Happy Birthday Paul!!

Happy Birthday to the best daddy and husband ever.  We celebrated with mint chocolate chip ice cream!!

RAIN!!!!

This evening at bed time, while we were reading books, it started  to get dark and the lighting and thunder started.  As the clouds moved in Nathan was getting excited about the prospect of  rain.  The kids kept looking out the windows and watching the lightning and listening to the thunder, it was a welcome sight.  At least I thought it was a welcome sight.  The kids excitement turned into fear as the thought of going to bed with the lightning and thunder finally hit them.  Emily was the first with the tears and crying about "it's too scary"  This then upset Maddie and Nathan started complaining that it was too scary and he could not go to bed.  Maddie settled down quickly, but Emily kept on (she is the dramatic one).   This upset Kayla because she wanted Emily to stop crying/screaming about the rain. After a while everyone settled and fell asleep, but what a night!!  No Reagan did not sleep through it, she was awoken by Emily.  It was a nice rain fall and we had almost 2 inches of rain.  HOORAY!!

Updates

Air Conditioner~
      The day that the repairman was here he fixed the air conditioner in 10 minutes.  It was a part he had on the truck and fixed it quickly.  The best part was there was NO charge.  The part was under warranty, but we thought for sure we would have to pay the service call fee, but no it was waived or as the man said, "Davis and David Weekly are going to take care of this bill for you".  I was so excited I think I thanked him and shut the door, maybe in his face!  Sorry!!  The girls were upset that this meant we would not be going to Mrs. G's house to sleep that night.  Emily even wanted to know if she, with Kayla and Madeline could still spend the night.  It was so nice to sleep in an air conditioned house.  We are so spoiled. 

Bella~
    The last few weeks that we had Bella here at the house she was slowing down, would roll in her ball for about 5 minutes than just sit there.  She did not eat very much and was just not the same gerbil we brought home in May.  I warned Ms. Ross that Bella may be coming close to the end of her time.  Well, this morning when dropping the kids off I saw the assistant teacher and she informed me that Bella had died.  The kids handled it well and asked where Ms Ross buried her.  I did not have the heart to say " In the trash", so I just said "I don't know where they buried her" and that was the end of the conversation.  I have to say a gerbil was a pretty easy pet. 

clappping...

Reagan has started clapping.  It is mainly when she gets excited about something. No we did not teach her this, it is just something she figured out one day.  She has always slapped one hand on the floor, a door, a wall, anything, I guess she just figured she would slap her hands together.  A genius, this baby!!

First Day of School!!

Today was the kids first day back to school. It was a great day.  When I dropped them off Nathan and Kayla walked in with no issues, Emily on the other hand cried and was upset.  As her teacher peeled her from me I ran for the door.  Since she is the third child that I had to have peeled from me as I ran out the door, I have lost all emotional involvement with the situation, when I hear of the mom that cried when taking their child to the first day of school, it blows my mind.  WHY!!  Drop them off and run, sure they are sad and upset, but in 10 minutes they will have COMPLETELY forgotten about you.  I am just lacking the sensitivity gene I guess...

When I picked them up from school they were all smiles and had a great day.  It was nice to hear that they had fun and there were friends in their classes from the previous year.  the best part of the pick up was NO homework!!  I think I am dreading t hat more than the kids do.  I am looking forward to a good year.  My goals is to be more involved in the activities at the school, lets see how it turns out! 

Bella

This summer we have had the kindergarten's pet gerbil, Bella. Originally there were suppose to be 2 but on the last day of school when we were to be bringing them home the other one, Shadow, died. Bella is a good gerbil, I am not sure how one could be bad, she (I call her a she, but in truth am not sure if it is a boy or a girl) will bury her food and enjoys being put in the ball where she runs all over the place. It is pretty amazing the way she is able to control the ball and is pretty good about not running into anything. Her lid to the ball comes off regularly so we have to be careful and watch that Sally does not get a hold of her. Sally does enjoy "playing" with her when she is in the ball. Sally hides behind one of the columns and will pounce out at the ball, funny to watch. A friend of ours told us they use to put toilet paper rolls, empty, in the cage for their gerbils to chew on and run through. the kids thought this was great idea and the next day in went one. Bella had a great time shredding it with her teeth and just adding to her bedding. I expect that the toilet paper will last longer once Bella is returned to Mrs. Ross. It has been fun and now a pet gerbil has been added to list of possible pets...


Notice in the picture the lid came off and Bella is trapped under the ball.  (no I did not stage this!)

Funny!!

The other day when it was 90 something in the house Maddie was playing with Reagan. I am not sure why but Maddie s the only one that can make Reagan REALLY laugh!

