Day 84: Tantrum

Veronica had her official first tantrum today.  It took 16 months, but she proved today she can hold her own with her brothers.  We've had some amazing tantrum throwers here and while she isn't quite up there with the best of them and is no where near the "high water mark" she did throw herself on the floor, scream, cry, roll around and generally let everyone know (even after everyone walked away) that she wasn't happy.

She is a little quicker study than some of her brothers because she didn't really carry on for longer than 10 minutes; we've had some that repeatedly screamed for well over an hour.  She got over it and of course I had to take a picture.  So here she is after she threw herself out of the booster seat you see on the floor (because I took the tray off so she wouldn't tip it over any more).

Day 83: Smile

Samuel was enjoying another day of wonderful weather.  The kids ran through the sprinkler today; they are really enjoying the great spring-time weather.

Day 82: my handsome lunch date

This handsome guy, my almost 5 year old, was my handsome date for lunch today.  I was looking at Facebook this morning when I saw that our local Ruby Tuesday was offering a "kids eat free" day.  I love taking the kids out alone for their birthdays.  Maybe it's a trip to the book store, maybe out of ice cream, a ride on the carousel at the mall.  Just some time out, alone for some special one on one time.

So I jumped at the opportunity to take Augustin out for an early birthday lunch.  He wore the brand-new green polo I picked out this week and new blue shorts.  He thought he had won the lottery he was so excited and as he reminded me "Green is my favorite color!"  We ordered our lunch, mine came w/ the salad bar and he excitedly came with me and helped me pick out all kinds of good things for my salad.  He then ate about 2/3 of it when we got back to the table.  He is a salad kid.

He then ordered a "Mini Burger" meal which he got with grilled green beans and apple slices.  He ate the entire meal, along with my salad, a cup or water and then finished the meal off with his chocolate milk.  He is a good eater and he needs it because he never stops moving.

So I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch with Augustin.  It's hard to believe he is just days away from turning 5 years old.

Day 81: Polar Fleece

I know it's only a fleece sweatshirt, but sometimes I have a favorite piece of clothing for one of the kids.  Samuel got this for his 1st birthday from Brad's parents and he has worn it more times than I can count.  It was getting too small months ago, but he and I both loved it and I never put it away.  It finally needs to be packed up though.  He can't get it off without help anymore and it's really too short.  I love the colors with his hair and skin and he loves how soft and warm it is.  It still looks great for 2 years of wear.  So my nephew Oliver will be getting a wonderful fleece and I will just have to ask Beth to take some pictures of him in it.

Day 80: a 2 for 1 day

There is no tile or linoleum left anywhere.  Now they are getting all the adhesive up.  Flooring will be going down soon.

 Poor Veronica. I put her in the stroller to keep her safe while I gave the boys haircuts.  All was going well as I was getting set up, until Samuel decided to push her around and he got going too fast.  The stroller tipped, he went down and she got a very good sized bruise and bump on her head.  She doesn't seem to notice, although I think it looks like it hurts.

Day 79: Samuel

All the riding toys are out and Samuel is really enjoying them.  He's a little big for this one, but he insisted on riding it.

Day 78: Tree House

Brad spent the weekend building a tree house for the boys.  Grant and Matthias were having fun working on it with him.

Day 73: Papa's Hat

Veronica loves wearing Papa's hat and she looks really cute in it too.

Day 72: Construction Zone

The tile floor is coming up and the old flooring being scraped off.  New flooring will be going down soon.

Day 70: Loving the Doll Cradle

Veronica loves her doll cradle.  Brad's parents got it for her for Christmas and while she normally just puts her dolls in it, I found her sitting in it while spending some time in her room.  All the babies were out of it and she was sitting inside.  She was very proud of herself.

Day 69: New Kitchen Seating

Brad refinished an old pew and we put it at the kitchen table so we have more seating without getting a bigger table.  The boys love it and of course Veronica had to get in on the fun too.

Day 66: Sledding can be dangerous

 

The snow has turned to ice, after a morning of rain, and while it's fun and fast, it's also dangerous...as Matthias' face shows.  He fell off the sled and scraped his face on the snow.  No permanent damage and after a few tears (and a hug from Mom) he was back out there sledding.  This wasn't the only injury of the afternoon, but the only one that was visible.  Lots of bumps and bruises for everyone.

Day 65: Smiling Samuel

Look at that smile...I just love this little guy.  His personality is as big as his smile.  He may be mouthy and opinionated (and shares his opinion freely), but he is so loveable.  Here he is waiting for dinner.  he was starving after an afternoon of sledding and sat silently at the table for 35 minutes waiting for me to finish dinner.  I told him he could go play or wait silently at the table.  He chose to wait; I guess he was hungry.

