Cute Kids

It may seem crazy to let my kids dig up my lawn like they have, but I'm telling you---they get sooo creative in that little spot of dirt! This particular day, they dug a deep hole and built a wooden bridge over it. In the past, Gehrig has created a city out of rocks with pyramids, etc. They've made an island with water flowing (ughh. .mud). They've planted things and even watched them grow. So. . .sorry to the next owners for the mess, but the mess is worth it when they can spend hours at a time in that small little section of our yard and let their minds go wild with imagination.

 

I was a little too late with the camera to capture the moment I had seen just before I grabbed the camera. It was priceless to hear my children encourage me to go back to my bedroom and let them finish cleaning! CLEANING! My children--without supervision or prodding. Isaiah was on the counter with a washcloth--wiping it down. Emma was sweeping. Damian was mopping. Gehrig was blowing my train whistle and giving out orders--all in good humor and fun. Now if only I didn't have to go back in that kitchen and clean up their "cleaning." :)

 

Highlights

I bought $53 worth of used clothing for $8 by stuffing as many clothes as I could into a small bag. This is one of my favorites that I found. I thought you'd like this Mimi & Grandma Harris! His expression in the first picture really goes well with the saying, don't you think?

 

We checked out Tom & Jerry and some Looney Tune movies at the library this week. They kids LOVE them. I love hearing them laugh outloud to the shows! Even Lou enjoys watching it with them at times! :)

 

Basektball is coming to a close. Lou had an amazing game last week that put his team in position to play in the regional tournament again. They won in triple overtime! Lou was fouled on a 3 pointer (which he made) in the last 14 seconds of the game to tie them (the amazing part is that with less than 2 minutes, they had been 10 points behind). Then, his teammate made a 3 pointer just past the half court line in the last 3 second to tie it up again! And then they finally won the game! SOOOO exciting to watch!

 

I've probably mentioned this already, but it's so funny every time he does it, I have to mention it again. Isaiah is always the first person to smell something. He's always saying, "What's that smell Mama?" He notices EVERY smell; the candy I just put in my mouth, the cigarette smoke on the streets, the smell of the restaurants nearby, etc. He's keenly aware of smells!

During dinner, Damian said to me, "Mamma had lots of boyfriends, but she chose Daddy. I'm glad you chose him. I'm glad you're my mom because I have a grandma that doesn't look too old."

One thing I just love about Gehrig is his sense of humor--even when he's angry. All I have to do is pull a face at him or say something silly and he can't help himself--he laughs or smiles and the bad mood is swept away quickly!

I love this boy!

I forgot to post a picture of Isaiah's new haircut. He was so happy to pose for me this morning. I just look at these pictures and get warm fuzzies all over. He's such a darling! And so full of personality! He had my friend and her family laughing today at church while he was trying to eat me like a sucker and smacking his lips and saying, "Yummy Mama. You taste yummy. Now taste me!"

 

 

 

Highlights

I taught Gehrig, Damian & Emma UNO this week. They have had more fun playing with each other! I'm so excited to have some kids old enough to start playing games with!

Gehrig is ever creating! Here is an airplane he made out of an old apple juice container and popsicle sticks and rubber bands!

Lately, Emma has been our early riser (sometimes getting up around 6:30 AM). She has been so sweet to just get crayons and color or read books quietly. The other morning there was quite a bit more noise than normal (banging, chair scooting, etc.). When I went downstairs to check on things, I found that Emma had fixed breakfast for the family. There were 6 bowls filled with cereal. It's exciting to see her growing up. I can't believe how much she's grown and how helpful she can be.

 

Emma prayed that Daddy & Mamma would be respectful and good--when she was blessing the food. Funny, eh?

When I fixed a rip in Isaiah's "pee sheet". He put his hand on my shoulder and looked at me with complete adoration and said, "You're fixing my bed? THANK YOU! I love you Mama," and gave me a great big kiss! Man, it's good to get that kind of feedback, isn't it?

We were sitting close (so we all could see the TV) at the table eating dinner and watching The Brady Bunch (we don't always watch during our dinner, but sometimes it's fun to have some peace and quiet during dinner--if you know what I mean!) I guess I was resting my foot on Gehrig's foot. He said, "Your footrest has blood in it." :) He has quite a way with words, doesn't he?

