Where does the time go?

With fall in full swing, I have finally accepted the fact that summer is over. Another school year started, another realization that my kids are getting bigger before my eyes. I can't even talk about the fact that our little baby girl is ALMOST 1 without experiencing this strange feeling of disbelief at how fast it went. Seriously, last fall at this exact time I was so excited to meet her I was about to burst. I remember it so clearly and cannot believe it was nearly one year ago.

So, now we officially have a 3rd grader, a 1st grader and a 4 year old in preschool gearing up for Kindergargten in a year (but let's not talk about that yet). My days have definitely changed having two kids in school all day. It is a little quieter and the dynamics have changed and I get way more done on an average day. It is nice. But you can bet when those boys start rolling in at the end of the day, the 3 of us--and of course, the dog--are ready for the action to begin again.

The best day!

Today was a great day for our family. I mean, there are always days in the life of a big family that stand out but this day will rank up there with the top five. FOR SURE. Today was the day our sweet 9 month old daughter/little sister got her much needed glasses. It was just last week that I sat in the office of our pediatric ophthalmologist and heard her say L was very farsighted and everything around her was a complete blur. It sure did explain a lot. This little lady has not even rolled over or made any effort to crawl. Being farsighted also means having very little depth perception. She stares calmly at everything for long periods and although it appears that she is just interested in remembering every detail of whatever it is she is looking at, it is simply that she is trying her hardest to make out what it is she is looking at.

The boys and I took her to pick up her glasses and when the optician put them on her for the first time, we couldn't stop giggling. She was so darn cute! I almost shed a tear watching her stare at each of her brothers for the first time so clearly. IT WAS AWESOME! We feel so blessed to have found out that she needed them and now life can begin for her. The ophthalmologist's words were, "Glasses are going to completely change her world." We are so excited to watch her see everything new and it is so fun to watch her brothers try to show her everything. I even brought the same book with little pictures that I showed to D when he got his glasses at 7 months old nearly 8 years ago. As a mom of a baby in glasses, I was so nervous as to how I was going to keep his glasses on him and the doctor told me to go home and spend a long time showing him lots of books with little pictures. I cried watching him look at them, every so often looking up at me in wonder, and I can honestly say he never once pulled them off. He needed those glasses. So, here we go. Another chapter in our life. One more pair of little glasses to keep track of and set on the table each night. But I am just fine with that.

Who knew a baby sister could be so much fun?

You can be sure my boys love having a sister. They love watching her, playing with her, feeding her, and they love to celebrate all the new things that she can do each week. I think they actually clapped when they realized that she was feeding herself Cheerios a couple of weeks ago. But I have to say it is pretty hilarious to see some of the things they do when left alone with her for a few minutes. Sometimes I ask them to entertain her while I go throw some laundry in but other times they just decide to entertain her on their own. Just last week, I caught them trying their glasses on her and I had to laugh with them because it was so darn cute. She just sat there and didn't make a peep, just looked around trying to figure out why things were so blurry.

I am so thankful to have such an easy baby who pretty much fell into the flow of our life without a fuss. She really is a mellow little lady. When we visited my family a couple weeks ago, I left little L with my niece for a few minutes and when I came back she was wearing clip-on earrings and looked like a gypsy baby. We all laughed and laughed at her and she just sat there and smiled.

As I was busy with a phone call this week, the boys gathered around her and laughed as she dumped her Cheerios on the floor. The next thing I know they are all hysterically laughing and the bowl is on her head. I am not sure who decided to do it but it was pretty funny. Who knew a baby sister could be so much fun?

1 turtle, 20 snails & 10 tadpoles...

