CrAzY Day

We had such a crazy day today. I can't even begin to list it all, but I want to hit the highlights.

We ate lunch at McDonalds. That's how bad of a day it was. We were at McDonalds. I rarely

take the kids there. They really needed a place to run and play and it was 1pm so we all really

needed to eat and it fit both criteria. Madeline had fallen asleep and was NOT happy to be

woken up, even for McDonalds. Lately I've been noticing how much good attention I've been

getting - but not today. I had two women discussing me while I was in line. They were next

to me, talking about me, perhaps thinking I'd join in, I don't know. What part of "...better her

then me..." and "...all those kids..." and "she must be hungry" (or tired, I heard both). Like

I didn't know I had 4 kids and that Madeline was crying. I was holding both Madeline and

Lilah at the same time while ordering, I was obviously aware she was crying and was trying to

do something about it. We ordered and I got us and the food to our table. Madeline finally

calmed down and was actually very happy to eat her nuggets, drink her milk, and dip her

apples. We were almost done eating when Calvin spilled his drink. It splashed everywhere.

There was an older women by the drinks cleaning up so I went and told her Calvin had spilled

and she grabbed a mop and quickly came to clean up. She told us not to worry, it happens

all the time, ect. She talked to the kids, chatted with me, offered me advice about getting

Calvin's shoes wiped off. She was the nicest lady in there! I was trying to keep the kids

out of the mess and clean up our table so we could just move out of her way. On my way past

her with the tray something happened, I dont' know what, but the tray tipped and what was

left in Anna's cup splashed over the floor and the rest of Madeline's milk ran down the lady's

back and side. I spilled milk all over the only nice person in the restaurant while she tried to

help me. I felt so bad. I apologized so many times. I wiped her back off and gave her all

of Calvin's napkins for the rest of her. I was so embarrassed. We finally got to the bathroom

to clean everyone up and played without any more mishaps.

I actually took the kids to two stores after that. I was feeling brave or desperate I don't know which.

One of our errands was to buy paint and brushes - crayola paint - for the kids to create with. We

took it home and the kids painted! Anna Elise has been begging me for weeks so I caved in.

They did make a huge mess but so far everything cleaned up off of the table and the kids. I

haven't tried washing the clothes yet.

I also needed an emergency babysitter - which I found - but now owe my friend big time, went to the Dr and waited for over an hour in the waiting room (just a check up, I'm fine and

I am not pregnant!), registered Anna Elise for Kindergarten (not sure how I feel about that, I'm

not thinking about it until August), had a fax emergency and owe that same friend even more,

and managed to make dinner tonight too. I think those were all the highlights. I actually felt

like it was pretty good day for me - I was able to keep my cool and handle all that better then

usual. Those things are just going to keep happening, so I might as well learn how to deal with them. I was actually excited to tell Mike about McDonalds so somebody could laugh with me.

That poor lady tried to be a good sport about it, but I doubt she is laughing about it yet.

Here are a few pictures of the paintings, I didn't have the camera out while they were creating...

I also added pictures to Sundays blogs, so go back and read them again.

The table

You can't tell where Madeline's paper ends and the newspaper begins...she had that much paint on her too!

Anna Elise's painting of a mermaid(it's sideways) - so cute!

Happy Birthday Calvin!

Calvin turned 4 years old today. He is such a big boy! He actually opened his presents yesterday evening since Sundays are a bit hectic. Which was probably a good thing. He got sick that night and threw up for half the night - but was fine in the morning. We were all a bit tired and grouchy, but we made it through the day. At church he got sung to and they gave him a "future missionary" tag to wear - so cute! After lunch we had Sean, Rachel, and Morgan, and

Dave and Rachel come over for some singing, cake, and ice cream. Calvin's only stipulation for his cake was that it have green frosting grass on top. I went to Walmart and found a package of jungle animals, bushes, rocks, ect (for $1.88) and we put those on top of his green frosting and sprinkles. That has got to be the easiest cake I've ever decorated! He was happy. We ended the evening by putting everyone to bed early.

It's been a crazy week for us, Anna Elise and I were sick earlier in the week with the same bug Calvin had and I fell down the stairs again and now have purple knees, and had a few hectic days. On a lighter note, Mike and I were able to go to the temple together for the first time since Lilah was born. We've both been since then, but alone and it's so much better to go together. It was a very quick, but nice trip. We love having Sean and Rachel so close and so willing to help us with the kids! Thanks!

notice the patched hole in the staircase, we are making progress!

