Another day another mess to clean up...

Let's see...today we went to the park for a while, and it was so humid and sticky that I had to take a shower when we got home. I had no sooner gotten into the shower (my hair wasn't even wet yet) and in comes Ty-Ty to say "Levi kick me," followed closely by Levi who says he kicked Titus to get the make-up out of his hands. Titus clearly made a b-line for the mascara as soon as he knew he was in the clear...no mommy around. Thank goodness for the miracle of Spray Power that gets all kinds of make-up out of carpeting!!!

While at the park, I told the kids that since we would be going to see some friends in Michigan the next day, I would take them to the library after nap time to get some videos to take with us, but we also had to go to the grocery store to find something for dinner. We were all getting ready to get out to the van, Titus had his sandals on and was on his way out to the garage. I was holding Micah and turned around in the kitchen for something, and when I turned back around, Titus was dropping something on the floor and running back to the garage. I never saw him come back into the house. I looked to see what he dropped, and wouldn't you know that in the time it took me to turn around and check on Eden, Titus had time to run back into the house about 20 feet, find a RED crayon and bend over to color on the floor right on the unsealed grout!!! It was almost as if he was walking out the door and thought to himself, "wait, I haven't destroyed something in 2 whole hours...it'll only take a sec, " because he literally was coloring as he was starting to run back to the garage. His sole purpose to come back into the house was to color on the floor. This one didn't get a pause to photo, mostly because I had to spray my Spray Power on it to clean it up and then get on to the library. Ugh.

deep breath

The library was fine until the last few minutes where the kids wanted to see the fish tank, so we walked over and looked until Micah decided she couldn't take her stroller anymore and started screaming. I told the older 3 kids to go on to the van and when I started to go myself, Titus started loudly saying "See fish!!! See fish!!!" which coupled with Micah was enough to bring all eyes on the poor mom with "all those kids."

final breath

We still have to go to the store. Can I handle this...all 5 kids and me when they are spent already??? It was overly crowded...there were "customer in training" carts being pushed around that got on my close-to-shot nerves, but we made it to the deli area to get fried chicken per Levi's request. The kids were on each other's nerves, my nerves, they were antagonizing each other and were just plain keeping me from concentrating on telling the lady what I wanted, so she gave each kid a potato wedge to get them to behave for me. I was going out with some girlfriends later that night, so I was already dressed and had some heels on, which were telling me very loudly that they were not the right choice for the grocery store by about aisle 4. I had to get several more things and went to check out, sweating, no doubt, only to find that I had no debit card. I tried to write a check, but we just moved, the address on my checks is mom and dad's address and the address on my driver's license is my address from before mom and dad's, so needless to say, they wouldn't take my check...I went home empty handed, frustrated, close to tears and followed by the cries of 4 children chanting "I'm hungry!!!" Bad mommy. I went home, dropped off the kids, got my card and came back to pick up dinner and we got to eat. Phew.

The Painted Penguin

Ok, this post will bring me up to date...finally! Yesterday we went to The Painted Penguin with a friend from church, where the kids got to pick out some ceramic thing to paint.

Elijah chose the Tazmanian Devil

Levi chose a Darth Vader head,
and Eden chose a unicorn, thinking it was a My Little Pony.

They all did a great job, though I would have to give Eden credit for the most colorful project. The kids were supposed to use one brush per color and while Elijah and Levi could comply, little Eden probably never heard it, or if she did hear it, she forgot 2 seconds later because she would dip her brush in 4 colors before bringing it to her pony. After a while, her pony started to look a bit muddy, but it was pretty, fluorescent pink neck and all!I was going to paint an "M" for Micah's room, but they were all out, so I chose an "S" instead and did a little dry-brushed look on it to put in the entry way, perhaps. Here's mine in the drying/coating room getting the sealer put on. These aren't fired at all, but they still turn out rather nicely.At the end of the day, we were all in Levi and Titus' room for Bible story before bed and I'm not sure what Levi was doing, but his bad and ever-negative attitude prompted me to have him tell me one thing he did today that he liked. FYI Daddy stayed home today, they played baseball in the yard, we went to the Painted Penguin, we went back to the play area in the mall for a while, rode one of the little rides, had some friends over and the boys took a shower in mommy and daddy's shower...just a few things we did. He got all worked up about not remembering anything he did today, much less anything fun. When I listed all these things, and continued on about naming one of them that he liked, he continued crying and saying he didn't remember. Tim took him out of the room for a moment, then he was able to mumble out that the Painted Penguin was only a little bit fun, but...I cut him off before he could complain about whatever it was he didn't like. I need help on this kid. If asked, he would say he doesn't get to do fun things. 60% of the time he is very easily disgruntled, doesn't like to help, gets upset at the drop of a hat (generally when asked to do things) can't handle defeat and will quit games so he doesn't lose, complains...need I go on? He's just negative. The other 40% of the time he is fairly close to perfect. I don't get it. I wonder if it's hereditary...? Any opinions you mothers out there may have for me? We have a real "glad/joy" deficiency here. Help!!!

TITUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here we go again...this little boy came to our family armed with stealth. I had a couple of friends over this afternoon and we were 30 feet from the kitchen and I never once heard that Titus was in there. I got off the couch to take care of something in the eating area and ended up walking into the kitchen to this surprise:

Yes, that is left over birthday cake plopped on the floor. Mmmm. We are going to have to nip this behavior a bit...he is being plain old sneaky...of course I reinforced it all by asking him to sit back down to take this picture. When he saw me come in the kitchen, he got up faster than I could muster out his name. Titus!!!!!!!! (like in Alvin and the Chipmunks, you know?!?) I just think this little guy is in love with food or constantly growing or something. After all, the first word out of his mouth every morning, without fail, is "hungry." Stay tuned for more Ty-Ty.

Party Time!

We finally got around to having a party for Eden, and she was thrilled. Earlier that day, Eden went to the mall with mema to go to Build-a-bear and got another Hello Kitty (a brown one this time) that they cleverly named Fluffy. That outing lasted all through her nap, and though she was quite tired, she managed to keep a smile on her face most of the night as she opened her gifts.

Levi got bit by a mosquito just above his right eye and his entire forehead swelled up. He didn't seem to be phased much by it, but it made me feel bad for him as I watched him watching Eden open gifts. Poor Levi...cromagnon head. Now they're just being goofy! It's time to light the candles on the cake and the boys wanted to take turns using the lighter...they must feel like big boys being able to use the fire stick, so we let them. I think Eden got a bit impatient, but we eventually got the candles lit. Yes, that's cake and ice cream and it's almost bedtime, but look at that face...she gets to have her cake and eat it too! Happy Birthday little girl!

Life after weddings...

I don't know if the picture shows it or not, but this was the beautiful sky out our back door this morning. Off to the east (left) were some pretty dark clouds, and almost as if God was just layering the sky, the sunny, fluffy clouds were right there next to the storm clouds with rays of sunlight peering out in the middle. We never did get any rain, but some poor city got a deluge (you like that word?!?). What we got was a glimpse of the beauty of God, and that was far better!Tim made waffles for breakfast, and I got to sleep in. I'm not sure whether it was the food from the rehearsal dinner or the fact that I haven't had anything substantial to eat in several days, but I wasn't feeling good all day Saturday and that continued into Sunday morning, so I got to sleep. It was nice, but no matter how many times you tell 5 kids that mommy is trying to sleep, they seem to forget, and boy can they get loud!!! I appreciate the sentiment though, Tim! Maybe we were pulling on excuses that the kids have had a very long and busy week/weekend or something, but we played hookey from church also, though we did have kinship later in the afternoon, so we weren't sluggards all day.

Micah is getting rather excited with learning how to grasp food and all...either that or I have to admit that she may just be greedy and want it all at the same time. Bottle in one hand and waffle in the other. Is she cool or what?Now, we get ready to go outside to play for a while before leaving for the kinship activity and Levi, who thinks cowboy boots are for all occasions and all dress decides that he has to wear his to play. Who am I to argue the goofiness of that? Well, at least not this time. To add to his great choice of footwear, he decides he must be a knight or something, and so as I whip out my camera, they decide to pose (yes, Elijah is actually posing in these pictures) and Levi is clearly pledging his allegiance to the camera. He has an imagination that never ends. I love it!
Then there is Eden who after seeing me in the strapless dress for the wedding (I can only assume) comes to the door in her sun dress with the straps pulled off and when I tell her that she needs to put the straps back on says "I like it better this way." Uh, I don't think so! By the way, daddy will croak if he sees that, so move 'em on up, sweetie. Besides, I think your chest is hanging out.

After the wedding...

After the wedding all who could came over to mom and dad's house. Let's see, it was uncle Mike and aunt Sharon, Jessie, Suzanna, her guy friend, Jeff, Joel and his girlfriend Jenna, uncle Dan and aunt Jan, Dolly and Leland, grandpa, and of course our whole gang. It was quite a house full. Most of the adults hung out on the deck talking while most of the kids (John Paul and uncle Mike included), went out on the boat and did some fishing. It was nice seeing the beautifully pregnant Dolly, and equally nice meeting the man that made her that way! --SIDEBAR-- Leleand, you're a good guy, grounded firmly in the Faith, and those are hard to come by these days. Congratulations to you both!
Later on, we had some Aurellio's pizza and wedding cake, for any who could stomach some more. Eden was quite entertained by uncle Mike who fashioned a hat out of tissue paper and put it on for some song and dance to entertain our birthday girl. She got quite a kick out of that and even tried it herself. Somehow, she wasn't as funny. We had a good visit with everyone, but as usual, it wasn't long enough. Is there a possibility of Olsen family reunion somewhere down the road??? How nice would that be to get everyone together for longer than a wedding reception? You can count me in!

Happy Birthday Eden!

For her birthday, Eden gets to go to the hair salon bright and early to get her hair fixed for auntie Ruthie's wedding. She sat so still through the whole thing, but I think that is just because she likes to look at herself in the mirror. Uh-Oh! In the end, she looked absolutely adorable, of course, but the trouble is that I think she knew it.

