All ages covered

The boys had some friends over this evening. At one point they came running into the kitchen and had to show me that we had one of every age (from 3 to 8) at our house. When I asked if I needed to take a picture they all shouted, "Yes!" So, we decided that they also needed to hold up their age so that there wouldn't be any confusion as to which child was each age.

The only problem was that at the very last minute, Daisy changed her age from three to five.

Fish

The boys each got a gold fish on Christmas Eve. We already have a fish that is about 3 years old. He's sort of fan tail gold fish named Oscar.

Earlier today the boys noticed that one of the new fish was stuck to the filter. Well, they thought he was stuck. It turns out that he is dead.

Right now, the other new fish is staying in the corner of the tank away from Oscar. I wonder if he witnessed something that we didn't....

Quiet night

Tonight has been a somewhat quiet evening at home. John Henry has been drawing. Whenever he draws, Lake and Tate usually get out their sketch pads and draw also. Rosie was working in an activity book for awhile but then changed over to drawing.

Daisy has been playing with her baby and highchair, swing and bassinet that she got for Christmas. She walked through the room with her baby in her arms and Lake said, "She just looks so cute when she's playing baby dolls."

I was JUST thinking the same thing.

Gone for another year

The Christmas tree has been put away until next year.

I tried to leave it up just a little longer but it was stressing me out.

The humor in taking the tree down....

I placed all of the ornaments on the kitchen table so that I could organize them and put them back in their original box, etc..
As I was going back and forth from the living room to the kitchen with the ornaments, I noticed that I kept meeting Daisy in passing.

Then I heard her say, "Mommy, this is fun. We get to decorate the tree all over again."

I thought I kept taking the same ornaments off the tree again and again and again. Atleast now I have validation that I'm not losing my mind. As I was taking them off, she was redecorating.

Cousins

Nine years ago, there were not any children at my family's Christmas dinner. This year there were eleven children. Lake is the oldest at eight years old. The youngest will turn two in March.

A growing family is good.

Bikes

Daisy loves her bike. She REALLY loves the bag that is attached to the handlebars. As she unloaded her stocking, she placed most of the things inside the bag. What kind of things were in her stocking and are now in the bag? A toothbrush, toothpaste, lip gloss, finger nail polish, pens, anti-bacterial wipes, and a bracelet. She's prepared for just about anything.

Rosie was so excited to get her bike. Too bad it was too wet outside to ride it much. Maybe the rain will stop soon.

I can hardly wait to take them on the bike trail. I hope they love it as much as John Henry and I do!

Christmas Eve

Anticipation

Merry Christmas

I don't have pictures yet but just know that it is loud and crazy at our house this Christmas afternoon.

The boys are playing kazoos. The girls are playing with the remote control trucks. They rode their bicycles for a while in the carport.

It's raining. And there is talk of snow possibly tonight.

We have been with our family and friends all day. Grandma spent the night last night. She went to the candlelight service with us and then we ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant. I had planned on cooking but she didn't want me to have to clean up afterwards.

The kids were in bed by 9:00pm. We went to bed at midnight. Lake went to the bathroom at 1:00am, then the living room, then woke me with, "Mommy! Mommy! I've got good news!! Santa came!!"

It took me until 4:00am to get him and Tate back to sleep. I told them that they had to stay in bed until 6:00am.

I think this is the last year for Santa at our house. Lake has lots of questions. I have a book about St. Nicholas and the spirit of giving that I read to them. When Lake was a baby I debated on whether or not to start doing Santa. It just sort of evolved from my family. For the last few years I have often wished that I'd never started it. So, will I be sad to see the "Santa years" gone? No. Not really. Things will be much less stressful when that day comes.

Today, Grandma, Nano, Muck, Genius and his niece have spent the day with us. Tonight we will go to my aunt's house for dinner and see the rest of my mom's side of the family.

All in all, it's been the kind of day I wished for. Lots of laughing and love.

Girls

Beautiful

Daisy wanted this picture of her taken. Plus, you get the benefit of seeing her with a real sense of fashion!

Her favorite thing to do in this dress?

Spin around and around and around and around.

For a friend

I have a blogger friend that is attempting to muddle through the Christmas season. This is her first Christmas without him and she's having a tough time. She has three very sweet children and a good husband. They can't replace what is missing.

