Doggy Beauty Shop

The kids LOVE our sweet dog Kali. Sometimes Sis loves her a bit TOO much. Okay, all the time. :) Kali is the best dog and I can honestly say she is too tolerant. The other day Sis and BG were dressing her up. They worked for about 15 minutes trying to get her into a pull-up and a dress. Sis was the boss calling out all the directions to her little brother. The dog just laid there on her back the whole time. No resisting. It was hilarious.

Success at last. Poor Kali.

Then the next day I guess Sis thought Kali needed some "pretty lips". She was applying pink sidewalk chalk to her mouth. Very pretty!

Back to School

The kids are back in school! Yeah! I love school. My kids love school. Summer is fun but the last couple weeks were a bit rocky. :) Everyone (ME) is really ready for school to start and the routine of the year. I love my kids' schools!! And the teachers are amazing!! And everyone is doing very well. Tuba is a sophomore this year. Looking handsome! He is officially as tall as me (not hard) but weighs 105. For the record that is 25 lbs. less than me.
Busy Guy was the MOST excited about school starting. Kindergarten!! He loves it! He is in the am session and has the same teacher that Mr. P had in K. BG is rather lonely and forlorn in the afternoon when his brother and the neighbor boys are still at school. He has begged us to send him to all day K. But, it's $300 a month for all day and free for half day. :( We've been playing games in the afternoon and that is helping him feel special.
Mr. P is a big 2nd grader. He LOVES his teacher. His reading is really taking off. I constantly find him lying around with a book. Captain Underpants is his favorite right now!
The wee ones are also in school!! Woot! This is the first time in 8 years that I've had a morning free while all the kids are at school!! I have appointments for dental, mammogram and yearly check all booked....and I don't have to hire a sitter! They go two times a week for 2.5 hours. I use one of the days to do my volunteer time at the Elementary school. Love that time!
Sis was VERY excited for school. Baby brother....not so much. He got more excited after open house and seeing all the cool toys. But, the first day was rough. He clung to my shirt and we had to unwrap each of his fingers so I could go. He didn't cry but looked rather scared. I faked a big smile, waved goodbye and then ran to my van and had a good cry! Whaaaa! What is wrong with me? Wasn't I supposed to be excited. Well, I am but it was a bit sad. The second week of school was much better and they are both loving it!

One of the coolest things for me this year is that my big kids ride the bus! Yeah! No more spending HOURS a day in the van. I walk a few blocks to the bus stop in the morning, then the afternoon bus drops BG off at our door. At the end of the day Mr. P either walks up with a neighborhood mom or we walk to the stop and get him. Tuba is picked up and dropped at our house. Heavenly!! It's a short ride and it's working well for everyone. Yeah for the bus! Yeah for school! Yeah!!!

Summer nights

Another of my favorite things about our house is sitting on the front porch. We sit out in the morning and eat blueberries and get warmed by the sun. I'm sure all the neighbors love to see us in our pj's. :) At night we like to watch the boys ride bikes. I love my front porch!

*Note: check out Sis's outfit. She comes up with some colorful creations. :) She also changes her clothes so many times a day that she now has a lock on her closet. :O

Sis will be off and riding soon. Yikes! She's checking out the scooter...which is as big as she is and probably weighs more.

Hmmmm.....this looks fun!

Bikes and more

One of the best things about our new neighborhood is that the kids get to ride bikes and scooters. They have been loving it! We live on a quiet street and there are lots of neighborhood kids out riding and playing all day. Busy Guy was apprehensive to try his bike. He was awesome at the scooter so he could keep up with the big kids just fine. Scooter boy!

I do have to say it is a leap of faith for me to let the kids ride without me right there. Cam has given me the "they are fine" talk a few times. It is great independence for them to ride and play without a hovering mother. :) They do have limits and can only ride on our street where I can see them if I need to. They do ride to their friends' house too with permission. The boys look out for each other too. Some great life experience and life lessons being learned this summer!

Mr. P loves to ride his bike. In fact he is eating me out of house and home because he rides all day and burns so many calories.

The kids and I take lots of walks. The little ones are anxious to ride bikes and scooters too!

We finally convinced Busy Guy to try his bike. Here's Cam getting him set up.

He literally just rode off! No push, no try! He was so proud of himself!! He is a riding machine! He has a new bike now (since I'm still so behind) and I'll post those pics soon. :) Soon is a relative word.

One More...

