I'm not SuperWoman

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This will be a special announcement from...me...

I failed on putting up our weekly events yet again...It's late. The kids are in bed. I have to get up early. The only excuse I have is that between too many text messages received =), a very sick boy (ya he got worse as the day progressed), making dinner, and disinfecting the house I just don't have the energy to do it... this is all your getting. Sorry...exciting I know.

Check in tomorrow for our normal broadcast...

Happy 4th of July!

This last week has been filled with all sorts of fun events...but where to begin. The kids (Bethy and Joseph) have been taking horseback riding lessons for the last few weeks. Bethy has watched Joseph do this for a few years and couldn't wait for her chance up on the horse! This year she finally was able to start. She was so happy with herself that she was adamant that I take pictures of her accomplishments...of course that meant Joseph had to be part of the spotlight as well.

Joseph

This week we also got rid of 1/3 of our rocks on the driveway. Along with moving rocks we pulled a ton of weeds...My body was hurting pretty bad afterwards but the yard looks much better. After hours in the yard I decided since I was messy anyway we'd cut hair...Scott's hair! It was getting longer than I like so we pulled out the clippers. We were expecting Scott to freak out by the buzzing noise and the vibration because that was our expereince with Joseph. It was more like an annoying fly to Scott though. He thought it was interesting and that was about it. We all were sitting around the table watching and applauding him when it was done...it sure makes him look like a little man!

AFTER

All of our working occurred on Friday during the day. We told the kids we'd do nothing but play that evening and the next day after we worked. That night we headed over for a BBQ/firepit party at some friends of ours. The kids had such a great time. Bethy and Morgan ran around the place, Joseph was off in the fields with the boys, and even Scott had buddies to roll around with on the blanket in the grass. The only down side of the evening was when Joseph scratched himself on some barbed wire and then got eaten by mosquitos. There is something about sitting around a fire with friends laughing and talking about life that brings friendships closer. Oh- the pineapple upside down cake was superb!

The kids didn't get to bed until 10 or so...way to late. Of course the excitement of the next day couldn't keep them in their beds. They were up at 6:30! That is extremely early in our household! They were dressed and with time to spare before the parade so we all went out back and did poppers on the back porch.

The parade was wonderful! The weather last year was VERY hot and we showed up a little late so we got a spot in the sun, yet this year we found a spot for our chairs in the shade and it was so cool that we didn't need our otter pops that we brought...yet they were eaten anyway! The parade was enjoyable and there were tons of people out this year. You can tell how small our town is by the fact that there are more tractors, animals, and vintage cars in the parade than the businesses!

After the parade we walked through the town past all of the cars to the library park where they had a band playing,and activities for the kids. We got in line for one of the bounce houses and then the sheets of rain started pelting us from above. People started running for any cover possible. We found a nice shield made from the recreation shed. Jared at this time had taken Scott and was driving the car up to be closer to where we'd end up. I called him to come and get us and where he was only a few blocks away was DRY! He said as he was driving closer to us it was like going through a car wash because there was a sheet of water he drove into to get to us. We headed home, ate burgers and hot dogs, and then took naps. I have to say that my favorite burger has changed from a whopper junior with cheese from BK to a buffalo burger with swiss and avocado...yum! We stuffed ourselves silly!

It rained all day practically. We didn't know if it would stop to allow us to have fireworks but it did only an hour before the town's fireworks started! The kids were able to head out and fire off that big container Jared got in Wyoming. It was chilly though and I had to wrap Scott up in winter attire! He wasn't scared of the fireworks at all. He loved them...in fact he stayed awake watching them with us until the bitter end. The neighborhood was alive with the sounds of rockets and fireworks. Our neighbors joined us with their bag full of fireworks so the kids had a bunch to enjoy. By the end of the evening the kids had started their own game with each other on the grass and Jared and Mike (our neighbor) were having all the fun with the fireworks setting them off. We had such a great time.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

It is late...and because we played all day I have only just picked out the pictures from this last week...so...I'm going to put up stuff tomorrow...but I have to say that Scott's baby hair is no more! We gave him a MAN cut! It is too cute! Pictures and such tomorrow. Sorry!

Front two teeth

I'm happy to say that this week (even though it was packed full of events) we started back doing our normal routine. I know- exciting...

The kids had school every morning and were much happier than the last previous weeks. Scott sleeps a good hour during their school time which helps me be able to concentrate on the two eldest easier during that time. We've had a bit of catch-up we've needed to do since our normal routine has been turned upside down too often in the lasts few months. Their doing well though. Bethy has already started and is half way through her kindergarten material. Joseph already is in his 2nd grade material in certain subjects, and in others he is only a month or so behind. By August he should be right where he needs to be to start the second grade.

