Happy Easter!

Hope everyone had a relaxing weekend and was able to spend time with their family and/or loved ones.

A wonderful day

What a great day! After taking Karl to golf at 8am, Mike and I went for a walk with Aine in her new stroller. It has a CD player attached to it so we were able to walk and listen to some good, encouraging music. Abby opted to stay home in our bed and watch cartoons. We are trying to give her the feeling of independence and so a thirty minute walk was a great baby step in that direction - she thought she was pretty cool.

When we got back we had a filling breakfast of bacon and eggs - still can't make them like Grandma Judy's- and then decided to go to the nearby free park/zoo. Abigail has wanted to use the picnic basket we got as a wedding present (and still haven't used) for some time so we figured today was the day. We loaded up the car with the stroller, food, cooler, picnic basket and - after getting Karl- headed on our way. The kids were great at the park. They were excited to see the animals and were considerate and helpful and just filled with positive energy. Abigail had recently been to the park on a field trip so she was telling us all sorts of interesting information. Aine loved the bear and everyone loved the prairie dogs(me especially). Mike was quite impressed with the bald eagle and big turkey and the kids all clucked around the turkey fence trying to do their necks just like the bird. The kids were also quite excited about feeding the goats and the deer. Mike gave the kids a fun ride on the bench swing - he really got that going - and then we headed back for the reptiles. Aine, much like her grandma, does not get too excited about snakes, but once we got in there she did OK. After the animals we drove to one of the picnic areas, ate our lunches and then everyone tried their hand at golfing. I stink, which is no shocker, Mike has a terrible slice, Karl is getting better, Abigail had a few great hits (for never playing we were impressed), and Aine was quite scary with a club. Karl did a nice job of trying to instruct Abigail in her swing. It was just awesome to watch everyone interact and get along so well.

After golf we went to the playground near us and then headed home. At home we found a new (pet?) frog that the kids were quite interested in watching - especially after Karl caught a fly and they watched "Rupert" eat the fly.
It was an awesome day - perfect weather, great memories, and no problems. The night concluded with all of us doing our own "favorite" thing - Mike went to play cards with some friends, I scrapbooked(I am determined to get Aine to one year before the baby arrives...), Abigail joined me, Karl read and then played XBox, and Aine went to bed - OK - so that isn't HER favorite thing but it made the rest of us really happy to have some quiet time, and I did let her have ice cream before bed so she was happy.

So much in one day but what a wonderful day it was.

What a long weekend

Wow,

I cannot believe that only 48 hours have passed, it was such a very long weekend. This weekend I watched my sister's boys - William (3) and Danny (11 months) from Friday early evening until Sunday late afternoon. There is nothing wrong with my nephews, they are well behaved boys who have their moments (like my own children) but if you do the math - that was 48 hours of five children - three of which were under the age of three. So...I didn't get much sleep, cleaned up more than ever and the house is messier than ever, changed more poopy diapers than I ever want to change in that short of a time frame, and basically, am pretty tired. On top of this scenario - add in that Mike, who works 12 hour shifts every other weekend, was working this weekend (As much I know he would have helped I also know he is VERY happy he did work) and I have only two weeks of school left so am in the process of correcting research papers and essay tests galore. Um...I didn't get much done on the correcting so I decided to stay up late Sat night - until almost 2 am, only to wake at 4:30 am to Mike leaving for work, Danny up and crying, William up and coughing, and Aine up with a bad dream. Mike took care of all three before he left (much thanks to him) but being 8 months pregnant - it was not easy to fall back to sleep.

Ahh...five kids. Five kids!??!?!

Anyhow, they had fun. Lots of playing outside. Aine loves the hose - William too. They painted rocks, which was fun activity until they started painting each other. We went to the park, came in and watched a movie when it started raining, had ice cream, played games, and basically kept everyone running and busy all weekend long. The kids tired themselves and me out. Danny was exhausted too - as he fell asleep - butt in the air- in the middle of playing with toys. Abby and Karl got pretty tired out form all of this as well - Abby fell asleep before Mike could dish her up a late night ice cream treat, and Karl, though he stayed up for ice cream, requested to go to bed as soon as he was done. Those two were still feeling it in the morning as they cuddled together on Dad's chair, not yet ready to deal with the kids.

