In a loud house on a quiet street....

Quiet (ha!) for two more days...

2009-06-03T09:49:00.002-05:00

School is out in two days. Finally the "countdown" has gotten so close that I'm paying attention to it. TWO days, Mom! Today is the LAST day of GYM, Mom! ONE more sleep then the LAST day of school, Mom!

I think I must hate change. Because I sit here, wondering what in the world we are going to do all summer! But I know equally as certainly that come August, I'll be wondering where the summer went and be sad that everyone has to go back to school! So, either I hate change, or nothing can make me happy. Pick one, I guess.

Yesterday, I was "Salon Mom". I gave haircuts to Skylar, Kaia and Jeff. I wish I had a picture of the back of Jeff's head because everyone would feel sorry for him and encourage him to get his haircut by someone who actually knows what they are doing... and even when to school to learn those skills. See, I forgot that I didn't have the clipper guard on. And I wanted to even out the back of his hair before I got out the scissors. Can you guess the rest? Maybe I'll get him to pose for a picture. But maybe not... I'm trying to downplay the damage.

Kaia's hair, however, is adorable. We did a short little sassy cut for the summer and she's working it well. Skylar just wanted a trim, so that's what she got.

In other, completely unrelated news, my blender broke yesterday. I must replace it, and soon!! Tis the season of green smoothies (so delicious, and healthy!) and... ok, Margaritas. So, the girls and I are going to go on a search. You'd think finding a blender would be easy, but I have standards, people!

I'm almost embarassed...

2009-05-27T21:36:00.003-05:00

The kid in the picture above might learn that emotion sometime during his life. Maybe. But so far: not so much. But back to me...

I haven't updated in a long time. So, embarassed? Nah... that's a huge waste of time, I think I'll settle for something else. Like: Busy. Forgetful. Uninterested. Something along those lines. I just couldn't find my blogging mojo. But I'll try again. It's really been a quiet sort of time, although there were certainly things I *could* have written about..

Like:

My exciting and pain-relieving gall bladder removal... (Wait, should one write about such things?) (Not in great detail, I think...) (And certainly without pictures.) (Enough about my gall bladder.)

Colton's 12th Birthday...

Colton's Lenten Monologue at Church (he was fantastic!)...

Avery having 2 additional laser treatments on her PWS...

Baseball season starting...

My Mom's 60th Birthday Party...

Laura (Aunt Wo) having her first baby...

Me getting a part-time job starting in the September...

So that's about it. And I haven't loaded pictures onto this darn computer for a long time (Like two months!) So, the pictures you've been subjected to are not recent, but still...

Isn't this one worth seeing? Yeah, I thought so.

He's been waiting for this.

2008-12-05T19:44:00.002-06:00

Anyone know what these are? These lovely-- not yet smelly-- delightfully athletic foot coverings? These represent the beginning of the ERA (perhaps it's too soon to call it an era, but in the event that it turns into one, I can look back at this and say "I called it!! I called it!!") here in our happy household.

Anyone? Anyone? Ok. I'll tell you. Those... things... are wrestling shoes. Yep. Although Jeff would probably deny it (Heck, he HAS denied it) I'm pretty close to positive he's been waiting for this moment ever since his little (!?!? See the SIZE of those shoes?) boys were born. Wrestling. Jeff's "thing". He started wrestling when he was Hunter's age. And didn't stop until he graduated from Purdue. And even now, likes to pull moves on unsuspecting children of all genders and ages.

So, the boys have started wrestling. And, my goodness, they require a Commitment (with a capital "C") out of these boys. Every Monday and Thursday from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm they practice. They also will have some meets, although we don't know a lot about them yet.

I do have to say that he didn't pressure them, although he DID make it sound like it would be really fun. And it probably IS really fun. But I'm a girl. I don't know anything about wrestling, except that the few times Jeff took me to a wrestling meet I always felt... concern. No, concern is too tame a word. Alarm is better. Alarm, as in I should call 911 because that kid is seconds away from breaking his arm/leg/spine/whatever!!

Jeff is SO going to roll his eyes at me and call me out for this entry. I say: bring it on!

Christmas Angels

2008-12-04T08:16:00.003-06:00

Our Church is just great. One of the things that really drew me to the Church is the fantastic Children and Youth programs. They really encourage children to branch out, explore different areas, give them so many opportunities to be great and do good. Basically-the Church treats them like they are... well... God's gift. (Man, when I write things like that it feels like I am being crazy sarcastic, but it's true. I can't think of any other way to put it!)

Last Sunday was the culmination of weeks of "Angel Practice" for Avery and Skylar (That sounds more impressive than it was. They practiced for an hour and a half the three Sunday's prior to this). They were dancing angels at both services for the beginning of Advent. We have a fabulous dance instructor/choreographer who is a member. She created this adorable routine where these 5 little girls (all under 8) were mischievous little dancing angels. Here's a pic of them while they were waiting for the service to begin:

Here's another picture of all the angels, as well as the choreographer. See how good they were behaving? They had to sit in the choir room for 30 minutes in costume before it was their time to dance. One could almost say they were behaving, oh, I don't know.... angelically?

In addition to these adorable little girls, there was a gorgeous, extremely talented high school dancer keeping them all together (And also doing incredible leaps, turns, and twirls--- and looking impossibly graceful while doing so). The quality of this picture isn't the best, I had to zoom in so you could see my little angels:

I can't tell you how many people have come up to be to comment on how adorable they were. I'm never sure how to respond to that kind of comment. I've ranged from "Oh, yes! Wasn't that just so cute!" To: "Monika did such a great job with the choreography! And her student dancer was incredible!" To: "They had such a great time doing it!"

