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Saturday, June 30, 2012

Painting Barrels

Today the 4hers met and painted barrels that looked like garbage cans. They are entering them in a contest at the upcoming fair for a chance to win their club some money!!
We met at one of the mom's farmhouse where we were greeted by Oscar the dog, who I fell in love with, and Cosmo, Spirit and Molly the horses. The kids all put some artistic touch to the barrels and found done time to swing on a tree swing and feed chickens. Farm life is looking better and better to me every day!

Friday, June 29, 2012

First Haircut

My little man Blaise was way overdue again for a buzz cut and since he is going up north tomorrow with his daddy to visit Grandpa we decided a hair cut for both boys was in order! Benedict didn't necessarily have a ton of hair but what he did have was sticking straight up! So off to the salon for a scissor cut and trimmer around the ears and neck! He did spectacular there was one sad face and then he was handed a brand new comb! Hey what more can you ask for! Now he and big brother can go together every six weeks to get a hair cut!

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Beach

Most that know me have rarely seen me at the beach. I detest water, sun and bikinis! The Lord and His sense of humor gave me four little fishes that adore water! They could live at the beach. I had no plans this afternoon of going to the beach. When my good friend Carrie texted me and invited me to Silver Lake I was unsure, almost talked myself out of it! The sand, the mess and Julia has vitiligo she is not allowed to be in Sun! A little voice coaxed me to try something new. So we doused Julia with her special sun block and t shirt and we packed up and went. The girls made sand mermaids and Blaise dug a hole to China! I did get dirty and wet and half the beach landed in our van! It was awesome! We found a shady spot for Julia and I learned talking myself out of something only leads to fun missed out on!

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

4h Practice

Bunny Time!!! Today Julia and her buddy Sam practiced handling and showing their bunnies for the upcoming fair. This will be Julia's first year showing a rabbit so we decided to do a mock showing. The two girls took turns in the garage with Luigi and Daisy. I never knew a bunny could have so many poses!

Monday, June 25, 2012

Baby Steps

Last night at approx. 630ish my baby boy took his first two steps across the room to me. It was completely unexpected, and unaided. Today, I pretty much spent most of the day following Benedict around as he teetered and tottered on his wobbly legs. I don't recall being so tired with the other three. I also don't recall the other three moving so quickly and daringly over furniture and steps and rugs and oh my!
Many have said he is just in a rush to keep up with his older siblings...this may be true, but I just want him to stay my little baby! Most photos today were a blur as his mobility has left him refusing to freeze long enough to snap a picture. I did catch one of Julia catching him before he toddled away.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Little Yellow Kitty

It's been a long weekend for my little buddy Blaise. He thought he was going north with his dad and that was the plan. As we all know in life plans change, try explaining that to a four year old though. His disappointment became my frustration this weekend. He was banned from the garage sale for fraternizing with the customers, and his Lego set he received was promptly assembled by an overly helpful sister. Part of the fun in buying the Legos is assembling them yourself. I know he internalized his anger and it came BUSTING out at approx. 10ish this morning when his helpful sidekick zoomed past him 75mph on her banana seat bike yelling out "move over slowpoke" well the volcano eruption was heard up and down the street as my little buddy could not take it any longer! We have all had those days... I call them little bear days based on the little bear stories I have read to all my kids. Little bear days are the kind where nothing goes right and they end in tears. Blaise shed tears all the way home this morning and several shouts as well! He carried on while I assisted him into his bedroom. He was missing his dad, angry for being left behind and stuck with his teasing sisters and he didn't even get any lemonade and cookies at the sale... His words not mine! Alas the trials and tribulations of a 4 year old...here's the icing on the cake though...grandma Connell knew a little boy was missing out on some fun and she sent home a very special little kitty for a very special boy! My raving volcano melted into sweet love lava and before he went to bed he said to me " tomorrow I am sending an envelope to her with some thanks in it!" aww that made my whole day!!!!

