A weekend of 7 boys...

Jen and Craig had a family wedding in Florida so, we volunteered to watch Liam, Aidan and Connor for the weekend.  It sounded like a good idea last January when we volunteered..  ;-)  Kidding...but I will admit that I did get a little nervous as the big weekend approached.  The thought that all of the kids that I was responsible for did not all fit in my car scared me a bit.  Thankfully, Spencer was ready to roll up his sleeves and dig in.

lunch for many...

Turns out, I really did not have anything to be nervous about.  

It was just a weekend with lots and lots of playing...

Aidan cheats a little at hide-n-seek.

to the park we go...

how many kids can fit in the slide???

It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be.  LA&C did awesome.  They were very excited to spend the weekend with their big cousins.  Ben, Jack, Drew and Charlie all had a great time too.  All of them said that it was a fun weekend and we should do it again, maybe next year.  Jack did mention though that if we had 7 boys in our family, it would really cut down his "leisure time".  He was not kidding.

That everyone survived.  Yay us!!

Isn't he cute....

I did try to get his haircut a few days before picture day, but our fancy-schmancy haircut place (Hair Cuttery) couldn't fit us in.  The result is a very Charlie-ish hair day for his Kindergarten picture.

In other "adorable" kindergarten news, I found this masterpiece on Charlie's table when I was cleaning his room.  

It's so great when they learn to spell...yes, it does say "Charlie's Poop".

Doh.

Wow.

I got this email from Ben's speech therapist last month. It made my day/week/month/year...


Subject: Sweet Boy

Hi Mrs. ####,

Thought you'd enjoy hearing one of Ben's comments in speech today. We were playing a conversational game, and he got the question, "What is the best gift you've ever received?" to which he answered, "Charlie". I knew I had to share! :)

I wish that we could take credit for how sweet and loving Ben is. But, he was born that way. He is a special person. We're just lucky he's ours. :)

Christmas 2006

(BJ&D - 4yrs old. Charlie 5mos.)

I can guarantee that at this point of trying to get a picture, my face did not look anywhere near as loving and patient as Ben's.

Christmas already!!

I can't believe that we are getting into Christmas season already. And, I really can't believe that it has been 9 years since Christmas looked like this in our family.

Regardless, Thanksgiving is less than a week away, Christmas ornaments are being crafted and little minds have begun to think about a visit from the "Big Guy".

Drew: "Mom, for Christmas, I am going to ask Santa for a Rubik's Cube and a utoobmembaship"

Me: "Huh?!?! A Rubik's Cube and a WHAT?"

Drew: "A Rubik's Cube and a YOU-TUBE MEMBERSHIP!!"

Me: "What? Seriously, you want a You Tube Membership for Christmas? What are you going to do with a You Tube Membership?"

Drew: "Wey'llllll....I want a You Tube membership so that I can vote for who is getting voted off of 'Battle for Dream Island' and so that I can post videos."

Me: "Ummmmm....I see. But, Drew, how are you going to post videos? You don't have a video camera."

Drew: "Oh yeah....."

Drew: "For Christmas, I want a Rubik's Cube, a membership to You Tube and a VIDEO CAMERA!!"

Oye...Poor Santa.

Halloween 2011

Halloween has changed quite a bit over the last few years. Somehow we went from adorable bumblebees, that were very happy sitting on our own driveway, playing with our own candy.


To a not-so-cute Cobra, Spiderman, BMX Rider and Bloody Skeleton, rushing from house to house, collecting as much candy as possible, with a whole herd of kids.

It's all good. I actually like this stage better...tons of fun!!! But, I will admit to missing those adorable costumes just a little.

Thank Heaven for little nephews...

Kindergarten Soccer...

Charlie just finished his first season of soccer. Spencer also just finished his first season of "coaching" soccer. He actually just volunteered to HELP the real coach this season. Basically, he volunteered to wrangle kids. But, the coach's schedule ended up filling up so, Spencer was "promoted" to head-coach for most of the games. Coaching kindergarten soccer does not look easy, but he did great. Most of the kids kicked the right way...most of the time. And, I think that he was happy that none of the kids needed help from "Coach Spencer" in getting their pony tails through their hat holes, like when he coached kindergarten t-ball a few years ago.

Go Coach!
Charlie enjoyed his soccer season very much.

He really liked the socializing part of soccer and the running around (bouncing around would be more accurate for Charlie) part of soccer.

Now, I do not believe that kindergarten soccer is any indicator of what kind of soccer player/athlete these kids will turn out to be. Therefore, it is, with love, that I will post the rest of my pictures of Charlie's kindergarten soccer experience...

Sometimes, when you are five, it is hard to remember that the soccer "ready pose" is quite a bit different than the baseball "ready pose". It just complicates things to be a 2 sport athlete.Charlie...where is the ball???Once again, Charlie....WHERE IS THE BALL?!?! It's also hard to be an all-star soccer player with only one shoe.Charlie's turn in the goal.

He wasn't as excited as you might imagine.

And, didn't know what to think of the gloves.

For the last game of the season, I offered a bribe for Charlie to keep Charlie focused on the game, and the ball. It didn't work. :( But, we'll be sure to send this picture in to the newspaper when you are a professional soccer player.

If nothing else, Kindergarten soccer is definitely entertaining to watch.

The Summer of Charlie...

Summer wouldn't be summer without Baseball.

Charlie turned FIVE years old!!

And, had his first "kid birthday party".
Do you think Charlie liked the helmet that he got from his Grandmom Adelaide for his birthday?!?!

A very important job, on a very important day...
Party Time!

Silly Charlie.Fireworks at the Indians Game...

Fireworks at the White Sox Game.

According to Charlie, his favorite part of the White Sox game was the fireworks. Can you tell???

Vacation Time...

Vacation Bible School. Look at our little guy singing and dancing. :) I love VBS! On the way home one day, Jack was picking on Charlie. Charlie looked right at Jack and said "JACK! YOU CAN'T SCARE ME BECAUSE GOD MADE ME!!". You go Charlie!

Charlie riding the Demon at Great America. Amazing that he wanted to ride it...the Demon goes upside-down 4 times! Charlie Rocks!

And, this post wouldn't be complete without a picture of Charlie RUNNING into school on his first real day of kindergarten.

Luckily, I got Ben to grab him for a picture before he went in the building.

His first day went very well. The only minor problem was that it started storming about 10 minutes after school started and stormed all. day. long. Charlie feels the same way about thunder that he feels about fireworks (see above). Yep, the kid will ride upside-down roller coasters, but is afraid of thunder and fireworks. Regardless, I'm fairly certain that he walked around his first day of kindergarten with his hands over his ears, but his teacher never called and according to Charlie, there were no tears. I'll call that a successful day. And, a nice way to end a great summer.