Family Vacation Fun Slideshow

Greetings from the depths of the post-vacation laundry piles! I think that I am finally seeing the light, even it is just until tonight when the piles start afresh.

We just got back from a trek to Waldport, OR. After suffering from temperature shock (it was just in the high 60's-low 70's there with much lower lows) we had a great time. We had to make a quick Salvation Army run to get warmer clothes and then were fine!

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

THE Wedding, Rehearsal, Family Slideshow

As most of you know, my youngest sister got married yesterday. Outdoors no less, in the scorching heat! It was a nice ceremony, even with sweat running down our backs, legs, faces, not to mention crabby, hot kids. We survived and even better, the girls have a new Uncle and we have a new brother-in-law.
Congratulations Linnea and Paul!

It's only 8:46 am?!?

Well, I just got a minute to sit down in front of the computer to check email and the announcer on the radio, says "it's now 8:46". That's it? I feel like this day should already be at least half over.

The day started off okay, everyone slept-in (I use the term loosely-it was later than 6:30), so that was nice. The older girls came down and got their breakfast while I got R dressed. Then our neighbor brought her daughter over for me to babysit (have I mentioned that I'm back to babysitting again. . . we'll see for how long!). After our lovely start things have been unraveling ever since! The older two keep racing to me to see how can tattle on the tattler. I hate tattling!! So after a refresher course of what tattling is, they settled down. A. found a book to read and G and R went outside while I started dishes. No sooner do I get the dishwasher open, then do I hear G telling R not to sit in her pool. Yes, R's pool didn't get emptied last night, so she was in it having a great time!

New outfit. I'm back to trying to check email once more, when the baby decides that she's going to have a fit about who knows what. I decide it's naptime for her.

Phone rings. It's mom needing me to make a quick run to Costco (is there such a thing?) before the wedding this weekend.

R screams, G screams! The sprinklers have come on while they were playing in the empty pool and now they are wet and scared!

New outfits! And I'm sitting down to finish this blog once and for all so that the day can settle down to normal, I'd even settle for a dull roar at this point! I just glanced at my watch it's only 9:05! It only took me 20 minutes to type this--AHHHH--this day is going to be an eternity!!!

Jam Making: Phase II

Finally we are back to normal (well as normal as we ever get). M and the girls picked the apricots Friday and ended up with over 10 wal-mart bags full. Then he cleaned and sorted them into edibles or jam making cots and then it was up to me to take over! All five of my hugest bowls were overflowing with cots for jam, so I got started Saturday morning. By naptime I had done up 4 batches of jam and still had three bowls left of these things! Blah. So I did a quick search for recipes to use up the remainder and found one for apricot syrup. Sunday morning we woke to the smell of slightly fermenting apricots and I knew that I had to deal with them right now!! So I made up 3 batches of syrup with the cots I could salvage. The rest I had to throw out because they were so smooshed.

Well, yesterday there continued to be a lingering odor of rotten apricots, but I couldn't figure out why til M got home from work. He found the culprit, some bags of fruit that we had saved to eat/give away had been forgotten and had gone bad. He thought we had a good start on some homemade apricot wine! Yikes.

Anyway, final apricot count: 29 jars of jam, 6 jars of syrup and one tired mama!

Jam Making: Phase I

Well, it all started Monday when I defrosted my big freezer for the first time I think ever in it's life. And in doing so, realized that I had oodles more strawberries set aside for jam than I had realized. So I decided that we had better make them up, since our apricot tree is fully loaded and by now, fully ripened and will need to be dealt with this weekend.

So yesterday with my two oldest helpers, and little taste-tester we got the cooked strawberry jam done. Two batches and fifteen half-pints later, I'm wondering if this is such a good idea. Where will we store it?? Then this morning I did up three batches of freezer jam with the remaining strawberries.

The verdict: yummy!! Especially on freshly made biscuits that your husband did up while you were at swimming lessons! Thanks honey! So now it's on to tackle the apricots. . .