This morning I was determined to get the older two kids to church. It is their final weekend of Jubilee and they get church dollars based on attendance and such, to buy a gift. I really did not want them to miss this, they would also be singing in front of the congregation so I thought that would be neat to see. The problem with this plan is that I have a hard time getting ready on time for church when it is Mike and I and our three kids - now it was me by my lonesome and five kids needing to be dressed, fed, cleaned, and ready to go, piled into the car by a schedule I rarely meet. For a moment I thought I wouldn't do it - but all I had to do was think of Karl and Abby and know how much they would love church today and I got myself motivated. Somehow, between fits about not having the right shoes (aine) needing hair done (abby), not finding socks (karl) wanting a treat (william) and needing yet another poopy diaper changed (danny) I got them and myself (wet hair in a claw clippy thing and light makeup) ready on time. It was an experience - I think the least favorite part of which was the loading and unloading of the car. But we made it, on time, safely, and all had fun (and I had my first moments alone without children in days..hee hee) As I was leaving, my big pregnant belly, one child on my hip, a diaper bag over my shoulder, and four kids holding hands as we crossed the street, cars stopped to let us pass, and I would have loved to hear some of the comments made about that picture, maybe some extra prayers were said for me this morning :)

Well, I knew we were done at four, but after this weekend, I think we should both get fixed just to guarantee there are no oopsies in the future - I think I would truly need to be committed.

Five kids!!!??!?!?

I praise all mothers out there who juggle so much every day - especially those with more kids than parental arms...

Little Readers

Hello

Hope this finds everyone doing quite well. Sorry I disappeared for a while - got in a bit busy and in a funk - glad to say I am out of it now. The kids were wonderful on Mother's Day. Karl and Abby were at Grandma and Grandpa Haskins' house overnight (they got to sleep in their trailer). It was strange to wake up on Mother's Day without the kids jumping in bed and shouting those sweet words. Mike must have sensed my feelings on this (or he is just a smart guy) but he went up to get Aine from bed and trained her a bit because while I was getting ready for church, Aine ran into the bathroom, jumped in and shouted "Happy Mother's Day Mommy" so wonderfully that my heart nearly burst. It was great to see the other two kids as well(6 hours later), and though I think I was more excited to see them on this day, their hugs and kisses were still quite loving.



Nothing exceptional has happened in the last few days. My belly keeps growing bigger and bigger - as does the rest of me. The kids are excited for summer and cannot get enough of being outside with this warm weather. Mike, I think, looks forward to school being done so that I am not so bombarded with work at night. His job stays at work so he can hangout and relax and take on more household responsibility than me - who has school work to deal with. This summer will be a much needed break from stress as well as a happy time with new baby.



Well, now that Abby reads, she wants to try more and more books. It is almost like she isn't fully convinced that she can, in fact, read actual big kid books so she grabs more and more and tries and is successful and tries again and at some point I imagine she will believe that she is now an actual reader. With Abby's new talent, Aine is also quite in to books; she wants to "read" too, so she tells me what all her pictures are and counts things and says her colors. She does not like to wait for Abby's turn to be over so she will sing and talk during Abby's reading time. I think she may be beginning to see that her actions only make Abby's time longer. Abby had read her Drip, Drop, Plip Plop book so many times that we made a much needed trip too our local library. I am not sure Aine quite understands the library-all she knows (and loves) is that they have a lot of books and she can take some with her(returning them part is hard, thankfully there is a drop-box she likes filling).
Karl is a big reader too. Lately he has been staying up way too late reading at night. A few weeks back his dad got him the Harry Potter book #1. I thought it was a bit ambitious but it took Karl all of two weeks of reading only before bed time to finish the book. We quickly got him #2, which he stays up to read as well. Last night he read so much that this morning, Mike couldn't get him out of bed for ten minutes. What a spot to be in...as parents, readers, and me an English teacher - it is awesome that all our kids are so in to books - at the same time, we have to be able to wake them up in the morning, so where do you draw the line. All our kids, since they were still in cribs, have always gone to bed with books. In the morning, the floor is covered, not with toys or clothes, but books. Again - in one way - wonderful, in another, get some sleep so you won't be such cranker-pants-impossible-to-get-out-of-bed-in-the-morning-pain-in-the-butts.
There could be bigger problems, I know...