Beach Time Again

We made another day trip to the beach a week or so ago, and once again, it was wonderful! Cory's sister, Melissa, and her family were there and so we met up and let the kids play. They love the beach anyway, but throw in some friends and it can't be beat. Cory and Jacob were good to take Kyleigh, Elise and Ian out in the deeper water and let them swim and play. Marleigh and Merry Grace hung out pretty close to shore, especially after a big wave got them. And the little ones (Ethan and Paige) liked eating sand and feeling the small waves at the edge. It was a wonderful day.

I love pictures of my kids at the beach!

All four kiddos! :)

I love, love, LOVE beach pictures and just cannot limit myself to a few. Thank goodness for collages. :)

And now we're back to the routine of school, which is nice in its own way. But if I had my choice, we'd all be back at the beach today instead. :)

Refreshing

Being a mom can be tiring work, sometimes. So Cory and I have tried to schedule in a little down time each week where I can go and do something I want to do or need to do without the kids. Sometimes I might go for a walk at the park or go to the library or do a little shopping or go somewhere and read a book. Nothing terribly dramatic, usually just something quiet and peaceful. Its been really nice. Last night I went out to get Elise and Merry Grace their dance outfits, as they are just starting up classes. It had been a long day, filled with cleaning and organizing things. So I had on my old sweatpants. And I mean old in the most literal sense of the word. When you picture something that Stacy and Clinton would tear you apart for wearing in public, that would be these pants. They are black and oh-so-comfy. They really are terrible looking, with the lovely elastic around the ankles as an added bonus. And I paired them with a gray fourth of July t-shirt that I got for less than a dollar at Target that says, "Boom" across the front. I'm not always "all dolled up" when I go out, but rarely do I just look frumpy. I guess everyone has quirks, and that's one of mine. But I did last night. I didn't even have on a speck of make-up. It was so refreshing. It was refreshing just to go out by myself, but it was oddly refreshing to walk into a couple of stores feeling like I could just have easily curled up on the couch to read a book. I'm not sure what made it so thrilling, but whatever the reason, it was. I'd better be careful, though, or I might just get too comfortable. :)

Not exactly "calgon"...

Yesterday morning, when I put Paige down for her nap, I decided it was time for a shower for me. I let the other kids watch a show on Netflix and figured we'd manage for 15 minutes.

Before I'd even finished shampooing, Merry Grace ran in and said, "I accidentally pushed the blue button and turned off the computer. But I turned it back on."

Less than 30 seconds later she was back telling me that Ian had actually turned it back off again, thinking he was turning it on. Oh boy. Wouldn't Cory love to hear what I was letting the kids do to the computer while he was at work.

In the blink of an eye, Elise ran in the bathroom to tell me that Merry Grace was being ugly to her. Then Merry Grace ran in right behind her to tell me that Elise had pushed her. Then Ian came in to tell me that Merry Grace was telling on Elise when Elise only "just barely touched" her. Then Merry Grace came back to tell me that "Uh huh, Elise really did push her and that she did not want to be on tell."

Sometimes these things drive me batty (and its not a far trip!). But yesterday, they were just funny and I could laugh about it. As I know all to well, one day I'll have all the time in the world to take a shower by myself. For now, I'll just try and enjoy the interruptions for what they are--little kids who need their Mama. Thank goodness. :)

Getting a Good Picture

I was going through some pictures and I found some of the ones I was taking for Cory's Dad for Father's Day. It is not easy getting four kids to all look at the camera with smiling faces at the same time. :) Looking at them, I'm reminded of why it is nice to have a professional take your family portraits. Even though they might not be ones I wanted to use in the picture frame, I really love seeing their little personalities shine through. (Elise's moods in the picture range from: "Aren't I a cute, sweet girl?" to "It's a little tricky to smile and hold the baby at the same time." to "I wish we were done here." to "Ian's a goofball." Ian tries giving the biggest happiest smile he can, then he starts getting carried away into the goofy and by the end he's just so tired of the whole ordeal. Merry Grace seems to be thinking, "A camera, a camera!!! Look at me!! I'm so cute!!! Take my picture!!" And then there's Paige who looks like, "I like these people. They sure are nice to me. But what the heck is going on here? Why can't I get down? Someone let me outta here!") I LOVE it!!! They sure are cute kids!!!