Mysterious sounds

Well, apparently there is a noise in the girls' room that is at a frequency only 6 year olds can hear and it only occurs at bedtime. . . hmmm! It sounds like a beep-beep-beep-beep and can only mean one thing: the bad guys have found their room. Yep, that's right, the current theory to this mystery is that bad guys have put something that beeps in the girls' room so that they (the bad guys) know when the girls are in for the night. Pretty tricky bad guys huh? We're still not sure as to why the bad guys need to know if the kids are in bed or not, but I'm sure a plausible answer will be found!

And on to happier news, for the first time in almost a month, G got dressed without a huge temper tantrum, scream-fest, or pout! It was a huge answer to this mother's desperate prayer! Now if we can have another morning like this tomorrow, that would be wonderful, however, I'm not holding my breath!!

Betsy & Tacy Come to Life

One of the highlights of our trip to MN was visiting Deep Valley (aka modern-day Mankato) and seeing the homes of Betsy, Tacy and Tib. A. has enjoyed the books as much as I did as a child and it was so neat for her to be able to see places that were in the books! She climbed up the "big hill" and was bummed that we couldn't go and see "little Syria". And we also got to sit on Betsy and Tacy's infamous park bench, where their friendship began.

Anyway, here are some pictures, they are from top to bottom, Betsy's house, Tacy's house, the park bench, and Tib's house. Enjoy!

I can't take it anymore, revisited

Well, we survived our trip back to the midwest. All of us safe and sound, not well-rested, but that is fairly easy to take care of! Our final flights were late for our poor CST-zone bodies and on our final flight, poor G had HAD it! She was trying to find a comfortable position to sleep and of course, it was touching A's seat. Well, A was in no mood to be gracious (me either!) and this got things going downhill right quick!

I finally decided to break the "rules" and leave my window seat, so I could separate the two warring factions (aka: my girls). Well, long story short, G lost it-screaming and yelling, "I can't take this anymore", "I don't want to sit next to the yucky, stupid window", you get the picture--ugly huh?! I finally get her to calm down and scream into one of the pillows that the nice flight attendants showered us hoping to help us pacify our child. Not two minutes later, sound asleep. Thank you Lord!

I am grateful that we were able to fly and that it only takes 3 hours in the air, rather than 3 days in the car. However, I do send out my apologies to those of you on the fateful flight who had to listen to my daughter!

Monkey See, Monkey Do-Monkey Hear, Monkey Say

Do you ever say something and then instantly wish you hadn't? Well, my kids seem to always be listening perfectly when my mouth gets away from me and then repeat it at really opportune times! Not too long ago, I said (in the heat of the moment) "I can't take this anymore!" And now as we try to get G to drink her "stinky aspargus milk" (don't ask!) each night at dinner she spouts off with "I just can't take this anymore". Of course, this phrase has been heard several times since my outburst with the mulitple viewings of "Aladdin" that have been taking place lately, but still I started it. Sigh.

The girls have taken to doing some things as a threesome, which I am excited to see. A loves to teach Sunday School and she finds willing students in G and R. And A has also discovered highlightskids.com which has tons of cool animal stories that she will read aloud to her sisses. Very fun to see them all crowded around the monitor exclaiming over what they are seeing.

Murray has turned out to be a water lover. With all the heat of the past couple of days, he can't seem to help himself to R's pool. He popped the inflatable one in his throes of excitement over discovering a source of water to lay in, so I got a hard-sided plastic one that will hopefully outlast him. Last night while R was in her pool, Murray just hopped in and helped himself. She wasn't quite so sure that she liked that telling him "no Murmee, and down". It was pretty funny to see him flop down in that pool!

The Land of No Nod

Welcome to my current reality: No-Napville or very tiny, get-your-hopes-up-only-to-have-them-dashed naps. I am currently considering adding caffiene back into my diet by means other than my mama stash! (Like an I.V.!) Miss R seems to run through these napping cycles and I had been enjoying (until this weekend) heavenly naps lasting until I woke her up. Now somehow she sensed how heady this control of her naps was to me and how much saner I was because of the extra "me" time and she took control back into her little, dimpled hands! Today was actually a decent nap compared to the past five days, but nothing compared to the heaven I had lived in blissfully a week ago. Who is this kid??

On a positive note, A spent at least an hour yesterday working on drawing a cat. We got a book from the library on how to draw cats and she decided to work on one, a persian. Anyway, she finished it and before I could immortalize it, quickly folded it up and stuffed it in an envelope for her "swimming lesson teacher". Thankfully, her teacher was sufficiently excited about her gift and that really made A's day.

