Sister Sue Turns This Many

 If you ask Stella how old she turned yesterday, she'll hold up four fingers and say, "this many".  When you ask her how many that is, she says "sometimes I forget".  The hilarious part is that she knows that next year she'll turn five and then proceeds to hold up the correct number of fingers, but she can't say the numbers.  We definitely have some things to work on in preschool this year.

Stella was so happy when she woke up and found the balloons that I put on her bed the night before.  She was even more excited when she found the Hello Kitty balloon tied to her chair at breakfast.  I wanted Stella to have a really fun day and not be sad that Mark had to work. 

She opened her presents before breakfast which consisted of a Razor scooter from Mark and I, a grab bag of "goodies" I picked out in the name of Brooke, Luke and Nash (to cover for my lack of forethought in letting them pick something out themselves which they would have all enjoyed) and Brooke gave Stella some candy and some pennies.  So cute!

 After Stella opened up her presents, Brooke says to her, "I love you Stella so much.  I love you even more on your birthday because you're cute. "  Brooke loves Stella, but struggles to be kind and accepting towards her when Stella doesn't go along with Brooke's plans or when Sister Sue is in one of her trouble making moods.  What I love about Brooke is that she's honest and sincere and there is some truth in there because it is hard to enjoy spending time with someone when they are annoying you.  I should know, right? :)

 Stella talking on the phone with Mark before breakfast.  Mark's birthday was the day before and one of the flight attendants announced that over the PA and he had about 60 passengers wishing him a Happy Birthday as they exited the plane.  He was shocked because he figured no one listens to the flight attendants anyway.  Apparently they do.  

The flight attendant also announced that he was turning 34 which the passengers were then probably just thankful they landed safely with someone so young at the controls. :) I understand that concern, it's like looking at your doctor and wondering if they've even finished medical school yet. Mark's hair sports a little more grey with each passing year so that must give him some credibility in the cockpit in years to come.

 Brooke was really sweet and made Stella a pinata by taping pieces of paper together to make a sort of box.  Last week Brooke used some of her allowance money to buy a bag of Starbursts and a bag of Smarties to use for surprises for Luke and Stella.  She stuffed the remaining "surprise" candy in the pinata and used her jump rope and a step ladder to tie it on the basketball goal.  It was a very successful game and everyone was thrilled.

 Stella is such a big girl now that she can ride a bike without training wheels and has her own scooter. I am going to have to charge up our video camera so that I can record a conversation with Stella because part of her preciousness is listening to her talk and watching her facial expressions change.  Last week she pops into the kitchen as I'm dishing out the food onto plates and says, "What's for dinner, Big Mama?"  She's the only one that calls me mama and the fact that she doesn't say her "r's" well is a bonus. 

 After the pinata (And while the almond flour cupcakes were burning in the oven. At least I didn't burn the second batch!) we played outside.  Nash loves to be pushed in the little car.  My dad hunted that down at a second hand store when Brooke was a baby because he saw someone in his neighborhood using it and thought it was neat.  It has been one of our most loved baby toys.  Check out Nash's hair blowing in the breeze!

 When he's not getting into trouble, he's actually very sweet and cute.

 I think this will go down as one of my favorite pictures.  This is a pretty typical scenario on our driveway.  Everyone running around screaming and I love that I captured them in motion.  It does break my heart a little to think that there will come a day all too soon that they won't be entertained by pretending to be on Kings Island rides. I love to watch them having fun. Parenting is hard, but I truly don't want them to grow up.

 My camera focused on Stella's arm, but I still love her crazy, silly face.  This is so Stella... her face is so expressive, I just love her.

 When the kids look back at the 6.5 million pictures I took of their childhood, I hope they see that I wasn't just obsessed, but that I love them so much I just don't want to forget what they were like and the memories we made. It's the small, daily things that add up to a lifetime of being and feeling loved.

 This big brother has been having a difficult time.  I guess that's the ebb and flow of families.  Brooke's behavior has improved tremendously and now Luke is struggling with obedience.  Beyond our "Yes, Mom!" game (which doesn't seem to be a good motivator for him) I am struggling to find positive ways to encourage him to obey with a good attitude.  Luke's a great helper and  has a big heart, but look out when he's mad!  I can't belive I actually caught one of his real smiles.  He is by far the hardest kid to photograph because he doesn't like having his picture taken if he has to look directly at the camera.

