Flashback Friday: What were we thinking?

Just about five years ago, we bought the house we currently live in. It was big, it sat on an acre, it had a great view AND it needed a lot of work. We had a plan, a vision, of what the house could become. We had no expertise or experience in construction. But we were determined to make this outdated house our home.
We have worked hard over the years on our house. We have redone all the bathrooms and bedrooms. We have painted every last inch of wall, changed out the majority of the doors and windows, and, most recently, landscaped the backyard. Mark has revealed a talent for tiling and baseboard installation and I have developed a love for finishing wood and coming up with crazy ideas for how to use what we have to make what we want.
All of this work has not come without headaches. We are experiencing one now with one of the drains. Even now, after five years, we shake our heads and ask ourselves why we made this purchase. The 'wish list' and 'monthly maintenance list' compete for our time and money. But it is our home. It has character and charm. It holds many family memories. It has an amazing view. And I love it...most of the time!

Zoo Date

I headed to the zoo with my little monkeys yesterday after we picked Madelyn up from school. I asked each of them which special animal they wanted to see on this visit. Seth wanted to see monkeys, Chloe wanted to see the giraffes, Catherine wanted to see the warthogs, Madelyn and Sam wanted to see the cat walk. After some necessary documentation of our little traveling exhibit, off we went.
Along the way we marveled at some firsts. We saw the hippo momma and baby emerge from the water. Generally, they are underwater or only have their eyes out.
This ostrich came right up to us. He was talking away. Madelyn was convinced he was trying to give us a message. Can you tell they watched Happy Feet on the trip home from Phoenix?
Snack time!
Harrison couldn't decide if he liked the grass or being able to sit with the family better.
Finally, we saw a peacock strut his stuff. This is the first time the kids remember seeing such a sight. They thought it was pretty cool.
We succeeded in seeing everyone's favorite animal du jour along with witnessing some animal behaviors for the first time. We even squeezed in 20 minutes at the playset. When we have successful outings like this one, I'm never sure whether I leave happier or the kids.

Let's go fly a kite...

We had planned a weekend of gardening and other yard work. Mark got his part done Friday. I decided to stop in the planning phase because the temperatures weren't all that warm and it was windy. We decided instead to fly kites. The kids each received one as a stocking stuffer at Christmas. After some initial trials of patience, we got everyone off the ground.

The boys got to try kite flying for the first time. We didn't read the package for their kites very well. We just saw it was a two pack and on clearance. In fact, one kite was a reasonable 26" across but the other was only 4" across. The tiny one spun better than it flew.
Chloe was very good at following Daddy's kite-flying guidance. She stood very still and held on tight.Our high flying gang.

Flashback Friday: Texas-sized fun

Our dip in Phoenix last weekend led to some reminiscing about our neighborhood pool in Texas. It was definitely a highlight of our time there. We used to go every Saturday, first thing. We'd also try to go one evening after Mark got home from work. The girls loved it and the boys dutifully slept through it (they were only a few months old) so I could play lifeguard and Mark could just plain play.

Thinking about food

I've been thinking A LOT about food lately.

No, I'm not pregnant.

I've been thinking about where our food comes from. I've been thinking about what is in our food. I've been thinking about what our family of eight can do to eat more naturally, more locally, more healthily while still saving money for our energy star kitchen remodel.

In honor of Earth Day, I would like to publicly declare my intentions and course of action. Our family pledges to:
1. Start composting
2. Grow and eat as much food as possible from our garden
3. Map where our food comes from for at least one month
4. Call at least one local company and inquire what the distribution route is (For example, there is a General Mills plant not too far from here. Does the cereal they make go directly to the grocery stores here or does it get shipped to a distribution plant in Texas only to get shipped back here by Walmart?)

Let's make every day Earth Day!

Weekend Road Warriors

Last week I was checking out the family calendar for the week's commitments. Mark had to be in Phoenix again for work Saturday night. Madelyn had Monday off from school. That either left me with two wide open days to spend with the kids by myself or the opportunity to take a road trip.

We opted for the road trip. The boys have especially been missing Mark during his travel the last few weeks. They want to talk to him whenever I do. They want to save him dinner every night. They want to know when he'll be home to do baths.

Mark still had to work Sunday so I took the kids to the Arizona Science Center. We had a great time participating in all the different experiments and facets of science.

Catherine calculated how many square feet of skin she has.
Madelyn wouldn't leave this area until she plumbed the bathroom to the hot and cold water sources. I guess all that remodeling when she was a toddler did leave a lasting impression.
Sam and Harrison in the stroller. Harrison's not quite big enough to ride here regularly but it was a fun break for both boys.
Seth kept himself busy racing cars and gathering things in his wagon in the play area.
Chloe tries out the bed of nails.
Madelyn demonstrates how the pulley works.
We found this great 'Build-It' area. They had huge soft blocks that even Harrison could play with.
Seth found construction equipment to play with.
After an exhausting day of discovery both at the Science Center and Daddy's work, we took the kids for a late dip in the pool. It was about 6:30 p.m. when this picture was taken and still about 80 degrees. The high had been 91 degrees.
On Monday I headed home with the six kids. Mark had to stay behind to finish out his work week. The drive out of Phoenix was beautiful. The wildflowers were in bloom and the hills glowed with yellows and oranges.
We had a great time in the temporary 'land of Daddy'. I'm proud of Mark and I for rising to the challenge of a spontaneous road trip. We enjoyed the scenery, the weather and the challenge of discreetly taking six children to a hotel breakfast. We also learned that buying our kids their own sodas is our best bribery tool to date.

