Easter fun

Every morning...this is where you will find these 3 boys...huddled around a plastic cup full o fruit/spinach/oatmeal smoothie. One great way to trick your kids into eating spinach. Today...Daniel wasn't able to be here to make it for them...they made me aware of how upset they were....they did NOT want any of my toast or cereal.

Easter is tomorrow so today we had an Easter Egg hunt at my dad's house. Holly loved hunting for eggs.

How does an 18 month old know instinctively to pick up random plastic eggs and put them into a bucket that was handed to him?

Max had so much fun...he just laughed and smiled the whole day.

The work for Henry really never stopped. He kept dropping eggs out of his bucket which needed to be picked up and then after that he needed to move his eggs from one bucket to the other and back again. He was ready for a nap by the end of his hard day.


Andrew had no trouble filling his bucket immediately.

Ashley was happy to get lots of candy and informed me she wouldn't mind sharing with me...like she has a choice :)

The kids also got some silly string to use for whatever they wanted. What they wanted of course was to attack their grandpa.

and their Daddy

The whole day was a success. Our kids are so lucky to have so many grandparents that love them. We need all the help we can get! :)

On a final note. Max has been attacking Henry out of the blue lately. He'll just come up to him and push him down and then hop on his back like he expects him to play horsie with him. Henry does NOT like this and Daniel thinks I'm heartless for taking a picture instead of saving him right away...I'm sorry I just think...How will I EVER remember this is if I don't. On the up side Henry has been so kind to Max lately. When Max is crying, Henry will bring him his blankie and sometimes even give him the binkie right out of his mouth....touching...and gross.

This past week

I love when my boys are all dressed up..it makes them look like grownups in little bodies. Max added the binkie and blankie to show you he's still a kid at heart.


I've mentioned this before but Max and Henry have all of the sudden gotten really into watching movies. This is both good and bad. We all need a break sometimes...I do...and so this is a good break for me. We also all need our brains to develop....and so that is how this is potentially bad...I don't think much develops in their brain while they watch Tangled...though I think it's a delightful movie.
Not much development going on here for Henry.

Max looks a little more alive.

We went to the zoo yesterday in St. Louis. It was REALLY warm...almost 90 but we've been waiting for the warmth so it was appreciated. To start off Ashley picked me some flowers and weeds. Every day I get several dandelions from Andrew, Ashley, and Holly(from my yard..grrr) to put in a vase.

Andrew really wanted to see the Rhino. This trip was for his birthday so of course we granted his wish.

A nice lady at the zoo gave up a bunch of free tickets to ride the carousel...thank you nice lady. So Henry, Andrew, Holly, Ashley, and Daniel got to ride. Max was busy eating a lemon icee with me. Daniel rode only to help Henry who would NOT be helped if he had anything to say about it.

A house full of character

When Daniel and I were deciding on which house to buy we of course poured over 100's of houses before making a decision. We liked a lot of things about older houses. An older house often has a lot of character that you just can't replicate in a newer house without paying big time for it. But, ultimately we settled on building our own house so that we could add our personal tastes and touches to it and so we wouldn't have to do all the renovating and fixing up that an older house might require. I'm still happy with the decision to not buy a fixer upper....I can't see when we would have found the time. But I know that in building our new house we gave up some of the character...we have all taupe walls for one...our house blends in with every house in the neighborhood for two(I think this town has some sort of mission to camouflage all of the new houses...there's no other explanation for all of the earthy toned matching houses)...and for three we stayed very neutral to make reselling easy if need be. So our house maybe doesn't have as much character as I would like, or does it?....lately I've seen more character in this house than I could have ever imagined. My kids are the craziest characters.

