My Closet Meltdown

My youngest brother is staying with us this week and on Tuesday he went on a date with a girl from down here.  It was my job to "see him off" on this date, which made me painfully aware that I'm not ready to have teenagers.  I hated sending him off, letting him go.  Even though he's not my child, because we're so far apart in age, I can't help feeling a little motherly toward him.  That letting go stuff isn't all its cracked up to be. :) 

Then, since we had a couple of cold days this week, I decided to go through the kids winter clothes and pack them away and bring out the hand-me-downs for the little girls.  I started with Elise and worked my way down the family ladder, ending with Paige's things.  As I began pulling out Paige's infant clothes, I began to get teary-eyed.  I don't know how many more kids we might or might not have, but I definitely realize we're closer to being done than getting started.  We might have another, maybe even two-who knows?!  But I couldn't help but think that I might be packing up the baby girl clothes for the last time.  I looked at the outfits that each girl had come home from the hospital in, the dress that had been mine as a little girl, the little tiny onesies and the sweet sleepers.  I try to remember to be happy about where we are, look forward to the future and enjoy the past.  But sometimes I have to wallow just a little bit in days gone by.  Sometimes, life just goes by too fast.  I think there are wonderful things about each stage of life, but I just can't imagine there being one more wonderful than this one. :)  So I had myself a good cry while I packed things away, ate a twix bar and then got back to everyday life.  

Superman

If you haven't seen Superman around your house lately, its because he lives with me. 

Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive and cuter than a bug in a rug.

Sundays

Is there anything more wonderful than a warm Spring day?  If there is, I can't imagine what it would be.  We loved the weather Sunday.  We took a big blanket outside and spread it out on the ground.  Elise had Cory get a tent canopy out and set it up to shield them from the bright sun.  (Not all my kids love sun as much as I do. :))  We stayed outside almost all afternoon and enjoyed every minute of it.

Elise came outside with a book and a bag filled with snacks (so she wouldn't have to go back inside).  Not to be outdone, Ian & Merry Grace promptly went back inside and each got a banana.

This little cutie has a long tongue.  I think her tongue is a new discovery.  It is so hilarious to see her sticking it out.   And yes, she is crawling.  She's not super speedy, but she can get from one side of the room to the other with no problem.  She can even pull herself up onto her knees, into a kneeling position.  ACK!  She's growing up too fast!  But look out world--Paige is on the move!

Really, she's just so cute.  (Have I mentioned that before?)  We could all just eat her up!  Speaking of eating, she's been fully introduced to solids and loves them.  Its really hard to remember, but I think she's my best eater.  She seems to love every food we introduce and gobbles it up.  She also had her first bottle last night.  She has gotten a little too comfortable with her nighttime nursing and falls asleep without a full tummy and wakes up too soon.  So last night we gave her a bottle and it did the trick.  She fell right asleep and slept for longer.  Although I'm glad it worked, it was quite bittersweet. I know its *just* a bottle.  Its the growing up part that's hard to deal with.

Just being silly.  She is so cute and funny.  She keeps us laughing. :)

The kids hanging out in their pavilion.

One of my favorite things about Paige being on a blanket outside is how she'll crawl over to the edge and pull up handfuls of whatever is growing in the ground.  So far she hasn't tried tasting it, she just deposits handful after handful on the blanket.  Its so cute to watch.

Elise had a great time reading her new book, Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  She's hooked.  Thank goodness.  Not long ago she told me she hated reading.  As much as I love to read, the thought of having a child who hated reading seemed like such an impossibility.  I let it go, though, and apparently she's caught the reading bug.  And boy, am I relieved!

This picture is so funny.  Its the perfect illustration of the injustices Elise has to deal with.  While she is unsuspectingly reading her book, Merry Grace sneaks into her stash of snacks.  Poor girl.  The things she has to put up with!!
Merry Grace is bigger than Paige, but not by much.  Although you'd never know it from watching Merry Grace.  She is a little Mama for sure.  One of her main goals in life is to keep Paige in check.  And she does it pretty well.

Welcome Spring!  We hope you are here to stay!!

Perspectives

The other night we were in the car coming home from somewhere and the kids were talking in the back.  I heard Elise ask Ian, "Hey, do you know what a contraction is?"  Immediately I thought about labor and delivery and wondered how much of my pregnancy had sunk into her little mind.  Ian answered, "No, I don't even know what that is."  Elise said, "Yes you do.  You just did one.  Don't.  That's a contraction.  It comes from do and not.  Can't is one and wouldn't is one.  They're all contractions."  I had to laugh and realized how different our perspectives on contractions were.

In other news, I made a cheesecake the other night.  I've made one before, but its always been "so-so".  Its usually too done around the edges, too soft in the middle or it cracks on top.  This one was perfect, or pretty darn close, if I do say so myself.  Apparently a water bath does the trick.  Well, now that I think about it, I think I'd better go have another piece...

