4 Years, 7 Months, 4th of July

Happy Birthday to Little Monkey Man!  He turned four on June 27th, but his mommy is a busy woman!  He woke up to the traditional big birthday breakfast and presents.  He got a Slip N Slide and a tire swing!

 He wanted an Angry Birds birthday.  I collected some boxes, spray painted a couple of milk cartons, rigged up a "sling shot" and (bit the bullett) bought a stuffed Angry Bird.

 It was definitely  homemade, but the boys loved it.  I personally liked the pigs.

 One of our friends gave up on the not-so-great slingshot and just threw the bird at the pigs.  Best result.

 We had special hot dog sandwiches for lunch with ice cream on a stick instead of cake.  His choice.

 When daddy got home from work we made homemade pizzas and had Angry Bird cupcakes.  I found these Angry Bird rings at a cake shop near here for only twenty cents a piece!  Steal!

 We celebrated his birthday with Grandparents on Saturday.  I made a big cake then and put Snug's Angry Bird game on top.  It worked perfectly as a cake topper.

 I wanted to do a picnic, but it was over 100 degrees so we didn't.  We set it all up inside instead.

 The kids even ate at a picnic table!

 LMM got to go putt putting with Grandmommy and Pop Pop as his gift, and my mom also made him his quilt to match Snug's for their bunkbeds.

 #1's parents gave him this HUGE blow up ball that he can get inside of and roll in.  He loves it.

 Here he is on his tire swing that daddy built.  That has been hours of entertainment.

 I can't believe he is four years old!!!!
He had his yearly check up.  He is now 3' 5.5" and weighs 37 lbs 8 oz.  This is the first summer since he was one that he doesn't have to wear earplugs in the pool or tub.  He goes underwater if he has goggles on.  He climbs EVERYTHING.  He recognizes his name and four letters.  He can count past ten.  He hates naps, but on long summer evenings when the kids often end up in bed after nine, they are SO necessary.

7 Months

 Sweet Pea is now seven months old!  She has six teeth (the top four haven't been bad at all and I still believe in amber teething necklaces!)  and is getting more hair.  She sits independently and goes from a sit back to her tummy (doesn't get herself to a sit yet).  She can crawl, but it is still shaky.  She is trying to pull to a stand.

 She is trying really hard with me to keep my milk supply up.  Most of the time she is a pretty good sport about it.  Sometimes she bites, but not often.  Thanks to some very helpful Lactation Consultants and my midwives group, I got a prescription and my supply, until today, was back to GREAT!  Then she slept 8 hours in a row last night and that kinda ruined it.  Working hard again  :o)  As long as I take supplements, drink tea, take the prescription, drink tons of water, pump, avoid sage and peppermint and nurse every 2-3 hours...its all good.

 She's TOTALLY worth it.  She weighs 14 lbs 6.5 oz and is 25 1/2" long.  (She is 1.25 inches longer and 9.5 oz heavier than she was when she turned 6 mos.  Most of that growth has been in the last week!!!!)

4th of July

 We had a great 4th of July.  #1 is now a full fledged detective with his department, which means he gets holidays off!  WOW!!!  We are truly blessed with his new job.  It isn't technically a promotion, but it has enough perks that it feels like it.  He loves the new challenge, but with it also comes some new stress.

We puttered around the house doing odd jobs in the morning, went swimming in the early afternoon and we ALL took a late afternoon nap.  Later we went to a friend's house to socialize and watch the fireworks from their fabulous second floor balcony.  Their porch screamed PHOTO OP at me, so I went ahead and took a few...ok...more than a few.

The sign of a truly great summer for me is a lack of blog posts!  I guess this is a good one  :o)

Playing Catchup

So.  Between the Flats Challenge and my computer being dead (hard drive is failing...be ready for me to be out of blogging for quite awhile at no notice) I have been a bit behind on our summer events!

 First up was strawberry picking.  We found this great place not too far away thanks to Jenilee.  Although these aren't organic, the farm uses minimal chemicals in their crops, much less than what is in strawberries you buy in the produce section at the grocery.

 I swear my kids each ate a quart of berries.

 I snapped this cute picture and then got that berry out of Sweet Pea's mouth.  It was her "first solid", although she didn't ingest any of it.  Strawberries are a high allergen...so probably not a good thing.

 The boys literally walked out of that place with handfuls of "free" berries.

 Little Monkey Man finished preschool.  This is his FIRST day of school...

 ...and this is a picture of his last.  He had a great year and we continue to see improvements in his speech, adaptation to new situations, ability to transition, and with his sensory issues in general.

 Ah.  Potty training.  Sassy McLassy has been doing great, terrible, and everything in between.

 She has days and days where she is fine.  And then she decides she isn't going to use the potty.  So we convince her otherwise.  Cause we're not going back to diapers.  Much.  There are times where her bowel is so messed up she can't help but have accidents.  We do have a date to take her to a GI specialist this month.

 We got to see some friends who we haven't seen since she and he were only a few weeks old.  He wanted to be friends.

 She wanted to tattle.  Tattle. Tattle.

 We all "ran" a 5K.  It was for the FOP that #1 belongs to.  #1 and Snug ran it.

 Mommy had Sweet Pea in the sling.

 And two in the double stroller.  I didn't run.  But I got MUCH exercise.  I also don't recommend babywearing and speedwalking with a double stroller.

