New Shoes

When it comes time to go shoe shopping for the kids, they (the kids) always want to go with Daddy. Why? Because he let’s them get whatever they want, for the younger kids that means character shoes.



Recently Geoff took the oldest four out to get new shoes - and Emeron picked McQueen light-up shoes. Now,...Emeron loves his shoes with all his heart, and so does Jacob. Even though they are Emeron’s shoes, Jacob will carry them around, put them in the box, and even set them by his pillow before going to sleep. All this love Jacob showed for his brother's shoes started to bug Ems a little. So after much contemplation, (about ½ of a second) Daddy took Jacob out to get his own new shoes, thinking that this would help the situation, and you can guess what he came home with…. light-up McQueen shoes.

Now Jacob carries both pairs of shoes around with him and sets both pairs of shoes by his pillow at night. Emeron has decided to put-up with him.

Last Week's Spring Break

We had such a great week I just had to journal about it. Although we did not go on vacation for Spring Break, it sure felt like one with Geoff off for half the week. We had tons going on and decided that if it truly were spring break, we should have a break and cleared our week to only fun stuff we could do together as a family!

Monday – Grandma invited the kids up to her work for a little shopping and lunch. Annalyn’s highlight of this day was when Grandma took the kids to her break room and gave the kids each $1 to put in the vending machine and pick a treat. Who would think that would be so memorable? =)

Tuesday – The kids played at friends’ houses all day (that was my break!) and we ordered pizza and watched the video “The Water Horse” that night.

Wednesday – We took the kids to the Planetarium.

Here they are on Mars, where they all came from. Well, where the boys came from. ;) They liked the dome theater movie on Black Holes, Emeron and Anna said that it scared them however, they didn’t want to be stretched like a spaghetti noodle. But, they all had fun shopping for a ‘souvenir’ in the gift shop. On the way back home we dropped the four oldest kids off at Seth’s house for a sleepover. You can’t beat a sleepover at Seth’s!! They always have so much fun there.

Thursday – Geoff and I did a little shopping in the morning and picked up the kids in the afternoon at Seth’s and then we headed off to the Zoo, we spent the day there in beautiful weather. Jacob’s highlight was the train ride and running all over the place instead of riding in the stroller, of course. Abby had the camera (her camera) and took most of the pictures this day, and so we have literally hundreds of pictures of all the animals at the Zoo. :)

On our way back home we picked up dinner at JCWs to eat in our backyard. This was when Farrell finally noticed what Geoff and I had shopped for earlier that morning….. a trampoline. The kids’ jaws dropped and they screamed and were excited to finally have one.

Friday – First thing in the morning Geoff and the three older kids set up the tramp and they all called ‘dibbs’ as to who got to jump first, etc. That was an ongoing spirited ‘conversation’ they had throughout the day. ;)

Saturday – We did some yard work and gardening and then went down to Spring City.

Being on the road with six kids can be eventful - here’s a little glimpse. Mind you this was on the way home, after they each had a fully charged milkshake.

So while this might seem like any other week for some (short of work, practices, classes, games and meetings) for us it was a great spring break – mainly because Daddy was home and with us! I love it when we have the time to just be together…..

Shrine

This is the gift I received from Anna and Emeron this afternoon. They were so kind to pick a bunch of my not yet blossomed tulips and a bunch of my peonies right from the root. They displayed them so nice. I truly am loved. It sort of looks like a shrine. That reminds me of Japan - which reminds me of rice. Have you seen this site?



Check it out, feed hungry people and build your vocabulary!

Smart Cookie

So there is this program here called the Accelerated Learning Lab (ALL) for 5th and 6th graders. It was recommended for us to test Abby for it. She did and was accepted into the program. This will put her at a different elementary school than the one we now attend for her 5th and 6th grade years. We have wondered how it would work having her at one school, Anna and Farrell at another school and Emeron at his Preschool, all starting at 9:00am…. But, after much thought, we’ll have all the kids (except Ems) go to the same new school. Adventure awaits in fall of ’08.