It's not like I had anything to do with their adorable-ness. Well, I guess I did give them baths and comb their hair before they went to church that morning. Does that count?

Look what happened here over Thanksgiving!

2008-12-03T08:34:00.005-06:00

It's hard to believe it's starting already. Wah. And, as I type this, it's snowing AGAIN. (Fresh off the camera) Here's a couple shots of the bus stop in our driveway this morning:

I hope we aren't in for another winter like last one, but it's not looking very good so far! At least we might have a white Christmas!

We've been SO busy lately. November was a month that had Grandma Kaye and Grandpa Bill visiting from Florida (we had a great time!); school conferences for everyone (except Kaia! They all are doing awesomely); I participated in a concert at Drake University that required a lot of rehearsal time (It went very well, and was quite fun!); and then, of course Thanksgiving! Oh yeah, and Black Friday shopping (after which every time I go I swear I'm not doing it ever again!). All of which, naturally, left me with a WHOLE LOTTA of my favorite thing piled up:

So it all made for a pretty crazy month, but it was good!

I've got a number of specific updates to do, so I'll move on to give each of them their due. Be prepared!!

Halloween

2008-11-04T09:12:00.006-06:00

A rare picture of the entire group! Colton decided to go as a Ninja. Which is a far cry from his costume of last year, when he was a....Ninja. And the year before, when he dressed up as a adorable little.... Ninja. He's nothing if not consistent. And Hunter ("My brother's Darth Vader") finally got his turn in the evil spotlight. Avery reeeealllly wanted to be this pumpkin, but I think that once she got it on, she kinda had costume envy. Something to do with the wings on the little pink fairy. And Kaia was rockin' the cat walk. :)

We let the school-aged kids roam the neighborhood on their own, but these two little trick-or-treater's were escorted around by their father. Skylar said (after it was over) that she wanted to wear the same costume next year because "everyone said I was adorable!" Nothing like positive feedback to feed the soul, is there?

The weather was so warm (in the 60's-- which I know is a cold snap in Florida, but on Halloween in the midwest, it's WARM!) that we actually sat out on the porch to hand out treats and hear the jokes.

I had to give Mr. Ghostie his own shot! Well, mostly. He had to share the spotlight (so to speak) with Avery's and Colton's Jack-O-Lanterns.

The kids got waaaaaayyyy too much candy. We've got 4 freezer bags (gallon size!) full of the loot! Surprisingly, there were a lot of houses that gave away full-sized candy bars. We're letting them enjoy the feeling of being "candy rich" for now, but plan on culling it down to personal favorites soon... so we aren't doing the "candy for snack" thing indefinitely.

What is it they say about Pictures?

2008-10-28T13:15:00.003-05:00

Guess what Avery learned how to do? I could wax poetic about it, but I think it would be easier to just show you:

You'd never know it by looking, though that this little six year old literally *just* had her training wheels taken off. The training wheels were crooked, make her lean to one side, and I-- personally-- had enough of it! (I don't think I wrote about the time she said she'd ride her own bike to the park last summer when we were going on a family bike ride. Suffice it to say, she didn't. Lots of crying. Lots of drama. And walking. Waaah. It's still a bad memory...for me, at least!)But look at her now! She's got it goin' on! Not five minutes of practice, and she's able to ride all by herself. Can you see the pride on her face? Go Avery, Go Avery, go, go, GO AVERY!

And, unlike her mother, she managed to ride up and down the sidewalk without running into anything. Like the mailman. Not that she could, because our mailman stays in his little mail truck and does not venture out onto the sidewalks of our neighborhood. But still. If he had been there, he would have been safe.

So, although our bike riding days are winding down for 2008, the summer of 2009 is looking to be very, very, two wheelish. If that's even a word.

Our little football player...

2008-10-20T18:39:00.002-05:00

Little being completely relative. He's a small member of this household. He's small compared to Amazon warriors. He's small compared to the trees in our backyard. Small compared to his fellow 3rd grade team members? Not so much. See? Relative. Right?
He's lined up here to block that unsuspecting blue garbed boy. (Well, he's probably suspecting it in some manner, I shouldn't speak for him.They are playing football, after all.)
Hunter made THREE catches, and scored an extra point for his team. They actually..... WON!! Their first win of the season, for their second to last game of the season.

This is what Kaia thought of the whole experience. She l.o.v.e.d it. She had such a great time! She laughed, she ran, she yelled "touchdown!" Errrrr.... something like that. Maybe she just had a two year old moment. A loooonnng two year old moment. Heck, life can't always be sunshine and happiness. Sometimes, it's fog and temper tantrums.

A pair of Princesses live here.

2008-10-14T12:42:00.004-05:00

And they live with a Queen, who happens to sometimes pretend to be crafty, in a very basic (like glue and construction paper) way. We were bored. We wanted to do a project. So we made construction paper crowns. Here is our handiwork:

Look at this little beauty! Doesn't she look like someday she'll rule with a benevolent hand, just like she was taught by her royal mommy?

And this little bit of loveliness has already figured out that a Princess must always wear dresses, must always have on the proper shoes, and must always use a tissue to wipe ones nose. She's such a quick study.