I heard this song this morning and I know she likes U2.

You know who you are.

Now, know that I'm thinking of you.



"Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"
by U2

It's Christmas
Baby, please come home

Christmas
The snow's comin' down
Christmas
I'm watchin' it fall
Christmas
Lots of people around
Christmas
Baby, please come home

Christmas
The church bells in town
Christmas
They're ringin' a song
Christmas
What a happy sound
Christmas
Baby, please come home

They're singin' 'Deck the Halls'
But it's not like Christmas at all
I remember when you were here
And all the fun we had last year

Christmas
Pretty lights on the tree (
Christmas
I'm watchin' them shine
Christmas
You should be here with me (
Christmas
Baby, please come home
Christmas
Baby, please come home
Christmas
Baby, please come home

They're singin' 'Deck the Halls'
But it's not like Christmas at all
I remember when you were here
And all the fun we had last year

Christmas
If there was a way
Christmas
I'd hold back these tears
Christmas
But it's Christmas day
Christmas
Baby, please come home
Christmas
Baby, please come home
Christmas
Baby, please come home

A game for all

We have finally found a game that we all can play. Lake received a deck of UNO cards for his birthday in October. I taught the boys how to play and eventually Rosie figured it out, too. Well, today I taught Daisy how to play and the five of us played several hands. We haven't started keeping score yet. We just play until everyone gets tired.

The irony of playing with Daisy is that she won most of the hands today.

And FYI: If you ever play with Rosie, she cheats!

Hair cut

The boys got a hair cut today. We are letting it grow out just a bit. I don't want it looking scruffy but they really like the longer hair. I think I like it this way for now. I'm sure when baseball season rolls around they'll want it short again.

Oh - why are they so close to the camera?

Good question.

I kept backing up and they kept moving closer to me.

In case you forgot...

I live with a fashion plate.

I don't know if you can see the rainbow sticker on her right hand.
It matches her shirt.

Atleast something matches.

Pictures

Two weeks ago I was determined to get a picture of the kids for our Christmas card. I had been trying for a few days but so far had not taken a picture that I could use. On the day that I was determined to get this picture Lake was sick and Daisy needed a nap. Most of the pictures only had the three older children because Daisy was on the floor crying.

Finally Daisy decided to participate. I liked the picture but it didn't capture what I was looking for.

For this final picture Daisy popped up from behind Lake (she had actually been sitting on his feet) and threw her arms around her brother. This captured what I was looking for. Although they have their 'moments', they really love each other.

Dental visit

Yesterday John Henry took Rosie to the dentist for her six month check up. I had noticed the night before that it looked like she had a six year molar. While at the dentist, he confirmed that it is indeed a six year molar and the other three aren't far behind. She's only four. Tate just got his six year molars a month ago.

Overall the visit went well and her teeth are all in good shape.

Yummmm

They all agree that the cookies are GOOD!

I have to mention that a little girl from the neighborhood was at our house and helped make the cookies. While everyone (including the neighbor) was taking turns adding ingredients and blending she said, "Man, ya'll are lucky."

She'll probably never know that she helped boost me through the day. I don't necessarily believe in luck but I got the point her eight-year-old mind was trying to make.

Cookies!

All the right ingredients....

Lots of good help...

A little muscle from Lake...

Ready for the oven...

All this, plus the house smells wonderful!

School is officially out

The kids are out of school for 15 days and the energy level is HIGH! Or maybe it's the fact that I'm functioning on little sleep that makes them seem full of energy. The girls are still battling the sniffles and lots of coughing. Between comforting Daisy when she woke herself from coughing and convincing Rosie to get back in bed when Daisy woke her, I was able to get in my bed from 3:19am until 3:20am.

Yeah, you're reading it correctly. One minute.

So, how are we going to get through today?

This afternoon we are going to bake chocolate chip cookies.

After all, what harm will a little more sugar cause?

I know. I know. I'll be eating those words shortly!

Christmas break has started early for the girls

The kids have school until tomorrow at noon. Then they are on Christmas break until January 4th. The girls got an early start. It's just too bad that it started because they are sick.

Daisy has what Tate calls the 'dog cough.' Rosie has lots of congestion. Thankfully neither has a fever.

