A Whole Bunch of Things!

Yes! Christine, we have been slippin' and a slidin'!
The question of the day starts about 9am, "Can we go slip and slide?"

Sweetie Pie is 9 months old!! I cannot believe it. It can't be. She doesn't look 9 months,
can't we just pretend she is, say, only 6 months?

She loves to play with her big sisters in her soon-to-be bedroom.

My garden is starting to look beautiful and I haven't even done anything yet.

I plan to put in my garden this weekend and plant my flowers around the mailbox and in pots, which is why....

to answer everyone's question, no I will not be going to the conference this weekend.

I really do want to hear Margaret speak, really I do. But that's all. I don't want to go and be tempted to spend a bunch of money on a school year I have not given much thought to yet.

(OK, I have been looking in the catalogs a little)

We are just finishing up this year though, this week.

But, but, but.....

I'm a wuss.

I hate being away from my family. I miss the kiddos and my hubby too much.

The last time I went to the conference, we left Friday afternoon and by Saturday around 9am, I was almost in tears missing them.

Don't get me wrong, I need a break just as much as all the mamas out there, but I only need like 5-10 minutes here and there, maybe a Mass or Adoration.

SO, no, I'm not going.

My favorite summer product. These work great for babies and kiddos faces. They don't get into their eyes and they are not greasy or runny. I use the lotion for the rest of their bodies, but for faces and ears, I use these roll on's. Love them. I even remembered to bring them today....

to our much needed break! We went on a picnic to a wonderful park and had a wonderful time!

I opted for the easy Burger Time picnic and thought the $15 was well worth the convenience of it! (Hey! I packed bananas, apples and raisins)

The kiddos went frog lookin' and....

caught a turtle, who they named "Turt". They always have to name what they catch!

I love SUMMER!!!!! I love the warm sun, the beautiful flowers, going to parks every day, slip-n-slides, the smell of cut grass, sweaty necks, rosy cheeks, tan bodies, dirty feet and.....

sweet babes in strollers!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

God bless our fallen soldiers, their families and anyone who has lost a loved one.

Wordless Wednesday (Babies!)

(The lacy, cute, chubby, slobbery, happy, nakid, baby edition)

Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse's Alternate LOST Endings

Lost Final Conversation!

I thought this picture was quite ironic and kind of funny. No disrespect intended, so please don't be offended. If you have not watched the final episode, don't read on!
I was very excited last night to sit down after a long weekend away in Fargo. Some of the kids and I drove to Fargo to spend the weekend for a First Communion/Confirmation, which was wonderful.
I cried through the whole show.
Every time someone would "remember", I'd cry. It was great! I thought, "Yes! This is going to end sooooo good!" It was so fun seeing all the couples getting back together.
Poor Ben here, he was still so lost at the end of Lost. I suppose he was just like the rest of us.
The rest of us who still have a ton of questions.
SO, my biggest question is how long have they been dead?
For me, it seemed like they didn't know how to end it, so they did it this way.
For me, I loved the whole last show, until the very very end. Then I was disappointed.
Were you?

It had to end somehow and I suppose it had to end kind of like they have always ended each show, with some things answered and some things not answered.

I'm sure it will be the same way when we die, some things answered and some things not answered and it won't matter at that point.

Kiss Goodnight

Kiss Goodnight

That's the name of this print.

Oh, if it were that simple.

Bedtime is just not that simple with children.

At least not my children.

At least not my girls.

Jedi, at bedtime, gets his kiss, hug and blessing and is off to bed. Period. He's not seen again until morning.

Not so with the girls.

Who are supposed to go to bed 1/2 hour earlier than him, are rarely "in bed" by then.

Oh, we start early with them, but there are fights, "Moooooooom Babycakes is out of bed!!!" "Moooooooooooom, they won't be quiet!" "Mooooooooooom I can't sleep, I'm sooooo hot!" and the list goes on and on.

Do people really have the kind of bedtimes they show in the movies? The ones where the kids all go to sleep "Goodnight John-boy" kind of bedtimes?

Bedtime is my least patient time of the whole day. So much so that I usually do baths in the morning, because I'm patient then and allow play time.

I admit it.

After supper, I can't wait until bedtime. (for the kiddos)

I love my kiddos, but 13 1/2 hours straight with them is just, well, it's time for bed.

It's the whole getting ready thing too. My kiddos don't just go brush their teeth and put their jammies on without me telling them several times, and then asking one final time, threatening to smell their breath...."Okay, I'll brush them"

They start dancing and running, at bedtime. Why at bedtime? It never fails. They get sooo wound up at bedtime.

My ideal bedtime is jammies on, teeth brushed, bedtime stories, prayers, kisses and well, that should be it, right?

It usually ends with threats to send someone to the basement with the spiders.

I'm serious.

I wonder is it just girls? Or, is it just multiple girls?

Is it because they share a room?

Would it be better if they each had their own room, like Jedi?

(that's not happening)

Is it just my kids?

When people ask me if Sweetie Pie sleeps through the night, I have to laugh, because, does that really matter, when I have 3 other girls who each get up at least once in the night for something? Like last night, for over an hour around 1am, I was up with coughing girls, who woke each other up.

Kiss goodnight.

Sounds so simple.

What's Happening Here

Our newest member of Tae Kwon Do. (isn't she cute?)

Don't mess with my children, they can protect themselves and me!
With Daddy and 3 of the children gone Tuesday and Thursday evenings, it gives me lots of "mommy time" with Babycakes....and Sweetie Pie who is very busy these days....

....watching her sisters and brother jump on the trampoline.....

Wish I'd thought of this watching by the window before this, she loves it!

She makes just as big a mess as her sisters now, loving to dig in all the toys.

That playing wears her out though, so big sis lets her sleep on her while mama takes a shower!

When she is fussy at night and mama is busy....daddy holds her "way up in the sky" and she's happy...until he brings her down again.

She is taking lots of baths now....

....because every time she eats, she gets carrots in her hair, bananas in her eyebrows and cheerios on her bottom and legs....(the food falls down or she puts it down there)

Then, more window watching.....

Happy Wednesday everyone!

May Flowers!

Here's a quick, easy way to paint something beautiful!
The girls were so very creative!

We used scrubbers (found years ago at a dollar store), paint sponges and flower painting stamps.

I think the trick to painting with kiddos is to just BE THERE. It's not something you can set up and go blog or something. There's constantly paint to refill, hands to wipe, new papers to give out, papers to take away to dry and then clean up!