I think I've told you about Damian's made up friend, Elfe, who periodically comes to our home and cleans. Today was Friday Friend Day (everybody got to invite a friend over to play) and as you can imagine, the house was quite a mess by the time the friends went home. I was in my bedroom for a little while and when I came out, every body's room had been cleaned--the house slicked up. Damian said he helped Elfe clean! What a cute kid! He loves to help--but mostly only in secret. In fact, it really ticks him off if I bust him cleaning. I think he and I are more alike than I've realized in the past. We both have really good intentions, but get a bit uptight when things don't go exactly as we have planned.

January 2009 Highlights

* I don't know how advanced Emma is for girls her age, but she's definitely more advanced in her coloring than my boys ever were (in fact, I think she's better at it than Gehrig is now--don't tell him that!). I just had to post an example. I mean, she just barely turned 4. Look at how she can stay in the line. And look at all the variations in color! I love it!



* Damian really loves to clean, but he HATES to be asked to do it. So. . .it seems he has come up with a creative way to accomplish helping without being asked or "discovered". He's become Elfe (pronounced Elfie). Elfie and I have been exchanging notes today and he's gotten a real kick out of it. I'll interpret the letter for you down below. Don't judge me for the poor spelling, etc. He's not been ready to write, so I'm VERY excited that he's communicating through letters right now. Maybe he'll finally take off!



Interpreted the way he would read the letter out loud. ."Hi! Elfie here. I will clean at your house any time that you write to me. Bye, bye. Write back. To Angela. Love, Elfie"

* Isaiah found a cup on the ground today and said, "Mama, is this my cup?" Then, he turned it over and put his finger on the bottom of the cup, as if following words that he was reading, and said, "Isaiah Baby. Yep, that's my cup. It says Isaiah Baby. Is that what it says Mama?" I looked at the bottom and laughingly said, "No, it says 'TOP DISHWASHER SAFE'" He laughed and repeated, "Top dishwasher safe. Ha, ha, ha." What a sense of humor. This kids cracks me up all the time! I also love that he's picking up on the idea of reading. He can always pick out his name on the cup that's his (I have one for all 6 of us with our names on them).

* Gehrig was supposed to be getting ready for scouts, when this cute little guy came up to me to say hello. Gehrig thought it would be fun to dress him up in his scout "stuff". The cutest little Cub Scout! Too bad he had dinner all over his face! What a charmer! :)



* Isaiah has found a CD that he likes more than any other CD. It's a New Orleans Jazz CD. I'll find him sitting behind my lazy boy singing and dancing to this CD on the karaoke machine for long periods at a time. It's so cute to hear him trying to copy Louis Armstrong's voice! I love how much he loves music and loves to sing. He has great pitch for a 2 year old--exactly like Gehrig had/has.

* Isaiah's also the one who loves to go outside the most--even in the cold. I'll suit him up in Emma's black and pink snowsuit (b/c she has two and he doesn't have one that fits him other than hers--and her other one is lavender and pink--at least this one's mostly black)and send him out to play all by himself. It's so fun to watch him playing on the swing set, having a good time all by himself.

* Lately, I've been letting the kids watch The Brady Bunch and Little House on the Prairie because they've been pretty good with their school work and by 5:30, I'm ready to have the TV occupy their attention for a little bit. In between the two shows, they usually show one of the BYU dance teams in a number or two. Today there was an Irish dance with partners, so Damian grabbed Emma and began dancing with her. He even copied some of the lifts with her. It would be so fun to get them into Ballroom sometime in the near future! Isaiah didn't want to be left out of the fun, so he grabbed me and began dancing with me.

Highlights--December 2009

Being the obedient little sister that she is, Emma did exactly as her big brothers prompted her to do--she pulled on Santa's beard to see if it was real. Can you tell she's pulling on his beard?

Funny. . .just this week, Isaiah saw a man at the Fitness Center with longer "Jesus" hair and said, with much excitement in his voice, "Look Mama, it's Jesus!" The man was pretty cute about it. Says he gets that periodically. He told me to tell Isaiah that there is a little Jesus in everybody! :)

Many times when Isaiah tells us something, he says it with his eyes open big and he shakes his head to confirm what he has just said. (I know that probably doesn't make sense written out like this, but it's so darling how he does it--I'm hoping that by trying to describe it, I'll be able to remember it. It's so cute!).