Freddie the turtle lived with us for 2 weeks this month courtesy of a neighbor who found him while mowing their front lawn. I know how much animals make my oldest son happy so I volunteered to take Freddie when my neighbor told me he found two but they only wanted to keep one. "We will totally take it." I said. So for two weeks, Freddie, the baby turtle with the shell the size of a quarter, lived on our kitchen counter. I must say that it was quite interesting to watch the little guy. Turtles have much more of a personality than one might think. He watched us walk around the kitchen as we went about our day, tucked his legs in to sleep at night when it got dark and would even come up and sit on his little rock when we would hand feed him worms that we found in our yard. He knew that when the top of his terrarium was lifted, it was feeding time and he was always ready. He really was pretty cute. But he was also stinky and after 2 weeks of cleaning out his tank every other day, I was able to talk my son into setting him free in a forest preserve near our house where we like to walk our dog and check out nature. Ahhh, yes, that meant no more turtle racing on the kitchen table at the hands of little boys but it did mean he would probably have a long, happy life.

So off we went, the entire family plus our dog, to let Freddie go. I was so looking forward to not having one more thing to take care of. But as my sons were bending down to let him go, they spotted tadpoles swimming around in the little pond. And my husband said, "Hey guys, why don't you scoop up some water and a few tadpoles and we can take them home?" Famous last words. We now have 10 tadpoles, which are actually starting to grow legs, and about 20 baby snails living on our kitchen counter in Freddie's old tank. Thankfully, they seem to be doing just fine despite the fact that we don't change the water. We feed them fish food and check them out several times a day. They don't have names yet but my kids are working on it. Here we go again...

"A roly poly is lost in our house, mom."

You can bet this is not the first time a bug has ever entered my house by way of a little boy's hand but, from what I can remember, it might just be the first time it got lost. I can remember the days when I was not a bug person. Well, by force of having three little boys who have been digging for worms since birth, I am no longer as repulsed by bugs. Funny how life changes you. I was the girl in school who would squeal a girly squeal and run from anyone who showed me a bug on recess. But now I am the one showing the bugs to my kids when I happen upon them in the yard or garden. I even managed to snap this photo last summer of this amazing spider hanging out by our deck.

I have even given in to having reptiles in the house. A couple of years ago, my husband asked me what I thought of getting our oldest son a snake for his birthday. D has always been interested in animals and is a Jeff Corwin and Croc Hunter fan. I told him I was open to the idea. I am always up for things that involve learning. Well, a week later, while I was in the hospital for 3 days with appendicitis, a snake was purchased. So, that is when Ball-e, a ball python, joined our family. Yes, I have held it once or twice (as you can see) but I am still not a fan of this reptile and would much prefer to find a nice, responsible teenage boy somewhere who would like to adopt it. I am hoping to do this sometime soon as these snakes can live up to 25 years!

He thinks he is big, but he's still our little guy

My littlest son is about to turn 4. It seems like just yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital. I can still remember assigning jobs to his two older brothers right before he was born. We didn't know our third child would be a boy but we had a blue blankie all ready and a nuk all picked out and ready to go. D, who was still 3 at the time, had the big job of bringing the blankie to the hospital when he came to meet his new sibling and A, who was only 2, got to bring the pacifier. These were their "gifts" for the baby and they felt very big having jobs. We even got them big brother gifts, which of course, they were even more excited about.

When he was only 6 days old, we took baby W to the beach near our house. He got a sunburn despite being in the stroller with the hood up and in the shade of a huge tree. I had no idea the sun could reflect off of grass and leaves as much as it did and he was quite tan after that. What a trooper. I remember I just kept expecting him to cry because his skin hurt but he never did. He was a very easy baby and I was quite thankful to finally have that after the first two were not so easy.

Well, now he is the typical little brother trying to keep up with his big brothers and attempting to do EVERYTHING they do. He does pretty well most days. It is funny because he gets so tired out trying to keep up and denies needing a nap but will fall asleep on the floor in his room or on his bed by 4 p.m. some days. He still lugs his blue blankie anywhere I will let him and takes a "nukie break" in his room when he is feeling tired or sad. He is constantly saying things like, "I will do it myself" or "I don't need help" but, in most cases, he really does need a little help when it comes to putting on socks, clothes or tying his shoes.

