Magic

Waiting and waiting...the baby is now four days late, which ties her with Child #4 for lateness. To pass the time, we have been watching and reading the Wizard of Oz series, the Harry Potter series, and the Lord of the Rings series. Child #3 has his first loose tooth, so now we are racing to see what comes out first: the baby or the tooth. We have all been pretty grumpy...which leads to the Top Weekend Story...

Child #3 decided over the weekend that he wanted to learn how to be a wizard and make some magic. He made that sword out of some sticks and duct tape and pretended to pull it out of the log he is standing on (the fence in the background is where we are re-seeding the lawn). He has been asking to do scientific experiments in the kitchen to make a magic potion. Now, I am super grumpy and I don't want to do any projects or anything that will create a mess. I just want to have a baby (which is ironic, because babies are the ultimate mess-makers). I also didn't want him to be disappointed with the results of his experiment, so I tried to warn him that we couldn't make magic potions. I tried to tell him that magic potions aren't real, they are just in stories. "There really isn't any such thing as magic," I told him.

But, being the great mother/teacher I am, I gave in and insisted that he follow the scientific method. But of course, he is only 5 1/2, so I actually asked him to write down what he wanted to mix and what he thought would happen. This took care of his handwriting and spelling practice for the day. What kind of magic potion did he want to create? "Something that will make moms show kids respect" was the mumbled answer which quickly changed to "Something that will turn things into cats." At this point I roped dear old science-loving dad into the process for some quality father/son time. Bless his heart, he was able to redirect Child #3's train of thought from one of magic potions to one of density and hydrophilic/hydrophobic properties. In simple terms, they mixed oil and water with red food coloring (with a little ketchup) and watched the layers separate. He was satisfied. Now we move on to what lesson was learned...

Later that afternoon, Child #3 came upstairs after spending some time with his older sister. He walked straight up to me and said, "Mom, you are wrong. Magic IS real. Santa is real. The tooth fairy is real. So, Magic is real!"

I was, and am, flabbergasted. I will no longer tell my children things are impossible just because I am grumpy. Lesson learned.

This is what a busy two year old looks like after doing puzzles, playing on the computer, riding bikes, digging holes, and running after her Pathetic Doberman in the backyard all day. Click on the picture to make it bigger; you can see all the dirt better.

No News...

...is no news! After a long and boring weekend, we have no baby news. I'm due in three long days!
Lucky for me, my dearest DH has taken over most of the work around the house. I haven't had to cook or clean or lift anything heavy for days now. Even childcare is no longer my total responsibility. I hardly know what to do with myself. Child #5 has become Daddy's #1 fan. She cries anytime he leaves the room and only wants him to do things for her. Here is a picture of DH getting kissed by the Pathetic Doberman while reading to the sweet two year old.

Stay tuned... baby pictures could be posted at anytime!

Spring Stories

We had such a lovely day yesterday! The sun was shining and the temperature actually got warm! We did so many fun things outdoors that this is going to be a long post with a lot of pictures...

First, I was given a rose by the BF of Child #2. Isn't that sweet? He may have been trying to schmooze me, and DH is convinced that he has, but I think he is just a nice kid. Child #2 and BF spent some time catching one of our giant goldfish out in our pond for the amusement of the little kids. Seriously though, these goldfish were those cheap feeder fish that you can buy for a quarter and they are now huge! This picture is not posed. The little kids adore BF as much as his girlfriend does.

Check out the pony tails on these two. They totally look like sisters and have similar personalities too...
We decided that since the weather was so nice, we should release our butterflies. I acclimated them to the fresh air and breeze for a few hours out on the back porch where My Pathetic Doberman tried to eat them...

This is what a Painted Lady butterfly looks like...

I have to admit, I was a little sad. We spent so much time raising these beautiful insects. Two of the butterflies flew right off and we never saw them again. One flopped around on the deck for awhile and then left as soon as it could. The last one may not have survived the release. Its wings were stuck together from flopping around in the nectar dish. DH had to perform surgery with a butter knife to separate the wings. We set the butterfly on a forsythia bush, but we don't have much hope. Here is Child #3 holding him or her. Child #4 cried and cried because 1) He wasn't holding one and 2) after he held one it flew away...

