Big News!!!

Do you notice anything different about Ben?

That's right, the tooth fairy is going to be paying us a visit tonight. He pulled it out about 5 minutes after he went to bed and was quite proud of himself. It bled a bit, but that did not phase him at all. His brothers thought the whole thing was soooo cool!!!

I did think it was pretty funny that this particular tooth has been loose for about 6 weeks. But, the day after Jack discovered a loose tooth, Ben managed to pull that sucker out. Everyone thinks Jack is the competitive brother, but Ben is just as competitive, he's just not as obvious about it. I'm fully expecting Jack to yank his tooth out tomorrow after he sees what the tooth fairy left for Ben.

*THE* tooth

Drew with a mouthful of teeth...not even a wiggler.

By the way, Spencer walked into the boys' room mid-conversation tonight. Ben was telling his brothers that he knows 3 people that have A LOT!! of money. Spencer walked in and asked Ben how these "3 people" got a lot of money. Ben said that he didn't know, but he knew they had a lot of money because they are always buying people stuff. Spencer was a bit confused until he found out that Ben was talking about "The Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and The Tooth Fairy".

Too sweet!

Peace and Happiness

Since the boys and I have been listening to "Go Cubs Go" every morning on my computer, I thought it would be fun to track down a Phillies fight song. I mean Ben, being a Phillies fan, is such a good sport to put up with our singing every morning that I thought it would be nice to have a Phillies song for him to enjoy.

The problem is that apparently, the Phillies don't have one. Can you believe that?!?! How un-fun is that. Wait until I tell Ben that they don't really sing "Take Me out to the Ballgame" either. He may end up re-thinking his choice in baseball teams.

Even though they don't have a real Phillies song, I did find this song that was pretty funny and I thought you all might enjoy. I can put this on the blog, without guilt, because the Phillies did beat the Cubs this afternoon. After the last 2 games, I was afraid that I would not be able to post this without appearing a bit mean.

Here you go.... "Go Phillies Go"

Last weekend at the pool...

I can't believe the summer is about over. This is the last weekend that our pool is open. Isn't that sad?!?! Winter in Chicago is just too darn long!

The lifeguards did not enforce the 48" height restriction for the slide this year. The boys LOVED that!!!

Jack

Ben

Drew

Riding on the slide is apparently hard work...

We Can't wait until next year!!!
Jack: "did you see my wiggly tooth?"

All is fair...

Today, at the pool, Jack noticed a loose tooth. He is so excited and has had his finger in his mouth every since. This is the second loose tooth in our house. Ben discovered a loose tooth while we were on vacation, but he has not lost it yet. The boys are all anxiously waiting for their teeth to start falling out.

Mommy screwed up the laundry...

Luckily, I'm cute and look good in pretty much anything.

Welcome to my life....

I'm guessing folders are not supposed to look like this after 3 days in school. Did you know that they are supposed to last all year?!?!?! This could be a problem.

So are you wondering what happened???

Here is the story...

Every day, the boys bring a bottle of water to school. I want to buy some nicer water bottles for them, but haven't done it yet so, I have just been giving them a bottle of Ice Mountain water each day. I have been reusing the bottles and filling them with fresh water every day.

Well, when Jack got home from school today, he promptly announced that he could not find the top to his water bottle when it was time to pack up....but, I shouldn't worry because......HE PUT IT IN HIS BACKPACK ANYWAY!! Yes, unfortunately Jack did not finish his water at school today. He did, in fact, put a 1/2 full bottle of water, WITH NO TOP!!, in his backpack.

Nice...

I guess the good news is that he did not bring home the 1/2 carton of chocolate milk that he did not finish at lunch. And, we were able
to get that lesson done so hopefull, that will NEVER happen.

In other news...mornings are a bit crazy. Everyone is still in "summer vacation mode". There is a lot of moseying around and lots, and lots, and lots of talking, and singing and laughing. I'm trying to not be a nag, but I'll just say that everyone is needing lots of reminders to stay focused on getting ready for school. All of that, plus the fact that I'm now packing lunches for everyone, has made for some pretty busy mornings.

