3 - 6 and under

Easy Bake Tiny Cake

2012-01-29T10:20:00.001-05:00

I never had an Easy Bake oven when I was a little girl, but I always wanted one. When I saw some on clearance early this fall, I snatched one up to give to Hailey for Christmas. When she saw them advertised on TV and would tell me that is what she wanted Santa to bring her, I felt like mother of the year.

As is always the case with the "gadgets" we purchase - the Girl Gourmet cupcake maker that Spence begged for a few years ago, the Slurpee machine, the Big Top giant cupcake maker extravaganza - they always look way cooler on TV than they really are. Adults know that is going to happen, but for kids its a giant bummer.

When our cake finally came out from under the light bulb, Hailey and Evan both commented to me how small it was. Still we cut it up into three slices and enjoyed the fruits of our labor.

She hasn't asked to cook with it since that day. I am wondering if she would notice if I snuck it to the garage sale pile? I'm kidding. Kind of.

Money Sock

2012-01-27T10:19:00.008-05:00

It is no surprise to anyone that knows my boys that they LOVE Legos. It is no surprise to anyone that knows Evan that he has always had a special thing for dinosaurs. When Lego started making their dinosaur hunter sets - a certain little guy I know was in heaven.

He got a couple of the sets for Christmas and put them together pretty much the hour or two after he opened them. As in all Lego sets (maybe all toys in general) they included a little brochure showing all the other Lego dinosaur sets that were available. Evan immediately had his sights set on a dinosaur paddock. The largest and therefore, most expensive of the sets. In looking around our town at Target and Meijer - the paddock was nowhere to be found, so it wasn't that big of a deal. Then one fateful day as Spencer and I were shopping for a birthday gift for a buddy of his at Walmart - the paddock was spotted and its cost was revealed to be ninety nine dollars.

Spencer rushed into the house when we got home and excitedly told Evan about his discovery. Later that night, Evan decided to empty his piggy bank and collect all the other change around his room so he could see how much money he had. He asked me if I would count it for him. I told him to put it in a bag or something and we would take it to the change machine after school because there was no way I was going to sit and count out pennies all night.

He put it in one of his socks. He called it his money sock. A money sock with a hole in it that had to be patched with a piece of painters tape. He carried the sock around all night in anticipation of the next day - counting day. Now this is a child's sock. It is not big and he didn't have it full - just full enough that it looked like there was a tennis ball sized bulge in the sock. He was so excited about finding out how much money he had that I felt like I had to soften the blow a bit. I told him that he probably had about twelve dollars or so and that was a good start to save up for the Lego set.

When he got home from school the next day, he was ready to count his stash. Luckily, Trent was home to hang out with the other two and Evan and I took off to the money cruncher. He asked me again how much I thought he had and I told him probably fifteen or twenty dollars, but no where near close to ninety. He thought he had around nineteen dollars - or maybe twenty three.

We got to the money machine and started to empty the sock in. The machine started clinking and counting and taking his eight percent of every dollar. Still better than me having to count and roll coins. His total passed twelve. It passed nineteen. It passed twenty. It passed twenty three. As the total kept on going up I was in shock and Evan had a grin on his face that I will never forget. We were laughing as the total passed thirty, passed forty, passed fifty. Evan was giddy. He was smiling and laughing almost hysterically. It passed sixty. It passed seventy. It passed eighty. More hysterics. It passed ninety and stopped at ninety one dollars and sixty three cents.

Ninety one dollars and sixty three cents - minus the eight percent fee - all in that tiny money sock!

We took our receipt to the checkout and Evan watched in amazement as his bills shot out of the money slot. He told me that he was laughing so hard as the machine counted he wanted to pound his fists on the floor and roll around. He was so happy.

We didn't buy the Lego set. We had a talk on the way home about saving up and making what you purchase mean something to you. I told him that even though he had enough for the paddock (including other money he had at home) it didn't make sense to buy it now because first of all: he had just received a bunch of stuff for Christmas that he still had to play with. Second of all, it wasn't on sale. Even if he waited for a small sale he would be able to save significant money and thirdly, before long his birthday would be here and he could ask for it then. He agreed with my reasons and couldn't wait to stash the bills away in his wallet.

It was a fun experience that I will never forget. It is amazing how much a sock full of coins can add up to! I need to fill up my own money sock and bring it in!

Unexpected

2012-01-24T10:06:00.011-05:00

After Spencer was born he became jaundiced. Due in part to my inability to know if he latched while nursing and also because all babies are a little bit jaundiced until their little livers get going aren't they?

That is what I tell myself though thinking back I don't think my other two kids ever were. So Spencer was jaundiced due to the fact that my inexperience with nursing caused me to starve my newborn son. Let's just call a spade a spade.

In his first two weeks of life, we were in the doctor's office every two to three days checking weight gain and bilirubin levels. On his two week birthday after he had gained significant weight and I had mastered the art of nursing, I remember our pediatrician telling us that he looked great and he would see us back in two months. I walked out of the office a bit in shock. Two months? How are we supposed to know if he is gaining weight? How are we supposed to know if he is normal? We have never done this parenting thing before! How is it possible that you can trust us to care for this new little life for two whole months without checking our progress? What if we do it wrong?

Despite our uncertainty and initial fear, our instincts kicked in and somehow we became parents. We learned how to care for him and what was normal for him and he did gain weight - at this point sixty something pounds. We went on to bring two more little babies into the world without the post two week appointment worry. We knew what we were doing.

The point of that memory was all to say that I tend to use my children's doctor appointments as a gauge as to how well I am doing in my parenting job. Their yearly well check is my pseudo report card, my annual job review.

My kids are healthy kids. We don't visit the doctor very often. Part of that is due to the fact that as they grow, it is much easier to gauge how sick of a child you have. A child that can talk and tell you what is wrong and what hurts is much different from a screaming baby that is burning with fever. So the times we visited the doctor in the last year with an actual sickness, I could easily count on one hand - if not two fingers. I feel blessed to have three kids that are so healthy. Sometimes scarily blessed. I read so much about kids that are ill and families that have to go through so much. It makes me wonder sometimes how we got so lucky.

I love our pediatrician. Is it just me or is this post seemingly all over the place? I promise there is a point here somewhere. Maybe it stems from the fact that I haven't "written" anything in so long my brain is just completely emptying into this post. Perhaps I should blog more often.

Let's try this again. I love our pediatrician. It was love at first sight for Trent and I when he walked in to talk to us about newborns in our prenatal classes. I called the next day to see if he was taking new patients. Lucky for us, he was. On the occasions when I have taken the kids in to be seen with what I thought was some horrible malady, he was always quick to calm my fears. It is not appendicitis, just constipation. He doesn't have meningitis, he just has a cold virus. It is just a rash, not flesh eating bacteria or MRSA. You get my drift.

Bringing my kids to the doctor has always been sort of a relief for me. If they are sick, he is quick to tell me what to do to make them feel better. If its a checkup, he lets me know that I am feeding them the right foods to help them grow and stay fit. So when Hailey had to go in for her five year old check up last week I didn't think anything of it. I couldn't even think of any questions or concerns that I had about her. She was healthy and normal. She was even in jovial spirits after being informed by the nurse that she was totally up to date on her immunizations. Hooray for no pokes!

The doctor asked her questions and proceeded to check her over. When he started listening to her heartbeat he seemed to be taking a longer than normal time. When he got out his iphone and started timing heartbeats while he listened, I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I knew something wasn't right. He jokingly asked her if she drank coffee in the morning and then told me that her heartbeat had an irregular beat to it. He asked me if she has ever turned blue or passed out. He asked me if any young person in my family had ever died from a heart problem suddenly. My answers to all of his questions were no and my question to him was how serious of a situation are we dealing with? He told me that it could be nothing or it could be something and the best thing to do would be to order an EKG and get her checked out.

It was the coldest day of the year and I hadn't dressed us as warmly as I should have. I didn't plan on running out to the hospital for tests on my five year old daughter. I gave Hailey my mittens and pulled her hood up and we started the freezing trek from the parking lot to the main entrance. I was thrilled to see the hospital shuttle pull up right in front of us and offer us a ride to the door. The driver was a nice older gentleman who proceeded to chat our ears off. At this point my focus was to get her in and get her test done and I really wasn't in the mood for small talk but knew I had to bear it or freeze solid before making it into the hospital.

Surprisingly, we got right through admissions and right up to the physiology lab without having to wait at all. I assured Hailey that her test wasn't going to hurt. They were just going to put stickers on her chest and listen to see if her heart was beating silly. She was a trooper. She stayed calm and did great through the test. It was me that I was most worried about. As she was lying on the bed with all the stickers and wires attached to her for the first time I actually thought to myself - Oh my God, what if my little girl has a heart problem? Please let her be ok. If something has to be wrong with someone's heart, let it be me and not my five year old daughter.

The test is sent to the children's hospital in another city to be read by a pediatric cardiologist and then her doctor will get the results, so we haven't heard anything and most likely won't for a few days. I am trying to stay positive and not let the fear of not knowing get to me. I know that most likely it will be nothing or at least nothing major. She is the furthest from sickly she could be. She has more energy than any of us - maybe all of us combined. In five years she has hardly ever been sick. She has had a fever maybe three times in her life.

I have faith that she will be fine - it is just hard to suddenly have this potential problem hanging over us that we never would have expected.

Night night

2012-01-08T21:29:00.003-05:00

Goodnight four years! Tomorrow my baby is five years old. Unbelievable.

Stationery card

2012-01-02T14:23:00.001-05:00

Petite Potentate Pink Birthday Invitation

Shutterfly has unique birthday invitations for every age and occasion.

View the entire collection of cards.

So long 2011!

2012-01-01T19:26:00.001-05:00

We celebrated New Year's Eve the same way we have the past few years. We went to a bowling party with a couple of my cousins. The kids always have fun and the adults get to celebrate a bit without going to a huge bash.

This year when we finished bowling at nine o' clock we moved our crew into a "party" type room at the bowling alley. They had a pool table and some old school video game machines so the men and kids were totally entertained. After a while, my cousin put some money into the juke box and shuffled the kids to the dance floor. What happened after that has been filed away with my favorite New Year's Eve memories of all time. Watching my kids "bustin' a move" is a blast. If you can watch them without a perm-a-grin on your face, there is something seriously wrong with you.

Look at their sweaty red faces. Evan even had to shed clothes he was cutting a rug so much! I hope we have a family wedding coming up soon because these cousins need to dance!

We got home around eleven fifteen. Just enough time to go outside and let off some of our Indiana fireworks left over from the fourth of July.

My artsy candy cane shot.

Welcome 2012!

Our Christmas in a few photos

2011-12-27T19:10:00.000-05:00

The kids and Daddy all dressed up for Christmas Eve festivities.

The kids with Mommy on Christmas Eve. It may have been beneficial to get the tripod out.

The kids in their new Christmas Eve jammies getting ready to pick out cookies for Santa. They all loved these jammies and I loved the fact that they all matched. I don't know how many more years (if any) I can get away with that.

Both boys wrote Santa a letter and Hailey drew him numerous pictures.

Christmas morning ready to come downstairs and see what Santa brought them.

Hailey could see her "dollhouse" from upstairs and was unbelievably excited.

Spencer and Evan got a gift from Santa to share wrapped half in Evan's wrapping and half in Spencer's wrapping.

Spencer got a lot of LEGOS and a lot of books -also some books about LEGOS.

Evan got an Air Swimmer shark. It is huge and looks and moves very lifelike. It freaked Hailey out at first.

Kitty Boy getting in on the unwrapping frenzy.

Hailey got a DVD of her favorite movie. This movie was on one night while we were having a slumber party in my room. It is sort of like a "Home Alone - Baby Edition". Very silly, but she loved it and would ask to watch it on other occasions and could not understand why I couldn't just pop it in the DVD player. Now I can. She watched it on Christmas morning.

Evan's new personalized playing cards - Ninja holding root beer!

Spencer finally got his new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book. He dove right in on Christmas morn.

Evan models his new hat. Our Evan - he loves to be warm.

Christmas afternoon at my cousin's house. Our family photo on Santa's lap.

The gift hut Evan made to barricade his presents during Christmas with my mom.

Evan shows off his new walking stick from Grama Dune. It was one of his favorite gifts along with his sound machine. He thought they would both be good editions to "Mister Black".

Grama and the kiddos. Evan and Hailey painted her the birdhouse for her yard.

We have two more Christmases yet to come. I am sure many more memories will be made.

May your days be merry and bright!

2011-12-25T09:12:00.002-05:00

Christmas 2011

We woke up this morning to see the neighborhood covered with a dusting of snow. It seemed to be just what we all needed to get into the Christmas spirit. We look forward to the yearly Christmas shows put on by the kids’ classes, the parties we attend and the hustle and bustle that comes with every year. But there is something about the snow that makes us want to hunker down at home and bake cookies or gingerbread houses or sit on the couch snuggled in a blanket and look at our beautiful Christmas tree and reflect on the past year and those who are so important in our lives.

