Tuesday, May 29, 2012

a happy memorial day

we had a really good long memorial day weekend.
we made red, white, and blue rice crispy treats for our annual bbq.
(even though they came out more like red, white, and green because i ran out of blue food coloring)
matt and david went and worked on the boat again early that morning. we had planned to take it out after the bbq, but unfortunately we need some parts that need to be ordered. so no memorial day boating for us. :(

so while we waited for daddy we took some pictures.
frankie attempting the hand on hip.
then i tried to get the 3 little ones, but that didn't go too well either.
someone's always mad.
(addie)
i was able to coax the big kids to put their shirts on and take exactly 3 pictures. then they took them off.
(shhhh, they left the tags on and i'm returning them. i didn't buy them intending to do that, but they refused to wear them and i'm not one to be wasteful)
the bbq was fun and delicious. after we ate matt took the little girls down to the park and i didn't see them again for hours. he's a good daddy. 
delaney took a snooze in the fresh air and shade.
she is so, so, so sweet. :)
frankie met up with her boyfriend landon .
getting in good with the grandpa-in-law. ;)
snow cones!
that's ma' girl!
since the boat was a no go, mccombs and rays decided to go to plan b which was to hang out at our pool. we went home and put little girls to bed and then lexi and katie insisted they didn't want to go to the pool, soooo matt and i got to go without babies! we actually got to go swim, that never happens! after about an hour christian brought laney. then about a half hour after that, joseph brought addie and franks. after swimming for a few hours we headed over to mccombs for yet another bbq.

love not being in charge of the whole dinner!
so summer!
after eating and visitng we read scriptures there. lexi and joseph (aka aloseph) were being so sweet with eachother. joseph had a toothache so lexi was cuddling him and playing with his hair. it was sweet and surprisingly scripture time was quiet.




it was a really good day and a really good weekend.
i am so very grateful to live in this country and for all the people that have sacrificed so much to make it so great. and i am so grateful for the rich military heritage in my family.
and a happy memorial day was had by all.



4 whole months - by delaney

4 months old, woo-hoo!
my mom broke her phone this month, so there's not a lot of variety to my pictures, but here goes.

i'm still taking baths in my little baby bath. mama keeps saying she's gonna put me in the big tub with addie and frankie soon, but i am in no hurry. tgbo (the giant blond one) scares me a little bit and 9 out of 10 interactions with her she makes me cry. i'm sure she doesn't mean to, but she's pretty much a brute.
tootsies. just because they're adorable.
i still like my carseat enough. especially now that i can play with toys. good thing cause we're always on the go!
i had a harrowing experience last week when i rolled off the couch. my mom was taking tgbo to the potty and i wanted to see what was going on. after i fell, i was m-a-d, mad!
i'm getting elf ears! cool, huh?
also, check out my cool eyebrows! they're always moving!
hands are delicious. period.
actually, most things are delicious. blankets, toys, other peoples hands, yum, yum, yum!
this big sister is pretty sweet. sometimes she holds me too tightly, but we get along pretty well. and she's an absolute saint when compared to tgbo!
and now some pics from just before bedtime today.
this is my pensive on pensive street.
i'm funny, right?
i'm a pretty good baby if i do say so myself. i had about a week this month that i decided to be a major brat. i only wanted to be held and only by mama. my mom wasn't sure if it was teeth or gas or what, but thankfully it ended.
surprised!
now i'll usually let anyone hold me. which is good, because we're out and about a lot and i sometimes get shuffled. like at christian's baseball games, i'm pretty much the team baby. every one holds me and cuddles me and passes me around, it's awesome.
i still like my bouncy seat and my big green toy and not so much my bumbo. it makes me slump over and i just don't like it. plus, it's easy access for tgbo, so that's not good.
i drool a ton but i don't have any teeth and i eat pretty good, even though i'm still pretty petite. i have no hair and lots of boogers. my mom thinks i have allergies even though the dr said i'm too little for all that. mama knows best though, right? at least that's what she keeps saying...
i still wake up once or twice a night. i usually go to sleep around 10, wake up anywhere from 2-5, then go back to sleep till around 10. then i go back down around 12 or 1. i still get a little crabby in the evening, but you know, some days are better than others.
i still sleep in mama and daddy's room (in the pack and play) but mama keeps saying i'm going to my own room soon. i hope that will be good cause it sounds exciting! i usually just nurse to sleep, but every now and then i put myself to sleep. i like to keep everyone guessing.
i went swimming for the first time, which was okay but after a few minutes sitting by the pool it put me to sleep.
so that covers sleeping, eating, and new skills.
i think that's all for now.

until 5 months!

love,

delaney

catch up - 5/19-5/27

*saturday, may 19* 
christian had a game at a new ball field (cecil park) and matt and i did not divide and conquer!!!
first game of the season that we actually got to sit and watch together and it was so fun. we packed a picnic, the little girls played, fun, fun, fun.
(more to come w/pictures)
that afternoon i took the little girls to a pampered chef party at debby's. delish and fun.
that night i'm sure we did something... maybe an avengers movie?

