Rebekah's Monster

Rebekah (first grade) wrote a little story for school. She followed a given pattern, but the creativity is all hers!

"My new friend is a pink tickle monster.
It says smooooooockie smock.
It eats stufing.
It plays hide and seek."

Personally, I would love to hear this monster!

Rebekah lost her first tooth!

The darned tooth had been loose forever. The new tooth was already halfway in and the baby tooth refused to go. Rebekah finally got the courage to have it removed and asked her daddy to do it. Have you ever tried to tie a piece of dental floss around a teeny tiny tooth? It's near impossible.

So they moved onto the bathroom and tried something else. After a few tugs and twists, and a lot of screams and squeals, the tooth was out! Doesn't Rebekah look happy about it?


She cleaned herself up and learned that blood doesn't just wash away.


So she got a tissue and nursed herself a bit. Congratulations, Rebekah! You can expect a visit from the Tooth Fairy tonight!


Sarah would like to let you know that she still has all of her teeth (that have grown in). Doesn't she have a nice smile? I always think of a bull dog when she smiles like that!

Fall Leaves

I usually rake up leaves every fall and get pictures of the kids in them. Somehow, the time to do that slipped right by me this year. I'm still not sure what happened.

Leah must have noticed the void because she tried to pick up where I was slacking. Now there are two of us who know what a big job that is!

Leah got a nice shot of Rebekah sitting in a small pile of leaves. Cute! I especially like that Nightmare is in the background scratching himself.

Next, we add Sarah to the shot. I think it was a little cool out there at this time and of course, neither girl has even a long-sleeved shirt on. Sarah may not be real clued in to the importance of these traditional pictures! Or maybe she is just waving. (I doubt it.)

Uh oh. I think the photo shoot is falling apart; the subjects are walking off the set!

A nice back shot of Rebekah. I think Leah is trying different perspectives.

Yeah...this photo session is over. Sarah is looking on the edge of miserable. Get the poor girl a jacket!

On to new photography subjects. We have several cats. Here are half of them. Meets Stripes, Trouble and Nightmare. They are waiting to be fed. They are always waiting to be fed. I have noticed a marked decrease in mouse evidence since we've had cats. I'm grateful for that! But we have a few large fields around us. There should be plenty of mice out there. Why are these lazy cats just sitting there??!

And that is the end of the photo shoot. Darn. It's now November 16th. Is it too late?

State Fair 2011

We went to the Eastern Idaho State Fair again this year. We always go to the fair. Chad and I talked about how the fair is really not very exciting. The fair does very little to really entice us. We are not concert-goers. The fair needs something new and exciting. Something amazing. Anything!

Anyway, here are some pictures that we might have taken any other year in the past or future, but at least the kids are older this year.

Leah is introducing Sarah to a huge horse. Leah is in love with horses. Sarah is in love with Leah. ;)


I don't fully understand the fascination with touching the animals. We are surrounded by them at home! Then again, none of them are this calm or clean. This is really a stretch for Sarah.


More amazing animals. Nathan and Sarah are feeding this goat.


Daniel seems to be pondering this goat. Maybe they are silently communicating with each other.


More goat-gazing. Sarah is offering her finger. :) Joseph seems a little more hesitant (safety-minded).


Incidentally, have you ever been confused by a closely shorn sheep and not sure if you're looking at a sheep or goat? Sheep's tails are down, goats' tails are up. Think of me next time you are walking through the sheep shed at your local state fair.

I know that fair food is a major highlight for most. I would love to indulge, but I can't afford it. With a family this size, we're lucky to pay for parking and get in the gates. But we have just about made a tradition of getting ice cream. These are big ice cream cones, so Sarah didn't get one of her own...she shared with everyone else. :)


Yep. Big ice cream cones. Messy, too.


Before we leave the fair each year, we head to the carnival rides and let the kids walk around to choose one ride. We tally up the number of tickets and buy just the right number. It is very difficult to choose just one ride! We often have to redo our calculations as the kids change their minds with each new ride they find.

This year, we needed 22 ride tickets = $22. Sarah was asleep and didn't know that she was missing out on anything. Daniel was finally tall enough to ride a "big" ride and asked me to go with him. When the ride ended, I was a big dizzy and Daniel wrapped his arms around his stomach. (It cost $10 for the two of us to get spun to the point of nausea.)

So after spending so much money in one place, I was anxious to save it in another. Shopko used to have a Kids Tough guarantee on their kids' clothing. Leah wore a hole in each knee last school year, but by the time I remember to take the pants in to exchange them, I was one month after the time they discontinued the program. Yes. Shopko lost a customer.

Anyway, I got creative. Leah got dots. :) And last week she showed me a new hole in those knees. Argh!

