In case you wondered,

DON'T BRING THE LIZARD UPSTAIRS IN YOUR HANDS!!! Yes, I'm shouting. If you find a lizard and want to keep him for a pet, great. But, ya know, he needs to stay in his own little home. He doesn't get to roam around my home. And for what it's worth, YOU are digging worms to feed it. I have enough mouths to fill already. And...don't leave a turtle in a toddler swimming pool around a our annoying dog. Said dog will kill said turtle and make your kids cry. Then said dog will dig up your new fruit trees and make you cry. Once anyone is crying, the baby will add his sympathy cries. What a mess.

The interesting and The cute

Cute - brothers who look like brothers

Interesting - Anna & Jonah: 2 years apart in age

More interesting - Jonah & Eli: 2 years & 4 months apart in age

Mildly interesting - Eli & Sarah: 1 year & 7 months apart in age

Cute - Jonah's first lost tooth

3yo Birthday

The cake The presents: A mini American Girl doll just like Anna has and a tea set just like Anna has. Do you see a pattern?

7yo Birthday!

Baking his own cake Decorating his cake (Yes, we now have a family tradition of crazy candy cakes)

Blowing out the candles

His first birthday party! We had to reschedule it due to SNOW. Yes, snow in mid-April. Oh, well. The boys had fun with a 100% outside party. They ran and ran and ran before, between, and after our planned scavenger hunt and bonfire. They particularly loved chasing the chickens.

Girled Sandwiches

Today for lunch I asked Eli how he felt about grilled sandwiches, and he started a big ol' whine. I was rather confused because he loves grilled sandwiches. After my fog lifted I gathered that he didn't want to eat them because he thought they were called.................GIRLED SANDWICHES. He didn't want to eat a "girly" food. [Insert picture of me rolling on the floor laughing.] When my laughter died down, I assured him they were called GRILLED sandwiches and were just fine for a boy to eat. Then....behind me....a piercing 2yo little girl voice announced indignantly, "They are not GRILLED sandwiches. They are GIRLED sandwiches." She wouldn't eat her lunch unless I agreed with her. Sheesh.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can

I can't. Not yet. Tomorrow is another day.

Odds & Ends

Does this almost make you want to live here? What if you knew this was after our MARCH 23rd snowstorm? April Fools! You might think this is a hamburger patty with ketchup, peas & carrots, and french fries, but it isn't. It's really a chocolate rice krispie treat with strawberry jelly, cut up tootsie rolls, and baked cinnamon sugar apple sticks. Were you fooled? The kids were!

Uh......how did that cute baby pic get in here?

Here he is again. This time he's showing off his new sitting skills.

Making your own birthday cake is fun at 9yo. It's a little high in sugar content.

Strange Things in Life

Why would anyone consistently wear only one sock? Wouldn't that be completely and utterly annoying?Who is so lucky as to live in the town that logged the most snowfall in the last large snowstorm (as reported by CNN)? WE DO!! 20" in 24 hours

Why would clean laundry jump out of the laundry basket? Was it trying to run away?

Who gave birth to this little thing who thinks a swimming suit is appropriate, pretty attire in the dead of winter? Maybe the Christmas socks were the deciding factor. NOTE: Yes, she did wear this in public. Last week she wore a floor-length white flower girl dress to the doctor's office.

Who buys industrial sized groceries? WE DO!! Amazing. Absolutely amazing.

Yesterday was a big day!

One little girl turned a big 9-years-old Opening presents with the family.

And one littler boy wrestled in his first wrestling match. He's the blond one wearing black.

He wrestled in the 50lb weight class, and his official record is now 2-1. He won 6-4, lost 1-6, and won with a pin in the first period. He really, really liked the pin.

His biggest hurdles were having to wear underwear (!!) and the singlet. Here I must agree with him. The singlet isn't the most attractive piece of clothing.

He was fascinated with the scoreboard. He loved watched the points get added up and the timer count down. Only my Jonah.

