The End Of Summer

I can not believe we have one day left of our official summer vacation. It feels like it hasn't even yet begun, and here we are getting ready to send the oldest 3 kids to school on Tuesday. How does this happen? Year after year it seems that summers are just getting shorter and shorter.

Every summer, we have a list of must-do items that we'll accomplish over those short months. This year's list was extremely shortened compared to most years due to our move and my pregnancy. But we did do pretty good at getting most things crossed off the list.

However, there was one big item still on that list as we headed into our last week of summer vacation - a trip to the Detroit Zoo.

Since that last week also coincided with our need to start our earlier bedtime and morning routines, we purposely chose a day when we would all get up with our alarms and be out of the house at the same time we'll have to leave for school. In fact, this little plan worked so well that we've decided to make the timing of the trip a yearly tradition. (Although Isabelle did request that we try to not go on a 90+ degree day next year.)

Why is that we can separate the kids and get some great pictures of them either in a small group or one-on-one?

But put them all together and we end with a series like this...



I am thankful that they seem to lose that little habit when we try to take the very rare family photo though.
And if the kids had it their way, this little fellow would have become a part of that family photo too. He joined us for lunch, got up close and personal and even brought a few friends for a visit.
This was the highlight of the whole day for the kids. I think we'll be talking about our lunch with the peacocks for years to come.

Now to enjoy our last day of this amazing summer. I may not be ready for school to start again, but I am definitely ready for the crisp, cool days of sweater weather!

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From Homeschool To School

This past week has been very busy and filled with exciting new changes. Last Wednesday, Eric and I made the decision to send Isabelle to school this year.

We initially began discussing the possibility at the beginning of summer. We came back to it several times without ever coming to a final conclusion. I began to plan our curriculum for the homeschool year ahead, but for some reason I kept hesitating with actually ordering the supplies.

Then, the day I planned to order (I'd actually begun filling out the order forms online), we reached our decision. That decision is that Isabelle will be attending school this year for fourth grade. And next year, Alex will start kindergarten...Olivia the year after...and Gracie the year after that.

So many things went into our decision and it was not taken lightly by any of us, Isabelle included. We all decided that this was the smartest option for our family.

Homeschooling is wonderful and I will never once regret the years we spent as homeschoolers. Nor will we ever rule out the option of homeschooling again at some point in the future. But as of now, we are focused on doing what's best for our children.

Maybe I'll go into more detail of this decision at some point, or maybe not. It's a very personal and emotional decision.

We are excited to watch Isabelle tackle this new adventure. We know she will do remarkably well and thrive at school.

She'll walk out the door tomorrow armed with school supplies, a new lunchbox filled with healthy and delicious food, a cool new dress and shoes, and the knowledge that her parents are willing to readjust their views and do what's best for her. Because that's what love and parenthood are all about.

Stop by 5 Minutes for Mom for more Tackle It Tuesday and Heavenly Homemakers for more Gratituesday.

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Memories Born From A Yes

One of my favorite things about living where we do is that at least once or twice every year around this time, we are treated to something exceptional. Last night was one of those times.


I was putting dinner on plates when Isabelle called me to come quick. I walked over to the back door where she was standing, looked out the window and saw a sight that still takes my breath away - a hot air balloon.


It was still kind of far away but headed in our direction. So we sat down to eat dinner and decided we'd check on its progress as soon as we were through.


When we went to check on the balloon's progress, we saw there were actually two of them and one looked like it was about to land in the neighborhood next to ours. The kids really wanted to go see that. Who can blame them?


But of course my practical mom brain thought of what time it was. We had dishes to do, dessert to eat, and bedtime routines to take care of. Then a dash of impulse overtook me and I said YES instead.


We quickly threw on our shoes and ran to get a better look. Isabelle made sure I grabbed the camera as we headed out the door. (She wanted to blog about the balloons too!) By the time we got close enough, the balloon was already landed and starting to deflate. As we headed toward home, we realized the second balloon was coming in for a landing across the street.


