The moment when you realize the reason that your children are playing silently and happily behind you…

 is because they have your wallet.  That fascinating thing.

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Today was a good, proper fall day.  Gray and dreary and whatnot.  I happily burned our wood pellet stove and played Christmas music.  Zion wanted Uno cards down (from where they have been banished after too many pickups) and then was very insistent on playing.  I agreed to play with him during Layla’s nap.  

 

We ate lunch snacks while we played on the couch and had a good time.  He beat me 3-1.  

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Tim got back from PA today.  He was gone for the weekend.  It went ok.  I just get fried by the end of the day when he is gone.  The second night all boys were sternly tucked into beds with strict instructions to NOT TALK!!!  

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Names for Layla:  Lucy, Lucy Pants, French Fry, French, Friend.  

She is just a happy little joy bug.  People often smile at how she walks, leading with her little belly, energetically swinging her arms, watching her pink shoes.

She pushes her stool all over the kitchen to “help”.  She loooooves her “bebes” and likes to carry them around with her and hold them over her shoulder and pat them and give them kisses.  It’s just the cutest thing ever.  :)  

Here she is during one of her late evening awake times  arranging her babies with the help of her daddy:

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I came home the other day to this smile-inducing scene in the back yard.

 

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I went on a field trip with Gabe the other day.  We went to The Red Barn and then to Trap Pond.  Zion came along too.

 

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Man, I like these kids.  

 

Underwear on the head never seems to wane in it’s delightfulness.    Layla also greatly enjoys this silliness.

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Zion swirling his Woody doll in a metal bowl.

Zion turned four today.  

This feels a little bit bittersweet to his mommy, who has really enjoyed his cutie-patootie three’s.  He has been such a cute three – cuddly and rambunctious and a mess and impish.  Three still feels baby-like; four is edging on toward boy-dom.  

Zion is giggly, squirmy, loves to be tickled and hugged.  Sometimes he has random bursts of loud boy energy that escape in loud blats and/or high-pitched ear-splitting shrieks.  He still sleeps with his green blankie.  He LOVES all things sugar.  As in LOVES.  He likes to watch Dora the Explorer and Shaun the Sheep and Pingu the Penguin.  He likes to be read to.  He has a really good memory for where things are.  He knows how to stand up for himself with his brothers, and is certainly no pushover.  He really likes to be with his brothers and play the things that they are playing.  He loooved to play in the pool this summer with his daddy, and was SO CUTE with his little breath-holding escapades, where he would lean down and put his face into the water for about three seconds, and then pop up out of the water, hopping and happily pawing the water from his eyes, gulping air.

Last weekend my parents came to visit, and on their last afternoon here, Mom and I took the boys for a walk and let them ride their bikes around the school parking lot close to our house.  Zion would do a lap around the lot, and Mom would say “Zion David Miller is in first place and he gets a reward and he gets a hug and a kiss from his Grandma and he gets a hug and a kiss from his Mommy!!” and Zion would happily trot over and receive his hugs and kisses from both of us over and over.  If she left off the hug and kiss part, he would get off his bike and while looking sideways, remind her that he was supposed to get a hug and kiss.  It was just the cutest thing ever.  

He had a good birthday.  His requests for his birthday were apple juice, grape juice, and hot dogs.  Today I made it a point to say “yes” to as many of his requests as I could.  These included a sippy cup of (watered down) apple juice in the morning, his choice of yogurt (vanilla) for breakfast, a snack-sized bag of Cheetos at 11 AM followed by a sippy cup of milk.  He also managed to squeeze in a early afternoon shower (his back and legs were hot, he said), ride his bike inside, and one of his last requests of the day was for a sippy cup of grape juice.  This was followed by another request for another sippy cup of juice, which was one of my very few ‘no’s’.  He also got some Smarties in the early evening (four, since he was four) as I was decorating his cupcakes, and he got to eat another cupcake before bed after he had already brushed his teeth.  (This was followed by another tooth brushing.)  The final highlight of his day, which he has been eagerly awaiting for days, was to sleep in mommy’s bed with her alllll night.    (This was included in his recited list of his favorite things about his birthday.)