Hailey is almost five which is hard to believe. Mostly due to the fact that she acts like she is about twelve. She started her second year of preschool at Ross Park. Hailey played soccer in the spring and fall and t-ball over the summer. She was not as sporty as we imagined she might be (not at all J) but she had fun and was thrilled to receive her first trophy – and popsicles. Hailey likes to paint, color or anything crafty. She loves girly things like Barbies, princesses and dress-up, but is just as comfortable making mud pies on the porch steps or picking up bugs or dead mice (don’t ask) in the driveway.

Evan is seven years old and in second grade this year. He really enjoys learning and is always eager to come home and share some new fact or tidbit that he learned during class. Evan has continued in Scouts as a Wolf and attended his first day camp over the summer. He played Pee Wee Little League this year and surprised all of us with a bit of natural talent at the sport. His team made it all the way to the play-off finals where they came in second place. He was thrilled with his “big” trophy and even was awarded a game ball for MVP in one game earlier in the season. This fall he decided he wanted to take Karate and is enjoying it – he has even earned his first belt. Evan spends his free time playing board or computer games, LEGOS, and anything where he can use his imagination.

Spencer is in fourth grade this year and turned ten over the summer. We are starting to see the “tweener” tendencies beginning in our oldest child – i.e. messy room, laziness, wanting to stay home alone instead of hanging out with the fam. It doesn’t seem possible that our “baby boy” is embarking on the preteen years. Spencer played inner city tennis over the summer and constantly grumped about going but always did well and had fun while he was there. He has continued with his acting classes and Scouts as well and is a Webelo this year. They have been able to do a lot of interesting things through Scouts. He even attended his first overnight camp last summer. Of course with Dad as your leader, it seems less of a big deal. Spencer keeps busy with LEGOS, TV, YouTube, hanging out with friends and he recently started up Destination Imagination after school.

Trent is still at R-P high school. He just wrapped up an amazing fall show of Peter Pan and is already looking toward The Sound of Music in the spring. He took on the Children’s Theatre class this year just to add to his never ending “to-do” list. He is a hard worker and seems to be busy all the time.

Jen continues to stay home and keep everybody fed, clothed, washed and somewhat organized. If the rumors of all day Kindergarten next year are true, she won’t know what to do with herself! (Yeah, right!) For some reason we imagined that as the kids got older, things would get easier; we were greatly disillusioned as things seem much more crazy and more busy as they grow.

Our family trip this year was a “circumnavigation of Lake Michigan”. We started out through Chicago onto Wisconsin where we stayed for a weekend with Jen’s sister and family. Then we headed north from Madison through the UP of Michigan. It was a great trip and we were gone for over a week. We saw Kitchitikipi natural spring, explored the ghost town at Fayette, shipwrecks in Munising, the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, fed bear cubs, played in Tahquamenon Falls, swam in Lakes Superior and Huron, hung out under the Mackinac Bridge. It was awesome – so many amazing memories. We are fortunate to live in such a beautiful state.

We feel lucky and blessed by so much in our lives, especially getting to share it with our amazing family and wonderful friends. We wish for you a year filled with health, hope, happiness and love.

Love – Trent, Jennifer, Spencer, Evan & Hailey

He's comin' to town!

2011-12-24T09:14:00.003-05:00

As long as there are LEGO's involved, we will have a great Christmas Eve! Our hope is that you do the same.

Gingerbread nativity

2011-12-22T22:02:00.006-05:00

While shopping at TJ Maxx the other day, I came across this...

At first glance I thought it was unique and would look great in my nativity collection. I had never before seen cookie cutters anything like this. Then a few days later while grocery shopping I saw gingerbread cookie dough in the ready made roll.

And the Grinch got a wonderful, awful idea.

The only kid of mine with any sort of attention span for a task like this is Evan. Believe me, he was into it from the moment he saw the picture on the tin. He asked me everyday for days when we could make the gingerbread house. Finally it was Christmas break and his gingerbread dreams came true.

All the kids helped decorate the pieces and I got to curse under my breath as I tried to make them stick to the plate and stand up with the royal icing I whipped up. The kids were wonderful while we frosted the pieces - they were patient and sharing, even complimentary to each other. At one point I heard Evan tell Hailey that her wise man looked really good.

Our finished masterpiece. The food coloring options were limited. More of an abstract version for our first attempt - not much detailing going on there.

One of the batches of "extra" pieces we left in the oven too long. Thanks to the Silpat they just got really, really dark. Hailey spotted them in the garbage and rescued them telling us that we could use them for shadows. I was pretty impressed that her almost five year old mind could come up with that.

It was a bit more work than the ready made kits that we usually buy, but it was fun. Although I think the kids may have missed the decorating with candy. I am sure Hailey did. Maybe next year we can bedazzle the manger with candy canes and smarties.

Like the top of Mt. Crumpit?

2011-12-21T04:59:00.002-05:00

To make the Grinch grin I would:

Lump off a clif

I laughed because he made his "L" exactly how I did when I was little. I can't tell you how many Christmas decorations my mom saved that say "Lenny" on the back.

I know how she feels

2011-12-20T16:56:00.003-05:00

I wish I could crash on the couch like this. Unfortunately, my belly wouldn't be nearly that cute.

I am tired. Tired of shopping. Tired of finding recipes. Tired of cleaning up messes. Tired of wrapping.

I am ready for the hustle to be over and the enjoying to begin.

We are almost there...

Let the festivities begin...

2011-12-14T14:52:00.008-05:00

The boys had their school Christmas show the other night. It is always a cute little play with the fifth graders having the speaking parts and the first through fourth graders in the chorus. I can't believe that next year Spencer will have a role in it.

Evan loves to dress up. He thinks wearing a tie and even a sport coat is about as awesome as it gets. When his teacher told the class to dress in their holiday best, he made sure to let me know. I ran out to Kohl's and found him a pair of dress pants and a sweater vest on sale with an additional twenty percent off coupon. I knew he would want a tie and we didn't have any Christmas ties or any black or gray traditional ties. The ties at Kohl's were not on sale except for a buy one get one half off deal. I didn't want two ties. I was about ready to give in and spend over twenty bucks on ties when I remembered this bow tie I picked up for Evan in October at my aunt's church yard sale in Wisconsin. He was thrilled. And also pretty stoked that other kids had ties on but he was the only one in a bow tie. I hope he continues to be eclectic in his clothes choices - I love his style.

Little sister would never miss an opportunity to ham it up with her brothers.

All of these shots are from far away with a less than stellar telephoto lens. They are not for framing, just for remembering.

The last song of the show is "Let there be peace on Earth" and as they sing they do the sign language for it.

Evan told me before the show that he was a little nervous that he didn't know all the hand motions. I told him just do his best and that I was sure that other kids felt the same way. Two of the teachers were out in the stage wings to watch if you got stuck and I could tell he was watching them a lot. He did a great job though - all the kids did.

Today Hailey had her class Christmas party. Trent took a personal day today to attend a funeral of one of his high school friends so he was able to come to the party for a bit before the service. Hailey felt pretty special to have both her mommy and daddy at her party.

She was also feeling special because I let her wear a Christmas broach that I used to wear as a little girl. Citing her Fancy Nancy books she told me that it was cool to wear an heirloom.

I was busy at the party trying to coordinate and help with the crafts so these are the three pictures I took. This one of Hailey with Olivia and Addison, two of her besties, listening to someones mom read a story made me laugh. They all kept bringing her books. She was probably thinking she wanted to be with her kid not hanging out with everyone elses!

We have more busy days in our near future. I hope to get some posts done before Christmas, but we shall see how it goes. At least there are two posts for December now.

Out of the backpack

2011-12-06T08:50:00.002-05:00

It has been a long time since I posted something "out of the backpack". Who am I kidding? It has been a long time since I posted anything. Not for lack of content, but for lack of time. When I saw this paper today that Evan brought home, it totally made my day.

"My Grama's favorite game is Mister Black. My Dad's favorite food is turkey. My brother's favorite game is to torture me."

I love the way he spells brother. I love that his teacher wrote "not Spencer" under the torturing part. I love that he got a "super" on it. Mostly I love that his teacher is probably wondering "What kind of game is Mr. Black? I have never heard of that game."

Silly sayings

2011-11-12T10:34:00.006-05:00

Hailey: I don't ever want to go to Disneyworld because there are three things there that don't show their real heads - Mickey Mouse, Dora and that Duck! (She has an intense fear of costumes where she can't see a human face)

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Hailey: Brother stole my boyfriends! I have two boyfriends - DJ and I don't remember the name of the other one.

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The night we were filling our baskets to "boo" neighbors and discussing who we were going to "boo".

Hailey: Let's boo the cousins.

Mom: Maybe the cousins, but it's better to boo little kids because they are more excited about the spider rings and Halloween erasers.

Evan: Unless we put a World War 2 book in it. Then they might like it.

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Hailey: Are Lord and God friends?

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Hailey: I wish you were my Grama so the other Grama could be my mom.

Mom: What other Grama?

Hailey: Bonnus!

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While we were walking down a hill.

Hailey: My legs want to walk so fast.

Mom: That's gravity pulling you down.

Hailey: Doesn't gravity sound kind of like Uncle Richie's friend?

Mom: (laughing) Yes, gravity does sound kind of like Rafferty.

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Hailey sad about the fact that she won't have Mrs. Marchese for a teacher again next year.

Mom: Whoever you get for a kindergarten teacher will be nice.

Evan: Yeah. There are some teachers who blow whistles and hit your desk with rulers, but not in our school. All of our teachers are nice.

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Hailey calls commercials "channels".

Hailey: I saw that dollhouse on a channel before and I love it!

Hailey: We will play the game again when a channel comes on.

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Hailey: Don't fall off that skateboard Mom. You might crack your head open.

Mom: Then you would have to call the doctor.

Hailey: I can't call the doctor!

Mom: Then you would have to call Daddy and tell him to call the doctor.

Hailey: I can't call Daddy! I can't call anyone! I can only text!

Halloween in November

2011-11-11T09:46:00.013-05:00

So it's already November. Almost halfway through November and I am just now getting pictures posted from Halloween. I don't know where the time in my day goes. We have so much going on these days - I feel like we are busier as a family than we have ever been and I have never felt so "in the weeds" on as many things as I do lately. It will all get done eventually, I know that, it just makes me nervous with the holidays coming up. I hate to feel overwhelmed and frenzied. I want to take time to live in the moment without rushing through the days to get everything accomplished.

So today I get one thing crossed off my list that is growing daily. Halloween pictures are now posted!

I loved my kids' costumes this year. We decided on them early and a lot of time was spent at thrift shops searching out the perfect pieces and touches for the costumes.

Spencer decided to be Billy the Exterminator from the show of the same name. If you don't know who Billy is, google him - you will be amazed at how much this costume resembles him. I love when Spencer gets creative with a costume. Ninjas and Star Wars guys are fine but how many Billy's are you going to see walking around? This costume was so fun to put together. It will go down in our family history as one of my all time favorites.

When the idea for the Billy costume was first mentioned, there was initially a big fight between Spencer and Evan about who got to be him. Evan eventually decided he would be Billy's brother and sidekick Ricky. I quickly tried to talk him out of that because I figured most people wouldn't even know who Billy was let alone his sidekick. It wasn't until I came across this coonskin cap while thrifting that I knew Evan would change his mind. So the hunt started for all things Davy Crockett/Hunter.

I loved how much he got into this costume. I think Dad may have to teach this boy how to hunt.

Hailey decided early on that she wanted to be a bad witch. We found a costume that she liked online but it was around thirty dollars. A couple days later on a trip to Valueland we found a witch dress and hat for two dollars. She and I were both totally sold. I thought her costume turned out really cute with the little touches we added to it - a real broom, the striped socks and the black "Wednesday" wig. Although I think she looks too cute to be bad.

Last but not least we can't forget this pair.

Trent and I went to a grown up Halloween party for the first time in years and had a hard time coming up with a couple costume. We eventually hauled out our old bowling shirts and went as Trashy Bowlers. The sad part is that I think some people at the party thought that was my real hair.

My feet hurt so bad after walking around all night in those heels.

Check out this hottie! I think he actually looks younger with that wig on! It may be time for him to check out the Grecian. Ha!

Happy Halloween! Hopefully I will have another post before Thanksgiving!

WSWW

2011-10-19T09:51:00.001-04:00

I love dressing the kids up in festive Halloween clothes. Hailey's super cute ensemble was all garage sale. I LOVE the girly skull and crossbones sweater!

Sand angels and sand fences

2011-10-18T06:17:00.000-04:00

The waves on Lake Michigan were predicted to be huge over the weekend. When Hailey walked into the office and told me that we should ride down to the lake and check out the waves, she didn't have to ask me twice. None of the boys wanted to come along, so it was just the girls heading out to brave the gale force winds.