This time, we got there just in time to see it land. Although we weren't right there, it was an amazing show even from across the street.


The kids stood in awe and watched the balloon. It's a moment that's been etched in my brain forever. I think we all made a lifetime memory together last night.

All because I said yes.

Stop by Amy's Finer Things for more Finer Things Friday.

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Potty Mouths & Hero Worship

Like most kids, our kids have a huge case of hero worship for Eric. They want to be near him always. They want to be just like him. If they see him do something, they have to do it too. When he says something, 4 little mouths quickly repeat him. In other words, whatever dad does must be worth doing.

And so a few years ago when Eric began dropping little bits of potty talk into his conversations with the kids, I thought it was funny. When they would repeat him and call each other poop, I thought it was funny. But yet those words didn't become part of their everyday speech. It was just something they'd repeat when playing with Eric.

I miss those days! Now, all 4 kids clearly fall into the potty mouth category. I could give thousands of examples of how bodily functions get worked into their daily conversations, but I'll spare you the agony.

Although the kids have started talking this way on their own, Eric is clearly still the ring leader. Just imagine what would happen if he started spouting off mathematical theorems or the poetry of Robert Frost. Talk about power!

So I spend a lot of time groaning and rolling my eyes. But I'll admit, there is a little bit of me that cracks up whenever one of the kids runs over to another and says "I'll poop on you!"

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10!

Tomorrow Isabelle turns 10. I'm at a cross roads between feeling excited for all that is to come and sad that the time has flown by so quickly. Seriously...10? How is that even possible?

Here are 10 random facts about our oldest child on her tenth birthday.

1. Isabelle is a weather junkie. She easily spends hours on the computer every day checking the weather, reading about the weather, and mapping out the weather for the entire world. She knows the name of every cloud formation. It's like have our own personal weather girl.
2. She loves to read. She typically reads for 3 hours every night before bed. She has at least 3 books being read at any given time.
   
3. She loves trivia and interesting facts. She would make an awesome Jeopardy! contestant some day.
4. She has a very entrepreneurial spirit and is always dreaming up things she can sell or services she can provide to make money.
5. She is my best helper and right hand! She can't wait to be given full control of breakfast and lunch duties.
6. She loves to blog! Eric and I love to read her blog because she is funny! If you need a laugh or just a great read, you really should stop by and pay her a visit.
7. She is worshiped by her brother and sisters. In return, she is a great big sister that only loses her patience with them about 90% of them. But they love her, and she loves them.
8. Isabelle is a pack rat. She keeps everything from scraps of paper to no longer working pens and markers. We're working on this and it has gotten much better as she's gotten older, but she still holds on to a LOT of stuff!
9. She says "you're crazy" about a thousand times a day.
   
10. She is tall, skinny and stunning. She has long, long legs and long, long hair. Eric would be happy if she stayed 10 for quite a while yet.
    

Happy Birthday Isabelle!

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Baseball Themed Birthday Party

After Eric and I got the kids to bed last night, we spent some time reveling over our day. It was perfect and we did it!

What, exactly, did we do? We pulled off the best birthday party ever!A few weeks ago we decided that we wanted to do a baseball-themed birthday party for Alex's 5th birthday. We wanted to have lots of people over and make it feel like a day at the ball park. And Alex...well, he wanted all of his cousins to be here, a baseball and some peanuts and hot dogs.I can't even begin to tell you how good it felt for Eric and I to discuss the day and realize that we did everything on our lists. Everybody had a great time, kids and adults included. The food was good, the weather was great and the company was best of all.Earlier in the week we were a little considered about the weather since rain was predicted. We have a HUGE common area as our backyard, but a 1000 square foot condo. Having 12 kids and 8 adults in the backyard is no big deal. But inside would be a little tight. So we were so grateful that the afternoon stayed sunny and clear.

The party menu was pretty simple:

• Peanuts in bags
• Homemade cracker jack
• Nacho chips with cheese and black bean & mango salsa
• Hot dogs
• Pasta salad
• Fruit Kabobs
• Baseball cake pops
• Ice cream cups
• And Faygo to drink - Eric decided that it wouldn't officially be a baseball party without cans of Faygo. Anyone from the Detroit area will agree with us I'm sure.