I should have made my own crown, but we were out of green construction paper. And since green is my favorite color in the whole world, anything else just wouldn't do. I have standards, I tell you.

You can say "Fall", if that's what you please.

2008-10-13T13:58:00.006-05:00

But I say, "I like Autumn!"

(Anyone know that song? Show? Name it! Never mind... you'll never get it! Jeff, of course I know you'll get it. At least you better!)

So, it's completely and totally Autumn here. Don't believe me? Check this out:

I took out the camera this morning because our trees are real purty now, and after it finishes raining today, it's doubtful that they will look as loverly. Rain has a tendency to hurry up the leaf-falling process.

Did you notice the little baby tree we planted a few weeks ago? It's a Pin Oak. We also planted a yellow maple, and two teeny tiny flowering pear trees. Why, you might ask? That's because the yellow and red trees in the above picture are ash trees and they are probably going to perish sometime in the future due to the evil Emerald Ash Borer and gosh darn it, I like to plan ahead. I don't want to have dead trees and THEN plant baby trees. I want to have juvenile trees when our trees die. And if they DON'T die, then we'll just be all tree happy here in our little ole' piece of suburbia.

Here's yet another Ash tree... this one is in the front of our house. Why didn't they use a more diverse landscaping option? I don't know. Probably has something to do with the fact that Ash Trees grow fast. They're hardy. And they're all going to die. Waaaaaahhhh.

Enough of that. Seriously, I'm done.

Some things heard around our house last week:

"Mom, why are we having "old rotten" potatoes?" -- Hunter (Can you guess what we were really having?)

"Mom, Colton told me to go away! Was that nice? I think not!" -- Skylar

"All this walking is making my legs fall off!" - Skylar

"Is it the weekend yet?" - Avery (On Monday)

"I didn't mean to hit him. I just was holding the stick!" - Colton

"Dahdee go?" Kaia (Numerous times, every blasted day)

So things just continue to move along here. The kids are off school today for inservice or Columbus day or some such reason. Since it is, in fact, raining, we're getting some chores done and playing quite a bit of Wii. Highly recommend Mario Cart. It's a good time.

Perhaps.

2008-09-25T11:40:00.005-05:00

Perhaps I should spend a couple of minutes and write about Skylar's new favorite word, which happens to be: Perhaps.

Imagine, if you will, a four year old-- who still hasn't managed to grow hair on the top of her head, not that it matters, but I'm just saying-- using the word "perhaps" appropriately and frequently throughout the day. For example:

In response to the question "What would you like for lunch today, Skylar?"

"Um... perhaps some cheese and crackers, an apple, and a lemon yogurt?"

While trying to get out of taking a nap:

"Perhaps I could NOT take a nap today, and perhaps take one tomorrow instead?"

While getting dressed:

"I should perhaps save this skirt to wear to preschool tomorrow. I'll wear these shorts today."

Negotiating a snack:

"Perhaps I can have come candy corn now, and perhaps a granola bar later?"

I'm not sure what it is about the word that it making her use it so much lately. Perhaps she just likes the way it feel on her lips? Perhaps she thinks it makes her sound intelligent? Perhaps it's just another item on the list of things that make Skylar.... Skylar.

Go, Cubs, Go!!!

2008-09-20T21:51:00.003-05:00

They clinched the NL central today!!

I don't think I'm going out on a limb here to say that one of the big things we miss about living in the Chicago area is the Cubbies. We almost always went down to Wrigley for a game or two a year. Just cause we're in Iowa now doesn't mean we still aren't fans! We listen to Pat and Ron on the Radio, catch as many games as we can on the TV, and are really excited about this post-season!

Go, Cubs! GO!!!

The Paparazzi are crazy here, I tell you!

2008-09-17T12:30:00.005-05:00

What are we going to do? When you can't even go to a Church event without being hounded by the press?!?! I mean, I know we're photogenic and all, but puh-leeze... all we're looking for is a little privacy. We just want to live our lives like "normal people"- whatever that is.

I guess I'm just going to have to accept this celebrity, for what it's worth. Either that, or round up all the copies of this paper that I can find to send it to everyone we know. One of those, for sure.

So much for timely updates...

2008-09-09T14:25:00.008-05:00

I'm sitting here trying to figure out if I should skip over everything interesting that I thought "Oh, I should blog about that" over the last few weeks and just start with "new" stuff... or should I do a separate entry for everything that's gone on here... or should I lump everything into one long entry.... or should I do one condensed short entry that briefly touches on everything? Or perhaps the ever popular: Forget I started a blog altogether and have this become another one of my great ideas on which I don't follow through.

No, not that. (Sorry, but if you really wanted me to pick that option, you can just stop reading. There. Now we're all happy!) So I think I'll try to briefly touch on a few things and maybe add a few pictures of them.

In a nutshell:

Hunter's Ninth Birthday
Avery's refusal to go to school anymore
Labor Day Weekend Camping trip
Kaia's Birthday

Yeah, Hunter is 9. Nine. And had the unfortunate problem of having all of his "cool" presents given to him prior to his big day. So he got Clothes. And some money. And, because we felt sorry for him and wanted it anyway... we got "ROCKBAND" for our Wii. And let him unwrap it. Let me tell you something.... our Band's name is "Redrock" and ooooooooohhhhh we can ever jam. If you've never heard an 11 year old singing Bon Jovi or the Clash, you are missing out on one of the great joys in life. I never realized that playing the drums (and keeping a steady rhythm) can be so difficult. But, I can attest that it is.

