My Girls

-Taking in the scenery on this evening's bike ride.

"You don't know what it's like to be the oldest."
She's right, I don't. I was the youngest and I was spoiled, or so I've been told. But I told her that God put her in the position she is in for a reason. And everything that she experiences while she's in this house will make her into the adult she is to become.


Your oldest children are your Ginnie Pigs. They are the ones that get you before you read up on the parenting books. They get stuck with the curriculum that you discovered was not as great as you hoped. They are the ones that get the hardest chores. They are the baby holders, the little sister chasers, the sandwich makers... my biggest helpers.
I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate them and how much I depend on them.

While sitting on the swing with Paige, watching the kids play, I said "In about 5 years, Joshua will be old enough that we wont have to keep an eye on him every minute. All the kids will be big enough that we can relax and go to the park without running after any babies. Wont that be nice?"
But then it hit me - Paige will be 17 in 5 years. She will be almost out of the house. When I have the opportunity to give her my undivided attention, she'll be too old to want it.

The time is now to savor every moment, to take any opportunity I can to spend a quality moment with my still young children, to have a quiet conversation while we swing, to take a bike ride after the little ones are in bed.

They enjoy playing with Grace. They love snuggling with Joshua. Who wouldn't?
My goal for them is that they benefit and develop stronger character from the added responsibility of their position in the family.

Some day they'll look back and say, "Remember when Grace was two and..."
And Grace will be there to hear the story because they are taking the time to build a relationship now that will last for the rest of their lives.


Well, here's hopin' anyway...

That's what Aunts are for.

"no, Grace, you can't have it."
Is all I heard. I don't even know what she was being denied. But she let out a whimper and ran to Aunt Kathy, who, of course, picked her right up. And this is the sly little grin we got from over "Kaka" 's shoulder.

Swingin good time

Now, you know me...

I'm not afraid of mud. And I never mind the kids getting a little dirty. Good thing, huh?



So Courtney decided to wash the car for me. It took her over an hour. Well, the car was very clean but it left the driveway really muddy, and the boys took advantage of it.



But that was Ok, it's just mud, it washes. It was what happened in the attempted clean up... I wont bore you with the details, let's just say it involved a trapeze act with the shower curtain and water dripping from the ceiling and you can just use your imagination.

Apparently, it's not a good idea to leave two 6 year old boys int the tub and expect them to actually wash themselves.

So anyway, I found these pictures on my camera later that night, taken, I'm assuming, by Courtney. They weren't funny then, but it's been a few days.
I'm over it.

The Roll

You don't think this kid is Italian, do you?

Civil War

We witnessed the Civil War this afternoon. Or rather, Gennesee museum's reenactment.
I didn't have the best view of the battle but the kids were able to squeeze up to the front and Courtney took lots of pictures for me.







A couple notable quotes...
Abraham Lincoln asked Jacob if he was going to join the Army. He sheepishly shook his head no.
"How old are you?"
"Six."
"Well, in two years, you can join the Navy."
"Oh, I'm already in the avy."

One man was telling a crowd about how they traded the Indians for fire water.
"Do you know what fire water is, little boy?"
"Yeah, it's the Red Sea."

Roll over... I'm crowded

How did I get all these babies in my bed?
Our morning routine - Grace gets out of her crib with the help or whoever she decides to call for that day, and immediately runs for my room, baby doll in tow, jumps up into bed with me (and Joshua) and places baby doll just right, then lies down on the other side. Um, for about 30 seconds. Then she's bouncing all around the bed, falling all over me. She's kind of a brute. I've tried to doze for a little while despite this, but I've learned that when Grace is up... every one's up.

Oh yeah, Tonight while we were eating dinner, Joshua suddenly started crying. I thought, "He sounds muffled. Did he pull a blanket up over his face?"
No, he was on his tummy. He rolled over for the first time (yeah!) and we all missed it.

Childhood Memories...

Amy has started a new blog to inspire writing. Since I could use all the help I can get in that area, I'm in. It's great inspiration, head on over and give it a look see.
This week's challenge is to write about your favorite childhood memory. So here is mine...


I was a nature lover and in awe of all of God's creation as a child, as I am now. I don't remember how many hours I spent in the back of that Bonneville travelling to Kentucky at the age of ten, but I do remember not sleeping a wink, gazing out the window at the amazing sights. "Ooh, look at that!" was all my family heard the entire trip.
I remember approaching a mountain with a low lying cloud, covering the very tip. I was tingling all over, knowing that we were headed in that very direction, knowing that we would drive right through the cloud and hoping against all hope that the cloud would not lift before we got there. It began to get foggy until we almost couldn't see a thing. "Where's the cloud now?"
"We're inside it." ( A cloud looks a little different from the inside.)Silly little girl that I was, they pulled over so that I could get out and run and hop around. "I'm walking on a cloud!"

