10

My baby girl ran a 10k today and she made it look easy.

Airplanes and Fireworks

Timm has ruined my boys. Last night as we laid on the ground watching fireworks. As in big colorful explosions above us. My boys kept yelling, "Look! An airplane!" Seriously? Did you maybe notice the fireworks?

Walking

A chubby baby has been using my living room to practice walking. FUN!

Daddy's Girls

Lat night at YW we had a Daddy Daughter night. My girls by far had the most embarrassing dad and they loved every minute of it.

Sleepy Cuddles

The boys laid down in the living room last night so they could watch a late movie then go straight to sleep. Ali came in and sat by Jack for just a few minutes before going to bed. He looked at her with big happy yet sleepy eyes and asked her if she was going to sleep on the couch with him. She smiled and realized that resistance was futile and she may as well get her pillow. Seriously, how can you tell that face no? On other news, as Eli was adjusting his pillow he informed me that he is used to having his head mounted at night. Hmmmmmm. Like a stuffed deer?

Oops

So, a few weeks ago I fell and tore some ligaments in my foot. I was on the couch and in so much pain for a week and a half and my foot was twice as big as normal. After it started feeling better I guess I lost the habit of posting. I will just have to fix that. I will be in this boot for a few more weeks though, so after I found out how long I was going to wear this thing I asked Ali to decorate it for me. She pulled out the paint pens and went after it. My boot is now covered in bubbles with a few cute pictures. I have a cupcake, a rose, a heart and my favorite.... a taco.

Tissue?

I found Jack picking his nose. I asked him if he needed a tissue. When I ask him this he always thinks I want him to blow his nose, so he told me, "That doesn't work on metal boogers."

Busy Busy

I've been busy all day gearing up for Jack's dinosaur party tomorrow. Luckily I have an amazing sister-in-law who sent me a party in a box. Jack is SOOOOOOO excited.

Flowers

Easter Sunday Larry brought me beautiful flowers. They have been in my bedroom making the whole room smell wonderful. They are starting to go, sad.

Eggs

We had 16 kids in the back yard today looking for eggs and candy. They were all adorable and everyone had a good time. Everyone brought food and candy and we were pleasantly surprised that Gabrielle and her family were able to make it on their way to Smithfield. I'm glad everyone was here. There has been an underlying anxiety here waiting for bad news and it was a good break. It's nice when a big family event goes so smoothly.

Dog Farts

A dog totally farted right in Ali's face today. Hehehehehehehe.

Stupid Jack

Jack: How do you spell stupid?

Me: S-T-U-P-I-D

Jack: I hate Stupid Jack.

Me: Who's Stupid Jack?

Jack: He's another one of me..... who's stupid.

Me: Oh, so it's not you?

No: He's like me, but stupid.......

I should kick him in the crotch......

Actually punch him in the crotch......

Ya.

Sun

The sun has finally come back. We came home from school and didn't want to go in the house. So, we played outside for about an hour. Then, we walked over to the school and watched the soccer game. After that we still weren't done having fun so we ran on over to the cheap theater and finally watched Tangled. The scene where she finally goes outside is just what my kids looked like today.

Seriousness

Jack was almost asleep last night when he looked at me and said, "Mommy, can I tell you something?" We then had an interesting little conversation about all the things that are serious to a little guy and not so serious to a mom. Like, how it's not fair that he can't shrink like Micro-Man can. It was a good talk.

Lego Star Wars

Jack set up an area to play Lego Star Wars and stood by the back door waiting for Daddy to come home. He walked in and Jack took him into the front room and handed him an XBox controller. It's pretty funny to sit in this back room and listen to smack talk between a 33 year old and a 4 year old.

The Zoo

I took my family to the zoo today. We saw lots of animals and of course spent a while watching the elephants. We also met up with Gabrielle and her kids. It was all around a great day. All the kids loved it. Jordan got pooped on and the silver back gorilla thought Juliet was amazing. It was so cool, I was holding her and he came up to the glass and got as close as he could to the baby and just stared. It was like he thought SHE was the one on exhibit. I love the zoo.

Questions

Jack came up to me and asked me what will happen to him when he dies since he's not a robot. I love how he asks me such big questions in his little way. Before I could answer he asked me if he would turn into a zombie or a ghosts. SO CUTE!

