Who decided this?

So, after nearly 5 days of celebrating my sons 6th birthday we go into the doctor for his well child check. Everything is going well, he's in the 90th percentile for height and 50th for weight, and very healthy. All of my children are with me, and they are behaving themselves, sitting quietly, and overall not doing anything that would make this trip difficult (if you have children you can truly appreciate that statement). Then, it happened. The dr informed us that my son needed a booster shot. To put it mildly, he freaked. And that's putting it nicely. The second the nurse walked in my other two children ran into the hallway. They somehow knew, I think. I held my precious first born son on my lap, and the nurse swabbed his thigh and pulled out the needle. The best way that I can describe what happened next is to compare my small child to the hulk. Kicking, punching, bucking, head banging -and all while screaming "I want to wait until tomorrow!" Finally we had to call in another nurse. Even then, with three of us holding him down, it was more of a hit and miss. I almost received the booster shot. He cried for 30 minutes afterwards. I held him for a few minutes, and then I told him with infinite amounts of love and mercy, that he better get it together. He didn't. So this brings me to my question. What kind of sick medical expert decided that a childs birthday was the best time to stick large needles full of stinging fluid into their skin and muscle? Sometimes three times? Was it someone that didn't like children, or simply a scarred child himself out for revenge? All I know, is that next time I'm bringing daddy.

Wall-E

Let me first say that we loved Wall-E. I loved that there was no talking for the first 15+ minutes of the movie. I loved that the acting (if you will) told the story, not the words. I loved the characters - I didn't think that Wall-E was the typical idiotic male character who is overrun by a beautiful, smart and far superior female. I liked that Wall-E had strength, determination and faithfulness. Wonderful characteristics for any person. Yes, there was a green message to it, but it was a good green message, not the lumberjacks and hunters are going to the bad place message that you run into so often in Hollywood. Plus, it had Hello, Dolly. How can you not love something that has Hello, Dolly in it - I ask you? Overall, we really enjoyed it. Possibly even loved it. The kids did for sure. And yes, although it was a tad too long, this is a movie that will someday belong to us. Bonus: the cartoon at the beginning is one of my favorite Pixar shorts ever (other than the birds - it's hard to beat the birds!).

Starting the movie was the highlight of Nathanaels day - and while up in the projector room they were all given actual film strips from the most recent Indiana Jones movie. Pretty cool. It was neat to see how it's all run and what makes it work. It's much more complex then I realized. Carl was fascinated, and asked quite a few questions. Then one of the kids said, "What are they talking about?!" and the questions ended. All in all, I do believe that we will do another movie theatre birthday party. It was fun, much less stressful than an at home birthday party, and I didn't have to come up with any games or fun things for the kids to do. And at this point in time with my brain slowly turning to mush it's nice to use it as little as possible. Plus, no pinata. I always feel like we're tempting fate when we allow our children to swing large wooden objects with the intent to bust something to pieces while blindfolded.

Frilly Lili

Lili had a Fancy Nancy birthday party on Friday, and even though both boys were more than welcome to come, Nathanael chose not to attend. The party was at Queen B's, and Noah was in his element - the only boy with four girls to make laugh. They poured their own tea (lemonade) and had all kinds of fun being prim and proper and elegant.

Everyone behaved themselves, and once again there was nothing broken at the incredibly scary restaurant. It was David's first time to be there, though, and he was a nervous wreck the entire time - it was probably the best part of the party. There is one reason, though, that you shouldn't take boys to tea parties:

Nathanael is 6!

My baby boy has had his birthday! We celebrated with muffins and a candle at breakfast (just as we always do), and have been doing special things ever since.

Thursday we went and ate lunch at Mamacita's and he wore the big sombrero while Davy Crockett sang to him.

That evening we took the kids to Chuck E Cheese, and they had so much fun! The crowning moment for his though is his Wall-E birthday party at the movie theatre - they will give all of the kids a tour, and Nathanael gets to push the button to start the movie! I'll post pictures of that when I get them!

