Friday Favorites

I think it has been a pretty good week.


1. On Saturday, we went on a hike as a family. We didn't last super long on the trail (too sunny and hot for some), but there were some great, shady places to explore at the picnic area near the trailhead. It was fun and we'll be back.


2. Sunday was Father's Day. I love my husband and the kids love their dad-- you can read about what we did for him here.


3. I have continued on with boot camp this week. The fact that I am less sore after each workout now tells me that I am getting in better shape. That makes me happy.


4. I was able to get my hair cut by my favorite Hair God for the first time in a loooong time on Wednesday. It feels so good.


5. I'm pretty sure that Edith just told me she loves me for the first time tonight as I was putting her in bed. Now that really makes me happy!


6. Rophone and I are about to head out on a date. No brainer as to why that one's on the list.


7. I think my family's swell. I love them.

Alike

I have to laugh sometimes at how alike Edith and I are. Today when I was sitting on the floor doing stretches after my workout, with Edith standing next to me doing her own version, she started tapping me on the back of the neck while saying in a slightly distressed manner, "Away. Away." As I reached back, I realized that the tag was sticking out of my shirt. 


Me: "Oh, my tag is sticking out. Do you want me to tuck it back in?"


Edith (with a big nod): "Away."


Me (after tucking the tag back in): "There. Does that look better?"


Edith (with an even bigger nod and a smile): "Yeah."


It's so funny to me that, even at her young age, she is driven a little nuts by tags sticking out just like I am. It clearly bothered her. I'm glad I was able to understand what it was she wanted so I could remedy the situation and give her peace of mind. Yup. So alike. The next thing you know, she'll be reaching out to spin one of the boy's shorts a little when the seam doesn't go up the middle of their butt. 


But then she does things like this that make me realize we're pretty different after all:

And that makes me happy. I love you, Edith!

Father's Day!

I hope Rophone had a great Father's Day today. Well, despite the fact that he had to work in the morning. The kids were bummed that he was already gone when they woke up, especially Big. He really wanted to give Rophone a gigantic hug and wish him Happy Father's Day-- good thing those things save.


When we got home from church it was great to see Rophone and give him the well wishes he deserves. He is such a great dad and the kids love him. To show our appreciation for all he does, the kids and I tried to get him some gifts we knew he'd love.


We got him a case for his phone so he doesn't drop it. Very important. I think Rophone liked it.

Then the kids picked out a shirt for Rophone that they thought he'd like. They know Rophone wears polos a lot and that he thinks mustard yellow is swell. It seems like they made a good choice, don't you think?

The last gift was something we knew Rophone really needed for his workstation. It's kind of an ordinary thing, but we wanted to make sure that the gift was anything but ordinary. I think somebody likes their new mousepad....

In the evening, we were able to have Rophone's dad and his wife over for dinner. The garden burgers and homemade potato salad really hit the spot. Especially with some juicy, cold watermelon along with it. The food was good and the company was great. It was nice to be able to let Rophone's dad know how much we appreciate him, too. 


Rophone is exactly the type of father I wanted for my children. Happy Father's Day, Rophone! We love you!

Friday Favorites!

Rophone worked last Saturday and Sunday, so we'll just act like those days aren't part of the week....


1. I started participating in a boot camp on Monday (and then went again on Wed. and Fri). It's early. Really early. It's a little tough getting up before 6 am (especially when Edith isn't sleeping well due to her molars beginning to make an appearance), but it's kind of fun to go get my butt kicked. And, boy, am I getting my butt kicked. Hobbling is sexy, right?


2. Pen and I went to the eye doctor on Monday afternoon. I'm so glad that I don't have to get bi-focals yet! I can't wait to get some new glasses.


3. Rophone came home a little early on Monday, too. Love that.


4. I managed to get the kids to help with a little cleaning around the house this week. I convinced them that it is what their dad really wants for Father's Day. I may have fudged the truth a little bit, but I'll do whatever it takes to get what I wanted for Mother's Day.


5. Rophone had the morning off on Thursday since he was going to be working in the evening. We decided to take the car to get it washed and cleaned. I really like riding through the carwash-- makes for some interesting photos, too. Ahhh... so much better!

6. Since Rophone worked both days last weekend (thanks for working so hard, Honey!), he was able to take the day off today. After I got back from boot camp, we had a nummy breakfast (pancakes for the kids, green smoothie for Rophone and me). Then we went and helped in my folks' yard. As a reward for everyone's hard work, we went to the library as a family. I'm so glad Rophone was along so Edith could explore and really enjoy the library more than she's able to when it's just me will all 5 kids. 


