Funny "Foto" Friday

Joseph is coloring again. He can entertain himself for hours with a few colored pencils and a piece of paper.

Sarah is getting really good at holding the baby properly. It also helps that he is not so tiny anymore.

I was trying to get a picture of little David smiling - which he does on occasion - because this week we discovered that he has a little dimple in his left cheek. You can almost see it in this picture. I thought he looked rather cute with his tongue sticking out too. Sarah is such an awesome big sister and I love how she looks with her hair short. She has been extra helpful for me this week. Today she helped Kathryn into her carseat and got her buckled when it was time to pick up Joseph from preschool.

Joseph is trying to show you (or the camera) his new haircut. It's VERY short in the back because at first he insisted that I only use the scissors to cut his hair because he doesn't like the sound or feel of the clippers. Well, that wasn't going very well...ahem...and I had to use the shortest clip to fix it in the back. It's still a little splotchy, if that's a word. The front looks a bit odd too because his hairline is not symmetrical in the front; it grows noticeably lower on one side of his forehead than the other. That's why we usually keep his hair long in front. But, I decided that he looks rather handsome with it shorter in the back and still long enough to part on top - kinda like his daddy. =)

Almost every day Sarah will choose a dress or a tutu to dance in around the house. She loves playing dress up and she enjoys twirling around while wearing full dresses, or in this case, a puffy tutu. Here they are trying to "strike a pose" for the camera. They had to hold very still because I was using the camera on my cell phone. Any movement = very blurry picture. That's why Kathryn is always fuzzy in the photos.

Sarah is so beautiful. She is tall and slender with long legs and a very out-going personality.

I'm going to have to lock her in the house in about 10 years.

I pulled out the baby toys today to see if little David was interested in them. At first he liked the rattle sounds and actually smiled quite a bit. Then when I grabbed the camera he stopped smiling. I think he doesn't like the look of the camera because never smiles when I'm holding it.

Those chubby cheeks...I just can't get used to them. Next Tuesday is his 2 month check up and I can't wait to see how much he weighs. At 2 weeks he was up to 8lbs 12oz. I'm guessing that he is around 11 pounds now. A friend at church guessed 12 pounds. He has grown so much faster than I thought he would and has completely lost that newborn look. Now, if only he could lose the newborn sleeping patterns! =)

Halloween shirts in April

Matching shirts: Aunt Jennifer sent these shirts for Halloween last year. They are a favorite with all the kids. Today, Joseph put his on first, then Sarah found hers so they could be twins. Kathryn insisted on wearing hers too. (She wouldn't smile for the picture though).

Eating lunch and running around outside

We get to eat a picnic lunch four days a week due to the preschool schedule. Joseph goes in the mornings, every day except Monday. He gets out around 11:30. Sarah's class starts at 12:30. It takes us approximately 15 minutes to drive from our house to the school. That means it would take 30 minutes to make the round trip. So we usually just stay in town and eat at the park or on the grass at their school. When the weather is bad we go to a friends house or eat in our van.

Our little David isn't so tiny any more. This kid seems to be growing so much faster than the other kids did. Look at those cheeks!

Sharing. Joseph likes to share his treats with his sisters or Mommy. Last week he got a bag of M&M's for a reward for something (I can't remember what). Then he shared them all with the whole family by methodically passing them out one by one, color by color. Here he's sharing a bite of ice cream with Kathryn.

Sarah loves to hold the baby and cuddle him. She asks to hold him everyday. Joseph just likes to give him a kiss and say hi. Kathryn always says "Hi baby Dabid, how are you?"

This weekend was the Dogwood Festival. I saw signs for it all month long and wasn't sure if it was just a celebration of the dogwoods blooming or what. Then on Thursday David came home and told us that there was a huge carnival at the LCSC campus. Apparently they have this every year and it's a cherished community event. So we took the kids Saturday afternoon and let them jump on those huge blow-up jumpy things. We bought some kettle corn and called it good. They thought it was the coolest thing ever. I didn't see any dogwoods on campus, but this house has three beautiful trees in the front yard. We pass it everyday on the way to preschool. This picture really does not do justice to the amazing beauty and dimensions of the blossoms.

Picnics and Stranger Danger

The last few days we've had fabulous weather. In fact yesterday the kids were complaining that it was too hot. We enjoyed eating outside on the grass at the school and the kids got to run around a little too. Some of the other kids from the preschool started coming a little early just so they could play outside with us for a few minutes.



Eating our old staple – [natural] peanut butter & [fruit only] jelly on whole wheat.

Kathryn loved running around with the big kids. She wants to do everything that her older siblings do.

Even little David got some sun, but he didn't like it shining in his eyes. The fresh air was good for him though.

His eyes are starting to look more blue and more like Joseph's. He does smile, but I can't seem to catch it on camera.

Here are all FOUR of my silly little kids.