Flashback Friday: Madelyn's First Recital

The three girls have been working hard to prepare for this year's dance recital. They have classes once a week and now recital rehearsals on weekends. While I often grumble about the time drain, I am proud of their hard work. I know they'll do their best and look adorable doing it!

Despite taking lessons for most of the last four years, Madelyn has performed in only one recital. She was almost 4 and such a ham.

Gardening - Round 2

Well, it officially feels like spring. The temperature has been in the 70s for a couple weeks now. The daffodils have come and faded. The tulips have tried to smile at us only to become food for the bunny families we share our land with. This is the lone survivor.
Our wisteria bush is in bloom. We've tried to kill this thing at least three times since buying the house five years ago. This year, while inspecting and photographing it, I can't remember why we found it so offensive. I think we'll enjoy it as long as it will tolerate our neglect.
And the backyard is greening up which is a relief as this is its first spring. We even planted a spring garden complete with lettuce, spinach, broccoli and snap peas.
Now if only we could find a way to make spring cleanup and weeding more palatable.

Mmmm...rice dust

We introduced Harrison to his high chair yesterday. He was all smiles. We were too as this move means that he will no longer be able to clear the table while stretching out of his Bumbo.
Then it came time for his daily ration of iron-fortified rice dust. He was a bit unsure to start.
But he was the star of the show so it couldn't be all bad, right?
I love looking at everyone else's mouths. They're all so encouraging.
A couple bites later we hit the gagging phase.
Then the look of betrayal and the plea for someone to rescue him.
That ended yesterday's session. Harrison immediately wanted to nurse. Not sure if it was to reassure himself that it was still an option or to wash down the cardboard taste in his mouth.

More fun with food scheduled for later today.

Spring stock-up

We made our annual spring pilgrimage to buy sandals on Friday. We shake our heads and snicker in disbelief and wonder every time we SEE the impact of raising six children.

Flashback Friday: First Bites

Our little Harrison will be six months old on Monday. That's about the time we introduce solid foods in our house. I thought for today's 'flashback', we'd look back at those precious first bites of rice cereal.

I don't think this was Madelyn's first bite. Of course, this child learned at a very young age to smile at any and all cameras so maybe it was. I remember my response to her first meal better than her first bite. I remember being so worried that she was going to stop nursing all together in favor of eating food. I was so nervous and anxious as a new mommy as I anticipated and participated in Madelyn's many firsts. I loved every second of it though!
Catherine was next to take a first bite. This was and is a typical 'What are you doing?' look from her.
Chloe's first bite.
Sam's first bite.
Seth's turn. He changed his mind after a few bites. He was unstoppable. I remember visiting my parents a few weeks after the boys started on solids. They asked me when I knew he was done. I told them, 'when the food is gone'. And to think that now he only eats bread and an occasional fruit.
The cheering section for the first feeding. It gets larger and bossier with each round. Madelyn, Catherine and Chloe are already working on a feeding rotation for Harrison. My response sounded a lot like them: "I WANT A TURN!"

What's for Dinner?

Madelyn loves raviolis. She gets them whenever we go to a restaurant that has them on the kid's menu (which is not very often). She'll eat them frozen or from a can. She'll take them any way she can get them.

So, when she got the recipe for homemade raviolis from Grandma Jo she was pretty excited to get in the kitchen and get to work. I, on the other hand, asked for time because I could tell from the recipe that making raviolis from scratch without a pasta machine was going to be rather time consuming. Madelyn had resigned herself to asking me regularly, like daily, when we were going to make them. I'd supply her with some time constraint....ok, excuse...for why not today.

With Dad out of town, the calendar was clear for Easter dinner. No pressure to make a ham. We got to work at 4 p.m. yesterday. We made the filling and put it in the fridge. We made the sauce and set it to simmer. Then we got super messy making the dough, rolling the strips and stuffing the raviolis. At 6:30 p.m. the last of the raviolis came out of the pot.
Madelyn loved them.

I loved seeing my girls work as a team to get this job done. Catherine entertained the twin boys while Chloe worked at keeping Harrison happy so that Madelyn and I could tackle dinner. I'm so proud of my growing girls!

Happy Easter

The Easter Bunny came hopping up our trail early this year. Mark had to fly out last night for a business trip. Training never ceases for his company, even on Easter.

So, I have a confession to make. I have NEVER done Easter baskets for my kids or anyone else's for that matter. I thought about it when Madelyn was small but it seemed like too much candy. It's about this time of year that I hit candy burnout as it's been invading my home at a fairly steady pace since Halloween. I also feel like the whole man-size bunny delivering eggs image kinds of dilutes the real reason Christians celebrate Easter, even more so than Santa does at Christmas.

But last year we went to an Easter egg hunt with our D-L cousins and, well, my kids had fun. Aunt Heather put together baskets for them and they delighted in them. And who am I but an advocate for my children's happiness and well-balanced life. So, I've chalked Easter up as just something we Americans do, a cultural tradion of sorts.

Ta-dah! My first attempt at Easter baskets!
The kids were pretty excited.
We dyed Easter eggs. I bought an ambitious kit complete with glitter, sand and sequins. We stuck with the stickers. The rest will have to wait a year. My Easter spirit was waning a little at this point.
Then we did an Easter egg hunt. It is so nice having such a big backyard to do a hunt in. It was also nice to be able to take our time and not worry about pushy parents encouraging their kids to trample mine in order to pick up a ten cent egg filled with penny candy. Sorry, bad memories of competitive Easter egg hunts from our Texas days.

Harrison thought all the festivities were pretty great! He especially liked watching his sisters and brothers find Easter eggs in the yard.
Happy Easter to you and yours!