So busy, in fact, that this is what I found in my toaster when I went to make dinner this afternoon. Yep, that is *my* breakfast. Apparently, I was so busy, I forgot to eat it. :)

So, Charlie, what do you think of all of this quality time that you get to spend with Mom?

This got a little long, but pay special attention to 0:46.



Tonight, after dinner, Spencer took Ben to soccer practice. Charlie stood at the door and cried "dada....DaDa...DADA!!!". This video was taken right after that. Of course after saying "dada" 500 times, he would only say it once for the camera.

For the last 2 days, Charlie has said "DaDa" about a million times times. He says it when he gets up in the morning, he says it when we get in the car, he says it when we get home, he says it when we go for a walk, he says it when he sees the bikes, he says it ALL THE TIME!!!

Ummmm....aren't little boys supposed to cry like that for their mommy?!?!?!


Maybe tomorrow I'll have to stop at the park on the way home from bringing the boys to school, give him ice cream for lunch and then let him watch videos all day. I've got to do something to bribe him to my side....the competition with the best Daddy in the world is just too tough. ;)

Should I be sad???

There is a quote that I once heard and is really on my mind today.

"Motherhood....the days are long, but the years are short"

How true is that comment?!?!?!

Somehow, we went from this.......

and this...

To this...

This....

And, this...

It is amazing to me that they are in 1st grade. I remember 1st grade! They are getting so big and grown up. So, should I be sad???...because, I'm not. I'm so happy that they are in first grade. They are growing up and it is fun to watch. It is true that they last 6+ years did go by very quickly, but first grade is so cool...I can't wait to hear all about it!

The Brothers

All ready to go..

Walking with friends...

Drew is ahead of his years...

We do have a girl in our family...

Our niece, Amber came in from Philly for a visit with her grandmother (Grandmom Adelaide)...and us. ;)

Ben, Amber, Grandmom & Charlie, Jack, Drew

Amber is 15 and is so sweet. She makes 15 look so easy, and like so much fun....makes me almost want to be 15 again (ALMOST!, but not quite). Seriously though, she is friendly, and smart, and sweet, and pretty, and confident, and fun. We enjoyed the weekend very much and are very happy and thankful that she came to visit all of us.

The Cousins

The School Supply Totals are in....

If you don't know what I am talking about, click here.

I spent a grand total of $44.32 before taxes.

Since it would have cost me $120 to buy the pre-packaged boxes from the PTA, I ended up saving about $70.

I know everyone that bought the boxes will say....well, what about gas. Well, I would have gone to all of the stores anyway except a trip to Office Depot and a wasted trip to a Walgreens so, take away an other 50 cents and we'll call it even.

I was doing AWESOME with the school supplies, but got hung up on the zip-lock bags and the baby wipes. Of course, those didn't go on sale like the other stuff did, or I just missed it. But, really, I think that if baby wipes went on sale for 9 cents, someone would have called me. The Expo markers were also a pain. Not only are they really expensive, but they are hard to find and the boys each needed 8 of them...ouch!

So, I guess I know what Charlie and I will be doing with our first free week while the boys are in school....spending an extra $70. ;)

Welcome to the 21st Century Kelly!!!

I've done it, I thought I was the last person on the planet, but apparently I am not.


Last night, I......(drumroll please)........joined Facebook.



Now......I want you all to do it.


I received a few invitations over the last few months, but ignored all of them. Then I was talking to our niece yesterday and she was telling me a little more about it. She convinced me to check it out. Spencer went to bed early so, I ended up spending a couple of hours on line "checking it out".

People say it is addictive, but I guess that I haven't gotten that far into it. I don't know what the addictive stuff is. I spent all my time looking up people that I thought would be on it. That was fun, but I am really surprised that there weren't more of you on it.


So, you all need to join too. You get to read about me all of the time with this blog. Now with Facebook, I get to see a bit of what you are up to too. It is really easy. Just register with your name. I also put my schools in there and the thing found a bunch of my old friends for me.


Ok...got it!?!?! That is your assignment for tonight, sign up for Facebook and then invite me to be your "friend".