So today, I had the opportunity to review Abby’s test scores that admitted her into this program. She did so well!! It was fun to hear the representative from the District Offices talk about the results of Abby’s test; she scored high in everything with reading at a 9th grade level and math at a 7th grade level and in the top 1% for writing score. Her essay was fun to read and to see things through her eyes. See it here. Her love of life and learning is inspiring. She is sincere and optimistic and always compassionate. Abs is one smart cookie! Way to go!!

Love of the Land

More gardening this last week…. To our already planted (and currently sprouting) peas, potatoes, carrots, and green onions, we added: beets, lettuce and radish. This time of year, the time of planting and cultivating, brings the ‘love of the land’ out in our family. We’ll finish off the planting by Mother’s Day with tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, beans and cantaloupe. And then….. let the weeding begin!

Popcorn Popping

Isn’t this what we’ve been waiting for? :) The 70’s. (temperature – not era) Our apricot trees just started blooming this week. Let’s hope for no more freezing mornings so we can enjoy delicious juicy apricots in a few months. I love spring!

Sunday Picture

I took pictures of the kids on Sunday in their Easter clothes, (er, yea, wasn’t Easter 3 weeks ago?) and Jacob wasn’t cooperating (surprise!) so I said to the kids, “okay, everyone hurry and gather around Jacob.” He wasn’t in the mood to be mauled at the moment, but I still think the picture turned out cute.

Growing

David is 6 ½ months old now and a whopping 20 pounds!! Whoa! Ow, my aching arm and back!! ;)

David is such a happy bouncing baby boy! (literally-he loves to bounce) He is growing so fast, we can’t even believe it.



I remember just weeks ago when we all coo-ed and caa-ed as he was sitting up so well and then before we knew it he was pulling himself up to standing in his crib and now he is crawling! His crawl is unique; he puts one arm forward, then jumps his knees forward, the other arm forward, then jumps his knees forward. A little awkward and frog-like and soo soo cute! :) And as if that is not enough, he started clapping his hands and we just noticed that he is getting his first tooth and.... :::sigh::: Oh, I wish I could just slow time down a little, y’know?



But he is so fun to watch because he is happy with himself in everything he does. His smile is contagious, too. It’s actually fun to watch other people’s expression when they see him. He is a darling boy of joy, illuminating happiness!

…..except, of course, when he is not.....we all have our moments.

To Do List

So I walked in the kitchen this morning and found Jacob doing this….



He was so intently writing on paper, I began to wonder if he was thinking of a list of things to do. If so, I think it would possibly look something like this….

1. Unroll the toilet paper until it makes a big white mountain on the bathroom floor.
2. Flush the toilet 116 times.
3. Keep track of Mom.
4. Work on my art skills, possibly in the bathroom, while I’m in there flushing the toilet, or unrolling the toilet paper?
5. Eat my food and try and sneak some of Emeron’s, then smear a little in my hair, for fun.
6. Take as many toys out of the closet as I possibly can before Mom ‘locks’ it.
7. Hug and kiss David relentlessly until he cries a complaint.
8. Play with Mom’s “kitchen toys” and then find a better place to keep them.
9. Sneak in David’s crib during his nap and <wake him> give him more hugs and kisses.
10. Try to take whatever toy Emeron is playing with until Ems starts to run from me, then play ‘chase’.
11. Find lost library books for Mom to read to me.
12. Practice counting: “1,2,3,7,9,10!”
13. Refuse profusely to take a nap.
14. Take off my diaper and show Mom.
15. As soon as I see Daddy, say “MO-CYCLE” with the biggest smile I can so he cannot refuse and gives me a ride on the motorcycle.
16. Rearrange brother and sister’s stuff for them.
17. Any extra time I have, spend it exploring outside.....