For his birthday cake, I had decided to make these Minion Cupcakes (Minions are in the kid’s movie Despicable Me) that I found on Pinterest (Love me some Pinterest!!), and Zion was agreeable.  I got white cake mix from the store, I made the white icing (quite tasty, actually – another Pinterest recipe), and decorated me some cupcakes.  The most frustrating thing was that the icing tip was too big, and was temperamental, so you would have no icing, and then a whole big black glob.  It was QUITE frustrating (till one adjusted one’s expectations).  But we managed.  

The Ideal:

The Reality:

Looking good…(ish)

And then there’s…

You see what I’m sayin’…  

The boys LOVED this project.  Love love loved it.  I gave them some extra cupcakes to decorate with sprinkles, and then they each decorated a Minion cupcake of their own.  This was not a planned activity, incidentally; this was me scheming as to how NOT to have to decorate with any more of that maddening icing tip than I had to.   

Soooo…between the cake batter licking, and the icing licking…and the warm, fresh-from-the-oven cupcake I ate…and then there was this tasty quiche recipe that I found (again on Pinterest) while I was double checking how to make the cupcakes…and I wasn’t really in the mood for hot dogs and macaroni and cheese myself…and it called for feta cheese and some people said they liked swiss…so then I made two quiches…and then there was the orange kool-aid…and the Smartie candy eating…and then the third (fourth total) cupcake when all was said and done…erp.  Says the belly.  

Anywho.  I got Mickey Mouse plates for Zion’s birthday, with Mickey Mouse cups and Mickey Mouse ears.  He happily sat the table with these.  

We took turns going around the table and telling Zion what we liked about him.  For some reason, Zion was very opposed to this activity, and thought that we should talk about Layla instead.  

I love his happy eyes in this picture.

Present opening was after supper.  

Part of Zion’s birthday this year was a (very cool) bike that he had already received in time to be able to ride it around at church camp on the first weekend in September.  

His presents this night were a red foldable chair, a Star Wars toy, and a box of Toy Story Band-Aids all for his very own.  Tucked into the Star Wars box was a forgotten package of birthday candles that I inadvertently left there, and he was very delighted with these also.  

Zion, I love you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much!!!!!  You are my baby boy still, and I am so glad you love hugs!!!  

Trying to rebuild a pattern of recording life as it happens.

The two little boys are playing Wii games in the living room while the baby sleeps.  Sleeps NOW…after waking up, I kid you not, around ten or more times last night.  Not quite sure what her deal was, and not comfortable to just let her cry, because she seemed like she had a fever.  Weary eyes this morning.  

Gabe was off by himself today for school since Israel only has kindergarten three times a week (which he is L.O.V.I.N.G., incidentally).  He’s such a weary little slow-moving touslehead in the mornings.  He and his momma are decidedly NOT morning people.  

Israel was up and happily chitter-chattering at me for a while this morning.  He’s such a cute little happy boy and he makes me smile.  :)  He is bouncing around this morning in shorts and no shirt while I shiver in my jeans and sweatshirt.  He chirpily informed me that when you are strong and have “bumps on your arms” you can go outside in the winter and don’t need a shirt.  I informed him back that I wasn’t sure about the veracity of that statement.  ;)

 

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Gabe lost another tooth at school.  This makes 5?? that he has lost.  

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Divided Attentions

 

I smile bemusedly into the face of the joyfully grinning toddler

who thrashes around happily

avoiding her nap. 

On one level, I am appreciating her

on another I am finishing an email in my head.

Such are the days

of interrupted interruptions

of a bellowing cry that interrupts the dishes that have interrupted the laundry folding that have interrupted the toy pickup

delayed thank you notes

and school pictures

are on my mind

Fall is settling into the corners of the summer

leaving the air more brisk 

and the sky more blue

The babies play together beneath the sheets drying on the clothesline

while their brothers tumble and tussle over the grass

like happy puppies 

The days stream past

full and bright

I watch my children stretching up

into 8, 6, 4, and 1

gaining molars/losing teeth/outgrowing shoes/learning words

and wonder what it will be like to not have any more babies around

soon enough

I lean back in the recliner

and cuddle the baby that is here now

asleep

and pink cheeked

and breathe my ever present prayer

that I prioritize the important things

that nest

almost silently

among the urgent things.

