SNACK SNITCHER

Ky made the mistake of leaving his snack on the table and walking away. Kels has figured out how to move the chairs and climb up onto the table - her new favorite place to be. When she has the extra incentive of getting a snack for all her hard work, you can guarantee she will do everything she can to get to the snack.
I have to make a side note here that these picts are the result of a seasoned mom-1st time mom would have been in just as much of a panic as colton was when he told me where she was, seasoned mom of 6 kids, I calmly walked into the other room and came back with the camera....

I just love the smirk on her face, so classic of how the whole situation looked

She showed me that the cup was empty, "all gone"

I just died laughing when I saw this one - it just screamed "I can't believe I ate the whole thing!"

KELS HAS A BIG BED!

We did some major re-arranging of furniture a couple of weeks ago. One of the big changes was moving the girls beds around. Kaeli has outgrown the bunk beds we have had in her room. She is just too tall to be able to sit up on her bed anymore. We spent an afternoon taking the bunk beds out of her room and putting them in Kels's room, and then moved the extra bunk bed, minus the safety rails, into Kaeli's room. It was a neccessity as Kels was to the point she was literally catching air as she jumped up and down in the crib, and had learned to get her leg over the side. She really needed to move into a big bed.
It was quite the adventure, and after we were done, Kels was NOT impressed. She has been the only one of all of the kids to not be overjoyed at having a new big bed. She didnt want anything to do with it. She also had a mishap her first night by falling out of it, and splitting her lip open. Kaeli came to her rescue, but she didnt like her bed even more. We finally remembered the soft rail that we had used for Colton. Putting that on seems to have made the big difference to her staying in bed.
Our other surprise was is that she will still sit on her bed and cry and scream until someone comes to get her. She thinks that she cant climb down! The first time I realized what was wrong when she was crying I laughed out loud. This little miss has been climbing up and down off of EVERYTHING for weeks, and yet she wouldnt climb down from her bed. It still is pretty funny every morning that I have to coax and coach her to get down. She can do it, not sure why she doesnt.
Anyway, here are some picts of her first night in her big bed....

On the floor, she wanted nothing to do with the bed
I tucked her back in after she was asleep
Don't you just love baby feet!

This is the position she sleeps in and has ever since she was a baby. All curled up, bottom in the air, feet tucked under her. Couldnt resist the pict, just too darn cute

BOYS!

Need I say more than BOYS! They just run to a different drummer. This week our boys belong to Preston, and not me, because I am not sure that I am going to survive another day of little boys....

Who but boys would:

*use the BBQ tongs as weapons (side note - we have a strict family rule that weapons of any kind are NOT toys - we do not allow the boys those kinds of things (lightsabers, guns, swords, etc) to play with - and yet those inevitable boy genes create them anyway)

*rip baby green tomatoes off the vine to throw them at each other or in the air for "bombs"

*strip down to their underwear while playing outside because "their clothes are dirty"

*strip down to buck naked while playing outside just because they are wild indians

*put the dog in the baking drawer of the BBQ because "he wanted to go in!"

*try to pull weeds by hacking at them with a trowel and an loose wood slat from the playhouse

*spin each other on the swings until they feel or are sick to their stomachs

*pull out the ladder to the bunk bed and set it up next to the dresser, and then leave the bedroom door open so baby sister can climb up to the top and get herself stuck and literally screaming for help

*take a nap on the deck with the dogs (picture post coming soon)

*play close by to their baby sister - oblivious that she is EATING a crayon (thank goodness for non-toxic crayons)

*run screaming through the house at the top of their lungs - making sisters think someone was dying - just for the boys to tell them there were hot air balloons out their window

*use an old tent stake & twine for a fishing pole and go "fishing" from the platform of the playhouse screaming "I GOT ONE!" loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear

*using the toothbrush holder to hold and pour as much water as possible out onto the bedroom carpet and into both the kids laptop computers (toys thankfully), drenching themselves and everything around them

