Crazy Wind Storms, My Birthday & Baby Smiles

On Monday we had this crazy storm and terrible winds all morning and afternoon. There were tree branches and shingles all over the roads. David said he was worried that huge tree limbs were going to fall on him at school/work. Many huge limbs did crack and fall off some of the larger trees in the older areas of town. Some of the electric poles also cracked, fell, and caused a domino effect - leaving us without electricity for about 9 hours. Not bad on a spring day. We had plenty of daylight, stayed warm in the house and ate pizza for dinner. We "had" to eat the ice cream out of the freezer too before it melted. So, it was kind of fun and the power came back on around 9pm -- just as I was lighting some candles to read a book. Other positive aspects of not having electricity: David couldn't use the computer to do work at home and kids couldn't watch a movie, so everyone played together and David wrestled the kids on the floor. It was great to see them spending more quality time together.

Tuesday was my birthday. It was a long and busy day - I took little David and Sarah to check-ups with their pediatrician. Sarah has a "strong heart" and is tall (75th percentile) and slim. We knew all that already. Little David has gained 4 pounds since birth - he's at 12lbs now - and has grown 2.5 inches! He is starting to smile and interact more with me and the kids. He has also been sleeping for longer stretches at night (4 1/2 hours). The pediatrician is awesome - he has a full beard, an earing and is known to wear brightly colored "hippie" shirts to work. He also doesn't give me grief about not wanting to vaccinate the kids.

Afterwards, I took the girls and baby to the library story hour. Then picked up Joseph from school and had to return to the library to get something that Sarah had left there. Sarah went to school and I got a nap while the other younger 3 napped. They are all great nappers and go to sleep fairly easily without much effort on my part.

David and Sarah came home around 4pm with flowers for me, we all cleaned the house, then the babysitter came over and David and I went out to dinner. We had a gift card for Applebee's, we lived it up and ordered limonades and dessert with the meal. Ha! Our babysitter was fabulous and had the kids all in bed when we got home. (What a gift!)

All in all, it was a nice day. I am grateful to have such a wonderful family. My darling children have been great the past few weeks -- the adjustment to having 4 little ones has gone much smoother than I ever imagined it would. (Maybe my expectations weren't very high?) But, seriously, I have really enjoyed the kids lately and haven't felt too tired. David is the best husband - the perfect one for me. He is always helping me with chores around the house and spends a lot of time helping with the kids too. Come to think of it, HE is the reason that I am surviving and enjoying my children so much. Without his help the house would be a disaster and laundry wouldn't get put away, the kitchen wouldn't get cleaned as often and the kids wouldn't get as many bedtime stories, and we would probably eat a lot more PB&J and Macaroni and Cheese.


Joseph loves to send emails to his grandmas and grandpas. Usually he just types nonsense and maybe a few little words that he knows (like cat, dog, etc.) Today he wanted to tell his Grandpa Chuck thank you for some new clothes that he sent us yesterday. So, I wrote out a thank you note and Joseph copied the whole thing - picking out each letter and typing it by himself. He also knows how to enter the email addresses, write in the subject line, press tab to go to the compose box, and send the email when he's done.

Sarah is all girl. I found her entertaining baby David while I made dinner. She showed him her baby doll, rocked him, sang him a song, and told him some stories. He seemed to enjoy the attention. When I had to change his diaper, Sarah pretended to change her baby's diaper too.

Finally! He smiled for the camera - actually he was laughing at his silly daddy while I took the picture.

You can almost make out his little dimple in this one. Right after this I tried to get him to smile on video, but no luck. Those smiles only last for a couple of minutes. Then it's just too much excitement and he's ready to eat or sleep, or both, again.

I don't have any pictures of Kathryn from today, but I thought I should say something about her too. She is getting so "big" - she wants to be and do everything like Sarah. Today, after we finished lunch I took all the kids inside the school to say hello to their teachers and drop off the tuition check. Kathryn thought it was so much fun. The older kids came in and were all sitting on their little chairs. Mrs.Cundiff let Kathryn sit down with them while I took the boys out to the van. Then I came back for Kathryn - the kids all sang the continent song to her. She just beamed and sat like a big girl in her chair. But it didn't last long, we had to leave so they could start class. She cried for a few seconds when I carried her out. I asked her "Are you sad because you want to go to school too?" Kathryn responded: "Me go to school!"