Too much energy

Someone must have replaced our usual breakfast with Folgers crystals as the boys were crazy this morning.  No one could sit still and if one did something slightly funny then all would immediately dissolve into laughter and somehow this would turn into chasing and jumping on top of each other.  Actually, to be fair, most of the small jokes were by Mr. 9 and most of the silliness and wrestling were by Mr. 7 and Mr. 3.  I actually had them running laps around the outside of the house twice to try and get some energy out but concentration was still on the low side.  Full moon, the weather, who knows what's going on.

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Dinosaur vs. Birthday...

Birthday wins!

Mr. 2 became Mr. 3 today.  He crept out at 6:15am and I noticed him snuggled on the couch with his blanks while I was frosting his cake.  He was just too excited to sleep.  We started the day with peanut butter and chocolate chip baked oatmeal (his choice) and he got to give Children's Church a try for the first time.

We celebrated this afternoon with a party with his friends J, R, and G who brought along their familes (making 9 kids altogether).  The kids had a great time playing games, running around, eating cake, and generally just enjoying being together.








Mr. 3 had requested a dinosaur cake and I'm rather proud of the results.

 

 

We are so very thankful for our 3 year old who is such an important part of our family.  He loves doing everything the big brothers do and taking care of his little brother.  He likes robots and dinosaurs.  He uses big words and always wants to know the choices.  "Let me think..." is a common phrase while he decides what his choice will be.  He loves to snuggle with the blanks (Car Blank and Stripey Blank) and read all his books.  He loves letters and now knows what sound many of them make.  This kid is going to be a great reader before too long.  He is completely left-handed which makes is difficult for me to help me write his name which he wants to do.  He loves pizza and berries and yogurt and tofu and hummus (and spinach he told me when I asked what he wanted to eat on his birthday).  Most of all he loves his family and we love our Mr. 3!

Ready to walk?

Mr. 0 seems to have no interest in crawling which is probably for the best in our lego-covered house but he loves to stand and occasionally thinks he can just let go and balance on his own (which he cannot).  He has definitely figured out rolling as a form of locomotion and can no longer nap on his bottom bunk as he quickly rolls himself into the center of the room (the mattress is on the floor so he can roll right off).

This week he has been extra fussy and really wants to do nothing but have Mommy carry him around.  Only Mommy, all the time.  This is not a state that is easy to maintain when there are four kids and not just one Mr. 0.  We're hoping that teeth are to blame and he resumes his mild-mannered secret identity soon.

A walk in the woods

I forget how much better everyone is after a day in the woods. Somehow hitting trees with sticks, exploring, throwing rocks in ponds, and generally getting dirty makes everyone better - no matter how frustrating the day started out. Last week was a beautiful spring week - only we live in New England and spring does not typically hit until May so 70 degrees in March is crazy. We got through all our schoolwork and I told the boys we could hike after lunch. When the dishes were cleared away I told them we should get ready. My idea of get ready is to get snacks and water bottles, diapers and kleenex. Their idea is to pack bags with flashlights and headlamps, notebooks (to record clues) and Swiss Army knife. They ransacked the playroom for exploring gear leaving a disaster in their wake. They told me they were ready to go and no one even had shoes on. After I explained that I wasn't quite ready in my not quite patient voice, I put them on baby duty and I finished packing up. We finally made it to the Fells and hiked out to the Panther Cave. The older boys led the way and Mr. 2 and I (with Mr. 0 in tow) followed behind. There was a code invented by these older brothers on the trail. Things like "I'm low on fuel" meaning I need a snack.  Luckily I had packed some fuel or we may not have made it back.  The older boys also wanted to climb up to the tower but Mr. 2 and I weren't quite up to that so instead they played in the stream until I finally dragged 3 wet and dirty kids home.

No matter how hard it is to get out - we never regret our time out hiking.

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Peek-a-boo

Mr. 0's favorite game.

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Mr. X and Miss Y

There have been some mysterious game deliveries in our neighborhood recently.  The games have been signed by Mr. X and Miss Y but the address given doesn't exist.  And strangely I've found some laminated paper scraps around the house.  It's all very mysterious.

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To the trees

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Is it summer?

