Our Summer in a Nutshell

The Pool. That is pretty much were we have lived this summer with an occasional park throw in here or there! A family from church got a pool pass too so when we have been at the pool they have usually been there too. They had 4 kids all summer until last Monday when she had her 5th baby. Which means the last time we went to the pool it was just my kids. It was good and bad. Good because they played with each other but bad because they got bored quicker. My friend said she was hoping to take all 5 kids to the pool this coming week!!! Also wanted to add that we have gone swimming so much Peanut's swimsuit got a whole in the butt and we had to go get her a new one...it was slim pickins and she ended up with a bikini. I finally remembered to take the camera with me the day we were alone so I got some really cool shots of them kids on the diving boards and in the water!!! I hope to get some pictures with the kids and there friends this coming week. Without further ado my favorite PICTURES! I took WAY more than this ;)

Peanut's favorite thing to do...

mid jump
into the water and then swimming to big sis
Monkey off the high dive...he's flying
GlamorGirl doing a handstand
Red's trick off the high dive
Her showing me how she goes underwater...
her under the water
These two are ones who got out of the pool before it was time to go...


What about you what have you been doing this summer?
I hope it has been as fun as ours :)

Park Fun

Yesterday when I posted and had gone through some old photos on the computer it got me thinking that I haven't taken many pictures this summer. First, reason is that we have gone to the pool A LOT, water and cameras don't get along and they aren't allowed at the pool either. Second, I forget to bring it with me. Today was a beautiful day and I was determined to bring the camera to the park and get some pictures. I want to have pictures to look back on of my kids to see how little they were and how big they have gotten :) But honestly, all of us had so much fun looking through the pictures of them as babies and toddlers and so on. Here are some of my favorite pictures of the day!

This picture of Peanut cracked my friend and I up!

We enjoyed a picnic at the park and play time with friends and obviously taking pictures to remember it all...

Seriously?!?

Wednesday nights Jeff is usually gone working with our junior high group at church. Most Wednesday nights I have friends lined up to come over and hang out while he is gone. For some reason I had a complete mental block that he was leaving last night so I didn't have anyone here to keep me company. Instead of being upset I decided that the kids and I would take a bike ride to the park. They wanted to go to the old neighborhood first and see some friends. Since we left right after dinner we had plenty of time to do both. We got the our old block and NO ONE was home, at first. Then Patti came out and we talked to her for a short time because she had a softball game she needed to get too. She just recently bought a trampoline and told me that the kids could jump on it. After she left I let the kids jump for a good amount of time. Then we were getting ready to go to the park. Monkey rode down to our old house, he wanted to climb the front tree. I went to get him and the guy who bought Jack's old house (our grandparent-like neighbors who passed away not too long ago) came home. I had heard he did a lot of updating to the house. I asked if I could see all that he had done. He isn't living there yet because the house still has more work to be done on it. As we walked to the door, GG found one of Marilyn's decorated rocks. She picked it up and just started bawling. The guy let her keep the rock, which made her day. The door that we went in is right next to our old swingset. The kids of course ran to it. Even though I told them not to. With in 30 seconds Monkey was screaming and crying because he got stung by a wasp. I told the kids not to play on it. What do you know, my little strong-willed stubborn Peanut didn't listen. Next thing I know she is screaming and crying. I run over to her and pick her up. I'm so surprised I didn't get stung. She had a wasp hanging from her arm. I shook it off. I saw 2 stings right away and I iced them. Once I got her somewhat calmed down I put her on the ground and looked the rest of her body over. She had 2 more stings on the other side of her arm. We were on bikes and I didn't bring my cell because I figured we probably won't need it but good ole Murphy's Law went into effect. The fire department isn't too far from the old house so we rode over there and had the Paramedics take a look at both the kids. We now know that neither one of them are allergic to bee stings. What a junky way to find that out! I think Peanut will be scared of any flying bugs for a very long time. I just still can't believe she didn't listen to me right after her brother got stung. I should of just picked her up and brought her into the house and not given her a choice. But I didn't and maybe this will be the life lesson that teaches her that "um maybe I should obey mom, she's got my back"

As I type this Red walks into my room on a day that is suppose to be 91 with a long sleeve shirt asking if he can wear it because he is really cold. Yeah, I have the air set at 78, it's NOT cold in here.

