Photo 4

 Just a couple pictures of my boys playing around out on the triangle today.

Pictures from Aug. 24th through Aug 31, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 



 



 

 



 

 

 

Go Fish for Breakfast

It is finally summer here.  The weather isn't summer yet, it's still in spring mode.  But school is out and we are free!  Yes, even me.  I LOVE not having to nag everyone in the mornings to get ready and out the door on time.  Oh yes, I am FREE!!! 

So to celebrate our lovely freedom, we are eating sweet cereal.  We never eat sweet cereal.  Except at Christmas when Santa fills our stockings with the stuff.  I decided that the end of school was deserving of sweet cereal. 

Unfortunately, we were all out of milk this morning. 

I learned that my children really don't care about milk when given the opportunity to eat sweet cereal.  And if there is no milk, we don't need spoons either.  Just bowls, fingers, fists, and the sweet, crunchy cereal. 

Since they were already digging through their cereal, they decided to make a real game of it.  Go Fish! 

"Hey, Little Man, do you have any greens?" 

 I don't know if it was a good thing to do with breakfast or not.  It was unusual for us.  But really I think it was a nice way to start our summer.

Happy Day

I like today.  It’s been good so far.  I planted a few flowers in my yard.  Zinnias and petunias just like my Mom used to plant in our yard when I was a kid.  The sun is shining and a little breeze is blowing.  I feel good today.  The day will get busier and crazier a little later, but for now…it’s not.    

I’m serving leftovers for dinner tonight. The kids will not be happy about that.  There are five of them and it is not possible to make them all happy at dinner time unless we are having pizza.  But Mr. Wonderful will be, so maybe that will kind of even things out. I hope so anyway.  And I’m happy that I don’t have to stress over what to make for dinner and then try to make it in a shorter amount of time than I would like to have to make whatever it is because I would have had more time to make it if I had only planned ahead a little better. Hopefully that came out right. If not, maybe it’s close enough that you can at least get the gist of what I was trying to say. Well, anyway, I’m glad I don’t have to go through all that tonight.

Hooray for today! I hope you have a few bright spots in your day too!

I LOVE it when my kids say...

...OKAY.  It is one of my favorite things to hear.

A Visit from the Stomach Bug

Considering the title, this might sound a little strange, but I had a really wonderful weekend.  I felt like it was some of the highest quality time we've had as a family in quite a while.  We spent Friday and Saturday nights at Mr. Wonderful's grandparents' home. It is always so good to visit them. 

We had a good drive (5.5 hours) to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  The kids got along great!  We all enjoyed a very nice day together on Saturday and happily went to bed that night.  I was peacefully sleeping when Mr. W woke me up very, very early on Sunday morning (about 1:30) saying "What was that?"  Kiddo was throwing up.  In the middle of Grandma's kitchen floor.  He had been sleeping on her carpeted livingroom floor so we heartily congratulated him for making it to the kitchen.  We got him and the floor all cleaned up, found an empty ice cream bucket, and sent him back to his sleeping bag after moving it away from the other kids.  We went back to bed hoping it was just something he ate.  I always hope that.

One hour later we heard more strange sounds.  This time it was Miss Monkey.  I won't go into all the details this time.  Let me just say that once again, Grandma's carpet was spared.  Such a relief!

After getting back in bed yet again, Mr. Wonderful and I had a hard time going to sleep.  We would both jump up at the slightest moan or sound of movement from the kids.  We were wide awake.  So we talked.  For almost two hours.  We talked about so many different things.  It was wonderful! 

The next day Miss Banana asked me why we have to get sick.  I told her that it's just part of life.  But, I've been thinking about that question and our weekend experience.  If the kids had not been sick, Mr. Wonderful and I would not have had the sweet, peaceful time to ourselves that we enjoyed so much.  We worked together and worried together.  And were brought closer together because of that. 

I'm starting to realize that quality time does not mean perfect time.  And really, why should it be?  Life is not perfect.  Why should I expect quality time to be so far out of my reach that it hardly ever happens?  It is not out of my reach at all.  It is right there in front of me and all I have to do is grab onto it.    

The stomach bug turned out to be pretty mild and only Kiddo, Miss Monkey, and Little Man ever got sick.  Another blessing.  Yes, I really did have a wonderful weekend.

A Bright Doll Quilt

I finished! And I love it!