Quiet Nights

I love nights at home when homework is done and we have nowhere to go and nothing to do.

Juliet

My new beautiful niece was born last week and she is such a sweet little blessing. She has the most perfectly round head. Every time I hold her I remind her that I am her favorite Auntie and she opens up her little eyes and looks at me me with a "whatever you say" look on her face. I wish my sister lived a bit closer so I could get my Juliet fix every day. I love that baby!

Wednesdays

Sometimes it's nice to have a lot of distractions and Wednesday would be the day for that. I want to go to sleep for about 36 hours straight and I want to go hug my new little niece. Is it possible to do both at once?

Cathy

I met Cathy in high school. She was the prettiest girl in the school and she didn't know it. She also happened to be the most beautiful person I had ever met. Every word that came out of her mouth was kind. Every emotion that came from her was real. Just being around her made you happy. I have only seen Cathy a handful of times since high school, but I have always considered her a dear friend. A few weeks ago she was in town from California and we were going to make her dinner, but she slipped on the ice and broke her ankle. We didn't get to see Cathy. Last night she died from a blood clot that formed in that broken ankle. The world lost one of the kindest, sweetest, most thoughtful people ever. I love you and will miss you Cathy. I may also get a little teary every time I see a duck, especially if it has handle bars.

Switching Things Up

Sometimes change is nice. It's especially nice when someone else is doing the majority of the changing and it just makes your life easier.

Book Worms

I love being in book club. I really love being around a bunch of ladies that love to read as much as I do.

Another Reading Day

I read to Eli's class again today. They are just so cute! I especially love when that one boy sits in the back and acts like he doesn't care. You turn the pictures towards him and he puts his chin on his fist and looks ultra bored. Then...... You see him smile. Sometimes he even giggles. I just won't tell him I saw that because he is obviously way too cool to care.

So Big

Wow, my baby isn't a baby anymore and he has been reminding me of this a lot lately. In fact he slapped me in the face with it tonight. I watched him add by counting on his fingers. I watched him count by two's. Then I saw a tiny little gap in his teeth. He lost a tooth. He didn't even let me see his tooth. He never even told me it was loose. When I asked him about it he said that he wiggled it with his tongue then he pulled it out and threw it away. Hopefully I will see the next one because Ali showed him all the money she got from her two teeth she lost this week. He wrote a note a drew a picture of the tooth for the Toothfairy so he might get something. Oh, he also wrote his name by himself. Sometimes it seems like I just got him even though it's hard to remember a time without him. Wow.

So Sweet

My niece spent the day with me today. Usually when I am around her she really doesn't want me to hold her. You see, she is a daddy's girl and if she can see dad, she wants dad. Today I watched her and daddy wasn't there so do you know what she did? She giggled, she snuggled, she asked, "What's this?" and she smiled. She is such a sweet little girl and her and Jack got along so well. She can come over and play whenever she wants.

Sugar

Sometimes it makes you feel better, even when you don't know you need it.

So Proud

I was so proud of my kids last night. We have taken yet another step to get Jack comfortable sleeping on his own. It's a long road after 4 1/2 years of sleep apnea. As we set up his bed again all of the older kids went above and beyond to get him excited about it. I didn't have to say a word to them to get them to do it either, they are just so sweet.

Getting It Done

I love that I can just do my own taxes without having to rely on anybody else.

Goals

My oldest daughter was awarded for passing off 2 values in Young Women's tonight. I don't think I ever did even one. I'm very proud of her.

Not Enough Time

Porter was here from 3 to 5 playing with the boys. Angie came to get him and apparently that was just NOT enough time to play. So, she took my boys home with her and they came home at 8. Jack is already planning what he will do next time he goes to Porter's house. I'm glad my boys have such a good friendship with such a nice boy. Those cute girls too of course, they are involved in Jack's plans after all.

Movie Nights

Movie nights at home, movie nights with the whole family at the theater, movie nights with my girl friends, movie night with Timm. I love just sitting next to someone, enjoying the same thing, knowing we are all having fun and not having to talk. It's just nice.

My In Laws

They raised a very nice boy.

Doors

I like how they shut.

Sinking In

Today we rewarded our children for learning a lesson. That always makes my day.