One more birthday to complete the birthday season! Cam turned 43!! Woot! We went out for dinner to celebrate his special day. We call ourselves The Restaurant Lepers. You should see people's reaction when we come in the front door. You can see them thinking...oh please don't sit by me. We have had people say no to the hostess when they are being seated near us too. Sheesh...without even giving us a chance. We have also had many people come and tell us how great our kids were!! But, we do get nervous when we go out someplace a bit nicer than the usual. It was a special occasion so we risked it.

We went to a favorite local Italian place and sat out on the patio. It was a beautiful sunny day. We had yummy dessert (which you can see on BG's face). And then we walked along the marina and looked at the boats. The kids were very good and we all had a nice time. BG did fall and skin his knees. Poor baby. The picture cracks me up though....he's holding his shorts up so it won't touch the owie.

Happy Birthday to my amazing sweet hard working and loving husband! We love you!!

Tuba is 15

Sweet Tuba is 15! He is growing so fast this summer. He is VERY close to my height now...and weighs in at about 105 lbs. He had his favorite breakfast....mmmmm.

For his birthday we got him a new firepit for the back yard. Our firebug was thrilled!! We had a bonfire and roasted smores. We had a great time. Cam told the kids some stories. Ghost stories turned.....hmmm....how do I describe them....ghost stories turned potty humor? Yes. They start out with dark woods and creaking noises and then end with the scary noises being revealed as an old lady farting! Yep. The kids laugh hysterically...and me too. I'm sure the neighbors wonder who the heck moved to the neighborhood. We are LOUD! We laughed until a couple of us fell out of our chairs. :)

3rd Birthday!

More catching up.

Another birthday in the house! Baby.....not so much a baby....George turned 3!!!

Oh-my-word!! Where has my baby gone? Well, I can pretend...and tell him he's my baby. :)

Three is such a fun birthday! He was OVER the moon about his gifts and cake and GIFTS!! We went to church and then came home for cake and GIFTS! Then we went to see Cars 2. Loved it!

Happy Birthday my sweet snuggly funny power house of a little boy!!

Happy 4th of July. Kind of late....I know it. I'm still trying to get caught up.
We had a great 4th. I love the 4th!! We went to the parade with Grandma and Auntie Sara and then went to our fabulous friends' house for dinner and fireworks.

New House

I wanted these photos at the end of the post but my laptop and blogger are not cooperating...so it is this way instead. :)

The move was long and hard and....stinky! But the reward is we get to live in our beautiful new home. 4 of the 5 kids were horribly sick during the move. Terribly nasty illness. 104 temps. that lasted for 6 or more days. Mr. P would vomit when his temp went up high. Awful. Baby George and Mr. P both also got sinus and ear infections. Sis and Busy Guy rode it out with just fevers and feeling terrible. The day of the big move Busy Guy and Mr. P were too sick to go to their Godparent's house with the other kids. They laid in our bed until it was time to move the bed and then they laid on the floor with towels and a bed skirt over them. It was so sad. My mom was a life saver. She sat with the boys until we could move them and then made up all the kids' beds so they could go to sleep at the new house. Thanks Mom!! Grandpa Bill came with her and besides helping with the kids they helped us move and clean. We hired a couple of guys to help us too. All the moving was done in one day. The next day we spent the whole day at the "old house" getting it cleaned and ready for the renters to move in. Whew! I have never worked so hard!
Of course there is still lots here to do but we have unpacked LOTS! The kitchen is all put away and most of the bathroom, bedroom stuff is done too. There is lots of books to unpack but were not sure where everything is going just yet.
I LOVE my new house. LOVE!!! The neighborhood is amazing!! The kids have been playing outside and riding their bikes/scooters non-stop. We take a family walk every night after dinner. There is so much to say about what I love. The view, the increased sq. footage, the yard, the quiet, the dining room, on and on.
I'll start with the best. Our master bedroom is out of this world! The view is so beautiful. I feel like I'm on vacation.

Someone is 8!

Mr. P had a birthday just after we moved. It was a bit hard to plan a party around the big move. We decided on a small party at our new house.....just 5 days after moving. We went with easy. Corn dogs, ice cream cake and lots of playing. No games, no goody bags. :) The boys had a great time. They were all running around our house so I sent them outside to play in the wet yard. Oh well they didn't mind. It was a huge success and it was easy. Exactly what I needed.

