Ring the bell, mama's getting a break!

Yesterday was what all our little fun things were leading up to...the start of school and Levi's first day of kindergarten. When we put the kids to bed at night and Tim is done giving everyone a drink, something mommy is too mean to do, I will sometimes make my way back through all the rooms to sit on each of the kids' beds to talk with them for a couple of minutes without all the other kids around. Levi has really seemed to like this (note to self), so I could tell his excitement when Tuesday night as we were saying goodnight, he said, "mommy, will you come talk to me?" Well, doggone it (how do you spell that?), I couldn't refuse. I went to his bed and sat there with him rubbing his arm and hair and told him I couldn't believe tomorrow was finally here. I asked if he was nervous and he took a deep breath and through his teeth said "no" but clearly there was a bit of apprehension. I asked what was wrong and he said, "well, I don't know my whole address yet." Like any good mother would do, I compared him to other kids not as "advanced" as he and said very calmly, "well you know, Levi, there are kids who don't even know their phone number yet." He just smiled and relaxed a bit because when Elijah was in kindergarten 2 years ago, he had to learn his address and phone number and so Levi learned right along with him. Levi smiled because a kid not knowing his phone number?!?! Is there such a thing? It was cute.

Here is the motley crew on the first day of school. These are Elijah and Levi's favorite people, Landry, Bryce, Peyton and Ty Carr. Elijah and Bryce have known each other since they were 1 or so, and they have been in the same class since our former youth pastor's wife had a preschool in her basement. We have done so much together and our kids are the same ages that our families have become good friends. They had to stop for a photo shoot before moving on to their classes.I'm not too sure why Levi wasn't smiling...trepidation, I suppose, but doesn't he look so handsome with his cowboy boots??? Plus he has the over the shoulder back pack that he picked out because even though the color was wrong, the style was "just like Jones" (Indiana Jones, that is).
Levi didn't take too long to find his name on his table. He found out that he is number 19. Elijah was 18 when he had Mrs. Wolfe, so they wondered what Levi would get. One up isn't bad.

Once he got his stuff unloaded, I was ready to let him alone and move on to taking Elijah to his class. I know he was a bit nervous but he ended up having a great day and doing well. Can't wait for day 2!!!

We took so long dropping Levi off at his class that Elijah was the last one to make it to his class. Handsome little devil! I can't believe he's already a second grader. No problems smiling for this pro.

Yes, I was the only parent in the classroom waiting for my son to unpack his back pack so I could get some action shots. It was so quiet in there you could have heard a mouse brap (love that word, eh Olsen's?!?).

It was only a half day for the boys, but there was so much to talk about once I picked them up. Today was even better. Today they got to sport their lunch boxes! Is it bad to wish we could afford to send my little 4, going on 14 year old to preschool??? She would do SO well!!! Just one more year and she gets to hit the big time.

To the zoo my little pretties!

Monday morning Tim took the day off of work so we could take the kids to the zoo. We didn't tell them where we were going, but that we had a surprise for them. After breakfast Eden came downstairs wearing a white skirt with a white striped sweater tank and out of instinct I said, "you're not wearing that to the zoo!" They all chimed in together, "we're going to the zoo?!?!?" Good one, mommy. So then I try to pass it off like we weren't going to the zoo, but they aren't dummies...

We decided on the Washington Park Zoo in Michigan City as opposed to going downtown. Choosing to put 2 kids in Christian school is going to be harder than we thought, so we don't have many arms and legs these days and Chicago would have cost us a few.

