The Farm

We spend 5 days on a farm. A real live farm. Though they sold all their cattle 2 weeks ago, it still smelt like a real farm. (ha! ha!) The kids got to collect eggs twice a day, feed the chickens leftover scraps and feed, go on adventure walks, hunt for toads, run through the irrigation ditches, play in the cedar trees and slop through all the rain puddles in their mud boots. There was not much to pick in the greenhouses, but they did consume an abundance of apples from the Kuhn's orchard. The most exciting part of the trip for the kiddos? Jumping on the trampoline. A neighbor had given them this trampoline last year and novelty has not worn off. If we could not find Luke, all we would have to do is look out toward the trampoline. Every time, that child was standing there waiting to be hoisted up so he could start jumping.

Everyone played together quite nicely, most of the time. They are all 1 year apart: Nana, 6; Cooper, 5; Natalie, 4; Jacinta, 3; and Luke, 2. It will be fun to see them all grow up together!

Road Trip

Driving in an SUV for 10 hours with 3 preschoolers ... sound like fun or torture? On the way up to Kansas, it was somewhere in between. On the way back home, however, it was definitely the latter. Between the bouts of screaming/squealing from Luke to the random crying from Natalie, it was enough to want to plug in my iPod and zone out. (I tried, it didn't work.) It was too wet from all the rain to play at the rest stops, so the kids were going bonkers not getting to blow off some energy. We stopped at one McDonald's that had a play area (can you believe that some McD's do NOT have a play area?) and let them run themselves silly. Then we discovered that the McDonald's had a "Red Box", where you rent movies for $1! Kid movies, adult movies, everything. Then you return it to the next McDonald's (or place with a "Red Box") when you are done with it. We rented Alvin and the Chipmunks for Cooper and tried to rent Mariposa for Natalie, but they were out of inventory for that one. What a deal!! $1 !!!! WOW!

The best traveler? Cooper! He is a great traveler, aside from trying to stump you with 100 questions, he did awesome. He sat in the very back with own DVD player, coloring desk and a some coloring books. He entertained himself (not at the expense of his siblings) and was quiet most of the time. John and I were pleasantly surprised with how he did.

This, however, is the best part of the road trip:

A Book

My husband bought me a book for my birthday. He actually picked it out and thought I would like it. You know what? He was right! I loved it! It was one of those books you stay up late to finish because you are afraid if you wait until the next day it will have disintegrated or something and then you will never find out how it turns out.

I did not know that my husband possessed this talent. Now that I know...well, then I might put too much pressure on him. I think I will just bask in the knowledge that after 8 years of marriage, my husband may know me a little bit more than I give him credit for.

Oh yeah, the name of the book is: The Next Thing on My List by Jill Smolinski.

Great Wolf Lodge

We took Gram and Grandad to Great Wolf Lodge for their birthdays. Yes, they knew about it ahead of time AND wanted to go. So we packed up 1 suitcase and 6 bags of other random staff and headed all the over to Grapevine. (less than 40 minutes) We got a 'Kids Cabin' for our crew of 5, complete with a set of bunk beds, another bed within the cabin and our queen size bed on the outside of the cabin. Gram and Grandad got a regular room, right next to ours.

It was great fun! The outside water park was open until 6pm, so we stayed out there until then. The water was freezing, but the air temperature was in the 90s, so as long as you didn't get in the water, you stayed warm. The water slides all used those inner tube rafts, so all 3 kids got to go down them. Very cute to see the 2 year old all excited about getting to do 'big kid' stuff! After it closed outside, we headed into the 80,000 square feet of indoor fun. Does 86 degrees sound warm? No, not when you are wet. (I much prefer the comfortable 98.6 degrees that my body tends to stay.) We had fun, but after 4 hours of being wet, cold and shivering, we were ready to get into pajamas... and the bunk beds!

The best part of the day/night? My mom putting the kids to sleep while John and I enjoyed a tasty beverage at the Grille. Thanks Mother!!

A Complicated Joy

Yes, I am stealing the title of the sermon on Mother's Day as my blog post title. It could not be any more fittingly appropriate in describing what motherhood is. From the whole 'trying' to get pregnant part to 10 fun-filled months of growing to the size of a small SUV. From sobbing when your baby is born to crying because you have never seen something you could love so immediately and furiously. From not having a clue how to feed your baby to knowing exactly what makes them stop crying. From watching them swing in their baby swing, wondering when will this child walk (?) to seeing them run a complete mile when they are just a toddler. From wondering what their voice will sound like to answering the 78th question on a 2 hour drive.

David Daniels really nailed it on the head when he talked about how motherhood is like a beautiful cactus blossom. Though it is beautiful, there are still barbs. There will always be pleasure and pain with the pendulum swinging back and forth throughout our lives. If you would like to view the sermon, here is the link: http://www.pantego.org/ .

Though I have said it before, I would never change a thing. I am SO utterly and completely thankful for my children and the experiences that have come my way in the last 7 years. May God continue to bless me on my quest to be a good mother to the children He has entrusted to me.

