First Day for Two...

Today was the first day of school. You might be wondering why I only have a photo of 2 of my children on the first day of school...poor Morgan & Duncan were sick! Morgan was the most excited about starting school, and even had her clothes set out to wear since Friday night. I felt so bad that she missed the first day of school!
Sunday night Brian & I went to bed around 11:00pm, and not 5 minutes after we laid down, Duncan came in with an upset tummy. The poor guy lost it all, then quietly went back to bed....We laid down again....15 minutes later in came Morgan not feeling well. She too lost everything, and then went back to bed. It continued this way for most of the night. Although the first time they got up was the only time they did it separately. The rest of the night they were up at the same time, and I was running back and forth between their bathroom and mine trying to help and sooth! Then Ashlyn woke up due to all the commotion, I left Morgan in the bathroom, went to nurse Ashlyn and put her down, and came out to find both Morgan and Duncan asleep on the hallway floor!
I tried to let Brian sleep since he had to work, but he woke up during the 4:45am episode and asked if I wanted him to go into work late so he could help get the boys to school for the first day. I told him, "No, I'd rather you go into work now, then get off in the early afternoon so I could take a nap." I figured Morgan and Duncan could survive in the car with a bowl in front of them for a few minutes while I drove the boys to school. Well....things don't always go as planned. Duncan finally fell asleep on the couch 10 minutes before we had to leave for school, and he looked so peaceful I really didn't want to have to move him! I was trying to figure out what I should do, when I saw my elderly neighbor just leave his house to walk his dog. I ran outside and asked if he would just hang out in my front yard for a while and listen for Duncan (I left the front door open) while I drove the boys to school. He agreed, and I piled everyone in the car, including moaning Morgan with a bowl on her lap! As we got closer to the school I saw the LINE of cars backed up to get into the school lot and realized it would take 30 minutes to get through the whole thing! With Duncan at home on my couch, neighbor sitting in my front yard, Morgan in pain in the car, I told the boys I couldn't drop them off AT the school, it would take too long, I had to drop them off at the community center near the school and have them walk up there themselves! I told Hayden to he was to MAKE SURE that Ronan made it to his class (no wandering about), and not to leave him until his teacher knew he was there! So, I said goodbye in the parking lot of the community center, and took off towards home to get Morgan to a bathroom, and check on Duncan! I was so grateful for my neighbor's kindness in helping me out! I was also grateful that Duncan & Morgan made it to the bathroom every time-no changing sheets in the night! It's the little things that mean a lot, right?
I did feel like such a bad mom though, when I saw all the other mom's walking their kids into the school, taking photos and such, and I dropped mine off not even on school grounds and drove away quickly on the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! Definitely NOT the morning I had planned! Originally I was going to make a nice big breakfast full of every one's favorites, take photos, walk them to their classes, etc. But after being up ALL night I had NO energy for cooking, and I didn't think it was fair to have the house smell like food when Duncan & Morgan couldn't keep anything down!
Brian did get off early, but not early enough for a nap, he picked the boys up from school, and apparently it all went very well! They both enjoyed their first day, their teachers, and friends! Now, hopefully Morgan will get to go tomorrow-she hasn't been sick since 10:00am this morning! What a day!

Last days of summer......

Tomorrow is the first day of school, and before we go back, I wanted to document our last few days of Summer Vacation!
This past Thursday Jeri and I took the kids to the state park for a picnic and some playtime in the creek (and planned out where we will go to take photos next week). It was great fun!
Ronan scooted up this log, but then realized that it got farther away from the ground the further up he went, and quickly bailed out of that plan!
Duncan and Ronan were trying to catch some crawdads while we were there, and Ronan was the lucky one! He caught the one in the photo below!
I felt pretty silly, because I put all the kids in their swimsuits except for Ashlyn. For some reason I pictured her NOT wanting to get in the water....it would be too cold...she would want to just stay by me and play....ha! Silly mom! Of course she wanted to be in the water with the other kids! So, I striped her down to her diaper (since I had no change of clothes for her), and she had a blast in the creek!
UMM...Yummy dirt......