When we got down to the road that heads along the lake there were signs up saying that the road was closed to through traffic. Other people were heading down there so we ventured on. When we made the turn I could see why the road was closed. There was sand and blowing sand covering the road. I saw a few brave or crazy souls attempting to drive through, but when you see vehicles with four wheel drive struggling, you just know that the mini van is not going to make it. I quickly did a three point turn and got the heck out of there.

We drove down to Bronson Park. Not as picturesque, but at least we could get near the beach without having our car stuck in a foot of sand.

There is something about snow fences that I love. I know their purpose is for the snow. That I don't love. One of the sure signs of spring is when those babies come down in April or May. I don't know what it is - the shadows they cast, the crooked lines, they seem haunting to me a little bit.

Once again, the waves were not as big as I imagined they would be. It was super windy though. Blustery, as Hailey would say - a new word she learned at school this week.

She used the palette of fresh blown sand to make angels.

She could have stayed at that beach playing in the sand for hours. It was cold and blustery though so my old lady bones couldn't take it for long.

I love the wind ripples in the sand.

I set her on the walkway railing for this shot and she was afraid that she was going to blow off. It was not but four feet from the ground, but I guess that is a long way for a little girl.

I love the fall, but I am ready for the wind to stop blowing a bit.

Randomness

2011-10-17T18:21:00.006-04:00

Lately I feel like I am buried in my kids' schoolwork. It seems like we eat dinner, do homework and then it is time to get ready for bed. I am tired of math facts. I never liked or was good at math when I was in school. Isn't life ironic sometimes? Thank goodness their Daddy was a math major or they would be doomed.

I went to the doctor today for my sore leg. It has only been hurting since last spring. She wants me to get an xray to rule anything bone spurry out, but thinks it is just a muscle. Now I get to add physical therapy to my never ending list of activities. I hope they can figure out what muscles need to be worked on fairly quickly.

I can consistently run a mile without stopping to walk. I haven't been able to do that since before I had kids. I am pretty proud of myself.

I just found out that I have to have the boys' Halloween costumes ready by Thursday for their scout meeting. Time to get out the black spray paint.

I have really slacked off on my 36and5 blog. I know I probably have a picture from almost every day, but just haven't posted them. I am trying to get better at it because I was looking back through them the other day and saw some stuff I forgot about and was loving having it on there. I may go back and try to "back post" some stuff, it will be time consuming, but I know I won't regret it. Yeah right, in all my free time.

I am so tired tonight and I still have to go to a meeting about the school Walk-a-thon. Maybe because I got a flu shot today? I am so thankful that I can hang out in my jammies tomorrow morning. I would love to hang out in them all day but I suppose I have to make a meal plan and go to the store at some point so our family can eat something besides grilled cheese and frozen pizza.

Evan has a box hanging from our upstairs banister on a string that he has been using for practicing his karate kicks. That kid just makes me laugh. He woke up with a dry pull up today for the first time EVER. I don't know if he was just dehydrated or what, but we were all excited. Dare we hope that he is beginning to grow out of his bladder issues? Fingers crossed.

Runts

2011-10-14T17:27:00.005-04:00

We pulled the carrots from our garden today. I don't think we should have wasted space growing carrots. They didn't really turn out stellar.

I picked some tomatoes too. We actually had two red ones! The only two large red ones from our whole garden.

We have some refiguring and tweaking to do for next year. I plan on trying again. The kids really enjoyed it and it wasn't a ton of work. Hmm...maybe we should have worked a little more and maybe would have seen better results. I need to research a bit over the winter months. One thing I know for sure - we won't be growing carrots next year.

To catch a chipmunk

2011-09-30T10:29:00.004-04:00

About nine years ago my mom moved out of our childhood home into a new house down by the lake. Ever since then, she has had a chipmunk or chipmunks living in her backyard. I have no idea if it is the same one or relatives of the first one. Hmm...maybe I should have one of the boys google the life expectancy of a chipmunk. Anyway, it has always been a favorite activity to try to catch "Chippy" while they were at Grandma's house. It started out as kind of a joke - because c'mon how are you going to be able to catch a quick little chipmunk.

They tried to catch Chippy. They put out seeds for Chippy. Sometimes they would stick the hose down Chippy's hole and flood him out...Can't you just picture that scene from Caddyshack right now?

Chippy has become very brave and would come around when the kids or my mom was out there. He would get almost close enough for them to touch him. And then one day, Hailey did touch him. He ate sunflower seeds out of her hand.

I had a hard time believing it at first, but my mom and Hailey swore it was true. The next time we were over there I brought my camera to document the feeding on film. Or memory card I guess. We went out back looking for Chippy, but he was no where to be found.

The next morning my mom called and said that he was out running around her yard and she had just fed him out of her hand. I grabbed my camera and the two kids that wanted to feed the little munk and sped down to the lake.

The chipmunk hunters. Hailey picked her own outfit. Can you tell?

Chippy watching us from a branch. We had to hang out back there for a while until he would trust us enough to come close.

Evan making a move. Close, but unsuccessful.

Even closer still.

He got about that close to Evan and then got spooked somehow and took off. Or maybe his mouth was full - those cheeks look pretty stuffed.

Then it was Hailey's turn to try. Maybe Chippy remembered her from before or something because he wasn't tentative at all to eat out of her hand. Notice her shy tongue hanging out.

She was trying to hold still, but I could tell she was starting to freak out a little bit. She was very brave. I don't know if I would want that thing eating out of my hand.

Finally it was Evan's turn again and this time all his patience paid off. He was so excited. He told us that he could feel Chippy's little claws on his hands and they kind of hurt a little. It was a cool experience for them.

At this point Chippy was about full and Hailey was getting bored of waiting on the time clock of a chipmunk so she decided to water Grandma's flowers and plants.

This photo really has nothing to do with the story, but I just can't get over that outfit.

WSWW

2011-09-28T19:56:00.003-04:00

Turtleneck sweater - I think this came from Goodwill or a garage sale.

Skirt - I made it yesterday with scrap material left over from her bed skirt.

Tights - I think they were hand me downs.

Shoes - Walmart clearance. I have had to paint the toes three times now because she drags her toes when she walks sometimes.

As you can see the braids made an appearance for school today. I hope this is the beginning of some better hair days for her.

They've got spirit!

2011-09-28T10:08:00.004-04:00

Last week was spirit week at the boys' school. They love these days. Evan especially gets into it. He is such an individual in the way he dresses. He likes what he likes and doesn't really care if anyone else likes it or not. I hope he always keeps that attitude. I can already see Spencer starting to fall into the mindset that others might not think its "cool".

Monday - Pajama Day

It was pouring rain on Monday morning so we had to take a photo inside. It didn't turn out very good on a dark morning indoors. I asked Evan if he was sure he wanted to wear his Santa skeleton jammies - I feared that kids might pick on him because they were clearly Christmas pajamas. He didn't care. He wanted those jammies and that was that.

Tuesday - Team Day

I am sure their Daddy couldn't be more proud!

Wednesday - Mismatch Day

I can't even convey in writing how thrilled Evan was to wear a sport coat and tie to school. Maybe we should have considered prep school for him? Ha! He said his friends told him he looked like a businessman. So funny.

Thursday - Hat Day

I had to pick the boys up from school on Thursday because I had to make sure that Spencer had tennis lessons and Evan had to go straight to karate. So many people commented on how Evan had the most creative hat they had seen. He LOVES this coonskin cap I found him at Goodwill. It is part of his Halloween costume, but he would wear it everyday. Most likely with a sport coat and tie.

Friday - Blue and White Day

The day of the homecoming game. Little sister wanted to show off her school duds with her brothers.

I can't think of any clever way to tie this all together and end it, so I am just going to end it.

Laura

2011-09-27T16:37:00.003-04:00

This morning a miracle occurred at our house. Hailey let me braid her hair. Not without complaint mind you, but I managed to finish two sketchy little braids before the crying and running away.

She looked so cute and reminded me of Laura Ingalls every time I looked at her.

Of course Laura Ingalls never had blue teeth.

Or a blue tongue. And she wonders why she has cavities....

Fourteen years

2011-09-27T16:36:00.004-04:00

Today we have been married for fourteen years. In honor of the occasion we had chicken tacos for dinner in our messy dining room and then Trent took off to lead his scout troop through a hike in the rain. Can you feel the love? I'm kidding - sort of. This is our life. This is reality. This is how we live and love on a daily basis. Real life isn't all romantic and viewed through rose colored glasses. Marriage is not always easy, but most things that are worth it aren't. So we will eat our so-so dinner, surrounded by our children, in the home we built together and then the best dad ever will go spend time with his son and his friends - in the rain no less. Now can you feel the love?

I love our real life, but it is also nice to get away and be a little romantic. My mom was nice enough to baby sit for us last night so we could go out and celebrate Trent's birthday and our anniversary. We went to Grand Haven and while we were eating Ahi tuna bites and drinking yummy red wine, I reminded Trent that our first kiss happened right down the street. After dinner we set out to reenact it. Seriously, how has he put up with me for fourteen years?

It is quite picturesque now. When the first kiss happened there was a row of Port-a-Jons behind us. Our first kiss was right in front of some Port-a-Jons. Can you feel the romance?

Not bad after two glasses of wine and a self timer as a photographer.

Happy Fourteenth Trent! I can't imagine this life without you !

What She Wore Wednesday

2011-09-21T10:09:00.005-04:00

The color in pictures I take in the morning always looks weird. No matter what I do to it. Frustrating.

Here is Hailey's outfit for the day. It looked much cuter in real life. In this photo it kind of looks weird to me. Today must be a weird kind of day for me.

Shirt: Thrift store (I don't know the brand. I bought it last year or the year before)

Skirt: Garage sale (Thanks Aunt Day Day!)

Tights: Children's Place - Garage Sale

Shoes: Garage Sale

Another entire outfit plus shoes for less than ten dollars. I don't know if the mismatched prints would show up on any runway, but she wanted to wear those tights so I went with it. She has been fighting a runny nose for the past couple of days so now I am off to fight with her to get her down for a nap.

Clouds and sun

2011-09-20T12:04:00.000-04:00

Hailey and I went for a walk this morning and ended up at the beach for a while. It was a warm day, but windy and judging from the sky, I don't think Mother Nature knew just what she wanted to do with the day.

While we walked along the shore, Hailey exhibited some "inner Evan" and found a plastic ring that washed up onto the beach.

The sun kept on popping out intermittently and we kept trying to catch our shadows but without much luck.

We saw a brightly colored leaf seemingly out of place right near the water which screamed to us that fall was right around the corner.

I wasn't kidding about that sky!

We left the beach and took the long way home that goes by the park. We stopped there and played Rapunzel for a while. Hailey always wants me to be Mother Gothel then laughs when I use my own made up pet name for her - Punny.

Rapunzel in silhouette.

Then it was time to swing. This little girl could swing for hours and she always wants me to push her higher until she can touch the trees.

I love these last two swinging pictures. They make me smile.

It was a good walk.

Thrifty Thursday

2011-09-15T20:51:00.006-04:00

I am thinking that Thursday might become my day to head to all my favorite thrift shops. Of course on Thursdays I have Hailey with me and that leads to some unfortunate impulse buys.

Our first stop this morning was Meijer. I had to pay my credit card bill and pick up a few things. I caved and spent the dollar to let Hailey ride in the "movie" cart so I puttered around a bit to give her some extra fancy cart riding time. I found her a dress for next summer for four dollars. I got a pair of shorts for Evan for three dollars. Pajamas for both her and Evan (three piece sets) for six dollars. I still haven't decided whether or not I am going to save these for Christmas. I always get my kids pajamas for Christmas. They certainly could use them now though. How do pajamas get so ratty so fast?

Our next stop was the Goodwill closest to our house. I found two pairs of jeans for one of the boys - whichever they will fit best. Three dollars a pair. Also a cute little dress for Hailey. I think that was three dollars as well. Oh and an impulse buy - that little flower bucket she had to have. At least it matches with her room decor.

Next stop was back to Valueland where we had scored the awesome deals last week. We didn't do quite as well as last week, but not bad at all.

A suade leather coat for Spencer for Halloween. Honestly it is nice enough for him to wear out on dressy occasions. It cost me a dollar fifty. Hailey wanted the Tinkerbell dress to wear to her daddy's play this fall. How could I resist for two dollars. Plus another quarter for the wings.

One of the main reasons I went was to find a Bundt pan. I found this Nordic Ware one and got it half off. A dollar fifty. I was so happy!

I am starting to think I have some sort of obsession with buying little girl shoes. Each pair was two dollars, how could I resist?

Finally, three sweaters for myself. I am so tired of my clothes lately it is nice to have some new options, especially when they cost about two dollars a piece.

I am loving my thrify Thursdays!

What "She" Wore Wednesday.