The Lake

This past week we went to Buchanan lake for the annual reunion with Carl's moms side of the family. It was so much fun! The kids loved it. On Monday the water was like glass, so we took all of the kids out on the boat. First they swam with their life jackets on in the middle of the lake, then they all took turns tubing. Tubing is where you take a very large tube that is covered in cloth and has handles attached to it and tie it to your boat with a rope. People then lay on it while you pull it behind the boat - similar to waterskiing. The kids thought that it was awesome. Noah - our little daredevil - liked to ride it without hands. The first time he was thrown off and did a triple summersault off of the tube and into the water. When he bounced back up he said - "That was AWESOME!" then he climbed right back on and rode it again. It was the same with the SeaDoo, all the three of them wanted to do was get thrown off of it. We spent the entire day Monday on the water. And it's a good thing we did - it was crazy windy the rest of the time that we were there, and we couldn't take the boat out again. It was a nice respite for all of us. I just wish that it could have been a little longer.

Whoops

Can't leave out my favorite pic of Noey!

Let's start with this....

Wow. It has been a busy week. On Saturday we had family pictures made, on Sunday we left for the lake and just returned today, and today is Nathanael's birthday. Tomorrow we're going to Chuck E Cheese, and Friday is Frilly Lili's Fancy Nancy birthday party. Soooooo, today I will write about our family pictures, and next the lake, followed by Nathanael's birthday, and so on. Otherwise I don't think that I'll get it all covered.
Carl's mom was upset because we always have pictures taken and give them to her, so she never gets to be in them. So we all got together and had pictures made. I love doing this - not because I like getting my pictures taken- I can't stand it - but I love the memories. The kids were all hams. Here is a sampling:




I have to be honest - there were so many that I loved that I couldn't decide which ones to post. My children are so beautiful. And don't tell me it's because they look like their dad!

The Passing of Black-Brownie

We are here today to mourn the loss of a beloved pet and friend, Black-Brownie. Black-Brownie was a good fish. Since the day that Nathanael brought him home from the pet store he swam happily. He even seemed to smile when he saw people. He loved to eat, and would chase the food jar around the outside of the tank, frantically begging for someone to feed him. His favorite past times were swimming behind the filter, hanging out in the "house" that sits in the bottom of the tank, and trying to eat Fast and Banana Pants. It was with great gravity and sorrow that we sent our dear little friend to his watery grave (at least until Noah came running in and flushed the toilet so that Nathanael wouldn't get to and then ran out again as quickly as he could). He will be greatly missed. Black-Brownie is survived by Crystal, Batfish, Boingy, Banana Pants, Fast and the one with the heart tattooed on it whose name I cannot remember. May he rest in peace.

PS - Today we also lost our snail and Black and White. Black-Brownie and Black and White ate the snail, which is apparently very bad for fish to do, and will in fact kill them.