My happy girl...

Friday was the open house for the kids school, and we got to go and meet the teachers, and see who will be in their classes. Everyone is very excited, because they each have a good friend in their class. Ronan has lucked out and has his best friend in his class for the 3rd year in a row! After we made are rounds to all the classrooms and played outside on the playground for a bit we went to get milkshakes as a celebration of the last Friday of summer!
Saturday we met up with our friend Fronica and her boys at a lake near their new house. Duncan was SO happy, as he got to see best friend LJ! The kids had a blast and played hard the whole day! I forgot my camera, and realized it just after we left the house, but because of the fact that I didn't take photos last weekend when we went back for my camera, I told Brian not to worry, I'd get over not having my camera. This way I just visited with Fronica, which was fun. There was a scary moment when they called everyone out of the lake, and asked people to help form a search line going up and down the lake looking for 2 boys that were missing. Luckily they were found (NOT in the lake)! Brian took the kids fishing while we were there, and he and Hayden rented a boat for an hour. They had a great time!
So, tonight the kids got their Father's Blessings before the big day, backpacks are packed and children tucked into bed....onto the first day of school!

Tagged

Brian's Aunt Lynne tagged Brian and I for this, but he rarely gets on here, so it will just be be! Here's the rules:
*Tell 6 unspectacular quirks about yourself
*Tag 6 other people

Here goes:
1. I have a thing about clean ears-constantly cleaning my children's ears (I buy Q-tips in bulk).
2. I HATE things under my nails, or even the FEELING of something under my nails. For this reason, I can NOT scratch someones back with my nails going down-I feel like dead skin is getting under there and it grosses me out. This of course drives my husband CRAZY when he wants me to just give him a good back scratch!
3. I think you should be dressed before going downstairs for breakfast, to save the time of having to come back up. Your already in your room, just get dressed, then come down. My children don't like this quirk.
4. I can not cook anything if there is dirty dishes in the sink, on the counter, or on the table. I can however leave the dirty dishes in the sink overnight with no problem, as long as I'm not cooking.
5. I am constantly cracking my wrists and left shoulder.
6. I'm really bad at just leaving blemishes alone on my face-my instinct is to pick at it-yuk!

I now tag Amy, Meg, Julia, Jeri, Becky, & Missy!

The Artic Zone....

Today my living room was transformed into the 'Artic Zone' while the kids were on an exploration of Antarctica. They had 'tents' set up all over, and were all dressed in warm 'exploring' clothes. Morgan was the sled dog of course, and they had a blast! I love it when they all really get into a pretend game and get into character!
Some other things we've done on our last week of school.....
We had cake for DINNER! I had made a cake earlier in the afternoon and had planned on having it for desert. Then, when I was asking what people wanted for dinner, the response was the cake. I wasn't really in the mood to cook, so CAKE it was! I did put some applesauce on the table as well to make myself feel a little better, but I think Ashlyn was the only one who ate it! Brian was working late that night, and when he came home and asked what was for dinner, the kids excitedly screamed "CAKE!" It was a fun dinner.

Can you believe this girl........
I can't get her to stop climbing on EVERYTHING! She is such a monkey! Since I took the above photo, she has figured out that she can pull out the drawer on the stove, and climb up even easier! AHHH!
Here she is taking a step (although you can't really tell that in a still photo)! I need to figure out how to post a video clip! Well, she's been taking steps here and there, and is up to 6-7 steps at a time! Go Ashlyn! The kids are SO excited about this new skill of hers, and have her walk between them! Babies are the best!

A day at the beach...