HOT

Saturday night our air conditioner went out. Yep that is right, day 2 with no air!! It is a cool 87 degrees downstairs and 89 up. I am praying that when the A/C man gets here he will be able to fix what ever is wrong and we will have air tonight!! Reagan has been sleeping in our room the past two nights since there is no fan in her room. We have had Nathan come to our room in the middle of the night and Emily the first night and Maddie last night. The fans are on all over the house and we have a box fan that travels from room to room with the kids. I am tired and starting to get a headache from the heat. We are drinking lots of water and trying to stay cool. We have had multiple offers to come to others homes to sleep, but there is just something about being in your own house. Plus, Paul and I are not one to impose on anyone, we have trouble asking for help and accepting it when it is offered. The kids are handling the heat VERY well!! They play upstairs and complain hardly at all. I have to say that it is hot in here, but it is not as bad as you may think. Once you get past the constant sweating it is not too bad. If you sit under the fan you get a cool breeze that helps to keep you comfortable as well. we are surviving and will survive, just have to wait and hear what the repair man says!!

My Little Helper!!

There are no words for this post, just pictures...

So Stinkin' CUTE!!!

Here are some random pictures of a sweet angel (well not always and angel, especially when it is time to eat baby food!)...



She fell asleep while holding a carrot in her hand and

Best Toy EVER!!!

This is what I found when I got out of the shower this morning...

Fortunately there was not too much toilet paper left on the role!

Reagan's Sleep

So Reagan is sleeping though the night!! Yeah!! She goes down between 7:30 and 8:00 and is ready to start her day at 6:00. At least that is when Nathan brings her down to me. Now if I could just get her to take a nap that lasts longer than 30 minutes. The problem with nap time is that there are 4 other children sometimes 5 ( if the boy next door is here!) and is the house is not very conducive for sleeping. Maybe when school starts back up, only 12 more days.

Swim Lessons

For the past two weeks we have had swim lessons Monday through Thursday at 8:45 in the morning. Nathan and Kayla were the only two as the Pre-K class was full so Emily will have to wait until next year. Nathan and Kayla, although neither wanted to go to swim lessons the first Monday, they really enjoyed them and had a good time. They learned the frog stroke and Kayla has been doing this one a lot. The lessons are at the YMCA and at their indoor pool. The pool area is a sauna!! It is miserable to sit there and watch. Reagan was fussy, I was fussy, Emily and Maddie were whiney, I am glad the lessons are over, we would take a break after 15 minutes and go inside the YMCA to cool off. Until next year!! These pictures were taken the first day. One of the life guards was the camera nazi she would walk around and tell anyone taking pictures, and she saw everyone that tried to snap a photo, that the YMCA has a no picture policy since you could be taking pictures of other people's children.

Shiner

Today while walking through the kitchen Emily turned her head and smacked her eye on the corner of the granite counter tops, OUCH!!!

3 years ago...

It was three years ago that we moved back from a 4+ years out of the country. We had been in our house for 3 months and the boxes were put away (mostly) and we were settling into our new home. It was three years ago that Madeline Grace was born. Maddie what to say to you, you are a funny one you try so hard to do things that will make you accepted by your sisters and brother. You follow Emily with a watchful eye always wanting to do whatever she is doing. You are a big helper for me. While you increase my blood pressure and frustrate me to no end, you are also the sweetest little girl around. You have a silly personnality. You are good with your manners and quick to help out. I enjoy watching you grow and look forward to watching you for a long time. My only hope is that in the coming year we can work on your tidying up skills!!

Sleep Over

Last night Nathan had his first sleep over. He was very excited ALL day and I think he had a good time. It was just two doors down so it was not too scary but he was so excited!! I think I ruined it this morning when I picked him up. I called to see if I could run a few errands and then get Nathan but I was unable to speak to the boys mom because she was in her room and not to be disturbed. So I decide to just bring him with me. This was the wrong choice as proved by Nathan's actions. He had an absolute fit and was the worst child EVER!! It took all I had to not physically punish him. There were times that I did just laugh because lets face it sometimes that is all you can do.

Vacation

Last week the kids were in Oklahoma City for a vacation without the parents. The 4 older ones went to spend some time their grandparents and Mommy went on vacation. because when you go from 5 kids to just a 7 month old it IS a vacation!! I sewed 2 quilts, went to Old Town Spring with a friend, did some shopping and cleaning and just enjoyed some time without fighting and the constant cry of "mom". The kids had a great time and I am sure will be ready to do it again next year!! While the kids were in Oklahoma they saw there cousins on the Hellen side, they had not seen them in a year and half. Christmas 2009. They also saw all but 2 of the Cook cousins. Nathan always looks forward to seeing my brother's family. They have older boys that Nathan looks up to and a boy a year younger that he plays a LOT with!! They have two girls that my girls really enjoy playing with as well, Claire is Emily's age and they are twins separated. It is fun to watch the kids playing with their cousins! While the kids were away I twisted my Left ankle pretty bad. Let me just say thank goodness for child birth classes. I used my breathing and made it through the pain!!! I could barely walk on it Thursday night and by Friday MUCH better, but I went to the doctor anyway where I had an x-ray and received the results on Tuesday. It was normal. Even now, one week later it is still a little tender and I favor it when I go down the stairs. Some pictures with their cousins...