Random pics

November was a very slow month. Pretty fabulous, considering how full October was. I took only 86 pictures this month...fewer than I have taken in a month since before the boys were born.  Here are a few pictures that haven't fit anywhere over the past few months, though...

The boys hiding...

then popping out! 

The boys all pulled out pillows to watch a movie. 

Books, books, books! 

My girlfriend Rachelle made these cute capes for the boys! 

So cute! 

Z and his friend S who lives across the street. 

This was Z's gymnastics class for Halloween. 

Z and Nate were working on sight words, and the little boys wanted in on the fun...

More books :)

Lunchtime outside.  It was a wonderful fall. Beautiful.  We spent a lot of time outside :)  

4 boys with puzzles, while Daddy watches football.  They have gotten so good at them adn will literally spend over an hour doing them, with little to no help. 

The boys snuggled up with me to watch a movie.  It was so warm and fabulous...my dream come true! 

One fun morning we went to the zoo, and it was practically empty.  We met some friends, then had a great time running around with no one in our way! 

May pictures

Here are the May pictures that didn't fit into any other post...

We had to return something to the mall, and I just happened to have my camera in my bag.  Look at what I got to walk behind...love these boys!

All the boys love their tractors (all things truck related are tractors...although now that I think about it they are starting to differentiate a bit).  They sit and happily dig in the dirt under the house or the pea gravel under the swings...but NOT in my garden. 

 Can you get any cuter? 

 I'm pretty sure that the swing with Papa Dan has exceeded the weight limit, but everyone was having fun.  :)

Ok, under our deck is gross.  Z has never ventured under it, I think we scared him with talk of snakes several years ago.  But C saw something and just took off.  Z kind of looks at us and says, "Hey, C is under the deck....can I go too?". Oh, he is such a good boy!  And then, of course, they all took off under it. 

Man alive, did the kids need haircuts!  Here is N pre and post haircut (in the first he is crazy sweaty, which made his hair stick up). 

 This was the first time we filled up this small pool for the summer. 

Cicadas

So the cicadas are out in full force.  They are disgusting, to me anyway.  But to four little boys, it can't get better.  Z has been collecting them and studying them.  He collects them with a stick then has sheltered them in one of the "trunks" of the little boys trikes, then drives around with them.  The little boys just hunch over them and stare at them.  Once, though, I guess one dive bombed N and he started screaming bloody murder.  When I ran over he just kept saying between screams/sobs:  BUG! BUG! BUG!

I have been struck by the life cycle of these bugs.  These are the 13 year cicadas.  As far as I understand in my research, now they mate, lay eggs, hatch, and bury underground, where they will stay and grow for 13 more years.  The same bugs.  And then in 13 years out they come again. 

And here is my thought:  when these cicadas were out last, Nate and I had just started dating.  And when they come out again (in 13 years), Z will be graduating from high school.  That's nuts.   

I did it!

I DID IT!

That was the battle cry as these three tippy-toed across this board.  Z learned how to do this earlier in the week, and we have some serious monkey see, monkey do action going on here.  It is never slow here!

Thankful

Over the past week I have talked with a friend struggling to get pregnant, another with a son just born 7 weeks early.  I have heard from women who have sick kids, lost homes, lost parents, lost jobs.  I was reminded that life is not always pretty, and it is not always easy, and that I am crazy to think that it might be.  So in the midst of my selfish rants about sleep....

I am incredibly thankful.  I am grateful for healthy children, when they totally might not have been.  I am thankful that I HAVE children.  I am thankful for a husband who loves me and would do anything for me.  For parents and inlaws and siblings who have the best in mind for me and my family, and support us in any way that they can.  I am thankful that Nate has a job, and that he doesn't hate it.  I am thankful to be able to stay home to raise our kids.  I am grateful that I don't think twice about buying milk and fruit and veggies and meat for our kids.  I am thankful that I can buy gas for our cars, life jackets for our kids, and a Frappuccino when I need one.  I am thankful for a roof over our heads and that we can pay for it and all the bills that go with it.  I am thankful for friends who love me and support me and listen to me.  I am thankful that Z has a school to go to and that he learns there and has friends there and learns about Jesus there.  I am thankful for a church that preaches the Truth.  I am thankful that we are safe in our house, and that I can sleep easily. 