Movie Time

Jack has had yet another adjustment to make. Daddy is gone during the day again so it is back to just the two of us. This week as soon as we drop off the kids at school, he goes into my room, climbs on my bed, pulls the blanket up and waits for a movie. We have been watching movies on Hulu and snuggling every morning. Oh, and usually I find him gazing at me and smiling instead of watching the movie at least once every morning.

Books

Book club is going to be at my house today and I'm excited. I love book club. Because of book club I can totally say that I need to be left alone, I'm reading for book club.

Full Time Friends

We had a little experiment with the boys this afternoon. As a punishment for all of their fighting this morning we grounded them from each other for 2 hours. They both had to act like they were an only child. They not only didn't have anybody to fight with, they had nobody to play with or help them out when they needed it. After the two hours we had a good talk about how a brother is like a full time, live in friend. I think it sunk in if only for a little while, we will see. The best part though is how they both watched the timer like hawks. Andrew even did a count down.

Little Helper

We were getting ready for church this morning when I looked into the living room. What I saw was probably one of the cutest things I have ever seen! Jack was standing as still as he could and talking to his big brother Andrew, while Andrew knelt in front of him buttoning up his vest. Nobody asked him to, he just wanted to help Jack get ready. The sweet look of concentration on his face was absolutely priceless. I really am the luckiest mommy in the whole world.

It All Lines Up

Don't you just love it when you want to go do something, you call somebody, they already have plans and invite you along? Then, miraculously, you are able to do exactly what they have planned? Yay for not having to plan things!

Africa

I took Jack in for his 3 week post-op appointment today. The doctor kindly encouraged him to sleep at night since we are trying to break him of his habit of working himself up before bed. It's a long habit that used to be fully justified, but now there is no reason to be afraid to sleep. As we were driving home Jack told me he wants to go to Africa. I asked him why and he said that it never gets dark in Africa and you don't have to go to sleep. I tried telling him that it does get dark there, but he's pretty sure I have my continents mixed up. Who am I to argue with such a smart boy?

Laying Low

I've been laying low and taking it easy and everyone is not only letting me, they are encouraging me.

Whisper

I was trying to talk to Apollo today so he wouldn't get grumpy. He really doesn't like it when he feels ignored. With my voice gone I was worried about he would act. So, I got up real close to his cage and talked to him as much as I could. Which is to say, I whispered to him. The crazy thing is, he started talking back to me, quietly. Of course he doesn't know how to whisper (yet), but he got real close to me and talked quieter than I have ever heard him talk. Do I have a cool bird or what?

No Voice

I have absolutely no voice today. When people say that they lost their voice you think of them as squeaky and whispy. I wish, I can't even get a squeak out. The amazing thing is, my whole family is trying so hard to listen to me. They turn to see what I need when I clap to get their attention. They gave me a whistle and we set up a system. 1 whistle for Hollee, 2 for Ali, 3 for Eli, 4 for Andrew, 5 for Jack and one long whistle for Timm. They even gave me a white board to write messages on. Of course the kids still need to remind Timm to look at me after he answers, you can't see hand signals and notes when your back is turned.

Nerves

Timm can't sleep at night. He's too nervous. He's also too cute.

Hide And Go Punch

Timm and Jack went to JCPenny today. Jack thinks it's funny to hide in the clothes racks. TImm didn't see him so he loudly called, "HEY!" There was a couple arguing and they thought he was talking to him. The man gave him a very dirty look. Timm cleared it up and all was well. That is, until he told me the story. When Jack heard that a man gave his daddy a dirty look he was indignant! He said to me, "I wanna punch that guy in the face!"

Busy

We had a nonstop day, but guess what? Timm got some of his books today (half of them were not there). Boy am I glad I'm not him. That's a lot of numbers and diagrams. He will do great. We are all very proud of him.

Timmy

It's Timm's birthday. Can I just say I like that guy? He's a pretty awesome husband, father and friend. You all should be jealous.

Secrets

Andrew leaned in to tell Timm something. TImm leaned in too. Andrew beckoned him closer. No, closer. A little bit closer.......... BURP!

Then he ran.

A Whole Night!

Not only did Jack sleep all night without waking up in pain, all the kids slept till 10! It was the best morning ever! We slept in, we had breakfast and we all piled on top of each other and watched a movie. Good times.