*sunday, may 20*
day of rest
and aren't freshly bathed babies just delicious???

*monday, may 21*
alexis had a dr's appt, so we dropped the girls off at alecia's and really had a fun time. we talked and giggled and i got caught up on the comings and goings of leonardtown high school.
so glad i'm not in high school anymore, and kinda sad that i have to send my children there every day.
that afternoon was the big middle school track and field event. christian did well and had fun.
(more to come)

that night we went to mccombs for dinner and some wholesome recreational activities.
(since i am a loser and didn't plan the fhe lesson or schedule)

*tuesday, may 22*
we got sprinklers, yay!
tax return dollars at work and i tell ya, we feel like we're living in high cotton over here! so nice not to be moving around sprinklers all day! or really, so nice for matt to not be moving sprinklers around all day. :)

since we knew we had to be home all day, we scheduled sae (sarah, abby, and ellie) to come over for a photo shoot! those two are soooo cute together!
(more to come)
the big little girls came and tried to help after a few minutes, so it was kinda short lived.
heather came over and i got all visit taught and the kids played and watched the sprinkler guys.
that night christian had a game, so we all loaded up and went to watch the yankees.

*wednesday, may 23*
glorious day, glorious day!
 the return of the kid swap!!! and i needed it so!
delaney must have felt guilty for last time i had time without the bigger girls, cause she was a perfect angel! she seriously slept all day, woke up to eat, then right back to sleep. i was able to get soooo much done, it was awesome! i was able to spend time organizing because... we've decided to hire a housekeeper. it really pains me to do it, (and kinda makes me feel like a failure) but i'm having major trouble keeping up with everything since becoming a mom to 2 teenagers and 3 3-and-under. and i know a clean house isn't the most important thing, but it does make things so much nicer. and matt's in school and getting a little bit of gi bill $, and, and, and excuses. i just don't want to miss out on time with our kids right now. seems like they all need me so much. she comes for the first time tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes.

that night we had an appt at church then rushed christian to a make-up baseball game. laura came with me and we had a fun time cheering and chatting.

*thursday, may 24*
preschool day and sweet alecia offered to watch riley. that enabled me to finish laundry, start dinner, and spend some time with the franks (and the lanes too:). after preschool we headed to lowes where the girls helped me pick some plants and other various sundries.
we stayed out longer that i had planned and to ensure everyone ate lunch before naps and that everyone got a nap (they have been so overtired lately!), we picked up happy meals.
bad picture, but the girls were so cute finishing their lunch at their little table. :)
(even though they're not supposed to eat in their room)
that afternoon lexi had piano and then we went and ate pizza and ice cream at mccombs.
frankie frog loves ice cream. :)
this after pic courtesy of christian.
*friday, may 25*
matt was off on friday, happy day. we also got to watch abby for our turn in the kid swap. they played outside and watched pocahontas and had a good day. they are so funny when the lazily lounge outside.
 matt ran around getting things done all morning, and by that afternoon i had decided i needed a haircut and i needed it now. my hair has been so unruly and i couldn't take it anymore. and as i do every few months, i decided i needed bangs too. you know, spruce up my mom pony a little bit.
da hollywood bangs. ;)
that evening, christian and i took the 4 little girls and headed up to the clubhouse to register the little girls for the fun run on saturday. they let all the kids sign up on this board and addie wrote her name so nicely. :)
close up.
i let the girls play at the park for awhile and then it was time for the fun eq date night at church. we had a good time playing games and eating ice cream. christian enjoyed some quiet time at home and alexis hung out at robins and ate at salsas. that night alexis and i had a heart-to-heart. parenting is hard and i have been praying and working and praying and working. and i am so thankful when i feel prompted and guided, and i felt that that night. we had a good talk and it ended with a nice hug. i love that girl so much.

