washer woes

My washing machine broke this week. It is only 2 1/2 half years old, but the computer in it died. It is going to be 2 1/2 weeks until it is fixed. :( In the mean time we'll be making a couple of changes around here to make situation work. Here is my plan so far....

Normally everyone around here wears their clothes/PJs at least two days/nights. This will change to wearing them until they really are dirty (so some of the nice and tidy kids around here may wear one outfit for nearly a week, other then errand day and Sunday). Have no fear, socks and underwear will be changed daily!

The big kids will help with hand washing clothes in the bathtub. So far they think this is a fun idea, and are happy to help out.

At first I thought that cloth diapering would be taking a break, but washing those newborn diapers is not so bad, so I'll keep that up for a few days at least and see how it goes. Miss J, however, will be in disposables. *I had just done a load of diapers the day before, so the only ones that were dirty when the washer broke were Miss C's. That is how I learned they were going to be easy to clean.*

Potty training may be taking a break. I just don't want to deal with that many messes while hand washing everything. I do plan to pick up some pull-ups though, so maybe it will continue to some extent.

new glasses!

Mr. R and Mr. S finally got their new glasses yesterday! Woo hoo! We ordered them nearly a month and a half ago, but through various mishaps by the lab and store they were quite delayed. These are not the glasses we had picked for them, but they are close and they look good on them! The boys are so happy to have them! We were very happy to find that we only needed to buy two pairs this year instead of four!

Miss E's eyes have improved to the point that she does not need reading glasses anymore! She had the choice to get new ones if she wanted, but she has opted to skip them this year.

Mr. R only needs his for reading, and was told by the doctor he didn't even even need them for that if he didn't want them. He wanted to continue with them for a while though.

Mr. M's eyes have improved so much that he did not even have the option of reading glasses with the doctor saying that at this point glasses would do more harm than good. Since he is such an active boy it is nice to have him free of his glasses!

Mr. S most likely will not grow out of his need for glasses for quite some time since he has astigmatism like his mommy. He has to wear his all the time. Bummer since he is the most likely to break his.

wedding day!

Rob's brother got married this week-end! The groom was quite hansom, and the bride was absolutely beautiful! The wedding and reception were wonderful and so thoughtfully put together. We had a great time.

Mr. S was in the wedding as the ring bearer. He was so hansom in his little tux, and he knew it! His brothers and sisters were so excited for him getting to have such a special job. The kids all did very well with such a long day at the wedding and reception. We brought plenty of activity books for them as well as some small quiet toys. Mr. R and Mr. M set up a little battle with the army guys I brought for them. Miss E enjoyed playing with pipe cleaners and stickers. The iphones came in handy for Mr. S and Miss J. Miss C was a doll, sleeping most of the time and easily settled when she was a bit fussy.

 

My mom was so kind to come out to help me with the kids so that Rob would be free to do his duties as a groomsman and also enjoy his brother's wedding without having to worry about helping me with the kids! What a blessing that was since even though the kids were wonderful the three youngest did require quite a bit of attention that I certainly could not give on my own at the wedding and reception!

winter weather

Well, we are experiencing California's version of winter weather this week.

Rain. Lots of rain. It comes with wind, thunder, and lightning. Its been fun. Especially for the two little boys that received weather stations for Christmas in their science kits!

We've stayed inside and kept ourselves busy. Daddy ran out of chocolate chip cookie dough (I keep little balls of dough in the freezer all ready to be baked up whenever we need them), so we made some up instead of running errands in the rain. The best part of this job was, of course, eating them! We did manage to save some for daddy!

With all these kids running around inside bouncing off the walls we've needed something to channel that energy. We had received a game from Aunt H for Christmas, so we pulled that out. The kids have been having fun jumping and spinning around doing that game for the last couple of days once we are done with school. We've also had plenty of forts built and wrestling matches too.

As the kids were peering out the window at the storm raging yesterday the lights began to flicker. I mentioned that maybe the power would be going out soon and it may be a good idea to flashlights handy. Oh the excitement! This is what the boys have been preparing for! An "emergency"! They sprang into action and found all the flashlights (cause little boys always know where those types of things are to be found)! The power went out right before dinner time, but everything was already in the oven cooking. By the time I checked on the food it was done and ready to eat! The power came back on right after dinner, just about the time I was starting to think about having to hand wash all of those dishes.

Happy Birthday Miss J!

Miss J turned two this week!

She had a fun birthday day and enjoyed many of her favorite things! Here two favorite toys are baby dolls and trains (especially Thomas), since she already has dolls and she kept trying to swipe Mr. S's Thomas she received a couple of Thomas engines to go with our train set. She also received a couple of Thomas DVD's, and fridge toy. We made her favorite foods all day too!

 

This week-end I made her cake for her. She LOVES candy (if you knew me at least 10 years ago, think of that sort of sweet tooth!) so I made her a "Candy Land" cake using the one I saw in a recent "Taste of Home" as my guide. Miss J enjoyed "helping" me with the cake, and I also had plenty of kids offering to help me decorate too! She loved the cake and spent the afternoon picking candy off of it. I don't think any of the kids had much cake, the candy itself was enough.

Doughnuts

I got up early this morning so I made doughnuts for breakfast.... whole wheat, raised/glazed doughnuts (its a recipe out of the "love in the kitchen" cookbook by the Jeubs that Rob got me for Christmas). They were good, all of the kids loved them! The doughnut holes were not as much of a hit, I think they cooked too long. I'll be making these again since they did not take too long and were a fun treat!

If you are thinking that I have way too much energy... I went to take nap at 8:30 when Miss C went down for hers!