So here is my advice on what to do to get a bad picture and maybe you can avoid my pitfalls and get a good one of your own family.

*Get everyone bathed and dressed in their best clothes.

*Fix each child's hair.

*Make sure little one's have a nap.

*Block off a section of time and dedicate it solely to picture taking.

*Plan a specific project or gift that you would like to use the pictures for (i.e. christmas cards, birth announcements, Father's Day, etc.)

*Bribe kids with a treat afterwards if they will just look at the camera and smile, daggone it.

These things seem to be a surefire recipe for disaster, in my experience. But have a child half dressed, in mis-matched clothes, with a dirty face, crazy hair, or have a pile of laundry in the background or the sink full of dirty dishes, and you will have the cutest picture of your kids ever. Although, I guess those pictures have their own charm...maybe just not on the front of the Christmas card. :)

Because I'm a Slacker

And by "slacker" I actually mean I've been way too overwhelmingly busy to blog. :) First and foremost, my brother, Ethan, got married this past Saturday. To the romantic in me, that means love, a beautiful wedding, a beautiful reception, lots of pictures and best of all a new sister-in-law who I adore. To the practical side of me, that means a LOT of work, planning and organizing leading up to the big day. Throw into the mix the baptism of one of my favorite nieces, Cory's birthday and our 10th wedding anniversary plus the day to day routine of taking care of four kids and you've got one crazy whirlwind.

One day, to keep themselves entertained while I worked in the kitchen, the kids made a wonderful tower out of the cans in my pantry. Quite impressive, don't you think?

The Leaning Tower of Peas...and corn, and carrots...

Another day, we were having a mad laundry folding party to catch up on the laundry that had been washed but not folded and put away. Elise was a wonderfully amazing folder, Ian was great at helping us sort and organize and this is how Merry Grace helped. I'm not sure what she called the job, but it was immensely helpful.

Paige also found creative ways to entertain herself. She loves playing with the stuff in this drawer. Before this incident, she would limit herself to just pulling everything in it out onto the floor. Apparently she needed to up the wow factor and decided just to take the plunge and dive right in.

She looks quite proud of herself, I believe. And really, how can you resist that face?

The kids also helped me by "washing my car". Washing my car is really code for, "let's get out the water hose and spray each other and the yard and splash in the bucket." The car actually did get a little wet. But by no means did it get the attention the kids gave to spraying each other.

Ian, always impressed with whatever Elise does, joined right in when she got all dolled up to perform the "Hoedown Throwdown" (that's Miley Cyrus, for anyone who might be out of the loop.) Believe it or not, Merry Grace can do it too, at least some of it. She just got grumpy and backed out of the performance at the last minute. Elise is a good learner and a good teacher.

And here is a picture of sweet Emmy at her baptism. Usually I take lots of picutres, but honestly, I didn't take a single picture from the baptism Friday night, all through the wedding and reception on Saturday. It was just too much to attempt. So I settled for stealing a picture of Emmy off her mom's blog.

Here is the happy couple, newly married and looking snazzy. They are wonderful.

Oh yes, we were actually there, in all our glory. My goodness, we are a cute family. Did I mention I got all the kids cute clothes on sale? Well, I did. Merry Grace and Paige were outfitted for $4.98. Ian and Elise were a little more but not by much. I'm so proud. We really did love being a part of the wedding and all the frivolity. We thought it was neat that my parents celebrated their 30th anniversary a week and a half ago, then we had Ethan and Lois's wedding, and then today Cory and I are celebrating our 10th. We think its neat that we'll all be celebrating similar anniversary's very near one another. We told Adam to keep with the trend he couldn't get married until 2019. For those of us who worked on this wedding, that sounds like a mighty good idea. I think Adam was much less impressed with that as a plan.

Is this child so lucky or what? There are quite a few times that being the fourth child has perks.

So there you have it. Our crazy, busy, wonderful life. Now if I can just have a month to recover from it, I'll be fine. :)