May 31st was my dad’s birthday.  I made a trip home to VA for it, when my mom offered to pay our gas as a birthday present for Dad.  It was the first solo trip I have taken.  Me and the four kiddos.  Layla did surprisingly well, which gives me great hope for our trip to IN that is coming up at the end of July!!  I put her in the back between her two older brothers, who patiently and faithfully kept her entertained and supplied with food and drink.  On our trip to VA, we went the whole way without even having to stop once!!

We left around 6:30 AM on Friday morning, the day after Gabe’s last day of school, and came back Monday morning.   

The first day we were there, it had rained, and was GORGEOUS in the evening.

It looked like a painting.

On Saturday, Mom and I took the kids to a PBS Kids thing at the Fairground,

where they could do lots of kid-activities and get FREE BOOKS!!! I was super excited about the free books.  We came home with a bunch.  The boys got to choose flowers to plant, and planted them.

They also got to meet Clifford, the Big Red Dog (who was quite significantly smaller than he is in the cartoon ), but their favorite thing was checking out the fire engine.

Layla was quite tuckered out after all of this morning activity, and fell fast asleep over her broccoli at lunch.

Other activities while we were home included riding cars on the porch

shooting the BB gun

having a nightly popcorn snack with Grandma and Granddaddy

and being all around cute.

Here were some other good pictures from our brief excursion:

A Granddaddy and his dog.

A Granddaddy and his granddaughter.

A Grandma and her granddaughter.

Mom could get Layla to sleep by rocking her or swinging her on the porch swing (so could Dad) while we were there.  I was sort of jealous.  :)  I wish she would go to sleep when I rock her!!

Squerky Baby had a big squerk-fest of a night the night before I planned to rise-and-shine-and-depart-at-6-AM-sharp.  So…I slept until I woke up instead.  This meant that we had to take a break on the way home.  We stopped at a church that had lots of grass and a big parking lot and skittered around happily for a while.  

Layla is “talking” to me in that last photograph.  She likes to talk. “Double double double dooble buses.”

Toofers.

The boys had some dry erase boards to use on the trip.  Zion couldn’t reach his on the way home…but no matter.  Apparently.

This was right before he fell asleep.  We got home around 1 PM, I think.  Not too bad for one mom and four kiddos!!

There was a lot of construction work going on in front of our house during May as the city was redoing the drainage system in our area.  It was all quite festive, as a matter of fact.

Look at all that nifty cool machinery busy at work right smack dab in front of our noses.  

 

It was just cool to see all that is underneath the pavement, and to watch them peeling up the asphalt, and how precisely those guys can use their bulldozers.

This was two watchers standing beside me over in Mr. Barry’s yard.

Zion, on the other hand, was very distracted by the birdbaths and whatnot.

Better’n TV.  As long as you add chairs and a snack, anyway.

We took the kids to the Washington Zoo for the first time on Memorial Day weekend.  

One of our purposes was to meet Lauren, the fiancee of one of Tim’s college friends, Jon, whose wedding Tim will be officiating at in July, and her daughter, Angie.  

After Jon, Lauren, and Angie had to leave, we wandered around the zoo for a while checking out the sights.  

Here’s me and my baby kangaroo…

who fell fast asleep while riding along. 

One of our coolest experiences was hearing the tiger growl.  

It growled about ten times as it made it’s way inside.  Very cool.  On the other side of the fence.

Found a grinning boy on the back of a gorilla… 

Our gaggle of geese making their way up the hill towards the exit.

It was quite toasty and the boys were quite eager to stand under the sprinkler.

It was a lot of fun to go!  I want to go back later this summer to see all that we didn’t get to see this time.  

Gabe’s last day of school was May 31, 2012.  I was assigned to help with his last class party, the End of the Year party.  We had outside relays,

fruit kabobs, and goodie bags

and a class picture

before going inside for the elementary Awards Assembly.  Gabe received awards for placing in the track and field event we had had earlier and a certificate for his participation in Race for Education.  