A package from Germany!

A package arrived today from some very dear friends in Germany! What a fun package full of surprises for the kids! They were so excited, we have all been missing these dear friends since they moved last summer.

They all had fun putting together their little Playmobile gifts, and then playing with them.

 

Mrs. J said that they use these cute boards for their breakfast toast, and hoped we could find a use for them. Miss E thinks that they are just right for our lunches on most days, and I think she is right. We are looking forward to putting these to use and remembering our friends every time we use them.

As you can see in many of the pictures, Miss J was especially excited about the candy in the package, and wondering why she was not eating it yet!

We miss you "J family" and hope to see you this spring! Thank you so much!

through the Bible in a year

Just after Christmas Rob and I started talking about going through the Bible this year, figuring the older kids should join us in that goal. Then we decided that the whole family should be in on this (even Miss C joins us most mornings)!

So since January 1st the first thing we have done every morning is read the Bible together! (okay, Rob and I each get about a half hour to hour head start before we get the kids up). We are all gathered by 6:35 six days a week -a bit later on Saturdays- in the living room!

I make tea most mornings.

Most of the kids just curl up and listen.

Its is a great time to cuddle too!

When Daddy does the hair

This is what happens when Daddy does hair on Sunday mornings!

Don't worry, she did not go to church like this. Daddy was just having fun with her wet piggy tails, they fell down right away and looked as cute as always in a few minutes!

Oh, and she thought it was funny too.

dinner and a movie

Last night we had dinner in the living room while we watched a movie. We watched "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs", it's a movie my Uncle worked on (the sound). Most of the kids liked it, though Mr. R thought it was a bit too scary for him. Miss J got to join the rest of the kids at the trays on the floor for the first time instead of sitting in the high chair. She is growing up so fast, they all are!

Rope

Rob likes rope.

He REALY likes rope.

It comes in handy quite often, and it is fun to play with too.

Yesterday a whole box of rope was delivered by FedEx.

When Rob was not playing with the rope today, he let the kids play with it a bit!

A new bike

Mr. S has been in need of a new bike for a little while and though we have two each of 12 and 16 inch bikes (this is what happens when you have two boys 14 months apart), we did not have a 14 inch one which is what he needed. How did that happen? Rob noticed a post outside our little mini-market for a 14 inch bike for sale. For only $20 Mr. S got a bike that looks new and is exactly what he would have picked out if he had been in the store looking for one!

He was so excited to show it off and has been enjoying it this past week now that it has quit raining here!

2's

Yesterday we had well baby/child appointments for Miss J (2yrs) and Miss C (2 months). Both went well, though Miss J was not at all thrilled to have the nurse or doctor touch her at all.

Miss C is doing very well. She is 12 pounds 10 ounces, which puts her off the charts! All of my babies but Miss J were like that, they slow down after a few months and by one year they start to slim down. Miss C is such a sweet, happy, and content baby. She is happy to watch all that is going on around the house. When she is not being held there is almost always someone stopping to say "hi" to her and she usually greets us with a smile! Her arms and legs are always going showing her excitement for all that is going on around her. She started sleeping through the night (by that I mean at least 8 hours) on Sunday and has kept it up all week!

Miss J is also doing well, and now that she is 23 pounds she is finally ON the charts! LOL! Oh she is her mama's girl in so many ways. She was not excited about getting her finger pricked or the shot she had to get, but a bit of candy helped her through both experiences with little fussing and no hard feelings towards me or the nurses (yep, she has a sweet tooth to match her mama's, in days gone by!).

Now that Miss C is past the "sleep all the time" newborn stage she is wanting to be more involved in what is going on. I've been having her do her "tummy time" every morning near Miss J so that she can see her. Miss J can be happy as can be in her own play, but when I put Miss C down near her she almost always moves her play over to Miss C. She talks to Miss C and shows her all of the toys she is playing with and will sometimes help her touch them. After a while she will move off a bit, but she usually leaves some toys for Miss C. It is so cute to see what a good big sister she is and I have no doubt that this is partly due to the wonderful example Miss E has been for her!

 

Handsome little man

Yesterday Rob and Mr. S got fitted for their tuxedoes for Uncle Dan's wedding that is in about two weeks. Mr. S has been excited about the wedding, but yesterday was a very big deal and made him all the more excited! We all went along, and I think Mr. S thought it was pretty cool that HE got to be doing what Daddy was doing while the "big" boys watched!

 

He was so cute trying on the pants, shoes and jacket! I can't wait to see him in the whole tux! He is going to make quite the handsome little ring bearer!

*Rob said I should clarify that those are NOT the pants and jacket he will be wearing. Those were just the ones in the shop to try on! He will not look like he picked the outfit out himself!

Grandpa

My grandpa passed away today. In recent weeks the family has had a chance to gather to say their good-byes to him. Even though I was not able to go it was so meaningful to me to receive a family heirloom from my Dad at Christmas that Grandpa had passed on to him just days before. It was also a comfort to know that my Dad had made it back in time to visit him one more time and stay until his passing. Dad was even able to show Grandpa pictures of all of the kids having fun at Christmas! I wish I was able to gather with the rest of the family for the funeral, but it just is not possible right now.

English

Miss J's favorite movie right now is "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," and she was watching it this morning while we were getting ready to head out to run errands. Mr. S was watching too as he was eating an apple on the piano bench. A funny scene with the Grandfather happened, and Rob chuckled, and Miss E asked what he was laughing about....

Rob replied, "Oh, he's just peculiar."

Mr S. said in a very matter of fact voice, "him English," as if that explained why the Grandfather was peculiar.