2011-09-14T14:27:00.006-04:00

I have seen a couple of blogs where the super trendy fashionable moms do a post called "What I Wore Wednesday". It is a cool idea - but what I wear on most days no one would care to see. I am thrilled when I wake up on a Tuesday or Thursday and realize that I can leave my pajamas on for a while and not take a shower.

Since Hailey now has school on Wednesday and I have taken it upon myself to live fashion vicariously through my tall and slender daughter, I decided to do my own version of "What She Wore Wednesday". We will see how long my muse goes along with it...

Shirt: Gap Kids - garage sale
Skirt: Gap Kids - garage sale
Tights: Children's Place - garage sale (I can't remember if I bought these or my sister)
Shoes: asap (never heard of this brand) - garage sale

I can't remember what I paid for each item but I know the whole ensemble would come to less than ten dollars. She looked so cute and got so many compliments. I am a little bummed because the tights already seem to have a hole in the knee. My next task is to see if I can mend them. I guess you can't expect too much from garage sale tights, but I loved this outfit so much and the tights are an integral part.

This next picture I just had to post today because it made me laugh. Evan woke up early today to take a shower with daddy because last night while the kids were horsing around brushing their teeth, he got toothpaste in his hair. Seriously.

He combed out his hair after the shower and was so proud and excited that you could still see the comb lines in it. He told me that he should take a shower the morning of school pictures so it would look that good in the pictures. I told him why not let me take a picture of them and then he wouldn't have to worry about it. He agreed. I pray that it dried before he got to school. He makes me laugh so hard.

Hailey's first day

2011-09-12T14:50:00.001-04:00

Hailey didn't really think it was fair that her brothers got to go to school a whole week before she did. She couldn't wait to see her teacher, her friends, her new classroom and her new school. Our district just shut down the building where the kids had previously gone to preschool. I was kind of bummed because that building is less than five minutes away from us. Now our commute to the new school is about fifteen minutes. I know it isn't that long, but my two and a half hours of free time suddenly dropped to two hours.

I know in this first photo she doesn't look very excited, but she was. The problem was that she heard a garbage truck the next street over. She is terrified of the garbage truck and therefore the garbage men.

A picture of me and my girl with the tripod and self timer. Could we look any less alike? Also my hair looks so dark in this photo. I guess our summertime tans and lightened hair is fading faster than we know.

She is such a big girl now that she gets to keep her things in a locker outside of her classroom. Her locker partner is her friend Addison from soccer.

Have a great year big girl! I know you will love school and have a terrific year!

Back to school

2011-09-07T14:31:00.001-04:00

The boys started the school year with a lot of excitement and thankfully no drama. I can't believe how old they are getting. Spencer is in fourth grade and Evan is in second. I just can't get my head around that. My brain keeps telling me that Evan is in first. I was looking up math worksheets for him tonight and couldn't find ones for first grade. I was getting so frustrated when it hit me - Duh! He is in second grade!

Our back to school shopping purchases this year consisted of a pair of jeans for each boy and two pairs of shoes for Evan. I am sure we will realize there are some other things we need in a week or two, but how nice is it on the budget when your boys just don't care about what they wear?

We are all looking forward to a great year!

Here fishy fishy fishy!

2011-09-02T19:59:00.005-04:00

My kids are crazy about fishing. Correction - they are crazy about catching fish. They are not always the most patient little guys if the fish aren't biting.

One night this summer we went over to Grampa Paul's house and the fish were biting like crazy! I have never seen such a variety of fish caught in a couple hours. It was a fun night with some perfect over cast lighting. I was very glad I had my camera along. These turned out to be some of my favorite pictures from this summer.

Little sister is not afraid to hold the fish or the worms. She might like pink, but she is determined to show her brothers she is as tough as they are!

Spencer caught this pretty good sized fish. We weren't sure what kind it was. It was mostly black so Trent was thinking a Black Bass. We tried to google it when we got home but were still not certain.

See what I mean?

Spencer was even successful on the Barbie pole.

Who's your Tiger?

2011-08-31T10:04:00.000-04:00

The Tiger game was AWESOME! I have never been much of a sports fan. I think in the two and a half years I attended WMU, I went to maybe three football games and no other sporting contests whatsoever. So it is not a stretch that in my forty years on this Earth I have never attended a major league baseball game, or ever really cared that I haven't. Now after having being there, I can't wait to go back!

The atmosphere is intoxicating. Comerica Park sits in downtown Detroit next to Ford Field, across the street from the beautiful Fox theatre and minutes away from Greek Town. Big cities are so amazing! The giant statues around the park are incredible. The tiger heads that have a baseball in their mouths - their eyes light up at night.

Inside the ball park they have a carousel with all tigers to ride on. They have a ferris wheel where the seats are giant baseballs. The whole place is just super cool!

My Uncle Norm on the field getting ready to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

We were all so proud of him. My Uncle Norm is the kind of uncle that always joins in the kickball or baseball with the kids. He was the one who started the spanking machines on our birthdays and we loved it. He is the one that gets his great nephews and nieces riled up with games where they can push him down a giant slide even though I am sure his muscles are feeling it the next day. He is an amazing person with a huge heart - just an all around great guy. I am so glad he was chosen to do this.

My frozen "Tiger blood". Charlie Sheen would be so proud. I don't think they really called it that, but I did.

Part of our bus group of fifty seven! That is a lot of Tiger fans!

Evan's favorite part of the game was when they played Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" over the loudspeaker and the eyes of the tigers on the scoreboard lit up green.

His second favorite part was when the Tigers won the game in overtime with a home run and they started the fountain.

It was a magical night. I got my "Motor City" shirt in the mail and am ready to go back anytime and wear it! World Series anyone?

Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks...

2011-08-29T13:30:00.008-04:00

Tomorrow we are headed to Detroit to watch my uncle throw out the first pitch at the Tiger game. It is going to be a family adventure as a lot of my extended family has rented a bus to drive us there and back for the game. I have never been to a major league baseball game before or even in a major league ball park so I am pretty excited.

I realized the other day as pictures were streaming across my screen saver that I never posted any pictures of Evan or Hailey during their baseball seasons. Now is as good a time as any I figure, so here they are! I just found some of my favorites of each of them.

Evan in the outfield.

Trying to adjust the batting helmet.

I love how intent he looks in this shot and I also love how shooting through the fence gives it a sort of vignette.

Again in the outfield. He hated being in the outfield but he doesn't have the catching and throwing skills to spend much time in the action.

He enjoyed playing this year and I loved watching him. It was so different from when Spencer played. To be honest when his season started I was totally dreading it, but when your kid actually hits the ball and gets on base, the game can be pretty exciting!

Number six at bat! I love how in this shot he looks like he is looking over at the camera. Maybe he was, but most likely he was listening to a coach or someone.

Getting some coaching from Daddy at first base.

Ready to run to third!

Waiting on third with a little bit of style!

Their team had a great season. They ended the season being fifth out of sixth teams but in the playoffs came back and made it to the finals. They ultimately lost in the finals but not by a landslide. Evan was very excited about his big trophy.

Hailey played tee ball this year through community services. When the boys played tee ball the teams had fifteen or sixteen kids on them. She started off with seven and usually only had four show up for the games. I was disappointed. It doesn't seem like the program is very popular anymore. I don't know if she will want to play next summer or decide to do something else.

Catching the ball!

Throwing the ball.

Filling her glove with dirt.

Waiting for some grounders.

Hitting the ball. BT Dub - another lefty.

Hydrating on the bench out of a princess water bottle.

Accepting a trophy for a season well played.

And what could be better than a trophy? A trophy and a popsicle!

In the city

2011-08-25T21:59:00.011-04:00

On Monday we spent the day in the city.

Not the big city, but a bigger city than our own. I had an ulterior motive to spend a little time downtown and we couldn't let the summer of 2011 end without our annual summer visit to the Meijer gardens.

I didn't take a lot of pictures. Not for lack of subject matter or anything. It is just that we have been there often enough that the pictures look like the same thing except the subject has on a different outfit and is maybe a little taller. It didn't have anything to do with the fact that I had a senior photo shoot later that night and I needed to have space on my memory card.

Or maybe it had a little to do with that.

This Doovy of ours is getting so grown up looking.

Baby girl splashing in the fountain. As I sat and watched her doing this I remembered back to what seems like yesterday but was in fact three years ago when we were at the gardens and she wouldn't stop crying. It turned out that one of her poor little toes was mashed in her shoe. Once we got her bare foot she was ecstatic to play in this fountain.

We went on a kids tram tour of the sculptures for the first time. It was fun for the kids and gave them a chance to interact with the art. Evan really got into it. He was answering questions and working out ideas. Some girl next to him kept hearing what he was saying then would scream it out and get the credit for the thought. She was really irritating me.

Evan and Justin Beaver. I'm here all week folks.

My three kids cannot get enough of this old fashioned water pump. I think we should install one in our yard. It would keep them constantly occupied.

Evan loves the cacti room. He wanted to pretend he was going to sit on it. Hailey almost really knocked him into it after I got this shot. Luckily quick foot shifting and disaster was averted.

My motive for being in downtown Grand Rapids was to take some picture to submit to the Grand Rapids Photo Project. It is a project (obviously) that two women are working on for Art Prize. Basically there are six venues in the city that you need to photograph while standing on these bright orange footprints. I had heard about a couple other families that walked around downtown with their kids looking for footprints like it was a treasure hunt and having a fabulous time.

My kids were into it only until the first set of footprints was discovered. At that point they were over it. They wanted to go back to the car. Their legs were tired. Their toes were hurting. But Trent and I were on a quest. A quest to see a moose. Vacation reference.

Second shot. Grand Rapids Art Museum. Kids sitting pretending they are eating dinner.

Evan wanted to be the one to find the footprints, but would drag along behind with his tired legs. Then he would be furious when someone else found them.

Don't they look so happy to be walking around the city on a beautiful day? I mean what would they be doing at home besides watching TV or playing games on the computer. Mean parents trying to give them a little exercise and culture.

Fifth shot. Calder sculpture. Almost done kids. One more to go!

Little sister decided she would emulate the homeless and take up residence in Calder Plaza.

A painted wall as we walked toward the final shot. Big cities are so awesome.

My three footprint hunters after they found the final. It was a long and whiny road back to our vehicle.

And when we got to our vehicle - look what we found! It took us a bit longer than we anticipated. I hope that when we go back for Art Prize the kids are a little more excited about walking around. Maybe if we get them out of school for the afternoon like we did last year. Even tired feet are better than sitting in class! In hindsight, we could have planned it out much better. We ended up back tracking a lot and could have streamlined our route. It was an adventure in the city - someday we will look back and have a good laugh.

Pink! Pink! Pink!

2011-08-24T21:12:00.005-04:00

There has been a pink glow coming from our upstairs for a few days now. It is not a new nightlight or the beams of a beautiful sunset. It is the reflection of light off the walls of Hailey's new big girl room.

After over ten years, the nursery is no more. The yellow paint has been covered with pink. The flashcard border has been removed and thrown away. The ABC themed accessories have been packed into a box in hopes that Hailey or one of the boys' wives with exquisite taste will want to use them in their own nurseries some day. And just for the record, I wasn't sad - it was time - our four and a half going on twelve year old needed a space that was her own.

We bought two colors of pink. The one I call bubblegum and the other can only be described as fuchsia. My vision was two walls one color, two walls the other. The painter (Daddy) and the little girl that would inhabit the room had a different idea. At the end of the job we had one wall a sweet bubblegum color and three walls fuchsia-riffic. It looks good - just a bit on the dramatic side.

Little by little we are trying to get the room completely together. We don't have anything on the walls yet. I have a couple of projects that I am working on for that. I am looking for a new or upcycled bookcase for her. We went through her books and I was very impressed at how many "baby-baby" titles she was willing to part with. Today I have been painting a dresser that I bought at an estate sale white and spray painting the clothes hooks that were on her door and closet door pink. I still want Daddy to make her a platform for her bed.

She is thrilled with it and is so proud to show it off to anyone that comes over. Little by little we are making progress - finding things here and there. The fun is in the hunt anyway!

On a whim...

2011-08-17T19:28:00.004-04:00

My "to do" list is a mile long and growing.

Our list of summer projects that we wanted to accomplish has one thing crossed off of it.

We are rapidly running out of time in the summer of 2011 and that is exactly why we didn't worry about any of the "lists" and decided on a whim that an afternoon at the beach was in order - black paint all over our bodies be damned!

I am so glad that we did. The breeze was just enough so that you never felt hot. The waves were just big enough that the kids had a ball playing in them and I never feared that they may be in danger.

I promise that Evan really does eat. Even though this picture makes it appear that he doesn't.

Ev was his old self today. He has had some issues this summer. At times he seems to be becoming more of an introvert and I have no idea why. But today, he was laughing and getting along with his siblings and smiling for my camera every time he saw it pointed his way. The two of us even went on a short walk to scout out some locations for a shoot I have later this week. I snapped shot after shot of him and he would ask me "Did I look good in that one?" So funny.

