What kind of nut is this?

Walking Isaiah to school he exclaimed "Look mom a coconut!".

He was so excited that I felt bad bursting his bubble, but coconuts don't grow here in the Midwest:)

He of course asked me what kind of nut it was. And of course I didn't know.

I said we could "look it up or ask someone". His solution? Put it on your BLOG and ask their advice!!!

Pictured below is the 'coconut' he found. So dear readers, can you help a little boy out? Any guesses? Anyone know?

Side note: I asked Isaiah if he knew what a blog is. He said at first he thought it was a card...like a credit card. Then he listened to Joe and I talk about it and figured out it was something on the computer that other people can look at. Smart kid.

And I couldn't resist adding a couple pictures of my girls on the walk too!

Last Test

Today is Joe's last regular test of his M2 year!!!

No he isn't done for the year.  He still has many, many tests this school year including shelf exams and the BIG boards exam.  But this is his last regular ole' med school test.  And that is enough reason for us to celebrate! It feels like a victory. One step closer to the goal. 

So for tonight we celebrate. Ice cream and balloons! I even pulled out the banner the kids and I had made after his very first test.

Tomorrow the studying will resume and we will all jump back on the seemingly never ending medical education bandwagon. 

I am learning to enjoy these small victories. The moments that I can see/feel like we are moving closer to the end (even if that 'end' is far, far away....). I need to enjoy these small victories and hold on to their memories for all the hard and trying moments in between.

Joe brought home gifts for the kids...sidewalk chalk! He didn't even know about the party. He is just that good of a team player:)

 

 

 

 

 

A Day in Our Life, volume 2

So here it is.  The second edition of 'A Day in our Life'.  This day was selected because it was exactly 3 months after the first round:) Yep, this is now a quarterly event in our house. 

A little background information: this day, Tuesday April 23 was the day my mom, my sister, my sister-in-law and four nieces and nephews (ages 1-3) arrived at our house after traveling 700+ miles all together in one van.  It was a little chaotic to say the least:)

12:07 am - They finally ARRIVED!

12:13 am - Snuggling some of my favorite little people
while their moms unpack the van.

1:24 am - Finally crawling into bed with these two:)
The traveling kids wanted play time before bed.



8:02 am - GOOD MORNING!
Thankfully the kids woke Grandma up first:)
And served breakfast.

8:20 am - Receive my first communication from Joe while
 trying to get myself ready for the day. Good info.

8:32 am - Isaiah is clearly thrilled to go to morning kindergarten
(not his usual schedule)!

8:43 am - Dropped off Isaiah. Now time to drop off library materials.

9:07 am - Big girl playing...waiting patiently to be fed.

9:20 am - Everyone is awake! Let the games begin...

10:19 am - Naomi enjoying 'breakfast' in the basement while the children play

10:21 am - Meanwhile upstairs...

10:33 am - Diaper washing time

10:39 am - Gathering the kids to go pick up Isaiah from school...
it was like herding cats or how I imagine gathering cats would be:)

10:57 am - Locked & loaded!

11:01 am - And we are off.

11:32 am - We made it BEFORE the dismissal bell
but NOT before the rain.  Oops.

11:33 am - My kindergartner with a little extra bounce in his step.

And that is plenty for one day.  Too be continued...

A boy and his Bible

Today our church presented all graduating kindergartners with a Bible of their very own. Isaiah already owns three Bibles so he was a little less than excited when we told him about this Bible.  Therefore we prepped him to have an appropriate response.  Just a polite "Thank you"... not... "Thank you...grumble...grumble...I already have 3 at home...grumble...grumble..."

Turns out he was very excited about the entire process.  Joe and I on the other hand should have prepared ourselves (and hearts) a little more.

(decorating his Bible bag)

What we thought was going to be a simple 5 minute "here is your new Bible" moment was actually a one hour "parents write in Bible (including underlining favorite or meaningful passages for your child) and pray with your child and Bible then present the Bible in front of the group with a special message for your child" event!  Yikes.

We were totally caught off guard.  Which added to our underlying stresses (me = crabby, clingy baby pulling my hair, Joe = feeling unprepared for tomorrow's test) did not make for the ideal Bible dedication scenario.  Sorry Isaiah.  We really hope and pray we didn't mess this one up too much!

 

 



It really was a lovely little "ceremony" in which the children were encouraged to read their Bibles and to learn the one and only Truth so that no matter where they go they will know God's word. 

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ⁵ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6)

 

 

(A drawing on Isaiah's Sunday school wall. I am a monster! And Isaiah is a tick?!)