Other than that I have been bad at writing out our menus for the time we have lived in this house. I have made 3 new recipes. Fire roasted Chicken Salad (Everyone LOVED), Stuffed Acorn Squash, (it was ok) and last night I made Rolled Eggplant, Jeff LOVED it, I thought it was pretty good, the kids did not like it one bit, it was a little too spicy for me but not too bad.

Moving too quickly...

This week is almost over and I just can't believe it. Last night I got together with 2 women from my church and we had Starbucks and talked for close to 3 hours. It was great conversation and just a whole lota fun!

Today J surprised me by taking the day off. Though at 6:45am when I rolled over and noticed he was still in the bed I panicked and was then wide awake. He is normally gone by 6:05am. I took the kids to VBS and then came home and we tag teamed some much needed cleaning. Then he took Peanut on an errand while I fixed my hair! After VBS we had a play date lined up with a few different families. We had a picnic at the park and then the kids played. Since J was home he decided with my help to not come to get the kids instead he was going to take Peanut on a bike ride and then put her down for a nap. He ended up showing up at the park with her and played for 30 minutes and then went home to give her a nap. The kids had a great time playing with all the friends that they had at the park and us moms, well I guess I can only speak for myself, had a great time too! We got home about 3:30pm. When we came home our neighbor Jack was outside. He has been outside almost everyday it is nice outside since we moved in 5 years ago. The kids love him and they actually learned to say his name before they learned to say their siblings name. Well about two weeks ago he was having some health issue and ended up admitted at the hospital for a week. After all the tests were run they found that he had stage 4 cancer of the bladder, bone and prostate. He has been home for about 4 days and has been outside 2 times. It is so good to see him back at his "post" waving to all the cars that pass by. He is very weak from his stay because he was in bed for a week straight so he uses a walker to get around. Peanut cried the first time she saw him use it and she calls it his owies. I am not looking forward to the day he is gone and we have to tell the kids.

Oh what a night!

We had the loudest scariest storm last night and this morning. I woke up to a big bang at 3 something this morning. I was afraid we were going to lose power, especially since J is gone and that the crawl space would flood. Both girls ended up in my bed by 4am which was fine just made for notsogreat sleep the last part of the night. Then my mom-in-law called me this morning to let me know that the guys might not being coming in today because of the weather. I guess before they left Joe told her if the day they are suppose to be picked up is bad weather that they are staying a day longer. If that is the case essential what will happen is I will get GG prepared for camp with all the kids in tow and then I will be bringing her there without J and he won't get to see her for another week. I am really praying that they don't have bad weather there and are able to get their pick up time today. I will know by about 10pm if they are back in the states or not.

Other than that the kids last day of soccer camp was today. They were suppose to do a soccer Olympic something or other but because of the lightning they had to bring it all inside and didn't get to do the games. They had a great time anyway and I got a picture of the kids with most of their coaches from this week. Well that is it from me please pray that the guys come back today...

UPDATE!!!! SO I got a call from J at 4pm today telling me that they are back in the states!!! I am so excited that it will be over tomorrow night.

Last Week of Summer...

We just got back from our annual church picnic. It is always so much fun with water games, horse shoe, baggo, frisbee, and jumping jack. Also tons and tons of FOOD. I just got on here to let you all know that tomorrow starts the last week of summer we have before the kids start back to school. And on Tuesday they have orientation to meet their new teachers and see who is in their class. We have plans almost everyday. I just want to have a great time with them before we get on a schedule and so with that being said. I'm taking a week off of blogging and reading blogs. I will be back on the 8th with first day of school pictures post. And I will have a whole day with only one baby at home and so I will be able to visit all your blogs during her nap! I will miss you all but I need to make sure I spend as much time with these guys before they are gone most of the day at school. That so makes me sad to think about. I love those kids. See ya in a week :)

