whatever

sean turned seven this weekend!
he had begun counting the days to his birthday back in april.
it finally came!
the family party was a camp-out in the backyard.

we cooked hot dogs over the fire.
ate dinner outside. went swimming awhile.
opened presents.

all legos and a transformers t-shirt.
then it was time for s’mores….mmmmm.
i found chocolate and strawberry flavored marshmallows this week!
they looked yummy so we tried it.
no one cared for the pink but the chocolate ones were awesome!
the pink ones were so pretty though. i wanted to put them in a little bag and tie a ribbon around it and give it as a gift. they are so cute!
s’mores were yummier with chocolate flavored marshmallows.

daddy got to sleep in the tent with the kids.
lucky daddy.
someone had to stay inside with annie 🙂
i had to make the cake too.
in the morning sean had a little party with 3 friends.

we keep our parties very simple.
no plans.
just play with a group of friends.
eat cake…open presents..play some more.
that’s all they need.
and no goodie bags.
who started this craziness?!! and why did we all go with it?!! the presents go to the birthday boy not the guests. just like at a wedding…why are there now favors for the guests? the reception is to celebrate the couple! i guess it’s to say thank you but can’t you just SAY thank you and BE thankful? when did that become not enough? (i am aware that i sound like a crabby old lady)
i haven’t always been this way but with 5 kids there is no way i could do those big expensive parties.
i never went to any big parties like kids today get.
and i thought birthday parties were the best!
the coolest party i went to was roxi’s party at the skating rink in jr. high.
i just like to keep it simple.
and my kids are very happy with this system and that’s what works for us.
i am not against those who give goodie bags…it’s just not my thing.
everyone else can have the big parties and their kids can go home from our parties confused why they didn’t get a goodie bag…i am okay with that. ha ha

we waited till the afternoon to give him his big present from nana and grandma & grandpa.
we made him close his eyes adn then we set it in front of him.
he opened his eyes and smiled and said “i thought it’d be a bike”
very calm.
he looks so big.
and then one more shot of sean on his big day…
he is very into the pirates of the caribbean lego’s. the ship in the back with the black sails is the one he built saturday morning by himself. the ship with the white sails is scott’s but sean built it for him after scott got frustrated 5 minutes into it.
his brain is made for legos.

(sean does own shirts…he just didn’t have one this day. that’s summer for ya!)
happy birthday buddy.

check her out!
she brought me this paper…working on menu maybe?

SPOGID = spaghetti
LSNYA = lasagna
SOAP = soup

i said “well miss smartie pants…what are you going to do in kindergarten if you already know everything?!”
she was beaming with pride.
she should be.

scott was feeling brave.
he moved the little basketball goal to the trampoline and then jumped off the trampoline to slam dunk it.
i was sure he would get hurt.
but he didn’t.
he was having so much fun.
i brought out the camera.
i laid down in the grass to take some pics.

after seeing that scott could do it….sean wanted to try.
and then talby too.

silly kids.

after i was through with pictures i stayed on the grass and just chilled.
i had a magazine and a drink.
i was good.
talby thought it was funny so she took my picture.

i took this quick one to show how helpful my kiddos are.
to remind myself of this.
they do so much for annie.
she is always there needing a lift…a push…a hand…and they do it.
i don’t want to forget or overlook that.
sweetness.

this one is exhausting.
she is so cute but so terribly tiring.
she screams all day long.
i ask her if she is hungry she says yes.
then i say “do you want…..pb&j (or anything in the entire fridge)”
and she screams “NO!!!!!”
it doesn’t matter what it is.
i feel like i am going a bit crazy a little at a time each day.

softball is over for lauren.
she had a good time playing. it’s bittersweet for the season to end. i am happy to have the chaos of the games over but just when the teams start to get what they are doing and they are improving…..end of season.
she sure loves to play. catcher isn’t her favorite but at least you get to play on every pitch. there’s no spacing out when you are catcher.

look at this skinny guy.
when did he get so lean?
he loves getting all his ball gear on for games.
he played hard last night.
and i got to watch by myself for almost 10 minutes before the kids came back from the park saying how thirsty and bored they were.
ridiculous.