After DH mowed the lawn and I cleared the porch of all muddy clothes (and actually hung a load of laundry in the sun to dry!), we sat in the sun and just soaked up the Vitamin D. Until the boys decided they wanted to eat ants. Last year we caught all three of them eating ants under a camellia bush and thought the boys, especially Child #3 learned his lesson about eating bugs without asking. But this time he asked. After a lot of "What?" and "Are you kidding?" and "You want ants crawling around in your stomach?" we, being super cool parents, decided a few ants wouldn't hurt. So the fun was on... and DH joined them. The skill was trying to keep the ants crawling on your tongue long enough for me to get a picture...

Today we are back to gray and rainy, and yesterday seems like a dream...

He Nose Better!

We live approximately ten minutes from the Taekwondo Dojang. And ten minutes is all a little boy needs to get into trouble.

We pulled out of the parking lot after class and Child #4 held up an old beaded bracelet of mine that he found in the back of the van. He played with it for about a minute until the elastic broke. Children #3 and #4 played with the pink colored beads until we pulled into the driveway...where disaster struck. Trying to be silly, Child #4 stuck a large pink bead in each nostril. At this same time I was heaving my pregnant body out of the van and I turned to see Child #4 with a ecstatic look on his face...and a nose that looked like a pig's nose. I frowned, shut my door, and started heading on over to their side of the van to let them out.

And then the screaming started. I never knew I could move so fast. I guess I moved this fast when Child #1 dropped Child #3 in the sea when she thought something bit her when I was this pregnant with Child #4... but I digress. I pulled the van door open to shrieks of, "There's a bead stuck in my nose! There's a bead stuck in my nose! You got a bead stuck in my nose!" and the yelled response from his brother, "I already got it out! I didn't do it!" I tell you, we had chaos! I tried to have Child #4 blow the bead, if it was even there, out of his nose. Nothing but snot. I peeked inside his nose. I couldn't see anything. I felt the sides of his nose; these were pretty big beads. I felt nothing. Now I knew we had trouble.

The trouble is, Child #4 doesn't communicate very well. He has a hard time differentiating between 1) There were two beads stuck in his nose and one bead is still there and 2) There was only one bead and it is still there and 3) There was only one bead stuck in his nose and his brother did indeed get it out before I got the van door open so there are no more beads stuck in his nose, but there used to be a bead there. When the fear of going to the hospital sunk in, he story changed over and over. He didn't want to go and get a shot. He froze. He wouldn't tell me what was going on. So I had no choice but to get help.

Luckily, I remembered I didn't have to go into the emergency room and pay $75 to have a doctor look up his nose after waiting for three hours. Our pediatric office has an After Hours Clinic! I called the triage nurse from my cell phone and got back on the road. Good thing no one had taken off their seat belts but me!

The doctor we saw has been removing items from children's noses for over 20 years. He peeked into Child #4's nose as this child sobbed hysterically and asked what color the bead was. Oh, you know, the exact same shade of pink as the inside of his nose... Doctor stepped back, said "There is definitely something up there, but I can't really see it," had Child #4 blow his nose (just like I did), but this time the bead shot out of his nose like a cannon ball! We were so delighted! It turned out the doctor couldn't see anything but the hole in the bead because it was so well camouflaged. He thought we were dealing with a much smaller bead than what shot out of Child #4's nose!

On the way back out to the van, Child #4 said with a big grin on his face, "I'm so smart, Mama. You know why? I can shoot pink beads out of my nose!" I responded, "If you were smart, you wouldn't have stuck that bead up your nose in the first place!"

Just another day in the adventurous life of Raising Boys...

Bowl Me Over!

