Random life pictures

Jonah playing with ants from the "Ants in My Pants" game, tractors and wagons, and mouse traps. The kids picked rhubarb and then they set up an assembly line for cutting it. No mom needed!

A wild rabbit the kids caught. I still can't believe they caught it!!

Big Mark and Little Mark (aka Eli) watering our new trees. You can't see the trees because they are little sticks. Eli carries a little ice cream bucket while Mark carries 5 gallon pails. Very cute. Sarah is 2 already. Where did the time go?

New Drivers

If this doesn't make you nervous,

this will!!! Jonah driving our lawn tractor? Yikes!

Our lawn tractor has a safety feature such that it kills if you don't weigh a certain amount. Drives me crazy because it kills every time I get off the seat, but I guess they have a point about not wanting kids mowing lawn. Anna is about 2 inches too short to reach the pedals and have enough weight on the seat to keep it from killing. Mark came up with the novel idea of having Jonah sit behind her so she could drive the tractor by herself. His idea obviously worked. Those safety features surely weren't meant for us. :)

First Communion pics

Here is the post-church cake. It's pretty boring, because it was small and had to do double duty as a 2nd birthday cake and a first communion cake. Here are my adorable almost-twin girls. :) Here is the best picture of Grandma & Grandpa with the kids.

Getting ready in the church basement. Our parish only had two 2nd graders for 1st communion this year. Sadly, this is the average sized group for our parish. Anna looks short, but she's actually average for her age. The other girl is very tall.

Here is Grandma helping Anna get ready.

Here is my beautiful daughter.

We made it thru the night!

Eli, Sarah & I slept on the floor in Sarah's room last night. I made good use of an old ice cream bucket and we went through a lot of blankets. They seem to be stable for the moment. Maybe, just maybe, they are getting better. Jonah showed his devotion to Sarah last night. I was helping Eli while he was vomitting, and Sarah started at the same time. I called for reinforcements, and Jonah came to the rescue. He held out a blanket for Sarah to vomit into. Now that's dedication from her 6yo brother. Anna had been sleeping in Sarah's room for about 2 weeks. Isn't that sweet? It all ended the night Sarah vomitted on her. Here is the ugly doghouse Mark recycled from some junk left by the previous owner. He was holding Maggie, a dog we tried out for a few days. Maggie had a passion for chasing and eating guineas, so she didn't work out for us. Yes, that is Eli climbing out of the doghouse. Here are two of the guineas at the doorway of the guinea house. Maybe it should be the poultry house since we have baby chicks in there too? The two male guineas hang out together, and I believe they detest the female. She certainly has some mental issues, but I see them chasing her into trees all the time. They even refuse to roost together in their shed.

Why you should feel sorry for me

1. I'm home alone with the kids for the weekend.
2. The kids are going through a stomach bug. Sarah's getting over it, and Eli is in the midst of throwing up everywhere.
3. Cleaning up vomit while pregnant is just not easy or pleasant.
4. Worst of all - I'm watching hours and hours of Dora the Explorer and Baby Einstein to keep my 2yo & 3yo stationary and entertained. I think I may be going crazy.

My new camera is up and running! Pictures should be coming when I can trust the kids to not vomit for a few minutes.

Here are a couple 3yo funnies. Eli & I had fallen asleep for about 15 minutes one afternoon. He popped up in bed, walked to the foot of the bed, pulled down his shorts, and emptied his bladder on the floor. Fortunately, I was too stunned to speak. I have to assume he was still asleep since this certainly is NOT his normal behavior.

Then, an hour later, he leans toward me with a big smile on his face and tells me that he has a secret for me. I give him my ear as secrets must be whispered, and tells me very proudly, "Mom, I don't like you!" Really? After you just urinated on my bedroom floor without any response from me? Fortunately for him, he has since changed his secrets to, "Mom, I love you!"

And just think, I'll have a 3yo next year too. Lucky me.

Guineas!!!

Once again, I wish I had pictures. Mark's parents brought four guineas this week, and the kids are enthralled. We have two girls and two boys, so the kids quickly figured that they each had a new pet. Anna named hers Maggie, Jonah named his Bologna (as in the lunch meat), Eli named his Elijah, and Sarah's was named Baby for her. The birds will be cooped up for another few days, and then I hope they gobble every tick on our 5 acres. Those disgusting ticks are everywhere. Last night I found one crawling on Eli's cheek during dinner. Yuck!!

From butt ugly to ugly :)

I am priming our house this weekend. It's already gone from butt ugly to just plain ol' ugly. What an improvement! If I had a working camera, I would take pics for you. But, trust me, it was 1000% butt ugly. So, while I was priming, somehow an entire can of white primer got spilled. After a brief crying spell (those hormones, ya know), we managed to get it pretty well cleaned up. The kids were a big help. Then when we went to go get more primer, I found a cat trapped in the van. ELI!!!!!!!! My personal goal is to do a cosmetic home improvement project every weekend Mark is gone for the reserves. Won't that be fun? So...Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct....five weekends for improvements before baby arrives.