He is definitely growing up though and has started making his own decisions in some areas. For example, last week I was inside and he ran in the front door, said, "Mom, I need to pee like the wind, I am going out back," and ran out the back door to pee in a bush on the side of our deck. I would have preferred he used our bathroom but he was so confident in his decision and I was in shock so I just sat there and did not say anything. I just shrugged and off he went. He is still a little boy to me though and a year from now when he is getting ready for Kindergarten, I will probably be writing a blog post with this same title. For now, I will just enjoy our little boy.

No more training wheels!

We have had a lot of proud moments around here lately as our youngest son seems to be growing up. Just this week he decided to take off his training wheels. After an entire day of practicing how to balance without training wheels or pedals, my husband put the pedals back on and he was off down the street! Thankfully, I captured his excitement in these photos. I am not sure who was more proud, W or my husband...or his big brothers, who proudly looked on. I love it when the accomplishments of one is celebrated by the rest of my kids. This is what life in a family is all about and I love every one of these moments.

Summer is just around the corner

I am so looking forward to summer. With this crazy weather getting hot and then cold, I am ready for it to just be WARM already and stay that way. I am also ready for all the things that summer brings and for the things we get to take a break from. I have always been a summer girl. But even though I love summer, the reasons why have changed as my kids have gotten older. Summer to me now means taking a break from things like making sack lunches, overseeing math homework, packing snacks, making sure clothes match for school, rushing to the bus stop and crazy, rushed breakfasts. But the list of things that summer does mean to me has just gotten better over the last few years. For one, getting to lounge through breakfast is, in itself, a great perk of summer. I cannot wait to drink my coffee in the sun on the deck while my kids jump on the trampoline and just have fun. I would have to say some other highlights of summer in our family include exploring parks, catching frogs and toads--I was named "the frogmaster" last summer by my kids for my quick swoop of the net--water balloons, eating a popsicle or two, ice cream cones at 10 a.m. just because, nature walks, bike rides, strawberry picking, watching squirt gun fights between my husband and the kids, visiting the zoo, spending a day in Chicago (see photo from last summer), a week at family camp in July, swimming, slip-n-slide, and letting my kids wear their superhero costumes all day if they want. Summer is just around the corner and I cannot wait!

In a house with 3 boys, anything can be a weapon

Did you know that scrapbooking paper can be made into a dagger? Ah...yes, at our house it can. To say having boys has opened my eyes is a serious understatement. I think it all began one day when the kitchen utensil drawer became an armory. The meat fork became a sword, the large spoons became brother butt wackers, and the rubber lid openers became fast moving frisbees aimed at heads. That is just to name a few. One has to wonder whether nature or nurture is at play here. After many years of observing all of this I vote NATURE. Hands down.

A good friend who has a son and a daughter once told me this story about what her kids did during a church service. They each took a friendship register, or the book where you sign in at church. Her daughter turned the paper over to the blank side and started drawing flowers and other fun pictures while her son took the pencil out, laid it in the binding with about an inch sticking out, closed it and started rotating it around while aiming at things making machine gun noises.

I remember asking my sister in law if she was sure when she suggested I get Gator Golf for my 3 year old nephew last Christmas. One of my sons received it one year for his birthday and after using it the intended way a few times, the golf clubs became billy clubs and some injuries resulted. Needless to say, the golf clubs quickly made their way into the trash and the gator head, which is supposed to "eat" the balls is now used by my 3 year old as a garage for his Hot Wheels. Another game we learned about the hard way was called Giraffalaff Limbo. After limboing for a while, my kids discovered the pads could be removed from the plastic rods and used as swords, bats or other dangerous weapons. At the time I write this, that game is still having a "time out" in the storage room in the basement.