The kids are in love with my old boogie boards. I am so glad Trent never convinced me to sell them. Now I am on the lookout for a third! Hailey wants her own!

Hailey has not taken a nap for the past three or four days. I fear our napping days are behind us. She was tired today though. She crawled up on me with her towel and her yummy fingers.

On our walk Evan found a piece of a bike tire tube. Of course he brought it home with him. Some things about him will never change!

Oh Summer! Why do you have to go so soon?

Her eyes...

2011-08-15T14:46:00.009-04:00

Sometimes when I see her eyes all I can hear is Bruno Mars' song in my head. I still have no idea where those eyes came from.

The theme this week at i heart faces is beautiful eyes. Head on over there and check out some stunning photos by some amazing photographers.

Trick of the trade

2011-08-10T21:23:00.005-04:00

I was editing pictures today from a recent photo gig and was very excited to learn a new photo trick. I have noticed that when I look at the pictures that I put on my blog, they don't look as crisp on the blog as they do in the pictures folder. I found out today that there is a little trick known as sharpening for web.

I decided to try it on two of my favorite photos from our vacation. I know I will have many more favorites. I haven't even begun to sort through the over seven hundred pictures I took on our eight days away from home. Gulp! How many rolls of film would that have been back in the day? I used to shoot mainly rolls of twenty four - so we are talking about around twenty nine rolls of film. A little excessive? Maybe.

Anyway here they are. SOOC shot:

Sharpened for web shot. I don't see a lot of difference here. I am wondering if it was because I had such a long exposure to catch the waterfall. I still love this shot.

I loved this picture the instant I took it. It is so hard to catch moments like this between these two. SOOC shot:

Sharpened for web shot. Holy smokes what a difference! I almost think it is too sharp. Hailey's hair looks a little "solid" or something.

Another thing to add to my pile of stuff to do. It is always fun to learn something new!

Refuge in the river

2011-07-25T10:03:00.002-04:00

"Eventually, all things merge into one and a river runs through it."

-Norman Maclean

We spent an overnight last week at the cabin. If I claim Lake Michigan as my "strength" - this would be Trent's - the Pere Marquette river. Though the water only gets to fifty something degrees (in the summer) he has walked in this river from the months of March through October.

And his children are following in his footsteps.

It was over cast and over ninety degrees outside and the water was so cold that there was a layer of mist above the river. As the sun started to come out and burn off the mist, Spencer noticed it was disappearing. When we asked him why we thought that was he answered "Because we are getting too close to it?". We all had a good laugh.

Evan is always on the hunt for "treasures". Even treasures covered with algae.

Little sister is getting brave in the water.

In the evening Trent casted off the dock a few times and Evan was thrilled to run into the cabin and let us know that for the first time ever (debatable...) a fish was caught off the dock.

Since no one was around, little sister thought running around in her unders would keep her cooler.

We brought up a little TV that the boys could use for their plug n' play games. This kept them very entertained in the late evening and early morning.

For additional morning entertainment, Spencer performed some cereal balancing tricks on his sleeping brother.

It was so hot up north that we couldn't stand the thought of another night without our air conditioning. Neither could Dickens and Hailey.

We also took an awesome rafting trip on the river. It was the first time we had ever done that with the kids and it was a great time. I bought a disposable camera at the rental place for $16.50 (gasp!) and took some shots on the river. If I ever figure out how to get them developed (does anyone even do that anymore???) I will post them.

Pickles are good and so are days spent at the cabin!

Bounty

2011-07-22T19:10:00.001-04:00

We picked some beans from our garden today. Ten beans. Ten beans is all we have to show for all of our work so far. I had to put up more netting today because now I think the rabbits are getting in and nibbling on the budding vegetables. I think we have managed to keep the deer away with our net system, but the whole thing looks like some complex fish trap and it is extremely hard to get near the plants and weed and do whatever else we have to do on a daily basis. Inspect for remains of what critters ate the night before is what it seems like we do mostly.

I keep reminding myself that this is the first year we have tried this and eventually we will figure out what we are doing. I hope we get more than our ten beans out of this garden or I am not so sure.

The beans were really good. The kids and I each devoured our two and a half beans a piece. I guess that makes it seem pretty worth it.

Bike time!

2011-07-16T09:57:00.000-04:00

Look who learned how to ride a two wheeler! He was so close last year, I really thought that he would get it before Spencer did. He just lacked confidence in himself. He still mastered it two full years younger than Spencer was.

My kids are not that crazy about bike riding. Except for Hailey - she is loco about riding her bike. In fact, I think I may try her on the two wheeler this summer. I bet she will almost be able to do it.

We gently "pushed" him into practicing two wheels by telling him that if everyone could ride bikes, one of these nights we could pedal to the ice cream place.

Isn't the teaching of bike riding traditionally a "dad" job? So far I have taught both boys how to ride. I have been the one running in the street with my hand on a kids' shirt. A mother's work is never done.

Once he mustered up his confidence and got his balance, he was riding around like a champ. It also didn't hurt that I told him if he could ride it I would run down the slip and slide fully clothed.

He still has some practicing to do with getting his balance when he first gets on the bike, but once he gets going he cruises. We are so proud of him and he is pretty proud of himself too.

I had to include this picture of bikini clad sister riding her bike. Who dresses these kids anyway? Did you catch what Evan had on? A Hawaiian party shirt, mesh shorts and orange Crocs. Cutting edge.

So I had to go on the slip and slide fully clothed. The boys were so excited. They asked if they could tape it and put it on YouTube. Hailey was just afraid I would break the "slippy slide". Can you feel the love?

Cue the game hecklers and get out your money...

2011-07-10T20:00:00.014-04:00

We have been busy. I am using that as an excuse to why I have been so bad at keeping up with the blog. It is true though. Now that we are finished with swimming lessons and t-ball and baseball, I think things will finally start to mellow out a bit.

We did manage to squeeze into our busy schedule a trip downtown to the festival midway. The kids were so excited for this. We told them we would go on Friday since it was dollar day and that is really the only way we would ever go in the first place with three kids wanting to ride every ride they see. Friday also happened to be the last day of swimming for Evan and Hailey. As we sat at the pool and watched them show off their strokes and play around in the pool, I wanted nothing more than to jump in with my clothes on. It was so hot! I felt like I was going to pass out sitting next to the pool, I had no desire to go kicking around a carnival in that kind of heat. I tried my best to lure the kids to the beach instead but they were having none of it.

Off to the carnival we went. It is always funny to me how I can gauge my kids growth each year by how tall they measure on the "safe to ride" signs posted on each ride. This year Spencer was tall enough for every ride, Evan was the next level down - just barely - next year he will be able to ride whatever he wants with his big brother. Hailey was hot on their heels - little sister has some long legs.

The boys went on the swing for the first time. Evan is in the red seat (touching the rail in this picture). Spencer is just on the outside of him.

I love the pictures I can get of them on this little roller coaster. Hailey was tall enough to ride this with them and she was going to but then chickened out at the last minute.

I can't get enough of the gap in Evan's mouth. He lost one of his top front teeth last week. His smile is so cute I can hardly stand it.

Hailey was content to ride the smaller rides all on her own. She loved puttering by on the little train.

This is a ride that we haven't seen before. They strap in like they are hang gliding and then fly around in a circle. The boys went on this twice. They loved it!

That is them at the top of the photo. I really have to work on not being an overprotective mom at things like this. My first instinct is to tell them that they can't ride it because it is probably put together crappily and they might fly off into the sky and crash. Cue the Scarlett O'Hara mantra....

Spencer and Dad on the ferris wheel. We all went on this ride together - maybe for the last year. The kids are getting so big that next year we may have to split up.

Hailey was starting to get really tired and hot at this point. I really can't blame her - I was in dire need of a sno cone myself.

One of the favorite rides is the Himalaya. This is another one that I love to take pictures off. The expressions on their faces are priceless!

While the boys threw away their money on junk - I mean tried their luck at the games, Hailey and I used up the last of the tickets on the carousel. She had the whole thing to herself.

The kids had a ball, we didn't melt and we were out of there in about two hours. All in all a pretty good day at the festival!

Out of hiding

2011-07-07T20:40:00.005-04:00

Hailey's doll - Mirabel Baby - has been missing for quite a while. Every time I would ask her where she was she would get a weird look on her face and tell me that she didn't know. I wasn't too concerned about it. I figured she was somewhere in the wreckage of the tornado that goes through our basement on a weekly basis.

Today as I was trying to put a dent into cleaning the office, I found her shoved into a corner under the work table. I pulled her out and immediately realized the reason for the weird look on Hailey's face.

Apparently she thought Mirabel Baby needed to wear some make up since she was growing up. Luckily the "make up" came off without too much effort and she has promised to not color or write on her dolls anymore.

I tell you, that girl...I know she is not too into dolls, but I always thought that it would be her brothers destroying her stuff.

Time to purge the Post-its.

2011-06-27T18:55:00.004-04:00

I have so many things I feel like I need to post about. A whirlwind trip to Chicago. An early summer visit to the cabin which involved an Evan photo shoot. A potentially championship winning baseball season and of course general summer awesomeness.

But I am overwhelmed. So for now I am clearing some papers from my desk and posting some of Hailey's greatest quips from the last few months.

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Bringing in her Belle doll for school show and tell -

Mom: What are you going to tell your class about Belle?

Hailey: That she used to be Belle but she is not Belle anymore. Now she is a new girl named Hodel.

She was a bit confused that the girl student that played "Belle" in last year's musical Beauty and the Beast was now playing "Hodel" in Fiddler on the Roof.

------------------------------------------------------

To understand this, you have to realize that the way they signal for the Cub Scouts to be quiet is to hold their arm up in the air with two fingers raised to form a "v". When the Scouts see this they do the same and know to pay attention.

We were in the car listening to the Kid's Bop CD and I was singing along.

Hailey: Mom! Be quiet! Stop singing!

Mom keeps on singing.

Hailey: Mom? Do you see my hand in the mirror?

I look into the rear view and see her arm raised and hand making the scout signal.

Hailey: That means for you to BE QUIET!

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Lately in church Hailey doesn't want to go to Sunday school with the big kids. She wants to sit in the under three nursery with the babies.

Mom: What did you learn in church tonight? Or didn't you learn anything because you played with the babies instead of going to big kid church?

Hailey: I learned something!

Mom: What did you learn?

Hailey: I learned that you have to be careful with babies!

I hope she didn't learn that the hard way!

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The evening after a night time thunderstorm -

Hailey: Mom? Is God gonna bowl tonight?

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Hailey: Are robbers nocturnal?

Mom: Are what nocturnal?

Hailey: Robbers?

Mom: Robbers are just regular people. But naughty people.

Hailey: Then why do they come out mostly at night?

Evan: Because it's way easier to steal stuff in the dark!!!!

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Hailey: Are we going to go to a well soon?

Mom: A what?

Hailey: A well. You know where your dreams come true?

Mom: Oh, you mean like a wishing well.

Hailey: Yeah. When are we going to go to a wishing well?

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We took the kids to a community theatre production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Ever since Hailey has been obsessed with it. While going through VHS tapes for our garage sale I found a version of it starring Donny Osmond and a Veggie Tales version called The Ballad of Little Joe.

Hailey: I want to watch Joseph. Not the pickle Joseph but the real guy.

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The comments that gave me the final push to join a gym.

Hailey: Mom is there a baby in your belly? Cause your belly is really fat.

While watching a video of Hailey's class that her teacher made.

Mom: See if you can find your fat lump of a Mama in the show.

Spencer: You're not fat Mom!

Hailey: Yes she is!

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Mom: Come here I need to put bug spray on you.

Hailey: Why?

Mom: So the mosquito's don't get you.

Hailey: Can you put coyote spray on me too so coyotes don't get me?

So true

2011-06-24T14:34:00.002-04:00

Trent may not be a stay at home dad, but he is also that dad - and I couldn't be more grateful and his children could not be any more lucky.

A father's day wish: Dads, wake the hell up!

(CNN) -- The woman started crying.

I didn't expect this, because, well, why would I? We were two adults, standing in a preschool auditorium, waiting for the year-end musical gala to begin, talking summer plans and Twitter and junk fiction and all things mindless parents talk at mindless events. Then -- tears.

"My husband," she said, "doesn't care."

"Uh, about what?" I asked.

The floodgates now open, she told me her husband works from home. But he never drops their daughter off at preschool. He never picks their daughter up at preschool. He never wakes up with their daughter, never puts her to bed, never takes her to a movie or a carnival or a ball game; never comes up with fun daddy-daughter activities. "All he worries about is golf," the mother said. "Sometimes he'll take her to the driving range for an hour. But that's it. ..."

Two days later, by mere coincidence, a different mother cornered me. I was sitting in a pizzeria with my son, Emmett, and daughter, Casey, gnawing on a calzone. The woman, another preschool regular who always seems to be dragging around her kids with the worn look of a chain gang inmate, glanced my way and muttered, "My husband would never do that."

