In Which I Spew Forth Much Randomness

With five children, it's no wonder I quit dealing in Baby Books and I'm just thankful I never took up scrapbooking or I would TOTALLY feel guilted into taking a mini-vay every few months.

Wait. That doesn't sound half bad, the mini vacation bit, I mean. Maybe it really is a shame I never got into that whole scrapbooking craze...

Ahem.

Anyway. That's what the blog is for. It's faster and appeals to my inner geek. Especially since Christmas. Never did tell you all much about that. Here's the quick version:

I'M BLOGGING FROM MY NEW MACBOOK!!!!!!!!

Woo to the hoo, y'all!

I might even have it all figured out. Until I sit at the desk top PC and get myself all bumfuzzled. But let's just bask in the beauty of the shiny new toy, mkay?

And the kids got toys. And a Wii. So we are officially hip.

What was I here for, anyway? Oh yeah! To talk about what the kids have been up to. It has been unseasonably and wonderfully warm. (especially when there was a foot of snow on the ground this time last year, but let's not dwell on that) The kids are loving the weather, and since we are a good month ahead in school right now, I'm letting them play, play, play and only doing the basics school wise. It's gonna get cold soon enough.

And with them outside, I have more time to pull giblets of various stuff from Daniel's mouth. I totally likened him to a puppy on Face Book today, what with his need to put ev-vuh-ree-thing in his mouth.

However, there have been some inside days. We recently learned embroidery in our Little Keepers group. The kids spend tons of time working their little needles in and out of the cloth they are working on. For my part, I spend more time than I would care to threading needles. So far, no stab wounds, but I've seen how they handle those needles, so it's only a matter of time.

Elizabeth diligently working to finish her flower. A yellow one, of course.

Sarah Grace watching Mimi's hands carefully as the two of them make lovely hearts on Sarah Grace's cloth.

But wait! There's more!

Randomness, that is. We're done talking about needles.

Daniel is all about physical fitness. Kid's got a killer plank.


He's also all about surprises and new accomplishments. This is how he greeted us yesterday morning.


Yep, we lowered the crib mattress. You don't have to worry. As for the floating hand in the lower left hand corner of the picture, I'm not sure about that. That might be worrisome.

Then there is this kid. He was my Kitchen Helper last week and took great pride in making granola bars all by his own self, thankyouverymuch.


We have another child. The Anna girl, but she's hard to catch on 'film'. She's the one in the background cracking jokes and making us laugh with her insanity. She told a fellow at church the other day (out of the clear blue) "Baby Pumpkin Head doesn't like you."

It was several hours before we understood that she has now named her plastic pumpkin pail (you know, the halloween variety) Baby Pumpkin Head and loves her (she clearly informed me that I had called 'her' a 'him' and Baby Pumpkin Head is a 'guh-ruhl') with the same loyalty as Doo-Doo (who has blissfully fallen off the map for the time being).

So, yeah, there you have it. More randomness than you can shake a stick at.

A phrase I never really understood. In my way of thinking, if you've got a stick, you can shake it at pretty much anything.

Right?

Adventures of a Grass Crawler

Now don't you think that is a happy looking kid?

It was a glorious 70 degrees here today. We took to the out of doors and Little Dude had his first taste of grass. He liked it so much he went back for more. He laughed as he pulled it up by the fistfuls and flapped his arms around. He loved crawling around and inspecting this strange phenomenon. We giggled at him and watched him explore.

I half expect summer to start in February this year. Wouldn't that be excellent??

Of Cold Weather and Inside Entertainment

It's been rainy this week. We've been inside.

A lot.

And then it went and got cold. I don't like being cold, so my Little Man showed off his mad skillz and built a fire for me. He's been working with his Daddy and has learned to build a pretty good fire. He adores tending the fire, building up the coal bed, adding more fuel, and manning the billows.

We're keeping warm. Thanks, Thomas!!


Another favorite rainy day activity is playing with the camera. Below are each child's favorite picture they took this week.


Sarah Grace captured her brothers wrestling on the couch. I'm pretty sure Daniel won. He's got his brother completely wrapped!


Thomas professes his love for our mantle every time I change it. Currently he can't decide if he likes my growing paper whites or the valentines hearts more.


Elizabeth chose to take a few (dozen) pictures of her little sister. Anna hammed it up and enjoyed the attention.


And Anna...she 'likes mhy feet because they're up in da air all waggley!'

The Word 'Ranch' Suddenley Means More Than A Kind of Salad Dressing

Daniel is eight months old. Somewhere along the five month mark, I decided that I was done carrying baby weight.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not the kind of gal who gets all bent out of shape because I can't wear my favorite pair of jeans from high school. I opted out of that size as soon as I pushed out that first baby and my hips informed me that they were comfortable with their new shape, thankyewverymuch. Four more kids down the road, I have a goal in mind and it's not pre-baby size.

So after I made my decision to lose the weight, I did what I typically do; I thought about it and procrastinated a little and wondered how to go about achieving my goal. I'm not exactly a self starter or a stick to it-er when it comes to exercise. I need support. I need somebody to expect me to be there. I don't care if they are better than me (which is pretty much a given) or a little behind me, so long as they walk the road with me.

Or at least don't leave me so far in their wake that I choke on the dust.

As I was pondering the situation, a little email landed in my inbox from Living Social. I do love me a deal, people. And this one was for one month of Adventure Boot Camp. So I bought it! And then I informed my friend Jennifer of the deal and begged her to do it with me.

I'm really a wallflower and all those unfamiliar faces would have sent me straight to fetal position and thumb-sucking.

We looked at our schedules and picked January as our starting month. This worked out well for me as I could happily eat my way through the holidays and also procrastinate some more.

