The Bilibo.

It's not an exotic, adult toy. It is this. Ashlyn received this great new toy in the mail from her Auntie Rita. She always has great gift ideas. This toy is designed to spark a child's imagination. That is does. There were suggestions for ways of playing with it and Ashlyn loved them all.
The turtle was her favorite. The babies love to play with it too, when they have Ashlyn's permission, or she just doesn't know they are playing with it. Here I think she looks like the kid on the Fat Albert cartoon.

They come in many bright colors and maybe we'll get 3 more? What do you think Auntie Rita?

A Visit from Bambi.

My sister brought this little fella over yesterday morning. Someone donated it to them after their dog drug it out of the woods. Though she really wanted to keep it she found out it would take a significant amount of work to care for it.

She called the local zoo who directed her to the Game Fish and Parks and they told her that at that age they need to be fed every 3 hours round the clock.

The "little dear" would also need assistance with using the restroom. Not as easy as changing a diaper every now and then.

She asked me if I wanted it. I said, no thank you I have enough little beings that need to be fed every three hours and at least I don't have to help them go pee pee.

He is a cute little bugger though isn't he?

Snowball, Sassafras, and Tinkerbell.

Our kittens that were born in April, which I posted photos of, disappeared right after we took the photos. Ashlyn happened to grab one when the mother wasn't there and then she moved them on us.

We didn't know where she moved them to until last night. Lance was going to use the tarp off of his fishing boat to cover his tomato plants because it was supposed to freeze last night. He took off the tarp and there were the kittens in his boat.

So here they are again. Ashlyn named the light colored one snowball, and the calico with more orange on its head Tinkerbell. I named the other calico Sassafras because it was the most spitty when Lance caught it. They are a little scared but I think they should be easy to tame at this age.Ashlyn holding snowball.Ashlyn holding Tinkerbell.Ashlyn kissing Sassy.This is my nephew Nathan holding snowball. He came to play today.Ryan holding Tinkerbell.Gaby giving the kitten a kiss with her forehead.

They are so cute and we have been having tons of fun playing with them.

Sibling Rivalry.

Sibling Rivalry. Volume II.

This post is supposed to go with the above post but I can't, for the life of me figure out how to get them together. So it's either have them on separate posts or throw my computer out the window.

Does this scene look familiar? If it does you know my pain. I don't know if it's the age they're at, the clash of personalities, or something in the air.

My kids seem to fight from sunup to sundown. Biting, pushing, hitting, and crying, lots of crying. If there is one toy, they fight. If there are 2 or 3 of the same toy, they fight. If there are 4 of the same toy, they no longer want it.

We are back to the 2 nap schedule. I gave the one nap schedule my best shot but I couldn't take all the screaming. They seemed to be begging to go to bed. Besides, my house was suffering. I know, I could be cleaning instead of typing, but you would all miss me, wouldn't you?
I've always had a love of communication. Reading, writing, and if you know me in person, you know I love to talk. Too bad I can't get paid for it. So that I could be wealthy. Then I could hire someone to control my endless mountain of dishes and laundry. Not to mention the cobwebs and the dust bunnies. Don't forget the layers of dust and the fingerprinted (and noseprinted) windows.

Someday my kids will be gone and I'll have less to document. They will probably only visit when they can get away from their very lucrative careers as doctors, lawyers, and strippers??? (They seem to be very adept at taking off all their clothes lately).

Then, unless I start a blog about sagging skin (hey I could do that already), gray hair (got that one covered too), and leak proof undergarments (not yet) this is my prime time for blogging.

So if you ever happen to be in my neighborhood and stop by unannounced, you will see my life as it usually is. If you prefer that I pick up 14 pair of baby shoes so you don't stumble over them as you walk in the door, let me know first. I might even get crazy and find a place for the 4 boxes, 3 totes and other miscellaneous crap that has found a permanent home in my kitchen corner.

Once we build an addition, there will be space for it all. That could happen sometime in my lifetime. Maybe Ryan will build it for me. He loves a good hammering session.

Actually the day that my windows can remain clean with out kiss marks, I will be a very sad momma.

Daddy's Little Helper.

Give a child peas and she may hide them under her butt (refer to previous post).Teach a child to plant peas...............and she will eat peas for a lifetime.

The Joys of Motherhood.

Here are a few things that I've gotten to enjoy lately.

Ashlyn picked out pink frosted cupcakes for me, for Mother's Day. Brooke was using hers for lipstick.