I love having the ability to direct their lessons to how they think, learn and what interests them. With Bethy I've learned that 'playing dumb' is the best way for her to practice learning because she in her mind is 'teaching' me. Joseph has been more challenging for me because he is very much like me. I've tried many different methods but I've learned that the best way to help him learn is to teach him the material, go over it with him,and then give him his assignments and allow him to choose when he will accomplish them and in what order.

This week we tried Space food. I brought back food sticks (one chocolate and one peanut butter) as well as freeze dried icecream for everyone to try. The kids like the chocolate food sticks but could care less about the rest of it. I personally thought the freeze dried icecream was pretty good- cardboard, but nicely flavored cardboard.

The kids also have been playing with Joseph's new toys all week. He and Bethy spent a good amount of time outside shooting off the bubble rocket he got from his good friend Landon. They actually used up all the bubbles in one afternoon because they were having so much fun- so we'll have to get more bubbles before they can do it again.

Scott is a brave boy. He had his 6 month shots just this week because when we went in for his 6 month check up he wasn't feeling all that well and there was NO way I was going to pump him full of stuff while being sick. So we postponed the shots until this week. He got four of them. Both Bethy and Joseph request to leave the room each time he gets shots because they can't bare to hear him cry. They sit on the outside of the door until they think it's safe to come back in. Scott got 4 shots and during the procedure he acted like any little one and cried, but as soon as I picked him up afterwards he very quickly stopped.

We do have some exciting news about Scott. His bottom two teeth FINALLY broke through! I've been waiting for this. With the excitment on our account has come sadness on his I'm sorry to say when he has biten himself. For someone who has sucked his thumb, fingers, hand, toes, pretty much anything he can get into his mouth, without having this painful sensation of biting oneself I can see where it can be quite a shock. He'll be happy and giggling with one or two fingers proped in his mouth and then all of a sudden screaming and tears... it is quite sad.

Scott has also become a mover and shaker. He rolls ALL over his bed and the floor. The big gate that has sat in storage for years is now in its spot between the front entryway and the living room. I can't trust him on my bed anymore because he will roll right over. I will put him on the floor and he is quite a distance from his original position in a short amount of time. He isn't crawling yet, because his rolling seems to get him where he wants to go.

Another new thing about Scott is that he loves to sleep on his belly. I put him down on his back but he always rolls himself over during the course of the night. He also attempts to smother himself. He loves to sleep right up against the crib bumpers. I don't know what attracts him, but I find myself constantly moving him back to the center of the bed constantly. I found him like this the other day during his nap.

Long posts happen...especially when I've been gone

VICTORY! Joseph had his first game the week I got back. He hit singles on his first two times up to bat. He was so proud of himself that I caught him dancing around on first base.








Poor Scott was sick the first two days I got back. We called him the little pharaoh because we kept a cool compress on his head in addition to meds. Surprisingly he keeps the wash cloths on his head. I found him like this after putting him in his swing in hopes that it would help him sleep.





Joseph has always been my cautious child. It takes him much longer to try something out...but when he does he does it correctly the first time. When he was learning how to ride a bike he waited until he was comfortable and he got on it and rode off without falling once. We've had the playground for awhile now. This was the first time Joseph pulled himself up on the bar...Bethy of course had to follow.





The kids and I are sure excited about the garden. It is starting to really flourish. We've had some of the lettuce, and pea pods already and can't wait for the peppers and tomatoes to take over. We were a little worried that we might have lost some of it to the large hail storm we had last night but I checked on it this morning and it will be fine.

When I returned home from my trip I found the house spotless, flowers in the kitchen and my bedroom and the kids had made me a banner. Talk about a wonderful way to welcome a tired mommy home!
As I said before Joseph had his 'friend' party this last Saturday. It was joyful chaos! I loved every minute of it. We had roughly 15 kiddos running around the backyard (thankfully it didn't rain!). Joseph requested a Knight and Shining Armor theme to his party- talk about easy for me!
Bows and Arrows


We had water balloons to launch but the kids thought this would be more fun...do you notice the dinosaurs on the grass?

After the kids had a go with competing against eachother they decided to try their hand at beating Jared...


Here they are making their shields...

Control to chaos...
The kids were very excited about the toys. It seemed with each Transformer that was unwrapped the kids got closer and closer to Joseph-they couldn't wait to play with them!

I waited until the end to bring out these...it was a hoot watching these kids run around crazy for an hour! It was a wonderful day-but exhausting!