Day 64: Augustin and Samuel...sledding again

 

These two love to sled.  Here they are in the front yard where they spent a good 45 minutes going up and down the hill.  In this picture Augustin is pushing Samuel UP the hill.  A few seconds later he told Samuel he was too heavy and he needed to get off.

Day 62: Sledding

 

Today is a 2 picture day.  The snow brings a lot of fun.  Samuel and Augustin spent hours outside sledding.  They tried out all the hills and all the different sleds.  They really do have a blast together and enjoy being out the longest.

Day 61: Snow Storm Fun

Finally...snow.  March 1st was the first snow we'd had...that stuck and was measurable...since October 31st.  Four months, of winter, with essentially no snow.  So when it snowed the kids had a great time.  Veronica had fun standing at the door watching Samuel "shovel" the back deck.

Day 60: VBS - February Vacation Week

 

Augustin on the last day of VBS showing off his torches for the "Light of Christ"

Matthias marching the parade with his crown, torch, t-shirt and medal.  He is having a great time.

Day 58: Purses

 

She loves her purses.

Day 57: Veronica's new bin

 

The new Mini Utility Bin, complete with embroidery on it for Veronica.  This is the March special and I ordered one to show customers, but couldn't resist the adorable butterfly pattern.  Once I'm done showing this to people it will be for Veronica to hold toys and all kinds of treasures.  I honestly wish i had one of these for each of the kids because they make the perfect Easter Baskets and since they collapse and have no handle, they take up almost no space.  It's tempting, especially with the cute boy patterns too...and then personalized they are perfect.

Day 56: Another high chair shot

 

Still not feeling great, but making progress.  Since the only place she wants to be is my lap or the high chair, we're getting lot of high chair shots the past week or so.

Day 55: My Favorite Thirty One Product

 

I have come to the conclusion that I just can't have too many of these....Large Utility Tote.  I can think of about 100 uses for them.  I currently have 3 of them.  Two of them generally carry my party supplies and one of them is for the van.  I've taken them to BJs for my food, I've packed clothes in them for the kids to take to Grandma & Grandpa's for the weekend.  They hold everything I need for an afternoon w/ friends, they carry laundry to various parts of the house.  And that's just a start.  This is by far my "I can't live without" product.

Day 54: Game time

 

A little game of Uno to pass a rainy afternoon

Day 53:

 

Trying hard to be happy, but really not feeling good at all.

Day 52: Shrove Tuesday

 

Wow, it's been awhile since I took pictures.  I guess life got busy.  I often want to take a picture, but can't because my camera is in another part of the house.  And we've had a sick baby so things have been a little crazy.  Here is Samuel enjoying his Shrove Tuesday lunch of pancakes, whipped cream and blueberries.

Day 44: Coffee Roasting

 

Roasted Sumatran coffee beans.  These are our favorite.

Day 43: Cookie Baking

 

Brad and Augustin spend a Sunday afternoon baking oatmeal raisin cookies.  They were delicious.

Day 42: Game time

 

Matthias and Samuel playing a Monopoly card game.  Samuel always feels so big when one of the older boys plays a card game with him.

Day 41: Can you find the boy?

 

This is what I find when I go to bed and check on the boys?  Can you even find the boy in this bed?  Parker is in there some where, underneath all of his covers and surrounded by animals.

Day 40: Sleepy Head

 

Sleepy head, Samuel, ready for bed.  He loves his blankets and stuffed animals.

Day 39: Samuel makes lunch

 

A couple of the boys are very independent and really just do what needs to be done.  Augustin is probably the most like this and Samuel is learning from him.  It was a morning where no one seemed very motivated to eat breakfast, so no one ate much.  Of course, this meant kids were hungry by about 9am and lunch isn't until 11:30am...so it was turning into a long morning.  I was talking on the phone with Beth and Samuel comes up to me and says, "I made lunch, can you get plates?"

So of course I had to check out this lunch.  I had seen him grab crackers out of the basement and told him to put them in the kitchen.  What I didn't know was he'd had taken out cheese sticks (string cheese) for everyone, picked a tomato for me to cut so they could share it and gotten bananas.  Augustin helped by getting everyone a clementine.  There you have it LUNCH put together by a 3 year old.  It covered all major food groups and was well balanced. I think he has a new job, especially since everyone willingly ate it.

Day 38: Lazy day...no picture

I finally missed a day.  I'm doing pretty well so far.  Things were crazy and I just didn't get a picture taken.