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Better Late than Never

I have been waiting with bated breath to see what print my cousin from California had selected for me! She is AW Photography and amazing! The stamp showed she sent it out on June 13...I know California is far away but the Postal System has some explaining to do! I received a sorry it's damaged sticker on outside! But you know what I love it no matter what! This Michigan girl never gets to see the ocean like this! AW don't fret the print is gorgeous...now could someone PLEASE tell me how to link blogs and "tag" and I don't mean the outdoor game I play with my kids!!!

Friday, June 22, 2012

Garage Sale

I've been off the grid as the sale has been encompassing me for two days...
Although the girls did most of the work they needed supervising with baking and set up and money handling!
I am glad it is done and Julia made 97.00 after paying me for cost of cookie supplies and signage!
Emerson ran her own lemonade stand and racked up a whopping 67.00 yes we have very generous neighbors and I didn't realize how much she made until end! She definitely pulled the cuteness factor to an extreme. Blaise was not too interested in a sale but his sisters generously spotted him a twenty for some new Legos! All in all it was worth it! Girls learned value of working for their own fun money and I learned that my girls are very hard workers! Thank you to the Koesters for supporting the cause, nana and pops, daddy for donating his clubs and the Sharps for sending entertainment over via the girls! Thanks Tara for the table and mon too! Oh yeah and thanks to the guy that came at very end and slipped a fifty in Emerson's tip jar just cuz he felt like it! She was ecstatic!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Blessed by Art

Today I woke up in a fowl mood... Pressured by the fact that I had to do so many things, many of which I put on my own shoulders, and some I just couldn't say No to the kids... I felt the panic and anxiety kick into overdrive...get up, get out the door and it was bark this bark that..the kids had lost their joyful smiles and I was hot and sweaty and not feeling it at all! Midway thru my day, I was pleasantly surprised by a piece of art by my friend Mandy (she has a blog which has been uplifting to me) and recently I won an art print from her. She is an artist, a writer, but most importantly to me a good friend. When I saw the envelope I stopped in my tracks....took a deep breath, apologized to my kids for my heat induced attitude and I sat down and just looked at the print. I felt better...that's called being blessed by art by the way! So, only half of my day was ruined by my own choosing...hey I am getting better. The other half was filled with joy as we finished up our final Little Flower meeting and took a swim at the lake.
Mandy's blog is: HissongtomeShalom.blogspot.com
Check it out very inspirational and if I don't have correct address for it, please let me know I am still learning at this whole blog thing!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Grace

When I was a little girl we always said grace before dinner at my grandmas house. It went something like this: God is great God is good and we thank Him for this food" and then my silly grandfather would chime in " over the teeth, thru the gums....look out stomach here it comes " I would laugh at how silly he was. Today I was lavished with grace from a friend and her blog. I began telling the girls about it and they asked me why we say the same Catholic prayer before meals: "bless us oh Lord for these thy gifts for which we are about to receive, from thy bounty thru Christ our Lord, amen"
I explained to them the beauty of tradition, repetition and faith. Do I think it matters to God how we say our grace? No not really...just that we say something showing our gratitude and thankfulness for his supplication. I want the kids to know the traditional Catholic blessings as I think it keeps their faith firm, but once in awhile we do break out in the Superman prayer which I think especially is appealing to the boys: "thank you God for giving us food..." make sure you wave your arms like a superhero while saying it!
God is great and He is oh so good to me!

Monday, June 18, 2012

It takes a girl...

Today was not only library day, but the beginning of planning for the garage sale. Let me back up here...every year the girls beg to have a garage sale/lemonade stand. Every year I come up with a valid excuse as to why we shouldn't: too much work, not enough to sell, rather donate it and last year my favorite excuse....pregnant!
Well, none of those apply this year and my little entrepreneurs hit me with: we'll do all the organizing, pricing, marketing and clean up?!?
How can I say no? So began going thru the rooms, collecting stuff and receiving stuff from others to pile into the garage for a one day only extravaganza of a sale! Now it seemed all were on board at first, but when it came to actually setting it up and pricing the girls ruled! Blaise lost interest when he discovered his loot was halfway out the door and Benedict is just too cute we are hoping his cuteness at the lemonade stand will draw in the tips!!!! I just hope no one tries to sell him!! Now Blaise....brother for rent was mentioned a few times!