Snakes

Last night as we were all swimming down at the creek (9 kids, and 10 adults) the girls found a little garter snake. It was very pretty, and they had fun torturing, I mean loving on it, for a while until it finally managed to wriggle out of one of their very loving hands and slither away. A little while later, Jodi is coming down the creek after having an adventure with her daughter. (The guys are all up the creek fishing and goofing off with a few of the kids, and us momma's had stayed down in the shallower part with the little guys.) This time a very large, nasty looking snake swam across their path. Jodi doesn't like snakes. At all. She screamed, and ran out of the water, dragging Lili. She then proceeded to warn everyone coming back down the creek about the vile reptile lurking near the far shore. A little while later another snake came swimming across the water on the other side f us. Not as large as Jodi's, but still pretty big. We tried to catch this one (it wasn't poisonous) but couldn't quite do it. When the guys came marching back down and Jodi hollered her snake warning, they immediately began to try to catch Jodi's snake. 4 big guys, who apparently had absolutely no common sense left in their brains. They had a net, sticks and big rocks. After a little bit two of the guys came to the bank and just watched Carl and David chase this thing. Over rocks, into the water, up under the rock hangover. Believe it or not, they finally caught it. Dave-o killed it, and then brought it over to show the kids. Oh, did I mention that Sam and Carlye kept trying to help the guys catch the snake and we had to keep pulling them back? Fearless - maybe it's too much Animal Planet? The kids received a science lesson, looked inside the snakes mouth (which we now knew was not a cotton mouth, but a very similar snake). While they were looking at it the snake started to wriggle around (nerves, you know) so they all screamed and started throwing rocks at it. Picture children standing in a circle around a snake throwing rocks, and see if you can think of anything that might go wrong. It did. My poor little girl had rocks come crashing into her little ankles. At this point some of the kids are brave enough that they are holding the snake just like uncle David. We left his body as a warning to any other snakes which might be thinking of coming to live on our small creek. We will not tolerate their kind here - atleast not if they're going to try to swim with us! 6 years we've been swimming down there. We've seen snakes twice in that time frame, and neither were big or poisonous. They weren't poisonous yesterday, either, it was just so many to find in one day. I think that our cats are getting a little bit lazy, little beggars!

My kids

There are several things that I love about my kids. Inspired by Pammy's lists, and the lack of time, I thought that I would make one of my own:
Things that I love about my children:
1) Noah thinks he's invisible if he's walking around with a blanket over his head - and he's not just pretending, he REALLY believes it. WIth all his heart.
2) Nathanael can find little miracles - like mother birds feeding the babies in their nest - outside of a crazy busy restaurant, and stand completely enraptured and watch them eating
3) They would rather be outside exploring then inside watching TV
4) Books are their best friends
5) Noah collects "roly baspolys" (roly polys) and when they die he leaves them in my car for me to find and take out at my leisure
6) Carlye can lay in her bed and read for long periods of time
7) Carlye would rather cut her hair then allow me to fix it
8) If they imagine it, it IS real - and no matter how hard you try you will NOT be able to change their mind about it (especially after dark)
9) Nathanael makes me Lego creations to display with my Willow Tree collection
10) When my boys are trying to catch a lizard and pull the tail off they will then chase girls around with the wiggling tail in their hand
11) Noah uses blue for everything. All the time. Always.
12) They love to cuddle
13) They will give away everything that they own to make someone else feel better
14) If it's tall, they will climb it
15) No one can ever find their shoes
16) My kids will roast a squirrel on a spit over a fire and then eat it and like it (It really does taste like chicken)
17) I'm Nathanael's favorite Mommy - he tells me so every night
18) Carlye believes that she can sing like Hannah Montana (ummm, maybe a wee bit tone deaf?)

I'll just add to this periodically. It will be my list that never ends......

Noah's pajama's, Carlye's book and Nathanaels neuroticism

I took my kiddos into Penney's Tuesday for maybe the second or third time ever. They were having a sale, and Noah bought fabulous pair of dinosaur pajamas, and Carlye bought some shorts (I am a really bad Texas mom - my daughter only had two pair of shorts). They didn't have anything in Nathanael's size (no kidding) so we had to go to wal-mart for his pajama's. When we came home the kids did a fashion show for daddy. I don't think my boys really understood what that meant. They put on their pajama's and came out doing karate. Twice each. Oh, by the way, Kung Fu Panda is awesome!!! We loved it. Noah loves his pajamas so much that he wore them all day yesterday. Yup. He says when he's sleeping no one can see them. He's got a point.

Carl walked into Carlye's room the other night to turn off her lights and found her reading the Trumpet of the Swan. I'd given it to her a couple of days before, and she was on page 130. I couldn't be more proud. She really loves the American Girl Series as well (Mary Lynn turned her on to that one). She is reading to herself or her brothers constantly, and is currently teaching Nathanael to read and write and math. It's very busy around here.

