More Camping!

I would like to say I fell off the weight watchers wagon at camp...
the truth is I jumped.

Feet first.

Into ice cream, s'mores, cheesy bacon fries....

I need to stop now before I drool... I am back on now, mostly.

Two of the kids Uncles bought these remote control helicopters for the weekend.

They also bought about six of the new light sabers which I somehow did not get pictures of.

The life lesson here is that Uncles are awesome... teenage Uncles are super duper awesome.

Three Generations of  women.
When I look at this picture I am amazed. They are all so alike and so different.
  I am so blessed to know them all.
It is amazing to see a family so BIG still be so close.
I am beginning to think its the Mom's that hold it together.

If its the Mom's who hold it all together then its the babies who provide the comic relief.
The baby lover trying to "pet" Vivian.

New warm winter Pj's from Nana!

Reading books in front of the fire, we love this because we don't have a fireplace at home... yet.

Cuddling...

Helping me by holding her Sis as we get ready to ready to head out.

They were very surprised to not have to buckle to go to the "big cabin"

Its basically a long driveway between the two houses.

Daddy and Vivi hanging out with Kennypap... Vivi and him had a lot of cuddle time by the fire.

Toasting marshmallows. Another very big deal to pre-schoolers.

and the best thing about marshmallows?

They make S'MORE'S

I apologize to your poor little eyes.... but there is still more for tomorrow.

For now it is 9:30... an hour and a half past our bedtime and the kiddo's are still up because Daddy is building a bunk bed for the boys.

The man is consistently useful and impressive. Nothing he can't do I believe.

I am so very in love... and so very exhausted!

Camping

Two weeks ago we packed up what seemed to be our entire house and headed to camp. My husbands family does this every year. This was our first year not staying in the "big cabin" with the grandparents and younger Aunts and Uncles. We had held out as long as we could but we had finally really out grown our little room with the two full bed, and we needed a quiet place of our own for nap times, So this year we got our own cabin... and an earful every single morning from the littles about hurrying up so we could go to Grammy and Grandpa's cabin. Which was just around the bend from ours.

There are twenty-eight of us in all, four families in four cabins within walking distance of each other.
Grammy and Grandpa, their twelve kids, three spouses and eleven Grandchildren all five and under.
Also two dogs and a partridge in a pair tree.

As well as Tom's Grandparents and Uncle and five more dogs staying nearby... 

This year was also Jacks first year at camp. He loved it as much as the kids.

On the first morning there Grandpa started building this... a giant playpen for the three littlest ones among us... 6 months, 8 months, and one year... the finished product is later in this post.

He had LOTS of helpers... something tells me he will never want for helpers. 

Skilled labor maybe... but never eager little helpers.

Trent and Madison's power wheels quads were the big hit this year. Luckily they were very happy to share!

If we get enough of them and extra batteries I think we could keep all the kids happy around the clock... I am going to start pricing this out.

Uncle Scott talking to Vivi in the hillbilly playpen... I swear he was made to make baby girls smile.

He has always been a favorite of Bella's too.

Portia loving the baby... seriously all she wanted to to was pick her up all the time!

Getting ready to cook breakfast...  its on the fire and its an event here like every meal.

The thing that is awesome about camp is the time. Time to play catch with Dad everyday. Time to eat together every meal. Time to take walks to nowhere. Play cards. Read books. Ride bikes. talk to everyone. Scrapbook. Or just be quiet and sit by the fire. Time for soaking up some memories.

More to come... much much more!

Home Sweet Homeschool

We are back from a week away at camp. Catching up on school and mountains of laundry.

Journal time, patterns in math, sentence structure, rhyming.... oh dear Lord the rhyming!

Why is that what takes up most of our time? She really will never be a poet.

Patterns are her thing. She loves it and she breezes through it.

Tommy is keeping up with her pretty well. He watches all the same videos and does all her computer games too. Hopefully it will be that much easier when he starts next fall.

Some of us are working harder than others however....

