Attack of the Butterflies

We visited a local park recently and were able to see an incredible butterfly exhibit. The guides give a VERY strict speech before you enter the exhibit about not touching the butterflies. "Do not touch the butterflies. Let the butterflies touch you." Needless to say, our three year old had a very difficult time with this instruction. There were hundreds of butterflies flying all around us. The kids really wanted the butterflies to land on them, but they would only land on me. Their legs were so tickly. It was slightly creepy to have them all over, but it was a fun experience.

Being Seven

Tomorrow is hubby's birthday. S and I went out tonight to do some LAST minute birthday shopping. She started talking the moment we walked out the door and didn't come up for air until we arrived home. Sometimes (especially lately) I find myself not listening when the kids are talking. I throw in the occasional "uh-huh" or "yeah", but I don't even know what I'm agreeing to. Tonight I was tired after a long day and I wasn't listening at all. Then I heard S say, "Mom, don't you think that is the best sunset ever?" It hit me. My daughter is seven and I need to pay attention.

Things I don't want to forget about S being seven:

*She is so creative. She constantly has BIG plans for things. Yesterday she wanted to build a flying machine (bless her heart). She spent hours working on a newspaper after she saw the Kit Kittredge movie. She wants to dress up as a penguin so she is working on a costume (out of paper) that will transform her into a penguin to the point that no one will recognize her. So far she has the wings done.

*She is a pack rat. I struggle with her desire to save EVERYTHING! She would reuse anything and everything if I let her. I have one junk drawer. S has LOTS of junk drawers. I sneak into her room when she's at school and throw things away...shhh.

*She feels everything very deeply. There can be a lot of drama at times. I struggle not to laugh sometimes, and I need to have more patience.

*She loves to be home. S is my home body. She would be perfectly happy never leaving the house again. Ever. She constantly asks me how many more days until she has to go to school.

*She loves to be with friends. She is very social now. I need to be better at planning "friend time" for her.

*She is very curious. She always asks what things mean and how they work. She is finally catching up to her vocabulary. Meaning, she is actually correctly using all those words that she picked up somewhere.

I love her so much. After all, it's me and her against the boys.

My Babies

I know I've posted a lot of photos lately, but it's such a fun time of year for pictures. This is the first photo of all the offspring together. Remarkably, everyone was happy throughout the experience. The photos really show the kids' personalities. I don't know when I'll be ready to undertake it again, so feast your eyes.

Party Time!

My mom has always thrown the best parties. As a kid she always spent WEEKS planning our birthday parties. I have wonderful memories of all those events. Now the grandkids get to see what a party planner she is. Every summer she puts together a party in the backyard for her grandkids, neighbors and friends. Everyone looks forward to it. This year it was a carnival theme. There were lots of "booths" with games and prizes. The kids loved that they got to use real tickets. As always, a great time was had by all!
There were pools set up so everyone could keep cool. It looked very enticing to the moms too.

Baby L didn't take a nap ALL DAY and he was still smiling! He is the most amazing baby!

I love pictures with silly faces. I took lots of pictures during the day, but the silly face one is my favorite. What a great crowd!

The Dunk the Duck game was a favorite.

My Mom wanted to throw away all the cute signs and everyone yelled, "No!" She had them at each game and they were all so cute.

Trip to the Pacific

We just got back from a family reunion (hubby's side). We stayed at a house right on the Pacific. The beach provided some much needed R & R and lots of entertainment for the kids. We loved seeing cousins and grandparents.

R showed NO FEAR, EVER. He went right into the waves, sand, whatever.

Are these kids having fun, or WHAT? Hee hee. I think the day at the boardwalk finally caught up with them.

We saw the most amazing jellyfish. (One of the highlights of the trip for me).

Break the Ice! Break it into little bitty pieces until the game can't be played anymore!

OK, I'm trying this hilarious experiment. I'm limiting my children's television time. Like seriously trying to limit it. Each day seems to have more hours than the last. Hmmm. In light of that fact I'd like to let out a cyber scream. Helpppppppp Meeeeeeeee! I don't feel better, but whatever. So, today was "game day". We have all these fun games and I love to play games so I declared, "OK, offspring, we're going to play some games today." They walked away. So, then I opened the dusty game cupboard and we settled on "Don't Break the Ice." Anyone know where I'm going with this? WHO IN THE WORLD DECLARED THIS A CLASSIC GAME? That game is pure parental torture! You spend a couple minutes loading those darn "ice cubes" in that plastic frame and then what happens? The kids don't obey the rules and knock one cube out at a time, they spend ONE SECOND smacking the whole thing so all the cubes come out at once. And then the fun begins again. AND what child can put the cubes in themselves? Show me that child. I feel like I've lost the last hour of my life in some weird "Don't Break the Ice" black hole.I just turned the television on.

My Fears

I was recently at a social gathering and the host announced that we were going to play some get-to-know-you games. I make it a point to avoid ANYTHING remotely resembling a get-to-know-you game. I found myself having to answer the question, "What is your greatest fear?"
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm pretty much afraid of everything. It's OK because I'm comfortable being afraid of everything. Everyone began to analyze my psychological state which I found very funny. So, here's my list of fears. Have a good laugh on me.

1. I'm completely afraid of birds. I was dive bombed by our pet bird as a teenager and it was all over after that (as mentioned in my profile). I don't like birds flying over my head (poop issues) and I don't like to touch birds (this posed an interesting dilemma when we had pet ducks two years ago).

2. Adding on to number one, I'm pretty much afraid of every animal. I don't ever like to touch animals. Feeling their bones freaks me out. I don't ever touch animals unless one of my children is in peril and I have not run across that exception yet. Don't tell my kids, but there's pretty much no chance that they'll EVER have a pet other than fish. Poor babies. They can dream, right?

3. I'm terrified of old television shows. Hubby has his own theories on this one. Anytime I see an old television show I have to change the channel and watch something else until I feel OK again. The list of "old" shows includes, but is not limited to: Mary Tyler Moore, Dick Van Dyke, The Love Boat, and sometimes Golden Girls.

4. I'm afraid of anything touching my ankle bones. I will avoid this at all costs. No matter what. Even if it means injury to someone else. If an attacker went straight for my ankle bones, I'd take him down in a nano second.

5. I'm afraid of serving food with a hair in it. Need I say more? Yuck!

6. Add to this list the usual fears of heights, small spaces, bugs, etc.