And Avery. Avery Lauren. The second week of school she decided that she wanted to have hot lunch (they were having French Toast... a favorite of Colton's). Then as the time for the bus drew near, she decided she did NOT want to have hot lunch. When I said it was too late to make her a cold lunch she lost her mind a teeny tiny little bit. She was NOT going to have hot lunch. And, furthermore, she was NOT going to go to school. EVER. She clung to the banister. She clung to the front door. She had to be forcibly lifted on to the bus. She didn't care that everyone was looking at her. She knew what she wanted, and that was to STAY HOME. (And not have hot lunch!)

I was sure once I got out of the picture (meaning she got on her way to school) she'd be fine. I did call her teacher to let her know that Avery was not happily coming to school that day, but I was pretty sure she'd be fine. Well. Just goes to show me that I did not anticipate the sheer force of will of our oldest daughter. At 9:30, (school starts at 9:05) I got a call from the principal of her school, who stated (In a very nice way) that Avery was having a difficult morning, and would not enter her classroom. They did finally get her off the bus (Colton sat with her and was late for his class!) and she had since been saying that she wanted to "Go home NOW!" The principal was calling me because Avery wanted her to call and tell me to come and get her NOW!" The principal was not suggesting that I do that, in fact, she told Avery that I was busy doing "grown up things" but Avery did not believe it (She knows my life too well, having spent the last 6 years with me. Grown up things?!? The idea is preposterous!) and wanted her to call. She was fulfilling a promise to Avery. When we spoke, Avery was with the guidance counselor who apparently got her into her classroom. Since then... it's all been good. But sheesh, girl!

And we went camping Labor Day weekend.We go to a place very close by called Timberline Campground It was fun. Skylar was taking a little bit too much liberty (Like, she'd run off to the park without asking or telling us where she was going. Also, she would "adopt" people who looked like they were doing stuff she thought was better than what she was doing. Once, she walked by our trailer with a family who was headed to the arcade. And was upset when I made her stay with us. Aunt Wo saw her at another families campsite. Any semblance of "liberty" was over at that point.)

We were thinking about going again in a couple of weeks, but honestly, I am over it this year. I can't seem to muster up the energy to get everything shopped for, packed, loaded up, set up, taken down, hauled home, laundered and put away again. I do love to camp, but it is a lot of work. Well, it is when you're taking along 5 children. Which we have, if you've forgotten.

Here are pictures of our campsite all set up, for those of you who asked:

Here's the whole set up. Sorta.

From the Kid's bed. The "bathroom" isn't set up yet. Colton sleeps on the left bed (Where the baseball blanket is) Kaia sleeps in a pack and play in the middle (well, she won't anymore, cause she'll be too big!) and Jeff and I sleep straight ahead!

Avery, Skylar and Hunter sleep on this end. By the "Kitchen". We've only used the stove once, when it was raining, and Jeff and I needed coffee. Otherwise, we use the stove outside.

Night shot. I didn't realize it was so out-of-focus, so, sorry about that.

And finally, Kaia's birthday! She's two! And not terrible at all. Ok, if I'm keepin' it real: she's a little tyrannical. At times. Well, most every day there's a little episode of tyrant. But she's also sweet, and funny, and will give me a kiss whenever I want her to, which makes up for pretty much any tyrannical behavior she might exhibit from time to time.

We had a little party for her, and she got some presents. It was a good day!

Yes, I made this cheesy concoction. I wish I could say that she "wanted" a girlie pink cake, but she didn't have anything to say on the subject. Like most things.

She loved her presents that make noise! Me, not so much.

Now, I think I'm pretty much caught up. Jeff heads off to Indiana this coming weekend for his TWENTIETH high school reunion. Zoiks! He's old. So I'm going to be kid wrangling solo this weekend-- Hunter has his second flag football game, and I'll do my best to remember the camera. :)

First Day of School... Wah....

2008-08-20T14:18:00.008-05:00

Avery started Kindergarten today! She was pretty excited, with a little nervous thrown in, I believe. She got up early (for her-- 7:00!) Got dressed right away (I told ya her Hannah Montana shirt was going to get some wearing!) got herself some cereal.... and then... couldn't eat it. I can tell you with certainty that she did NOT get the "Can't eat when nervous" gene from myself.
The bus wasn't scheduled to arrive until 8:40 (school starts at 9:05) but we were out waiting by 8:25. I'm sure the exuberance towards this will slow down as school becomes normal. Until then, I shall enjoy the respite from "Get up! Hurry up! Eat! Have you packed your lunch? Brushed your teeth? Have your homework? No, you CANNOT wear that! I don't care, you HAVE to comb your hair! That is NOT going to school, toys do not belong at school!" even if it's only for today. Totally off topic here, but look at those impatiens! Aren't they lovely! I've managed to keep them alive all summer!

Hunter let me take his picture, too. He's standing next to his buddy up the street, who happens to be in the *same* class as Hunter again this year. Yep, these two boys are both starting Third Grade this year. And who said Hunter was going to be tall? Whoever that was, you're crazy. Clearly, he's just slightly above average in height. Or something. And he has braces now, too! I'll get a better picture of him up (a close up, even) that shows them in all their green glory.

Avery's friend from the neighborhood was also very glad that Avery was starting school this year. She's a year ahead of Avery, and is planning on showing her the ropes, starting with her first ride to school on the bus. It's nice to have friends who have BTDT, right?