Not yet but it certainly feels like it. 80 and sunny. The boys were out in their swimsuits yesterday soaking each other with the hose and asking for popsicles. We didn't have any but I found the popsicle molds and they ate juice pops on the porch this morning before breakfast (while watching the recycling truck - is there anything better). We've spent lots of time at the park and this morning when we returned from the library I dragged out the quilts and we read in the backyard.

Unfortunately it will be cooler tomorrow but we do need to finish the school year. If it stayed like this we might have to move school to the park and that wouldn't be quite as productive.

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Prototype challenge

The first week of May I'm flying to Indianapolis with Mr. 0 to celebrate my niece and nephew's birthdays and David is taking the week off to hang out with the older 3 boys. We thought that they could spend the week doing a project rather than just the typical school week. As soon as the boys heard about it they began planning a "Prototype This" kind of project (inspired by the show we've been watching on Netflix) that was their own version of the Google goggles. It involves Mindstorms, an old cell phone, robots, and computer programming. Everything they love and with Daddy in charge they're going to have quite a demo for me when I get home.

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Too many boys on a rainy day

Recently "pile-up" has been a favorite game of the brothers. You can guess how this works - one on the ground and all pile on top. The boys have a blast, shrieking with laughter, until the inevitable. Mr. 2 comes for a kiss and then he's back in. I'm never sure how to manage this game. I'm trying to let them wrestle as I feel they need to but it's hard to set the right limits. So that's when jumping in puddles sounds good to everyone.

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Almanacs and weather predictions

Today we were reading about Benjamin Franklin and how he became quite wealthy selling his famous "Poor Richard's Almanac" which Mr. 9 had recently read. Mr. 7 asked what an almanac is and we spent some time discussing things you would find in an almanac - a calendar, the tides and phases of the moon, interesting facts, and weather predictions. Mr. 7 suddenly remembered reading about how people would predict the weather based on the moon.
"I think there are typically storms 2 days after the full moon," he reported.
During quiet time he found the book he had read this in and had remembered it exactly right. So now we're going to chart the weather and phases of the moon. We'll see how accurate we can predict the weather.

Reading together

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Happy Easter

A beautiful day of rest was just what we needed!

Shoes

After many adventures in the basement looking for the right size shoes I finally decided I needed to organize what we had. These are all the shoes I've found so far - though I know of at least one pair that's missing from last summer (there must be another box of little shoes somewhere...). It also doesn't include the sizes they are currently wearing (with shoes, sneakers, sandals, and crocs - plus a back-up pair to wear when you waded through a stream in your normal shoes which is a regular occurrence around here) and all the rain and snow boots. And I thought boys didn't need lots of shoes!

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Puzzle Master

Mr. 2 loves puzzles and is actually quite good. I was helping him do his new robot puzzle (thanks Nana!) and got called away to help with some math. When I came back he had finished most of it on his own. I was quite a puzzle-lover as a child so it's fun to have him so excited to do puzzles.

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Our budding actors

This weekend Mr. 7 and Mr. 9 sang in the children's cantata at our church.  They had rehearsed every week since January and knew every word by heart (as did Mr. 2 given the number of times we had listened to the CD in the car).  Mr. 9 had the role of Tim and was really nervous when he woke up Sunday morning.  We talked about it and prayed and he seemed better.  Both the boys did a fantastic job.  Mr. 7 had been distracted in rehearsal but was engaged and singing the whole performance.  And Mr. 9 said every line perfectly in character.  It took a lot out of them so after the second performance we refueled at Five Guys Burgers with our special visitors (Nana, Grandma, and Grandpa).  We were so proud of our guys.

Passport for Mr. 0

We are taking a month long trip across the country in June beginning with Niagra Falls and Toronto (Mr. 2 is really excited to see Niagra - we've had to look up pictures quite a few times since June is still very far away when you're 2).  All the boys have passports except Mr. 0 and I suddenly realized that Canada is of course a different country so we're gathering all the supplies to get him a passport.  After many, many photos, we thought we finally had one that worked but it turns out no wrinkles are allowed in the backdrop (difficult when your subject will not lay still) so we finally had one taken.  He's not smiling but it meets all the requirements.  Soon Mr. 0 will be ready for new adventures anywhere!