Now mind you, this is the first week, so I have a grand total of two classes under my hopefully-soon-to-be-smaller belt. We meet on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

At 5:30.

AM.

Ahem.

That's early, people. Really early. Especially for a woman who luxuriates in her bed until 8AM most days. (read most days as every day except Sunday, when we have to have the family at church by 9)

My body is having issues more with the hours I'm demanding of it than the rigors I'm putting it through. But there are some muscle soreness issues, too. Yesterday as I was getting Daniel out of bed for the morning and bringing him downstairs, I made it down about three steps before I realized that I might very well be jeopardizing his sweet little life by carrying him any farther. I totally called in Thomas for back up.

It's the first time, even through five pregnancies, that I have truly wished for a rancher style home.

Now Jennifer is a volleyball coach and she is making me look old and feeble. I'm trying to not let my delicate ego be totally bashed, but the fact is she's running circles around me. AND she's coordinated. It's only been two days and I've already lost count of how many times she's corrected me or re-positioned me so that I'm doing things right.

This is why I don't dance, folks. A girl has got to know her limits. Mine are walking and chewing gum.

It's Like We Should Just Give Kids Boxes Instead of Gifts

I epiphany-ed. I asked for your help. I agonized. I made decisions. I dove in and did it.

And the school room is more or less complete. It's cozy, it's functional, it puts everything in one place. We love it!

Books and crafting supplies are within easy reach for little hands. Rather than being stuffed in a closet, the games are out in the open and we find ourselves engaged in gaming and puzzling so much more. The school table is open on all four sides, a wonderful change from having one side pressed up against the wall. The room is bright and cheery without being pre-school primary.

We really do like being in there. One would think that with such a nice table top to have as a work area, the kids would craft right up there on top of it.

But nooooo...


...they'd much prefer to be under the table.

As least I cleaned out from under it.

Of Pipe Cleaners and Tu-Tu's

It's Saturday. It's been ah-mazingly lovely the later part of this week.

And then the drizzle moved in last night.

Joshua is playing piano. The older three kids either are at neighbors houses or the neighbors are at our house, depending on who wants to play what. Daniel is sleeping. I am crafting (well. not now. now I'm blogging.) And Anna is entertaining herself in various ways. She's made cakes out of blocks, read books to me and her baby dolls, and this.


Pipe cleaners and a colander. Quiet, not messy, somewhat creative. And all this while wearing her pink tu-tu.

The clothes are what really matter.

A Tale of Two Girls

The three girls, Anna, Elizabeth, and Sarah Grace, all share a room together. It has a bit of a dormitory appearance due to the three twin beds lining the wall. The fact is though, they generally do really well. They really enjoy sharing the space and having one another there to play with. I pray they always do well.

However.

One of our girls is a bit of a Neat Nik whilst another one tends towards a Messy Mae. Neat gets up every morning and makes her bed up pristine and precise. Messy would just as soon leave all her stuff piled up where ever it lands when she throws back the covers and crawls out of bed.

Neat ensures that her dirty laundry is dealt with properly. Messy has a tendency to leave it laying around until I tell her to pick it up and deal with it.

Neat has a very organized night stand drawer. Messy has problems opening hers from time to time due to it being jammed full of stuff.

Neat is meticulous about her books and her toys, carefully stowing them when she is ready to move on. Messy plays until she is done and walks away.

When the girls are sent to clean their room, Neat starts by cleaning out from under the beds and moving everything to one pile. Messy looks helpless and overwhelmed, frustrated by the very thought of organizing.

Neat rarely gets upset with Messy. They have a system worked out between the two of them. Messy honestly does much less work, because she can't comprehend where to begin. Neat assigns her one little task at a time and patiently goes about doing more than her share while diligently delegating to Messy.

It's not always an easy chore for them because sometimes Neat gets exasperated like anyone else. Frequently, Neat looks at Messy and tells her to go on so that Neat can just move about and quickly finish the job. Messy occasionally gets sassy and stubborn with Neat because she doesn't want to be bossed. It's a delicate balance, but one they handle exceedingly well, given they are 6 and 4 years old.

I've no doubt that it will become harder for them in years to come, but I appreciate so much the hearts they have and the way I see God moving in their lives daily. Neat would like to have her own space so that she didn't have to contend with the haphazard messes of her sisters, but she recognizes what she would be giving up. Messy makes more and more of an effort as time goes by to keep up her end of things.

I just hope that our Anna will integrate into the understanding her sisters share!

Back Patting

Just when I thought that maybe we might have us an understanding about the whole laundry thing around here, I spied this.


That would be my 7 year old's skivvies carelessly tossed over a support beam of our school table.

And, really, what more can I say?

Daniel - 8 Months

Yes, I did skip the 7 month post. I meant to post it, but I didn't. My chocolate supply was low and my poor brain just couldn't churn out a post with no chocolate to spur it on.

Anyway.


I am 8 months old and...
...I can hold my own bottle. In fact, the day after Mom published this, I decided it was time to do it myself.
...I am crawling!!! It's SO cool.
...I have found I like to eat paper. Nom-nom.
...I have a new tooth on top, bringing me to a grand total of three.
...I love sweet potatoes.
...I found my squealer. Mommy and Daddy seem to grit their teeth a lot when I use it. Wonder why? I think it's fun!
...I LOVE bath time. The squeals echo in there!
...I like my feet, but I'm not particularly limber, so I don't get to chew on them often.
...I do this really cute lip sucking thing to help alleviate the discomfort from teething.
...I am an expert raspberry blower.
...I sleep ten to twelve hours every night. Mommy LOVES it.
...I weigh sixteen pounds.
...I'm beginning to try to pull up on things.
...Look out world! I'm on my way!!