Life is Hard!

"I'm stuck and I can't get up!"

"Just a little farther..."

And a little more...

"Whew! That was HARD!"

 

"Now will you PLEASE pick me up???"

Weekend Update

How about some cute weekend pictures?  It was 80 degrees both Saturday and Sunday, so we did our best to stay cool.  E took a morning... tunnel with Ling-Ling through the grass and weeds and learned all about seed dispersal.

I thought I was going to have to cut the rest of her hair off, but luckily they combed right out. 

F took my gallon of homemade bubble juice and poured it into the pool, creating the biggest, bestest bubble bath in the world (except for the one at Hogwarts)!

Not Quite Botticelli

My kids haven't been so clean since last winter.  Mr. Baby D reached another milestone and rolled over from back to front.  That's the hard roll!  Front to back is easy-especially if you're mad!

I love this kid's Attachment Promoting Behavior.  When Grandad gets excited about Baby's smiles, M pretends he is only smiling so he doesn't get left outside the cave entrance for saber-tooth tiger food.

It wasn't that long ago that the green monkey diaper was on the other bottom!

Completing Him Challenge

It's Monday again!  Last weeks challenge was: Make him a priority. Ask him what his favorite dinner, dessert and drink are. Be sure to serve him all three one night this week. Bonus: cook his favorite dishes all week long!

Hmmm... Last Monday he was at Taekwondo and had PB&J.  Tuesday we had a Cub Scout meeting, so I think we just ate whatever leftovers we could find in the fridge.  Wednesday was when he hiked up to Lake Something-or-Other to plant fish and his boss took that awesome picture.  So he wasn't home for dinner that night.  And I can't really remember anything else except I tried really hard to get leftovers used up-including a pizza made out of pork ragout. Which is a huge pet peeve of his- rotting leftovers in the fridge, not pork ragout pizza.  So there.  I did make his needs a priority.  And then he barbecued some awesome burgers on Saturday and made a killer Hot Salad with chicken stir-fried in pomegranate and chipotle dressing last night.

This weeks challenge is: Support his vision. Discuss his vision for your family. Where does he see your family in 1 year, 5 years, and 10 years. Share with us how you let your husband lead.

I'll have to get back to you on that one.  I guess it will all depend on the state budget and whether or not the end times are here!  LOL

The $3000 Egg

Our First Egg!  Finally! 

Now, who gets to eat it?

Life of Riley

"This house is full of life," says Mark as I upload pictures this morning.  One might think that families with large numbers of children (like mine) would have neglected kids.  But look at these pictures!

What I lack in time (like when I'm washing dishes or cooking meals-haha) the gang of kids keep each other satisfied. 

Baby D covered in the Favorite Stuffies

This baby especially has quite the fan club!

This last week we have been potty training F.  She actually went errand running with IJ and I with no backup!  That was an oversight on my part, but we did just fine.  We went to Goodwill where I found that awesome hand made quilt IJ is playing with.  This quilt makes me so happy on so many levels.  I know, crazy.  But it is my favorite colors (purple and tealish green), hand made, and recycled from Goodwill for only $4!  I could never make a quilt for that cheap and the work is all done!  Early early this morning when F woke me up to go potty this happened:

I got to go curl up on my new quilt with my sweet two year old and go back to sleep.  Life wasn't too bad!  And then before I could get up and make coffee I was piled with a few more of my blessings:

M Works

The New, New Babies

Four little swallows, living in our roof!  Aren't they so, so cute?

They look just like my four babies, waiting for breakfast!

How's This for Cute?

Yesterday was the first day I was 100% glad we moved here.  Yeah, it still hurts to think of our friends back at our old home.  But you're only a phone call away!  Yesterday IJ's friend and his newly-recruited-to-the-homeschool-movement mom came over to play for a few hours.  The mom and I drank coffee and chatted about all the things we love best (homeschooling, chickens, homey things).

After they left, M and I watched the kids play in the pond.  Really, how many kids learn to swim in their very own pond and can go there almost any afternoon?  And swing from rope swings like Tarzan?  And play Gilligan's Island on their very own (tiny) island? (Here's a funny off topic story from yesterday-IJ is pretending to be shipwrecked in a storm and swims to S's paddle board and pulls himself up, knocking S off course and splashing him.  S was mad and said, "I wish I could do the opposite of save you!")

After we shooed the kids off to bed (even Baby D), M  built a campfire in our very own fire ring.  We stayed up past midnight and talked about the things you can only talk about under the stars.  Hopes, dreams, that kind of thing.  We watched the stars come out, one by one, until the whole sky was completely filled.  M saw a shooting star and we could also see the Milky Way.  We never saw that many stars at our old place.  Or had a midnight campfire-except the day we moved and we burned the broken furniture that fell out of the moving van.

So. Yeah.  I like it here!

Discovering My Inner Child

This morning, bright and early, 6:21 AM our rooster crowed for the very first time.  I leaped from my bed and stood at my open window, unbelieving of what I heard.  I could hear all the other roosters in the area that I'm used to hearing...and then I heard it again!!!  Kenny (the rooster formerly known as Stew) chimed in with the rest of guys!

So even though I was up past midnight (watching shooting stars above the Twin Firs), I pulled on a quilted flannel jacket, headed out to the kitchen (where Grandad was attempting to steam abalone), pulled on my black rubber boots, and headed out to the chicken pen.  Without coffee!  M couldn't believe my enthusiasm.

I think I've discovered my inner child...A Farm Girl!

As soon as the kids were up and fed, we packed up and headed out to the feed store where I bought myself a new straw hat (and some chicken food).