What are those, rocks in your ears??

On our way to swim lessons this morning, G asks why Great Grandpa has rocks in his ears. I told her (without thinking), I don't know. She proceeds to then say thatit must be because of the rocks that he doesn't hear so well. Then I put it together and realized that the "rocks" G was referring to were really his hearing aids!! So we had a little discussion about that and that she would probably have those too when she is really old like Grandpa Cliff. :) I told her that mommy would have them much earlier due to all of the yelling and screaming that my princesses do. They all thought that was pretty funny.

And oh the power of bribery. . . both A & G jumped off the side of the pool without their teacher's help today! YAY! And both of them earned an ice cream cone. I offered the bribe thinking it would be next week before they'd attempt anything so brave, but not so. I was so proud of them!

Ding-Dong

As a relatively seasoned mom, I should know better than to leave my little ones unsupervised with writing utensils, but I have memory relapses occasionally like the one I had the other day.

I was fixing dinner, R was busy with a huge sheet of paper and a pencil, pen and crayons (her latest is sitting at the bar counter to do her work) when the doorbell rang. Not thinking about her, just wondering if Murray had escaped again, I answered the door. After talking to my neighbor about a lost dog (NOT mine--yay!), I went back into the kitchen. The second I darken the doorway, R is reaching out holding a pen. I take it, say thank you and then see her masterpiece. . . my recipe book!! And of course, it was in pen, not pencil! I suppose now I have a little piece of her toddler-hood preserved for all time.


This afternoon, M and the girls set up the pool (the BIG one) as the girls call it. A is so excited about it, that she has yet to take off her suit. G and R got cold and called it quits unwillingly. And now R has a new word: poo. Very cute. So I will have a new roosting spot next to or in the pool for the next few months. Not so sure if that's what I want, but the girls will love it!!

Muree, see-see, and other new words

Miss R has discovered that she can say just about anything that crosses her mind to try! Today she kept saying muree and finally we figured out it was "Murray", so then the fun began for the older two. "R say": Jackson (jack), Ainsley (see-see), Grace (dace), Buzzy (Bussy), and so it went. She went on to try just about any word we threw her way. It was fun!

The older two have completed their first week of swim lessons and I am happy to report that they are doing swimmingly! Both are unafraid to put their faces in the water and jump in and go under. What a contrast to the last go-around. I actually think it helps A to see her younger sister being brave about trying new things. Seems to be helping her conquer her fears. Hopefully they'll be swimming before too much longer. Not that the weather has been that inspiring as of late to want to go swimming . . .

A has been cooking up Father's Day surprises for M. She is so cute about it. I think each day this week she has added some new part to her gift. G wants to buy clothes for daddy in a particular hue, which I can't figure out, but we'll go with it. Who knows maybe she's onto a new color that would look good on M!?

Blue clues

Last night at dinner, Murray came streaking into the dining room with a big BLUE smile!! I did a double take thinking I was seeing things, when I see his blue paws and blue on his back. Immediately I took off to the family room and following the "blue clues" back to the dog bed where the culprit was . . . one of Ainsley's paint pens that he had chewed on.

On the positive, it is washable, and Murray is mostly white so it showed right up! Boy have we forgotten the joys of puppyhood!

Potsie Part 2; Let smiling dogs lie

Today while I was checking email, R came up and found a magazine near me and started saying "potty". I asked her if she needed to go, and when she empathically nodded "yes", I followed her into the bathroom. Not only did she want to sit on the potty, she wanted reading material to go with! Once I got her situated on the seat, she immediately pointed to the magazine she'd left on the stool and said "potty" again. It was so cute, unsuccessful as far as anything being taken care of, but cute.

And poor out-of-shape Jackson came huffing and puffing up to the house after a romp along the fence line with Murray and the neighbor dogs. He flopped down on the floor and when I checked on him a couple minutes later, he was smiling as he panted. It was too funny. Took him a long time to cool down.

Would you like what?

Earlier this week A decided to make breakfast for G and herself which I appreciated. She got the toaster out and I heard her ask G what kind of bread: raisin or plain. G chose plain and then I hear A ask her if she wants the hoof! The what?? I put it together and realized she was asking G if she wanted the heel!! I explained why I was laughing and then she started giggling. So now our family has a new little word-play.