We didn't go all out for decorations or party games. We had a baseball pinata and a couple plastic bats and balls from the dollar store. That was it. The kids didn't seem to mind not having structured games one bit. In fact, they were just kids having fun playing together. It was great. And us adults got to sit and relax.Alex got lots of great presents. Here is the big one. Eric picked this bike up a few weeks ago and it's been stored at our neighbor's house since then. When he wheeled it in the house, Alex's expression was priceless. All he said was "whoooooooaaaaa..." I wish I had gotten that on camera.
What a great day and a most memorable birthday for Alex. I am so grateful we were able to get everyone from Eric's side of the family together and have this perfect day.

And I am grateful for my little boy turning into a big boy!

Stop by Heavenly Homemakers for more Gratituesday and 5 Minutes For Mom for Tackle It Tuesday.

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Night Time Potty Training Success

A few months back, I was looking for advice on night time potty training for Alex and Olivia. At the time, they had both been potty trained during the day for well over a year. But night times were different, and Eric and I were stumped. So I posted about it and received lots of great tips. (If you're struggling with the same thing, check out the comments on this Night Time Potty Training post. Lots of great advice there!)

Within a week of reading through all those responses, we made the decision to just put Alex in underwear at bedtime and see what happened from there. We decided we'd focus on him, since he's the older one, then move on to Olivia.

There were many accidents in the beginning. But we kept at it and Alex was committed to success. Soon the only accidents were on those nights when we forgot to wake him up before we went to sleep. And then if those began to fade. We were all very excited!

About a week ago, Eric and I realized that it was time to start the process with Olivia. But just like when she potty trained herself, she beat us to it. As I was getting her dressed for bed, she said she wanted to wear just underwear to bed. I explained to her that if she slept in underwear, it meant she had to get up and go potty when she needed to. She said she would.

I was unsure but hopeful. I should have known better though. After all, this is the girl that went from diapers to underwear in one day all on her own. The night time routine was no different.

She was dry the next morning. She's been dry every morning since then. We don't even have to wake her up before we go to sleep.

So...one child left in diapers. I'm in no hurry, although I do admit it will be nice to not have to buy pull-ups and diapers any more.

Here are the few things I've learned about night time potty training over the past few months.

• The methods that are successful very by child. What works for one will not necessarily work for another.
• No one method is the end all, be all. If you start with pull-ups and nighttime wakings with little success, ditch it! Try something different.
• Most importantly, it will happen when it happens. Don't stress about it!
  

That's it - the extent of my night time potty training knowledge. But if I had known that way back when I used to worry my kids would be going on their honeymoons in pull-ups, I would have saved some sanity for sure.

This post is being linked to:

• Tackle It Tuesday at 5 Minutes For Mom
• Talk About Tuesday at The Lazy Organizer
  

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Olivia Turns 4

Tomorrow is Olivia's fourth birthday. We'll celebrate simply and she'll open her 2 presents from us. She'll get to select what we have to eat all day. It's her birthday, so she'll be exempt from any chores. Other than that though, the celebration has already been celebrated.

I am so grateful we were able to have her birthday party with my family this year. I'm grateful that we rotate years and all of the kids get to experience the fun of a birthday spent with their cousins.

We had Olivia's party on Saturday. It was a fantastic day, even though the weather didn't cooperate so that we could play outside. The kids still had a great time inside.

Earlier in the day, Isabelle, Alex and Olivia each created a Happy Birthday banner that we hung around my parents' kitchen. We also decorated with some streamers and balloons. The kids all had a great time helping.

My parents bought Olivia a beautiful doll cake. This is a tradition in my family. I remember my sister and I both having doll cakes, and all of the girl grandchildren, with the exception of Gracie, have now had a doll cake. Originally I had thought it would be fun for us to make a doll cake together (using Toni's video as a guide), but we just ran out of time. (We also ran out of time to make the cake pops, but I am still planning to make them very soon. Maybe I'll try for Alex's birthday and decorate them like baseballs. Hmmm...)

