Budding Artist

Lizzie got her picture taken at this point to give her mom a few minutes to cool down after discovering green ink dripped all over her newly mopped floor. I was able to find her by following the green trail of drips and finger prints. She was hiding under the my piano. Apparrently, Lizzie likes the taste of markers and decided to bite off the felt tip off of one. This really is not surprising as she also eats chalk, sand, crayons, etc. Of course, apple peels are disgusting, and don't even think about feeding her Honeycomb cereal!

Slippin' and a Slidin'

Summer is officially here! After much rain, we finally had a nice hot day! We broke out the slip-n-slide, invited some neighbors, and tried to stay cool.

Lizzie didn't totally understand the "slide" concept. She would get her running start, then stop, and crawl across the slide to the end!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day (or "Daddy's Day" for my girls who can't say their r's yet)!

What a glorious thing to celebrate our dads who do so much for us! I am so blessed to have a wonderful father who taught me the most important values in life and lives those values every day. I'm also extremely blessed to have a husband who constantly works hard to provide comforts of life for our family and makes us laugh while doing so. Men are wonderful creatures with a different approach to handling life. I'm so grateful that I have strong, successful, righteous men in my life to help me where I lack.

Father's Day came bright and early as Steve spoke in a branch about an hour away. After he completed his assignment, he hurried to our building since our YW provide cookies for the men during the last portion of church. Remember when our moms used to say, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach"? Our moms were so smart! Anyways...I'd prepared Steve's requests for dinner, and the kids created a menu from The Bird Bistro. Steve then got to take a 2 hour nap, while I kept the kids busy playing and reading. Dessert, of course, came next. The kids had a blast helping me decorate the cake and sneak the left-over frosting. After talking to our dads/grandpas, the boys decided that the best way to honor their dad was to let him watch a movie with them (nice, guys). If any of you know my husband, he can quote The Three Amigos starting from any point in the movie and is able to slip its quotes into numerous conversations. He also knows the My Little Buttercup dance, but wasn't willing to demonstrate that for us on Sunday. Well, the boys had never seen it, and were able to twist Steve's arm in letting them watch it yesterday. I think it was a bonding moment!

Here are some of the cards and cake he received! I got him pictures of the kids wearing his ties that I'll try to scan and post later. They turned out SO cute! I had to even sign a release so that they can be hung up in the store!

We love you, Daddy!

Buzz Lightyear-to infinity and beyond

If I were to quote Evan, "Today was the saddest day in my life." Buzz went to live with another family today. Buzz Lightyear is our beagle-lab mixed dog, whom we rescued a little over 5 years ago. Steve and I started discussing this possibility a few months ago. As he has been working from home more, the dog has become more of an issue. Buzz has discovered that if he wants to be let in and I am not doing my job, he just has to go bark and whine at Steve's window to get what he wants. I admit, I hate that Buzz eats and destroys poopy diapers if not immediately disposed of in the OUTSIDE trash can. Right now, he is a financial burden that is causing stress, especially as we are planning a trip and his boarding costs would equal an airplane ticket. Braxton has also been diagnosed with a dog allergy (among everything else in the environment) and after 3 years of shots & medications, he still is really struggling. Anyways...the day after Memorial day, we had a loud and violent thunderstorm. Buzz, who had just returned to us the night before (because of our fun family vacation to the Dells), FREAKS OUT with thunder and was terrified to be left alone in the house. As I was trying to load up the van to pick up and drop off at swim team practice, he kept sneaking into the van and not obeying my commands. I, three times, had to pull him out by his collar (of course, he peed on 2 seats as I was grabbing his collar). I had to drag him down the stairs to put him in his crate. He wiggled out of my grasp just as I was putting him in and was hiding under our indoor playground/slide toy. When I went to again grab his collar, he bit me on the wrist. I was bruised for over a week, and one tooth mark actually broke the skin. That solidified his fate. Of course, he was an angel for the next 2 weeks.

Well, we called the dog-finder who found Buzz for us as well as the rescuer that housed him when he was born. They helped us find 2 interested homes. The first fell through when his dog-walker told him she didn't think it'd be a good idea for him to have 2 male dogs together. The next home was one with an older couple who had recently lost their bulldog. Thursday was the day for the hand-off. Wednesday night we received a call that the wife had died in the hospital that day. Yes, it's true. What are the odds?

Friday night, the daughter of this poor couple called and said that her dad was still interested and was excited to have a friend in the house with him. So, Sunday evening was the scheduled appointment.