"Do what?" I asked.

"Be out alone with both of the kids at once," she said. "Never."

In case you are wondering, I am that dad. The one who works out of the house. The one who drives his kids to school, packs lunches and pushes swings and arranges play dates and attends teacher conferences and -- generally speaking -- frequently finds himself alone in brightly colored rooms filled with women and tykes.

Along with my wife (who, until recently, also worked from home), I wipe snot, clean poop, order time outs and say no -- Really, no! I'm being serious, no! -- to the damned ice cream man and his Satanic siren call. I know all of my kids' friends, and most of their tendencies (Ashley and Emily love dolls, Lucas only wants to talk about Derek Jeter, Tyler digs applesauce).

Hence, I have been sent here today, on behalf of the stay-at-home mothers of the world, to convey to my fellow pops a message of love and hope in this lead-up to Father's Day: Wake the hell up.

Really, wake the hell up. Now. I understand that most of you have 9-to-5 jobs, that you leave tired and come home tired and just wanna chill in front of SportsCenter with a bowl of chips. But, seriously, you have no remote idea: Being a stay-at-home parent is exhausting. At the office, you can hide. You can take lunch. You can pretend you're working while scrolling the Internet for Yankees-Blue Jays and, ahem, Lindsay Lohan news. You have genuine social interactions with folks over the age of, oh, 12. People ask questions about your day -- and listen to the answers.

I envy you, but I sort of pity you. Kids grow. Age 1 turns to age 3, which turns to age 7, which turns to 15 and 18 and 21, all in the blink of an eye. If you're there, as I am, it flies. If you're not there -- if you're almost never there -- it barely exists at all. Which is why I just can't stomach those millions of dads who view their days at home as recovery from work, who'd rather rest than engage, who have no problem with passing the tykes off for more alone time with mom and who, literally, moan to their wives, "You have no idea how hard I work."

For you, I offer these 10 commandments of righteous fatherhood. Pay close attention, because, behind your back, people are pitying your wife:

1. No golf on weekends: Seriously, it's ludicrous. Your spouse is home with the kids all the time, and you think it's OK to take five hours on a weekend day to pursue your own pastime? Selfishness, thy name is Father.

2. Wake up: Literally, wake up. With your kids. On at least one of the two weekend days -- and perhaps both. I know: you wake up early for work. Not even remotely the same thing. Rising alongside the kiddies is hard. And crazy. And (gasp!) sorta fun, if you'd just stop moping.

3. Change diapers: If you have little kids, and you don't know how to change diapers (or, even worse, refuse to change diapers), you're pathetic. That's no exaggeration -- p-a-t-h-e-t-i-c. It's not all that hard, and though the poop sometimes winds up on the fingers, well, uh, yeah. It just does. Wash your hands.

4. Play with dolls and paint your toenails: How many fathers do I know who refuse to get girlish with their girls? Dozens. Dude, put aside the machismo, break out Barbie and slather on some pink polish. You'll make a friend for life -- and nobody else is watching.

5. Do things you don't want to do: It's easy to take the kids to the driving range -- because you want to be there. Now try spending the day having a tea party at American Girl. Or crawling through one of those wormholes at the nearby kiddie gym. Fun? Often, no. But this isn't about you.

6. Order the wife to bug off: I recently met a mother who told me her husband hadn't been alone with their 9-year-old daughter for more than two hours ... ever. Inexcusable. Let your wife do her own thing: relax, take a run, whatever. Entertain your children solo. They don't bite (Note: CNN.com is not liable if your children do, in fact, bite).

7. Surprise! Just once, on a random day without meaning or purpose, show up early at your kid's school/camp/wherever, say "Get in the car!" and take him/her somewhere special. Just the two of you, alone. A movie. A park. A hike. The memory lasts -- I promise.

8. Dishes Don't Clean Themselves (Nor Do Toys): It's amazing how this one works. You pick up a dish, run it under hot water with some soap, rub it down with a towel and place it back on the shelf. Then repeat.

9. Wake up your kid: Not often. But if you want to score big points and create a killer memory moment, walk in Junior's room at, oh, midnight, wake him/her up and go outside for 10 minutes to watch the stars.

10. For God's sake, tell your kids you love them: They never see you, and they'd probably like to know.

Bud, as you read this your wife is expecting little -- and your kids are expecting even less. Pull one out of the blue. Make Father's Day less about you, and all about them.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jeff Pearlman.

Solstice

2011-06-21T21:08:00.009-04:00

We celebrated the summer solstice and tried to escape from the crazy heat and humidity by having Grama take us to the yacht club pool.

Hailey showed off her new swimming skills. She started lessons yesterday.

Spencer and Evan dove for torpedoes and little magnetic fish.

Evan did cannonballs off the side and tried to coax Hailey into jumping in off the side. She is still a little nervous to have her whole head submerged.

It was a great day at the pool. We are eager to get into Lake Michigan, but the temperatures have been frigid. I think today it was fifty eight or something equally as numbing, odd for the middle of June.

Jim Halpert

2011-06-20T21:04:00.000-04:00

I absolutely love it when Spencer's hair grows out into this "John Krasinski" style. It is a fleeting window of time between this look that is perfect for him and a head full of way too much hair.

No more pencils, no more books...

2011-06-14T10:25:00.007-04:00

Today was the last day of school for the boys.

Spencer has been talking about riding his bike to school for a while now. Since Trent was finished with school last Friday and was home, he offered to ride with the Spencer and give Evan a lift to make that wish come true.

It was kind of funny because the night before when I was tucking Evan into bed, I told him to get a good nights rest because he didn't want to be tired on his last day. He told me "I will Mom, but I am not so sure about this riding bikes to school business". I told him that if he wanted to take the bus or me to drive him I would. He opted for the biking.

And he was fine with it by morning.

Riding off to the end of another year of elementary school. Are you ready summer? Because here we come!

Somewhere only we know

2011-06-09T13:44:00.010-04:00

I walked across an empty land

I knew the pathway like the back of my hand

I felt the earth beneath my feet

Sat by the river and it made me complete

Oh simple thing, where have you gone?

I'm getting old and I need something to rely on

So tell me when you're gonna let me in

I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

I came across a fallen tree

I felt the branches of it looking at me

Is this the place we used to love?

Is this the place that I've been dreaming of?

Oh simple thing, where have you gone?

I'm getting old and I need something to rely on

So tell me when you're gonna let me in

I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

And if you have a minute, why don't we go

Talk about it somewhere only we know?

This could be the end of everything

So why don't we go somewhere only we know?

Somewhere only we know

Oh simple thing, where have you gone?

I'm getting old and I need something to rely on

So tell me when you're gonna let me in

I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin

And if you have a minute, why don't we go

Talk about it somewhere only we know?

This could be the end of everything

So why don't we go? So why don't we go?

Oh, this could be the end of everything

So why don't we go somewhere only we know?

Somewhere only we know

-Keane

I can feel the change in the air. The excitement that the school year is days from being over. Which also means that our beach days are soon to be over as well. We will certainly go to the beach in a traditional sense this summer, but these days of solitude - days of only us are coming to an end. There is just something magical about walking to the beach in the afternoon and looking down that stretch where sand and water meet and seeing no one. No people in our favorite spot, no dogs running around wet and shaking water on us, no screams from a group of boys coming down to cool off in the water.

I realized the other day as I took these pictures of Hailey how fleeting- not only these days, but the years are. It hit me that we only have two more years of this. As I sat and tried to recall all the days and years we have been doing this I found a pattern. It all started with me and Spencer. And then there were two as Evan was added to our little group. For only one year, I had all three kids down there. Then Spencer started school full time and it was just me and Evan and Hailey. And now just her - back to one again - and I am starting to mourn the fact that those days are numbered.

This beach has always been my safe haven, Trent calls it my strength alluding to the fact that it is in a way my "Tara". I can see the same feelings toward the beach starting with my kids, and I love that. We are so lucky to have such a place only footsteps from our door.

We will hope for lovely weather for our last day at our beach before the kids get out of school and to quote Jimmy Buffett "the circus comes to town". If the weather cooperates and the wind is not too strong maybe we will even bring a picnic lunch and relish for the afternoon - somewhere only we know.

Still a few years from the DMV

2011-06-08T16:09:00.010-04:00

On the last morning of a week spent with visiting cousins, we got the Jeep out and running. Hailey's driving skills had improved immensely from the last time she drove it in the fall.

Mirabel watched Hailey driving around the yard with a look of intrigue. When Hailey asked her if she wanted a ride she answered with a still unsure "no".

I love this picture that shows Hailey about to take off and Mira changing her mind and deciding that she did want a ride.

I am already dreading the amount of trouble that these little girls will be getting into in twelve (hopefully more) years when they can drive a real car. Sure they look all sweet and innocent here, but these two are firecrackers.

Mira quickly got over her apprehension and decided that she wanted to try out her mad driving skills. She did a good job for her first time behind the wheel. She had a little trouble steering and was terrified of going into the road to turn around even though I stood out there to be a watch and guard them from cars. That's fine by me, better to be safe than sorry.

This picture makes me laugh because of the size difference in these two girls. They are only a year apart. This photo makes Hailey look like an Amazon woman.

Hailey's reaction to driving the Jeep at full speed - five miles per hour. She drove it fast for a few rounds then asked me to make it go slow again. I guess my girl is not a speed junkie - again, not a bad thing in my opinion.

It was fun watching these two interact with the Jeep. I just wish we had hauled it out a few days sooner.

Time marches on (again!!)

2011-05-26T14:28:00.007-04:00

Today was Hailey's last day of three year old preschool. I swear it seems like she just started last week. Crazy.

I took her "last day" pictures on Tuesday because that was her last actual day of class. Today we were supposed to meet at a park for a little farewell picnic. Unfortunately it was raining and cold so the picnic took place in her classroom and they got to go hang out in the gym instead of on a fantastic play set.

I am kind of stunned at the differences I see in her nine months later. When school started she still sort of had some babyish qualities. Not anymore - my baby is suddenly a little girl.

A little girl with long legs. Where on Earth did she get those? She is one of the oldest in the three year old classes and nearly the tallest. My future supermodel loved riding around on the big wheels and scooters today - showing off for all the parents.

Her first year of school is now in the books. It was a great year. She loved almost every minute of it. She hugged her teacher goodbye and is ready for summer - if only it would warm up around here!

Cookies for sale!

2011-05-24T14:50:00.008-04:00

We had a garage sale this past weekend. We have had a lot of garage sales. We are pretty much garage sale experts by now, but this garage sale was different. This garage sale was a massive undertaking because this was the sale at which I sold ALL of my baby boys clothes from birth to size four toddler. Needless to say after the past week and weekend, I was emotionally and physically exhausted.

The kids, especially Evan, were super excited about our sale because they wanted to sell cookies and lemonade. I bought two packs of the chocolate chip cookies that all you have to do is slap them on the pan and baked them. I mixed up a batch of bright red cherry drink. They made signs advertising their goodies for a quarter a piece, anticipating how much money they would have by the end of the sale.

The morning of the sale came and they got out the little picnic table and readied their little stand. And then they sat there, like bumps on a log and wondered why no one wanted to buy anything from them. My kids are not aggressive. Their father and I are not aggressive, in your face type of people, so there is no way for them to have learned that kind of personality trait from us. If they have inherited it in any way from any other family gene, it was not showing up on this particular morning.

I told them all they had to do was ask people if they wanted a drink or a cookie and someone would buy something. No one with any kind of heart can pass up a kid selling cookies. Especially a cute kid. None of them wanted to ask - they wanted me or Daddy to ask and we told them that it was their stand, they had to do the selling.

Spencer came up with the idea that Evan should take the signs off of the table and tape them to himself in sandwich board style. He was sure that Evan walking around and advertising would get them a line up in no time. He also told Evan to shout "Cookies for sale!" as he walked, but Evan said he was too shy to do that, so he just walked with signs taped to his shirt.

After about an hour with their only customers being themselves and their mommy, I had to take Miss Fur Real Pony to her soccer game.

But not before she ate up some of the profits.

An hour later when we got home from the soccer game, things had picked up dramatically on the cookie selling front. Evan was still walking around with signs taped to his shirt but was now carrying the cookies around and yelling "Cookies for sale! Fresh cookies for sale!" Their inventory had really dwindled in the hour or so we were gone. Evan was thrilled with the sales they were making and asked me if I wanted to know how he got over his fear. When I told him I would love to know, he said he just started by saying "Cookies for sale" in his head over and over and just started saying it louder and louder until he was really saying it. I guess it worked because every time someone new came into our driveway he walked right up to them with his tray of cookies and yelled "Cookies for sale!" right at them.

He was out of merchandise in no time. Like I told him, no one can resist a cute little boy asking them if they want to buy a cookie.