Yesterday we went to the beach with some friends we know from way back (before marriage), and had a great time. My kids unfortunately had a few run-ins with the jelly fish! Ronan was the first to get stung, only he wasn't even in the water, or near a jelly fish, no his wonderful big brother helped him to get stung! Hayden saw a dead jelly fish on the shore, and cut off one of it's tentacles, then wondering if it could still sting you he decided to throw it onto Ronan's stomach (sacrifice the younger brother of course in this experiment). Well, they DO continue to sting you even after they are dead, and the tentacle has been removed from the jelly fish! Poor Ronan began screaming and holding his stomach running back to us! We didn't really have anything for a jelly fish sting but Tylenol for the pain (I was not about to try the whole 'pee on it' thing-although that came up quite a bit)! Hayden's punishment was to sit out as long as Ronan was in pain-he was worried that knowing that, Ronan would then be 'in pain' for quite some time. We had lots of drama, but eventually he overcame it, and was back out there playing again.
Then.....Hayden comes running out of the water after getting stung unable to bear the pain. Our friend laughed and told him "Let's talk about this thing called karma, Hayden." I admit we were less sympathetic with his sting, telling him 'What goes around comes around." He too recovered, and was back playing soon. Morgan reportedly got stung, but never came running to us, both the boys said that she screamed out a bit then dealt with it and kept playing...so, who is the little girl here?
Poor Ronan got stung again right before we left (thus helping us to decide when to leave). The second time they got wrapped around his ankles, and left welts-poor guy! Now you might be asking why would we be swimming in such jelly fish infested waters? Ironically, there wasn't really a lot of jelly fish, my kids just happened to find them all! And when I suggested that they not go in after Hayden's sting, that was quickly vetoed out, the risk was worth the play! Myself and Ashlyn didn't venture past getting our toes wet. Duncan did go in a bit, but came out unhurt!
The photo above is the only one I took that day. I felt like I HAD to take one, as I had Brian turn around when we set off that morning to go back and get the camera, which I had forgotten! :) I do love this beach, it's a great place for the kids to play (first time we have ever had the jelly fish experience there). If you look at the dots in the background, that is the kids out there playing, where it is still shallow-up to Morgan's chest-I love it! We also found some fossilized sharks teeth while we were there! It was a fun day, even with the jelly fish.

Petting Zoo

So, I think I'm having a harder time than the kids are with the fact that there is less than 2 weeks left until school starts! With the trip we took back west, the summer just seems to of flown by! And there is still so much I want to do! So, today I took the kids to the petting zoo. Hayden stayed home-he just couldn't be convinced that hanging out at a place that would be swarming with 3-4 year olds and petting goats would be the highlight of his day. So, I let him stay home and watch the Olympics. But the rest of us went and pet goats, and had a blast doing so!

Ronan & Morgan with some kids!
Duncan (and Ashlyn at the bottom) petting the kids.
Ashlyn LOVED the goats, and got very excited when she got to pet them. I kept trying to get a photo of just her and a goat, but was unable to hold her hand and take the photo at the same time. Morgan held her for me, but then was off chasing chickens herself!
So, Ashlyn was petting this little baby so sweetly, and I thought....I can do it, I can snap a photo and hold her hand at the same time. OUCH! Right as I snapped the photo, the goat flew his head up and whacked Ashnlyn in the face! At first I thought his horn got her in the eye, but after looking at the photo that I just happened to take at that very moment, I realized it was just his ear in her eye, but the horn did get her in the forehead! Poor girl! I felt so bad! I promise to never try to take that shot again!


Above is Ronan at the 'Crooked House' display they had at the petting farm, and below is a photo of Hayden and I at the REAL 'Crooked House' in Lavenhan, England, the inspiration for the children's rhyme.

Lost Lake

(above photo taken by Hayden)

Today I took the kids to Lost Lake at the state park. Hayden didn't want to join us at first, and was quite upset to come, but after I let him have my camera for a few minutes, he was happy to be there photography the wildlife around us.