When we got to the church, I was so busy taking care of Ruthie, making sure everything was where it was supposed to be for the reception, parking issues...anything that I could think of, not to mention that I still had 3 kids running around, that I neglected to take many pictures, something I rarely do. I will just have to wait until Ruthie and the man formerly known as "almost uncle Dave" get their photo CD back and get all the pictures then. For all you scrapbookers out there, it's just not the same!
It's a face-off...the bride versus the birthday girl. It was a fierce battle between the bride's elegance and beauty and the birthday girl's cute and precious adorableness. It was a hard decision, but it was unanimous...the bride wins!!! Sorry birthday girl. Better luck next time! Perhaps you can be the first guest in the bride's new home as a consolation prize. Too bad the bride is out of the country and won't be seeing this anytime soon to know she has company coming... :-)

Titus this week

Last week when Tim's brother was in town, we went to eat at Texas Corral, but even before we were seated to eat, I left for home with Micah and a sick Levi. Tim brought dinner home to me including some rolls with a few containers of their wonderful honey cinnamon butter. The other day, Tim and I were sitting in the living room and we didn't hear Titus for a bit, but I knew he was in the kitchen. He was no where near the pantry, so what could he have possibly found??? I don't know how he did it, the little food houdini, but there he sits with the yummy butter concoction (which was put back on the counter well out of his reach), happy as a clam with his pudgy little fingers dipped in the butter, licking it off like a sucker. If he weren't so daggone cute...the little devil!

I often think that if I could attatch a security camera of some sort to Titus' head I would be so far ahead of the game we play. He is just so bloomin' quiet and I should NEVER ignore the silence. When will I learn??? Today I knew he was sitting less than 3 feet from me, but I couldn't see him. More importantly, I couldn't hear him. He was pouring the baby cereal onto the floor. I believe it was Levi who caught it and called him out. I cannot physically keep up with this boy...but alas......he sleeps. I wonder what this next week will bring?

Father's Day

Yes, Father's Day was last Sunday, but for some reason, I can't seem, to manage to post on time. It could be because Ruthie was getting married and I was up way too late, too many nights last week and didn't get around to posting...better late than never, right? Well, yesterday was the big day, so today, life moves on. By the way, the happy couple went to the Virgin Islands...Lucky! (said like Napoleon Dynamite, of course) I am totally jealous!

Anyways, back to my late up date. We spent Father's Day at mom and dad's, playing in the yard inbetween rainfalls. Elijah couldn't find enough people to play ball as often as he wanted to...it's called Energy Crisis...the kids have it and the adults need it. Sorry, Elijah. Uncle John Paul was very good to him, though! We even got in a fully fielded game once we woke poppy up.

Toby (have we decided how we are spelling his name yet???) is mom's new baby, as if she needed to go from 11 people in the house to 3 1/2 people and a puppy, but he is adorable and he had a great time with all the kids, but like the adults, my darling children wore poor Toby out.

Levi, though not overly enthusiastic about sports (very surprising to me), was glad to sport his new sunglasses while trying to hit the ball (unbeknownst to him, they are goofy looking motorcycle goggles, but he liked them so mema bought them. We won't tell him how they really look). He wasn't very successful in hitting the ball, though he is getting better. His success lies in his appearance. What a looker!

The rest of the day was spent lounging around in the bonus room, watching The Princess Bride, sleeping and even eating apples.

Grandma and grandpa were there with us for most of the afternoon. They entertained Micah when she got up from her nap.
Auntie Ruthie, as is not unlike her, was off by herself in the basement doing her own thing. I made her smile for the camera and then nearly dragged her up to the bonus room where she continued doing her own thing. At least she was in the same room with the rest of us this time!

Who's who?

On Father's Day, I got to snapping pictures and somehow, in testing my zoom, I took a picture of one of everyone's eyes. We thought it might be fun/funny to put them all up and then try and figure out "Who's Eye Is It?" Retarded, I know, but here goes.

Now, tell me you didn't smile. I sure did! Here is who's eye it is, in order of apperance. Levi, me, Elijah, mom, John Paul, Micah, dad, Eden, Titus, Ruthie and Tim. How'd you do on guessing?

Bedtime, what's that?

We were all at Tim's softball game way too late tonight. Earlier Tim had left for his game and I was with the kids running around. I got home around 8:00 when Tim called me to tell me that he had locked his keys in the car and wanted me to drive to where he was to unlock his car, and somehow by the end of our conversation, I misunderstood Tim and thought he had someone from the game coming to get him, not realizing that all his gear for the game was still in the car, and he still needed me to drive out to unlock his doors. I took all the kids in the house, put Micah to bed and threw the boys in the shower. About 10 minutes into the shower, Tim called to see if I was on my way yet. Realizing my error, I just about croaked when I had to pull everyone out of the shower and bed, load them in the van and drive to unlock Tim's car. We hadn't planned on going to his game since it was so late, but when I arrived at the field around 9:00, I decided that I drove all that way, I may as well stay for the rest of the game. The kids were thrilled. Tired, but thrilled. It was well after 10:30 by the time we got all the little rugrats home and sweetly tucked in their beds. Boy will I pay for this tomorrow!