And they're off! The bus stop is at the end of our driveway this year because, apparently, Kindergarteners have to be picked up/dropped off at home. Pretty cool! Let me tell you, it was quiet around here this morning with just Skylar and Kaia (even though they are, arguably, the loudest of the five!) Making lunch for just two kiddos? No problem! We even went to the library AND the store this morning.
Since Avery is in all-day kindergarten, they are doing a phased dismissal for the first three weeks. This week, she gets dismissed at 12:30, and the next two weeks, it's 1:30. After that, she goes all day... for real.

She hasn't been too talkative about her first day, they colored a picture, read a story, blah, blah.
However, there were a few things that she wanted to make sure I was aware of in regards to her first day:

Her new shoes hurt her feet. The nerve!
The girl we met when we dropped of supplies sits at her table!
She ate all of her lunch because she was starving.

So, I guess those first day jitters were over by lunchtime, which is a good thing!!

A Birthday at a Campground (Vacation Part Trois)

2008-08-14T17:24:00.003-05:00

This is how our beloved six year old, Avery, started out her birthday. She made sure we packed her "6" shirt so everyone would know she was six now, but she didn't want me to comb her hair. I did anyway. Because I'm mean like that, and Avery made sure I knew it. We quickly got over this little difference of opinion (she was sure that because it was her birthday she didn't have to do anything she didn't want to, and I drew the line with the hair combing) and proceeded to have a good day! She got to swim, hike, and play at the playground. And, of course, the part she was most excited for.... presents!!

Avery (and Skylar, if you remember her birthday!) is a HUGE Hannah Montana fan. Not that they watch the TV show too much, they are really just a marketing dream. But she *loved* her Hannah shirt and Lunchbox... they are going to be with her on the first day of school, I believe!

And this Bratz doll has gotten her hair styled more times than I can count. My little girl has some skillz in the hair styling department.

We went out for pizza after opening presents, and then picked up her DQ ice cream cake on the way back to the campground. It was an easy way to solve the "How do you do a birthday cake when you don't have an oven?" question. We bought one. And it was delicious!

The day the music died... (Vacation Part Deux)

2008-08-09T09:29:00.004-05:00

Yep... that's it. The last place that Ritchie Valens, The "Big Bopper" and Buddy Holly performed their last concert. In, like, 1959. Waaaaaay before MY time. But I really like the song "American Pie" which is about their untimely deaths... You know.... "The Day, the muuuusic... Died." I do wonder (when I'm in a wondering mood) what would have happened to the music scene if they hadn't died. They, really, were just getting started in their respective careers. And, I also have to confess, I have wondered "Why in the world were they at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa? In February?" Seems like a strange place to be if you are a rising, not unknown, musician.

So, we had a good time in the "Northern Iowa" part of our vacation. We went on a hike (well, some of us did. Me, not so much. I had to drive the Suburban from Point A to Point B. Seriously, Man. Kaia and Skylar were with me.) We got LOTS of mosquito bites, regardless of liberal use of repellent. I hate mosquite bites. I don't think I'm alone there.

This is the tower on top of the knob, for which Pilots Knob was named. I won't go into what a "knob" is, even though I am really smart and do know. It has to do with Glaciers. That's all I'm saying.

We ate a lot of food. Hunter, I think, ate more than most. This will only get better as he gets older, right?

Colton doing dishes. Beautiful, just beautiful. Nothing more to say.

Once again, I saved the best for last. Hunter's big catch! Isn't the look on his face priceless? We let the boys (Colton, Hunter, and nephew John) go down to the dock to fish by themselves after dinner a few times. This was caught the first time we let them go. John came running back to our campsite saying "Jeff, Jeff!! Colton's got a big one! He can't get it off the hook! You have to come now!!!"

So, Jeff walks down to the dock (probably 1/3 mile away) and comes walking back 15 minutes later saying "It was nothing! They were freaking out about a little 5 inch..." At this point John came running again (why he was the one always sent running back to camp, I'm not sure) yelling "Jeff, Jeff!! Seriously! Hunter has a HUGE one! He gave the pole to Colton. It's big!!" Jeff was like "Dude. I'm driving this time. You guys have GOT to learn how to take these fish off the hooks." (Full disclosure: this is the last time they asked for help)

When he came back he was actually impressed. Hunter did catch a pretty big one. Or Colton. Hunter hooked it, then Colton held it, John ran for Jeff, Jeff reeled it in, took it off the hook, and cleaned it. Maybe "Group Effort" is a more accurate phrase.

My walk down memory lane....

2008-08-02T10:48:00.006-05:00

You'd think I'd have something better to do than blog on vacation, right? Mostly, I'd agree. Except all the kids (minus Kaia) are fishing with their Dad, and the aforementioned Kaia and I are just chillin'. So, I thought I'd check out the Wi-Fi here at Deer Valley Lodge and, guess what? It works!! And it's not even all that slow! Yahoo!

We've had a good time--- fishing every day, swimming every day, sitting by a campfire every night. But yesterday, my older brother and I took a little walk down memory lane in Mason City.

See this little house? It's where we were wee little ones. We moved from here before *I* started school, so--- pretty little. But I remember it! I've always thought I was a little strange with my detailed memory... but I am who I am, I can't help it! Besides, it helps to fill in the blank spots that appear to be in Matt's memory, so sometimes it's actually helpful. This house is where we used to eat dog food in the garage (which has been finished into a room on the right side of the house) jump off the bar in the basement while wearing my mom's aprons pretending we were superheros who could fly.