And the abalone?  It was so tough we are going to puree it in the Vitamix and make A-bologne!  RDRR!

Completing Him Challenge

Here is what is posted for today:

July 12 - Make a list of 5 things you currently do and ask him to prioritize them for you of what is important to him. For example - a clean home, home cooked dinner, coupon clipping, service at church, having friends over for dinner, watching/doing sports with him, etc.

What I currently do?  Or what he wishes I would do?

Should I list: 1. Knitting 2. Sewing 3. Reading 4. Browsing homeschool catalogs and 5. Browsing Forums?

Or 1. Managing the Kitchen 2. Clearing the counters 3. Cooking healthy meals 4. Hanging up wet towels and 5. Keeping the kids on task with their chores?

Sigh...

"I weighed in at 14.65 lbs today!"

All Work and No Play

We are now at the end of M's vacation.  As an employee of our wonderful state government, he is furloughed on Monday, so he'll get one more day off...unpaid.  So what does M have to show for his two weeks off?  After he stained the deck and built a picnic table and refloored the dining room and office, he:

Put siding and a new roof on the well house: work

Put siding on the chicken coop: work

Built egg boxes for the chickens: work

Raked "hay" for the chicken's egg boxes: work.

When is he going to play??? Right after he makes a rope swing down at the pond!

"Cowabunga, Dude!" ~IJ

After IJ hollers that he can swing better than his dad, M swam up to the boys on the paddle board and...

...tipped them over!!!

"You almost killed me! WAH!  I need to go up to the house and take a nice warm bath!  WAH!" ~S  

He recovered quickly.

A Pushmi pullyu?

And finally, a NAP!

Pacific Ocean Part 3

And just for the record, M had everything under control with the whole wave/mist thing.  I was obviously having a panic attack.

Ahhh... Nice Warm Sand

Ever read Five Children and It?  A lovely book about four siblings (and a baby brother) that find a Sand Fairy and what happens when their granted wishes start coming true.  IJ and S really liked this book (not the movie so much), so they really enjoyed digging for Sand Fairies.

And burying each other (and their dad).

This tactile boy really like the nice warm sand and loved feeling it run through his fingers.

Does this girl hauling driftwood down the beach remind you of anyone?  Family lore: A hauled a piece of Styrofoam down the beach at about this age.

I love the look on F's face as she gets tickled by her Sandy Daddy!

A Sand-wich

Baby D can't open his eyes all the way!  It's too bright!

Baby D and I, feeling much better!  But he started getting fidgety and needed a new diaper, so we had to head back to civilization. 

On the way back, IJ discovered how much fun it was to jump off a sandy bank into the stream.

And before we knew it, all the kids were having a blast rolling down the hill and shouting, "Cowabunga!"  Even F finally started liking the water.  And then we had to really leave.

And F did not want to go.

Pacific Ocean Part 2

After we left Ocean Shores, we headed up the coast to Copalis Beach.  We found a place that required a hike to the ocean that had only one other car in the parking lot, so we assumed we would have more privacy here.  M started to scout the trail, but turned back thinking, "We didn't drive all the way here to just roll out of the van and flop on the beach."

Although he didn't make it this far on his scouting mission, I still made it down the bank without dropping the baby.  We'd figure out how to get back up when we needed to.

This was as sunny as it got.  But it was still beautiful!  We still couldn't see the ocean but we could hear it, so we knew which direction to take.

IJ giving F a piggyback ride

F insisted on walking most of the way herself, with a few piggyback rides mixed in, especially when we had to cross little streams.  She liked to take off running too, so we would have to wait for her to come back.

IJ hiding in the dune grass

At this point IJ said, "We're only a zillion miles away from the ocean!  I can hear it!"  And the closer we got to the ocean, the mistier it got.

Ghostly and creepy mist.  Very spooky.  M and the kids loved it.  I searched for landmarks so we could find our way back.  Can you imagine the story of a family that got lost in the mist and disappeared, never to be seen again?  The ghost of the mother haunts the beach to this day, calling for her lost children?  That would make a great ghost story!

I'm glad F had a buddy.

This is how I knew which way to go once I couldn't see them anymore.  The wind was blowing from the ocean, so I could hear their voices when I couldn't see them.

IJ at the water's edge, but you still can't see very far!

M and the kids immediately went to play, while I stayed dry with Baby D.  F still doesn't like the water too much.

So she throws sand at the waves to keep them away.

At this point, when M and the three older kids are way out in the mist, I freak out.  My Scandinavian and Scots-Irish ancestors start whispering to me, Don't let your kids go into the mist.  The ocean is unruly and unpredictable.  If you lose sight of your children, you will never see them again.  The ancestors didn't need to tell me twice.  While M and the kids were jumping in the waves, the kids got further and further apart.  M couldn't possibly rescue all three of them if something happened.  Sure, M was only up to his knees, but E is a daredevil and likes to keep up with the boys.  E was easily up to her waist and the waves were even higher!  I stopped taking pictures at this point. I tried to call to M, but he couldn't hear me.  They were all having such a great time jumping in the waves and they couldn't even see me through the mist.  I nearly had a nervous breakdown and scared Baby D calling out to sea.  Finally, M sees me waving them to come in.

And all my children are safe.  Whew!  E did take a spill in the waves and told me she was scared.  I'm so glad they came in when they did.  They were soaked to the bone and getting chilly

Proof that other people have been on the beach today

Luckily the sand was super warm (maybe that should have told me we could all get sunburned) so we enjoyed the smooth warm dryness of the sand for awhile.

To be continued...