All day today, Evan was arguing with me over our reasons to give Buzz away. He was an absolute emotional wreck. So, we took a few pictures of us with our dog as we said good-bye. Steve said Buzz's new owner is a nice, old, farmer who won't make Buzz sleep in a crate and wants to take him for rides in his car. This man's daughter has 2 fat dachsunds and they played marvelously in the backyard together. We're thrilled Buzz will be loved. He really is a good dog and will probably never bite again. I have surprised myself with the tinge of sadness, and the few tears that have come, but I think that's more in response to Evan's broken heart. Carter has already asked for a guinea pig, but I have told him that they bite and I won't have anything that bites for quite a while. I'm thinking maybe a hermit crab in a few months.

Dinosaurs Alive!

Animals! Animals! Animals!

Friday had all of the perfect conditions: high of 73 degrees, no swim practice, and a membership to the Brookfield Zoo. When we arrived, the parking lot was packed. I was stressing about the crowds, but it was a marvelous day. Brookfield Zoo is so spread out and huge, we didn't even notice. Well, they have a temporary exhibit called "Dinosaurs Alive!" with life-size dinosaur robots who roar and move their heads, bellies, tails, and arms. It was so fun! All the kids agreed that it was their favorite part of the zoo visit.

This is one of the dinosaurs with an interactive station where the kids can operate the robot. They choose what part of the dinosaur they want to move or have it roar, press the buttons, and voila! The dinosaurs are less scary when the child is in control.

At the end of the day, the kids cooled off in the "elephant" sprayer. What a great day at the Zoo! We're definitely going to do it again!

Bird Drama

Spring means baby birds, right? Well, MY baby birds, although growing, are not ready to fly from the nest yet. However, we had 2 nests with real bird babies in them. As I called the kids to come see the one in the backyard and spread the branches, the 2 babies flew right past my head and into the trees in our neighbors' yard. This is the empty nest. The second nest was in our front yard in our weeping tree just past our front door. The kids were checking on the babies quite a bit. Sunday after church, Carter must have scared them because 2 of the 4 fell out of the nest. The first one was significantly younger than the other and it died that night. The second one lived in our yard under our bushes for the next 5 days. Each day he'd hop to another bush and after the 5th day, his breast was red and was gone. Bye-bye birdie!
This is a picture of Emma with both baby birds. The older one is the fluffy gray stuff on the left, and the other is in front of her with its beak pointed up. Poor thing! I won't miss the squawking of the robin parents. My baby birds are definitely cuter than these!

Kids say the darndest things

OK, I have 15 minute before school ends for the summer and am a little nervous, so I'm thinking of the cute things my kids have done or said in the last few days.

Last week, I was cutting all of my boys hair, so I happened to be in my bathroom while Evan was showering. He yelled out, "Hey, Mom. This conditioner says in the directions: 'While singing, work into clean, damp hair and rinse with warm water. For best results, sing louder.' Do you think it works?" With a chuckle, I said, "You can try it." Sure enough, Evan was singing Bon Jovi's "Dead or Alive" at the top of his lungs!

As I sat in front of a friend's home finishing the last page of a book, I had the van door open so that the girls could feel the breeze. After complaining that she wanted to go in and play, Emma yelled out, "Mom, the leaves are clapping for me!" How terrific is it that she thinks nature is cheering her on!

Lizzie yelled her first distinguishable 4 word phrase as she got her dad's attention to show him a silly face. "Hey, Dad! Watch this!"

Saturday night, Steve and I left the kids home in charge of themselves while we ran over to a wedding reception for an hour. When we went upstairs to see how bedtime was shaping up, we surprised Braxton walking around with Lizzie on his hip making sure the other 3 kids were brushing their teeth. I noticed Lizzie's foam curlers had been removed and said, "Oh, Lizzie, did you take out your curlers?" Braxton with a totally confused look admitted that he had taken them out. I explained that she is supposed to sleep in them and he came back with..."Well I wasn't raised with baby girls and just don't know about all that stuff. You're better at this mom stuff than I am." I hope so, Braxton.

Reunion in the Dells

Over Memorial Day weekend, we went to the Dells, Wisconsin for a family reunion with my side of the family. What a blast! My generous parents provided the cabin, which slept 20 (we filled it with 10 adults and 10 kids) and allowed entrance into the Wilderness Falls resort. With only 3 days, we packed in all 3 indoor water parks, the indoor climbing playground, an outdoor waterpark, a few hours of sleep, and lots of smiles. Having the cabin allowed us to show off our cooking skills for each other. Wow! Everyone was at the top of their game. My dad has been busy for months scanning in pictures of our family from way back to my parents dating years! We rounded up a projector, hung a sheet for a screen from a log beam, and went down memory lane. I can't wait to get the DVDs. What a riot! My siblings didn't think it quite as fun because, being the oldest child, I was featured the most often. But I was pretty cute as a baby!:) Another favorite memory of mine is playing Imaginiff with my brothers (Ryan included) and sister after midnight. I am so blessed to have such fun people in my family! I already miss everyone! I can't wait until the next reunion!

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