Here are the kids in a creek that they were climbing through and having so much fun. I have to admit that I was a little obsessed with the fence that I found on the other side of the lake. I spent the whole time trying to get some photos of the girls by it! Of course it was shady, and I'm not smart enough with my camera to make adjustments with light conditions (I've signed up for a class in Sep. to hopefully correct this fact). But, here is what I spent an hour doing!:

Happiness! I love this!
Ashlyn refused to look any direction that I wanted her to!

She got the glasses! This is the only item I had with me to try and keep her entertained near this fence! Of course she wanted to be near the water, not the fence! Oh well, the things you have to do when your mom wants a photo!

Back yard play time

Today was a wonderfully cool day (weather wise)! It was perfect for some playtime out back. I got the lawn mowed, we played on the swing set, and I took the kids to the state park (will post about that later).
Ashlyn enjoyed her time on the swing with Morgan!
I just couldn't help snapping photos of this little girl!

Church Sandwich

Today at lunch I was asking the kids what kind of sandwiches they wanted, when Duncan's answer was a 'church sandwich'.
"What's a church sandwich?" I asked
"You know mama, a church sandwich!"
"A house sandwich?" (I often times cut the kids sandwiches into houses like below)
"No!" He replied, "A cheese church sandwich!"
"Cheese, with turkey?"
"No! A church one! The ones we have before church!"
"A grilled cheese sandwich?"
"Yes, that's what I want, a church sandwich!"

We usually have grilled cheese and soup for lunch right before we go to church on Sunday's. So, it makes perfect sense that to Duncan this has become a 'church sandwich'!

While I'm on the topic of food. Does anyone have a good recipe for wheat bread? I have been trying so many different things lately to get that perfect loaf of bread. It seems it is either nice and fluffy, but crumbly and not good for making sandwiches, or thick and flat like.
I tried a roll recipe I have to make the loaf above, which tastes great, but again falls apart when used for a sandwich! So far the bread I make we usually use for breakfast, or as a side with dinner. But my goal is to eliminate buying bread at all as soon as I can get a loaf that is good for sandwiches! I have been going to the cannery as often as possible, trying to get our food storage up. Do you know they recommend 2000 lbs. of wheat/oats/rice/etc. for a family our size! That's a lot! Right know we are at about 600 lbs., so a little over 3 months supply. And that's just the grains, with the milk, water, veg., sugar, etc. I'm finding it hard to find space for all of it in my basement!

Bike ride

Yesterday Brian took Hayden, Ronan, & Morgan on a long bike ride. They are getting ready for their annual fall ride (the last 2 years Brian & Hayden have ridden down the Rock Creek path-past the Temple and into D.C.). This year Ronan wants to join them, so Brian thought they should take a 'short' ride first to see how his stamina is. They rode 8 miles from our house down to my sister Missy's place. Brian said that there was some drama on the way there, with Ronan collapsing on the ground being unable to go any further. Well, they made it in about 2 hours. I met them at Missy's with Duncan & Ashlyn to pick them up! I think we will need some more conditioning before the fall ride!
I never did post about Brian's bike rack! This was his birthday gift in May! He had a hitch put on the van, and then got a rack that we could attach to the hitch. He loves it-now we can take the bikes anywhere we want to go! It holds 5 bikes, which is perfect right now, only 5 riders (with Ashlyn & Duncan in the kid trailer). I'm not sure what we'll do once Duncan starts riding....

Elizabeth Bennet?

I LOVE Jane Austen! I saw this on my friend Susan's blog, and decided to take the quiz myself. I don't think think the description really matches me, but Elizabeth Bennet is my favorite character!

Take the Quiz here!

You are Elizabeth Bennet of Pride & Prejudice! You are intelligent, witty, and tremendously attractive. You have a good head on your shoulders, and oftentimes find yourself the lone beacon of reason in a sea of ridiculousness. You take great pleasure in many things. You are proficient in nearly all of them, though you will never own it. Lest you seem too perfect, you have a tendency toward prejudgement that serves you very ill indeed.