The kids enjoyed a night of sleeping in the living room. They all wanted to sleep in the shark tent. None of them actually did. Rebekah was surprised to wake up under the tent! ;)

Rebekah is SIX!

Rebekah's 6th birthday was last week. She is in First Grade (I think she's the youngest in her grade) and finally turned the age of many of her friends. :) We also celebrated her birthday a day early because of some scheduling nightmares. We can be flexible!

Rebekah really loved the little figure stuck into Sarah's birthday cake, so I made one for her. Unfortunately, it was a day of running around and not accomplishing much, so Rebekah got to decorate her own cake. She enjoyed that so much, I wonder if it shouldn't become a new tradition?

Here is the finish product. It's got a lot of personality! (And frosting.)

We opened presents before cake. With Sarah's birthday having only been 3 days earlier, it was hard to convince the two-year-old that it was the six-year-old's turn.

Rebekah hadn't planned on opening her second present so quickly, but while she was admiring her first gift, Sarah got started on her second, so they both worked on it together.

I think she ended up happy enough with what she got.

And then it was time for cake.

Here is the master cake decorator with her masterpiece.

One more picture so you can really appreciate it's unique properties...totally awesome!

I also made a matching party hat. (Sarah had one on her birthday, but the only picture is on my phone. Rebekah wanted a hat, too.)

Six candles are hard to blow out. She didn't get them all at once, but at least Sarah helped (since she was so recently experienced).

Time to dish up that cake for everyone! Rebekah did a fine job of cutting and serving. It can be a little confusing when everyone is making specific requests. She handled it well.

After an overload of cake last August (and again this past June), I decided to make one cake last for both birthdays. That was so much nicer (and healthier).

For her actual birthday the next day, Rebekah brought these little treats for her class. I had some fun making the tags. Do you notice a theme? :) The kids now know just how yummy Star Crunches are!

Happy 6th Birthday, Rebekah! We are so glad you joined our family and keep us laughing! We love you!

Question of the day

This gem comes from Rebekah...only seconds ago.

R: Mommy, will we ever have a big fancy house with servants?

ME (laughing and hugging her): Nope! You {meaning the kids} are the servants!

Leah adds: Those houses are cleaner.

So rich people apparently staff their houses with better servants than I do!

3000 Words

If one picture is worth 1000 words, 3 pictures must be 3000 words. Right?

I've got the pictures...I'll just add a few more words. :)

My little Sarah is growing up so fast! Is she really big enough to sit at the table? Even Leah won't sit when she's at the table. (Joseph is watching for the bus.)

I braided the girls' hair before bed. It was a little kinked, but by the time Rebekah got home about 4 hours later, you could barely see a wave. Poor girl...she has her mother's hair.

I was vacuuming the floor in Joseph's room and heard a clink then smelled a burning belt. Turns out this little Lego guy got stuck between the belt and the pin that turns it. He broke my vacuum belt and lost his eye in the process. Now it looks like he's winking. Do you think it was premeditated?

Decorating with vinyl scraps

I've already shown you some of my projects I've done with my Silhouette machine. I was busy with it a couple of weeks ago because I wanted to make a new sign for my front door.

What do you think?

Of course, I had a lot of space around the word and didn't want to waste the vinyl. So I filled it up with stuff. I ended up with these canister labels. I thought they turned out so cute!

I also decorated my dish washer, stand mixer, a light switch and the bedside lamps in my room (I'll spare you the pictures of those).

This was the day that Rebekah came home and decided to keep her coat and backpack on. She wore them for hours...including during lunch. We really do have heat in our house!

Wow...that computer desk is messy. Someone really should clean it up!

Typical Moment

I was thinking about the personalities of the kids on Monday when they were all home. Things were energetic around here, to say the least! Though they aren't robots, the kids are fairly predictable. If someone was to come by at any given time (and we didn't overrun them in excitement) this is likely what they'd see of each child:

Daniel: he is running from person to person, room to room, stirring up trouble and delighting in the squeals of his siblings

Nathan: he is curled up in a corner somewhere with a book (probably hiding from Daniel)

Leah: she is screaming...at Daniel and then she's reporting it all to me

Rebekah: she is prancing and dancing through the house, singing a silly song and laughing (maybe Daniel has made her insane)

Joseph: he is coloring a picture he made me print off the computer, while he waits until I think it's snack time -or- he is watching The Wiggles (he mostly flies low and stays off Daniel's radar)

Sarah: she is exploring, investigating, climbing, crawling, running and falling...she has quite a bruise collection (Daniel knows not to tease her!)

And with all this, at least I can say that I know what to expect (for the most part).
_________

Some moments from the morning so far:

While horsing around, Daniel threw his hat which then knocked something behind the piano. I gave him a look and a "DANIEL!" to which he replied: "It's Nathan's fault! He ducked!"