He was very pleased with his two ribbons.  :)  Good job, Gabe, on finishing first grade!!

Layla has been on the move and busybusybusy.  It’s quite hard to take a picture of the moving child.  She just up and gets to work as the camera clicks.  

All set to go to school, backpack and all.

Layla loves the sandbox and plays happily in there for long whiles.  

A lazy May day, with children busy at play.  I love how Zion is so touchy-feely.  He is always in touch distance of us.

Check out those faces!

My friend and neighbor Ruth stopped off with these flowers the other day, when their colors made her think of me.  I LOVED them!!!  SO gorgeous!!

Ms. Sweensy.

Our fledgling garden.  The boys LOVE to help out.

Gleeful (one-sided) hugging.

Israel attempts to hang up his homemade “pinata” (a plastic bag filled with toys).

Snacks on the freezer.

First fires of the season.

Mom and Dad came out during the first part of May for a HIGHLY productive weekend of Dad doing handyman jobs for me.  It was awesome.  THANK YOU, DAD!!!!!!  Somehow, this was the only picture I got – the assembly of the coolest ever hand-me-down bunkbed from my cousin’s sons – it has a slide and a tent.  

Hugs from a (not very) little boy.  :)

 

 

Zion -age 3, Israel – age 5, Layla – 11 1/2 months, Gabriel – age 7.  One happy, well mannered, beaming (Photoshopped) young family….  

And then there was reality:

One twirling, swirling three year old, distracting things to look at, noses to pick, and crazed smiles.  Phew.  Out of aaaalllllllll of the pictures I took, I couldn’t find one that worked.  So I had to create an alternate reality of bliss and well-being to treasure for years to come.

We often have atypical Easters around here, far from family and all their meal-creating ways.  Our Easter mornings start with breakfast at church, followed by church as normal, and then we tumble home with tired children and eat some fast food and put babies down to nap.  One of these years I will get around to something more celebratory, but right now, at these ages, it hasn’t been built into the schedule.  

Later in the day we walked down to the tennis courts.

I was the Official Observer of all things active. 

Aren’t I doing a good job in this picture Officially Observing??  I thought so.

Little Miss Colorful crawled around VERY busily.

Chasing balls and grinning and being a messy-face and whatnot.

And the day ended with Easter baskets, those heavenly troves of treasure… (yes, I know, I know, about the wall behind the couch…just give me a few more years to get the room painted…takes me a while in all my indecisiveness…)

Layla’s first Easter basket excitement.  She was born the day after Easter last year.

 

For Gabe’s and his cousin Tyler’s seventh birthdays (and an advancement on Israel’s seventh birthday present) their Nana Carol and Grandpa Norm gave them the UBER-generous gift of a trip to DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!!!!  Lucky me got to go along for the trip, myself.

The boys were SO. EXCITED. about their trip, and about the experience of getting on an airplane.  It was the first time for Israel, and the first airplane ride that Gabe was old enough to remember.  They were also so excited about packing their own carry-on bags to take on the airplane.  Zion, who will get to go to Disney World himself when he gets older, but this time stayed home with his daddy, also was excited to pack a carry-on bag to take his brothers to the airport, and I carefully packed it with goodies to eat on the drive back to Seaford.   

 

Bye-bye, Daddy!!

Boarding the flight from Salisbury.

Gabe sat in the window seat on the way to Orlando.  I just cannot say enough how excited they were about the flight.  When the airplane accelerated to take-off from Salisbury, they roared in tandem joy.  Israel declared that “it was the best day ever!!!”  I really wanted to take a picture of them glued to the airplane window, watching the ground pass beneath them with fascination as the sunlight streamed through the pane into the darkened airplane…but I just took a picture in my head and dealt with the Layla in my lap.  This was a recurrent experience on this trip.  :)  

Layla rode on my back in the Ergo through the airport and sat in my lap on the 2 1/2 hour plane ride to Orlando.  This was truthfully a harder part of the experience than what I had anticipated.  Baby Girl was a wiggly worm who really, really, really would have liked to vigorously crawl up and down the airplane aisle, herself.  Most of my time on the airplane was spent nursing her, handing her toy after toy, distracting her with things like crackers, nursing her, letting her sit on the seat, taking a relieved break from baby entertainment while her friendly seat neighbors played peekaboo with her, and nursing her.  She finally fell asleep about 20 minutes before we landed.  

