Reunion time!!

Whoopee for me! We are leaving in the next hour for our family reunion. And I ant talking about no boring old fogie family reunion! I'm talking about 48 adults and 38 kids, mostly under the age of 6! I'm talking about fun! And I'm sweating like a hog from hauling stuff out to the van in the muggy icky heat. I'm waiting on mom right now.

We'll drive to Dan and Miranda's tonight and tomorrow we'll head for Colorado. Then we will have 3 fun filled days with my family, before driving back here. I probably will not have any pictures till next week, and I may not have computer access.

This morning, rather than packing like I ought to have been, I was off looking at houses. Dan and I (Mostly I!) are looking at little investment rentals and it is SO much fun! Do you consider the more expensive one that will rent for more and is worth more? Or do you go for the fixer-upper that will be worth more after a lot of sweat equity? Is a ready-to-rent worth paying more for in the long run? A nicer neighborhood will get better renters, but it also is a little more costly. So many choices, so much fun. And then the big question.... do we really have the money to do this?! Hee hee hee, maybe not, but its a good time!

And now I am outta here! I'll keep you posted..... I always do!

Marian's Turn

A funny thing happened today. As I was carting the girls through Walmart, Marian asked me "When I grow up, will I be a woman or a mom?" She does ask odd things, and we had a discussion of what it means to be a woman vs. what it means to be a mom. I thought it went well. Then she says "When I get old, I do not want to be ugly!"

Interesting. When did she fixate on looks? I mumbled something about growing up and looks not being important. She said, loudly, "When I'm old, I do not want to be ugly like her!" and she pointed to an older lady in the cereal aisle. I was quite embarassed and I didn't really know how to spin that to sound okay to someone who did not know this kid!

She does have her sweet moments though. I gave her a horse book today and she read it over and over. Its so cute when she "reads" aloud. She totally can't read, but she makes up the story and its too cute.

Here is my little reader. She loves the pictures.... and she really loves horses.

You talking to me?

Yeah, I'm cute... and bashful.

Equal photos for all

They say that the first baby gets a million pictures taken of it and as you have more kids, you have fewer pictures. I have not found this to be true. As a matter of fact, I have more pictures now than ever before! And the title of this post is not exactly true either. Joshua had lots of pictures because he was the first. Marian was a girl, so she got lots. Dan was deployed when Callie was 3 months old, so there are tons of pictures of her. Delaney has a million because she's cute. Okay, they are all cute. But Delaney was such a happy, content baby and I have actually enjoyed her babyhood, so I guess that's why she has so many pictures. That and thanks to the beauty and ease of digital cameras! I love it!

And here I shall share some of them with you!

We went to pick blueberries on Saturday morning. I know, what kind of mom sends her kid out in public wearing a onesie and shoes. Hey, its Arkansas and it was early Saturday morning. I think she slept in that green onesie too!

Delaney was fascinated by this concept of picking these things off the tree. She really got into it. Unfortunately, she did not differentiate between green ad blue and needed to be fully monitored at all times. She ate whatever she picked- no matter what color it was. Sometime she spit out the green ones.

Then she discovered my bucket. Oooh, free berreis, no picking required!

She started stuffing berries in her mouth as fast as I could pick them. She ate a ton.

And tomorrow we're going to go pick the last of the season's strawberries!

Good Ideas Gone Bad

I had looked up a bunch of fun craft and activity ideas online. I made a list of the stuff that looked like I would do it. Since I hear "I'm bored!" about 50 times a day, I wanted to be prepared. Unfortunately, everything requires time and energy from me and maybe I want to just sit on my bum and not have to entertain them. But I digress.... I meant to tell you about one of the activities we did.

Family Fun suggested using flour instead of sand. I thought this was brilliant. I could just open a bag of flour and it would be much easier than looking for sand to buy and flour should be easier to clean up out of the yard, right? I thought Monday morning was perfect to keep them busy and out of my hair, so I got out the plastic pool, tossed in 10 pounds of flour and all their sand toys. I will say that they had a great time. They jumped in and tossed flour everywhere and played quite well for a while. I got to sit on the porch and read a few chapters in relative peace. Marian thought it was lots of fun to bury her legs in flour, and Joshua liked to throw it in the air and watch it drift away. This resulted in flour all over his sisters, who were not as amused. Then someone started throwing flour on someone else (I think Joshua was trying to make flourballs, which do not work as well as snowballs.), and Delaney got nailed in the face with a handful of flour. Callie tried to wipe her face with a floury hand and got a great flour gotee, and ultimately, everyone was thoroughly coated with it. I had to strip them down before they went into the house. I shook out their clothes and nearly died in a flourstorm. It was a whiteout!

