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!