Gabe had thoroughly investigated the contents of the seat pocket in front of him during the trip, and was apparently well-versed on what to do in the event of an emergency landing. When the airplane throttled down to descend, the boys looked at me, and when I affirmed that we were going down, Gabe said, “I know what to do!!”  He immediately folded his arms and rested them on the seat back in front of them, and put his head down on them.  Then he took them down and said, “Wait, I think we can do this too!”  He bent at the waist and covered his head with his arms, and then bounced back up to refer to the manual in the seat pocket.  This activity brought a wide smile from his mother, who was quick to inform the two of them that such activity was only for when we were going down in an emergency, and that the airplane was only going down so it could land, not because there was anything wrong.    

We stayed in the beautiful Wyndham Resorts on the Disney grounds.  It was gorgeous.The resort consisted of eight buildings with numerous pool areas, play areas, a mini-golf course and a giant “lake” area in the middle with a fountain with colored lights.  

Gabe was basically as excited about swimming in the pool as he was about Disney World, which was to say, excessively.  Israel was fixated on the mini-golf course, and talked about it incessantly until he finally had time to go on the last day we were there.

Personally, I was awfully excited about my nifty-cool room with the big tub and the king-sized bed.  

L.U.X.U.R.Y.  Layla actually slept with me on the bed on a pack and play mattress, since she wasn’t very excited about sleeping in her pack and play.  It was sweet and cozy.  

The first day at Disney, the boys and their cousin Tyler went with their grandparents and Uncle Wayne to The Animal Kingdom. (These pictures were pictures Wayne took.)

 

Photos by Wayne Stuckey

The thing that stood out to them the most about The Animal Kingdom was their experience of a 4-D film about bugs, where as a part of the show they got poked in the butt like there was some bug crawling up under their seat.  Totally unnerved Gabe and Israel.  When we went to a 4-D film the next day, they were totally wary, and perched on the edges of their seats, and both refused to put their 3D glasses on. 

The next day was our trip to The Magic Kingdom.  Layla and I went along this time, along with Tim’s sister Melody and Tyler’s sister, Aubrey.  We started early and ended late and had a stupendous time.  

Up and ready to go, bright and early.

The two adventurers.

The infamous castle!!! (Norm took this picture.)

Nana Carol and her adventurous grandsons. 

Photo by Melody Stuckey

We started off at It’s A Small World and went on from there.

Photos by Melody Stuckey

It was a long day and a great time.

Photo by Melody Stuckey

Layla was really a trooper.  She rode happily in her stroller or the Ergo the whole day, and napped in the Ergo a good long while, all the way through the Pirates of the Carribean ride, but woke up during the Buzz Lightyear ride.  

The next day the boys went to Epcot, with their grandparents and Uncle Wayne.

Photos by Wayne Stuckey

I think that one of their favorite things to do here was a place where they acted out fighting a fire.  

Weary travelers journey home.

Photos by Wayne Stuckey

Needless to say, the chillun’s were tired.  Our last day there we spent at the resort, swimming and hanging out.  After packing up to leave for the next day, Layla and I went to check on the swimmers.

Aubrey was having a great time jumping off the side of the pool to her daddy over and over and over.  

Here was my stroller pusher view:

Is that squeezable sweetness or what?!?!

Whenever I would push her in her stroller, she would happily scissor her legs back and forth.  

Finishing up the day with the beloved mini-golf course that was right below our balcony:

Photo by Wayne and Melody Stuckey

We loved spending time with our far away family.  Layla and Aubrey got to know each other a little bit. 

Photo by Melody Stuckey

Tyler and Israel really enjoyed coloring together.

Aubrey and Gabe watch TV.

This was the room where the boys all slept together – Gabe and Israel in the bed on the left, and Tyler in the bed on the right.  They all liked that a lot.

Layla.

The highlight (and another of the boy’s favorites) was the fireworks show every night that we could watch from our balcony.