Wonderful Day

Today was wonderful all around! I woke up with my hubby still in bed at 8am. I asked him if he was going to work and he said at noon. So we spent the morning together. Then he went to work and the kids and I went to the pool for the afternoon. It was so much fun. I got some videos of the kids at the pool and a few pictures. But I'm at the laptop and the camera battery is low so I will have to post them later when I can get on the desk top to upload them. Anyways, we left the pool at 4pm and about 10 minutes after we got home J walked in the door. I made dinner for the kids and my step-mom and J and I went out on a date! We went out to eat at a bar and grill with really yummy food, then we walked to a piano bar and listened to the music, after we left there we were going to get ice cream but we ended up running into a high school buddy of J's and we talked to him for awhile. Instead of getting ice cream we ended up going to Lowe's for a new door knob one with a lock on it. Our kids don't know how to knock! They are a little too old to see us naked after showers. Anyways then we went to wal*mart to get a tent shade for Peanut's party. J has been wanting one for awhile and we have a good reason to get one now that we are having a party and will be having parties at our house in years to come seeing as 3 of the 4 kids have warm weather birthdays! Then we came home. See it was a wonderful day ALL. DAY. LONG.

Been slacking on the Ole Blog

The kids have only next week of summer break and so we have been keeping ourselves busy with last minute summer fun. We went to Jumps N Jiggles on Tuesday, The Children's Museum on Wednesday, and today we are planning on going to the pool when Peanut wakes up if it isn't too late. On top of not being home that much I am preparing a slide show of the first year of Peanut's life to play at her birthday party next month. I have also been getting things ready for said party. On top of that I signed up to bring to new mother's meals this week. It has worked out nicely because I make enough for their meal and ours. Then I take all 4 kids to their houses and drop it off. It has been nice having the kids with to help carry the food and presents! Added bonus is that my kids LOVE babies. Yesterday I got another award, so sweet and nice of her, but I still haven't followed through with the first award I got about a week ago. My goal is to do a post on the 2 awards Saturday when J is home to help with the kids! Thank you both for the awards I really do appreciate them. So before I leave I have some pictures from the Children's Museum! Enjoy :)



We met 3 moms from church and a friend who is a nanny along with all their kids at the Museum so there were 5 adults and 15 kids. It was chaotic fun :)

Oh the Summer Days...

Since J worked 13 1/2 hours yesterday and was to work 12 today he decided to take this morning off. It was nice to actually get to see him for a little bit today, since he will be home late again. Of course, we went shopping to get some needed things for the house. It is so much easier to do with him or by myself so I jumped on the opportunity. It was a really hot day and he suggested that I take the kids to the pool. After lunch all the kids got ready and we got in the van and it started to rain. We got out of the van and by the time we got to the house it was a complete down pour. Good thing we had swim suits on! I put the two little ones down for their naps. I was going to give Peanut a nap at the pool and put Red down for a later nap but this worked out better. By the time both the kids were awake it was sunny and hot out again. Off to the pool we went. I packed some water, snacks, and money. The funniest thing happened while at the pool today. When we first got there the boys had to use the bathroom so Monkey took them both to the men's bathroom. When they came out I told Monkey next time to use the family bathroom in case I needed to come in and help them. Well later on Red needed to go to the potty and he just ran right into the men's bathroom. I didn't see him go in there and another lady at the pool who's boy he had been playing with informed me he had run off to the bathroom. I walked ran to the bathroom and yelled his name. He then informed me he was pooping. My thought "oh great he doesn't know how to wipe himself let alone his wet self. I can't send Monkey in he is too young to help him. Now what?" I then quickly think I'll go to the lifeguard station and see if they will stand at the door and let me go in. I tell them my situation of having a 3 year old in the bathroom pooping and not being able to wipe himself. Now this is just too funny. The only male in the room proceeds to put on gloves to go wipe my son's butt! All the girls were laughing. I sent Monkey in with him so he wasn't wiping some other kid, not that that would happen since Red was screaming at the top of his lungs, "I'm DONE...I'm DONE!" But I figured sending Monkey in there would also let Red know that the man was there to wipe him since Mommy couldn't go in there. It was the best solution to the problem. Poor guy said he did his best to wipe him because after all he was wet from the pool. I then had a talk with Red about telling me before he goes to the potty and then showed him which potty to use...the family one.