This was his first and last match of the season. I'm not sure why, but I was surprised that the match looked exactly like a high school wrestling match - just with smaller boys. The first weight class was 45lbs, and they even had a heavy weight class. It was really cute, and yet really intense at the same time. This elementary team is open participation and yet it's kinda an invitation-only thing. I'm not sure how it all works. I just know the coaches think Jonah has talent, and they invited him to join the competitive team. This has been a big blessing for my little guy. He seems perfect for this sport, and he needs it in more ways than one.

Falling in love with

junior versions of games! Our winters seem to be a time for playing games, and I have fallen in love with the junior versions of adult games. Who knew they were worth buying? Sequence Jr is played EVERY day by someone between the ages of 8yo (who is too old for it) and 2yo (who is too young for it).

Following in Grandma Kleckner's footsteps.....

this little girl devours grapefruit. She doesn't limit it to breakfast, though!

I've been pondering lately.....and I'm not sure what to do or what to think.....is it possible to make your kids too nice? Not that mine are too nice (especially to each other), but I worry that they don't have enough spunk or enough of a tough shell. I worry that they can't let down their hair and just laugh, go with the flow. I do know that these concerns point right back to.......me. I don't laugh or let down my hair enough.........I handle my workload well, but that's not enough. Returning to pondering mode.....

At the end of the day when

the day is re-run through my mind and I'm left remembering how often I failed my family, I look at these little sleeping bodies and realize that I did do something right. Not only do all four of them sleep in the same room (by choice), but Anna and Sarah share Sarah's twin bed. They settle in together, Anna covers up Sarah, and then Anna tells Sarah a story. When they are all ready and the lights are off, the four of them play their guessing game before they fall asleep. I smile as I hear them laughing and giggling together. Despite our many daily struggles, my kids are bonded to each other.

Well, I think my baby is cute

so here he is! He did go for a 2 month check-up where he weighed in at 14lbs, 6oz. That put him in the 95th percentile. Why are all our babies at the top of the scale? Just to make you jealous....but realize it took me five tries to hit pay dirt....Simon sleeps through the night and has for over a month. He goes to bed around 8:30 and *usually* doesn't wake up until 5:00. Can you believe it? Here I am doing my happy dance - xxxx!!!!!xxxx.

This is our life...

Beautiful days in the depth of winter = early dismissal They all stop to love on Simon. Poor Simon probably just wants some time alone. Can you tell that she was miserable? Two sweet boys

Another sweet boy... Jonah has started speech therapy at the public school. He goes 2x per week. My mom heart is so sad when I read his speech paperwork. My wonderful, sweet little 6yo has multiple speech issues with a dysfluency level of 38%. "Normal" speech has a dysfluency of less than 5% so he falls in the severe category for speech disabilities. He doesn't have issues with pronunciation, but rather, he has the more difficult speech issues of stuttering, verbal blocks, etc. The strange thing is that some days he speaks perfectly fine and other days he really, really struggles.

It all started about 1.5 years ago. The therapist told me that his type of speech issues are usually brought on by stress. I have a little niggling concern way down deep that I caused his speech issues since it started at the same time I started to teach him to read. :( I wonder if I started reading instruction too early. I am very hopeful, though, since his speech therapist thinks he is responding favorably. Her goal is to get him to 20% dysfluency within a year. That would be wonderful! Some children can't talk at all, so I remind myself that he is so very blessed to be very healthy.

1st grade looks like this sometimes

No, I don't get much personal space, but I did finally get a haircut yesterday. Only THREE months since the last one. You know the excuses....snowed in again and again and again, new baby, husband working a lot....

Wish I had this problem...

"Mom, if I don't wear underwear, my pants fall down." Guess I need to keep the laundry moving a little quicker, folks.

Too cute for words

Thoughts

This little boy combined with these shoes

bring back so many memories from my high school years and my brother's wrestling experiences. Jonah has started wrestling, and he is a natural. He is so proud to have won the effort award and to have been beating a 3rd grader at practice.

Here the group is working on their Christmas thank-yous. We make their lists on the board, and I try to keep order as everyone works through their lists.

Here is a life-saver idea. The snack tray. If I put out a snack tray, the snacks disappear and I am not bugged all.day.long by hungry kids. My kitchen stays much cleaner too. I love snack trays.

This girl falls asleep in the strangest spots.