The very first exhibit at this zoo is the tigers. They are huge and if you got up on the fence and stretched, you could actually touch one. They were that close. Kinda makes you test your faith in the cages they have. I found that mine wavered, completely trumping any common sense. We were in luck. The tiger didn't get anyone. However, did you all know that as tigers pace they pee? Now, they don't "tinkle" by any means. These fellas spray rather far, if you ask me. They stop, lift their tail in the air and spray a shot, much like you'd imagine a skunk doing. Because they are so close to the sidewalk, if you are in the wrong spot, you'd get it for sure. I told this to Elijah and wouldn't you know it, the tiger got to where he was, turned his backside to Elijah, lifted his tail and Elijah screamed and ran out of the way just in time. He returned to where he was standing to find wet spots by his feet. Now that was a close call. Next exhibit, please.
Micah looked like she wanted to hop right out of her stroller and climb the tiger fence with everyone else. We were hanging around here long before I found out the tiger's secret weapon!

Titus enjoyed the mountain lion. The animals are just so close to you at this zoo, one of the reasons I like it so much.

When we got to the monkeys, we watched them for a minute or so admiring how gracefully they move around, swinging from place to place. Who would have thought that you can get a lesson about God's beauty from watching monkeys?!?

Before too long it was time for a pit stop. When we got to the bathrooms, there were animal footprints on the floor and Levi didn't want to go in. Elijah posed for the picture as he knew full well that they were fake. I, however, even after having been to this zoo before and saw the funny prints, for a split second had this wave come over me like there's a mountain lion on the loose and I wonder if anyone knew it yet and where could I find someone to tell them...then I felt like an idiot and moved on. What a dork!

Satan, indeed!

We saw a sign for an observation deck and decided to go see what it was, exactly. We followed the steps around to this stone tower, and went inside. The base couldn't have been any bigger than 10' x 15' with one doorway in and then stairs. In all, there were 90 steps. The last 20 or so were a metal spiral staircase, used to save space as the building tapered off the higher it went. At the top, Titus started getting a bit nervous and wouldn't cooperate for a picture all that well, so this is the best one we could get. The view was great. If it weren't just Lake Michigan, it may have been beautiful, but Michigan City is no tropical beauty.

When we got down from the tower, I got the kids to pose for this...Eden was being so ugly. If only she knew (or cared) how ugly she looks when she has a bad attitude, she may behave herself more often. It's not entirely her fault. She was tired and she has always been the same when she's tired. She acts ugly and is plain old disobedient. Anyways, I opted to go with the goofy face shot since little miss attitude wouldn't cooperate for a regular picture.

The kids finally realized where Santa's reindeer stay when they aren't hooked to that sleigh. I always wondered myself...

Garlic, anyone???

This grizzly just looked at the kids, then looked up at me, and then back at the kids. I wonder what he was thinking? It seemed like "you bore me" or "don't bother me" as they lazily made their way from one end of the caged area to another. Ho hum.

The otters were a different vibe altogether. These little guys were spastic. There was this tube the kids sat in and the otters were all over the place in that water. You can see they swam under the tube, up the side, they sat on top...it was rather fun to watch them. I always imagine otters as eternally toddlers or something. Very fun.

Next we went to the petting area to feed the goats. I had 2 quarters to buy food from the little dispenser and was sorely disappointed to find that a quarter buys 3 pieces of food. What a jip! I suppose I understand. They don't need the goats getting over fed and all, but still. I thought it was an accident the first time I bought the food and so got my hopes up for my next quarter's booty only to have my bubble burst. Aw nuts.

We did stop for lunch somewhere in that time and ended up leaving the zoo around 2:30 to go home. First we stopped by a playground that was out by the parking lot to let the kids run loose for a bit. These monkeys aren't near as graceful, but infinitely cuter!

Mom invited us over for dinner, so we headed to Valparaiso. Poor Micah was deprived of her morning and afternoon naps, so not even 2 minutes on the road and she was out, and Levi followed suit, but everyone else seemed too excited to go to mema's to sleep. School started today, so we wanted to get the kids back on their school bedtime routine (in bed by 7:30) but as usual, we were at mom and dad's too long and didn't make it home and in bed until 8pm. Oh well, as far as back to school activity, I think these kiddos had a great time, and it was well worth the "late" bedtime!

