Ah, Innocence!

Sam is practicing his piano lesson as we speak, and he’s playing a sprightly new tune, when suddenly he says, “This is a gay song.” Thinking he’s been learning some new expressions from the public-schooled boys downstairs, I immediately ask him what he means. “It’s very stocatto and happy,” he replied, much to my relief (although maybe I should lay off the Jane Austen movies for a bit . . .)

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A bonus Elaina cutie:

As she ran through the kitchen, she called out, “Look, Mom, my hair is dancing!” as said locks were swinging wildly around her head

The Force is Strong with This One . . .

Today Sam (self-defined “Star Wars Nut”) decided his little brother needed another nickname (because apparently Joklahoma, Jobama (because it’s always time for a change) and JoStopIt weren’t enough) His new moniker:

Jobiwan Kenobi.

(Josiah is holding the light saber my creative oldest son made out of leftover PVC. He calls it the PVC Saber. The one Sam is holding is from Walmart.)

Five for Five

Within the last hour, both boys have thrown up and all three girls are saying their tummies hurt.

Is there some law that you always have to pay for a fun weekend with some kind of illness???

Rushford Days III

Sunday morning, Kirsten made us pancakes, and then the kids got to have a *real* pony ride – on Evin’s 13-year-old pony, Moondust:

Sam, Hannah, and Naomi each took a ride (with Evin expertly leading the pony around the pasture). Elaina didn’t have a ride this morning (although she rode a pony at the fair on Friday) because she was too busy playing with the chickens!

Then we headed home, so that Kirsten, Joel, and the kids could go join their family for a reunion, then go to a family birthday party, then come home and work in the garden . . .  I don’t know where she gets the energy!!! (Personally, I took a two-hour nap when I got home!)

Rushford Days II

Saturday morning Kirsten and I were up bright and early to milk the goat (my first time! Unfortunately, I wasn’t very good at it . . .)

When the (human) kids were up, we had the carrot cake I had brought (that was supposed to have been muffins . . .) for breakfast, and then Kirsten had to skedaddle to help with judging for the photo contest. Meanwhile, the kids and I went into action cleaning their room, pushing through loads of laundry, and spiffing up the rest of the house. Kirsten had been gone at the fair all week, in addition to some other very stressful events, so the housework had piled up a bit – a perfect excuse for me to finally do something to help her out! She always bends over backwards for me when I visit, so I was so glad to have a chance to repay the favor. Of course, I could never have done it without her girls (since I didn’t know where things belong), who helped cheerfully (perhaps because they got to order the rest of us around!) Thanks, girls!

As soon as Josiah was done with his nap, we all went into town to meet Kirsten and use the girls’ subway coupons, and then head over to see the photo contest Kirsten had been working on all weekend. There were some amazing photos – I can’t imagine trying to judge them! Evin and Lauren had entered a bunch, and they were really very good. I will have to try my hand at more “artistic” photos (instead of just silly ones for the blog!)

Speaking of, I forgot to post one I snapped on the way home from Mutton Bustin’:

(I have a thing about taking family photos with giant animal statues)

Anyway, it was quickly time for Josiah’s afternoon nap (and mine . . . I was bushed!) so we headed back to Joel’s. I also forgot to mention that since their road was impassable (at least for their minivan) we took the ten-minute detour (more than doubling the drive home!) Gotta love road construction season!

After a short nap while the kids watched My Friend Flicka (the old one, not the Tim McGraw version) Kirsten and I, sans kids, got to go into town to supervise the photo pickup. We were a little early (thanks to Kirsten setting her clocks 15 minutes ahead!) so we got to check out the tractor pull (it’s not a small town fair without a tractor pull!) Of course, I had to call Peter and make him jealous!

After all of the photos had been picked up, we headed to the grocery store, dropped off a few more pictures, and drove back home where Joel had the campfire started for roasting hot dogs (as well as two old stumps burning, so techinically we had three fires! Joel’s such an overachiever!)

Mutton Bustin’ and bowling and pony rides and . . .

That’s right, this weekend was Rushford Days! We HAD to go (Hannah would have killed me if we missed mutton bustin’ again this year!) and I’m so glad we did!

When we arrived Friday afternoon, Kirsten (actually her dad, who answered the phone) told us to meet them at the bowling alley (which was just as well, since the road to Joel’s house is completely torn up, and you need four-wheel drive to even think about getting across it – although I think my all-wheel-drive GMC van could have made it (but probably not with me driving!))