My sister brought a few fun party games and prizes. We played the games while waiting for dinner.After a delicious dinner of grilled steaks and hamburgers, Olivia opened her presents. It was so fun to watch her reaction to her gifts, and to watch the reactions of her cousins when she opened their presents.
After gifts we sang Happy Birthday and dug into the cake.I know this will be a birthday Olivia remembers for a long time. I love this tradition. I am so thankful my special girl got to spend a great day surrounded by the love of her family. Although, nothing can ever top the thankfulness Eric and I feel in being blessed to be her dada and mama.

Stop by Heavenly Homemakers for more Gratituesday.

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Letters To Dad

As I've mentioned before, Eric was very busy - working both days and nights - the last two weeks. This meant he didn't get to spend very much time with the kids at all. Now, these kids are all huge fans of their dad and their favorite thing in the world is spending time with him. So they were missing him big time.

There were two days over that time period when the youngest three came to me to help them write letters to their Dada. They dictated what they wanted to say and I wrote it down on their papers for them. Then we folded them up together and they put their letters on Eric's pillow.

Eric has been carrying these letters with him since he received. However, I asked him to leave one home for me so that I could share it. This is one of Alex's letters -

Dear Dada,

I'm having fun today and I love you so much! I just love you my best friend dada. If you want to come outside with me and drive my truck, you can be my best friend. Because dada, you can play hot wheels with me anytime and fly the airhogs helicopter whenever you want.

Love,
Alex

Doesn't the love just pour out of every line in that letter? I know that Eric is going to cherish these forever. I am hooked on being a transcriptionist for my children so that they, even the 2 year old, can share their feelings with their dad when work keeps him away from the house for a few days.

These little love letters from the kids to their Dada are such a finer thing!

Stop by Amy's Finer Things for more Finer Things Friday and Hooked On Houses for more Hooked On...

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Of Boys, Bumps & Bruises, and Mama's Kisses

My Son. He's all boy. Tough and rowdy, yet snuggly and sensitive. He makes his mama proud.

He falls down a lot. He plays tough and gets hurt rough. As Eric likes to remind me, "he's just a boy being a boy." Oh don't I know it.

I love mothering my son. He is a fantastic child and I look forward to hearing his future wife thank me over and over again. But he's a boy - my first and only experience with the raising of boys. Sometimes I feel a little out of my element.

He's fallen down twice this week, on two consecutive days, and scraped both knees in exactly the same spot. I'm starting to learn that the magic of mama's kisses wears off a lot faster for little boys with big, man-sized ouchies than it does with girls.

That makes me a little sad. I love being able to kiss the pain away. But on those knees, I couldn't even get within a 5 foot radius.Which means I need to take every opportunity I can to stop and purposefully kiss the tiny hurts while he still asks me to. Someday my kisses will be a source of embarrassment and not one of comfort. And someday my son will learn mama's kisses have always been meant to heal his heart but they never really had any effect on his physical hurts.

Maybe he'll let me continue with those kisses after all.

Head over to Cheaper Than Therapy for more Thousand Word Thursdays and What Works For Us for more Photo Story Friday.

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Letting The Kids Take Over My Kitchen

I tend to be a bit territorial when it comes to my kitchen. Yes, I love having my kids in there with me, but it is MY domain. I don't often turn over the reins.

But lately I've been trying to be a little more open-minded about this. Isabelle is going to be 10 in a few months, so I know she can definitely do many things in the kitchen. It's been a bit of a tough mental adjustment for me, but I want her to start viewing the kitchen as hers also.

