Peep..Peep

Cameron's first grade class recently hatched baby chicks. He has been giving us daily updates on the chicks progress and came home the other day excitedly asking if we could take the chicks home when they were ready. I told him I would think about it and then after much relentless begging from Cameron, I said sure, why not, we could take them in (for the weekend I thought, not knowing I had just agreed to give the chicks a more permanent home). Once you make Cameron an agreement or promise he will never let you forget it, so yesterday I went to his class to retrieve our chicks. Junior and Scotty as they were named have settled in nicely here. The girls are excited to see them, feed them and hold them, and Cameron and Jameson enjoy taking them out to run around in the front yard. Of course I am the one to clean the cage, feed and water the chicks, but I am not complaining YET! I see the joy the little feathered creatures bring to my gang and so we will keep them for a little while longer, until I find a nice farm that will take them in...

Weekend fun...

Saturday Jameson pitched in his baseball game for the first time this season and did a great job, it was fun to watch. He also got a great hit, so he is loving baseball for the moment. My neighbor and I took our boys to a battle re-enactment from the revolutionary war in our town after the game and it was really neat to see, and the boys were fascinated and learned a little something too.

We had a fun dinner at friends Saturday night and the girls managed to hold it together till almost 10pm. It was a late night! Tammy came out to go to Church with us on Sunday and then we tried to get some yard work done before we all finished off the weekend with another baseball game. Now we are just hoping for a return of nice spring weather...

My Sweet Boy

Last night when I went up to bed, several hours after the kiddos had fallen asleep, I was surprised to find Jameson sitting straight up in bed. When I asked him what he was doing, sitting up wide-awake at that hour, he replied, "praying". He explained that he had fallen asleep by accident before he had a chance to say his prayers, so now there he sat, hands folded together on his lap, light from the moon reflecting in his eyes in thoughtful prayer in the middle of the night. My sweet spiritual boy, so full of faith, reminding me once again of God's love.

Rain Rain Go Away...

A week of rain and freezing temperatures can't keep this gang inside. There are baby dolls that need to be walked, puddles that need to be jumped in, mud pies that need to be made, and lots of energy that needs to be expended.....

Jameson wearing Ella's coat!
Pushing the strollers through a puddle

We have gone to the gym twice so far this week and the Playspace once, filling up our mornings then after naps and homework we pull on those rain boots, snap on those slickers and head out on the street for some fun. No I don't enjoy the cold raw rain, but I soak it up (no pun intended) to ensure an early bedtime from all five kiddos!

Overheard...

Avery and Ella crack me up with the things they say recently. They talk about thier "Baby Gemmas" constantly. All of their dolls are named "Gemma " after their baby cousin. "My baby Gemma hungry," "My baby Gemma no yike this show," "My baby Gemma want bubba." When they are fighting over one doll in particular it's, "Baby Gemma want her Avie Mommy" or "No, Baby Gemma want her Ella Mommy". They have a little trouble with pronouns these days- Avery said this morning, "Mommy Addie all done nap, he's crying." And they both say "Hold you" when they want to be picked up, and "Change you" when they need a new diaper. Its no wonder as I often ask "Do you want me to hold you?" or "Should I change you?" Their manners are improving tremendously and as soon as I hand them something, usually food related they say, "Thank you Mommy!" and when I don't say "Your welcome" right away they either say "Thank You Mommy" again, more deliberaely or the other one chimes in "You welcome, Mommy."
Ella is quite chatty with other adults. A neighbor came over to say hello to Addison when we were outside yesterday and Ella said, "That my Addison, see her have boogies." She has been reversing some words recently. Instead of carseat, she says "sea cart." She calls Daisy Dog "Daisy God" (which I finally figured out is dog backwards!) Last night she was saying "Mommy, Ella need some pieapple." I was sorry to inform her that we were out of pineapple, and offered her some melon instead. She said "No I need pieapple," then went over to the counter and got the box of apple-pie that her brother had just eaten (pie-apple, apple-pie)! She has also been making up a lot of songs recently and as we drove by the pre-school where she will start in the fall, which I usually point out, she recognized on her own and started singing "There is Ella's school, Ella's School, Ella's school, There is Ella's school, Ella's school right there," to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb!
Avery is quite complimentary these days and when I wear something she hasn't seen in awhile says, "ooh I yike you new shirt Mommy." or "Oooh, I yike your pretty nails Mommy." So fun hearing all they have to say....

Yikes...I have another toddler!

