Wednesday's Pictures

Painting with Dad

The older kids are becoming pros at painting now. And Alan has learned to label where each child is painting to avoid territorial disputes.
With a smile that cute, you'd never dream that this child waited until after she was done painting to go lean right up against a wet wall of paint.
The only negative side to painting the room where we keep all of our books and school supplies is that you have to move them all somewhere while you are painting.
Yup, more books. These pictures represent only the main piles. After a few years of living in areas with lacking library facilities, we tend to buy a ton of books for the kids so that we can make sure they are exposed to the books we want them to read. In other words we don't stock up on the cartoon character of the week type books or the politically correct mumbo jumbo.
We still have two full cans of paint left so the question remains as to which room in the house will be tackled next.

Water Fun

The children are running in a sprinkler right now. Something tells me we should not get used to this weather. After all, it is only April. But for now they are all having a great time. I have to say one of the things I truly appreciate about keeping the kids home is that the older boys think nothing of playing games with the little ones. Heck, I think they are enjoying themselves more than the younger ones are at the moment. I love seeing that innocence last longer in children than seems to be typical in our society today.

Been Busy Again

Yes, I've been busy lately so I have not been posting much. This has been a very crazy week. A recent visit with Robert's doctor made us painfully aware that it was time to start searching for a doctor who was a better fit for our family. So I have spent the past week frantically searching for the right person. This search has helped me unearth a seemingly hidden network of Catholic doctors in the area. We are talking faith-filled, pro-life, NFP practicing medical folks. Sadly the first one we saw was unable to take on Robert due to all of the issues he's had thus far. She says she is just not comfy as a family practice doctor taking on a preemie babe with NICU time under his belt. But she found a wonderful pediatric doctor for us that I am praying will work out well. This has been an interesting week. Did you know there are still doctors out there who answer their own phones? And call their patients at home? And leave messages ending with God Bless? Doctors who take the time to work with the Bishop to order vaccines from Japan which do not contain all of the crap in US manufactured vaccines? Vaccines not derived at all from abortive fetal tissue? So I am still reeling a bit and just hoping and praying things will work out. One more appointment with the unfriendly doctor on Thursday and then we will wash our hands of her. And try to find a new doctor for Alan and myself because none us will ever see her again. But enough of that. You really want the pictures so here are a few Alan took this morning.
Gabe is doing his best to look pathetic and beg his Dad to pick him up. Please, Dad, Please.
Abby always wakes up with a wonderful chaotic looking hairdo every morning.
Katie is thrilled to finally get her hands on Robert.
Maybe Gabe will figure out that pacifiers are for sucking on, not fingers. Ah, well, we can hope. Amazingly enough, Gabe is one of the most gentle kids when it comes to Robert. He thinks his brother is the greatest thing in the world.

Happy Birthday Abby!

Today Abby turned 3. We had all the important stuff. Macaroni and cheese for dinner, cake and ice cream and a present or two.
One of the joys of having girls is that you have the honor of eating copious amounts of pink frosting. I'm not quite sure why small girls seem to enjoy all the various shades of pink quite so much but why go against the tide. Just accept it and wait patiently for the day when they finally outgrow the pink thing.
Abby enjoyed being the center of attention for a little while.
And she loved having a chance to play with a new doll all by herself.

Go Liam, Go!

I have to say that Liam has an unstoppable personality. He decided this afternoon that it was time to take the training wheels off his bike and so he took them off himself. This is a self-starter we have here. Why wait for Dad to help when you can do it yourself.
By the time Alan made it home from work, Liam was riding most of the way down the driveway on his own. He's even figured out the breaks on the bike and that you have a softer landing when you fall over on the grass instead of the gravel.
Something tells me this kid will be going places soon.

It's Been One of Those Days. . .

This is why all screw drivers need to be hung from the ceiling or hidden behind a lock and key around here. The child involved was very upset when he realized his alarm clock was broken and had no intention of breaking it. Poor kid was very upset so at least I think he won't try this trick again. I'm assuming he was just trying to figure the clock out and then realized he could not put it back together on his own.