CUTIE KELSIANNE

Eventually I am going to get a chance to edit fun picts like this - Kels has got the most incredible blue eyes, and I just havent been able to capture them the way I would like to. Little miss was sitting in the "new" TV room when I was getting some picts and she was just so stinkin' cute i had to take some picts of her too.
This is one of her new favorite games - gasping loudly with her mouth open as wide as she can - then she laughs hysterically at herself (which she also does because we are ALSO laughing hysterically at her)

This one is funny because she made this face just as I took the pict - it looks like I surprised her - funny that she had surprised me with her silly face. (plus this is a better pict of the new TV room)

A "NEW" HOUSE

We spent lots of time over the long weekend working on BIG projects - mainly re-arranging pretty much the whole house. We found that with the TV room being too close to school study areas it was much too distracting. We moved everything around and literally swapped everything out between the TV room/library. Now the room with the hearth is the new school work room/library and our front room is the new family room. The kids seem to be doing really well with the swap and the new space is getting very well used. Having the TV, noise, kiddos, completely separate from the school work areas has made a huge difference and we are able to use the spaces much more efficiently too. A big THANK YOU to Preston for taking on so many projects in one short weekend, we couldnt have done it without you!

It is hard to tell in this pict, but the 3 couches are shaped in a square "U" facing the TV. We have an antique "coffee" table on the small rug area between the couches. The fish tank stayed put, even with everything else moving - that was a "NO WAY!" project - it has been moved too many times with not good results....
This room feels a lot more open now and it really is cozy with the small couch under the window and the recliner in the corner. It has been perfect for lounging, reading and having play space on the rug. The girls were excited to find a couple edges of the area rug that hadnt been walked on or under furniture - those spots were still perfectly soft like when we first got it - just like standing on velvet....soooo nice.

ENJOYING ALL THE ROOM.....

Colton enjoyed using his new "school" room to be able to complete his drawing for his science class. For part of his assignment we went on a "looking walk" I bundled Ky, Kels and Colton into the wagon and we went for a walk around the block looking at everything outside. We talked about homes (bees=beehive, people=houses, etc) and plants, flowers, sounds, etc. Then when we got home Colton's assignment was to draw pictures of the things he heard and saw. He is getting really good with his drawings and he wanted me to take a picture of his artwork. We have also started a "Show & Tell" wall in the new school room for everyone to put up their special projects. It is growing quickly. I will have to be sure to take a pict of the wall when it is full before we trade out for new projects. The new space is really working well for everyone and that is esp helpful as we are working our way through our new home school adventure

CRAZY BATH HAIR

One of Kaeli's favorite things to do with the little kiddos is to give them their baths. There has never been a time when I havent heard her singing to them, or heard hysterical laughter coming from the bathroom. When she spends this time with our little people it is a huge help to me, but also special bonding time for them.
This rule of bath-time is play time has continued with Kels. Now that Kels has discovered that water is fun, bath time has been much better. Kaeli took full advantage of Kels's new opinion of water play by giving her a stylin' DO - what DO you think?

LITTLE GIRL LOST & FOUND

Have you ever gone through that feeling of complete panic when you have "misplaced" a child? I had one of those days this weekend. We had had the garage and mudroom doors open as all the big kiddos were getting in the car. When Preston pulled out of the driveway, I couldnt find Kels anywhere, and she wasnt answering my calls. I ran outside in a panic, wondering if she had slipped out when no one noticed. I didnt find her outside so I started hunting inside again. As I started going room to room, I found her - playing in MY tub, perfectly happy and content! AAAAGGGGHHHH! WHEW!

I have been giving the little kiddos their baths in my room, as it has been easier than tromping everyone upstairs by myself. It is a special treat for them, and less clean up for me. We had left Kelsianne's new tub toys in the bath until I could get to them. Apparently she felt like she needed to get to them first. I am continually amazed at the places she can get herself into (and usually out of) - that same day she learned how to climb in AND out of the tub by herself, but got herself stuck when she climbed up on top of the dining room table and couldnt get down....
I was very relieved to know that she was ok, and will have to be more careful about keeping my bedroom door closed from now on.