This next highlight is probably worth it's own entry, but it's more interesting to me than it will be to you. I have been waiting to officially be able to say that Isaiah is POTTY TRAINED and I think I can say it now without jinxing myself. Potty training is seriously one of my least favorite parenting responsibilities, but for the time being--I'm basically DONE!! Hip, Hip, HURRAY! He's great through the day and he gets up almost every night to go, so he's nearly always dry through the night too. I put him in underwear in March, so it's about stinkin' time that I can say he's done!! To his credit, (and mine), he's my earliest potty trained. The other three didn't officially potty train until they turned 3. Ugghh! Isaiah's only 2 1/2 and he's been in underwear since he was 21 months. I'm not sure that was the best way to do it--certainly hard on me, but cost less in diapers and ultimately had him potty trained at least 6 months earlier than the rest of them.

December 2009 Highlights

* I have to see this as a highlight because I think it is the beginning of skills that will prove to be very helpful in the future to Damian, his family and possibly many, many others. . .I'm talking about Damian's desire to take things apart and figure out how they work. This time, I took his desire to use a screwdriver and put it to work. He helped me repair the flickering dome lights (by replacing the door jam stop in the driver's side door) and replace a burnt out light in the rear lights (by taking off the panel, pulling out the bulb and replacing it and screwing the panel back in place). He enjoyed helping and I had to be a little proud of myself for taking it on instead of getting Lou to do it. He's so busy with work, I couldn't wait for his help, so I did the investigating and fixed my car problems (with Damian's help)! :)


* Isaiah melts my heart every time I try to lay him down for a nap or leave the house without him. He always says, "Don't leave me Mamma. I NEED you!"

* Another funny thing about Isaiah is his grown-up sense of humor. He usually says, "NOah for "NO!" and every time he does it, I sing, "Noah was a prophet." Well, lately when I sing that to him, he'll sing back, "Noah was a Mamma."

* Yesterday morning Isaiah wanted to say the blessing. He can really do it by himself, but he wanted help. So. . .Emma began helping him through the prayer. When she got near the end, she dropped out, so I had to step in and help him. I kept giving him a word and prompting him to finish the phrase, but he copied me exactly. So, when I got to Amen, I just mouthed it--assuming he'd say it out loud. Instead of saying it out loud, he mouthed it back to me. So, I mouthed it back to him and he mouthed it back to me. We did this about 3 times before I finally said it out loud and he finally said it out loud--leaving us all laughing at the end of the prayer. What a funny little guy!

* Those are just a couple of examples of the funny little sense of humor he has. You can tell a little bit about his sense of humor by these pictures.

* Gehrig is an AMAZING writer. We had so much fun over the Thanksgiving holiday reading his journal entries. I'm actually considering looking into getting his journal published (calling it something like Musings of an 8 Year Old Boy). It's hilarious, insightful and a bit incriminating!

* Emma loves to draw and write. She's been learning her name and writes the cutest E's with many lines coming out of it. She also wanted to learn how to draw a heart, so I spent a few minutes the other day teaching her how to draw it. It was hard for her and first, but she began to get it after some practice. So. . . a few days later, I found that she had drawn hearts all over several things in the house (walls, furniture, etc.) and I got after her for writing on things she shouldn't and she said, "YOU taught me how to draw hearts." I hope she remembers that I taught her how to draw hearts, but I can promise you, I never taught her how to draw on walls, furniture, etc.!

November 2009 Highlights

* Isaiah has hit one of my favorite stages. . .I started practicing his full name with him and he's getting pretty good at it. So. . .whenever I say something like, "Hey handsome," He'll say, "I not handsome, I saiah (zaya or haya). Cracks me up every time. I set him up sometimes, just to hear him say it. "Hey buddy." "I not buddy. I HAYA!"

* Emma discovered that she can sing. We were listening to an old primary tape with VERY young children singing on it. I guess it inspired her and she's been singing TONS more than she used to. It's so cute!