Nathanael is growing more and more every day, and while he has become quite the mature little boy in some ways he still has these crazy little quirks. He has to sleep with his head tilted at an angle so that he can see our bedroom at night because if he can't see our bedroom something's going to get him. If one thing goes wrong during the day then the entire day is ruined and it is now the "worst day ever." Carlye and Noah are always out to get him - even if it's talking or crying in their sleep. And it doesn't matter what he called you or did to you, if he gets hit or punched it is always for absolutely no reason. I know that I should take these things seriously, but it's so hard not to laugh when he comes and tells me about things. He's like I'd imagine a neurotic little hermit to be. Carl says I spoil him rotten, but I think that's because he's too hard on him. I think that he spoils Carlye rotten - she can talk him into anything! And Noah, well he has enough charisma that I really worry - he never gets in trouble with anybody. He's just to funny to put in time out his teachers say. Thankfully thus far it's silly pranks that get him in "trouble" not outright disobedience. I'm sure we'll crack down if that starts to happen.

Well, it looks like Carl is going to have to have knee surgery. We're looking at the first week in July. He's just in so much pain all the time that they have to do something. For those of you who don't know, he blew it out again playing tennis (and he was wearing his knee brace). The good news is that he and Jason and David have been drawn for a hunt in Colorado. They are really excited. Now Carl just has to finish his physical therapy and get his knee in shape to hike in 10 miles with a 130 pound pack on his back. I know that he can do it, I'm not worried at all.

Well, that's about it that's going on with us. Church nursery and Kids Church are keeping me really busy, as is my incredible family. I have to go now...it's really quiet in the living room.......

An enigma

Here is what I know. When you have young children you want to teach them to take care of their things, be good stewards, keep things clean and picked up so they last longer, etc. I also like having a clean house. Knowing every square inch is swept and mopped and vacuumed and sparkling. Having all the laundry clean, etc. But here is reality - you clean your kitchen, and then you have to mop it on your hands and feet because you're out of Swiffer. The kids have been outside playing, it's not muddy, there has been no rain. When you move on to clean the dining room your children will come running through the kitchen with muddy feet because so and so dumped their cup of water on their head, or because they were playing in the muddy puddle at the bottom of the inside of the slip n slide, or because they were drinking out of the water hose and got their shoes wet. Or on really special days - like yesterday - because of all three. Then, after you've cleaned the bathroom two children will come in with their shirts held in pockets carrying very special Indian "relics" which must immediately be washed in the white sink that you just scrubbed over the tile floor that you just swept and mopped. They will carry these through the living room that you just vacuumed and drop little tiny pieces of flint on the floor that will slice your foot like a surgeons scalpel the second you step on it. They will also leave a pretty impressive trail of dirt as well. All this is happening while you re-scrub the kitchen floor. When you are finished, you are thankful that now your house is ready for company, and feel like a pretty successful mom to have cleaned the house with 5 kids running around. Then, as your company walks into your house and you lead them into the living room you get the impression the carpet isn't quite the way that you left it, and you're pretty sure that the brown streaks on the bathroom counter weren't there when you left it either. Once again no one will know that you spent an entire day laboring to clean your home and bring it to order and you will look like a lazy mom who can't keep her house clean. But here's the reality. My kids were outside building forts and friendships with each other. They discovered God's creation goes deeper then what you see on the surface while they were digging for flint and breaking open rocks and they know that they have a mom who will let them bring their treasures home and wash and display them for the world to see. They learned to explore, pretend, discover, build relationships, and trust in the relationships they already have. That's a pretty good days work after all.

We have been spending a lot of time swimming down at the creek. It has been awesome. We head down in the early evening, swim, and then do hot dogs or burgers over the fire, always ending with smores. I can't think of a better way to spend the summer. The kids love it, the adults love it, and we're all getting to spend time together. I couldn't be more thankful for this time with them. I cherish every moment.