Photo by Wayne Stuckey

Our trip home to Salisbury was similar to the trip out, except Layla was about the only baby on the plane instead of one of several, and she seemed a little noisier, and the boys were tired and crabby-cakes.  I sure did gain a healthy respect for those of my friends who have to fly long hours overseas with young children.    People were generally really helpful, though, and that was really nice!!  

Carol asked the boys to send her some memory pages, and watching the fireworks was what Gabe drew as one of his favorite memories.  

 

Israel drew the castle at Magic Kingdom.

He wrote all the words after asking me how to spell them.

Thank you soooooo much for your incredible generosity, Norm and Carol!! You made memories for all of us that will last the rest of our lives!!

Layla turned one on April 25.  This first year has FLOWN!! 

 

 I’m so glad that she is around.  We all love her to pieces.

We celebrated her birthday at supper time; I made some baked macaroni and cheese because I figured she would like to eat it, and she did.  The two youngest boys and I had gone shopping in the afternoon, and Israel picked out her Tinkerbell balloon.  

Israel had also been insisting that Layla needed a “princess doll” for her birthday, so I let him pick a doll out for her.  He wrapped both it and another ball I gave her.  :)

He did a very good job and was very very very pleased with the process.

Zion picked out a Tinkerbell watering can with sand toys in it.  I gave her a big baby doll -

she stared at the feet for a good while initially – a big stuffed cat thing, a spongy yellow ball, and a big soft aqua pillow.  She loves to sprawl out happily over pillows.  But her favorite thing was this pink ball that Gabe had chosen to give her from the choices I gave him.  

She couldn’t hardly be parted with it.  

Here was the whole crew.  :)

She really liked her cupcake.

Big brother Gabe happily helped blow out the candle,

and tolerated her birthday hat surprisingly well.  

Right now she is cutting two teeth, each beside her top two teeth…girlfrien’ ain’t sleeping so hot.  At all.  She stands very sturdily, and raise to standing from sitting on her own without something to hold on to.  She seems to say “daddee”…not quite sure if she knows what it means or not.  She “talks” a lot.  Four teeth, with two more just starting to poke through her gums.  Naps in the afternoon from anywhere from 45 min (when sick) to about 2-3 hours (normally).  Falls asleep between 8:30-9:30 PM and wakes 1-3 times to eat during the night.  Enjoys feeding herself by picking up her food usually better than being fed.  Still breastfed, but also drinks water from a bottle.  She LOVES water, and fusses jealously for drinks out of a cup, and my phone.  Plays very well and happily for long periods of time.  Usually goes to sleep by nursing, although Tim can sometimes hold her to sleep.

 

 Crawls busily and speedily.  She has a good sense of humor, and giggles merrily at me over many things.  Loves to cuddle and leans in for kisses and hugs.  

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I’m hopefully on a home-run potty-training stretch for Zion.  Sigh.  I decided it was a good time to good ahead and jump in.  With Gabe, I tried too early, got frustrated, put him back in diapers – and then it just clicked.  Israel basically potty-trained himself; he initiated learning.  I have kept waiting for one of these two things to happen with Zion, but while he will often poop in the potty, the pee thing is just too much work for him to remember, he thinks.  He typically has peed in underwear whenever he has had them on, regardless of reminders.  I had talked to two people who said – put them in underwear for a week, and at the end of the week they will be trained.  This week, I just felt emotionally/mentally up to the project, and it’s been a go, what with stickers on the potty chart, two gummy candies for successful potty ventures, and the promise of a prize when he is fully potty trained.  I have also been setting the timer for about every 45 minutes.  Yesterday was our second day and he initiated peeing on his own several times before that 45 minutes was up. 

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For some reason this morning, Israel was very interested in my decaf coffee, and sincerely and earnestly felt that he needed some.  So I agreed to give him a little, and he wanted to mix his coffee and milk and sugar in our little red teapot and pour it into his cup.  

He happily exclaimed over the party feel of this venture, as it also included cookies.  

Look at this adorable little Holly Hobbie thingie that I had his milk in.  

 

I just bought it off of Etsy this week.  I love Holly Hobbie.  And Etsy, for that matter.

