Assorted Summer Silliness

At different times this summer the kids have asked me to take their picture for various reasons. I have a few random photos and figured I'd post them quickly before heading off to swim lessons. Here Matt is doing bubble experiments. He was really proud that he figured out how to make bubbles upon bubbles.


Here's Sammy doing I don't know what, but the kids all think it's hilarious to walk around like this with their shirt over their head. I don't remember doing that, but I do remember when I used to take off a turtleneck shirt, I would let the turtleneck collar stay on my head, and pretend the shirt and sleeves were my long, flowing hair.... I guess it's similar.

Grow Grass, Grow!

Grass is never too far off my mind. Ever since we've moved into this house, I've been hyper-focused on trying to make grass grow. It's hard to have a mud pit for a backyard when you have lots of kids who want to run around. Also, as I have started the grass growing project, I have heard more horror stories of grass that took two years to grow, and water bills topping $1,000! It was really scary. We were also hurt by the fact that our soil was quite rocky and was previously completely wooded. With that in mind, we've been trying to grow grass in the most economical and yet effective way. Here's our mudpit once it was graded and "rock hounded".....


Here's our yard after the hydroseed was sprayed on.....


Here are the first sprigs of grass. I must say, we were really lucky that it rained enough the first two weeks to save us on time consuming and expensive watering. Everyone else in town was grumpy about the weather, but not me!.....


Here is what our lawn looks like today. It's still a bit patchy but it's getting there! We also already added our fire pit and roasted marshmallows on the 4th.....

The Highs and Lows of Toilet Training

While we haven't officially started toilet training, Allie loves the idea of it. Nothing productive has happened yet, but Allie has embraced the naked baby role completely. To add to the excitement all the big kids remember the mantra "Poop on the toilet and get a donut" (long story- started with Matt and just makes me look like a really bad mom) so if Allie even hints that she might want to use the toilet, the little guys start jumping around and scream with anticipation. There have been some funny photos over the last few days and since I have not posted anything toilet related in a while I figured a few photos wouldn't hurt. *Bare Bum Alert- it's all over the place here* Here she is with her supportive brothers with donut aspirations...

Here she is dragging her toilet around with her. It's so funny to watch, I think every one of my kids did that...

I'm not sure why, but it seems the less clothes my kids have on, the more important it is to have a hat on.

And what toilet training photo montage would be complete without the inevitable crash from all the toilet excitement?

Next is the not so fun part of actual toilet training which always includes stepping in a puddle and wondering "Did I just (hopefully) step in water?".

Summer Fun

It's nice to finally be in the full swing of summer. With school finishing so late this year, I feel like we have some catching up to do. We started swim lessons this week and everyone is taking a class except for Allie who gets to play in the kiddie pool. The weather has been beautiful the last couple of days (uh oh, time to water the lawn!) and perfect for swimming. I know for a normal person it is not a big feat to remember the camera, but I was really proud of myself for remembering to document this fun summer memory *patting myself on the back*. Here is the big pool, it's hard to see any of the kids but gives you an idea of what it looks like.

Here's Allie in the kiddie pool. It's big but only 1 foot deep throughout, it's really perfect for little guys.



Even the big kids like to relax in the kiddie pool before lessons...

Well, Tom's not so sure he wants to go in, but everyone else was having fun!

Rainbow Connection

We had a beautiful rainbow last night. Here is the view from our front porch. It was so bright! Sam wanted to go find the pot of gold because it looked like it was in our neighbor's backyard. I think I need a new camera because this photo does not do the rainbow justice. I have had the song "Rainbow Connection"- the one sung by Kermit the Frog running through my head all day.

Fuddy Duddy

I have officially become my father. My dad always hated sleepovers, now I know why. I am not fun, although I hid it well for Pete's sake on sleepover night. I smiled on the outside, but oh on the inside it was "black guts and stuff". I officially earn the title as the "lameoid parent". I did receive some great advice about limiting the size of the party etc. but it was too little, too late.

I'm sorry for not responding to calls or e-mails, I was in a trance-like state yesterday; just trying to survive. The last kid to go to bed was at 4:45am, and yes, it was the non-cute one. He even was trying to keep the other ones up by every five minutes asking..."Hey Colin, are you awake?!". If I had a voodoo doll of that child.....

I dragged my sorry self to bed for two hours of sleep. I did sneak a nap in for an hour as well yesterday but, oh man, I AM OLD!!! How did we do that as kids? Why did we want to do that as kids? I must say this has been quite a learning experience and I know the next time they want to do something like laser tag, I am just going to cough up the money and consider it well spent (mental health protection).


ps- This is my 100th post. Yeah, me! Do I get a prize for that (ie. an all expense paid trip to a sensory deprivation chamber for 48 hours)?

Serious Miscalculation

Ok. So I'm kind of rethinking this whole sleepover idea and it's now a little too late. What was I thinking having a troupe of boys over for the whole night? I know what I was thinking; it's cheap. Ah, caught by the cheap lure again. I should have just shelled out for the laser tag and been done with it. It's 12:30 and they are all going strong... all of them! The good thing is they are all really sweet and cute except for one. You know the one, there's always one. The one who tells you what's about to happen in the movie every time. The one who talks a little too loud. The one who checks around the corner to see if I'm watching ("that's right kid... I've got my eyes on you" *imagine me gesturing with my two fingers at my eyeballs then pointing them to him*). This is the one who will stay up all night too I'm sure. I think that non-cute kid was probably me when I was young..... I guess a little empathy would be in order. That or tough love, he doesn't want to wind up like me. Oh well.

I have picked up lots of juicy information though. I now know who everyone likes in fifth grade and as they say, knowledge is power. I wonder how much it's worth to these kids for me to keep quiet. It's just mostly sleepless babble....mostly. ;) Here's Pete blowing out the candles....


Here they are singing "What's your girlfriend's first name?". Then they really answer the question!