 Here he is after the race, very proud of himself.  After all, he beat five people.  Mommy, Sweet Pea, LMM, Rosebud, and some lady he didn't know.  What a race buddy.

 Rosebud loved the race.  She got to eat.

 And eat.

 And eat some more. And what goes in must come out.  So that is loads of fun when she can't control it.  We kinda let her pig out because at nearly 26 months old she is barely hitting 22 lbs (on a good day-often closer to barely 21).

Here was Snug on his first day.

And here he is on his last day on Tuesday.  He loved his teacher.  I think he thought she walked on water.  She was cute as a button, so can you blame him?  He had a great report card.  The only things he didn't get perfect were that he makes the number "3" backwards and a couple of letters incorrectly.  However, he writes sentences on his own, reads on a beginning 2nd grade level (with fluency), and has great comprehension.

Watch out summer, here we come!!!!!!!!!!

Indian Summer

Sometimes being a police officer means that #1 isn't around much.  This weekend is one of those times.  He left for work yesterday at 3:30pm, got home probably around 12:30 am (so we didn't see him) and left the house before 7:00 am this morning.  He won't get home tonight until 12:30am again...so by the time he wakes up around 8am for church tomorrow...that's a little over 40 hours since the kids or I have seen him.  

That is a little over 40 hours with the kids by myself.  I can't imagine having a husband that deploys!

I decided right away that we'd need a schedule of fun activities if we were going to survive!  Last night the kids helped me wash apples and then watched as I canned quarts of applesauce.  As a bonus, a college student friend of ours is home for fall break and came over to watch "Lady and the Tramp" and give lots of tickles and read stories.  That was a real blessing to me!

The weather today is BEAUTIFUL.  Perfect indian summer.  Breezy, sunny, and about eighty degrees.  I've been wanting to take a fall picture of the kids for our wall.  I have a big frame that I try to change every season.  I had a coupon from Wal-Mart for a free 16x20 print and although that is too big, decided to take a picture I could cut down and put in the frame.  Today was the day!

I took the kiddos outside and got the shot I wanted in my first 30 seconds.  I had a photo trip to a working 1800's farm all planned...and even though I had my picture, I decided we'd go anyway. More fun than being home.  So I uploaded the picture to Wal-Mart to be picked up later and we headed out!

I was a little disappointed when I saw the horses out in the pasture.  It meant that they weren't harvesting anything today.  I was kind of hoping there would be something like that going on. Instead, we were among quite a few other people there taking pictures.  Seriously, we saw no less than 10 families with professional photographers.  

 I have to admit that is intimidating for me, as I'd love to know how to do photography on a more serious level.  However, my kids had no pressure to perform and were not in tears.  I saw so so many kids crying because they had to get their pictures taken right now.  I'm sure mom and dad were paying by the hour and wanted to get in and get done.  I know the feeling, we've had professional pictures taken.  But I was relieved to just be there having fun with the kids.

 Snug remembered where we were when we got to this sign.  He's been there before, but not since his 4th birthday.  Instantly he remembered his favorite activities, but we were a little disappointed to learn that we couldn't go to the river and covered bridge today.

 The blacksmith shop was open today and the kids got really excited....because there was a praying mantis.  This guy had the bellows going and fire and sparks, he let them bend steel with their bare hands...and they kept focused on this bug.  They crack me up.

 As I'm in no shape to be babywearing at this point, we took our small wagon.  It contained Rosebud well, and also carried our diaper supplies and lunch.

 Inside the farmhouse I learned about canning tomatoes without a pressure cooker (I have one, but still don't really understand how to use it).  The kids enjoyed the toys, including this marble run.  I love the farmhouse there.  If it had things like, you know, heat and electricity, I'd move in.  It is a huge beautiful house with a nice front porch, large back porch, and a summer kitchen off the back.

 For about 99.9% of the trip Rosebud was all smiles.  She'd climb up on something, smile and wait for me to take her picture.

 Little M.M. also wanted his picture taken, but has this really cheesy face for photos lately.  This too shall pass and I'll have lots of documentation of that "phase".

 The kids loved the chickens, and I did too.  We're hoping to get some in the spring.  We'll see how I feel after baby #4 is here.

 Perfect day to be outside!

 I took a couple more pictures of them altogether.  I do not know how I will ever ever get four kids to look and smile at the same time.

 The boys expended the last of their energy surfing on the cellar door.  Then we headed to the visitors center for our picnic lunch.

 After he was done eating, LMM decided to check out this cauldron.  Not sure what they were going to cook in it, but he cooked leaves.

On the way out we stopped at the penny candy store where things like Sweedish Fish and candy sticks can be bought from 2cents a piece.  Each boy had 10 cents from their bank...which translated to 3-4 small pieces each.  Not even what would be in a snack size Skittles, but enough for them to feel really special getting to choose and pay by themselves.  

I didn't notice how late it was getting, but when Rosebud had a complete meltdown, I figured it out.  Ooops.  I felt kinda mean taking her picture, but realistically she isn't all smiles all the time.  She is a typical toddler.  

So now we have 15 more hours without daddy...but we're going to make it.  Some more time outside, supper, and baths should get us to bedtime and then I'm going to COLLAPSE!  Hope you had beautiful weather as well.