*saturday, may 26*
up and at 'em nice and early. we had our first annual leonards grant 5k! this is what christian and i had been training for for the past month. the kids fun run started at 8, so we left our house at 7:45. my girls run all day long, so i thought for sure they would have fun running 1/4 mile around the green. not so much.
they were tired because we'd been out late friday night (even though they woke up on their own) and just not really into it.
christian and matt trying to line them up.

in the end matt ran with frankie and i ran with addie. it went a little something like this. walk, talk addie up so she would run, happily run for a minute, then randomly stop and cry. repeat. we tearily crossed the finish line and they got a gold medal, cookies, and bananas.
then it was time for the 5k. we weren't sure that matt was gonna make it (with his 2 week annual training and all), so chris and i had planned that he would run as fast as he could (he wanted to place in the top 10) and then come back and take the stroller so i could finish. i made a last minute decision though to let lexi keep the little girls. i signed her up to run too but she declined. she refused to walk, run, bike, or in any other way participate. i decided she at least had to come out and cheer us on and then that she might as well keep the little girlies.

it was so fun, we know most of our neighbors and christian had invited chelsea, so martines' came and ran too. fun, fun, fun event. :)

christian finished first from our group, i think his time was 25 minutes, matts was 28, and slow and steady i pulled up the rear with 33 minutes.
post race pic.
(more to come)
after the race spencer picked christian up and they went to the swapmeet where chris bought this little diddy.
he's decided he'd like to decorate his room with them. boys are so weird.

 matt and david left to work on the boat, lexi went to mccombs to hang out, and johnna came for a playdate at the park. her grandson landon is going to marry our frankie you know.
we brought the kiddos home and johnna had brought them each a lunchable. then she helped us pick up. i have good friends! during the babies nap the big kids and i watched chronicle. then after naps (while laney was still sleeping) i took the girls up to the pool that just opened.
dinner and baths and lifetime movies and bed rounded out our saturday.
after the little girlies went down, the big kids and i went drugstore shopping (cvs and riteaid) and to pick up megan to spend the night.

*sunday, may 27*
addie loves hanging out with lexi and friends. she heard them awake and they called her to come say good morning. don't mind that she's half naked.
church was really really good. all about families and just what i needed to hear.
my top 3 things:
soft answers, mothers controlling the volume of their voice, and building protections for our families.
we had an easy dinner of grilled cheese and lunchmeat sandwiches, watched saturdays warrior, made treats for the memorial day picnic, the big kids "tanned" in the backyard (at 6pm...), and laney and i hung out on the deck.
quick preliminary wrap-up.













Tuesday, May 22, 2012

southern comfort

on friday we went up to a strawberry patch called southern comfort. it's super cute and a lot of fun. we stayed way longer than i had planned to, but we were all having such a good time and the kids were all playing nicely, so i ditched my plan.
this lady sat happily in her seat... for about 5 minutes.

we played for awhile and then it was time to pick some berries! my girls are strawberry maniacs!
after about 5 minutes of picking, notice how many are in our basket. :)
diligent little farm workers.
i picked a few, but it was kind of hard with laney attached to me.
so beautiful! love, love, love this time of year!
we finally got down to business!
mostly mommy got down to business, cause addie was still on the pick one, eat one plan, but either way, we picked our 2 lbs and called it good.
frankie got disgruntled over something and just a mommy hug (because delaney was attached to me) just wouldn't do. when alecia offered to pick her up, frankie bolted. it's so nice to have friends that we all, kids and adults alike, love. :)
she's kind of a messy eater.
for awhile frankie had been running up and down the rows of strawberries and for some reason she had ditched her shoes all the way at the end of one of the rows. when i went to take her to retrieve them, she got all scared and was pointing to this little grey bird. she wouldn't fly, she just squawked at us and flapped her wings, very territorial. 
when i finally picked frankie up (cause she was not walking by that bird), we saw why. she had made a little nest and laid her eggs right there among the strawberries. kinda cute. :)
after playing and lunch, we ventured over to the animals. i didn't last long though because miss d decided she was famished, so i got to go stand up and nurse her. oh yes, no sitting for this one. stand up or lay down and nothing in between.
so. fun.
the kids were soooo dirty. they've all had a runny nose and addie likes to "wipe it herself," which usually entails rubbing some of it on the side of her face. not on purpose, just because that's a 3-year-old wipe job. so then when she plays outside, the dirt sticks to the sticky parts. that's a mixture of one part dirt, one part strawberries, and one part kid.
as we were leaving, frankie decided she wanted to try out the bikes, but she doesn't have the hang of it yet.
and that was our super fun day at the strawberry farm.