At least I was dressed appropriately for this monumental event:) That was sheer coincidence. I was just so excited to wear a dress as it is finally  Spring-like outside!

 

Thankfully we will be re-presenting this Bible to Isaiah in front of the entire church on Mother's Day.  I am sure by then Joe and I will be able to get our act together and plan a coherent and meaningful Bible dedication for our first born child!

 

What's cookin' good lookin'?

Pink baby chicken apparently:) I walked past the play kitchen and this scene caught my eye and made me smile. Not sure who the little chef is...because we have 7 kids (ages 

5 and under) in our house this week. Lots of good playing and cousin bonding happening here! Oh and good chicken too:)

Goodbye Focus.

Hello Prius.

Yesterday Joe brought home a bag of popcorn for me. The good stuff...think theater popcorn but cold:) I thought that was pretty fabulous. Then he showed me what he brought home for himself...a "new" car!

The thing is the old car had a burnt out headlight, it needed an oil change and the gas tank was nearly empty. So rather than doing car maintenance...he traded it in for a new car! We really dislike car maintenance around here:)

Yes we do hate car maintenance and we try to avoid it like the plague. But that isn't the real reason he bought the new car. We needed a new car. The Focus was definitely on its last leg...errr miles?!? And we wanted to replace it before the situation became emergent!  Joe needs something reliable to get him through clinical rotations for the next two years PLUS the 3 (maybe more?) years of residency. And it doesn't hurt that it we will be saving us $ with its amazing hybrid gas saving abilities...bonus!

The fact that Joe got pulled over for his missing headlight, tipped the situation from thinking-about-buying-a-new-car to actually-buying-a-new-car. Whatever it takes I guess. I am just happy it is taken care of and all I had to do was eat popcorn...and take a spin in the "new" car with my cute husband and daughter!

The troops are here...

And Green Lantern is having a great time!

On their way!

See these smiling faces? They are headed our way!!! (Plus two more not pictured).

And I can't believe they are still smiling....they have been on the road for 11 hours today and still have 5 more to go (without a DVD player). Crazy ladies and kids. But we are SO happy that they are coming to visit us. It is all my kids can talk about.

They must love us a lot to make this journey...especially through snow and rain. Yuck! Who would have guessed the weather would be so bad for traveling at the end of April?! Not I.

But it is going to be worth it. We are going to have a ball...no matter what we do. Being together as a family is the best:)

Ok. I better go clean the bathroom. It is the least I can do for them after their ridiculously long drive here.

Poor third child

She doesn't get rocked to sleep lovingly...instead she falls asleep dangling from my arms! While hiding in the bathroom...errr...taking a mental break from the big kids:) The number of times she has dozed off like this is astronomical and increasing daily.

Unfortunately she was rudely awoken just moments later by her brother and sister. The dueling duo crashed our party as they LOUDLY and FERVENTLY debated the proper washing method for toy keys...

Really?! That is worthy of getting upset about? More surprising is the fact that I was surprised that they found something so ridiculous to argue about!

Our Team

Today I asked the kids if they knew why Daddy goes to school.

Isaiah: To become a doctor.
Charlotte: ....

And what does Daddy have to do to become a doctor?

Isaiah: Study and go to school.
Charlotte: Eat snacks.

Isaiah was not impressed with her answer and tried to correct her immediately:)

So what can we do to help Daddy to become a doctor?

Isaiah & Charlotte: ....

Think of us as team. And our team is trying to make Daddy a doctor.  So what can we do to help our team?

Isaiah: Be quiet so Daddy can study? Oh and Mom, you can teach Dad things.*
Charlotte: Bring Daddy snacks.

Apparently the girl was hungry:) However she was on to something because Joe does like to have plenty of study snacks (and I don't blame him...studying medicine can be kind of sleep-inducing without distractions).  We also talked about the fact that Daddy studies after they go to bed so the quicker and quieter they are at bedtime the more study time Daddy gets (and computer time for Mommy:) Lastly we discussed the fact that it is a lot of work studying to become a doctor and sometimes Daddy needs a break. He needs fun. And that is their job too...bring on the chaos and fun!

Hannah slept through this entire conversation. But I took the liberty of answering for her.  She is going to be a team player by continuing to be a mellow, happy baby and sleep through the night so everyone else in the family can sleep through the night as well. Thanks Hannah!

Meanwhile this team player, has been getting more and more anxious/stressed as we get closer to Step 1.  My solution? Shopping. Not exactly the best solution but I just can't seem to help myself.  So far I have purchased a wall hanging + custom canvas print, a letter "H" for Hannah, a wristlet for myself, new pages for our address book and a magnetic notepad (for grocery lists). I realize it doesn't sound like much but typically I am NOT a shopper. It is out of character for me. Not to mention out of our budget. Which coincidentally just stresses me more. Aack!

