This is what the boys got done on Tuesday. From the angle of the picture the pile looks smaller but it was really pretty big. We were holding our breath hoping it would get picked up with the Wednesday recycling. And it did.
By the way, did I mention that we don’t have to pay for trash services here? The city covers it.
While Ryan and I were at the store yesterday the kids, all 7 of ’em (okay, I can’t say for certain that Jesse actually did much), worked hard and got this done – with Kait as the ring leader. We have 1 regular and 1 toddler picnic table and the house came with a picnic table. So the kids busily raked and cleared for a couple of hours and created a picnic area for us. Ryan and I had planned to spend a couple hundred on pea gravel or similar playground material for the area but after the kids were done we were quite pleased with the leaf-less ground.
I can’t believe how soft the ground is. Once the leaves, twigs, and weeds were pulled up it felt so good on my bare feet. We’re just going to border off the area and leave it. Instead of paying for the ground cover we’re going to put that money into stringing up some cheesy lights to make it more entertain-ready.
That means all you peeps will have to come for a visit! You can’t let all my kids’ hard work go to waste, now.
Kait has been campaigning recently for Rick Scott. He’s currently running for Governor of Florida. She is loving the whole local and state politics thing – something I have no interest in so I’m not really sure where she’s getting it from, but I’m really happy about it.
These are pictures of her campaigning day yesterday. I swiped this slide show from Mr. Scott’s website. Kait isn’t in all of them, but you’ll see her in quite a few. She’s the blond with the dark blue shirt and braces. She also wanted to make note that she had no control over what sign she held. They were just handing them out.
He’s going to be a man someday way too soon, but in so many ways he already is.
While he still has pretend battles outside with his 5 younger brothers, he’s becoming quite protective of his older sister.
And while he still prefers to play video games than do chores, he’s always willing to lend a hand, take care of something that seems to be overloading me, and do his part around here.
And while he still plays Nurf war, he is an excellent shot in paintball, and with his pellet gun and crossbow.
He laughs a lot, despite having a serious disposition, and is always ready with a silly joke.
He doesn’t take offense easily and has the ability to laugh at himself easily. Though, he does not want me to joke with him about liking girly things. Especially when we are in Target and I’m talking loudly.
Some humorous quotes from Joe over the years -
“I told my poo-poo not to be bad. But it didn’t listen” (age 3 – just after an accident)
Crying when I told him he was only pretending to be Superman he couldn’t jump off the counter to fly, “but I thought I really was Superman!”
“My head is not a peanut!”
and quite recently -
“Can we ride bikes in the colda, no, colder, no, colber, no, colbeysack?” (he was trying to say ‘cul-de-sac’)
He’s a good boy and is going to be a really good man. I love who he is, and I’m so proud of who he is becoming.
On Monday night Sam threw up. He started around 11 and it went on for hours. In the morning he was fine. Ate everything. Was normal.
Until last night. Ryan heard him crying just as we were going to bed and went in to check on him.
“I was blowing up, Dad!”
Again with the washing sheets and layering a little bed of blankets and towels on the floor of my room and getting a bowl and a bunch of cloths to have ready.
Did I mention that I have a really terrible cold that I suspect could be bronchitis? But because I have a pilot in training as a husband, and it is necessary that he not be tired for his flights, it is up to me to be up with any sick babies. Coughing up a lung or not.
So, this morning after I got Jesse fed and ate a little breakfast, I downed some Theraflu and told Kait that I was going to take a nap.
I slept for 4 hours.
I woke up to this from Kait. “Mom, I’m the only one who hasn’t gotten sick.” (however, since writing this post she has contracted the bomb and is blowing up, too.)
While Sam is appearing well now, the rest of the boys are all blowing up today.
The fun never ends around here.
But I’m so thankful for my daughter who let me sleep through it all, taking care of the sick children herself so I could get some rest.
Just after Christmas I took all the kids to Walmart to use the gift cards their Nana sent them. It was crowded and I think we accidentally went on Screaming Kids Rally Day or something. Kait(15) and I found ourselves doing constant head counting to make sure we had all 6 boys with us.
It was like herding cats.
The kids, after much deliberation, had each selected something of great importance that they just realized they ”had always wanted”. And much to the cashiers delight, each child paid separately. After much profuse apology to the people in line behind us, our cashier, and the cashier next to us, we made our way to Walmart’s enter/exit arena (which more resembled the crowded ticket booth lines at Disney World).
