Balloon Fun!

Prince got a Rocket Pack!

Princess got a Pink Flamingo!

My little Knight got a giraffe!

DadOf3 and I took the kids on a date last night. We went to one of the kids' favorite restaurants. There was a Balloon Guy there! He was quite talented and made all sorts of balloon creations for the kids eating at the restaurant. Here is what he made for our kids!

Wordless Wednesday - Not ready to give up naps!

Busy day with Friends!

Princess is all ready for her playdate in a dress from Aunt Icky!
The kids were a blur of dancing!

AB and Princess - dancing machines!

Time to play Mousetrap!

Princess and AB

AB's Mom and I worked out a great deal today! She watched Princess, Prince, and the Knight while I got groceries gloriously alone! Afterward, I picked up all four kids and they played over here for 4 hours so AB's mom could pack. They are flying out to see all of the grandparents tomorrow. The kids had a fun time playing Dance Party, Mousetrap, and Wii. They were pretty darn cute!

Boating fun!

Princess, Prince, and AB on the tube!
Princess popped up on her VERY first try!!

Princess was so happy and proud of herself!

My little prince got up too!

Here is Prince again!

My little Knight had a great time on the tube with AB's dad!

We had a great time boating with friends this afternoon! Such a fun day!

Fantastic Saturday!

We have had a fantastic day all the way round here in FamilyOf5Land! The kids let us sleep until 8:00 this mornning - a real treat! DadOf3 decided to show off his cooking skills by making some awesome waffles. We played and then had lunch. Everyone napped but DadOf3 who went looking at boats - this has been a quest for several months. He really wants to buy a boat! After naps we had a quick and early supper and then headed to the pool. The kids played "pull daddy under the water" and had a great time! Now we are going to tuck under blankets for some down time and put the kids to bed!

I hope your Saturday was as fun as ours!

Garage Sale Prep

We spent a LOT of time in Princess's room this morning sorting through things, throwing away junk papers and just making her room look nice in general. Princess really enjoys doing this - I am lucky - this dreaded task went very quickly! We sorted through most of her things and we have a nice pile of toys for the garage sale. I am thinking that we can have it one week from tomorrow or the following weekend if the weather is not going to be nice the first weekend.

Princess has done her reading already today. We spend the first hour of the boys' naptime reading Monday thru Friday. We have kept track of all of her reading and we will turn it in to her teacher at the beginning of the school year. I can tell we lost some ground in the two weeks we took off while traveling. We are back at it with a vengence now, however. Princess had a tough teacher last year but I think it has prepared her for second grade. At least I have heard that the homework Princess had for first grade is very similar to that of second grade. I know I have whined about this before, but isn't this an excessive amount of homework for a first grader??

Monday: Read 3 books outloud (45 minutes), Study for a 21 word spelling test (30 minutes), complete a double-sided math worksheet (15-30 minutes).

Tuesday: Read 3 books outloud (45 minutes), Study for a 21 word spelling test (30 minutes)

Wednesday: Read 3 books outloud (45 minutes), Study for a 21 word spelling test (30 minutes)

Thursday: Study for spelling test and complete spelling homework: 1) Write each word neatly, 2) Draw a picture and create a caption using at least 3 spelling words, 3) Separate words into nouns, verbs, and other categories.

Anyway, I hope second grade is about the same because we made it through 1st grade! I think it will be better because Princess will be more self-sufficient this year. I will also have homework for my little Prince this year: reading every night. Kindergarten is a breeze compared to 1st grade...

Rain, rain go away!

It is supposed to be rainy here today so that means my plan for taking the kids to a free movie is on! We have only made it to one other free movie this summer. Last summer we went to about one per week. A year ago, it rained all summer long. This summer has been better, thank goodness.

There is not much else going on today. Yesteday was a busy, normal-ish day. We went to the park, got groceries, and I got all the laundry done. We have earned our easy movie day. I do still need to get into the kids' rooms, however. We are planning to have a garage sale in the near future. The kids are pretty excited about selling some of the toys that they do not use anymore and making a profit off of them. It is not a bad idea. But to really do this, I think we need to pick a date and stick to it. A deadline will help me get organized.

I bet Princess will want to have a Lemonade Stand at the garage sale too. She is quite the little entrepreneur. I am not sure even how to price things. I guess we will just guess!

A nice, normal day!

We have had a nice, normal day today. And that feels awesome! With all the traveling we have done this month, it felt really good to take the kids to the park this morning and then get groceries.

Yes, it was a little too much to do in one day and the kids made me pay for it at the grocery store, but it was good for all of us. Our time at the park is not, shall I say, a walk in the park. My kids play hard. They love the monkey bars (the Prince can do them now! Princess has been able to do them for 2 year), walking/running the trails, climbing the jungle gyms, and swinging. They play hard at the park and I encourage them to do so. We all need exercise.

Next week my plan is to get back to the gym so I can get some walking in while they play in the playroom and then let them swim. That is so good for us. Everyone comes home tired and happy. Tomorrow we are supposed to get some rain so I may take my trio to a free movie. They love going and it makes for a pretty easy morning for me.