* Damian is finally getting excited about reading! He earns SWOKS for every page he reads. I love that he's reading! (SWOK stands for Service Work Obedience Kindness--if I notice them doing anything that falls into one of those categories, they earn a SWOK, which are bills like money that they can spend for various privileges, candy, etc.).

* Gehrig is really into rock collecting, coin collecting and planting (he keeps planting things in cups and setting them in my window). He loves to go to the library and get educational books.
He stays up WAY too late reading. If I actually stay up later than he does, I usually find him asleep with a book open in front of him. Also, he's learned the hymns, Count Your Many Blessings and Joseph Smith's First Prayer for his first Hymn Festival to be held this Saturday. It's fun to hear him playing these two songs so well. I can't wait to get him started on some new pieces! :)

* I have to put this as a highlight because it does relieve a lot of pressure, although I'll miss certain aspects of my calling. . .I have been released as the 2nd Counselor in the Primary Presidency after almost a year in the calling. I think they had mercy on me b/c of the home school, busy husband, crazy life, etc. I'm very excited to spend 2 hours of church without any children to actually be spiritually fed. Amazing! No babies to take out or anything. I think I'll possibly be lost for a bit, but I know it will feel good.

* I bought a new van! It's the same as my last one, but 3 years newer with the sliding door on BOTH sides, a better stereo (even though it doesn't have a CD player), a tiny bit larger trunk space, 35,000 miles less, cleaner, silver (a much better color), etc. The windows actually roll up and down without any tricks. The cruise control works the first time I push the button. The lights don't flicker (anymore. . .). It has keyless entry (okay, so I paid $80 to have it installed, but I love it). I'm excited about it! Just hope that the other one sells, or I'm in trouble!

* I love that Lou is playing basketball in a city league. It's fun to watch a little more competitive ball playing. I missed the good old days when I followed him around playing for the city leagues in Utah County. It's hard for him to pull away from his office to play a game every week for an hour, but he's managed to pull it off--even though he usually goes back after the game (8PM) and spends more time at the office.

Highlights---September 2009

* Emma whispered that she wanted to tell me a secret during church today. She whispered into my ear, "Jesus loves you. Together Forever. Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty." I just love the way a 3 year old's mind works! So cute!

Sewing Projects & Highlights

I had a $10 gift certificate, plus a 30% off at Kohls a little over a week ago. I thought this cute little puppy towel would be fun for Isaiah (since Emma has a purple towel with a hood). With the discounts, I didn't have to pay too much for the $30 towel.

Anyway. . .poor Emma (only 3 mind you) was really sad she didn't have a cooler towel (her purple one used to have a cute butterfly on the hood, but it fell off and is plain now). So. . .the next opportunity for deep discounts at Kohls, I went ahead and got her this little towel. She was thrilled (and maybe a little spoiled).

I felt bad to leave the big boys out, but I couldn't afford to buy any more $30 towels. So. . .I attempted to make them some. I'm not really proud of them, but I thought I'd display them since I went to the effort to make them. Damian's is supposed to be a panda bear.

Gehrig designed his cobra with fangs and all. His drawing looked much more like a cobra than my sewing, but at least I tried. Right?

I have to mention a couple of fun highlights. . .

Isaiah is constantly saying, "Rorry (sorry)," and giving me hugs (complete with little pats on my back) whenever he's done something wrong or thinks he's done something wrong. He also is eager to hug Emma when she's sad or vice versa. I love it when they hug b/c they're exactly the same size! Too cute!

I turned on So You Think You Can Dance last week (I usually try to avoid it with the children around b/c of the modesty issues which Damian is very keyed into--i.e. he notices when people aren't dressed modestly and is quite concerned about it. (In fact, he told me the other day that he was really glad that I covered my belly and dressed modestly, unlike a mother at the park that he keeps seeing with stretchmarks and the works showing her belly with a shirt much too small for her). Anyway. . .it inspired Gehrig to make up his own "modern" dance. It was so funny/cute to watch him create a routine including the "worm." Damian has asked me to dance several times since then and really seems to enjoy it. He gets Emma to dance with him too. And of course, Emma and Isaiah like to dance together too. Maybe I can get them into ballroom dance soon!?!

This is our cute little friend, Annie, showing off her fun cupcakes at her 8th birthday party.
This is Emma with her best little friend (aside from her brothers) Kimberly. I thought it was so cute watching her friend apply make-up (ALL over her eyes!).