The fifth child

Meet Clyde the family dog. We were not planning on having a baby or getting a puppy in 2010 but both happened and our family is now complete. I have to say it was quite a year for us but things have begun to settle down. Even Clyde has cut down on the naughty behavior and has grown to have a special place in our hearts. We laugh though because Clyde has a lot of the annoying habits that our last dog, Payton, had. If you've ever seen Marley and Me you might get an idea of our last dog. After my husband and I finished watching that movie, we looked at each other and said, "Someone has been spying on our life for the last 10 years and written a book about it." Seriously, Payton was just like Marley in so many ways and we loved him despite all of the crazy stuff he did. We even started calling him Marley on occasion after that.

Clyde--also known as the Clydester, C-Dog, and Clydie--is not quite so quirky but he does have a lot of habits that drive us crazy. For example, just today as I tried to read the newspaper on the floor, he laid right down on top of it. Or, as you can see, he "helps" me fold the laundry by laying right on top of the sorted piles. Dogs are funny that way, they just want to be involved and they have no idea they are totally in the way. Since joining our family, Clyde has managed to find and destroy every stuffed animal in our house, remove every rattle from each baby toy, and chewed off ALL the buttons from each duvet that we own. Ugh. Having a puppy is similar to having an extra child. And it is uncanny how when the kids need you, the dog also needs your attention. Clyde always manages to steal a toy or shoe right when I am in the middle of changing a diaper or getting someone's lunch.

I laugh now because I never imagined myself having a dog. I think I was chased by a dog at a young age and had an aversion to any dog after that. Well, on our anniversary one year early in our marriage, my husband gave me my first dog, Payton, a big black lab. It was love at first sight and from that moment, I loved all dogs. I think it's the understanding that you suddenly have that every dog is special to it's owner and you can appreciate that once you have your own. Dogs love you unconditionally and it is so amazing to experience that. Even though dealing with Clyde is just one more thing some days, I could not imagine life without our fifth child.

One lucky lady!

You'll never guess what my 3 boys have been fighting over lately. I have to say, this is not the worst thing I could be dealing with at the moment. These 3 big brothers have been fighting over the attention of their little sister! It all started a couple days ago while my husband and I were getting ready in the morning and little L was sitting up on my bedroom floor and I asked D, my oldest, to sit there with her so she didn't topple over or get stepped on by our 80 pound dog. Being the one who has had the most big brother experience, he was glad to do it. So, as he is cooing and talking to her I hear my 6 year old say, "it's my turn." When I came out of my closet, all 3 of them were sitting with their heads mashed together trying to get her to look at them and "talk" only to them.

As you can see in the photos, her brothers love to sit with her on the floor and entertain her. They are very good at showing her how everything works and handing her toys to put in her mouth. We call her octopus baby sometimes because she grabs everything and puts it right in her mouth. Every once in a while, I will catch one of them leaning over to hug her or saying something like, "Aren't you the cutest?" I love to watch them with her.

It is so cute because they also hate to see her sad or upset. Just yesterday we went to pick up new glasses for D and A and little L was crying for about the last 10 minutes of the one hour car ride and they were all trying to console her from their car seats. "She is just going to have to cry." I told them as they were fidgeting and twisting around in their seats,totally uncomfortable, because the thought of their little baby sister unhappy was NOT at all OK.


After I found out I was having a girl, nearly a year ago now, people would say things like, "Wow, she is going to be the most protected little girl with 3 big brothers." and "Those boys of yours are going to adore their little sister." Well, they were right. I love watching it all play out. I could not have asked for 3 better big brothers. She is one lucky lady!

live and learn

With the beginning of summer approaching, I always think of garage sales. I have always loved going to garage sales, an inborn attraction inherited from my grandma who had a bumper sticker on her pick up truck that said, "I stop at all garage sales!" For my wedding shower she got me, among other things, a glass measuring cup and sure enough, taped to the bottom was a masking tape sticker that read "25 cents." I think of her every time I use it.