The Good Ol' Days

Elise was sitting at the table, talking to us while Cory & I were in the kitchen fixing lunch.  Ian and Merry Grace were fussing over some toy, and were just being pretty loud.  All of a sudden Elise sighed and said, very longingly, "Ah, I miss the good ol' days . . .  back when it was just me and Mama and Daddy."  We both had a good laugh and then Cory asked her, "Well, who do you want to give away?"  Elise answered, "Well, I wouldn't really want to give anyone away.  I guess I just wish they were shy kids.  You know, then they wouldn't really say anything and it'd be nice and quiet around here."

Too hilarious. 

My Cute Niece

I watched Ally and Charles Allen (my niece & nephew) today.  The kids all had a great time playing and were as good as gold.  Ally helped me make chocolate cupcakes.  Licking the bowl was her favorite part.  Which do you think is sweeter--this little darlin' or the cupcakes?  She is seriously so cute and I could just eat her up.  I think she likes me pretty well, but she LOVES her uncle Cory.  I tried to get her cleaned up before her mom came back, but I think there might have been some chocolate still in her hair...or on her shirt...or...well, you get the picture. :)  Maybe it wasn't too bad so she'll let me watch her again. :)

Sometimes You Can't Win

A couple of nights ago, I woke around 4am to what sounded like whispered conversation from the room Elise and Ian share.  I listened to the muffled sounds for a second and then heard Elise whisper loudly and tersely, "Ian!  Stop it!!"  There was a short pause and then in a not-so-whispered voice, "Ian!!  I told you to stop it!"  So I interevened from my bedroom, calling out, "Elise, what's the matter?"  She hollars back, in a not-too-happy voice, "Ian won't  quit bothering me!"  I wondered what he was doing at 4am that could be bothering her enough to cause this commotion, so I asked that very question.  "He's breathing too loud!!!", she called back.  Seriously, I'm awake at this ridiculous hour because he's breathing so loud?!  At this point she gives a loud "Harrrumph!" and marched into our bedroom.  Ian followed close behind, sad that Elise had left him alone.  In trying to sort things out, I ordered Ian over to the toddler bed in the corner of our room (the one Merry Grace had already abandoned for the night) and sent Elise back to her room.  Ian began crying from his corner because "he missed his Sisi", at the same time Elise began crying from her room because she was scared without Ian in there.  Good grief!  Fortunately, Elise decided to try and put up with the loud breathing and Ian promised to try not to breathe so loud and we all agreed that we needed a little bit more sleep.  Sometimes you just can't win for losing. :)

Where do they come up with this stuff?

Ian came up to me tonight with a problem.

Ian: "I need some medicine."

Me:  "You do?  What's wrong?"

Ian:  "I sound like an old man!"

Me:  Silence

So he goes up to Cory with the same problem.

Ian: "I need some medicine."

Cory: "Oh yeah? Are you sick?"

Ian: "I sound like an old man."

Cory: "I don't think that's a real sickness."

Ian: (walking off with a very grumpy look on his face) Yes it is a real disease!  (now hollaring back into the kitchen) Don't you hear me?!   I still sound like an old man!

Family Ties and Other Fun Stuff

This past weekend my whole family converged on our little home front for a fun weekend.  My brother, Ethan, flew in from school out west, my parents and other brothers came from home and Ethan's fiancee joined us for some fun family times.  Ethan & Lois are getting married this summer, but for now are doing the long distance relationship and so they treasure the few visits they get every little bit.  This weekend coincided with Ethan's birthday, so we celebrated with him in person for the first time in about 4 or 5 years.

Obviously, we partied hard. :)

It was a little chilly, but that didn't keep Papa from a little quality time with sweet little Paige.

Ethan was still recovering from a nasty cold, so we didn't actually let him blow out his candles.  But there was plenty of help.  It was delicious, too.  Lois outdid herself with the yummy dishes she fixed, including this ice cream cake.

Me and my siblings.  Many pictures of the four of us included some crazy, silly, ridiculous or otherwise inappropriate pose or expression by one of the boys.  This one is actually normal. :)

Mis Hermanos:  Ethan, Logan & Adam

And a couple of pictures of the happy couple.  They are so adorable.  

 

 Our little family.  We are a cute bunch.  It took about two hours for us to get ready and about 30 seconds to get a couple of pictures of us.  What an ordeal.  

This baby just gets cuter and cuter...if that's possible.  Somehow it seems to be.

Maybe its because she's taking after her big sister.  This girl keeps us laughing.

Our biggest challenge with Ian was keeping that white shirt clean.  That's like asking a bee to stop making honey.  You guessed it--impossible.

