Lots of kids

If you haven't figured it out, I have a few extra kids around here this week. In total, 5 kids ages 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. The kids all love it, but it is a little bit louder. I think I need to buy some earplugs. The noise isn't too bad, except when we get in the van, then it just seems to get Really Loud.

They can also do things that just 3 kids can't do. I got out of the shower this morning and found that they had moved a set of bunk beds completely across the room. (they were looking for a ball they lost) Of course they did this with the youngest still in the top bunk. I think the neighbors may have heard me yell. But after a long time out for all children involved, we all recovered and made it to school on time. I am hoping this is the worst thing they do all week, but it is only Wednesday.

National Pancake Day

Yesterday was National Pancake day! We celebrated by having pancakes for dinner. We had plain, blueberry and banana. There were some very happy kids, even some with blueberry on their cheeks..... it was bathtime after dinner to clean off sticky blueberry covered kids.

Stubborn

Munchkin is a little bit stubborn. She looks so cute, but it hides a very stubborn streak. This week it was saying "please". She just decided it wasn't worth her time to use the word anymore. She finally relented and got her pretzel stick... it just took 4 hours.

Beautiful spring day

We finally had a great spring day, the kids loved digging in the dirt, climbing in the trees, and I even had some time to pick up some of the pine needles in the back yard. The kids were filthy at the end of the afternoon and I gave everyone baths at 4 in the afternooon.

Reading Time - 4

This is the sight that I found one morning before school, and yes she is reading all the words to her little brother and sister. They all loved it and I hated to interupt them to go get in the van.

Child Labor - 3

Just because you are 2 does not mean you can't work. Actually this one is my most willing worker. She hears me open the dishwasher and wants to come over and do her "job." She loves it and talks to herself about every item she puts away.

Child Labor - 2

Daddy uses child labor too, though his version is shining boots and I love it because he was telling them all stories about them when the big kids were babies. I was loving listening to them ask questions. It is not the big stuff you do with your kids but the hundreds of little things that make memories for them.

Child Labor

I am a firm believer in child labor... the only problem is that my kids think cleaning the toilet is lots of fun and want to do it more often. I guess I will just have to let them do it more often.

Valentine's

My kids love Valentines day. They make cute crafts and got to have a morning scavenger hunt for their new socks and tights they got for Valentines. This is Buddy's castle for all his Valentine's at school.Princess' class made a book with all their sentences about what Love is. This is her page, it reads "Love is when Dady stays home and wrestles. Love is when mommy surise(surprises) me. Love is when I surrise Mommy and dady. "

No nap naptime AGAIN

Someone is getting very destructive when supposed to be taking a nap.

Birthday party

The family went to a birthday party for one of their friends this week and they had a blast. It was at a local gymnastic club, so there were lots of trampolines and other fun stuff. I think Daddy may have had more fun than the kids, but everyone had a great time.Munchkin really loved it and acted like a big girl. She was very independant and loved swinging on the bars, jumping into the foam pit, and jumping on the trampoline. Maybe she will be the one that wants to take gymnastics..... Happy Birthday E!!

Lincoln logs

Lincoln logs take a lot of concentration, but after some help from mom, we are very proud of our building skills.

Cool trees

At the park where we were sledding they had the coolest trees. Check these out. This one actually has a 90 degree bend, too bad it was too hard to actually try and climb it.

Snow days

Since we had snow on Saturday, church was cancelled on Sunday. We found a sledding hill, but I forgot my camera. The whole family went in the morning and then Daddy took the big kids back in the afternoon while Munchkin took her nap. (and Mommy got a nap too) They had a great time, so did Mommy :)

Of course School was cancelled on Monday, basically because all the roads looked like the one in front of our house. Oh yeah, when it doesn't snow every year, they don't have plows and they don't have very many salt/sand trucks. Of course that didn't stop us from driving to go sledding again. This time I brought the camera. This little girl wasn't a big fan of sledding on Sunday, but by Monday she would get mad if she missed a turn or had to wait because there weren't enough sleds. She loved it, though she was also the only one who got to ride a sled both up and down the hill. Her snowsuit is just a little short, you can see the red pants we tucked into her boots, but she didn't complain.When you live where it doesn't snow it is fun to find things that will substitute as sleds.. the one we used was the boogie board, it went faster than the real sleds, but was really hard to steer. Other people used the tops of plastic toy boxes, waterskiing tubes, skateboard decks, cardboard, or just your shoes sliding down the road. This is my amazingly handsome husband whom I love very much and who takes the time to find a hill (that is tough to do around here) and take his family sledding. He loves the snow just as much as the kids and I think he enjoyed playing in the snow just as much as they did.

SNOW!

We actually had snow in Virginia, it does happen once every few years, the last time there was more than 2 inches, was when we lived here last in 2001. We were prepared and now I get to show all of our family and friends how the South deals, with the snow.

1st of all, the kids wake up REALLY early and sit in front of the window for a long time just watching it. (notice it is still dark out) 2nd, Take forever finding all the mismatched clothes to see if they fit. You can't tell very well, but this snowsuit is more than a litttle short and barely zips up to the top, but she is really cute. 3rd Go outside, since there aren't many hills, we pull the sled in the street. 4th Play as much as possible and lastly come inside and set up the drying rack in the dining room to dry everyones stuff to go out again a little later.