I learned what I consider to be one of my first major lessons as a mother at a garage sale. At the time, I had a 2 year old and a 6 month old and my neighbor was having a garage sale. While the boys were napping, I snuck next door to take a look. Why not buy some baby toys for a couple bucks? In the driveway, I noticed a huge Rubbermaid bin full of toys with a sign that said FREE. Inside was a collection of well over 200 McDonald's Happy Meal toys. "And that's not all of them," she told me. I was horrified. Had this mom actually taken her kids to McDonald's enough times to accumulate all those toys? Didn't she realize how unhealthy that food was?

I laugh when I think back to what went through my head that day and have since realized that you just never know what you will do when faced with a certain situation in life. Sure, you can say things like, "I will never let my baby use a pacifier," when you are pregnant and perusing all the books to prepare for your first child but when that baby is 2 weeks old and screaming at 2 a.m. and you are more tired than you have ever been in your life you will for sure be opening the package of Nuks. Or when you are pre-kids and out to dinner at Chili's--just the two of you--and a family is sitting right behind you and their kids are completely unruly and you say something like, "Our kids will never act like that." Well, I have learned to never say never because who knows what life may bring. And, yes our house now contains one Rubbermaid bucket FULL of Happy Meal toys. I am not proud to admit this but I have been known to say, "If you guys can behave at this doctor's appointment, I will take you to McDonald's," more than once in the last 6 years. Live and learn.

growing up so fast

The baby girl in the house is growing up way too fast! During the last two weeks we have seen many changes and realized our little L, or Petunia Picklebottom as I like to call her, is charging ahead with her first year milestones. Things happen all of a sudden during the baby stage. Many days it seems like life is just going at a normal pace and then BOOM!...she sits up by herself for an entire hour and plays on the floor with her toys by herself. Or suddenly she can hold her baby safe food feeder all by herself and we don't need to sit there holding it for her. She has also started to splash in the tub which is fun to watch. We have yet to hear a belly laugh as she is kind of a mellow little lady, but she is quite ticklish and ALWAYS ready with a smile. She is a true joy and seeing her smiling up at me when I go and get her each morning makes me thank God for all my blessings. I am one lucky mom!

a little more pink in my life

I love pink shoes. I, however, did not indulge in buying pink shoes for myself until about 5 years ago when I decided that since I stay at home and do not have to go to a job with any sort of dress code, I could finally justify buying them. These pink shoes arrived from KEEN recently and I could not be happier with them. It's so funny because one year ago I had no idea I was carrying a little girl in my belly and now the whirlwind of pink has really set in at our house. I have yet to buy her any pink shoes but I cannot wait until she actually needs shoes and I can start the search. Although I did buy something pink for my daughter yesterday. I had no idea how much fun buying a pink car seat was going to be for me. When D got home from a friend's house, I told him to go look in the car and he came back smiling. He has always been the one who has appreciated seeing all the new, cute stuff I have gotten for his sister. Before she was born, I started hanging all the cute dresses and outfits I had gotten in his closet. I thought he would be mad and want me to take them out because technically it was still his room. But one day he went in his closet for something and came and found me smiling and said, "Mom, I saw all that new girl stuff in my closet. It's so cute." I was so relieved. And from there I can honestly say the transition to having a baby sister for all 3 boys was great. I am so thankful they welcomed her with open arms. They truly adore her and love all this pink as much as I do. OK...maybe not that much but I bet they would agree having a little more pink in our life is just what we needed!

Scooter chicken, dodge the lawnmower, and other dangerous games...

I bet you've never heard of the game, "scooter chicken." I hadn't either until I was outside with my kids one day and they invented it. As a mother of 3 boys, I am rarely surprised by some of the things my kids come up with. Trust me....girls would never do some of this stuff. At least, not the girls I know. Scooter chicken is a game, now requiring helmets in my yard, where two people ride towards each other on their razor scooters until they are inches from each other and then, right before colliding, jump off into the grass, rolling and abandoning their scooter. Scary I know, but it has been the source of much entertainment around here.