Once in the house, Marian and Callie took baths to get the flour out of their hair. Joshua and Delaney just leaned over and shook most of it out. Sooooo, playing in flour was a lot of fun for them, but it was much messier than I expected! And more clean up too.

Here are the pictures. They don't show the total coating of flour on their clothes. Callie's dress looked completely white. And Joshua's pants are actually a dark blue. I have no idea why he thinks it is funny, but every picture with Joshua in it has the same awful grimace on his face.

Kids and Pictures

I wanted to try to get some pictures of the kids all together this morning. It was Sunday, they were dressed and ready, and it had been a while since I had gotten a group shot. I bribed them with a chocolate snack if they would sit and cooperate. Let me mention though, neither Callie nor Marian is wearing the original dress she put on this morning. Both were wearing purple, until after breakfast, when they ended up wearing too much of it.

This was Joshua's version of a nice smile. Callie was cute, but silly. Delaney just wanted to run away.



Well, this is a little better.... I have no idea what Callie was doing! We took about 8 shots and most of them looked something like this. Or the older 3 looked good and all you could see of Delaney was the top of her head or something as she made a dash for the door.




This was our best shot. If this darn computer had a photo program, I would have done something about the awful red eye, but alas, I am stuck with no photo-shopping ability, and that stinks.



Once they had done enough, I put the camera away, and they begged me to take a shot of them doing "the Laaaaazy Eye". So here it is!








Yes folks, thems my kids and I love 'em!

I Ate a Bug Club

The local library has a reading program for the summer. The slogan this year is "Catch the Reading Bug" so its a bug-themed summer. Today they had a bug guy come and he brought lots of bugs- mostly dead and mounted, but some were for petting. There was a huge milipede, but he stopped letting kids hold it before Marian was close enough. Both girls pet it though. There were some giant cockroaches, but thank goodness my kids were happy to just look! There were some smaller things also- Joshua claimed they were roaches, but I think they were just beetles. Callie and Joshua had fun holding them.

The kids (except for Delaney) were good for the presentations, and when that part was over, they offered bug snacks. There were treats made with bugs for the kids to try. Joshua wanted nothing to do with them. Marian and Callie ate several chocolate and peanut butter covered crickets and Callie and Delaney chomped through a few cricket cookies. Marian refused to believe there was an insect in her candy.

Joshua is showing off his "roach" that his mother thinks is just a beetle. And yes, I did cut his hair like that. If he'd stop squirming, it would look better!

They were fascinated by the cockroaches, and liked to look, but not so interested in the touching. Mom was happy with that.

The librarian just asked Marian if she could take Marian's picture as she ate the chocolate covered cricket. This is her third one and she was upset by the idea that there was a cricket in her snack. She still ate it and pulled out a little leg and handed it to me.

The girls got stickers and certificates that said "I Ate a Bug Club", although neither will admit they might have.

I am suppose to be weeding the garden. I am very unenthusiastic about this idea. It is hot out there! And the weeds are so numerous. Plus I might realize I need to pick broccoli, and then I'd have to figure out what to DO with it! The peas have stopped producing, and the beans, tomatoes and squash are still growing, so I'm safe on that for now. Although I do have a spectacular green bean recipe. Mmmmmmm..... maybe I'll have to make it for dinner.....

Deep thoughts by me

Last night I was watching a lady talk about raising children up for success. I was surprised to hear her talk about a lot of the same values and ideas that I have. I guess I had assumed that non-LDS had very different values, and here was this woman who is MUCH stricter with her kids! I was amazed. She admitted to being a prude with pride. It was gratifying for me to see that I am not alone in trying to keep the world away and out of my home. She has not had a TV in her house in 7 years. Her kids do not go to slumber parties. Her 16 year old daughter is finally allowed to date, but only from an approved list, and the perspective date must ask permission from her parents. After all that, the date will be a supervised date!

