"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!