There's a house on the right--- the man who lived there used to trap snapping turtles... and never got tired of showing us how they could snap off a twig with their, um, snappers? Then he'd eat 'em. I recall tasting them too. I know what you're thinking. Yes, I was an adventurous child.

Oh, look! Here's another... little house!! This is where most of my Mason City memories happened (I spent a long time trying to figure out an "m" word that meant happened, to keep the alliteration going there, but came up short. I feel slightly disappointed.) Wait a minute. Would materialized work? My Mason City memories materialized? Maybe. Might be. Magnificent!

I won't bore you with all the details, just a few highlights: The sidewalk there? A little bit down the street is where I literally ran into the mailman while learning how to ride my bike. Mail went flying everywhere... my slightly embarrassed mom came running down the street to help pick up the mess. Me? More than slightly embarrassed, I ran to the refuge of this little house. The neighbor to the left of this house (when we lived there!), Mr. Garrett, used to go fossil hunting. I would spend hours kneeling by him in his driveway with a little hammer, trying to uncover fossils in the rocks he would bring home. He used to rotary mow his lawn, too. I can still hear the whir of the blades as they sliced through the grass. I'm thinking we had very interesting neighbors!

My brother and I had the run of the neighborhood. Looking back on it I used to marvel at how different things were then. My mom just let us go... we'd come back for meals. The block seemed huge. HUGE! But, after seeing it yesterday, I realize that maybe my mom wasn't all that brave. The block is tiny. Small. Like what seemed like the entire universe when I was 7.... was actually about 7 of these sized houses backed up to each other. Not so big. Not so intimidating to a parent. But loads of fun for a 7 year old!

Ahhh. Herbert Hoover Elementary. Where I spent First - Third grade. Where mean Mrs. Whitis ridiculed me in front of my entire first grade class for writing an "I Love You, I Miss You" letter to my mom. Where I learned that boys can be mean, snowball throwing jerks. Where I skinned my knee while skipping in from recess in second grade and got a very impressive gauze pad taped onto said knee. The school I had to leave when my Dad got transferred to Des Moines. Who knows what would have happened had we stayed in Mason City? River City. The city where I partially grew up.

(Props must go to my big bro, Matt, whose sweet little Garmin found all of these places. Because even though I remember them, I sure as heck couldn't FIND them!)

Gettin' caught up...

2008-07-28T10:23:00.007-05:00

Jeff and I are back from Chicago. I started writing this days ago, when it seemed timely to say that. Now it seems rather like old news. We had such a good time and learned that a weekend goes by even MORE quickly without the kids around. At any rate, our friends are married now, and off on their honeymoon to Mexico.
Why is it that whenever I go to a wedding, afterwards I think "Man, I wish I was going to an all-inclusive resort in Mexico, Jamaica, wherever!" Cause I always do, and we NEVER do, I suppose! I wish I had some great pictures of our weekend, but I don't! We didn't even get one.single.picture of us together on this childless escapade. However, I did manage to snap this one of the view out of our hotel window on Friday:

It's pretty darn funny, considering that we drove six hours to get a view of the building of the company Jeff works at.... Chicagoland location!

Aunt Wo stayed with the kids all weekend... yes, she's probably a saint. I think her plan was to keep them sooooo occupied that they were exhausted by the end of the day. On Friday, they went out to the school she'll be teaching at this fall, carried boxes of her supplies in, a carpet for her reading corner and ran around the halls. They they went out for pizza. On Saturday, James took the boys fishing, Wo took the girls to the play place at the mall, then out for happy meals. Then... they blew up our waterslide, invited friends over to play... decided they wanted to go to the "beach" (we have a park nearby with a river that has a beach on one side for swimming) THEN came back in time to watch Hannah Montana in 3D on the Disney Channel.

I think Sunday was pretty low-key (although James did take the boys fishing nearby again!) but sheesh! And Kaia.... well, Kaia didn't cry when I (the woman who has taken care of her for her ENTIRE LIFE) left her... but she did when Wo and James left on Sunday. It didn't hurt my feelings. Not one little bit. Ok, maybe a tiny bit.... but I'm over it. Mostly.

I also want to take a minute to document VBS that we spent many, many hours on last week. The kids had a great time, and it was an awesome week, I must say. I was working with the directors.... I think they're thinking that next year I might want to be a director (Pure speculation on my part, but volunteers are always welcome!) and got to see how the whole thing came together. Here's a picture of the kids practicing for their Sunday concert:

This was Colton's last year of VBS, as a participant. Next year, he'll be able to be a youth volunteer, and I'm sure he'll do it. (Especially if I have to recruit volunteers!) He's reaching the age where he's too cool to do things (although you wouldn't know it by the Hannah Montana wig picture) so he spent a lot of the week trying to act a little disinterested. In lieu of that, he acted obnoxious. I'm sure this will only improve as he ages. Can't wait!

The girls and Hunter had a great time... did their projects, listened to stories, played and had fun. Kaia did OK in the nursery, she only had to go for two days, which was enough for her. Grandma Vicki took care of her on Thursday, Jeff took care of her on Monday and Friday. When we went back to pick up the kids on Friday at noon (I was only there for part of the morning, as I needed to pack for our trip!)... Kaia started crying when we got in the parking lot. I think it might have done her in to spend every morning there!!