 The fun didn't stop once the pinata was out of candy.  Luke grabbed hold of the rope "Tarzan" style and started swinging.  I almost peed my pants when he stopped and said, "Something tells me I'm going to be great in the circus."  I hope the circus isn't his Plan A.  :)  Innocent things like thoughts of performing in the circus or driving an ice cream truck just come out of their daydreams and flow right out their mouth.  I hate to see that innocence lost.

But on the other hand, what I like to see is that the leaves are changing.  The trees are starting to turn and I just love, love, love the end of September and October with the pumpkin festivals and Halloween, and Thanksgiving right around the corner.  Pike Valley Farm will be delivering our turkey already on Monday.  I can hardly believe it!

Mark is off running errands with the older three kids and I'm supposed to be finishing up the preparations for our small family birthday party for Brooke and Stella tomorrow afternoon.  My parents will be gone on a cruise, so it will be extra intimate.  Lucky little things!  I have to also finish packing because Brooke and I are going on an overnight camp out with her American Heritage Girls to return tomorrow two hours before our party. Then it will be off to church tomorrow at dinner time and school on Monday.  Whew!  Maybe Monday will bring me more rest.  Ha!  Hope you have/had an enjoyable weekend!

Happy Baby to Tantrum Throwing Toddler

 As you can recall Nash was the perfect baby.  He didn't have any eating issues, he slept when he was supposed to and on top of that, he was happy all the time.  If Nash wasn't happy, then we knew he was tired.  Easy peasy. 

*The rainbow construction paper on the windows are the Latin noun cases for you CCers.  We look at them all day every day, so I'm sure they'll be forever on our brains.

Very slowly before my very own eyes Nash has grown into a toddler.  I left him at home with Mark while I took the bigger kids to Classical Conversations two Tuesdays ago and when I came back Nash could climb up on to the table.  I am not blaming Mark who left him unattended in the kitchen (it could have happened on my watch too!), but that morning Nash climbed up to the middle of the kitchen table and stood there calling for someone to come and be proud of him.  That and some other toddler behavior and it's been downhill ever since. 

 I felt like we had the house pretty baby proof, but that only lasted until Nash got tall enough to reach things off the counter tops and was able to open up the top drawers of the cabinets.  I spent last week running around putting out Nash "fires" trying to keep him safe and myself sane.  I've since had Mark put more baby locks on some key sanity saving drawers and I brought the pack n' play down into the dining room to lock him up in baby jail when I can't follow Nash around keeping him out of trouble.

 If I thought parenting a baby was hard physical labor, then I must have blanked on the trying toddler times.  Nash's first reaction is to throw himself on the floor crying and then work the details out later.  I have yet to see him in a situation that didn't go as he expected where throwing himself on the floor wasn't an option.  He shrieks just like Stella only louder and more piercing.  He wants things and needs things and don't even think of telling him he can't.  25 pounds of a struggling, angry boy is hard to tote around.  I think my pipes will be even more toned in a couple of months. :)  News Flash!  HE'S JUST LIKE THE REST OF THEM!

I can't help but draw the connection between his terrible toddler behavior and this nap schedule he's been keeping.  If he only took two naps like he used to, I know he'd be much happier.  I know I would on so many levels.  One, that he would be safely tucked in his bed and I wouldn't have to chase him around telling him "No" all day and two, he would be well rested and better able to handle adversity.  That's the story of my childrens' lives.  They don't like to sleep during the day, they like to stubbornly refuse and then use their short fuses to torture me with sounds of overtired discontentment.

 If they won't take naps, can't I instead?  Then maybe I'd be able to handle adversity better!  Tuck me in at 10 AM and then around 2 PM, please.  No, as it stands now, Nash can't quite make it until the afternoon so he wants to go to bed around 11:30 AM and wake up at 1 PM when I'm ready for a break from teaching the bigger kids. 