Elise was in full model mode.  She was working the camera!  There are many, many more pictures where this one came from. :)

Dang it, we're a cute family. :)

And in two, completely unrelated items, Cory took the older kids to Elise's softball practice, while I stayed home with the two little girls.  Ian had wanted to watch a little bit of Star Wars tonight, but we had told him if he went to practice with Elise he wouldn't have time for Star Wars.  In the car Elise said to Ian, "I can't believe you gave up Star Wars!!"  He said, "Well, I love you more than Star Wars."  

I was working on laundry while they were gone and at one point sneezed really loud.  Merry Grace just looked at me and I asked her, "What was that?"  She answered quickly, "A bless you!" 

Then, it look like I'm doing about 15 lbs. more laundry these days, but its gotten oh-so-much cuter. :)

The Maid is Gone

Somewhere over the last few months, my kids have come to think of me as a maid.  And somewhere along the way, I let them believe that.  I'm not sure exactly how it happened because I've always been pretty good about getting them to help out, but it did and it has.  I think there were times it was easier to do things myself.  But whatever the case may be, yesterday, the maid moved out and Mom moved back in.  Things are definitely going to be shaken up a bit.  Don't get me wrong, the kids are really good to pitch in and help out when I ask them.  Its just that they've started making messes that I know they have no intention of cleaning up.  And if they did, it would never have been made in the first place.   We'll see how it goes.  It may be a rude awakening for everyone for a few days, but its been too long coming.   For example, yesterday while I laid baby Paige down for a nap, Merry Grace got a half a bag of tortilla chips out of the pantry and dumped them out onto the ottoman (and the floor) in the living room.  First of all, we don't allow food in the living room.  Second of all, no matter where you might be eating, its never okay to just randomly dump the bag out.  Instead of just vacuuming it up myself, which before yesterday I probably would have done, and instead of completely going berserk (which I was sorely tempted to do), I had Merry Grace (and Ian-who was an accomplice) clean the entire mess up.  And they did.  It took a while, but they did it.  Then last night I had the kids help out in a couple of places--Elise loaded the dishwasher and Ian scrubbed the tub.  Can I just say that he did a great job?!  Elise did too, of course, but I was surprised by how much fun Ian had with the tub.  He even enjoyed it so much he offered to clean my shower too.  And he did!!!  So we're off to a rolling start.  Hopefully it will go well, because the maid is not moving back in anytime soon.

What does it spell?

I wore a navy blue, zip-up jacket with the word "CAROLINA" across the front.  Merry Grace wanted to know what the  "abc's spelled".  I asked her to guess and she said, "I don't know.  Maybe 'I love jackets'?"  Hilarious.  Just what I've always wanted on a sweatshirt. :)

How We've Been Enjoying the Warm Weather

Ah, warm weather.  You came just when we needed that breath of fresh air the most.  You tempted us with thoughts of the pool, lazy days at the beach, walking barefoot through the grass, and cook-outs.  You had us on our front porches, working in the yard and going to the park.  And just when we'd gotten used to the idea, you left us.  Yes, you threw us like yesterdays garbage--right back into winter.  So instead of spending the morning planting my flowers, I'm inside facing the mountain of laundry you let me forget for a few days.  But, I won't be bitter.  I'll just remember those few good days we had and hope you come back soon.  Seriously.  Because next time I might not be so forgiving...

What We Did with Our Time

We dug in the dirt. (a.k.a. The front yard.)

We rode our bikes--a lot!  (Merry Grace spent quite a bit of time in the hedges, as her steering leaves something to be desired.)

We played hopscotch.  And we even made up our new rules for it.  (And we were good at it!!!)

We played outside on blankets, and even napped out there in the sunshine if we got tired of playing.

We ate popsicles on the front porch and got stickier than you can imagine.

We basked in the sunshine.

We TOTALLY broke out the sunglasses!

We were happy!!!

We had our best friends spend the night with us.  (Yes, there is a lot of make-up and a lot of attitude in this picture. :))

We mopped the porch with bubble bath. (Which then had to really be mopped up by a grown up.  But even that was okay because it felt so nice to be outside!)

We washed the car.  Yes, it was about as clean as you'd imagine it to be. (i.e. It was dirtier than when we started.)

We used our imaginations--and a whole roll of toilet paper. :)

We planted flowers.  And if any blooms "fell" off, Ian insisted I wear the blossoms tucked behind my ear because it was "so pretty".

We went to the park.

We ate Krispy Kreme doughnuts for breakfast.  On the front porch.

We ate ice cream sundaes.  YUM!!!

We enjoyed being together.  And we loved wearing our shorts, t-shirts, sundresses and flip-flops.

Sometimes we just went barefoot.  That was pretty fun too.

But it was the being together that was the best.  (Are these two not too cute?!  And yes, Ian played so hard, he wore his sock out. :))