After about an hour in the pool Peanut was done with the water. I got her out and changed which meant that I was also done in the water and now I could sit on the side and watch the big three. I was holding Peanut when Red got his leg stuck between the pool and the hand railing going into the pool. I quickly stop the conversation I am having with the mom of the kids that my kids are playing with and put Peanut in the stroller so I can go pull him out. Now mind you the whole time I am strapping her in as fast as I can he is hollering, "MOM I'm STUCK! MOM I'm STUCK!" It didn't matter that I was trying to talk to him while putting his sister in the stroller and tell him that I was coming to get him but that I needed both hands to help and I needed to get his sister in the stroller for that to happen. I did think to put her on the ground so I could get to him faster but since she has started to crawl I didn't think that would be very safe. I probably would of then had to save a drowning baby! I will say life with 4 kids at the pool is definitely interesting. With both of those happenings I will say that the pool today was a great experience (all 4 hours) and I can't wait to take them back next week and I'm sad that the summer is coming to a close. But next year is totally going to rock at the pool!!!!

Boating...I'm in love!

Today was Peanut's first time on the boat outside of my tummy. I think it is safe to say she loved it. The life jacket part, notsomuch, but the wind in her hair absolutely loved it. Here are some picture of the day...

Look at these happy faces!

Big Girl standing!

As she stood at the front of the boat watching she had the cutest little belly laugh!

Here is a video of us pulling the kids and J on the tube to the spot we went swimming. We were only going about 5 mph and moved only a 1/4 a mile if that. Red is too little to be on the tube so we thought this would be safe enough for him to get to ride. I didn't get a video of my dad, GG, Monkey and J on it because it was a much faster ride and Peanut was awake.

The Bloggy Arboretum Meet Up!

Today the kids and I met Tracey and her kids at the Arboretum that was half way between her house and ours. Our kids hit it off right away, as did we! I really enjoyed talking to her and the time went by so fast. We had BEAUTIFUL weather and FANTASTIC company! Tracey is just as sweet and funny in person as she is on her blog. It was really fun to see her blog come to life today!

Red and Corinne playing by the water, aren't they sweet?

Us watching the kids and taking a break from talking to take a picture :)

We did have a little scare right at the beginning where we couldn't find Red for about 5 minutes then all was right with the world. Her kids all had yellow on and so did Red and then Monkey and GG wore blue. Next time we talked about calling each other first and having all the kids wear the same color! We decided that lunch time was the prefect time to get pictures of all of us because the kids were contained in one spot.

This is the whole group of us on our "field trip".

GG and Justin being goofy! They had a lot of fun with each other and were also joking with each other about not knowing the other ones name. They both kept forgetting :)

All the kids...

Our kids tended to gravitate towards anything and everything water. They were soaked. They also got in trouble for playing in the sprinkler apparently it was just to water the grass and plants not our children. I was happy that at lunch I took Red's underwear off and let them dry so that he could wear dry underwear on the way home.

The two littlest were in their strollers for this picture but Corinne was just as wet as the rest of them!

But I have to say that the two funniest pictures were after we left them. Red was so tired, at one point he even asked Tracey if he could go in her stroller that was empty at the time because he was "so tired." The kids didn't want to leave their new found friends and so I bribed them with a sucker in the van if they would cooperate with me and walk to the van. About five minutes in the our trip I turned and saw this....

He was still awake and sucking the sucker but he had his eyes closed while doing it. THEN about 5 minutes after that this is what I saw...
He was completely passed out! I took these while driving and I was so happy that I got good pictures because I wasn't looking at the camera when I snapped them...I was driving :)

Painting away boredom!

I had bought the kids bird houses for them to paint last summer but being lazy pregnant I just never got around to letting them paint. But after seeing how much fun they had and how easy it was letting them do it, meaning that they weren't that messy outside :) I have been looking for other things they can paint. Any ideas?

Look how fun!

The finished product...

Peanut playing with grass

Where's your nose?

I really don't love Peanut more then the other kids but she is just so photo genetic! And she's a baby :) I do have a lot more pictures of the other kids painting...but you get the idea.

Water logged

Today was the first time that I daringly took the 4 kids to the pool by myself! Not only did I do it alone but we rode our bikes there, also. I laid some ground rules about what I expected from them and how I was going to need help from them when I needed to do things with the baby ie nurse her. We were there almost 3 hours. The first hour we were all in the pool and Peanut was in my new water sling. Then she was getting hungry and the three kids played by the slide while I nursed her. She ended up falling asleep and the kids played so well that she was able to sleep for about 30 minutes or so. When she woke up it was snack time. I treated the kids to a special treat of ice cream because they were being so good. Now Peanut and I had been out of water for about an hour at this point and we were getting dry. As I was standing in line Peanut started peeing and it went down my leg and on my feet. It was one the weirdest grossest feelings. Then we rode our bikes home and Red feel asleep, we skipped his normal nap time so we could swim. It worked out good because when J got home he wanted to take the kids to night swim. Where we swam for another 2 hours! I am completely water logged but love it :)

I also must mention that today was the first day I actually brought money with so that we could get something from the concessions, their special treat. But I also brought the normal snack and drinks with so I didn't have to spend a ton!