You can imagine how pleasant the rest of our day is with a very tired Nashy Boy not getting his way around 4PM.  Needless to say, Nash has been going to bed between 6:30 and 7 PM.  He sleeps until 6:45 or 7 AM and that's fine with me, but the days are so long and painful.  But isn't that just like toddlerhood to be long and painful?  I'm a baby lovin' kind of mom.  Toddlers although cute in their tiny footwear, are so high maintenance.  Where did that sweet baby boy go??!!

It's a Beautiful Day!

 Yesterday we were at the lake.  Mark chose to forgo the Bengal's home opening game in favor of spending the day (and night) with us at his parents' lake house. Love you, honey!  It was so much fun, the six of us enjoying the weather and the nearly deserted lake.  The weather was a gorgeous 80 degrees and several times throughout the day I would hear U2's song Beautiful Day playing in my mind. :)

 We went on a little boat ride and the bigger kids went swimming.  Brrr...that makes me shiver just thinking about getting in that cold lake water. 

 We busted out the kayaks for the first time this year.  Go figure, the season's over!

 Do you think Brooke's glasses go with Nash's pacifier?

 Nash is a pill.  That's a story for another day.

 Brooke and Luke discovered that they can paddle the kayaks on their own and were occupied for quite some time.  Luke was the first to try and once he got in, he didn't need any coaching at all.  Brooke was reluctant, but after watching Luke have fun, she couldn't stand watching from the sidelines.

 Because it was such a beautiful day we ate al fresco.  We had a yummy roasted chicken, some sweet potatoes and a little ice cream for desert. 

 Nash thought dinner was delicious too.

 He was a member of the clean plate club.  That plate was piled edge to edge with food and he ate it all and then some.

 He was pretty proud of himself. 

 No, this isn't a Photoshop trick, Mark's just that crazy.  I don't know how they roll in Boys Scouts, but this would never pass for any Fire Safety badge I've ever heard of. :)

 Before dinner Mark and the kids walked around picking up sticks and dried up driftwood for the fire.  We're all milling about around the fire after dinner when I discover that Stella's not among us.  Oh, no, she's down by the water BY HERSELF collecting more wood without a life jacket.  The lake doesn't drop off into a deep abyss so if she did fall in, there is a decent chance she might be able to stand up.  Maybe.  This might go down in my parenting Hall of Shame right up there with losing Nash at Kings Island and Luke drinking some Tylenol when he was 3.  I was almost hyperventilating as I'm trying to shout at Mark to run down the hill to get her.  No Stella's were harmed in the building of that fire.  :)

 Nash was a hot mess by the time dessert was over.  A bib might have helped his shirt, but good luck with the face!

 I asked to be photographed yesterday because I realize that there is hardly a picture of me from the whole summer.  I don't want to be "implied" in all our family fun, so I handed the camera over to Brooke who is always willing to play photographer.

 Sister Sue stayed up until 9 PM (which is like her midnight) because she snuck out of bed and grabbed the Leapster and was playing it for an hour and a half after we put her to bed.  Sneaky little sister.  When I busted her she didn't argue because she was so tired she could hardly keep her eyes open. No, she didn't sleep in.

 Brooke was instructed to take a picture of Mark and I and Nashy Boy kept running into the picture and throwing himself at us.  Silly boy!

 We're a tad bit older than when we met at 15 and 16 years old.  We have the gray hairs and 4 kids to prove it.  I've been coming to this same lake with the Glasers since I was in high school.  It's so much fun to be able to share that with our kids now.

 As far as ideal day's goes, this was it.  I love being outside and it was made extra pleasurable because the kids played so happily with hardly a fuss among them.   The sun peaking around the corner of the house was just bonus. 

After Stella and Nash were in bed, Mark read Harry Potter Goblet of Fire to Brooke, Luke and I by flashlight as we sat around the fire.  It was magical.  :)

 

 We woke this morning to a perfectly still lake.  The few boats that were on the lake yesterday were docked and it was so peaceful besides the confused rooster that crows all hours of the day.

It was so still you could see reflections on the water. I love this place!  As we headed home today we stopped off to see our best old neighbors new house that's currently under construction.  They've been working so hard on it with 3 kids in tow!  It's a beauty and it's not even finished yet.  This will go down in the family treasury as one of those really blessed days.  As far as the lake goes, I'm pretty sure this was the last of the summer weather.  Good thing there's always next year!