This week has been so hectic, trying to get ready for MOPS retreat mostly. Thankfully that is under my belt in time for swim lessons to start tomorrow. G is super excited to start and A is very nervous. Thankfully today some of G's excitement must have worn off because A was talking it up to R. It should be interesting to keep the littlest one entertained while the two older are doing the same thing. Friday, a friend took care of A & G while I grocery shopped with R, and she cried the whole way to Winco after we dropped the girls off. She kept saying something--maybe sissie--I don't know. Anyway she dotes on her big sisses.

Murray seems to have settled into life here fairly well. He and Jackson get along like old pals. The nickname J-Bone has sure proven true for Jackson, Murray can't get enough chews in on the poor guy. A found a flip-flop shaped chew toy in the dollar aisle at Target and Murray loves it. I love it too, it doesn't squeak! Well that gets you sort of caught up from the past week!

Meet Murray

Seeing as this weekend didn't go according to plan anyway, we decided to further complicate our lives and get a puppy too! Mom called Saturday morning to say that there were some adorable free pups at the farmers market and did we want one? Mark fielded that call and deferred it to me when I got back home. . .

Long story short, we have Murray, a lab/brittney spaniel mix. Mom ended up getting the two puppies that were left and then let us choose which one we wanted and they would keep the other. A had decided (unbeknowst to us) that she wanted a girl puppy regardless of appearance! Well, Mark and I liked the looks and temperment better of the little boy and finally after tears and guilt, etc. we talked A into the boy.

Today you wouldn't even know that she wanted the other one! She and G have been outside ever since we got home from church "taking care" of Murray. He is a great little guy. Loves the girls and gets along great with Jackson. Well, I'm sure you'll all be hearing more to come about this one!

Pooh tents and irrigation irritation

Well this morning I got to sleep in a bit. The older two were up, G having been up early with a bloody nose and then I'm sure woke up A. Anyway, they were doing a great job of being quiet, so mama and R could sleep and when I went in to start the day I found out why! They had managed to get the Pooh tent out and mostly set up in their room and were busy playing in it.

So I bit back my frustration (I had told them to ask first!!) and we hauled it out to the deck so they could play in it today. This was a good plan until G comes in soaking wet! (I had a friend over to work on MOPS stuff at the time, so hadn't been out there.) I ask her if she had run through the sprinklers and after a couple of fibs she told the truth that she and A had been "cooling off" in the sprinklers! Yeechh!! Apparently when you zip up the Pooh tent it gets "too hot mama", was what I was told. Hopefully they won't stink too bad after playing in that dirty water.

I'm not going to share my birthday cake!

So here's a confession. I have spent the last half hour (off and on) sequestered in the office eating the last ice cream sandwich. The older two are just full of beans this afternoon and I had to leave! It all started with A coming up with a scenario to play and G calling it "silly" and it spiraled down from there. I knew it was going to get ugly when the threats about birthdays started flying.

G's favorite comeback or I'm mad comment is "well, you're not going to have any of my birthday cake" or "I'm not going to invite you to my b-day party", you get the picture. So today it ended up with A not even getting the chewed up crumbs, a big spider was going to have them. Where do they come up with them?

M made them a little box house yesterday and all afternoon and most of the morning today instead of playing "house", they played giant-rolling-house, where one of them gets inside, they tip it over to it's side and then the other pushes it over and over, I guess til the one inside gets sick. So much for playing like little girls!

Strange Things . . .

Lately there has been a lot of talk of weddings, getting married, going on honeymoons, etc. Mostly because the girls know that their Auntie L.is getting married this summer and they were flower girls last year in another Auntie's wedding.

I didn't realize however how far the playacting was going until I watched Grace playing with her barbies. Blaine and Princess Aurora were getting married and had to hug and kiss and then Blaine picked up Princess Aurora and that meant that they were married. (They saw Uncle A. pick up Auntie I. after their wedding!!) Well she set the barbies down on the counter and came to lunch. After lunch I got the shock of my life to see the way the plastic couple was posed, now that I'm done laughing I thought you all might get a laugh as well.