Mud Puddles...

My children have a strange magnetic-like pull toward mud puddles...I think all kids have that same magnetic pull towards any kind of water...I remember one time letting the kids I nannied for go bath in a mud puddle...they had mud everywhere and needed a good head to toe scrubbing after they were done!

It was a very warm 80' day out...so why James is in jeans and a hat I don't know...I will go with the excuse of "his father dressed him" rather than say that James has my stubbornness and refused to wear cooler clothes!

The last few weeks have been very rainy...leaving behind some perfect mud puddles for stomping it! They kids eyed the puddles as soon as we went home for the weekend!

I am posting a rather ridiculous amount of pictures in this one post...but I love them all...the carefree spirit of childhood...

James loves his mud boots...and he wears them everyday...he even wears them shopping...in fact, he wears them so often that it looks very strange to see him wear any other shoes!

Jon had gone up to the store for some dinner, so every time they heard a car drive past, they stood perfectly still waiting to see if it was Daddy... 

James found a bucket in the sandbox and decided to scoop the water up and bring it to the sandbox to make more mud!

Elsie is my super girly-girl who love nail polish, hair bows and pink...but she sure knows how to get good and dirty too! She did have to go inside and decided on the perfect dress to wear before getting muddy though!

Elsie decided to fill her pockets with mud water...

It made her happy...and mud washes out...so we let her enjoy the moment...

What a fun afternoon...

A Swing for Two...

I have mentioned before that due to my irritable uterus issues, we have been staying with my parents during the week while Jon is out of town. My kids love being here...and it's no wonder they love it here...sometimes it is a bit like a wild, mad house! I truly never knew that 4 kids could get as wild as the aunties, Elsie and James can get! Makes me want to take back my grand hopes of 5 kids!!

The kids all have great and wild imaginations...what one doesn't think of, one of the others will! They are rarely without a plan of some kind brewing in their minds. Their new favorite thing lately has been the swing that is hanging between the dining room and living room...they can get that swing going like crazy...they like to try to touch the ceiling with their feet! {Like any responsible mother though, my mom has tried to put a stop to that...so now the kids just wait until she is out of the room!}

Emma and Elsie are more like sisters than auntie and niece...and they fight every bit as well as sisters sometimes do! My mom assures me that sometimes the best thing to do is to walk away from them when they are fighting...because they have to learn to work out their own problems. I guess these pictures prove that, one again, my mom is correct!{I guess raising 9 kids she must know a thing or two!} Elsie and Emma are always fighting over whose turn it is to swing, who got a longer turn, who touched the swing first therefore making the swing "theirs"...and I see they came up with a good solution to the problem all by themselves...share the swing!

Who would have guessed that 2 could have so much fun on a swing made for 1!? Today I heard them scheming ways to fit 3 on the swing...for their sake {and my dad's} I sure do home that support beam the swing is hanging from is a mighty strong one!!

Uncle and Nephew...

James adores all the guys in his life...his Daddy is his #1...but papa Wayne and Uncle Colter follow closely behind! James also has quite a thing for Lisa's boyfriend, Jordaan...Jordaan won him over by giving him 4-wheeler rides! Being that Jon works out of town, I am very thankful that James has so many other great guys in his life...he craves his "boy-time" with the guys!

James and Colter are so much alike that it is scary sometimes! They both have a deep need to be outside...on this day it was pouring out, but between rain showers the boys had to take a quick walk through the woods to check the water level in the swamp...not sure why, but if I were a boy, maybe I would get it? James learns a lot from Uncle Colter...mostly good, some scary and some down right dangerous...James mostly loves the downright dangerous things I am sure! What a couple of guys...

Solar Eclipse

Last week the kids got to watch the partial solar eclipse...The sun was super bright...the kids wore sunglasses outside to protect their eyes...and they all took turn looking at the sun through papa Wayne's and Ryan's welding masks...

I remember watching solar eclipse when I was little...and one time I remember staying up super late and looking through the telescope and viewing Halie's Comet! I was probably only 5 years old, and we all stood outside under what we call the "Indian Tree" in the front lawn and watched...and my great-grandma was visiting for the summer and she saw it with us...it was her second time seeing the famous comet! I love knowing that little moments like watching a comet has forever been etched in my memory...and I wonder what simple things we do will be etched in my children's memory. Every little moment and event has the potential to be a grand memory...

I tried taking a picture of the solar eclipse through the welding mask...it didn't work too well...but it is still a fun picture!

