can't help it, he's funny these days...

After leaving the bathroom unsuccessful, Brody said,
"I'm all out of poop Mom, maybe next time."

more brody talk

today at the pool, i told brody he could have some ice cream. when i asked him which flavor he would like, he responded,
"Rotten Candy."

Tonight it was sort of a choose your own dinner kind of a night.
A, I don't feel like going to the store, so if you don't want hot dogs, cereal, or popcorn, you are on your own, kind of dinner.

Micah and Isaiah said they'd have popcorn.
Emily said she'd make a tuna melt.
Hannah said she'd take a hot dog.

Brody said he wanted a hot dog without the red thing in it.

 

Remind me not to do internet searches on things I know little about.

So, I think we have entered the world of expensive dental problems. Let me begin by saying, that I don't go to the dentist, or the doctor, but that is a different subject all together. The idea of taking my kids to the dentist was not one I came by naturally. Last year I decided it was time, and remembered to make the phone call during business hours, and got 4 of the 5 kids in. First time for all of them. And NO cavities. I even elected to have the sealant put in the next week. I was reminded I needed to get them in again in 6 months, but that came and went.

Today I took Isaiah in for his now yearly cleaning. Perfect teeth again, no decay.
However... if you have ever seen Isaiah's mouth you know that while he is very loud, and can project at incredible volumes, his mouth is extremely crowded with teeth. He even has this weird "extra" tooth in the roof of his mouth, that we knew we would eventually need to get removed, if it wasn't supposed to be somewhere else.

So the x-rays showed that the tooth is indeed extra, and not only that, he has LOTS of extra teeth above his current ones, still in his jaw. The dentist didn't really say much, except to tell me that we needed to have a consultation with the orthodontist.

Well. I went home, and decided to do some research on the supernumerary teeth thing. Bad idea.
Apparently these "extra" teeth are rare in kids unless, of course, they have some other horrible disease or defect. So I have now spent all sorts of time reading about conditions and things I know he doesn't have, because the possibility is there.

So, next time some doctor or dentist gives me too little information about a particular thing, I will leave it at that. No more on-line research for me!

(and just to put you at ease, yes, I made the appointment for the consult with the ortho.)

Going, going, gone.

He held on for much of the drive home.

 

About an hour away from home, he finally fell asleep.

 

And then I got to play with the toys!

 

The way home..

We stopped at Starved Rock State Park to strech our legs, and have a snack.

 

Not a bad view for eating snow cones.

 

Here we have Steve doing what Steve does.

 

It reminded me of the Rocky Mountains. A beautiful place that we will take the whole family back to.

 

By the end of the trip, Micah kept saying, "I wish Brody was here."

The Field Museum

This was the reason we took the trip to Chicago, to visit Sue the T-Rex at the Field Museum.

 

Of course there was much more to see... here we have Micah and his buddies.

 

 

And, much to my dismay, in the basement of the museum, there was a McDonald's. Lunch done.

 

Breakfast all alone

 

And before I forget, while we were driving here, Steve said to Micah, "Isn't it cool that it is just going to be the three of us buddy?" and Micah responded with the biggest smile I have ever seen, saying, "Yah, I might be so bored I will even fall asleep!"

Next stop...

The hotel pool!

 

Even though he was the only one there, he had a great time.

 

 

And I have realized something, in this short time since our departure... the reason I am so tired at the end of every day has nothing to do with the fact that I have five kids, but rather, because I have Micah.

 

Micah's present...

For Micah's birthday this year, Steve and I decided to take Micah on a trip by himself.

 

The first stop was a dinner of Micah's choice, Cracker Barrel.

 

 

 

Call me Martha

I made homemade Oreos this morning. And yes, they were amazing.

 

 

 

 

i read an amazing thing today on a blog... it wasn't the post, but the comment that got my attention. i don't know the woman who left it, have never read her blog, but since it was she who said it, i will give credit where credit is due...

"He was an incredible man... as are most average people when you just start listening to their stories."
Hot Tub Lizzy

"Love, then do what you please..."
--St. Augustine

he just looks so darn old in this one...

 

 

a gift

A couple of days ago, I caught Micah outside letting his birthday balloons go. I asked him why he was letting them go, and he told me he was sending them up to God, to tell Him how much he loved Him.

 

simple things make me happy

sleeping all night with the windows open
toads, frogs, snakes, and turtles
sun tanned feet
wi-fi
cold beer
iced mocha's
tired kids who want to cuddle
big beds
fly swatters
cheap plastic pools
waking up to the birds singing
sunshine

 

here is what 94 mph winds do with 500lbs of sand in a basketball hoop.

 

 

Cave adventures

 

 

 

 

Against the grain

 

park time

perfect balance.
i remember when maria and i were the same size. i think i was around 12, which just happens to be the same age as emily.

 

the battle for king of the mountain... or in this case, queen.

 

papa hearing stories from micah.

 

later in the evening, we at pizza and drank mixed drinks from our bartender steve, while we sat out on the screened in porch, in the rain. it was practically heaven.
maria, emily and i caught the late showing of Mama Mia, and it was wonderful as well. Not sure how we will top yesterday, but today we will surely try.

Yet another attempt

I should just let it go, I know.

 

 

More Birthday Fun

 

 

 

Birthday Surprises

The big birthday surprise was this:

 

My Dad, and step Mom Maria came for a few days to help celebrate Micah's birthday! I made up an elaborate story about how Micah's surprise wasn't going to be here on time, so I called and tracked it down, and we could pick it up at the airport when it arrived, or we would have to wait two more days for it to be delivered.