Yesterday, I took Child #3 to meet his future Cub Scout pack at a bowling activity where the Tiger Cubs were working on their Bowling Belt Loop achievement. My lucky son got two strikes, bowled a 93, and beat the other kids, all in one game (with bumpers in the gutters)! Of course in Cub Scouts, you want to do your best, not win, so this was a good exercise for the other little boys too. This child is so excited to join the Scouts as soon as he is old enough. He is really looking forward to learning how to chop wood with an ax. Maybe not as a Tiger...

Rolling with the Punches

Now that Child #5 is square in the middle of her selfish terrible twos, we are buying three of everything (within reason). When Child #4 hit his terrible twos, we had to buy two of everything and write their initials on their toys... So yesterday, I was sent on a mission to buy another Big Wheels style bike for the backyard to keep the peace between the three of them. At Value Village we found no bikes, but we did find roller blades! Child #3 was instantly in love, and would you believe it, they had two pairs of skates in just the right sizes for my boys! For less than one admission and skate rental, I suited the boys up in their very own roller blades! But that didn't solve the problem of threes... so I had to go to Target and get Child #5 her very own Dora the Explorer roller skates too, which she loves. The three of them have been practicing their skating skills on the carpet for a day now and as soon as it stops raining we will head outside to break in their knees on the patio. Child #4 keeps asking, "What if I get a skinned knee?" which the letter d gets in Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. I always reply, "I'll stick a band aid on it and send you back out." I am also repeating:

1. Get your roller blades off the couch!
2. Don't skate on the dog's ears!
3. Watch out for bare toes!
4. I thought I said no roller blades on the stairs!
5. No, you can't wear your roller blades on the top bunk!
6. If you want to sit on my lap, take your roller blades off!
7. Take your roller blades off before you go to the bathroom!
8. Don't skate so close to the TV!

My favorite was when Child #3 asked me if I had an airplane engine that he could use. So he could fly. Sorry, kid. All out of airplane engines!


We also had our first two butterflies emerge this morning!

Back from Disneyland

Our dearest Child #1 is home from Disneyland, just in time to start a new quarter in college. She brought home a bagful of gifts for her parents and younger siblings... including Mickey Mouse ears with their names embroidered on the backs for the three youngers! Child #2 got a coffee mug featuring Tigger, I got a Belle pen, and DH got a Jurassic Park hat. These kids don't really "get" Disneyland, but they know cool mouse ears when they see them. Every day, they put on their ears and chase My Pathetic Doberman around and around squeaking, "Cat! Cat!" and asking for cheese.

Child #6 didn't get anything, probably because she isn't born yet. One of the brothers lent me their ears for this picture. Yes, I look tired, bloated, and...NINE MONTHS PREGNANT! Look at the size of that belly! I didn't know it was that big! But I can't see the whole thing either. Doesn't the baby look cute wearing the ears (on her bottom)? My midwife is estimating the baby is about 8 pounds right now, with three weeks to go!

Here is a random pic that was too cute not to share...

Child #4 decked out in St. Patty's gear, several weeks too late! He assembled this outfit without trying. He likes green. Our little Irish Swede!

Now, most people know that our family is adventurous and different and unique... and we just wouldn't be us if we didn't do something crazy every once in awhile... This time we went to the beach the day after it snowed, when the temperature reached a balmy 40 degrees. But it was sunny and beautiful! And who knows how long it is going to be before I get to go to the beach again? We packed up the entire group and headed out to enjoy some eagle sightings, crab hunting, and rock throwing. We didn't get any people pictures because Child #2 had the camera with her, but this is what we were dealing with as far as the weather goes...

DH taught Child #5 how to collect treasures like rocks, shells, and feathers, and how to keep her hands warm in her pockets. Child #3, of course, got soaking wet, but didn't feel a thing and kept asking when he could go see his older sister. Child #4 only wanted to climb on the giant rock, which was on the other end of the beach. But after we were done and heading to Dairy Queen for ice cream cones, all injustices were forgotten. Pizza for dinner completed the perfect weekend.