Some Days...

You can't help but be amazed. At breakfast this morning we were eating powdered donuts (a treat for the end of the school year). Mason asked how many donuts each person could have and as always I don't answer a question that the kids can figure out on their own so I said, you tell me, there are six people in the family and 12 donuts. Within 2 seconds he said, two a piece. Not only was I shocked at the speed he replied but so was Valynn, she asked him how he knew, his reply, "6 + 6 is 12 who get's Kyleigh's two? "

Should I be worried about this one? As Kyra was getting dressed this morning she asked if she could wear a dress, after looking at all the dresses in her closet she finally picked one out and then asked me "Do you think Matthew will think I'm pretty in this dress?". Matthew is on vacation otherwise she would probably be over there asking him that question. The affection goes both ways, Matthew wakes up in the morning and informs his parents "I'm going to eat breakfast, get dressed, and go play with Kyra. " This is a daily conversation at their house. These two are hilarious as they giggle and scream with delight when they see each other and the profound sadness and disappointment coupled with "Kyra (or Matthew) come back" when they must part ways.

Valynn's game was canceled on Wednesday because of wet fields. She has a game tonight, hopefully I'll have pictures to post tomorrow. Mason has his first game tomorrow morning. Today it's finally sunny out, I was out in the garden for a couple of hours this morning. I'm watching the neighbor boy today since the Kindergarten class is on a field trip. Mason is excited to have Jordan over.

Chantel, Tonya, and I have decided to enter the Heritage Days 5K walk/run in three weeks. We decided this yesterday and started training last night. Last nights training consisted of walking up and down the street for an hour while visiting. We'll see what comes of it as we try to work around 3 husbands work schedules and the schedules of 11 kids.

Yesterday I tried a new recipe, chipster topped brownies. Brownies topped with chocolate chip cookie (Stacey and Laurie, I was thinking of you when I made it). A very good treat after walking for an hour.

I think she missed the point

Kyra: I want milk
Mom: How do we ask?
Mason: Milk please?
Kyra: milk please, milk please, milk please, etc? She says this as I'm pouring Mason and myself some milk. She finally stops when I pour her some. Then...
Mom: Valynn would you like some milk?
Valynn: Yes.
Kyra: You have to say MILK PLEASE a lot.

My babies are growing up, sniff sniff

Kyleigh is 9 months today. She is getting into so many things now, I want her immobile again (not really). Today is also Kindergarten registration for Mason.

Memorial Day Weekend

I'm excited I haven't cooked supper since Wednesday, and no my kids aren't starving or living off of junk food, everyone else had been doing the cooking for me or it's been leftovers. Thursday we had supper at the Bowdoin's. Friday Valynn had a softball game so we had a snack since no one was hungry. Valynn's team won, they did very well and improved greatly from their first game. One of these games we'll have some pictures, you need to talk to Mark about that, but since he's busy keeping track of three kids and watching the game I guess we can cut him a little slack. Valynn got some good hits in but she always waits until the last pitch before she hits the ball. She played catcher for an inning and liked that position.

On Saturday Mason had Teeball practice. Mark worked some in the garage and then we headed to Bloomington for supper with the Bane's. We had a great visit and I got my Uppercase Living order of Kyleigh's name, I'll post pictures when I get it done.

Sunday we went to church and then had supper with the Endres' in Chillicothe. We had a great visit and Laurie served some great Chocolate Martini's.

Yesterday we met our friend Donn Schuschke from ND, his parents, his aunt, and his cousin's family from Pekin for lunch at Avanti's and then went to the cousins to visit. We always enjoy getting together with them.

It's back to the grindstone this week. Valynn has softball practice tonight and games on Wednesday and Friday. Mason has Kindergarten registration on Wednesday and his first teeball game on Saturday. Kyra is done with gymnastics for the summer. Here is a video of Kyleigh with her unique crawl. Sorry it's sideways.

Exhausted and it's not over yet!

Where to begin? Wednesday night Valynn had her first softball game. She got three excellent hits, twice she got a runner home. The team still lost but they did much better than we thought they would. You also realize your coaching mistakes in a first game, we were teaching the girls to always throw to first, well, they would throw to first instead of touching third or home plate. We have another game tonight and can hopefully correct that problem. I had fun coaching, Valynn was disappointed because she was in the outfield but that should be changed up a little tonight.

Yesterday was busy, busy, busy. I went with Valynn on a field trip which meant getting the other three packed up and to the neighbors by 7:30. The class went to Central Fire Station which is the largest and busiest in Peoria. We then went to a park in Chillicothe where we met Mark for lunch. After lunch and a little time on the playground the class went to Chilli Bowl. They got to bowl a game and then were given a behind the scenes tour. Very interesting. After we got back I went to pick up the kids at Tonya's. Kyra was still napping (she napped for four hours) so the other three kids and I headed to my follow up appointment with my foot, we then came back picked up Kyra and finally haded home. We were home for about a half hour before heading over to the Bowdoin's for my Birthday supper. We had a great meal and then headed home where the kids tried out my birthday present, a Wii Fit. I was the last one to try it but the only one who was fit for my age (good thing I had my birthday otherwise I would have been off by a year). We have a busy weekend of get togethers and things to do but it should all calm down by Monday. Valynn has 5 days of school left.