Don't come back here until you've done it.


Ok, never mind, you can still come back here, but sign up anyway!!

Another reason to eat out....

It doesn't take much, but today IS the last official day of summer vacation. Come Monday morning, my 3 first graders, my lunch "dates" for the last 75 straight months, will be eating lunch on their own, at school. I'm excited, they are excited, I'm a little nervous, they are a little nervous. It's all good, but it was raining so why not celebrate our last official weekday lunch before 1st grade.

To celebrate this momentous occasion....

we went to.......

Steak N Shake. ;)

Friends

I read a book recently called Angry Housewives Eating BonBons. My friend, Mishelle gave it to me right before we left on vacation. I had not heard of the book and I admit that I was not super interested in reading it. But, I brought it on vacation and had finished The Kite Runner so, I picked it up and started to read it. I ended up REALLY enjoying it.






It was a fun, light read. It was about 5 housewives that were neighbors and decided to start a book club. At the beginning of the book, it was the late 60's and they were starting their families. The book followed the 5 women over the next 30 years. These 5 women remained neighbors and amazingly (!) were best friends for that whole 30 years. I have to admit that when I was reading it, I was a bit jealous. I mean, how cool would that be to have 4 best friends that all got along and all lived on the same street as me! Anybody want to move to my street and start a book club???


After I read it, I began thinking that as cool as it sounded, how TOTALLY unrealistic would that be! Maybe other people will disagree, but seriously....5 women...seeing eachother every day... living on the same street... raising kids together... and all of them got along and are still best friends after 30 years!! Where do you find these friends???


I have a lot of great friends, but I cannot imagine that 5 of us could be that good of friends after spending that much time living so close together and seeing so much of eachother for so long. You can't tell me that there wouldn't be some "Z's kid said mean things to my kid", "X told me that Y said your yard looks like trash", "Y can't stand your husband", "X's dog poops in my yard all the time", "Y thinks she can drop her kids off here any time because she thinks that I don't work", "she is so unreliable", "did you hear that Y and Z went out to for pedicures and they didn't invite us!", "X never does anything with us any more. She likes her PTA friends better, doesn't she think she's cool".


Oops, maybe I got carried away, but you get the idea. Women fight about petty stuff...a lot... and based on my experiences, it is extremely unlikely that they could all remain good friends for that long. They'd be pairin' off, and talkin' about eachother, and takin' sides, you know what I mean....it just couldn't happen.


But, it was a good book and I recommend it. Actually, it was so good (and "clean") that I passed it along to my mom. She is REALLY enjoying it. I thought she would especially with it being her generation. She's going to pass it along to her friends next.


So, this brings me to the point of my post. Today, my friend Natasha, and her girls, visited the boys and I. Natasha and I have been friends for a long time....19 years. Ok, off topic, but HOW am I old enough to have a 19 year friendship with a college friend? Wow!...anyway, we are each busy with our own lives and only end up seeing each other once or twice a year.

All "our" kids

I have been very blessed with my friends. I am not winning any popularity contests, but I have always had good friends when I needed them....some fun, some serious, some nuts (you know who you are!), some cheerful, some naughty(!), some hilarious, and some that I can really count on when I need to. All of my friends have served a different purpose in my life and I am blessed to have all of them.


Even though Natasha and I don't see each other very often and are not really involved in each other's day to day lives, I would classify her as, well "nuts" ;).... but also, more seriously, as "a friend that I can always count on when I need a friend". She is a friend that is always there if I need her, good or bad. If Spencer does something nice for me, or if I'm extra proud about something the boys can do, or even if we just bought a new car, I can tell Natasha and she will genuinely be excited for me. Even her car is in the shop, her husband is grumpy and her kids are in the doghouse, she will show nothing but happiness for me and my good fortune. At the same time, if I am struggling with something, I can be sure that Natasha is not secretly enjoying watching me deal with a tough situation.

