Let's hear from Kinley!

If Kinley could talk, I think this is how she would answer these questions....

Favorite toys:  stuffed animals
Favorite stuffed animal: I sleep with a couple bunnies that I like
Other favorite things to sleep with:  my blankie, my music flower thing that hangs on my crib
Favorite fruit: banana
Favorite cereal: any cheerios
Favorite thing to eat for breakfast: cheerios
Favorite dessert: cake, ice cream
Favorite drink: milk 4 times a day, I also like to drink water from water bottles and let most of it run out of my mouth, down my shirt
Favorite animal: cat-I like to try to get their tales
Favorite books: Baby Einstein board books
Favorite game: pat-a-cake
Favorite tv show: Veggietales, Baby Einstein videos like Baby Mozart, Numbers, Van Gogh and MacDonald-but NOT Baby Newton-mom got rid of that one because I kept crying when the crayon men jumped into a hole
Favorite thing to do outside: try to eat chalk, grass, debris
Best friends: Mommy and Daddy, brothers and sister

The Prodigal Son has returned

Is that a cat in my lap?  Why yes, it is.  In fact, it is Mr. Orange, back from his month long absence.  Where he was, I have no idea.  Orange is much thinner now, so I doubt that he was living with a new family.  I went outside on Tuesday afternoon to make sure the boys had shut the van doors after unloading groceries and saw Mr. Orange across the street laying on the sidewalk like he had never left.  "Mr. Orange!" I said, and went over and picked him right up.  He purred and purred as we walked into the house.  I do have to say all the kids were excited about having Orange back.  We set out a new bowl of food which Orange promptly started to inhale and later on opened our last can of tuna (which we really just save as back up cat food anyway).  Orange spent the afternoon sitting on/laying next to people.  The Anna Kitty didn't have as warm a welcome for him.  She hissed at him a couple times.  Now, they seem to be tolerating each other again.  Andy's response when I text him to tell him the good news: "Dang".  Well, Andy's not really a cat person anyway.  

Time for a park stop

My quest to take the kids to lots of local parks this summer continued tonight with a stop at Tipton Park after karate.  If you are counting, this is the third park we've been to this summer.  A far cry from the "go to a new park every week" dream that I had in June.  

The weather was perfect.  The kids had a blast.  The older three bolted out of the van as soon as it stopped to get to the giant hamster wheel first.  

Liam was immediately drawn to the climbing rock.  He scaled it like a champ, followed quickly by Kella.

Ewan thought the rock made an excellent seat.  "I'm the king of the world!" is what he was saying.

This park was great for us because I could be in one area with the littles and still have eyes on the big three.  Of course, we had to do Kinley's favorite thing...swing.  That is one way to get a smile on her face.

Time well spent tonight.  We love parks!

On finishing projects-my New Year's resolution

I don't like making New Year's resolutions. I never seem to stick with them. This year, I decided just to work on finishing projects. I do like to scrapbook. Nothing fancy. Each of the kids will have a first year scrapbook and scrapbooks of preschool work and school work. As you can imagine, six kids are a lot to scrapbook and I am no where near caught up on all the scrapbooks.

But, I am closer.

This year, so far, I have completed Liam's first year scrapbook, Kella's first year scrapbook and a binder of work Marcus did in grades K-2.

And, I have half a year to go.

I'm so excited to be finishing up these books. Not just because it gives the kids a pretty record of their years, but it also clears up my scrapbooking space which is in dire need of organization.

So, here's to continuing to finish projects!

Marcus had a great 11th birthday!

Last Monday was Marcus's birthday.  This was a year that we (I) waited until last minute to get the boy his birthday presents.  This was also the year, that, one by one, gift ideas I had for Marcus got purchased for him before his birthday by chance.  And, Andy was gone for work, so that made shopping for Marcus a little more challenging.  There was a rush order placed to Amazon (my favorite place to shop) and a birthday-morning-on-the-way-home-from-work stop for a couple things, too.  All in all, I think Marcus really liked his presents and had a fun day.

Andy hid Marcus's presents around the house and gave Marcus riddles to solve to find the gifts.  Andy also included a couple fake gifts for fun.

juggling balls and bike gear from Grammy Pammy

A cell phone case.  oh, Marcus knew he was probably getting a phone.  It was the one thing he kept asking for.  I even took him to the store to play with a couple so I would know what he liked.  Then, I came back the next day to get the phone without him.  

He was wanting a magic eight ball.  

The desired phone.

duffel bag for sports stuff

The boys all liked the riddle hunt for presents.  I have a feeling that Ewan and Cale will be expecting the same game for their birthdays.

Kinley was happy playing with her toys.

Kella had to show me her princess girls.

A Wii game.

The magic eight ball was a big hit.

Cake time.  Marcus asked for a strawberry cake and strawberry frosting.  Andy did a great job making the cake and frosting it.  Everyone did a great job eating it.

Andy, holding his oldest baby.

And, with Mom.  Not quite as tall as me, yet.

Let's hear from Liam!

Last year, I found a printable on Pinterest with questions to ask the kiddos on their birthdays.  I finally got around to printing the lists out for this year, oh, a few weeks ago.  So, we are going to start with Liam, whose birthday was in April.

Favorite color: blue and red
Favorite toy: stuffed animal
Favorite stuffed animal: puppy (Liam has many stuffed dogs and puppies)
Favorite fruit: grapes
Favorite cereal: cookie crisp
Favorite thing to eat for breakfast: pancakes
Favorite thing to eat for lunch: pancakes and syrup
Favorite dessert: ice cream
Favorite drink: fruit punch
What do you want for your birthday dinner: chicken nuggets (one of the things I am always for sure Liam will eat)
Favorite animal: dog
Favorite book: (to which Liam holds up the current book he is carrying around) 2013 Book of World Records
Favorite song: Jesus song
Favorite game: Mario
Favorite TV show: Electric Company (thank goodness Hulu has the entire series on there to watch)
Favorite movie: Jumangi (his current favorite choice)
Favorite thing to do outside: exercise
Best friends: his cousins, his neighbor Abby
What do you want to be when you grow up: to be 6, to be able to climb up the wall (the wall by the downstairs bathroom)

a morning in the park

Way back in June, while Marcus and Andy were at Boy Scout camp, I took the rest of the troops to Cool Creek Park.  I took them there specifically because there is a nature center at the park I thought they would like.  And, they did like the nature center.  They also had fun on the playground for about 15 minutes until some of the small folk needed to use the bathroom.  After a small hike to the bathroom, I was ready to call it a morning, and go home.  But, a shady, forest path caught our eye and we had to go explore.  How fun to discover that the path went down to the creek!  The kids had fun wading in the water.  We have plans to go back, this time with Marcus.

This princess was terribly excited to play in the water.

The boys weren't sure about getting their shoes wet at first, but the water felt so good, that soon, they were all in.

picture fun (?) for Liam, Kella and Kinley

A few weeks ago, I took the little 3 to get their pictures taken in honor of their newest birthdays: Liam, 5; Kella, 3; and Kinley, 1.  I like to think that the photo session went smoothly.  Liam was thrilled that he got to wear his labcoat, Kella warmed up to the photographer halfway through the session and Kinley didn't totally loose it.  She didn't smile,either, but, beggars can't be choosers.  Soon, I promise, these will be sent out if you are a relative wondering why you haven't seen new pics lately.  But, here are some of my favorites.....