My kids have no fear. Just today my husband was mowing the lawn and my 3 and 6 year old decided to play "dodge the mower." As you can imagine, it is similar to scooter chicken, only this time it is daddy coming at you with the lawn mower and the object is to stand there as long as you can and then jump out of the way at the last possible second, laughing hysterically. At the time this was going on I was running in and out of the house doing different things. Each time I was outside, I could hear my husband saying things like, "jump sooner next time" or "what were you thinking on that one?". Never a dull moment.

I am pretty sure the "dodge the mower" game was a spinoff of the "dodge the vacuum" game my kids invented this past winter. I probably don't need to describe the details of this game other than to say that it involves lots of jumping on couches and trying really hard not to get your toes run over by the vacuum.

The last game I will mention is probably the one I consider to be the least dangerous. It is the version of bumper cars that my kids play repeatedly on our driveway (see photo). I think the main reason why I don't mind this game is because I feel like if you're wearing a helmet and are that close to the ground, you can't possibly suffer too severe of an injury. Although, I guess you never know. I might be blogging later this summer about little boys with broken bones...

life and hexbugs

For Christmas this year my kids each got a hexbug. A hexbug is a small robotic bug that vibrates and "runs" around bouncing off of everything it comes into contact with. They also received a Hexbug racetrack which they can reconfigure and play with for hours. One day, before school my kids were playing with their hexbugs and racing them around the kitchen table. Suddenly, my oldest son turned his off and put it away and said to his brother, "I don't want to waste the battery....if you keep playing with yours, the battery is going to die and then it won't work. I am saving mine."

I cannot tell you how much this statement is a window into the way my two oldest sons view life. D, my oldest child, is a saver. He gets a toy and puts it away so it will stay nice. A, my second oldest son, gets a toy and plays with it until it breaks. He plays hard and the holes in the knees of all of his pants can testify to that. He is carefree, fun loving and enjoys all the fun moments that life has to offer. This year, we had a surprise birthday party for him when he turned 6. We had some of his cousins and all of his grandparents over and we decorated with balloons and streamers and when he walked in the door, we all jumped out and yelled "Surprise!" It was great. I knew he would love it but I think the part I loved the most was watching him spin around the room later that night, completely oblivious to everything else, with a huge smile on his face singing to his balloon after having entirely too much sugary frosting.

I have a lot to learn from my 6 year old. He fully enjoys life and rarely puts much thought into if others might laugh at him for something. I have to admit I am a little jealous. He doesn't just dip his feet in the lake when we first get to camp every summer, he goes running in with his clothes on. He is definitely not a battery saver but at the end of the day, he has definitely had the most fun.

days full of questions

My life is not boring by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, boring sounds like a nice vacation sometimes. Instead my days are full of bus stop pick ups and drop offs, laundry, cleaning up, making food, monitoring tree climbing, and many other things including lots of questions. I never in my life expected to be asked some of the things I have been asked in the last 5 or so years. Some of them have made me cry like the time D asked me, "Mom, if your grandma is dead, why can't you borrow daddy's grandma?" when he was 3 and I was looking at a picture of my grandma and got a bit teary when we looked through a family photo book together. It seemed so easy to him at the time, which of course was so sweet and made me cry even harder. But I have to say that most of the questions over the years have made me laugh. Here are just a few I fielded today from my kindergartener, "What do you think would happen if I had four arms?", "Are bigger spiders more deadly than tornadoes?", "Can I fill this squirt gun with soap and water and wash the bathroom mirror?"