Her friendship is rare and genuine and I will always really appreciate and treasure that. Thanks Tasha!! Ooooo, one more thing that makes her extra cool, apparently, she is an avid reader of my blog too. ;)

I was going to end this with a nice picture of me and Natasha, from when we were young and cute, by my stupid scanner is not *speaking* to my stupid computer (not my nice, new laptop, my stupid old computer) so, no such luck. I'll try again tomorrow.

VBS Graduates

A couple of weeks ago, the boys spent a week going to Vacation Bible School at our church. This is the first year that they did it and really enjoyed it. Drew especially enjoyed the singing and dancing. On the final day of it, they had a little show for the parents where the kids sang and danced to all of their songs and they had a slide show of the activities for the week. It was cool to see the slide show because the boys don't tell me 1/2 of the things that they do. After VBS every day, they told me what the snack was and the was pretty much it. From the slide show, it looked like a great program.

This is about 1/4 of the kids. B, J & D are on the bottom right.

I guess for Drew, it is still all about the snack. ;)

Well yesterday, when the kids were "climbing the walls", Jack was proud because it actually came easier to him than his brothers. He was really excited about his wall climbing abilities and when Jack is excited about it, well, he just keeps talking. In the midst of all of his talking, he said that the main reason that he was climbing so well was "well.....I just keep my eyes on Jesus". After a couple of "your keeping your eyes on what???" by me, I finally figured out what he was saying. I often wish that I was better at working Jesus and God into ordinary conversation, especially in a way to teach the boys. But, it just does not come naturally to me...the thoughts are there, I just can't or don't articulate them. I guess that I need to work on that, but for now.... THANK YOU VBS!!!

When they start climbing the walls....

...does that mean that they are REALLY ready to go back to school???

With exactly one week left of summer vacation, the boys literally started to climb the walls today.

In all seriousness, this summer went really, really fast. It has been a really good summer. The month of June went so fast because we were so busy with activities. Then July zoomed by with the babies's Baptism, Charlie's birthday and of course our vacation. I kept thinking that August would be slower paced, with the boys and I spending a lot of time *relaxing* at the pool. Well, August is flying by just like June and July. While we are all excited about the boys starting 1st grade next week, I'm always a little sad that summer is winding down.

I think it is important to note that Charlie is not climbing the walls yet.

While the cat is away, the mice will play...

Spencer has his NFL "draft" tonight for his fantasy football league. In case you were wondering what the occasion was for all of these new posts.

Well, since he was gone,


.....and, it was Sunday night,


.....and, I haven't been to the grocery store in a while,


.....and, I really had no idea what I was going to make for dinner,


.....and, I seemed to be lacking the motivation to cook something


.....and, then cleaning it up,


.....and, Charlie was wearing his best party shirt,


I made the executive decision...to eat out!


So, I loaded up the van and we went all out...to Denny's!

We haven't been there in a while and ended up having a really nice time. The boys decided to have "breakfast for dinner" and quickly decided on some space alien, smiling pancake thing.

It was a hit. Everyone left full and happy. And, my kitchen was still clean....well, as clean as it was when we left it. Oh well.

At what age....

...do kids play with one toy and then put it away before they take out the next toy? Ben, Jack and Drew were playing nicely in the basement for a couple of hours the other day. So, what does a good mom do when her kids are playing nicely in the basement??? Of course, she leaves them alone and enjoys the peace, especially when it coincides with naptime for child #4.

I'll just say that "mommy free time" has a price. This is what my basement, or should I say *Spencer's* basement looked like when I finally did go down to see what they were up to.

By the time I got down there, they were playing Hullabaloo. If you know what Hullabaloo is, this is more like Extreme Hullabaloo. To get from one space to the next was like participating in an obstacle course. They even did it on purpose, where you had to climb things to reach certain spaces. It was crazy.

Luckily, even though at 6 years old, they don't get the concept of putting things away before you play with something else, they do get the concept of cleaning up! I added the incentive of a few M&M's with an additional M&M for every minute less than 20 minutes that it took them to clean up. They finished in 19 minutes and 12 seconds. Even though it wasn't much less than 20 minutes, they did have Charlie un-cleaning a bit, and they did end up doing a very good job so, they did receive some bonus M&M's.