Another Family Record

Not only does Stella hold the family record for walking first at 13 months, but now,  just two weeks from her 4th birthday, she's set a new record for being the youngest to ride her bike without training wheels.  I attribute our kids' bike riding success solely to two things: the Skutt (balance) bike and practice.  The kids ride their bikes almost everyday single day and Stella's been riding the balance bike really well and very often since she was 2.5.  Now a year and a half later, she got up the courage to go to the next level. She's been capable for many months, but yesterday she was ready.  She asked me to take the training wheels off and with a little coaching on how to get going from a stopped position, she was off.   If only potty training were as easy! 

18 Months of Nash

I feel physical pain sometimes when I realize that Nash's babyhood is behind him.  He is much more a boy than a baby and I think when the other kids were his age it didn't matter because there was another baby coming up behind them.  This time that's obviously not going to happen without a uterus.  That's a mixed bag.  Not that I would change God's will for our family, I'm just not sure if I am happy to cut off this line of genetics or if I'm sad we won't be producing any more blue eyed blondies.  On second thought, we could probably pick up some blue eyed blonds for the right price that have much more easy going personalities than the crazies we're raising.

I've been tying to teach Nash a few more signs and to encourage his word usage.  He has added a few more signs to his arsenal and even a few words too.  It seems to me that he's behind, but that's because Brooke and Luke talked early and a lot.  Sister Sue, not so much.  I am a little worried that Nash is going to follow in Stella's footsteps because he does a lot of grunting and fussing.  He's got the "help" sign down and he loves to call Stella by name.  It sounds more like "Lella".

I should cut Nash some slack in the whining department because he has been cutting teeth like a champ.  He has 3 of 4 molars and is working on the incisors or whatever the last teeth to come in are.  For Nash it seems teething equals pooping.  He could go as many as 4 times a day.  I even started to wonder if he's too young to start pooping on the potty. Don't judge, we use cloth diapers and it's a little more labor intensive to freshen him up.

I've mentioned already that Nash loves being outside.  He loves to play ball, climb in and out of the wagons, and walk up and down the street.  He's not a big fan of walking in the grass because he's still not that steady on his feet yet.

Speaking of his feet, Nash loves wearing these boots I found on the clearance rack at Kohl's.  It's so funny how he'll bring them to Mark or I when he wants them on his feet.  He doesn't care if they go with his outfit or not.  :)

The tricky thing about Nash at this age is the napping.  He usually only takes one nap a day now, but he can't always make it until the afternoon.  A lot of times he ends up napping from 11ish to 1ish.  It's not very fun come the late afternoon.  It's more fussiness and grunting and throwing himself on the floor when he doesn't get what he wants.  Oh, yes, it's true!  I am tempted to say he's learned from the best, but I'm pretty sure it's genetic, from Mark's side.  :)

His night time sleep is pretty consistent.  He goes to bed between 6:30 and 7:30 and then sleeps until about 7.  One day this last week he was awake at 5:30 and then another day he slept until almost 10:30. I'd like to split the difference for a happy medium. 

One thing that's always consistent about Nash is that he wakes up happy.  Really, really happy.  He will lay in bed, roll around, snuggle with his blankets and talk to himself for up to an hour.  That makes my life easy so I can get a shower and get ready for the day before I have to get him out of the crib, which is still in our closet.  Unless he makes a habit of waking up at 5:30, he's going to have to stay in there until he's five.

We all love Nash so much it's sad to realize that he's quickly becoming a real boy.  Only 6 more months until the "terrific two's".  That was meant to be sarcastic.  Our kids don't wait until they're two to be tantrum throwing people with specific and strong opinions.  Unfortunately, I think we've already arrived, but don't tell Nash, he's still under the assumption that he's the best baby in the world even though he's not technically a baby anymore. :)

Hookey

 On Friday I pretty much blew off school.  I didn't intend to at all, but that's just what happened when we got a taste of the gorgeous weather outside.  It started out that I wanted Nash to be able to spend some time outside because normally we've been doing our school work first and then we head outside while he's napping.  Nash LOVES being outside and I've been feeling sorry for him that he's missed out a lot this past week.