Isn't that adorable? On Wednesday, there was a dinner at Church and the kids performed their songs, and we all learned (?!) how to hula. Kaia decided she wanted to dress up in her Tinkerbell outfit, and she got a lot of compliments. So many, in fact, that it made her thirsty.

We're getting ready to head out for our "vacation"... which I shouldn't put in quotes, probably, but can it really be a vacation if you only go 2 hours from home? We've gone through so many plans... first, Colorado Springs, then the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee, then the Wisconsin Dells, and where are we going? Clear Lake, Iowa. Which is actually a place I have wanted to go, as I spend a few years of my youth in nearby Mason City.... but I must say, I had much grander plans for this years vacation. Darn Dependence on Foreign Oil.

I blame George Bush.

Hannah Montana.... Five ways....

2008-07-23T13:03:00.011-05:00

I have a confession. I really can't get enough of that silly Hannah Montana wig. It's hilarious! Seeing all that hair on Skylar's head is fuhhhhhneeeee. It's like I gave myself a little present when I gave her that wig!! If you're really paying attention, you'll see that we're getting our Disney Channel shows all mixed up. Hannah Montana wig, High School Musical 2 Jammies. We're a zany family like that.

Ooooh. Look at this little beauty!

There's just something about a baby with a wig on that gets me every time!

And you all know Hunter. He's always ready for a laugh... doesn't care if he's laughing, or if you're laughing at him. It's all good.

I even got Colton in on the fun, with much cajoling

and promises I don't intend to keep! Well, not really about the promises... because I think that's mean. But I did sorta have to beg. Which is demeaning, as a parent, but worth it when you have a picture like this to last the ages. He really should comb that hair, shouldn't he? It's a mess.

Did you all know that Avery lost another tooth? Doesn't the lovely hair highlight the space in her mouth even more? I think so.

We're really busy this week with Vacation Bible School. We're learning all kinds of great songs, making many messy crafts and generally having a blast. Kaia is even surviving the nursery while I help out. Hopefully, I have time to post about that before Jeff and I leave for our CHILDLESS (did I say that too loud?) weekend in Chicago for our friends' wedding. If not, I'll have a lot to catch up on when we get back!

Oh, what the heck. Let's make this Hannah Montana... SIX ways.

So, as a finale to end all finales...

I give you Hannah DogTannah.

She's a supahstar!

Swimming Lessons

2008-07-18T10:15:00.002-05:00

Hunter, Avery, and Skylar have been taking swimming lessons for the last two weeks. Kaia is still too little for swimming lessons. Colton, well, he's too "big" for swimming lessons. Actually, he passed the final level (which is 5, in case you're interested) last summer. This is not to say that he is poised to become the next Michael Phelps... it just means that he can stay afloat and knows the basic swimming strokes. I think. Anyhoo...

Last night was "parent night" at the lessons. Which basially meant that we parents who have been sitting around for the last 8 days of lessons got to venture out of the snack bar area and into the pool area to watch, take pictures of, and cheer on our little swimmers. Jeff and I have been sharing the duties of taking the kids... I pretty much have been taking Skylar and he's been taking Abes and Bunt. There's been a couple of exceptions to that, but in general, that's the way it's gone down.

Skylar is in "Water Pups". Which is just an introduction to the water... they play games, get comfortable in the water (I think the instructors spend a lot of time trying to convince their little charges that they *can* put their faces in the water and survive.)

Well, let me tell you, our little Skylar has completely shocked me. For those of you who remember the little girl who would not go near a swimming pool that was deeper than 6 inches... and who has demonstrated the largest self-preservation instincts of all our children... well, you'd think that she's grown gills or something. She hops right in the water and volunteers to go first when the teacher wants them to jump in the water or go off the diving board. She LOVES it.

Hunter is in Level 5. This is his second time at level 5... he started last summer with Colton, but apparently (according to him) he had some trouble with the backstroke and the butterfly. He is doing better at them this time and thinks he'll pass. Who knows? What I do know is that he'll be done with swimming lessons after this summer. If he's not improved in those two areas, I don't think that another 2 weeks of half hour lessons will solve his technique.

However, (and I may just be a delusional mother here) I personally think that he's a natural swimmer. Like maybe he could become the next Michael Phelps (do I have Olympics on the brain, or what?) if we got him involved in competive swimming. I might just look into that, because I think he's got mad swimming skillz.

Avery is in Level 1. She did Water Pups last year, so she's old enough for "real" lessons. She seems to be having few issues with fear this time around. She's fine as long as her feet can touch the bottom, but doesn't seem to want to try to actually swim.

Oh, she still likes to get in the pool with her swimvest and get all crazy like that, but as much as well try to tell her she can learn to swim without the vest... she ain't all that interested. But, man, she looks good at the poolside, doesn't she?
And, Kaia's been heartbroken everytime we leave the house to take the other kids to lessons. I'm sure she'd jump right in and mix it up... but since she still has a couple of summers to wait (she'll be old enough the summer of 2010... which seems like it should be a long ways away, but...)

Skylar is FOUR, everyone. FOUR!

