Peach Pickin'

I took the kids to Strawberry Acres this morning to pick some peaches. In addition to our 10 lbs of beautiful peaches, we also picked up some fresh local squash, cantaloupe and eggplant.

We'll go back in a couple of weeks for raspberries and then in early October for apples and pumpkins. We love it there!

Wall Art

There's not a wall in our house that isn't a mess. I try not to leave crayons, pens or other writing utensils out for the kids to get, but the somehow find other items to display their creativity on my walls. They use colored blocks (a birthday gift from Aunt Julie - Thanks, Jule!) or chunky puzzle pieces. Yogurt works well, as does an ice pop wrapper or chocolate milk. We've got it all.
My kids are probably the most creative kids I know. And my house? Well, it's very well decorated, as you can see.

Stung

Robert had his first bee sting last weekend. He didn't cry, but boy did his hand swell up! (the sting was on his ring finger)


(and ever since, I haven't been able to get that good old silly summer camp song out of my head - sing along if you know it...)

B
B-E
B-E-E
Bee sting
Kumalata Kumalata Kumalata Bee sting
Oh no no no not the beesting
Eeny Meeney Esamene oh wa a wanna meene
Esamene Salamene oo wa oo wa
A be billy oaten goaten bo bo ba deetin dahtin....
Shhhhh

snagged

Ava managed to get past the gate at the bottom of the stairs, but the gate did its job and prevented her from making it upstairs anyway.

The Noise of Toys

Behind the walls of the home of any child rearing family lurk toys... toys that make noise.

Ah, but do your toys make noise when the house is still - when all little children are tucked snug in their beds?

Ours do.

I was awoken at 3am to "Come on Baseball Fans" in my kitchen. I stumbled down the steps and found the toy wedged under the kiddie table and turned it off. As a trudged back up the stairs Elmo called from the playroom "That tickles."
Too tired to think, I let it all go.

The next morning, I realized we have several toys speak when not spoken to.

How does this happen? Bad batteries? (maybe) Spilled milk? (probably) Or could Disney's Toy Story be more real that we ever thought?

Tonight, as I cleaned up the family room, The Fisher Price car said (in her happy, chirpy voice) "Let's go for a ride!"
I was almost ready to respond, but Elmo interrupted (yet again) "Phew, that was fun." Boy he has a lot to say!

Tomorrow he might take a vacation to the basement.

Tubes

Author's Note: Just to show how minor this surgery was... I typed this up the day of Alex's surgery (last Wednesday - 8/3) and I completely forgot to post it! oops!

Alex had his tube put in his ears this morning. We had to be at the hospital by 7:40 am. We spent a whole lot of time just waiting and he finally went into surgery just after 9am. He was such a joy to spend one on one time with. Of all my children, he is the mellow and relaxed one. I can put him down and he'll stand close to me. He won't run off and get into anything forbidden. He plays hand games and sings songs. He is such a love and I so enjoyed our time together.
By 9:40, we were in recovery and Alex was miserable. As the anesthesia wore off he was confused and grumpy. This lasted for about an hour. He finally had some juice and animal crackers and life slowly got back to normal.

The best part of all was Alex's roommate - his name was Kyle. Kyle's big brother Colby was in my infant class when I worked at Hildebrandt back before I was even married! It was so great to see his mom and dad and chat with them. Colby is going to be starting kindergarten this fall! Man, I feel old!

We were discharged around 11:30 and Alex slept soundly on the car ride home.

The most important thing, the doctor says, is keeping his ears dry. The tubes should fall out by themselves within a year and we're hoping for no more ear infections.

Thanks for your prayers!

smile for the camera

Robert just brought me his Fisher Price camera and told me "you need to fix this mommy, it's not cheesing."

He makes me laugh.

pizza

Tonight Ava said "Pizza." It reminded me of a story my sister loves to tell:

I was about 10 years old and we were at our beach house. My sister went out to pick up pizza for dinner. I sat outside on the curb and waited. Upon her return, I stood up and shouted "PIZZA! PIZZA! THE PIZZA IS HERE!"

I was 10 and chubby. What else was there in life, but pizza? (and twinkies)

I never thought the story was particularly funny, but she loves to tell it. And now that I probably weigh less than I did then, I guess I can spare an extra chuckle.

Ava also says "MOO" when you ask her what a cow says.... I am sure my brothers could think of a good "hefer" story from my past to go with that.

One person's trash...

...was not really trash at all!

Yesterday was trash day. When I went to bring my trashcan and recycling bins back up to the house, I noticed that one of my recycling bins was missing. I looked all around and checked with the neighbors - it was gone.

I just called the hauling company and explained the situation. They will replace the bin - up to a $15 value - I just have to send them a receipt. Nice. You know what that means, right? We're going to have one big recycling bin! The one they took was about $4.

This means YOU!

Last night Robert told Bobby he needed crayons and paper because he need to make a Keep Out sign. Bobby obliged and Robert quickly got to work.

When he finished he held it up proudly and said "This Means YOU, Daddy! Now I need some tape."
Bobby asked why and Robert replied that he needed to hang it up on his playroom door. Bobby helped him hang it (high enough that it was out of reach for A&A)

I think the sign actually worked! Bobby hasn't been in the playroom all day!

Note to self...

Don't go away for the weekend and leave the clothes dryer going and the dishwasher running.

Folding laundry and emptying the dishwasher is never fun on a Sunday night.

A typical gym trip

This exact scenario happened TWICE this week:
3-4 times/week, we go to our local YMCA - a typical weekday afternoon activity for us. I get to workout and get a break from the kids while they play in the babysitting room - they love it. As we leave, I make sure each child is clean and presentable before loading them in the mini van one by one. This usually entails changing diapers, putting hair in pigtails and using the potty - also wiping noses and mouths. Once the kids are all in safe I take a look around, grab my ipod and a bottle of water and we're off. Robert screams that he wants to watch a dvd enroute. We live 3 miles from the gym. I explain to him for the 500th time that we only watch movies in the car when we travel far away.
5 minutes later:
We arrive at the gym, and get a decent parking spot - hooray! (I prefer a close one so I don't have to drag three kids through traffic. When I am alone, I park far away - I am gym rat, but not a lazy one.) I take Ava from her car seat and unbuckle Robert, who sits behind her. They both climb out. Ava has ripped out both of her pigtails. ugh. I quickly replace them and tuck her securely on my hip. We go to the other side of the van to gather Alex. Alex has pulled his shoes off. I find one on the floor but the other is no where in sight. I search all around and finally give up. At this point Ava and Alex are wandering around the inside of mini-van and Robert is at my hip, but wanting very badly to jump into traffic - just to hear me scream his name. I grab a twin and hold hands with the other. Robert tags along on my back and asks repeatedly "Are you going to get sweaty?" Alex goes into the gym without shoes. Ava is fighting to pull her (very sloppily re-done) pigtails out again. I let her win. Robert's butt crack is showing - he hasn't quite learned to pull his pants up properly after using the potty.
We make it inside and are greeted by the people behind the desk who claim to "love my kids." (I used to work in child care - I know how that translates.) I joke that I know that as soon as they see me coming they must call down to the babysitting room to let them know the crazy lady with 3 kids is on her way down - brace yourselves ladies.
I sign them in, say my goodbyes and a Thank You in advance before escaping. I jump on the treadmill. It's my favorite 45 minutes of the day.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, Alex's other shoe was waiting for us at home, on the floor of the garage.