An adventure

I took off to the Bahamas on Joseph's birthday. I've never been to the Bahamas but I had that picture in my head of what it might look like...the sandy white beaches and crystal clear waters. I wasn't disappointed. It was beautiful.

Kim and I met up in the Miami airport for a week just to ourselves. We bummed around Fort Lauderdale for a couple of days and then were off on the cruise. The first night was filled with dancing, meeting people, and enjoying the shows. We stayed up so late that we didn't even get up until after we had been docked for at least 2 hours. The cabin was completely dark- I know Kim was loving it!


What I noticed about Nassau first off was (other than the heat...because that was intense) was the vibrant colors on EVERYTHING! It looked as if someone pulled out a random color for each building out of a crayola box of crayons! Some of the colors I really liked. Kim and I first set off to look at jewelry. Going up and down the street we saw some fascinating things. Policemen were dressed like British soldiers, on the same street you could have street peddlers as well as the ritzy stores, and the cars were a mixed lot with the driving wheels on either side of the car. We had lunch at Senor Frogs right on the water. We got a spot overlooking the cruise ships, the light house, and the water sports. It was beautiful. We went to the straw market, a pirate museum, and then it was time to return.

We both got massages, laid out on the deck, I swam, and we got ready for the night life. We saw some of the shows and then ventured into the lounge where they were having karaoke night. We meet up with some of the girls we had met before and sat back to enjoy. While Kim had her back turned there was a collaboration between myself and all the others and we got her name into the pot. I picked out the song...what amazed me was that she went up and performed...Mary had a little lamb. It was a beautiful moment...everyone was rolling.

After the cruise we spent the next two days up in Orlando. We had tickets to see the shuttle take off so we arrived at some crazy hour in the morning.(See that little speck?-that's the launch pad)

Unfortunately it was postponed. We (and everyone else who had tickets) went to Denny's for breakfast before heading back to go through the museums. The museums were wonderful. I really enjoyed the first one they dropped us off at. I'm still in awe at how massive everything is there! (I'm touching a moon rock)

I took tons of pictures until my camera's battery died but most of them are of the different explanations and educational boards around the place for Jared. He digs space stuff. That's all I brought home for him...but the kids were another matter...I think I went kinda crazy on Disney items and Space stuff...among the collection was space icecream.

Kim and I spent our last night one block from the beach in Fort Lauderdale. They sure know how to make a great beach with walking trails, straw huts, chairs, showers- and of course it helped that the beach was amazing. Kim promised me an adventure and we surely did have one...I've decided that the next time we have a girl's vacation we are not heading toward the equator during the summer but rather will be heading to Alaska...during the summer time.

Joseph's Seven

I'm afraid that if I put down all the exciting stuff that has happened over the last few weeks on one blog entry I will extend this longer than anyone wants to read...so I'm going to break this up into segments. We knew that June would be a wild and crazy month for us. The kids were anticipating Joseph's seventh birthday, I was excited about a trip down to the Bahamas, and Jared was excited for the chance to have time to hang with his sister while I was going to be gone.

Joseph's birthday seemed to extend itself over quite some time... His birthday happened to be the same time I was going to be leaving on a jet plane so we decided it would be best to have our 'family' party the day before. Then his Dad would spoil him rotten on his birthday taking him to the Denver zoo and out to eat every meal...then we'd have his 'friend' party once I got back.

I think having so many celebrations confused him as well. The Sunday before my departure I was up and getting the kids ready for church early when I noticed after calling Joseph to get out of bed for the fifth time that my oldest child started growling at me from his bedroom. 'I'm not getting out of bed- where is my banner????' Every birthday the kids get a banner to run through showing they have grown a year...well...we hadn't made Joseph's banner yet because it was the day before his actual birthday. I had to giggle (which made him more upset) at the confusion. Once I told him that it wasn't really his birthday yet,we were just celebrating it his demeanor changed completely and he was more than happy to get out of bed and get ready!

I'm shocked and amazed at this little boy. I really can't believe he is already seven. Joseph is a remarkable little boy. He accepts and loves everyone he meets. He gives a 100% at all times and has the ability to remember things from his early childhood. He is very smart and loves to have fun! He is the best big brother. Ya he tests his sisters patience (and mine) at times, but the majority of time he plays with, cares for, and protects his siblings.

I thought it would be fun to show off how much he has changed over the years...enjoy-

This was the day he was born...


3 months...
5 months

9 months

1 year

2 years old

3 years old

4 years old
5 years old
6 years old
7 years old

I will be putting up the other entries tomorrow. I'm coming up on 12 and I have to wake up at 4:45...so- I'll do it tomorrow!