Thankful, thankful, thankful. 

An analogy

We were at a friend's house yesterday and they have a small, steep hill leading down to their swingset.  Here is how my kids approached it. 

C:  He ran topspeed towards the hill and didn't slow a bit as he ran down it, wiped out, and cracked up, then got up and kept running. 

N:  He ran to the hill, took a look at it, then slowly walked down it. 

L:  He walked to the hill, stared at it for a minute, then turned around and inched down on his belly (like he used to on the stairs). 

This is the PERFECT analogy of how my kids approach physical situations (and in fact is their birth order!).  This is not always how they approach people, or new situations with new people, but more things like parks, playgrounds, museums, etc.  C is always the first to plow right in.  He tries the crazy stuff.  I trust his physical skills more than the other two boys.  N will follow, but more slowly.  With him, he is better at assessing the situation.  L, finally, just kind of plods along.  He'll do it, but it will be slowly and carefully, and after a lot of deliberation.  He is my clumsiest :) 

I loved seeing this, though, because it fit them so perfectly! 

Girls weekend

A few of my old roomies came in town this weekend for a reunion.  St. Louis is the most centrally located area, so they come here every year.  For the first several years we had all of our kids with us as well, but the past 2 years we have made it adults only, and have stayed in a hotel.  And it is fabulous. 
We met late on Friday evening, and went out to chat.  We stayed up late in our hotel talking.  We spent Saturday shopping, getting pedicures, eating, drinking, chatting, hot tubbing.  I got clothes for myself as well as the boys.  And since I shop maybe once a year, I didn't even feel bad for spending a ton on clothes (and everything I bought was on a good sale as well).  We did a bit more shopping Sunday, then I made it home after lunch.
It is crazy how long I have known these girls....15 years now.  They are a good group of girls, and it is fun to know that even if I don't talk much to them at all over the year, and even though we are at different places in life, that we will have a 40+ hours of nonstop chat when we DO get together.
It was so wonderful to walk at the pace I wanted to...not rushing from one kid to the next or going slower than molasses to drag kids along with me.  It was awesome to sit at several meals in a row and have entire conversations, eat my food while it was hot, drink a yummy treat, and not have to worry about ANYTHING.  Fabulous, fabulous. 
Nate did well with the boys.  It was planned that Z would be at Mike and Dorothy's, but that changed, so he had help from Dorothy on Saturday.  It was great for him to have her, but he can easily handle the boys on his own.  I am incredibly grateful that Nate so willingly gives me this time to go hang out with friends and get some much needed recuperation time. 
He did have one complaint for me, though..."You make it (handling all 4 boys all the time) look too easy!" :)

March pictures

Here's my end of the month these pictures didn't fit anywhere but they're still cute post. 

The little boys love to read.  And they have discovered catalogs, as well.  They were Z's favorite thing to read.  I would (ok, still do) collect catalogs for him.  ToysRUs, Legos, Walmart, Target, Oriental Trading Company...those are a few that he still has (most left over from Christmas).  He will pore over them.  I love to see that the little boys do the same thing.  In fact, that was how we taught him to poop.  We would give him a stack of catalogs and let him pot sit and read them for 15-20 minutes, and in that time he would normally poop.  I see many catalogs in our near future....

 The little boys like to get into Z's room, but we try to keep the door closed.  I am just too nervous with the bunk beds, since they just want to climb up on the top bunk.  He also keeps his best and favorite toys in there that we don't make him share with the little boys.  But every once in awhile we will let them go in (if Z obliges), and they all have fun reading and playing on his bottom bunk. And if they're lucky, he'll even let them play with some of his other toys. 

 Tv. This is often how it looks during tv time.  Nate lies on the floor, and one or more of them jump on his back to watch.  I'm not sure how this started, but it has been going on since the little boys started watching tv.  I love it.  :) 

 See, there was a bit of spring weather in March! 

 Trucks.  Man alive, do these kids love truck and tractors.  Z was never into them like they are.  We got this big one from Dorothy, and a few other small ones.  They love love love them.  And they are perfect with the peagravel in the swingset. 

 You don't really need water to enjoy a pool!  :)