June 5-14, 2009 Highlights

"Bop it, Mama (or whoever's bugging him)!" We hear this any time we're doing something that Isaiah wants us to stop (Stop it!)--like combing through his hair.


"Here Mama. Have some too?" It was so cute how Isaiah saved his last tiny bite of graham cracker to share with me. We have a fun little thing we like to do, he and I. I'll put what he wants to eat in my mouth and pass it to his mouth (like birds do with their babies). He thinks it's very funny. So I did this with the cracker and gave the rest of it to him. He wasn't satisfied that I ate any, so he came up to me again, with it in his mouth trying to pass it to me, "Here Mama, take a bite. Take a bite." What a cutie.


This morning, I was helping Emma get dressed in some plaid capris. She said, "Are these like Mason's, Mama?" She reminded me that he had plaid shorts. Then she said, "I'm going to be handsome TOO!"


Gehrig's eyes are burning and he says he feels a bit sick. I realized that he's been on the computer doing history lesson after history lesson after math lesson after history lesson since about 9 or 10 this morning (actually, I made him stop long enough to do about 30 minutes of Heather's math with Damian and about 10 minutes for lunch)! Man, that boy loves to learn! He's been writing in Runes (Viking alphabet) since he learned it yesterday while studying about the Vikings.


SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE?--My two do! I let them watch a few minutes of the show with me and Emma ran upstairs to get a dress and convinced Isaiah to dance with her. I love those two together!
Emma graciously gave up her "beautiful bike" (that's how she refers to it every time she asks to ride, "May I ride my beautiful bike Mama?" so that Isaiah could have a turn. He's pretty good. She rode the bigger bike I have for her that she refused to use before I got her beautiful bike and she gained some confidence.

May 28, 2009 Highlights

"A-morning Mamma. A-morning Daddy. A-morning Damian. A-morning Emma. A-morning Yehyig." This is the greeting we each get from Isaiah when he first sees us. Also the greeting I get in the night if he wakes up. I love it (not quite so much in the night though)!

"Ap you? Ap you?" That's what Isaiah says when he's asking for help.

Have I mentioned how Isaiah backs up into your lap when he wants to be picked up? He'll do it to anybody. It's so cute.

Yesterday, I was talking to Gehrig and asked him if he had any heroes. He immediately said, "God." Then, I asked him for more and he said, "Benjamin Franklin." (This he said was because of a recent book he read about Benjamin Franklin and lightening.) Then I asked him if he had any heroes that he knew personally. He told me to ask Daddy. I asked him why. He said, "Daddy knows who his biggest fan is." What a cute kid!

Emma sits next to me at the dinner table and often gets into my "personal space," waving her fork in my face, etc. Today, she started rubbing my arm (with her somewhat dirty little fingers) and said, "You're soft Mama." She was being so gentle and sweet, I wasn't as bothered as I normally would be (not quite a fan of being sticky and dirty--I should be with 4 children, shouldn't I?). And then she said, "You're so cute Mama." She totally won me over this time.

I love the way Isaiah says, "Yassssss," for Yes.

Damian decided he wanted to clean his room without being asked. He wouldn't let me come in until he was finished. I bet he spent more than an hour cleaning and organizing and decorating. When he finally let me in, the beds were made, the floor was vacuumed, the books were neatly organized on his desk and he had decorated the room with tiny little seashells (on top of the dresser handles, the window frame, etc.).

At the breakfast table this morning, Emma said, "I want to ride my beautiful bike." She just got a new Disney Princess bicycle with training wheels (I couldn't resist the nearly new bike for $5 at a garage sale). She was so excited when she first got it--and still is. She would ride up and down our street, then hop off the bike and jump into my lap for a tight squeeze. I bet she thanked me 30 times that first day riding her new bike. What a reward! :)

I found Damian asleep in this position and found it kind of funny! When I showed him the picture, he cracked up. Then he told me that he knew why he fell asleep that way. It was because he was kicking his legs up and down. I guess he was copying what Isaiah does when he's falling asleep. Funny boys! (Yeah, yeah. . .I know he has a hole in his sock. I think they come with extra holes!)