On Mother's Day, I took advantage of this by asking Isabelle to prepare breakfast for herself and her sisters and brother. She was thrilled to be asked, both because I had shown my confidence in her ability to get this done and because she was enjoying spearheading my Mother's Day celebration.
Yesterday, she thought up a recipe she wanted to make for snack time. I decided to let her go for it, with the understanding that all preparations and clean up responsibilities fell to her.
I removed myself completely from the kitchen and let her get to work, with the help of her brother. She was confident and excited as she worked. She felt that feeling I feel all the time of lovingly preparing fun and yummy food for her family. There was satisfaction in a job well done.She calls her creation "par-chu-easy." (I have no idea how she would spell it, so I'm just going for it phonetically.) It is made with toast, cut into a circle, spread with plain tomato paste and then covered with a few pieces of sharp cheddar and bits of pepperoni. Very reminiscent of mini pizzas.
And the result? All of the kids loved it. Personally, I wouldn't know since she only made 4, but I'll trust this face.Giving up my kitchen, even for just a little while, is really working for me.

Stop by We Are THAT Family for more Works For Me Wednesday.

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When The Hand-Me-Down Cycle Ends

Over the past few weeks, I've been coming to a very sad realization. Isabelle has reached the end of our little hand-me-down cycle. She has caught up in clothing size to her former hand-me-down donater.

So today, I took the kids shopping and tackled two firsts at once.
First #1 - Honestly, this was the first time we have had to buy clothes for the kids out of necessity rather than by choice. Up until this point, the hand-me-downs have been overflowing.

Since the weather seems to be holding steady with the warmer temperatures, we are focusing on buying summer clothes for Isabelle right now. Today we went to Old Navy. I was pretty pleased with how we did, and Isabelle was thrilled with what we picked out. I was able to point her in the right direction and let her choose what she wanted since her taste in clothing is very acceptable to our standards. I think she felt empowered and was smart enough to use that freedom wisely.
Now that she has a few fun and functional pieces which will serve as the base of her summer wardrobe, we are going to hit the thrift stores tomorrow to do some filling in with odds and ends.

And First #2 - I took all 4 kids shopping. By myself. At an outdoor mall. I can't believe I've never done this before. It's just always been one of those errands that I push back to weekends so that we can all go together. I think that's mainly because mall shopping is more of an adventure than an errand for us. Trips to the mall are an only-occasional occurrence, and then usually just for fun. Because like I said earlier, we really never have to buy clothes.
But this outing was a major success. And now I feel as empowered as Isabelle did. There's nothing stressful about taking the kids out by myself to a crowded place. They behaved wonderfully. I feel like I could take them anywhere now. Maybe our next outing should be Disney World, just the 5 of us. I could handle it!

Stop by 5 Minutes for Mom for more Tackle It Tuesday and The Lazy Organizer for more Talk About Tuesday.

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Frugality...4 Year Old Style

Do you ever feel like you've reached the end of your frugal repertoire and try as you might, you just can't come up with any good tips? Or maybe the tips are there, but they're buried beneath the fog of cold-addled brain?

You know what you should do if that situation ever arises? You should turn the frugal advice giving over to your 4 year old son. Because that's not being lazy, it's just making frugal use of your time and brain power.

So for your viewing pleasure, I present Alex, the boy with 10,000 toys who still knows a thing or two about frugality. (Please excuse his sniffling. We are sharing this cold right now.)

Alex Shares Some Frugal Tips from Kate Miller on Vimeo.

Ah, the financial wisdom of my 4 year old. Definitely a Finer Thing!

Stop by Amy's blog for more Finer Things Friday and then stop by Life As Mom for more Frugal Friday advice, although I bet you'll be hard pressed to find any advice better than Alex's.

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The Night Time Potty-Training Dilemma

Alex and Olivia have been potty-trained for almost 2 years now, at least during the day. I wish I could say the same for night time.

They were both easily potty-trained during the day. Alex took to it quickly after a few false starts when he wasn't really ready yet, and Olivia may have been the quickest potty-trained child ever. She literally woke up one morning and told me she was done with diapers and we've never looked back.

But every night, they still wear pull-ups to bed and their pull-ups are still wet every morning. I know it will happen eventually. I guess I just figured it would happen before they turn 5 and 4 in a few months.

