Family Photos

Well, we accomplished it - all 4 kids plus spouses, and 10/11 grandkids, all together at the same time. Here is the evidence:

The kids: John, Jeff, Julie, Jena


The grandkids: Jonathon (13), Julian (13), Paige (13), Jenna (11), Emily (10), Rachel (9), Lance (4), Sammy (2), Brooke (2), Katie (1).


John, Denise, Jonathon, Jenna, & Rachel


Us


Emily, Julie N, and Julian


Grammy & Grampy with their grandkids


Everyone!

Why is it...

... that Daddy can leave every single day, all day, for work, and we can stand and wave goodbye, and it is no big deal at all. But if Mama leaves anyone's sight (to say go potty, or do dishes), it's the end of the world as we know it?

Time for Teletubbies!

I wish I had a microphone on this computer to record the giggles and squeals I hear! I do not get the Teletubbies, but Sammy & Katie sure do love them!

Well I guess it's time to call the repairman...

The freezer/fridge went out again. Last time, we just left it unplugged and defrosted it over night, and it worked fine. Until yesterday. And this time we've been checking it a lot to make sure it hasn't been left open. Good thing Kerry didn't have room to take her extra fridge back yet! And that I hadn't put anything back in the freezer yet!

Rave: Melissa and Doug puzzles

I have not met a Melissa and Doug puzzle that I didn't love. What's more important, neither has Sammy. And our new one, the See & Spell, is no exception. I saw it when we were about to check out at Wild Oats this afternoon (Thursday is 10% military discount day, you know) and I couldn't resist. I had been wondering what the next step of learning for Sammy should be, since he can recognize all the letters (both upper and lower case), and this looked like a good place to proceed. And it was. He played with it ALL evening. He even chose to stay home and play with it rather than go to the park! He was so proud of himself for finding all the letters, and being able to say what they spelled (thanks to the nice big picture on each board). I can NOT believe my 2 year old is learning how to spell 3 and 4 letter words!

Other Melissa and Doug puzzles we have and love are

• the Shape Sorting Clock
• the Shape Sorting Cube
• the Deluxe Band Set
• the Zoo Sound Puzzle
• the Shapes Sound Puzzle
• the Train Sound Puzzle
• the Geometric Stacker

Some other M&D toys we'd like to get are

• the Latches Board
• the Large Wooden USA Map Capitals and States Puzzle
• the Wooden Toy Abacus
• the Pattern Blocks and Boards
• the Numbers Sound Puzzle
• the Deluxe Wooden Musical Instruments Sound Puzzle
• the 200-pc. Wood Block Set
• the Play Money Set

(you can also see these on my Amazon homeschooling wishlist; ask me if you would like the link)

Excitement ahead

Next weekend we are heading south(east) to visit family. First we are stopping to see Lance and Brooke, and play on their playset. This is what they looked like last time we were there. I bet they are much bigger now!

Then we are going to Jeff's mom's to attempt once again to unite all 4 of her kids and her 11 grandkids with her at the same time. She has been asking for this for several years, and we just haven't been able to do it yet. Although we're not really going to achieve it this time, as TJ and Ellen won't be able to make it. But hopefully everyone else will. This is the result of last year's attempt, minus Jeff, his dad, and Greg, who decided fish were more interesting that a house full of women and children. (And I was behind the camera, of course.)





Then Jeff has to come back to work, but the kids and I are going to head to LA for a week to visit my family, and meet Mason, the who is tied with Rachel for the third cutest baby ever.




Then my mom and brother (and maybe my grandma, and my cousin, and maybe???? one of my nieces???) are following us home in her car and my brother is going build us a playset of our own.

Gold stars for Shawkin and Kerry!

for figuring out what Sammy said

ah-ho, ee-ho, ace, eta, oh-ho!

Sammy came down the stairs today mumbling the (I thought) nonsense syllables that he sometimes does, only when he is coming down the stairs. It finally occurred to me that when he is not mumbling whatever this is, he is counting. So maybe he *is* counting. But what could he be counting? All of a sudden it hit me. DING! (I am so slow sometimes!)