16 Week Belly...

I am 17 weeks now...so I am posting these 16 week pictures a week late. I feel bigger than I look...I am pretty certain the only thing that has grown since the last belly pictures is my boobs! {TMI, I know...but that's just the way I am!}

Next Thursday we find out if this little one will be wearing Pink or Blue...I am just a little excited! So far we have picked up a few boy things, a few girl things and a new carseat. I cannot wait until we can buy lots of cute little baby clothes...Elsie is just as excited as I am! We have a big shopping day planned a few days after we find out to purchase everything we need...notice the key word there...plan...I know I probably won't be able to really do any shopping, but its good to have a plan!


I will end this post with some Elsie humor related to my growing baby belly...
One afternoon we were watching an old home video and Elsie looked at me and slowly shook her head and said, " I feel just so bad for you." I asked her why and she responded with, " well, look at you you now! You are all fat and everything...when I was little you looked so good!"
Okay then...I didn't quite know how to respond...I didn't think I looked that bad!? haha...

photography by Elsie Jane...

Just a fair warning...this will most likely be a boring post...but I wanted to document Elsie's photography skills...she has a good eye for photography!

One afternoon Elsie made herself a little fort under the dining room table...and she asked if she could use my camera to snap some pix of playing in her fort. I think she was pretending to be a spy.

This one is pretty creative...Love how I am positioned right between the rungs on the chair!

The other end of her fort...a lumpy pillow...

And lastly, a picture of her brother...love the angle and the lighting...I'm tellin' ya, she has the makings of one great photographer! Good job, my girl!

Family Gathering...

A week later and I am finally getting around to posting the pix of the little party after Lisa's confirmation...I do not have a very good internet connection at my parents house so my posts are far and few between!

Anyhow...right after the Church service ended James woke up from his nap...he was really not feeling so good, wouldn't take his medicine and wasn't too interested in eating or drinking...so when he spied the cupcakes and wanted to eat one, we gladly gave him one! Sometimes there are perks to being sick...like eating cupcakes when everyone else is told they must eat their lunch first!

It always looks like there is a party going on at my parents...so many cars in the driveway!

A full house...with lots of little Children at the table. My parents are in need of a HUGE table...for now people eat in the dining room, kitchen and living room...and who knows where else!

After dinner all the "younger guys" went downstaris to play some pool...while all the others stayed upstairs and let the Children entertain them...they entertained us quite well! Yes, I am well aware of the fact that my son has a gun longer than he is...and that he is about to wack his cousin with it...sometimes I give up!

Love this picture...all the people...all the chaos...all the memories being made...

When we all get together babies get passed from person to person...if a kid needs to be washed up from dinner or needs a helping hand whoever is closest jumps up to do it...I love that about our family...we all blend well together!

Lydia is the youngest grandbaby...out of 7 grandchildren there are now 2 girls! Lydia got her fair share of passing around from person to person...though I would have been happy to just keep her and not pass her to the next pair of waiting arms!

Another passing of the babies picture...James calles all small children a baby...so even though he and Levi are only about 9mo apart he is still a baby to him!

A very fun and happy {and loud} family gathering! Next big family gathering will be a Wedding!!

Church...

My kids love going to Church...Elsie begs to go every Sunday. James says he wants to go, but we all know that as soon as he gets there its a whole different story! I am sorry to say that since being prego I have not gone to Church...between morning sickness and bedrest stuff I stay home with James...Jon and Elsie enjoy walking the block and half down the road to attend church though. Last Sunday Jon came home saying that maybe we should finally join the church...which is shocking since he does not believe in organized religion...don't get me wrong, he is a Christian, believes in God, prays, but he hates the politics and theological view points of each denomation. He believes God should be the center and in most churches, it isn't that way. So, when he suggested that we look into joining I was happily shocked!

A few weeks ago Jon and Elsie walked to the Catholic Church to attend my sister, Lisa's confirmation. I felt so bad I had to miss her Confirmation...but it was only 2 days after James surgery and he was not doing so great. So while everyone else was at church James took a much needed nap while I relaxed my belly.

I know going to Church is a serious thing...but Jon got a little shutter happy and kept snapping away. My mom said she wanted to rip that camera out of Jon's hands and tell him to be quiet in Church...but at least he had the flash off! He did get some pretty good shots...I think this series just might be my favorite ones ever that Jon has taken. He does have some fun angles...and turning them to black and white made then super fun!
{any time I post any picture of my mom on my blog, I hear tails from her of how terrible I am to post such pictures of her...but this is a very good picture...full of creative detail...so I had to share it...enjoy mom!}

Elsie was happy to be sitting with her aunties...but I later heard that she was disappointed that there was not enough room for their little friends Emma and Abby to sit with them also.