On a different note, I have been considering starting another blog. I would keep this one for the kids but have another to write about other things that cross my mind.

My question is this:

Would anyone read it?

Good visit to the doctor

Daisy had her three-year-old check up today. She weighs 34 pounds and is 39 inches tall. Overall, she is very healthy.

The pediatrician that we have used since Lake was born uses a questionnaire to assess development. One of the questions that I had to ask Daisy today was about colors. There were four block on the question: yellow, blue, red and green. As I pointed to each she told me the name of the color. Since we went over the questions without the doctor in the room (this is standard) I think he wasn't quite sure if she really knew all of the colors. Why do I think that? Well, because during the exam he mentioned her pink shoes and then held his foot up and asked her if she knew what color his boot was. Her response?

"Brown."

Duh.

Narrator

This morning the girls and I went to see a class play by Tate's class. The name of the play was 'Guess Who's Coming to Santa's for Dinner.' The class did an excellent job remembering their lines and actions. Tate was the narrator and he was incredible! And, you can tell by the photo that he was very handsome also!

The cutest reindeer

Daisy's class has been talking about Mr. and Mrs. Claus, jingle bells, and reindeer this week. When I picked her up from school today, this is what I found.

Yes, that is our Christmas tree in the background. If you look closely, in between the reindeer antlers you can see an envelope in the branches of the tree. It's a present to me from Lake.

The 'present in the tree' is a family tradition. From our very first Christmas together, John Henry's family always put a few presents in the branches. We've continued that at our house. I am honored to have the first gift in the tree.

Do you have any Christmas traditions at your house?

Cold and getting colder!

All four kids have been asking to go to the park for several days. We went today for a very short time because it was just too cold. From what I hear, tomorrow will be even colder!

To catch you up on what's been going on in our world: The weekend was busy with a friend's birthday party, two nights of a Dinner Theatre at our church (John Henry helped serve food, water, and tea and I sang with the choir) as well as a nice visit from Grandma on Sunday afternoon.

The Christmas tree went up on Monday. Daisy wasn't aware of what I was doing (she was in her pretend world.) When she came through the living room and saw the tree with the lights on she stopped in her tracks and with an emphasis of awe she said, "Wow." She then followed that with, "Mommy. Thank you."

Yeah, that was a good day.

On Tuesday GiGi spent the day with me until it was time to pick the girls up at school. We had lunch, walked around the bookstore and laughed. Actually, I think we laughed more than anything else.

Today the girls did not get dressed until 2:00pm and that was just because I said we would go to the park after we picked up the boys. I think if we hadn't gone to the park, they would have stayed in their pajamas all day!

That about sums up our week.

What would you have picked?

Today when I picked the boys up from school Lake shared this news with me:

Each child in the class has a writing work book and a math work book that the teacher sent home at the beginning of the school year. The kids get a 'ticket' for each completed page they return to school. These tickets are drawn for rewards such as getting to eat lunch with two friends at a special table, sitting by the teachers desk (yes, this is just second grade so it's still a reward!) and you can also choose to not do homework for that day. They usually only have homework on Monday and Tuesday. Well, Lake had his ticket pulled today.

It's 70 degrees outside this afternoon.

His choice was: no homework.

He chose well, don't you think?

Thanksgiving Part 2

Yesterday we spent the day with John Henry's family. We hadn't seen his cousin, Wild Bill and his daughter, Livie in over a year. Livie is about a month younger than Tate. My favorite part of the day was after lunch when we took all of the kids that had been walking for more than a few days on a to the pond and the creek that are on the property. I couldn't get a good picture of either to share with you. Maybe next time.

My favorite picture of the day is this one of Lake, John Henry and Daisy. I love that JH and Daisy are holding hands.

Daisy, Lake, Tate, Rosie, Future, Livie and 'Fessor the dog. Future is a friend of the family. She's a very bright little girl. The one thing I learned about her is that she's always looking ahead.

Once we got inside the gate, the kids could hardly wait to get started on the exploration!

Did you swim on Thanksgiving?