Dad was known for his frequent stops on long car rides. "Look, there's a park!" and the car would come to a screeching halt. So somewhere along the Blue Ridge Mountains, we spotted a trail. Just Dad and I went while Mom waited in the car with my sister. Looking back, I'm thinking they just needed to separate us for a while. Up we went through the overgrown and little traveled trail up the side of the mountain, sticks poking us in the eye, thorns tugging at the sides of our shirts, and bugs flying around our heads as we went, but I was in my glory. I don't imagine the vegetation or the wildlife was much different than our woods in our own back yard, but I was in a different state! This was a trip of a lifetime and I soaked in every sight, smell and emotion. The trail was long and steep and Dad turned to me, huffing a bit and said, "Are you ready to head back down?" But before I could answer, a woman came around the corner, headed back down the hill saying "Don't turn back now, you have to see the view."
I don't know where she came from. Our car was the only one on the side of the road. But we sure are glad she had come along. Just as she promised, a few more steps up the trail, came a clearing. A small fence sat at the edge of the cliff on the side of what appeared to be the tallest mountain on the entire range. Trees and lakes for miles. Birds flew far beneath us.



"Imagine you're that bird. Cant you just feel yourself soaring?" He told me as we layed on our bellies, peeking over the edge.

I get my love of photography from my Dad, so of course, we snapped a few photos before heading back down the hill. But without the picture, I could still remember as if I were there right now. I can still call to mind every tree, every cloud, the wind, and just how I felt.

(BTW- arent you just oh so jelous of my pink LA Gear high tops?)

Love

You thought I forgot, didn't you?
We have been working on the character trait LOVE. I meant to sit with them every morning and discuss the many ways we can show love, with a reciting of our memory verse and maybe a few activities to go along with this. But our talks ended up being a little here, a little there, and more privately than as a group. Which ended up being just fine.



I tried to stress two key points.
* It is a decision.
We all know people that can't seem to get along with anyone. They need to ask themselves, is there really so much to hate about so many people or do I just have a lot of hate to share? Whether we hate or love relys more on ourselves than the actions of those we pour out our emotions on. We need to make a conscious decision to love.

* Love comes from God.
"He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." 1 Jo 4:8
"God pours His love out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit living in us."

Though I didn't involve the kids as much as I had planned, I ended up learning how to display this trait more myself, so that I can be a better example for them.For a little over a week, we kept a chart (an apple cutout taped to the wall) and they got a star (they each had their own color) for every time they showed love.
(A few stars were peeled off after an argument, but I explained to them that this was not how it worked.)

What I found is that this, of course, did not solve our lack of loving issues. We still argue, bicker. But it gave us a good understanding of what to strive for and what, ideally, is to be expected.

A quote from Joseph "'Memer we were talking 'bout love? ...well, Courtney's not showing me any."

So there, I followed through. Now we're on to JOY!

Holy Cow!

While driving home we went by part of a pasture down at the bottom of a hill and out of the corner of my eye I saw a cow reaching behind her, licking a calf. Wait a minute, that calf looks like it was just born! So, of course, we turned around to get a better look. Sure enough that little baby was still wet, and the mother,um, lets just say she showed signs of just giving birth. We sat and watched as the little guy bobbled his little head around, stuck his hind end in the air, fell back down, and finally, after a few attempts, got to his feet. The mother had already walked away by now, so he gave a little bleat and wobbled off to find her. How precious!

It's a REALLY good book

Presents for me

Flowers for me...





Courtney took control of the camera to get a picture of me (for a Nails self portrait contest - you need to send in a photo of yourself and a tip with the picture hand painted on it) but this is the only one that turned out and I don't think that's what they had in mind. Still, I'm happy with it (mostly because I'm blurry) and I'm impressed with her creativity. I wonder where she gets her style from?

So much to post

So little time.

I spent my evening editing the pics from Kathy and Brads wedding, and from Joy's shower, and from our walk at the pathways yesterday, and now it's too late to blog.

Well, how bout just one?
I didn't even get a chance to edit this one yet, but I like it as is.

What happens when you let a six year old make toast

It's sugar, in case you were wondering.
When I shook it off into the sink, he hung his head and said "Oh... what a waste."

4th of July

Cooling off with a little drink.


Some fun in the dirt pile.


Lyvi must have thought they were doing something wrong because she was yellling at them. Only, nobody could understand what she was saying. Maybe she thought they were getting just too dirty.
Gotta love this face.





"Can you go for a bike ride with us?"

Well, of course! Courtney, Nina, Aliyah, and I took off down the road,
OK, THEY took off down the road, I tried my hardest to keep up but...






Nina didn't really fall, she was just pretending.


Jacob scaring Kathy with a rubber snake. Ooh, she looks scaaared!


Jim and Gianna



Nina and Caleb, hanging onto her hair, of course.






We played badmitton, kickball, boche, and even had a juggling show!
Tony has always told me that he and Chris could juggle. Makes me wonder if it's a talent that just runs in the family or if they had plans to run away and join the circus as kids.
I've never accually seen Tony juggle. I'm just supposed to beleive he can.
But I was able to talk Chris into it today.


Tony joined in to prove his ability.

(He threw them up into the air and let them drop)
Hmmm.



The squirt guns were a big hit.




Dont shoot the baby!








Grace got squirted in the back of the head with water and she turned around and yelled at Kassandra.
"It wasn't me!"

"It was Daddy!"






"Here, Lyvi, eat some ice that I was just sucking on. Open your mouth, like this."



There's been a swing hanging from this branch on our tree for as long as I've been in this family. Today it came down! Becka was in it, she didn't get hurt, really, but it sure scared us all.
Grace still wanted to swing in it, though.


Ooh, It can rock, too. Oh, no, it can't.


"Don't take my picture!"



Lyvi "catching" Grace.
"You do 'gain?"
"Yeah."