Jon got fun shots of the little details...it's little details like this I don't want to ever forget...so sweet...

My sister Laura, her boy friend Ryan, Lisa's boyfriend Jordaan, Ted and Ceara...they all look so serious...

Lisa's confirmation...the priest, the bishop, Lisa,and her sponsor James...such a special moment... 

It appears that Elsie was unfazed by that special moment...

Can you get any sweeter...

After the church service everyone headed over to my parents house for dinner and visiting...I have many more pictures of the afternoon to share...I will try to post them at some point in the somewhat near future!

Surgery Day...

Thursday marked one week since James had his tonsils and adenoids removed. The day of his surgery he was not a happy camper...he was tired, hungry and thirsty. We had to be checked into the hospital by 6am so he could be prepped and ready for surgery by 7am. He never wakes up before 7:30am...so waking up at 5:30 was way too much for him! To top things off, the night of his surgery Elsie wound up with a cold and had a bit of fever. So she was SO not a happy camper...and cried and screamed and gaged when she realized Daddy was bringing her to Grammie's house during the surgery! Poor girl...she soon fell back to sleep with Grammie and woke up feeling much better!

At the hospital James was determined to leave...he kept putting his mud boots back on and trying to open the door saying, "Go home" with a nod of his head as though he really thought he could talk Jon and I into bringing him home! He also didn't like the nurses that kept coming in...and he liked them even less when they did things like strap some I.D. bracelets around his ankle!

This picture makes me sad...you can see the un-certainty in his eyes...Daddy though he would try to make James a little more okay with everything by playing hide and seek with him...it didn't work!

The nurses gave James some medicine that was supposed to relax him and make him feel calmer...they assured me that with the meds he wouldn't have a problem with going back to the surgery room with them before he was given the sedation medicine. I thought, yeah right. But, we tried it anyhow. He took some of it. He hated the taste of it. He then squirted some on the floor and on me...so we took the syringe away!

That must have been some pretty powerful medicine because in no time he was acting a little drunk! He was kinda funny acting...flopping around and doing anything for a laugh!

Soon the nurses came and said they were ready for him...they asked if he was ready and he held his hands out and willingly went with them! I was shocked! I guess he was looking around and "talking" about things the whole way to the surgery room...he started to cry a little and ask for mama when they laid him down on the table...but 2-3 breaths later he was sound asleep.

He came back about an hour later...crying, screaming, kicking...not a happy boy at all! I guess uncontrollable crying is normal because of the sedation medicine. And his foot hurt him. As he began coming to before they brought him to us, he was thrashing around and he pulled the IV out a little so it blew through a vein...and it was hurting him quite a bit! The nurse said getting him to lay still was like wrestling an alligator...they eventually had to swaddle him and whisk him out to Jon and I. After they pulled the IV out he calmed down some...until he noticed the pulse ox machine attached to his foot...more cries until I took it off him! Silly boy.

A Popsicle made things all better though. His main goal was to leave the hospital...he wanted his mud boots and coat back on as soon as he noticed he was not wearing them...he jumped off my lap to go get them, and he could hardly walk...he looked like a drunk little man wobbling around! He did feel nauseous after a bit...he asked for the trash can and gagged a few times...he never puked, but I think he was wishing he could have! The nurse gave him a cool little puke bag to take home, just in case he needed it on the way home! He never did need it...but he sure enjoyed showing it to his sister and aunties and demonstrating how to use it...no doubting he is all boy!

The first day of his surgery was mostly spend dozing in and out of sleep in mama's arms...we cuddled all day in the rocker. By the next evening he got a fever, a cough and his ears hurt. Being that he had 3 of the 4 'danger' signs we called the dr. The Dr. assured us all was find, his fever wasn't high enough to indicate an infection, the cough was from the breathing tube and the ears hurt because it is quite common for ears to hurt worse than the throat because of nerve endings. We did our best to keep some Tylenol in him to keep the pain at bay...only on really bad days did was give him the vicodine. Today he is all better...he is eating everything, he says his throat doesn't hurt, and his energy level is back! And the good news is the last 2 nights he only woke up twice...which is a big change from the normal 8 times a night due to gaging on those darn big tonsils!