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Sadly, today the weather was much cooler, windy, and cloudy. That meant that we didn't get to have a picnic outside for lunch. We went to the home of some kids from the preschool who live near the school. (They have two boys, ages 3 and 5). Sarah immediately ran upstairs to explore the house. Joseph eventually followed her so he wouldn't miss any of the action. A few minutes later, Sarah came downstairs. Soon I heard Joseph crying, or rather screaming. He was frozen with fear at the top of the stairs with his back in a corner. He wouldn't move when the friends' mom tried to help him come down – he just screamed at her (it reminded me of the kind of reaction a truly terrified animal would have). I had to go up there and walk down with him. He said that he was scared because Sarah left him "alone" up there. He doesn't know these friends very well – we've never done anything with them outside of school before today. Joseph is very wary of strangers and always cautious in new or unfamiliar situations.

Sarah is the opposite: she will talk to ANYONE and has no fear of new places or situations. I think she is somewhat clueless about how dangerous her careless wanderings can be. We have talked to her about not talking to strangers, staying close to Mom or Dad when we're out, etc. etc. but it hasn't had much effect. Last week she tried to leave her school in the middle of class time. The teacher heard her go and caught her just a few steps out the door in the parking lot. Sarah said that she wanted to go home, so she "just decided to leave".

The jury is still out on Kathryn. I think that she is going to be more like Joseph than Sarah, though she does have a more outgoing personality when she's in her element; she still gets shy around strangers and doesn't ever venture far from her mama. From the day the Sarah learned to walk, she's been hard to keep in check. She'll run toward anything that looks exciting or interesting without any thought of danger or other consequences.

Sleeping all day Saturday

Haha! I wish I could really sleep in like I used to do before kids. Now, if I get to sleep past 7:00am before someone comes into my room or starts crying to be fed, it's a miracle. Yesterday I suddenly developed a cold (runny nose, sneezing, etc.) so this morning David was kind enough to feed the children breakfast while I rested a little more...and fed the baby. He took the older kids to the park to feed the ducks so I could rest some more...or at least have some quiet time, plan for the week, oh yeah, and feed the baby again. =) During lunch, David  passed out on the couch and got a bit of a nap. (Taking 3 kids to the park and the grocery store is exhausting!) Once Kathryn and Joseph were down for naps and Sarah was in her room for "quiet time", I tried to get some more rest. But, first I had to feed the baby again. Sarah had a hard time staying in her room, so David kept her quiet in the living room while everyone else slept. All in all, I may have gotten as much sleep today as I did last night, but I still feel sick and tired. The house is so quiet now - it's 9:30 and everyone has been alseep for two hours. Should I sleep some more or enjoy some quiet, alone time?

Here's a list of all the things I didn't get done today...or even start:
1. Laundry (I did fold and put away most of one load of laundry - left over from last time I worked on laundry...aka last weekend)
2. Clean the whole kitchen
3. Sweep and vacuum floors
4. Sort laundry, wash, dry, put away 3-4 loads
5. Clean bathrooms
6. Finish sorting and organizing the kids' clothes (change to summer clothes, put away winter)
7. Plan the weekly menu and buy groceries

Here's what I did accomplish today:
1. Prepare food - including a nutritious, homemade dinner - with 3 little helpers in the kitchen
2. Change wet and soiled diapers
3. Read stories to the kids
4. Put the kids down for naps and to bed at night
5. Feed the baby at least 10 times it seems
6......

Hmmmm...I think that's about it. Someday I'll catch up on the housework, get everything under control and have time to do things like sewing, read a novel, etc.

Random Tuesday

After several months, I finally got around to fixing our dryer. It worked okay, but took 2-3x longer to dry the clothes than it should have taken, all the while running up my electric bill. (Our washing machine was broken for several months too, and I just got that fixed a couple of weeks ago). Anyway, our landlord came over to check the vent / tube that goes from the laundry room to outside because there wasn't any air flowing through it. No airflow = wet clothes. The tube was full of water! After draining that, our dryer is good as new.

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I made smoothies for the kids tonight that contained the following ingredients:
turnip greens, beet greens, beets, ginger root, bananas, frozen mixed fruit (peaches, grapes, strawberries), and water.

Sounds horrible, right? It wasn't exactly the best smoothie ever, but I didn't gag on it either. It was a beautiful deep red color - thanks to the beets. I think that is why the kids drank theirs in no time flat without any complaints.

I've made much tastier smothies that turned out greenish or brownish and the kids won't hardly touch them. It's amazing what I can get the kids to eat when it's blended up in a smoothie. I get ideas from www.greensmoothiegirl.com and other similar sites.

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We're trying to sell our house in Nashville -- anyone interested? It's been on the market for a few weeks now. We had a buyer who made a written offer, but then backed out due to "personal problems". Now there is another "interested" buyer, but no offer. We need to sell the house soon or we'll have to look for new renters.