Still counting heads as we took the baby out of the cart and grabbed our bags, Kait steered one of the middle boys by the head, making sure he didn’t get lost in the crowd. She said with only a slight hint of impatience, “this way, Ben”.
Only, it wasn’t Ben.
It wasn’t even one of our kids.
“Oh.
You’re.
Not.
My.
Brother.”
[calm down cheeks]
Kait’s face was r.e.d. She looked over to find a lady standing there cracking up. Kait apologized for steering her sons head. The lady said it was okay. This mom obviously had a sense of humor.
We made it out to the van with all the same children we went in with. No more. No less.
[heavy, heavy sigh of relief]
That trip came close to giving shopping at Walmart new meaning. Go in with 7 kids, come out with 8.
My kids, in their entrepreneurial spirit, have been bugging me to help them start a business. For more than a year now I’ve been searching around for something with low start up, low cost of failure, and high chance of success, and reasonably priced products.
We love board games. Our family has a slew of them and we often sit around our dining table with one laid out before us. And since we don’t have TV and we’re one of those families that stress family time, board games seem like a natural business for us to get into.
The start up cost is minimal, and the board games are good quality and reasonably priced when compared to what you find at Walmart.
Yesterday Ben turned 5. 5 is a big number. 5 really means something.
5 means your muscles are willy, willy big.
It also means you don’t have to be afraid to go upsidedown anymore.
And when you fall down you don’t have to cry…
as loud.
It means you can walk down the hallway by yourself. Even if it’s dark.
And you can get up on the counter on your own to help mama cook.
Being 5 means you get to make more decisions. Like which movie to pick on movie night.
It also means you don’t need to fuss when you don’t get the pick the movie on movie night.
And movies that aren’t cartoons are sometimes good, too.
Being 5 means asking real questions during a Bible study. Like, ”What does fornification mean?”
It also means that mom and dad might giggle at your pronunciations.
It means using scissors and markers instead of just ripping up crayon papers.
5 really does mean a lot.
We did our normal treasure hunt for the birthday present. Ben opened a really cute card from Nona and Poppa. We ate pizza and cake.
I have video. It’s short because Ben couldn’t stay still enough, or in the room enough for me to get much filming done. He was bouncing off everything with excitement. It’s my next editing project. Hopefully I’ll have it ready tonight.
Her brothers are having a field day with this. They’re coming up with all sorts of new jokes to poke fun at her. They’d be in trouble for their antics; however, it was Kait, herself, that taught them the art of teasing. Joe (11) has a couple years of being called Josie under his belt. He’s earned his wisecracks.
Ben (almost 5) now thinks Kait is part robot. I inadvertently put that in his head a while back, trying to describe what braces were. I didn’t correct him.
Whenever Kait walks by Joe he makes a metal detector sound. And Jesse (1) doesn’t know what to think of them. One minute he wants to touch them, the next minute he looks uncomfortable and turns away from her.
Although she is already looking forward to the day they come off, Kait is pleased with her braces. She says that, although her teeth feel tender, she really expected to have more discomfort. She’s liking the band colors, dressing to match.
Such a good spirited child she is – not taking it all too seriously – and havin’ fun with it.
Samma and the “Cammwa” have a great connection. And somehow my camera always manages to find Sam’s face.
Yesterday I took my little bro out to do a quick 5-minute photo session with him. I do his sessions in 5 minute frames so he can regenerate his cuteness after he starts to forget where he is and leaves for daydreaming world.
“Kaity? That your cammwa?”, he asked as soon as I started getting the case out.
“Yeah, ya wanna go pose for me?”
He then proceded to do his little excitiment dance.
I decided just to take him out to the backyard. We’ve got some great backgrounds out there.
Once we get outside, I poined toward the side of the house where a large oak tree stands and said “Come on Sam, let’s go do pictures over here.”
“No, we do dem over dewr.” He said pointing to the brick wall on the opposite side of the house, and started walking over there; leaving me dumbfounded.
“Okay, over there.”
Apparently the kids got good taste, because he was right; the light was great over there and the pictures turned out good. Who would’ve known the Samma and the “Cammwa” got along so great?