 

The only person in on it was Emily. I needed some help to pull it off, and she never tells a secret.
Everyone was very surprised, and happy. Micah said it was his best birthday ever.

 

After some time at the pond, we had dinner at the Chart House, a first for my Dad and Maria. The evening was beautiful, and the company even better.

 

more frogs

 

Happy Birthday Micah!

 

Today Micah is five.
Five.
I have been thinking about what I could say about my Micah on his birthday, and honestly, I can't come up with anything.
Words fall short in describing this boy. I am so proud and honored to call him my son. I guess if I were to try to describe who he is, and what he brings to people's lives, in one word, it would be this;
Light.

HOLD THE PHONE!

four of my children have been sitting on the floor playing with a bucket of plastic animals for 30 minutes with no arguments. they are sorting and stacking, resorting, and separating. this is good. very good.

No, it's not a day care....

Those are our kids! Well, some of our kids. We don't actually have a photo with all of them.

 

Went on a hike today with two friends, and between the three of us, we have 14 kids.

 

All things considered, things went very smooth. No blood. One near miss with a shoe, but that's about it.

 

Try not to look at the moms in this picture, rather focus on the two adorable kids holding hands. I mean, seriously, is that the cutest thing you have ever seen?

 

The kids, and Moms all had a great time, and I do believe the little ones are worn out... although they keep asking about the pool... we'll see.

What I did at midnight...

Before:

 

After:

 

Baby turtles have proven to be very difficult for me to take pictures of. I think because they are so small, I have a difficult time focusing on them. They sort of fly below the radar. And it is funny that I have tried so hard on so many occasions to get a good picture of them, even when I know it most likely won't turn out. A bit like life. We spend way too much energy with our attention on the small stuff that gets blurry when we try to focus on it, and ignore the bigger picture. It sounds almost backwards. Like, I am one person, I can do one SMALL thing, but i think some times, the small things we think we can do, are TOO small. Like little baby turtles. I take way better pictures of big stuff.

 

Frogs and Friends

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this is the one I caught, in our grass. I think he is the cutest one for sure.

 

Edit from yesterday

As we were all laying in our bed this morning, I was recounting the story to Steve about Micah asking me to call him 'Your Majesty', and Micah said, "That is not what I said." So I asked him what exactly he did say, and his response was, "I asked if you would call me, Your Royal Highness".
So, you can see how I could make that mistake.
Not, Your Majesty.
Your Royal Highness.

More from the park

So, this little tidbit has nothing to do with the park, but i thought it was funny...
Today Micah asked me if i would call him 'Your Majesty'. Uh, no.

 

The girls enjoyed the park as well.

 

and some construction equipment for Brody.

 

Little boys at the park

 

 

 

 

M & M's

Micah: Mom, I am so mad at Hannah, you know what?
Me: What?
Micah: I am not going to show her my amazing skills until she is 18.

So, tonight at the Chart House...

This one is for you, Jody.
I took all five kids to the water park for three hours this afternoon. Everyone was wonderful, so I decided to reward them by taking them to our favorite dinner hang out, The Chart House. We were order number 49. The kids were still being perfect. I picked up the food, and saw this:

 

Africa in a chicken strip.
I thought about selling it on E-bay, but Brody was too hungry. He did let me take a picture of it first though. Micah spent the next five minutes in tears because I wouldn't take a picture of his chicken strip.

Isaiah caught a baby water snake in the pond tonight. Cute, yes.

 

Another beautiful sunset.

 

my peeps.

 

Sunset fun

My Hannah

 

Ike the baller.

 

Sunset in Iowa

 

THE WALL

In case you were wondering what a wall cloud looks like, take a look at this beauty that blew over our house this afternoon.

 

 

 

Writer's Block

what i appear to have, since i cannot come up with anything interesting to say. so, in an attempt to break through the block, i will write about some of the everyday events we have here...
let's see,

-yesterday brody pooped on the driveway. and with the heat index reaching 113 degrees, it was good times.
-emily made her first appearance upstairs today at 1:30pm. she takes this summer vacation thing seriously.
-steve is gone yet again, and will be back on thursday night.
-micah has been telling some friends that if they can't find anyone to marry their daughter when she grows up, that he will.
-isaiah threw up at 3 am the other morning. he came all the way upstairs to tell me he was going to throw up, and walked past the tile, the wood floor, and onto the carpet before emptying his entire stomach.

well, still nothing. sorry. maybe later, after i take all the kids to the barn, in the heat, and try to keep them quiet so they don't scare the horses.
good times people. good times.

The 4th of July at the ballpark

In this town, the home team takes the field through a corn field.

 

Nothing better than blue snow cones on a hot day!

 

Emily having fun

 

This is the only picture I have of all the kids at the ball park ... waiting for the fireworks to begin!

 

Mr. Sneaky

He practices making different faces in the mirror.
Daily.
This is his sneaky face. Still a little worried about this boy...

 

feeling overwhelmed
by our ability
to be underwhelmed.

it is all so much.

poverty, HIV/AIDS, orphans.

overwhelming.

and what are we, as a nation doing?

sitting in our air conditioned homes, sipping our designer coffee, and talking about what a tragedy it all is.

and i am the worst of these.

I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something.
And because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do
The something
That I can do.
-- Helen Keller