Yellow

2011-05-23T16:19:00.005-04:00

The theme at i heart faces this week is yellow.

I knew I had just the right shot.

Helper

2011-05-17T10:20:00.007-04:00

I got home from running some errands yesterday evening and discovered the Hailey had decided to give me a hand pricing items for our garage sale. I guess the tractor beam-ish pull of the little green price tag stickers sitting out was just too much for her to resist.

Fifteen dollars for that glass candle holder - a good deal don't you think? The copper sculptures had stickers that said fifty and twenty five percent off on them. Mind you they didn't say fifty or twenty five percent off of what though. My favorite was the dog coffee mug with the sticker on it that said "Make offer".

Looks like some good prices for some pumpkin sippy cups that will most likely find their way into the garbage can late Saturday afternoon.

She obviously thinks her little pink potty holds great value with a sticker price of twenty dollars. The other potty underneath it is only worth a dollar to her.

These three tables hold almost every item of clothing I have acquired for my boys - at least the items from birth to five years old. I saved some of my favorite things and am down to one bin full instead of ten. It hasn't been quite as hard to get rid of these things as I feared it would be. Of course I am sort of sporting the Scarlett O'Hara attitude right now and not really thinking about it too much as I do it. This weekend when people start buying the stuff, it might be harder. Especially if they plan on dressing animals in it. Last year at my garage sale I had a woman that bought a bunch of my baby blankets. Not my favorite blankets, ones that had mostly been in the car or diaper bags for emergencies and whatnot. Anyway when she came up to pay me she told me how excited she was to have them because they would be perfect for her ferrets. I seriously could not even think about ferrets using blankets that I had wrapped my kids in without wanting to cry. I'm not going to think about that today, I'll think about that tomorrow.

Anyway, back to my little helper. I should have known something was up with her last night when she didn't get out of bed her normal thirty five times before falling asleep. She only got up once and came downstairs and informed us that she couldn't go to sleep because she was Princess Rockstar.

I swear this girl has more energy than the other four of us combined! Princess Rockstar indeed!

Field of gold

2011-05-16T13:13:00.014-04:00

Tis May; and yet the March flower Dandelion
Is still in bloom among the emerald grass,
Shining like guineas with the sun's warm eye on--
We almost think they are gold as we pass,
Or fallen stars in a green sea of grass.
They shine in fields, or waste grounds near the town.
They closed like painter's brush when even was.
At length they turn to nothing else but down,
While the rude winds blow off each shadowy crown.

Excerpt from "A Rhapsody"
Source: "Poems Chiefly From Manuscript, by John Clare

While her brothers were at tennis lessons, little sister could not resist frolicking in the dandelions. I was really glad that I had my camera in the car.

A first

2011-05-10T10:37:00.004-04:00

Spencer rode his bike to a friend's house for the first time yesterday. My boy who just learned to ride a two wheeler a year ago. It was strange. There was not a lot of thought or long drawn out decision making about when is the right age and time to ride your bike somewhere on your own. A friend of his from school rode over on his bike and wondered if Spencer could ride over to his house and play. Spencer really wanted to go. I told him that he would have to ride on the sidewalk all the way and there was a kind of busy street that he would have to ride on. With cars on it. Going fast. I know Mom! I will be careful Mom!

Watching him ride off down our hill my brain just starts reeling and having a conversation within itself. Is he old enough to do this? Sure he is, he is almost ten! You were riding your bike to 7-11 at his age! Will he be aware of what is going on around him? Be on the defensive? Does he even know the way home? Sure he knows the way home, it is the street just past the beach. He has walked it a million times.

Even though I convinced myself it was OK. I still called Trent to have him convince me it was OK. He did. He told me he would be riding his bike a lot to places in the coming years and it was probably time to set the boundaries on how far he could go on his bike.

It is hard to fathom my baby boy - independent - able to get himself from here to there on his own. As he took off down the rode yesterday it felt literally like a piece of my heart was riding away. I know I am a worrier, but it is so hard to let go of your kids and let them do some growing up without you. I am not ready for them to be this old.

It turns out he did know the way home. And even though I was tentative in the beginning, I was very proud of him when he walked in the door all red faced and sweaty from riding.

MVP

2011-05-05T10:48:00.002-04:00

Evan got to bring home the game ball from his baseball game last night. I heard the coach say to the team while they were huddled. "Evan had three hits. No outs. And he scored a run. Evan gets to bring home the game ball. Let's hear it for Evan". Then everyone on the team started clapping for him and giving him high fives.

I don't know if bringing home the game ball really means that you are that night's MVP. But I am going to think it does.

He was pretty excited about his game ball, but even more excited about his new team hat which is exactly the same hat that Boston Rob wears on Survivor. Kids are funny.

If the suit fits...

2011-05-04T09:01:00.009-04:00

Evan is my most intense kid. He takes things very seriously and that is how he lives his life. Most of the time. I love when he decides to let loose - even though his letting loose involves some pretty serious dress up costumes

Even costumes that are made for a four year old to wear that he insists still fit him.

Fits like a glove don't you think?

Later he turned in the Batman suit for a Ninja get up. Little sister princess decides she wants to get in on the make believe action as well.

They were playing very nicely together. The sword near her head is just supposed to add drama to the picture. I think anyway....

Who's that girl?

2011-05-03T09:45:00.005-04:00

These are some of my latest favorite photos. I can't get over how different my little girl looks with long, dark hair. She makes me laugh and so do these pictures.

I am trying to clean up my photo files and I found a bunch of pictures that I meant to post but never got around to it. You know with being busy with soccer, baseball, scouts and tennis every night of the week on top of everything else that comes along in our daily life. So this week I am going to try to play catch up and get some of those oldies but goodies on here. In reality they are not that old - a month maybe - when I think how far behind on my scrap booking I am, it makes this blog look up to the minute. Evan just turned one year old in my scrapbooks. He will be seven in five days.

Does anyone else think she looks a bit like Bella Swan in this wig or is it just me? I need to have her work on her pout and jutting her chin out, then she would be a dead ringer.

Dance party, dance, dance party!

2011-05-02T18:15:00.007-04:00

One night last week it was rainy. Super rainy. So rainy that they closed the golf course where Trent plays his league because it was flooded.

The kids were antsy. Super antsy. So antsy that only one thing was going to shake their sillies out.

A dance party.

We had tickets to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat a few days later so I figured I would put on that CD so that they could get familiar with the music.

My kids are big music fans. They didn't just dance to the music - they performed the songs! I had to get out my camera because they were beyond funny to me.

Spencer with a winter hat and umbrella. Maybe some sort of homage to Singin' in the Rain?

Evan is a very intense dancer.

Hailey just goes with the flow. She dances her little heart out and lip syncs very dramatically to the songs. She has a flair for the theatrical reminiscent of her oldest brother.

They all loved the Joseph show. I am glad that I can finally switch out the CD in my car from Fiddler on the Roof. I am glad they are learning to love musical theatre at a young age. I think it is very important for kids to be familiar with theatre while they are young. My mom always took us to shows when we were little. My sister and I used to act out songs and scenes while dancing around our living room. We played records on a record player that was almost as big as a couch. Technology is amazing isn't it? We could entertain ourselves that way for hours. It is fun to see my own kids doing the same thing.

Easter

2011-04-25T16:25:00.001-04:00

When the sun starts to rise

And I open my eyes

You are good, so good

In the heat of the day

With each stone that I lay

You are good, so good

With every breath I take in

I'll tell you I'm grateful again

When the moon climbs high

Before each kiss goodnight

You are good

When the road starts to turn

Around each bend I've learned

You are good, so good

And when somebody's hand

Holds me up helps me stand

You are so good

With every breath I take in

I'll tell You I'm grateful again

'Cause its more than enough

Just to know I am loved

And You are good

So how can I thank You

What can I bring

What can these poor hands

Lay at the feet of a King

I'll sing You a love song

It's all that I have

To tell You I'm grateful

For holding my life in Your Hands

When it's dark and it's cold

And I can't feel my soul

You are good, so good

When the world is gone gray

And the rain's here to stay

You are still good

So with every breath I take in

I'll tell You I'm grateful again

And the storm may swell

Even then it is well and You are good

You are Good - Nichole Nordeman

Spencer and Dickens before Dickens decided to take a bite out of his face.

Evan and the bunny cupcake cake we made. He was the only kid that wanted to help me make it.

Hailey riding her new princess scooter from the Bunny. She is a fashionable scooter-er!

I love this picture of my mom and the kids. They were all laughing and look so happy.

Our Easter was low key compared to years past. We woke up and found the candy and baskets that the bunny hid. The kids were up at six fifty ready to search - I had to turn on the TV for them to get an extra half hour of rest. After breakfast consisting of pancakes and chocolate-mostly chocolate- we went to church. At church the kids got to hunt for more candy in the church gym. I am not kidding when I say that their baskets weighed about five pounds a piece. We had candy coming out of our ears! My mom came over for dinner later in the afternoon. That was all we did. A nice relaxing day. It was fabulous!

Happy Earth Day Good Friday!

2011-04-22T10:45:00.006-04:00

Man must feel the earth to know himself and recognize his values.... God made life simple. It is man who complicates it. ~Charles A. Lindbergh, Reader's Digest, July 1972

The kids were not super thrilled to pose for me this morning in their Earth Day shirts. I know it wasn't warm out, but is thirty seconds for a photo too much to ask? I just realized that the jeans that they are all wearing today came from second hand shops. How is that for Earth Day friendly? Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

Have a great Earth Day and a fabulous Good Friday. Go out and do something to better the world. To quote from one of my favorite movies Evan Almighty (Don't judge. Watch it again without the expectations that it will be an Oscar winner and with the mindset of entertainment and listening to the message it conveys.)

"How do you change the world? With small Acts of Random Kindness - ARK." ( If you haven't seen the movie, it is about a modern day guy who is told by God to build an ark - seriously, don't judge - it is really good.)

Let them buy cake

2011-04-21T10:42:00.005-04:00

Tonight was the Cub Scout cake bake. The scout bakes a cake with their parent and then brings it to the pack meeting where they auction them off. It is all to raise money for the pack and to help toward the cost of the various scout camps.

Evan wanted to make a giant cupcake with his Big Top Cupcake maker. We decorated it with blue and gold because those the the Cub Scout colors.

I had my "short" lens on for these photos and I am just amazed at the depth of field on this lens. I couldn't keep both Evan and the cake in focus - one always blurred out. It is an awesome lens.

Spencer and Trent scoured the internet for ideas for his cake. They came up with a campfire cake which would fit in with the scouting theme.

It turned out very cool. I was a little surprised that it didn't win any awards, but kids voted and kids like weird things.

Did I mention that at the auction the kids get to bid? Yeah - they do. I got there late because Hailey had soccer practice. When I arrived I saw that Trent was playing the part of auctioneer. He tried to ignore our paddle happy boys as much as possible, but they couldn't be stopped.

I knew that we would most likely come home with two cakes because we have two scouts. We walked out of the gymnasium with three cakes and fifty six dollars less than we walked in with.

And one of them was our own cake.

(Here are the happy boys with our three cakes. Also the legs of their little sister who was dipping her fingers in frosting every chance she got.)

At least it is all for a good cause right?

They don't make 'em like they used to

2011-04-19T10:26:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, my Mom gave me this shirt ( I call it a shirt, but I think it was originally meant to be a dress) for Hailey that was previously worn by me. Being that it was originally a hand me down from one of my cousins - this little number is over four decades old.

It is in fabulous condition for its age. I am not a huge vintage clothes fan for myself, but on little girls -LOVE.

This shirt is made so well. It looks home made, but it is not. There is a tag in it. It was from what I am assuming was a very trendy and not cheap store in the Chicago area.

It just goes to show you that they don't make stuff the way they used to. My kids have brand new clothes that they wear one time and then they are snagged, have strings hanging off of them or holes and tears.

Just like the fridge in our garage that I had to have the repairman come look at and found out the problem was a packing peanut stuck in the fan. He commented that the fridge was old. I told him he had no idea. That fridge was in my house when I was born - it is going on forty years. He laughed and told me that it would last longer than the fridge that I currently had in my kitchen.

Back then they made things to last is what he told me.

I guess he was right.

And bless my mom for hanging on to all these olden day gems. I guess I know where I get it from!

Morning

2011-04-18T14:15:00.005-04:00

I woke up this morning to snow on the ground, a bed that needed changing after a night time pee pee incident and dreading a trip to the grocery store with a mile long list.

Not the greatest way to start the week, but it could be a whole lot worse. My poor flowers cannot get a break. Last year it was the deer, this year they better survive this late season snowfall. I am keeping my fingers crossed and maybe getting out some old blankets for tonight.

This is the way I spend the day...

2011-04-17T15:22:00.012-04:00

In between doing dishes, putting away laundry and cleaning up whatever disaster Hailey created for me, I keep myself entertained by giving my thrift shop finds a new purpose in life. This seems to be a pretty fitting post for Earth Day week huh?