Garden

I am way behind in posting and I'd planned on catching up tonight, but the internet isn't working on our computer that has the pictures, so I can't post any! So sad. I'll add them soon, I promise.
We put a little 4 x 8 raised garden in last Friday - so a little over a week ago. Most of the planting was with plants, but we did do some seeds as well. We had a lot of rain early in the week and then two 90 degree days in a row and our seeds have already sprouted. So exciting! The only thing not coming up are the peas, but the beans are already 2 inches tall with big leaves. I guess I'm just amazed that it's growing. The best part of a raised garden is that there
are no weeds! I don't have time to pull weeds, so it's best if I plant a garden that I can take care of - an easy one! We have lots of tomatoes and peppers, green beans, carrots, broccoli, squash, cucumbers (that don't look so good), watermelon, canteloup, strawberries, peas, and I know you are thinking that fits in an 8 x 4? It doesn't. If it all lives, we will be doing some thinning!

MAdeline and Lilah playing while we planted.  Yes, Madeline's jumper is on backwards.  She had a shirt on under it early in the day.  But after playing dress up decided she liked it better without a shirt and backwards. 

Anna Elise and Calvin drew with our new sidewalk chalk in between planting.  Anna Elise drew a picture of Disney World.
So did Calvin.  His is just solid blue, but if you ask him, he will point out where every ride is.  In fact he did for Mike.

Our garden!  Only there is no empty space now, there are sprouts everywhere!

I know I have no make-up on, I've been outside working all afternoon, and Mike caught me with a wierd look, but I wanted another picture of my hair where it didn't look gray and you can see the bangs.  It looks better when I fix it...I'm getting used to it and I love it!

Easter

We had a good but crazy Easter.  We did Easter baskets that morning as well as prepared some food for lunch.  We got home from church and rushed to get some pictures, get the sweet potatoes cooked and then get everyone in the car.  We went to Charlottesville to have dinner with the Skeens.  We had a nice visit and a very loud car ride home!  

A couple of pictures of the girls and their dresses:

Then we added Calvin to the mix and it got interesting.  Here they are squinting because the sun is in their eyes.  For some reason, Calvin can only squint with his mouth open (seriously, his mouth is open in all the pictures).  Mike told him to keep his eyes open and so he tried....

Liar, Liar

I lied.  For the first time in our marriage, I lied to Mike.  Let me explain.  Every time I come home from getting my hair cut Mike secretly hopes I'll come home blonde or looking completely different or something.  I figured after 7 years, I should come home looking different.  So I made a hair appointment with my friend Megan who lives down the street and always does my hair and lied to Mike about where I was going.  I figured if I was going to surprise him, I needed for the whole thing to be a surprise.  I got blonde hightlights and I had bangs cut.  I did manage to surprise him!  

I had Anna Elise take a picture of me tonight - the lighting is not good so my blonde highlights look grey.  But it's been fun to look so different. I really love the color and the bangs. I don't ever get color, so it's probably a one time only experience, but I think I'll keep the bangs for a while! Calvin didn't like the way my "face" looked.  Anna Elise didn't like it either, but they will get used to it. 

Giggling Girls

Madeline was making Lilah laugh and giggle tonight so we caught it on tape. The high pitched squealing noise is Lilah's laugh.

Muscle Man

Here's a video of Calvin 'flexing' his 'muscles'. Yes, his shirt is on wrong side out and backwards.

Nauticus

On Saturday we took a family trip to Nauticus, a marine/Naval museum in Norfolk.  We all had a great time.  We were able to watch most of a 45 minute movie about the Ocean - it was beautiful.  The kids played with horseshoe crabs, saw fish, sharks, and all kinds of marine and naval crafts.  The highlight of the trip was going on the USS Wisconsin - the heaviest armed battleship in WWII. We weren't able to go inside the ship, but we were able to walk around on the deck, three different levels, see the guns, peek in the windows, ect.  It was very big!  Calvin was very disappointed that we didn't get a 'ride' but still enjoyed seeing the guns.  Calvin said the trip was fun, but not "really"  fun.  The only things that were "really" fun were going to Disney Word and going to the gradnma's and grandpa's houses!

On the bow of the battle shipMadeline crawling through a gun barrelProof that Lilah was there

Mike and the kids in a replica of a submarine - they weren't very good at picking anything up!

The kids in front of one of the fish tanks

Smooth Move

A while ago a friend of mine fell down the stairs. It kind of scared me. We have narrow
and kind of steep stairs since the house is over 60 years old. Every morning when I take
Lilah downstairs I am so careful to not fall - I am terrified of what could happen to her if
I fell down the stairs. I think my constant worrying about it made it happen. This morning
I slid down the last three stairs on my heels. I had Lilah in my right arm. I just kind of tucked
her into my side and hung on to her. My right elbow hit pretty hard, but she wasn't even
fazed - not a peep out of her. I flung my left arm out to try and catch myself - I'm not sure
if that was good or not - I scraped the skin off of my fore arm and wrist and it's swollen
and I can see a bruise starting to come. It really hurts. I have a feeling it might feel worse
tomorrow. I hit my tail bone as well. I am too old for this! I am just so relieved that Lilah
was ok. When I got up afterwards I was shaking so bad I had to put her down. We'll see
what else hurts in the morning!