Robert's New Toy

Here's Robert in the new bouncy seat from his Grandparents. Yes, we did actually buy a new one for Gabe but it did not survive the older siblings, hence the need for one for Robert.
I swear the child does actually seem to like the seat when he is not being harassed by his older siblings (what you are not seeing in this picture is the older sister waiting anxiously in the wings for me to turn my back so she can pounce on the poor boy). The seat also converts to a toddler rocking chair so it is built to withstand an older, heavier child as well. I figured this would be a good thing to have around here since I have learned from past experience that it is almost impossible to keep the older children out of the seats. Sure, I could get mean and yell all the time but I'd rather relax about it and take the cute pictures when they climb into the seat and sit next to the baby. So far both Gabe and Abby have already taken turns trying out this seat and they both love it. Here's hoping it survives until Robert learns to sit up on his own and can defend himself a wee little bit.

Easter Morning

This is the calm, before the children woke up picture. I'd love to have an after shot for you but Alan let me stay in bed and feed the baby this morning so I missed most of the chaos that ensues when you take 7 children and add copious amounts of chocolate. A friend offered to make Easter baskets for the kids this year so they ended up with a lot more than they ever get from Mom and Dad. Then everyone got dressed in matching clothes (as long as you don't count the socks) and went off to church. We even had everyone's hair done and folks were all looking presentable. That was before Mass. I should have taken a picture when we first got there because by the end of Mass things were not so pretty looking. Let's just say it was the kind of day that starts with "Um, Gabe smells poopy." "I don't have an extra diaper for him. Hm, we can use the receiving blanket as a diaper if I fold it right and you tie it on him." This really would not be a problem since we use flats around the house on occasion but someone forgot the step that included tying the diaper on the child in front to keep on tight enough. It feel off frequently during Mass. Various other children seemed to think they could climb on people and change seats frequently. On a positive note, all of the blue egg dye washed off Bryan's hands before morning so he looked presentable on the altar. I guess you win some and you loose some and as long as everyone is in one piece when you leave church, some days you call that good enough.

Coloring Easter Eggs

Before:
During:




After:
On a side note, we have learned that it is not really a good idea to dye Easter eggs the night before Easter when you have a child who is supposed to serve at Mass in the morning. Hope no one minds the blue hands. And the one-year-old can be counted on to morph very quickly from a happy kid to a toddler melt down when you tell him he has already dyed his 3 eggs and now his turn is over.

Sleepy Boys

This is what happens when you skip naptime to attend church on Good Friday. The little ones crash rather early.

Book Review

We've been searching lately for books to provide the boys as they enter these wonderful adolescent years that will help them understand what it truly means to be a man. Not sure if I quite worded that right but it will have to do. Finding these books from a Christian perspective is hard enough. Finding them from a Catholic perspective is even harder. But I have finally managed to find a book that fits. It discusses everything we'd want to cover from vocations, virtues, the dignity of life, custody of the eyes around girls (very important one there), preparing yourself to provide for your family so your wife can stay home with the kids, chivalry, Catholic organizations and ones that are not, cooking, hygiene, building a prayer life and more. This book does not discuss sexuality in any real detail since those discussions should always come from Mom and Dad but it does discuss so much more. If you will have preteen boy soon, I suggest reading the book All Things Guy. I would say it is meant for the 10 to 13 range as an older child would likely feel the book talks down to them a bit (seriously, how many times must you refer to someone as dude in one book). This book also has a companion series for girls, All Things Girl. The girls' series is much more in depth and has I believe 5 different books covering various topics. I am hoping that the publishers will come out with more books for the guys side of things in the near future. These books get a definite thumbs up around here.

Our Little Big Boy

Gabe is always full of energy and into something around here. His latest trick is learning how to open the fridge on his own (I see a lock on that door in the near future). Just wanted to share a few pictures of the little dude in action.
Gabe and Abby love to play on the Sit n Spin together. They even play nicely and don't knock each other off.
After helping Dad paint earlier, he had to take a chance to practice his new skills on his own.
His current favorite activity is holding his little brother. He is a wonderful big brother and loves to kiss his brother and point at his face.