When I can't get him involved in something away from the table he sits with us and colors.

Begging me often to draw him a "choo too twain."

Finally the other day I thought I had him playing quietly in his room.

I was wrong... he was in his sisters room... 

with a crayon he had pilfered from the pile.

Let's look on the bright side.

He obviously has an artistic flair and he learned how to use a magic eraser.

More about camping soon!

Bella Ballerina

                         Here is Aunt Julie doing Bella's hair for her first Ballet and Tap class!

Mommy cannot do it all... least of all hair styling.

That is and always has been Julie's department.

The other thing I can't do is keep a calendar correctly.

I thought dance started Tuesday. I called to verify the time and found out we had missed out first class which was supposed to be Monday. 

Bad Mommy.....

thankfully we were able to make it up today on Wednesday!

Nana complimenting her on her outfit.

And her baby fine hair miraculously tamed into a bun.

                       This is the child who has nearly worn out her "12 Dancing Princesses" dvd....

along with her brothers patience for all things Barbie.

                            I didn't take pictures in class because I didn't want to be "that mom".

Also Aunt Kristin will be coming to her recital in a few months with her superior skills and camera!

I can't wait!!!

She had an absolute blast tonight...

during ballet she was serious and graceful. So very happy every time she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. In tap she was bubble and excitable getting caught up in the music and fun steps.

We had a great time. I loved getting to watch her step out and try something new.

When we got back to Nana's her Aunt Julie said, "So you are a ballerina now?"

And she said, "Yep... but you can still call me Bella."

Six Month Old Baby Blues

Homeschooling is hard work.... I think I took babyhood for granted the first few go rounds.

With my newly minted title of teacher I am soaking up the precious days and hours with the one who just knows me as Mommy.

Somehow while I have been focusing on the pressing issues of curriculum, ballet classes starting next week, and potty training I blinked and she turned six months old.

How is it that when I was nine month's pregnant and she came nearly two weeks late time crawled and ever since her first beautiful cries it has flown.

I look at her here now and I think back to those time before she was born.... 

and before I was even pregnant when Bella prayed often for a baby sister.

Her prayers met with God's grace and here is Vivian, so precious now to us all.

A little about Vivi at six months...

she is the happiest baby ever.

She is the worst napper this last month...

all my babies seem to go through this at six months, anyone else?

She loves to hold the plastic baby wipe bag and crinkle it and she figured out how to pull them out a few days ago too!

She can roll over to her tummy, she has one tooth on the bottom.

She just started baby food this week.

She has no desire to sit up or crawl or hold her own bottle.... just like her big sis!

And all of that is just fine and dandy with me.

Her arrival is being anxiously awaited by her big sister in the "girl room".

Still working out the logistics of that with our tiny bedrooms!

She makes her brothers and Father all stop the horseplay and rough housing at a moments notice if she needs them.... which is no small feat. 

She is very patient when Tommy is the one to give her a bottle. He loves to do it but he gets easily distracted and the nipple ends up in her nose a few times.

She really is the only reason I believe that Daniel may someday turn into a productive member of society, he loves her in a way that brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.

She rarely cries so when she does he gasps, 

"Bibian Grace cry MAMA! HELP HELP! SHHSHH Bibi... it otay!!!"

Then he sings to her to the tune of
"Winnie the Pooh"

"Bibian Grace, Bibian Grace... don't you cry Grace, don't you cry Grace! La la la la la la!"

Everything goes faster these days. Every baby grows faster than the last.

I remember as a child days that felt like eternity

As a teenager summers were years! I would be eighteen forever.

Now the years are more like weeks, the precious moments are slipping by.

Bittersweet... no matter how hard we grip them they go.

We seem to go from Yesterday to Tomorrow and somehow skip over today.

"Babies Don't Keep" 

I hope that my child,
looking back on today
Will remember a mother
who had time to play;
Because children grow up 
while you're not looking,
There are years ahead 
for cleaning and cooking.
So, quiet now cobwebs, 
dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby,
and babies don't keep