the DYNAMICS just CHANGE!

Noah is back to school today. He had off yesterday as the other half of his class went Wednesday (remember, he'd gone on Tuesday). Today his WHOLE class is there and I'm sure they are having a great time. His teacher fell off a chair while setting up her room last week and she injured her arm. She's got it in a sling for now until the swelling goes down enough to see if it's actually fractured or not. I'm sure she'd appreciate a prayer or two as she manages a busy room of 5 year olds all day ... WITH ONE ARM! (you thought YOUR day was rough!! LOL)

This morning I've gotten a lot done. Carissa and Micah have been entertained watching me clean their room and playing with Dixie. Dixie took their lunch time as the perfect time to find her safe haven to hide and be UN-Mauled for a bit. only I know where she is (giggle!).

The house has been quieter and there has been less fighting with Noah gone today. It seems like that's always the case. It doesn't matter WHICH kid is missing... the other ones get along better!
Today Micah told me "I'm gonna go drive my truck, mom".... he says this to me while wearing his sister's pink princess heals, a pretty pink princess cell phone holder in hand, a purple purse dangling from his shoulder and then his manly man black sunglasses on! Okay, son! So glad you're in touch with your "softer" side! LOL TOO funny. I missed the photo op too! :( He is sure a kick in the pants and keeps me laughing! :)

NOAH'S FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

He woke up ready for the day. He took his shower, got dressed in his "school" clothes, ate breakfast, fed the fish and then anxiously awaited his grandma's arrival. She was to stay with the younger sibs so that I (mommy) could take him to his first day of school. Parents could come inside the room, help get their child comfortable, and then take off.

Here he is with daddy.... Daddy went back to teaching school today too!

Proudly holding his sign.

Right before we hopped in the van. Armed with his backpack and supplies!

Happy as a clam, "reading" books on the bean bag. He gave me kisses and hugs and when i said I was gonna leave he said, "OK MOM!" :)

I came home and the first words out of Carissa's mouth was, "Where's Noah?". I think it will take some time for them to get that he's going to be gone during the days now. I've been thinking about him all day, wondering how he's doing and what he's learning. Is he nervous or scared? Making new friends? Listening to his teacher..... the list goes on and on ... :)

I can't WAIT to hear about his day!!!

 
Noah took some time warming up to cuddling with Dixie. Now he is quite the pro at picking her up and supporting her hind end... instead of picking her up by her middle and having her extended 6 inches infront of him... LOL He's just pacing around the living room cradling her and acting so proud of his new-found ability ;)

 
Meet Dixie. Micah is pretty good with her as well. He loves to hold "kitty". Waiting his turn is something that is going to take time to learn it seems. He holds him very gently and loves to pet her. Now I've got to get him to stop yelling (which scares Dixie a tad).

 

We now have another addition to our household! I got a call today about a free kitten. She has had her shots and deworming stuff and needed a good home. Eric and Carissa had seen it at the pet store when they were there to get crickets for the class frog. Needless to say... we are now the proud owners of a new kitty. She is still nameless at our house. Her previous owners had called her "Motor" because of her loud purr.... Here is Carissa... SO very proud of the kitty.I think they'll be good friends, don't you?

the famous BUMBO

 

Here is Josiah, sittin' tall in his bumbo seat! He lasts just a few minutes before
his head gets so wobbly it looks like it'll roll away! :) LOL

need a laugh!

boy have i got one for you! this little baby is HYSTERICAL!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z02ox6ttIjg

a week from today ....

my oldest will be starting school!!!!!! what a bitter sweet thought. part of me relishes in the idea of less chaos at home... and i'm excited to see his enthusiasm for learning... the other part of me is a bit nervous by the fact that my son is going out into the "world" and will have all kinds of influencing factors.... i'm praying that God will provide good friends that won't encourage him to want to make trouble! ;)

i'm hoping to get myself into a more structured routine here at home with the other 3 kids. Get lil man on a more structured nap schedule and then doing some activities with the other 2 (crafts etc) while baby is sleeping. I need to write down some of my thoughts and really try to hammer out on paper what is floating around in my head.... easier said than done, i know...

i'll be sure to post 1st day of school pics, next week :)

ahhh.. yes... the new hair do....

SO... i've been growing my hair out for some time. it had gotten quite long (about half way down my back) and i can say, i really DO enjoy long hair... except in the summer time it's hot, so i put it up... and with the baby, it's in his face...so i put it up...

anyway... the ends were in DESPERATE need of help so i got it cut. it's still past my shoulders... but much lighter and the ends are MUCH healthier!! :)

Josiah

Josiah was born May 19th, in the WEE hours of the morning. He weighed in at 9 pounds 5 ounces!!! He was my biggest baby and was 1 pound bigger than Noah was (and he was my smallest). Here is getting cleaned up right after being born.

This was our first family picture with the 6 of us. This is the first time the big kids got to meet Josiah as well. This is about 8 hours after Josiah was born.
His first smiles were captured with pictures. I LOVE the big open mouth grins!
Looking serious and oh so cute!
Noah is such a big helper. He can hold Josiah and sometimes even feeds him his bottle. It is so helpful to me when dinner is half done and everyone is cranky and hungry.

Micah...

Micah keep us on our toes! He's full of energy and spirit as you'll see.

