Get this boy a GPS please!

If you've spent much time with my older kids, then you probably know that they NEVER can find anything that is right in front of their face. There have been times they will be looking for something and I'll say "it's right by your feet", and they turn and look 5 feet behind them. This is a conversation I had with Elijah, and I think it takes the cake:

Mom, I want to see me. Where am I?

Um, Elijah, you are right here

Right here? I can't find me! Can you help me find me?


Poor Kid, I don't think he ever did find himself

In case you are wondering..........

For those of you who may not know my kids well, you might be wondering why there are so many stories about Bella and not so much about the others. The fact of it is, Bella's about two shakes away from crazy. Sometimes I'm unsure if she's just determined to make her life as fun and wild as she possibly can, or if she really is nuts. Maybe a bit of both? One thing is for sure, life is never dull without her.

As for the other kids, Genna is about two shakes away from sainthood. Ok, maybe she's not that perfect, but for being 6 years old she's a pretty amazing kid. She RARELY argues, and when she does she usually presents her argument in a calm, collected manner. It's rarely ever an argument actually, usually just a discussion. She's responsible, tidy, obedient, helpful, and kind. (not to mention has great fashion sense for being only 6!) She also has a compassion for others, and wants to help those who cannot help themselves. She walked for the March of Dimes this year and raised $380, she donates her tooth fairy and chore money to causes she feels are worthy, and wants to learn Chinese so that one day she may be able to help children in China, or even adopt possibly. She's a great kid.

Elijah's just figuring out life still. He's come a long way in the past year, and is working hard everyday on his speech. He asks TONS of questions, I guess he's just trying to catch up on all he missed as a baby/toddler. For the most part he's just laid back and hangs out. He draws, plays, and just goes along with whatever is going on at the moment.

Isaac is just now starting to truly experience life. Now that his allergies are under control, he's starting to play at parks, starting to make friends; basically experiencing everything I had to deny him for so long. I have a feeling though, there are going to be many stories about him to come considering what few things he has done already. (remember the car story below?)

Nahshon is just a baby, so who knows what he'll be like. So far, he's a cuddly little monkey man.

oh giants, where are you?

In the car yesterday Balla kept insisting I put on her favorite song, "to the lake and call the giants". I could not figure out what she was talking about. After much confusion on all parts, Genna figured out she was asking for the song Apologize from OneRepublic. In case you are not familiar, the lyrics are "it's too late to apologize". Good ol' Bella.

I'm tired

It's 10:15 and this is the conversation I just had with Bella

Bella, it's after 10:00, you need to go to bed

But I don't know how to do something

What?

I don't know how to do a cartwheel. I can't go to bed until I know how to do a cartwheel.

You don't need to learn how to do a cartwheel tonight, you can try that tomorrow. Now, go to bed.

I can't go to bed mama

Why?

We don't own a water Buffalo. How come we've never bought a water Buffalo?

HUH?

Bitter:Sweet

Jeremy and I are going to see Bitter:Sweet again on Thursday! They are playing at The Triple Door, which is where we saw them last time. This is one of the few groups that Jeremy and I BOTH really LOVE. Plus, The Triple Door serves food from Wild Ginger which is soooo yummy! I am so excited for Thursday, I can't wait!!!

a little chat with Bella

Mommy, are there people in my bones?

No, why do you ask?

Well, I think there are people in my bones. There are people that live in my bones and they tickle me!

going... going... gone

Ever since Isaac was a baby, he would always just "drop" in the middle of whatever he was doing. He's never been the type to wind down slowly, he just goes and goes and goes until he completely runs out of gas. There have been times when we have literally caught him by his shirt collar as he was falling out of his chair at the dinner table. A couple weeks ago he bent down to pick something up, and never came back up. We've even gone into the kid's room in the middle of the night to find Isaac sleeping standing up with just his head resting on the bed. In the picture above with him in the blue shirt, we had just come home from the park. He got out of his car seat, knelt down, and went to sleep. In the green shirt picture, he had been playing with some beads. He reached into the box for more beads, and out he went. I think he inherited the special talent from his daddy.

boys boys boys

Isaac ended up in the hospital tonight with yet another foot injury. Long story short, he got some foreign somethings worked into his foot while playing barefoot outside. I couldn't get them out, his body was rejecting them, so the Dr. had to cut them out. (literally, cut them out....poor baby!) I have to say though, I'm most thankful to the medical assistant that took the other 4 kids to the nurses station to color and play while the Dr. worked on Isaac. (yes, I took 5 kids to the emergency room all by myself) Now Isaac's foot is all bandaged up, which the other kids think is super cool because the bandages sort of look like a small cast, and we'll be going through the same drill we went through last time with all the antibiotic/bandages/limited playing/etc...... At least it will give me some extra cuddle time with him this week.

