Before and After

I wanted to do something different with my hair, but wanted to keep the length, so I decided to get a perm.  It scared me to death, but I thought it would be an adventure if nothing else.

 

Here I am with my oh-so-lovely rollers in.  There's nothing like sitting there with a solution of what smells like cat urine on your head to make you reconsider your life.

 

Man I looked good.

 

Before:

 

And after!

Okay, that wasn't my real before and afters, but it always cracks me up how in the before picture, the person is typically not wearing makeup, is slouching, and just looks miserable. 

 

Before:

 

After:

 

 

It wasn't exactly what I was thinking, but I think I like it.  It's different for sure!

It's Lord of the Flies Time

We are moving next week to Springfield.  This is a very emotional move for us, and I'll talk more about that another day, but I've spent my days packing and trying to achieve some level of sanity around here.

Today, it all came crashing down.  The baby was napping, I was in a packing frenzy, and the three oldest were turned into adorable couch potatoes watching Cars.

This lasted awhile, but when the movie finished for the second time, I told them it was time to play quietly.  Panic ensued.  Fights broke out.  And so I did what any good mother would do.  I sent them outside to play.

Sounds great, right?  E and C have somehow abandoned their pants.  I neglected to change any of them out of their pjs.  Charlie is wearing the liner for the dirty laundry hamper on his head saying, "Ghostie!  Ghostie, ghostie, ghostie!"  Emily is screaming.  I can hear drumbeats off in the distance.   They sound like mutiny and the loss of civilization as we know it.

I'm out of boxes, the baby's awake, and the neighbors are probably wondering if these little urchins have a mother.  I guess it's time to rein in the tiny tyrants.

A Tail of 5 Kitties, and Andrew's Feeling Swine.

 

 

 

 

This Post Based on Actual Events

Me - "Hi there, Henry Baby!  Can you smile?"

 

Me-  "Hi there, Charlie Baby!  Can you smile?"

Charlie - "I am NOT a baby."

 

Sorry to offend you, little guy.

 



If You're a Parent and You Know It, Clap Your Hands

As surely as auto-correct will make you look like a blabbering idiot on Facebook, parenthood is bound to have its ups and downs.  Here are some tricks I've learned to stay semi-sane.  (Awesome changed to 'Aerosmith'?  Medicine to 'for a boy'?  Really, auto-correct?  Really??)

 

1.  If you call it oatmeal, they will all turn up their noses in disgust.  If you call it goat-meal and make up a story about how much this baby goat loves it, they will eat it happily and request it for breakfast.  "Can I have some goatmeal please?"

 

2.  If your kids don't seem to be drinking enough water, fill up your cup about halfway and ask if anyone wants a drink.  They all will want to, because it's YOUR cup.  The first kid will guzzle it all up because they want to get more than the other kids.  Fill it up halfway again.  The same thing will happen to the second kid.  Fill it up halfway again.  The third kid will also guzzle it up, because they will feel they have to get as much as the other kids.  Think in your mind, "I got you, you greedy little piggies.  I got you."

 

3.  When the kids are fighting, threaten them with this, "Ok, fine.  I guess you can't play together anymore."  They will discover their undying sibling love and beg you to reconsider.

 

4.  If you want them to wake up from a nap, go lie down to take one for yourself.

 

5.  If they ask where meat, eggs, cheese, milk, etc comes from, and you tell them the truth...they will not believe you.  No matter how much you try to teach them, they do not believe you.  The correct answer will always be, "from the store."

 

6.  In August, it is acceptable to them when you say, "Wow, that would be fun.  Let's remember to ask Santa for that for Christmas."  In January, it is acceptable to say, "Wow, that would be fun.  Let's remember that for your birthday in a couple months."  They have no concept of time....and that is awesome.

 

7.  If you want their help cleaning something, tell them they can't do it.  Want the windows cleaned?  Tell them it's a special job that you have to do.  The next time when you ask them to do it?  It will be like Christmas arrived early.  The same applies to sweeping, mopping, feeding the baby, etc.  Someday they will say I manipulated them.  And I will laugh my maniacal little laugh and nod. 

Strapping 5 Month Old

We LOVE having Henry around.  Not only is he cute, but he is so happy and funny.  He is a true joy to spend time with, and we loooove him.

 

He loves to smile, sit up, be held, eat, talk, and has decided that anything and everything tastes GOOD and must get in his mouth immediately.