I took this pict by pointing the camera at our mirrored closet doors. As you can see, I perfectly captured how very content she was.....my little Houdini in the making.....
I will have to find some time to get editing done on picts like this, but I just had to include it. Little miss felt content to play in the tub for quite some time. So I left her there as I worked on other jobs near by.

OH, THE JOY OF PEARS! OH, SO PRETTY!

A few days ago Preston mentioned that our pears looked like they were ready to go. I freaked out a bit, knowing I was not ready to take on all the work the pears would bring. Thankfully, I had extra hands at home today and we got them all done. (THANX TONS P & C for all your hard work!)
It really was a lot of work, but a lot of fun too, and SOOO worth it to look at all the beautiful jars sitting on the countertops, and to think about how yummy they will be during the next year.
The pears were so pretty to start with, such a nice color. Plus they tasted SOOOO good. Normally I dont like fresh pears, but these were SO sweet and juicy that I couldnt help eating lots of them, and making sure Preston left some to go in the fridge and not just in the bottles.

Apparently, Preston's mom has a tradition of adding food coloring to her pears. Preston thought it would be fun - which brought a huge gasp from me - (just not something I have ever seen before) The kids thought it was great fun, and when I finally relaxed too, I had fun playing with the jars and watching the food coloring seep through all the air pockets in the jars. As you can see, they turned out very colorful and fun! They will be fun to eat too!

ORCA SCHOOL FUN I

Ceana & her friend Maddie were a huge help to me this weekend when they agreed to work with Colton and Ky to get some of Colton's school work caught up. One of the activities was to practice numbers, colors, following directions, etc with a hopscotch. Lucky us, we just happen to have a great craft foam one we have had forever. They put it down in the entry and went at it. They all had a great time and the boys learned lots of new things too.
Both the boys really loved the jumping the best. They both caught some great air - which of course makes for fun picts

I think the owners of the big feet also enjoyed their time with the little boys

Of course, Kels had to get in on all the fun too...

ORCA SCHOOL FUN II

Well, we are in the full swing of things now. We are still trying to get lessons caught up, but I think there is some fun going on in the process. On this day Ceana was working on a science lesson involving as many textbooks as she could find, dry spaghetti, a paper cup and lots of pennies. The point of the experiment was to see how many pennies she could get the cup to hold before the spaghetti would break. She ran multiple tests with multiple variables. I think she finally ended up with the cup holding 24 pennies. It was fun watching her playing and learning at the same time.
Ready, Set, GO.....

Adding a few more pennies....

Adding a few more......going, going

GONE! But it sure was fun!

BOUNTIFUL HARVEST

Fall is upon us already, and Fall means garden harvest time. When Ceana got home from all her travels the first thing she couldnt wait to do was get out into the garden. She loves to plant and harvest and so she and the kids all went out and brought in as much as they could. We found that with the little care that we were able to give (even with ALL the extra help from friends) that the garden just didnt do as well as we had hoped. We got a small sampling of beets and carrots (about enough for 1 meal, but boy were they YUMMY!)We got some lettuce and totally lost the peas, broccoli and cauliflower. We found the 2 things that really flourished, despite being totally neglected, was the zuchinni and the tomatoes. We have been able to harvest them (and share them) week after week and they are still coming!
Our little garden has been lots of fun, and it is good to know that we have some bounty left in the freezer to enjoy for the coming year (yummy zuchinni bread!)
We learned alot and will be much better prepared for next year. I think it has been a good experience for the kids and it is always great knowing you have done something that will provide for your family.