Why I would not, could not, have more kids

I read this story on a homeschooling board, and thought it was good enough to share. This is one reason I will NEVER EVER get one of those big vans! With 5 kids we fit perfectly into our Town and Country, and that's enough for me!


THIS IS NOT MY STORY! I DID NOT DO THIS! SOMEONE ELSE DID!



Yes, you read it right! I DROVE over another car in the parking lot of the grocery store. I drive a 15 passenger van (no it does NOT have tires like a monster truck either!). We went to the store to pick up a birthday cake on the way to my dd's 11th b.day party at the bowling alley. I had pulled through to park in the spot and just had to pull out and go! But no! I got in my van to go and there was this elderly couple across the lane walking........very..........s...l...o...w...l...y . I was impatient and thought I could pull out a little less than I normally would and still clear the car next to me. So I pull out and hear this ssss...cccc...rrrr...aaaa..pppp....eee (scraping majorly!) The kids start screaming MOM, MOM, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?" I shout at them to be quiet and the elderly couple STOPS walking to open their mouths very wide and GAPE at me! Well, the scraping stops and I think OK, I must've cleared it, so I start trying to move forward again. Elderly couple still standing there IN MY WAY just gaping. I thought about getting out to help them close their mouths, but I really was in a hurry. Then I hear that noise again!!! And the car doesn't seem to feel level anymore. Kids start screaming again, "MOM, MOM REALLY WHAT ARE YOU DOING?????" I start panicking. I can't go backwards now. I have to keep going forwards. Why in the world won't those elderly people shut their mouths and go into the store? Why is my car higher on the passenger side than the driver's side? How can I get my van off the hood of the car next to me????? I must keep going. You can only imagine the horrible sounds of scraping and crushing metal that were coming from the passenger side of my van. Finally I got my van off the hood of the other car and the van kind of jolted to level pavement. Doggonit! Those elderly people are still standing there with their mouths wide open and now they have other people standing there with them! Their mouths are wide open too!!!I pulled my car down to an open area in the parking lot (with NO other cars nearby and realize that my van is no longer level again. WHat in the world was that awful hissing noise? Oh, the other car ripped open my tire. Hmmmm, guess we are going to be late for the party. Wonder what the other car looks like. I guess I'm going to have to go in and report a fender bender in the parking lot. I go down and look at the other guys car. OH, MY, GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!I really hope some of that damage was there before he parked it. Could I have really crushed the entire drivers side of his car? Where did all the other monster trucks go so fast? There just had to be more cars doing this than just me. Now I'm shaking like a leaf and really in tears. Those old people are STILL standing there! And their mouths.... it was becoming like a horror movie.....I went in and told the manager that he needed to page the owner of xyz car. I told the guy that I hit his car in the parking lot and I was REALLY REALLY sorry. He went out to look at it. I was starting to get dizzy now. Couldn't stop crying and shaking. My kids were eerily silent. Now I had to call DH! Oh, what in the world would HE say???? Called him. He came. He looked.He was so shocked!!! He started laughing hysterically. He sat down in the parking lot and just laughed his head off. Well, now what do I do? He's lost his mind and I have all these children to raise! He asked me why I didn't STOP when I heard the first scrape? Hmmm, I don't think that even entered my mind. Those people with their mouths wide open were really distracting me! All I could think about was that I needed to get away from that car! The car was completely totalled. It honestly looked like it had been rolled over by 2 or 3 of those monster trucks at a truck rally. There was no way to open the drivers door and the hood was completely mangled. Dh said that he would never have imagined that this much damage could have been done with one car moving at barely 5 mph and the other standing still! He said it looked like people should have been killed! (Well, the other car was killed.) All my van had was a little dent in the passenger door. That made him laugh even more! We've never even had it fixed. I don't think I've ever seen my dh laugh so hard in all his life. I hope and pray that the other guy got a really nice new car and parked it evermore in the nether-regions of every parking lot he ever goes to! Although, that's where *I* park now, so........

Seriously people!