I was scouring the local thrift shops looking for a frame that I could use as a chalk board. I intended to spray the glass with chalk board paint and paint the frame whatever color I decided to go with. I looked for months and just couldn't find what I was looking for. Until one day I walked into the Goodwill and found this....

It was already a chalkboard. It was rough looking. It had scratches in the wood. I didn't like the color, but it was awesome. It was very well made, solid and even had inset hangers on the back. I bet it someone paid big bucks for it when they got it. I paid five dollars.

After re-spraying the chalkboard and painting the frame. Isn't she a beauty? I antiqued it a bit to give it a little interest. I am thrilled with how it turned out.

I hung it in the back hall with the sign my mom got me and the letter holder my sister got me for Christmas. LOVE.

On another trip to Goodwill, I came across this ugly bird sculpture that was screaming to live in a house with an old lady and her twenty seven cats.

After using up what was left of my chalkboard spray paint...

It transforms into an awesome little decoration that just looks like spring to me.

Hailey has had this letter "H" in her room for years. I have always intended to paint it or do something to it. I finally got around to it.

Much better huh? I think this summer our "nursery" will be turned into a little girls room. Poor Hailey. The boys had their "boy" rooms by the time they were three. Here she is almost four and a half and still in the ABC room. She insists that she wants her walls pink, which is fine with me. At this point I am not really thinking of doing any certain "theme" in her room, just making it girly, shabby chic and probably using the colors that are in the "H" - pinks, browns and blue.

Speaking of Hailey's room, she was in dire need of some storage. I purchased a cubical storage system from Target that helped a lot, but she needed a shelf that could be hung on the wall. Then one day while perusing a Pottery Barn Teens catalog I found what I wanted...

One hundred and twenty nine dollars. A little more than I wanted to pay for a pretty simple shelf. Knowing what would happen, I showed the picture to Trent on his first day of spring break. Within the hour he was at the Home Depot and purchased about twenty dollars worth of supplies. A few days later, she had her shelf. I love being married to a guy that knows how to build stuff!

Here is her room with her much needed storage. She insisted on helping to put stuff on the shelf, that is why the lowest shelf is filled with junk that I probably would have stuffed in the garage sale box or a drawer rather than display proudly. Oh well, it is her room.

That is what I have been up to the last few weeks. I am planning on going to buy some black paint tomorrow for my next little projects. Just wait and see!

Blast from the past

2011-04-14T09:49:00.006-04:00

The kids decided that since the weather was warming up, it was time to get out the basket of bubbles and bubble blowing paraphernalia. I had to laugh when I noticed the actual bubbles they were playing with.

These are the bubbles from our wedding - thirteen and a half years ago. We decided to have people blowing bubbles at us as we left the church instead of throwing birdseed. Trent's Mom and Dad pasted on the labels, tied on the ribbon and hot glued the roses on hundreds of those little containers. Needless to say, we had a few dozen left over. I had them in a box with our other wedding stuff for the longest time until I got into a major purge mood and put them in the garage with the rest of the bubbles from various occasions and holidays.

Sentimental or hoarder? Some days it is hard to tell.

Shadow

2011-04-11T15:18:00.006-04:00

This is one of my favorite photos. Of my favorite people. Taken at one of our favorite places. When I saw that i heart faces was featuring shadow photos this week, I knew I had to enter.

Head over to i heart faces to see more amazing shadow images.

Like a Christmas tree except for with eggs.

2011-04-09T20:29:00.005-04:00

Like a Christmas tree except for with eggs. That is how Hailey described our egg tree that we put up today. I think this may be the first year she has ever seen the egg tree. At least the first year she was ever old enough to participate. Since Easter is so late this year, we can actually put out our outside Easter decor without having to deal with snow - at least not too much snow. ( I am not even kidding when I say that parts of our neighborhood still have some small piles of the white stuff - well, gray stuff now - in their yards.)

Hailey and Evan were really into it. Spencer just wanted to climb on the ladder which was not the best idea since the tree is in soft dirt and there are numerous spots where my spring bulbs are coming up that I was yelling at them not to step on.

Hailey wanted me to take a picture of her with her hair in her mouth. She is a goofball. Oh and here she is in her "brother" jacket.

All of the eggs are pretty low, but the decorators were pretty short. There is one purple egg from years and years ago that is stuck at the top. It makes a statement.

One shot of my pretty daffodils. I am just so glad to have some flowers coming up this year. Last year they were all food for the deer.

These pictures are pretty rough and not edited at all. I have been suffering from some major sinus issues the majority of this week and while taking these pictures was ready to rip my left eye out of my head because it hurt so bad behind it. I just really wanted to get something on the blog. I feel it has taken the back burner lately. Since my head is giving me a few hours of reprieve I feel I better go try to accomplish something before I am back to wanting to drill a hole in my head to relieve the pressure.

Princess Mudpie

2011-04-01T10:17:00.004-04:00

Hailey likes to make messes. She is not what one would call a "dainty girl" - not at all. Don't get me wrong, she LOVES to wear dresses -especially her red one with the sparkles on it - but girlfriend likes to get her hands dirty. Way dirty. Now that the weather is finally starting to warm up, she has a new favorite activity.

Mud pies. Messy, messy mud pies.

I try to just let her be. She is outside. She is entertained. She will sit and play with this dirt and mud for hours. And believe me when I tell you that nothing has ever kept this girl entertained that long.

Her pink "Allie" coat got the worst of it. (She calls this coat her "Allie" coat because her cousin Allie gave it to her.) But after some soaking and applying almost a whole tube of stain stick, Allie coat is looking no worse for the wear. Now when she goes outside to play she wears an old blue "brother" coat. (She calls it her "brother" coat because it is blue and formerly belonged to her brothers - she is not a super creative namer of things.)

I am sure that our front steps don't make the best impression on guests since they are completely covered in mud and buckets of mud these days. I may need to write a note of apology to the paper man - or pay to have the carpets in his vehicle cleaned.

I told Trent that our sandbox is in great need of an overhaul. It has not had a cover on it for over a year now and is growing weeds and most likely has become the litter box of choice for all of the cats that wander to our windows to meow at Dickens. We plan to dig out all of the old sand and fill it up with some brand spankin' new Lake Michigan gold. I can see her spending the whole summer back there in her clean sandbox. Until she fills it with mud that is.

The Reader

2011-03-31T14:07:00.011-04:00

Last year at this time we were struggling. Struggling with what to do with Evan and school for this year.

After a lot of talking to friends, teachers and each other and ultimately listening to Evan and where he said he felt comfortable, we made our decision. He moved on to first grade this year and he has done fantastic.The main issues we worried about with him were reading and writing. In all other subjects he was right smack dab where he should be -with reading and writing he really struggled.

His first semester report card showed no evidence of any struggle. He presented me with the best report card I have ever seen one of my kids bring home. They are graded on a point system of one to five. Five means they are meeting expectations consistently and fours are meeting expectations most of the time, all the way down to one which is not meeting expectations. He had all fives except for one four. And he was totally bummed out about the four. I was thrilled with his grades, but a little skeptical, I mean if a kid is all fives right off the bat, where is he to go but down?

At his parent teacher conference his teacher had glowing things to say about him. She showed us writing samples that he did, and I don't think anyone could have wiped the smile off of my face. The difference in his writing in a matter of five months was unbelievable. He went from a paper with basically random letters strewn about it to complete sentences that we could read. We voiced to her our concerns from the previous spring and how we considered holding him back because of the reading and writing. She admitted to us that those subjects were not his strongest areas. He was a slow reader and lacked confidence in his abilities.

In his January report card, his grade in reading had dropped a bit. I was starting to worry a little that he was slipping behind. His teacher suggested that he needed more reading time at home. I tried to think of creative ways to get him reading. He is extremely critical of himself and very sensitive and to tell him that he has to read because he needs help in that area would totally make him shut down. So our reading time at night became the time we worked on it. I would read a book that Hailey picked out. Spencer would read his book and then Evan would read the book he picked, or we would take turns every other page if it had a lot of words. He seemed to like reading to all of us and it didn't seem out of the ordinary since Spencer was doing it as well.

A little over a month ago, something happened. One night after reading our books, he stayed in the bed with me and snuggled up and told me out of the blue that he was a good reader. I asked him if his teacher had told him that? He said "No, I just know that I am." It was like in that moment someone had flipped on a confidence switch in him. I swear I could almost see it.

His confidence started to escalate at the beginning of March - reading month. Each family in the school was sent home a copy of the book "The Indian in the Cupboard" to read aloud as a family each night. Every day the principal would call via the school wide alert system to ask a question about the chapter that was to be read that night. To say my boys loved this would be a gross understatement. This book was one of the highlights of their days. They fought over who got to answer the question and then fought over what the right answer was. They were having a "book club" at ages six and nine! I remember one night after our chapter Evan asked me "How many more chapters are there?" I told him there were four more and why did he want to know? Didn't he like the book? Was he that excited to get it over with? He replied "No! I LOVE the book! I wish it had a hundred more chapters!" By the way, I don't want to spoil the book for anyone that hasn't and wants to read it, but I was so choked up while reading the end of the book. I was trying to pull myself together but I had a huge lump in my throat and tears streaming down my face. I had to take a moment to compose myself and the kids were looking at me like I was insane. Hailey kept climbing onto the couch and patting my shoulder asking me if I was OK. I guess that is why I cried my eyes out at the end of Toy Story 3 - there's just something about kids and their toys.

Another part of reading month was a sort of contest they had at the school to get kids to read books and then have people pledge money to them that they would ultimately donate to buy books for children in Haiti. They called it "Helping Hands for Haiti". Each book you read, you write on a construction paper hand cut out and then it was displayed at the school. If you were not reading chapter books, you could read five smaller books and write them on the fingers to fill up your hand. Evan got really into this. The first night that he told me about the hands, he immediately asked if he could read some books to me. He came down from his room with a pile of them and I dug through until I found some easy readers. He read four books in no time with hardly any hang ups. I told him that he only needed one more book to fill his hand and then he could turn it in. He wanted to read another one. He ran back up to his room and came down with a book that I thought would be way too hard for him. He flew through it. He got stuck a few times, but he read it so much better than I thought he would. I was amazed. He had confidence. He knew he could do it. He gets to a word he doesn't know and I can hear him sounding it out. If the word still doesn't make sense to him, he will change the vowel sound from short to long until he figures it out. He has worked hard to get this far. I am so proud of him.

When I tuck him into bed at night he previously would play with his LEGOS or his Star Wars guys or talk to his dogs. Now he reads. Before when I would suggest that he read books or look at them on his own he would tell me "I don't want to. I can't read". Now he devours books. I will be sitting down on the couch watching TV and he will pop out of his room and yell over the stairs to me what book he just finished. My heart just swells up three sizes like that graphic of the Grinch. I can't say enough how proud I am of him.

He is a reader.

Tearing up the track

2011-03-19T14:18:00.008-04:00

Last Saturday was the Pinewood Derby. The Daytona 500 of Cub scout events. None of my boys, Trent included, are "car" guys. Spence and Ev like carving out the shape of their car and painting it whatever way they choose, but they are not thinking about aerodynamics or speed. Case in point, Evan made his car into a tank. Tanks aren't necessarily known for being speedy. Needless to say, my boys are in it for fun, not with the intent to win. Which in an event like this, is the way it should be.

Evan after racing his car down the track.

Spencer watching the races.

Spencer's turn to race his car.

Spencer and his car.

When the unimaginable happens, as it did with "Flame Thrower" two years ago, it is pretty sweet and completely genuine. Evan's "Tank Car" won second place in his Tiger division. He was a proud little guy.

Fifty

2011-03-18T14:12:00.007-04:00

It is fifty degrees outside.

There is a lot of this going on: Snow melting. Hallelujah! Don't think we didn't spread it around a little bit to get it to melt even faster. Because we did.

There is some of this going on: Tricycle riding around in the driveway.

There is a little bit of this going on: Playing chalk in the driveway. We are working on writing her name.

There is a lot of this going on: Big smiles as the realization hits that we are finally moving on to the next season.

There is also a lot of this going on: New life. I can see my little plants budding up all over the place. I even got out the Deer Stop and started spraying so they hopefully will not get munched before they have a chance to grow. The other night we saw eleven deer crossing our road and hanging out in our neighbors yard. Crazy.

There is some of this going on: Enjoying the last snow of the year. Hopefully.

There is also a lot of this going on: Tearing down and replacing of drywall.

My builder cousin has been over on our roof and in our house trying to figure out the source of our leak and fix it. They think they have it. I so pray that it is fixed. I know that my little leak and messy-out-of-order house is nothing compared to what is happening in Japan right now. When I am feeling overwhelmed by the chaos and the clutter of this, I take the time to realize how very lucky and blessed I am.

So now I am thinking about paint colors again. As long as we have to paint the wall - we might as well paint it a different color. Right?