bagel dogs

Miss E asked if she could do some cooking the other day. She looked through a cook book, found a recipe that she thought looked good and that we had all of the ingredients for. I was afraid that maybe making bagels was a bit much for her, but figured she would manage okay. She chose bagel dogs because she knows her daddy loves to eat bagel dogs.

She did a great job. She handled it all on her own needing only to ask a couple of quick questions, otherwise this entire job was done on her own! They turned out wonderfully and made daddy so very happy to have such a wonderful daughter! I am blessed to have such a smart, responsible, thoughtful daughter who is now so able to assist me in caring for our family and home!

knife throwing

This is the newest activity/hobby the boys are trying out with Daddy. Rob made up these targets for them. They even have a rope with knots as markers so they know their distance from the target.

Mr. R and Mr. M have been spending quite a bit of time in the back yard these days practicing.

Oh, and we don't let them practice out there with real knives. Rob made up a practice knife for them. Because of the black tape on the "handle" they are able to see what part of the "blade" is hitting the target and how they need to improve their throws.

sitting up, and laying down

Miss C is getting this sitting up thing figured out, and having so much fun getting to play a bit more like a big kid!

Miss J barely made it in the door after running and errand with Daddy. She did not nap on Saturday during nap time, but gave in before dinner. I think she slept like this for about an hour, I even tried to wake her and she was just too tired to get up.

sick day(s)

We have a mild bug going through the house. Miss C was its first victim, followed by her sisters, and me. Mr. R was the latest victim. We'll see who else falls prey to it in the next couple of days.

Everyone was already a bit tired out before this, so it was time to take a break anyways. We've spent the last couple of days just hanging out doing whatever needs to be done or seems fun at the time.

Laundry baskets make great playpens! Miss J was so tired and grumpy, we let her sit here and watch a show for a while. She perked up a bit after that. She is watching "Pre-school Power" which is a cute set of DVD's showing little kids doing all sorts of every day activities. I get them from Netflix from time to time. I had not realized this one was coming, but it was great timing since she loves watching these.

Mr. M asked to play a game. Sorry! I had fun playing with the two big boys, and the little ones enjoyed watching and "helping". Miss E took the opportunity to have some quite play time upstairs.

 

Zoomorphs are a fun set of toys, perfect for Miss E, but the other kids like them too.

It has been nice to have a mostly quiet week, just hanging out, nothing we really NEED to do. It was a bit gloomy outside for a couple of days too which helped us feel like laying low too. Now the sun is starting to come out and we're all starting to perk up a bit more.

She sure is determined!

In the last week or so Miss C has seemed very determined to get moving. Though she is not crawling now, she is mobile! She surprised me by getting this figured out so quickly. Up until about a month ago she was not moving around much, even though she was able to roll over she didn't do it much. Then all of a sudden she decided it was time to get up and moving!

She is up on her hands and knees often.

A few seconds later....

 

After a couple of minutes....

Ah, success!

So, we're getting used to having a mobile baby around again. Books are a favorite of hers, so we're having to be extra careful with the bulk of our books, but make sure to leave baby books out for her!

playing in the creek

On Saturday we went to visit some dear friends that live not too far away from us (but far enough that we don't get to see them as often as we would like!). We all had a wonderful time of food, fun and fellowship!

It was a hot day, so we thought it would be a nice treat for the kids to go play in the creek. The dads took the big kids, while the moms stayed at the house with the babies (Miss J had to be a "baby").

What a blessing it is to have such wonderful friends!

Memorial Day

We went to the beach on Memorial Day with some friends and cooked dinner out there. We had such a good day! It was a bit chilly, but not too bad and the sun was out most of the time.

Most of the kids ran around playing, flying kites, and digging in the sand. Even Miss J enjoyed the sand.

When it started cooling off more we started a fire and cuddled around it. It was a wonderful day, and we are blessed to have been able to enjoy it because of all of the men and women that have sacrificed for our country.