Today was one of those days that makes me really wonder about people. This morning I went to Babies-R-Us with the babies, but was sitting in the car for a few minutes to allow Isaac to finish his apple before we went in. A lady pulled into the spot in front of me and bumped into my car. I got out of my car to check if there was any damage, and she didn't even bother to reverse her car, so our bumpers were still touching. I got in my car and pulled back a bit, then went to see if there was any damage. There were just a couple scratches, no dents. The woman saw me, saw me look for damage, and got right out of her car and walked into the store without saying a word! Unbelievable! I called Jeremy and asked if I should leave a note giving her a basic lesson in etiquette, but he said since there was no real damage to just leave it be because what goes around comes around. Later, I had all the kids with me and had to stop at Safeway to pick up a couple items for dinner. I was walking down the ice cream isle and saw a woman pull out a box of Dove bars. I saw her open the box, I figured she was either really hungry or possibly had a small child in the cart that I couldn't see and was giving them the ice cream bar. Nope, instead she STUFFED IT IN HER PURSE AND PUT THE BOX BACK! Really now? I know you are not supposed to judge a book by it's cover, but this woman was probably in her mid-40's, dressed really nice, nice jewelry, manicure, highlighted hair, etc..... It just irritates me because every time someone steals something, it causes the prices for all of us honest people to go up. Food prices are high enough without people stealing stuff. Had it been an apple, a carrot, or even a small carton of milk, I probably would have just looked the other way and thought they were having really hard times; but who NEEDS a Dove bar that badly? I'm sure she walked out of the store with it without a second thought, but as Jeremy said earlier, what goes around comes around.

33.3%

There is something I have been wondering for a few weeks now, and if anyone knows, please share! I was reading the book of Revelation, and became very curious about the seven trumpets. The first six trumpets brought destruction, but the destruction was done in thirds.

From the New King James Version:

Revelation 8
Seventh Seal: Prelude to the Seven Trumpets 1 When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. 3 Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.6 So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

First Trumpet: Vegetation Struck 7 The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

Second Trumpet: The Seas Struck 8 Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. 9 And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

Third Trumpet: The Waters Struck 10 Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.

Fourth Trumpet: The Heavens Struck 12 Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night. 13 And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”

Revelation 9

Fifth Trumpet: The Locusts from the Bottomless Pit 1 Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. 3 Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.7 The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. 8 They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. 10 They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. 11 And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon. 12 One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.

Sixth Trumpet: The Angels from the Euphrates 13 Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14 saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15 So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind. 16 Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them. 17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. 18 By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed—by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. 19 For their power is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm. 20 But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. 21 And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Here is my question: why is everything done in thirds? Is there significance to this? If so, what is it?

just some pictures

Just some pictures I took of Bella

two wheelin'

Elijah figured out how to ride his bike with no training wheels!!! (yes, he's riding in his pajamas)

poor bella

I heard Bella outside yelling "why do you have to be so difficult?!" I have no idea how she did this, but I think the pictures speak for themselves.

Before and After

I realized after posting below about Isaac and bread, that many of you had not seen the before and after photos of Isaac on his special diet. Truly AMAZING!!!

I guess he missed carbs......

As part of Isaac's diet, he hasn't been eating regular bread. We have a brown rice bread that we use, but usually he would just eat some tuna on a brown rice cake. Today while I was feeding Nahshon in the bedroom and trying to get him down for his afternoon nap, Isaac put down an entire loaf of bread!! It was a brand new bag of bread and he ate all but the last piece! Amazingly, he's still hungry.

VBS

The kids started vacation Bible school today and had a blast! They are going to VBS at Alderwood Community Church (I heard about it through our homeschool group), and are using a program from the Answers in Genesis company called Amazon Expedition: The Ultimate Trek Through Time. (their link is under my homeschool stuff on the right) This week they will learn:

Day 1 - Creation–Destination Creation
Day 2 - Corruption–The Fall of All
Day 3 - Catastrophe–Water, Water Everywhere
Day 4 - Confusion–The Babel Rabble
Day 5 - Christ, Cross, Consummation–Sad Turns to Glad

As soon as I picked them up they were all chattering non-stop about everything they learned, the friends they made, the silly snacks they made, and singing me the songs they sang. The church is collecting offering all week to help a missionary family in Mexico buy a new car, and Genna has decided to give all her money she's earned from chores and the tooth fairy. They can't wait to go back tomorrow!

yum!

First tastes of home-made pineapple milkshake! The perfect treat to cool down a hot baby.

Pleeeaasse!

Elijah has recently developed an interest in outer space. A couple weeks ago he asked me if he could take a trip in a space ship with daddy. When I told him no, he would have to be much much older he said "please! I'll stay in the rocket, I promise!"