Joseph is watching The Wiggles, "Wiggly Safari" and he just saw two characters in a pond of water imitating a kookaburra. It was rather animated. When it was over he said, "That was weird." I laughed because I had just been thinking the same thing!

Missed the bus

It was a rough morning for Rebekah and she missed the bus.

As it drove away, she started jumping up and down, crying and saying, "I want to go!" over and over. It wasn't pretty. And I was sitting there thinking, "Great, now I have to drive her to school."

I did have the briefest thought that she could miss school and that would show her! But she missed two days last week and it's really not THAT hard or far to drive her.

The biggest complaint that I had was that I wasn't dressed yet and I wasn't ready to get dressed. Not to mention that Sarah and Joseph would need to be dressed and bundled up. And all this because Rebekah just couldn't get up to speed this morning (like most mornings).

So now I've joined the ranks of all those mothers that have driven their kids to school in their pajamas. I guess I held out pretty long. After all, she is my 4th child!

It wasn't so bad, though because it's a BEAUTIFUL morning and I got to enjoy a cold sunrise over the country side.

Incidentally, she didn't get "rescued" from her lack of preparation. It cost Rebekah 5 marbles for the trip to school; it takes 10 marbles to earn a special activity. I think she got to school before her siblings! (I'm STILL in my pajamas.)

I should set a better example

I was just wiping down the china cupboard with a wet rag (I don't know what splatters more than milk, unless it's blood and I -thankfully- don't have much experience with that) when Rebekah came up to me and asked if we were selling it.

Is that the only time she notices me clean something? I think I need to be a better mother or housekeeper or SOMETHING!

Snowmen

Rebekah directed our FHE activity tonight. She chose to have a coloring contest and the theme was Winter. Everyone drew whatever they wanted that had something to do with Winter.

Chad drew a snowman.



Rebekah knows a good idea when she sees one! Not a bad copy, I'd say. :)

Ahh...The PRESSURE!!

Rebekah says to me this morning (before I've even wiped the crusties from my eyes), "There are only 3 days left until Christmas. You'd better hurry and sew our pajamas!"

Thanks for that.

Rebekah's Fifth

Three days after Sarah's first birthday, Rebekah celebrated a birthday of her own. She turned five!

After dinner we started the celebrations. (It was Rebekah's week to do dishes, which explains the dark pink sleeves and spots on her tummy!) Rebekah got started on her presents right away. Chad wasn't quite ready for the fun to start yet.



Since Sarah was now a birthday veteran, she qualified for helping to open presents.


Rebekah really liked the new bicycle helmet she got. But her favorite gift was the package of gum. We look forward to our fifth birthdays in our family (when chewing gum becomes a permitted activity). That pack of gum was gone in a week!

Of course, there was cake (even though we'd just had one three days ago). Rebekah had been extremely indecisive about what kind of cake she wanted. Eventually, I just told her I wasn't taking any more requests or suggestions...she would just have to be surprised.

The danger of having your cake done by your mother is that she gets tired while decorating it at 10 PM. So if the pink frosting runs out, she probably won't be able to match it (and likely won't try too hard anyway). It was still very sugary...which is all that really matters.

We were having a bees and flowers theme this year, it seemed.


And regardless of what it looked like, it still held up 5 candles long enough for them to be wished over and blown out. Isn't that it's function?


Gazing longingly at the cake. We imagine that it tastes good enough to make it worth the wait!


Rebekah got to cut the cake. You should have seen the monster pieces she was carving!


It hasn't been so long that Sarah has forgotten what birthday cake tastes like. This girl is excited for her piece of sugar! "Hey, Sarah...you're supposed to eat all your dinner before you get cake!"


We were good (or caked-out this week); we only ate half of the cake. Of course, it was a 12" cake. It's cut in funny angles because we were serving up specific portions of the cake to specific requests.


Our version of line dancing. Gotta work off that cake!

I have nothing

I know I haven't posted much lately. It feels like my life has been too boring to make it worth your time. So I'll force myself to type something this evening and see if I can't prove myself right.

Chad's sister, Pamela and her husband, John and baby Cordelia spent a few nights with us. I think Pamela was worried about wearing out her welcome, but I really enjoyed her visit. Her baby is so cute and has the craziest hair! I couldn't get enough of it. :) The kids enjoyed playing with their "step" cousins, Everett and Eliza. I think they almost understand how John's kids are related to them!

We spent some time with friends at a potluck dinner and enjoyed getting to know a few people a little better. The kids learned how to play "Ghost in the Graveyard" and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. They have mentioned how fun it was. Too bad they get sent to bed before the sun goes down!