So that is where I could really use some help! Isabelle never wet at night, which was wonderful at the time. Although it certainly didn't train me for this situation now.

So far we have tried limiting drinks after a certain time and cutting off drinks all together for 30 minutes before bed. They both go potty before getting in bed and usually at least one other time before falling asleep.

What has worked for you with night time potty training? Please share with me!! I could desperately use some advice.

Don't forget to stop by We Are THAT Family for more WFMW, the backwards edition.

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One For The Mommy Play Book

I learned a small lesson today about mommyhood. Something I plan to squirrel away in the recesses of my brain for those days when it's really needed.

From now on, I'm going to not let the kids play with certain toys for awhile. And when they ask to play with that toy, I'm going to say "not today."

Why? Because today Alex and Olivia pulled out our train set from the closet. They haven't played with it in months, probably because it's in the closet and not part of the daily toys. There have been a few times recently when they asked if they could play with it and I said no for whatever reason. So today, playing with that train set was thrilling for them. It captivated them all afternoon in a way that none of their daily toys do.

I've said it before and I'll say it again...I really wish we had room to rotate toys so that they only had a few in rotation at a time. Until we do, I think I'll rearrange that closet and see if I can make some more room.

Do you rotate toys? And what I really would love to know - do your children actually play with toys, or do they just make messes with them and then move on in 5 minutes?

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13 Things About The Birthday Girl

Today was Gracie's second birthday. She is the first one of my children I ever wrote a birthday post about, and I can't believe it's already been a year!

We did not have any big celebration today (that will be on Saturday), but she did get lavished with attention and birthday wishes from Eric, the older kids and myself. She was referred to as "the birthday girl" all day long!
So here are 13 things about this sweet little birthday girl.

1. She was an unexpected blessing of the best kind! I was a little hesitant to tell Eric at first though. I knew for almost 3 weeks before I told him. He was absolutely thrilled and excited.
2. As the youngest with two older sisters, 2 older female cousins, and a few family friends, she has been wonderfully dressed since the day she was born. We haven't had to buy her any clothes, and probably won't either.
3. Although we did buy her coming home from the hospital outfit. The onesie that she wore home is still sitting in my closet waiting to be turned into a pillow.
4. My labor with her was one of the best ever. There were no issues and my nurse knew I planned to go natural. She brought me a breakfast tray because she knew everything would go as planned. I ate bacon and drank a cup of coffee while I was 7 centimeters. I wasn't hooked up to anything and got to walk around whenever I wanted to. Since I've always dreamed of a home birth, this hospital birth was probably the closest I'll ever get!
5. Gracie was a fantastic sleeper right from the start. I could lay her down with her eyes open and she'd just drift off peacefully.
6. I felt a little guilty about that and often wanted to wake her up after she was asleep just so we could have some one-on-one time.
7. She has been spoiled with attention from her older sisters and brothers right from the start. As a result, she is also their greatest cheerleader and imitator.
8. She began crawling with a super-fast military crawl before she was 6 months old. That was her mode of transportation before she began walking. She only crawled on hands and knees for about 2 weeks before transitioning to walking full time.
9. She was a late walker, but I bet she would have walked sooner if I had actually put her down more often.
   
10. Gracie is the only one of our kids to suck her thumb. She used to suck her thumb and put her hand down my shirt for comfort. Now she sucks her thumb and plays with her belly button.
11. She loves to pick out her own clothes. In fact, she's very independent with most things. It kind of surprises me since she has 3 willing helpers who want to do everything for her. But I'd much rather see her independence then to see her expect to have things done for her all the time.
12. Her pronunciation of words is very unique. When we say prayers at night, Eric or I will say things and she repeats after us so we often add words that we love to hear her say. Therefore, she thanks God for bubbles, turtle, water and noodles every night.
13. Gracie has the biggest, most beautiful blue eyes ever. Ever since she was born, we can't go anywhere without someone commenting on her eyes.

Happy Birthday Gracie Lynn!

Visit Happy To Be At Home for more Thursday {Thirteen}.

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