It's funny because some of the questions have obvious answers, like "NO!" but many of them stop me in my tracks because I have no idea how to answer them. For example, last year, while I was standing in my kitchen, A asked me--out of nowhere--"Mom, do angels have nipples?" I am still confused as to where this came from and my response was, "I have no idea." Last week, when one of my children wanted something that happened to be in his sister's closet while she was napping, he asked me, "Mom, can I go into L's room and get something if I am as quiet as a germ?" This past winter when daddy was working late, my kids found my folder of temporary tattoos and A asked, "Mom, can I put 100 tattoos on my body?" I told him yes as long as I did not have to help. As you can see by the photo, he was not kidding.

Then there are the more serious questions that make me so thankful that I am the one who is here with my kids all day every day answering them. Last January, my first dog died and it was awful for all of us and in the weeks that followed the question that kept coming up was, "Mom, do you think Payton is in heaven?" Since I was the person who missed him the most I certainly was hoping so but in all honesty, I told them I did not know for sure but I wanted to believe that he was because I imagine heaven as a place where we are happiest and where we get to do all the things that made us happy on earth, including snuggling with our dogs. I am sure hoping my big oafy, "first baby" as I called him, is up there somewhere chasing tennis balls and eating peanut butter on everything because I know that is what made him happy.

"I want to be like my daddy"

If you ever ask my boys who their hero is, you can bet they will answer with "my dad". I would not have it any other way. My husband was made to be the father of boys. As someone who grew up with one sister, I am especially thankful to have him to coach me through all this boy stuff that, up until nearly 8 years ago, was completely foreign to me. I have asked my husband on more than one occasion, "Is this normal?" when something that a female would never do is happening in front of my eyes. Whether it's the amount of wrestling that occurs in my house--almost non stop on some days--to the dangerous stunts they pull when playing outside, I constantly have to step back and try not to overreact. Boys will be boys and my husband is right there in the middle of all the wrestling and ball playing and yes, he even had a go on the slip-n-slide one summer. He does draw the line at playing in the mud and tubing down the basement stairs. But I have to say I am thankful that my kids have such a great dad--he will do almost anything they want to do just to connect with them in some way.

So, this past summer the hero status was kicked up a notch when my husband got his very first Harley Davidson motorcyle. Now these boys are pining away to take a ride on the back whenever the weather is nice. I think my little W was actually shaking with excitement last weekend when daddy told him he could go first. I failed to get a picture of that but I did manage to capture one of A and daddy. It was only a quick trip around the neighborhood for each of them, but it totally made their day. And seeing their little faces light up after doing something fun with their dad made my day too.

6 months old!

I never in my life thought 6 months could fly by so fast. I feel like it was just yesterday that my daughter was born. She is the little girl I never knew I needed. It makes me laugh to think back to many of the moments in the months before she was born. Like when we told the boys we were having a baby, A responded with, "Mom! I thought you said we weren't going to have any more of those!" Or when D read the ultrasound picture with the word GIRL out loud for the first time to which his brother responded, "I already knew it was a girl because I saw eyelashes in one of those pictures."

I vividly remember the ultrasound tech saying, "It looks like you have a perfect, healthy girl growing in there." Whoa. A girl. A thousand things must have flashed through my mind at that moment. I know for sure my first thought was that I was so thankful she was healthy. Then, I pictured a little girl with blonde pig tails chasing her 3 big brothers and playing in our yard and was overcome with emotion. And yes, maybe for a moment, I considered that there would not be one more to join in the wrestling. That was just the beginning and we are only 6 months into this adventure with this little girl. I am enjoying this baby stage in every way and can honestly say I appreciate ALL the little things this time around...the dimply smiles, the way her brothers love her, and the silly songs my husband makes up for her when he is holding her. But, most of all I am looking forward to seeing what comes next.

"I like my forsfeeld becos it brtex me."