Ceana had so much fun bringing in all of the yummy things from the garden. She was an angel to scrub and prepare everything for dinner too. It has been a great experience for her to be able to help in the planting and the harvesting, those are her 2 favorite things to do.
The boys all made multiple trips to and from the garden with arms overflowing with all the HUGE zuchinni that had grown. We had so many monster size ones because I didnt realize that there were TWO zuchinni plants (I thought one was pumpkin) and I never even looked at the plant in the corner until Ceana was gathering everything in. The boys thought it was fun to show off how strong they were.

All of our pretty, baby tomatoes. They were a grape tomato variety that has really flourished with all the heat. I tried hard to get a good pict, but just couldnt quite get it, at least you can kind of see how pretty they are

I just had to include this pict of Ky too. This is his "I am DONE, mom" face - he and the boys had made so many trips in from the garden that he was totally worn out. Poor thing, but he was such a good helper!

A BOUNTIFUL HARVEST II

We love watermelon at our house. We love it so much that we thought that we might attempt to grow them in our own garden this year. Little did we know how much we would NOT be at home to care for our little garden and all its contents. Without being able to be home to give the garden the care it really needed, our little watermelons didnt get all the water they needed to grow big and strong. Instead we had little golf ball-softball size watermelon!
The kids had a really hard time leaving them in the garden to grow after everything else had been brought in, so we went ahead and picked them, even if we knew that we would just have a taste (this should be the name of our garden this year - The Tasting Garden - we got little bits of this and that with everything)

This first pict is when our cute little watermelons were still trying to grow - it is about the size of a baseball....
By the time we brought the few watermelons in that had grown, the biggest one was really not much bigger than a softball...
You can see how little they really were by comparing their size to Ceana's hand...

We were not sure if we would even get any that were really ripe or would be able to be eaten. All of the kids were thrilled when Ceana cut into this one and found a beautiful red center. They couldnt wait to taste it!

Here it is - our one and only that was just perfect. It gave everyone a yummy taste of crunchy, sweetness, just for one meal. It was sure worth it to give it a try, and I know that we will for sure try to plant them again next year too. One of these days we will see if we can get bigger ones. For now, though, this little one was just right

FOOD & FRIENDS

Just about every year a family dinner/BBQ is held at the end of AT. This year was an extra big deal because we had distinguished guests attend (Gov K., PM, OR 150 program actors/actresses, etc) We got a big fancy catered dinner (which usually never happens) The food was really great - baked chicken, rice pilaf, seasoned mashed tatoes, salads, breads, drinks and berry R,W,& B cake.

A fun thing about the dinner time is that any extended family of the unit is invited, so there were lots of extra special guests. Another thing the unit does is their annual award ceremony. There were lots of special awards given this year and that was neat.

The super bonus to the dinner this year was that I was in the right place at the right time. The head chef/caterer came over to Joe (1st S and our good friend) and asked for a family to send leftovers home with. I happened to be chatting with Joe at the time, it was funny that he didnt even blink when he looked over at me and said "you can use leftovers?" and didnt even let me answer before he turned around to the chef and told him I was a mom of 6 and would still be on our own when the unit left again the next day and I would love to take them. It has been heaven - I havent had to cook for almost a week and we were able to share main dish salads with a friend's family too. Yea for leftovers!

Kels is becoming more and more independent. She was hungry, but wanted to feed herself. Many plastic forks and spoons hit the ground before she was done. Not sure how much she actually ended up eating, but you could for sure tell where we had been sitting when it was clean up time....
This is the girls and their friend Angelina. Her family lives in Washington so this is extra special time for the girls to spend together
These are the boys - ours and the Worley's - they hung out together as they ate - and tried to dodge all the bees who happened to like exactly what the boys had on their plates. It was quite humorous watching the boys flit around and try to run from the bees. It seemed no matter where they went, the bees followed. The boys finally just gave up trying to eat and went off and played in the field.
We were lucky to have our friends, the Worleys, be able to come and spend some time with us before they returned home to WA. The boys had tons of fun playing on the Wii and running around as boys do. The girls spent their time playing board and card games and just laughing and enjoying each other. Thank you Worley family for taking time to spend with us! It was tons of fun and we will miss you lots!