2008-07-15T08:50:00.004-05:00

Yes, it's true. Skylar has finally hit the big...um, 4. She had her big birthday a couple of weeks ago, and hasn't stopped reminding everyone how old she is now. Which is, in case you've forgotten, FOUR. Here's the big girl getting ready to blow out her candles:

We started the celebration a couple of days early, with a trip to Chuck-E-Cheese. Actually, Jeff and Papaw were working on the sewer line in the basement on the Friday before her birthday (see previous post!) so, since we couldn't use any water in the house, it seemed like a good thing to leave. We weren't actually going to "celebrate" at Chucks, but when they asked if anyone was celebrating a birthday, we thought "why not?" so Skylar got a crown, some extra tokens, and felt pretty darn special!

On her actual birthday, we filled up the waterslide, kiddie pool and I spent a lot of the day in the kitchen... because she wanted spaghetti and meatballs, French bread, homemade icecream, and cream-filled cupcakes. Multiply that into the amounts needed for the 20 people that were sharing in her birthday meal... and you have a lot of food! :) I do love cooking for a crowd, though, so this isn't a "poor me" post. Is it? Anyway, back to the birthday!

She had some pretty specific ideas about what she wanted. In addition to her specific meal, she wanted a "King-yata" (which we figured out was a Pinata)

....and she wanted just about every toy that was advertised in the preceding week to her big day. Although a lot of the fun in birthdays is thinking about the possibilities, we made a lot of attempts to keep her straight on the idea of a "FEW" presents. Pretty consistently, though, she wanted dresses, makeup, jewelry.... you know, *girly* stuff. And those wishes came true. As did her very own "project box"... and a cute pink kitty-cat sleeping bag that she's slept in every night since her birthday.

We're starting to think that this may be the only way this child will have hair:

I'm not sure I'm cataloging this appropriately, but she really had a great day. There were a couple of kinda funny "diva" moments, where she was reminding everyone that she gets to do what she wants because is was *her* birthday. Strangely, I didn't notice that she was wearing her swimsuit in every picture during her actual birthday, but she sure is! Actually, that's not true. She's wearing *Avery's* swimsuit in every picture. Not sure why, because she has a very cute one of her own (to prove this, as a closer, here she is last Monday on her first day of swimming lessons):

Who loves summer?

2008-07-12T14:25:00.008-05:00

We do, We do!!

It's hard to believe that summer is already 1/2 over. It seems like it just got started! We've been busy (as a whole) but we've made sure there's been plenty of time to just chill out (which happens to be one of my favorite activities. I'm pretty sure Jeff likes it too, but don't want to assume anything... ha!)

We had a good visit in June with Jeff's Dad (Papaw) and Cheryl, his wife (Grams). They timed their visit so that they could see the boys play baseball and we could go together to Branson, Mo. for a weekend. They got to see the boys play baseball (an exciting event, at any rate) but we didn't make it to Branson. There were some complications with babysitting (we were originally thinking about leaving the kids behind-- but couldn't find a sitter!) then travel (we don't all fit into one vehicle-- and renting large passenger vans are quite spendy!) and although I offered to stay behind with some little girls-- that didn't turn out to be a good solution for everyone. So, long story short-- we stayed home.

As a result of that-- the visit here I think turned out to be longer than Papaw and Grams would have ultimately liked. Let me stress that in NO WAY did they say, imply, or otherwise indicate they felt, say, trapped here. :) But there was a little certain something called "stir crazy" that I think Papaw, in particular, was suffering from. See, he likes to keep busy. And, unfortunately, Jeff was gone traveling on business for quite a bit of the time they were here. Which kept him away from the fabric store, which is one of their favorite father/son bonding places.

So, we all cooked up an idea that Papaw needed a project. And we, well, we needed (?!?) a bathroom in our basement. So I casually mentioned it. And Cheryl said how wonderful it would be to have a bathroom downstairs. And Jeff kept on saying how much work it would be. Papaw disagreed. Jeff disagreed with his disagreement. And so on. But.... gosh darn it, if there isn't a bathroom in our basement now... almost completely finished:

(From the main doorway!)

(From the storage doorway!)

(Another angle...)

(The back wall)

(The shower and ceiling)

(Wishful thinking on our part...)

So.... Jeff has done an incredible job on all the finish work! There's really just a couple of minor little things to do (another light/exhaust fan, clip off the terlit bolts, get a handle on the pocket door... I think that's it.)
He says that now that he's had more experience he's doing things faster and making less mistakes. This bathroom is really a LOT (maybe I shouldn't stress that...) more professional looking than our basement and the basement bathroom he did in Illinois. Funny thing is, at the time, I didn't know that he hadn't done a lot of this stuff before and I kinda (I'm going to get myself in trouble here) just thought he was a little sloppy. Not that I really minded.... I mean, I can't do ANY of it myself, so I was just happy that he knew how to do stuff. But now he's doing this handyman stuff AWESOMELY. Gotta love that!

Next up, Skylar's birthday pictures and recap!

We started a blog...

2008-07-12T13:54:00.001-05:00

And by we, I mean me. Sometimes "we" means "us" ---literally. Sometimes, when I tell Jeff "we" need to do something, I mean (obviously) "he" needs to. But this time, it's me. But I do hope that he takes to this and updates sometimes, because I think he's funny. But who knows? Maybe he'll just read it... But, heck, sometimes I'm funny too. Our kids? They're almost always funny. Without even trying.

And I hope you read it too. Sometimes, at least. I have no idea how often we'll update this. I hope a few times a week. I thought it would be a quick and easy way for people who care about our little (?!?) family to see pictures, read about things that are going on, and keep in touch. Who knows?

So, in order to keep this first post generic and non-specific (redundant?) I'm going to end it now. More to come soon!