Happy 7th Princess!

Princess and Prince getting ready to open presents! It is a good thing I was actually organized this year! I would have had no time to shop for Princess after my girls' weekend.
Princess with her present from Aunt and Uncle B and B!

My little Knight opened a gift too!

My little Prince opened his gift from Mommy and Daddy.

Princess and a gift from Mommy and Daddy!

Princess got an MP3 player and UNO from Aunt J Uncle C, and Cousins O and E!

Princess got some pretty jewels to make into pictures from Grandma and Papa!

It has been one year since we brought Miney and Moe home!

Princess blows out 7 candles!

Happy Birthday to my very special little girl! I hope 7 is your best year yet!

I am back!

GGW 2008 was fun. It was good to catch up with everyone.

Bitter Sweet....

We had a fun night last night. We took our good friends out for supper and then came back to the house. They have a 9 year old daughter who gets along really well with Princess. They also have a 14 year old son who loves video games and plays with Prince and Prince LOVES the competition! At 5 years old, he has surpassed everyone's video game skills around here except for DadOf3.

It was a bitter sweet night because they are leaving on Friday. The dad has accepted a new job many, many states away. We had a great night last night but we will sure miss them!

I have created a new website if you are interested in hearing about more the announcement I made yesterday. Until December, I will write little to nothing on this blog about it. If you are interested you may visit www.momofonetwothreefour.blogspot.com. :)

Now I need to upload the pictures from our big Iowa trip! I hope to post some soon. Family members - be on the lookout for emails from me with pictures!

Tonight I am flying out for my annual GGW trip! Once a year I get together with my good friends from Iowa. With our family changes I will not be able to go next year so I am really looking forward to seeing everyone.

Wordless Wednesday - Baby #4!

We are back!

We had a good trip to Iowa, and now we are back. Reality is setting in, as it always does. I am always caught in the "in between" for a few days after a trip like this. I miss everyone so much. I don't really want to be back here in the land of mostly acquaintances.

• I want to be with people who know me and love me anyway.
• I want to belly laugh with my sister over lunch more than twice a year.
• I want to have long conversations with my mother about the world we live in, the politicians who are messing it up and what we can do about it.
• I want to see the kids giggle with Grandpa J.
• I want to talk to my future sister in law (B and B got engaged on the 4th of July!!) and help her plan her wedding. I want watch DadOf3 tease his little brother about getting hitched!
• I want to play make-believe with my little nephew who has the best imagination in the world!
• I want to talk to my brilliant little niece, O, who at almost 9 years old has a lot to say. I want to hear it.
• I want to play with my niece, E, and get to know her better so I am not a stranger to her.
• I want to play cards with my mother and father in law while trash talking and laughing.
• I want to talk with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law about the world we live in.
• I want to go to the shed and watch the kids drive the old jeep, ride the 4-wheeler and smile so big that it seems it will stay forever.
• I want to go to Adventureland and feed the kids cotten candy and watch them go into a sugar frenzy.
• In short, I want to go home.

This feeling numbs over time. The tears do not come as easily.

We have a life here, and it is a good life. I think it is human nature to want what we do not have, and truly, if we lived in Iowa, it would not always be like the week and a half we have just spent there.

Soon it will be time to get the kids ready to go back to school (shudder). Life will get get busy again. There will be sports to practice and play, spelling tests to study for, reading and writing to practice. I will need to decide if I am going to be a room parent again.

I have learned from past mistakes that it is better to keep myself busy. Having too much time on my hands encourages me to think too much and focus too much on myself and what I am missing. But then again we have a big change coming to our family soon (more on that later) and I do not want to overbook myself.

All of these things will work themselves out in time.

Today we need to get the house back in order, the laundry done, and groceries bought. The boys are being pretty good and Princess is still sleeping at 9:15! That usually means she will wake up happy. That helps on a busy day like today.

Hi ho, hi ho, it's back to life we go.....

Heading to IOWA!

We are heading to Iowa bright and early tomorrow morning! I hope to blog while I am gone!

Have a great day and THANKS for stopping by my blog!!

Potty Training Lightbulb!

This weekend the Knight had a Potty Training Lightbulb! He decided that it was good to go potty AND poopy in the toilet! He has been in underpants ALL week and we have had nary an accident. Yippee my little Knight!! Awesome job!!

We figured that every pull-up he doesn't use saves us about 50 cents! Woo hoo! If I can eliminate pull-ups altogether, that will save at least $14.99 every week from the grocery bill. I have been trying to keep the grocery bill as close to $100 per week as possible (not as easy as it sounds with a famiy of 5), so this is like getting a raise!

Prince's Birthday Night!

The Prince's birthday presents!

Present 1 of 3 from the W family!

Princess helping the Prince open gifts!

Present 2 of 3 from the W family!

A gift for everyone!

Daddy helps Princess with our mommy's new DS. We bought games for the kids but the players belong to us.

Daddy helping the Prince with Daddy's DS.

The Prince's cake!

What a big 5 year old!

Happy birthday little Prince!