I was nodding and agreeing with her thoughts until she went off on a few things that I do not agree with. And suddenly I began to think of her as too off the wall and began to discard her views. That's when it hit me. We are letting things get bad (on TV, in the media, in our movies and magazines, in the government) because we can't work together. The majority of the country may believe in God, and may want prayer in school, but all the denominations can't work together because we differ on religious details. And that's why we keep getting more and more liberal. I may think Harry Potter is fine; she may think it teaches evil witchcraft, but we can still agree that Cosmo magazine doesn't belong in front of our kids in the check-out line of the supermarket.

So, the bottom line for me is that I may not agree on all of her religious views, but I sure do agree with a lot of them. And I am really grateful to know that there are other people out there who are super-strict with their kids, who do not buy them cell phones or cars at graduation, who do not let them use the internet unsupervised, and who are not ashamed of it. It gives me more confidence to stand up and say, no, I am not going to let my children do that, and its not okay. Its nice to know I'm not alone.

Whoo-Hoo!

Its an exciting week already! Mom and Dad left for Utah yesterday, so I'm on my own for the next week and a half. Not liking it so far. I'm hoping to get a babysitter so I can go exercise. At least back at NC I could toss kids in the jogger and go, but here I have no stroller, and the road really is not safe to walk down. On the exciting side, all 3 girls went to Mother's Day Out. That's what they call the preschool. I signed up Marian and Callie for T & Th, and Delaney for just Tues. It runs from 8:30 to 2:30! So long! And can I say how wonderful it was?!! I have a couple projects I want to do and one of them involves scanning a million pictures into the computer. I got the photos organized and started, and I felt so productive!

The girls had a good time, but were ready to come home. Marian had a meltdown when we got home- change doesn't go well with her. Still, I am glad, and if I can swing it in the buget, I may try to get Delaney in for both days. I just wasn't sure how well she'd deal with it. There's no preschool next week, which is annoying, but after that they'll go all summer.

Now, as I was getting dinner ready, I went downstairs to check on the girls and this is what I found! Grandma would be so cross if she saw this!

Yep, that's a nasty look she's giving me. Callie, the assister-in-bad-behavior looks a little more concerned as to how much trouble she may be in.

I know, rather than haul her out and scold her, what am I doing? I'm taking a picture. Then I get on with the less important stuff. She was having such a good time!

See how sad she is? She really wanted to be in the fun fountain.

Happy Birthday to me

Actually today is Callie's birthday and tomorrow is mine. However we celebrated Callie's yesterday and mine today. Don't ask, that's just how it worked out. All I wanted for my birthday to be special was MY own cake, so I was happy with that. I got my very own cake- chocolate with chocolate frosting. Callie got a pink pony cake, which she's been asking for for months.


Here is Callie's pink pony cake. She was delighted with it. It does NOT look like the Family Fun one, but that's due to my own laziness and lack of interest in perfection. Callie doesn't care and it just has to be yummy. Since I made the frosting, I know it was!


Here is Callie on the phone with Daddy talking about her "birsday". She was so cute. Grandpa took her out for ice cream as a special date and they had fun together.


Here is my cake. Since I didn't get candles put on Callie's, she got to blow out the 3 on her side. Joshua is just a ham, and had to be in the shot. He tries to squeeze into every picture he can.

Congradulations to Jonathan!

I think the world (okay, my friends) need to know that I became an aunt again. I am (was?....hmm, my grammar needs work!) going to become an aunt again 3 times this summer, and #1 was born Tuesday night. Jonathan and Kristy welcomed their 4th baby into their family, and here was Jonathan's brief announcement about the blessed event:

--- --- --- ---
Baby Emily Fox was born last night at 11:03PM in Manchester Memorial Hospital, weighting 7 lbs 1 oz.

She came into the world a very calmly, 12 hours after Kristy was admitted to the Hospital. Kristy is glad to be done with the laboring process and Emily is happy to be held and nurses like a pro.
--- --- ---
I am delighted to add to my collection of neices and nephews. My sister in law Kera is due in just about a month- another girl. And my sister Deborah will have her baby boy the end of August. That will give my parents a total of 15 grandchildren, although the girls seem to be overwhelming the boys, 9 to 6 by the end of summer. Oh yes, we are prolific and proud of it.

We love summer!