Kyleigh is also getting more mobile. While not crawling more than a foot or so at a time she is nonetheless finally crawling. She does a crazy little leg thing, I'll try to get a picture of it.

Mother Daughter Banquet

We attended St. Timothy's Mother Daughter Banquet on Monday night. Valynn looks forward to this every year. We had a good time, the kids each got a flower and a balloon. I won a backpack filled with picnic supplies, plates, glasses, etc. We will hopefully try that out this weekend, unfortunately it's only a place setting for four so I'll have to add to it. Mark and Mason went out to eat and then to the movie Monster's vs. Aliens. Yesterday Mason talked me into getting the slip n slide out. I didn't think it was quite that warm but it didn't seem to bother the kids. Even the neighbors came over to play, they played on it for 3 hours yesterday which meant they slept well last night. Valynn has her first softball game tonight and her field trip tomorrow. I am going with her and Mark is meeting us for lunch, it should be fun.

You can't miss me!

There should be no problem spotting Valynn's softball team on the field. How much brighter could they get? We had team pictures this weekend and that was IT. What a nice relaxing weekend. We were able to accomplish some things around the house and take some family time. This upcoming week is hectic and it doesn't help that Mark took a half day off of work because he isn't feeling well. Let's hope he's the only one that catches it. Is there any room in the crib for Kyleigh? Kyleigh had mac and cheese for lunch, she liked it but it got all over her. Kyra helped me make Monkey Bread. She was in charge of coating all the dough and putting it in the pan. Have a good week.

Field Trip

What a miserable day for a field trip. We went to the zoo with Mason's preschool class. It rained the whole time, we've gotten close to two inches so far. Mason and Kyra didn't seem to care that they were getting wet. Kyleigh spent the morning with Chantel so she didn't have to face the elements. Mason and Kyra had fun looking at the animals. In June the new African exhibit opens up. We are looking forward to a low key weekend.

Happy Mother's Day

My Mother's Day is definitely better than last years. It's been a good week but extremely busy. We finally got the garden planted. Chantel came over to help watch the kids so I could get it done before it rained, again. Thursday Chance and Alyssa came over to help the kids hone their baseball/ softball skills. I also gave them all of our baby items and have a list of things to give them closer to her due date in August. Friday was Valynn's last softball practice. She starts games in a couple of weeks. Saturday we had the last of the soccer games. Valynn got to play some offense today and she got right in the mix and took control of the ball, she doesn't know what position she likes best. After soccer we went to church and then out for Chinese for supper. Today I got to sleep in until 6:15, the kids made me breakfast and gave me their gifts. The day has been pretty relaxed and we don't plan on doing much more than that. This is Mason's last week of school, that is so hard to believe. Valynn is done on June 3rd so she is counting down the days.

Enjoy the pictures. Kyleigh pushed herself under the kitchen island (my official Mother's day gift). Kyra told me she wasn't tired and wouldn't nap, you can see she showed me. And the last picture is a bed full of kids. Friday and Saturday nights the kids can sleep together and they all decided to squeeze unto Mason's bed, and no one fell out.

Have a great Mother's Day

Beautiful weekend

Friday we got our plants at the FFA plant sale. Valynn had a 1/2 day of school so we went to Wildlife Prairie State Park after Kyra's gymnastics with Chantel and kids (the train picture should have 8 kids, if you look closely you can see one escaping out the back). We were there for close to 4 1/2 hours. The kids had a great time, looking at the animals. It was a cloudy/ rainy day and all of the animals were out. On the way home Kyra fell asleep, she slept from 4:30 until 7:00 the next morning. She was up about three times in the middle of the night but went back to sleep everytime.

Saturday morning Mark started planting the trees that we bought. I'll post pictures later. We have had so much rain this spring that the water table is only 2 feet beneath the surface. As Mark was digging the holes, they were filling in with water. The water table is above our basement floor but so far our basement has remained dry, the sump pump runs every 10 minutes. After the soccer games we went to the Padilla's for supper. The kids did a great job at soccer, Mason says he scored 7 goals, we're not sure about that because the kids were playing at the same time so we didn't see every score. We had a great supper and visit with the Padilla's before heading home. Sunday I read in church and the kids had Sunday school. We then attended family day at what we thought was the last day of soccer but they are playing next Saturday to make up their last game. Mason once again scored quite a few goals and Valynn played the whole game and did a wonderful job on defense. After the soccer games we headed home to get as much done outside as we could. Mark finally got the lawn mowed (most of it, some was too wet to get to). I weeded my flower bed and transplanted some strawberries. We got the kids' flowers planted in their pots. Valynn and Mason do it all on their own which is great.

Tonight we home to get started on the garden before it rains again (right now they are calling for rain tomorrow afternoon). Have a good week!