A Post Before NJ

The kids and I leave for NJ on Thursday. Sophie and I are very excited about the trip, Michael and Emily are clueless. Although, I think they will both love the airport, especially Michael, where he will be able to look at "crucks" (trucks) to his heart's content. I am interested in seeing how they do on the flight. Pat hopes that we will all be able to get seats, otherwise, we will each have one on our lap. Wish us luck! And a big thanks to my SIL Pat for flying down here to help me on the trip up. And to Kelly for coming back down with us.

Here are some recent pics to hold you over until we return.......

Having fun with the blocks, but even more so with the box.

Sophie is really into "helping" me lately. The other night she wanted me to play after dinner, and I told her I had to clean up the kitchen first. She offered to help me, so I let her dry the dishes. She loved it, and now wants to do it all the time. Here she is helping wind the clock, although she likes to use the key to wind herself up too.

Since it is too hot and muggy most days to be outside in the afternoons, the kids have taken to riding their bikes in the garage. This is actually a great thing, as it is flat, and all of them have less problems than if we were out on the driveway. Usually Sophie is the instigator, but today the twins let me know they were ready to get out there.

Nerd Alert: HP #7

I picked up my reserved copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows last Saturday but didn't start it until late on Sunday. I was too busy finishing my re-read of HP and the Half Blood Prince, which is the previous book. I am glad that I took the time to re-read #6; after 2 years (and 2 more children) I had forgotten a lot. It made #7 much more enjoyable. And # 7 was great, a very satisfying ending to a wonderful series. As I entered Borders last Saturday, I was struck by the variety of people waiting in line. All walks of life were represented: youngsters, teens, middle-age ( i guess this would be me!) older folks, bikers, moms, dads, single 20-somethings, you name it, they were there. Not only has J K Rowling inspired young people to read more, but she has given the world a story with a universal theme, that many different people can relate to. A pretty amazing feat if you ask me. My friend Paula finished the book before I did this week, and was helpful when I called her to ask about things I had forgotten, such as the difference between Legillamancy and Occulemancy, and the definition of a Squib. (pardon my spelling, I am not running downstairs to look in the book). I thought she put it best when she commented on how the different terms and names never seemed silly when reading them, but to hear the two of us 40 somethings throwing them around, yeah, that sounded silly. I finished last night at 9:30, and of course picked up the phone so we could discuss. I am looking forward to seeing Brad, Dave and Kelly next week and to hear what they thought.

And Kat and Mike, can't wait till you guys finish it, I know you have had theories all along, how did they pan out??

Told you this post was a Nerd Alert......

Kat and James return

We had another nice visit with Kat and James on their trip back through Atlanta, the final stop before they head back home to the NL. Kat's parents brought them up from Valdosta, and spent the night at Dot and Tom's, but not before stopping at our house for lunch. We had a nice visit, they were delighted to see Michael and Emily in the flesh, and to observe James' interaction with his cousins. James really took a liking to Sophie's princess shoes:



3 out of 4 isn't bad!

Luckily, the ratio of cars/trains/things with wheels to number of toddler boys was about 10:1, so it was easy to keep them happy.

Yesterday we had a playdate with Steph and Dagny, and Anne, Rollie and Tiller. Add in me, Michael and Emily (Sophie was at VBS) and Kat and James, and you have 5 children under the age of 2, (James is 2 in August, all the rest in October) and one almost 4 year old. I think Rollie enjoyed being the oldest, and the little ones got along really well. There were a few swiped sippy cups and snacktraps, but what's some germs between friends? (no pics, we were too busy yakking, eating and passing kids back and forth) It was nice to see Steph again, and to meet Anne in person. Glad I got the chance to hang with my baby bro's peeps, know I know how Mary feels when she runs into my friend Nancy all the time!

Friday the 13th....

turned out to be anything but unlucky for us. We had friends over (9 kiddos, 4 mothers) for some pool time, and fun was had by all. Even the weather cooperated, it was overcast, but plenty warm enough for the ice cold hose water.....please don't report my illegal water usage!

Noah, Sophie and Katie check out the pool


From left: Samuel, Josh and Elizabeth on the slip and slide. It is fun for this age group (3-5) but they don't actually slide on it, which is probably a good thing.

Moms hanging out, from left: Kathleen, Paula, Rebekah

Doing some kick drills, maybe next year they'll be ready for swim team.

Katie and Noah have some downtime, and maybe a pretzel or two.

Dining al fresco.

After lunch, they took a break from the water and went to the basement to play. We mothers were enjoying a nice lunch ourselves (m and em were napping) when we were interrupted by an impromptu dress up parade.

It was so nice to hang out with friends all day, the kids really enjoyed playing together, and we mothers had a chance to catch up as well.

A Big Ole Messy Mess

One of Sophie's favorite Laurie Berkner songs is "I'm A Mess". The lyrics describe a "a big ole messy mess", the child's shirt that contains all the meals of the day. I feel like that is how my house is on most days....walk through it, and you can see what was being played with and by whom.

Here is Sophie playing kitchen, she is wearing her Krispy Kreme hat (thank you Aunt Karen, Uncle Jack and Nana) holding a"cookbook", and has out most of my pots and pans. She even supplemented the scene with her own play food and dishes. I have to give her credit, she told me she was steaming broccoli, and when I lifted the lid to look in, she had my steamer in the pot, with her play broccoli. This is the type of mess that I really do not have a problem with, and actually welcome. Setting up and playing with this kitchen took the better part of an hour, and I was able to work around her in the real kitchen while she worked in hers. I think that was part of the allure. She enjoyed telling me, "Mom, be careful, this pot here is really hot and I don't want you to burn your foot." And when playtime was over, she cleaned it all up.

And here is the type of mess that isn't so great, but it is funny, and I am glad that I am now able to run and get the camera to document it instead of rushing to pick it all up right away. If truth be told, I think these crayons remained on the floor for at least another day. Unlike Sophie, Emily likes to make a mess out of anything. The more off limits it is, the better. This is why we still have the front room gated off, it is the supposed safe place for Sophie's stuff, so much for that theory. And no, Emily didn't scribble those pictures, they were some game of Sophie and Noah's that she was adding to.

Noah was over today, and he and Sophie played with their Webkinz (not on the computer) for over an hour in the basement. Again, a mess I can live with: It kept them busy, quiet and entertained while Michael and Emily were napping. I ate my lunch while reading the newspaper while they figured out what kind of food each Webkinz would eat, then found that food for them. And, when they were done, they cleaned up. A beautiful mess, really.

After they had their lunch, and we made popsicles and put them in the freezer, they did a craft from Michael's . Very messy, but very worth it. I got some bills paid and laundry done while this was going on. Note the Webkinz with their food on the highchair, they really wanted to watch the action.

As anyone knows, popsicles make the best mess of all, but that's ok, tonight was bath night.

Tomorrow the whole gang is coming to our house to play in the little pools and hang out. More messes will abound, I am sure, but that's ok. All too soon this time will be over, and some part of me will miss the mess.