Back to school bash

Sunday evening Tim set up the tent as a way of telling the kids that they were going to be able to camp out in the front yard that night. It was originally supposed to be daddy with Elijah and Levi, and the boys wanted uncle Dave to come over too, but once Eden and Titus got all excited to be in the tent, we didn't have the heart to tell them no, so we let uncle Dave know and let him off the hook (if you read this Dave, thanks for being willing to camp out despite all the un-funness there would have been!). We got the tent out of the bag and it was so sandy from the last user (Ruthie and her girlfriends) that I had to take a broom to it before anyone could get anywhere near it. Elijah tried to help me sweep, but his broom skills haven't been trained yet.

We surprised the kids later on with a bike ride to Dairy Queen where they each got to pick what they wanted (as opposed to usually being given a choice of a couple of their cheapest things).

At bedtime, Tim read the kids their Bible story and we got all the sleeping bags set out and figured out where everyone would sleep. I would have stayed in there too, but Micah wasn't allowed and someone had to stay in the house with her. :-) Oh, yeah, it took less than an hour before Titus was kicked out for not behaving himself. Go figure. Poor kid couldn't even take a picture without goofing off.

Uncle John's in the house

My uncle John is in town for a few days for his high school reunion, so on Thursday night we ditched the parent orientation at the kid's school and went out to uncle Mike and aunt Sharon's for a cookout. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of everyone, but it was a full house to say the least and we all had a great time. I just wish that we could have stayed longer, but 5 kids may as well be 50 kids when they are tired and the space is limited. They were getting rowdy and uncle Mike was egging it on. Surprising, I know! All I wanted to do was get a picture of the kids with uncle John, but Titus was having none of it! Ooh, he was making me so mad! We couldn't get the kids to uncle John to take a good picture, so uncle Mike had them all sit down together with the idea that uncle John would come to them and we could get a decent picture. It's amazing how quickly Titus' temperament can change. He's more like a woman than a 2 year old...The mood changed, but we never did get a good picture.
Auntie Ruthie (and uncle Dave) were there.Josh and Kelly...it's always nice to see them, but never seems to be enough time to sit and chat long enough! Jack, Laurel and Jackson James were there for a while. James looks so much like Jack!!! Of course my parents were there. The kids thought it was so funny to sneak up behind people with this plastic hair (uncle Mike's) and put it on their head. Doesn't mom look great?!? She's a natural. Josh got the idea to get a rope and make a swing while we were here. It was a whole lot of fun, especially when John Paul, Josh and Jack got going. One would grab the excess rope from below the swing and take the passenger for a crazy ride while the rider would try and get the rope back for himself so he could whip the pusher. Sounds confusing and childish...it was great! Boys will be boys! I even took a spin on the swing and oh how it took me back to when the Heavners lived next door to us and we had a tire swing on a tree between our two houses. It is so much crazy fun getting together with the Heavners and though only half the Heavner kids were there, I realize how much I miss getting together with them all.This is Titus in uncle Mike's hat. He took it off of this penguin "statue" named Lyle that uncle Mike and aunt Sharon have had for years and years. His nose (is it a beak???) just sits in the hole, so everyone takes it out to play with it. Titus was no exception. I wonder if Lyle's poke has ever been a "light saver" before. If you listen carefully, you can hear his sound effects.
I don't know why I have so many pictures of Ty-Ty, but I do.

Here he is behind bars. How apropos for the little guy.

Eventually we did start to get way too out of control, but then again, it was after 9pm and we go to bed between 7:30 and 8:00. We had a fantastic time together and the kids had a blast as always and I can't wait until we get to do it again!