I know this is a strange group picture especially for a Thanksgiving post. We traveled about an hour north to visit my mom's sister and lots of other family yesterday. My aunt has an indoor heated pool. After lunch eight children swam for over an hour. The eight children included my four and four of my cousin's five children.
Did you wonder who the woman in the back of this photo is? My mom, also known as Nano.

This is Lake with one of his cousins. They don't see each other very often but they always play well with each other.

Rosie and Daisy with a cousin.

Last night I asked the kids what they were thankful for:

Daisy: My plate
Rosie: Mommy and Daddy
Tate: My family
Lake: That I have six people in my family and that we are all together.

Me, too.

Dinner by candlelight

About a month ago, John Henry and I attended a marriage seminar at our church. The speakers were a husband and wife team and the message they wanted everyone to hear was built around the fact that people are different. If we were all the same, things would be pretty boring.

At one point during the seminar, the wife had a list of suggestions to improve or initiate communication. The only problem I see with our communication is the lack of time we have to talk without interruption. However, one of the suggestions was to have dinner by candlelight. At first I hesitated. Then about a week ago I decided to try it. It really has a calming effect on the children. The first night we did this Rosie said, "Hey! It looks like we're camping out and eating by the fire!"

Since then we've had candles at dinner three more times.

Last night as I was cooking Daisy asked, "Can we smoke the candles at dinner?"

Uhmmm...Sure.

Have you heard?

Have you seen the news reports about the school bus crash in Huntsville, Alabama? Huntsville is my hometown. The children involved attend Lee High School. I graduated from Lee as did my sister and mother and John Henry.

John Henry works in Huntsville and actually heard the crash of the bus.

Three girls did not survive. I cannot imagine the pain that those families are going through right now. My heart is very heavy for these families.

Hug your family and make sure they know that you love them.

Another tooth gone

Tate lost another tooth last night. He had been helping Rosie by blowing up her inflatable ball and his tooth just fell out. He wanted to pose for this picture by sticking his tongue through the hole that was left.

Observation Day

Last night was the dance class that the parents are allowed to observe. It was clear that Rosie really enjoys the class.


It is obvious that Rosie is the tallest girl in the class!

Cute crabwalking!

A very rainy lunch date

Today's lunch date with Tate came during a heavy rain. By the time the girls and I got into the school we were soaked from head to toe. We had jackets but with the winds and carrying Daisy, an umbrella was pointless.

All of the children in Tate's class had made placemats and decorated the lunchroom tables with them. The choices for lunch today were turkey and dressing or chicken nuggets. Each came with mandarin oranges, green beans, sweet potato casserole, a roll and a cookie. The girls chose the nuggets (big surprise.) I was pleased to see that they both tasted everything on their tray without me suggesting it.

As soon as we sat at the table, Tate thanked me for coming to lunch with him. Before it was over, he must have thanked me three more times. The conversation at our end of the table was constant.

After lunch I decided to check him out of school. We are expecting severe weather this afternoon between 2:00 and 3:00. The principal told the parents that if they wanted to check out their children, that it would be an excused absence.

Nice surprise

Yesterday Daisy and I went to eat lunch with Lake. (Don't worry about Tate, we are going to have lunch with him tomorrow.) Well, last year when I had lunch with Lake he often tried to get me to sit with someone else. He would say things like, "Hey, mom, you could sit with HB's mom", or "Mom, don't you want to sit with Ms. A?"

I had just the opposite effect with Tate last year. When I had lunch with him, I usually left with him crying because he wanted to come home with me.

Yesterday we seemed to find our place. As I approached Lake's classroom I heard him say, "I love school!!" They have been studying bats and he has found this very interesting. He's been searching on the internet for information and that has given me the opportunity to teach him about the internet in a setting that he doesn't feel like I'm lecturing him.

OK. OK. Back to lunch. First of all, he initiated the whole thing. He asked me on Sunday night if I could come to lunch with him this week. He already knew that I was coming to lunch with Tate on Wednesday so maybe he was just trying to claim his time with me. I was able to talk with him and a little boy that he has wanted to invite over. This little boy has lots of lizards in his yard so of course Lake thinks that is very cool. I was able to clarify with his friend that these lizards live outside rather than in his room (Lake had been trying to tell me that he had several lizards in his room.) All in all, it was a very nice lunch date with my oldest son.

