you eat comes from, Gracie?'

'I don't know...'

'If you like to eat chicken, then people will have to keep killing them.'

Silence.

We continued to drive, and my mind soon went back to it's random ponderings and focusing on the road. I figured she was satisfied for now, and that perhaps she could do without the lesson in chicken killing for a few more months the rest of her life.

'Mommy?'

'Yes?'

'How do you kill a chicken?'

Or maybe the lesson should be added to the calendar a bit sooner.

I looked back at her to see that she was still happily chomping chicken, and again wondered if I had heard her right.

'What, honey?'

'How do chickens get killed?'

I gingerly explained the process and she replied appropriately with her face screwed up to show her disdain.

However, she never blinked as she popped the last bit of chicken in her mouth. That kid has an iron stomach, I do believe.

'Mommy, how do you kill french fries?'

Oh heavens, we gots us some learnin' to do round here!

Anna Is Four Months Old

This child...


is four whole months old today!! And since my friend Joanna over at Two Stories is brilliant, I am going to take a page right out of her book. She does these awesome little posts at each child's monthly and yearly marks. It's such a great way to look back and see the milestones. I wish it had occurred to me to copy her wise idea years ago...

I am four months old...
...and I am still nursing exclusively!
...and I am sleeping through the night, and have for a few weeks now.
...and I love to be in the Moby wrap and traipse around with Mommy.
...and I have just started wearing 3-6 month clothes.
...and I love to eat and take my sweet time about doing it.
...and I love to watch my brother and sisters tromp around me.
...and I can often be found scrunched into one little corner of my bed in the mornings.
...where I have somehow managed to get one of my legs out of my pj's between the snaps and my little foot is FREEZING!
...and I suck on my pointer finger as a pacifier. Either one will do, I'm not picky.
...and I love to have my diaper taken off!
...and I adore bath time.
...and I can almost always be pacified by being taken outside for a bit if I am cranky.
...and I don't get nearly as much floor time as I should. Mommy is afraid the older kids will tromp on me.
...and I am the chattiest baby you ever did meet!
...and I am full of smiles and giggles.
...and I am really good to sit in my bouncy seat on top of the island while people work in the kitchen, so long as they don't forget to attention me properly.
...and I would love to be able to figure out how to grab the toys that arch over the bouncy seat.
...and my Mommy can't believe how tiny I am compared to my siblings at this age.
...and my Mommy can't believer how big I am.
...and I get to go to the doctor next week and find out what I weigh and how much longer I am!!!