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The “monkeys” in the “monkey tree” this week:

 

 

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Gabe had a track and field day at school the other day. 

 Each child in the first grade could choose three events to compete in.  Gabe chose to do the 50 meter dash, the standing broad jump, and the long jump.  

The race made me grin a bit.  Here he was as they are getting their instructions at the starting line:

 

On your mark, get set - 

Go!!!

Here were the brotherly spectators:

The standing broad jump:

 

The long jump:

 

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Last Saturday, Tim took the boys bowling, and Layla and I went shopping in Salisbury.  She tolerated Target pretty well, but conked out in the mall.  :)

 

Love me my Ergo.

So. Um.  There is this soup called White Bean and Kale soup that is very yummy.  I was hungry for it.  It calls for a pound of Kale. I decided to be “sneaky mommy” and blend the kale into little pieces to get Zion to eat it better.  Um.  Do you know how much kale is in a pound of kale?  Like, the entire bag is a pound.  So I blend and blend and blend…and then we have Green Sludge for supper.

HAAAA!!!  It was so green.  The funny part was that neither Tim or I said a word; we just sort of exchanged squinty glances and then looked away, and the boys happily ate Green Soup.  Although they only had one bowl, and I dumped the rest.  It was just too sludge-y.  

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I have noticed that when a new box of Band-Aids walk into the house, there is a veritable explosion of wounds around the house.  I had bought a decidedly boring box of them this last go around, thinking perhaps they would be less inspiration for bandage-craving children, but they seem to be riding high in popularity around here regardless of their flesh-colored blandness.  The other day as I was working in the kitchen, Zion was very quiet over on the couch in the office, and when I happened to pause and peer in at him, I discovered this:

 

Why yes, that is about twenty band-aids, carefully applied to bilateral shins.  Hummm.  

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I think that Layla looks like a Gerber Baby in this picture.

 

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“Ohhhhh, ‘H’its a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor…won’t you be mine…won’t you be mine…?”

Gorgeous days around here these past few days.  Barefoot boys outside, pounding the grass with running footsteps, soaking up the sun.  Just like a mommy likes it.  Israel carefully constructed this sign for the backyard the other day, with my spelling assistance.  

 

He really enjoys writing words as I spell them out to him.  This was attached to a jump rope and strung up on the back porch in front of the screen door.  

Layla has also felt the siren call of the outdoors.

 

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I found this dress at Old Navy this season for Layla and simply just HAD to have it.  I just love it.  

 

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 I feel like Gabe gets the short end of the picture stick around here lately because he’s not home as much.  Here he is on Easter Sunday:

 

He had a school program the week before Easter break, and his first grade class sang in it.  They did a great job.  He was supposed to wear a white shirt and tie; I had to go buy a tie for him.  He made me smile to watch him; he was on the front row and kept “falling” off of the risers, and had to turn around to look at who was behind him, and squint out at the audience and wiggle and squirm.  Just Gabe.  He did a great job singing.  

Here he is sitting happily with his class before the program started.

This is his first grade class:

This is him singing with the K-6th grades:

We were initially sitting near him on the bleachers,

but I was out in the foyer for a lot of the time with Ms. Wiggle Worm, who needed to busily crawl.  She had some other crawl/totter/scamper buddies out there with her.  Here she is practicing her standing:

 

She fell fast asleep before we left.

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Lately I’ve been teaching the boys a few new games; we’ve played Uno, all of us together, and then I got some regular card decks to teach Gabe Egyptian Rat Killer.  I loved playing that with my friends in middle school, and still really like it.  We’re in the middle of a stretched out game, since it can take a while to finish, being as that I am delaying some of my doubles slaps to let him catch on and have a chance.  I LOVE having a buddy to play cards with me!!  It’s just good times.

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Lately Israel has been asking to take some pictures with my camera.  Here’s two lately of me, in all my wild-haired, sweatshirt clothed, be-spectacled glory.

 

Isn’t motherhood becoming on me?  

I’m still wearing my glasses because of this ratty pink eye that never seems to quiiiiiite leave.  It could have something to do with the fact that I keep forgetting to use my antibiotic drops on a proper schedule, but whatever.  Horribly annoying, the whole mess.