Can I hear an AMEN!

It's been one of those days. You know what I'm talking about. The house is a disaster, the kids are wild and out of control, and the husband comes home late. So what did I do to relieve my stress tonight - I put on my sneakers and did yard work. Believe it or not - but it helped - mostly because there were no children around.

So all you Moms out there that know what I'm talking about - let me hear an AMEN.

Arr Matey

Carter loves pirates. And he is constantly covering one eye and saying Arr Matey. He also likes to cover other peoples eyes as well.

So... He thought it would be a good idea to cover Janie's eye with some pirate treasure. And Janie thought it was a good idea too! Isn't she a good sport?

A visit from Sarah, Joshua and Rose

My sister-in-law dropped off her son Joshua Friday night.

Here he is with Janie. He used to hate babies - now he can tolerate them for a few minutes.

Mia and Joshua sat down and did homework - on a Friday night - WOW.

Then Saturday morning Sarah came over and brought her new puppy - Rose. Isn't she adorable.

Adventures in Cleaning

Today I had the opportunity to clean some things that are normally ignored. Amazingly the house was pretty clean - so I attacked the problem areas. First was the refrigerator. I pulled out the shelves so I could wash everything. While I was in the middle of this - the phone rang - I answered, and was busy for a couple of minutes scheduling an appointment. After I hung up the phone I looked back over to the kitchen sink - and my wonderful boy Carter had the faucet pulled out and was spraying the entire kitchen with water. It was so absurd I had to laugh - how could I be upset with my little fire fighter. Ironically, the appointment I was making on the phone was for testing for Carter, to get him into priority preschool.

Cleaning project #2. Last night Marcus told me he lost one of Janie's binkies to the couch. So I took it upon myself to go hunting for it. Now be prepared because this is really gross - I turned the couch over and out came a heap of stuff. Yes - that's an empty water bottle - it's not even the brand I buy - so I don't know who slipped that in. To make the story even better, Carter came running over to inspect the pile. He started screaming in joy because he found candy - then his screams turned into disappointment because I wouldn't let him eat it. But he quickly recovered, because he found all sorts of treasures.... his lost whistle (which I'm wishing would have stayed lost), cars and makeup. At least this little treasure hunt did produce two binkies.

Janie

Here is a tribute to the best baby ever!
I sat her down and took a few pictures before church.
I couldn't decide which one I liked the most so - I've posted them all.




And finally she put her hand and said "no more".

The Boys

While Mia is at school, Carter likes to hang out with some of his buddies. Here he is with Cole and TJ and Liam.


It's always fun feeding a group of boys - here they are pretending to be dinasours.

Uncle Charky and Cousin Eiza

Chark and Eiza came over on Saturday to come swimming with us.

Afterward Eiza taught Mia how to play the Nintendo DS.

She did it!!!!!

Janie has yet to roll over - until tonight.


Her pediatrician was concerned that at 7 months old, she hasn't rolled - so she had to be evaluated by the states early intervention service. We knew nothing was wrong - but you can't help worrying about your baby.So we had been practicing what the physical therapist had taught us. And tonight she rolled - not once - but about 15 times. Every time we cheered she got more excited and wanted to roll again.



Here are the cheerleaders - Devynn and Mia - doing some moves to encourage Janie.
Devynn said "Janie is the best bowler ever! I mean roller."

Water Balloon Fight

The Bus stop moms hatched up a plan to attack our children when they got off the bus.


We lured them over with otter pops, and then while their hands were full - or at least one hand - we got them with water balloons.


It quickly turned into an all out battle with water guns and balloons. We had 6 tubs of balloons, so the fight lasted quite awhile.



This is Mia before...


And this is Mia after she got pelted in the head with a balloon.


Carter had to keep up with the big kids - he was getting anyone who came near him.


Janie stayed cool with some cold balloons all around her.


What a fun day!!!!

Back to School Part 2

Now it's Carter's turn to go back to school.
All week he's said "I school" or "I bus". Unfortunately there's no school bus for his preschool.



He's walking into school with his best friend and cousin Michael.
Michael had so much fun at the school he didn't want to leave.

I can't wait to find out what Carter has learned today.

No more Binky

Life has been really tough for Carter ever since he mailed his Binkies away to the Binky fairy. He no longer takes naps (which is really tough for mom), except for when he is so exhausted he basically falls over asleep.



Today it was really quiet in my house - and knowing that something must be up - I went to the playroom and found this adorable boy.







Here are some additional shots of Carter passing out.





Carter found a binky shortly after the binky fair had come. So without hesitation Mom grabbed a pair of finger nail clippers (the closest cutting device around) and chopped the top off. For the next 30 minutes Carter just said "My binky rip"

Sunday Evening

This is what my kids look like all Sunday evenings.
Partly because mom doesn't want their church clothes to get dirty, but mostly because - they love to be naked. I'm hoping one day they will outgrow this phase.

It looks like Janie needs to get in the sun a little more often to catch up to her siblings.


And it wouldn't be a photo shoot without Carter trying to attack the baby, and without Janie sticking her tongue out.