The day that Gaby got hurt, Lance's parents offered to keep Ryan and Brooke overnight. It was really a big help because Gaby wanted to do nothing but sit on my lap and snuggle. When it came time to go to bed. She was scared to sleep by herself. She just kept looking in the other cribs and crying. I asked Ashlyn if she wanted to sleep in one of the other cribs so that Gaby wouldn't be lonely. She, of course, jumped at the chance. As soon as she climbed into Ryan's crib (which is her old crib) Gaby lay right down and went to sleep. Ashlyn even sang to her and was telling her stories. This is her sleeping in Ryan's crib.

Of course, when Ryan came home and wanted to take a nap in it, Ashlyn jumped in and I had to drag her out kicking and screaming. She slept in her bed fine last night. I promised her we would try and make a way to put her bed in the babies room. She really wants to share a room with them.

This is the flower Ashlyn decorated for me at Sunday School. She also signed "her name" all over the card that Daddy helped her pick out.

Last night during supper, I thought Brooke had been such a good girl, eating all her peas. Then I caught her doing this. She was hiding them under her butt.I will have to try and find some cute shots of Ryan. I do have a cute video of Brooke trying to keep him from going down the slide. Maybe I'll try and upload it later. Right now Gaby is crying in her crib.

For some people.....

For some people, Mother's Day is a calm relaxing day, where they sit back and are waited on. They get flowers, candy, homemade cards, and maybe even a mug.


For some people, Mother's Day is not so happy or relaxing. I remember distinctly a few years back, before I was blessed with my children, we went out to eat with my mother and our family. The restaurant was serving free cheesecake to all the mothers for dessert. I thought, how fair is that? I have to suffer without children, and I have to pay for my cheesecake.


For some people, like me, Mother's Day is neither relaxing nor depressing. This Mother's Day turned out a little bit like my last Mother's Day. If you don't remember, or don't know about that one, click here. Last year, I guess, was when the jinx began. Every Mother's Day, from now on, I will be waiting for the chaos that is my life.

Here is where I introduce you to my little van Gogh. For those of you that need a brush up on history, Vincent van Gogh cut off the lobe of his ear which he put into an envelope and gave to a brothel wench named Rachel with these words: "Guard this object carefully." This all happened after he tried to drink a quart of turpentine in his studio. OK, so his story is nothing like ours but his self portrait does look a little familiar.

This day started out pretty great. Ashlyn was supposed to get up in front of the congregation at church with all the other Sunday School kids and say what she loved best about her mother. I decided to take Gaby along because Lance was unable to help me take all the kids (he was finishing our deck) and I wanted to sit and enjoy this day without all the chaos that is my usual life. She is usually pretty quiet in public and I figured I could take each baby on a different Sunday, starting with her. She was very good and I thought maybe this Mother's Day would be different than the last. What was I thinking? Before church even started, Gaby fell off of the pew and hit her head on the back of the pew in front of us. I had just bent down to put the diaper bag on the floor and she toppled over. She only cried a little and I thought, good she is ok, we can now sit uninterrupted for the next hour. Then I looked at my hands and realized they were covered in blood. I started frantically searching for the source of the blood. It wasn't coming from her mouth, or the back of her head, oh there it is, she had sliced the upper half of her ear. Blood was dripping onto her new pink sundress. So off to the ER we went. I had to miss Ashlyn's little performance. They did tape it though so I'm going to get a copy.

She ended up with 5 stitches, at least I think that's how many, I wasn't really counting. I couldn't have asked for a better experience in the ER. She did much better than I expected. She cried pretty loudly at times but that was mainly when we were strapping her down and injecting the Lidocaine. I owe a lot thanks to the Dr. on call, Dr. Nanci. She was awesome. She was even singing "5 little Monkeys" to her to try and comfort her.

We made it back to the church to hear the last 5 minutes of the sermon and sing the final hymn. Then Gaby fell asleep on the way home, poor baby.

I always thought Brooke would be the first one with stitches. I was the least worried about Gaby. She is usually so content to just sit and observe.

Next year, I think I will just stay home.

If your wondering what Ashlyn said that she loves best about her mother, she said "she takes me to the park".

Sometimes you just gotta wing it.

I've been looking at picnic tables for the kids to use on our deck. I thought it would be a great place for snacks and light meals, which would save me from having to clean high chairs as often as I do. I could toss the crumbs to the birds (or the cats) and spray the table off with the garden hose.

So I've really been comparing two of the Step 2 products. This one and this one. I like them both and I know the kids would like either one. The smaller one is cheaper but only seats 4 so if we had any visitors, there wouldn't be enough room for them to sit. The larger one seats 6 and looks like it is more comfortable but is more expensive.