It official, Addison is a toddler! She walks (sort of), talks (kind of), and is busy toddling about and getting into trouble. When the kitchen door is left open she bee lines it toward the stairs. When the back door is open she speeds toward the basement. She loves finding the bathroom door ajar so she can pull herself up next to the toilet, reach her little hands in and splash around! She now grabs at her sisters toys, would much rather crawl then get strapped into her stroller, and today during breakfast I turned around to find her standing on her highchair tray. I miss my sweet little baby and I'm not sure I'm quite ready for another toddler!

Mother's Day Makes My Monday

I was treated to a wonderful Mothers Day yesterday and that Makes my Monday! I slept in until 8:30 when the kids burst through the door so full of excitement for me to come down and enjoy the delicious breakfast they had been working on. The dining room table was set with our finest china, fresh flowers and a beautiful hand painted banner reading "Happy Mothers Day"! Jim made a delicious baked French Toast Souffle and had a yummy fruit salad and fresh squeezed orange juice to go along with it. There were handmade gifts and cards from the kiddos which I will treasure for years to come. Hubby surprised me with a thoughtful and beautiful silver charm bracelet with each of the kids symbols for charms.

We then went to church as a family and met up with my mom and siblings for brunch. We had a great day together before Jim took the gang to his parents to see NannyLil for Mother's Day.

I am such a lucky mom to get such love on my special day. I am also lucky to have such great mother figures in my life. My mom, grandmother and mother-in-law are all wonderful examples of everything a mother should be. Each nurturing, caring, full of compassion and giving of their time, and so in love with their grandchildren!

Week Wrap Up

Addison had her one year check-up at the pediatrician this week and took her very first steps today. I think four wobbly steps is the record and she is still pretty cautious but it is so cute and exciting to witness this latest milestone. She is 19 lbs 10.5 oz and 45cm long placing her in about the 25% for weight and 75% for height. She had to get three shots but was so well behaved through the entire exam and the Dr. thought she looked just great.
Jameson had his 4Th Grade musical this past week-a production of Frog and Toad. Despite only having a small role in the "Lizard Chorus" he loved being part of the Drama Club. He thought he he was a star and was honored to receive a special "solo" as he interpreted it, where he walked across the stage holding a sign introducing the next scene. It was so cute and even if drama won't be his thing, I'm glad he gave it his best and had fun along the way. The celebratory icecream after the show made it even more worthwile for him! Both grandmothers were able to make the show on different night while both grandfathers watched the girls at home. Aren't we lucky to have such helpful and involved grandparents?
Today both boys had soccer games, the girls had a birthday party, then we all did some yard work trying to beautify the place before the rain moved in this afternoon. After naps we all went to visit my grandmother to wish her a "Happy (early) Mother's Day" then we went out for Mexican food. Despite an hour wait the kids where really well behaved and all enjoyed the spicy salsa.

Twin Talk

The twins are now two and a half and talking a lot these days. There speech has been somewhat delayed but never enough to qualify them for early Intervention services. Although they are quite chatty, that is not to say I can always understand them. In fact I think its safe to say that most other people would not be able to understand them most of the time. I can usually get the gist of their fragmented sentences but some words I try my hardest to understand but often can not decipher for the life of me, so I'll guess, then say "show me", then play 20 Questions, before I finally resort to asking the other twin what her sister is saying, to which that twin will reply the same word in the same pronunciation while seeming to completely understand, but still leaving me dumbfounded. I guess we do have some twin-talk going on. Both Avery and Ella speak in the third person. I don't know if its because they are constantly trying to distinguish themselves from their sister, but most sentences from Ella begin with "Ella's turn" or "Ella nak" (Ella wants a snack)" or "Ella's baby" and similarly Avery says "Avery have boo-boo" or " Avie go side" (Avery wants to go outside). Avery also pronounces all her "F's" like "P's" and "L's" like "Y's" among other letter reversals. So a sentence she uttered today went: "Avie Mommy's yipstick on pace." (Avery put Mommy's lipstick on her face) or another "Avie want yots pishies" (Avery wants lots of fishes). Ella tends to answer her own sentences: "Here you go, thank you, welcome." or "Sowwy, its Ok!". They both love to answer for each other a lot too. I'll ask Ella if she needs to go Potty, to which she'll reply, "No Avie needs go Potty." Or I'll ask Avery if she's ready for a nap to which she'll always reply "No Eyya ready nap". I've learned to never ask who did something when I find a mess, or the shade in the bedroom pulled down, or a puddle on the floor because always with out fail Ella will say, "Avie did it" and Avery will say with out any hesitation, "Eyya did it!" Here's a sample conversation from earlier in the day in the sandbox, before both girls lied down and completely covered themselves head to toe in sand requiring mid-day tubs...