I cannot believe my baby boy is 8!! He is growing into such a big kid. He is reading all the time. I love to hear him in bed at night reading Calvin and Hobbes and laughing out loud. He got monopoly for a gift and has been beating all of us at it! He is the land baron!! He has been such a huge helper too. He is very sweet to Tuba and helps me a ton with him. Sometimes when Tuba is being a stinker for me Mr. P will ask him to do it and Tuba will comply. He is also growing a ton! He is eating ALL-DAY-LONG too. I guess that is what happens when you ride your bike all day long! I can't complain when I look at him and he is the skinniest kid.

Happy Birthday my sweet, smart 8 year old. I love you to the moon...and back!

Missed Me?

Have ya missed me? Well, I've missed writting on my beloved blog! Crazy busy times for me!! We moved! Yeah! More on that later and pictures of the fabulous new house too. But first I need to catch up on other things.

Just after moving to our new house I got 2 new neices! I now have 3 neices to go along with my 3 nephews! Also, Cam's siter Cinn had a baby and my sister Chelsea had a baby. Babies Babies!! I love it! For an update on Cinn and Jamie's precious baby go to her blog which is listed on my side bar. It's called A Walk In The Garden. I don't want to post pics of her on my blog until I take the photos....it feels weird to steal the photos from her blog and re-post them. I can't wait for them to visit us this winter!! Hurry!! Come see us soon!! I have your room ready!!

My sister Chelsea asked me to be her delivery coach/helper person! I was thrilled to have the job. It was an amazing experience to see a baby born! I was at my sister's other births but they were water births and you just can't see much. This time it was at the hospital and no water birth. I got a front row seat. Amazing! I loved it!! What a miracle it is when a baby is born. My sister was a trooper! She had a terrible epidural experience so decided to go natural. She is tough and is a rock!! Thanks Chelsea for asking me to be part of this special day. I loved it!! Of course, no pain for me...other than no sleep. :)

On to the baby. She is precious!! Love her, love babies! The first pic is just seconds after she was born. The Dr. is suctioning her out.

I adore this photo! You can see how tired my Sister was and how hard she worked to birth this baby girl.

I set up the camera and took my own picture with the timer! :) Proud Auntie!!

Bouncy House

Yesterday I asked Sis what she was going to do that day. Her reply was "the bouncy house!!". Okay, we don't have a bouncy house. Then I realized this is what she meant. The boys' room has been stripped down to mattresses on the floor for the move. Ah, The Bouncy House!

Moving....Soon!

We signed papers on our new house today! Woot! It will close on Tues. and we can start moving in. Yipeeeee! I want to paint Sis's room and maybe a couple others walls before the big stuff gets moved in. Sis and I are shopping for the perfect pink or lavender for the walls. So girly and fun! The middle boys' room needs painted too (it's lime green). I hope to have time to get to that room too.
Meanwhile I am a painting fool here at the "old" house. I have been painting over all the stencils in the kids' rooms. Sad! I worked so hard on them and now am working so hard to erase them. Phooey! I have finished the kids' rooms, master, kitchen, family room, bathroom...all that's left for paint touch up is the livingroom, diningroom and mudroom. Wow! What a load of work. Add to that packing (and purging) the whole house, cleaning everything, sprucing up the yard, and getting things ready for the renter. Holy Moly! It's no wonder I'm tired...and sick. BAD cold, sore throat, and just blah!


To keep all (probably 5) my readers interested I'll tell a couple funny stories.


1. Busy Guy was hollering for me....loud..."MOM". "What" I yelled back as I ran for the upstairs where he was. "Something is wrong with Sisters potty.....it's stuck inside!!!". I ran up thinking I was going to find some terrible mishap. When I arrived in the room Sis was looking perplexed and looking down at her naked potty. Busy Guy was looking horrified and while pointing at his Sis's potty he exclaimed, "It's not hanging out....it's stuck inside!!". Oh....my....word. I calmly explained to him that a girl's potty and a boy's potty are different....boys hang out...girls are inside. "Oh" he says looking rather relieved. Okay, now you might be wondering how a child gets to be 5 years old and does not know this difference. I wonder that also. Especially since Busy Guy has taken a bath with his sister almost every day for 3 years!!! Naked! Good grief!


2. We were playing at the playground and Mr. P had to go in and use the restroom. When he came out he says to me, "I bet girls wonder what a portable looks like". Hmmmmm. "I think you mean urinal", I say back to him. "Oh, yah" he says and runs off to play. Hilarious!