Thankfully we have a bunch of visitors coming soon...I need the friendly distraction and Joe needs the extra study time (while I am distracted and not spending our money).

*Thank you child of mine for thinking of me as a competent medical provider still. I love you and your sweet heart.

Losing it.

I hate very much dislike losing stuff.  Anything really. It doesn't have to be anything big or important. Just knowing that that I don't know where it is drives me bonkers. I am not exaggerating when I say that I will waste hours searching for things that I have misplaced. And not always things that I necessarily need. I have been known to spend an entire afternoon looking for a toy just because I don't know where it is/haven't seen it in a while.  Not because a child actually wants to play with it! Ridiculous but true! If I think something is lost I get A) frustrated and impatient and B) irrationally single minded on finding it.

Enter Exhibit A:

That nice blue Marmot fleece jacket Isaiah is wearing....look real close:) It was given to us on Sunday.  A generous and wonderful hand-me-down.  Isaiah loved it. I loved it. It fit and was seasonally appropriate. Yay!  This picture was taken Tuesday as we walked Isaiah to school after which the jacket has not been seen again.  And trust me, I have looked! In his classroom, cubby, school's lost and found as well as the gym's lost and found. And yes, I have even asked his teacher if she has seen it.  All to no avail. 

Which has resulted in me being frustrated and impatient with Isaiah. Urg. Why can't he just keep track of his stuff?!?! Well because he is 5 of course!

But really I know he can keep track of stuff.
 
Enter Exhibit B:

This {ugly} camo jacket + cardboard medal + cardboard bracelet has gone to school with him every day since and returned home safely!  Really, this is the stuff that you keep track of?!  I mean it is ugly. And pretty much worth...nothing:)








 I guess the better question is, why can't I be more compassionate and understanding?  And really, it is just STUFF. I still have my fun, imaginative boy....in his ugly jacket:)


UPDATE: the jacket has been found! A classmate of Isaiah's (who shall remain nameless) took it home accidentally:) Alls well that ends well...or something like that, right?!?

I guess I have to keep the couch until I am done having babies:)

My husband often teases me that the only reason I keep reproducing is to have little people to dress up for holidays and compare baby pictures!  Oh if only raising little people was truly that easy and enjoyable...well then I would probably have a dozen (just like my Barbie families as a little girl).  But alas that is not what being a mom is all about.

However it is a fun perk:)

My 3 babies in the same footie jammies at approximately the same age:

Random tidbits:

• While I was changing Hannah's diaper today Charlotte asked me if she had any "owies on her bum".  Because if she did Charlotte was prepared with a "tub of cream cheese"! Um yeah, that would be butt rash cream not cream cheese:) Close though.
• The kids were playing down stairs this morning with friends. Yay! Fun! Isaiah came up to announce that Charlotte couldn't play downstairs anymore because she was being too bossy. Charlotte...bossy?  Never before uttered in the same sentence!  Sorry boys.  But way to go Charlotte it is about time you spoke your mind (amidst little people...bossing grown ups still isn't acceptable).
• Lastly, no wonder I am easily amazed at how much hair Hannah has...see Exhibit A above of my other two baldies! Still a laughable amount but to me she has loooooong dark locks!

One more *teensy* thing. Today my friend told me my bathroom was clean. Correction: she said VERY clean and smelled good...as in clean! What? My bathroom? That definitely had to go down in the records. There is a first time for everything, right? The "clean" is compliments of baby wipes. And the "good smell"? Well that was due to Hannah's overnight diaper that I was ignoring in the bath tub:) It does have a strange ammonia-ish odor...

Follow the red polka dot jammies.

My children must have sensed that I had nothing to add to The Archives today and generously provided me with some new material.

I woke this morning (veeeeeerry sloooowly) to Charlotte instructing me to follow the red polka dot jammies. Huh? What? Oh! She wanted me to follow HER (the girl in the red polka dot jammies). To see this....

They had served themselves breakfast. Honey Nut Cheerios with fruit punch! And well I rolled with it because I was too tired to fight it. The girls had been in cahoots last night and kept me up from 1 to 3 am. They were like ping pong balls. Back and forth. Just awake.  For no apparent reason...other than wanting special mommy- daughter time I guess?! But tomorrow when I am *hopefully* better rested it is back to cereal and milk for this crew! This could be ugly as they really enjoyed their new breakfast!

I sent the above picture to Joe. Below is our {rather boring} "conversation" about said picture: