Little wonders...........

seeing the joy and excitement on Manny's face when some birds came to our Dollar Store birdfeeder :) We tried to be crafty and make the pinecone type........but those darn squirrels got them. Phooey. :(

A bikeride at dusk. Not the safest time to go bike-riding, I know....but we are blessed with a fairly large neighborhood ( not a sub) that has quite an extensive amount of sidewalk....so I stayed on that.
I love how the neighborhood has a different *vibe* at different times of the day.
Our neighborhood is pretty quiet, generally.....but in the morning you can feel the hustle and bustle as people zoom off to work or school. That is when the most cars go down the street and there is a general buzz in the air.
In the afternoon, when I usually go walking with some of my littles, it is dead quiet. You might see an odd senior lady doing yardwork or another mom ( rarely) out walking with her baby,but otherwise it is very peaceful.
In the evening, it felt sort of like it feels when you are at a campground. There were some kids still out playing, some in the street having a game of hockey. You got the impression everyone was relaxing and chilling. Sitting on their porch or in their backyard and winding down for the night. A few souls had their curtains open, thus giving the world a look inside their living room. Most were perched on the couch chatting with family members or the tv was on.

Gabriella is still interested in nursing. I don't know that I have nursed anyone this long ( not that it is all that long). Most have lost interest at about a year. I have heard other women speak of their experiences nursing a toddler, but it isn't something I knew much about. It is cute how she points to the chair we usually sit in when we nurse when she wants to. She often giggles the sweetest little giggle of joy. She sings the whole time ( and squirms and thrashes and pulls on my nose and sometimes scratches me if it has been too long since her last manicure :).
Still, it is so dear to see her give concrete expressions of her enjoyment of that time.

Outside my Window...dusk, but bright green trees. We thought the day would never come! ")

I am thinking...about something I will left unsaid :)

I am thankful for...my husband and children, their health, a roof over our heads, good food to eat, cars to drive. with the two terrible catastrophes in the world in these recent days, there is much pondering on how very thankful I ought to be for the littlest comforts and blessings.

From the kitchen...just chicken nuggets, fries and carrot stix for the kids tonight. gulp.

I am creating...lots of sewing. I did a couch cover and recovered some pillows. I am planning to recover my outside chair pads, and do another couch cover ( we go through these like water....obviously :) I've also got to finish my little sewing/craft room downstairs and carry out my plans to paint and freshen up the laundry room and basement bedroom.

I am going...nowhere else tonight. HOO-RAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am wearing...Brownish khaki's, a red and khaki striped top with a brown undershirt and my brown crocs. I am so colored co-ordinated. ha HA ha

I am reading... Well, I have quite a list these days. What I read last night was some from the "Laura Bridgman" book.

I am hoping...our rebate check will come tomorrow.

I am hearing...Dylan playing with Gabriella, Jed moaning about the owie on his arm, Manny making Buzz Lightyear sounds, some cooking show on Food Network.

Around the house...Phew, what a mess. Did a lot of shopping/ out and about things today and IT SHOWS.

One of my favorite things...a fresh carton of hommous and bag of pita chips from Sam's. Somehow they aren't as appealing once they are opened. :( I got some terrific dill dip from there today too, and those little colored peppers to dip in it.
A new favorite.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...more shopping tomorrow, kids want to go see "Prince Caspian", too ( we'll see). Belated MOther's Day plans with my mom, Naomi and Ella on Saturday.....shopping for a graduation dress for Naomi,too, Winston's first birthday party on Sunday. Lots of baseball games both days of the weekend. I guess cleaning will have to happen next week. darn! :)

A picture worth sharing- I don't think I have any new ones, but I will get some. :)

Mother's Day bonanza

Mom's are good at being guilty. At first I felt guilty for wanting certain things for Mother's Day and now I feel guilty that I got them all AND more! LOL!

Saturday, Tim serendipitously was able to take the 60% of our children that were home with him to the Y and on some errands. That left me alone in the house for a good 3-4 hours! Woo-hoo! I'm not sure I can remember the last time that happened.
I first went on a bike ride on my new favorite path......the Clinton River Spillway. It is about 5 miles there and back all along the river til it spills into the Lake, so a beautiful trail. Most of the way.
When I got back I was able to cut out and pin up, iron, etc. some sewing projects I wanted to get to. That stuff always takes the longest ( as opposed to the actual SEWING), so it was nice to get it out of the way. I was also able to do a good bit of ironing ( a chore I enjoy) while watching "What Not to Wear" reruns. Does it get any better!?!?

Well--- it did. Sunday, my dear son Al actually got up EARLY and invited me to breakfast at my favorite *out to breakfast* restaurant, Cracker Barrel. Did I mention in his birthday post that he is a very thoughtful boy? :) It is always a real treat to spend one on one time with the older ones.
Next, we all went to mass as a family ( well, all but one.....but 99.9% is a pretty good showing.) This is a pretty rare occurence these days.
After that I actually got a bit of a nap and some good one on one time with Tim. We were able to discuss some pertinent issues. On to the pool with Jax and George for a good swim and some fun water play with them. (Tim brought Jed, too, a bit later).
After that I came home to a wonderful dinner prepared by Dyl and Noah. Cream of Mushroom soup ( homemade) Spinach dip, antipasto salad and sliced baquette. Dyl made a terrific" chicken in tomato cream sauce" pasta dish for everyone else ( not too many fans of mushroom soup in the house) which was hard not to sample as well!
I also got some lovely hand made cards and a coupon book from Jax.

Too much!

Probably only a mother would say that! :)

Lessons I don't seem to ever learn.....

not to buy playdough.

thinking I can get away with not vaccuming everyday.

putting lovely throw pillows on our couches and expecting them to stay there.

letting kids eat popcorn in the family room.

caving in and letting jed and manny buy any toy from the dollar store (breaks almost before we get out the door!)

trying to write e-mails while nursing

Sigh ( Happy Birthday Al!)

It's hard not to wax poetically about your oldest son turning 21.
I will try not to, for his sake :) but here is the boy who ushered me into the vocation of motherhood ( with God and Dad's help, of course! ;) turning TWENTY ONE years old.

He was two weeks late. ( The first of many who made a late appearence! ) Of course, I had no clue what real labor felt like so I just assumed I was having bowel troubles ( sorry, not many ways to explain that politely). We finally figured out this *was it* and made our dash to the hospital. Of course, I wasn't very far along, and Tim was hungry.....so off he went to Taco Bell to load up on sustenance. Funny, Al is a huge fan of Taco Bell. We laugh about that.
Not long after he left, REAL labor kicked in and boy did I miss my labor partner. I laugh about that...........now........ but I wasn't very pleased at the time. ;)
At 5:30 am on Friday, May 8th....our Alexander John was born. ( 9 lbs, 1 oz and 22 inches long).
We didn't know he was a boy, but we were thrilled with God's choice!

He was always a good little boy and still is. Not a bad way to get your feet wet for the job of parenting. Of course that made our colicky #2 a real shocker. :)

Now he works full time, goes to Wayne State U.......just bought his third car....a Mustang, no less! ( he saved up for his first car by cleaning the kitchen for us 3x a day when he was a young teen).
Yes, he is well on his way to adulthood, but he is still the boy who scoops up one of his younger siblings after he comes home from work or school and holds and chats with them for awhile. He had a week's vacation this week and I often saw him following his little sister around the backyard or playing *Transformers* or * Geography* game with his little brothers. He is ( of course) strikingly handsome and witty, a brilliant writer and guitar player and and all around interesting person to know.

Happy Birthday, our dear Al. We love you!

This Morning......

My first mistake was not trying harder to get the attention of two little boys engrossed in playing with their Optimus Prime and car.
"Jed and Manny, time to get dressed and do your chores!"

No response.

"Jed and Manny, maybe I'll have to take those toys away so you will get down to business!"

Manny, "You're cute, mom!"


and a few minutes later......

Me, "Manny, I will help you get your clothes on, but you are old enough to take off your pj's"

Manny, "I'm on it!"

My kids are award winners!

Literally :)

Third Quarter Honors


Naomi: Summa Cum Laude ( All A's with no A-'s) and Principal's award. She also won *Student of the Month* this month!

Jackson: Magna Cum Laude ( All A's with some A-'s :) and Principal's award!

George: Honor Roll and he did so well on his reading MAP test that he got a free *Happy Meal* from Mac Donald's :) His teacher said he had *High School* level scores and he is in 4th grade.

Way to go, kids!