What "war" looks like around here

The kids were all playing "war" around here this afternoon which consisted of building forts and trying to capture each other. They all played nicely- no slammed doors, no one cried. They cleaned up and came down for lunch when I saw Alyssa wearing an American Girl doll shirt around her upper arm. I pulled it down and said, "Why are you wearing this?" Then I noticed in bright red marker, Lauri had written, "I am dumb" across her arm. I couldn't help busting out laughing. Alyssa laughed along (thankfully), but I reminded them, we don't write on each other.

A couple hours after lunch, poor little Lizzie, who never seems to get dressed until we're actually leaving the house, came up to me and across her back was written, "I am a dork!". My innocent victim of war. :)

And just for a goofy picture- here is what happens when you let Grandpa babysit by himself:.

Love ya, dad :)

Good weekend, good week

Brett's high school reunion was this past weekend. We didn't go to the "formal" event, but we had a nice time at a bar Friday night. I know a couple of his old classmates, so I didn't feel too out of place. Brett got the chance to catch up with some old friends, and hopefully we'll see some of them before ten more years.

Saturday morning, we took a bike ride to the library. It was hot out, but overcast, so we didn't have the sun shining down on us. I think its around eight miles round trip, but I could be totally off base. Here's Lauri playing around before we left.

Brett was filling the bike tires up and the kids were climbing around. Eli and Gavin climbed up on Brett's car and wanted me to take their picture. Then the girls climbed up. I threw Lizzie up there too, and voila! A perfect picture. Sure they're not wearing cute and matching outfits, the backdrop is our garage, and there's a Diet Coke peeking out from behind Alyssa's shoulder, but they are all smiling and looking at the camera. I think I should get an 8X10 of this and hang it over our fireplace because for some reason, if I take them somewhere, dress them fancy, and pay lots of money then someone isn't looking or is making a funny face or whatever.

Poor Lauri had swimmer's ear all last week. She was in a lot of pain. Thankfully, she's all better now. We went swimming after our morning bike ride, and we had to get her some ear plugs. Here she is showing off her plugs.

And, despite the fact that it is rainy and icky outside, I've started the week off on a good note. I got up this morning with Brett and went for a 2.5 mile run. I've started the kids back on a couple school subjects (nothing new for the year, just some reviewing), and that is going well. I also am almost done with my science plans for the year (I'll post more on that later). I feel like we're getting in a good groove for the coming (extremely busy!) year. Also, we did some changes around the house (I'll post more on that later, too), and I'm excited about that.

So, here's to a good week!

Oh, and for those of you who may not have believed the struggles I had during VBS, here's a picture of what I had to put up with with my little monkey-

VBS

Like Gavin says, "Its not Vacation Bible School, its VBS."

Every year this is the one thing the kids look forward to the most. Maybe its because its the most camp-like experience they get. Maybe its because they get to sing songs and play water games and climb on inflatables. Or maybe its because its the one week of the summer that stresses me out more than anything else.

Wait a sec, a week without my oldest three kids three hours every day? Why on earth would that stress me out? A number of reasons. One is that we have to be at church (which is 30 mins away) by 9 o'clock every morning. I am not a morning person. And I am especially not a get-five-kids-up-dressed-and-fed-by-8:30-morning person. Then, once they are dropped off, I have the two littles to contend with, and the big decision of "Do I drive home, only to return two hours later?" This year, that question wasn't too hard. With gas prices the way they are, the decision was easy.

Monday I take Eli and Lizzie to Borders. A couple hours and $25 later, we return to get the kids. I start to wonder how economical it really is to not drive home.

Tuesday, I decide on a more wallet-friendly option of going to the library. We arrive minutes before the doors open, and the parking lot is filling up quickly. I run into a friend on the way in who informs me that there is a magic show going on in the children's section. Hesitantly, I go ahead and bring the kids in. The toys, puzzles and games were all set up in the meeting room, so that is where we hung out. Free Internet access, kids kept busy, relative quiet (except for the magic show commotion), can't ask for much more than that. Except maybe an nice Starbucks frappachino, but I digress.

Wednesday I decide to try out a different (but equally close) library. As we're walking back to the children's section, a library volunteer informs me that there is a puppet show going on in the meeting room. I'm starting to wonder how much reading is actually accomplished at the Johnson County Libraries during the summer.

Today we headed back to the Oak Park Library. I actually checked out books today. Eli got bored fast and was hungry because he woke up too late and only ate some Cheerios in the van. So, I do the unthinkable and take him through the McDonalds drive through and get him some fries. Ugh. I haven't taken the kids to McDonalds in months. It kept him happy for a dollar. And they have free wireless internet. Weird, huh?

What have I learned this week?

Eli: His personality amazes me. At Borders, he sorted the Wonder Pets stuffed animals and then counted to see if there was less of one than the others (nope, same of all three). He is probably the most easy-going three year old on the planet. He just kept himself busy coloring, doing puzzles, playing with the toys for hours this week at the libraries and Borders.



Lizzie: She is quite a piece of work. She was climbing everywhere, she made about a dozen friends, and made me take her to the potty twice. She discovered her love for sinks. I discovered how big of a fit she can throw when I take her away from the sink. She loves to dance during the opening and closing songs at VBS. She knows the word "buckle" because everytime I put the car in park, she screams it.

So, tomorrow is our last day of VBS, and I couldn't be more excited. I know I sound like a whiner. If it weren't for dozens of wonderful parents who actually spend the three hours helping run VBS, my kids wouldn't have this opportunity, and I'm complaining about having to drive them there. Why do I do it? Well, my kids would've mutinied if I said no, but even more than that, I know that these memories they're making and friends they're finding will last them for years to come. I met my closest friends (oh yeah, and Brett) and that church.