7. Rophone and I went on a date tonight! Definitely a favorite.


I'm falling asleep as I type this (literally), so I guess it's time for bed. 

Friday Fabulousness

1. I've been enjoying salads all week made from the greens we received in last Saturday's Bountiful Basket. I'm having another tonight for dinner, in fact. I have just discovered this week how much I love a pile of quinoa on top of my greens along with everything else. I love salad.


2. Rophone and I were able to take Ginger on a date on Saturday (to her favorite store, Williams Sonoma, and to lunch). It was fun. With Pen being at camp this week, I've been able to have a lot of one-on-one time with Ginger after the younger kids were in bed. I've really enjoyed it.

3. I was able to witness shoe-obsessed Edith fall in love with her very first pair of high heels on Sunday. I love hearing the little click, click of her heels as she walks around. Gotta love hand-me-downs.

4. We went as a family (minus Pen who is at camp) to get our teeth cleaned on Tuesday. I love that my kids love to go to the dentist, and 'no cavities for all!' is always a nice thing to hear. I really enjoy having clean teeth. The only slightly hairy moment was when the hygienist got the floss stuck between my two front 'teeth' because apparently when they did the temporary fix they ended up glued together. 


5. The kids were able to resume their piano lessons this week. I am eager for my children to learn instruments and I think learning piano is the first step. I hope we are able to keep it up this time.


6. Today was a fun day. I was able to...


a) Try a new hairdo out on Edith. 'Doing' a little girl's hair is kind of a new thing for me (yes, I know I've had two other little girls, but they kept barrettes in) and I didn't do a very good job, but at least Edith sits fairly still. I mean, when your hair looks like this in the morning...

...it might be kinda nice feeling to have someone tame it for you.

b) Measure Ginger and share in her joy at finally passing the 5 foot mark (5' 1/4"). Edith sidled in to get in on the action, too. After I made her mark and complimented her on how tall she is, she clapped for herself and exclaimed happily, "Tall!!!" I love my girls.

c) Play a rousing game of Scrabble with Bud.

d) Listen as Big read me a story. Big is getting more into reading to me. He's really progressing and I'm so glad.

I also got to play Big in a game of one-on-one basketball this evening. I thought I had schooled him, but apparently I was wrong. It was a blast. Even though I lost. I guess.


e) Got to watch the kids run through the sprinklers and have fun outside. 

Edith liked the puddles...

..but not being sprayed by the sprinklers. Her fantastic big sister, Ginger, devoted her time to try to help Edith get over her fear. It was cute to see them together.

There wasn't any crying, but I'm still not convinced Edith thought that it was fun.

7. I am grateful that not only is my husband hard-working, but he is also highly skilled at what he does. It's a good feeling.


8. I've had a new phone for a while now, and I didn't really think that I'd ever really get into the taking-pictures-with-my-phone thing. As you can tell by the number of phone-photos in this post... I was wrong. Taking pictures with my phone allows me to capture more of the everyday moments. The little things that I wouldn't normally haul out my big camera for. I love having a record of such things. And I love that it allows me to take fun, spur-of-the-moment shots like this (Yes, Ginger knows this shot is out in the internet-o-sphere-- she even picked the filter we applied. I'm so glad Ginger is able to appreciate the humor of the shot without being self-conscious.):

Call me a phone-photo convert. 


Happy Fabulous Friday, everyone!

Reading with Edith

Edith and I read this awesome book together tonight. It's called 'Animal A-Z'. It says it's 'for kids who really love animals!' and Edith definitely fits that description. Here's a little of how it went:


Me: "F is for Flamingo."
Edith: "Mingo."
Me: "G is for Gorilla."
Edith: "Rilla."
Me: "H is for Hippopotamus."
Edith: "Potamus."
Me: "I is for Impala"
Edith: "Pala."
Me: "J is for Jaguar."
Edith: "Jagra."
Me: "K is for (a sleeping) Koala."
Edith (puts finger to her lips): "Shhhhh."
Me: "L is for Lemur."
Edith: "Mur."
Me: "M is for Macaw."
Edith: "Caw."
Me: "N is for Narwhal."
Edith: "Whal."
Me: "O is for Orangutan."
Edith: "Tan."
Me: "P is for panda."
Edith: "Panma."
Me: "Q is for Quetzal."


After a long, long pause, Edith said a very firm, "NO." Okay, moving on.


Me: "R is for Rhinoceros."
Edith: "Nossrus."