 I started out by saying that we were just going to stay outside for 30 minutes.  Then it turned to when Nash went down for a nap.  Then Brooke busted out the refreshments and I started reading a book while they ran through the sprinkler.  Nash slept for 2 hours and then I brought him and his lunch back outside.  Before long, Brooke asked me if we were skipping school.  It was 1:00 by then and I had officially thrown in  the towel.  We did for our own good go over our memory work at dinner, read and called it a day.  It turned out to be really, really fun, and very relaxing day where we played outside for 5 hours.

 Having withdrawal from riding rides makes the kids eager to invent their own rides at home.  Stella's on the water ride above. Sprinkler + wagon = water ride.

 Brooke must have thought that it looked more fun to read with me that to run through the sprinkler with Luke and Stella, so she ran inside for her book too.

 Even though we were technically still in the shade, she felt the need to create some more.  It's a good thing most of our neighbors are gone during the day. We don't know very many of them well and I sometimes wonder what they think of the family who's outside in the middle of the day.  The time that everyone else is outside, around dinner time and after, we're settling in for the night.  We play hard during the day and put the kids to be early.  Maybe the ones who don't know us think we keep the kids locked up and that's why they never see us in the evening.

Brooke ended the day with a snack under the "Monkey Tree".  The Monkey tree is really a Japanese Maple in our front landscaping with low enough branches to climb.  Brooke enjoys making everyone surprises like bringing out drinks and snacks.  She organizes the food, drinks and then even remembers the plates and utensils.  She's just like me.  It's a little scary.  :)

I was trying to justify blowing off school again today because the weather is still perfect.  We have the windows open and the day was just begging to be blown off, but I resisted.  We hunkered down and got our work done (despite our festival hangovers. Ha, ha!) and still had all afternoon for the park, a visit to Grandma's house and Stella's 3rd real hair cut in 4 years.  Our home school group meets tomorrow so that will help me stay on the straight and narrow for at least another day.  Fall is on the way and it makes me giddy!

Good Ole' Family Fun

 This past weekend our church, St. Susanna, held it's annual festival.  I signed us up weeks ago to volunteer to work two of the kid games.  It was only a two hour shift, but so, so much fun.  Luke and I manned the "Color Wheel" and Mark, Brooke and Stella, the "Mystery Drawer".  Nashy Boy got to stay home with my mom who had been holding down the fort the entire weekend so I could take some photos and we could work the festival sans Nash. Thanks for all the help, Mom!

 What made this years festival so much fun was that the weather was incredible.  Mid 70's with a little cloud cover is just what I'm talkin' about.  I wore jeans.  Jeans!  And I was comfortable in those jeans. 

 After we served our wildly successful, very fun shift in the game booths, we let the kids play games and hit up the rides.  You would think that our kids would have had their fill of rides since they went to Kings Island about 30 times this summer, but no, they couldn't get enough.  We bought the $20 ride bracelet and totally got our money's worth and then some.

 I was amazed to watch Brooke go on any and all rides without so much as a hesitation.  I guess that's what riding roller coasters part of the summer gets you.

 We hesitantly took Stella with us to volunteer and she did great.  Nice smiles, people.

 I am surprised that Luke wasn't hoarse after this ride.  It goes to the top and rapidly drops at different intervals.  Luke screamed like a girl, no like 5 girls, loudly.

We ran into our friend and Luke's Sunday School teacher whom he calls by first and last name. Always.  He does not call her Mrs. So and So, nor Ms.Kathy, but by her ful name.  It's adorable and he loves her. We rode rides and hung out with Kathy and her daughter that's Stella's age.  It worked out perfectly, she rode with Luke and I took Stella and her daughter on another ride.  We had so much fun we ended up staying at the festival for almost 5 hours.  No one really wanted to leave, but it was past dinner time and my mom, who had been trapped at our house most of the weekend, kind of wanted to get home.

This morning when Stella got up she had her loot bag with all her prizes in her hand and she wanted to know if we could go back to the festival.  She was disappointed to find that we have to wait until next year and I agreed.  It was just good ole' family fun!