I used my walking foot for my sewing machine (I'll have a post about that in a few days I think.) and quilted in a grid right through the middle of the squares.

For the back I used orange with little white polka dots. And I bound it with the same flowery orange print I used on the front. I tried sewing the binding on with my sewing machine rather than by hand this time, and I'm pretty happy with it. It doesn't look as nice....but it was so much faster! I think I'll keep practicing both ways and see how it goes.

I also had a very cute helper while taking these pictures!

Oh, and no real Friday's Fix-up this week. I've been working on sorting through all the kids clothes, getting rid of some, and passing some down, and figuring out what everyone needs for school. We're almost done. Friday's Fix-up should be back next week, but I think it will be something small.

Childhood Memories

While staying at my parents house this last month, I was able to read some of my favorite stories to my own children. My mom still has them and keeps them in the room where my kids slept. My kids loved them just like I did. I used to go to sleep with stacks of books tucked around me and it made me smile to see my little ones falling asleep with the very same books tucked around them. These are just some of them.

I also got to show my children the tiny bedroom I used to share with my two brothers and one sister. It is now my Mom's sewing/crafting room. It is funny to go into that room now. I should explain that my family moved out of that house when I was 8, but my parents moved back into it about 2 years ago. When I go into that old bedroom of mine I really wonder how we all fit into it. I'm just guessing here (maybe you can help me out, Mom) but I think that room is about 6' x 8' with a wardrobe built into one end. I remember thinking the window and wardrobe and my bunk bed were so big when really they were not. I guess that's how my kids see them now.

It was so wonderful having that time with my parents this summer. It brought back lots of great memories for me and made some special memories for my children. It was perfect.

On the Road

We are leaving later this week to go visit our family 500 miles away. The kids and I will be gone for a whole month! That is such a long time, but I'm really looking forward to it. I don't know how regular my blogging will be, but I'll check in when I get a chance. The next couple of days will be spent packing and cleaning. And then we hit the road. I thought I'd post a picture of a road sign that I took in Wyoming a couple of years ago. It still makes me laugh.

Funny Stuff

It's been hard for me to decide what funny or humorous things I should write about today for Wordfull Wednesday from Chocolate on my Cranium. My kids make me laugh all the time. Like the time my oldest child, Stephen, was 2 and he found some markers, took off all of his clothes, and drew very colorful stripes all over his body. His feet, legs, tummy and arms were covered in scribbly rainbow stripes. When he saw me he just smiled and said, "Hi Mama. I a tiger! Rooaaaaahhhhhr!" What could I do but laugh?

I have to share one other thing that makes me laugh. One of my very favorite movies is Roman Holiday, starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. It's the story of Princess Ann who runs away in Rome and meets an American journalist named Joe Bradley. It is a funny movie, but there is one scene in particular that cracks me up every time! It is the scene where Joe and the princess visit the Mouth of Truth. If you have never seen this movie, or if you just want to refresh your memory, watch the clip (it takes about 90 seconds) and then keep reading so I can tell you why it so funny to me.


What makes this clip so funny is that Audrey Hepburn really had no idea that Gregory Peck was going to pretend his hand was being bitten off. He had privately talked to the directory before they filmed the scene and said that he wanted to try it that way and see how Audrey reacted. It went so well they used the scene in the movie. It is so much funnier to me, knowing that we get to see her real reaction. And if you really have never seen the whole movie, I would highly recommend it.

Shirttails

Today we had to go to the grocery store. Not my favorite thing to do. But it was nice to get out of the house on a sunny 45 degree day after lots and lots of cold foggy days. The girls are really pretty good about staying close to me, however sometimes they end up walking behind me and then I can't see them and don't know what they are doing. That makes me a little nervous. Sometimes though, when they get behind me, they will grab onto the bottom of my shirt and just hang on as we walk around the store. I LOVE this. Then I know right where they are and know that they can't be doing something they shouldn't if one hand is holding tightly to me.

They do this on Sundays too. As we are walking through the crowded hallways my arms and hands are always full of baby, bags, books, papers, etc., and I have no extra hands to hold hands with my younger children to make sure they are coming with me. So they grab onto my skirt and down the hall we go. I really like knowing where they are, but also really love having them so close to me. Somehow that little grip on my shirt or my skirt is very comforting.