I turned the page and started saying, "S is for Sloth." when Edith strongly insisted that we go back a page. She pointed to the bird and I again repeated: "Q is for Quetzal." What Edith then said sounded sorta right. It started with the right sound and ended in -al. It just had about 3 too many syllables. I'm just proud of her for giving it a go! You'll get it, Edith. We'll try again tomorrow.

The Big Life

Life with Big can be pretty entertaining. Along with trying. Thank heavens for the entertaining. 


Big: "I would love to play slam ball with you someday, Mom" (what a compliment!)


Me: "You would?? That's so nice! I'm totally going to beat you, you know."


Big: "It's not about beating, Mom, ..."


Me: "You're right. It's about having fun. And being a good sport."


Big: "....it's about winning. And I'm totally going to school you!"


He then began to make plans for how we could create a slam ball court in our backyard. Piece of cake with a backhoe, apparently.


I took the 3 youngest kids to the doctor for their well-child visits last week. Big was pleasant and charming, adorable even, for the whole appointment. Until it came time for his Kindergarten shots, that is. Holding him down was a task and he clearly felt betrayed. 


After it was all said and done, he just stood in the middle of the room bawling while I assisted the nurse with Edith's shots. I got Edith dressed and began to talk to Big to try to reassure him. As I spoke he suddenly flexed his muscles pitifully, making a weak sound of effort, "Uuuhhh." He then cried out despairingly, "Oh, no, Mom! I've lost my strength!" He began crying anew at his terrible discovery. A sobbing and wailing Big started inching toward me at the speed of a sloth, "And I can't walk!" It was going to be a loooong trip out to the car. 


Thank heavens a little medicine and basketball did wonders to get him over the trauma. 


I had to crack up tonight when Big decided to brush his teeth naked. Dancing. A fully pajamaed Bud, who was supposed to be sharing the sink to brush his own teeth, was a little disconcerted by the whole thing. Obviously not wanting to get too close he asked, "Ummm.. why is he brushing his teeth naked?" And then with disbelief and maybe a little disgust, "He has toothpaste on his stomach!" Big kept dancing the whole time, completely unconcerned by the distress he might have been causing his more fastidious brother. I mean, Bud has dirt under his fingernails (a lot), but brushing his teeth naked is probably farther than he wants to take things.

Oh, and I didn't notice until after I got a semi-usable photo how much water he was wasting. We'll have a talk about that tomorrow. Keep being you, Big! I love you.

The Favorites of the Day of Fri

1. We picked up our second Bountiful Basket on Saturday morning. Lovely stuff. Num!


2. Since the weather was blustery and rainy on Saturday, we decided to postpone our yard work and went to IKEA instead. I was excited to finally pick up the necessary things to create my art center for the kids. We also purchased a new kitchen table (our old little round one is too small for all of us now that Edith is sitting with us). So awesome!


3. We didn't have any grand plans for Memorial Day on Monday, so we just did the yard work that we couldn't do on Saturday and then spent the rest of the day putting together the furniture delivered that day and organizing things. It was perfect, actually. The new kitchen table has two extra leaves, so we should be able to seat 12 if we need to. I can't wait to have people over! 


The art center turned out exactly as I had hoped, too. One of the things I always wished when I was a kid was that art things were more accessible and that I had a place to do it (and that I could use pristine, white paper instead of scrap paper). Making a mess of the kitchen table never goes over very well. So, I wanted to make sure my kids have a place to create. I still expect them to clean it up, however. They're doing a great job so far.

I love that everything has its labeled place. We got an extra large table so that if we have another art party or even just extra friends or cousins around to do art with us, we can pull the table out from the wall and have room for everyone. Plus, I can put a tablecloth on it to seat even more for dinner! 

What a great day-- getting the house shaped up in ways I've hoped to do makes me so happy.

4. Pen and I both went to the dentist this week-- Pen for a cleaning, and me to have impressions of my mouth taken so the ceramist can begin working on the fancy repairs for my teeth. No cavities for Pen (yay!) and it looks like I get teeth whitening out of the deal-- guess I might as well upgrade rather than match the new 'teeth' to the old white-ish color.

5. The tooth fairy finally remembered to come today. Ginger got 4 teeth pulled on Tuesday and it took her forever to get here with the reward. Glad we don't have to wait on that slowpoke fairy anymore this week. Ginger is being so tough, even though she can't really chew. I was thinking-- I can chew but can't bite, Ginger can bite but can't chew... if only it weren't too gross to combine forces.

6. We've had some good family time this week which always makes me happy. It was topped off tonight by a visit from my parents and my sister-in-law. My folks brought her back into town with them so she can attend a friend's wedding. It was fun to hang out tonight for a while and chat.