Soccer Girl!

I realized that I did not put in a post about Natalie playing soccer. Natalie played soccer this spring on a 'Mighty Tots' team. It is pretty "stinkin' cute" to watch little, tiny 4 and 5 year old girls play soccer with soccer balls that almost come up to their knees, wearing their shin guards and tough-girl soccer cleats.
Natalie was not so fond of the game/practicing early on, but the more she played, the more her confidence grew. We had a great coach and he made the sport the kind of fun that it should be at that age. She loved seeing all who came out to watch her play: Gram, Grandad, Pa-Pa, Weezie, Ms. Mary, Daddy and Mommy. Every time she would kick the ball, she would do the little glance back to make sure we all saw it. Very cute. It is up in the air whether she will play another season, but if she does, she has plenty of fan support!

Fire up the T-Ball!

My 5 year old loves to play T-ball. I love to watch him play T-ball. And let me tell you, if you are ever bored on a Saturday afternoon and looking for a good chuckle or even a good belly laugh, go catch a t-ball game with 5 year olds. You may see the pitcher playing in the dirt or the shortstop picking dandelions. You may see the tee get hit more times than the ball. Or, you may see the three outfielders all chasing the ball, rolling around on the ground and fighting over who gets to throw it in. And if you are really paying attention, you may just see a cute kid point to center field and actually hit it there to score a home run. T-ball is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. (But you will be entertained!)

Side note: the score is usually 15-15. Why? With a 5 run rule each inning and they only play 3 innings. It is rare to see a team get 3 outs in an inning. But who's keeping score?

KidSpeak

My children say some pretty cute things and in my head I think, "I'll always remember they said ..." Well, let's get realistic, I will probably forget within the week once they quit saying them. Here are some funny kid-talkisms:

Luke (the 2 year old):

"TIC-TIC ME, MOMMY!" (Tickle me!)

"Num-num wit pea-nut-butt-ter, pleez!" (banana with peanut butter NOW)

"I did went!" (I went potty!)

"I not know!!" (I didn't do whatever it is you think I did!)

"I like O-GEN!" (I like the color orange!)

"Wa-wa-meh-meh?" (water medicine - also known as Albuterol, an oral liquid prescription)

And some that do not need translation:

"NAKED ME!!"

"Too loud, mommy?"

Natalie (the 4 year old):

"Repel" (also known as Propel, the sports drink)

"Mommy, may you please...?" (Words a little out of order, but very courteous all the same.)

Cooper (the 5 1/2 year old):

"Mommy, I can't carry this because I'm full of hands."

"Mommy, that boy broke his foot and needs crunches to help him walk."

When Cooper was ~18 months, he called sunglasses "farlockeez" and a fishing pole "shoopinow". Don't ask me why I can remember that...probably because that child had such an incredible vocabulary early on and perfect diction most of the time that those were anomalies in his speech. (He could say over 200 words by the time he was 20 months.) Even today, his vocabulary is quite expansive for a 5 year old. (Probably because he asks more questions in a day than the the winner of Jeopardy!) Since he is so precocious with his verbal skills, I completely expect to be questioned, challenged or corrected every single day.... (and I love it--most days!)

A NEW Computer!

Whoo! Hoo! I have a new computer! How exciting does it get??? My previous computer was purchased in 2003 and had the speed of a octane fueled burrow. Seriously, it did not know the meaning of high-speed, only one speed...SLOW! Why is getting something new so fun? This screen is so big I have to sit back 3 more feet and put the font at 8. (Just kidding) John ordered this for me on Friday and we received it yesterday! Can you believe? Dell can make and ship a computer lickety-split! It is amazing! I must give credit to John; he disassembled the old one and completely assembled this one from 6 separate boxes in under an hour and NO cus words---yea John!
This computer has Microsoft Word (I had Wordperfect on the last one), Excel (I had QuatroPro on the previous one) and lots of other fun programs I have not discovered yet. Maybe, it will have some photoshop software...now, wouldn't that be a treat? I'm off to find out how to have fun with my new computer!!!

Laundry: A New Strategy

Laundry. A necessary evil, but not something I can say I enjoy. My previous 'strategy' with it included letting it all pile up until Saturday, or really, Sunday. Then, I would load clothes, switch clothes, pile clothes, hang clothes, fold clothes and throw clothes back into the basket Sunday night because I could not stand to fold one more item. That led to a lot of frustration, especially when I wanted to take an afternoon nap, nestled in between 4 loads of clothes. So now, a new strategy has emerged. The new strategy: constant washing. I do 1-2 loads a day, that way I'm not cramming 18 towels into one load and 47 socks in another load (a privilege to match up when I'm feeling lucky). So far this week, I have kept up with all the stinky, sandy, smelly variations of cotton: all our whites are completely washed, the kids' hamper is empty, all 6 twin sheet sets are clean and John has enough boxers to last until Memorial Day. Plus, this weekend I won't have to feel guilty about sneaking under the covers for a few mid-day hours rest. As if I would anyway. :>)