Of all 4 of my children, my 6 year old stands out in the personality department. He also happens to be our most imaginative child, turning almost anything into a toy and playing with it for hours. In his mind, a bottle cap makes a great mini-spaceship, an empty mac-n-cheese box is perfect for an Iron Man shooter hand, and a pencil can be sharpened to become a super sharp rocket blaster. Just today, he asked if he could have the 3-piece hanger that his new pajamas came on and proceeded to pretend it was a robot, a space ship and then a rocket flying around the house.

He started kindergarten this year and the daily journal entries started coming home. I love reading the sentences he comes up with and seeing the illustrations that accompany them. Yesterday, I looked in his folder and found this. A picture of himself with "a forsfeeld" circling around him. At first glance I thought he had scribbled something out but then I realized it was part of the picture. My husband and I got a good chuckle out of it and my son was so proud. I love these little windows into his imagination.

Are we raising grass or are we raising boys?

I played catch with my 3 boys this week. It felt really good to say yes when they asked and I think it surprised all of us. I said yes not because all the chores were done--rarely is that the case in our house--but because I heard a great story last week at the moms group that I go to. It was a great reminder of what is really important.

The story is about a farmer who had 4 sons. This particular farmer made use of all his land except for the front yard, which was the space where his wife took care of their grass and planted her flowers each year. She was especially proud of her front yard and quick to protect it from the trampling feet of her sons. Well, one day when the farmer decided it was time to teach the boys the great American game of baseball, he set up the bases in mother's yard and told the boys to get their mitts. When the mother heard the ruckus going on in the front yard, she ran to the front door, threw it open and yelled, "What is going on out here?!?" to which her husband yelled back, "Ma, are we raising grass or are we raising boys?" The woman said nothing and went back in the house. She appeared moments later with a catchers mitt in hand and joined in.

After I heard that story, I made a promise to myself that I would say yes more this summer when they ask me to do things with them. They are not going to be asking me to join in for too much longer so I need to make the most of it.

Not the season for sleep

A wise mother once said to me right before I had my first son, "You will soon understand why sleep deprivation is used as a form of torture in some countries." As most things with motherhood, I didn't really ponder that until after I was so tired and I thought back to it. Things always make more sense after you yourself have actually experienced it. Well, here I sit now with four children and can honestly say that I am always in need of more sleep. I have always loved to sleep. My college roommates can attest to me sleeping almost the entire 24 hour trip to Florida during spring break two years in a row. After them giving me grief the first year for not having done my part in the driving department, I took Vivarin the second year in hopes of being more alert. Needless to say, it did not work and I had to remind them that my sister had given me the nickname "the log" for a reason as a teenager for always leaning on her shoulder or lap when our parents would take the two of us on roadtrips. My husband now understands this as we have driven to visit my parents and there have been many times where I have slept nearly the entire 6 hour trip.

Yesterday I met a mom who has three boys in high school and a daughter in middle school and as we were discussing the fact that it is non stop wrestle-fest pretty much everywhere you go with boys, she added, "Oh and I hate to tell you this but I am still tired from my kids waking me up for this or that even now." I have to admit I was a little shocked at this. Having never had a baby sleep through the night until after they turned one year old, I was kind of hoping that at some point, I could look forward to an 8 hour night of sleep without my feet touching the floor. But I guess this is just not my season to sleep and I need to relish things like holding and feeding my baby girl at 2 a.m. or hearing my sweet 3 year old say, "mommy, could you cover me up?" while standing next to my bed with his blankie in hand in the early morning hours. Oh well..... maybe next season:)

happening right before my eyes...

The idea of starting a blog about my life and the everyday fiascos that occur in a house with 4 kids and a puppy has been something I have been thinking about for a while. I thought and thought about how I would come up with topics that would be fun and interesting for people to read and then I realized, I don't need to think of things to write about because they are already happening right before my very eyes each week, each day, each moment. I can't stop the chaos, so I better just go ahead and document the things, big or small, that are going on around me that make my life FULL. I definitely can say that life is rarely boring around here. So, here it is. I am finally doing it. Welcome to my life.