I love how Damian always spots things at garage sales for his family. He loves to buy things for himself too, but he's always looking out for everybody else. This little princess globe caught his eye for Emma. She was tickled pink with it!

May 19, 2009 Highlights

* * * It's probably not all that funny that I hear this so often from my 1 year old (Isaiah), but it's always kind of cute coming out of his mouth. He often tells us to, "Dop it!" (stop it).

* * * He's (Isaiah) also been having a tough time keeping the rule to stay in the back yard. Unfortunately, there's about a foot gap in our fence, so it's pretty easy for him to squeeze out and play in the front yard where it's more dangerous (I'm not watching, the street is right there, etc.). Thanks to his siblings ratting him out, I've caught him several times a day escaping. Poor kid just wants to ride the bikes (believe me though, I do take him out nearly every day to ride at some point or another). So. . .the last time today, when I saw him out there, I said, "Uh-oh." He looked up at me and placed his hands on his backside to protect himself from the inevitable swat on the behind. It was so funny, I almost laughed! Poor kid. After the swat, he goes to his room for a while. His determination keeps him in trouble a lot, but hopefully my consistency will win out. It finally did for Emma. She was doing the same thing a couple of weeks ago, but she never escapes any more. She's the best at coming to get me as soon as he slips out.

* * * Have I mentioned how Emma and Isaiah, when upset and crying, often ask for one of their older brothers to give them a hug? It's so cute. I love how they depend on each other.

* * * Damian has been taking many opportunities to read to his younger siblings, especially Emma. It's pretty cute and I'm happy to see him reading more.

* * * Another thing Emma & Damian like to do is play cards together.

* * * Today Gehrig was collecting lady bugs, making a home for them and asking to look at them through the microscope. He's constantly experimenting (poor bugs).

* * * Today when I put Emma & Isaiah down for naps, I rested on the couch with a book, joining Gehrig and Damian. It was amazingly quiet for over an hour while we all read (okay, I dozed for a minute). Ahh. . .sweet blissful peace. Wish we could do that more often!

A Few Random Things. . .

Damian has always been quite clever with his artwork. Here he is showing you something he made in Idaho. He's winking like the little man he made to wink (too bad you can't really see that there is a flap that you can lift or close if you want the little guy to wink).

The middle picture is often what I find at night when I try to open the door and am stopped by something. Those cute little (BIG) hands of Isaiah's. He often curls up by the door and falls asleep.

Damian was so excited when his Daddy started to teach him how to play chess. Lou thinks he'll be pretty good at it!

Two of the cutest little faces God made! :)

They love to sit under the running water while I'm filling the tub for them. I love how Emma was putting her arm around Isaiah (of course, by the time I got the camera out, it wasn't as perfect looking as it was at first).

* Emma loves to collect "holy polies" (roly poly bugs).

* Isaiah always greets everybody in the morning by saying, "Good morning!"--remember he's not 2 yet!

* Gehrig is ALWAYS experimenting--the latest--he caught a honeybee and was trying to feed it vanilla. He dipped flowers in vanilla and tried to feed it from the flower, as well as from a lid. I'm not sure if it was all the handling, the vanilla or the baking powder remnants from the jar he was using that killed the poor thing, but it didn't survive. Now, he's collecting a "reunion" of snails (a mother, father and many little children).

April 11, 2009 Highlights

* I love the way Isaiah has always called us by name whenever talking to us. For example, instead of saying, "Okay," he says, "Okay, Mamma." Or, "I love you Mamma." Or, "Thank you, Mamma." It's amazingly endearing. I mean, he's been doing this since he began talking.

* This may seem strange, but while potty training, I love sitting on a stool sitting eye to eye with Isaiah, singing songs with him, giggling with him when he toots, watching his eyes tear up when he's working on something. Don't tell anybody. It's just so funny and exciting to see him nearly potty trained over a year earlier than my other 3! YIPPEE!! Emma and the older boys gave me such a hard time, I figure I earned an earlier potty trained kid!

* Damian is such a great helper when he wants to be. Today he earned a couple extra chores. He was to sweep and mop the kitchen floor. While he was sweeping, he used the pan scraper to get things up that were stuck to the floor. Not bad for a 6 year old, eh? He really is quite a good helper. And very responsible when he wants to be.