 

For instance, his toes.  This picture was taken kind of accidently.  Charlie asked what Henry was doing and I said biting his toes.  I tried to get one of him watching Henry, but instead captured a shot of Charlie BITING HIS TOE.  You might not be able to tell, but this was the moment Hank started screaming at the top of his lungs and big bro C was so confused.  Why was he upset when he was doing the exact same thing?  Good grief.

 

He was really interested in the warning label on the side of the Bumbo seat.  He tries to pick up words and pictures from books, etc.  We all find that pretty adorable.  He finds it slightly frustrating.

 

This picture cracks me up.  I got down on his level to get a picture of him lying down, and he spotted the camera.  He can't crawl yet, but does an amazing job getting around anyway.  He will either roll or he will point his little toes and launch himself forward.  He did that over and over trying to reach me, making this face the whole time.  He actually did succeed in getting to the camera.  I felt kind of bad not letting him touch it.  He worked so hard.  :)

 

These pictures remind me of his big bro Charlie when he was about 6 months old - http://firstcomeslove-jacobs.blogspot.com/2013/08/attack.html

 

Henry also loves his little walker (we have no stairs, so it's safe), grabbing my cheeks and giving me kisses, reading books, and playing with his brothers and sisters. 

 

 He loves being outside, seeing his daddy come home from work, listening to music, and being tickled.  Basically, he is so super sweet and wonderful.  I love having my Henry boy around.  He makes my life better, and makes me want to be better. 

 

 

 

 

If You Were an Apple, I'd Pick You.

This was actually our second time going apple picking this year.  The plus side was it was about 10-15 degrees cooler this time than it was last time! 

 

The kids liked picking grass for the sheep and goats.

 

Andrew liked using the apple picker and carrying his bucket.  He kept lagging behind and then would run to catch up with us yelling, "Wait for the child!  Don't forget the child!"

 

 

Picking apples always brings up such great childhood memories.  Eating apples right off the tree, seeing where the worms have gotten to some, seeing all the colors and sizes of the apples, and finding the perfectly sweet fruit!

 

Henry was pretty much a silent observer, except that when he got close enough to a tree, he grabbed the leaves until one of them popped off, then he would try to eat it.  I didn't realize he was doing this for awhile, but once I caught onto it, I thought it was hilarious.  And then I could stop him from eating the leaves! 

 

For being such a tiny guy, he sure did a good job getting a double chin there. :) 

 

Henry had a leaf at this point, and Andrew had an apple. 

 

"Don't go sittin' under the apple tree with anyone else but me."

She is such a sweetheart. 

 

She's also learned how to play the system.  I caught her moving her apples from her basket to Charlie's so he had to carry her load.  And this was her favorite part of the whole process - eating apples barefoot while "guys do her work."  Emily=Tom Sawyer

 

A Tale of Haircuts

 It was time for everyone to get a haircut.  The boys both looked like they had huge heads, and Emily screamed the whole time I was brushing the tangles and knots out of her hair.

I told her she looked very cute.  She said, "No, I just look beautiful!"

 

Mike and I couldn't stop laughing at Charlie's hair when the top was done and the sides were still to go.  The picture doesn't quite do it justice.

Andrew likes his hair to be long, deeming short hair to be "boring."  At least he didn't ask to keep it in a jar and name it Fluffy like last time. 

They're cute.

They're Just Funny

The kids always start out wearing pants.  I swear.

   I can't help it.  My kids are hilarious.  They crack me up so much.  I wish I would always remember everything they say, but there are some gems that I'm sure I've forgotten.  These are just a few.

Andrew: Dad, what's yepster?
Michael: I don't know.
A: Dad, what is it?
M: I don't know, buddy. Maybe someone who says "yep" a lot?
A: Maybe it's someone who likes pizza. That's for sure, is it?
M: Maybe so.
A: I love pizza. I can't help it! Yepster, yepster, yepster!!
 Emily saw my cut and said, "Oh, when I was your mommy, I had a cut just like that."
I think it's her version of "When I was a little girl, I..."  Just adorable.

Charlie was walking by me and I accidently lightly tapped his head with my swinging arm.  He said rather indignantly, "Mom, why you attackin' me?!"  I had to repress my laughter and did so long enough to tell him I wasn't trying to attack him and that I was sorry.  He said then, "It's okay, Mommy, but you gotta say sorry for stuff like that."
I forget often that he is only 2!  Such a good, hilarious talker.