Today I have no deep thoughts. Not news to some of you, I know. Still, I am going to let the photos do the talking and you can see what we've been up to the last few days. May I just mention that my kids make me laugh?! And I love it when they are sweet to each other.... then I try to get a picture of it! Here are a few reasons we love summer:

Reasons #1 & #2- Friends and watermellon

We had friends over on Tuesday evening and the kids had a great time. They had brought watermellon, and it was a huge hit for the kids. Delaney was in heaven, and Callie thought it was such fun to share. So did our friend who was visiting, Audrey, who is 7.

One happy watermellon-covered little girl. Such a satisfied face.

Reason #3- All kinds of animals (I'll have to get pictures of the deer in the backyard!)

There were a bunch of these tiny frogs hopping around. Marian actually was happy to set this one free when she was done. I only hope it was still alive!

Reason #4- Playing outside (And friends again!)


Another summer perk is going to the park. We went to a new one yesterday with my friend Wendy, and her 4 kids. The park was pretty fun.




Marian loved spending time with Eva. Finally, a girl her age! They played really well together.

Here is Wendy and all the kids. This was the big draw for the park- Joshua wanted to check out the train- there is a Railroad Workers Memorial here, and 2 train cabooses. Very exciting for the kids!

Reason we love summer #5- You can go swimming!

After the trains we decided we would let the kids swim in the swimming hole. We had brought stuff so they could. The water was COLD! It didn't bother them though!


Callie was so silly. Here she is, dancing for me. She is such a ham!


Marian was the only one to truly try to swim. She went all the way in and jumped off the rocks and really had fun. Then she had a problem with her goggles and this was what she did- total mentdown till we fixed it.

Yep, its about time to get out! The air may have been 90+, but the water was really cold. The kids had a very good time though. Next time, I'll look for somewhere more kid friendly. This one was a little too deep, too rocky and not enough space for the kids. They did not care though!

Reason #6- You get to get wet and its fun!

The kids were getting whiny by mid afternoon. Grandma swooped in and saved the day by dragging these water guns out of the garage. Check out Joshua's face. hee hee hee
2 full hours they were outside squirting the heck out of each other! They were drenched when they came in, but it was worth it! Good job, Grandma!

Fun with Family

I love my family. I love it when they come to visit. It was a little tight with 7 adults and 8 kids stuffed into the house, but we managed. I did get to share a bed with Marian which wasn't as bad as I feared. Actually, all us girls slept in one room- Me, Marian, Katie and Callie. All the older boy cousins shared Joshua's room. 3 of them squeezed in tight. Oh, you want to know who was there?

Well, My sister Miranda came over from Oklahoma with her hubby Dan. And my brother Andy and his wife, Kera, and their kids drove up from Mississippi. This was especially rough for them since Kera is 35 weeks pregnant, and nothing is comfortable at this point. Our kids had a ball together though. And I thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend time with my siblings and their spouses, who also happen to be siblings. Hey, don't be like that! This is Arkansas you know! Just kidding. Andy's wife is the sister of Miranda's husband, which means that my siblings married a set of siblings. Its very convenient and they are both fantastic, so it works out well for all of us.

Anyway, on to the weekend. It was fun. My family rocks, nuff said. And here are a few pix for your viewing enjoyment....

Winner of the cute factor here is Matthew and Aaron. They both have the cutest grins, but I especially like Matthew since he looks an awful lot like Delaney. And he was having waaay too much fun in Grandma's fountain.

My sister Miranda and her Dan. They are way cool and a lot of fun.

Marian found a soul-mate in her cousin Katie. They played horses for hours. They also had another game called "cheetas" which involved a lot of shrieking and running and clawing. But they had a great time together, and Marian was very sad to see them go.

This is Nathan. He is the reason I can't wait for Joshua to grow a bit older. Nathan is a great kid and he was so cute with Delaney. He also humored Joshua, who had issues with the boys playing with HIS legos.

Now, I have to tell you about my least favorite part of living here. The ticks. If I were truly committed to sharing everything with you here, I would have gotten pictures, but the ick factor on ticks is too great. The only thoughts in my mind when I see them is, Gross! And then I want to vomit. But they don't usually just go away, so I have to deal with it. I picked ticks off all the kids this weekend. Callie is the winner for biggest tick and for most on her ears. Joshua had the tiniest ones, but his cousin Aaron won for having the most attached- he had 6 that needed removing. After all that, I am feeling slightly better about my ability to spot and remove the tiny buggers, but I still don't like them!