Update Post

Here is my update from the last two months....

Running: I ran the Hospital Hill run and finished about ten minutes faster than I expected. I ended up with an eleven minute mile pace which isn't fantabulous in the grand scheme of things, but I was very pleased. I am struggling to make it outside everyday because I haven't drug my butt out of bed early enough to run and it is too hot by the time Brett gets home. I'm only going out about 4 days and still not running more than 3 miles. My time off at the lake really messed up my training. Running on the mountain made me faster on the flats, but I lost a lot of endurance by not running for as long of distances as I had been. I am scouting out some races for the next couple months to get myself back excited. If anyone has a run/cause they'd like to support financially (but not physically) I'd be glad to run it for you!

Kids:
Alyssa-approaching that wonderful phase of pre-adolescence which includes loads of eye-rolling, sarcasm, and general moodiness

Lauri-has become obsessed with the idea that she is a "tom-boy"(focusing on her skateboarding and refusing to wear fancy clothes) despite the fact she got her ears double pierced last week

Gavin-growing like a weed and struggling as a middle child teetering between little and big boy

Eli-still the same...mastering his power ranger moves displaying more and more "Mr. Monk" qualities

Lizzie- growing up way too fast, running everywhere, talking more and more, and trying to potty train herself

School:
I'll be posting a lot about school in the next couple weeks, just know we're getting ready for a VERY busy school year!

Other:
I've spent the past couple months reading lots of books and Brett and I have watched a lot of movies, so I'll be posting some reviews of my favorites and least favorites.

Why I'm a dork and why I should never have had boys

Those are two different things :)

Why I am a dork...hmm...let's see...my most exciting purchase in awhile?? The white board I bought at Office Depot yesterday that stretches about 3X4 feet across my wall over our school table. I got multi-colored markers and assigned each child a color. I wrote a note to my "students" in case they got up before I did (and of course, all but one slept in).



My other exciting ideas of the weekend revolve around turning our food consumption into mainly "whole" foods. Reducing the amount of processed junk we eat. I couldn't wait to go to the grocery store. There was just this little thing called Pay Day which doesn't arrive until Wednesday holding me back. The kids and I came up with our own ideas for homemade granola bars and breads to bake.



Why wasn't I cut out to be a mother of boys??? Well, let's say this: I'm making dinner. The kids are all outside playing. I look out my kitchen window and see Gavin standing next to our shed (away from everyone else) and *ahem* "water" my dirt back there. Seconds later he is joined by Eli who is not as casual about it and completely drops his pants, joining his brother. None of the five other kids in the backyard even notice what they're doing. They both finish, pull up/zip up their pants, and run off- barefoot. Ugh. I didn't even know what to say. I didn't want to draw attention to it, and I wasn't (and still aren't) quite sure how to discipline this. Boys will be boys, right????

Weed of Love

This is a symbol of love around our house. Every time my boys go outside, they bring me in at least one dandelion. I have collections of dandelions all through the house- a cup in my bedroom, one in the garage. I find them in my pockets all the time. I've had to clean them out of the dryer lint screen.

The dandelions drive Brett crazy. He hates the way they make our lawn look, but when he mentioned spraying our lawn to get rid of them, the boys were very upset. They think of our yard as a garden, not a harvesting spot for yellow weeds.

I think I'll try and convince Brett to let the lawn go- at least for this summer. Maybe next year, bringing Mommy flowers multiple times a day won't be as attractive to my ever-growing boys. Then we can have a "perfect" lawn.

Dessert with the Hoedls

So, we're sitting around eating homemade smoothies on Sunday night enjoying a nice night of nothing to do when Eli hops up from the table after deciding he doesn't like his. He runs off to go get in his jammies. A minute later he comes back down to the kitchen shouting, "I need help with my shirt!!" He had no trouble taking his pants off, but seemed to forget to put some back on. So, here is my adorable three year old jumping up and down bottomless with his shirt stuck on his head. Brett and I both break into, "Eli! Go get some pants on!" But he's being such a goober, that its hard to look at him with breaking up laughing. He then realizes he needs to go potty and begins to shout, "PEE!! PEE!!! PEE!!!! I NEED TO PEE!!!!" At this point, any hope of keeping a straight face is gone, and laughter is coming from all of us (including Lizzie). He manages to go potty, then rejoin us in the kitchen, dancing around bottomless. We try to tell him that it isn't appropriate or funny to dance naked in the kitchen, but he replies, "Lizzie likes it!" She is cracking up at him, so its kind of hard to dispute his reasoning. Brett gets up to help him get dressed, and I find myself wondering, did I ever expect there would be a point in my life where it wouldn't phase me to have to shout, "We don't dance around naked in the kitchen!!!"

And, yes, this picture is from last summer, but its the only one I have on the laptop of my little guy.....

Our Little Monkey

You forget each time how curious a new toddler is. Lizzie keeps us on our toes constantly with her climbing and exploring. It is hard to keep her trapped in any room because she finds ways to overcome any barricades. But today, she trapped herself.

Big sister tried to help her climb out, but she crawled right back in. At least she's occupied for a couple minutes.

Scene of the Day

I'm told to sit on the couch to watch Lauri's play.

I watch her hula dance in a bathing suit to "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" while Eli does somersaults off of our ottoman in a Power Ranger costume that is three sizes too big, Gavin semi joins in dancing (shirtless, of course), Elizabeth crawls around on the floor with a big smile on her face, and Alyssa sits in the big chair wearing one of my sister's old dresses with a bridal veil on singing along to the music and rereading her favorite parts of Harry Potter 7.

Yes, summer is still in full-force here.