I was asking Emily questions about her favorite color (purple), animal (cat), character on Sesame Street (Betty Lou) and just to tease her I said, "What's your favorite mommy?"  Her answer?
"My church Mommy.  Not really you, Mommy, but I like my church Mommy.  The blue one."  Her teacher from church.  I guess those 9 months in the womb didn't make a strong enough bond to secure my place as her favorite mommy.  I can't compete with Audri Detlor!  :)

Tonight Andrew was acting silly (imagine that) so I said, "Ok, well that's it.  I've gotta send you on a monkey train."  Emily pipes up with a super excited "Oh wow!  That would be so cute!  Ok Mom.  Let me get on your lap...I mean...the car...and we will go to a cat train.  PLEASE?!"

When Charlie meets people, he will often lead off with, "Hi!  Do you like my thumb?" 
When he gets his feelings hurt, he asks me to kiss his eyebrows.
Today he said, "Hey, you have eyebrows!  Me too.  They are awesome."

Andrew and I really enjoy the crazy things the other kids say.  Today Emily told us she won a prize - a dancer and a music-er.  Then she held out her hands and started to hum and dance.  (Apparently these allowed her to dance and sing again.)  Andrew looked at me with a little smile on his face and said, "Ai-ai-ai."

Charlie says numerous times a day, "Don't forget....I love you."  To me, to Mike, to all the kids in turn.  Pretty sweet.

The kids were outside playing yesterday digging in the dirt and I told them not to make mud.  Well, apparently none of them heard that.  I was putting the baby down for a nap when Charlie came in and I thought, "That's a weird sock.  I've never seen that befo.....that's mud."  They were all covered in mud, making mud pies, mud balls, and mud lakes.  I got Charlie all stripped and cleaned up, and then went to get Emily.  And yes, in this picture you can see that Charlie had gone outside again and when I told him to get back inside, he put down the mud pie and stepped in a mud lake.  I ended up cleaning him up three times.  The other two got cleaned up and couldn't understand why I said not to go outside for awhile.  A little later on I heard the door open and the kids all go outside.  I said, "Nope!  Come back inside."  I came into the living room in time for Andrew to launch himself back inside face first.  He then pretended he'd been inside the whole time.

I love these kids.  Even when they're covered with mud.  I love them from their amazing eyebrows to their muddy (again) feet.

Festival, Bestival

We've been trying to take advantage of local festivals around here (or as Emily and Charlie call them "bestivals.")  After the pie festival thing, we really wondered about others, but we have had a great time!!!

 Our first stop was the Celtic festival.  They had it free on Friday night so we took advantage of that.  Next year we should splurge for the paid day, because there was more going on.  It was so fun anyway, though!!!  Having ancestors that came from Scotland, bagpipes, clans, all that stuff kind of hits me right in the heart.  I'm really not even sure why it touches me so much!  This picture is of the kids got to meet some Scotties.

They all loved petting the ponies. Emily in particular.  We saw another nice little happy dog and the brave girl watched it for a while before saying it was kind of scaring her (she's really nervous around dogs).  I said, "Ok honey, but just so you know, you don't have to be scared of this dog."  She said, "I not scared of the dog.  I just kind of scared of those teeth."  Sweet girl!!

Here are the kids being "scared" of Nessie.

Just when he couldn't get more handsome to me.  Look at those locks.

Who gave that kid a firearm license?

 They grow so fast.

 

Quite the sword you've got there, kid.

4 months looks good on you.

For having such a buff bod, what's the deal with the little skinny chicken wrists?

Andrew bought peacock feathers for himself and Charlie.  Charlie boy went around to everyone he saw and said, "Do you like my feather?  It's a BOY!"

It wouldn't be an proper family outing without someone getting a candid photo of themselves picking their nose.  You'd think I would spot that before I got home so I could get another picture... :)

The calling of the clans - we even got to meet a couple from Scotland that was visiting a friend.  It was super fun, and we refrained from following them around all night to listen to them talk.

Next up was Bolivar Country Days!  The kids had an absolute blast.  Emily pretended to drive the train while chugga-chugga-choo-chooing the whole way. 

Even Baby Henry had a good time!  But then again, when is he not having a fun time?  He's such a happy guy.

While the kids were on the train we got a picture of the three of us.   

The kids were excited to see a cowboy doing tricks!  We all left half deaf from the loudspeakers, but it was fun nonetheless. 

We stayed for almost the whole thing.  As you can see, the kids started getting tired a little ways into it.  They all agreed it was worth the trip!

I love family days!