In this picture I think he looks like the GERBER baby... dontcha think??

Dressed up like Buzz Lightyear
He too, LOVES dirt, mud, and everything outdoors.
Rice is one of his favorite foods.... and as you can tell he rather attacked this meal!
And I love this picture of him. He's climbed the horse gate at my friend's house. He was enamored with the horses and LOVED watching them.

Carissa...

What to say about my little girl.... she's 3 1/2 and is eager to grow up. She loves to play with his brothers and loves to hold her baby brother, Josiah....

I LOVE this pic of her... It just captures her.... It is about a year and a half old now!
Bashful on the 4th of July
NOT afraid to play in the mud!
Carissa and I before church a few weeks ago
Carissa in her dress from her "Aunt" Abby.

Noah....

Noah is 5 1/2. He's a big brother to 3 younger siblings. Kindergarten starts in less than 2 weeks and he's excited. I can't believe he's going off to school already. You can be sure there will be 1st day of school pics posted ;) Here he is in a tree at the park...

And then there is the ever popular "porky-pine hair".... Doesn't he look so cool here?
This was just after he lost his 1st tooth. Boy, was he PROUD! I was just glad daddy pulled it!
Saying he's a monkey, is an understatement. He loves to climb. I wonder what peaks he'll climb later in his life... no doubt he'll be a rock climber with his bravery...
Here's Noah with his good friend. These two are 4 days apart in age and are so very much alike.

i thought it only fair....

Here is Eric and Carissa. She was a bit afraid of the water but with daddy she was more brave.Eric and his brother took on the challenge of building a dam in the creek on the 4th of July. He got to be manly and toss rocks around..
Micah was upset about something, though for the life of me, I can't remember what?
I love pics of Eric holding our kids, moments after they are born. I love capturing the look on his face... and seeing how small our babies look in his big strong arms. It reminds me of how God cradles me in HIS ever loving arms.
And the classic, hold out the camera.... hope you have it pointed somewhere near your faces and click... now quicky, hurry, check to see if it's a good one ... LOL

HAIRSPRAY and girlfriends

so, my mother in law had a free ticket to HAIRSPRAY (the musical). I, having no clue what it was about, asked my friend if she'd like to go. She said, YES! So, we plotted when we could escape our homes, free of 'lil people around our ankles, and bags from our shoulders (packed with the usual diaper, change of clothes, sippy's, snacks, and purell hand sanitizer...). We came up with a 9:10 pm showing. We knew it'd mean a late night for us both, but we were both willing to risk dark circles under our eyes the next day for some sacred 'girl' time.

We both managed to get our kids in bed early enough to peck our husbands on the cheek and run for the door before one got out of bed. We hooked up at the store to do 20 min of child-free browsing. The make-up department is paradise when the rug-rats aren't pointing, grabbing, or attempting to apply product to themselves! :)

We grabbed a bag of M&M's for our "sweet" at the movies and headed for the theater. We got our popcorn and soda and headed for House 5 (to the left said the bored movie ticket taker).... we walked in and there were only about 10 people there.

When HAIRSPRAY started with "Tracy" singing 'Welcome Baltimore' we both got a little bit nervous. I knew it was a musical but my girlfriend didn't! "Thanks for cluing me in," she said with a laugh! We were relieved to see that they did talk and the plot was cute! It was well worth it to go to! The movie itself was very cute. Lots and lots of laughs! I mean, who doesn't smile when they see John Travolta dressed as a woman?!

After the movie was over we headed to our car. We ended up sitting in my van and talking for a while. Both of us just needing to have that time to unload and rejuvenate, bounce ideas off each other about being the wife and mother God has called us to be. How priceless are friendships that endure life's bumps and turns. And how beautiful are the friendships that point us to go back to our maker, creator, and God. Just as God intended for them to be...

I got home and climbed into my bed about 12:30 am. My ears were greeted by my 3 mo cries at 5 am so I set myself on auto-pilot feeding him and putting him back down. My stud hubby got up with the other kids at 6:25 when they all greeted the world. You truly realize the power of noise when you want to sleep and 3 kids are running the hallway outside your door, and eating breakfast in the kitchen (which shares the bedroom wall). And of all the mornings, they didn't WANT to sit and veg in front of the TV - which would have really facilitated my beauty sleep....

At 8:20 the door opens (this is actually not the first time as both my big boys had been in for some need to which i had directed them to go take it up with their daddy...) and in walks my stud hubby with the baby. He places him on the changing pad at the foot of our bed and proceeds to start changing him.... Let's just say it took 4 hands, 11 wipes, and ever so careful removal of the poopie clothes to ensure it wasn't rubbed in his hair as it was pulled over his head!

GOOD MORNING, yup... that had me up. LOL.

Ahhh.. my slice of heaven.

hmmm... working to figure this out

well, i keep rearranging and playing with my settings. for now, this is as good as it's gonna get. it's late/early and i MUST get some sleep! i'm getting my hair done tomorrow so i plan to update with my new "do".

It's nearing a new day....

hmmmm... so here i sit. i should be in bed as it's nearly 'tomorrow'. yup, just minutes before midnight and i am sitting here creating a new blog! LOL i am listening to a dear friend's playlist off her blog (YO, Heidi!) and thought, MAYBE i could be successful at this whole blogging life. goodness knows, i love to ramble.. ;)