Summer time fun

Here are some random picture of what we've been up to this week. As I mentioned in a previous post, I was not wanting to go to the pool this week, so we found other fun things to keep us busy.

Here is Hayden at the creek by our house. We walked over to feed the ducks at the lake, but found no ducks so decided to play in the creek a while. That is until a lady came by and told us she had seen a snake there the day before! Out of the creek we came! We did end up finding some ducks on the other side of the lake, but they weren't too interested in being fed. So, we just rode bikes around the lake until we were tired, and went home.
Morgan and Duncan had fun in the back yard with the hose. They love playing with their animals out there and pretending that they are in a real jungle!

Duncan gave Ashlyn a ride on the Thomas train! She loved it-what a nice brother!

Today I took the kids to Port Discovery in Baltimore. There were 2 or 3 summer camp groups there, so it was pretty crowded, but we still had fun! I only lost Ronan & Morgan once, and they were together! I stressed the importance of staying with your 'safety buddy' NO MATTER WHAT when we first got there, and it came in handy when I lost them in the crowd! Duncan REALLY wanted Ronan to be his safety buddy, but putting those two together is like asking for something to go wrong! There has to be a responsible one in each pair, right?! Ashlyn loved the water play area, and they had a Robot exhibit, with lots of robots the kids could play with which they ALL loved! It was a good day! I only had 3 people comment on the number of children I have (which is actually pretty good). One man asked if we were on a field trip from a pre-school. Come on, I only have ONE child that is actually pre-school age, so what kind of question was that?! Another lady got into the elevator with us and started counting with her fingers "One, two, three, four, FIVE!" I wanted to clap and say "Very good counting! Next comes six, seven, eight...." But I just smiled. And the last comment was the usual of "Wow, you sure do have your hands full, don't you?" I don't know why, but these comments really bug me lately. We were at Chick-fil-A the other night, and had a lady come up to us saying "I'm so happy to see such a big family! I had 5 kids myself, but you just don't see that anymore. God bless you." That was a nice change. I now I should just get over it, but it floors me how people think they can just make these comments to complete strangers about their family size!

School Supplies

So, I got all my school supply shopping done, and decided to get it organized. Duncan is in the Pre-K program at the school this year, so I had 4 lists that I compiled and went out on my own to get it done. I had this grand idea to have the kids be involved in sorting it into their piles! BIG MISTAKE!

First I dumped it all into one pile in the middle of the living room floor, and thought I would just go around in a circle reading one thing off each child's list at a time, have them get that item and put it in a pile by them. Simple enough so I thought. Well, I couldn't keep up with them, they were grabbing stuff faster than I could give out instructions. Then came the tower building! As you see in the photo above, they built a tower out of the tissue boxes. Well, they each began to build their own towers with the supplies in their piles. To their credit, they were being so kind, and sharing with each other, when someone would say "My tower isn't that big!", another child would quickly come to their rescue and 'share' something from their own pile to help the other one build his tower taller!

"NO!" I said-"Keep your own things in your OWN piles!"

"But mom, we are sharing!"

"No! The whole point of this is to organize your school supplies! Don't share things from your piles!"

Long story short...I ended up sending everyone upstairs to play while I organized the supplies myself! Next year I don't think I will make this an event for everyone! Some things are just better left for mom to do!

New Skills

Ashlyn has developed some new skills lately. One of which is standing on her own! She can now stand up on her own without pulling herself up with something. She is so cute, and very proud of this new skill.
Another skill, that I'm not so excited about is climbing!
She climbed out of her high chair here while I stepped into the kitchen for a second. Look how proud she is of this! She thinks this is great fun!
In the kitchen I caught her climbing again! She has taken these little chairs, and scooted them to the counter where she will then grab whatever is left on the counter! It is no longer out of her reach! I caught her in here with fists full of butter after she scooted a chair over to the open butter container! The little bandit!