Ahhh my sweet little Ashley. Sometimes she really makes me think there's a 40 year-old woman in that 5 year-old body. She says some of the craziest stuff and never ceases to amaze Daniel and I. We can't help but feel like she gets some of her "spunk" from the two of us. One thing about Ash is she seems to believe that she has quite a bit of leverage in any given situation/argument. Daily I hear phrases that start with "if you don't"....and end with "then I will not have ANY fun today!"..or "then I won't care about you anymore!". It can be quite amusing...to me anyway...of course to her it's no laughing matter. But I admit, if it's been a long day it can really rub me the wrong way. The other day Ash said to Daniel "You have two options...you can make me something I like for dinner...or I can starve". What kind of 5 year-old says that?! And finally, a few days ago we were visiting Daniel's office as a family and when heading to the car I realized we left a binky in his office so I headed back to get it. Ash asked Daniel where I was and he said I'd be right back and she quickly replied "you don't know what you're talking about!" I would chalk it up to just throwing out random "adult phrases" to sound grown up...but they always make sense when she says them...so yes we're scared of when she becomes a teenager.

Anyone who knows Holly knows she's a loveable little character. She too likes to shout crazy stuff like "HEY DON'T COME IN HERE" when she's in a public bathroom stall. Or if she doesn't like what I'm saying she yells "HEY STOP TALKING TO ME"...or "HEY DONT YOU SAY THAT TO ME". I'm not sure why but she kind of reminds me of Harry Caray. I think it's because she starts a lot of sentences with a very loud HEY. I love the scenes from SNL where will ferrell impersonates Harry Caray. I remember riding in the car with my dad as a kid and hearing Harry Caray over the radio. CUBS WIN! I also remember watching this on snl with some friends in high school...you'll have to cut and paste the link to see this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hObBw7ZAWDo
or there's this one...which is pretty funny too.


Finally the twins are very interesting characters. Henry thinks pretty much every animal is called a "Goggie"(dog)...and says that and then makes a barking sound. Henry also does not care for shoes but Max loves them. Henry never feels bad about taking Max's binky, blankie, or drink while Max is drinking even if Henry already has his own. When he takes Max's stuff Max says a very sweet "Heeeey". Maybe he's a little Harry Caray too.

do you like WWF?

If you answered yes to my first question...then you'd love being at our house a lot of the time.



Henry is often plotting against Max. Look at this evidence.



Luckily Maxwell has a nice Daddy...that is there for him when he needs him.

on a lighter note

Henry and Maxwell have a new hobby....one that is hard for me to accept. They both like to climb on our pubstyle chairs and then onto our table. Then after milling around for a while, they realize that it would be a hard task for them to get down...so what do they do?....they cry and whine. You can frequently find them on the table crying because they don't want to attempt to get down. I don't get the lure of the table but maybe they just want to see what it's like to be on our level for a while...or maybe it's that there's usually food on the table. Which brings me to the next problem. How can we possibly eat dinner with 2 toddlers running around on the table trying to help themselves to everyone's food but their own? I've resorted to telling Andrew, Ashley, and Holly to guard their food with their lives...but how fair is that? Last night I'd had enough and told the older kids to eat on the counter over by the sink so that the boys couldn't get to them. Oddly the kids didn't like that idea and perhaps didn't think they should have to eat on the counter by the sink. weird.



Holly has been grouchier than ever today. She makes it a point to wake up at 4:30 every once in a while just to shake things up. In spite of her bad attitude she let me take some pictures of her cute little self today.



Hard to believe this little girl can have such a foul temper sometimes. But...it's true. She also makes it a habit of yelling at me in public restrooms. She rarely wants me to come into the public restroom with her...and when I do...she goes into her little stall and yells "HEY...DON'T COME IN HERE!". Hard for me not to laugh really loudly...like I want to follow her into the bathroom. Anyway, what a sweetie.

Doing the most good

Our house has had it's annual sick for weeks in row time now so hopefully we're almost out of the woods. With the exception of a few cases of pink eye and some hacking coughs I'd say we've paid our dues for the year in terms of sickness. Right now the 3 youngest have pink eye...and a terrifying thought came to me today. You're never immune to pinkeye are you? If we don't stay on top of this it could go round and round until we would be a great cast for a horror film....like this guy.



ok so not really...he's way too sweet to be in a horror movie...maybe more like a "just 20 cents a day" commercial. If you don't remember that...then you're too young to be reading this. Anyway, poor Max....and now Henry and Holly. However, if you're going to be classified as sick, I'd pick pinkeye every time.