Day 37: Breakfast help

 

I told Brad this morning that nothing make me happier than children being able to get their own breakfasts.  Now everyone down through Augustin can get their own meal in the morning.  Grant is helping Augustin put jelly on a bagel, but Augustin took it out, toasted it, got it on the plate and got the jelly and knife out.   Grant did the rest.  I love the independence of this kid!!!!

Day 36: Game time

 

Trying to figure out how to play Axis and Allies.  Grant got it for Christmas and it's taken until early February to find the time to sit down and try to understand the directions.  They spent 2 hours setting up the game and reading the directions (or should I say SOME of the directions).  No game play actually took place.

Day 35: Laundry Baskets are always fun

 

The kids all have loved laundry baskets and Veronica is no exception.  I think it helps that she's got 5 older brothers who find it great fun to push her around in her "boat".

Day 34: Math Time

 

Augustin loves to do math and he's very good at it.  He's almost done with his kindergarten math book and he won't be 5 until the end of March.  It always amazes me that my active, busy boy enjoys sitting and his fine motor skills are really pretty good.   Right now he's working on adding single digit numbers.

Day 33: Candlemas

 

Today is the feast of Candlemas or better known as The Presentation of the Lord.  We typically have crepes for breakfast, but I wasn't on top of things today as I normally am, so we had them for lunch and the kids loved them.  Such a special treat.

Day 32: Root Beer

 

I have been craving pizza and not just any pizza, but greasy, cheesy pizza with pepperoni.  The cheesier and greasier the better and nothing sounded better to me than root beer to go with that pizza.  I resisted buying the pizza and stuck with the root beer.  It was so good and I almost never drink pop of any kind.

Day 31: Gus the Talking Garbage Truck

 

This is Gus the Giant Talking Garbage Truck.  We've had him for years.  Grant found him at a consignment shop and bought it for Christmas for one of the little guys.  It was a favorite for a long time and then ended up in storage.  Augustin found it the other day and it has been a favorite of his (and Matthias and Samuel).  He was especially excited when he learned his name was "Gus".  "Just like me!!!!" he said.

Day 30: All the Girly Toys

 

After 13 years of only boys in the house with no girly toys to be found, it still makes me take a second look when I see Veronica's purse and tea set nicely arranged on top of the toy stove.  I'm not used to all the pink and flowers.  It makes me smile though, especially when I think about how much the boys love playing with her and showing her how to pour tea into cups....and then I find the little tea cups holding plastic dinosaurs and cars.

Day 29: Veronica

 

I tried to getting a good picture of Veronica, but it's hard with a toddler who doesn't really stand still often.   She's wearing the adorable outfit my friend Elizabeth made for her.  A skirt and cute poncho that looked so cute with her white tights and black dress shoes.

Day 28: Trying to have fun outside

 

It is such an odd winter.  I kicked the kids outside because it was too warm and sunny to stay in.  They weren't really happy.  There honestly isn't much to do outside.  They had to wear snow pants b/c it's too wet and muddy, but there isn't snow to sled on, all bikes, etc are put away and they just get wet and then cold.  It really is just wet grass, mud and ice.  They made the best of it though.

Day 27: Matthias

 

A cold rainy day, led to an afternoon of "movie time".  Matthias was very happy to sit and snuggle up and keep warm

Day 26: Game Night

 

We played a couple games of Sequence; boys against parents and the boys won both games.  

Day 25: Grant...in a moose hat

I don't think he thought when he put this on that I was going to take his picture and then blog about it.  He should know me better than that by now.  How could I resist?  Samuel had been wearing it earlier in the day and left it on the couch when he went to bed; so Grant being silly put it on and waited for me to notice.

Day 24: Snow? What snow?

 

It's January 24th and as you can see there is almost no snow on the ground.  I can't remember a winter with this little snow.  Normally we're trying to figure out where to put the snow we have so much.  This year...rain, snow, rain and more rain with warm temps and this is what you get....dripping water, puddles, no snow and mud.

Day 23: 14 months old

 

Already 14 months old and loving the Perplexus balls like her brothers.  She's walking all over, but still has ZERO teeth.  We can feel them trying to come through, but it's been a long and painful process for her.  She's still such a joy to have around though.

Day 22: Winter Camping

 

Grant and Parker went winter camping last night with their boy scout troop.  As is evident from the picture....it was FREEZING.  It was -6 when I picked them up at 9:30am.  Parker was miserable and was so thankful to be getting into a warm van.  Grant just loves this stuff, tent camping in the snow, staying warm by the fire, cooking and eating outside when it's freezing.  I'm not sure Parker has the same love for it.  He said winter camping in a cabin is much better.

Day 21: Loving the snow

 

Matthias loves the snow. He will stay outside for hours, even by himself.  He spent the afternoon sledding, digging and eating snow.  He's truly a winter boy right now.