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Happy Fathers Day

I thought about gushing about what a great dad Tony is. Although this is true, I can not help but gush about what a wonderful group of family he came from. We hung out with some of them today and it was a real blast. Tony comes from a large family and he has a lot of sisters! I have to thank each and every one of them because they taught him well and molded him into quite a gentleman. He is probably a better dad for it as well! What I loved best was watching the cousins play together. They walked off and explored, played games and hung out. My highlight was taking down numbers for future play dates and visits! I recall warning in January the Taratutas were coming for a visit, and I think Sterling is our next stop! :)

Saturday, June 16, 2012

A Little Spoiling Never Hurt...right?

Tony is the biggest kid I have to take care of. He is always the first one to tell us about latest movie or event that he doesn't want to miss! It was no surprise to me that I had him jumping up and down like a kiddo when I suggested he take the three older ones to a movie today! It is a rare moment when just the baby and I can chill out together. I forget how fun the one on one interaction without an older sibling hovering can be. Today was about spending time with my little buddy. He loves music and dancing so it was no shock when he pointed to a toy in a store and said "dum dum" for drum drum! His most favorite thing to do is drum! Generally the rule is you get a toy at Christmas or birthday...anything else is paid for out of allowance or a gift from a generous Nana, Papa or Grandma or Grandpa...well today I bent the rules for my Benedict. He has a soft spot in my heart and I know the gang is enjoying their movie while he is stuck with me...so we bought it and he helped me tear it out of box and jiggled and oohed and drooled all over it! That's a sure sign he loves it! Now I find him racing around house with it and I am wondering if before too long I am going to regret getting my speed demon this toy! Lol oh well they are only so little for such a short time.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Support

Watch Out! I am getting up on my soap box... Whoa! Big step up! Ok here goes.... I had a great moment today with a Godly woman! Yup, we do exist! A supportive, encouraging, motivating beautiful mama of four little ones. She is sweet, kind and super duper intelligent, but I digress. Here is my soap box moment... If there is anything I want to teach my girls it is this: not to fall prey to caddy behavior, gossip or breaking people down! Nope, girls, women we need to be building each other up thru our struggles, hardships and just plain old life in general! We need to be loving and uplifting and encouraging to our peers. Remember the old commandment we forget: do unto others...! That's what I hope and pray I can teach my youngsters so that some day they can be as blessed by someone as I was today! Actions speak louder than words so smile ladies and girls, hug each other...whisper a compliment or tell that gal that appears down what an awesome person she is... Imagine how amazing the world would be if as girls and women we complimented first before criticizing....whoa! Lightbulb moment there folks! My girls like to have a " sister club" where they do sisterly things, I hope to teach them to expand the club to all girls, hey it only takes one to start a chain reaction! I love you my friend, you know who you are and I am so grateful for how you lifted me up today and made me feel not so alone in this epic life of motherhood. Ok jumping off the soap box now.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Who Said a Boy Cannot have a Fairy Garden?

This one is for all the little boys out there that believe in fairies! In the beginning of Spring my Julia created a hidden fairy garden for herself. It took off in spades and Emerson decided she wanted one too! Tony graciously donated a flower bed to the cause and she planted purple and pink petunias and fairy accessories. Well every day the girls seek treasures and proof that the fairies are liking their homesteads. Today, Blaise expressed to me why he couldn't have one...well I said... I suppose you can if you want to.. Oh boy did that open a can of worms! The sisters, as I call them when I am most disappointed, ranted and raved that boys know next to nothing about fairies and why should I allow him to copy. I gently explained the yard was certainly big enough for more fairies and I found a spot in the front of the yard. Here's the kicker...my little Blaise, the engineer has created such an enchanting garden that his sisters are now jealous. He constructed a bridge, a pool, a house and a path. He even made a little flag and "borrowed" a bell to hang from the bush. He informed me that no fairy will come with out a bell. He worked on it all day and proudly told me that he intends upon opening up the garden to frogs, slugs and turtles too! Guess that's how fairies get around these days! I am no expert but if I were a fairy I would set up shot in Blaise's garden any day!