Happy Birthday Abby.............

Abigail turned 4 Sunday........................She is turning into quite the little lady. We are going to celebrate with family later this week so I'll post more pics later. For now, Happy Birthday to my little 4 year old............We all love you!!!

Autumn in the air.........

Even though Autumn doesn't really "happen" here it is still nice to get the feel of it. So we went to the pumpkin patch yesterday to get some pumpkins. It was a nice day and not too hot (about 82 degrees). The kids had a good time and found some great pumpkins...............

Soccer Days........

Eve and Jack started soccer a couple of weeks ago.......................Soccer season is a little later for the kids here because it is too hot to start at the end of August so their first game wasn't until October 4th. They are playing with Upward Soccer which is through a church here in town and they seem to like it. They are having a lot of fun...................................Jack is a little more agressive and plays offense but Eve prefers to play defense. They are on the same team this year but maybe next year we will try something different............................

Eve Kicking the ball on a corner kick...................
Eve starting the game................................. Jack in front of everyone with the ball........................... Jack running against 3 GIRLS..................................... Jack taking the ball from a GIRL and going for a goal.......................

Beach Baby...........

We went to the beach last week. We try to go to the beach at least once a month because we live so close but taking an infant and four other kids is a little hard. We have been there about three times since Katie was born but this was the first time Katie could sit on the beach by herself and we didn't have to lug her car seat along. It was her first "official" trip................... It was a little windy that day but it was warm. We went in the evening around 5:30 and no one else was there except for a couple of wind surfers.........

Play days.......

Joshua finally finished putting together the swing set (Except for the slide). The kids couldn't wait to play on it today so we went out for a while and I took some pictures................... Samuel is climbing...................Again!
Something about boys...................I think mine were born monkeys..........

7 months.......

The months are flying by...........Katelyn has so much personality....... Here are some pics.......

Recent stories.....................

Whoa Cool.....................

I mentioned that someone gave us a wooden play set...........Samuel loves it!! We still haven't put a slide on it yet but that doesn't bother him much. He climbs up and down, up and down. Well, he did only climb up and down until he realized there was supposed to be another way down and we just hadn't fixed it up yet. So he decided to go down that way anyway............He jumped from the platform where the slide is supposed to go. And as I had a heart attack and panicked when his feet hit the ground and his body crumbled.........Samuel stumbled to his feet and exclaimed, "WHOA, COOL!" Then he wanted to try it again..............


Making waffles...........

The other morning I made waffles, as I do on a regular basis. Everyone ate, except Abby, and then I put the leftovers away and cleaned up. About an hour later I went back to the laundry room to put a load of laundry in the dryer and start a new one in the washer. Then I picked up Katie and went to change her diaper. When I walked back out into the kitchen it smelled like something was cooking but I didn't see anything. After putting Katie down I went to inspect further. I found Abigail, in the kitchen, with the waffle iron.....................In the 6 minutes or so that it took me to go to the laundry room and change a diaper, she had gotten out the leftover waffles, gotten the waffle iron and plugged it in and then put her waffle in it to "cook" it so she could have her breakfast............

Eating books........

Samuel loves, loves, books! His favorite books are this set of 4......One is about colors, one about numbers, one first words and one about shapes. Everyday he asks for them to be read to him and if he has already asked me once he then gets Eve or Jack to read them. He loves them so much that he has started to "eat" them......................He is only pretending, of course, but he does actually lick the pages and then pretend to eat them. He particularly likes the book with the colors because on the purple page there is a picture of grapes..........

These are just a few stories but every day has something going on.....................Life is always interesting and fun when you have kids!

Just playing around.........

Someone gave us a trampoline and a wooden playset the other day. They are used but perfect for the kids. They have never had this stuff before so they have been enjoying them. We got the trampoline up without much of a problem but the swingset is going to take some time to put back together completely. The kids LOVE it.............................................

Potty Training...........

So, out of my 5 children, 3 of them have been potty trained successfully...........I wish I could remember all of the things I did, all the tactics I used but it seems to be something I cannot retain in my memory for more than a moment, one child at a time. I guess this is a good thing because they all do it their own way. Some of them need to be encouraged, some "forcefully encouraged" and others just do it on their own. I am on child #4 now and I have no clue what to do. Samuel is 2 years and 5 months old and he is somewhere between doing it on his own and needing some "forceful encouragement." He has decided that he wants to be a "big" kid. He likes to sit on the toilet (good) but at times he just takes his diaper off and goes where he stands (not so good). None of this is my decision......... I would prefer if he just stayed in diapers until he was completely ready. I could control him, avoid accidents, do less laundry and not get interrupted 100 times a day by shrieking children who encounter a naked 2 year old. But alas, I cannot even make him keep his diaper on using duct tape so I am trying to train him. This experiment is raising so many questions............



1. Why did I leave him alone to find out How many continuous flushes it takes to flood the bathroom floor?



2. Why am I surprised every morning to find a dry diaper and a wet bed and child?



3. Am I saving money on diapers or spending more on laundry soap?


4. How many flushes does it take to flood the bathroom floor??????


At least I can look at the bright side.............................My bathroom floors are cleaned often.......... I still get surprises.................God has given me the money to spend on diapers and laundry soap...............and My toilet works!!!

Samuel will eventually get it but for now I have my work cut out for me. I have no fear of EVER losing my job..............................