What's Up, Buttercup?

The kids all love playing games, especially when their Dad gets in on the action. I love these pictures I took of Rophone playing 'Clue' with the three youngest the other day. It's so cute the way Edith is marking everything off on her paper (and even won the game with help from her dad!).

Then I joined them to play a game of 'Doodle Dice'. I got totally skunked. It sure was fun, though.

Edith loves going to the park and I'm a pushover, so we went to the park again. I pushed her on the swing while she finished her string cheese and she crowed, "I love swinging! I'm going to swing forever!" It sure does feel like it sometimes. Hopefully she'll learn to pump at an early age. I'm willing to push her until then, though, because she loves it so much. It'll help keep my arms nice and toned. 

It makes me so happy when my kids play together nicely because I know they're developing bonds of friendship and memories that they'll be able to look back on fondly when they're older. That's one of the reasons I take so many pictures and keep this blog, so the kids will be able to look back and more easily remember the fun they had together (especially if someday they aren't getting along so well). Bud helped Edith dress up in some of his stuff the other day and they had an absolute blast together. You can just see by the look on Edith's face that she is so happy he took the time to be with her and make her feel special. So cute.

I have been trying to get Edith to let me do her hair in pigtail braids for a while now, but for some reason she has been resistant to the idea. Maybe they just didn't sound cute or something. I finally got her to agree to try them out and when I was finished doing her hair she ran to the mirror to see how they looked. She came running back with a huge grin on her face and said, "They're great, Momma!" Yup. They really are. Cute stuff.

Edith started 'planking' on stuff for some reason that day. Then I told her it was kind of passé and she stopped. 

I let Edith edit a picture I took of us on our hike last week. I had to laugh that she insisted on the bluish tinged effect since she was wearing a blue shirt, two-toned blue striped leggings, blue socks with pink polka dots, and blue and orange sneakers. Her love affair with blue continues...

I sat down for a moment after our hike and my shoelaces were chip-clipped. Thank goodness Edith didn't chip-clip the laces together or I really would have been in trouble. Edith has a bit of a thing for chip clips right now, too. Especially the blue one when she can get her hands on it.

I got the three youngest set up doing a painting project on Saturday. Bud has been wanting to paint a recipe holder he made for me, so I stopped putting him off and found a few rocks for the other two to paint. They had a ton of fun.

I think my favorite part is that Big painted himself (the big head on the right) and when I asked him who the other smaller rock was he told me that it's his wife. He said he doesn't know who she is yet, but someday he'll meet her and it will be the girl on his rock. I'm totally stashing that rock away to give to her when that day comes. I love that kid's mind (when it's not driving me crazy!).

I joined in at the end and painted a rock, too. I love the colors. I'd love to try again sometime, but I'll definitely make sure the paints are fresh when I do.

Rophone let the boys text me using his account on Sunday. I know they made some unrealistic promises, but they've been making an effort. Just knowing that they'd like to be the best kids they can for me means a lot. I sure do love my boys.

Okay. Now I'm ready for Halloween to come. I think.

Catching up: The Attempt

I have been such a procrastinator. And I know that the longer I put these posts off, the more daunting they get. Time to change my ways!

Last month, Big got the chance to sit in a huge loader. The crazy thing is, he passed on the experience at first until I convinced him he should just go for it. When I asked him why he didn't want to sit in the loader he told me it was because he was embarrassed to be wearing Crocs at a work site. Inappropriate for a worker guy. (I know that a lot of people would be embarrassed to wear Crocs at anytime, but it's even more of a faux pas to wear them to a work site) It was totally my fault that he was wearing them-- I rushed Big out the door to try to get some filming done before a storm hit.