Like Me

On Sunday Sis wanted to wear her traditional Ethiopian skirt and top. Cam bought it when he was in Ethiopia to bring her home. I had gotten her dressed in it and we were in the bathroom getting her hair brushed. As I was brushing her hair she said to me, "Like Busy Guy" (although she used his real name). I was confused because Busy Guy has really short hair. So I said, "is hair is short right now". Then she patted her chest and said, "No, Ethiopian, like Busy Guy". Oh. It was so precious. She was telling me that she is Ethiopian just like her brother. My eyes got all teary. "Yes", I told her. They are my Ethiopian babies.

Whoa!

If I thought life was spinning before.....now it's REALLY twirling. Woof!

I have too much to say...and no time to say it in. We are learning all about being landlords (SO much to learn!!!) Luckily we've had lots of friends/family giving us advice. We also joined a local organization that runs the background/credit checks and gives us access to all the forms we need.

I think we found a renter. Yeah! I lost much sleep over the thought of paying two mortgages...and even more sleep worrying about picking the wrong person! ARHHH! Too many decisions.

On to the new house. It's fantastic!! 4 bedrooms!! Yep, sister will finally have her own room!! Whoohooo! Tuba and Mr. P will share and then Busy Guy and Baby George will share. Everyone is very excited! The layout of the house is awesome! You enter on the main level and there is a living room, HUGE dining room, kitchen, 3 bedrooms, full bath and access to backyard...which is also HUGE and all grass! No more high maintenance yard for us. :) Then you go upstairs to our master bedroom. There are no words to describe it! It is awesome!! Beautiful view!!! HUGE room and master bath. Heavenly. I'm so excited to get ready in a bathroom without 5 kids, the dog and the cat all squeezed in. Yipeeee! Then the basement which is where we will come in from the garage. Most of the basement is finished but needs a major overhaul. It is clean and dry and gets lots of sunlight. We can make the changes we want to do over time. There is a TON of storage, a full bath, laundry and family room....plus extra space. We plan to tear a wall out right away and make the family room bigger. I can't wait to move!!

Speaking of moving. I've began packing. Ugh! Today I packed about 10 or so boxes. My eyes itch from the dust it stirred up. It's going to be a LONG process. I am purging, purging, purging. The thing that makes me cringe is the garage....and attic. Oh!

Catch Up

Life is spinning..........

Whoaaaaaa! I've been neglecting my blog. Life has been good and busy. Here's a mini catch up.

Mother's Day - I had a wonderful day!! My one wish was to have a shower without anyone coming into the bathroom....to tell on someone, to ask me a question, or to go poop!! And, yes it happened!! Whooohoooo! The kids brought me breakfast in bed. Loved it. I really love all the nice things the kids make me at school. God bless the teachers for doing such a kind thing! I laughed and cried at those precious gifts. We went to church and got to worship with my mom, sister, nephews and step-dad. Really nice. Then we went to eat. Yeah! And then spent a nice day at home.

TKD - My boys (Cam, Mr. P and Busy Guy) had testing last Sat. The little boys advanced to yellow belts! Yipeee! They did wonderful! Cam advanced to brown belt. AND...he was the only student to get a perfect score! He was amazing. Wow!! I was so impressed with his performance.

Kali - Love, love, love my sweet doggy! She had her spaying surgery yesterday so she is a bit sore. She is snuggled up in bed with me. Love her! How did I live so long without her? She makes the kids laugh so hard. She loves stuffed animals and keeps taking the little fabric dolls from the dollhouse. The kids throw them for her and she runs and gets them and then shakes her head all around. They can't get enough! Love her!

AND....perhaps the main reason I've been neglecting my blog. We are moving! Yep. We are buying a new house. Finally! We have decided to rent out our home and take the plunge and buy a new one. It's fab!!! I'll post more later about the house. We love it. The inspection is this week and if all goes well we will be moving the end of June. Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Say some prayers for us to find great renters. I'm so nervous!!

A Dog's Life

We are really loving our new doggy Kali! She is the sweetest girl! She is getting lots of love and cuddles from the kids.
Busy Guy read her stories. She listened and looked at all the pictures.

She loves to go bye-bye in the car. Plus, I'll never have to vacuum the car again! Too bad she doesn't eat pine needles and dirt...I guess I'll just vacuum less often. :)

We have had a terrible spring...as far as weather goes. It was the coldest April on record. Boo! But, we had one nice day last week and we took Kali to the park. Tuba loved walking her all around on her leash.