A gold star to the first one of you who figures out what the title means, and another for whoever can figure out where he learned it.

For Fun...

Saw this on Kristy's Blog and thought I'd play too...

1. Were you named after anyone? No, but I was almost named Stephanie after my dad (Steve)
2. When was the last time you cried? Last night during Supernanny
3. Do you like your handwriting? When I am paying attention to writing nicely, yes. (~10% of the time)
4. What is your favorite lunch meat? Corned beef
5. Do you have kids? two here with me and at least two more in Heaven
6. If you were another person would you be friends with you? yes, although I would probably be a little annoyed with them when I couldn't get a word in edgewise, or when they changed subjects w/o warning
7. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Not really, anymore. I guess I need to hang out with my Roomie more often.
8. Do you still have your tonsils? Yes.
9. Do you bungee jump? No, that's not the kind of thrill I seek.
10. What is your favorite cereal? Barbara's Bakery's Bite Sized Shredded Oats
11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Almost always
12. Do you think you are strong? Not physically. Emotionally, only when my prayer life is good
13. What is your favorite ice cream? Tofutti Cuties
14. What is the first thing you notice about people? Whether they are a lot taller than I am, or just a little taller.
15. Red or pink? Not pink. Anything but pink.
16. What is the least favorite thing about yourself? I sometimes lose patience with my kids and my husband.
17. Who do you miss the most? My Roomies and My Chicken
18. Do you want everyone to send this back to you? Sure
19. What color pants and shoes are you wearing? White denim
20. What was the last thing you ate? A Honey Maid Graham Stick
21. What are you listening to right now? (Baby Einstein's) Baby DaVinci DVD
22. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Happy Green
23. Favorite smells? Freshly ground coffee beans, my kids after a bath
24. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? Kerry
25. Do you like the person who sent this to you? n/a (Although I do really like Kristy, from whom I stole it)
26. Favorite sports to watch? Would rather be playing.
27. Hair color? Brown
28. Eye Color? Really cool hazel (brown in the middle, green on the outside, with the tiniest ring of dark blue on the way outside. Never noticed how beautiful they were until I saw them in my daughter, though)
29.. Do you wear contacts? Yuck!
30. Favorite food? STRAWBERRIES
31. Scary movies or happy endings? I don't like scary movies at all.
32. Last movie you watched? Pirates of the Carribean on TV the other night
33. What color shirt are you wearing? Heather gray nursing t-shirt
34. Summer or winter? Summer
35. Hugs or kisses? Yes! Lots!
36. Favorite dessert? Fresh fruit
37. Most likely to respond? Probably nobody
38. Least likely to respond? My mother
39. What book are you reading now? Book singular??? Hmmm... I think the last thing I read from was The Catholic Homeschool Companion. And the last thing I read from before that was Crossing the Threshold of Hope.
40. What is on your mouse pad? n/a (laptop w/ touchpad)
41. What did you watch on T.V. last night? Supernanny
42. Favorite sound? Fetus heartbeats on a doppler
43. Rolling Stones or Beatles? I love good music
44. What is the farthest you have been from home? Tbilisi, Georgia
45. Do you have a special talent? Slow-pitch softball pitching, jazz dancing
46. Where were you born? Baton Rouge
47. Whose answers are you looking forward to getting back? Aunt Sharon's
48. What time is it now? 2:30 p.m.

Potty Training

Today I caught a whiff of something and asked Sammy, "Do you have poo-poos in your diaper?" He thought for a second, and then said "Yesssssss..." I am hoping that at some point he will realize to ask the question on his own, and then know to come tell me that he needs changed. A couple of times I've caught him squatting and grunting, but every time I ask him "Do you want to go make those poo-poos in the potty?" he tells me "No. In Di-Fur." Hmmmm...