i love that pool.
i dislike going to the city pool with my crew very much.
it’s not the pool that’s the problem it’s me.
i don’t like to get wet.
i prefer not to get in the water unless i have to.
at the city pool i have to get in with them because of their ages.
then the other 150 kids in the 3 foot area splash me and i just don’t enjoy it.
am i princess or what?
ha ha ha
but i love this pool.
and they do too.
and i have been in it….once.

and one more funny one from the ball game last night.
she was climbing into my chair from hers.

i haven’t checked in here for at least a month and it was very inspiring on this rainy boring afternoon!

7 pages of pretty to devour!

we are leaving for vacation in a week.
we have made 10 -12 hour car rides since the beginning of our marriage a few times a year every year.
granted the crew has gotten bigger and bigger but we have done this at least 20 times.
this year…this trip…my husband is getting nervous about how it will go.
he’s dreading it.

probably because of the oldest and youngest daughters.
neither one make for good traveling.
our 12 year old makes herself a little tent by shoving her blanket into the air vent on the ceiling of the suburban…and puts in her headphones and pretends she isn’t with us. that’s not bad but if you so much as touch her “tent” she flips out and and a punch comes from beneath the tent…always hitting the unsuspecting sibling in the face which results in a scream and then sobbing. she yells over her headphones from beneath the tent “he started it!” and that happens several times each trip.

then our youngest has declared she runs the family. she will not let anyone in the car pick the music but her. so we are all subjected to the backyardigans and dora for as long as she wants. if the movie is not one she wants she screams and screams. we have tried all we can to make this habit stop but nothing works. so all the kids have had to listen and watch much more dora than anyone should ever have to in their lifetime. the bubbles do help but even that gets her mad sometimes too. i can’t expect her to enjoy the 10 hours in the car but none of the others ever acted like she did. so we feel unsure about how to handle this one.

i say all this in a plea for help. there are so many of you reading this…can you please give me some ideas of anything i can try to make the trip go a bit smoother. craig suggested breaking it down into hours. but i don’t really know what to do each hour…games? prizes? any ideas would probably be better than what i have which is nothing.
thanks.

conversations tonight at bedtime.

Talby: “Mom..who do you love the most of all?”

Me : “well…i love all of you guys and daddy…and god.”

T: do you love god the most?
M: Yes..because he made me and all of us. and he gave me you so i love him even more for that.
T: He made us?
M: Yes…he made us all different and he loves us.
T: If he didn’t make us he’d say….hmmm this is kind of boring. i wish someone was here.
M: Ha ha ha …yes that’s true.
T: Unless he wanted to go bowling. He could open the key by himself…and go in…and he’d say where is everyone?
M: Really?
T: but he couldn’t bowl without his bowling shoes.
M: kiss. goodnight talbers.

then with sean.

S: Mom…i would hate to sleep in water.
M: me too. you couldn’t…you have to give up eventually.
S: yeah…and drown and then die.
(isn’t this a nice goodnight story?)
M: yes. we can’t breathe in water.
S: Mom..what if you had to swim in the ocean all night long and couldn’t sleep and then in the morning you got out of the water and you had to go world’s of fun and after the first roller coaster ride you said OHHHHHH my stomach hurts i need some cotton candy!!….wait…do they have cotton candy there?
M: yes. okay goodnight bud.

what a couple of goofballs!

what kind of mom would i be if i didn’t let my kids have ice cream sundaes for lunch once in awhile?
they caught me at a weak moment.
it’s kind of healthy…strawberries and bananas?
and i didn’t have to share my smoothie with anyone.

we got a call on sunday evening that our dear friends (far right) from utah were only 30 minutes away for the evening. we were busy till 9:15 but then we drove over there to see them. it was of course way too short. but what a beautiful way to spend the evening. i was just so happy to be sitting there. i miss them so much! we laughed about everything but we spent a long time laughing about The Office. We all love that show so we were cracking up! i love you guys! come back soon. someday we will visit…in the family truckster with all our goofy kids…i bet you can’t wait.