Summer

Have I mentioned I LOVE summer? Yesterday we were so busy doing things that I didn't even get a chance to get on the computer. We had playgroup in the morning, a noon playdate with one of MonkeyBoy's friends at McDonald's playland and then a pool date with one of GlamorGirl's friends and her 3 siblings and the youngest is Red's friend from playgroup, we got home at dinner time and had breakfast food for dinner and then I went to Bible study, and then hubby and I had a date on the couch watching a movie.

Today we got groceries and then had lunch, it was a full morning event! After Red's nap we meet a boy from GlamorGirl's class and his twin brothers who are MonkeyBoy's age at the pool for another pool date. Can I just say I have the nicest tan ;) Between the new to us swingset we have in the yard and the pool passes we have been in the sun A LOT and I totally have the skin to prove it. I am so getting pool passes for next summer too. We have already more then paid them off and summer is only half over, score. Not to mention that we have 2 pool dates already lined up for next week.

As for the list of boredom busters we can now also check off #13, #18, #25, #29, #36, #45, #50, and #53. We are going to try and do a couple more things from the list and then we will probably repeat some of the things because the kids really enjoyed them. #13 the flash light tag is probably one of my favorite things to let the kids do. It gets dark out and they run through the house with their lights with screams of delight and giggles! We bought them some really cool flashlights too that can either be laser pointers or regular flashlights. They tend to like the lasers ;)

Other than that I have been nesting like CRAZY, and it is actually driving me crazy. I have 10 weeks before my due date and I haven't made it to the date so far so the chances this time around are slim to none. With all the activities it is hard to find time to keep up with the normal up keep of the house let alone tackle some projects. But I am very motivated lately so things have been getting done. I need to get the doctor situation taken care of tomorrow and also pay for the kids books for school and get their supply list. I am going to beg the office to have an advanced copy of the supply list because of my pregnancy situation. Once I have those two things underfoot I will feel much better and relaxed.

The Fest

This years Festival is over last night being the last night of it and we stayed until closing. We were a little bummed though because hubby was suppose to have the day off but it got canceled because of injuries at work. Anyways, I had at least one other person with me every night which was a great help because the kids don't always want to go on the same rides. On Saturday night I had Becky and Amy with me then 3 high school kids showed up from our school and totally took over taking the kids on rides. It was AWESOME. They each had one and away they went. Of course, the high schoolers thought it was cool to be able to go on the rides without paying for them. The one boy ripped his pants going on the carousel, which was pretty funny, maybe he shouldn't have been wearing his pants so low! Anyways, I will have to remember for next year when I have 4 kids to enlist the help of the high schoolers! TheKing is off the next three days so we are planning on taking it easy especially since he didn't get home until 3am last night.

We have had so much fun these past few days that today we (I really mean I) needed a little down time. So Amy came over right before J left for work and took GlamorGirl and MonekyBoy to the pool. I laid Red down for a nap and I have been working on getting my pictures uploaded to the print shop online. I have over 500 on there now and have about 60 more to go I think, I have two folders on my computer to go through still. Anyways, I thought I would show you some of the things we have been up to!

We have gone to the carnival the last 3 days and we are headed there again tonight. I have only spent $5, which was last night because the pregnant one wanted a funnel cake :) Of course, I shared with the kids but GlamorGirl didn't really like it but my boys did. I can't wait til next year and I can ride on the rides again because GlamorGirl is so MY daughter. She loves the fast spinning rides like the Tilt-a-whirl, or what J calls barf rides! She is tall enough this year to go on them by herself and she does! I have a feeling that Red is going to be just like her and MonkeyBoy likes the rides like the bumper cars and swings. We have been staying up really late too, oh summer nights! The main thing is they are having a blast...isn't that what summer is all about?