Christmas in July party pictures

We had a very fun time, Bella even found some chapstick and a pack of gum that she left in her stocking at Christmas! The kids hopped around in their old stockings and made wish lists. It was a great family night!

Christmas in July!

Tomorrow we are having our second annual Christmas in July party! I did this last year with the kids, and it was so much fun. The kids started asking about a month ago when we were going to have our summer Christmas party again. I wasn't sure I was going to do it, but since Jeremy is going to be home tomorrow, I figured "why not!" Bella and I went to the market and picked up ham, stuffing, scalloped potatoes, rolls, pepermint candy ice cream, and salad. We are going to read Luke 2:7-14, make wish lists, color pictures, listen to Christmas music, and probably watch a little movie before bed. We will also make little paper stockings so Santa can make a mid-year visit and leave a little treat and a note reminding the kids to be good! I hung some lights tonight, and tomorrow Jeremy will pull out the little 4 foot Christmas. I also picked up some tarts from Yankee yesterday, one of which was mulling spices scented, so I will pop that into the tart warmer too. Can't wait!

Merry Christmas!!

New(ish) car!!!

Jeremy's Blazer had been on the brink of death for a while, but after the craptacular year we had, we knew there wasn't a chance on Jupiter that we would be able to buy anything for a while. Luckily for us, Jeremy's brother is 18 and going through a typical rebellious stage, and therefore has decided that once he returned from boot camp he was going to sell his car and buy a motorcycle. See where I'm going here? That's right ladies and gentlemen, we are now the proud (paying) owners of this very nice (FAST) '02 WRX! Bella and I buzzed around town in it today running errands, we had so much fun! I think I'm going to have to make up reasons to leave the house when Jeremy is home on Sunday's from now on!

The many faces of Bella

Bella had her own photo shoot today, and these are the pictures SHE took

uh-oh

Yesterday the kids and I ended up going to Greg's going away party at a park. The kids had a great time, and it was nice to visit with family. We were getting ready to leave though, when something very unexpected happened. Isaac was sitting up in the front seat and TURNED ON THE CAR!!!! He actually managed to pick out the right car key, put it in the ignition, and turn on the car; he's not even two years old yet! This boy is so Jeremy's child.

midnight madness

It's 2 am and the kids are having soccer tournaments in their room. I know this sounds crazy, but you have to understand what's at stake here; an invisible trophy!

I might care if I wasn't already up, but seeing that I am (taking care of the baby), I'm going to just enjoy the fact that I know they'll sleep in tomorrow.

Stay tuned to find out who takes the gold..............

really neat puzzle or parent's worst nioghtmare?

I was walking through the Melissa and Doug section of Toys-R-Us, looking for ideas for Isaac's upcoming birthday, when this caught my eye. At first I thought "cool! A puzzle where none of the pieces actually come out", then I thought "this is a parent's worst nightmare!" It is a latch board with 6 different types of latches/locks. (you can click on the picture for an up close view) I know it's exactly the type of thing that Isaac would love, but my sanity relies heavily on the fact that he us unable to undo the locks on the front door. I started thinking about the target age range for this puzzle, and the fact that other companies sell products with these types of latches and locks to keep that same target age range out of stuff! Honestly, what toddler or preschooler needs to know how to unhook, unchain, or unlatch anything??? Lets just let kids stick to Velcro and buttons, and allow us parents one less thing to worry about.

terrible 4's?

Bella has been in a MOOD all day (or maybe all of her life?), and here is the conversation that took place once she landed in the naughty chair:

I don't want to sit here

I'm sorry

I'm going to get up

no you are not

I'm going to get up all by myself

no you are not

I'm going to get up and walk to Fred Meyer's all by myself

(puzzled and trying not to laugh)

if you don't let me get up then I can never go to Fred Meyers again

(*looking at her puzzled*)

I'm going to count to five and if you don't let me get up I'm going to put a band-aid on you..............1...........2...........3............4.........5........... OK, the next time you take a shower I'm going to put band aids all over your butt

(I have no idea where the band aide came from, but suddenly one appeared, which I promptly placed across her lips)

to be continued................

Hula Double Birthday Bash

August 24th..................Save the date!!!

Hummingbird moth?

I saw this little creature while I was sitting on my front steps a while ago, and just saw another one this week. I had never seen anything like this before, or even heard of it. I started googling baby hummingbirds because at first that's what I thought it was. They are very neat looking, but the two I saw flew away before I had a chance to call the kids over. It's amazing what you can spot in nature if you just sit still and watch. Here's a link to Wikipedia if you want to learn more about them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macroglossum_stellatarum