But there was no way I was going to let Big miss out on the opportunity. During the summer a worker guy invited Big to sit in the cab of his flatbed truck and honk the horn. He inexplicably refused. It turns out that he had a band-aid on his knee that wasn't sticking very well, and he was afraid it would fall off in the truck cab without him noticing. Such a thoughtful kid, not wanting to accidentally leave a dirty, gross band-aid in the guy's truck. Anyway, so this time I wasn't going to let him miss out.

I can't believe how badly I framed these shots (I didn't include the bucket), but the loader driver was busy talking to me about his son that was going to be on The Voice and I was distracted. You can tell that Big is embarrassed by his shoes, too, but at least he got to do it (and they match his shorts).

First grade is so good for Big. He is really growing up before our eyes. Cutie pie.

My mom and I managed to put up a bunch of peaches-- bottled and vacuum sealed and frozen for smoothies. A lot of work, but definitely worth it. Thanks, Mom!

Edith and I have been continuing on in our park-hopping ways....

..even managing to include other people on a few occasions. It was nice for a change of pace.

We tried a picnic one day outside the orthodontist's office when we took Bud to get the spacers for his braces, but you can tell by the look on Edith's face that it didn't work out too well. She doesn't like the way the grass feels on her skin so wasn't happy until I found a sprinkler cover to sit on. Bud didn't like the sun or the bugs, so he sat in the car. Oh, well. Next time I'll bring a blanket to sit on.

And does this kid look handsome in braces, or what? Lookin' good, Bud!

Let's see... what else? 

Well, we managed to go as a family to a free scrimmage held by our local basketball team. It was our second year attending and I think it's going to become a great family tradition. We met up with some really good friends that we haven't seen in far too long. You'll have to take my word for it since none of them wanted their picture taken. Ginger didn't really want her picture taken either, but she's my daughter so she was out of luck. It was a lot of fun.

Um...I've been dehydrating a TON of stuff. So much work, but the end result is well worth it. Num.

The kids have still been coloring a lot and I decided to join them one morning. Totally worth the overcooked egg.

Edith and I made some fabulous cookies. She taste-tested them several times and told me so.

I was so happy that Edith and I were finally able to fit in a hike. I thought it would be a lot easier than it has been. How can I still be so busy with all of the other kids in school? The hike felt so nice and we are determined to fit in a few more over the next few weeks.

My mom is headed off on her mission tomorrow. Thank heavens we were able to fit a night of game-playing in when my sister came down last weekend. In our family it's a must.

It's a good thing I'm getting all caught up on here. Halloween is coming and that always means a whole new set of posts to do. I'm pretty sure Halloween is on it's way, anyway. Something about the fact that I've had a bear in the house since we got out the Halloween bin so we could put up decorations clues me in...

All caught up! I think.

Finally Fifteen! (Or is it Twenty?)

It sure has taken me long enough to do this post. Pen turned 15 two weeks ago and I am finally getting around to it. I'm sure that Pen doesn't care how long it took me to post about her birthday, but she sure is bugged about how long it has taken her to turn fifteen. She has felt like a 20 year old pretty much since she was born, I think, and wishes this whole getting-old-enough-to-move-out-so-she-can-do-her-own-thing thing was moving a little more quickly. Soon enough, Pen, soon enough.

At Pen's age, the best birthdays are filled with cards. Cute homemade cards from brothers, and other cards with 'stuff' in them. I'm sure that's what she'll tell you, anyway.

She actually did get one box, but thankfully she didn't seem too bummed about what it contained.

Unlike in her younger years, Pen made short work of blowing out the candles on her cake. The longest part of it all was waiting for her to take a photo of the cake with her phone. 

On Monday of this week we managed to get a few of Pen's friends together for a little birthday party of sorts. It was the last day of fall break and since the kids were out of school we decided to serve brunch. I made the girls some waffles, cheesy scrambled eggs, and hash browns. Then the girls hung out watching a movie and doing makeup on each other. Even Edith got in on it.

Turning fifteen doesn't seem too bad-- skipping it to turn twenty would have been a shame. Happy Birthday, Pen! We love you!