Now, I wonder how things will go with Tate. Will he cry when I leave? I'll keep you posted.

Post Party Nap

Just as I finished the previous post, I found Daisy in the hallway.

Asleep.

Beautiful Three

For her third birthday, Daisy had two requests. She wanted flip flops on her cake and she wanted to swing at the park. It was just too cold to play at the park. Believe me, we tried and it was just too cold. So, at the last minute we decided to move the party inside. Daisy was upset but understood that it was best to have her party someplace a little warmer.

I think the cake turned out perfect. She was very pleased with the flip flops. They matched the invitation perfectly.

Although the only family that came to the party was my mom and step dad, Daisy had lots of friends. My brain is a tiny bit tired but I think we had twelve children at the party. Daisy was a little hesitant about the crowd of people but eventually warmed up to the party. I'm sure I'm a bit partial, but I just think she's beautiful.

Last day to be two

My youngest, Daisy will be three tomorrow.

I love baby feet. This is not the best picture of Daisy's feet but I wanted someone else's opinion. They still look like baby feet to me. However, when each of my children came home from the hospital, the older sibling(s) suddenly looked SO much bigger and older. I'm wondering if Daisy still looks so small to me because there is no one younger to compare her to. What do you think?

Three is better than none

Rosie is four and still wakes up at night. Often. Like atleast once every night. She usually wakes up because she's cold, she hears a noise outside or she's having leg pain. I can usually predict when the leg pain will wake her - like if we've had a physically busy day. Although the girls share the room, it is rare that Daisy wakes up. She may wake during the night once every other week.

Then there is the fun night when both girls wake in the middle of the night or early morning.

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, both girls slept through the entire night.

I should have known that it was probably too good to be true.

Both were awake at midnight last night. I finally was able to get back into my own bed around 4:30 this morning.

And yes, I did go vote this morning. I hope you vote sometime today, too.

Weekend

This is a view from the back of Grandma's house. The boys stayed with her on Friday and Saturday night. Lake didn't want to come home. From what I understand they played outside most of the time. The weather was right and with more than 80 acres to explore, what boy could stay inside, anyway?

This is from the front of the house. They don't own the cattle. They have an arrangement with one of the farmers.

A first time for everything

I am 36 years old and until Saturday, I had never been to a college football game.

Most of my family would tell you that they are huge Alabama fans. John Henry went to Auburn for awhile but then missed me so much that he transferred and moved back home. My family has always watched football games on TV. I've been to several high school games and watch them occasionally on TV. I never quite understood the game until this year. John Henry has been explaining pieces of the game to me while we've been to the high school games this season.

So, we had the opportunity on Saturday to go the Auburn/Arkansas State game without the children. The weather was beautiful and once we got settled at the game - it was incredible. Our seats were on the 50 yard line. Auburn won 27-0.

Student of the Month

The criteria for this month's Student of the Month was "consideration" and "dependability." Each second grade teacher nominates one student from their class and then the counselors, resource teachers, etc. rank them. Why only the second grade kids? The way this school is structured, the second grade is the oldest grade in the building. Third, fourth and fifth grade are in another building about 5 minutes away.
Today was the assembly to announce the second and first runner up and the Student of the Month. It's a big secret about the nominees until the assembly. The secretary called me two days ago to tell me that Lake had been nominated so that I could be at the assembly. There are six second grade classes with 16/17 students each. When the first five nominees were announced I realized that Lake was going to be the Student of the Month.
He received a coupon to Chick-fil-a and a neat medallion. We went for ice cream after school.

Finally

Lake as Harry Potter

Tate as an Indian

All together

A better shot of the girls without the sun in their eyes

Trick or Treat part 2

There really are pictures of the boys and all of the kids together on Halloween. However blogger thinks you should wait to see them....

Trick or Treat part 1

Here is a sneak peak at the costumes. The girls are cheerleaders - thanks to Grandma. She made these costumes and I think they look great. I thought I should take a picture of them this morning because we are supposed to have rain this afternoon.
I'll get pictures of the gang this afternoon.

Group photo?

Not today.

I always try to get atleast one photo of all the kids. This year, we could not get everyone together. These are a few of the attempts I made before I decided it just wasn't going to happen today!



This is the only one I got that had Little T.

My patient little trooper.