~Eight Months~

Can you believe it!?!??! Eight months already!

Kiersten is sitting fairly well
She has finally started rolling... a little
She still loves to put things in her mouth
The boys and dogs can make her laugh
She has stranger anxiety
She is still very content
Kiersten is really starting to squeal and babble
She is starting to copy things
She has the meanest little pinch
No teeth
Her legs kick like crazy when she is happy
So very curious
Loves to snuggle
Not a good napper... but getting a tiny bit better
Is such a joy!

~Mother's Weekend~

My Mother's Day celebration this year was a little odd ;0) I was able to head out for an overnight trip with Kiersten and some friends on Friday. We attended a home school convention. I had a really nice time visiting, eating, talking and browsing... and purchasing our school books for next fall. Kiersten did a GREAT job being content. The only trouble was she was up half the night before we left and I was super tired! The weekend was a success and I found some great books that I'll be sharing later!We arrived home Saturday early in the evening to an empty house. The boys had gone racing! Jordan and Jared passed their novice class and will be racing for real the next time we go!!! They are so excited! Gregg was out of town on Sunday so we had some cake Saturday night...
Isn't it so pretty!?!?!? It was lemon :0) Mmmmm! You can only see half because we already ate half before I thought to take a photo. The boys tried to take care of me Sunday afternoon but between lunch, clean up and naps I had a very short time of rest. They did let me choose our afternoon movie.

I am thankful for a night away... for the flowers and cake... for the hugs and kisses. I am thankful to be surrounded by children... all day, everyday. Sure, some days are crazy and some days I want to quit. Then I remember what a great honor it is to raise them... to teach them to glorify God in all things... to go before the throne of God on their behalf... to sacrifice, to love, to guide.

Thank you God for allowing me to be their mother... they are changing me, helping me to grow. What a wonderful gift!

~My Poor Dryer~

... is lonely :0)

~Strange~

Does it sound strange to you that I have to fight all five boys for the last grapefruit!?!??!

What would you say if I told you they cheered when they saw I was serving carrot salad for lunch??!?!? (Good trick to know...they eat way more carrots this way than they do eating carrots and dip)

I really like that they all eat a wide variety of food!

Of course, I'll have to let you know they... er, um, I have a sweet tooth too. These Vanilla Muffins were fresh out of the oven for breakfast :0)

I don't feel too bad about that though. Way less sugar then most cereal... and no preservatives!

~Birthday Boy~

Today, Jared turned 10!

He requested cheese steaks, chips, grape soda and chocolate cake with peanut butter icing. I happily agreed as this is an easy meal to make. I did mange to double their fruit and veggie intake for lunch :-)

My older boys don't show much expression ~ they certainly don't take after me:-) ~ but Jared always shows appreciation! He enjoyed his gifts and did well waiting all day to open them. He only asked a few times how soon dad would be home!

Gone are the days of assembly... Gregg and I now sit back and watch them assemble things. We ALL enjoy assembling but watching your boys work together is good too!

We spent the rest of the evening outside doing a little of this, a little of that and watching the boys play. I also cleared a space for Jared to work at his new lego project!

~I Should Have Known~

I should have known the basement would need to be vacuumed because of the rain last night... I didn't think about it and had a big load of dirty laundry in my arms when I stepped off the bottom step and felt a really cold puddle. Yuck!

I should have known not to hang up the wash on a day it was supposed to rain?!?!?!

I should have known not to schedule an outing to the greenhouse on a Monday. It is a full time job to motivate my tribe on Mondays... never schedule ANYTHING on a Monday!

Mostly, I should have known not to send five boys outside on a beautiful spring afternoon just after a heavy shower. I innocently wanted a half hour to clean up the weekend mess and get supper started without tripping over anyone.

I heard laughter...not fighting! Wonderful!

BUT THEN...

... do I hear splashing?!?!? ... and the hose!?!??!

Ugh, I then heard "mom's not going to be happy about that"... and I knew... I should have known!

Nathan was trying to tell me what happend

I did have the pleasure of spraying them off with the hose before they stepped foot into the basement... then it was straight to the tub! The clothes will be soaking overnight:-)

~May Day/Race Day~

Am I the only one having a hard time believing it is already May!!??!?! Today also happens to be the first race day of the year:-) A new experience for our family!

We packed up and headed out early for our local dirt track... a solid hour away. Gregg took the three older kids and the trailer....I followed an hour later with the three littles. All the boys were excited and one even said it was more exciting then Christmas!

The plan for the day was the boys would have a racing class in the morning... watch the real race in the afternoon... then have practice time toward evening. I knew I couldn't make it all day with my gang, so we planned on staying for lunch, some racing and we would head home.

I did get to see all three boys take a solo trip around the track and then they went around in pairs. I was a little disappointed that race day wasn't real exciting, but the boys were really happy to be there. It turns out, the evening practice time turned out great. They were so excited when they got home at almost 8 pm... a full twelve hour day!

They were told they still have some more practice time before they can do the real racing, but they all did very well!watching the race

Kiersten and I sat under the umbrella and watched the boys race.

It was a hot day but we had enough of a breeze to keep semi comfortable. They are counting down the days til next time!