Joseph's potty training went so smoothly, I felt we'd "dodged a bullet." Apparently it was just a slow moving bullet. We've had several night time accidents lately. I'm not sure why that is. I do know that I don't like the extra laundry. I've been trying to figure out if there is a trigger that I can recall that would explain the change. But during the day, Joseph is a super star and has a near flawless record. And that boy is REGULAR! He says he has to poop and does it in less than 15 seconds!

Rebekah has been loving Kindergarten. I really wish I could observe her in her class. Her reports are of a different nature than Leah's Kindergarten reports. Where Leah was concerned about who was her friend that day and who was not, Rebekah finds it important to let me know who misbehaved and who didn't (usually it's only her). I think it's entertaining to think of Rebekah being the ONLY obedient one in her class, especially since I know there are some kids in there that would rather melt into the carpet than cause even a second of trouble. And then there is some kid named Brandon. He gets reported on often. I'd like to meet this bad boy!

This is the last week of school before Spud Harvest. The kids will be out of school again for two whole weeks. And we didn't even plant potatoes this year! I guess the kids may get a chance or two to play that "Ghost in the Graveyard" game after all. It's also Homecoming week. Will there be a second Homecoming after this second summer?

My heel is still sore. I've been wearing my shoes in the house. I don't know how it's been helping the overall problem, but it is easier to walk around during the day.

Sarah has started walking. She willingly makes the trip from the coffee table to the couch. And she often takes off into the middle of the room, though doesn't often get more than 10-12 steps. She's had a few accidents involving the coffee table, so I look forward to her getting more confident in her movements. My heart will have less trauma when she's a little sturdier on her feet! I've decided she looks a lot like a Kewpie doll. I'll have to get some pictures of her posted before she loses the look!

I haven't been able to scrapbook lately. Our desktop has been "in the shop" since last Tuesday. We'll get it back tomorrow (if Chad remembers) and things will be better in more than one way. I am very grateful for my laptop, but my desktop is where most of the magic happens. :)

Is anyone looking forward to Fall? I'm trying to decide how early to get the Halloween decorations out.

Teaching life

Admittedly, parenting is hard. It's much harder than I thought it would be. I suppose I can be thankful that I thought so highly of my skills before they were actually put to the test. Otherwise, I may not have been brave enough to have a child, and surely wouldn't have considered six of them!

A big frustration and an even bigger embarrassment is when I fail to teach my children something obvious. I sure was surprised when the doctor asked me if Daniel played Peek-A-Boo when he was still tiny. What? Am I supposed to include that in the curriculum of life? Nursery rhymes, too? What the heck is Sesame Street for?

Occasionally, I run across skills and concepts that I assume my children have acquired - mostly from my amazing hands-on, real-time examples. Did you know I've never had to teach the kids how to flush the toilet? They picked that up on their own! And it's amazing the way they just know that shoes go on their feet, rather than their hands. But it was a little exercise in patience trying to explain to Leah through the answering machine that she needed to push the green button that says TALK to answer the phone and talk with me. I think she finally got it during the third call.

So I guess there are some things I think are clear to the kids, only to find out I sorely misjudged the situation. This was reinforced this afternoon when Rebekah says: Do you know what I learned from a book today? Me: What? Rebekah: Animals do not wear underwear.

Ah...a perfect example of something I didn't think I needed to actually teach.

First Day of School...Twice

Daniel, Nathan and Leah had their first day of school yesterday. Here is a not-so-close-up shot of them. :) It was a pretty cool morning yesterday, so coats were necessary.

Leah - 1st, Nathan - 3rd, Daniel -5th

Daniel moved up to middle school this year. Now they aren't all in the same place during the day.

Yesterday was only a half day and the kids were home by 1:30. Nathan was the only one assigned homework, but had it done before he got off the bus.

Today is a full day of school, which means kindergarten kids get to go. Rebekah was VERY excited about starting school! She's been singing songs about how excited she is. So we took another picture this morning, with Rebekah in it. I can't believe she's in Kindergarten!!

And then we took a picture of all six kids to help record the passing of time. Sarah wasn't even in last year's picture! Joseph didn't want to leave the house, and Sarah was pretty sick yesterday, so we sat on the porch steps. I took two pictures...this is the one with everyone looking. Even the cat got in the shot - and gave Leah an interesting hair accessory!



Here are the kids waiting for the bus. I like that it stops right at the end of the driveway. I would feel a little better if the traffic wasn't zipping by at 50+ miles an hour!


And there they go! I was so impressed with Rebekah's excitement and not one hint of fear or apprehension. I think a lot of that is from having 3 older siblings who have had great school experiences. And since Rebekah didn't seem to be nervous, I went ahead and felt nervous for her. I hope everyone is having a fabulous day!