The sneaky little cookie monster

I made some delicious chocolate chip cookie batter the other night but didn't have time to make the cookies, so I put it in the fridge until the next day (cold batter makes so much better cookies anyways!!!). I went ahead and made the cookies and after they cooled I put them in Ziploc bags to send off to their various new homes. One bag was going with the kids to Erin's house complete with 9 cookies, one for each kid and one for Erin. As you can see, not all 9 cookies made it to Erin. That little sneak. I was upstairs doing some much needed scrapbooking and remembered that he had gone downstairs for a drink and never came back up. I wonder why. You know the sight when you walk into the kitchen and your kids are playing hide and seek or something under the table and all you can see is their legs or their feet? They can't see you, so they think you can't see them?!?! Well, that was this Ty guy who thought that though he heard foot steps, and though he heard my voice, he was safe because he didn't see me, therefore I didn't see him. Satan doesn't have to work hard with some of us...I know that most of these posts are truly funny, but on a serious note, I don't know about the other of you moms, but often I fail to truly see a sinner before me when looking at my children. God looks at us with the same parental dissatisfaction in our behavior (though I don't believe He laughs as much as we parents do) and really, we are just like our misbehaving kids. Hmmm.

At any rate...here he is still trying to finish his little indulgence even though he has been caught red-handed and brown-mouthed. Sneaky little monster.

Lotion and Tomatoes

Let's see...today is a two-fer.

First it's a quiet little Titus getting into my lotion. It was all over his legs, all over the rug and, as you can see, all over the top of the lotion tube. I have been having a problem with my eczema flaring up on my fingers and so I bought, in my opinion, an obscenely expensive tube of lotion, so you better believe that I took that tube from his hands, took the top off and slowly and carefully put the excess lotion back into the tube!!!Later on at lunch I think it was, we ate some cherry tomatoes (a favorite of the kids'). All the kids were doing fine, inhaling their yummy fruit, and then I glanced over at Titus who rather than eating his tomatoes, was "mashing" them and getting a kick out of the seeds squirting all over the table. I wondered why his tomatoes were gone faster than everyone else's. He doesn't know what he's missing. If you have your mouth open when eating the tomato, like Elijah did, you can taste it and squirt it at the same time. He just needs practice.

She's getting so big so fast!

This morning I went upstairs to get the birthday girl, Micah, out of her crib and this is what I was met with: I had to take the picture because I have this same picture from our old house in this same crib, only with Eden as the baby and Elijah and Levi crammed into her crib. That seems like only yesterday. sniff sniff

Later on I found out that Micah can climb the stairs. How did I find that out, you ask? Well, I heard a scream that could only translate "pain" and found her at the bottom of the stairs on her back. Poor sweet baby! If only my camera were near!!! (Yes, I would have!)

Here she is at her summit...victorious this time! By the way, she is one year old today! So is uncle John Paul, but gone are his days of solo celebration. There's a princess in town and she's stealing the show! Even he doesn't dare compete with that. (Her party isn't until Friday night, so I will post party pictures then)

Partners in crime

Erin watched my kids today while I cleaned Linda's house (my old neighbor), so I watched her kids afterwards while she went grocery shopping and the dynamic duo were at it again. So I can totally see these two up in Elijah's bedroom getting into his backpack, opening his pencil box and getting out the "mowkoes" and writing on each other. There had to be some reason they were playing so nicely.

Even though this was washable marker, I left it on for Erin to see when she picked up her kids. C'mon, it was funny, and with 8 kids in the house who has time, or even cares to stop and clean marker off of a 2 year old??? Not me, as you can see. The next day it was my turn to take her kids and I caught these two in the food this time. I guess there could be worse things to get into...rarely a dull moment, but when there is one, I gotta go looking for these two.

Outside, the older boys were having a blast! Kiddie toys aren't so much when you have some bungee cord and a bit of imagination.Then there is Levi who is just enjoying life for a moment. It makes me smile!All in all this was a good day, but I have a feeling there will be a Titus mischief explosion as it has been too calm for too long. I can hear the "Jaws" music now...