Anyway, back to the bowling alley – Kirsten’s parents and her brother’s family were already there (Kirsten’s brother was in town for the week; they don’t see him much since he lives in DC) as well as Joel and the kids – but Kirsten was mysteriously missing. I found out later that she was busy helping with the photo contest for Rushford Days (she felt she had to help, since she was technically in charge of it – and apparently it was her big idea in the first place! She’s such a go-getter!)  Sam was thrilled to get to bowl - he’s only bowled once before, and he loved it. His first roll was a strike (although the next four in a row were gutters . . .) He did a little better once they put the bumpers up (but not that well; I don’t think he topped 50 – although for the record he still beat Kirsten’s brother!)

Kirsten’s dad treated us all to pizza for supper, which the kids all ate lined up along the bar:

(ten kids total, if you include baby Charlie and Josiah, who I didn’t feel would be safe on a stool, so we made alternate arrangements for him:

Then it was off to sign up for the main event – Mutton Bustin’! As we were waiting between the sign-up and the actual event, we took a minute for all the kids to have pony rides:

(note the letters in the hill behind Hannah)

And then it was time to live out Hannah’s dream for the last two years:

(Actually, that’s Naomi; I got Hannah’s ride on video)

Hannah was dissappointed that she didn’t get a trophy like her cousin Lauren (I think that was really the reason she wanted to try it in the first place) but they did get ribbons and a coupon for a free kids’ meal at Subway (where we all had lunch the next day).

Happy Birthday, Hannah!

Ok, so it’s almost a week late, but it’s been busy – cut me some slack!

We did celebrate Hannah’s birthday on the actual day, have no fear (honestly, we had no choice, since she’s been counting down the days for about two months now . . .) She got to pick her favorite meals all day (waffles for breakfast, grilled cheese for lunch, and homemade pizza for supper) and of course the cake (angel food with pink strawberry frosting), and FINALLY got to wear her white eyelet dress (see picture). We bought this at a thrift store about two years ago, but I wouldn’t let her wear it until she turned seven (it was WAY to big when we bought it, and it was so nice I didn’t want her to wreck it). Of course the first thing she said when she woke up was, “Can I wear my white dress today?” How did my girls get so fucussed on clothes???

I’m blaming it all on Jessica . . .

The Power of Clothing

Here is a picture of Josiah in his rocket ship underpants (ok, technically they’re Buzz Lightyear, but we prefer the Calvin and Hobbes reference). Peter is so jealous!

Also note the t-shirt. This was intended to give me extra patience and enthusiasm through the whole fortitude-testing experience. It did help!

No More Diapers!!!

That’s right, today is Josiah’s potty training day! My friend Laura was kind enough to take the other kids (and the puppy!) for the day so that I could focus on Josiah. Once again, I used the “Toilet Training in Less Than a Day” method, following loosely* the book by Foxx and Azrin. Obviously, I love this method, since I’ve used it with all five of my kids!

(*by “loosely” I mean that I’ve been getting lazier and less by-the-book with each child, which of course influences the results)

As of right now, Josiah is taking his afternoon nap, and I would say he’s half-trained. Things didn’t go quite as smoothly as I’d hoped (he didn’t drink as much, and hence, pee as much, as his older siblings, so we got less “positive examples” of what to do) but still, the groundwork is laid, and he was pretty cheerful about the whole thing. Now, of course, I still have to keep on top of him for a few weeks until it’s all totally solid, but I can say conclusively that I am, after nearly ten years straight, DONE with diapers (except for overnight and for naps, of course . . . *sigh*)

Why God Made Rainy Days

While at the pharmacy yesterday (picking up a perscription for amoxacillin for Naomi, who may possibly have lymes!!!) I saw a sign for sale which read: “God Made Rainy Days So Gardeners Could Get Their Housework Done” I almost laughed out loud right there. So true!

Today is looking overcast with occasional sprinkles, so of course that means this gardener is desperately playing catch-up on all of the things she’s been neglecting indoors: catching up on emails; making yogurt, bread, etc; putting away all of the laundry that dried on the line this week, but is still sitting in baskets around the living room; cleaning the bathrooms; deep cleaning the girls’ room (they’ve been waking up with spider bites); and trying to find time to play some board games and read books with the kids.

 And of course, look at garden magazines and try to figure out what I should do with the front rock garden . . .