Science fair projects-already???

I sooooo should be packing.

Last year's science fair project was almost a complete disaster & involved literally a last minute scramble & 6 hrs of work crammed into one day.  Not fun.  We joked about doing her project over the summer even so that this didn't happen again.  Well that didn't happen either.  But, this morning Macy (who wants to be called Anne now, her middle name.  I love it, but how do you change someone's name after calling them something for 10yrs?) came to me...

Macy:  "Mom, I know what I want to do for my science fair project!"

Me: "OK, what is it?"

Macy: "Well, it involves Jack pulling two teeth-JACK, get on that!"

Me:  "Stop right there."

Does anyone else have trouble deleting pictures from their phone?  I don't mean that you can't figure it out, I mean sentimentally...I have the very first picture that I ever, ever took on my (now 4th) phone...along with favorites from the past years and I can't stand to delete the good ones.  I rarely ever look back at them & have them saved on my computer, but hate deleting pictures.  However, because of the amount of music & pictures, my phone is constantly full.  Something has to be done.  ::sigh::

We got to celebrate this little punkin's birthday last night...can't believe he's ONE!  He has the absolute cutest monkey crawl I have ever seen & is so gentle to Henry like no baby I've ever seen.  Such a sweetheart.

Bad driver

At supper Lily informs us (out of the blue) that "I'm probably gonna be a bad driver." as she's eating her salad.  We busted a gut laughing at the randomness & probably accurateness of this statement.  

I love Lily & Ava's questions.  Today, in the drive through Lily asks "Who is Ava's godparents?" and I tell her they are Paul Thomas's grandma & grandpa...she says "man, Ava is so lucky!" (She has a major crush on PT right now) and Ava has a smug look. She does quickly say that she's lucky too because she has George & "Cole".

We are diggin' toes right now.

Something that's not diggin' though is limbs through the crib slats.  Henry is the first baby to not have a bumper...but I think that is going to change soon.  Poor baby keeps getting legs & arms caught & it hurts, not to mention ruins perfect naps.

He scoots.  Mostly backwards, some forwards...and he can push up on all fours.  This little man has places to go, or so he must think.

So the roads are safe a few more years...but then, watch out world.

First Day of School

School started on Wednesday.  Macy & Lily were so excited, Jack not so much.  He was happier after he saw his friends & didn't complain as much this morning as he did the first day.  I'm not ready for the alarm to have to be set, to have to get (most of) us all up & ready before 7:10, or the dreaded homework (x2 this year!), but I do like the routines of school.  Lily is going 4 mornings a week & I am loving having some time with just Ava & Henry, then time with the 3 little ones in the afternoon before big kids get home.

Lily has been so precious & so bubbly about everything she does.  She's always been the one that didn't mind leaving me & has always been more independent that the others, she's also our most social I do believe.  So, all that rolls into one happy little school girl!  So far, her favorite thing about school-going to "little church", which is Atrium, or the religion part of her day.  Her disappointment is that she doesn't get to stay for lunch.  She can already tell me most of the kids' names in her class (Jack & Macy took months before they even realized other kids HAD names.  Haahaa!).

Macy loves being one of the "top dogs" & seems to have matured almost overnight.  She is looking forward to the big responsibilities that come with being a 5th grader & I can already tell this year is going to fly by...it really seems like only a year has passed since this once-nervous momma walked her very nervous little kindergartner into that big, unfamiliar school.  Heck, she owns the place now.  Haha!

Jack, in typical male fashion, has little to say about school.  He's processing it & will share when he's ready.  He has a sister for a teacher & we are so happy for this influence in his life.  Our school is blessed with 2 sisters as teachers, but they came after Macy was beyond the grades they teach.  He did come home with a stuffed tree frog today, having won bingo and that was his prize.  No other details, just that, but the key to that kid's heart is stuffed animals and anything and everything squishy.

Family Olympics

We went to visit my brother & his family this weekend & had so much fun-a great way to close down the dwindling summer.  They have a beautiful house that we all fit in with some land for the kids to run around on.    

I lent my camera to a friend, so I have very few pictures, all taken with my phone.  

We went to church at St. Henry's, which all the kids thought was super cool.  

Probably the best time of the whole weekend was the family olympics.  Caden thought this up before we got there & they had planned events for the kids to compete in.  The kids had a blast & the adults had fun watching them.  The best part...every kid ate a ton of homemade pizza & was out like a light at 9:00pm.  Success.

Now, we did these olympics up right.  Like, carrying the (iPhone) torch, opening ceremonies, lighting the (dreamers) candle kind of right.

And the winners...by age group.

There was (nerf) rifle, bow & mallow, gymnastics routines (on the trampoline), swimming (in the lake & kiddie pool), foot races (in the sprinkler), and discus (frisbee).  Competition was fierce and some events came down to the wire.  My kids were begging to do it again today, or someday, but SOON.  We just might have to.

My brother & his wife are OSU grads...and he is ornery.  He stole my phone & changed my wallpaper to this-trying to brainwash my kids.  The joke's on him though...if they decide to go out of state to OSU, they have to come live with him!  HAAHAA!!!

Metoos

We have this thing around here-it's as predictable as fits at bedtime.  Any one child will say "Mom, can I have a banana?"  And a chorus of "Me too!" will follow.

"Mom, can I have some gum?"
"Me too!  Me too!  Me too!"

"Mom, I have to go to the bathroom!"

Yep-you guessed it.   "Me too!  Me too!  Me too!"

(followed by groaning from both adults)

Henry, at 4 months...he's 5 months now, but I didn't get these ready until recently.  

If this little man isn't hungry (or trapped in his car seat for 6+ hours at a time), then he's happy.  He really is.  To my surprise, he's getting good at sitting alone, he now rolls all around on the floor & is even getting his hiney in the air to start scooting.  Slow down, my baby...slow down.

Beauty Shop

From the kitchen, I hear chatter, then "uh oh" & dead silence for a second. "Uuummm...I'll get the scissors!". Time for intervention-Macy had twisted Lily's hair too many times around the brush and someone thought cutting it out was the best solution. Thank goodness for mommy ears. I was able to untangle-without cutting-and beauty shop continued.

Can you recreate magic?

Something happened tonight.  Weird, almost paranormal, you might say.  We are still shaking our heads, trying to figure it out.

These 3 kids played together.  Without fighting.  For a solid hour.  And THEN they decided to work together to-brace yourselves-clean up and make beds (without being asked).  And it carried over into supper where Jack was happy to get them their drinks. 

This comes on the heels of my neighbor telling me that earlier in the week Lily stopped her as she was returning from the mailbox and had this conversation with her.

Lily: "Hey, Gloria, do you want Jack?"

Gloria:  "Well, I'm not sure what your mom would think of that..."

Lily: "If you can take him, it's for keeps!"

So I'm sitting here trying to think what magic happened so that we can recreate it...because it was 1950's bliss.  

(picture was taken by Macy)