* Another favorite thing that Isaiah has been doing is seeking solace from his siblings when he's hurt or offended. For example: today he was upset with Lou, so he passed me up and cried for Emma and held his arms out for a hug from her when he found her. She gave him a comforting hug. I noticed his nose was running (of course), so I asked Emma to bring me some toilet paper. When she got to me, I tried to take it from her, but she said, "No, I'll take care of him Mamma." Such a cute big sister!

* Gehrig and Damian decided to use some pieces of wood they found to make a club house. When I saw that they had gotten the ax out, I put a stop to it. It was cute how they were hammering nails, etc. trying to make it, but I knew that it probably wouldn't end up all fun and games. And it didn't. Gehrig stuck his hand under the mallot Damian was using and ended up with a blood blister. He wasn't too happy about it, but hopefully he learned something about noticing his surroundings.

* Damian's first big front tooth is hanging on by 1 root. It's quite the sight, twisted and hanging. I'm wondering if the tooth fairy AND the Easter bunny might have to come for Damian on the same day!

April 10, 2009 Highlights

* Watching The Sound of Music with my family after reading a Power Tale book , The Story of The Von Trapp Family: The Power of Family Spirit - - I am so happy that Lou stuck around for nearly an hour of the movie (and if you can see his expression, he was even enjoying it whether he'll admit that or not!). This was a very happy ending to a more difficult day for me! Makes it all worth it when my family is enjoying time all together. I wish you could have seen Emma up and dancing to every song. She tried recruiting her big brothers to dance with her after her willing little brother went to bed.

* Which brings me to. . .watching Emma and Isaiah dancing, singing their own music!

* The spontaneous "monkey" hug from Damian after a long, hard day with him.

* Watching Gehrig enjoying his job dicing eggs and pickles for our potato salad (managing to sneak a few in his mouth, avoiding cutting himself!).

* Isaiah's hug from behind that hits mid-thigh (finally not being afraid of the bite that occasionally came when he was younger). Also, today, quite unexpectedly, he hugged me from the front and kissed my thigh! What a cutie!

* Emma enjoying conversation with complete strangers.

* Playing basketball with Damian (teaching him how to take it away or protect it when he has it).

* Bouncing balls with the rest of the children.

* Watching Gehrig & Damian on stage practicing for their first choir performance.

* Cutting out sugar cookies with Gehrig (trying not to be annoyed by his creativity as he cut out his own small designs that wouldn't make great cookies--it really was cute, why was I annoyed?--in the end, I realized it and got over being annoyed).


And so, the list could go on. I'm so glad that I'm doing these highlights b/c it really does help me realize how blessed I am. Even on the tough days (which today was). Sorry if I bore you. Obviously, you don't have to read it! This is really for my own good as well as my family's. Now I have many great things to share with Lou when he gets home instead of just plunging into the problems of the day!

April 7, 2009 Highlights

* Watching Gehrig & Damian playing for hours on the swing set together.


* Watching Gehrig teaching his younger siblings all about the things he learned in his Human Anatomy book he's reading.

* Watching all four kids playing in their "garden" spot (the place Gehrig & Damian planted corn and cucumbers---patiently waiting to see life).

* Listening to Isaiah say, "I DID it!" after he uses the potty.

* Watching Isaiah whip "it" out to relieve himself outside (shame, shame--I'll teach him when he's fully potty trained. Right now, I'm just glad he's keeping himself dry.)

* Watching Isaiah crack up when I keep the door open a crack to make sure he stays in bed. I watch his face as he knows that as soon as his foot hits the floor, I'm coming in to put him back in bed. He laughs & thinks it's a game. I think it's better than hearing his head banging against the door.

* The smell of freshly bathed children at the end of a busy day!

* The way when Emma is asked to do something that shows responsibility like clear, rinse & load her plate, she responds, "Oh, (insert giggle) yeah! Sure."

* When Gehrig asks about rocks and I lead him to an online class that he reads and teaches his brother--and loves what he learns even though when I first directed him to his lesson he asked me, "Mom, how come whenever I show you something, you turn it into school?"

* Watching Emma & Isaiah going down the slide together, arms around each other--hoping against hope that they don't go over the edge at the top of the slide!