A storm...the likes of which we've never seen before

First, before I continue trying to catch up with myself, I want to give a shout out to my mama and my papa as it was their 33rd anniversary yesterday. We had them, John Paul and our very own progenitor - grandpa g - over for lunch this afternoon. Afterwards we watched most of the opening ceremony of the Olympics that I had recorded earlier...for those of you who saw them, let me just say WOW!!! Just as mom and dad were leaving I had them strike a pose. Those crazy kids!Alright, back to my regularly scheduled catch-up...On Monday, yes, that's last Monday, we went to my friend Erin's mom and dad's house in South Bend to swim for the day. When we got up it was quite dark outside and there was to be scattered showers throughout the day. Well, the kids were already pumped about going swimming, so we were going to take our chances. There was no rain all morning, until just as we started loading the kids up and then wouldn't you know it, a torrential downpour. Oh my word was it crazy!!!

It was just over 65 miles to get there which ended up being plenty of time for the rain to come and go, which it did. Not even 10 minutes after getting to Erin's parents house it stopped raining and the sky even started to reveal some pretty blue. Eden started out a tad bit shy, but it wasn't too long before she was jumping in the water like a pro. What's with the legs? None of the kids know how to swim as we don't have access to a pool that often, but Elijah was determined to learn anyhow. He decided to take off his floaties and see what would happen when he jumped in. I got in the deep end and waited for him, just in case he needed assistance. As he is swimming, he looks as though he is struggling, but he made it from the diving board all the way to the shallow end of the pool. Not bad for a kid who has only been swimming a small handful of times ever. I don't trust his ability to swim completely yet, so he had to put his floaties back on after a few rounds of free swimming.

My little football player, his little brother ObiWan Kenobi and Jackson and Abby. What a little crew.

Let's not forget Ty-Ty and Makenna, the dynamic duo of disaster. They fight like brother and sister half the time and get along like best friends the other half. It's an interesting relationship those two...

We decided to go home after dinner so that those who didn't nap would be ok to fall asleep on the way home without ruining them for bedtime. Tim called me as we were 45 minutes from home to tell me of some crazy storms going on in Chicago with tornadoes and tons of rain and lightning. He said drive as fast as you can until you hit the rain then drive as slow as you can. We didn't hit any bad weather until we were withing 1 mile of home and then the rain came as heavy as that morning, but with all the wind of a growing tornado. Freaky! My orders were to go immediately down to the basement. Ugh!

For those of you who know me, going to the basement stairs was the furthest thing from my mind, but when big daddy speaks, I listen. So, here we are with my 5 kids, Erin and her 3 and some blankets. No one was about to move, except for me. I wanted my camera and to see what was going on outside. The lightning was amazing to say the least. It was continual and I thought for sure I was going to see some in my own front yard. We lost power for a few seconds...long enough for Micah to fall down a couple of steps that started a chain reaction of kids crying, most of them for no reason other than someone else was...20 minutes or so later we got up and Erin took her kids home (they live less than a mile away as the crow flies).

Tim has to stay downtown Chicago once a month for a mass recording session of InContext with Michael Easley and Bob Lepine, and tonight happened to be the night, so our lucky kids got to sleep in our room with Micah in our closet, but that didn't leave much room for me. I went ahead and stayed up for a bit to watch some TV before bed, but by around 11:15 I took the 3 younger kids to their own beds and went to bed myself. At 12:15 I woke up to Levi in my room crying and Titus at the top of the stairs crying because there was another wave of the storm, this one sounding more fierce than the first. You know how sometimes you feel as though God is allowing something to happen for the sole purpose of you to personally learn something. I don't believe God was too impressed with my lack of concern for the kids and my arogant attitude toward the storm and all, so He decided to give me a bit more storm to endure and put a little fear/respect for His power in my heart. I thought for sure that something was going to come through Elijah's bedroom window during that second wave. I voluntarily (that's saying a lot!!!) brought all the kids back down to my bed and I slept at the end of the bed until morning. What a night!!!

Does anyone believe that I was a tad crabby the next day??? Naaah...