I love Step 2 products because they are very durable. I have acquired a few pieces from garage sales and they last forever.

In the end I decided to save a few bucks and get these.
I got a really good deal. The place where I got them gave me $2 off each chair. Also, I really love the colors. Plus they will be easier to pack them up if we go on a road trip. I was worried that they would be easy for the kids to tip over, which they are, but they haven't gotten hurt because there isn't far to fall. Then, they just stand up and do the same thing over again.
So then I was on the hunt for some sort of table to go with them.
Today I found these at Walmart. They are supposed to be side tables for grown ups but the kids don't know that. Look how happy they are.
It was raining today so we enjoyed our first snack on them indoors.

.......and we rode off into the sunset.

Here is a few things we did over the past couple of days. Ashlyn was enjoying playing in the sand and making me a "garden".Here is everyone waiting for mommy to bring up the van and get loaded up. We are finally getting to wear summer, or at least spring, clothes. We went for an outing with my mom.
While Grandma got her hair cut, I talked the beauty shop into giving me "2 for the price of one" trims on the little girls bangs. They are so happy they can see again. Brooke didn't mind, it was her 4th trim.Gaby, on the other hand, was a little scared and had to sit on my lap. This is only her second trim. The hair cuts really made the girls look different.Then we did a little shopping and Ashlyn was happy to introduce the babies to her favorite pony ride. Gaby loved it.Brooke loved it.Notice I don't have a photo of Ryan. He screamed bloody murder as soon as we set him on. He gets a little freaked about things like that sometimes. Yesterday, Lance started up the tractor on the other side of the yard, and even though Ryan was on the deck he was "heading for the hills".

It was a great day. So far so good with the one nap schedule. Today is day 3. I hope they at least sleep 2 hours.

New Deck--Almost Completed.

This is how our deck looks this morning after Lance and Mike worked all day Saturday. The only pieces left are pretty obvious by this photo. We will hopefully get it finished this weekend. Then I'm going to be looking for some type of gate to replace this play yard piece. This works temporarily but we'd like to get something more permanent.The kids have "moved in" without too much delay. It's so great having a place for the kids to play that is safe. We spent almost every waking moment out there today.Gaby sporting a new pony tail. Not sure if she likes it or not.Ryan is eating a fake piece of toast from the kitchen set. Brooke also in a pony tail. She looks so much more like Gaby with her hair back.

The kids think it's entertaining to throw toys through the slats. Ryan threw one first. Then Brooke threw one. I said "DO NOT THROW ANY TOYS ON THE GROUND". Brooke turned around and smiled and threw another one. I said, "If you do that again, you will be in big trouble". She smiled at me and threw another toy. So then I took away all the garden toys and put them away. She and I are going to have many battles in life I can tell. At least she has spirit. What else can I say?Just look at that devilish little grin.Gaby is puckering to give me a kiss.

Today we started training for the little ones to go from 2 naps to 1. I have tried this in the past and ended up going back to the 2 nap schedule. I am fairly determined this time to stick it out. It will make summer easier if I can wait and put them down for one long nap in the afternoon. Today wasn't bad, we played outside and then went to a nearby park for lunch. I put them down and didn't hear a peep for a hour and a half. Then Ryan woke them all up, as usual. We'll see what happens tomorrow. I'm hoping their one nap will last longer than that. Otherwise I'll never get anything done.

Oh, and did I mention, I love, love, love, the new deck.

My daughter, the contortionist.

This was apparently a game Ashlyn and my mom were playing. Ashlyn was batting a ball through her legs.
Kids are so flexible. Myself, I can barely touch my toes anymore.
If your wondering what happened to the post about the artery I found in our pork roast. I deleted it. It really was gross. I didn't want to look at it every time I logged on.

Old steps and progress of new....

Here are the photos I promised. Please refer to previous post if you don't know what I'm talking about. Sorry it took so long but I was having technical difficulties.

I had forgotten that my mom took some great photos before the construction started. Thanks mom. The man in the overalls is my dad delivering the supplies.

Here is Ashlyn sitting on our old steps. They look dangerous, right?

At the end of day 1.

Ashlyn is waving at me from the window.

Day 2. A work in progress.

Ryan, Brooke, Ashlyn, and Gaby all watching the building of the deck.

Ryan and Ashlyn watching Daddy.

Brooke and Ashlyn watching Daddy.

Gaby watching Daddy.