That commercial brings up something that I've been thinking about a lot lately. I've posted about something similar to this before. Lately I've been feeling what I would describe as the winter blues...boredom...not feeling fulfilled...whatever it's called. Anyway, so the family and I decided to venture out to the mall on saturday to shake things up a bit. To my surprise everyone in town was there. It made me more aware of how much people shop to give themselves a little pick me up. I know because I've done this and still do sometimes...a lot of times. It works...as does going out to eat...eating anything tastey...watching your favorite show...and probably so does doing drugs(though with swifter negative consequences often times). Anyway all of these things are quick fixes to boredom and seem to fill a void...but ultimately do nothing in the way of helping me have a fulfilling life. It made me a little sad to see how many people do this...and at the same time it was comforting to see that I wasn't alone in being so offbase. All this led me to believe that I need to spend my time on worthwhile things if I want to feel like I'm living a full life. But..man that's hard. I feel like I'm doing that when I'm being a good mom....that's hard to measure though. Sometimes being a good mom means your kids are furious with you. I guess ultimately doing service is the best way to feel like your life has been worth it...like your time was well spent. So in thinking about this I came across a website that talked about bakesales you can do to raise money for kids in Uganda...for things like running water, education, medicine, shelter, etc. What a great idea...and what a great way to get your kids involved and caring about people and understanding that not everyone has it as good as they do. The website was www.thecupcakekids.org for anyone who is interested. Anyway, from all this I started thinking about my life and the huge contrast in the way I live versus the way these kids live. How can I possibly live like this when there are so many that have nothing? How can I possibly justify new shoes..like brand new...when some people..especially kids...don't have enough to eat or aren't getting the medicine they need? I've talked to Daniel a lot about this lately and the only thing I can come up with is a sort of lame justification. I say that each of these small pieces(wearing new clothes, having a nice home, going out to eat with my famiy) is for a bigger idea...a bigger goal to create a safe and happy environment for my kids...to create memories...to fit in society where we will do the most good if we are accepted and have more doors opened if we aren't extreme...or perceived as whackos who live in the forrest and off of the forest. I then think but you can accomplish that goal with much less..and start thinking of ways to sell my house and live on less. I've got a feeling this will be a mental struggle of mine until I die. Why should I ever go to Mcdonald's when someone could use that money for something needed for basic survival? So, should I just give all my extra money to foundations that say they are doing the most good for the less fortunate? I don't think so...I mean giving to charity is good and I do give some money to charities...but I guess I selfishly want to be a part of the service so that I can see the results. Daniel and I have recently thought seriously about adopting a kid from Africa...talk about extreme...but after talking to some women who have done this...it seems that the only need for adoption is for kids that are older or disabled. That humbled me really fast....when I realized I wasn't the kind of person to actually take on something like that...I guess I feel like I would if I didn't already have 5 kids who already need so much of my attention. I guess I have a lot to think about in terms of how I want to move forward and spend my time. I hope I can come up with the right balance so that when I die I can look back and be proud of the way I spent my time and know that I did the most good with what I had.

my boys

Henry and Max love pictures. They can't get enough of em.



In other news Max has been labeled the crazy one. He has had some crazy falls lately due to his crazy actions. He's had a couple bloody noses...and I don't think any of my other kids have ever had a bloody nose. Anyway, if that doesn't convince you of Max's craziness perhaps this will...




It's just somehow not quite as cute when you have blood dripping from your nose Max.




Last week(before the virus from heck swept through our home)....Daniel and I went to get the boys for bed. We found them happily watching a movie with their sisters. Well Henry was watching and Max was busy climbing all over Ashley. Max...why can't you be a good little zombie like your siblings when a movie is on?! I know this quality will serve him well.




And finally, I found out yesterday that Daniel really cannot tell Henry and Maxwell apart...without looking for a pinch on Henry's ear. I thought he just told people that to amuse them...but no...he's quite serious. Someone the other day asked if the boys knew their names pretty well...and while they should....I've discovered Daniel after spending an hour or so with one of the twins...calling that twin by his brother's name. So, if they don't quite have it down(they do)...who can blame them. Anyway, I tell Daniel and everyone else that I just see a different face when I look at them...Max has a Max face and Henry a Henry face. Maybe I'll always be the only one who can tell the difference...I feel special. :)