Meanwhile, as I am wetting some wipies to change his diaper, Katie grabs the cup out of the kiddie potty, brings it over to the tub, and starts jabbering non-stop in a semi-frustrated tone. I ask her "Do you need to sit on the potty?" (without missing a beat) "YAH!" (And I think if she had known the word "Duh!" she would have used that instead!) "Well, we need to put the cup back in first." So she hands it to me, I put it back in, and she immediately tries to climb on the potty. "Do you want me to take your diaper off first?" "Yah!" So I do. She sits down. I hold up two books and she grabs the one she wants, opens the cover, and immediately pees in the potty. This is the fourth time in the last 2-3 weeks that she's done that. I don't know about you, but I am just amazed that a 14 month old can realize she needs to pee before it happens, and knows what to do about it!

Dinner Guest

Sammy's "Nanny" (godmother) Amy came for dinner the other night. We always love to see her. She was one of my teens from when I volunteered with the Life Teen program at St. Mary's in Cheyenne. (I won't tell you how long ago that was!)

Our fridge went out

I should have seen this coming, yesterday, when I opened the freezer door, and my feet got rained on. But I thought it was just because Sammy was looking for something to eat and didn't close the door all the way.

This evening when I checked on it, about 1/3 of the items in there were completely defrosted. We were able to fit them in an ice chest, and transfer the still-frozen items to the freezer in the garage. And then I noticed that the things in the fridge were suspicously cool, instead of cold. Apparently the way this fridge works is to pump some of the cold air from the freezer into the fridge. (Perhaps they all work like that... This is not my area of expertise.)

We were super lucky in that our friends Kerry and Mike had a spare, and were conveniently borrowing our truck to tow their trailer full of the rest of their stuff from their old house, so it was very easy for Mike to bring it over.

I was amazed at how calm I have stayed about the whole ordeal. I think it was because I read Marie's post from this morning. In particular, the part that goes

...worrying and distressing yourself is your will for yourself, not God's will for you... You are on the straight path to heaven. ...as long as you stay on the path, there is nothing, nothing, that should have the power to upset you.

And, of course, the upside of the freezer going out is, if the ice cream is already mostly melted, you might as well go ahead and finish it off!


And one more, for Mama's little Ham, who now knows when the camera is out, you're supposed to get in front of it and say "my-yule!"

Allergies... ugh!

I have discovered a new one. The grass in the back yard. I have mowed this grass 100 times, and not really had any problems from it. This year Jeff decided to let it go to seed to fill in the bare spots, and it is making me SOOOOO sick. I am sure it was the grass, because I was pretty sick last weekend when Rachel was here and we were playing outside (and would get worse when I was hugging the kids, who played outside a lot more than I did), I got better Tues-Thurs when we stayed inside, then Thurs night when I went outside and rolled with Sammy on the yoga ball (see pics from Rachel's visit) I got REALLLLLLLY bad. I am going through a box of tissue every day to day and a half. One eye is swollen half shut. I am about to delegate authority of the kids to the daddy and take a Benadryl, (which will put me out of commission most of the rest of the afternoon).

Rachel came to visit!

Rachel and her family came to visit us this weekend. It was so nice to have them all over.



Sammy taking his betrothed for a ride.


This is Rachel's Foreign Exchange Brother Felix, from Germany. He has to go home in a week. We were glad to get to see him again before he left. In fact, he was the reason for the trip. Jeff took him fishing and shooting, and to the top of Pike's Peak.


Katie enjoyed playing airplane between her daddy and her parrain.



Rachel and Sammy had a blast playing with each other in the back jungle... er, I mean yard.


Other things we did this weekend:

• Went to the park
• Went shopping for ice skating dresses for Rachel
• Rachel let me be practice being her teacher on a couple of the lessons she had to finish up for the school year
• Rode horses at the Air Force Academy stables (Sammy nearly fell asleep on his pony!)
• Ate a pretty darn good, reasonably healthy gumbo
• We girls (Robyn, Rachel, Katie and I) went to Zachary's big sister Haley's ballet recital, and out for chocolate fondue afterwards.

Park Pics, Part 2

Here are a few more photos from the park:

Beautiful thoughts

Marie wrote a very beautiful, inspiring post last week. I would have been a much better mother today if I had read this when I woke up!

Park Pics, Part 1

We went to the park yesterday so I could take Zachary's 9 month photos. While we were waiting, Sammy and Katie got to swing.